Once out of the forest, I turned back into human form and started traveling the East Road to Rivendell. On the way I started examining the loot I got.
I got a large number of gold coins but they didn't catch my eye, especially since they were too smelly to be used for transactions, pretty sure no one would accept the gold even if they were making a huge gain.
There were many weapons that were either of average quality or were too old and lost their use. The real treasures were the three ancient swords crafted during the first age, so at least six thousand years ago, yet they were still sharp.
At least their most important features were still intact but they all had a few shortcomings, some since the day they were forged, some gained with the passage of time.
Glamdring, while long, well-balanced, and sharp, had lost some of its magical properties and no longer glowed in the presence of orcs like it was supposed to and it was still in the best shape compared to the other two.
Orcrist had also lost its magical glow and had a strange balance to it, it looked and felt like it was a good sword just cut in two from top to bottom, if there was a second half of this sword out there it would make sense but, in this condition, it just felt strange to hold.
The sword that didn't yet have a name but would later be called Sting was the most complete sword as it retained both its magical properties as well as sharpness if there just wasn't its limiting size. It was hard to notice in the movies because everyone was so small but for a grown man, this would be nothing more than a large knife that was made with the purpose of a sword.
All swords were good in their own way and all carried the elegant look of elves while not losing a bit of effectiveness. I just decided to use Glamdring after leaving Rivendell, it wasn't the smartest idea to show off a lost ancient elven sword in front of your elven hosts.
The fact that it lost its glow didn't matter to me since this function was pretty useless anyway, the only situation it might be useful was when being ambushed but most of the time you would smell them before you saw the glow. The few times it had potential of helping was in the Misty Mountains but Bilbo and the Company just decided to stand still and wait for the fall.
After three days of travel, I was almost in Rivendell and I had yet to encounter any dangers on the road, I was itching to try out my new sword but the elves kept the surroundings clean.
I was planning on entering Rivendell through the secret path that was shown in the movie but I had no clue where the entry was, I thought it would be hard to miss such a long and deep crack in the ground but turn out I was wrong. I guess it was hidden through magic, which was kind of the reason for the secret path, and I had no ability to sense magic in my avatar state.
Given no other choice, I had to turn around and go back to the Ford of Bruinen, which acted as one of the main entrances.
The Ford wasn't anything worth mentioning except the many travelers. Being allowed passage to Rivendell required payment, even the elves don't do charity, they couldn't afford to host countless guests without any way to pay for some expenses, though the payment was still very low.
The path to Rivendell was significantly larger and easier to travel than the secret path but that was no surprise. Finally, after three hours, I arrived at the valley where Rivendell was built.
It was truly beautiful and I might steal a few designs and ideas for personal use. Just like any traveler, I was given a small room and allowed to stay for a week before I had to leave again. This was a haven for travelers but that didn't mean that they could just move in, they were only allowed to rest for a bit from their journey before they had to leave again.
Of course, there were a few exceptions like Gandalf and anyone he brought along, he was a well-known friend of the elves and a friend of the lord of this place.
Speaking of Elrond, he wasn't only a half-elf that had lived since the first age, he was also the grandson-in-law of Galadriel, the Lady of Lórien, one of the most powerful elves, and the holder of one of the three elven rings of power.
Well, I was going to stay here for a week before continuing my journey, I wasn't interested in the elves of Rivendell either, they didn't look nearly as good as the ones in Mirkwood.
After leaving the valley I was going to take the High Pass and look for giants, I probably wasn't going to Goblin Town. Although I strangely liked the Great Goblin, I saw no use in going there, as for the ring, I had no confidence that I would have the same look Bilbo had and land on a pile of mushrooms, not to mention finding Gollum in the underground labyrinth.
I don't know why I like the Great Goblin but something about his personality pleased me. In the extended version, he was clearly shown to be a fun guy, not only composing, singing, and dancing but also giving snippy remarks a moment before his death.
I might have taken him in for fun but changing his ugly appearance to make his presence more bearable just wasn't worth the effort.
After the Misty Mountains, I was going to explore the Carrock to figure out why in the world the Company spend twelve fucking months there. I could accept it if it was twelve weeks since they were being hunted by Azog during that time but months!?
The Carrocks were just a day's trip on foot long, they traveled a distance much wider than that in a single day many times already.
If I ever came behind this mystery and still had some time, or had just given up on finding out, I would make a small detour down the river to Lórien.