CHAPTER TWO Alquarious Unrest
As Kathren arrives home she is glad to see a familiar terrain. The beauty of the Green Mountain's is nothing compared to her ventures around Alquarious. The creature Ren calls it K'ha'dum, but Kathren does not understand what that means. With meeting the Twilight Moon, she at least delivered on her promise.
As Kathren picks some of the fruit from her garden, she sits down and looks at her map, she notices the large gapping hole lacking information. Ren helped design the mountainous north and the south-eastern corner, but the center is missing, so Kathren decided to get a good idea, she would climb up the Green Mountain's to see if she can see any landmarks. As Kathren looked at the assortment of mountain chains, she remembers the Hazy Mountain's, the Sandy Mountain's, the Solitary Mountain's where Angband is located according to Ren. The Coastal Mountain's, the Southmar Mountain's, the Misty Mountain's, the Angmar Mountain's, the Cold Mountain's, the Glacier Range, the Ice Range, the Guard Mountain's, and back to the Green Mountain's. Kathren saw only two volcanoes, and odd enough, there is no visible lakes except for ponds and wetlands.
As the sun set, Kathren could not believe she wanted to leave again, the world outside the Uncharted Terrain is wild and dangerous. Only the Windy Meadows and Southmar Mountain's seem to be suitable places to live. As Kathren washed herself free of salt water, the ugly scales went away and she was back to her humanoid form. As Kathren went to sleep she dreamt of the new adventure up the Green Mountain's, but the words of Ren echoed through her meditate mind. "Do not go to Angband." What is in Angband? Even Er Murazor knew an unrest about Angband. As the night continued, the dark sky turned to day and Kathren awaken. As she packed her bags she looked up to the Green Mountain's. As Kathren walks through the dry forest, the birds chirp and the sound of the ocean waves dissipate. As Kathren enters deep into the Uncharted Terrain, Kathren enters the foot hills of the Uncharted Terrain, the Green Mountain challenge begins. As Kathren hikes up the mountain, the sound of water fills the woods, there is running water somewhere, but where? As Kathren enters high into the mountains she sees a roaring waterfall. As Kathren watches, the gigantic mist emits off the rocks, she pulls out her map and draws in Charisma Falls. As Kathren climbs up the treed mountain side, Kathren is excited about seeing this land. As Kathren cress the top of the mountains she can see mostly mountains. The Green Mountain's are larger then they seem when she was at Point Remember. As Kathren walks the pass she can see the bottom of the Green Mountain's. to the south is another small mountain range, Kathren writes in the name, the East Mountain's. As Kathren looks to the north she looks upon another tall mountain range, it's black as night, so she calls it the Black Mountain's. As Kathren walks due east, she looks over a gigantic lake and onto a volcano steaming. As Kathren walks down the east side of the Green Mountain's, she finds herself in the valley of trees. As Kathren walks quickly to the lake, the smell of sulfur filled the valley. The lake was huge, at least two miles in length. As night fell over the land. A storm gathered over the Black Mountain's and the water on the lakes surface shifted violently back and forth. As the wind picked up, the lightening flashed through the sky and lit up the night sky. As the storm intensified, it began to snow! As Kathren pulled a clock over her head, snow piled up. As Kathren's breath began to show, her coat began to freeze. The storm is super freezing the landscape. As Kathren's stomach aches, Kathren senses something bad is happening! As Kathren breaks out of her cloak, the storm is turning everything to ice. As Kathren's skin begins to freeze, she plunges into the freezing lake. As ice thickens the lake, Kathren swims to the bottom of the lake and holds onto the bottom of the lake. As the ice creeps down, freezing the surface and heading towards the bottom of the lake. Kathren tries to transform, but the fresh water does not do nothing. As the crystals contact Kathren, Kathren's body begins to change. Her white skin begins to form a organic shell and her skin splits and floats attached to her lifeless body, Kathren is entering a chrysalis state. As an outer shell forms from dead skin and harding mucus, the inner chamber in extracted of the fresh water and filled with a light blue sticky substance which puts Kathren into hibernation. As the ice freezes the lake solid, Kathren's cocoon is entrapped on a fortress of ice. As Kathren sleeps the ice storm moves down south. The ice sheet can't cross the water, but snow falls in Numenor to the depth of nine feet. The ice shield covered half of the Uncharted Terrain, destroyed Kathren's home, covered three-forth of the Green Mountain's, the whole Guard Mountain's, the Black Mountain's, the Whole Ice Range, the Glacier Range, Ice Peak, Glacier Peak, Cold Mountain's, the Angmar Mountain's and half of the Misty Mountain's. the average depth of the ice field is about 10,000 feet, it took less then 24 standard Human hours to accumulate. But the cold snap did not stop there. A 5,000 foot sheet of ice spread further south. It covered the East Mountain's, most of the Green Mountain's, but never touched the Baldy Mountain. The glacier then bordered the mountains bordering the sand dunes. The glacier consumed two of the gigantic lakes, bordered the Misty Mountain's, consumed the Eastern Forest and dissipated in the East Ocean. As the storm moved south, it snowed to the depth of two and one-half feet of snow with about the equal amount in ice. As the storm brews on, many die from freezing to death or later by starvation. As Alquarious remains shadowed by a freak storm, all clouds seem to originate out of the Glacier Ranger, now under 10,000 feet of ice. As the storm waxes and wanes many Numenorean's wonder if it will ever end! For all matters of fact, the storm brewed for an average of 500,000 years. The curse seems to begin to break with the coming of the Shadow's.
With 500,000 years pass, the ice pack melted back, but left the landscape changed forever.
As for Kathren, she remained entombed in her cocoon. For 500,016 years, only being 16 years old when her world was entombed in ice. Most of her kind only lives to be about 350 years old at the most if there is no injury or illness, but due to the cocoon she entrapped herself, Kathren has lived the longest then anyone on Alquarious. The Numenorean people are almost a ruin people, living on ice and the death of others. Also, Ren and Er Murazor are still alive in a hibernated way, using their magic.
As the planet defrosts, the ice sheet revives a new Alquarious. Beginning in the Southmar, the sticky Dimlit Marsh has turned into a fresh water entrance of the new river called the Great River, which drains into the Bay of Change. Boarding the valley of the Dimlit Marsh is two 9000 foot mountain ranges, to the west the Hazy Mountain's, the Solitary Mountain's, the Iron Hills, the Sulfur Mountain's, opposite side of the Angband Terrain. Heading down southward to the Dunes of Sand, the terrain grew out a mile and a half out into the South Aqua making the Sandy Mountain's land lock. Further south, the Green Mountain's, which were about 9000 feet in elevation have be shortened down to 6000 feet. Fluid Peak has spewed out enough lava from to stretch out the Western Badlands a quarter of a mile. The Green Mountain's, stretching 10.5 miles on the West Aqua side still shelter the Uncharted Terrain. Baldy Mountain still exists, but shaped due to massive avalanches on its western side. Branching off the Green Mountain's is the South Hills which run southeast from Baldy Mountain. They're called the South Hills because that is what they are…hills, not mountain's, only about 3000 foot hills, not very impressive. Heading east from the South Hills, two lakes remain, one is same lake Kathren remains cocooned in, it's called Lake Eastmar, the smaller lake to the south is called Lake Ren. Lake Eastmar is boarded by the Reflection Mountain's, a small circular mountain range bordered by two rivers, the Angband Border River in the south and the Great River which runs through the two lakes. Going further eastward, you would run into the sulfurous mountains called the Easterline Mountain's, which guard the passage to the Misty Mountain's. If you follow the Angband Border River it would run pass the Sulfur Mountain's to the entrance of the Tsiegret'lop Mountain's, two rivers, the Sandy River and the Ghost River. Heading northward from the Tsiegret'lop Mountain's you would run into the craggy mountains called the Misty Mountain's. these mountains like most mountains were shaped by ice and water. The Misty Mountain's shelter the Eastern Forest which is cut in half by the raging Angmar Border River. After passing the deep Angmar Border River, you enter the Angmar Mountain's which led to the old fortress of Carn Dum. Carn Dum was oddly missed by the massive glacier that moved south, but was not spared by Carn Dum's massive glacial system which devastated the sides of Carn Dum leaving a steep wall of spires. If you travel through the Angmar Mountain's going due west you will come upon the three peaks, unnamed. After the peaks you come to Lake Evendim, a deep, ancient volcanic caldera. If you continue west you will notice that most of the mountains are sharp spires. But as you exit the unnamed range, you come upon two mountain rivers, the southern most river called Cloudy River drains off Storm King Mountain. The northern most river called Eveningdim River drains out of Lake Evendim and both rivers cut through the Glacier Range and pour into the Great River flowing northward. On the west side, the Ashy Mountain's, which border the volcanic pit of Cerfire. On Cerfire's westward flanks, the ancient Guard Mountain's smashed further down west into the ancient Green Mountain's. out of these black desolate mountains flows three mountain's, the Cold River, Grey River, and a unnamed river. In the northwest runs the Grey Mountain's which run to Cape Disappointment. On the east side of the Grey Mountain's is the flat, rock-strung land of the once Ice Bay Wastelands. There is no Ice Bay anymore, and the great glaciers gone. As you cross the Grey River, you can follow the river to Fog Bay, which was once called Ice Bay. Heading eastward you hit the Ice Range which runs northward and ends with Glacier Peak which has been carved by ice. As you pass the Ice Range you arrive to the Ice Bay which shelters the drainage point of the Great River. On the east side the Glacier Range, if you pass the Glacier Range you enter a ice wasteland, the remains of the great Waw Wastelands. This wasteland shelters a rocky plain called the Icy Plain's which an incased by the Cold Mountain's and Glacier Range.
As for Kathren, she is waking up, the cocoon is breaking, letting fresh water enter into the cocoon. As the fluid escapes, the fresh, cool water enters her gills. As Kathren breaks the cocoon, she escapes into the clear, blue water. As Kathren swims in the lake she looks up to the filtered sun and swims up to it. As she breaks the surface of the lake Kathren gazes upon a changed landscape, reshaped by a glacial shield. Even Kathren herself has reshaped, she has not aged, but her form has changed, she does not even contain the characteristics of her race, she is different, she changed in fresh water, was born in fresh water, but her mother was born and changed by salt water. Kathren can't see all her transformations, so she swims to shore and climbs onto the rocky shore. As she looks up she is faced with the Guard Mountain's. A river rumbles down the cliffs of the Guard Mountain's adding cold, fresh water to Lake Eastmar. As Kathren looks southward she gazes across the lake to the Reflection Mountain's Kathren must have been asleep longer then the ice, for it seems that Alquarious is now inhabited. If Kathren really knew how much of her land was retaken, but to her luck the Untouched Terrain and most of the northwest corner remains untouched…who would want it…it's wasteland. As Kathren looks southwest she sees a dwelling, a long stone building where she once camped before the sudden glacier period. As Kathren came to the road, men are marching towards Kathren. As Kathren watches these soldiers, they are dressed in brown leather with large sharp knives. As Kathren looks at them, they surround her. Kathren does not struggle, she goes to the castle. As Kathren looks at the building design, there is gigantic beast carved in the stone. As Kathren is locked into the facility she wonders if this is a test to see if she is normal. As a well dressed, bearded man walks to Kathren, he wears a crown with the same design of the beast. As he looks at Kathren, he can't decide what she is. All he knows is that this creature had crawled out of his lake. "Who are you?" Says the elder man in a stern voice.
Kathren looks nervously at the man, "My name is Kathren." Says Kathren in a shaky voice.
The old mans face never changes. "Kathren, that's no name I know, sounds like spy mischief to me!"
Kathren looks at the stranger. "I'm no spy, I'm Kathren, ancient of the sea, savor of the Numenor prince!"
The stranger looks at Kathren with the evil-eye. "You saved a Numenorean?"
Kathren nods, "Yes, ah…Er Murazor!"
The reaction of the old man is shocking. "Er Murazor, the Lord of Sorcery?" Kathren nods. "If I was to tell you that that man is also known as the Witch-King of Angmar, a tyrant of K'ha'dum!"
Kathren's eyes widen in disbelief. "No!" Says Kathren as if she was breathless.
The bearded man nods. "I'm afraid so." The man sits down on a chair. Kathren drops on her knees. "Don't pity yourself Kathren, he tricked you, and if you're truly a lord of the ocean, then you had the right to save him. But now we must fight his evil sorcery!" The stranger extends his old rugged hand. "Come." Kathren looks at his hand and extends her hand and reaches for the stranger. The stranger looks at Kathren's hand, it's covered in scales and fins. As the stranger helps Kathren up. "I'm Lord Hoarmurath, Lord of the Ice." Kathren looks at the king. "Come, lets go and get you clean up, K'ha'dum is at its unrest!"
END OF CHAPTER TWO