On the other side of the table sits an elf. Anorast I Thrandir, the shadow watcher, Guruthostirn. When he greeted you at the door you were surprised. Though clearly elvish, his unbound hair, long enough to reach his belt, was pure white. And strange for one of the Eldar, Anorast's face shows faint signs of age, and only one glance is enough to see that he has experienced many things in his long life. Yet his dark gray eyes still shine with the joy and life that all elves share, though Anorast seldom smiles any more. Tall and thin, he easily stands a head higher than even the tallest man you've known.
"So, you wish to know my past," a deep, low voice speaks, instantly demanding attention. You look around, to see who else is now looking in your direction, but such is the elf's control that no one else seemed to notice the extraordinary voice. "It's a long story, so I hope you are patient."
"Mystery surrounds my birth, and my origin. I was found by a Sindar woman as she watched the first sunset, and I always called myself Sindar, yet I belong to none of the elvish races. My foster mother told me of the mystery of my discovery, why she named me Anorast, Sun Child, brought forth when the Sun first rose.
"I was a very strange child. I appear an elf, but nothing else is certain, for I was like no other elvish child. The mystery of my lineage increased with time. It was nearly a thousand years before I fully matured to adulthood, my physical body aging extraordinarily slowly. There were other oddities, strange powers, a frightening affinity for fire, and lightning obeying my wishes. Fortunately my mind developed quickly, and the powers disappeared, no longer released randomly. Instead a thirst for knowledge emerged, and my foster parents took me to many wise teachers. When I finally became an adult I was ranked among the wise in southern Beleriand."
For a moment Anorast falls silent, taking a sip of elvish tea. After a long pause the elf continues.
"The day I finally celebrated becoming an adult was terrible. Servants of Morgoth attacked, destroying the village I lived in, killing everyone. Only later I realized that the powers hidden within me were my salvation, but at the time I only cursed Mandos for leaving me alive, while taking all those who I loved. Hate grew within me, directed towards anyone connected to the destruction of my village. Yet I did not let my hatred overcome my good sense. Though I hated the Shadow with an intense passion, I also knew it was immensely powerful. As was shown time and again, the elves could not destroy Morgoth, and I grew certain that even combined, the power of all the divided elves in Beleriand would not be enough defeat Angband. Arrogant and young, I determined to learn the secrets, the powers of Evil, to use them against Morgoth, to be the deciding factor in the wars of the lands. Not long after my village was destroyed, I became a wanderer, always looking for power, knowledge, and evil.
"I left a trail of dead across Beleriand. Countless followers of Morgoth met their end by my blade, yet I went on, not content with the deaths of mere servants. I thirsted for more power, more knowledge, till I would be finally able to unlock my mysterious heritage and the immense powers that my foster parents glimpsed when I was a child. Though I always searched for knowledge I kept to myself, keeping my secrets safe. During my travels I learned from nearly everyone or every race of note. I learned smithing in the depths of the Ered Luin, and became a good friend of the dwarves. I entered Doriath, and from Melian I learned how to unlock a small part of my past."
Silent again Anorast stares off into the distance, thinking back towards that time.
"Ah, Melian."
After another moment of silence Anorast continues.
"As Angband became more powerful and the numbers of the Wise I had not visited dwindled, I took to following Morgoth's war parties. I was present at the destruction of Gondolin, where I'd spent many years. Though I was deeply saddened by the loss of the great city I learned much from what I saw, what the elves faced. After the battle I combed the hidden valley for more secrets. One I found was a blackened, twisted length of strange metal. I barely recognized the once proud sword of Ešl, Anguirel, which I'd seen when I'd visited the dark elf many years before. Taking the dark blade I swore that one day I would find a worthy smith to reforge the unique sword."
Taking another sip Anorast stands, and pulls back his cloak. A black leather baldric crosses his chest, holding a sword at his left hip. Anorast pulls out the sword a few inches, revealing a bright, silver blade below a mithril hilt. The long grip is black leather, embedded with fine silver vines twisting up to the cross guard, where twin dragon fangs are gripped by more vines. At the pommel is a blue crystal, held in the roots of the vines which cover the entire hilt.
"Many years later, in the wilds to the north of Eregion, I found an elvish smith wandering. I recognized him, for he was considered the greatest smith since Faenor. He was traveling away from the city, badly injured, cast out for going against the will of the one who few knew as Sauron. Knowing that he was dying the smith took the ruined remains of Anguirel. He recognized the black steel, and knew much of its power. He spent his last strength and power reforging it, turning the blade into his greatest work, a monument to his life.
"Renamed Amlugil Adonnen, Dragonstar Reborn, the blade shares many of the traits of the other great elvish weapons, such as Glamdring and Sting, for the smith learned his craft in Gondolin, where those weapons were forged. Yet where its brethren merely glow when orcs approach, Amlugil Adonnen senses evil, and with a word the blade will burst into cold, silver flame. There are other, more subtle powers, some of which that came from the dying smith, and others from its prior life. Strangely, when it was reforged, the blade turned from black to silver."
From a pouch on his belt Anorast pulls out a sharpening stone, then proceeds to pull a long thin dagger from each knee high boot, and sets them on the table. Soon the daggers are joined by a long elvish fighting knife that had been sheathed at Anorast's right hip, two dwarven throwing knives from behind his back, and a third pulled from the baldric behind his right shoulder. Sitting down again Anorast sips his tea again, starts to sharpen the many blades, and continues his tale.
"After the fall of Gondolin I determined to enter Thangorodrim, to learn the dark magic of Angband. Yet I was taken prisoner attempting to pass its gates, and I was cast down into the slave pits of Morgoth. After a short time I attracted the attention of Morgoth's greatest underling, Sauron the Maia, recognizing that I was both unusual, and very powerful. He sensed the darkness within me, the desire for power, and saw the potential for a great weapon for his master. Sauron began to break my spirit, pull me towards Darkness. He taught me many of the most dreadful secrets of Morgoth, turning me into the weapon he had imagined.
"Almost at the edge of falling into eternal darkness, I was saved by the final assault on Angband, where the armies of the Valar completely and utterly defeated Morgoth, and threw down Thangorodrim.
"At the fall of Angband I blended into the many imprisioned elves freed by the forces of Valinor, and no one learned of the fate of Sauron's pupil. After the war, I swore that the evils I had witnessed and partaken in beneath Thangorodrim would never be repeated. With that goal in mind, I buried my old name, and took the name Shadow Watcher, Guruthostirn. None ever learned of my time in the Darkness of Angband. Traveling to the east as Beleriand was destroyed I began my days of wandering and exploration beyond Ered Luin and the Great River. In my journeys I renewed my friendship with the dwarves and the remaining Eldar, and met many other people who lived eastward. Much of my time I spent in Fangorn, where I felt the familiarity of the forests of my childhood, where Ents I'd grown up around still lived.
"It was not until after the destruction of Eregion that I learned of the reappearance of Sauron, my old master. Quietly I traveled the darkening lands, watching as the corrupted Rings of Power wrought their destruction and evil across the realms. Yet for the most part I retired to the last free realm in Lindon. When Sauron was taken to Numenor, where I never visited, I joined Gil-galad in the many battles to free western Middle-earth, forcing back the darkness.
"After the fall of Numenor I continued my vigilance. Yet as the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor grew, my travels became less frequent, for I loved secrecy, and chose more carefully who would know my face. As Sauron began to grow in power again I watched Mordor carefully, knowing that I might reveal myself to the dark Maia. I learned the ways of its mountains over many years of vigilance, and watched the building of Barad-dur. When the Last Alliance was formed I was split between my hatred for my former tormentor and teacher, and my fear that Sauron might still hold power over me, to turn me against my friends and allies, to lure me to his side again. As the battles began I chose to flee the war, and not join the elves in their battles. Yet when I heard of the fall of Gil-galad and Elendil, both of whom I'd known, I cursed my decision to not fight, to turn away from my fears. After the Last Alliance I began my wandering again, but instead of merely watching I released my anger and regret upon the servants of Darkness. Blood spread behind me once again.
"During these later travels I learned of the arrival of the Istari, the wizards from the west. I met one of the blue wizards as he journeyed east. Seeing in him powers I'd never imagined I stayed with the Istari, and followed him eastward, eventually persuading him to teach me what he knew."
Quietly Anorast looks away. A flicker of pain crosses his face, and slowly a single tear appears at the corner of his eye.
"In the east my hatred for evil became my downfall. My new teacher quickly gained us great status. He became enamored with the adulation of the masses, while I stayed away, loving secrecy. The Istari turned to politics, eventually becoming the effective ruler of a massive empire. Here I learned that even the greatest and most noble can be corrupted, for the wizard fell into the world of crime and power, destroying anyone who pitted their will against him. Gradually I realized that my mentor was little better than the servants of Morgoth. Finally we fought, for he took fancy to the woman who had become my love and companion. When I denied him, keeping her from him, the wizard confronted me, claiming that I wanted his position of rule. The Istari refused to admit any wrongdoing, or that he was anything other than perfect.
"The fight between the two of us, the corrupt wizard and the ancient, strange elf, was enormous. Magic not seen since the early days was unleashed. The city where we lived was completely demolished by massive storms colliding in the sky above, unleashed by the two of us. After many days of wild destruction the wizard and I were almost completely drained. We continued our fight, now with simple weapons. Finally I defeated my corrupted teacher, slaying him with a simple sword stroke. Yet I stood within a valley where once stood a hill, crowned by a proud city, and no one survived, not even my love. My power also suffered, for I found myself incapable of all but the simplest and easiest magic, little more than any other elf. Though I still felt the immense powers of my childhood and heritage locked deep within my soul, I had not the strength to unlock the magic within me. Yet I have felt the power slowly increase, and I fear the day when the magical strength that caused so much destruction is unleashed once again.
"After the battle I returned to the western lands of Middle Earth, fleeing my recent past. I stopped first at the halls of Thranduil. While there, several dwarves were found trespassing through the small part of the forest still ruled by the elves. A short time they later they disappeared, and interrupted my plans to continue west. Few of the elves remembered me from my past travels in Mirkwood, and many of the younger elves were suspicious of the strange elf from the east, and believed I had a hand in the escape of the dwarves. Thus I became caught in the conflict that followed, and marched with Thranduil to the Battle of Five Armies. After that conflict, when the various misunderstandings were cleared up, I left Mirkwood, and traveled west to Imladris, where I stayed for many years.
"In the years before the War of the Ring I wandered the western lands of Middle Earth. I seldom stayed long in any one place, and by the time Frodo Baggins left the shire for Rivendell I had found my way to every significant place one could go, even to the ruins of Annuminas and Carn Dum, the ruined fortress of the Witch King. But as the Ring traveled south I found myself in the House of Elrond once more. There I was advised to go to Lothlorien. It was there, in the ranks of Celeborn, that I fought the War of the Ring. I led troops in the destruction of Dol Guldur, where my past experience with the dungeons of Sauron made me well suited to the task of cleansing the fortress. Afterwards I journeyed to Minas Tirith to witness the crowning of King Elessar, and during that time I became familiar with the city.
"For several years I wandered around the southern realms till I finally returned to Imladris. With the changing fortunes of the Fourth Age I took back my old name, Anorast I Thrandir. A short time later my application to join the Mithril Knights, a secret order of warriors, was accepted. Joining me in training was a young woman, Nienor-Niniel. After our initiation I rescued her from an unnatural storm, and pledged to protect her from all harm. Yet only a short time later she left the Mithril Knights, and myself. Afterwards I became cold, hard. Twice I'd loved, and twice lost that love, unable to protect either woman. My time with Nin left a deep impression, and I found it very hard to see her go. I knew I would remember her forever. Yet evil does not sleep, and I must go on."