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Rand and the Ring-Chapter 9: Plans in Motion
Essenia;Tear:
It had been a month since Rand had first visited Rivendell. Unfortunately, Rand had missed the meeting where the 'Fellowship of the Ring' had been formed by about a week. Although he'd said that he would not have joined in any case, he was the king of a nation after all and his duty was heavier than a mountain...
He missed Lan the Warder and well, everyone really. He wondered if his wives had heard of his, and by extension, his nations' disappearance yet. Did time flow at the same rate between their two worlds? What did those responsible for their coming here do afterwards?
Shaking his head to clear away his idle thoughts, Rand continued down the hall, trailing a group of Defenders as he made his way to what was starting to be known as the 'War Room'. Rand developed a grimace.
The 'Blue wizard's' emissary, Lukas Zarench, had brought something to his attention that he simply couldn't ignore. He couldn't ignore something like 'slave-farms' on his eastern borders, although Near Harad technically claimed that area, the country of Khand had a much larger presence there. Perhaps his purpose in this world would be to eradicate slavery...
Walking into the 'War Room', Rand went straight to the heart of why he'd called his military commanders here today:
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice today. I know our situation in the Umbar Province but another nation has been brought to my attention; the country of Khand to our east, their people are known as the Variags and are famously known for their 'slave-farms'"-Rand said with disgust, the commanders all had similar expressions.
Slowly exhaling, Rand continued-"They are located directly East of Essenia's border's and while not all that close, i fear possible raids on our people in the future. Not to mention my distaste for slavery in general. So, i'd like to know your thoughts on what, if anything should be done about this."-Rand finished looking around the room.
"My lord, while it is a rather...disgusting situation, we have grave problems of our own as it is. The city of Illian and the occupation of Umbar, as well as keeping the northern border and road protected..."-Rodrivar shook his head as he looked down-"My lord, we have neither the forces nor the resources to do anything about it at this time. Perhaps in the future, but as the previous conflict has shown us already, we are ill-prepared for sieges at the present time".
"Thank you Captain, anyone else have anything to add to what was just said?"-Rand asked looking around.
Grimaces and the lack of anyone meeting his eyes said a lot of what they thought.
It was true though, they could not afford another campaign. Perhaps if Tarmon Gaidon had not just been won and the attack of Umbar on Illian, then maybe...
"There is one option, but i doubt most of you will approve..."-Rand said, drawing all eyes to him.
"With Callandor and.."-Rand began to say before everyone began dismissing the idea with objections like:
"My lord Dragon, we cannot risk you being harmed.."
"Too dangerous.."
"We need you here, especially now when.."
"Please reconsider my king, we.."
Not approving of the idea was indeed the case.
Holding a hand up for them to calm and be silent, Rand began again-"I know of your concerns, but i do have another reason beyond the atrocities of the Variag; There are...some powerful people and nation's, just beyond Khand to the northeast, whom we could get powerful allies. Allies we will surely need in the years to come...the main issue is that Khand, or the Variags, are in the way of us joining with our future allies. If we join with them, then in all likelihood, the only enemy we'll have after Mordor is defeated, will be that of anything south of us."-Rand finished.
High risk, true but the future pay-offs would be high too.
Mordor aside, basically every nation to the north of Essenia would be a single allied force in the months to come. Not technically true but for the most part it was. After the war with Mordor was over, they could explore to the east and south, hopefully to whatever lands lie beyond the huge desert.
Rand had a small smile. This world was somewhat similar to their old world if you thought of the eastern desert as the Aiel waste and they, in the relative position of Cairhein, if his world-veiw was correct...and if you took into consideration the myriad of differences.
Rand strode through the room gathering ink, quill, and paper.
Returning to the table in the center of the room, he quickly made a rough outline of how he imagined the general world around them to be: Approximating distance and size, he made a badly drawn sketch of their old world, much to their confusion, though some had a thoughtful expression as he did a quick glance around him to make sure they were watching.
Some were surprised on how large he'd made Shara out to be, they had no idea of just how large that enemy had been.
He circled everything under Cairhein and drew a curved line to the south east. "Now imagine all this to our south east"-he began-"with the area of Shara being the far east and far north eastern nations. Now, imagine Tar Valon being Shayul Ghul, here to our immediate north with everything north of that and to the west as our allies."
Looking around and making sure everyone knew what he was saying, he continued-"If we go east"-he drew a line through the 'Aiel waste' and 'Shara'-we can, for the most part, consider these allies as well." "If we can take Khand out of the picture, we can effectively surround Mordor and this world's version of Tarmon Gaidon should be child's play"-Rand finished with a grim smile.
"I see what your saying, but the southern border is still an issue, as we've been shown not long ago"-Rodrivar stated.
"I agree, that's why Demetre Marcolin of Illian and what we have in Umbar will defend the south and east, while we in Tear go north and east"-Rand said.
"This world, it's people, are on the verge of collapse. We on the other hand, although weakened, are likely the single greatest army in this world for the forces of 'Light'. If we can surround the forces of Shadow, and defeat them, we can win the war against this world's Shadow within a year or two."-Rand finished saying, hoping he'd swayed them to his idea.
"It's not ideal, but it is likely the best chance we have isn't?"-Rodrivar said, looking to Rand as he nodded back to him.
"Defending, although more ideal, has generally been a bad idea against the forces of evil"-Rand said as murmurs began gaining intensity around the room.
Perhaps some convincing of his statement was in order...
Sighing, Rand began with one memory of Lews Therin in particular-"During the War of Power, when the forces of Shadow laid siege to Emar Dal over several years with.."
Gondor; Losarnach; Peligir: 10 days later
Captain Faenoryes had received no new orders from Minus Tirith in months. Though, it was to be expected, considering the distance, but he thought he should've got some word from home since he was so close to their strange new allies across the river.
"Captain, a messenger from Essenia is here to see you."
"Good, send him in please."
"Hello, what word do you bring?"-Faenoryes asked as the man stepped into the room.
"My superiors have tasked me with this message"-the man said, stepping closer, extending a letter towards him.
Upon taking the message, the man continued speaking as Faenoryes opened the letter-"I'm also to return with a reply, sir"
"Mmm-hmmm..."-Faenoryes absently replied as he began reading:
Captain Faenoryes of Gondor, we of Essenia would like to inform you of a plan to eliminate the threat of Mordor. We propose that Gondor, and it's allies, launch an assault upon Mordor's western border while we of Essenia launch our own assault from Mordor's eastern border. Coordinating this joint effort will be of the utmost importance, the timing of this joint effort must be handled with care.
Our king, Rand Al'Thor will be meeting with the Steward of Gondor, as well as leaders from other nations, in the months to come. It is our hope that we can rid this world of the evil of Mordor. By combining the forces of Middle-earth, we shall defeat the forces of Shadow. May the Light and blessings of the Creator shelter and protect you.
-First Captain of the Defenders
-Rodrivar Tihera
Faenoryes's eyebrow twitched, 'An assault upon Mordor?!'-Faenoryes thought. The idea was crazy and terrifying!
Still, if all the nations of Middle-earth were to combine forces...
Faenoryes would stay awake all through-out the night drafting a response...
Umbar; Umbra:
The work that the 'Triad' had made within the province was remarkable.
During the past 2 months the city had gone from a desolated and conquered city, to that of a bustling port that was nearly as busy as Illian once was...
"The Havens to the west is markedly slower in repairs to their infrastructure. We should send some more of our men to them to speed progress up. Do you no agree?"-Sisnera asked his two counter-parts; Lord Torean and Lady Fionnda.
"While it would indeed speed things up, i still worry about a possible attack here, as we do not know what lies beyond 20 leagues from this city."
"I agree with Lady Fionnda, Lord Sisnera, this is the capital city of Umbar, which is now part of Essenia. We should not yet pull troops back from here to another place."-Lord Torean said.
"Yet the Havens' are our greatest defense fortifications for either city. If the Havens are not rebuilt and another naval assault like what happened to Illian occurs again.."-Lord Sisnera said.
"If"-Lady Fionnda began with Torean nodding-"If we are to come under attack, i'm willing to bet it'll be a land attack, since the general consensus is that Umbar was the main naval power in this area of the world."-Lady Fionnda finished, a picture of serenity.
Lord Darlin Sisnera thought about it, she was likely correct. But, then again...they had NO idea what lay south of them. The Dark One himself could be a mere 50 leagues south of them for a they knew. They had sent merchants to go and explore the ocean but very few had returned so far and those that did had simply traded with nearby lands of Gondor and the like...
"...in which case, they can work on fortifying our south and east"-Lady Fionnda finished saying in response to something Sisnera had missed.
"Please Lady Fionnda, we have very little timber we could use to build forts..."-Lord Torean was saying.
"Then have them make stone forts, use clay and mortar, along with sand to help keep integrity.."-Lord Sisnera offered his thoughts on construction of forts to protect this city.
Sighing, Lord Torean replied to Sisnera's comment-"We have very little materials for mortar and that of clay on such a scale.."-Torean said with a shake of his head.
"What if.."-Lord Sisnera began-"What if we were to start a River-Project, like the one Lord Dragon began when we first arrived in this world?"
"We could expand the small on located on the eastern side of the city or create a new one that runs north/south to shorten travel by days to Illian by means of cutting through that peninsula"-Sisnera continued.
"That would take far too long, we also do not have nearly enough funds to pay for such an endeavor Lord Sisnera.."-Lord Torean scoffed.
"Well, actually Lord Sisnera might have an idea there..."-Lady Fionnda said as she thought about it.
"We have a city that's mostly populated by former slaves...if we offer housing and food in return for work.."-Fionnda was contemplating out loud when Sisnera began shaking his head.
"Forget i mentioned it, hearing that out loud sounds far too much like slave-labour.."-Sisnera said.
"Now, now"-Lord Torean began interjecting-"Hold on, this could actually work out."
The other two looked towards him expectantly.
"We feed those that work on the Project daily, and after a year or so, we could give them...deeds or property rights within the cities and/or surrounding area's"-Torean said, proud of himself.
"The size of the building or amount of land promised, proportional to time spent working.."-Sisnera mumbled loud enough to be heard.
"Streets would become cleaner and a new water-way with added..."-Lady Fionnda was saying to herself.
The 'Triad' of Umbar discussed their latest idea over the next 2 days until word reached them from Tear of what Lord Al'Thor had planned for the foreseeable future...
Also, unknown to them at this time is that the river(let's call it Harad River) that leads eastward from Umbra leads directly to the other side of the continent and the ocean there. The gulf located here is many times the size of the Umbar gulf and is where the majority of Haradrim cities reside.
Far Harad; Bozisha-Dar
The Capital and principal seaport city of Far Harad was known as 'Harshport' to those not native to the land. It teemed with exotic travelers from caravan routes from all across the Nafarat, or 'Dune Sea' and the 'Scorched Lands'. A city where foreigners suffered at the hands of pickpockets, swindlers, and agents of the Dark Lord.
The great cosmopolitan port was generally referred to as simply the 'Dar', the jewel of Far Harad in a generally harsh and unforgiving land. Traders and Rogues alike, from dozens of lands, would compete against each other, shoulder to shoulder, for their clients' patronage.
Spices and Silk vied with ivory and pelts from the Mumakan for the buyer's eye, indeed, there could be found practically anything the buyer wanted...for the right price.
On the hills within the Dar, the wealthy had built their mansions, shaded by lush vegetation with tall palm-tree's organised into street-like lanes in a seemingly maze-like fashion around those not used to being among the mansions and palaces that overlook the city, although if viewed from high above it would appear as an advanced pattern.
Here, political intrigue and dark schemes seethed among the nobility, that vie for favor from their Dark Lord or to simply increase their status through wealth gained from unsavory means.
The 'Dark Lord' of the Dar was not Sauron himself, though he would be considered the 'ultimate' authority, no, the Dark Lord of the Dar was always a dark sorcerer, loyal to Sauron or Melkor before him as the First Dark Lord from ages past. Perhaps Melkor was indeed the reason for a ruling Dark Lord, though that was mostly conjuncture as everyone actually believed it had more to do with power and connections, more so than simply tradition.
For ages, the Dark Lord of the Dar would send their troll-men north to fight in the war's that their overlord Sauron, or Melkor, would be involved in from time to time, often asking for nothing for centuries at a time.
Kelataro Bohazani, the current Dark Lord of Far Harad was more than happy to send legions of his belligerent Troll-men north, for they'd been growing far too restless in recent years. He'd been considering another generational genocide of the creatures before he was contacted by, the only one he answered to, the great eye of Sauron.
He was happy to send all manner of unruly beasts and creatures of the jungles to the south to the north, and some of the more...persuasive men that he had at his disposal to make sure that they made it to where Sauron wanted them of course.
The latest contact from Sauron had him, and by extension, all the other nobles who feared him, on edge. A new enemy had appeared on Mordor's southern side, just on the other side of its mountains, in what was once widely known as Harondor. How could an entire nation just appear from no where?
Sauron had been angry too as it would appear that a sorcerer of some kind had slain a Nazghul and injured a Wringwraith during it's taming of said Nazghul. For as long as the Ring of Power existed, somewhere in this world, the Wringwraiths, as well as Sauron himself, could not truly be destroyed nor in essence truly die.
'Nazghul were fearsome creatures, true, but how does one injure that which has no true corporeal body? Especially when it's a powerful leader of old, enhanced by a lesser ring of power?'-Kelataro Bohazani, Dark Lord of Far Harad, thought idly while tapping his fingers upon the arm-rest of his chair...well, throne would likely be a more accurate depiction.
The few dozen people within the room stood by waiting.
A half-dozen of them were the few noble's that he would let speak to him today.
Three of the other six were personal guards, good with blades and 'sniffing-out' poisons.
The remaining three were there as advisers, informants, or messengers. Just one of each today...Not too long ago he'd sent most on their way north to Near Harad and Khand, to have them deal with those pesky 'Blue Wizards'; Alatar and Pallando. Mostly for inciting rebellion among Sauron's allies...and that would include himself as Far Harad was Sauron's ally, now and forever.
Dismissing his idle thoughts and tapping, he turned to glare at those who had come to speak with him;-"Speak, why have you petitioned to come before me?"-the Dark Lord commanded in a dark, rumbling, and strangely echoing voice that made one think of ghosts or sirens of the deep.
A/N: I see no1 commenting/reviewing or PMing me on this and it makes me sad...
(que anime tears)
Anyways, thoughts?