Post by Rowenna on Sept 23, 2007 3:03:42 GMT -5
Got an idea.
I hope it's a good one.
Eleven years after the events of TCC, Grohn is out there, somewhere, constantly hunted by the people Lerris sends as his eyes and ears. While he is never truly caught, he can't get anywhere near where he needs to be, and he is royally teed. By this time, he may have even given up, or near given up, or been pushed to the brink of second-level insanity of not getting close to Rowen. Enter Tomah. Tomah is traveling in the wilderness, let's say, few day's ride from Mirkwood, and Grohn comes across their camp. He sees them for what they are, as Assassins, possibly a traveling band of mercenaries, possibly a traveling band of soldiers. He gets an idea. Alone, he could never get through into Aryan and kill the one he seeks, but if he were to disguise himself as a soldier and travel in a troupe, he could pass by easily and do what he must do. He approaches Tomah. He could do so in the form of lying, perhaps pretending to be a recruit in want of a worthy cause. When Tomah mocks him, Grohn realizes with certainty that they are not soldiers but Assassins, and he comes out of his guise and tells them he wants to deal.
Tomah invites him into a meeting. Grohn tells Tomah that he must get to Aryan, and he will make it worth his while. Grohn may lie about an inheritance he will give Tomah, or he may offer the bounty on Rowen's head, and he tells Tomah his plan: to drift into his group for a time on the condition that they travel through Aryan.
Tomah listens patiently, then tells him how the meters run. He gives his story: Tomah had perpetrated bloody acts against Gondor in an attempt to gain control there. After a number of attacks, some high nobles dealt with him in secret, promising him power in exchange for the territory's safety. He served there as a high advisor for ten years, with establishment for all of his men. At the end of the ten years, war threatened to spill over between Rohan and Gondor. His place as high advisor became shaky at best, and he feared loss of power. He was forced to relocate, and by the fight's end, both sides were too mangled to be of any use to him. To be a noble in Gondor was nothing anymore. So he had to move on.
That was fifteen years ago. Here, he gestures to one of his men, who brings forward a beat-up hostage with a burlap sack over his head. The hostage is forced to his knees, and the sack is ripped from the figure's head.
It's Henrogene. Tomah explains himself.
The elves are a disappearing breed, he says. There are so few left in the world, their kind becoming almost a myth to the outer human cities. It would be useless to attempt control over the elves because there are no more elven kingdoms to master; however, if an elf were murdered, surely, they would rise to defend against whomever had perpetrated such an act.
Tomah gestures to his men. His Assassins are, in a word, multicultural--there are men from Gondor, men from the shoreline islands, and men from Rohan--and he, their mother hen, pecks at them to assure they all stay in line despite their differences. His men do as they are told. The ones from Rohan, though removed by years, still look Rohirrim, still move like them, talk like them, and act like them. If an elf were to be murdered by Rohan, then surely, the elves would rise up against them, and if the elves took on Rohan, then surely Gondor would follow against their age-old enemy. The moment would be such as the old wars in the days when Gondor and Rohan fought against a common darkness, only the sides and the names and the faces would have changed. With Rohan crushed, and the elves side-by-side with Gondor, Gondor would rise to its former glory. Half the battle was morale, making the people of Gondor feel like they were powerful, feel like they were a nation to be reckoned with. And so, he would have his place with them once more.
So, no, he was not interested in chasing after women in coastal villages. He was headed for Rohan, where the elf would die, and the war would begin.
Tomah declares the meeting over. He rises to go, and Grohn decides it would be a good idea to kill him. Grohn attacks from behind.
Tomah turns out to be physically adroit, and effectively turns and prevents the blow from hitting home. He tells Grohn that he has killed men for less than that.
He also tells Grohn that he has killed a boy for stealing a necklace from his purse. This is a reference to Byron.
However, judgment is not a measure of more or less, a mathematical yes-or-no equation so much as a matter of circumstance. The circumstance here is intrigue. He makes an offer. He will agree to take Grohn in as an Assassin, a real one--absorbed amongst his men. He wants to observe Grohn, and offers no promises, but if he sees fit, he will take them to Aryan, at which point his obligation to the Assassins is terminated, and he may go on his own way after the deed is done if he chooses. Grohn agrees.
Byron has bad dreams. He’s haunted by images he doesn’t understand, and though he can’t see them clearly, he’s driven farther and farther away from home, obsessed with finding something, he doesn’t know what. Sometimes leaving days at a time, he eventually stumbles on the sight of Tomah passing through a wood, at which point Byron immediately turns back.
And the rest has been said. Byron forces Rowen and Lerris’ help--they get kicked. Byron gets captured. Rowen gets an impossible choice. Rowen dies. Grohn kicks Rowen. Grohn dies. Byron is freed, but he is able to overcome Tomah. He forces Tomah to kneel and wear the necklace he stole as a child and kills him. Lerris takes his son across the sea, never to return. Byron pleads to follow, but is refused. Byron ends his story by beginning a journey with Henrogene.
The... end.
Notes:Byron probably won't remember Henrogene, but Henrogene will probably remember Byron. Byron would probably remember Henrogene. I was thinking Byron was unconscious most of the time, but then it occurred to me that he would have healed with Henrogene there most likely. My mistake.
Tomah probably won't recognize Byron, but Byron will recognize Tomah.
What do you think?
I hope it's a good one.
Eleven years after the events of TCC, Grohn is out there, somewhere, constantly hunted by the people Lerris sends as his eyes and ears. While he is never truly caught, he can't get anywhere near where he needs to be, and he is royally teed. By this time, he may have even given up, or near given up, or been pushed to the brink of second-level insanity of not getting close to Rowen. Enter Tomah. Tomah is traveling in the wilderness, let's say, few day's ride from Mirkwood, and Grohn comes across their camp. He sees them for what they are, as Assassins, possibly a traveling band of mercenaries, possibly a traveling band of soldiers. He gets an idea. Alone, he could never get through into Aryan and kill the one he seeks, but if he were to disguise himself as a soldier and travel in a troupe, he could pass by easily and do what he must do. He approaches Tomah. He could do so in the form of lying, perhaps pretending to be a recruit in want of a worthy cause. When Tomah mocks him, Grohn realizes with certainty that they are not soldiers but Assassins, and he comes out of his guise and tells them he wants to deal.
Tomah invites him into a meeting. Grohn tells Tomah that he must get to Aryan, and he will make it worth his while. Grohn may lie about an inheritance he will give Tomah, or he may offer the bounty on Rowen's head, and he tells Tomah his plan: to drift into his group for a time on the condition that they travel through Aryan.
Tomah listens patiently, then tells him how the meters run. He gives his story: Tomah had perpetrated bloody acts against Gondor in an attempt to gain control there. After a number of attacks, some high nobles dealt with him in secret, promising him power in exchange for the territory's safety. He served there as a high advisor for ten years, with establishment for all of his men. At the end of the ten years, war threatened to spill over between Rohan and Gondor. His place as high advisor became shaky at best, and he feared loss of power. He was forced to relocate, and by the fight's end, both sides were too mangled to be of any use to him. To be a noble in Gondor was nothing anymore. So he had to move on.
That was fifteen years ago. Here, he gestures to one of his men, who brings forward a beat-up hostage with a burlap sack over his head. The hostage is forced to his knees, and the sack is ripped from the figure's head.
It's Henrogene. Tomah explains himself.
The elves are a disappearing breed, he says. There are so few left in the world, their kind becoming almost a myth to the outer human cities. It would be useless to attempt control over the elves because there are no more elven kingdoms to master; however, if an elf were murdered, surely, they would rise to defend against whomever had perpetrated such an act.
Tomah gestures to his men. His Assassins are, in a word, multicultural--there are men from Gondor, men from the shoreline islands, and men from Rohan--and he, their mother hen, pecks at them to assure they all stay in line despite their differences. His men do as they are told. The ones from Rohan, though removed by years, still look Rohirrim, still move like them, talk like them, and act like them. If an elf were to be murdered by Rohan, then surely, the elves would rise up against them, and if the elves took on Rohan, then surely Gondor would follow against their age-old enemy. The moment would be such as the old wars in the days when Gondor and Rohan fought against a common darkness, only the sides and the names and the faces would have changed. With Rohan crushed, and the elves side-by-side with Gondor, Gondor would rise to its former glory. Half the battle was morale, making the people of Gondor feel like they were powerful, feel like they were a nation to be reckoned with. And so, he would have his place with them once more.
So, no, he was not interested in chasing after women in coastal villages. He was headed for Rohan, where the elf would die, and the war would begin.
Tomah declares the meeting over. He rises to go, and Grohn decides it would be a good idea to kill him. Grohn attacks from behind.
Tomah turns out to be physically adroit, and effectively turns and prevents the blow from hitting home. He tells Grohn that he has killed men for less than that.
He also tells Grohn that he has killed a boy for stealing a necklace from his purse. This is a reference to Byron.
However, judgment is not a measure of more or less, a mathematical yes-or-no equation so much as a matter of circumstance. The circumstance here is intrigue. He makes an offer. He will agree to take Grohn in as an Assassin, a real one--absorbed amongst his men. He wants to observe Grohn, and offers no promises, but if he sees fit, he will take them to Aryan, at which point his obligation to the Assassins is terminated, and he may go on his own way after the deed is done if he chooses. Grohn agrees.
Byron has bad dreams. He’s haunted by images he doesn’t understand, and though he can’t see them clearly, he’s driven farther and farther away from home, obsessed with finding something, he doesn’t know what. Sometimes leaving days at a time, he eventually stumbles on the sight of Tomah passing through a wood, at which point Byron immediately turns back.
And the rest has been said. Byron forces Rowen and Lerris’ help--they get kicked. Byron gets captured. Rowen gets an impossible choice. Rowen dies. Grohn kicks Rowen. Grohn dies. Byron is freed, but he is able to overcome Tomah. He forces Tomah to kneel and wear the necklace he stole as a child and kills him. Lerris takes his son across the sea, never to return. Byron pleads to follow, but is refused. Byron ends his story by beginning a journey with Henrogene.
The... end.
Notes:
Tomah probably won't recognize Byron, but Byron will recognize Tomah.
What do you think?