[Tevildo]

Dorran listened carefully to what Hadith was saying. His fingers tightened on the hilt of his sword as he heard the ex-slave describe how his parents had been killed by orcs. That was something the Rider could understand. Yet, despite loss of family, Hadith had not lost his head. He was setting out a scale to weigh the danger of orcs and olog-hai and trying to figure out some way that the two could balance out.

Dorran caught Lindir's eye. The Elf nodded to indicate that the Rider should respond to the questions that Hadith was raising. From the very beginning of the journey, he and Lindir had known this was always a possibility.....that the forces against them would seem insurmountable and that they would feel the need to call upon Ellessar for help of a different kind.

"The questions you raise, Hadith, are not easy to answer. Before leaving on this journey, Lindir and I stood in court with the King and asked him these very things. Ellessar made it very clear. He would not turn away people with no place to go; nor would he turn a deaf ear if a call came in for more help. There are lands in the west that have the ability to support more folk than they are doing now. My adopted homeland of Rohan is like that. The number of people grow, but slowly. There is good pastureland for raising herd animals. That is all possible."

Hadith's eyes lit up with hope, but Dorran raised his hand as if to indicate there was more to the situation than that. With a sigh, he continued on, "Unfortunately, the other side is not so easy. There are many problems. It would take weeks to get a message through to the court, and weeks more before an army could get here. Meanwhile, we have many people to feed and care for. We can not stay here in the middle of a half empty plain, especially in the rainy season. Game and foodstuffs are not plentiful enough. We can not travel east, since too many Easterlings lie in that direction. I hardly think they would welcome us. That leaves just three possibilities: west, south, or north."

Dorran stared Hadith directly in the eye, "None of us wants to go back so I think we can eliminate south. West is possible. that way you could end up settling in Rohan or another land. Still, it isn't easy. First, we must get over the mountains that circle the west of Mordor. There are only two ways of doing that.... One would have us turn back to the south and cross the hills where the River Poros comes in. Once we get to the river our going will be smooth, but there is a sharp ascent and descent to cut through to the water. We came that way, but it was not easy. And I can tell you this for sure.....the youngsters will likely not make it over. Plus, they will still have slaving parties out looking for us, since that area is close to the plantations. Our other course is to cross near the Tower of Cirith Ungol and Minas Morgul. But that land lies far north. In fact it lies even further north than the land you were going to settle. Surely we would run into the olog-hai. In my mind it would be better to attack them from the security of a sure camp than somewhere off on the road when we do not know when and how they are coming at us."

"I will tell you what I think. Do not despair at the mention of the olog-hai. As I understand it, they are only a small group yet. If we could hurry north and get there before the reinforcements arrive, I truly believe we would have a chance to defeat them. There are things other than brute force. There are tricks and strategems we could consider. I have seen men bring down one of these creatures. It is possible. Meanwhile, we could send a messenger through to the court at Minas Tirith and ask for help. Perhaps, if we are lucky, the extra troopers will arrive in enough time to help us, or at least to beat back the reinforcements if they should arrive at the last minute. The key to this plan is speed. We would need to travel as fast as possible. Fortunately, the way is flat and the injured can be brought on the cart or carried on horseback."

"As to the orcs," Dorran shrugged his shoulders. "I too lost my parents and a brother to orcs. I vote for death. They are not worth the time we would lose in taking them out someplace on the plain. There is only one thing that bothers me. From what Aiwendil has said, it does not appear that there is an orc army on the loose, nor are they allied with the olog-hai. Orcs hate the olog even more than they hate men. I would dearly love to know why a small party of orcs is crossing the plain of Mordor in the rainy season. Only a fool would do that, or someone who had a very compelling reason. But what that reason would be I have no idea. The orcs aren't talking, so I guess we'll never know. But it's possible---just possble, though most unlikely---that if someone could explain to me why they are out here, I might consider letting them live. Otherwise, I say death....."