Something Wicked This Way Comes - Page 7
© Michael Martinez
And when the Hobbits entered Rhudaur and Cardolan, seeking new homelands, Men would have asked them why they left their old homelands. "There is something dark and evil there," they would reply. "It is like a great shadow has descended upon the forest. Lands where our forefathers felt safe are no longer free to us. Evil men from the east trouble our friends. Foul creatures threaten our families. It is like some great menace has arisen."
Rumor would pass from inn to inn, town to town. Soldiers, merchants, and wanderers alike would hear tales of the transformation of Greenwood the Great into Mirkwood. Eventually, princes, kings, and wizards would hear about the changes in the east, too. In fact, it would be about fifty years from the time the first Hobbits arrived in Eriador until the Wise ascertained that Dol Guldur had become a stronghold of evil.
Imagine the council which might have been held. Istari, lords of the Eldar, and perhaps kings from the Dunedain would have come together. A full reporting of events would be given. Scouts would returned from Mirkwood to confirm the tales. And there would have been grim faces, stern looks exchanged between the Wise and their friends. For, despite all the vigilance they had kept through the years, they did not know something was afoot until it was too late. Only the Hobbits had sensed something wrong. And, ironically, only the Hobbits would eventually provide the final solution to the problem.
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