After Amlaith moved the capital of Arnor to Fornost as the first King of Arthedain the dice was cast for The Lonelands. The kingdom of Arthedain and its capital flourished for roughly a thousand years until it was destroyed by an invasion from Angmar in III 1974 - 1975, which ended with the Battle of Fornost. After this point, the surviving Dúnedain of Arthedain scattered and began to call themselves the Rangers of the North, having no kingdom anymore but gathering under chieftains. It was this line that eventually led to Aragorn, also known as the ranger Strider.
It was many years before the establishment of the Rangers that Kuzo came to the valley below Weathertop. He had left the life in the court of the High Elves behind so long ago that no human or hobbit would have a memory of it. He had fought in the war for Fornost, and had seen many horrors. Even then after the war, Ost Guruth remained a thriving community and Kuzo would visit there often to trade goods and pick up supplies for his new homestead.
Over time the Lonelands began to attract other settlers and though a bit of a recluse, Kuzo came to care for his new neighbors. Men from Bree, and Hobbits from the Shire, and even some dwarves and other elves had come to call the lands around Weathertop home. These were happy and peaceful times for all. Bodlordan had settled in Ost Guruth and had become a very good friend and some said even a student of Radagast! Whispers about town were that Bod and Hana the dreamer were an item, but who listens to loose talk like that...
Tanglin another shifty friend of Radagast is said to be a skin-changer who lived in a small cabin near the Last Bridge. They say he changes his skin; sometimes he is a huge black bear, sometimes he is a great strong burly man with huge arms and a great beard. "I cannot tell you much more, though that ought to be enough. Some say that he is a bear descended from the great and ancient bears of the mountains that lived there before the giants came. Others say that he is a man descended from the first men who lived before Smaug or the other dragons came into this part of the world, and before the goblins came into the hills out of the North. I cannot say, though I fancy the last is the true tale."
Each year at the Spring Festival in Bree the families, farmers, and hunters of The Lonelands would gather at the Newly opened Great East-Road Inn, and await the arrival of Radagast the Brown. Together all traveled to the grand festival grounds of Bree!
The Inn was prosperous these days and many a traveler stopped for an ale, or room for the night. One such was Pripin, who a few years before the events about to unfold, had wandered into the inn on an old nag of a Goat. He claimed it was a gift from the Dwarf King himself for deeds and bravery shown in the Goblin Wars of the Misty Mountains. Folks at the Inn became accustomed to Prip, his drinking, his debauchery, and his very very tall tales. Prip never left but took up residence at the Inn.
It was at a Festival in Bree that Kuzo was taken aside by the Ranger known to the Eglain as Strider. Strider warned Kuzo of rumors he had heard. He spoke of the wizard Gandalf, and of horrors from the past, but Kuz had heard the stories before. He told Strider, that with respect he had other concerns, for his children were growing and his wife was once again with child. He loved her and his little ones more than life itself.
The High Elf had been sent by Elrond to the Trollshaws to confirm rumors of Orcs and Goblins moving towards The Lonelands. Sarph had stopped for a night at Thorenhad, a settlement located within the area of Bruinen Gorges. He was a little uneasy in the company of the Elves there and so shared a fire with the few Drawves who called the place home. Birrungur Blacksteel shared what he knew with Sarph. He said he had been out testing his metal on Stone Trolls when he had come across a large camp of Orcs and Half-Orcs. He had skirted the camp and picked up enough information to know that they were headed to the Hills around Weather-Top, in the Lonelands. Sarph, stood up immediately, and threw the ale from his glass onto the ground and quickly walked to his mount, and rode off into the darkness!
A chill wind blew down the Great East Road that fall day, and though his wife was about to give birth, Kuzo saw the need to fill the larders for the coming winter. He left his family and rode towards the Last Bridge to track and hunt for Boars, and Deer. He had kissed his wife goodbye and told her he would be back within a week. His children had waved and the smallest one, Nanine cried and ran down the road in the wake of her father. Kuzo tried to block her anguish from his mind and kicked his horse into a gallop.
Kuzo stopped in Ost Guruth to get some supplies for his camp. He had decided to set up camp at Dol Vaeg. The view from this ancient hilltop would provide him with a broad view of the surrounding area, and he knew the hunting would be good there as it had been in years past. He had had dinner with Frideric the Younger at his house in the craft quarter, and Frideric had told Kuzo he was concerned.
Lyseris the Hunter, had told of seeing Orcs and Goblins gathering in the Trollshaws. Radagast had gone two weeks earlier into the Trollshaws to investigate but had not returned. Frideric was very concerned and felt Kuzo should also be worried and in the very least show caution.
The howls and screams vibrated the night air creating a visceral horror that sank through the flesh, soaked the bones and hardened the heart! Sarph did not shrink back but moved towards what sounded like a huge battle just ahead! He had spear and javelin ready and had made his battle preparations as any Warden worth his salt was like to do. Then all went silent, and he heard a bird sing a beautiful song! He climbed upon a huge rock to better view the scrimmage below, but what he saw amazed and shocked him. An old man stood at the center of a scene that was incredibly unbelievable!
Hanging from the branches of trees and crushed under boulders too heavy for giants to lift were the corpses of Goblins, Orcs, and Half-Orcs. All the ground and plants around the old codger were soaked in blood, but he sat whistling a tune along with the three small wrens that sat on his arms, as pleasant as if he were in a glade of Lothlorien! Radagast turned, as Sarph made himself known, and smiled, "Well met, High Elf, what brings you this way?"
The hunting had been good for the first two days and Kuzo thought he would make an easy and early trip of it. On the third night, as he was cooking a large rabbit on a spit over the fire, he heard a horrific howl come from Nan Dhelu. The ruins there had been abandoned centuries before! Kuzo doused the fire quickly and using all the stealth in his power he slipped through the ruins and towards the screams that did not cease!
In Bree, the rumors had spread quickly, as they always do. The Prancing Pony was always the place to go if you wanted to know what was happening in the wider world. Cecil Oaksey trimmed and cut the hair of every wayward and traveler of purpose that passed through, and usually, it was from him that news passed. Xandaar woke from a night of revelry and made his way to the main bar. Groggy though he was his trained hearing caught the word on the wind. A small group gathered at a table close to the bar was talking about an Orc incursion into the Lonelands.
They were getting louder and some had drawn weapons and were shouting about going to the aid of the Lonelanders! Pancake stood, and flourished his banner of war! " I will lead us into the fray! My banner will stand victorious!" A soft voice rose and was absorbed by the group, but yet somehow heard by all. Wulfgharm seemed to appear from nowhere, as he spoke, " So far we only have rumors. No one has seen an Orc in the Lonelands in hundreds of years. Yet, I have friends there and even rumors give me cause, I am with you!" A low rumble turned into a harsh loud roar and everyone fell back from the table! "I am with you!", growled Lekdottir in an inhuman voice that caused fear in all that heard it. A huge hammer hit the floor of the Inn and the feet of all felt the reverberations as if an earthquake had occurred! Unbeard swung his hammer back over his right shoulder and his long beard over his left! "You go nowhere without this Dwarf! If there is to be a fight, you will need me, and my hammer. I wager I can kill ten Orcs to each you slay!! Now, give me a tankard of beer, thoughts of battle make me thirsty!" "Then it is settled! I will guide us unseen through The Midgewater, and uncover any Orc scouts or vanguard troops that may be about!", Thoranhad offered from the shadows. Noone had noticed the Warden until that moment.
The stones were slick from a fresh rain and drenched through to the skin, Kuzo felt a dreaded chill as fear entered his heart for the first time in his life! The cold caused an ache in his bones and the discomfort ran deep into his being. The sight that Kuzo saw had not been witnessed by any civilized living being for centuries past!
Kuz notched an arrow into this bow and with the skill and agility he had mastered over the ages he let the arrow fly. Northrim the Old died instantly, as his heart burst the instant the arrow found its mark. Kuz had killed his old friend but it was a killing of mercy because the monsters that had tormented his body had left nothing that could be saved. Kuz let fly a second arrow at the horrors he recognized these creatures to be, some bloated, some barely sheathed in flesh, and others bereft of flesh! These things were undead! Kuz did not return to his camp but through the night slowly made his way back to Ost Guruth.
Ost Guruth had changed in the past few days since Kuzo had left on his hunt. Radagast had returned and locked himself in his tower, and spoken to none but Frideric. It was from Frideric that Kuz got the news of Orc and Goblin attacks throughout the Lonelands. They had filed across the Mitheithel, known as the Hoarwell in the tongue of Man under cover of darkness in throngs, and had gathered in the hills surrounding the vales of the Lonelands. From these secreted places they had attacked in mass, and the slaughter and destruction had not ended there! Sarph, a Ranger of Elrond, had confirmed, they had set up camps and continued to ravage the countryside! Lyseris, and Sarph left the town early in the morning to scout the hills around Ost Guruth, as the town prepared for an expected battle.
Asneros was a Champion High Elf of great renown and had long been a great friend of Kuzo's. They had both moved to the Lonelands after the War of Fornost and had been baptized brothers in blood in that horrific war! Asneros did not settle down like Kuzo, as his spirit was not to be still for long. His heart yearned for battle and his battle cries echoed through the marshes and fens of the Lonelands, as he hunted Trolls of all sorts, demons from his past, ghosts of battles lost and old wars fought. He had been in Ost Haer, within Harloeg resting after a day of slaughtering Trolls in the surrounding swamps when he got the news of Orc movements in the Lonelands.
Kuz rode hard through the torrential rains and harsh winds that lashed at his flesh. He had only one thought, one destination, one disparate worry, his family and his home, and nothing would stand in his way! He hardly noticed that another had ridden out of the darkness and was galloping alongside him. Through the blurred vision generated by the rain and anger he felt in his soul, he recognized his friend, Asneros. They decided to cut off the road and take a short cut to his farm across the homestead of his neighbor, a hobbit..