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Stirring Rings  by Larner 3 Review(s)
TariReviewed Chapter: 33 on 12/5/2012
I'm finally up to date in my reading.

Sméagol has entered the picture, has he? It will be interesting to see what mischief he gets into before his final downfall. Perhaps his grandmother has an idea there is something evil within him. I shall have to wait for future chapters to find out..

Author Reply: And just as you get up-to-date I managed to get the next chapter posted! Yes, Smeagol has indeed entered the picture, and from now on we are entering known territory. It's been a very stressful last month for me--thanks for your patience!

SunnyReviewed Chapter: 33 on 10/31/2012
Your view of the ends of Alatar and Pallando are interesting. It certainly fits in well enough with the rest of your writings.

So clearly they did not fall, as did Saruman. Neither were they successful in their task, as was Gandalf. At a guess, I'd say they were rather less successful than they could have been, since I'd guess they took Saruman's advice when they arrived in Middle-Earth, and we all know how he ended up.
When Pallando was taken prisoner, he laid aside his staff, which held his power, and his captors destroyed it. Which meant that Sauron wouldn't be able to get it either. From your description it is clear that while Pallando was successful enough that he was welcomed back into the West, though the highest honors went to Gandalf, of course.

And now Sméagol enters the scene...

Author Reply: We don't know from the Master's own writings what happened to the Blue Wizards, so all I can do is speculate. I doubt any of the other four fell as far as did Saruman, so I suspect that what was dross in Pallando, Alatar, and Radagast was always to be burned away and their basic good natures welcomed back to the presence of the Valar.

And, yes, we see Smeagol developing into what he must one day be.

Thanks so, Sunny!

Fiondil came through the hurricane unscathed, thank heavens. Now, to see what repairs will need to be made.

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 33 on 10/30/2012
You are filling in quite a LOT of gaps in this chapter!

An interesting idea about the end of Pallando and Alatar; I would love to know more of what they had been up to between their arrival in the East and their final fates.

And so now we meet a young Smeagol, already interested in things that are better left alone.

Now we have only a little over 500 years until you catch up to the events of the Quest for Erebor...

Author Reply: I indicated in an earlier chapter that one warlord of an Eastern land had captured someone who disappeared when he broke the prisoner's staff, so decided that perhaps such a thing might have happened also to the other Blue Wizard. But I've rather left the actions of the Blue Wizards to the likes of Pandemoneum, I suppose.

Yes, Smeagol is showing already his proclivity for curiosity, although it's nowhere as disciplined, I suspect, as Bilbo and Frodo's managed to end up.

And we are indeed into those crucial last five hundred years....

Thanks so, Dreamflower! And I rejoice that Fiondil's portion of the country wasn't as badly hit as were New York City, Philadelphia, and other parts of the northeast coast.

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