KMC Forums - USH'S LOTR RP Game part 2- The Fortress of Baranar

Well, Palidan, the Elvish Council at Rivendell sent you guys because...

.... actually it was rather fuzzy. There was some talk of caring for the fate of Man, and this being a token. There was some talk of covert help being sent against the Witch-King being a worthwhile pursuit. Certainly Elrond had no wish to directly turn down the request for a cure to Baranar's plague, though only because it was clearly unnatural, and he hasn't the heart to say no in person to such a humanitarian plea.

But 'sent' is fuzzy also. It is more like no objection was raised to you going, and Gandalf also advised that opportunities may arise of travellers were allowed to help Arthedain of their own free will.

But as for intervention- well, from Lorien, DEFINITELY not. Galadriel has NO truck with the affairs of Men at all; she is remote and odd like that (and most the Lorien Elves are likewise; you must be unusual). As for Rivendell... Elrond said one thing only, that if Arvedui got this allaince idea of his off the ground... then he would consider it.

"And why should they?" says Arvedui, stepping lightly off his throne. He speaks with a natural confidence and charisma- just as a Noldor would.

"What concern is it of theirs? It is all very well for people to stand back and say 'these people should come and help' surely they have no heart for standing by'? Easy to criticise when it is us at war and not them. But how many people really would shed their own blood, and the blood of their people, for a distant cause that need not involve them? Humans are dying in what as once Arnor. But were not humans always dying there? Are not the Dunlendings that assail us also human? Many Elves see no great difference. One thing is sure- it is not the Witch-King, but the folly of my ancestors that laid Arnor low. Why should Elves die for such a reason?

"And why not just Elves? Look at the woes and evils of the world. When the Great Plague swept through Gondor and the South of Arnor, where were the Elves then? But then, where was Arthedain, untouched? Quarantining its cities. Millions died, but it kept itself safe.

"When the Wainriders invaded Gondor, where were the Elves then? But then... where was Arnor? The Easterlings did not reach our lands. Where was the aid we sent to our southern cousins? None. A distant war, a thousand leagues away, that did not concern us. And where were the Dwarves? Mining their gold in their mountain halls.

"Nations are born to protect their own people. My duty as King is to protect my own people. It is a heavy thing indeed to abregate that responsibility and damn your people to war and strife and death... for the woes of another. Each of those that would stand and say- 'Why do the Elves not help us?' must ask himself or herself the question- if it were the Elves that wrre beset, and Arthedain left free... would I be willing to die for them?

"Two thousand years ago, Man and Elf stood together against the Evil of Sauron. But why was this? The Elves had fought Sauron almost alone on Middle Earth for many years, hard-pressed by the skill and power of the Ringmaker. Did my Dunadan ancestors of Numenor come to save their Elvish cousins? No. The Alliance was born of necessity. When Numenor was destroyed, my ancestors came here. Isildur's father came to this very place. He built this very city, he sat upon this very throne, and he wore this very crown. But there was war in these new realms of Arnor and Gondor that he built. And so because Sauron threatened those lands, the Alliance was born. had the Numenoreans not arrived in exile... it would never have happened.

"No-one commits their people to war unless they must. This I understand well. I hold this not against the Elves or Gondor, though I understand many do. For certain, I seek their help, but I will not press it as a matter of conscience. Not yet.

"I might ask each of you in turn... are YOU willing to die for Arthedain? Some of you may even say yes. For that I would be grateful; it shows a nobility of spirit. But then to say no would show a fair honesty also. I would say that it might be easy to pledge your life as a champion of your people. But it takes far more courage to pledge the lives of others, as a LEADER of people. To ask your people to die in your place. That is a hard thing, and I cannot begrudge an answer of no.

"Vardalain here was sent to observe. Well, he does that. Perhaps to spy would be a better term? Or maybe report. I know that Argentis is here to tell his people the state of our defences. Likewise the ambassador from Gondor. And I likewise have my men in other places. This is politics, not aid. You say you are here to show that some still care? I believe you. That the Elves have not totally forgotten man? I believe you. That some bear concern over the power of the Witch-King? I believe this all. Your message is sent, you need not stay here to prove that. Shall, then, you go, your mission done?

"I have a different question to ask you, though. My question is... are you willing to die... for the future? Because a new fate, at this time, is within our grasp. I see a time, when all Free people's sit as one, not as a lone congolmerate of nations minding their business, but as a unified force who will work for the benefit of all. The Elves are dwindling, their time ending- I understand that. But there is a place for them too, in ensuring their legacy continues, in a unitied world of Man- if not in boundaires, then at least in spirit. A time when evil- ALL evil- is uprooted, opposed, and destroyed. There is a new Age to be built, and I see a terrible future for all the freee peoples if that dream does not begin now.

"The Witch-King must be opposed. By all peoples. Now. Immediately. Tgere is no time for delay. I cannot justify that by politics alone- I cannot ask others to simply die based on my word. By the time I cna prove it is needed it will be too late. So I will ask people instead to die for this new future. I CAN create it. Gandalf, who you call Mithrandir, has advised me. It can be done. I will show you. THAT I will prove to you. And then it will be proven to your peoples. And then we can come together and drive the Witch-King away to oblivion.

"That is the future I offer Middle-Earth. Not simply to die so we may live. But to fight for a future worth having. Are you willing to put your lives at risk for that?"

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BtVS