Saruman Stands Under a Sickle Moon atop the Lofty Pinnacle of Orthanc
The wizard looks down upon the Ring of Isengard. Large garrisons of Orcs, Men and Wargs are camped under the shadow of the tower. Many more are housed in large pits beneath the plain and along the inner walls of Nan Curunír.
Saruman gazes with a wizards sight, into the empty lands to the North and West!
The Wizard’s Vale of Nan Curunír sits at the broken feet the Misty Mountains.
A large black Crebain descends upon the top of Orthanc with secret messages for Saruman.
So… Gandalf the Grey has received the message sent by that witless fool Radagast the Brown, who has served his part well. The large crow sits upon a shelf cut into one of the black tiers at the top of the Wizards Tower, it pecks the flesh out of the broken shell of a snail. Saruman’s feathered spy tells him that the Grey Wizard rides South from Bree. All roads North and West are being watched. Saruman has long suspected that a secret of unknown power lay in the west, under the eye of Gandalf, but it never occurred to him that Gandalf might be hiding the One Ring of Power!
On this very night, the Eye in the Dark Tower had summoned Saruman to the Palantir of Orthanc. The wizard had first used the Seeing Stone that he discovered here, many years ago. It was a useful tool in his own quest to discoverer if the One Ring was truly lost and it also helped him uncover the arts of the enemy in order fight the Shadow. But Saruman’s roving eye finally took him over the Mountains of Shadow and into the land of Mordor. He was laid bare before the Eye in the Dark Tower and slowly his mind was snared by the Power of Mordor. Now, when the Eye of Barad-dûr summoned him to the Palantir to report on his doings, he had no choice but to obey.
As the moon rose over Orthanc, Saruman reluctantly came forth to be examined by the lidless Eye in Barad-dûr. Though Saruman had long suspected that the One Ring might indeed be found again, it was not until the Dark Lord commanded him to begin spying on the lands to the west, that Saruman began to suspect that Gandalf knew more then he was telling the White Council. Mordor had commanded Saruman to send spies to the north to seek for a land called Shire and in particular a creature called Baggins. Long had Saruman considered this request, why was the Dark Lord interested in one of the companions of Thorin Oakenshield, who had participated in the fall of Smaug the Terrible? Had this creature found a treasured item in the piled treasure of the dragon? Perhaps one of the seven Dwarven Rings of Power created by the Dark Lord himself?
Saruman concealed his knowledge of The Shire and of the hobbit named Baggins from the Dark Lord.
For well over a year now, Saruman had quietly been spying out the lands to the North. Until just hours ago, Saruman had been able to conceal his knowledge from the Dark Lord about the location of The Shire and details about the name of Baggins.Under the merciless gaze of the lidless eye wreathed in flame, Saruman was questioned. Sauron had learned much from his own spies and word had come to the Dark Tower that Saruman knew much that he kept hidden from Sauron. The Dark Lords wrath burned hot in the mind of the Wizard.
Saruman had sent word to Radagast just weeks before, asking him to find Gandalf in the far West. To tell him that the Nine were abroad once more and that they were searching for a land called Shire. Saruman told Radagast to tell Gandalf that he must come to Isengard at once for council. The fool had believed the trusting Radagast and was even now riding hard for the Gap of Rohan. Saruman believed that Gandalf knew what the Dark Lord was seeking.
However, it wasn’t until this very night that Saruman understood what was at stake, it was indeed the One Ring of Power that Sauron was seeking.
The ONE RING had been found at last!
Saruman felt a thrill at the thought of the Ring. He looked out on the plain below. He had amassed a vast army at his command. The Dark Lord expected his faithful servant to make an assault upon Rohan when the time was ripe and so crush any attempt that the horse lords might make to come to the aid of Gondor. But Saruman was no lackey of the Dark Tower, he had other plans, or so he fooled himself into believing. He would indeed crush Rohan, but for his own purposes. Saruman realized that he did not have the power to stand against the might of Mordor, but… if he was able to seize the ruling ring and place it on his own hand, then he would have the power to supplant the Dark Lord and rule the lands of Middle-earth in his stead. This was the secret desire of Saruman the White… who indeed was white no longer. Saruman turned his white robes in the moonlight and they sparked with many colors.
The wizard knew he was playing a deadly game. He had been called to the Palantir and questioned just hours before. This time Sauron had forced him to reveal all that he knew of The Shire and the name Baggins. The Dark Lords wrath had burned him like fire. The Palantir flashed with a red light that all could seen from the high window of the wizards chamber, even down on the plain below. The orcs crouched down in fear and the wargs howled in the darkness.
When Saruman was finally released, he fell away from the Palantir… drained… his mind scorched… but in his heart a fire burned. Sauron had revealed to him at last, that the One Ring had indeed been found and even now was in the possession of this creature called Baggins in the land of Shire. The Dark Lord was seeking it, all his will bent on it! The Nine were even now gathering would soon be sent north disguisedas riders in black. The Nazgûl would soon be riding north capture the Ring and bring it back to Mordor! Saruman was to do all that he could to aid them in their quest to regain the Ring.
But deeply hidden from the Dark Lord, or so he believed, in the darkest and most hidden corner of his mind, Saruman kept secret his own ambition and lust to gain the Ring for his own. Then it would be he, who would be the Master.
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