Chapter before 23: RECAP

It has come to my attention that 2 years is a mighty long time for anyone to remember what the devil is going on here. So…. here's my attempt at a brief recap. (but mind you I am TERRIBLE at being brief, so this will probably be anything but…)

Long before the ring is discovered to still be in Middle Earth, Gandalf and Aragorn travel to Mirkwood to assess reports of the growing darkness. While there, Aragorn meets the royal family – Legolas, his older brother Cièdron, and Thranduil and quickly learns the darkness is indeed taking its toll on Mirkwood and her inhabitants. He also learns a bit about the royal family – that Legolas had three older brothers – 2 who tragically died while scouting southern Mirkwood when the reports first surfaced of a necromancer settling in Mirkwood, and 1 that left for the havens along with Legolas' sister and his mother. Needless to say, Legolas & Aragorn become instant friends.

Gandalf learns from Thranduil that many of his warriors who had been scouting the southeastern edges of Mirkwood have gone missing. The elf king is pretty distressed about this and the fact that Gandalf seems to have his eye on Legolas. He's been though a lot after all and already lost half his family… Anywho, they decide on a scouting mission to assess what's up with all this evil in Mirkwood. Suddenly, Merionè, one of Thranduil's best captains and a former mariner for Cirdan, bursts in, pretty agitated – his was one of the patrols that were missing. With him he has a mysterious bag filled with the severed braids from all of his scouts – he tells a story about how he had been forced out of Mirkwood into the Rhun where he and his elves encountered a strange clan of elves. They later ended up attacking them and sending Merionè back alone with this bag. Perhaps the oddest thing about this terrible adventure is that Merionè's elves were barely able to fight – they had been under some sort of spell or shadow that took a heavy toll on their spirits. All of this freaks everyone out & Thranduil calls a meeting to figure out what to do. Aragorn and Gandalf are at this meeting of course, as are Legolas and Cièdron. They decide on two scouting missions – one to Dol Guldur to assess the these Nazgul folk and one to the Rhun to try to rescue Merionè's elves and to figure out what's up out there. Much to Thranduil's dismay, Legolas volunteers himself for this trip. Then – to make things worse for the king – his other son insists on going to, not one to be outdone by his younger brother and more importantly, out of love and concern for Legolas. Merionè will also go as will another of Thranduil's greatest captains – Bratherond, a surly, disagreeable elf who after thousands of years of battle became rather biased against men (i.e. Aragorn) and weary of young, wide eyed princes (i.e. Legolas and Cièdron). But Bratherond swears to Thranduil he will return his 2 sons alive – so long as he lives, they'll live - and it is this unwavering loyalty that Thranduil admires in this elf despite his other less palatable qualities. Gandalf of course will also go. Before they leave, Thranduil gives his sons a gift – their dead brothers' ivory sheathed knives. And then it's a teary farewell and off to Mirkwood they go.

A lot of bad things happen as they travel south – a warg fight, group tension, a fire –. They soon notice Merionè is acting a little strange – detached, reticent – Gandalf and Aragorn both note this and suspect the elf isn't being completely forthright. At one point Merionè reveals that this clan did not keep their promise to him – that they would free his elves. But what the terms of this promise were aren't exactly clear – Merionè said he offered himself in place of them, but something still seems not quite right to Aragorn and Gandalf. Merionè also warns Legolas – who is to travel to the Rhun with Aragorn – that not only can he not trust anyone he meets out there, but he really ought to disguise his identity – they're not all that fond of woodelves out there. To help him with this, he takes Legolas' distinctively carved weapons, including the ivory knife Thranduil gave him (which he gives to Cièdron who will not be going to the Rhun) and gives him plain weapons instead. (I know - minor point, but I wanted to keep track of those ivory knives….). Also, through all of this, Gandalf is a little confused and disconcerted because the other Istari – Saruman, Pallando & Alatar were supposed to go out to the Rhun and do their goodly wizard business out there. The last two never returned, but Gandalf is not yet ready to assume anything bad about this… despite the fact that Merionè did tell of a strange being who wore a ring suspiciously similar to the ones the Istari wore who sent him off with that terrible bag when he left the Rhun.

Meanwhile, Bratherond can't seem to get along with anyone, particularly Cièdron as the two are probably the most stubborn of the group. At one point, Bratherond reveals that he was captain of the patrol Legolas' and Cièdron's deceased brothers traveled with and he who sent the two out to search for their sister the night they were killed (or actually one was stabbed with some nasty gunk that would enslave him to Sauron and his brother killed him to save him and then himself in grief). Cièdron is furious at this, though Legolas eventually convinces him to settle down – but not before Bratherond decides to wander off by himself. Aragorn & Legolas go out to look for Bratherond and get lost. At this point the fire happens and Orcs and Aragorn and Legolas are separated from the rest of them.

Fire, Orcs, a cliff, injury to Legolas; Fire, Orcs, injury to Cièdron who wants to find his brother. Gandalf leaves Merionè, Bratherond & Cièdron to go find A & L – but before he leaves he realizes something is seriously off with Merionè and he has misgivings about this whole mission. He's also worried about Cièdron who's spirit seems to be draining rapidly. Gandalf knows that both groups desperately need him and its not easy choosing to look for A & L, but he coldly calculates that these 2 are the ones he'll really need later on – he's a wizard with a heart though and this decision is not easy - so he sends word to Thranduil that things are not so great and they'll need help in Dol Guldur. Soon.

A & L meanwhile are slowly losing it – darkness, shadow, wails of Nazgul in the distance – it all sucks for them. Same for the other group as they move south. But eventually A & L make it out to the open air of the Rhun and for a short while at least, they're offered some respite. As for the other group – they're getting worse, Merionè particularly is getting worse.

Out in the Rhun, A & L encounter a strange lone elf – I don't think I mentioned his name yet, but this is Ereb – he'll be back later on. But for now, this elf doesn't offer any help in response to their requests for water or direction – just an empty canteen and he immediately recognizes Legolas as a Teler. And then he's off. So A & L move on and finally reach the Celduin, where Gandalf is waiting for them (those wizards…) So the three of them catch up and things are kinda pleasant until a sudden attack by a bunch of Rhun elves. During this attack, Legolas is lured aside by, to his terror, one of his father's missing captains- Reanur. Legolas doesn't know how to handle this – how to fight his own kin – and it isn't entirely clear if Reanur is the full traitor he seems to be. Rather it seems he has gone mad and is under the spell of Sauron or whatever evil Sauron has working for him out in the Rhun. Anyway, it is not Reanur, but another elf who strikes Legolas from behind and takes him away. When the battle is all over, Aragorn & Gandalf quickly figure out that Legolas is missing & to their dismay find that some of the felled elves were in fact Thranduil's own warriors. So of course, they go and try to find Legolas.

Meanwhile, big Orc battle in Mirkwood against Cièdron, Merionè & Bratherond. Things are going pretty badly for them until one of the Orcs recognizes Merionè (or perhaps the shadow within Merionè) and is quite happy at this – he orders the rest of the Orcs to leave just as they were about to take their final blows against Cièdron & Bratherond. This is a mystery to C & B particularly since the order was shouted in the Black Speech. This freaks them out, but what really freaks them out is the revelation that Merionè understood the Black Speech. Merionè then reveals everything that happened out in the Rhun – he didn't just promise himself over to the elves, he swore an oath to Sauron. He didn't think these simple words had any effect because he didn't feel anything until he began this scouting mission. And then, only as they got closer to Dol Guldur, did he feel the shadow grow in his mind – and he realized this oath was more than mere words. But C & B refuse to leave Merionè and they decide to try to get out of this wood and seek help for him. But to their dismay, they discover that no matter how far they seem to walk, they always end up in the same place and closer and closer to Dol Guldur, until finally they stumble straight into its barren base. Orcs, badness and Merionè falls completely and attacks Cièdron. Much to Bratherond's dismay, Merionè strikes Cièdron with not just any sword, but an Orc sword – and not just any Orc sword, but a particularly evil looking opal thing. So though it's just a relatively minor wound, whatever terrible gunk is on that thing does not bode well for Cièdron.

Cut now to Legolas who awakes in a strange cave. He walks out of it and stands on the shores of the Rhun Sea. There he meets Romen, one of the Rhun elves. He also finds a group of sullen, worn, and all around sad bunch of Thranduil's warriors – among them is Velsiur, the third missing captain and for some reason Velsiur doesn't seem quite so out of it. Physically trapped, but not mentally trapped like the rest of the lot. Romen tries to tempt Legolas to swear his loyalty to them (which in turn would mean swearing to Sauron) – and it is pretty tempting. If Legolas does this, Romen claims he can release the warriors – a prince's allegiance is worth all of them. Legolas hesitates, remembering what Merionè told him about trusting these elves (and Velsiur too had just warned him not to try to save them) but then Romen raises the stakes. He offers to release Merionè from his enslavement. This throws off Legolas because Legolas knows that Cièdron is with Merionè and he knows that just as Reanur fell, so will Merionè and just as Reanur turned against him, so will Merionè turn against his brother. Legolas is about to give in when Velsiur leaps in and threatens to kill the prince if he dares to swear such an oath. So this knocks some sense into Legolas and he rescinds. This angers Romen who then decides he will then just have to force Legolas into submitting. When Legolas demands to know the fate of the other warriors – Merionè had brought back 50 braids after all, Romen reveals he "let them go" just as he promised in return for theirs or their captain's oaths - except for Velsiur who did not give in. Velsiur's warriors were the ones Legolas saw and were now wasting away (assumedly the ones who's loyalty were sworn over either through Merionè or Reanur or of their own accord are now out wandering around the Rhun of their own "free will" and fighting on behalf of Sauron instead of just sitting at the sea, wasting away.). And then Romen kills Velsiur and knocks out Legolas. Turns out Ereb – that elf A & L had met earlier (I may not have revealed this yet in the story, but even if I did I don't think anyone will remember and if I didn't – well, this will still help a lot with the next chapter) – had been watching much of this disinterestedly. Romen sees him & tells him to take Legolas away and watch over him/heal him, while he goes over to inform Alatar of these events. Reluctantly, Ereb agrees and takes Legolas away. Romen also sends Reanur (who also watched this whole scene unfold) off with Legolas' bloodied cape to give to Thranduil – what better way to gain some leverage over the elf king after all?

But out in the desert, as he heads back to Mirkwood, Reanur struggles against the evil grip over his mind and upon seeing a strange woman elf and her young child – a woman he recognizes as Ereb's companion – he decides to follow her back to Ereb. A little later, this woman is in fact with Ereb, taking care of Legolas and arguing with Ereb over what to do with him. Neither is very fond of Romen, but Ereb is the reluctant sort who doesn't want to get involved in any of this. Suddenly, they realize their daughter – the little girl Reanur saw the woman with - is missing. And they suddenly hear a voice "suggesting" that they ought to release the prince if they want their little girl back.

Meanwhile A & G, encounter a loan warrior elf who escaped the Rhun – he's pretty much incoherent & he mistakes Gandalf for someone else, but before Gandalf could figure out who, he becomes more interested in what this elf has to tell him about Merionè's tale. Upon hearing what really happened to Merionè, A & G realize things are not going so well in Middle Earth at all – Sauron appears to be forming alliances and gathering his strength for war… meaning the ring must still be in Middle Earth…meaning Saruman was mistaken about it having left Middle Earth. They also realize they better find Legolas soon and get back to Dol Guldur to save the other elves.

And that's when I decided to go on hiatus and come back two years later with the end to the Cièdron, Merionè, Bratherond tale, "Bratherond's oath." I'll move on to Legolas, Aragorn, Gandalf, Thranduil very shortly & then bring this whole thing to an end. I think that should be everything, and hopefully this crazy bit of my overactive imagination makes some sense.