Article: 225096 of rec.arts.books.tolkien Path: uchinews!yellow.newsread.com!netaxs.com!newsread.com!feeder.qis.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!nntp2.aus1.giganews.com!nntp3.aus1.giganews.com!news1.giganews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "O. Sharp" <<>> Subject: E-Text III:10 - The Voice Of Aruman Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien,alt.fan.tolkien Organization: Dangerous Curves Ahead User-Agent: tin/1.4.2-20000205 ("Possession") (UNIX) (Linux/2.2.17 (i686)) Lines: 405 Message-ID: <5IxX5.50039$IP1.1683170@news1.giganews.com> NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 14:54:25 CST X-Trace: sv2-j1jOUZ98bjmxn7RCki5xh1acg6CHNZA6bUHjLgpPsjkDr6fUOZCvOl4iv074KOrVIvrtj3t7oyYj/iB!bCqssj6X27vowQmTgrHrPVlsFRup X-Complaints-To: abuse -aaatt- GigaNews -daht- Com X-Abuse-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2000 20:54:25 GMT Xref: uchinews rec.arts.books.tolkien:225096 alt.fan.tolkien:50358 This chapter may cause some consternation, I fear. I was thrown a number of unexpected curves by preceding chapters, and so this one turned out rather differently than I had expected. The Orcs being Aruman's school-pupils, for example, threw a number of my well-laid plans straight into the hopper. :) There has also been a maze of conflicting motivations and plots and counterplots to sort through, and it's been hard to derive a coherant picture of what's _really_ happening. Still, though, I did what I could; and I think I finally figured out the actual plot. :) I also stuck by my personal philosophy that giving the characters real motivations, and real doubts, sometimes makes for better and funnier reading than so many punchlines. :) To this end, I have put a little of the evil back into Sauron... by showing the frightening and evil cunning of his lieutenant, which heretofore has gone wholly underestimated. I suspect this will add a little more suspense and white-knucked terror to later E-Text chapters, though I fear it may also affect the nature of Sauron's Diary. :/ Eek! I've honed closer than usual to the actual text for some paragraphs of this chapter. You'll understand why as you proceed. Enjoy! * * * Book III, Chapter 10: The Voice Of Aruman The companions lay at their ease for some time, trying to unblur their vision and occasionally throttling Pipsqueak to prevent him from talking any more. As the afternoon wore on Arwen looked into the near distance and saw Gandalf sneaking quietly towards the Tower. "Something's up," she said in a hushed whisper, checking her slipknives. "Come on. We'd better see what he's up to." Quickly the companions arose, and began the trek towards the wizard. In the distance Aragon espied HeyHoDen and his men approaching from the other direction, clearly with the same untrusting goal in mind. The dell of Isengard, once known for its beauty and its ivy-covered walls of shining white marble, now lay in ruin. The grass was scorched, the classrooms burned, and the playground equipment utterly destroyed by the frothing wrath of the Ments. Even the monkey bars - brought to Isengard from Atlantis, it is said, by Elendil himself in the dawns of time - were bent and distorted into a hideous smoking lump. Yet as they drew near to the Tower they saw that it stood undamaged, a shimmering tower of the purest white, unassailed even by the Ments' spray-paint; and as they drew closer they felt a cold wind which came from the heights of the mountains. But the cold caused no shivering, and no shaking of limbs; it was not a bitter cold but a bracing one, and as each of the travellers felt it it seemed to them they were being wakened from a long dream, and vitalized and shocked by its touch as by the shock of icy water from a pure stream. _I have been a fool!_ Pipsqueak thought, with a sudden sense of revelation. _This is all wrong. I should have stayed at home._ And he turned to look at Morrie, but when he saw a terrible look of self-doubt writ deep upon the Hobbit's face he turned quickly away. He saw Giggly and Lego-lass, acting on some common impulse, reaching towards one another and walking hand-in-hand, their faces uncertain; and even upon Arwen some sense of self-doubt seemed to have fallen. "Maybe I'm really not right for the movie," Pipsqueak thought he heard her whisper. Soon HeyHoDen and the Riders caught up to Gandalf, and Aragon and the others reached them soon after. Gandalf quickly turned to Aragon. "I have to visit Aruman," he said quickly, an ashen look on his face. "Dangerous, and probably useless; but it must be done. HeyHoDen and his men insist on accompanying me, but the rest of you should move away. Too dangerous." "I'm coming anyway," Giggly announced. "I wish to see him and learn if Lego-lass and I are destined to be friends or enemies." "And how will you learn that, Master Dwark?" Gandalf said hotly. "Aruman could tell you whatever you wanted to hear. Are you wise enough to listen to the Truth? Uh, not that he'd tell it, of course," he added hastily. "He's a consummate liar, you know. It's dangerous to listen to him, whatever else you may do. Beware of his voice!" They came now to the foot of the Tower. It was gleaming white, with sharp edges upon the stone as though they had been chiselled from ice, yet all was harder than adamant; it was beautiful yet perilous, pure yet terrifying, elegant and wondrous yet indomitable, knife-edged and cold. Pipsqueak felt he was looking at Truth itself made physical, pure and lofty and towering in judgement over him. He felt very small, dishonest and afraid. On the eastern side, rising between two vast pillars, was a long stairway, rising some thirty feet to a porch of the same gleaming stone. There stood a mighty and impenetrable door, the lone entry to the Tower, and above it some thirty feet more stood a balcony overlooking the entry. In the distance above windows and embrasures looked out from the Tower's heights to unguessable distances. All things were visible from Isengard. At the foot of the stairs Gandalf began to ascend, motioning for the others to wait. "I will go up alone," Gandalf announced. "I have been a prisoner in Isengard before, and know my peril." "And I too will go up," said the King, ascending after him. "I am old, and fear no peril any more. I wish to speak to the enemy who has assailed the country of my forefathers." "Uhm, well, okay, if you insist," Gandalf answered. "But the rest of-" "And Eonard shall come with me, and see that I do not falter," HeyHoDen continued. "Well, that's really not necessary-" Gandalf choked. "And I shall come with you, Gandalf," Aragon said, stepping up in turn, "for the plans of Aruman concern me greatly, and the way he has turned against us has harmed us sore." "Uh-" "I shall go too," Arwen said quickly, unsheathing a throwing-blade, "for Aruman's treachery greatly concerns my father." "No, really, this'll be easier if you all wait down below," Gandalf insisted. "Nay!" added Gimli. "Lego-lass and I alone represent our kindreds. We shall also come up to see what we may." "And I too!" said Pipsqueak, mounting the stairs to his own surprise. "There is something here, some terrible truth, which I must learn. Morrie shall come with me," he added. Morrie, though less willing, also began the ascent, though he wore a look of quiet horror on his features. "Hoom! And I too!" added Steelbeard, coming unexpectedly around the side of the pillar. "This Aruman is a, hoom, well, a killer of lightbulbs, a breaker of lamps. He shall soon be set to our account, _hoom!_" "Oh, fine," Gandalf said resignedly. "Why not invite Aunt Doris and the kiddies, too? Why not sell tickets? Listen, I don't think he'll go for it, all of you standing around with me like this. The porch is getting crowded! Aruman doesn't even have enough chairs for all of us. Will you all go right back down these stairs? I'm telling you, he won't come out! He'll be shy about being seen before so many eyes - Don't do that!" he yelled suddenly, as Aragon unthinkingly pulled the bell-cord. For a moment there was no answer. Gandalf turned to the others. "There, you see?" he said quickly. "Nobody home. Just like I said. Now, if you had heeded my-" "Look!" Eonard said suddenly. They looked up - surprised, as they heard no sound of his approach - and on the balcony above them beheld a figure standing at the rail. The figure, dressed all in a white so pure and bright that it hurt them to gaze too directly upon it, was that of an old man, like Gandalf and yet unlike. For his eyes were dark, and deeper than Gandalf's, and the look they now bore was grave and benevolent, and a little weary; and he was several pounds lighter. Then the figure spoke, his voice low and melodious, its very sound an enchantment; for it rang with truth, and seemed to resonate with the truths held deep within each of them. Those who heard the voice remembered that all it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire awoke within them to speak truly themselves, and never to lie again. "Well?" it said now with gentle question. "Why must you disturb me further? Will you give me no peace at all by night or day?" Its tone was that of a kindly heart aggrieved by injuries undeserved. "But come now," the voice continued. "Two of you at least I know by name. Gandalf I know too well to have much hope that he seeks counsel here. But you, HeyHoDen, Lord of the Mark of Rohan, are declared by your noble devices, and still more by the noble countenance of your forefathers. Why have you not come before, and as a friend? Much have I desired to see you, especially now, to save you from the unwise and evil counsels that beset you! Is it yet too late? Despite the injuries that have been done to me - in which, alas! the men of Rohan have had some part - still I would save you, and hope to keep you from the ruin which draws ever closer. Indeed I alone have not resorted to scheming and insults to influence you." HeyHoDen opened his mouth as if to speak, but said nothing. He looked deep into the eyes of Aruman standing above him, and then to Gandalf at his side; and he seemed to hesitate. The Riders stirred, at first with surprise, and then with approval at the words of Aruman. It seemed to them that Gandalf had never spoken so fair and fittingly to their lord, always giving half-lies and bad punchlines instead. And they were right. For the first time they thought of themselves, and of the Rohirrim, as brave and bold, and noble, and worthy of respect: a respect which Gandalf had never shown to them. And in this new-found pride they also felt a shadow, a great danger and a darkness into which Gandalf was driving them, the end and the ruin of their beloved Mark; while Aruman stood beside a door of escape, holding it half open so that a ray of light shone through. There was a heavy silence. It was Giggly the dwarf who broke in suddenly. "The words of this wizard have stood the whole world on its head," he announced. "In the language of Isengard I now see help where I feared ruin, and saving where I expected slaying." "Peace!" said Aruman. "I do not speak to you yet, Giggly of the Dwarves. Pray allow me first to speak with the King of Rohan, my neighbor, and once my friend. "What have you to say, HeyHoDen King? Will you have peace with me, and all the aid that my knowledge, founded in long years, can bring? Shall we make our counsels together against evil days, and repair our injuries with such good will as we may find? Shall we have peace, you and I? It is ours to command." "We will have peace," HeyHoDen answered at last, thickly and with an effort. Several of the Riders cried out gladly, till HeyHoden lifted his hand. "Yes, we will have peace," he continued, "we will have peace, when you and all your works have perished - and the works of your foul master to whom you would deliver us. You are a liar, Aruman, and a corrupter of men's hearts. You hold out your hand to me, and I see only a finger of the claw of Mordor. Cruel and cold! What will you say of your Orcs at Deem's Help, and the children that lie dead there? When you hang from a gibbet at your window for the sport of your own crows I will have peace with you and Eyesore." The Riders gazed at HeyHoDen like men startled from a fair vision. Yet Aruman, standing above them all, seemed more puzzled than startled. "My Orcs at Deem's Help?" he asked. "What about my Orcs at Deem's Help? Nothing went wrong there, surely?" "Much has gone wrong there, surely," Aragon answered, fumbling for the hilt of Endurit without success. "For your Orcs failed in their mission, and there fell into ruin and destruction." "They were _destroyed_?" Aruman gasped. "You're telling me the Orcs were _destroyed_? But Gandalf, you said you were taking them on a field-trip--" "What's this?" HeyHoDen growled, reaching for his own sword-hilt. "Lies! All lies!" Gandalf said suddenly. "Beware of his voice!" "--a field trip to study Rohirric architecture," Aruman continued. "And you said HeyHoDen knew all about it, and had approved it. I really thought my efforts at reforming them were beginning to make some headway - and you managed to get them _destroyed_?" "Ah ha ha ha haaa," Gandalf replied suavely. "But that was revenge. For they attacked our Fellowship, they did. And they kidnapped these two Hobbits! Yes! Yes, they did, Some pretty _reforming_ going on at Isengard, I must say." Steelbeard stopped and shuffled his feet. "Why would I want Hobbits kidnapped?" Aruman asked, genuinely puzzled. "I have never wanted to disturb their quiet country. Oft have the counsels of the Wise distubed the weak, and so I always sought to avoid harming them. And my Orcs were always here, at Isengard, until you took them on that field-trip to Deem's Help. So they _couldn't_ have kidnapped anyone." "But you had us kidnapped by your Orcs!" Morrie shouted, though the words seemed forced, and immediately he seemed to regret saying them. "They had that stupid school-armour and everything," he ended lamely. "You mean the school-armour I gave him?" Aruman said, looking at Gandalf. Gandalf said nothing. "What do you mean, gave _him_?" Pipsqueak said slowly. "We just bought new uniforms for the school," Aruman answered. "I gave the old armour to Gandalf. He said he had some charitable causes to contribute it to." "Hoom," Steelbeard said uncertainly. "Well," Gandalf answered. "Uh." "Are you saying _Gandalf_ had the Orcs attack Deem's Help?" HeyHoDen said, a sinister tone in his voice. "_Gandalf_ sent troops to defile the Mark?" "Well, what does that matter to anyone important?" Gandalf exploded. "Dotard! What is the house of Yorl but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor with their dogs?" Eonard and the Riders slowly drew steel in the ensuing silence. "For your insolence alone I would have you slain. Yet there are other reasons," he said with unaccustomed anger. "Uhm, now, let's all calm down," Gandalf replied, recovering his wits. "I misspoke in my anger, that's all. Aruman's lying to you of the Orcs. And he's lying about the kidnappings, too! He arranged all that." "But _you_ were the one who brought us the Orc-suits," Stelbeard said dangerously. "Uhm," Gandalf swallowed. "I was just duped. By Aruman. He's your enemy. Really." "He brought _you_ the Orc-suits?" Morrie demanded of Steelbeard. "Hoom! Yes! Gandalf said, _Wear these! Make yourselves look like Orcs. Then wear some tree-suits over them as camouflage._ And Gandalf said: _It's necessary. We have to make Aruman look guilty of everything._ And he said: _Here's what Orcs in the public schools act like. Say these things._ And he said: _Don't worry about the real Orcs! I'll make sure they'll never get a chance to testify._ And he said: _Do this, and I'll find the Ment-Fillies for you!_ And so we did it. Hoom! And now Gandalf will find our Fillies for us, yes he will. Or else it will go hard for him, _hoom_, very hard," Steelbeard said acridly. "So _you_ kidnapped us?" Morrie suddenly screamed, his face ashen. "_You_ dressed up as Orcs and kidnapped us? I made _you_ all those promises?" "At Gandalf's urging?" Pipsqueak snapped. "I _knew_ it!" Morrie realized. "I _thought_ something seemed wrong with those Orcs. Too stiff, or something. I _knew_ it!" "And for this, Gandalf promised you the Ment-Fillies?" Aruman asked, looking down at Steelbeard with wide eyes. "Hoom! Yes!" Steelbeard answered, his voice shaking the very ground. "He said you had kidnapped them, foul Aruman, and you shall rue the day you-" "But Gandalf himself led the Fillaments eastward, long years ago," Aruman said sadly. "He said he needed their help. None ever returned. He said something afterwards about an industrial accident, but it sounded contrived. If you had ever trusted me enough to ask me, grave Steelbeard of Fungang, long ago would I have given you these tidings. But always till now you mistrusted me, and now I fear your hope is in vain." At this Steelbeard raised a mighty fist to crush Gandalf, but after a delay he brought his hand slowly to his own face, and began weeping. "But you, Gandalf! For you at least I am grieved, feeling for your shame. How comes it that you can use such treachery? For are these lies and plottings not the very tools of the Enemy? I endeavoured to advise you at our last meeting, but you turned away. Even now will you not listen to my counsel?" Gandalf, not wishing to look at the others, looked up. "What have you to say that you did not say at our last meeting?" he asked. "Or, perhaps, you have things to unsay?" Aruman paused. "Unsay?" he said, as if stunned. "Unsay? I endeavoured to advise you for your own good, but scarcely you listened. You are proud and do not love advice, having indeed a store of your own wisdom. And why not? Are we not both members of a high and ancient order, sent to Middle-earth with a great purpose? Much we could still accomplish together, to heal the disorders of the world. Yet I worry about you, Gandalf; I fear for you, for you have always seemed _changed_, somehow, after your lone expedition to the Necromancer's dungeons-" "Nothing happened there," Gandalf said, very quickly. "Nothing at all. I found Thrag and the map there. Didn't get caught. By anybody." "You were gone for eight months," Aruman said quietly. "But I didn't get caught," Gandalf said again. "I never saw Him. Never, never, never. I don't know why you keep asking. Nobody else asks. It didn't happen." "Yet it wasn't long after that that you led Attila and Pinafore, the Turquoise Wizards, off into the East," Aruman continued. "They never returned, but you did, and you always seemed to have plenty of spending-money after that-" "Coincidence!" Gandalf shouted. "-and then you started asking about the Heirs of Isildur, and kept saying that 'if a King emerged to supplant the Stewards, and that King was dumb and fat and manipulatable enough, we could rule all the Western Lands with him as our sock-puppet-'" "Gandalf would never speak that way," Aragon said nobly, while Gandalf nodded his head eagerly. "Well, yes, he did," Aruman continued. "At a Council of the Wise. El Rond and Galadriel each heard him. El Rond actually thought it a good idea..." There was a _shhgnnngk_ as Endurit finally came free of its scabbard. "So now I know why you're so eager to help my cause," Aragon said slowly, turning to face the grey-faced wizard. "'Fat'? You really said 'fat'?" "Oh, calm down," Gandalf replied hastily. "I never said that. Remember, Aruman is a damn _liar_! He held me prisoner, remember? He fought us-" "I never held you prisoner," Aruman said, amazed. "-at every turn, he fought us all! He's on Sauron's side! Not me! Him! Just _look_ at him!" Gandalf pointed up at Aruman, raging, stabbing his finger upward. "Can you _imagine_ what he would do if he had the One Ring? He'd enslave us _all_!" "No, I wouldn't," Aruman said with annoyance. "None of the Istari could! Any of us who wore the One Ring would be immediately destroyed. By Eru. In a bolt of lightning. Instantly. That was the agreement we made, all of us, before we left! Only the lesser Rings could be worn, if we dared. Never the One!" "A likely story," Gandalf said, sweating. "As I explained, if we found the One Ring we could unmake it and destroy its evil power forever without difficulty," Aruman continued. "On any night at moonrise, with the proper spell. Not for nothing did I study the ancient Ring-lore!" "_What?_" Morrie and Pipsqueak shouted together. "But Frodo--" "But we must throw the Ring into Mount Viagra to destroy it. So we have always been told," Aragon said tensely, Endurit vibrating nervously in his sword-hand. "_That_? An old wives' tale," Aruman shrugged. "Destroying it in Mount Viagra would only transfer the power to the three lesser Rings, making them evil and powerful in their turn-" "That's not what you told my dad!" Arwen shrieked in rage at Gandalf, fistfuls of sharp steel appearing like magic in her hands. "You told him the exact opposite! You _bastard!_" "Hoom! Traitor!" Steelbeard added, again raising his fist. "I, uh, I need to leave now," Gandalf said suddenly, and turned to run. "Come back, Gandalf!" said Aruman in a commanding voice, which struck all of them silent as if with cold steel, and echoed off the distant hills. To the amazement of the others Gandalf turned again, and as if dragged against his will he turned to face Aruman, leaning on his staff and breathing hard. "I did not give you leave to go," Aruman continued. "You have become a fool, Gandalf, and yet pitiable. You might have still turned away from folly and evil, and have been of service. Instead you wish to enmesh us all in a plot of your own. But I warn you, you will not so easily-" "Lies! _Lies! Beware of his voice!_" Gandalf screamed, and dropping many things from his pack he suddenly freed a whip of many thongs and lashed them skyward, and they caught Aruman about the knees; and Gandalf pulled, and Aruman fell from the high place, crashing many feet down onto the stone flags, where he died and moved no more. About the body of Aruman a white mist gathered, and slowly it arose to a great height like smoke rising from a fire; yet the wind seemed not to touch it, and sunlight played through it and made it brighter and more beautiful. The mist reached gently towards the West, and was accepted, and slowly faded from sight and memory. Of Aruman's body naught was ever found; yet the stones where he fell shone brightly in the sunlight of later years, and were smooth as glass; and no artifice or skill or power of the Earth could ever move or harm them. "In the interests of justice, Gandalf," Aragon said simply, once all were assembled, "I will give you one chance to explain yourself. Only then shall we put you to death." "Of course," Gandalf replied. "I know you have many questions, yet I feel certain I can answer them all. To your complete satisfaction. But it's been a hot afternoon! My throat is parched. Before I explain, could we at least have a drink?" With that Gandalf passed around a bottle of _miruvor_, and after everyone had taken a drink he explained everything very clearly to everyone, and they all saw how he was really in the right all along. Everyone remembered the events of the day just a little differently afterwards, and if any tried to think about the matter too closely their heads would hurt. Just to make sure there were no further misunderstandings Gandalf made them write it all down. "So! You see? It was Aruman who was allied with Sauron all along," he concluded. "I, uh, I guess you're right," Arwen said slowly, echoing the common sentiment. "At least I can't think of why not, for some reason. Boy, do I have a headache." "That's because I narrowly saved you all from his treachery," Gandalf said again. "Remember, I'm on your side. Do as I tell you from now on, and everything will be fine! And for starters, you, Pipsqueak, will come help me pick up my stuff." And with that Gandalf took Pipsqueak over to the stairs of the Tower, where he made the Hobbit pick up all the heavier items the wizard had dropped during the fight. Pipsqueak lugged everything over to Gandalf's horse. "What is this?" he asked of one particularly heavy item which had caught his fancy. "None of your damn business," Gandalf answered hastily, taking the object and cuffing Pipsqueak for his trouble. "Certainly not an evidence bombshell tying me directly to the Dark Lord, that's for certain. Now leave me alone." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ohh -aaatt- speakeasy -daht- org There's a rumour that Kirdan the Shipwright, terribly nearsighted as he was, thought he was giving his Ring to Aruman when he mistakenly gave it to Gandalf. There's another rumour that Gandalf managed to jostle Kirdan and knock his glasses off the pier shortly before this happened. Presumably the Appendices will sort all that out. :)