The Forming of the Dark Guard

The idea for the forming of a Dark Guard started at the end of the last Fall's Ring War. Hayes and I were discussing how great it would be to have a group of good players dedicated to causing havoc to the evil army. Generally, the good army tends to stay far away from evil, simply because of sheer numbers and point value discrepancies. It is also true though that with so many people playing evil, the inevitable always happens. People in the evil army tend to get separated into smaller groups as the day goes on and we knew that we could take advantage of that. We also knew that we would need a wizard to be effective in doing this, and that Radagast would need to be that wizard. The rest of us would play Rangers and Lothlórien elves, with hopes that we could get someone to play Beorn as well. With a group of ten people or so (with Radagast), we felt that we could be a real thorn in the side of the evil army and have a fun time doing it.

The picks meeting (as usual) did not go the way we wanted. To make things short, Hayes got Denethor and I got Beregond. Nick was able to get Radagast and Chris was able to get a Ranger. Our plans were shot from the start, but I noticed that we had some good people getting picks that started at Gondor. Reid was able to get Boromir for the second game in a row, and Charles was able to get one of the few remaining Citadel Guards. Later, I was able to discover that Angela also got a Citadel Guard pick, with J.P. choosing Faramir. The one surprise was Derek, who chose Bard. Generally, he sticks to elf characters but I was glad that he decided to break that trend. He would be a welcomed addition to what we were planning—now we had to hope that we would get the opportunity to put that plan into motion.

The weather on Friday was perfect for camping. A good amount of people had arrived early to get their spots, clearly enjoying the uncommonly warm spring weather. Time was spent by some preparing for the day, while others pursued more athletic endeavors. Though the day was pleasant, I eagerly awaited the dark—for then the campfire would be lit and my Lord Denethor would be arriving. When I returned back to the camp site after a brief walk around the park, I discovered to my relief that Hayes was there and after brief salutations, we began talking in earnest of the day to come. All of this planning and strategy, though, hinged on Gandalf and what his plans were. As he is the leader of the good army, whatever he decided, we would go with, regardless of what we may have in mind. Fortunately for us, Gandalf had a plan that let us do what we wanted. He had some friends, namely Derek and Reid, who wanted to spend the day with a group killing evil. Since that is what we wanted to do anyways, we could not have been happier. Hayes and I would take the people at Gondor (plus Imrahil and Bard) and Gandalf would be taking the people of Rohan and the Ents.

The morning of Ring War was excellent. Though some slight chance of rain was predicted, that was fine with me. As long as we were not caught in some kind of downpour, the discomfort of a few sprinkles could easily be ignored. Many people arrived early with costumes being donned and people at their ease speaking with one another. The judging part of the day went by favorably and without any troubles. I was able to add 36 points to my base points for a grand total of 51. I was shooting for 50, so I had no complaints with this at all. The time then came for introductions, which went fairly smoothly except for one particularly comic moment. Hayes was wearing a black cloak as part of his costume, and with that he was able to disguise himself as a Nazgűl and get a ring from Bill. It was one of the funniest things I had seen him do, and it was to be a good omen for the day to come.

With the introductions complete, we parted ways and made our journeys to our respective starting locations. After our group arrived at the bridge of Gondor, we totaled our points. I was pleased to see that everyone who would be traveling with us wore armor of some kind. Because of this, the lowest point character was 35, with the highest at the time being Boromir at 57.5. Gandalf quickly met us at Gondor and freed us using the Flaming Arrow token, which went to Damroth. Not wasting any time, Gandalf released Wormtongue and took the Riders of Rohan up the hill and started towards the Ents and Isengard. We were looking for action right away, so we ran up the hill to try and bounce the witches and vampires in the graveyard. At the graveyard, the Ents had grabbed trees and easily defeated the witches and vampires and Wormtongue. We sent all but one Ent with Gandalf and quickly made our way back to Gondor. Shortly after our arrival back at Gondor, Bard appeared. With our Menace equalizer with us, we now were waiting on Imrahil and his journey from the Bay of Belfalas. We did not have long to wait, and soon Imrahil joined our group which was waiting on the road. With our group ready and worth around 450 points, we quickly made our way down the road heading towards Bree.

Upon nearing the field leading towards Rivendell, we decided to send a scout to see what was happening. We were not disappointed to learn that a group of Nazgűl were ahead of the evil army and traveling alone. There were eight of them together, though, and we knew we could not beat them on points. We needed help—and fast—for not far behind the Nazgűl was Sauron and the rest of the evil army, and we had been spotted. We quickly made our way back from the main force deciding what to do. I shouted "Menace" in hopes of deterring anyone from following us all the while not realizing that the Menace was coming our way from the direction of the Rivendell crossroads. He saw that the Bard was with us and wisely ran past our group. He continued to run until he reached the evil army (and Sauron) and a battle ensued. Soon after the combat was finished, the Menace ran away while the evil army sat down and took a break. The Menace then pursued the Nazgűl and we quickly followed, hoping that he would cause them to separate. The Nazgűl had enough of a lead that they were able to avoid the Menace as he gave chase. The Menace then decided to run down the back Rivendell path in search of other prey, perhaps not realizing that he was quickly being followed by Bard. A showdown then ensued near Rivendell between the Dark Guard and the Nazgűl. The Nazgűl had made a mistake. They had arrived five minutes early at Rivendell, and did not realize that they could not be within 25 paces of this stronghold. They also did not realize that we could pace in and use the citadel points for our own. When this was pointed out to them, they decided that they did not want a fight and ran away. Two important things happened simultaneously after this. The Lord of the Nazgűl ran down the road to speak with Saruman and Bard returned a Hero after slaying the Menace. With this point shift on our side, Denethor saw the opportunity and quickly ran down to the Nazgűl, making the tag. Points were totaled up and we won by a thin margin. Much rejoicing occurred on our side as the Nazgűl gave up their rings. The Nazgűl had been smart and stayed together, but we had luck and timing on our side and that was all we needed to shift the balance in our favor.

After this victory we did a great deal of running. As we ran past the still bounced evil army, Denethor decided that some taunting was in order. This taunting was short-lived, however, as we saw the Dark Elves appear over a hill to the north not too far away from us. We quickly turned east and made our way back over the field (away from Rivendell) with the laughter of the evil army reaching our ears. Funny that they would laugh considering that they were the ones sitting down and that we had seven of the nine Nazgűl rings! Funnier still was the fact that, as we were running away, we were rejoicing for our dark archer Bard had become a Hero, recording the fastest-ever Menace kill. Over the sounds of the laughter of the evil army and our own laughter, I could clearly hear the sounds of that old dragon Smaug in his death throes. As we briefly stopped, the earth trembled and shook as that mighty beast died with the black arrow stuck firmly in his chest. The air around Bard shimmered as the countenance of a dragon settled upon him, granting him the strength of the ages in acknowledgement of this mighty deed well done.

When this moment had passed, we resumed our flight, and with it the Dark Elves gave chase. We continued to run until we crossed the road leading towards Bree, and made our way a short distance into the woods before stopping and turning around. What we saw was Saruman and the Dark Elves, with a few of our comrades sitting down. What ensued was a battle between Saruman and the Dark Elves, which the Dark Elves won. This battle was well-timed for us, because it gave us the opportunity to rest and plan our next move. We had every intention of coming back and getting our lost members, but the Dark Elves decided to chase us. They pursued us for a time and then stood around and waited. This was fine with us because the rest was good, and the longer they waited, the sooner our friends would come back to life. After five minutes or so, the Dark Elves seemingly went their own way and we checked on our friends. Saruman's army was dead on the hill, but shortly after, our party members came back to life and joined up with us. We decided to head towards Bree for a little while to see if any stray evil were there. It was not too far down the road that the Dark Elves tried to ambush us. They were well-hidden, but our scout spotted them and as they came out of hiding, we quickly ran away. They called out to us for a battle but we were not stupid. They clearly outnumbered us and we knew that we would lose such a battle. As things turn out, with our group at full strength they had us by twenty or so points, but this was not discovered until much later in the day.

After ridding ourselves of the Dark Elves for a time, we decided to take the middle horse trail going north to hunt down scattered evil. It was there that we ran into the Good Paladin, Legolas, and a few other players on the good army. Soon after this, we saw a few players belonging to the evil army and decided to give chase. What we did not realize was that they were advanced scouts—we were afforded a full view of the rest of the evil army after cresting the hill. Running back the way we came, we were unable to outdistance our pursuers. After a merry chase, we became spread out with the civilians unable to keep up with the main body. A tag was made and a freeze was called, and Sauron was able to pace in and get us all. He took all of the named characters prisoner and asked us all questions. We did not have the answers he was looking for, and he let us go when the questioning was finished. Jubilant that we were alive and still a potent force, we went South towards Isengard with the Good Paladin and Beorn. We had not traveled long before we met a large group that consisted of the Rangers, Gimli, Radagast and other members of the good army. They informed us that Isengard was being held and that the Radagast token was unattainable. They did mention that they had seen or heard that the Corsairs of Umbar were heading towards Bree. That was good news to hear, for we believed we had spotted Saruman on the horse path leading away from Isengard and heading towards the crossroads. If we were fortunate, perhaps we could pick off both groups separately and if possible, to take Saruman prisoner. The Dark Guard wanted to go and catch the Corsairs and Saruman, while the rest of the good army wanted to go towards Lothlórien. We decided to split up at the crossroads and took Radagast with us as we headed towards Bree. The rest of the good army made its way up the road towards Rivendell and eventually Lothlórien.

We had not planned on traveling all the way to Bree, but we wanted to confirm whether the Corsairs were there or not. We were rewarded for our tenacity when our scout Damroth spotted two evil team members traveling along the road with what we reasoned to be the Bree flag. They were a good distance away from us and we had not yet been spotted. We decided to try for an ambush, and we left Boromir out on the road to spring our trap. The plan worked perfectly, with Boromir pretending to be as lost. The Nazgűl and Corsair generously agreed to take him prisoner and lead him to Mount Doom. As they looked to their left and spotted our waiting group, realization dawned upon them. It was too late, however, for the tag was made and Radagast yelled freeze. For the second time in a little over an hour, a Nazgűl had lost his ring and the Bree flag was ours. Feeling jubilant, we quickly headed back towards Rivendell and what we thought may have been the Corsairs. While waiting for the ambush, we had heard voices in the woods behind us and we believed that one voice belonged to the Captain of the Corsairs.

At Rivendell, we neither saw nor heard anything and decided to make our way along the horse path north heading towards Mt. Doom. Along the way, we saw two evil characters along the road carrying some flags. We quickly chased them down with Radagast once again using the valuable freeze. We discovered that the flags belonged to Rohan and Gondor, and there was much rejoicing amongst the troops of Gondor. It was there that Bard took the Oath of Fealty to Gondor and became a citizen. With the clarion sound of trumpets ringing in the background, Denethor presided over the ceremony and added the hero Bard to our ranks. With this great honor bestowed upon him, Bard took the Gondor flag and Beorn took the flag of Rohan. We made our way towards Lothlórien and the supposed meeting place of the good army. Predictably, the Dark Elves we were by the crossroads of Lothlórien and the good army was not in sight. We were a good distance away and they called for a parley. Amanda came out from the Dark Elves and for the Dark Guard, Denethor. After a time Denethor came back telling us their terms. If we would let them kill one hundred points of our group, they would tell us Sauron's plans. After laughing at what must have been some kind of joke, we ignored them while deciding what to do. After several minutes, the Dark Elves became impatient and wanted our answer. Of course, it was "no," and with that, some of the Dark Elves decided to give chase. We quickly made our way up the hill and into the woods. Our scout watched the Dark Elves head towards Lothlórien after a few minutes, allowing us to once again start along the horse trail North towards Mount Doom.

We traveled for what must have been ten minutes or so before we thought we saw movement in the trees to the east. We could not tell who it was from this distance, and decided to continue moving onwards. It was at this spot that Legolas noticed that something of note on the ground. The treasured flag of Gondor had been allowed to fall from its rightful place and was unnoticed by its keeper, Bard. Reverently, I picked up this wonderful piece of history and continued to carry it for a time wrapped protectively in my arms. It took a little while longer before Bard noticed that the flag was missing, but it was obvious when he did. His face was stricken as he offered his heartfelt apologies, but I would have none of it. As Captain of the Citadel Guard (and of the Dark Guard unit), I could not let this go unpunished. Bard would have to prove his worth again and atone for this crime before he would be allowed to carry the flag of Gondor again. My eyes briefly met Lord Denethor's as I pronounced this sentence over Bard. As Lord of Gondor (and the leader of the Dark Guard), he could have overruled me at any time, but he knew that his Captain had everything under control and that in the end, all would work out for the best.

We continued our journey north towards Mount Doom, looking for more opportunity to bounce evil. As we scanned the road ahead to the north (and kept an ever vigilant eye to the south), we noticed some movement towards the east. It was with a little chagrin that we recognized this movement as members of the good army. Moreover, they were three hobbits being led by an elf and they looked more than a little distressed. After a brief meeting with this elf warrior, we decided it would be best for them to make their own way and be the sneaky hobbits they needed to be. Our reasoning was simple: we were fairly visible along the horse trail, making us an open target for the evil army. The Dark Guard could afford the ring party only so much protection against such a large force, and we knew their best chances for survival was to travel unseen.

Another problem that was even more pronounced was the presence of the One Ring in a group that contained Denethor, Boromir, Faramir, Beregond, and a force of Citadel Guards. The temptation was strong to secure the ring party and take them back to Gondor. It was our thinking that we could have the first ever "Gondor victory" and all we needed to do was keep the hobbits with us at Gondor until 5:00 and wait for the ruling from the judges. However interesting this would have been, we knew what was required of us and we let the hobbits go. Let it never be said that the blood of Númenor waxed dim in the days of Denethor son of Ecthelion and those loyal to him!

We continued our journey north with Mount Doom looming ever larger in our sight. With the bulk of the evil army behind us and Gandalf somewhere ahead of us, our confidence rose with every step taken towards what we believed was victory. It was during this time that I relinquished possession of the flag of Gondor once more into the hands of Bard. The hour that he spent without the flag must have been torture for him, and I decided that his punishment had been enough. With little words spoken between us, I put the flag back in its rightful place and once again back in Bard's care.

Shortly after this occurred, we once again ran into the ring party. They looked desperate (as only hobbits can), so we decided to take them in. Let it never be said that Gondor does not know how to show hospitality to even the smallest of those in need. We put the grateful hobbits in the center of our group to hide their presence and quickly continued on our journey north. It was at the water fountain near Mount Doom that we met up with the rest of the good army led by Gandalf. There was great jubilation as we joined the main army and Gandalf. You could see both relief and pleasure in his eyes as he looked upon the Dark Guard for only the second time during the day. His hobbits were safe and his army was intact. We took the time for a short break, which mainly consisted of showing off captured Nazgűl rings to all that would see and regaling them with the stories of our adventures. While these stories were being told, I noticed that Bard was also getting the honor that was his due. Surrounded by a group of admirers, he appeared to be signing pieces of paper and handing them back to all that came forward. I was not exactly sure what was going on, but Bard appeared to be quite content with whatever this "signing of paper" entailed. This time passed all too quickly, and soon we were on the road again heading towards the Mountain.

As we neared Mount Doom, it was decided the Dark Guard would protect the back of the good army and pick off any evil that may be ahead of the main evil host. Our scouts informed us though that the bulk of the evil army was a good distance away from us, so we decided to follow Gandalf and head towards the final battle. As we neared the perimeter of Mount Doom, we took a left turn and began picking off sentries that had been posted. They must have been terrified of our presence, for they uttered nary a word as we tagged them with Radagast using a freeze each time. The numbers are not certain, but we bounced between eight and ten members of the evil army as we made our way up towards the Saddle. It was during this sweep of the perimeter that Bard and Legolas recovered the ninth Nazgűl ring. This was quick thinking on their part, for in our drive to meet Gandalf, we had forgotten the most basic of Ring War rules: always ask for rings or tokens of those you have bounced. As we rounded the perimeter, we could see Gandalf in the distance and could hear the clamoring of people's voices. We desperately wanted to meet up with him for what we knew would be the final battle, but it was not to be. A combat between the Dark Guard and a fair-sized group of evil occurred outside of the mountain as Gandalf and the good army broke the perimeter. The outcome of our battle was decided quickly, and we easily won the combat. Being outside of the perimeter and the freeze, we made our way up to the Saddle to await the final decision. After several tense minutes, Gandalf came walking down the mountain with the evil army following, a wicked grin stretched across his face. Shortly after this seeing this, the cheering of the good army gave us the sign we had been waiting for—Good had triumphed over the forces of darkness and once more in the distance the clarion sound of silver trumpets ringing in the distance could be heard.

Middle-Earth was safe once again and a new legend had been born. The legend of the Dark Guard was spreading quickly throughout the land. From croft to croft, alehouse to alehouse, and place to place, the mighty deeds of capturing nine Nazgűl rings and recapturing citadel flags was being told. For these deeds (and many others), the men and women of the Dark Guard would be forever immortalized and cloaked in honor and in glory.

Long live Denethor, Steward of Gondor!

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