<b>The females listened intently as Timberlane told his tale of the war. Allassiel leaned forward, her brow furrowed in concentration, occasionally turning to Pegawen, who would repeat what the wizard said in Sindaran so she could understand it fully. <br/>
<br/>
By the middle of the tale, Pegawen had pushed her bowl of stew away, barely touched, her focus solely on the story, a solemn expression on her face as she mentally compared the war he spoke of with the one they had endured when Sauron attempted to take over the kingdoms of Arda. Had he really been here as well? Had it been one, similar to Sauron, who sought power and control over all things?</b><br/><br/><b>These thoughts buzzed around in her head as the wizard concluded his tale and chuckled, requesting a tale in return. Pegawen looked first to Lotharn, whose expression was unreadable to her, then Allassiel, who nodded her head. “Perhaps you should have the telling,” she suggested.</b><br/><br/>“<b>But you know much more of the –“ Pegawen began, but Allassiel shook her head. “And you are much better spoken than I.”</b><br/><br/>“<b>Well then,” Pegawen paused, wondering where to begin. Unlike her cousin, she had not been around for the first war, and knew less of it. “I will tell it the best I can from my studies,” she replied and sat back as her melodious voice filled the room.</b><br/><br/>“<b>Sauron was once a being of good, one of the Valar, corrupted by the influence of an evil known to the elves as Morgoth. In the First Age of Middle-Earth, a battle was waged. Morgoth was defeated and Sauron disappeared rather than face the judgment in Valinor. Still, things were at peace. For a time.”</b><br/><br/><b>She looked to Allassiel, who nodded and motioned for her to continue. “Sometime in the Second Age, a great being named Annatar came to the elves. He brought us knowledge of arts and magic, such that the elves called him the Lord of Gifts. Most of them. There were those, such as Hiril Galadriel, who mistrusted him. Others did not heed this warning. With his help, the elves of Eregion forged a set of rings – rings of great power. A gift to those who would wear them. But this was a lie. The rings held great power – this much is true. But they were no gift, rather a way to control the wearers, for he had created another - a ring to control them all.”</b><br/><br/>“<b>The elves, however, sensed the wrongness of the rings as soon as Sauron put his on and, seeing his true form, removed their own rings and hid them away. Sauron retaliated by decimating the land of Eregion, killing the leader of the Elven-smiths, and stealing the seven and nine rings that had been forged with his assistance. It is some comfort that he could never find the three that he had no hand in creating.”</b><br/><br/>“<b>If it had not been for the help of the Numemor, those that had assisted the elves in Morgoth's destruction, things may have ended then. But Sauron was forced to retreat into Mordor, where he was held in by the might of Gil-galad, the high king of Noldor and the strength of the Numenorians. Sauron was not done, however, and when the time once again came he corrupted the land of Numenor and its leader, until Eru himself would drown the whole kingdom forever into the sea.”</b><br/><br/>“<b>The rings,” Allassiel broke in, as Pegawen paused to sip her wine. “She does not speak what happened to the others. What is known is seven went to Dwaves. What became of them, uncertain. Nine went to men. Those men became … less. Nazgul.” She spat the word out, her eyes flashing with hate.</b><br/><br/>“<b>Yes. The Nazgul.” Pegawen nodded at this and shuddered. “But this is old story, though important. Sauron, despite his best efforts, once more lost; in battle, he was felled by Gil-galad and Elendil – both who also perished. And Elendil's son, Isildur, obtained Sauron's ring. Hir Elrond beseeched the young king to destroy it, but he refused. And when he was killed by Orcs, the ring vanished. This much the elves know, for it is written in our tales and chronicled in the libraries at Imladris and Caras Galadhon, by those who were there to witness it.”</b><br/><br/>“<b>What is known past that?” Pegawen looked to Allassiel, the older elf slowly nodding before she began to speak. “My home was once called by a name different. Greenwood. It was … beautiful. Then a shadow came. A fortress built – Dol Guldur. And one we called Necromancer ruled it. Much time passed, we could not get close to find who – what – this Necromancer was. It was Gandalf who came, who risked much to sneak into this place. Who found out that it was Sauron. We drove him from the place, back to his … kingdom. He did not stay away.”</b><br/><br/><b>Allassiel muttered something and Pegawen's eyes widened before she cleared her throat, drawing the males' attention back to herself. "Forgive my cousin, she lost her husband to orcs - one of Sauron's many creations.  Now, where was I?" She chewed her lip a moment. "There is much to tell, much more than we have time for in one evening. I will make it short for now. The influences of Sauron's evil spread - the dead animated, orcs, uruk-hai, trolls, wargs. Even creatures that were usually peaceful  began attacking. And in the midst of this all, unknown to all but a few, a small group of men, elves, dwarves, and hobbits arrived in Imladris. Their purpose was kept secret, for had Sauron known ... but he didn't know, not exactly."</b><br/><br/><b>"And in the midst of all this, Ellesar -- known to men as Aragorn, heir of Isildur -- reforged the sword Narsil and gathered together an army to confront Sauron at the gates of Mordor. The battle was hard, many were lost. But in the end, Sauron was vanquished, his armies and allies scattered to the winds."</b><br/><br/><b>"It's been ... 80? 90 years? since then. I'm not sure. But Ellesar and his wife Arwen, daughter of Hir Elrond, now rule the Reunited Kingdoms of man. The Dwarves have all but retreated to their mountain kingdom, and the Elves -- for the most part -- have sailed west to the Blessed Realm."</b><br/><br/><b>Pegawen fell silent, having told as much as she cared to for the evening, and studied the males. </b>