One ring to fool them all

"How can the ring be here? Bilbo was supposed to have found it. Was it never in Gollum's possession? Is this some twisted parallel world where the Great Goblin found and killed Gollum?" Narzug's thoughts raced through his head like machine gun fire.

"But wait, Morgash had just looked at me..."

"Hey Morgash... uh... stupid question but you can still see me, right?" Narzug asked, expecting the worst.

Confused, Morgash looked into his eyes and replied, "Are you okay? Have the moths eaten your brain? What kind of question is that, master?"

Relieved, Narzug shook his head and thought. "How did the poem about the rings go again?"

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all,

One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

"It can't be the One Ring because it makes you invisible. The three Elven Rings are with Galadriel, Elrond, and Gandalf. The Rings of Men are worn by the Ringwraiths, and in the movies, you could see all nine Ringwraiths... it must be one of the Dwarf Rings!" Narzug concluded.

"There was also some information about the Dwarf Rings... Damn it, Narzug, think!"

Then he remembered.

The seven rings of the dwarves, like the rest of the rings except for the Elven rings, were originally forged by Sauron, who gave them to the dwarves to manipulate their greed and power. Sauron believed he could subdue the dwarves through the rings, but this proved more difficult than with the men.

The rings granted the dwarves long life and helped them accumulate enormous wealth.

Narzug remembered that each of the seven great dwarf clans received one of these rings. However, the rings did not have full control over the dwarves as they did over men.

One memory calmed Narzug a bit down. Over the centuries, most of the dwarf rings were lost. But some were also swallowed by dragons or destroyed by their fire. So it was not impossible to destroy the ring on his finger. He would not inevitably become Sauron's slave once Sauron awoke.

Narzug also remembered some very heated Reddit discussions with wild speculations and theories among fans about the whereabouts of the remaining dwarf rings. He knew that some had been brought back to Sauron, and now he could confirm the whereabouts of another ring: forgotten in the treasure chamber of the Great Goblin.

"Maybe the rings are also artifacts, just millions of times stronger because they were forged by one of the Maiar. Then I might not even need a dragon to destroy the ring but could devour it with Margosh's new technique."

"But I should try that in the distant future, otherwise the ring will undoubtedly devour me..." Narzug pondered.

He promised himself to pay very close attention during Morgash's next lesson.

"In the meantime, until Sauron awakens, I might even be able to use the ring... Bilbo himself had no problems with the One Ring, it was only Frodo who could no longer wear the ring."

Once again Narzug tried to pull the ring off his finger, but had to admit defeat. A little sweat of fear ran down his temples. He was afraid that the ring would manipulate him, change him until he was no longer himself.

Back in the sanctuary, Margosh sat down on the floor and indicated to Narzug to do the same. He demanded that Narzug place the golden coin between them on the ground and began to explain the process of devouring with his teacher's voice. When he was done, he said, "Now take the coin in your hand and let my voice guide you through the process."

Narzug held the coin firmly in his hand and felt the weight of the centuries it had lived through. The gentle whisper that surrounded it turned into a sweet song as he focused his attention on it. Margosh watched him closely and nodded to him. "It's time, Narzug. Close your eyes and concentrate. Feel the emotions trapped in the coin."

Narzug followed the instructions and closed his eyes. He focused on the coin and let his thoughts dive into its depths. Soon he could perceive the greedy thoughts and covetous feelings of the previous owners. They whispered stories of betrayal and desire into his ear, each whisper increasing the desire to use the power of these feelings.

Margosh stepped closer and continued speaking softly, "Now, Narzug, you must absorb the energy of the coin. Imagine drawing these negative feelings into yourself as if you were drinking them. Let them become part of you, but maintain control."

Narzug took a deep breath and began to imagine the emotions flowing from the coin into him. He felt the greed pulsing through his body like a dark current. It was overwhelming, but he fought against it, keeping control firmly in his hands. He felt the power of the coin growing stronger within him, enhancing his own abilities.

Margosh observed the strain on Narzug's face and encouraged him, "Well done, Narzug. Let the emotions merge within you, but don't let them take over. They are now part of your source, but you are the master."

After several minutes of intense focus, Narzug felt the energy of the coin spreading within him and eventually merging with his own source. The coin in his hand now felt empty and cold, as if it had been stripped of its life. He opened his eyes and looked at Margosh, who nodded in satisfaction.

"You did it, Narzug. You successfully devoured the negative feelings of the coin."

Narzug looked relieved. He felt as if he had run a marathon. He realized how far he was from devouring the ring. He wouldn't have been able to withstand the struggle against the ring's will for even a few seconds.

Narzug smelled his armpits, and the sweaty onion smell almost made him faint. With the words "I really need a bath," he said goodbye to Morgash and headed to the bathing caves.

As soon as he found a cave not occupied by a naked orc, he undressed and slid into the water. With a relieved groan, he washed the sweat off his body as best he could. His thoughts were on the ring on his finger, which he still couldn't take off. He wondered what exactly the ring's powers were, since "helping to become richer" was just too vague for him.

Narzug studied the ring on his finger carefully. The ring appeared to be made of simple iron, and the individual hammer blows that shaped it could still be seen. It had perfectly adjusted to his finger size and nestled gently against Narzug's skin. Lost in thought, Narzug murmured, "How can you make me rich? You're just a simple ring with a will to make the wearer a slave... Can you make gold and jewels rain from the sky? Or will I stumble over an ownerless gold bar every other step from now on? Come on... MAKE ME RICH!" His last words echoed eerily through the bathing cave. Then Narzug's eyes nearly popped out of his head. As if by magic, the water he was lying in turned into gold coins. A stabbing pain shot through Narzug's head, and shortly after, he realized he was still lying in the water. Puzzled, he repeated the phrase "MAKE ME RICH," but this time with his eyes closed and focused on his inner senses. He felt a wave of greed gently lay over the water's surface and cover it. He opened his eyes and saw he was lying in gold coins again before another stabbing pain broke the blanket of greed feelings and revealed the water's surface again. He repeated this a few more times until he came to a realization.

"You don't increase a person's material wealth, you only give them the illusion of wealth! But how could the dwarves not notice that? Were the dwarf lords weaker than I and therefore couldn't break the illusion? Or could it be that orcs are negative beings and dwarves positive beings, according to Morgash's words? Is that why the ring can't deceive me with its illusions because they are based on the feeling of greed, a decidedly negative feeling?!"

Narzug sat for a while quietly in the water, his thoughts circling around the realization he had just gained. The ring could create illusions based on the greed of its bearer. His previous attempts were based on the greed for wealth. But what if he used greed for something else? He decided to delve deeper into the dark corners of his soul and focus on the most negative desires possible.

First, he started with the greed for power. The longing to rule over others was not unfamiliar to him. He had even begun to enjoy it as the chieftain of the Misty Mountain Orcs. So, he closed his eyes and focused on the greed to dominate all the orcs in his tribe. "Show me the illusion of power," he murmured.

The air around him changed. When he opened his eyes, he found himself on his throne, elevated high above a crowd of kneeling orcs. They all looked up to him, their eyes full of fear and reverence. Narzug felt the intoxicating feeling of absolute control over the masses. He felt the power flowing through his veins as he commanded his subjects with a mere gesture. But then, as always, a stabbing pain pierced his head, and the illusion shattered. He sat back in the bathing cave, the water cool on his skin.

Dissatisfied but fascinated by the possibilities, he closed his eyes again and thought of the greed for revenge. Of all the enemies who might wrong him in the future, of all the humiliations he had suffered in his past life. "Show me the illusion of revenge," he whispered with burning hatred in his voice.

He found himself in the middle of a battlefield, the tormentors of his past life lay crushed and helpless before him. Narzug could smell the blood, hear the cries of the defeated, and he enjoyed every moment of it. The greed for revenge filled him, gave him a cruel satisfaction, but this too was short-lived. Again, the stabbing pain seized him, and the vision vanished.

He wanted to go deeper, to explore the darkest depths of his soul. He thought of the greed for oppression, the lust to break others and destroy their souls. "Show me the illusion of oppression," he murmured.

Immediately he found himself in a dark, damp cell filled with shackled prisoners. Their eyes were empty, their bodies battered and broken. Narzug felt the power over these poor souls, the absolute control over their fate. He was the ruler of their torments, and it filled him with a terrible satisfaction. But this illusion also did not last long. The stabbing pain returned, and he was back in the bathing cave.

Narzug realized that his thoughts had quickly become very dark. The last remaining human parts of himself tried to convince him that the ring was influencing him. But the orc part of him embraced these dark thoughts and reveled in them.

Narzug began to understand that the ring could be a powerful weapon, but the illusions were never lasting and only bound him. The ring offered him the illusion, but no real fulfillment. It was as if the ring was mocking his greed, taunting him with visions that could not last.

He decided to go even further. What if he focused on the greed for death? Not his own death, but the death of his enemies, death as the ultimate power. "Show me the illusion of death," he said, his voice rough with excitement.

The surroundings changed, and he stood on a field of corpses. The stench of death hung in the air, and he felt the cold of decay. All around him lay the bodies of his defeated enemies, and he felt like the undisputed ruler of death. But even here, the illusion was only short-lived. The pain returned, stronger than before, and Narzug was pulled back to reality.

With each attempt, Narzug realized more and more that the ring's illusions in this form were of no use to him. It brought him no benefit to get lost in illusions himself. But the thought of possibly casting illusions on others made him keep trying. He had to manage to project his greed onto others to let them live the illusions.

He remembered his lessons from Morgash in Mirkwood, where he channeled fear in his enemies and came to a hypothesis.

"What if I use the same principle as with fear with my greed... can I weave other people into the ring's illusions that way? Can I possibly even control and sustain these illusions longer?! It might no longer be me as a negative being but maybe a positive being... could the illusion even become permanent then?! It seemed to have worked with the Dwarf Lords back then. I need our nice elven slave from Mirkwood as a test subject!"

With this thought, Narzug rose from the water and, shouting the command to bring the elf to his forge, set out.

A few minutes later, the elf with vacant eyes sat in the middle of Narzug's forge. Narzug stood a few meters away, pondering how best to proceed with his experiment. He finally decided to start with the ring's basic greed. Slowly and deliberately, he let his greed for wealth flow from its source, channeling it in a large arc around the ring into the elf. Then he connected the ring with the greed and extended an empty hand to the elf.

"I heard you've done good work. Here, take this gold coin as a reward." The elf stared at him with wide eyes and took something from Narzug's empty hand. With great joy, Narzug watched as the elf held an imaginary object in his hand, and he couldn't help but laugh when the elf bit into the air as if testing the gold's authenticity.

"It works! Oh my god, I'm a genius!" Narzug thought of his previous attempts and the illusions that had distorted the entire world around him.

"How can I throw the elf into his own distorted world? Should I try it with a desire of his own?" Narzug extended his senses and searched within the elf for the feeling of greed. He quickly found it, a massive greed for freedom. Then he connected this greed for freedom with a thin thread of his own greed to the ring. Immediately, the elf's eyes became glassy, and he plunged into an illusion where he could undoubtedly attain his freedom.

Narzug couldn't help but grin triumphantly. His experiments had been perfectly successful, and he couldn't be happier with their outcome.

He had managed to create an illusion in the real world and even a reality for the elf in an imaginary world.

He severed the connection between the ring and the elf's greed for freedom, who immediately woke from the illusion. Bewildered, the elf looked around and began to weep as he grasped the harsh reality that he was still a captive slave. The feeling of power over the elf felt exceedingly good to Narzug.

He sent the elf back to his bleak life as a slave and thought:

"Suck it, Bilbo. You may have a ring that makes you invisible. But I... I have one ring to fool them all."