A5: Scene 5 – BedTime Story

 A5: Scene 5 – BedTime Story: The minstrel sings the ballad of “The Folly of Wizards and King.” 

Gather Round My Friends: While celebrating his rescue, Weldon calls upon the minstrel Bardwyn to sing ballads fitting the celebration.  “Come Bardwyn, craft a tale befitting these noble heroes.” Weldon explains, “Bardwyn hails from east of the mountains, from Rhun. He has performed many tales during his time here, most of them very strange to our ears.  The legends and myths of Rhun are not the legends and myths of our lands and people.  But he enthralls all; why only months ago a visiting loremaster was most drawn to his tales.”  

A tall, handsome man with a shock of curled reddish hair and blazing green eyes strides over to your table, the crowd parting in his wake.  He is dressed in elegant finery, obviously a man who enjoys high patronage; in his hands he carries a silver lyre, itself a work of great craftsmanship. 

Bardwyn speaks, “I suppose there is great affinity between loremasters such as he and myself. Indeed, Belemir seemed particularly excited by my performance on the night before his departure. It was a particular legend, about a long-ago battle between a “wizard in blue” and the Goblin-king that descended upon the Sea of Rhun. Belemir seemed particularly excited by the legend’s details. When he left, he thanked me profusely.” Bardwyn began: 

The Folly of Wizards and King 

“Ahh, yes, ‘The Folly of Wizards and King’ is my greatest work, a lengthy epic I have painstakingly learned from many teachers throughout the years. A very old tale, some 1,000 years ago.” 

The song opens with a passage describing the peaceful bliss of Dorwinion in ancient times, a land of plenty flowing with wine.  Men, Elf, and Dwarves lived in bliss. There were no “wild men” yet troubling the shores of the sea, and the Hill-goblins were few and paltry.  But then came the Black Crystal, born into these peaceful lands by a Goblin-king from the West.  Exiled from his own empire, he came to prey upon happy Dorwinion… 

Black Crystal, Heart of Night, Angril by another name,

Ancient-forged by the Goblin-maker,

The Goblin-soul made hard and real.

The Goblin-king held it as the totem for his kind,

And paraded it before their hillside hovels,

Promising them power and conquest if they followed him.

In its dark light they grew in stature, roused by its black-night evil,

And poured forth across the land, storm and darkness in their wake… 

The song continues with an account of the War of the Goblins.  Led by this mighty Goblin-king, who wore the Black Crystal amulet around his neck, the Hill-goblins overran the whole of the region.  The Black Crystal had the power to turn day into night, so that the goblins could rampage across the land unhindered by the sun.  Together, the goblins and wildmen shattered the opposing army of Elves and Men, driving the Elves back into the depths of their woods and hunting down the fleeing Men in their own homeland.  When all seemed lost, from out of the West came a pair of travelers called the Blue-Robes… 

The Blue-Robes came with staves in hand,

In pursuit of the Goblin-king, their foe of old.

Wizards of might and splendor, Men they were but more:

Far-walker (Pallando), the first in honor,

All-seer (Alatar), who came after.

The Blue-Robes surveyed the land, and saw its suffering,

Pity they felt for Men and Elves.

“O Men!” they cried, “O Elven-folk!  Submit not to this evil fate!

Rise to battle, and trust in your strength, and we will aid you as we may…” 

The song then explains that the Blue-Robes foreswore kingship, refusing to become the leaders of Men.  Broken and dispirited, Men rebuked them while the Elves grew wary of the Blue-Robes when they learned that they too came from the West just like the Goblin-king … 

The land to whence our kin of old departed and never returned, unhappy land of setting sun.

Never have we sought its shores, and we never will: leave us here to linger. 

Unable to persuade the Men or Elves to fight, the wizards sadly watched the Goblin Kingdom grow in size and power, with resources enough to erect a pair of fortresses in the heart of the hills.  It was then that the Blue-Robes decided to part company: All-seer departed further east to search for free folk to muster against the goblin menace, while Far-walker remained behind to hinder the goblins as best he could.  But All-seer never returned, and as the years passed Far-walker despaired alone.  Try as he might (the tale records three separate interventions), he could not bolster the Men or Elves to rise up against their goblin overlords.  Ultimately, Far-walker resorted to desperate measures, creating a Rod of bearing and command to overcome and coerce free minds with sweet words of wisdom. 

But the Rod had little range affecting only those within its sight,

So it was, Far-Walker crafted a throne from black obsidian.

With the Rod in place, his words would be heard (and heeded) far and wide.

And the Goblin-king smiled…

With the Dark Crystal amulet he controlled the dark minions,

With the Rod and Throne, he could control man and elf!

 

Yes, the Goblin-king smiled as even Far-Walker unknowingly did his bidding.

The dominion of man would have come to a close if not for the appearance of Brown-Robe.

 

Brown-Robe (Radagast) scorned his fellow wizard, “What folly have you rendered?”

Before the Goblin-king could claim Far-Walkers’ creations,

Brown-Robe cast them to opposite sides of the world,

Beyond the eyes and reach of the Goblin-king…into ruin and wood.

 

And the Goblin-king howled as he raised staff and sword to slay Brown-Robe.

But from the east returned All-seer, come to intervene on his best friend’s behalf,

Stabbing the Goblin-king but taking a mortal wound in return.

Thus it was Brown-Robe was spared as the Goblin-king withdrew.

Thus it was, the dominion of man was given reprieve,

From the folly of wizards and the Goblin-king. 

The tale concludes with the fate of the Black Crystal amulet: shattered in the fall of Sauron, its shards were scattered across the land.  So long as the shards remain divided, the Black Crystal will never again trouble the earth. 

LEVEL-UP 6: Theo gains the virtue ability to transform into a bear:

NEXT SESSION: A6: Scene 1 – The Forsaken Inn