Chapter 9 - The White Council

Lothlorian, TA 2463

Returned With Renewed Strength

Four hundred years later, the Presence returned to Dol Guldur with renewed strength.

Radagast was the first to detect it. When he told Saruman and Gandalf, they came to the same conclusion independently. Sauron is back, and he has the Ring.

Saruman reproached himself. The Istari had been in Arda for over a thousand years. In all that time, they hadn't made any effort to find the Ring and lock it away. For that matter, Saruman could have given it to Aulë to unmake. If he'd searched for it himself, rather than studying in the libraries, this could have ended differently.

Lost On The Slopes of Orodruin

Saruman couldn't understand how Sauron found it.

He would have been wearing it when he emerged from the safety of his fortress to meet Gil-galad in single combat. When he fell, his body would have crumpled into dust. The Ring would almost certainly have been lost in the loose gravel and cinders on the slopes of Orodruin, unnoticed under his clothes and armor, if the conquering forces didn't know to look for it.

And why would they? They didn't know of its existence. Ar-Pharazôn hadn't either, when he took Sauron prisoner a hundred years earlier.

Saruman wondered out loud how Sauron could even have found the exact spot where the Ring was lost. Even when it's not erupting, the features of the cinder cone change whenever the wind blows. "There are no landmarks." said Saruman.

"Yes, there are. After the battle, the Last Alliance erected a monument marking the spot where Gil-galad and Elendil fell. Sauron fell there, too." said Gandalf.

Not Since The Second Age

They couldn't confront Sauron directly. Their charter forbade it. But they could mobilize the Free Peoples, and give them advice and counsel. It was a measure of their desperation that they summoned a meeting of the White Council, the Great Lords of the Eldar.

The White Council had met only once before, to decide where to relocate what remained of the population of Eregion, after Sauron laid waste to it in the Second Age. Now the Council was assembled again. Last time, they were running away from Sauron. This time, they were going to stand and fight.

Saruman looked around at the Great among the Elves, and felt a little bit awed. Galadriel, Elrond, Círdan, Glorfindel, Celeborn. Only Gil-galad, killed by Sauron in single combat in the Second Age, was absent.

Head Of The White Council

"Gandalf, will you lead the White Council?" Galadriel asked, before Saruman could propose himself as leader.

"No, I must refuse. " said Gandalf. "I won't be bound by any but those who sent me."

"I will lead the Council." said Saruman, deeply annoyed with both of them.

Why are we even having this conversation? Saruman thought. As Head of the Order, Saruman just assumed the position was his. Exasperated, he got up and took his place at the head of the table.

Saruman stood to address the Council. "Four hundred years after Gandalf drove Sauron from Dol Guldur, he returned with renewed strength. I believe that, while he was away, Sauron found the Ring."

There were gasps around the table. The Istari had talked about it among themselves, but this was the first time the Elves had heard.

The Ringbearers Know

"Sauron didn't find the Ring." said Elrond. "The three Ringbearers would have known if he had it. He doesn't."

Saruman looked around the room. All three of the bearers of the Elven rings were here, Elrond, Círdan, and Galadriel. And each one of them wore an Elven ring.

I Don't Think It's Sauron

"But if he doesn't have the Ring, how do you explain his strength without the Ring? He's crippled without it." said Saruman.

"I don't think it's Sauron." said Elrond. "He doesn't act like him."

Elrond was right, Saruman thought. He wasn't acting like Sauron. When Gandalf attacked Dol Guldur, he left without a fight. That wasn't like him. Sauron was a fighter. And when he fled, he didn't go to the places Sauron would have gone. Sauron should have turned up in Minas Morgul, but he didn't. Or he would have fled to his bolt hole of last resort, his Eastern Fortress. But the encircling flames were cold, the fortress abandoned.

Saruman could explain all that away. But something else bothered him. He couldn't understand why the Nazgûl showed no interest in the Necromancer. The Witch King never went to Dol Guldur. And no messengers were ever seen traveling between Dol Guldur and the Nazgûl strongholds at Carn Dum or Minas Morgul.

Saruman didn't know what to think. "Yavanna told us the Shadow in Mirkwood was Sauron." he said.

"Yavanna said she thought the Shadow in Mirkwood was Sauron. She was just expressing an opinion." said Radagast.

What If It's Another Maia

Maybe they had it wrong. Sauron wasn't the only rebellious Maia out there. What if another of Morgoth's people had survived the end of the First Age?

Saruman tried to remember the names of Morgoth's other Maiar. Gothmog, Carcharoth, Draugluin, Thuringwethil. The ones who surrendered were still in prison. But suppose someone, presumed dead, had taken form again?

"Do we know what ever happened to Thuringwethil or Draugluin?" asked Saruman.

"I think they're in the Void." said Radagast.

What If It's A Nazgûl

All of the Istari believed the Necromancer was a renegade Maia. However, the Elves thought he was one of the Nazgûl. Saruman tried to tell them no Nazgûl could project that kind of presence, except for the Witch King.

"Ever since he reappeared, we've known where the Chief of the Nazgûl is, and we've never seen him go anywhere near Dol Guldur." said Gandalf.

They agreed it wasn't the Witch King. He hadn't left Minas Morgul since he and his followers captured it four hundred years before. And at least five other Nazgûl were at Minas Morgul with him.

Two Groups Of Nazgûl

"I'm not talking about the Witch King. I'm talking about the second Chief of the Nazgûl, Khamûl the Easterling. He and his followers are still unaccounted for." said Celeborn.

"Why wouldn't all nine of them be together in Minas Morgul?"

"With their Master gone, I imagine the Nazgûl split into two separate groups, one under each Captain."

"Why? There's strength in numbers, and the Nazgûl have always worked together in the past."

The two Captains, the Witch King of Angmar and Khamûl the Easterling were bitter rivals. Sauron made no secret that the Witch King was his favorite. He made the Witch King Regent while he was held hostage in Númenor. Plus, the two Captains had very different personalities. The Witch King was a great general who favors brute force, just like his Master. Khamûl, a Ranger in life, preferred finesse and stealth. They seldom saw eye to eye.

The Second Nazgûl Captain

"I think the Necromancer of Dol Guldur is the second Nazgûl Captain, Khamûl the Easterling."

"How do you explain the increased strength?" asked Saruman.

"Sometime after he fled Dol Guldur, he met up with his followers. With their help, he returned to Mirkwood and reoccupied the fortress. The increased presence we're seeing is three Nazgûl, where there used to be only one."

"Well, we've never seen the Necromancer, so we don't know who he is." said Saruman.

"There's one way to find out. I want to go into Dol Guldur again, and try to get a look at him." said Gandalf.