Brotherhood of the Mountain Path

The Brotherhood of the Mountain Path was first conceived in the late spring of T.A. 1448, when three Orodbedhron warriors—Aidhan, Bheil, and Ceaid—returned from the Kinstrife to the Blackroot vale. They had all fought for Castamir the Ursurper, not out of conviction, but because their company had sided with the Usurper. The three had deserted before the battle at the Crossings of the Erui, being sick of the meaningless civil war, to return home. While traveling together through a chaotic southern Gondor, with brigands roaming the countryside, Aidhan started to develop ideas of Daen purity. When they had returned to the valleys, Aidhan continued discussing these views with folk of all ages. On 23 Hithui, T.A. 1448, twenty-seven Orodbedhrim gathered at Setmaenen, and swore an oath to pursue Orodbedhron independence. The group took the name "The Brotherhood of the Mountain Path," and Aidhan was the unchallenged leader.

From the start, it was clear that the Brotherhood had no plans for armed rebellion or insurrection against the king; instead, they wanted to build an Orodbedhron realm in the hearts of the mountain tribesmen. Perhaps the best description of the Brotherhood's ideas was this quote from the speech Aidhan made at the stones: "So, if a man of Gondor speaks to you in his tongue, you will walk away; and if he speaks to you in our tongue, you will walk away. We will no longer be contaminated by their laws, customs, and traditions. They are weak, decadent, dangerous, and will only destroy us. There will be no trading, no talking—nothing—between the pure [the Daen] and the unclean [the Dunedain]."

Aidhan's long-term vision was of all the Daen—in southern Gondor, Drúwaith laur and Enedhwaith—under the benevolent rule of the Brotherhood of the Mountain Path. The Brotherhood would be the essence of all that was good in Daen culture: true religion, just laws, and ancient customs. Aidhan and some of his followers traveled to Enedhwaith, and had some success in recruiting followers there. The ideas preached by the Brotherhood became increasingly more popular among the Orodbedhrim, since the core of its tenets—the innate superiority of the Daen—was seductive. The Brotherhood grew slowly during its first years, but many people, especially younger Daen, tried to join it. Those admitted to the core of the Brotherhood swore an oath of allegiance to its ideals and to Aidhan as its leader. They traveled in the valleys, spreading the Brotherhood's vision, recruiting new members, and gathering information. The core members were exclusively male, and mostly young. The Brotherhood allowed only the best and brightest to join the core. Others were told to remain in their villages, in the hope of being inducted later. Aidhan was very careful to screen out toughs and bullies, never admitting those who wanted to join to obtain personal power. So the Brotherhood had many supporters who remained in their homes, and who supported it by feeding and housing traveling members, as well as by giving them provisions and news. The Brotherhood was ruled by a council of five, of which Aidhan was the leader. Any member of this council could make decisions on behalf of die Brotherhood; but if the other four disagreed, the decision might be revoked at a later time. This meant that even though the Brotherhood had a very centralized order, a decision-maker was never very far away. The council of five tried to meet at least once every season. Local village headmen and elders discouraged people from joining or supporting the Brotherhood, since it threatened their traditional power. The elders were divided; on the one hand, they wholeheartedly agreed with most of the order's ideals, on the other, they feared that they themselves would loose some of their importance in a realm ruled by it. The Brotherhood was very discreet in their dealings with outsiders; there were no badges or other symbols of membership or support, nor any war cries or curses. Aidhan stressed the importance of retaining the Brotherhood in the hearts of the Daen. In the turbulent, post-Kin-strife years, the authorities had no time to bother with the mountain valleys, and if traveling tradesmen noted a decline in trade or cold treatment by many Daen, the Dunedain put this down to "the hard times."