NEWS COMES BY MANY MEANS

It is the evening of March 20, 3019.

Madurz and Ashgaz were left behind by the Witch-King of Angmar to fend for themselves in the wilds of Rohan near the Falls of Rauros. They go to the Seat of Seeing and both have visions of special meaning. They camp for the night nearby, and Madurz begins to dream of things far away in the lands of Mordor.

At the same time far away in Lugburz, orcs had come to Eowyn's cell, bringing with them a change of clothes for her, a pallet upon which she could sleep on the floor, a blanket and a wash basin, a pitcher filled with water, towels.

Eowyn did not like the simple peasant garb of tunic, breeches, belt and undergarments that she had been given to wear, but the basin of water had been a great boon. Now at last she had been able to clean herself. She had also been given a grooming kit of comb and brush, and now her golden hair would have gleamed had there been light enough to reflect it in her dim cell, which was lit with only a small candle.

The morning meal, though simple, had been much better than what she had been given in the past few days, and she had eaten it with relish. The foul tasting water had been supplanted with a wine of good vintage.

Eowyn remembered the stories that she had heard from her captors about the vast gardens in Nurn that provided food and wine for the mortal dwellers of Mordor. She wondered why she was being so "honored."

The noon meal had been much the same, and after Eowyn had completed it, she rested on her pallet, relaxing in its comfort, a far cry from the moldy hay upon which she had lain the past few days.

She knew it must be evening when they brought her the third meal. Several hours after she had eaten it, the door to her cell opened and......

Eowyn: *startled, she looks to the door and moves into a sitting position waiting to see who will enter*
Angmar: *Eowyn is greeted with the sight of the two orc guards who have come to escort her to the chambers of the Witch-King*
Eowyn: *she has almost gotten used to the burly black uruks and their horrible stench... she sighs and lets them escort her*
Angmar: *Meanwhile, back at Amon Hen, the Hill of Seeing...*
Angmar: *Lady Madurz has a dream.....*
Madurz: *she had questioned Ashgaz about what he had seen...she shook him for he still dwellled on the Shire and then he told her what he saw in Mordor...she demanded to know what was in that dark room...*
Madurz: *Ashgaz told her that surrounded in light laid a middle aged man and he described him and then told her of the ring he wore and that it appeared he was sleeping*
Angmar: *The Witch-King sits in a black chair*
Angmar: Eowyn, you may aproach me
Madurz: *she had counted eight Nazgul in the sky and places her hand over her mouth as Ashgaz spoke and she thought about the ring...what was the meaning of this vision?*
Eowyn: *the orcs take eowyn to the witch-king's chambers and she walks in. upon hearing his words, she moves closer to him*
Eowyn: thank you, my lord
Angmar: Not too close, Lady Eowyn.....
Angmar: But you may bow and kiss my hand
Madurz: *her heart twisted and she wished she knew more...the night had come and she had laid down though not comfortable her eyes did close while Ashgaz stood awake and guarded...she slept...her mind's incessant thoughts reeled and waited to take shape in her subconscious*
Eowyn: yes, my lord.. it is an honor *she bows before him and kisses his hand, grateful that her captor has mercy upon her life*
Eowyn: *she moves back and stands at a respectful distance*
Angmar: Eowyn, I am weary
Angmar: I have little time for you tonight.. There is much upon my mind
Eowyn: *a feeling of disappointment hits her* is something wrong, my lord? can i comfort you in any way?
Angmar: Eowyn, a mortal can bring me little comfort
Angmar: Although sometimes even I feel prone to the same emotions of mortals, but it is just an illusion in my mind
Eowyn: *she feels concerned... something is bothering the one upon whom she is quite smitten* my lord, i fear it may be impossible for me, but perhaps could i comfort you in some small way?
Angmar: Eowyn, I have great concern....
Angmar: No, nothing you have done. You have been quite cooperative of late, and thus you have pleased me
Eowyn: *she smiles feeling his blessing upon her and the knowledge that his discomfort is nothing that she has caused*
Eowyn: thank you, my lord *she says humbly*
Angmar: *He knows that Eowyn babbles endlessly for she is deep in spell that he has brought upon her. She will remember nothing of what they have said*
Angmar: *If ever she gets out of Lugburz alive, she will forget, and think it all a very strange dream*
Angmar: *Somehow a human voice somehow charms him, at least this night*
Eowyn: my lord, why were you gone yesterday? *she wonders if perhaps there is a connection btween his absence and his worry*
Eowyn: *and she missed him greatly, being deep in enchantment*
Angmar: *he knows that the pretty maid would have not missed him had she not been under bewitchment, but he answers her anyway*
Angmar: One of my..... comrades.... had some bad luck...
Angmar: His mission was just a simple one of scouting, but he did not come back from it
Angmar: Nor did he answer any attempts to contact him
Eowyn: my lord, that is indeed disturbing... did he fall in battle?
Eowyn: *she feels guilty for she knows that if he did it was because of the men of the west... she hangs her head and looks at the floor*
Angmar: It is uncertain what happened to him
Angmar: But, after three days of unsuccessful searching for him, I finally found him
Angmar: Because of the pleas of his servants, Ashgaz and the woman called Madurz, I took them with me
Angmar: After I had found Khamul, I could not bring them with me, so I left them behind
Eowyn: *she lifts her head back up. she listens to his words*
Eowyn: my lord, it indeed brings joy to my heart that you were able to find him. but is he all right?
Eowyn: *the names ashgaz and madurz ring a vague bell.. but because of the witch-kings latest spell of forgetfulness she cannot place their names*
Angmar: You ask if Khamul is "all right"..... I do not think those are the exact words to describe the situation
Eowyn: *she worries if she has offended him* i am sorry, my lord...
Angmar: Eowyn, you have not offended me in any manner
Angmar: But you ask of my comrade, Khamul
Angmar: *he lies even now* Somewhere betwixt life and the shadows....
Eowyn: oh no my lord *she cries* is there any hope for him? i assume he was greviously wounded?
Eowyn: *ever the feeling of guilt comes upon her..... for she was of the evil west*
Angmar: Eowyn, aye, he is
Angmar: But in what manner this wound came about, I do not know
Angmar: When I found him, he spoke little and not enough for me to gather anything of about what had happened to him
Angmar: This I know. His thigh of the right leg has a strange wound
Eowyn: that is indeed horrible to hear, my lord *a concerned look on her face*
Madurz: *she trembles in her sleep...her eyes twitch beneath their lids as her dreams begin to take form*
Eowyn: was he stabbed perchance by a poisoned blade?
Angmar: Eowyn, that is all that it could have been to have done him such damage, an accursed blade of the West meant for our downfall
Angmar: But who would have had such blade, I know not
Eowyn: *she feels ever more guilty for she was a woman of the west before her capture* i am sorry my lord. is there any antidote, any hope for him?
Eowyn: *both the spell and the black breath work in conjunction to make her feel guilty and miserable... she is an evil person and does not deserve his love*
Angmar: An antidote, Eowyn, you ask for an antidote? There is but one and it has already been given to him....
Angmar: But he had sustained much damage when I had found him
Angmar: He had lain there three days. I feel that were it not for his great desire to continue existing, he would have......
Madurz: *in her dream she sees Khamul on his winged beast high above and passing through the dark lands on to scout and gain information on their enemy...she stirs as trouble comes about in the vision..*
Eowyn: but he lives...? *she asks feeling hopeful*
Angmar: If you call such a state as his "living" I suppose you could say he does that
Madurz: *a cry from the beast as it is struck and continues to fly but off course and crashes...she sees Khamul but everything seems blurry...she sees them on the bridge...looking a tour of the tower together.. then hears his cry and sees his leg*
Angmar: But he speaks not. He moves not....
Angmar: It will take time for the damage that was done to be undone
Eowyn: my lord, will he eventually heal, or will he *she stops, hesitantly* will he............. *she breaks off*
Angmar: Eowyn, "heal"........ Yes, I suppose that is the word. Perhaps he will "heal".... or perhaps he will not
Angmar: A spell has been broken... It has been undone by the bane of Mordor, ever a threat to us since the days of Carn Dum
Eowyn: *she does not quite understand all of the things of which the witchking speaks, but tries her best to comprehend*
Eowyn: i am sorry, my lord.... i appologize for my people, who have created such evil things that cause much pain and hurt
Eowyn: *she looks down at the ground*
Angmar: Eowyn, the people of Rohan have not the wit nor the skill to make such a blade!
Angmar: Long ago, these spells were laid upon the blades by the Dunedain, descendants of men of Numenor, and these blades should not exist now!
Eowyn: no my lord... my people are only peasants who sleep in thatched barns with their dogs *she says both the enchantment of the witch-king and the lies of wormtongue at work*
Eowyn: i am indeed happy that they do not have the wits to make such cruel devices
Eowyn: *indeed the the power of the encantments laid upon her are very strong*
Madurz: *she thinks of the vision Ashgaz had explained to her..the form he as a wraithling sees...his seemingly "sleeping" body...the ring he wore..she trembles again and sees him as she saw him when they tried to find him...his slumped sitting body..his trembling hand clutching his leg before he passed out..*
Angmar: *he laughs to himself and thinks, silly maid... she will try to kill her own people before I am through with her*
Eowyn: my people are fools and simple peasants... but is it not better to be a fool than to create weapons to the detriment of the great land of mordor?
Angmar: Eowyn of Rohan, you have become wise in your young age
Angmar: Are you happy since you came here to be with me?
Eowyn: oh yes my lord *she looks up happily* to be a captive in baraddur is a far more better fate than to be a.... *she cant remember what she was* ..... lady of rohan
Eowyn: *a heavy blanket of enchantment and spells lay upon her mind........... causing her own will to be subdued*
Angmar: Eowyn, I had hoped this audience could be longer but tonight, my mind is too occupied to be entertained by even one such as you
Angmar: But, though I am worried, I will say this and no more. The rings of power have great preservation qualities and if anything can restore my comrade Khamul it will be the one he now wears
Angmar: Lord Sauron himself placed it upon Khamul's hand
Eowyn: i am glad my lord that you have honored me with this conversation....
Eowyn: and i pray that this ring will restore your comrade back to health
Eowyn: *she is regretful that he does not have much time left to talk to her.... for it is always a grief to leave his presence*
Angmar: Eowyn, perhaps you can stay longer next time.... *a smile plays across the unseen face* for your beauty and your charms are great
Eowyn: *she blushes, turning her head away and smiles* thank you my lord
Angmar: *He summons the orc guards to take Eowyn back to her room but he allows her to kiss his hand once more*
Eowyn: *she bows before him again and kisses his hand... his skin is deathly cold but she cares not for she is deep in enchantment... she wishes maybe net time she could kiss more than just his hand*
Angmar: *he says* Burz tor, sharlob tor Rohan-ob (Good night, beautiful woman of Rohan)
Eowyn: *she does not know what he said.... but since it came from his lips it sounds as of the tinkling of bells upon elvish horse harnasses. then the orcs come to take her back to her cell*
Eowyn: *as she is taken from his chambers she tells him* goodnight my lord... *and then barely in a whisper* i....love...you...

Return to Index