The Silence of the Dragon/Wild Horse of The Dunedain

[Nicaeus]

I´m going to do a total rewrite on these fics, hence this post for tossing ideas around.

Ok. The old version was thus: Take a bunch of cliches throw them together and mix thoroughly. For example the old and silly idea of "the senshi betray one of their own", amnesia, girl-drops-in-middle-earth (and turns into an elf), portrayal of Elladan and Elrohir, elves are like teenagers, etc. etc. The basic idea was that Hotaru drops to the late 3rd age (the LOTR-era) in middle-earth, Ranma gets dropped in the end of Second Age and Ranma-chan ("the curse" given life) in the early First age.

Not a long ago I read everything that I had already written and was going to write, and frankly the fic sucks. Ranma-chan is unnecessary character and then, she has no recollection of being Ranma/Ranma´s cursed side, so she could be a random OC just as well (and way too Mary-Sueish one at that), so she has to go. The same goes for Hotaru´s amnesia, since it´s just a clumsy plot device to keep Sailor Saturn in line.

In any case, the basic plot will remain the same, although it´s going to be (maybe too) complicated. For some reason Ranma and Hotaru get dumped in Middle-Earth, both in aforementioned eras. For the new version I was planning to make Ranma´s and Hotaru´s first meeting to replace the first meeting of Hotaru and chibiusa in Sailor Moon S so that the Senshi never actually meet Hotaru in person long enough to befriend her. Sailor Saturn never wakes up and ultimately, even if Death busters´ plot is thwarted, Mistress 9 does not die completely. Instead Pluto uses a never-before-tried emercency plan to dump both Ranma and Hotaru out of the way to another dimension. Unfortunately Ryoga interferes and the three teens get flunged to the very distant past (at least 10.000 years before Silver Millenium), all in different eras, between of which there are several thousand years.

Ranma gets mixed in the political intrigue of the last days of Numenor and befriends Elendil. After Ar-Pharazon takes crown, Ranma has to flee to the mainlaind of Middle-earth, where he finds, after some adventures, one of the lesser Rings of Power. He meets with Isildur and Anarion after they make landfall in the southern Gondor and joins their army in the Last Alliance. In the last battle Ranma challenges Sauron to a single combat, gets his ass totally handed to him and has to be rescued by Elendil who has to sacrifice himself in the process. Because of this Ranma later swears loyalty to Isildur´s family and ends up as his squire. After seeing how Isildur dies due to the One Ring betraying him Ranma swears that he will never rest before Sauron is finally defeated and tries to find the ring (he´s heard from elves that Sauron can´t die without the destruction of the One Ring). This won´t work since the Ring is actively avoiding him (LOTR-canon tell that it has power to do exactly that). He´s forced to roam around for the next 3000 years mainly keeping tabs on Elendil´s and Isildur´s descendants as per his oath to Isildur, since due to the mixed effects of the Ring of Power and his own martial arts training he does not age physically beyond the age of 25-30 and keeps on going. In this time he, for example, gets to know Gandalf.

Ryoga gets the short stick in this fic-series, since he ends up in the middle of the Second age, near Sauron´s current lodgings. Sauron immediately sees that he could use Ryoga to sow chaos and destruction among his enemies and offers him one of the Nine Rings of Power that were given to mortal men, telling Ryoga that he could use it to defeat his enemies (ie. Ranma, though at this time Sauron has not heard of him yet). Ryoga takes the ring and goes to search Ranma with new resolve to kill him. Eventually the ring transforms Ryoga into a Ringwraith and he becomes the second most powerful just after the Witch-King. Of course becoming a wraith means nothing to his sense of direction or the fact that he turns into a little pig. It´s just an undead little pig now. Later on he´s going to be a major problem for both Ranma and Hotaru.

Hotaru ends up in Hobitton as she did in the original version, though this time with her memories. She goes to the journey with Bilbo and the dwarves, although she gets separated from them in the goblin tunnels and has some adventures of her own before she joins with the others in Thranduil´s kingdom in the Mirkwood. She´s going to have a part in the final demise of Smaug the Dragon and in the Battle of the Five Armies after Sailor Saturn wakes up because of Smaug wakes up the remnant of Mistress 9, who at first does not do much and goes unnoticed by both Hotaru and Sailor Saturn. Also, because of her Senshi heritage, hotaru does not age beyond 20-something, much like Setsuna.

Hotaru will later become a sort of apprentice to Gandalf, which mainly means that she´ll be learning lots of ancient knowledge in between all sorts of missions that Gandalf gives to her. Incidentally, because of this she is in Shire when Frodo et co. leave for Rivendell and accompanies them there. In the way they are pursued by Ryoga and meet Ranma in Bree.
There´s not much after this that I´ve planned decisively, just that both Ranma and Hotaru will get a lot of trouble because of the One Ring. Ranma, because the One Ring had a part in his defeat to Sauron during the Last Alliance and Hotaru because the Ring stirs up Mistress 9 who will get at least temporal hold on Hotaru´s mind while she tries to get the Ring to herself.

[Cheb]

Would be Saturn *allowed* to remain in the Middle-Earth and affect its fates?
After all, there are much, much higher powers out there who remain passive, afraid to destroy the world if they choose to act (cue the defeat of Morgoth and the following cataclismic natural disaster).

After all, Mitrandir is one of the seven approved, appointed, lesser spirits allowed to act as the agents of Valar.
How will the Valar react?
Or was it their plan from the beginning?

[pspinler]

Also, it's strongly implied that the rings of power corrupted the bearers via the one ring's influence, with the sole exception of the elfen rings which were hidden, bore only by those of the strongest wills, and largely unused.

In other words, Ranma as ringbearer == likely corrupted Ranma.

-- Pat

[Nicaeus]

Valid points both, and I´ve been thinking about them. The Valar have to know of them and I was going to make Mandos to approve and endorse them as per some plan only he and maybe Manwe knows of. Perhaps they´we meant to be the heralds of the age of men and a backup plan since Mandos, as the Doomsman, must know that most of the wizards will fail on their main task.

And the Ring of Power, well, it´ll be a lesser one so the corruption will occur but not in a major scale, got to work on the spesific effects but I was going to some subtle psychological effects. So no Gollum mk2. And the One Ring will be inactive for the most part of the story, although when Ranma gets near it he´s definitely going to have real Boromiresque problems with it. Besides, Ranma doesn´t have that good experiences with magic items so he´ll propably use the ring only occasionally, although carrying it around should corrupt him too, at least somewhat, especially at the time when Sauron still had the One Ring.

[Tentai21]

Well after reading the original story and the new plan for the write i have to say it look good and something i would like to read.

How about ranma as he is in the ancient past learn about magic even if he only uses it rarely if at all but understands much or enough that he can figure out ways to get out of most spells cast at him.
That and maybe learn of the rings and take up smithying and create his own ring to help him so the Ring would be imprinted with his will to survive, grow, adapted, overcome, never give in and not bow or bend knee. that and it would have other abilities and such.
It could grow in power as he learns and grows in this new world and as he gets older, this would mean that the ring would in its own right be considered a ring of power like the one ring to opposing opposits.

Ranma the mage smith mightest of them all?

That and forging his own armour and weapons of mystical abilities and some none magical.
Thus the battle with sauron would be titanic and during this when ranma is knocked silly or badly injured during the exchange is when elendil steps in and tries to deal either another wound to sauron or to stop the blow sauron deals ranma and falls to it.
And then you have the same thing happens with the story of islidur taking the ring and so on.

After the battle ranma could realise both that he was relying on the power of his own ring and that it may have bee infected by saurons ring, and after rcovering goes to learn to not rely on the ring but also to grow stronger, powerful in his arts and more wise gaining wisdom in these and other matters.
Also with his knowledge on smithying and magic try and find a way to destroy the ring if not then a way to imprison it and weaken its influence like a box so it can't escape or somethingto give people to resist it influence.
Plus with the ring wraths something to deal more damage to them like water and fire enchanted swords.

With ryouga i am sure that he is more than willing to pick up extra things like on magic and such as he has been shown willing to use magic to make him more powerful or have the advantage. Ryouga i could see as getting a fearsome reputation as great or more so than the witch king as he gets about more and manages to escape though as you said he would be second in power to the witch king in power.

Wouldn't this also mean that ranma would be older than gandolf?
If so and ranma does learn alot about magic and other things even if he doesn't use it much at all besides keeping water from splashing him i could see him giving gandolf instruction on something that may have been lost of forgotten.

So in bree would ranma be with the ranger so it would be three humans and four hobits going to rivindal that would aslo be where ranma and ryouga coul met up and have another big battle with ryouga escaping not on purpose?

With the ring i would think it would be avoiding him more on the fact that he is stubbon and is likely to have something that the ring would find diffcult to escape from so it could fear him while it isn't on saurons hand to have full use of its powers?

With ranma being the guardian or caretaker of islidurs line i could see him giving them some training to beter able themselves to survive?

So will hotaru be more able to use her powers better and some of them in human form?

Plus will she meet ranma and will there be romance between the two?

If this is before the moon kingdom does this mean that they could be alive during that and after the fall into he modern age and be able to contact the elves?
Or is this something you are going to work out later like after you have completed this story?

[LawOhki]

3000 years of wandering? How exactly does Ranma remain 'Ranma' after that? 3000 years is a LONG time.

[Konsaki]

3000 years of wandering? How exactly does Ranma remain 'Ranma' after that? 3000 years is a LONG time.

Stunted brain power?