Treasure

Author’s Note: This piece was shaped with a little help from AI. It provided assistance on things like the structuring, some names, shortening some verbose language/ideas as I'd written, and gave me the odd turn of phrase here and there.

Aldamir. Lifestone. The Gift of Yavanna. The Green Jewel from the legends. The beginnings of this gem is a mystery even today. Who knows how much truth there is in the old tale from the Elder Days?

This expedition has lead to some treasure! It was not easy to get inside Durthang, and getting out of it proved even more difficult. This fortress of old still harbours orc-filth, hiding away in its halls. I risked being found out the further I went. I thought I could sneak passed the guards in the main hall, hoping to get to the room I wished would hold any record of Sauron's secrets, but upon trying to reach the doors to the lower levels I was nearly discovered and I jumped behind a brazier just in time.

Crossing the dusty planes of Udûn was no easy task, even after the battle that was waged before the Black Gate not long ago. The Men of Gondor that I met there used no words too few to try and dissuade me from my cause and I understand now why. This land is still filled with peril, and the peril most apparent is the lack of living things; no shrubberies carrying berries, no clear water streams or game to hunt.