Rand and the Ring Chapter 8: Issues and Troubling thoughts
Misty Mountains, Rivendell:
It had been two days since he had arrived in Rivendell, and Rand had to admit, this place was certainly peaceful.
But in those two days he'd sensed 'evil', much like how he could sense Shadow-spawn in his old world, a stinking itch he could not place. Gandalf, among others, had been alarmed or surprised when he'd asked if there was a Palantir within the city.
Following that they'd asked why, and in the end, Gandalf and Elron had shared a troubled look. Though Rand did not know it at the time, he had, in fact, sensed the One Ring, or perhaps its power.
Gandalf had wanted him to come here to help with something, that could potentially 'save the world', but had yet to disclose just what it was exactly.
Gandalf had simply countered Rand's inquiries by stating that he wanted to wait till everyone called for had arrived, not wanting to repeat the same thing to everyone multiple times.
Rand figured that was fair enough, he'd done the same himself before after all.
Over the next couple of days, Rand had approached Gandalf and Elron about the troubling sense of evil. This is when they decided to finally tell him why he was invited in the first place.
They eventually agreed to let him have a look at it, which ultimately lead to meeting the 'halflings'. He still didn't know what to make of such small yet spirited people...
The ring reminded Rand of Mat's Medallion, or rather, his ter'angreal. Able to dissipate any flows of the One Power aimed at it. Anything of the physical world could still touch it however, just like Mat's Silver Foxhead, but that wasn't all that helpful.
Thus Rand decided it must be some kind of powerful Ter'angreal that he could not affect with what these people called 'Magic'.
Rand, having decided that he would largely not be of any real use here, and since they were still waiting for yet more people, figured he should check up on his people. He'd been here long enough to form a 'Gate' to 'Travel' now...
Leaving a note in his accommodations in Rivendell, Rand opened a 'Gate' to see what was happening in Essenia and the newly conquered province of Umbar...
Essenia, Umbar Province:
"Lord Sisnera, please, we must do something about that rabble in the streets!"-High Lord Torean again pleaded with Lord Sisnera.
"If we don't do something soon, there will be riots and worse!"-Torean said again.
Sighing, Sisnera finally replied, not missing a single stride as they moved down the dimly lit corridor-"Lord Torean, i do no wish to be responsible for what you have suggested. Do think of something more civil, please"-
"Perhaps Lady Fionnda will have a better idea"-Sisnera said with a smile, hoping that she would at least distract Torean from his plan to 'remove the rabble' from the streets.
In the time they had arrived, at least half of the population had fled. But that fact would seem untrue by how many of the remaining people were simply living in the streets...He was at a loss.
'Do they no wish to be living in all the buildings left in the city?'-Torean shook his head at the thought.
They often begged and committed crimes as often as not too. Though murder was not done as often as any other crime it did still occur.
It was like the locals lost all sense of purpose in the world and were wasting away or turning to crime...Their rule wasn't exactly bad, indeed they seemed to be doing good. Then again, slavery was this nation's greatest commodity and they had outlawed it.
Sisnera eyed Torean out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to have finally fallen to mumbling while looking at his feet.
'Good, i do be tired of hearing this man complain'-Sisnera thought.
After several turns, they came to the door they sought.
Upon entering, they found Lady Fionnda, with her retainers, talking to some of the local...merchants and nobles.
"Greetings Lady Fionnda...gentlemen, may the Light's blessing be upon you all"-Sisnera said with a smile and small bow.
Fionnda, for her part, stood and replied the greetings to the two Lords in kind.
"Lord Torean do be distraught over the people in the streets. Surely there do be plenty of places left in the city to accommodate them, no?"-Sisnera said.
"Ehm, please excuse me...lord, but they are all likely...former slaves, and thus have no rights to enter those buildings without express permissions."-A shabbily dressed man said with a stiff bow.
He seemed to radiate 'evil' or some kind of general 'unpleasantness', Sisnera raised his eyebrow towards Fionnda who simply rolled her eyes back at him and gave an extremely light shake of her shoulders as a reply to the unspoken question.
"They do no be slaves any more...They do have all rights as you sir...?"-Sisnera said to the man as he walked closer to the large table in the center of the room.
"You can not change a people's way of life overnight...or even a month...my lord"
The man practically radiated hate, but it was understandable, they had just recently conquered them...
A flicker of movement caught Sisnera's eye, moving in the shadows...
'That cape...those movements...it could no be!'-Sisnera thought.
Upon seeing where the Lord Sisnera was looking and the widening of his eyes, Fionnda deduced he'd seen her 'special' bodyguard. A former Gaidin, or Warder, that had been re-bonded to her after the war. True, she herself could hardly ever hope to make so much as a flame but then again, having a sister in the tower and the right bribes and plea's for someone capable to protect her...
"Ah, it seems you've noticed him lord Sisnera, you have good eye's it seems"-Lady Fionnda said with a smile.
"H-how do there be a a..."-Sisnera was at a loss.
"A Gaidin? A Warder?"-Fionnda said for him, still smiling. It was a truly rare sight to see the Lord Sisnera like this that she forgot all about the others in the room.
"His Aes Sedai died during the war, was saved, and later was bonded to me upon a request i made to a certain Aes Sedai at the White Tower"-Fionnda said, enjoying the look on his face to the fullest.
Regaining his composure, Sisnera replied-"You have some connections in very high places my Lady, to be able to have an Aes Seadai bond a Warder to you..."-
Lord Torean seemed a bit slow to catch on to what exactly the were talking about, as he was still looking for whatever Sisnera had seen...
Torean-"Wait, i thought only Aes Sedai, who can channel could have Warders'...does that mean...?"-he couldn't bring himself to finish the question, he was a Tairen after all.
Lady Fionnda chuckled lightly behind her hand, not answering to keep them off-balance. In truth she could, for all she could actually do with it...no. She could channel so little of it, she could likely be considered the weakest channeler in history. After a decade of help from a certain sister at the tower, she'd been able to just barely embrace Saidar. Though, chanelling so little to be unable to affect anything at all. Her entire might could barely make a leaf twitch.
The real strength, as far as she was concerned, was the comfort that came with embracing Saidar. In times of great duress, she could calm herself and gather her wits and strength to forge onwards towards her goals. This was the reason she was so respected; the ability to keep a calm mind during any situation.
"Oh, Lord Torean, though it's true a channeler needs to forge the bond, it does not have to be between themselves and a warder. It turns out that, if you can find a way to get an Aes Sedai to make that bond for you, it is indeed possible for those who can't channel to have a Warder"-Lady Fionnda explained to Lord Torean, though it was also for Lord Sisnera's benefit as well.
"Why do you ask? Would it trouble you if i could channel, my Lords?"-Lady Fionnda asked in a sweet, too-innocent sounding voice while obviously trying not to laugh.
Unfortunately, the local men now knew that she had some kind of near-legendary protector somewhere in the room they'd occupied for a few hours now without noticing anyone...and this lord Sisnera had noticed shortly after entering...
Essenia, Tear:
"You're certain of this?"-Rand asked.
"Yes my lord, they've taken no further action."
It would seem a token force, or forces, were keeping an eye on them from the North, or more accurately, Mordor.
A small band of around one-thousand orcs were skirting their border, currently the Harad-Road, every so often and falling back to towards the Mountains of Shadow whenever a Tairen patrol spotted them.
"Has Captain Rodrivar deployed a mounted force to try and intercept them yet?"-Rand asked his attendant.
"Not that i am aware of sire, however, Captain Rodrivar Tihera has come to the conclusion that more than one force is scouting..".
"Well, I want them taken care of, preferably with Calvalry. I don't like an enemy keeping tabs on us, we also need to keep that road safe as its our main trade-route."-Rand ordered.
"It will be done sire."-the man said with a bow.
"Okay, what else is there?"-Rand asked, moving on to the next issue.
"The noble's in charge of the recently acquired province of Umbar are asking for your assistance in dealing with a particular issue..."
"I'll be seeing them personally at a later time, next issue please"-Rand said, dismissing what the man had been saying.
"Ehm, very well, the king of Gondor would like to speak with you..."
"Make a note of it for me, i'll visit him when i have the time"-Rand said a bit more defensively than he meant to. In truth he just didn't like that man.
"Very well"-the man said as he scribled something down on his parchment.
"Next is a curious matter; a man who claims to be an emissary from the...Blue Wizards of the Istari, wishes to meet with you. About what he will not say..."-the man said seeming puzzled for some reason.
Though, it would be odd to claim to be an emissary and not state your business...especially when that entailed meeting a ruler of a nation.
"Interesting...make a note of that to remind me later. What's next on your list Pelivar?"-Rand asked.
"The matter concerning irrigation and the canals, sire".
"Those in charge of the project wish to know whether to improve the desalination of the sea-water, or, to increase the size of the...well, what's becoming known as the Essenia River. So, should we improve what we have or expand it further?"-Pelivar asked his king.
"The Essenia River..."-Rand mumbled...-"I like it".
"Sire?"
"Oh, yes, hmmm..."-Rand went deep into thought.
One one hand, improving the desalination effort of the sea-water was very important but it also made it so that his people would all stay close to the city. Effectively making the farms the only rural part of the nation, no towns or villages to speak of. The boded ill for the population in case some kind of sickness in this world struck. He knew cities were bad for that sort of thing and if a nation's entire population was confined to a single city...or two?
On the other hand, the irrigation would be less effective but it would allow the population to expand outward from the cities, allowing more land to be occupied. Rural communities could arise, making their current cities over-congested population to expand and have their very own land. This was also a more long-term option and ultimately the better option since he saw no reason why the former couldn't be worked on in the mean-time, as this would likely take a very long time to complete...
"Let's expand the river, i want it to stretch all the way between Tear and Illian. It's a better long-term option and we can improve the water-quality as we go."-Rand said.
"As you say, sire"-Pelivar said, bowing.
"So what's next?"-Rand asked.
Pelivar seemed to draw inwardly, "The Council of Trade is having issues, my lord."
"It would seem that your rule for joining the Council of Trade is rather...umm, inclusive...soo much so that it's...ummm, over-crowded and well..."-Pelivar trailed off, remembering the thousands of people that were complaining about too many members joining and too many voices for too many 'issues'.
"I'll see what i can do about that...i just wanted everyone with a business have a say in what happens with it"-Rand sighed.
"I also thought it would be a good way to get some of the more 'commoner' type of people into a government type position with how all the wealthy and pompous nobles seem to be..."-Rand trailed off as he once again realized that he now fit into that category...Pelivar seemed to be snickering in an odd way too. Somewhere between coughing, snorting, and trying to make it sound like he was clearing his throat...repeatedly while his papers were held in front of his face.
"Are you suddenly sick Pelivar? I won't do anything if you just laugh you know...it sounds like something bad might happen to you if you keep that up"-Rand said with a smile as an eye peeked over the top of the papers...
"I think those 3 things have filled up the rest of the day...anything else can wait unless it's an emergency."-Rand said standing up and stretching.
"So, I got an Emissary to meet, the Council of Trade to deal with, and a King to see that i honestly don't care for..."-Rand said with a heavy sigh.
"Pelivar"
"Yes sire?"
"Can we trade places for a change today?"-Rand asked as he put his face into his palms.
"No sire"-Pelivar said with a smile.
"I still can't imagine why anyone would want to be a king..."-Rand mumbled.
"Power..-"Pelivar began
"Power and wealth greater than what they had, yes, that leads to a bad ruler which just happens to be the norm, yes yes Pelivar, i know. Sometimes i just miss being a sheepherder i suppose..."-Rand said trailing off.
"My lord? I think that if you did that, you would likely die from boredom..."-Pelivar said in reply, they both smiled and then had a small laugh at the thought of King Rand Al Thor of Tear and Illian, now Essenia, the Dragon-Reborn, tending to a herd of sheep...
Gondor, Losarnach, Pelargir:
"Excuse me, sir"
"Hmm, yes, what is it?"-Captain Faenoryes of Gondor asked, looking up from his most recent batch of reports.
"A Captain Rodrivar Tihera, of Tear, er, Essenia, is here to see you, sir!"
"Thanks, send him in please."-Faenoryes responded while wondering what brought that man to his post...
'Something bad...'-Faenoryes thought, since usually a messenger was sent to him in accordance with sharing tactical information between their two allied nations.
"Ah, Captain Rodrivar, what brings you here to my post?"-Captain Faenoryes asked, while inwardly dreading the possibilities...
"Increased sightings of these...orcs, as you call them, being spotted on the northern side of the...Harad-Road? The Border-Road is secure so far and no skirmishes have taken place since the creatures seem to flee as soon as we try to intercept them. But the number of sightings, and the numbers reported, are troubling. I was wondering if you've seen an increase in activity and if you had any insight as to what they may be planning?"-Captain Rodrivar asked.
Faenoryes scratched the back of his head, looking down at his reports...
"Actually i was just starting to go through the reports that were just delivered to me a short while ago. Honestly, before a few days ago, i can say that no increase in Orcs has been reported. Might i suggest going to our meal-tent and have some lunch while i go over more recent reports?"-Captain Faenoryes said.
...
"As for idea's, who can tell what those creatures think beyond fighting and eating..."-Faenoryes said, shaking his head.
"They're not exactly intelligent, but they can be rather...crafty in battle. Though it does sound like they are scouting you...i can't really say that i've heard of them actually doing so before. I also can't say that i like the possibility of them actually developing tactics either since they usually outnumber us 5 to 1 on any given day..."-Faenoryes said aloud as Rodrivar hadn't turned to go and he hadn't really answered the other question yet.
"Why is that? We've been able to outnumber them in any serious engagement with them..."-Rodrivar replied, curious and confused.
"I suppose it's because the average Orc, and this goes doubly so for Uruk-Hais, can be battle-ready shortly after it's creation, or birth, it's hard to say how exactly they propagate really. Hmmm, Sometimes i've wondered if they are grown in some way, though, in a sense, since they are born of mud and magic originally, that may be closer to the truth. No one really knows, no one alive today i'd guess. Those of this age who do find out...are probably eaten soon after..."-Faenoryes's face turned disgusted at that.
"I do believe that the only reason why we haven't gone extinct yet is because of how much in-fighting goes on within the Orcish ranks. Order is not something that seems...applicable to their kind. Food is also a likely issue too. But, most of the time, they simply fight each-other and generally leave us alone."-Faenoryes said, looking thoughtful as he stared up at the ceiling.
"So something has changed in recent times..."-Rodrivar said bluntly.
"Indeed, dark sorcery has reawakened and now controls them...and others."-Faenoryes shuddered.
"You should probably find a book on our world history for a more...insightful veiw on what it is that we are now going up against..."-Faenoryes said, continuing with-"Anyways, come back after a while so that i can get through my reports Captain, after that i may be able to help you out more."-Faenoryes finished saying as he turned his attention down to his papers.
Leaving, Captain Rodrivar had troubling thoughts on how similar these Orcs were to Trollocs. True, they looked nothing alike, but they were still born, relatively, through evil means. The fact that they could readily replenish their numbers was a...troubling thought too.
The disturbing fact that had been bothering him for a while now was getting him to realize why such a large and...powerful nation had so few, relatively speaking, soldiers to secure their borders. He himself had wondered at this. Why so few to secure such a vast border? Because they were on the decline...in nearly every aspect.
He began wondering if every Age, in this world, even his own and perhaps any world that may exist, had some kind of Apocalyptic event that kept humanity from becoming greater...
A/N
So i guess this chapter was more of a Character/word-building variety?
I hope you found it, at least, mildly entertaining/interesting.
-The beginning, i just didn't really know how to write that out so it was largely skipped over, sorry.
*_Further down would contain general (plot?) spoilers so Warning!_*
-I've got plans for this to go into the 4th age and so this story will like take me a couple years to finish, at least, so there's that.
-Honestly, i'm not really sure on what to do next:
*begin battles with Sauron/Sauroman(should Rand fight both? thinking of just a confrontation with Sauron so far)
*Sauroman the white- i'm having trouble finding a reason to get Rand to confront him beyond just to have an action/magic battle scene.
*Meet Blue wizards(personally leaning towards)-but this would be...well, i'm having trouble finding a reason to interweave this into plot without another war involved. Rand would have to travel a long time and through hostile, Mordor-allied, lands to reach them. Current reasoning is Khund's slave-farms. Thus would likely lead to a war i really feel is just...not needed. OP Rand maybe? :)
*Expand Essenia's influence eastward, etc.(I can do what i want easily with this huge unknown, and is the general focus of the story beyond the One Ring plot) I'll probably be leaving this largely alone, other than the places mentioned already in a previous chapter, until after the War of the Ring.
-I could use some suggestions for what you'd like to see in the next few chapters but i'll be doing(i think) all of these eventually regardless.
-But until the main battle's of the LOTR cannon plot, i'm split between the:
1) Meet Blue Wizards
2) Expand Eastwards towards those, somewhat, nearby cities.
-I was originally gonna try to do both at the same time, so that can be 3) but then everything will get hectic and confusing i think (at least for me), especially with Sauron's eye starting to focus on the new threat of Essenia.
It doesn't really matter which direction this goes first...so instead of a coin-flip i'm asking you readers which you want to see happen first.
Story time-wise this will take up the next year (again story-time). So basically, should Rand head North or South?
May be my longest A/N ever! PM me or Reviews(1 so far?) are nice too!