Despite the fact that they are the main foot soldiers of our greatest enemy, we know surprisingly little about the orcs. Most of our knowledge of them comes from old, dry accounts written by soldiers from when we last got involved with the elves. The rest of our information comes from accounts by our marines from what they have heard from the people who live near our harbors. As you can imagine, this information doesn't quite paint a vivid image.

Talks have been conducted about going to Endor and attempting to learn more of the orcs. The justification for these explorations are usually along the lines of "getting to know your enemy", although I believe that some are genuinely curious. However, every time the topic comes up, the proposal is strongly put down, mostly because the majority of the council members believe that we should take a look at the other humans living in Endor first. Whenever it is asked why we don't do just that, various excuses are made up, of course. I'm beginning to wonder why I should bother to go to all these meetings!

A few generations ago, we probably could have asked the Elves about the orcs and other things happening in Endor, but our relationship with them was rather strained by Ar-Gimilzôr and Tar-Palantir has not been able to restore them to what they were in our ancestor's times. The majority of our councilors probably wouldn't even trust them if they were willing to give us some information.

On the bright side, the Council has begun to go over the possibility of opening up better relations with some of the great cities of Eastern Endor, including Basings, Lax'yze, and Hyarragash, all of which are mighty cities and will be strong allies in the years to come. Basings is the smallest of these cities, and is the closest to us. It lies to the far south of Mordor, even further south than Algrader, yet still borders Belegaer. The journey there takes around an equal amount of time as the journey to Umbar, if not less. The main export of Basings is gold, which is quite valued around here. They also trade in foods grown only there, such as coffee and spices, rare commodities in Númenor. The religion of Basings revolves around a belief in animal spirits and nature-worship.

The next closest, and second largest city is Lax'yze. Lax'yze is much farther away than Basings, requiring our ships to sail all the way around the Cape of South Endor in order to reach out. We know less about Lax'yze than we do about Basings, but we do know that tea and silk are some of their greatest exports, and that they have a variety of inventions that many of our chief engineers would love to get their hands on. Their main religion revolves around the worship of ancestor spirits, although some other minor religions thrive there as well.

Finally, the city furthest from us, and the largest is the city of Hyarragash. We know the least about Hyarragash; we don't even know what their main export is. All we have been able to figure out is that their (only) religion revolves around the worship of a massive pantheon of gods, the most powerful of which is Azao, the Sun god.

I sense that some people attempting to open up trade will be attempting to get the people who worship other religions to ours.

-From the Abridged Journals of Arnuzîr

When Peladin and Sirilfa were awoken the next morning by Noldolma's loud barking, Aulenmir had already left to visit the Ephûl. Noldolma ran over to their beds, nudging them with her cold wet nose until the two were out of bed and dressing, then trotted over to the door. She had woken up with Aulenmir, and had already been fed by him.

"I think he left already," Peladin said to Sirilfa. Sirilfa yawned and looked around the house.

"Hey, look over there!" she said, pointing close to where Noldolma was sitting. Peladin looked to where she was pointing. On the ground was a piece of paper with some writing on it. Sirilfa couldn't read very well, but Telimperion had made sure that Peladin could.

"It's a note for us," he said. He began to read it aloud.

Peladin and Sirilfa,

I decided to leave almost as soon as I woke up so that I might be able to make it back before sundown and even possibly continue a bit of the story with you two (as I'm sure you'll be overjoyed to hear). There are a few things the two of you must do while I am gone. First, check the snares for food. Don't worry about resetting them; I can handle that tomorrow. Second, look for some of the remaining vegetables in the forest that I showed you yesterday; they will make a good lunch! Finally, use our remaining wheat supplies to make some bread.

Aulenmir

"Well, I guess we'd better get started, then," said Peladin dutifully. Sirilfa yawned again.

"Can't we eat first?" she moaned.

"Oh, fine"

"Yaay!"

After eating a quick breakfast they set off to do as Aulenmir had instructed. Working together, the two siblings made a pretty good team. Naturally, being just little children they didn't work quite as efficiently as Aulenmir would have, and being siblings they probably spent as much time bugging each other as they did working, but they still got things done. On their farm, they had had to do chores in a similar fashion, so they were used to working together. For siblings, you could say they got along quite well. Peladin took responsibility for collecting food from the snares and cooking it, while Sirilfa gather vegetables and prepared those. They ate some of the vegetables for a quick lunch and then set to work on the bread. They were soon finished and were only waiting for Aulenmir to return.

"Peladin, why are we here?" Sirilfa asked.

"Well, because Mother needed someone to look after us while she is gone," Peladin replied.

"Why is she gone?"

Peladin frowned. "Don't you remember? We had a discussion about this back in the Vale."

"No, I don't remember," she said crossly.

"Well, it's like what Mother told Aulenmir. We got lots of bad weather this year. The wrong amount of rain and not enough heat. Not enough crops grew for us, or for anyone in the Vale, or in the rest of Lebennin."

"But that's not the only reason."

"No," Peladin said quietly. "It's not." He was silent for a few moments before continuing. "First, this poor weather has been happening for four years now, and we are all beginning to fall into debt. Mother says that other regions of Gondor are being affected too. Second, there's the Kolfinna"

Sirilfa's eyes widened. "The Kolfinna?" she repeated.

"Yup. Recently, several groups of raiders have been plundering farms near the shore. Some of the raids have even come up the River Gilrain. That's the main reason why Mother went to Minas Tirith. She's asking for King Elessar to send economic and military aid."

"Why didn't Mother tell this to Aulenmir?"

"I wish I knew"

After Sirilfa's curiosity had been sated, the siblings fell silent, anxiously awaiting Aulenmir's return.

Aulenmir awoke when it was still dark. It was a walk of at least two hours to where the nearest encampment of the Ephûl was, and Aulenmir wanted to be able to walk home while the sun was still up. He quickly accomplished a couple simple tasks to make things easier for Peladin and Sirilfa, including leaving them a note. He didn't want them to starve or get bored, so he made sure they had plenty to do. He did everything in silence so as not to wake them. He left Noldolma with them so that she could help, if necessary.

He strode out of the house and walked into the woods, hoping he could remember the way. The woods were a little eerie at this time. In the darkness of the morning, it was difficult to make things out, and a mild fog hung over the land, making it quite difficult to see anything at all. Aulenmir cursed, wishing that he had brought a lantern. He had at least remembered to dress warmly, for although he was sweltering down here, up where the Ephûl lived it was much colder. As he kept walking, the ground began to take on a slight incline, which increased every half-mile or so. Finally, the woods ended, and Aulenmir emerged right in front of a path that would take him higher and deeper into the mountains. By this time, the Sun was peaking up from behind the horizon, so he would at least have plenty of light for his trip.

Aulenmir glanced behind him and was treated to a breathtaking sight. At this altitude, he could see very far. Directly in front of him, of course, was the rocky slope of the mountain. Ahead of that was the large woods that was on a relatively flatter section of the mountain. Aulenmir thought he could make out his house just a little bit beyond the woods, but he wasn't sure. Further down was more mountain, although here it was at a much shallower incline. Other houses lay on this section of mountain, with an entire town close to the bottom. At the end of the mountain the plains and farmland began. Stretching on for miles and miles were vast swathes of fields of various crops. The fields were broken up only by the Rivers Gilrain and Serni, and by other parts of the Ered Nimrais. Finally, at the end of the farms was the Bay of Belfalas, which glistened underneath the morning sun.

Aulenmir continued his way up the mountain, making excellent pace. It was about an hour before noon when he finally reached the top of the path. Where the path ended, there was a large flat space, and just beyond that flat space, further up on the mountain, was a cluster of tents: the Ephûl.

The Ephûl were an old people. They had been living in this mountains far longer than the Gondorians had been; some say they had been here since shortly after Bëor first walked into Beleriand. They never stayed in the same place for very long, but they usually returned to previous encampments. Aulenmir was lucky to have found them in the same place. The Ephûl were masters at surviving up in the Ered Nimrais, after all they had been doing it for close to 6000 years. However, they also didn't like others very well, especially not Gondorians, having been wronged by them in the past, several times.

When Aulenmir had first moved out to the mountains, he had been visited by one tribe asking him what he was doing on their land. After a small bit of conflict between them, Aulenmir had managed to impress their chieftain, Jamai. Now, Aulenmir was taking a risk in asking him for help.

As he approached the encampment, 3 Ephûl warriors came out to meet him, armed with spears. "What is your business here?" one of them asked.

"I wish to speak with your chieftain," Aulenmir responded.

"He does not see others," the man replied. "Leave here now while you still can."

"Hold on," said another one of the warriors. "I recognize this man. He is Aulenmir. We allowed him to build on our land and helped him survive his first year. We marked him as our friend."

The first man pursed his lips and came to decision. "All right, we will take you to see Chieftain Jamai. But, if he doesn't recognize you like Dakil does, then we throw you out. Understand?"

Aulenmir nodded. He was probably lucky that things were going this well. To be honest, he didn't even know how well Jamai remembered him. They lead him over to a tent that looked identical to all the others. Ephûl chieftains did not call attention to their rank, and being a chieftain was not like being a king. Being a chieftain was not a hereditary position; anyone who could defeat the chieftain in single combat would become the new chieftain. Usually, if a chieftain led well, there would be no challengers, or at least no challengers who lasted very long after defeating the incumbent. However, because of this tradition there were few chieftains who lasted into old age, save for the mage-chieftains.

"Jamai, there is someone here to see you," announced the man.

"Give me a moment, Luzvim," said a voice from within the tent. After a few seconds, Jamai emerged from the tent. At first glance, Aulenmir could see that the years hadn't treated him well. Jamai was old now, and had definitely started to show it in his body. However, his smile when he saw Aulenmir was as bright as ever.

"Aulenmir, my old friend, what brings you here?" he inquired.

Aulenmir breathed a small sigh of relief, though he noticed that Luzvim was still watching him intently. He smiled back at Jamai. "I have a favor I need to ask of you."

"A favor? Ask away," the chieftain responded.

"My sister asked me to take care o' her two kids, and I don't think I'll be able to support all three of us through the winter, not without badly damagin' the game 'round here. I came to ask for yer help."

Jamai thought about Aulenmir's request for a moment, then replied: "I would be happy to offer our help. But, you know there is a price."

"A favor."

"Of course, what else?"

"What favor did you have in mind?" Aulenmir asked.

Jamai's smile broadened. "I don't think I'll use it just yet. If I ever need you, I'll send a messenger. Luzvim, Dakil, Jejo, see that Aulenmir gets some food, then show him out. Good luck!"

The three men offered him some of the tribe's midday meal and then saw him on his way. The way down was almost more difficult than the way up, and Aulenmir nearly fell down the mountain more than once. However, he finally reached his cabin just before the Sun went down.

Sirilfa was there at the door to great him. "Yay, Unca's home!" she squeaked. Before Aulenmir could respond, Noldolma pounced on him, knocking him back. Aulenmir calmed then down and started getting dinner ready. Once they were eating he told them about his day. "Well, not much happened. The Ephûl agreed to help me. Looks like we'll do fine this winter."

"We didn't do much either," said Peladin. "We mostly just gathered food."

Aulenmir chuckled. "That's what life seems to be about. Now who wants to hear more of that story?"

"We do, we do!" shouted the children.

"All right then, now where were we."

Sirilfa, hoping to impress Aulenmir, piped up immediately "Aldarion just disobeyed his father by leaving Númenor again."

"Alright, I know just where we are." Aulenmir cleared and his throat and once more began to speak.

The King threw a furious and uncharacteristic fit of rage when he had heard that Aldarion had disobeyed him once again. He locked himself in his chambers for several days, allowing no one, not even his beloved Queen, to see him. Everyone was relieved when he emerged at last. The first thing he did after he left his chambers (and ate some food, of course) was to strip Aldarion of his title, Lord of the Ships and Havens of Númenor. The King closed the Guild of Ventures, and had the building in which they conducted their meetings burned to the ground. He closed the shipyards of Rómenna (though thankfully he didn't burn those), and forbade the felling of wood for the purpose of constructing ships.

After five long years had passed, Aldarion returned with two new-built ships carrying fine timber from Middle-earth. However, upon seeing what Tar-Meneldur had done in his absence, Aldarion became quite angry, and he once more departed, this time with no bough, for Meneldur made sure that even Erendis was being closely watched, and he had guards patrolling the docks at Rómenna.

Aldarion ranted about his father to his first mate after they had left. "I just don't understand him, Padharion. He seems to think that my only duty as Prince should be to find myself a wife, when I have far more to do than just that. I have spent many years making sure that the ships of our great kingdom were well regulated, and then he goes and strips me of my authority. And, to make matters worse, I am sailing in three barely sea-worthy vessels, desperate for repair, and without any blessing"

Aldarion was once again gone for quite some time, and the people of Númenor began to worry. For, although the Valar blessed the ships of Númenor so that they would never founder or suffer some catastrophic fate (save for the end of Ar-Pharazôn's reign), no one had ever sailed without the blessing of a bough twice, and the length of Aldarion's absence was quite unsettling. Erendis, believing that he was not returning, and seeking to avoid the unwanted and unwarranted advances of her many suitors, wrote a letter to the Queen asking for her leave.

Your Majesty,

The principle reason for my entering this household, as I believe you knew all along, was to gain Aldarion's hand in marriage. However, it seems that he has found a different bride in the sea, or in some harlot of Middle-earth, and wants me no more. So, I write to you to ask for your leave to depart Armenelos and live amongst my kin in Andustar.

Erendis

Although the Queen wanted not to grant this request, she saw the truth in Erendis's letter, and had no choice but to let her go. However, fourteen years after he had left, Aldarion finally returned. He had made a long journey, traveling first to Vinyalondë, and then sailing further south than any other expedition, reaching the fabled city of Basings. However, he had nearly been shipwrecked on his return journey, and was only barely able to make it back to discover that Vinyalondë had fallen into hostile hands. He attempted to return to Númenor several times, but each time he was thwarted. Finally, only through his superior seamanship and through the help of a seamage was he able to return.

Meneldur was greatly relieved to have Aldarion back in Númenor, but he scolded him for betraying his family and his country by leaving, and therefore bringing the wrath of the Valar and Ossë upon himself and his crew. Aldarion saw his father's concern for him, and, more importantly, saw that he had been wrong to rebel against his father and sought his forgiveness, which Meneldur was only too glad to give. Meneldur restored his title and gave him the title Master of Forests.

"I think that's enough for tonight," Aulenmir said with a yawn.

"Aw, we barley got anywhere, Unca, complained Sirilfa.

Before Aulenmir could say anything, Peladin spoke first. "Listen to Uncle Aulenmir, Sirilfa. Let's go to sleep."

It took a bit more convincing from both of them, but finally Sirilfa went to bed.

Telimperion awoke to see that Immortal was already up and making breakfast.

"Well, look who finally decided to join the rest of the world," he said mirthfully. "Want some eggs? Some tea?"

Telimperion shook her head. "I'm not that hungry," she mumbled. "However," she said, her voice becoming clearer, "I believe you owe me a story."

Immortal looked a little anxious. "Are you sure you couldn't be persuaded to wait until after breakfast. I've been told that my eggs are to die for."

"I will not be put off again. You've aroused my curiosity far too much by now."

"Very well," Immortal sighed. "I shall tell you. My tale begins around 5800 years ago." Immortal paused upon seeing Telimperion's look of shock. "I've aged well," he chuckled. "Anyways, 5800 years ago, I was a young boy living in a tribe of men in the eastern region of Middle-earth, what you would now call Eriador. We called it Wajshir. The Númenoreans often visited us in those days, and they came offering us their aid and knowledge, in return for our own, which we gladly gave. It was a peaceful time. Back then, I was the son of our great leader: Nusawabet. They called me Tu-Ankh, which meant that I was destined for a great, long life. Little did we know how prophetic that name would turn out to be.

"We were visited once by the Prince of Númenor at the time; he was called Aldarion. We became friends quickly, for we were of a similar age. Those were some of the happiest days of my life. I taught him much of living in Middle-earth, and he taught me how to live on the sea. He even took me on his voyage briefly, and we sailed out of the Gulf of Lhûn.

"However, at this time there was a schism between the Elves that lived in Wajshir. Some believed that they were there to help along Men. These elves left Wajshir and went to live in other places, where they could help. Others believed that they should try to keep things as they were when they first left the West (what my people called Hamekah). These elves stayed were they were, in their little cities of solitude. However, a small group of elves believed that it was their place to rule over Men. These elves we called the Shapet.

"The Shapet terrorized Wajshir, slaughtering many. Finally, they reached our tribe. Although we put up a great fight, they eventually overwhelmed us, killing Nusawabet and kidnapping me. I later learned that this action caused the remaining tribes in the area to band together and destroy the Shapet army.

The few Shapet who survived this war kept me prisoner, along with several other Men. They experimented on us, performing test after horrible test. One after one, the prisoners died. Those who survived, however, grew stranger and stranger, less and less like a Man than when they had entered. After several years of this torture, I was the only one left."

"They performed one final experiment on me. I believe they thought that it would kill me, but it didn't. As a matter of fact, at first it had no visible effects. The Shapet would have tested me until they discovered these effects, but they were finally found by the allied group of tribes and destroyed. In the ensuing chaos I fled, and ended up wandering south to Dunland.

"There, they excepted me and brought me up as one of their own. I was peaceful their, until someone from my tribe discovered me. He said they had been searching for me for several years now, for they had discovered what it was the Shapet had done to me. They had read the papers that they had discovered in the Shapet fortress and had realized what they were doing: They were trying to find a way to turn Men into elves, and with me they had partially succeeded. Although I didn't have many of the physical or mystical attributes of an elf, I did have one thing they possessed. You see, they had figured a way to prevent me from sickening, and had strengthened my body so that I wouldn't die of old age or be killed by most other means. Finally, using the dark art of Necromancy, they figured a way to permanently bind my soul to my body, cursing me to live forever. For nearly 5700 years now, I have wandered this world, seeking some way to end my life, but finding none."

Telimperion's eyes glistened with tears. "That's horrible," she whispered.

"I know," Immortal said grimly. "I know."

Telimperion and Immortal ate breakfast in silence, when Telimperion suddenly had an idea. "I know what we can do," she said.

"What?" asked Immortal.

"I am traveling to Minas Tirith to beseech King Elessar for his aid. You can come with me and we can report on the Keraq'ar and see if he knows a way to fix your curse."

Immortal eyed Telimperion skeptically. "I don't know if that will work…" he began.

Telimperion cut him off. "It can't hurt to try. Plus, I need a big strong man like you to protect me," she added.

Immortal gave her an annoyed look. "Don't try that on me. I think you can defend yourself just fine," seeing Telimperion's upset look he added: "but I will come with you."

Telimperion smiled victoriously. "All right, then. We leave tomorrow."

Mermacil and the others awoke with the sun, knowing that they would want to get in and out of Torech Ungol while the sun was still out. The conditions in the Ephel Duath were still as bad as they had been the day before, so the party did not spend long before moving out. They had brought many, many torches, so the caverns were well illuminated and they were sure not to run out of light.

Every now and then, they would here noises that seemed to be coming from just around the corner. However, every time they got near, the noises faded and it was revealed that there was nothing there. The party must have been walking for over four hours when they came to a series of webs that lucked as though they had been freshly spun. Although they had originally been planning on resting soon, they decided to keep moving on and get out as soon as they could.

Suddenly, Lt. Samnon spun around. "Did anyone else hear that?" he said in his gruff voice. They all shook their heads when suddenly Kith'tar said, "Wait, I hear it too." They all paused and listened as hard as they could. Mermacil was soon able to make out a noise that sounded disturbingly like a large animal slowly moving along the ground. Soon, they all could hear it.

Hannish suddenly screamed, "There it is!" In front of him was a spider that must have been half his height. Mermacil could see at once that this was certainly not She-lob; it must have been one of her spawn. Quickly, he had his dagger out and stabbed the spider through the head.

The group all briefly laughed once they realized that what they had been so frightened of was hardly the threat that they had imagined it to be. They moved quickly all the same, and breathed a collective sigh of relief when they got out.

"So, what exactly do you think we're going to find?" Elarë asked.

" I don't know what exactly. All Faramir said was that he had reports of Orcish activity-" Mermacil cut off abruptly.

"What is it?" said Elarë sharply. "What did he-" Elarë cut off to. It was unlike her to finish a question. The others rushed over to see what they were so shocked at.

Spread out in front of them, stretching all across the entire Plateau of Gorgoroth was a massive encampment. Hundreds of thousands of orcs were down there, milling around. The encampment was more than mere tents, though it had plenty of those. There were many smithies, stables, training grounds, and even entire market places for goods to be sold.

"Sweet Morgoth," muttered Hannish.

"What do we do know?" said Elarë.

"Do we leave?" asked Lt. Samnon.

"No," Mermacil said grimly. "We're heading in. We need to find out what all these orcs are doing here, and were they came from. Is there anyone who thinks they're not up to that." He was answered by a chorus of "No" and vigorous head shaking. "Good," he said with a grim smile. "Tonight, we camp here. Tomorrow, we have some work to do."

Getting out of Hyarragash took Parthekos over two hours. The city was truly massive, and the temple sat right in the middle of it. The closest village was over eight hours away, so that was were Parthekos stayed for the night. The villagers dared not refuse a priest who was of Ossaon rank. After he ate dinner with the villagers, Parthekos retired to the small house the villagers had lent him for the night. He reflected on the Kirranmar religion.

The religion was massive, in every way imaginable. There were massive temples, massive worshipping, massive amounts of believers, massive festivities, and a massive pantheon. The Kirranmar had a god for nearly everything. A god of light and a god of darkness. A god of a life and a god of death. For every imaginable concept, there was a god or goddess. The greatest of all these gods was Azao. The Sun was absolutely central to the Kirranmar, and that is why they venerated it so. They appreciated the Moon, sure, but they did not love it like they did the Sun. Other gods had priests and temples, but no god had as many priests or as large a temple as Azao.

Hyarragash was built around the Sun. Buildings were constructed so that as little shadow was created as possible. They were also made so that the sun would highlight specific parts of them at specific times of the day. Massive sundials were created for the purpose of measuring the time of day and year. The Kirranmar spurned the western ways of telling time. It was a truly grand city, and Parthekos was happy to live there, and sad to be leaving. However, he had a grand duty to perform, and he wanted nothing to get in his way. Tomorrow, he would set out and let nothing stop from reaching the Orocarni.

Altariel sighed in frustration. Those damn hobbits! It seemed as though they were going out of their way to make her life more difficult. She has left Aulenmir and the others so that she could finally enjoy herself, not so that she would be pestered and irritated every damn step of the way! Altariel had agreed to go north, and she quickly left Gondor, heading up into Eriador. There, she got a job in the relatively new government. Originally, she was nothing but a secretary, but she did well, and was quite ruthless when it came to making her way in the world. Soon, her job was to ensure that everything was going well in the Shire, and that it remained a free land.

This turned out to be more difficult a task than she had originally thought. Lots of men wanted to visit the Shire to see the legendary ringbearer, Mayor Samwise of Hobbiton. In addition, the Hobbits were free to travel as they pleased, so controlling the border was nearly impossible, especially with the limited resources that she was getting from Minas Tirith.

Also, the Hobbits seemed to have an unnatural love of pranks. They caused all sorts of confusion and delay in the towns outside of the Shire, especially in Bree. They probably did the same inside the Shire, but that wasn't what Altariel had to worry about. Tensions were rising between the Hobbits and Men, and Altariel had been forced to schedule a meeting with Mayor Samwise, in Bree. Of course, they would have to meet in secret, or else they would be crowded by fangirls of all kinds (And probably more than a few fanboys as well).

"Mara!" she yelled, calling out to her secretary.

"Yes, Lady Altariel?" Mara said obediently.

"Get me a meeting with Steward Arvegil. I have some urgent matters that require his insight."

Mara gulped. Steward Arvegil did not like to be bothered. "Of-of course, Lady Altariel."

Altariel scowled. She would bring order to Eriador, at any cost.