Author Note
I'm not having much luck adding to my other stories so I thought I'd write something else in order to keep my creative juices flowing.
My plan is to have the MC go from world to world after completing missions that amuse the R.O.B. so he won't be able to travel freely or chose his missions.
Since I'm not that well-versed in Tolkien's work do let me know if I've gotten something wrong so I can make corrections.
GREETINGS LESSER CREATURE. YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO JOIN THE TEAM-BUILDING PROGRAM! THE 'WHY' IS BEYOND YOUR FEEBLE MIND'S ABILITY TO COMPREHEND. ONLY THAT YOU SUBMIT OR ELSE...
EACH WORLD YOU VISIT WILL HAVE A BUDGET BASED ON ITS LEVEL OF DANGER TO YOU PRIMITIVES.
USE YOUR BUDGET TO EMPOWER YOURSELF, COLLECT AN ARSENAL, AND BUILD A TEAM. WE WILL BE WATCHING...
Based on Spktr Alpha's Team Builder
"One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them."
― J.R.R. Tolkien,
Team Builder
Part 1
The Shire. Middle Earth.
So one moment I'd been minding my own business, looking at some CYOAs that might be fun to fill out, when a terrifying and powerful creature, one of those R.O.B.s that I'd read about, had forcibly recruited me for some sort of game. I'd been made to fill out a CYOA while the R.O.B. waited, and then it had sent me off to have some real adventures regardless of what I wanted.
At the time it seemed to be something of a good thing, and perhaps it was, but as I lay on the grass in some other world I couldn't help wondering why some all-powerful being would bother with this. Was I mere entertainment for some bored entity? Or was there some greater purpose behind all of this?
Maybe the R.O.B. wanted me to have a positive impact on the dimensions I visited. Was I meant to help or did it not matter? The missions in the CYOA offered rewards to me for changing things, but it didn't have to be a change for the best. Besides who was I to bring about such changes?
Now that the shock was starting to wear off and I didn't have a scary creature demanding that I fill out a form which I'd done in a bit of a rush, I'd come to realise that this was a chance to obtain real power and obtain even more than that. I could now go beyond my rather dull little life and experience far more than most people would ever get to.
I would be able to explore fantastic worlds, gain great powers, and acquire useful skills, I would face challenges that should allow me to grow and I would get to meet some interesting people. This was not a torment from some higher power, rather this was an opportunity. With that in mind, I decided that it would be a good idea to get up and start living my new life.
As I picked myself up off the soft grass-covered ground I noticed that my body had changed and this almost led to me losing my balance as I wasn't used to it. I was taller and my body had become muscular, although there was also a leanness about me. I'd been transformed into a warrior and I could feel the power within me.
I didn't just have mere physical might I had plenty of magical power as well. I could feel it within me an energy of some sort, and something else as well, something mighty and primal. Thanks to the CYOA I had become the Dragonborn, the Dovahkiin of legend.
This was a mortal body with the soul of a dragon and the memories of a man who'd adventured all across Skryim, not as a character in a video game, I'd been a real person, who had done some incredible things ending in absorbing the soul of the First Dragonborn and becoming trapped in a realm of Oblivion.
Within my mind, I had memories of learning to hunt and how to fight with different weapons, I could cast spells, brew potions, and craft many things. I knew how to forge weapons and armour, and how to build homes, as well as to make the tools required for such creations.
My clothes had been replaced with a set of armour made from leather, fur and some metal. On my head, I wore a helmet, a horned one, and given the quality of the items it looked as if selecting the armoury option from the goods section on the CYOA had equipped me with some basic adventuring gear.
The simplicity of my gear did not worry me. This was not Skyrim and I had the powers of the Dragonborn as well as the knowledge of a master mage, and the ability to make myself better armour if I could find the right materials. There was no need for me to worry.
At least I was armed. I carried a sturdy-looking steel sword and I had a dagger at my side. Slung across my back was a simple shield. Even if I'd been totally lacking in physical protection between my spells and my Shouts I'd have hardly been defenceless.
The only thing that seemed to be of higher quality than the rest was my cloak, I knew from the CYOA setup that this item was a cross between Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak and the Cloak of Levitation worn by Doctor Strange.
It could turn me invisible and allow me to fly to an extent, it was even resistant to the elements. In my view, it was worth far more than the single point I'd spent on it, but I wasn't going to complain about getting such a powerful item for next to nothing.
"You must be my master," said a female voice.
Somehow I'd forgotten that I'd not come here alone. One of the points of this CYOA was to build a team to aid you on missions. Either by purchasing someone or by using a feature of the CYOA to basically enslave someone.
Once I'd spent nearly all of my points on a variety of options, giving myself powers, some defences, and equipment to help me survive my adventures, I'd picked a companion worth a single point as that was all I'd had left to spend.
I'd chosen Hermione Granger because she cost one point and while her type of magic wasn't very impressive when compared to that wielded by the Dragonborn, it was rather versatile and Hermione Granger was very good with the spells she knew.
Granted her character could be annoying at times, but she had her good qualities, she was a reliable source of information, loyal and rather skilled with her world's type of spellcasting.
She looked much as she did when off on the Horcrux hunt during the last two movies, only a little older, and while she didn't seem unhappy to be here, her facial expression made me think that she wasn't exactly gleeful about it either.
Her calling me master felt good. It seemed right that even this powerful, young witch, be subservient to me, and if the points system meant anything as an indication of power then I was much mightier than her. Becoming the Dragonborn had cost me five points while she only cost one to buy.
I recalled that dragons of the Elder Scrolls verse, which were much more than the flying fire-breathing reptiles that they seemed to be, had a strong desire to dominate, so it made sense that I would feel good about having this witch refer to me as her master.
"Yes," I replied "You can call me...".
I wasn't going to use my old name. If nothing else letting supernatural beings know my real name might give them power over me.
"Marek Dovahkiin" I was now saying.
I wouldn't use Miraak even if I did see myself as a powerful Dragonborn such as him.
"Yes Master Marek," said Hermione Granger "I guess you already know who I am since you selected me as a companion for your adventures".
Since I didn't know how much she knew about what was going on here we'd have to discuss it soon. It wouldn't do for her to into trouble because she was ignorant of this world. Not that I was an expert on Middle Earth, but I did know enough about this world to recognise the dangers.
"Do you know where we are?" I was asked, "I just know that I would be sent to a different world to serve my master".
I wondered how the companions were recruited. Were they just taken from their lives as I had been? At least this witch wasn't panicking or getting upset. We both seemed to be holding up rather well given our situation.
"Yes," I said, before providing more information "We should be somewhere in Middle-Earth, The Shire to be precise".
While I lacked any pouches of holding, something I should correct later, I did have some regular pouches attached to my armour as well as a book that seemed to be a sort of interface between myself and the CYOA.
I had no points left to spend, but it did keep track of my purchases and let me know what my mission here was. Should I complete it I could move on to a different world and gain some more points. I didn't know what would happen if I didn't complete the mission. I might end up spending the rest of my life in this world. Not that this would be horrible.
The mission would have to be completed. I wanted to acquire more power, obtain useful items, and build myself a proper harem. I was the Dragonborn it was only right that I take what I want.
"You mean were are in Lord of the Rings?" she asked "I never read it, but I did watch an animated version of the story when I was a child".
To be fair most of my knowledge of this world came from the live-action movies and lore videos found on Youtube. I really should have watched the Rings of Power, but I'd been put off by the reviews. I tried to read the books. I could recall reading some of the Hobbit when I was young, and I'd tried to get through the Lord of the Rings Saga as an adult more than once. Alas, I'd failed and that might turn out to be a problem.
"I picked a place with the lowest level of danger," I said to the witch "That might change if we leave the Shire, but we have time to figure things out. First of all we need to find somewhere to spend the night".
Since it was going to get dark in a matter of hours it seemed wise to find shelter. Would the Hobbits have an inn for us to stay in?
"I have a tent, Master Marek?" mentioned Hermione "I still have everything from when my friends and I were looking for the Horcruxes".
Well, that was useful. I only had some very basic adventure gear. I was supposed to have some supplies and tools, perhaps they would be delivered to us once we got settled in somewhere.
"Okay let's set up here" I decided "The Shire is peaceful, but the Hobbits aren't the most welcoming of people towards strangers and I'm hoping that our supplies will catch up with us if we stay in one spot".
I knew a spell to summon up the Dremora Merchant so I could do some trading as soon I got the money promised by the CYOA.
"We can set up here and I can hunt if our supplies don't appear," I told Hermione "We can collect some local plants. I have training in alchemy so I know how to identify edible plants".
Brewing potions was a more complex practice in reality than in the Skyrim game, you needed proper equipment and plenty of time, but we should get that required equipment delivered to us, or perhaps we would be able to purchase what we needed from the locals. Given enough time I felt certain that I could construct everything we needed.
For now, we needed to set up the tent and secure the campsite as best we could as while the Hobbits were highly unlikely to attack us there could be dangerous animals about. I'd rather not have to deal with a bear or some wolves until I'd have a chance to try some of my powers and get a feel for my weapons.
Team Builder
Part 2
The Shire. Middle Earth.
By the time the sun had begun to set behind the hills, we had a proper campsite set up and our supplies had arrived, having been delivered to us inside a few wooden crates by someone we didn't see.
Thanks to this delivery we had an ample supply of food as well as the tools I needed to maintain my equipment and do some building, we even had more weapons, and some of what we needed for enchanting and the making of potions from both our worlds.
What we didn't have I was already working on putting together as Hermione did her best to cook a stew over an open fire. I felt glad that our supplies had included some pots and pans for cooking.
For some reason, I'd been supplied with arrows in a quiver, without a bow to fire them, so I was using my crafting skill to make from some local wood. A more time-consuming task than in video games.
"Don't throw the tins away" I ordered "I can use them".
Hermione looked at the tin can she'd just emptied into the stewpot.
"What for?" she asked.
Being a witch she didn't have much experience with building things and seemed interested in watching me put together a bow.
"They are made from aluminium," I told her "It's a useful material because of its lightness, durability, and its resistant to corrosion".
I'd read up on that more later on with my magical book that contained all of humanities knowledge from my world.
"We've got plenty of money" pointed out Hermione "Can't you just buy what we need".
Not in this case.
"Aluminium isn't something they'll have in this world as it's not something you can dig up," I told her "It has to be manufactured".
As for buying what else we needed, I felt sure that even with their dislike of strangers that the locals would do business with us. Hobbits aren't exactly xenophobic, at least not to the point that they'd try to chase us out of The Shire or refuse to do business with us.
When it came to money, we had plenty of that and Hermione could use magic to increase our supplies, even if that had limits, so we were in no danger of going hungry. Even if we had been I could hunt and forage for us.
"The Hobbits are a pre-industrial society based around agriculture" I mentioned "They won't have much in the way of metals to trade as they'll use what they have for tools and such".
I'd have to find an iron mine while travelling so that I could transmute some ore into silver and gold. Then we'd have something to trade if we ever needed a large infusion of cash, and later I could make some better-quality enchanted items. Being able to sell my own Rings of Power would be cool.
Thanks to the transmutation spell I knew how to use magic to transform iron into silver and then I could transform that silver into gold, it wasn't something you could reverse, the metals would be as real as anything that came out of the ground.
I wondered if the spell could be modified to turn gold into mithril, which was a naturally occurring element in this world that was supposed to have magical qualities. The spell used for transmutation could in theory transform one element into another if the spell could be reverse-engineered, in a sense, and then altered.
A very long-term project to be sure. I figured that Hermione Granger should be able to help with that as she was bound to have studied all kinds of magic. Perhaps she knew about what they called alchemy in her word which involved turning less valuable metals into gold.
"We can still visit the towns and see what they have to offer," I said to Hermione "But I'm more interested in finding out when we are. The wars with Morgoth and Sauron won't take place during this time as those are much higher danger ratings, but Sauron could be working in the background or this could be after the Lord of the Rings books".
I suddenly realised that I had a way to check. I took out my magical map, which could locate people as well as objects that weren't shielded by some sort of special technology or magic.
"Looks as if we're pre-Hobbit," I said to Hermione "Gandalf is on the map, and so is Thorin Oakenshield, and Bilbo Baggins, but there's no Frodo Baggins, the One Ring is somewhere over in the Misty Mountains. Sauron is either shielded or still in spirit form as he doesn't appear on the map".
This was all very useful to know and it allowed me to refine my plans.
"We'll need to go to Rivendell and see the elves," I told my companion "If the events of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings haven't happened yet then we can warn the elves about what is going to happen. I bet the elves and Gandalf can deal with the One Ring".
Hermione didn't know what I was thinking, but she seemed to be doing a good job of keeping up with my ever-growing plans, or at the very least she picked up on the parts that really mattered.
"The One Ring, isn't it a kind of Horcrux?" I was asked.
That wasn't a question with a simple yes or no answer.
"It's similar in some respects" I started by saying "You have to understand that Sauron isn't just some dark wizard, he's more like a fallen angel than anything else. He used to work for Melkor, who is basically Satan in this universe only he wasn't cast into hell exactly. Sauron can take physical form, but he's a spiritual being, he doesn't have a soul as we do, or rather he is his soul".
I had more to say on this matter.
"So destroying the One Ring doesn't make Sauron a mortal man. If I recall my lore correctly once the Ring is destroyed he ends up a spirit that fades away" I told Hermione "As for the One Ring, it might be vulnerable to the same things a Horcrux is. It's believed that it can only be destroyed by being thrown into the lava inside Mount Doom, but it might be that it can be destroyed by basilisk venom or fiendfyre. It's not like anyone has destroyed the Ring before so we don't know for certain".
Not that we had any basilisk venom as for the volcano I'd always wondered why everyone thought that the One Ring could only be destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. It's not as if anyone had tested this and only Sauron would know its weaknesses since he'd made the One Ring and he wouldn't tell anyone.
"I don't know if I can control Fiendfyre" warned Hermione.
Destroying the One Ring wasn't our business I just wanted to warn the elves and Gandalf about it so they could take some sort of preemptive action. That way a few wars could be avoided and a lot of lives saved.
"Don't worry about it?" I said, "I don't want to go anywhere near the One Ring".
I would be too easily tempted by its power. Even now I was thinking if it might be possible to use the Bend Will Shout to bring the One Ring under my control. After all, if I could control dragons who were angelic creatures in their own right then shouldn't Sauron's ring also be controllable?
No, the risk was too great and there were lesser rings of power to consider, the ones Celebrimbor made as essays on the craft. They weren't linked to Sauron as far as I knew, and while they were nowhere near as great as the Rings of Power I wouldn't mind possessing one. Something I began to explain to my companion as we ate the stew she'd made.
"I'm going to write some of this down" she decided after finishing our simple meal "We need to properly plan out what we are going to do".
My overall plan was now coming together. In order to leave this world and get more points I needed to gain influence over people, however, that didn't need to be limited to The Shire.
We could travel this world, trading as we moved about. While we didn't need the money it would give us an excuse to interact with people and spread our influence even in a minor way, and we would explore.
I wanted to learn more about crafting and Hermione desired knowledge of magic so visiting the elves at Rivendell made sense. Hopefully, we could trade information about the dangers in the future for useful knowledge that the elves had obtained over thousands of years.
"Learning a little of the dwarves know about crafting would be good" I mentioned "If we find the time".
I could pay for that knowledge with transmuted gold. Something else to consider.
"Okay so we tell Gandalf and the elves about the One Ring" summarised Hermione as she began to write in a notebook "We learn from the elves and maybe dwarves, trading what we can along the way so that we can pass as travelling merchants".
I hoped that over time we would gain influence all over Middle Earth.
"Yes," I said, "And we'll see if we can pick up some interesting books along the way".
They would be expensive due to books being handwritten in this world, but worth it.
"So what about these lesser rings of power you want to find?" Hermione wondered.
I was pleased that we were getting along so well and working together to come up with plans of action.
"The Dark Lord Sauron taught the craft of Ring-making to the elven smiths in one of their kingdoms," I told the young witch "Not many of the leaders of the elves trusted him even as he pretended to be a good guy, but a few did and they worked with him to forge magical rings".
I could tell her more about Sauron later on.
"While the smiths were learning they forged many lesser rings and nineteen greater rings," I told the witch "The greater rings ended up in the hands of nine mortal men, who were kings and sorcerers, seven went to dwarven lords who rule their own kingdoms underground, and three were given to the elves while Sauron forged a master ring to control the other greater rings".
That was a very basic summary.
"As for the lesser rings" I was now saying "they were destroyed or lost, but I have a map that shows me that there are still a number of them out there and while rare they aren't lost totally because Gandalf assumed that Bilbo's ring was simply one of these lesser rings, so it seems likely that he'd encountered lesser rings before".
I could make a ring of invisibility so it wasn't that big of a deal, or at least one that made you nearly invisible. Enchanting the Skyrim way involved trading souls for power and the souls of lesser creatures weren't worth as much, but even if I had a black soul gem I wasn't sure that I'd be willing to subject a person to the Soul Carin just to make a fancy ring.
"It was only when he found that Bilbo wasn't ageing as much, that Gandalf suspected it could be one of the Great Rings, and even then he does assume it's the Ring of Power until he does some research" I added, "So to me, it seems as the lesser rings aren't that dangerous".
Hermione looked deep in thought.
"Wouldn't it make sense to find some dwarves and use their equipment to forge your own version of a ring of power rather than set up in the wilderness?" she asked, "You mentioned that you can enchant objects, so why not make your own? It seems safer".
I'd expected different questions from her.
"That does make sense" I admitted, "And I want to enchant at least some of our gear before we leave The Shire as it's more dangerous outside of it. But we only have a few lesser soul gems and I'm not sure how the local wizards will react if they find out we're harvesting souls for power".
Using the filled soul gems should be fine since they'd already been harvested. At least in my view.
"Maybe we can learn about making Rings of Power from the elves" I mused "Although I'd wait until the One Ring is destroyed before making my own so Sauron can't influence me".
That was another long-term project to focus on later.
"We could do so with a wagon and a horse as well," I said, changing the subject "I think we could get those in Bree which isn't too far from here".
By now it was getting dark, and soon it was agreed by the both of us that we would get some sleep and go to meet the Hobbits tomorrow. It had been a busy day.
Team Builder
Part 3
The Shire. Middle Earth.
Just by looking around the small town that we were exploring I could tell that this land was inhabited exclusively by hobbits, otherwise known as the Shire-folk or halflings.
I knew from my limited knowledge of this world that these people were largely sheltered from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. The locals didn't react much to our presence or question why we were dressed so strangely. In fact, they barely spared us any glances.
I'd donned muggle clothing that Hermione had her expanded bag and was able to re-size for me that must have belonged to Harry Potter or Ron Weasly as I'd thought that wearing my armour might scare the Hobbits.
That was why I also kept my dagger hidden and placed my sword in Hermione's bag. There was no need to come off as hostile and I had my powers if any of the locals did feel like picking a fight.
Since we both carried backpacks, they were part of our adventuring gear, I imagined it looked as if we were passing through, and to an extent, we were as with the tent we didn't need to set up anywhere just for me to enchantment some of our gear, and I could do some proper crafting of magical items once we made contact with someone who would hopefully supply me with what I needed.
While the Hobbits were pre-industrial they weren't as primitive as I'd expected. I'd say they were roughly Victorian or Edwardian in terms of development. I wondered if the humans of Middle-Earth were this advanced or if the Hobbits had done all of this on their own, surpassing the humans of this world.
The Hobbits had a nice bit of land to call home and despite being plump creatures they weren't shying away from hard work. I saw shepherds tending to animals, and farmers moving wagons full of crops. On the map, I could see the halflings even had their own quarry.
There was a market that I decided to visit, but no one seemed willing to do business with us. There was little here to interest me anyway as aside from food, most of what was for sale, was wool, beer, and simple tools, none of which I needed.
I wondered who made and sold household items. Where did the Hobbits get their, plates, bowls, cutlery and so on? Was there a shop around here that I hadn't seen?
"Master, I don't think we're going to learn much here" commented Hermione.
No one was actively being hostile towards us, aside from some muttering and unfriendly glances, and I didn't think we'd be attacked, but it was clear that we weren't welcome here.
"You're right," I said "Perhaps we should move to Bree sooner than I planned".
I'd seen no reason to rush, but if the locals weren't going to engage with us then there was no point hanging around. Perhaps they had some knowledge to share, even a library, however, I didn't think they'd sell any books to us or even give us access.
As for Hermione, I'd not fucked her yet despite us sharing a tent as yesterday had been rather hectic at least mentally I wanted to get to know her before I ordered her to spread her legs for me. It would just be easier on the both of us if she could be relaxed around me and I didn't think she was going to be able to do what with the halflings being so rude.
"A pity, it's really a nice place" I commented "A shame we aren't staying".
To my surprise, an elderly Hobbit actually addressed what I had just said.
"We don't get many visitors in these parts," he said.
The old halfling who was sitting outside of what I assumed to be a pub, explained to us that while The Shire was protected by Rangers of the North, who watched the borders and kept out intruders, humans were a rare sight here, as there wasn't much trade and Hobbits weren't the kind of people who liked to chat with travellers.
Aside from the Rangers, the only strangers entering the Shire were Dwarves travelling on the Great Road from their mines in the Blue Mountains, and occasional Elves on their way to the Grey Havens. Although no one had seen an Elf in a long time.
At least from this we now knew that we could talk to the locals. The CYOA didn't have an option that allowed for translations such as a special device or power, at least not that I could remember, so it must be an inbuilt feature.
This made sense as if we were here to entertain a R.O.B. it would be a lot easier to do so if we were able to interact with the locals with more than just hand signals and with us figuring out a few words. That would stop being amusing very quickly.
The lack of friendly contact didn't surprise me. I didn't think even Gandalf was well-liked by everyone despite his frequent visits and his fireworks, which were at least enjoyed by the children of the Shire.
"If you want to learn about Hobbits then go to the town of Bree" suggested the elder halfling "You'll find a few odd Hobbits there who like to talk to big folk".
From the town of Bree, it should be simple enough to get to Rivendell as Bree had been built at a crossroads and one of those roads goes east directly to the home of the elves if my map was correct. There I would hopefully be granted an audience with Elrond Half-Elven who according to my map was at home.
"Then we're off to Bree" I declared to Hermione.
I planned to walk, to take the road east, at least for a while. If it got boring then I could find out how fast it was possible to fly using my cloak.
"Yes, Master Marek," said the witch.
As we headed out I did give some thought to conquering the Shire by simply killing anyone who protested until everyone knelt before me. I decided against that because I'd get very bored here before long and it would sour things with the very people I wanted to warn about Sauron.
If nothing else Gandalf would get rather upset if we found out what someone was messing with The Shire and while he might not seem like a big threat I recalled well that he beat the Balrog, even if it cost him his life, and so he would be a threat to me.
Still, it was tempting to enslave them into making a temple in my honour. That had to be the Miraak in me. I'd be careful not to listen to that side of myself too often as it could get me into trouble.
Hermoine and I began walking. Taking the paths east and while moving we got to see some of the homes lived in by the Hobbits. Since they were partly underground it was difficult to tell, but I got the impression that some homes were bigger than others.
The bigger houses were further upwards, we were in a small valley, and I wondered what sort of class system they had here. Thinking on I realised that Bilbo Baggins didn't have a job, leaving one would have come up in The Hobbit, and yet he was well off even before he came home with his share of the treasure.
Perhaps they had landed gentry who made money renting land to farmers?
"This is all very British isn't it?" commented Hermione "I used to wonder if wizards had places like this to grow their food, but I never found any mention of it in the library".
Knowing her world as I did I figured that the wizards, who didn't have much of a population, either stole food from the muggles or they enslaved another magical race and had them doing all the work like the House Elves. Something I mentioned to the witch.
"It wouldn't surprise me" she replied "I wanted to join the Ministry and try to stop that sort of exploitation".
A noble goal sure, but it sounded rather dull to me.
"Well you can help me prevent a war," I said "That's got to mean something".
Given that there should be an endless multiverse out there then stopping Sauron before he could get going again might not matter much in the grand scheme of things, however, being able to prevent a war must count as having influence over the people of this world. If nothing else being able to direct the course of history for this world would be satisfying and a good measure of my power.
"I guess," Hermione said to me "I just wish that I'd been given a choice in the matter".
So far I was finding Miss Granger to be rather pleasant company and while I'd not been a very sociable person for the last few years, and not always by choice, I found myself wanting to converse further with her.
"How do you end up as part of the CYOA?" I asked, "Did you get forcibly recruited as I did?".
Had someone just sat me down and made the offer I felt sure I would have agreed, it was just that like Hermione I would have liked to have been able to choose my fate.
"I was," she told me "Not that I can really complain. I'd been in hiding for a while, ever since I got separated, I lost Harry and Ron".
She knew that to me she was a fictional character and that I knew her story. Only as it turned out her life wasn't all known to me.
"You got separated?" I asked, "When did that happen".
She stopped and sat down on a low stone wall. I decided to join her. We had a long journey ahead of us so it wasn't such a bad idea to rest our feet.
"It was the locket Horcrux," she told me "It didn't affect me much, but Ron and Harry got into a fight. We broke camp and Ron stormed off. I went after him to drag him back if I had to. He left and dragged me along, we ended up running into a gang of snatchers who caught us".
She didn't need to explain to me who they were or what they wanted.
"Ron being a pureblood wasn't treated too badly and they took him to the Ministry" she was now saying "But with me being a muggle-born they decided to have some fun with me at their camp before handing me over to someone".
I felt the desire to go find those snatchers and show them what true power looked like.
"They were sloppy and I managed to get away with my bag" she mentioned "I looked for Harry, but he didn't want to be found, and I think Ron ended up a hostage. I've spent a lot of time alone in a tent knowing that I was being hunted because my parents were not magical people who married their own cousins".
There was nothing wrong with muggle-borns. They were just the Jews of their time and for that culture. A mostly powerless and small group who could be blamed for social problems they had little to do with.
"So when I got the chance to leave I took it," said the young witch "At least I can move about freely in this world. No one cares who my parents are and maybe I can make a difference here".
I felt the urge to put an arm around here and so I did until it was time to move on. While we weren't in any real rush I'd like to get out of this Hobbit settlement before it got dark. If we needed to camp I'd rather do without any passive-aggressive locals around.
Team Builder
Part 4
Barrow. The Old Forest.
According to the map, this part of Middle-Earth was called The Barrow-downs, an area made up of low hills that were located to the east of the Shire and the Old Forest, and west of the village of Bree, our destination.
While I'd never managed to actually read more than a little of the Lord of the Rings Saga, I had made an effort more than once, and as such, I knew that there was a lot more going on in the books that could have been shown in the films. In fact, they could have made multiple movies for each of the books and still missed bits of the story.
Tom Bombadil is an example of something totally unseen in the movies. In the books, he is a man, or perhaps something else, who seems to be a good guy and helped out the Hobbits. Yet at the same time seeming to be totally uncaring about anything that happened outside of the lands that he called home and despite this, the elves think highly of him.
I'd not sought out that person because I had no idea what he would make of me. He might kill me or sing me a song. I'd decided to simply avoid such a situation and focus on something else.
I was keeping my eye on the prize, that being one of the lesser rings of power and to obtain it I would need to enter one of the barrows.
When the four Hobbits enter a barrow they are attacked by a wraith of some kind if I remember correctly. I felt fairly sure that it was the point in the story when one of the halflings picks up the sword he later uses to wound the Witch-King because the sword had been forged for a war against Angmar.
Since I was the Dragonborn, or at least I remembered being the Dovahkinn of legend, I had some experience with barrows and I knew how dangerous they could be. They could be full of traps, and undead creatures as well as the home of wild animals.
Bleak Falls Barrow was a memory stronger than the others and even though I felt nothing about the places and people I could recall from that life, how that barrow had been a challenging place for that Dragonborn to get through.
Under other circumstances I wouldn't enter one as I have respect for the dead, however, this barrow contained one of the lesser rings of power according to my special map. There were a few of them scattered about, and half a dozen were somewhat close together over in Mordor.
I had no intention of trying to collect them. Even if Mordor wasn't home to Sauron these days it could still be infested with orcs and I was no Talion I couldn't make Mordor my bitch.
As to why I wanted one of the lesser rings, it could boost my already impressive powers. This world wasn't very dangerous, at least not when compared to worlds I could visit, but I might need more power in the future. It seemed worth the risk.
"Isn't this a tomb?" my witch asked "Are we raiding someone's tomb".
And me without a Laura Croft companion.
"It's a burial mound" I answered "More than one person would have been buried here a long time ago. Our ancestors used them before the Romans turned up".
An entire clan could be buried here and that actually made it even more creepy that I wanted to go in there and take something.
"Are you sure that we should go in there?" Hermione asked.
It was risky, however, as the Dragonborn, I'd faced many horrors before and come out of those encounters even stronger than before. I would enter the Barrow and claim the lesser ring of power. However, I would not wear it until I'd gotten someone wiser than myself to check it out. Sure I was hungry for power, but that didn't make a fool. I wasn't going to put on something cursed.
"You can stay out here" I offered.
She was too Gryffindor for that. Hermione took out her wand and followed me in, lighting up the stick as we entered the barrow. I used magic to create light as well and I didn't need a bit of wood to manage it.
The inside of the barrow was as expected full of dead people, but unlike in Skyrim, the dead here didn't violently protest when someone came to visit them. Nor was the structure just the tip of the iceberg with the barrow being much larger than it needed to be, containing many rooms underground.
There were lots of dead bodies, some of which had their final resting places sealed while others were wrapped up in cloth that hadn't rotted away completely for some reason. Some sort of enchantment I assumed.
People had left offerings here long ago. On the ground, I saw bits of broken pottery and shards of something that could have been wood. The only thing that had endured was the gold and the jewels.
In some cultures it wasn't odd to bury the dead with objects they could use in the afterlife and that seemed to have happened here. Coins, amulets and so on had been left here for the use of long-departed souls.
"Master, You aren't going to take any of that are you?" Hermione questioned, "Stealing is wrong".
I had no desire to take any of it as I'd come for a single item and with the money supplied by the CYOA, I had no need to steal from the dead even though I remembered doing so often as the Dragonborn.
"You can't steal from the dead, that's called archaeology" I pointed out "But no, I'm only going to take the ring".
We moved around the circular structure as the map zoomed in. If one of these corpses wore the ring I was going to have to man up and remove it despite not really wanting to do that.
"Odd the ring is moving about" I mentioned.
I showed Hermione the map and she saw that the ring was indeed moving about the place.
"Did someone beat us here?" she asked.
Who would come here looking for magic rings? Some servant of Sauron? A treasure hunter? A lost Hobbit?
It suddenly got much colder than before, and the map told me that the ring was now moving towards me.
"Something is coming this way," said Hermione.
I put the map away and took out my sword. On a hunch, I then cast a Detect Dead spell. As the name suggests the spell detects the undead, corpses and reanimated bodies in a similar fashion to the Detect Life spell. The spell creates an aura around the undead that can be seen even through the thickest of walls.
"It's some kind of Draugr most likely," I said.
Then I remembered that they don't have Draugr they have wraiths here. Ghosts that can interact with the physical world rather than corpses that are animated by magic.
The creature when it appeared was a dark phantom whose eyes were luminous and its very presence made the air cold. It reached out with skeletal hands one of which held a sword of some kind, and I heard Hermione mutter something about Dementors. To be fair the creature did seem to have some sort of aura of despair around it.
Lucky for us I'd purchased the Mental Shield feature which protected us against attacks on the mind as such while there was a sense of dread and I could feel myself getting even colder we wouldn't be disabled by fear like someone facing a Dementor could be.
When the creature got close enough I lashed out with my simple steel sword and the blow was intercepted by a black blade that I was able to batter aside before I struck at the monster, driving my weapon into what passed for flesh. Yet this only caused the entity to back off. I seemed to have only stung it.
"I think we'll need magic for this," I informed Hermione.
She must have been planning to act as she got a spell off very quickly.
"Expecto Patronum!"
That was probably the famous spell known to any fan of the Harry Potter movies due to it being used during the Prisoner of Azkaban to fight off a lot of Dementors. A slivery-white form, some sort of small mammal, ran right into the undead thing and drove it away.
This gave me time to realise that light and fire would be the best ways to fight this unnatural thing. Undead creatures tend to fear fire and sunlight more than anything.
"Try to drive it outside" I ordered.
Knowing that my sword would be of limited use against this foe I placed it back in its scabbard and called upon my magical powers so that I could hold fire in the palms of my hands. As the Patronus tried to keep the undead thing away I threw fireballs at it.
This didn't do much and the patrons didn't last so I was forced to resort to something even more powerful.
"RII VAAZ!"
Essence Tear was a Shout so powerful that it could destroy the body and attack the soul. Since this abomination was more a ghost than a zombie, in some sense, it was a soul, the Shout proved effective and the creature lost its ability to manifest. As it did a gold ring dropped to the ground.
I was not foolish enough to touch the ring with my skin as I had no idea what it would do to a person so I telekinetically, I knew that spell too, carried it outside and found that it was a plain gold band, not unlike the One Ring.
"Better let Lord Elrond have a look at it," I said to myself as I placed it in my pouch.
If it turned out to be cursed I was sure that I could use the Th'um to destroy the ring.
"Good job with the Expecto Patronum" I praised my companion "It weakened that thing. Whatever it was".
She seemed pleased by words, but it didn't last.
"I thought this world was supposed to be safe" she commented.
Safety was always a relative term.
"We've left The Shire which was the lowest danger level and entered a level 2 danger setting as I understand it" I let the former Hogwarts student know "These lands are dangerous as your world before Voldemort returned and you were nearly killed a few times before that Dark Lord got back into the swing of things".
Aside from the troll, there had been Voldemort possessing a teacher sort of, that big scary snake and the Dementors as well as a werewolf. All of which I mentioned to her.
"Your potions teacher was a dark wizard, and you had a mass murder pretending to be your friend's pet rat" I then said, "How much safety did you and your friends have when Voldemort was lurking in the shadows?".
Thinking on it the subject I figured that I should put my armour back on.
"So we need to be more careful" stated Hermione who had gotten my point "What other dangers can we expect".
I'd given the matter some thought before and I did so again.
"Sauron isn't supposed to be active yet so I don't think we'll run into any orc warbands," I told her "We could encounter bandits, small groups of goblins, maybe even some trolls, but we don't have any Nazgul hunting us so we should make it Rivendell in one piece as long as we are careful and that would be true even if we were just humans with some survival skills".
I was more concerned about Saruman than Sauron. The White Wizard hungered for power and wasn't above betraying his allies to get it. If Saruman found out about Hermione and me, he might try to take our power from us, if such a thing was possible.
"We should get moving" I decided "I think we should put some distance between us and the barrows before it gets dark. Those things are most likely bound to the barrows, but I don't want to take needless chances".
I'd had enough of the dead for one day.
Team Builder
Part 5
The Prancing Pony. Bree.
"This place reminds me a lot of the Leaky Cauldron," said Hermione Granger as we sat down in the pub, having taken over a booth away from the door "If the streets were cleaner you'd think we were in Diagon Alley".
Since I'd never been to the Wizarding World and I lacked any real desire to despite it being on my list of options, I had no idea if the magical street looked anything like this part of Bree, but I had watched the movies and I could recall how old fashioned they dressed when compared to their non-magical counterparts.
We'd just arrived in town after spending several weeks following the road as we headed east. The map hadn't given me a proper sense of how far we'd actually needed to travel. I'd forgotten that Middle Earth was an entire continent.
I'd grown up on an island that you could drive to any part of in less than a day so I was really prepared for long it takes to get places on foot. It was a good thing that we weren't in any rush to get anywhere. As a bonus, all this walking would keep us both in shape.
Since we'd left Hobbiton we hadn't seen any people or glimpsed any living being that wasn't a plant, insect or bird. There were no highwaymen on the road to rob us or any lone wolves sniffing around our campsite.
Overall it had been a dull journey, involving a lot of walking, but the scenery had been lovely, and it had given us a chance to get to know each other as we travelled. Hermione and I had both spoken a lot about our past lives, and how excited we both were about the future we would share.
Thinking more about the village of Bree, I supposed it would remind her of the Wizarding World. It looked to be about a century behind my civilization, but like The Shire, it wasn't as primitive as I'd expected. This was good, although we'd be setting up the tent inside a rented room as the beds on offer might not be free of pests.
Sure this pub was lit by candles at night and the roads were covered in mud, but the style of clothing and general hygiene of the locals was better than it could have been. They didn't smell so bad and no one seemed to have lice, not that I looked too closely.
The fabric of the clothing worn by the people here was of higher quality than it would be for a medieval setting and the lamps outside looked Victorian in style.
I hoped that we would be able to acquire a horse and a wagon while visiting this village as it would be better than walking as I'd had quite enough of that even if it would keep us in shape.
Since I had a way to get some goods from Skyrim, thanks to a certain summoning spell, as well as money to purchase some locally made items, I would have plenty of stuff to sell as we moved around.
Being a travelling merchant was just good cover, and no one should pay too much attention to us now we had cloaks to cover our modern clothing. As a trader, I should be able to easily acquire information, even if I had to pay for it.
"I'll order us some food," I said.
Hermione should have a break from cooking and it was nice not to have to gather firewood or set up the tent right away. I would still tell my witch to put up protective enchantments when we slept as I didn't want to foolishly lower our guard now that we'd left The Shire and entered a more dangerous part of this world.
The former Hogwarts student should know a spell or two to make sure that the food didn't make us ill. Something I confirmed before actually making our order. It wouldn't do for one of us to get sick even if I did have a few restoration spells at my command.
I'd already reserved a room for a few days as we needed time to acquire horses and a wagon, as well as to do some shopping. I doubted that anyone around here had much money, so it was good that making a profit wasn't important to me even if having a treasure hoard of my own was tempting.
Looking around I saw the pub was providing shelter to people who mostly seemed to be Victorian-age humans, they wouldn't have looked out of place in an Oliver Twist production, and there were a few dwarves here as well. If there were any elves about, and I doubted it, they were doing a very good job of blending in.
There was no sign of Aragorn, aka Strider, however, that didn't mean he wasn't watching us right now. If anyone was going to take notice of our strange clothing or the fact that Hermione and I were too clean for people who'd been on the road then it would be him.
Thinking about it he might not have even been born yet. The events of the Lord of the Rings happen many decades after the Hobbit. Bilbo was quite young by Hobbit standards and he was getting old by the time Frodo took ownership of the One Ring.
Then again Aragorn wasn't a normal human if I recalled correctly so it was possible he was around.
There would be other rangers about who might take notice of the fact that we didn't really blend in. Yet no one here seemed interested in coming over and talking to us, nor we were getting any looks sent our way.
"Who are looking for?" asked Hermione who had noticed that I was keeping an eye out.
"Suspicious characters" I answered
No one here seemed to be hostile and this was a time of peace so I might be worried about nothing. It wasn't as if the Nine were going to enter town looking for the Ring-Bearer.
"Or anyone offering a quest" I joked.
That got me a funny look.
"This is a world of fantasy and adventure" I explained, "In games based in these sorts of worlds the local tavern is often the best place to pick up a quest when you are some hero and you want your character to go out to earn some sweet XP".
Our food arrived before she could question me about that and we began to eat after Hermione carefully waved her wand over the simple meals. We ate our cheese, meat and bread, washing it down with some local ale that went well with the food.
After we'd finished our dinner we headed upstairs to the room I'd booked and Hermione used her magic to secure the room while I began to set up the tent.
I'd expected her to retreat to her own bed to do some reading, as she'd brought quite a lot of books with her, only this time she lingered and she didn't seem to have anything to say. She'd just started watching me as I began to undress.
Since I was no fool, I knew that should be a good time to advance our relationship, I reached over to her and took what I wanted. I pulled the young witch into my arms and kissed her. She didn't respond right away, but soon she had her own arms around me and she was very much getting into the spirit of things.
My hands began to roam over her slim body. Her breasts weren't likely to grab attention, but she was far from flat-chested, and they felt nice even through her clothing. Being a bum man I couldn't help feeling up her arse, and in my view, it was one of her better features as she nicely filled out her jeans.
"Would you sit down" she suddenly requested.
Once I had, Hermione got to her knees and grabbed the front of my trousers. She slowly unzipped my jeans and began pulling them down. She seemed rather pleased to see the erection that my boxers were doing little to hide. It was undeniable proof that I found her attractive, although I felt sure that she'd notice the looks I'd given her just as I had noticed the smiles she recently started to send my way.
Once my cock was free she took it in her hand and lightly touched the tip. As time passed and she got bolder, she encircled my manhood with her hand and gave me some long, slow strokes. She acted as if she was fascinated by what she was doing and I couldn't help wondering if she'd ever gone this far before with someone else or if this was all new to her.
Hermione looked up into my eyes before glancing down at my cock again. Then she began moving her head, licking my cock from base to tip, trying to figure out how to best please me. She did this some more until she put my dick into her mouth.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.
I'd gotten the impression that the Snatchers who'd grabbed her might have done sexual stuff to her, yet she appeared to be quite eager to do this, so perhaps they hadn't actually gotten around to assaulting her in that way.
While I owned her in some sense, I didn't want her to feel that she needed to service me sexually like she was my slave, even in some ways she was.
"Yes, I really want to do this, Master," she told me.
She used her large brown doe-like eyes to convince me more than her words. I couldn't resist that look and I didn't doubt for a moment that she use it again on me. Even the mighty Dragonborn has his weaknesses.
The young witch took my cock into her mouth again, not gagging at all as she made my dick disappear inside her. It was hot and wet inside her mouth, I wondered how her pussy would feel once I'd claimed it.
Hermione continued giving me a blowjob, and she was making noises with her mouth that were rather pleasant to hear. She kept going, figuring out quickly what I liked and being careful with her teeth. She'd either done this before, or she was a natural at sussing out what would make a guy happy.
Relaxed, I sat on my bed as she worked. She kept going, not stopping to catch her breath, or because she wanted to take a break. She focused totally on pleasing me and after a while, she completed her task.
"I'm gonna cum" I warned her.
Hermione barely had time to react before I shot my load inside her mouth, I could feel it flooding into her. It had been far too long since I'd gotten a woman on her knees in front of me. I was glad that this could become a regular thing.
The witch pulled back and pointed her wand at her mouth.
"Mouth cleaning and breath freshening charms" she explained "The girls in my dorm room told me about them. Helps deal with the taste and you don't have to worry about not kissing me afterwards".
I couldn't help feeling amused.
"Would you like me to return the favour?" I asked.
She nodded a little, stood up and then stepped away from me. She'd never seemed as shy as she did right now yet despite her nerves she unbuttoned her shirt and jeans. Her underwear and bra were both plain white.
The young witch blushed when she saw me admiring her and she tried to cover herself a little. This was not a good thing. I wanted her to be more confident about her body and for her to be relaxed around me even if she was naked. This was important because I wanted to see her undressed quite often.
"You don't need to be embarrassed," I told her "You're a beautiful young woman, Hermione".
Her skin was pale and unmarked as far as I could see. This version of her had never been to Malfoy Manor so Bellatrix Lestrange had never been able to scar her.
Since she seemed to be waiting for something so I finished undressing her. Removing her bra before I spent some time playing with her breasts. Hermione inhaled sharply as I played with one of her nipples while taking the other in my mouth.
"I'm glad you like them" I heard her say.
It took some time for me to pull myself away from her boobs. She'd been
quite happy to just stand there as I played with them.
She reached a hand down and pulled her knickers down as I made an effort to help, allowing me to see her pussy. She had a good amount of hair, which obscured her pussy from view. I'd have to have her do something about that later as I found a bare cunt to be far more attractive, but that could wait as I wanted to make her feel good about herself.
"Turn around for me" I ordered.
Right away I noticed that she had a tattoo of some kind of her back. It was familiar to me.
This must be the mark that would appear on the people I could capture. I'd not given it any thought until now as I'd not been intending to capture anyone, at least not in this world.
"Did you know about this tattoo?" I asked,
Hermione nodded.
"It's your mark, Master," she said "It's not the Dark Mark it just symbolises that I belong to you".
She didn't seem bothered by being branded, so I let the matter go and led her over to the bed. She laid down on it. I pushed her legs apart, and she looked away embarrassed but the young witch made no effort to stop me from looking at her most private of parts.
Nor did she do more than gasp when I began to play with her pussy. I slowly pushed a finger in and out of her, before adding another. It was easy to find out that she was still a virgin, so she hadn't been raped by the Snatchers or willingly taken by any other man
I began doing my best to use my hands and mouth to please her. It had been a while since I'd gone down on a girl, so it was good that I'd gotten so much practice when I was young. I knew how to use my tongue to pleasure a woman and to pay attention to her clit, something that made her gasp.
"Master put it in. Please, I can't wait anymore!" she called out.
Knowing better than to question this I lined up my cock with her pussy. I gently pushed into her and Hermione moaned before she whimpered.
"Are you okay? Should I stop?" I asked.
Hermione bit her lip and shook her head.
"I just need to get used to this," she said "Don't worry about me getting pregnant I'm on a potion".
Before long my cock was fully inside her. Hermione looked to be in pain, yet when I tried to pull out of her she held onto me. Clearly, she wanted to get through this and lose her virginity.
I knew that one day soon I'd have her riding my cock and I'd be able to fuck her hard, and she'd love it once she was used to having me inside her.
This first time would not be so much fun. I broke her hymen and she screamed so I stopped my motion. She recovered fast, getting her breathing under control.
"You can move now," she said "Just go slowly".
I started to slowly thrust in and out of her, it was even better than her mouth. Hermione started to whimper too, starting to enjoy it more as she got even wetter. After a while I started to go faster and faster, putting more power behind my thrusts.
Soon, the tent was filled with the sounds of a witch who was getting fucked. Hermione's cries had heightened in volume, and I could feel her fingernails digging into my back as she held onto me. It felt as if she was trying to force me deeper inside her.
"Master I'm cumming!" Hermione called out.
She screamed out my name as I kept thrusting into her, filling her with my cum, as she screamed very loudly for what I hoped was a good reason.