The Black Gate

[Aerianeth]

Aerianeth smirked to herself as she rode towards the Black Gate, high above her allies on Galdor, her black stallion. She noticed Tinaldor, Austin, Azrael and Targuhl. "Of course, the lady must be late."

Her armor was newly-welded, the mithril mixed with steel provided her with the protection she needed for such a quest. With a bow and arrow on her back, daggers in her belt and a sword by her side she led her 300 elf soldiers towards the group. She rose an eyebrow in wonder at the larger number of soldiers than she first expected. She rode over to Tinaldor, dismounted and embraced him in greeting.

"Good day. Why so many soldiers Tinaldor? Surely, our plan could fail with too many followers."

[Austin]

Austin sighed
"i hate speeches..."
he murmured, though he would make a speech anyway; moments like this practically required one

[Azrael Turnbull]

A speach? My favourite part, Azrael thought.

A good chance for leaders to bond with their men.

Azrael still remained silent. He had nothing to say, and otherwise awaited orders.

[Targuhl Dawneater]

The Dawneater observed the Lady of Rivendell on her high horse. She had noticed him, he thought, but didn't seem to recognize him. They certainly had not met before., obviously she had not seen him in the Pub of the Damned. He remained absolutely still at the head of Austin's unit of elves. Not uttering a word, only his ever observant eyes fleeted from side to side.

[Tinaldor]

Tinaldor grinned as he embraced Aerianeth, she looked very much the leader, and this new armour accentuated the fact that she was someone to be reckoned with.

"We were about to leave without you!"

He looked around at the mass of soldiers, in response to her comment.

" We need to get rid of 200 of them, as Ara arrived with more. Ara, Austin, and Aeri, we each dissmiss 50 of our soldiers to remain here."

[Austin]

Austin nodded
"send units five through ten back to Nan Elmoth"
he said to his second in command [not Targuhl - he will command when the mission starts]. he turned back to the others
"Well i guess a speech is in order"
he sighed, he hated speeches but he would give it his best shot
"To date, no enemy has been so tough as that which we are about to face today; most of us have seen what they can do on the field of battle. But today marks the turning point; when we identify the base of operations of this demonic force, it will finally give us the knowledge we need to go on the offensive; to finally take the fight to this opponent and trample them under the might of a world combined. This mission will require all of our strength, skill and determination and we must not fail; this is the best shot we have to put ourselves within one move of checkmate; without this, it will be a long battle to rid our homelands of this demonic force if there are enough of us left to do so... so for the safety of our families and our people, we have one shot at this, lets make it a good one, lets strike a blow that leads to their fall!"
he finished and waited to see if that was any good

[Tinaldor]

"Mangrithk take your men back to the Black Tower."
The Uruk, dissappointed, ordered his unit to start marching back to the Gate. Turning, he stood and listened as Austin spoke. When he had finished, Tinaldor drew his sword from his sheath, and lifted it high in the air and cheered, and as he did so the other soldiers also did, and cheered.

[Azrael Turnbull]

Azrael drew a single sword, and raise it with a battle cry after Austin finished his words.

[Austin]

Austin laughed
"If this is your idea of stealthy, i'd probably be better off tracking this thing alone"
he grinned to remove any sting from the remark

[Aerianeth]

Aerianeth summoned a high elf and told him the new plan. He barked out orders in elvish and a small collection of the elvish soldiers broke off from the main group and made their way to another side of the gate. Aeri laid her eyes on the scene, each soldier itching to fight, willing to die and ready to serve. Perfect. The battle cry echoed loudly, and as every one settled after, Aeri smirked, knowing today was a good day. She pulled her sword out of her sheath, shouted words of encouragement in elvish and watched as her elvish warriors shouted back and rose their weapons in the air. She kicked Galdor's side and trotted over to her allies.

"I have a good feeling about this, our soldiers are strong, they are definitely ready. When are we ready to set off?"

She scanned the horizon, memories of wars before flooded into her mind. She had missed this. She was ready to fight again.

[Tinaldor]

"Well, in a cage slightly to the east out of sight, is the demon, guarded by 6 Uruks. they will release him, and 'encourage' him to flee. The rulers shall follow its trail, on foot, and the soldiers, lead by the Dawneater, who you have yet to be aquainted with, shall follow our trail. We set off as soon as we signal."

[Azrael Turnbull]

Azrael approached Aerianeth, being the fact she was the only leader he did not know.

"Hello my lady, I don't think we've met. I am Azrael of Gondor," he said, bowing.

[Aerianeth]

Aerianeth smiled at Azrael and nodded to him in greeting.

"Hello there. Aerianeth of Rivendell. I've heard of you and it's of greatest pleasure to meet you."

She smiled again and glanced around for her for signals of leaving. None met her eye, but a certain
Targuhl Dawneater met her glance. She nodded to Azrael once again and trotted over.

"Targuhl Dawneater. We haven't properly met. I'm Aerianeth, of Rivendell. It's my pleasure to meet
your acquitance."

[Azrael Turnbull]

She's heard of me? Azrael thought...

I didn't know I was public knowledge... Ah well.

Azrael met up with Austin.

"Looks like we'll be fighting together again my brother."

[Austin]

Austin smiled
"It certainly looks that way... though if we do our job well we wont have to do much fighting this day..."