History Became Legend. Legend Became Myth (clues and notes)

[Inferno]

"The mirror shows many things. Things that were, things that are, and some things that have not yet come to pass." -Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring




Player Clues and Notes

• Quest of the White Wizard

The World is Changed (alternate history)
In Darkness and In Doubt (the story so far)

[Inferno]

Quest of the White Wizard

...he removes his hat and cloak, revealing raiment and hair of purest alabaster. A moonbeam pierces the gloom and crowns the wizard with light.
"I am Gandalf the White."



"And I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide."

Glasik the dwarf asks, "Has terrible Smaug awakened to cast his shadow upon the land once more?"

"Yes," says Gandalf. "Unless there any here with courage enough to avenge themselves upon him. And, in doing so, avert the dark course of this world."

"We shall see to it that you have such power as you need to complete this quest," promises the wizard. "West and south of here, in the Mountains of Mirkwood, lies a stronghold of the ancient world. Therein may be found the means by which the greatest dragon of all, Ancalagon the Black was destroyed. You must make haste there. Then you will be able to withstand Smaug the terrible."

The elvish prince asks, "Gandalf, you said that defeating the dragon could "avert the dark course of this world." What does that mean?"

"None of this was meant to be. Perhaps it is some dread device of Sauron's. I cannot tell," Gandalf answers, almost to himself....

"We must direct the Enemy's attention away from this young company. In them, all our hope must rest."

Gandalf's answers only prompt more questions. It is the way with wizards.

"The Mountains of Mirkwood loom in the midst of the forest, between the Old Forest Road and the Elf-path. The Second Age of Middle Earth saw them inhabited by Silvan Elves, that you call wood-elves, who knew the range as the Emyn Duir, the Dark Mountains.

"During the Third Age, the dread power of Sauron, long disguised as the Necromancer of Dol Guldur, spread across the Mountains, as it did throughout the rest of the Forest, and they became populated by hideous creatures. Great spiders dwell there, and other dark horrors, unimaginable and unrelenting. The spiders are of the brood of Shelob, who in turn is a child of Ungoliant, a frightful gigantic creature of the ancient world.

"The shadow of Sauron drove the wood-elves north from the mountains. And, just as Greenwood the Great was renamed Mirkwood, its northern hills also took on a new name: Emyn-nu-Fuin, the Mountains of Mirkwood.

"You shall follow the Enchanted River but be careful to neither drink from it nor touch it, else all will be lost. At the river's source you shall find an ancient stronghold of the wood-elves, lost to time and shadow. Your goal lies within."

Rumil the elf replies gently, "The elvish stronghold at the source of the Enchanted River was erected in the Second Age by King Legolas' grandfather Oropher; the father of Thranduil. It was the original Elven King Hall. My people abandoned it 2000 years ago to escape the encroaching shadow of Dol Guldur... of Sauron himself. What has happened there since, none can say."

[Inferno]

The True Quest of The Company

...Legolas the elvish prince asks, "Gandalf, you said that defeating the dragon could "avert the dark course of this world." What does that mean?"

"None of this was meant to be. Perhaps it is some dread device of Sauron's. I cannot tell," Gandalf answers, almost to himself... "We must direct the Enemy's attention away from this young company. In them, all our hope must rest."