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The White Council

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Walküre:
As the discussion progresses, the guests immerse themselves in forgotten arts and tales of a past which is no more...

ELROND: ''Is this what you are inferring then, His Excellency? Could an enslaved wraith perform that type of odious actions? Does that even comprise the marring of vast lands and the infestation of eerie ruins? Never have I found myself in front of such typology of magic from this kind of creatures; not even when their leader took possession of the icy North. Though evil powers operate via similar means, I'm still perplexed.''

Saruman gave a very feeble nod, as if that gesture were more a product of inertia, rather than convinced faith. On the other side of the marble-made table, the Lady of Light smiled imperceptibly and raised slightly her eyebrows, to convey all her puzzled sensations. But the articulated narration that their chief was trying to construct could not have restrained her from intervening in the exchange. She wanted to provide her position with solid evidences, along with memories from the intricate thread of Arda's time. Would have the Istar dared to refute the proofs of history itself?

Walküre:
How long and at what extent the White Wizard had been lingering in the shadows of the past she didn't know, nor was it possible to force him to confess which secrets he had found or had been intended to unveil. All revolved around the lost artefacts of the Second Age which had shaped and altered the fate of Middle-earth forever. Even in present times the Elves were reluctant to talk about those whispers of obscure times, lest sorrowful thoughts clouded their mind and darkened their spirit. Considering those mighty items as a disgrace would undoubtedly be a too misleading of a judgement though, since bliss and joy were too the fruits of Celebrimbor's mastery, even if they had equally mingled with destruction and tragedy. It happened, then, that Galadriel chose to have the debate eventually deal with the forgotten lore of the Rings of Power; if not willingly and overtly, she thought that the chief of that assembly would inevitably be obliged to face reality and give away part of the knowledge he had been recollecting so avidly until that moment.

That was thus the strategy. If animosity occurred as the discussion went on, that ought to be pardoned, for the sake of the World was too precious for most of the guardians to come up with dangerous compromises.

Fine:
"Ring-lore is your subject, Saruman, and thus I do not deem it my place to doubt your findings," said Gandalf. "Let us then account for the Rings of Power that still remain in Arda, to make sure we have not overlooked anything. The Three we know of, for they are in the hands of the Wise and are hidden, far out of Sauron's reach. The Seven he has most likely regained, if they were not consumed by dragon-fire as some dwarves have told me. The Nine are another matter entirely: We know that the Ringwraiths were defeated in the War of the Last Alliance, and scattered after their master's fall. But at least one of them has returned: The Black Captain, who became the Witch King of Angmar. And others were seen during the siege of Minas Ithil, which has since become an evil and gloomy place. But how do they persist if they do not posess the nine Rings of Men? The only locigal answer is, of course, that they still have them. So that would mean, that the Nine are also in the hands of the Enemy. That leaves us with the One... which was lost with Isildur, if my memory serves me correctly. Quite obviously, Sauron has not regained the Ruling Ring - otherwise we would know if. I did not feel its presence at Dol Guldur, even though I became aware of Sauron's Will, that manifested within that dark stronghold. If the One is found, it must be kept hidden from the servants of the enemy, lest he regains it. He must be searching for it, I reckon, and that is why we should attack him now, in order to disrupt him, and cleanse the Greenwood of his vile influence."

Walküre:
''Indeed, Saruman the Wise. If retrieving such far knowledge may aid our cause, I shall speak too. The curse of my kind; the stigma that the Eldar have borne with unceasing grief determines even now the course of present events. The story of those artefacts is a very sad tale. A tale of might, ambition, nostalgia, deceit and tragedy. And the Elves will never forgive themselves for their unintentional role in helping the Enemy further his dreadful schemes.''


It begins now the section of the meeting in which the guests are to address the ever-worrying Rings of Power. Gandalf and Galadriel will finally have the real measure of Saruman's commitment to his personal and secretive 'research'; the discussion is to get progressively heated, just to culminate with the conclusive ballot and with the chief's final decision. That outcome and Gandalf's metaphorical rings of smoke are going to widen the wound of distrust towards the leader.

Walküre:

''Three Rings, hallowed by the grace of the mighty Eldar, were forged by a legendary smith under the starred sky. Never had they been tainted by the malice of the Enemy and in them their creators poured the essence of the antiquarian spirit of my kind. An attempt to grant those artefacts the property of slowing the implacable progress of time, veiling anything we had crafted from decay. And decay is truly the doom which all inhabitants of this continent shall be ultimately bound to face. The craftsmen who had forged those miracles were gallant and proud those days, for they had also been told that the bliss of Eressëa or of Valinor itself was at hand. And they eventually fell prey of those disgraceful words. Words that had been spread by whom was then thought to be a noble traveller, aiding realms with his skills and offering his services.

Yet I, the Keeper of the Havens and the valiant High King had since the beginning forsworn friendship with that cunning guest. His suspicious manners betrayed his benevolent deeds, alongside boasting a knowledge which would have been forbidden for both mortals or immortals, unless the immortals were those who existed before all; before time and space themselves. Little did Celebrimbor know, however, that the schemes of the Enemy were to prove themselves much more pervasive and vicious than one could have expected. Not being marred by the arts of Sauron was not enough, alas, to save the Three from his grand design. A design of tyranny and subjugation, which he was ready to chain Middle-earth with. Because the three jewels of my people had nonetheless been crafted via an unknown formula that no one but the Enemy alone had knowledge of. Anything come into existence thanks to that lost art would directly or indirectly be subjected to the will of the mastermind who had by then been lurking in the shadows. With or without consent, tainted or pure, the Rings of Power would have responded to a sole master, should a dominating artefact have been forged too. As dominating as the ambitions of its very creator. As tyrannical as the three peaks of the Iron Fortress of the original Evil, which had been terrorising the Free People in the forgotten Elder Days of the World.

The formula was lost with Sauron though, and if one were to yearn the secrets surrounding it, that endeavour would be for naught.''

The White Wizard had been listening to those tales with unceasing attention, but the last remark of the Lady seemed to alter his firm composure.

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