Jump 029: Shadow of Mordor

Jump 029: Shadow of Mordor

Location: Mordor
Identity: [-100] Ranger
Drawbacks: [+300] Gravewalker, Nemesis

[100/1200]  Map
[300/1200]  Crowd Control
[500/1200]  Lord Of The Hunt
[Free]      Guerilla
[900/1200]  Wraith
[Free]      Ranger's Cloak
[1000/1200] Ranger's Reading Primer
[1150/1200] Elven Rune
[1200/1200] Musty Tome

Atop the Black Gate of Mordor, memories flash before my eyes. Memories that culminate in my defeat. I look down and see myself holding a broken blade, and... frown.

"Damnation and hellfire. This isn't right. Am I dead, then?" I ask, looking back upward in the gray world I've found myself in.

"You are banished from death," answers a hollow echo.

I don't bother to look at it, instead examining my surroundings. Kneeling beside the corpse of what was once a beautiful a woman, my wife, beaten and bloody. Ioreth. Beside her, another corpse, a young man, my son. Dirhael.

I scowl, looking around. "This is not the eternal reward. What is this place?"

"See for yourself," answers the voice as it incorporates into a glowing body.

I wave a hand dismissively, "Mordor, yes, thank you. Will you continue to be less than clear, spirit?"

"A curse binds us together-"

"I can see that," I snap back at it, looking between the spirit and myself, causing it to fall silent. "Not something others in this world should be capable of unless they consider their wishes above Eru's own, and have the power to back it up. The Foe is banished, which leaves the Abhorred. Fortunately, it can be broken."

The spirit falls short. "You are aware that we must find the Black Hand of Sauron, then?"

I smile at him. "Ah, you don't yet realize. I am more than what you see before you. Allow me to demonstrate."

"What do you-" he starts, but doesn't finish; I extend an arm behind myself, pulling a jagged blade out of a golden gateway that wasn't there a moment ago, before plunging it into his chest harmlessly, and then pulling it back and tossing it back over my shoulder, back into the Gate before it closed again. He opens his mouth, trying to speak, only succeeding in gasping, "What have you done?"

"You are released from this curse, elf," I tell him, voice gentle. "The rest will be upon my shoulders. The Hither Shore is calling you, but you'll have no need of your power there." The spirit fades into a spark, which disappears. With a small shake of my head, I find myself back in the waking world rather than the shadows.

With a much less cheerful smile, I cast my gaze over Mordor.

"Who needs witty banter from a corrupted knife-eared asshole who'll want me to make a new ring? Fuck it, we'll do it live," I murmur to myself, before leaping off the wall and diving down toward a half-dozen orcs who'd heard me speak.