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Xxiii of the Treachery of Flor XXIII OF THE TREACHERY OF FLOR Frár had a brother, and his name was Flor, and mad he was. He had once been a slave of the Viglundings, or the Viglarings as they came to be known, and upon his liberation, he vowed that never would such indignities be forced upon him again. Frár often begged aid of the elves, of the dwarves, and then of Irminsul of Esgaroth, yet for many long years it seemed as if all this would come to naught. Flor thought of Thorin, who too had been a king in exile, forced to beg for aid to reclaim his homeland. Yet Thorin had had the assistance of a Wizard, and where was such help for the Grey Mountain dwarves, Flor asked. Perhaps by chance, or perhaps by some sorcerous means, did the Enemy come to hear of Flor’s discontent, and so the Messenger of Mordor came on a swift black horse and clad in black raiment he was which concealed his true nature. He bore with him one of the last remaining dwarven rings of power. The Messenger spoke words of poison, and Flor’s heart opened to them. He agreed to serve the lord of the Black Land, and in return, he was promised that one day, the dwarven ring of power would be gifted to him, though in truth the Nazgul never intended to gift Flor aught, for they thought rather in time to offer them to Dain instead. The Messenger rode thereafter to the Withered Heath, where he suffered a great defeat at Zirakinbar, as has been told. Yet his defeat was not total, and it gave him the opportunity to cast yet more mischief in the lands of the free peoples. For when Irminsul lay unconscious at the feet of the Nazgul, the servant of Sauron would not countenance letting Irminsul die so easily, for Irminsul had worked tirelessly against the Nazgul’s designs, and besides, he was now the right hand of the Master of Esgaroth, and all expected Irminsul to become the next Master in turn. The Nazgul instead dominated Irminsul, and exchanged their rings besides, the Messenger taking the ring of Authen for his own, and placing his ring, one of the nine rings of men, on Irminsul’s finger. He thought to corrupt Irminsul, and rule Esgaroth through him, and over long years of domination and misery, to strip away Irminsul’s will, until naught but a wraith in service of the Nazgul remained. He was forced to pass into the Unseen when he was set alight, and struck by the great arm of Kolnir, and he took the ring of Authen with him. This ring too was promised to one whom the Nazgul hoped to sway into the service of Sauron, the merchant Lockmand of Esgaroth. Lockmand had ever held a veneer of respectability, yet he smuggled goods with the aid of Jonar, and longed to enrich himself. The Messenger promised Lockmand then that he would set him up as Master of Esgaroth, and Lockmand was eager to hear this and to aid the Nazgul in all his endeavours. So with his right hand did the Messenger of Mordor seek to corrupt Irminsul, and install him as a puppet Master, and with his left did he corrupt Lockmand with false promises. It was at this time that Irminsul left Imladris, Elrond being convinced that the direct domination of the Nazgul upon his mind had passed, and that his injuries had healed as well as they ever could. Yet it was no mere trinket that he bore upon his finger, but a Ring of Power it was, and ever bound it was to the One Ring. Long life would it grant him, far beyond the reach of most mortals, but over long years would it corrupt him, and shorter would those years be if he let the ring wield power through him. Elrond knew that great doom hung upon Irminsul, for he was a Ring-bearer now, and to be such was to be alone. Ithilonnen son of Dannasfin went with Irminsul, and he was of the High Elves of Imladris. Greatly wronged his kin had been by the Nazgul, for one of the Nine slew his father at the Battle of Fornost, and ever since had Ithilonnen dedicated himself to fighting the servants of the Enemy. So Elrond asked Ithilonnen to watch over Irminsul, for his need of aid and of guidance was great, and to aid the Fellowship of Mirkwood however he could. Ere they departed, Elrond gave one last command to Ithilonnen, that should Irminsul fall, he was to remove the Ring ere Irminsul died, lest he be bound to the Ring even in death. Whence Irminsul, Ithilonnen and Caranthiel came upon Esgaroth, they found that in Irminsul’s absence many goods, including much in the way of mining supplies, had been sent to the Grey Mountain Narrows, and that these shipments had been sealed with the signet ring of Authen. Strange they found this, for there were few people in the Grey Mountain Narrows that such shipments could be sent to. Ubar and Eberwulf were in Dale at that time, and they heard a rumour that Domi of the Blue Mountains, most famed of all Dwarven scholars, was to come to Dale and meet with Bard, yet he never arrived. Ubar wished to know more of this, and took Eberwulf with him to Erebor, that they might speak to the Dwarves there and learn of Domi’s purpose. Yet none of the Dwarves with whom Ubar spoke under the Mountain knew much of the matter, for Domi agreed to come to fulfil Bard’s purpose, and the King of Dale had told that to no one else. Ubar and Eberwulf ventured to Esgaroth then, for Ubar wished to speak to Gloin, to ask him if the Dwarves in Esgaroth knew of Domi’s mission, and to invite Gloin’s son Gimli to his forges, as recompense for advising that Polin and Pomin be sent to Gloin years ago. It was then that Ubar and Eberwulf were reunited with Irminsul and Caranthiel, and they rejoiced to see Irminsul well. Ithilonnen too was there, yet Ubar paid him no heed and exchanged but very few words with him for he thought very little of Elves, save for Caranthiel whom he respected, though Ithilonnen had tales to share of his time in Khazad-dûm when Durin ruled it. It came to be in that time that Iglund son of Ingomer came to Esgaroth, searching for healers to aid him in combatting the plague which ran rampant under the leaves of Mirkwood. For Esgaroth was a meeting place of many peoples, and many healers were there for herbs grew bountifully on the shores of the Long Lake, and he thought to hire those healers with money graciously gifted to the Woodmen by Thranduil. He met the others, and Caranthiel persuaded him to join them in their quest, for any attempts to keep safe Wilderland would aid the Woodmen. The Fellowship decided to investigate the smuggling matter, and thus they came to the building where once Joalf ran his boat building business. Yet he had been an old man, and he had died in the years since the Fellowship had spoken to him, and his business had gone to Jonar, and now it served as a base from which Jonar might expand his reach and perpetrate his crimes. Irminsul thought at first to rush in with armed guards, yet it was decided they should not draw attention to themselves unnecessarily, and so went Ithilonnen and Iglund to Jonar’s den, and they pretended there to be smugglers, who needed to hire Jonar’s men to help them move illicit goods out of the city. They spoke in that den with Belgo, son of Baldur, and though Iglund and Ithilonnen knew not his face, the story of how he encountered the Fellowship of Mirkwood and how his father had drunk from the Enchanted Stream has been told. Since those days, Belgo joined with the smugglers out of desperation. Iglund and Ithilonnen thought to uncover something of the smuggler’s business by this ruse, but not easily did the smugglers reveal their secrets, and the two of them walked away from that meeting no wiser than when they had started. It was decided that this investigation was to bear no fruit, and so instead the Fellowship departed for the Grey Mountain Narrows. They brought with them Frár, for he knew the Grey Mountain Narrows well, and was eager to set off on a quest, though the Fellowship had ever to tell him that they were not yet ready to retake the Greydelves. They came to the house of Flor, where they had been promised ripe meat, but were offered only insects which Flor had fried, and which none but Ubar ate, and even then, he accepted this sign of so-called hospitality only because Flor would not relent in his insistence. The cave was small, and barren, and hardly fitting for the brother of one who would style himself King of the Grey Mountains. They learned in those caves of a gang of stone-trolls who made their lair near the Cuimenan, which was but a short distance hence. Some of the Fellowship also overheard the arguments between Flor and Frár, and Flor was wroth, for Frár had promised to bring an army of elves and yet had brought naught but a few adventurers. Frár assured his brother that these adventurers were experienced troll-slayers, and the news of this did not please Flor.
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