I give Sauron the finger
Enjoy!
THE GAME OF DIVINITY
CHAPTER 21
" Welcome in Lothlorien Gandalf the Grey. Would you introduce me your companion?" said the she-elf trying to look stoic but I could sense she was unnerved. Why you ask? Well she couldn't use her little trinket in her finger to read my thoughts. After you spend a few millennia being able to easily invade everyone's mind to gauge their intentions, when you find someone completely blocking you then it's easy to guess that you wouldn't be exactly happy with it.
End of previous chapter
"This is Celephindis milady. The newest Maiar of Middle Earth" he said surprising the elven couple.
"Truly?" she asked getting a nod from both of us.
"Tell me then Celephindis. Under which Valar have you come to the mortal lands?" her voice serene and most of the tenseness had left her body after learning of my Maiar 'race' but not completely.
"Well, this is an interesting question milady and quite complicated."
"How so?" she asked, a curious tilt to her head.
"I have never met any of the Valar. Lord Eru Illuvatar sent me here in order to complete a mission for him. I was assigned to serve under Lord Tulkas though, but I have never met him." I said drawing a gasp from the she-elf and a resigned look from her husband.
"I see. This is not a good sign. For our supreme lord to interfere this much and send an emissary of war to the mortal lands, it seems that the next years are going to be steeped in conflict" concluded the bearer Nenya.
"You have time to prepare still. The necessary pieces haven't all come in play yet."
"You are talking about the One Ring. Do you know where it is?" asked Gandalf this time in interest which was reciprocated by the others.
"I have a pretty good idea where it is but I will tell no more about it. It is not time yet and it is not meant for any of us to bear this burden."
"Are you sure? Maybe if we dealt with it now, we can prevent a lot of deaths later."
"We will fail. Its corruption will destroy us before we are even halfway to Mordor. This is the destiny of another Gandalf. Let it go and it would be better if you kept this information amongst yourselves." I said with a hard look making all three of them pause.
"You are right about that young one, we will be discreet. We can on the other hand prepare and strengthen our forces now that we know that there are wars to come."
Discussion done and with the decision to prepare for the inevitable war made, we were led to guest rooms in order to freshen up ourselves and after that Gandalf and I walked beneath the Mallon trees trying to find the first part of my staff.
He led me outside a wooden door inscribed with elven runes positioned between the roots of the greatest and biggest of the Mallon trees. Once inside I headed downwards through the stairs and found myself in a great cavern filled with crystals of every color imaginable. Big or small they unsurpassed in beauty and I could sense them draw power from the ambient magic around them. It was fascinating.
"Truly a wondrous sight, isn't it?" said Gandalf with a small smile and I could feel the crystal on his staff resonating with many others inside the cavern.
"What type of crystals are they?" I asked
"They are Elemmírë, the most precious of gems in the whole of Arda." he answered
"Star-Jewels." I translated in awe.
"Well go on then. Extend your senses and try to find the one crystal that resonates with you the most."
I did as he told me and started searching and while there were many different crystals that were drawn to me, the one that was meant for me was practically tugging on my magical senses like an overexcited puppy.
It was a ruby as big as a coconut with uneven edges and was shining with a crimson light identical to my Flames of War. I snorted inwardly, you can take the soldier out of the war but you can't take the war out of the soldier.
As I picked it up great crimson sparks were released from the crystal like small silent fireworks. I felt a great resonance with it, like I found a part of myself that I had lost until this moment and I wondered if it was a similar feeling that magicals in Harry Potter felt when they found their wands.
Collecting done, we headed back in order to dine with our hosts and the next day we once again hit the road on the first light. Gandalf said that he wanted me to meet Elrond in Rivendell and he started heading back towards the gap of Rohan in order for us to avoid the Misty Mountains but I didn't let him. I wanted to have some experience with those mountains when I wasn't pressed for time.
Seeing how stubborn I was in my decision, he complied and we headed North. Even if he humored me, he was uncompromising in heading as far away from Mirrormere and Moria as possible but when I asked for the reason why he deflected my questioning which was a shame because I would really fancy fighting a Balrog and I told him so.
Giving me an exasperated look and muttering about brainless brats and being too old for this shit he started lecturing me about my recklessness and made me promise him that I wouldn't ever try to challenge a Balrog to a fight, which while I pouted I agreed reluctantly. I so wanted a new pet, I missed Ruin and Aristomache.
We were passing through the Gladden Fields when my crystal started shining on its own. Seeing this peculiar occurrence we decided to investigate. According to Gandalf the only reason for this happening is if a piece of the shame crystal was somewhere nearby and they were resonating with its other.
Using the gem as a pseudo compass we followed it as it started glowing more and started vibrating the closer we got to its sister jewel until it pointed us towards a part of the river.
Shrugging I started stripping my clothes and ignored the embarrassed groan of Gandalf that instantly turned his back to me and I jumped into the River Gladden. As I submerged myself completely beneath the waters I noticed a glow from the bottom that was identical to my own gem and I made a mental note to give it a name because calling it 'the gem' all the time was getting old.
When I reached the glow I found a corpse with a white circlet on its head decorated with two glowing rubies that gave the feeling of rage and betrayal. Unwilling to deal with this while striving for breath I picked the corpse and started swimming upwards.
Throwing the poor dead bastard back to land I used my light magic to dry myself quickly (which was a pain because fire is so much better for this) and after I was dressed once again I told Gandalf to turn around.
After he gave me an annoyed look for my antics and assured me that I was responsible for graying even more of his hair he started inspecting the corpse.
"Well my dear, it seems you have a knack for doing the impossible. Do you know who this is?" he said pointing at the corpse.
"No idea."
"This is Isildur, one of the kings of Gondor all the way back on the Second Age and the man who stroke down Sauron himself."
"Oh you mean Isildur the Fool then. The idiotic man that managed to bring the One Ring all the way to Mount Doom and he didn't destroy it out of greed." I replied uncaring, causing him to pause for a moment.
"Yes I guess you could call him foolish for not destroying it when he came so close but you have to understand. That artifact is capable of corrupting the hearts of even the noblest of Elves with time. The race of men that by nature are so easily led to evil had no chance to resist the rings pull."
"Whatever, but I still think that Elrond should have kicked the idiot inside the magma together with the ring. It would have spared the world countless years of pain and suffering and so many lives would have been saved as well."
"That's a very totalitarian way of thinking child. Elrond and Isildur were friends bonded in the field of battle. Would you kill so callously one of your own even if it was for a good cause?"
"Well I don't think I would kill them but I would have never left them leave that volcano with the ring. I would have at least beaten the stupid out of them until they came to their senses."
"An unorthodox way of doing things I suppose but I can't help but think that it would have worked, surprisingly enough." he commented with an amused smile.
"Of course it would have worked. Nothing like a good ass kicking to put some idiot's head on straight again." I replied fake haughtily causing us both to trade glances and start laughing.
The way after that little detour was mostly uneventful aside from a couple of packs of wolves that a bit of fire managed to chase away.
We reached our desired spot to pass through the Misty Mountains 5 days after leaving Lothlorien and it took us an additional 5 to cross through, finding ourselves to a pass overlooking the Valley Imladris or most commonly known as Rivendell.
As we reached the Gates of the House of Elrond two armored soldiers stopped us. I couldn't fault them either. It is not every day that a 14 year old looking girl arrives to their home together with an old man and a cart carrying a corpse.
Thankfully Gandalf was a known figure around these parts and they quickly send someone to call the Lord of the house in order to deal with the situation.
We only waited for 5 minutes before a black haired distinguished elf came rushing towards the gate followed by a blonde haired armored warrior that in my magical senses was shining like the sun.
"Gandalf the Grey, you have always be known to have a penchant for involving yourself in weird situations but bringing a dead man's corpse into my home must be one for the history books." said the Elf-Lord half amused half exasperated with the old wizards antics and both myself and the pretty boy (more pretty boy than usual) elf were snickering to the side, causing some attention to be drawn to me.
"And you would be?" asked Elrond
"My name is Laergulneth but you may call me Celephindis if you so wish milord." I replied making my eyes glow gold with light magic for a second to send the message across and by the surprised expressions of both elves it seems they got it.
"Well met Lady Celephindis and I would like very much to make your acquaintance later but right now I want you to explain to me why you are bringing a corpse into my home."
I snorted."That's what I asked as well milord but apparently a royal corpse needs special enough treatment to have to carry the damn thing all the way through the Misty Mountains instead of burying it in whole somewhere and being done with it." I griped giving Gandalf the look and causing him to stare back in exasperation having dealt with my complaints 10 days straight.
"Royal?" asked Elrond with an amused raised eyebrow at my cheekiness.
"Yes milord, I present to you the lost body of King Isildur that young Celephindis found inside the river Gladden." said the wizard though he stuttered at the word found a bit. Seems he still hadn't got over his mortification at seeing some skin. It wasn't like he watched anything more risky than my naked back. He turned around pretty fast after all.
"Truly? Do you have any solid proof that it is the right one?" was the reply, a sad and at the same time hopeful tone in his voice.
"Why yes, we found him wearing the Star of Elendil. It could be no one else."
"Indeed, the Eledilmir was known to have been lost together with Isildur so it is more than probable that it is him. Did you find anything else with him?" replied the elf trying to be subtle.
"Nope, I was very thorough in my search, no small golden innocuous trinkets anywhere near him." I said nonchalantly and I am very sure that if at that moment he had been drinking he would have done a very impressive spit-take to the obvious amusement of everyone else.
"I see." he muttered looking at me like a father looks at his daughter after he caught her in her room with a boy and doesn't know how to deal with it.
After that entertaining conversation I was led to a guest room to freshen up while Gandalf followed Elrond in order to take care of the fallen King's body.
Rare Quest: The Greybeard's assistant
Main Objective: Follow Gandalf on his travels for at least a year. (Y)
Bonus 1: Help the Kingdom of Rohan with the Orc raids. (Y)
Bonus 2: Find Isildur's body together with Elendilmir and return them to Rivendell before they fall at the hands of Saruman. (Y)
Rewards
Main Objective: + 10m xp, Stuff of the Istari, Elven Enchanting.
Bonus 1: 500k xp, 250 Gold Coins, +5 levels in Riding, Increased reputation with the people of Rohan.
Bonus 2: 1m xp, Elendilmir, Elven Forged Shield, Increased reputation with Elrond and the House of Isildur.
(QUEST COMPLETE)
Level: 30 (43.531.855/148.691.936)
CURRENCY: ($= 9600, D=17.691, AG= 5000,)UNAVAILABLE, MG=250 (Mortal Gold)
Riding skill(Lv25): Your ability to ride a mount either a vehicle or living creature. +95% possibility of staying astride while in battle. +30% damage dealt while riding a mount in battle.
New Skill: Elven Enchanting (Lv1): You are capable to bind enchantments in both organic and not objects through the use of your voice and your intent. You are not capable to further this skill without guidance until you reach Lv10.
Nice. Another quest bites the dust, though I am a bit bummed that I won't get the shield and staff right away. I will probably be gifted those by Elrond or something. Also I have to somehow make them teach me enchanting. I shrugged, that is a problem for future Alex.
A little while later an elf-maid came to my room bringing a dress that caused me to cringe inwardly at the sheer girlyness of it and told me that the bath house was available for my use.
Happy to be finally able to take a proper bath instead washing myself with wet towels or in streams I followed her.
The bathhouse was big enough to accommodate at least 40 people at the same time before becoming too crowded and currently was completely empty aside from me.
Quickly stripping from my armor and after futilely trying to stop the elf-maid whose name was Neleth from doing my laundry for me, I stepped into the hot water.
I had been relaxing for a few minutes before I felt another person stepping inside the water a couple of meters away from me but I was too zen to bother even lifting my head.
" Hello, I haven't seen here before, are you new in Imladris?" asked a beautiful voice in Sindarin from my side causing me to lift my head and open my eyes towards her.
She was beautiful in a way Galadriel was beautiful, surpassing the average elf by a wide margin. She had black hair and sky blue eyes and her skin was ivory and blemishless while her curves were the perfect hourglass figure. All in all, a supreme babe.
" Hello, I am Celephindis and yes I just came to Rivendell together with Gandalf. What is your name?"
" I am Arwen and I welcome you to my home. I hope you enjoy your stay here."
" I hope so too, though I don't think I will stay for long, I have things to do but I will surely miss this bath house." I replied trying to focus on her eyes instead of anywhere else and inwardly cursing that lucky bastard Aragon for landing such a beautiful wife.
" You are not? You will be heading to Lothlorien or Mirkwood perhaps?" she asked curiously.
" Neither, I am going to Ered Luin." I said surprising her.
" But what would an elf and a young one at that have to do in Ered Luin?" she said in concern and I looked at her in confusion for a moment before realization came and I laughed a bit, to her bewilderment.
" I am not an elf Miss Arwen, I am an Istar like Gandalf" I told her, giving her a meaningful look while showing her my not-pointy ear that was heading beneath my hair.
From her widened eyes and the slight bow of her head it seems she knew what exactly the Istari were, unlike the race of men and dwarves that thought them just long living powerful wizards that tried to fight against the forces of Mordor.
I wasn't very surprised by her knowledge. She was both an elf and one that had been born just as the Third Age started as well the daughter of an Elf Lord. It was obvious that she would be privy to more delicate information like the origins of the Istari.
After the introductions were over we started discussing about our lives. She told me about her life in Rivendell, her family and her occasional trips to her grandmother in Lothlorien and I regaled her about my adventures in Arda which she enjoyed.
By the time we chose to get out of the water I believe we had become friendly acquaintances at least and I was hoping to become truly friends with her in the years I will stay here. After all, it would become quite boring if my only friend was a mischievous old man with a penchant for making intricate shapes with his smoking pipe. No matter how cool those tricks were.
As we stood up to leave though, an amusing situation happened. Arwen who was ready to leave the water gazed at my body and goggled a little in surprise, which admittedly it was really funny watching a composed elf like her taking such an expression, though I couldn't understand why.
"What is it? Is there something on me? Am I dirty somewhere?" I asked checking around myself trying to find what cause her to react like this.
"It is not that just…" she said hesitating.
"Yes, come on spit it out, I am not biting." 'Unless you want to that is', I thought inwardly with a giggle.
"You are just very 'gifted' for your age." she asked slightly mortified at the topic of the conversation which I derived great entertainment from.
She was not exactly wrong though. I was truly 'very gifted' for my bodies age. I was 5 feet 4 and I was a high C cup with wide hips and long legs. My skin was not ivory white like her but that was mostly because I spend too much time in the sun, making me gain a slight tan. My eyes were violet which I had no idea from whom I gotten them since my mother's were brown and my shitty old man's were red. As a result and not to toot my own horn, I was a fucking knock out babe and considering the Fertility Goddess body type perk I had, by the time my body reaches full adulthood I am pretty sure I will be waving some pretty solid D cups if not E.
" Oh love thank you for the compliment but if you want to play with my girls" at the word girls I cupped my tits with my both hands and turned them to her direction "I expect at least a dinner first." I said, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively and causing her to turn a deep red while waving her hands and stuttering incomprehensible denials.
My uproarious laughing at her cute embarrassment must have been heard throughout the whole valley and by the time we were exiting the bath house wearing long dresses (to my charging) and ready for dinner, I had managed to collect myself, though Arwen was cutely glaring (read: pouting) at me for messing with her.
When we reached the dining pavilion everyone was already seated and there were quite a few dropped jaws as we walked together to our seats. It was not surprising really, Arwen was known as the most beautiful elf since that Luthien chick and that Fertility Goddess perk I had was not for shit and giggles. Until a few months ago I still had the bodytype of a child and my armor and unkempt appearance from a life of fighting and on the road didn't exactly show me at my best.
Now though, I am wearing a (ugh!) dress that shows a modest amount of a very endowed cleavage and it is formfitting enough to accentuate all my curves slightly, causing as result the aforementioned jaws to drop. Not that I cared all that much. I had no intention to start something here knowing that my stay in Arda is permanent and even if I didn't care about that, the fact that many seem to forget (and by many I mean the romance addled rabid fanfiction fangirls that write Si LotR and Hobbit stories) is that this world is stuck firmly in the middle ages.
As a result women have no rights at all aside from elves who are slightly better and second, the people here are stinking, filthy dirty. Bathing is not something people do at these parts of the universe regularly. Also wearing heavy plate form fitting armors causes the body to sweat and stink with a fierceness of dragonfire.
So as you can understand their pipe dreams about noble knights (chauvinistic assholes) sweeping them off their feet (wearing their smelly armor) and talking them to their clean (not), accommodating (there is no indoor plumbing outside of Rivendell) castles are just that. Dreams. So no baby, this girl likes her partners sufficiently bathed and Arda's people just don't do it for me.
Done with my inner monologue, I sat beside the elven princess on the main table and after greeting the Lord of the house we started eating.
The food was very good, I could feel the magic in everything making every single dish very tasty and nutritious and if I am not mistaken keeping everything fresh for weeks. I couldn't wait to learn this trick, together with the reinforcement skill I would be able to make food good enough for even Gods to praise and with a little alteration in the spells, give them all kinds of different effects. I giggled like Jiraya internally. I could already imagine a meal with a hot date while I have filled the food with aphrodisiac spells and enchantments. Distant future me is going to have so much fun.
After we were done and people started retiring for the nights I was invited together with Gandalf at Elrond's office.
As I guessed, they thanked me for finding the body of the ancient king and the heirloom he was wearing and as gift, they gave me a round shield as big as my torso and completely silver with vine decorations on its edges that were sharp enough to cut flesh and a long piece of white wood as tall as me that according to Gandalf is made from trees fully grown and imbued with the magic of a powerful artifact (by the look that was exchanged between him and Elrond I had a very good idea what this 'artifact was).
According to the Lord of Rivendell, the shield was made at the first age by an Elven Master blacksmith but because his people prefer to fight with bows or acrobatically using shorter blades, it hadn't gotten much use.
Thanking him for the gifts that would be useful considering how limited she is power wise currently, I asked him if it is possible to be trained in enchanting by his people sometime in the future and after showing him my voice magic which surprised him, he was more than happy to assist me in cultivating such 'a rare gift from the Valar'.
Our discussion ended by warning me about the stirring of darkness and he requested that if I found anything suspicious that I should warn them as well if possible, which I was more than happy to do so.
The next day came quickly and my time in Imladris had come to an end for now. According to the timeline, Thorin and his father Thrain would go to the Blue Mountains in 2802 of the Third Age and this was my chance to become known to the dwarves and start cultivating a rapport with them.
Saying goodbye to Gandalf and Elrond and after hugging Arwen goodbye and promising her that I would write as often as I could, I strapped my new shield on my back and with my incomplete staff in hand started heading west.
About an hour into my trek I checked around and after detecting none I transformed into my eagle form and started flying around the trollshaws. My plan was to find the elven forged blades and the gold that the company would originally find inside the troll cave and use them to bribe and help the people of Erebor in their time of need. From the movie I had seen, the gold was enough to fill two big barrels full of it. A horde big enough to build a big village or a small town from scratch if you are frugal enough.
Many would think that it would be a fool's errand considering how many years in the future was that event and a logical person would say that the trolls must have found them and brought them there but I disagree.
In the Hobbit movie the trolls had only 1 metal weapon and that a very shitty one. Even if they couldn't touch the elven blades, they could have been able to make something better with the rest of the simple swords found there. The fact that they didn't means that either they didn't care about those riches and as a result wouldn't have bothered to carry and bring with them in their cave or that they have never found that particular cave, meaning that all that money and equipment was hidden there for much longer and as a result possibly ripe for the taking even in the current time.
I spent 5 days in that forest searching every nook and cranny of it until I found the correct cave and what do you know, I was right. Even better, there were no trolls at this point either, making my job easier.
Knowing that without my inventory it would be impossible to carry everything I decided to cheat with the best cheating method ever devised, I am of course talking about runes.
Using the skin of the dead rabbits that had become my meals in the five days here, I made two pouches with straps in order to be carried easier and I started suing runes in them meant for space expansion.
I was not the best at that particular branch of magic but I managed. In one pouch I put all the gold coins and jewels and in the other Orcist, Stinger and my own enchanted sword, choosing to take Glamdring as my own. Sorry Gandalf, finders keepers.
Side mission successfully done, I once again transformed in my very handy eagle form and mentally thanking (snort) Zeus for giving me such a nice gift, I flew towards the Blue Mountains.
It took me less than 2 days to reach my destination and using my eagle vision I was able to quickly find the dwarf contingent numbering around 20.000 but considering the slaughter of Smaug and the War in Moria a few years prior, the majority of them were women and children.
From what I could observe, they had built a town at the side of the Mountain made mostly of wood with a precious few stone buildings. The most noticeable detail though, was that there was not a palace or mansion built anywhere for the ruling family. It seems the Thrain wasn't arrogant enough to indulge in such frivolities while his people were suffering. Good for him.
Descending in a secluded section of some woods nearby, I took my human form and started heading towards what will be known in the future as Small Erebor.
As I came closer I could see the wooden walls no more than 12 feet tall and guards standing visible both on top them and at the gate. The moment I went near, one of them stopped me.
"Halt, this is a dwarf city stranger, what is your business here?"
"I seek an audience with King Thrain and I have come for far away in order to do so."
"And what business would a woman have with our king?" the little shit asked condescendingly.
"This woman's business are her own, now be a good little guard and ask your king if he shall receive me or not, time is money after all." I shot back and used a little bit of my aura to intimidate the guard into compliance.
A few minutes later I was led inside a house at the top of the city. Getting inside I met two male dwarves that are actually taller than the Earth's ones, around 5'3" and 5'4" in height and a female one that I think was called darrow being slightly smaller at 5'1".
"Greetings King Thrain, it's a honor to make your acquaintance." I said buttering him up a bit and considering he stood straighter after my words, I think it worked.
"Well met stranger. As you know I am Thrain, the king of this city of dwarves and with me are my son and heir Thorin and my daughter Dis." he said pointing at the other two dwarves inside the house and then continued.
"Before we continue with whatever you came here for I would ask you to remove your hood and tell me your name, I would prefer to not refer you as stranger for as long as you will stay here" he finished and I complied.
The moment I removed my cloak though I heard a gasp from the female dwarf and a hiss from Thorin as his hand went for his blade.
"You have a lot of audacity stepping in our home after how your kind treated us elf." shouted the prince and only the hand of his father stopped him from attacking me then and there.
I was confused for a moment until I understood the problem. Raising my hand in a 'peace' gesture I removed my hair from my ears and showed them, causing them to pause and look at me in surprise.
"You have misunderstood prince Thorin, I am not an elf."
"And what are you then? Elf you might not be but you don't belong in the race of men either, your too beautiful and powerful for that, I can feel that much." said Thrain and I smiled.
"Do you know of Gandalf the Grey or maybe Saruman the White perhaps?"
"The Istari? You mean to tell me that you are one of them then? A witch."
As the word witch left the King's mouth I could see Thorin becoming a little white and look at me in slight trepidation. He was probably thinking I would turn him in a toad or something for 'insulting' me and I couldn't help but smile amusedly at his expression, an opinion that I shared with the King whose eyes twinkled in mirth.
The order of the Istari might be respected by the folk of Middle Earth but even then, there were stories and superstition about magic users, especially from the dwarves who are a suspicious lot by nature.
My non-elveness finally assured I discussed my proposition with him. In exchange for the gold and jewels in my pouch I requested to be taught the art of crafting, both blacksmithing and jewel craft by them. I also promised to help them protect their home in case of danger.
At first they were skeptical by my request unwilling to share the secrets of their craft to anyone but after I showed the extent of the wealth I was willing to part with, their tune changed quickly. Proud or not, feeding so many mouths as the population of Dwarf Town as it was currently called, cost money that they simply didn't have and my gold would bring great relief so they agreed without much funfair and after drawing a contract at our agreement, I was escorted in a small tavern/hotel to find a room for the night.
The next day my lessons and new duties begun. First of all I removed my Vanir armor and replaced it with a simple tunic and breaches because it would be a waste to wear it while sweltering away inside the forge.
I was assigned to be an apprentice under Balin funnily enough who was the senior and best blacksmith in the town. Say whatever you say about the dwarves but they keep their word once they come to an agreement. I have expected to get saddled with a 3rd rate blacksmith and have to prove myself every step of the way until I was given proper instruction but I was pleasantly surprised.
Once I entered the forge I was told to follow my new teacher as he gave me a tour of the place, teaching me about the equipment and the procedure one has to follow to start smithing. He was patient with me, always making sure I understood what he taught me and willing to answer my questions without problem.
I spend 48 years with them. The first 5 I was simply an apprentice under Balin following him around and as I learned, I was assigned jobs from just shoveling coal inside the forge, to using the blower to keep the fire going and with time I was allowed to start making small things like horse petals, nails and other small everyday objects.
By my 10th year there I finally managed to graduate from being an apprentice and was given my own space inside the forge to start working and getting proper commissions. By this point the town had started to get more visitors that came here to trade. After Moria fell to the Orcs the people of the West side of Middle-Earth had no way to buy dwarven quality weapons, jewels or even everyday objects like plows and furniture.
The closest dwarf kingdom was Erebor that the merchants had to go all the way through the gap of Rohan and the cursed forest of Mirkwood before they could reach there and then return, which was no easy or timely feat. After Smaug happened, only the Iron Hills remained as a true dwarven Kingdom which was even further East and as a result the presence of Thorin's people in the Blue Mountains was a new opportunity for merchants.
After 20 years spent in the Blue Mountains (2822 T.A.) working in the forges I had managed to be elevated from assistant smith into a smith journeyman or journeywoman in my case and I was trusted to make weapons. During that time I had become friends with Dis, Thorin's sister and my free time I spent it with her either learning how to make beautiful accessories with gems, an art that was predominately learned by the females in their culture or drinking mead and complaining about the uselessness of the male gender to the annoyance of Thorin who was a full blown uptight stick in the mud by then and the amusement of Balin and Thrain.
The years after brought some prosperity to the town. At my urgings and help, the King has started making proper infrastructure and extension of the town, bringing it to a respectable size and naming it Small Erebor in honor of their roots.
Thrain when he came here was planning to just create a temporary residence until he had gathered enough forces to retake Erebor but I managed to persuade him to make this place a true home. After all I said to him even if they retake the Lonely Mountain there is no reason that they couldn't have this place be governed by a second son down the line or gifted to one of the other clans in exchange for assistance. Considering how few warriors they currently had and the low birth rates of the dwarves in general he conceded to my idea.
In order to bring in new people and make the place more renown I started giving performances in the main 'park' whenever I had the time and cheated a bit by using siren song on the humans making them talk with wonder for Small Erebor and its many wonders wherever they went in order to advertise the place more and also my healing song which drew a great influx of both men and elves that wished to heal themselves from ailments or great wounds. Ruthless PR campaigns at its finest.
At the year 2840 T.A. Small Erebor had become a great trading outpost and was nicknamed the jewel of the Blue Mountains and I the 'White-gold Maiden' who brought luck and prosperity to the dwarves'. The first time I was called that I turned completely red in embarrassment and Dis never let me live it down.
By this point the money came rolling in such an extent that it was decided by Thrain to start digging into the mountain in search of ores and at the first month of the year 2840 T. A. the first vein of amethyst was found, bringing great glee and celebration amongst the people.
Seeing that the future was well assured, Thrain decided to gather a company of a few dwarves in order to return to Erebor and try to retake it. Both I and his children tried to persuade him against this harebrained idea but he was relentless, so at the middle of spring he left with a reluctant Balin and a few others in order to retake Erebor leaving Thorin as the new leader of Small Erebor until his return.
I knew of course that he never would but I was no one's babysitter, if he wanted to die so much then he was free to do so. My job was to preserve the line of Durin from dying out and an old son of it would not be a great loss. Cold I know but by that point I was mentally 60 years old and jaded enough to not care about those I was not close to. If I didn't know though for sure that Balin would be safe and would return then things would have been different.
It was 2 years later that Balin and another 2 of his companions returned and told us that they were ambushed in Mirkwood by Orcs and that they didn't know about Thrain's whereabouts. They had searched everywhere for a whole year before they decided to return, hoping that maybe he had found his way back.
With the old King MIA Thorin was reluctantly crowned as King of Dwarves and Lord of Small Erebor 2 weeks later.
I stayed in Small Erebor until the year 2850 and by that point I had become an expert blacksmith but according to Balin that level of skill was the best that they could reach at this day and age. When Moria fell and to a smaller extent Erebor, the greatest minds of the dwarf-folk were lost and together with them most of lore of their crafts that had been cultivated since the time of Celebrimor. According to Balin, the loss of this knowledge was greater than all the gold in the world and I couldn't help but agree with him.
It was that same year that my best friend at this point Dis married a blonde haired handsome dwarf named Gilli that I made sure to enlighten him about my expert intestine knot making techniques and what would happen to him if he mistreats my friend in any way, shape or form, making him take a color more fair than an elf while nodding in terror. Balin and Thor where eavesdropping on my 'conversation' and it was that incident I think that made the surly dwarf-king actually like me. Balin was rolling on the ground laughing uproariously.
The day after the wedding I collected my personal belongings from my hotel room and was ready to leave. No I didn't live in the hotel for the decades staying there. I had built a big house at the richest parts of the city that also served as a place for Dis to crash every time Thorin pissed her off and I gifted it to her as a wedding present.
In a completely unrelated note, the first thing everyone that gets inside the house will be able to see is an expertly made tapestry of a fair-haired woman making long knots from the intestines of boars that she killed protecting her child from them. Yep, completely unrelated.
As I reached the gates I saw both Dis and her very scared husband, as well as Balin and Thorin. After a teary good bye from the couple (for different reasons) and my old teacher I came face to face with Thorin.
He had the same look as the Hobbit movie, though he looked younger and he had a slight smile in his face. The prosperity of his people unlike in canon had relieved him of some of his stress.
"Lady Celephindis, your help brought great prosperity to my people and you are always welcome at my home and hearth."
"It was a pleasure Thorin Oakenshield and I thank you for taking me in and granting me the knowledge of your people's craft. Know that in the future, when the time comes and you have need for my help I will be there" I said with a meaningful look causing him to widen his eyes and I continued.
"That said I believe it is time I give you something that will help you a lot in your trials ahead."
I then pulled out Orcist. I still haven't managed to figure out how it was made but I managed to carve some runes using intense light magic, making it stronger than before.
Orcist "The Goblin-Bane"
+ 1500 DMG
+100% DMG against Orcs and Goblins
+100% DMG when imbued with light magic
Special: ElvenBlade: The blade is indestructible against anything below the power of a God. Its method of creation had also made it capable of harming all creatures of darkness and evil and when they are near, it shines with a gold light warning its wielder of imminent danger.
Special: Runic Empowerment: Through the use of runes carved on it, the blade is now more powerful and can now be used only by its rightful owner and his descendants. Owner: Thorin II Oakenshield.
Info: Orcist is a blade made by an elven Master Blacksmith at the First Age and was used by many warriors to slay hordes of Orcs and Goblins. Through the use of Runes by the Maiar Celephindis, the blade has become even stronger and causes fear at the hearts of dark creatures at the sight of it.
"This blade is made by Elves at the First Age and I have enchanted it personally as well. Let 7 drops of your blood fall at the butt of the pommel and the sword will only be able to be wielded by your hands and those of your blood and none else." I said while he was admiring the legendary blade in awe.
"As a son of the line of Durin, I give you my utmost gratitude for both your offer of assistance and this gift. May you find great fortune in your travels ahead." he replied and after a modified handshake (forearmshake?) I was once again on the road.
Walking leisurely upon the main road I took stock of all the progress I had made in my say with the dwarves.
Expert Blacksmithing (Lv25): With this skill you have reached the greatest heights of the mortal non-magical aspects of the noble art of the hammer and anvil. You are capable of molding metals in any shape or form you desire through your work and creating wonders that can compete with the greatest mortal practitioners of the art. True Masters of the skill are able to create wonders that even Gods gaze upon with awe.
Hammer Mastery (Lv20): Your ability to use hammers. +40% dmg and 10% armor penetration when using hammers.
The Blacksmithing skill upgraded easily to journeyman and then expert. The only caveat for me to do so was to make a good weapon that was okeyed by a master of the craft and also to be taught by one, something that Balin did well enough. I didn't expect to gain a weapon mastery out of it but I won't complain about it. I don't think I am going to use hammers much though. They may be very appropriate considering my best stat is STR, but after gaining my spear, I don't think I will ever be able to main some other weapon.
Siren Song (Lv2-Lv7): Your beautiful voice is capable of enthralling the minds of everyone who hear it, though the stronger the will of the victim the harder it is for you to enthrall them. Cost: 190 MP/min, 6% chance of enthralling beings that are a higher level than you. The higher the level the lower the chance.
Soothsinger(Lv15-Lv30-MAX): Your song is capable of healing some of the wounds and weariness of the ones who hear it. It doesn't work on beings of darkness and evil or those you designate as enemies. Cost 444 MP/min +155 HP/min to allies ), 15,5% chance of curing curse and illnesses. This skill can be UPGRADED.
Song of Light(Lv5-Lv7): When you are singing using this skill, all creatures of light get empowered by it and you can even chase away the darkness and despair. Cost 700MP/min, + 17 to all physical stats of non darkness aligned allies, DMG +235 to all beings of darkness and evil, 22% chance to cause debilitating migraines to your enemies.
My spellsinger branch of magic got a lot of work as well with Soothsinger actually maxing out. I have come a long way from the child that was embarrassed to even sing in front of a dragon in order to save her life. Surprisingly enough I have come to enjoy singing a lot and I plan in the future to further this type of magic. I will have to learn how to play an instrument for that though and the few of those existing in Arda don't interest me. Maybe when I go home I can figure out something.
Lumiomancy (MAX): Your ability to control light(-30MP to all light based spells). Cost 10MP
Laeshi (MAX): A light type spell that imbues weapons and projectiles like arrows or bullets or even your body with light causing them to deal extra light damage. + 100 dmg, Cost: 30(1) MP/ min. Special: When used against dark aligned creatures or beings then there is a +175% damage dealt.
Illumination (Lv2): A light type spells that causes an explosion of light around the user, dealing damage to all enemies touched by it and weakens all dark magic in the affected area for the next 20 minutes. DMG 1550, Radius: 5,5 meters, Cost 1499(1469) MP.
Last of course I trained my only elemental magic currently available to me as much as I could. The new spell was created by taking inspiration from Gandalf when he fought that Balrog inside the mines of Moria and his fight with the Necromancer. Mine is nowhere powerful enough of course. The skill is still very low level as I didn't have plenty of time to focus on it and other elemental magics don't come to me as fast as fire did, affinity or no affinity.
The last thing I managed to accomplish was to use a ritual that acted as my observe skill. It is the reason why I was finally able to see the stats of Orcist. I have to create a runic array with the desired item inside it and after activating I was able to gain information. Nowhere near as good and easy as Observe, but it can be useful if you want to check the integrity of an item, both for its quality as well as checking if it has any curses on it.
Ritual of Psychometry: : Through this ritual the caster can scan an item about its history, composition and enchantments. It cannot be used on organic matter.
Through this, I was able to check my nifty new sword. I haven't made my staff yet, I am going to learn some enchanting from the elves before I begin to do that. There is no such thing as overkill after all and if I am going to wield a honking staff I at least am going to make it as powerful as possible.
Glamdring "The Foe-Hammer"
+3000 DMG
+100% DMG against Orcs and Goblins
+100% DMG when imbued with light magic
Special: ElvenBlade: The blade is indestructible against anything below the power of a God. Its method of creation had also made it capable of harming all creatures of darkness and evil and when they are near, it shines with a blue ethereal flame warning its wielder of imminent danger.
Special: Purifying Flame: A runic enchantment made by Celephindis. When the wielder focuses raw magic in the blade, Glamdring gets coated by a white colored flame that inflicts +500 DMG against beings of darkness, death and evil. It also activates the light magic imbuement effect.
Special: Runic Empowerment: Through the use of runes carved on it, the blade is now more powerful and can now be used only by its rightful owner and her descendants.
Info: Glamdring (also called the Foe-hammer and the Beater ) is a hand-and-a-half sword , forged for Turgon , the Elven King of Gondolin during the First Age , and now is wielded by the Maiar Celephindis. Through the use of Runes by said Maiar, the blade has reached new heights in power and causes fear at the hearts of dark creatures at the sight of it.
What, did you think that I would give Thorin a blade as good as mine? As if I would give such a powerful weapon to anyone that is not my most close of allies and even then I would take precautions. Some may call me greedy for withholding the good stuff from others but I don't care. These powers are mine and I am the one that chooses who gets what. Whoever doesn't like it can try to make their own powerful sword if they want it so much.
Rant done and safely away from prying eyes I transformed into my eagle form and started flying away. I first found my way to Mithlond, the only port capable of sailing to Valinor, the realm of the local pantheon.
It was a beautiful place with clean wide roads and the architecture was clearly elven. For a port city though, it wasn't very populated. The only difference with the other cities of its kind though, was that it was populated from all the non-dark races of middle earth, with men, elves and hobbits walking around and I had even seen a couple of dwarves drinking in a tavern which was very strange because generally they didn't like to associate with elves.
After spending a couple of days there, I hit the road once more. For a whole year I traveled the whole of Middle-Earth never staying on a place for more than a few days exploring everything.
I visited the lands of the Dunedain, giving them help against the Orcs and Goblins, and healing them whenever I could. I then went to Rohan and I found Brytta, an old man now at the twilight years of his life. He welcomed me in his palace and while surprised by my youth he chalked it up to just magic shenanigans and introduced me to his son who was very surprised to meet the 'Singing Maiden', a title I had gotten after I left Rohan for my deeds of both battle and healing during the raids and I was starting to get annoyed to tell the truth about all these Maiden titles. Not that they weren't flattering but every time I heard the bloody titles I was reminded that I am a 60 years old virgin and it kind of pissed me off.
Leaving Rohan behind me I headed north towards Fangorn where I met the Ents. They were kind beings and after I showed them some of my light magic I was able to convince them that I wasn't a servant of the Dark Lord. They had many stories to tell in their own slow way and I was particularly interested about their female counterparts, the Entiwives. According to them they had resided in what is known today as the Brownlands, a desert south of Dol Guldur and they had been missing since the second age after Sauron had burned their lands.
I pitied them. Even now, millennia later they said that the Entwives had been lost, not dead just lost. I told them before my departure that I will keep an eye out for them and if I find even a hint about their location that I would come back here to tell them. After a slow thank you from the living trees I headed towards Mirkwood.
You could feel the corruption in the forest and the spiders there were practically everywhere on the southern parts and near Dol Guldur so I chose to stay away for now. If it wasn't for the elves killing them in droves then I am certain that they would have taken over the whole eastern border by now which is all kinds of scary.
I chose to not make myself known to the lords of the forest for now and I just left a series of runic stones of light and protection along the main forest that separated the northern for the southern part of the forest in order to give some relief to the overworked elves. The moment my pseudo-ward was activated I could hear the screeches from the Acromantulas 2.0.
Nodding in satisfaction at managing to once more to annoy another old evil fuck and meddle in their plans (Sauron) I completely ignored Erebor for now and headed to Mount Gundabad for some reconnaissance. I was not capable in my current state to take on the whole army in that fortress but I was able to find their current numbers (around 12.000 Orcs) because it was information that is going to be useful in the near future if I have anything to say about it.
My self-appointed scouting mission finished, I then headed towards Rhune. I wanted to check over the people living there and I was hoping to maybe find Palando and Alatar, the Blue wizards. According to the wiki, they were the first of the Istari that stepped in the Middle-Earth and there were rumors from Tolkien that they had been corrupted by Sauron at some point and I was hoping to prevent that.
Unfortunately though, I run out of time. As I was flying through the south side of Mirkwood I sensed an explosion of light magic and quickly headed to the source.
It was Gandalf and he was banishing some spiders while he was protecting someone that was sitting wounded against the bark of a tree. Descending to the ground I took my human form and I started singing my Song of Light empowering my fellow wizard and causing pained screeches to the many-legged abominations. After I got a surprised and grateful look from Gandalf I cast Illumination and overpowered the spell by putting about 10k of MP to it. The sheer force of the explosion send the beasts crashing to the ground and on the trees all around and they started fleeing in terror knowing that they would be incapable of dealing with two Istari at the same time.
"I cannot describe how happy I am to see you dear Celephindis. I really appreciated your help here." said the wizard with a tired smile.
"What is going on Gandalf, why would you come so near of that accursed place and alone at that?" I asked, my inner Ares bluntness rearing its head.
"I had gotten some rumors about a small band of Orcs abducting travelers that were passing through Mirkwood and I decided to investigate. Unfortunately I was too late." he said with a sad sigh pointing at the corpse that was against the tree.
"Is that King Thrain?" I gasped in my best surprised voice and inwardly wondering if my performance was good enough for an Oscar.
"You knew Thrain?" asked the wizard with a raised eyebrow.
"Knew?" I scoffed "I lived at his city for near 50 years Gandalf, learning how to forge and I helped them stand on their feet again"
"I told the old fool that it wasn't time yet to take back Erebor and that his mission was doomed from the start but he didn't listen, the stubborn dwarf" I replied with a sigh.
"Stubbornness my dear is one of the most potent qualities of dwarf-kind. Once they put something in their heads you will sooner be able to make a Hobbit go on a diet than change a dwarf's mind." said the Grey Istar with a wry humorless grin.
After burying the body (Gandalf's latest horse had died a few months ago and he didn't have a chance to find a new companion yet) we started heading for Rivendell. Gandalf had suspicions that the Orcs were assembling at the old fortress of Dol Guldur (they were) and there were even rumors of a Necromancer having made shop there and he wanted to convince the White Council to act and nip this threat at the bud.
As he was talking I was inwardly smiling in glee. Finally things were going to become interesting. I had been waiting for this moment for decades.
Originally, the White Council had chosen to ignore this place at the urgings of Saruman who by that point had been searching for the One Ring for centuries and by dismissing Gandalf's fears he managed to buy time for Sauron to gain his strength unimpeded. Unfortunately for him, I was here now and I was not going to let this shit go on.
"Hey Gandalf." I said as we were walking through the forest
"Yes?"
"Do you want to reach Rivendell faster?"
"Of course I do but unfortunately we have no rides so we will have to make do with our feet. "
"I know of a way we can go faster."
"Really now? Let's hear it then."
"You will have to promise to tell no one though and if you ever do I promise that I will tear your beard from your chin and use it to light a bonfire." I threatened and he nodded rapidly while holding his beard protectively.
Being a little red in the face I jumped slightly on the air and where once stood a woman, now was a white mare bigger than any horse ever existing in Middle-Earth.
Gandalf actually dropped his staff in shock. He knew of course about the shape shifters and that I was one but it is a 'known' fact that people with this gift only had one form so my sudden non-avian transformation caught him completely off guard.
"Celephindis dear, you have to really stop doing things like that. This old heart can take so many surprises." he exclaimed with an amused smile after getting over his shock and I gave him a (horsey?) snort and an eyeroll which was pretty difficult in that form while lowering myself on the ground in order for him to rid- climb on.
Deciding to erase the R word from my mind for the foreseeable future I made sure he held on my silver mane tightly and I galloped as fast as I could towards the Misty Mountains. Considering that he left a surprised yelp as I accelerated I would wager that I was going way faster than any horse he had moun-, I mean ridde-. I was faster than any horse he had seen in his life.
We chose to continue riding through the night and discard sleep considering the importance of the situation and I managed to get us at the Misty Mountain pass directly at the outer side of Rivendell in less than two days which was really fucking impressive.
Another day through the rocky pass and we reached Imladris. Once there we informed Elrond of what happened and Gandalf urged him to send for the White Council in order to decide on our steps forward.
The time it took for everyone to come I spend my days relaxing and sharing stories with Arwen who I had been sending letters every couple of years. I cashed Elrond's promise of being taught elf enchanting and he promised that I would start lessons after the Council was over.
Finally, after a week of waiting Galadriel, Saruman and surprisingly enough Thranduil had come to Rivendell and we were led in an open balcony with a round table.
Getting curious looks from the two people that hadn't met me yet but choosing to ignore me the Council started and Gandalf begun to describe the situation at Dol Guldur, the capture and death of Thrain that got a contemptuous scoff from Thranduil (not that I expected any better) and he urged the Council to act and attack the fortress quickly in order to stop the dark forces there from consolidating their power.
"This is absurd Gandalf. Dol Guldur has been an empty ruin for millennia." said Sauron with a dismissive tone.
"There is darkness residing in those ruins Saruman. There are rumors of a Necromance-"
"A Necromancer? Obviously some foolish mortal doing parlor tricks and conspiring with the Orcs to cause trouble."
"But surely Saruman, if Gandalf said there is darkness inside these ruins then the least we could is to at least investigate." interjected Galadriel for the first time.
"There has been an increased amount of giant spiders. Descendants of that accursed Osgiliath have been harassing my people continuously for a few years now I will admit but I sensed no darkness there." said Thranduil a haughty tone in his voice.
"Then I see no reason to continue with this discussion. The matter is-" tried to say Saruman while beginning to sit up but I stopped him.
"The matter is far from over and more serious than you think." I interjected causing everyone's eyes to focus on me.
"And who are you girl that think that you know better than us." sneered slightly the wizard causing me to smirk.
"Oh my Curumo old chap. To think that you can't even recognize a fellow Maiar on sight. No wonder so many details had been slipping from you these last few years. " I said with a pleasant tone causing him to widen his eyes.
"A sixth Maiar, after all these years. Under which of the Valar have you come here?"
I smirked, my eyes glowing a haunting purple for a moment "Lord Tulkas of course."
My words made those in the know to gain a resigned look while Thranduil's expression for the first time changed from haughty to something resembling trepidation. The Valar as a whole were very peaceful so to send an emissary of War like that signified that the shit had hit the fan in a very spectacular way (or whatever equivalent phrase existed before the discovery of the fan).
I continued, not letting him speak while enjoying the look of slight fear on the white robed wizard's face.
"The whole fortress is under an illusion in order to hide what lies inside its walls. It was very subtle and was able to fool even Gandalf but I am very sensitive to magic so the enchantment couldn't be hidden from me." I said making everyone widen their eyes in realization.
"Sauron is without a doubt hiding there as a Wraith gaining strength day by day and we must act."
"Enough with this nonsense. There is no proof of what you say. Subtle illusion that only 'you' could sense, don't make me laugh. If such a thing truly existed in Dol Guldur then either I or Lady Galadriel would have sensed it. You baseless accusations only serve to cause panic." shouted the wizard in a thunderous voice trying to intimidate me and causing the rest of the council to tense.
Seeing that it had come to this I decided to go all out kick the bastard in the balls once and for all.
Focusing my magic I spent 15k of MP on my Tyrant's Aura creating an aurora of white and red magic that brought the occupants of the whole valley to their knees and it was only the formidable willpower of everyone inside the council that prevented them from submitting to my power.
" THERE IS NO PROOF YOU SAY? THE WHOLE OF MIDDLE-EARTH IS FILLED WITH PROOF YOU JUST CHOOSE NOT TO SEE THEM." I raged in fury at the power hungry traitor.
I was about to start swinging at the bastard before a delicate hand landed on my shoulder stopping me from eviscerating the bastard.
"Peace Lady Celephindis. We have come here in order to decide our path against the forces of darkness not fight against its other. You speak about proof, if you have found such then tell us." prompted the she-elf causing to drop the spell.
"I have braved the High Fells of Rhudaur. The tombs were empty. The jails had been ripped open from within."
"That means-" said Elrond with his head down.
"That means that the Nazgul walk amongst us once more and this is only one problem."
"When Thror was captured he was carrying the ring of Durin with him that is now lost, stolen by Orcs and we all know who the beasts serve." I spat drawing realizations from everyone.
"Last, I have scouted the old Orc fortress in Gundabad. There were above 12 thousand Orcs smelting weapons and spawning more by the day."
"If these are not enough proof then I don't know what else you need." I finished causing the room to become silent as everyone.
"Even then, the Orcs have been known to act up from time to time causing problems and conflicts by the centuries. The debacle with the raids in Rohan and the war against the dwarves in Moria is proof enough. That doesn't mean though that the Dark Lord is active once more. Urging us to march to some old ruin because you sensed some 'illusion' is the height of foolishness. If the Orcs up north are amassing an army as you say then we have to turn our gazes to that direction and nip this new army in the bud, not go chasing after ghosts because you had some 'feeling'." finished the wizard and I could see that the others were starting to agree him.
"You know, you are good. Very good indeed. If I didn't know with certainty your true nature you would have actually succeeded in buying time." I mocked gaining questioning looks from everyone bar Galadriel who had a slight widened look.
"What are you talking about girl? Stop talking in riddles and speak whatever nonsense you are meant to say. I have important things to do rather than spending my time listening to your spiel."
"What I am talking about Curumo, is that when you use your little palantir in order to communicate with Sauron you should be careful to not be secretly listened to by others. Did you know that there is a third one in Gondor being guarded by the Stewards in order to not fall on the wrong hands?" I bluffed through my teeth drawing my sword and prompting both elf lords and Gandalf to do the same pointing them at the traitor, grief and anger in their eyes at the duplicity.
Seeing that he had been found, the wizard screamed in rage and summoned a dark force to send us away but I countered him. I used Illumination to keep the magic at bay and I started singing the Song of Light, empowering my allies and weakening the dark magic substantially.
Considering that all three elven rings of power were at the same place it didn't take long to completely crush the wizards power and a swing from Thranduil's sword sent him back to Valinor the fast way to have some very harsh words with Aule and Eru. And just like that, one of the greatest threats in Middle Earth that caused so many problems for the Fellowship of the Ring in the future is now gone before he became a problem.
Immediately after Sauron's true colors (heh the puns are real!) became known the White Council begun to act. Gandalf was sent to Rohan to inform the King about the white wizard's treachery and to urge him to surround Isengard with some of his army in order to prevent someone else from the servants of the Dark Lord to take back the strategic area and whatever dangerous and important content are currently held inside the place.
After that he was to speak with the Steward of Gondor and to advice him to be alert because there is a big chance that Mordor would start causing problems soon. None had the illusion that Sauron would not retaliate for the loss of such a big asset.
Thranduil and Elrond were both to raise their armies and ready themselves to attack Dol Guldur and Mount Gundabad respectively with the latter communicating with the Dunedain in order to gather more assistance and to warn them to move away from the north because of the dangerous Orc presence.
Galadriel will follow us to the ancient fortress while she ordered her soldiers to guard the gate of Mirrormere. We were afraid that maybe the Orcs residing in the mines of Moria would try to flank us from the back if we moved our forces away.
Lastly, I was to fly quickly to Small Erebor and try to gain the allegiance of the dwarves. Arkenstone or not, Thorin is a respected figure to his entire race after his feats at the War against the Orcs of Moria.
Usually if I asked the Dwarf King to assist the elves in a war I was sure that I would be denied on the spot. Thankfully though, the truth about the fate of Thrain and the reveal of the ones responsible was a great motivation to ignore his grudges for now and he agreed to send for all the dwarf warriors of the West to assemble and guard the west Gate of Moria but only if he was to participate on the attack of Dol Guldur which was more than reasonable enough.
Preparations done, one month after the death of the former Istari, we were approaching with a 20.000 strong army the Fortress of Dark Sorcery. At the beginning I thought that it would be an easy victory. The Dark Lord was weak and unprepared and we had the advantage of two rings of power and a powerful army but Sauron was neither naïve nor stupid. The plan was for our main army to attack from the side of Lothlorien while 200 of Mirkwood's best rangers led by Legolas and me were to strike from inside the forest at the northern side culling the giant spiders and causing the enemy to fight on two fronts.
In hindsight I should have known it wouldn't be so simple. Weakened or not Sauron was both cunning and vicious and while not in top form he had many millennia of hiding in the shadows in order to regain his power.
The main army found themselves up against a great army of Orcs and trolls numbering more than 25 thousand. The filthy beasts had made great underground caverns in order to hide their population from sight and they caught us off guard. Thankfully with Nenya and Narya wielded by Gandalf and Galadriel as well as Glorfindel who had been sent as a representative from Rivendell we had more than enough fire power to balance things out even with fewer numbers, though the fight was difficult and long.
My side of the battle was another type of beast entirely. It started good enough, we were leaping through the trees quickly, killing every single arachnid on sight with extreme prejudice but as we headed closer to the enemy stronghold things became harder. Warg riders started attacking us with abandon not caring how many of them died as long as they delayed us and caused us to bleed. My song of light was a good counterbalance and due to the light alignment of the elves, the moment I started singing they started glowing and glittering like stars, their strikes faster and more powerful. The Orcs and spiders were burning up the moment they got near us and the morale couldn't be better. At least until a titanic explosion of dark magic snuffed my magic like a candle in a storm and a crippling feeling despair as well as the screech of something monstrous was heard overhead giving our enemies a second wind.
I could see a winged draconic form black as night and ridden by a black cloaked mace wielding figure charging toward the area that the main army was positioned while 5 Nazgul were galloping towards us empowering the feeling of despair in the air. A great white force of light rose from the ground to combat the darkness but it was being stalemated and I couldn't see anymore because I had to focus on dodging a swing from one of the wraiths that almost took my head.
Drawing Glamdring and focusing light imbuement on the blade empowering the already existing enchantments of the blade I attacked with ferocity forcing my enemy to position his weapon in order to block my hit but unfortunately for him my target was his horse instead him.
With a powerful swing I behead the corrupted animal and sent its rider crashing to the ground. My actions revitalized the morale of my forces that started fighting back with vigor and trying to mimic my tactic with great results.
Swing, block, thrust, dodge the battle raged around us, as I tried to kill the abomination before me. I blocked once more one of his overhead swings that were heavy enough to rattle my bones and that second of disorientation gave him the chance to hit me with a kick on my abdomen sending me flying back and crushing through a tree.
Groaning in pain at the powerful strike I got on my feet with a wheeze while watching the wraith coming towards me with an arrogant slow gait. Good, if it wasn't for that self-assurance I wouldn't have the time to come to my senses and I would have been a goner. It is always a treat for the bad guys to let you get your second wind instead of striking fast and decisively because they like to gloat. Arrogance (of the enemy) is every hero's greatest boon.
Seeing as his physical parameters were stronger than me I decided to go all out. Preserving my strength for later be damned. Using about 5000 of my MP I used my Illumination spell that pushed back the feeling of despair while crushing on the wraiths like an enraged bull sending them all flying back. Seeing my chance I jumped on top of my enemy and pierced him with my light coated sword causing it to screech in pain and with a tearing sound that threw me back a few feet a black aura for lack of a better word flew from inside the black cloaked armored Nazgul while hastily flying back to each master and causing the rest of its kind to start fleeing in fear.
Without need for prompting Legolas ordered for a full charge ahead while I sang songs of healing and light to keep everyone to as much of a top form as I could. Once near Dol Guldur we used our bows to strike the enemies that were standing on top of the walls while we killed all standing on the ground. At this point I transformed in my eagle form and flew towards the magical stalemate of our main army. Using my Illumination I managed to shift the balance to our favor and with a great heave the light (field?) crushed the Witch-King and his ride forcing them to retreat and fly back to Mordor in fear.
Feeling of despair now almost completely diminished and using my spellsinger spells to empower our army we managed to breach the fortress while culling every single Orc in our way to the last.
Following Galadriel and Gandalf as well as Thranduil we headed to the top of the castle were the dark humanoid shape of the Dark Lord was waiting for us. I could feel the fury he was releasing as he watched his centuries of plans crashing down before his eyes and I couldn't help the satisfied smirk that appeared on my lips.
Seeing as I am not a stupid anime protagonist, I decided to be proactive and not let the fucker make the first move. Through all the fighting my MP had been lowered to 35k MP so I put 30k into my illumination spell and I started singing the song of light once more while holding my focusing crystal in my hands.
The overcharged spell created a pillar of expanding power that I think it may have reached the clouds blinding everyone in a white light and luckily for me, my allies choose to chip is as well. The light energy from a strong wizard, an almost minor goddess in power Elf-Lady and my overpowered divine natured light combined with the amplification of my star crystal and two rings of power completely erased even the tiniest of hints of Sauron's presence for miles sending him packing back to Mordor and denying him a strategic position that he could use to attack further north.
Wanting to make sure that the fucker never stepped inside here again for the foreseeable future I immediately got to work. At the peak of the fortress I created a powerful purifying ritual and strong armed the other three of my allies to help me.
Using Elder and younger Runes in tandem I created a huge runic circle that was surrounded with 4 smaller ones in the cardinal directions. After we positioned ourselves inside the smaller circles I ordered everyone to pour seven drops of blood inside the greater circle and brace themselves.
The moment the last drop of blood fell, the runes started glowing in all the colors of the rainbow and a great pressure was felt that only lasted for a second that was followed with a great sound of a bell ringing and a literal sea of white light drowned the world.
It encompassed almost all of Mirkwood and reached even Rivendell, Isengard and Fangorn, half of Rohan and it was only the Dark Lord's interference that prevented the light from reaching past the Dead Marches and into Mordor.
The results of the powerful ritual could be felt immediately. The very air felt cleaner and the dark clouds that were a constant above the ancient stronghold had disappeared, allowing the sun to touch it for the first time in millennia. Additionally nature had become more vibrant and the spiders that occupied Mirkwood for so long had all died, the light having burned them to ashes. Lastly the fortress itself had changed dramatically. Before the ritual it was a dark and foreboding place made of a black stone similar to an Orc's blood but now it had all turned a bright white, like marble.
Both the army and my helpers were looking around in awe at the sight. They didn't expect such a drastic change to occur. The complete disappearance of darkness had renewed hope to everybody and their happy expression brought a tired smile to my face and if it wasn't for Galadriel that held me in her arms, I would have fallen to the ground in exhaustion.
It took me about an hour to create the whole array and it was the only reason that I didn't die like an idiot because I forgot in my haste that I was very low in magical reserves. So when it was activated it drew 60k of energy from me while I only had 10k MP. As a result, it drew energy from my HP.
Level: 30 (103.531.855/148.691.936)
HP: 7.500/58.300
MP: 5/50.060
+3 DEX
+3 VIT
+ 5 INT
+3 WIS
Due to achieving a great victory for the forces of light way before its time and shattering the plans of Fate you have unlocked:
Song of Power (Lv1): When you are singing using this skill, all allies gain a 10% boost to their physical stats and lessen their weariness by 5%. Cost: 200 MP/min
Greater Lumiomancy (Lumiomancy): Your ability to control light(-31MP to all light based spells). Cost 10MP
Laeshi - Meira ljós (Lv1): A light type spell that imbues weapons and projectiles like arrows or bullets or even your body with light causing them to deal extra light damage. + 100 dmg, Cost: 100(69) MP/ min. Special: When used against dark aligned creatures or beings then there is a +175% damage dealt. Its upgraded form allows the user to extend the range of their weapon when used on melee weapons and multiplying the number of projectiles fired when used on a ranged weapon. Melee: +1cm, Ranged: +1 additional light construct projectile.
Illumination (Lv2-Lv15): A light type spells that causes an explosion of light around the user, dealing damage to all enemies touched by it and weakens all dark magic in the affected area for the next 20 minutes. DMG 2300, Radius: 6,8 meters, Cost 1486(1455) MP.
Light Shield (Lv1): A light type spell that creates a one directional curved light construct in the shape of a shield that protects the user against magical attacks and it is capable of negating a certain amount of dark magic or spells that is fired upon it. Cost: 500 (469) MP, Durability: 500 DMG, Dark Magic Negation: 250 DMG.
Happy with my new skills and more importantly of putting a gobsmacked expression on the face of that haughty fucker Thranduil, I let myself pass out in the arms of the Lady of Lothlorien.
~ChildeOfWar