Ravens don't cross the Sea
" There is a perfect freedom in the mountains,
but it belongs to the eagle and the elk,
the badger and the bear "
Kiven'akh (Cuivienen)
The starlit dark
A few hundred feet from the water the lightless woods ended abruptly
A smooth expanse of grass reached down to the narrow sandy shore
The dark water, reflecting only the one who looked in but never the stars, was very still
Safety had begun to end out of sight of the water
Under the trees, the starlight did not reach
The dark under the stars was no longer fearless
Creatures had appeared – and wanderers vanished and did not return
Something roamed the woods, and it had many faces
The forests were shunned by most
Some still went in, and those who returned gave the creatures a face, a name
Wolves it was whispered, for their glittering eyes came even to the forest edge and looked out over the open
They never dared to come and drink at the shore
No creature of the woods dared yet
Hate was not yet born, but fear
Wolves were feared
They took many wanderers
They hunted with cunning, in packs, taking the weakest, the last in line
Time turned them into enemies
Some still went in, and when they came back out of the dark, they had become strange
Changed, they appeared to the others, and wild
In the dark of the forests, they changed
They survived
The others were puzzled, aghast
They lived in the dark, like the wolves, like the nameless creatures
They learned to hunt like the nameless creatures
They learned to fight and kill long before the first blade was forged
They hunted, and they rivalled the wolves
When they came to the water sometimes, they were now clad in the pelts of the creatures they had killed
They lived in the dark, and carried the scars of unseen fights
They talked, but their tongue was changed, too
Sometimes, they snarled and howled like the wolves
The others began to shun them
The Dark Ones, they said, and later, Changed Ones
Then the bright light came, blinding in the darkness
Rumours of a land of light, a land without dark, without shadow
Many were drawn to the stranger
Bright he was, yet more terrible than the nameless things of the forests he seemed to the Changed Ones
Many left the water, seeking the land of light
The Dark Ones remained, frightened, reluctant, in the dark under the eaves
The unwilling
After a while they came back to the water
The wolves came also, slowly, respectfully
They drank at the water
They took prey from each other, but they no longer killed each other
When the wolves returned into the forest, the Changed Ones went after them
Went with them
The years lengthened and terror grew under the stars
The others were gone
The Changed Ones survived
The wolves multiplied
From enemies they turned into rivals, and from rivals they turned into allies
Wolves and Changed Ones alike were taken by the nameless horror in the darkest places of the forest
When they reappeared they were strange creatures
Wolves and Dark Ones looked at them, and recognized them, but they saw that these had become like the Fell Creatures
They killed each other
Wolves and Changed Ones became friends
Became a tribe
They hunted together
They came to the water and drank side by side
Long before the Bright Ones returned with fire and sword, long before the starlit dark was broken and fragmented by a fire travelling across the sky, wolves and Changed Ones became one
The other Dark Ones did not love the wolves
Not all dared the wild life of those that had chosen the pack
They became estranged
They avoided each other
Then the Bright Ones returned, and fire spread in the forest and in the sky
The Dark Ones met them, and allied with them against the nameless evil in the woods
The Fell Creatures were hunted mercilessly
The Changed Ones were discovered by the Bright Ones, and feared, and killed
The Changed Ones fled and hid themselves
The wolves followed them
Wolves and Changed Ones fled and hid like all other dark creatures, and were counted among them
But the Changed Ones ran with the wolves, and the wolves guarded them, and taught them
They all feared the power of fire, and the might of the Bright Ones
Chapter Notes:
Quote at the beginning from N. Scott Momaday's book The Way to Rainy Mountain.
Cuivienen: "The Waters of Awakening", the place at the inland-sea of Helcar where the first Elves awoke
Kiven'akh: "Black Water/Starlit Mere", Ashi'kha for Cuivienen
Story Notes:
! I use '' to mark mind-speech !
I am no writer! I do RDCTS just for my own fun, occupation, satisfaction, whatever. I never really intended to put this online, but after years of fiddling with this I am too curious right now to see what others might say. If you R&R, great.
For the Niggles: Better consider the chapters as separate leaves (pun intended) from the POV-character's journal, report or something like that. The Ashi'kha tales in separate chapters were told to and written down by Gildor.
Spelling is not consistent yet, I am sorry! Only the special names like Eldar, Noldor, Ashi'kha etc, should be capitalized, Dark Elf only when Eöl is referred to. Also, it should be orcs, elves etc. I intend to use Man for human in general, man for a male.
In the older chapters I changed the third person to first person-POV. You are bound to find some pronouns I overlooked up to now. Sorry for that, too.
Ashi'kha 'language': Tolkien provided a background for his language and discovered Middle-earth and its peoples. I try to do it the other way round and provide words and a way to stick them together for 'my' people. I am no linguist and it is all invented (as opposed to constructed)! Some Ashi'kha words are shamelessly based on Lakota – sadly I do not speak that wonderful language, I only own a dictionary. If there are any native speakers out there, no slight intended!
"h" is usually pronounced as a guttural "ch", "s" is always voiceless and hissing, some apostrophes in names should be pronounced with a clicking sound (as in !Kung); stress usually on last syllable.
The first 35 or so chapters (will) cover the time from the Starlit Dark up to the 3rd Age, both for Gildor and the Ashi'kha. Lots of gaps there, yet.
The 43 main chapters tell the story of Gildor and Raven before, during, after the War of the Ring and up to the Grey Havens. Complete so far, but still subject to change.
The as yet 9 or so final chapters are set in the 4th Age and mostly in Ashi'kha land in the Eastern Mountains. A few gaps there, too.
List of Chapters, rough dating, star indicates yet-to-come-chapters:
CuivienenKiven'akh, Starlit Dark (an Ashi'kha tale)
The Northern Waste, Starlit Dark (an Ashi'kha tale)
Silmarusse, Valinor
Ceremony, Valinor
Leaving, "
Across the Ice
Nargothrond
Shadows of Regret, FA 125
Fairё, FA 125/126
Glorfindel, FA 126
Bearclaw, "
Gates, "
Gondolin
Messengers
The Fall of Gondolin, FA 511
Eagles' Cleft, "
Hurondil, "
K'ashi, "
The Willowland, "
The Spiderland, "
The Wild Elves' Land, "
Darkstone, "
Silverleaf, "
Kelehan, FA 542
The War of Wrath, between FA 544 and 584
Flight to the North, "
World without Sea, SA 6
Changing, SA 8
Ost-in-Edhil, SA 750 ff.
Founding of Imladris, SA 1697
Gil-Galad, SA 3429
Last Alliance, SA 3431
Last Council, SA 3434
Barad-dur, SA 3443
Nightchaser, TA 2906
Houseless fёar, "
In the Silence, "
Stalking death, TA 2907
Caladur, "
Circles, "
Orc-Slaying, "
Raven, "
The Cave, "
Eregion, "
The Cottage, "
Never cry wolf, "
Changewolf, "
Hollin Ridge, "
Dunland, TA 2908
Why the Wind howls, "(contains an Ashi'kha tale)
Heart of Darkness (an Ashi'kha tale)
Lady of the Valley, TA 2911, year of the Fell Winter
Rivendell I, TA 2913
Rivendell II
Treating with Orcs, TA 2940
Demonhound, "
For the Knowing, TA 2950
Ghost of the White City, "
Shadows and Wishes, "
Werewolf, TA 3018
Wolf and Raven, "
Sword-edge, "
The White Towers, "
The Ford, October 20th 3018
From Winter back to Winter, December 30th 3018
Six Seasons (an Ashi'kha tale)
Only the Hawk remembers Death, January/February 3019
Lorien, March 3019
The Third Battle, March 22nd 3019
Mark of the Shadow, March 24th 3019
End of the War, March 25th to 27th 3019
Minas Tirith, May to June 3019
3020
Midwinter, TA 3020
Wolf's eyes, TA 3020
Morning Mist, September 18th 3021
The Grey Havens, September 29th 3021
Summer, Fourth Age 1
Chasing the Night, Running from darkness, Winter 4th Age 1
Logical Progression, Winter 4th Age 2
Wolf Clan, 4th Age 4
To dream of Wolves, 4th Age 7
In grey wolf-land evermore, 4th Age 8
Retracing the Lines, 4th Age 10
Keeper of the Songs, 4th Age 17
The Dream, "
Tirion, 4th Age 50
If I have not bored you to death by now, read on!
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