The Dorgeshi Highlands of Rhun
Several Months Earlier

The small group of orcs made their way slowly down the rocky hill, jabbering and grunting amongst themselves as they fought over their largest prize, a massive kine they had stolen during the latest of many raids.

"Loik takin' candy from a baby, dat wuz," one of them said, poking and prodding the beast with his gnarled spear. 

"Good fing too, its gettin too hard ta steal wot wif dese Easterlings turnin' on us," another replied, licking his crooked teeth with anticipation. 

A third orc stopped suddenly, holding a hand up for the others to halt. "Ya 'ere that?" he hissed. "Sounds like horses." 

"Quite yer worryin'," the first orc said with a growl. "We's too far from da cities for dem to be chasin' us out here." 

The second one let out a frightened squeal. "Nah 'e's right, somefin's comin' toward us!" 

They barely had time to ready their weapons before several dozen golden-armored horsemen crested the hill, one of them letting out a shout as he saw the orcs. A black banner emblazoned with a red boar fluttered at their head, and holding it was a broad-shouldered warrior, bare arms gleaming with sweat and wielding a scimitar, gold-guilded and razor-bladed, in his free hand. His head was wrapped in scarlet cloth, covered by a dragon-helm of the type worn by the Khan's Guard of Rhun. Beneath it, fierce eyes like those of a panther shone out, and his visage was terrible to behold. 

He let out a primal warcry and his riders joined him, spurring their steeds to greater speeds as they bore down on their quarry. The orcs turned tail and fled, dropping the kine's lead as they ran, bow-legged, across the hillside. 

But there would be no escape for them. The banner-wielding rider reached them first, letting fly a quick swing of his blade that decapitated the rearmost orc as he rode past. The second rider to reach them lowered his spear, impaling another orc and lifting him aloft with the momentum of his strike. The panicked shrieks of the remaining orcs were quickly cut silent as the remaining riders rushed past in a swirl of manes and hooves, black ochre drenching the stone in their wake. 

They gathered together around the bodies of the orcs, and their bannerman rose from his saddle, surveying their handywork. After a pause he removed his helm. 

"This should be the last of them," he said, leaping down nimbly from the back of his steed. "Perhaps they possess what we seek."

"They'd better," another warrior said. "It feels as though we've ridden the length and breadth of this land, hunting cursed orcs every step of the way." 

"Hadar, be optimistic! The opportunity to hunt orcs at all will soon be as dust in the wind!" The leader replied, kneeling down beside one of the fallen orcs.

The other warrior, Hadar, shifted uncertainly. "I've lived a long life of fighting, Kilic. I will be glad on the day I can lay down my sword and never pick it up again."

Kilic looked up. "What troubles you? You're not usually so glum."

"The orcs seem unusually organized in their purpose," Hadar replied, dismounting carefully. "As if they are no longer leaderless."

"Come now," Kilic replied, beginning to rifle through the dead orc's belongings. "I had yet to draw my first breath when the Dark Lord walked these lands. He will not return."

"He may not, perhaps," Hadar said. "But there are other evils in this world."

"Evils that we shall conquer and put a blade through!" Kilic exclaimed, thrusting his sword into the dead orc for emphasis. Then, his expression changed suddenly. 

"What's this..." 

He produced a small object from one of the orc's pouches. Raising it aloft for Hadar to see, he studied it carefully. "An armored finger... And here, there are runes along the ribbing of the armor. I cannot read them." 

Hadar leaned forward in his saddle. "Black speech. The language of Mordor. I cannot read it either, but whatever it says is likely evil."

Kilic continued to rifle through the bag, producing another finger. "These aren't trophies... Orcs make jewelry out of trophies. It's almost as if he were taking these somewhere."

"Perhaps we would have known their destination had we left one alive," Hadar replied with disappointment. "Now, we'll have to rely on luck."

"They can only hide for so long," Kilic said, rising to his feet. "Though it seems as though some force lends aid to them."

"Evil will never fully be snuffed out," Hadar said, a hint of weariness in his tone. "Only forced into hiding. We should return soon, the sun will set soon." 

As Kilic and his retinue returned in the direction they had come, the young warrior thought he saw furtive shapes moving over the dunes, sticking close to the lip of the sand. But the sun was setting, and shadows often cast illusions that easily fooled a weary mind. He turned away and continued on, but the thought of the figures would give his mind no reprieve for hours afterward.

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Former Morgothrone (Now called Mistrand) 
Several Days Later

Kilic's group of riders entered the capital to cheers and shouts of excitement as crowds of eager citizens gathered on the roadside. This was the first time they had set foot in Mistrand in nearly a year, and that alone was cause for celebration. After quelling a rebellion led by a rogue warlord, they had been sent to fight an army of orcs that had descended from the Orocarni Mountains. These orcs raided under the banner of the Eye of Sauron, a device that hadn't been seen in years. Not since the War.

Kilic's father had dispatched him to wipe out the raiding orcs, as well as to discover their errand in Rhun. Their trail had led him to the southern reaches of his father's homeland, a sparsely populated steppe land with few inhabitants and even fewer places to hide. The swift horses of the Easterlings could traverse the land far faster than the clumsy, plodding feet of the orcs, and soon Kilic caught up to them, cutting them down wherever he found them. There were hundreds, though due to their lack of loyalty to one another they were in small groups spread far apart. But with each group slain, it seemed as though their chances of discovering their true purpose grew slimmer. At least, until their latest discovery. 

Kilic came soon to the citadel, a tall, elegant structure made of polished stone and adorned with four towers that rose staggered high into the sky above, one at each corner of the main structure. These, in days past, were the towers of the Godyi, a secretive order of seers and witches that served Sauron. Now, they merely stood as reminders of the evil powers that once held sway here. 

Just inside the citadel doors was a courtyard. At its center sat a fountain, a sculpture in the likeness of a dragon shooting water from its mouth into the pool surrounding it. Two palm trees grew on either side of it, providing shade to those who sought to rest at the waterside. In the shade of those trees, two guards stood stiffly at attention, clad in silver armor with red-crested helms obscuring their features. 

"The son of Khan Rukil vas Dorgeshi has returned!" The shorter of them cried. "He has come back in glorious triumph over his foes!" 

Two guilded doors swung open on the far end of the courtyard. First emerged a red-haired woman, lightly touched by age but still stunning in appearance. 

"Kilic!" She exclaimed, running to him and wrapping her arms around him. "It's been too long!" 

"It has, mother!" He laughed, returning the embrace. Over her shoulder, he could see his father following, deep blue tunic flowing as he crossed the courtyard. Laugh lines creased across his face as he beheld his son, flashing a full smile as he joined them. His dark hair was now frosted with grey at its roots, but his demeanor was still youthful and full of life. 

"Hadar, makh avi! Kilic, makh budu!" Rukil said, greeting each of them in turn. "I am glad you both return whole!" 

"As am I!" Hadar laughed, the weariness of the past year seeming to lift from him like a veil at the sight of his best friend. "It has been an ordeal, and I'm afraid we're no closer to finding the origin of the attacks."

Rukil smiled in understanding, resting a hand on Hadar's muscular shoulder. "Let us turn away from war for a time. I have food and wine prepared, you must all be famished." 

He led the warriors, including their retinue of knights, into the citadel, where several long tables were covered in food of every variety. Entire pigs sat roasted and covered in honey, and great wheels of cheese sat beside them. Grapes and dates and all manner of fresh fruits added color to the arrangement, and each goblet was filled to the brim with wine. A delicious smell wafted through the air, and Kilic could feel his stomach rumbling with anticipation. 

"Please, seat yourselves! There is no need to stand at ceremony here," Rukil said, reassuring the soldiers. It was common for Rukil to feast with common soldiers and townspeople, and as such Kilic had brushed shoulders with them for his entire life. This felt familiar to him... Like home. 

After they had all been seated, Rukil invited them to take whatever food they desired, waiting until they had taken their fill before serving himself. Hadar sat at his side, laughing jovially as he took an entire cheese wheel and set it unceremoniously onto his plate. Astrid, Kilic's mother, watched him with amusement, and Rukil himself cracked a smile at his friend's antics. 

"How has the realm fared in our absence?" Hadar asked after reaching for a slice of ham. 

"As good as can be expected," Rukil replied. "Pirates still plague the Sea, and robbers still lay in wait on the roads. But the cities have improved. Runakesh, for its part, has finally followed suit in outlawing slavery and its doors have been opened to the West. Gondor has become more confident in trading with us, and they've set up additional outposts in Nurn. I traveled there myself several months ago, and you'd hardly recognize it as the former realm of Sauron. It's turning green again, if you'd believe it." 

Hadar nodded, impressed. "I'd like to see it then! I'm sure King Elessar has set a watch within, regardless." 

"He has. Dark things still dwell in the Mountains of Shadow, despite our best efforts at banishing them. There are catacombs in their depths that are home to nameless evils, creatures no doubt twisted and corrupted by Sauron while he still ruled there."

"Surely a combined force could be sent to dispatch them," Hadar replied, leaning forward. "We cannot spare many men but Gondor surely has enough." 

"We have spoken at length of it, Elessar and I," Rukil said. "He deems it too dangerous for now. His kingdom is still weak, and he fears insurrection from within."

Kilic looked up from his meal, speaking for the first time since he had seated himself. "Really? Is there a credible threat?" 

Rukil looked to his son. "He seems to believe so. He spoke of cults and men who did not wish for him to sit upon the throne."

"Those sound like familiar problems," Hadar said, giving Rukil a meaningful look. "We found something among the dead."

"Indeed?" Rukil questioned. "I thought you said that you were no closer to discovering the truth." 

"We were unable to track them, truly," Kilic said, picking up where Hadar left off. "But we followed a war party of orcs far north into the highlands. There we caught up to them and slew them all-"

"An oversight that I regret now," Hadar interrupted. "Had we captured one, we might have learned much more." 

"But we did not return entirely empty-handed," Kilic said. "We found these."

He produced the armored fingers from his pouch, holding them up in the candlelight. Rukil frowned, his brow furrowing as he gazed upon them. 

"I suspected that we might be dealing with something like this," he said finally after a moment. "Those belonged to no mere orc, nor to a man. That armor was worn by the Dark Lord himself." 

Hadar's eyes widened. "What would orcs possibly want them for?" 

Rukil shrugged. "I do not know, but we are putting together a rather troubling picture. The device of the Eye, orcs gathering together in greater numbers, and now this... Something foul is afoot." He rose from his seat, a look of determination on his face. "We ride out at first light tomorrow. I have a feeling I know where we can get answers."

Words and phrases:

makh avi-my friend

makh budu-my son