The Kinstrife
Part
53
In
which we explore a natural cave system beneath Osgiliath
and find it to be infested with Orcs; a short fight
captures two goblins; Ilviren and Pimm
plan how to offload fifty tons of contraband food; Ragnor
advises Mordulin that Neithan may have been brought
up to Osgiliath to assassinate her and she takes Ragnor on as a bodyguard; one of Neithan’s
betrayers is killed and his guards babble about cats; Brand uncovers a history
of the ‘Kuilëondo’ penned by Beruthiel/Ancalimë, which must be Iriel’s
red gem and Iriel is either Beruthiel’s
maidservant, Eryn, or her direct descendant.
…The stairs lead
down. They’re dry so the door must have held through the vicissitudes of recent
years. I lead with drawn sword, Ilviren behind with
the light. We are now well below the Anduin.
We find ourselves
in a fusty chamber, quite large, filled with empty racks that look like they
should contain weapons. At one side lies a cupboard
smashed open, books and scrolls spilling forth, obviously of no interest to the
robbers who evidently entered via the gaping rent in the wall before us.
Brand examines
the scrolls, fretting over the damage; he finds mainly military maps of 2nd Age
vintage but also a small number of written reports, some of which are more
recent, definitely 3rd Age.
Meanwhile Ilviren and I investigate the hole. Beyond is a tunnel,
unlike the polished masonry behind us (which Brand assures me is Dwarven architecture) this is very rough and very recent.
As part of my
Quenya studies I recall Brand setting me a text that he, of course, found of special
interest, an Elven translation of a Dwarven text on
mining. Although the precise details escape me, I seem to recall mention of
‘props’ - supports for the roof to prevent collapse. Such things are
conspicuously absent from the tunnel before us.
Suddenly I’m
highly conscious of the mighty Anduin above.
Hauling Brand
away from his scrolls, we investigate further. Whoever can have dug in to a
secure vault so recently? A little further on we reach a cavern. It shows signs
of rough work but essentially we’re now in a natural cave system, albeit a
little worked to improve access - a dry cave, right under the Anduin?
By now we’re
about 1200 feet east of the Tower and the same distance from the Ethir enclave – yes, I’m thinking of a Benish
Armon conspiracy…did they ransack the vault seeking
weapons to arm themselves?
We have entered
the cavern from the west; it is 30 - 40 feet across with passages leaving to
the NE, SE and SW. Still thinking about the Ethir
enclave, I lead my gallant explorers to the SW.
The tunnel
narrows quickly and winds for another 200 feet, curving westward until it
reaches a dead end where we find piled dozens of steel longbows, each complete
with 2 wire strings coiled in greased leather pouches, apparently dumped by the
robbers.
Perhaps the
robbers intend to collect them later? They certainly would represent a heavy
load and would be the most difficult to use of all the stolen weapons, compared
to swords, spears and halberds. We find a couple of bows of superior
workmanship and Pimm and Ilviren
take one each.
But something
has been nagging at the back of my mind. Among the marks on the walls are what
I can only describe as graffiti, but they don’t look like the runes used by
dwarves, which I recall from the text mentioned earlier. And there are very
crudely drawn pictures – rough and of uncouth subjects.
And then I
notice my sword, Celegmaeg, is glowing faintly with a
very pale blue light. The Elf I bought it from in Edhellond
said it had been forged in Eregion in the 2nd Age,
for the orc wars. At the time Eregion
and Moria were allied. Celegmaeg
is hardly a dwarvish weapon but the Elves of Eregion fought with the Dwarves against orcs.
The graffiti!
The glow! There are orcs down here, and getting
closer judging from the steadily brightening glow of Celegmaeg.
We hurry back,
anxious to avoid being trapped in a dead end, but as we near where the narrow
passage widens in to the main cavern we hear rough, uncouth voices, reminding
me instantly of the graffiti. Brand, who apparently has made a study of the
Black Speech, says they’re whining about having to patrol so far from home.
Dowsing our
lights, we peer past the pinch-point to see two large orcs
and perhaps ten or a dozen smaller goblins. To my eye they look very
ill-disciplined and from what Brand reports of their whining their
esprit-de-corps is vestigial. I direct Pimm and Ilviren to shoot one
arrow at each of the orcs and then I’ll lead the
charge. If they all stand and fight we’ll be in trouble so let’s hope they
don’t.
Pimm and Ilviren
string their new bows and wait for a clear line of sight. They don’t have to
wait long, then with two metallic twangs both orcs go
down and I lead the charge. It’s funny to see a dozen goblins all jump at once
and none of them make any pretence of a fight. Ilviren
and I manage to catch a goblin each but the rest scatter, screaming, in to the
darkness.
Not wishing to stay
put in case the goblins regroup we drag our captives to the surface. I send one
of the two guards present to get some rope and the other runs for an officer.
While we’re
waiting Brand questions our captives. The results are disappointing: they come
from Mordor and serve someone called ‘Grunter’, but they’re proof of an orc infestation beneath Osgiliath
and their presence begins to draw a crowd.
Eventually two
men turn up. Angbor is one of the three lieutenants
that ‘betrayed’ Neithan. Now the head of the Cor Aran
in Osgiliath, he leans nonchalantly against a wall
while giving a creditable impression that the Cor
Aran knew of this all long. Well perhaps, but then why haven’t they brought it
to anyone’s attention? No matter! He doesn’t know me and I’ve no intention of
making a name for myself here.
But the captain
of the garrison in the Citadel is Mardil and he
impresses me with having more about him. He discusses the situation, talks with
Brand about what the goblins have revealed and outlines his plans to flush the
tunnels using teams of hand-picked men drawn from the various garrisons in the
seven quarters of the city. Rather them than me.
Apparently,
since the civil war there’s been a problem with orc
raids in the countryside surrounding Osgiliath but no
one’s been able to find their lair. Now it’s clear they’ve been using an
extensive subterranean tunnel system. If Mardil can
flush them from the tunnels then they will be easy pickings on the surface. I
voice my fear that the tunnels may stretch all the way to Mordor. Mardil thinks it unlikely but Minas Ithil
isn’t that far away and the NW tunnel was pointing straight at it, I think.
We return to the
Houses of Healing. I need to wash the stink of orc
from myself and change for polite company. On the way, Pimm
and Ilviren discuss how to shift fifty tons of grain
and other foodstuffs from So Much For Subtlety. The
regular grain shipment arrives tomorrow and they hope to offload their
contraband at the same time but they can’t exactly drop fifty tons of grain on
the quay, where even if the authorities missed 2000 grain sacks, they would
surely notice the ensuing stampede once news got around.
I suggest
offloading by night on to small boats brought to the off side of So Much For Subtlety. That would also facilitate distribution to
both sides of the city. Let’s hope they’re not spotted as I can’t see us
getting away if they do.
While Brand
studies scrolls retrieved from the ransacked Royal Archives, Aerin and I spend the evening with Mordulin
and Estel. Aerin wants to
check on her patient and I have business with her guardian.
We discuss our
finds of the day. The news of the goblins is getting around. Knowing that
goblins are under your feet is like knowing there are lice in your bed. That
they should infest the foundations of what just four years ago was Gondor’s greatest city is shameful.
I turn the
conversation to Neithan, apologising for raising a name which I know is
distasteful to her but we have to discuss the situation. Assuming there may be
some substance to Estel’s dreams, Neithan is now, or
soon will be, in Osgiliath and armed with an ominous
weapon. Since the sword with which he killed Ornendil
was stolen only last night, it seems possible that he’s been brought to Osgiliath for the Day of Memory.
Now it’s more
than likely that he’ll be seeking revenge against the three men who he feels
‘wronged’ him but I can’t see why the Benish Armon cult would go to the trouble of bringing him all the
way up the Anduin to pursue his personal vendettas.
But if the Benish Armon cult
are in league with a mainstream faction within Gondor,
as Meneleth of the Ethir
Garrison and Ilviren’s father both believe, then another agenda seems possible.
Any member of Castamir’s government would probably
want Mordulin removed as an ‘embarrassment’ but
hitherto they’ve not been able to move against her because of her popular
support.
But if she were
killed by a lone madman apparently driven mad by his dark cult captors, then
frankly they would be removing two embarrassments for the price of one. Now if
Neithan chooses to go after Angbor ar ilyë meldor (literally, ‘and all his friends’) then I
wouldn’t be too concerned and in any case they are soldiers who can be presumed
to defend themselves. But if Neithan is set on Mordulin
then I feel that’s wrong on a very deep level indeed.
Obviously Mordulin isn’t going to forgo the Day of Memory or her
place in it, which is central, so I suggest she takes a bodyguard. When she
asks who I would recommend, I say the same man who saved her brother, Giladan, from the Benish Armon cat – to whit, me!
I’m not sure Mordulin finds my supposition credible but she’s willing to
humour me and accepts my offer. Since I will need to be close to her to perform
my duties she finds lodgings for Al-Han and I in the
Citadel of the Stars. Such luxury! Obviously I will need to hide my identity
and offer to wear a mask but she suggests I should wear full armour with a visored helm – excellent, very practical, and everyone will
think I’m Pimm.
That night
Aerin returns to the Houses of Healing but much
later she sends word of a murder! Six guards have been brought in to the Houses
of Healing, shocked and babbling but otherwise unhurt. It seems they were
escorting their garrison commander, Damrod, from a
meeting with Calimon to their quarters in the West
Gate (which is actually the southernmost gate) when they were set upon by a man
with a white face and cat’s eyes!
I’m sorry, that
doesn’t seem to have come out quite right…CAT’S EYES!
I guess, and Mordulin quickly confirms, that Damrod
was one of Neithan’s betrayers. (The other two are Angbor, of course, and one Gelmir.)
I think Mordulin is initially shocked to find my
suspicions regarding Neithan’s presence in Osgiliath confirmed but after she recovers from this she is
unsurprised that he would attack Damrod – indeed!
It does occur to
me that Mordulin might have conspired in Damrod’s murder. Obviously she blames Neithan for Ornendil’s death but I suspect she must also regard the
three ‘betrayers’ as complicit in the affair – after all, if they hadn’t forced
Neithan’s hand Ornendil
might still be alive. But unless she’s a much better actress than I suspect, Mordulin’s shock and surprise are genuine; she really
didn’t think Neithan was in Osgiliath.
I acknowledge Aerin’s note but it would be senseless to leave Mordulin in the night at the first hint of trouble. This is
when I must stay close to my charge. Fortunately the rest of the night passes
uneventfully.
We spend the
morning tying up loose ends from the night before. It is confirmed that Damrod is dead. Aerin views Damrod’s body; he’s been killed with brutal efficiency by a
single sword thrust to the chest. None of his six guards are harmed physically
but all have clearly been severely afflicted by some foul mind-magic. I’m
reminded of the state of the landlord of the Moonswan
in Minas Ithil after Celebrimbor’s
night-burglary. Each of them can recall cat’s eyes in a white face. The attack
happened just a few hundred yards from the West Gate, just across the Anduin from the Ethir enclave.
I’d bet money Neithan’s hidden there.
Mardil has established a forward position in the
caverns and cleared the old armoury. All the recovered maps, books and scrolls
have been retrieved and placed in a chamber in the Citadel of Stars, where I
find Brand, of course, reading a 3rd Age text that purports to be a history of
a gem called the Kuilëondo, one of many crafted by Fëanor in the 1st Age. Brand finds it intriguing and shows
it to me.
Morgoth stole the Kuilëondo,
with many other gems, and fed it to Ungoliant, his
spider-demon. Only the most powerful of the gems survived this ordeal and were
later belched forth by Ungoliant, ‘their inner light
turned to darkness and their powers perverted’.
Morgoth then gave the Kuilëondo
to one of his mortal servants, Gorothir, who used it
to ensnare the cat-spirits of Tevildo and his nine
thanes – does this sound familiar?
Gorothir fled the fall of Angband
at the end of the 1st Age to somewhere near what is now Umbar. There he used
the power of the Kuilëondo to prolong his existence
through blood sacrifice and built a fortress in the far northwest of Umbar
called Vamag. For half a millennium Gorothir terrorised the northern coast of
It seems the Kuilëondo needed more and more frequent sacrifices to
prolong Gorothir’s life and in Vamag
he couldn’t maintain the flow of blood, causing him to rapidly age and die.
Such a shame! Gorothir bound the jewel to the service
of the wearer of the Karma of Aldarion because he perceived that the Kuilëondo would destroy its owner and he wanted revenge on
Aldarion, but though Aldarion levelled Vamag but did
not find the Kuilëondo - though the text implies he
looked - and Gorothir’s vengeance failed.
Thanks to this
binding Gorothir’s death did not release Tevildo ar ilyë
meldor and the Kuilëondo
remained hidden for another 1500 years until Adûnaphel
(the very same) built her fortress on the ruins of Vamag.
During the construction she found the Kuilëondo. It
seems she never became aware of the cat spirits bound to the gem but her
researches convinced her that using it to extend her life, as had Gorothir, would be dangerous. Adûnaphel
wanted true immortality and realised that the Kuilëondo
represented a trap so she hid the Kuilëondo and her
notes in a secure vault.
When Adûnaphel fell shortly after Sauron,
the King’s Men looted Vamag and found the Kuilëondo with her notes. It was sent to Pelargir and kept
with the Karma of Aldarion, only for them both to be stolen by Fuinur. Despite Gorothir’s
vengeful scheme the Kuilëondo doesn’t seem to have
harmed Fuinur – unless we shall find him in a
desperate state when we enter his Well.
The final
paragraph of the text shifts to the present tense and reads…
“I have hesitated to use the power of the
stone, but times are desperate and I have bound the cats more tightly to it so
that they may only be freed by one of my bloodline so they will protect my
children until such time as the Karma is recovered. I will entrust the stone to
Eryn, my servant, that it may be used for the
protection of my child.”
Something about
the phrasing and style of hand rings a bell. I compare Brand’s new text with Beruthiel’s diary. (Or perhaps that should be Ancalimë’s diary?) I can see similarities but also
dissimilarities – I’m really not sure, neither is Brand.
But Pimm takes a single look and confirms they’re by the same
person – and then I find a reference to Eryn in the
diary, ‘Eryn my maidservant has offered me
hospitality at her village,’ and ‘Eryn will guide me
through the night’s labyrinth, to this den of fear where they dwell’.
Suddenly it
becomes clear that Eryn is the lynchpin here. Ancalimë gave Eryn the Kuilëondo and it was Eryn who
created the Benish Armon
cult.
And then I think
of Iriel and her red jewel! This must be the Kuilëondo; could Iriel be Eryn? Benish Armon
are known for their blood sacrifice. Can Eryn have
prolonged her life as did Gorothir? There are notes
with this text in another hand explaining just how to do this. That would
explain how one of such youthful appearance could wield such powerful magics.
But then why did
Zimrakhil’s news about Neithan’s
heritage come as a surprise? Eryn surely knew of his
heritage? No, Iriel must be a descendant of Eryn but still the High Priestess of Benish
Armon. Except that Zimrakhil’s
news went direct to Neithan – perhaps Benish Armon, or at least their High Priestess, have always known?
It seems the
cult’s casta-na
(literally ‘reason to be’) is to protect Ancalimë’s
bloodline, but the cat-spirits of Tevildo and his
thanes do so in the hope that one of that line will release them from their
bondage to the stone.
It seems to me
there’s a conflict of interests here. If Tevildo ar ilyë meldor get their desire, there will be no more
cat-spirits, etta (‘therefore’)
the Benish Armon cult will
cease to exist. My understanding of human nature leads me to suspect that not
every High Priestess will want to destroy the very origin and source of her
power.
But even that
doesn’t explain why worshippers of dark cults (possibly Adûnaphel)
in Harad should provoke the Benish
Armon cult to act now, which they clearly have by
giving them information on Neithan’s heritage.
I can only guess
that inimical forces are seeking maximum discord in Gondor.
Still in the aftermath of the recent civil war, if the Benish
Armon cult can get Neithan to pursue his heritage,
this can only lead to a three-way civil war. Whatever the outcome of such a
war, Gondor will be in no state to resist further
attack from without, whether that’s by dark cults in Harad,
the Storm King or something yet unknown from out of Mordor, or any combination
of these separately or together.
But more
immediately – why have Benish Armon
brought Neithan to Osgiliath? The deaths of Damrod, Gelmir and even Angbor can’t advance their interests. But Meneleth of the Ethir Garrison
and Ilviren’s father both believe Benish Armon are linked to the Corsairs, who we know are in the
pocket of Morlaen and would be glad for Mordulin to die. It looks like Mordulin
may be the target, but I wonder if there’s something else…?
To do list:
Guard Mordulin at the ceremonies of the Day of Memory
Try and
apprehend Neithan before he does something silly
Visit Minas Ithil
Talk to the
survivor of the 1st Mordor expedition before entering Mordor
Survey my
estates and produce a plan to improve them – consider Pimm’s
offer but be cautious