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The White Council

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The_Necromancer0:
As soon as Gandalf mentioned that the Necromancer was indeed Sauron many thoughts came upon Saruman's mind. His secret search for the One had become stagnant due to the lack of knowledge on its whereabouts. The fact that Sauron had decided to take up residence in the Hill of Sorcery could only mean that the Ruling Ring must be within this region. It was vital that he send out messages after the meeting to all his spies, ordering them to start searching the Gladden Fields, he would have much preferred to do it here and now, but the mind of the Lady of the Golden Woods was too keen, he could not risk that his plan be revealed now. He would have to be patient. He left the palace of his mind and reconnected with the ongoing meeting, Gandalf still telling of his incursion into Dol Guldur.

"... the Ring that was given to his forefather Durin, it had been taken from him," continued Gandalf. "But he spoke at length of his son, Thorin, and in the end, he gave me two items to safekeep: A map and a key, both of Erebor."

"One of the Seven Rings of the Dwarves?" inquired Saruman. "That is an important matter, Gandalf, and should not be simply dealt with in one short sentence. The lore of the Rings of Power is my speciality, and I deemed all Seven lost long ago. How can you be sure Thráin had one of them?"

"He spoke of it, in his madness," replied Gandalf. "Untouched it was by the Dark Lord, he kept saying. Given to the King of Khazâd-dûm by the Elf-smiths directly, not by Sauron..."

Seeing that Gandalf had run out of useful things to say, Saruman went back into his mind to tinker upon what he had learnt. To think that Sauron had now gained another of the Seven was worrying, but it was also a perfect opportunity. He would likely grown bolder and reveal himself, allowing Saruman to gather more information on the One's location. Saruman made a note to arm his spies, not because he cared, but because taking control of new ones would be a terrible waste of time he could not afford. He also needed to look into a way for them to communicate without using the way of the mind, perhaps he could make use of that explosive powder he had recently discovered, although it was still a progress. Many tasks now required his attention and he desired even more strongly that the meeting come to an end. Tuning back into the physical realm, he returned just as Gandalf was finishing his tale and started preparing a counter argument to keep the Wise peaceful and avoid them probing too much into the ma...

"We must attack Dol Guldur!"
Not many can claim to ever have surprised the White Wizard but on that day Gandalf joined their ranks. While in appearance Saruman stayed calm, his mind was now reworking his response to make sure that the White Council did NOT attack Dol Guldur. There was no doubt in his mind that a siege on the hill would result in their victory but his loss, the Shadow would be driven back and the Ring would stay hidden. This would be catastrophic and in addition would only serve to undermine his authority, lessening his position as head of the Council.

Saruman did note that for a brief moment his heart desired to follow Gandalf, he had felt reinvigorated and was taken with the need to lead himself the assault on Dol Guldur to drive the Shadow back. His mind quickly rid his heart of this foolish need but he was intrigued, could it be perhaps that Gandalf's voice had been gifted with a similar power as his? This left him to wonder what else the Grey Wanderer was hiding.
 
Saruman began speaking, wrapping his words in thin layers of magic, it was a risky move for the members of the Council were powerful and if they were to detect it, things would go ill for him. But he no longer had a choice, it was absolutely essential for his plan that the Council remain passive. Very carefully, he began to thread:

"As always old friend, you gather much evidence but draw conclusions too quickly. Let us examine what we know. Some Orcs have began to gather at the Hill of Sorcery you tell us, but I see no cause for concern. It has always been and shall always been this way, foul things are drawn to foul places but that does not mean that the Enemy has returned. In addition, a human sorcerer has taken residence in the abandoned fortress and uses his magic to control the orcs, they are simple creature, to them any magic can only be the work of their Master, it is even possible that he has told them himself in an attempt to gain their loyalty. Even the lowliest of magicians could easily make Orcs see what he wants them to see whether it be a fiery eye or simply a man in dark armor similar to that of Sauron.

We must not be too quick to show our hand, especially when the possibility that this.. Necromancer is Sauron is slim. You have also told us that this meager human sorcerer could raise the dead, but have you seen it? Have you confirmed that the bodies were dead and that they were indeed brought back to life fully.  A worried mind often pushes the eye to see what the heart desires. Do not be hasty, let us first see proof of what you tell us. The words of orcs and men should not be enough to push us to all out war."

With that Saruman rested his hand on the table, he had made his point and hoped that the charm that accompanied each of his words would be enough to keep the Council at peace. Gandalf was staring at him, unconvinced, but that was expected, if he had truly seen this things he would not doubt his own eyes. Galadriel as always was standing, withdrawn from the meeting but paying attention, behind Gandalf as if to protect him from the words of Saruman. She, too, seemed un-phased by Saruman's silver tongue, she had grown much too powerful to the taste of the keeper of Isengard. Only Elrond, seemed somewhat doubtful of Gandalf's word, but a his mind would quickly clear unless further pressure was put upon it.

Pouring all his mastery of magic into this last sentence he increases the strength of the magic, keeping it as hidden as he could and while he spoke to all, most of the magic made its way to Elrond, which for a second felt an uneasy presence upon him, but it disappeared quickly.

"I advocate that we remain calm, there is no need for war, no need for the council to waste its strength on a simple sorcerer. I will send word to King Thranduil and ask him to cleanse the land of the orcs that roam the forest with the offer of lending him my power."

And with that, Saruman became silent once one. He had done what he could, his plan's integrity now rested on whether or not his words had been crafty enough.

Walküre:
The skies above Rivendell were ever clear and undimmed from unnatural phenomena, which one may instead have experience of when a source of power is perturbing the climate of the World. But it was pouring on the last homely shelter of the West, and the very rain did seem to get heavier as the debate was electing the path of confrontation. A bitter path, as the noble attendees of that assembly were the greatest of their kind and each of them was resolute in convincing the other of the propriety of their thesis.

Saruman's magic was pervading the whole surrounding space via his fluid speech; his discourse was unravelling itself in a plurality of powerful words. The effectiveness of such cunningly-designed manoeuvre had certainly been augmented by the indoor location of the meeting. The great library hall, comprising also a large circular table of the finest wood, had been appointed for the council. Left empty by any other person but the mighty four, a dense silence of preoccupation and anticipation reigned supreme all over its vast rooms, with Elven lamps providing a quite pale illumination. It was therefore easy for the White Wizard to take advantage of this suspended environment and to let his parlance embalm anything in the vicinity. Words burdened by frustration and, unfortunately, deceit. Yet the Lady was more adamant than ever in her firm convictions; unmoved by the usage of a so subtle of a device and staunchly willing to have her good purposes prevail over idle decisions. And idle decisions they were not, given that a clear design sustained their ill-intentioned reasons. Galadriel was also very much dissatisfied and sad to realise how the chief of the Wise had by then completely closed his mind, resembling in her eyes the same veil of concealment that hid the infamous eerie fortress on the other side of the river. A great dismay which found its solid roots in the pieces of the mosaic that she had been carefully collecting and ordering for long time. The discovery, thanks to the impeccable sentinels of the Golden Wood, that agents from Isengard were secretly doing researches across Eriador and the Vales of Anduin, the memories of Mithrandir during his visits to Orthanc and the rare journeys of the very Saruman to Gondor and Lindon reinforced Galadriel's suspects: Saruman was covertly gathering knowledge of the forgotten lore of the Rings of Power, whose arcane secrets no one but Celebrimbor himself could have brought to light again.

Something really ambiguous permeated Saruman's relentless interest into the Rings of Power, for, even if his obsession were aimed at retrieving lost wisdom from the obscurity of the Second Age of Arda, he could not have achieved much out of it. The Lady of Light thus doubted whether he was sincerely moved by a forlorn hope to forge a new Ring of Power of whatever nature, or, being conscious of the impossibility of such eventuality, whether other darker purposes dominated his faltering will. Yes, the wizard had faltered in those decades and let the unknown shadows of Mirkwood operate in complete liberty. Relegated in his fortified dwelling, Saruman had immersed himself in those arcane businesses, alongside failing to comply with the true objective of his duty: the surveillance of Middle-earth. What was his main intent? Why desiring the knowledge of such artefacts? Why at that moment? The timing must have had its own logic; riddles that only a mind as hers could have succeeded in solving.

Needless to say, as a sudden glimpse of favourable opportunity, Galadriel divined what the chief of the White Council was probably to ask with increased concern. Therefore, as his words' effect was beginning to wane, she intervened in the debate. She couldn't permit that Gandalf's remembrances of his own recent mission were abruptly unveiled, so that the secret of Narya would fall prey of the White Wizard's snares.

''We ought not to indulge in such lengthy discussions. We should take Mithrandir's words as the crystalline truth. The exact portrait of the current state of things, which shows nothing more than the consequences of our inaction. The heart of the Grey Wizard does not know lies nor deceits. Even now I may sense the purity of his speech. One should not question that. To the most dubious mind, I shall say that I too perceived his return. I sensed his essence and his ancient hatred. The one who reigned supreme over the lands of shadow in the East of the World. The terror of the First Age and the bane of my kind in the Second. I saw all, because it was also in my mind, gentle pilgrim. That day, we underwent the risk to lose one of the most formidable guardians of Middle-earth. Yet hope prevailed, and you, dear Mithrandir, found a way out of that nameless darkness; Hope has saved you and us all.

If one asked that more elements be brought to the general attention, I can offer what my knowledge can dispose of. Namely, no typology of human sorcery will ever be able to summon such multitude of foul beasts, nor could it be capable of hiding a fortress under a strong spell of concealment that I can't pierce. Moreover, Orcs can certainly wander loosely and sometimes aggregate themselves in packs, but legions respond only to one master. The sentinels who patrol my borders informed me that the Black Speech may now be easily heard across those tainted lands. And we know for sure that such language was created for a single purpose, which is the one of ruling over the minions of the Evil; the Orcs have in fact been reported to have abandoned their scattered primitive idioms. Those are signs that I could never misunderstand. May I also add how asking for Thranduil's help is a very needless of a proposition. He has confined himself within the walls of isolationism, since the time he was forced by unknown shadows to move his people to the northernmost ends of the woods, protected in halls carved in the stone. Dol Guldur is not his prime concern.

We must face the truth: Sauron has returned, and we don't have knowledge of what he is after. All immediate counter-measures should be considered. In particular, I would deem an assault a very proper decision. We can't linger, nor can we give him any chance, for Sauron is an infinite sea shattered by endless storms and his mind is ever devoured by malice. Plans and schemes are continuously being made and remade. He won't give us time. We shouldn't parlay with the approaching menace.''


With 'Hope' in capital and italics, Galadriel is referring to Narya. A reference that Saruman won't obviously understand.

Walküre:
ELROND: ''Noble guests, yours are very powerful words that can't do anything else than command the greatest respect. Each speech brings to the general attention a defined portrait of the situation, but I sensed that a marked divergence of views divides this assembly now. The assault which could be waged to Dol Guldur is indeed the central topic of this meeting, alongside what we are ready to undertake, if we really yearn the solution to tackle such sudden menace. All eventualities are obviously taken into account with the utmost care. I would personally suggest we consider events in a theoretical perspective first, in order to gather every possible information in our possession. Only after this kind of recollection of thoughts shall we be able, as I'm confident, to submit our final conclusions to a last ballot; we shall do so with the most open and sincerest mind.

Can we dispose of additional hints about the true schemes of this mysterious enemy? Furthermore, may we elect a clear path in discerning the real identity of the menace? Mighty leader of the Istari, we too managed to collect evidences that ghoulish arts are in action as we now speak, within that place of darkness; arcane spells of a fashion we have not experienced for long time until the recent happenings. The suspects of some of us, during our first council, have sadly become a terrifying reality. If Lady Galadriel deems the resurgence of the Dark Lord an apparent fact, I don't know in all honesty why I shouldn't trust her words as the truth according to which we are to conceive our counter-measures.''

Walküre:
The calm rain of Rivendell was still falling on the roofs of that sacred valley's dwellings. Galadriel perceived the usual kindhearted intentions of Elrond, knowing that he would have presumably leaned on her and Gandalf's side, if evidences and arguments had managed to be enough convincing. The keeper of Vilya had already tasted the poisonous cordial of war, in times when the resurgence of a past shadow would have been faced as a minor challenge. He had known the real sorrows of great conflicts, as the golden hosts of Valinor marched undefeated across the plains of Beleriand, while Arda was agonising for the wounds inflicted by both contestants. He was there, when Númenor reached its apex and its eventual fall, when Sauron tried to destroy the everlasting bond between Elves and Men, and when the strength of Men failed. Elrond would have absolutely done anything possible to put out the flames, before a greater fire devoured the entire forest. She sensed that the interventionist faction of the council might have prevailed, had a general agreement on similar propositions been found. At least, if Saruman had not opted for an intransigent line...

''The host has spoken true words. Let us examine all possibilities with careful diligence, being ready to put forward concrete plans for what we are to do in the nearest future. I don't seek for the imposition of my own views on others' opinions; yet I beg everyone to examine facts with the most acute sight. We can surely spend time debating the nature of our Enemy, provided that immediate action follows our talk. Idleness would be an ill-conceived conclusion. Ignoring an approaching storm doesn't offer one a shelter from its violent wrath. May this be plainly clear to doubtful minds.''

The_Necromancer0:
"As always, Lord Elrond, your words are wise and full of good intentions. Perhaps, the words of Lady Galadriel are indeed true: no Man could wield such a terrible power nor would they be able to gather such a great host of foul creatures. However, my argument still stands, if this is not the work of a Man then it might be one of the accursed Ringwraith, perhaps even the Lord of the Nine but not that of the Enemy's "

It has now become clear to Saruman that he might have underestimated the power of the Wise. Galadriel had not been duped by any of the White Wizard's words, Gandalf still strongly opposed him, his beliefs rooted even deeper. Meanwhile, what little magic had made way to Elrond was now cleared by the Lady of Lorien. This may be harder than expected, usually his words are law but this is the White Council. He will have to do this the regular way, convincing the members with arguments rather than magic. A terrible waste of time, but necessary. Perhaps he could find some pleasure in this, after all it had been a very long time since he had a good debate.

"If we are to reexamine the evidence you have brought here in addition to Lady Galadriel's knowledge of magic, then it becomes obvious that this is the Necromancer is most likely one of the nine men who were enslaved long ago by Sauron. As long as the power of the One remains intact so does the power of the Nine, which grants them abilities similar to that of the Dark Lord."

His argument is quite weak, he realizes that. To many it will seem as a rushed change of heart but by building his idea slowly, it will hopefully to seem like nothing more but an honest mistake which he tries to rectify. Hopefully, it would not come to the worst...

Through the remaining hour, Saruman goes into great length diving deep into his own mind and exposing complex arguments to the other members. It is not a simple task and many times he sees Gandalf's face darken in doubt. The rain hammering on the roof is no help, it is a nuisance and he his tempted to disperse it but he knows that the use of magic to modify the weather would not please Elrond, the master of this land, so he merely continues talking. It is a long argument and goes on...

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