LoTR: Destiny

    Finally, back on Blogger, ready to inform my loyal followers of the happenings in the domain of Mr. Kain and his English class. Destiny is calling me to blog about it, therefore, I MUST!! As Mr. Kain alluded to in his blog post, Strider is drawn away from the life he desires. Why? Is it destiny?
    The belief that destiny controls everything one does in their life is just silly. A person makes their decisions based on free will, not some guiding force that decides your every movement. If everyone believed that destiny was indeed the one to rule them all, many more people would be dead, and many more criminals would be walking away free. "Sorry officer, I had to kill 7 people, it was my destiny." <-- GARBAGE.
    Strider does not make his decision solely on free will however, he is pushed by everyone around him to fulfill the prophecy and lead the land of Middle Earth out of the darkness and into the light. He is not destined to be the hero, he is told that he is the hero and that if he does not accept this role, all will be lost. That is a tough burden and title to say no to. Strider makes his decision to keep on keeping on with the fellowship not just to save Middle Earth, but to allow him a chance to live the life he ever so desires once the evil is disposed of.
    The only thing in LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring that could even be considered some sort of guiding force is the ring. The ring influences decisions of all who hold and surround it. Frodo tries so dearly to keep the ring off of his finger, but when the Black Riders come calling, it seems to slip on without fail. The ring being on Frodo's finger gives the Black Riders an innate ability to see him; I feel the ring doesn't slip on by accident in those situations. Destiny may only play a small role in the book, free will ultimately rules.

Sometimes shooting someone, is just shooting someone.

The Thousand Orcs, Quatre

Meeting the man/woman who invented the vile race that we know today as the orcs, the typical fantasy bad guys, would be quite the meeting. This person had to be quite twisted in order to form such a masterpiece in the world of evil. Orcs are usually described as green, big, savage, and quite stupid. They are also referred to as very short-tempered and bloodthirsty. For our adventurers, killing orcs is what they enjoy doing. They really enjoy killing most things, but orcs seem to be the hands down favorites.

When facing an orc opponent, one must remember three things:

 1) Avoid battles with orcs at all costs.

 2) You are smarter than him. Use it to your advantage.

 3) He has no problem with killing you, so why are you not following rule #1?

 The Orcs that Drizzt and his band face are a special type of orc. They have a leader who is smart enough to get some frost giants and bring them to battle. A cowardly move, yes, but also a genius strategy maneuver. The frost giants are large, and feel like they are better than any other race around. The way to beat a frost giant is to essentially tell them that you are better than them, and send them into a fit of rage. Watch out for their quickly thrown boulders and large feet, because now, you're the bug.

Sometimes shooting someone, is just shooting someone.

The Thousand Orcs, La Troisième Etage

The city of Mirabar, a place where dwarves and humans dwell together in harmony. Or is that just how it seems to the passer-by? Mirabar is a mining city, a place where the main export is armor and weapons created from the ore that they have mined. The only problem that Mirabar faces is King Breunor Battlehammer and his land, Mithral Hall. Mithral Hall has the greatest ore and techniques in armor making ever known, Mirabar has begun to lose trade because of Mithral Hall's resurgence, and they are not going down without a fight.

The heads of Mithral Hall are mostly human, so they have no deep ties with the dwarves of Mithral Hall, but the dwarven inhabitants of Mirabar do. Once King Breunor comes knocking at the gates of Mirabar, the city can finally put a face on their unknown enemy. Most of the dwarven population grows fond of King Breunor and his merry band of travelers, and they begin talk for Mithral Hall in place of their previous thoughts of hatred. What will happen next?

Sometimes shooting someone, is just shooting someone.