The Waters of Isengard... a question

[AslanC]

At the end of Two Towers we saw the waters of the Isen rush into Isengard. I am not sure if this happens in the book as well.

Regardless of that, would the waters eventually recede, or do you think there would now be a permanent lake at Isengard?

I need to know what the lay of that would be like in the 4th Age.

Do you think gondor would have reclaimed it as a stronghold, or left it abandoned?

[Manveru]

.. I believe King Elessar made that official. The Ents basically turned Isengard into a garden ;-).

Read the Two Towers sections again. The Ents flooded the Ring about Orthanc for a while by dirverting the river (the movie did it differently, but it was cool enough) and then rediverting it back, once they felt that things had got cleaned up enough, and all of Saruman's pits had been well flooded.

By the time Theoden and Co. reach Isengard after the battle of Helm's Deep, the water had largely receded, and there were just scattered pools of water, and slime.

At the end of the RotK (you can read up on this part as well), the Ents have got well on their way to making Isengard a purty place.

Best

[AslanC]

Thanks for the info

I appreciate the knowledge to say the least.

Ents eh?

Bummer. Guess I will have to keep my players out of Isengard, since I want nothing to do with Ents in my game.

[toadkiller]

If it is any help the Ents don't seem to go out of their way to talk to most people. I imagine one could visit their garden(s) many times and never see them.

[Jason Durall]

After the War of the Ring, dominion of Orthanc falls to Rohan, under the auspices of Gondor. I think it is mentioned that there is a garrison of Rohir who hold the place, but they stay in the Ring of Orthanc or thereabouts. Huorns (sleepier Ents) guard the area. Treebeard calls it the Watchwood (or Treegarth), and his Huorns guard against anyone trying to use Saruman's works to continue his legacy of evil.

In his unpublished works, Tolkien mentioned that at some point in his reign, Aragorn/Ellesar sent a delegation to investigate what Saruman had been up to in Orthanc, and they discovered (among other things) that he had been up to a lot of grave-robbing in his search for a Ring of Power. Among other things, he had found Isildur's armor and skeleton from the bottom of the river where he drowned, and Orthanc was full of other grave-treasures, looted from barrow-mounds across the area.

[AslanC]

Very cool

Saruman was busy I see.

I had heard a mention (possibly on these boards) that Saruman had made a minor Ring of Power. Is this true?

What can you tell me about it?

[ben hur]

Excerpt from The Fellowship of the Ring (The Council of Elrond):

"But I rode to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stair of Saruman; and there he met me and led me up to his high chamber. He wore a ring on his finger."

This must be the Ring that was spoken of on the other boards. No idea as to whether he built it, found it, stole it, bought it, and so on. Hope this helps!

[Manveru]

Saruman attempted to develop his own ring craft, and he succeeded at least with some kind of 'Lesser Ring'.

I can't recall any source that went into what Saruman's Ring could actually do ... but here's an interesting essay on Ring lore in general, and you might get some ideas from it. I would probably rule that Saruman's Ring was a Lesser, Lesser Ring, if you get my drift ... ;-)

Although Saruman WAS a Maia of Aule, so it's not TOO much to think that he might have been able to get close to what the Elves were doing. I'd maybe list out the possible 'powers' of the lesser rings, and then see what jumps out as something that Saruman would have definitely wanted to emulate, and then scale the power appropriately for you.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/tolkien/43808

[Camdin]

This may not necessarily be Tolkien canon, but in the Fellowship of the Ring Sourcebook they mention this ring in the writeup of Saruman. They say in that book that he crafted it himself. The only real power they ascribe to it is that it gives the wearer the Command 3 edge over Orcs and Uruk-Hai, and all such creature recognize he who wears it as their leader.

[Ineti]

Originally posted by AslanC
Bummer. Guess I will have to keep my players out of Isengard, since I want nothing to do with Ents in my game.

What's stopping you from saying the Ents AREN'T there? It's not like Tolkien is going to rise from the grave and spank you for messing with his world.

Do what you want.

[AslanC]

I could just decided that the Ents have finally gone off in search of the entwives for good this time.

Tolkien rising from the grave... He he he Man that owuld be scary.

[Markraven]

Actually...playing ENTS and looking for the entwives would be a really different and interesting game in and of itself...

...shoot, I could see some elves from Lothlorien, or even some men of Rohan (since the Ents did basically stop Saruman) going along and acting as scouts and diplomats for the Ents.

[Camdin]

[AslanC]

LOL!

Very nice

[Camdin]

Oh if you think that is funny, you should check out the site where I found it!

http://www.lordsoftherhymes.com/