[narfforc]

I once wrote a short story about The Dark Tree. In it Melkor stole a fruit from Laurelin before it was poisoned. He bathed it in the unlight of Ungoliant and put his power into it. When he returned to Middle-earth he planted it in a large cavern under the Orocarni Mountains. Before the elves awoke he had stolen some of their number and created the orcs, however The Fathers of the Orcs had been kept alive for another purpose, they were to tend The Dark Tree. Knowing no other master and nothing off the world outside their caverns these were the true Dark Elves, albino's with strange powers. The Dark Tree gave them the power to shape-shift, and once loosed by Melkor they appear throughout the history of Middle-earth as his spies, one is even at the door of Bag-end to lift The Ring of Saruman from the dust. The reason is that Melkor forsaw his downfall and instructed Sauron to secure his release from the void. He was to do this by using the power of the Firstborn by corrupting them using the Rings, he failed. So Melkor had a Plan B, The Dark Elves were to colect certain artifacts and Deliver them to Alatar, who had also been secretly in the service of The Dark Lord since the beginning.......................I'll leave it there, suffice to say it was written for my own pleasure and that of a few friends.