It was of historical interest that the scroll Her Ladyship left at Herne revealed so much. Ardanion supposed that the effect of a corrupted Oath would weaken its promise, but not the Oathstone upon which it was given. Perhaps such infected promises had contributed to the downfall of Arnor and of the resulting fractured kingdoms. But that was the ancient history of mortals and gave no real clue why Cutch’s immortal wife would seek a shard of the Ambossar, or, if she had acquired one, where she would go next.
Cutch and his son spent the next two days asking everyone they knew in Bree if they’d spoken to, or at least seen, Seregrian. No one had any recollection of her from the time she would have been there. Of course, that was months previous, and Bree was a much larger, busier town than Herne, so it was conceivable that she had travelled through unnoticed. Her husband and son, however, had the feeling they were missing something, but neither could yet discern what that might be. It still struck Cutch odd how Delbreth in Herne knew who she was.
Ardanion thought that there might be some clues sifting through whatever general information was available about the Vandassari. He had brought a collection of thick Gondor history tomes with him for the library in Bree, and one of them mentioned the Oathstones. According to written history, the Vandassari were created by Feanor, a legendary Elven crafter of the First Age, but there was no account of how they came to be in Numenor an age later. The answer to that mystery likely rests buried on the sunken island of Numenor, far to the west under the Sundering Seas.
During the destruction of Numenor, Elendil and his sons rescued the seven surviving stones and brought them to Middle Earth. Four of them went to Gondor, three to Arnor. When Arnor fell, the three resulting kingdoms each held a Vandassar in their borders; Helcessar in Arthedain, Tauressar in Rhudaur, and Ambossar in Cardolan.
Although the Gondorian historical accounts did not give further details of the Vandassari in the fractured Arnor, Ardanion suspected there may be more information available in the Bree library itself, for King Elessar, when he was still a Dunedain Chieftain of the North, had gathered much of the Dunedain lore to be stored there. This trove did not benefit from centuries of expert curating, and was thus not as well organized, compiled, condensed, or cross-referenced as it would be one day. Still, Ardanion and Cutch were able to sift through journals, diaries, and logs and discover more about the stones.
Helcassar, stored originally in Ost Forod, was moved to a fortress, named Agoroth, somewhere in Forochel, to protect it from Angmar’s grasp, although there was no precise location given for the fortress. Ambossar, as was already gleaned, was destroyed when Cardolan fell to the influence of Angmar. The Witch-King of that dark kingdom also captured Tauressar during his war with Rhudaur and somehow transported it back to his keep.
“It would seem, then”, Ardanion concluded, “that if one wished to know more about any of the Oathstones from Arnor, they would need to go to Angmar, or perhaps Forochel. My mother would have done exactly that, for she is nothing if not an ardent researcher, particularly about something as dangerously powerful as an Oathstone.”
Cutch shook his head, frustration welling in his voice. “But none of this tells us why she would embark on this quest! What in Seven Stars is she after? And why have we heard nothing from her in months!?” He tossed a journal back on the pile and poured himself another glass of wine.
Ardanion shrugged. He gave his father a quiet moment before continuing with a calm voice. “I think the only way to determine that is to know more about the power of the stones. So far, all we know is that Arnor used them to bind tribes of men in oaths to the Dunedain, and that in the case of the Ambossar, someone corrupted the Oath-script to perhaps weaken those promises at their inception.”
“Power over others, then”, Cutch mused.
“Corrupted how?”, asked a woman’s voice, accompanied by the sound of her footsteps coming down the stairs.
Both men turned to see Caladna, one of Cutch’s childhood friends and a local scholar.
Ardanion hesitated as he glanced at his father.
“You might as well tell her”, Cutch sighed, pointing at the scroll he’d acquired in Herne.
As Ardanion explained the contents of the scroll and the discoveries in the Bree library, Caladna’s expression changed from curiosity to disbelief to horror. “Then, Seregrian could have come here after all…”.
“But you said earlier you didn’t see her”, Cutch insisted. “Nor did the other scholars in the Stair. How would she have gotten in here?”
“Years ago, I gave her a key—the same kind the Stair gave Ardanion for his mission here. I didn’t remember it until after we spoke, so I came to explain. Why didn’t you tell me about the Ambossar?”
Cutch shrugged. “Because I’ve no idea how dangerous this is going to become. The fewer who know, the better. So, do not pass this on, Cally, until we know more.”
The three looked over the documents that Cutch and Ardanion had taken down. Seregrian had left no clues among them, and according to Caladna, they had been left in their proper place.
Cutch grinned. “It would seem, Cally, that you were to be our subtle clue. There would be enough here to send her on her way.”.
“But which way?”, Caladna asked. “Forochel or Angmar?”
Ardanion looked at his father for an answer.
Cutch nodded thoughtfully, then shrugged. “Either destination requires travel north. Maybe her trail can be picked up in Trestlebridge. Beyond that it will be either Esteldin to the east, or Ost Forod to the west.”
On the next day, after bidding farewells and before riding out, Cutch sent a quick message to Delbreth in Herne. In it he thanked Delbreth for his help and gave a translation of the scroll Seregrian had left behind, with a warning that the original Oath on the Gaervarad plaque had been corrupted by Black Speech. A second message went to Teahesto at Her Ladyship’s House, to keep him abridged.
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