[Feanor of the Peredhil]

By: the phantom

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The final Werewolf was in a foul mood as it made its way quietly towards Phantom's dwelling. Finally, I can be rid of that loud-mouthed cloaked nuisance! I should have killed him the very first night!

The Werewolf hopped the hedge onto Phantom's property, and was surprised to find light streaming out through a wide open front door. The beast paused, fearing some trick (or perhaps a ploy).

A merry voice called out from within the house. "Come on in, my furry friend! Have a drink with me!"

Senses on full alert, the Werewolf padded warily through the door. Phantom called out again from the room on the Wolf's right side. "Hurry now, or there will be no wine left for you!"

The creature entered the room, and there was the phantom, dressed in his usual hooded cloak, lounging at the head of a large dining table. He picked up a bottle and tossed it to the Wolf. "Glad you could join me! Now- a toast, to Boromir! A fine Seer, and a supremely entertaining fellow! Though he was an enemy, it is proper to honor skill and bravery!"

Phantom tipped his bottle and took a good swallow. The Werewolf grunted in displeasure and broke the bottle it held in its paws. "You dare to mock me now, when I have come to kill you?!" it growled. "For that, I will make your death long and painful."

"You really don't want to attack me," answered Phantom. "I can help you. I have books upon books of strategy and the like. The odds are against you, but with my help you could very well pull out the victory. But in order to gain my help, you would need to agree to certain terms."

The Werewolf wrinkled its fuzzy brow in confusion. "Surely you are not serious? You are on the side of the village. Why should you help me?"

"I was only on the side of the village because I didn't like the way you and your companions did business," answered Phantom. "Meeting together each night and talking things over, and compromising, and coming to decisions in a democratic manner... It made me sick! I felt ashamed to be a Werewolf!"

"What?! A Werewo-"

"Yes. Those villages just down the river from us- the ones that got eaten last year. That was me!" Phantom threw back his head and laughed.

"You're lying!" howled the Werewolf.

"I've been waiting for companions for some time now," explained Phantom. "You four came along and I thought it was time to cause some carnage, but the first night I overheard you talking. You just... weren't my type of Werewolves. Much too... governmental."

"But the Seer found you innocent!" yelled the Werewolf.

"No, he merely found me not to be a Werewolf that particular night, for indeed, I did not transform that night."

"You're just trying to save your skin! Prove you are a Werewolf!"

Phantom stood up and pulled back his hood. His teeth, eyes, ears, and mouth all testified that his claim was true. The Werewolf stared in shock.

"Now, if you're going to join me, here's what we're going to do," began Phantom. "First, we'll kill-"

"No, no- it doesn't work like that," protested the Werewolf. "We must go to the Wolf Civic Board, and get licenced to sponsor a pack. And then we go before the Wolf Council and ask permission to form a pack. And then the Wolf Admissions Panel has to do a background check on you before you can join the pack. Then you must read the Wolf Behavioral Guide and take the exam. And then-"

"Enough!" shouted Phantom. "I rescind my offer. I thought perhaps you were different from your fellows. But I see you are just as hideously bureaucratic as the rest of this village."

Phantom turned his back and walked out of the room, straight out the back door, and on into the countryside, in search of a place with fewer rules.

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Moddess Note: Werewolf though the phantom may at heart be, he wasn't one of this particular village's werewolves. In this village, he really was on the good guys' side.