Prelude
Third Age 1944
A creak disturbed the silent dungeon cell as a flaming torch revealed a guardsman. The occupant of the cell appeared asleep, his worn head resting on a long graying beard. His wrists were bound by thick steel rings chained to a cold wall. But the shackles did not constrict movement to the cell's pit latrine, a new addition to prevent future plagues.
The guardsman did not hesitate, their swift feet lightly echoing, placing brown bread on a wooden plate alongside a water cup in front of the prisoner. Then they quickly walked back towards the entrance.
But before the cell door could be closed, the occupant stirred and spoke.
"Wait," The Prisoner whispered.
"What?" snapped the guardsman, waving the flame quickly until it reflected the prisoner's eyes, his head no longer resting on his beard.
A few seconds passed until The Prisoner spoke.
"My... condolences," he muttered.
The guardsman narrowed their eyes, turned their head, and spat. The noise sharply echoed in the cell.
"Condolences, you say? To the king you slew? To the princes you massacred?" The guardsman scathingly replied with inflection. "You mock Gondor, Wainriding Easterling scum! Would that you were all burned alive in your tents or drowned in the marshes and rid us of your nomadic existence!"
No response.
With a huff, the guardsman pointedly turned their back on the prisoner. Quickly the flame departed, and the cell door slammed shut. Darkness once again became The Prisoner's guest.
A few seconds passed, and The Prisoner's shoulders shook as he placed both palms on his face. But no wailing issued forth. Instead, soft chuckles broke the silence of the room as he grinned. A slow sigh passed through his mouth after that, and he pierced his sight downwards where the bread was supposed to be. Brow furrowed in concentration, he seemed to closely inspect the food.
If one looked into his eyes, however, one would not see a reflection of brown bread or the nearby water cup. Instead, one would see a field of grass atop layers of soil on a downcast day, as rain drizzled atop two figures with wooden staves battling each other 21 years before the deaths of Gondorian royalty.
But this tale began not in Gondor, nor Eriador, nor on any common Middle-Earth map. For miles beyond the Inland Sea of Rhûn, there stood the Red Mountains, and beyond that, the Eastern Empire. Unknown to these two combatants, their duel would determine the fate of all Middle-earth.
And all of this shall be told, starting in the next chapter.
Please read the next chapter if you would like to skip the Author's Notes.
A/N (7/21/23): This Prelude's ending has been revised, previewing a chapter that has not been released yet. Once I include a new "Chapter 1," I will update this message.
A/N (7/31/23): A new "Chapter 1" has been posted, and Chapter 2 has been revised accordingly. I'll most likely be correcting any continuity errors throughout the fanfic. Please point them out if you spot any I missed.
A/N: These cliffhangers are a homage to Water Margin, as old Chinese novels always had these types of endings. It's a remnant of the oral tradition of storytelling that eventually became works like Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Welcome to Outlaws of the Inland Sea, a massive crossover between Water Margin and the setting of J.R.R Tolkien's Middle Earth!
What is Outlaws of the Inland Sea?
Basically, a fanfiction replacing the setting of Water Margin with Middle Earth. The setting will mostly be from the Sea of Rhûn eastward, going well beyond the boundaries of the eastern part of the map. Hard to describe Water Margin without spoiling a bunch of things but if you combine A Song of Ice and Fire and the ballads of Robin Hood together, you get the essentials of Water Margin. It's pretty big in the Far East and also a big influence on video games if you've ever heard of Suikoden. I'll be changing a lot of stuff about the characters, and I mean A LOT. But the major plot points will be very recognizable if you've watched or read the source material.
What's the time frame for this?
The time frame would be during (and technically after) the Gondorian reign of King Ondoher and ending after the Battle of the Camp. For more information on that, please consult "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan" in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth and "Appendix A" of The Lord of the Rings.
How canonical will this be towards Middle Earth?
I am actually putting a lot of effort to make this reliably canonical. Please point out in your reviews any annoying inconsistencies with the canon, and I will revise or clarify accordingly. Also, keep in mind that the narrators and POVs in this work may or may not be reliable themselves...
Why is this rated M?
If you're not triggered by A Song of Ice and Fire or the good seasons of Game of Thrones (the writing of the later seasons drives me insane), the content should be fine. Violence and gore there will be aplenty, as there was in Water Margin and A Song of Ice and Fire. Any other reasons why this is rated M will spoil much of the story!
As always, feel free to review this work to provide feedback. All feedback is welcome.
Otherwise, let us all enter… Into a World of Illusions.