Quiet Evening

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================== Eldarin Calendar ===================

IC time is:    Early Afternoon < About  1:27 PM >

IC day is:     Ormenel

IC date is:    37 Iavas

Moon phase:    Full 

Earendil:      Gil-Estel is not visible.

IC year is:    Loa 23 o Yen 22, Nelandran o Endor

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RL time:        Tue Aug 18 19:29:12 2009

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Calendar help: +ELF TIME HELP    Quenya version: +ELF TIME QUENYA

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Elven Path

This path winds through the trees, tracing the path of the Main Path. Peeking through the trees, you can see the main path but you get the feeling those on the main path can't spy you...As you look around, you notice that there is a single Mallyrn tree here which somehow looks different from the other trees around it.

Contents:
Nalas

Galadhrim Camp Object

Daedagnir Patrol

Wooden Sign

Obvious exits:

 North leads to Forest Path.

 East leads to Elven Path.

 Up leads to Main Guard Talan.

 West leads to Riverside, Naith of Lorien.


[Nalas(#31744)]

Autumn it may be, but the telling of seasons holds little sway in Lothlorien. Green the grass underfoot and dotted with many flowers overhead, the trees are resplendant in leaves of gold. The sun is bright and warm, its heat a little dispelled by an errant breeze rendering it vaguely cold in the shadows of the mellyrn.Amongst the trees a form dances, light and swift and clad all in white. Her dark hair flutters about her as she moves, a creature well-known to those who
wander the wood. Nalas they name her, the light leaf, who oft sings among the trees. Her voice now is not to be heard, but her feet are turned into a merry reel that bears her toward the talan of the Guards, an aimless purpose guiding one who knows only her own will.


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It is upon this small forest pathway, tucked softly away from the main road that another figure sits, her back against the thick silvery trunk of a tall mallorn. The elleth, Veredhiel, is resting idly on the lush grass, plucking away absentmindedly at the gossamer string of her long bow. The grey cloak she wears almost seems to make her blend into the shadows cast by the golden leaves overhead.


[Nalas(#31744)] Nalas' dance brings her nigh to the Guard Talan. There at last her feet are stayed and she sinks into a crouch, a pool of ebon hair and purest white. Her bright eyes are turned up toward the talan for a moment ere wandering to the forest about her. Not a thing does she see, at least that her expression betrays, and she sets her fingers to twining idly in the emerald grass. At length her voice lifts up in something betwixt song and the speech of birds, swift, high, and musical. The sound takes on the form of a word, calling out in a lingering keen for Haldir, a tone so devised to fool all but Elven ears into perceiving only the chattering of a bird. Yet she calls in vain, perhaps.

-----------
The unearthly melodious note wafts through the area, carried upon the cool autumn breeze. It's beautiful sound is picked up by the young squire sitting nearby, and Veredhiel pauses in her activities, glancing around curiously for the source of the noise. It is not long before her keen gray eyes spy the other maiden a few yards away. With a light bound, the elleth leaps silently to her feet and approaches the stray white-clad figure. "Mae govannen," she says in happy greeting.


[Nalas(#31744)]

Nalas herself must start at this, her surprise showing in the sudden swaying of her form, as it were to flee. But seeing only the fair countenance of Veredhiel she settles back and smiles. "Mae govannen! What say the happy guards of Lorien? Yea, peace there must be upon the borders of Lorien this golden noon, for you are an image of joy!" Nalas' voice is filled with laughter, and a light comes upon her face as it is turned to the Squire.


----------
"Yea, peace indeed," the squire nods, the raven strands of hair shimmering in the golden glow that seems to encompass the enchanted wood. "There has been no sign of trouble for many a day." Veredhiel stands for a moment next to Nalas, and she leans gently upon the smooth yew bow. "You are happy yourself, I see? Such lovely music you were just making--it has been a while since I have heard anything so wonderful and calming." She looks about, gaze observing the quiet stillness of the forest in this early evening. A bird calls overhead.

[Nalas(#31744)]

The elleth laughs at this, the sound the sweet bubbling of clear waters, "Happy, indeed! Yet it were no song I sing. So Haldir has taught me to call to him or any others of the Marchwardens. Such sounds, he says, the evil things of the world may hear, and yet never think it were an elf-maid making them. I do not think I should fool you an instant!"

Nalas rises then, gossamer cloths flitting about her, "I am Nalas. You I have not met before, I think?" And she tilts her head at the other maiden, a smile resting upon her lips.

----------
"Ah, I see," Veredhiel says, grinning brightly at the elf-maiden before her. "Such noises we of the Order have been taught to communicate unbeknownst to our enemies." She shifts slightly as her companion rises so as to continue to face her. "No, I do not believe we have yet met. I am Veredhiel, a newly appointed squire of Lorien." The elf gestures to the long shaft of bent wood at her side. "I am being trained in the long bow currently, for I have not enough experience
to venture beyond these eaves yet."


[Nalas(#31744)] Nalas dips her gaze to regard the bow, an inspection that is more than cursory - her eyes hold respect, but no liking for the object. Not so the lady who wields it, however Veredhiel has at once received the friendship and goodwill of Nalas, as her radiant countenance and shining eyes are only to willing to attest. "Congratulations must be given you, then. Safe may you be, Veredhiel. And so I fear I must desire that your training may prove swift and fruitful,
though its purpose chills my heart."


"But oft the bow, in taking life, may preserve a better, if any are qualified to distinguish between them. Orcs and wolves I rue not. No shaft wasted that flies after those! Yet Haldir speaks of others beyond the borders, menfolk against whom his arrows have been aimed - so he tells me. What wish have you, therefore, to go beyond Lorien and seek out such Men? Are they not, after all, our near kin, much alike though they be so short-lived?" The pure innocence of her tone, the cant of her head and the open candour of her eyes denies all hint of deeper meaning or other purpose - what she has asked she would know, looking for wisdom in one who may be better versed upon such matters than she.

---------------
The keen glance is not missed by the squire, who cocks her head slightly in consideration as she answers, "I understand your concern, my mellon. I do not relish battle, but rather hope that it serves the purpose of defending this blessed realm and haven. As for strangers beyond the borders, I know of not much of them I do not desire to search for them, and certainly not to contest with them unless need be. Such men, it is true, are different from us Firstborn, but I wish them no harm." Veredhiel pauses then, thoughtful. "Their lives are intertwined with ours for the time being, but only momentarily
whither they go at death will most likely forever remain a mystery."

[Nalas(#31744)] A grin is flashed at Veredhiel's answer, a pleasure Nalas cannot hide at the Squire's assurances that she neither relishes nor seeks battle. But all else that is said causes the smile to fade and give way to contemplation. "Nay, indeed. Is it not the task of the first born to safeguard the younger? Aftercomers we call them, and too truly, for such tales of their people as I have heard, though they be few, paints a strange picture. Swift they seem, eager and heedless, and for the brief span of their lives they have not time to gather wisdom. Our paths run together now, the Elder children and the Younger."

"But they are strange to me, within the world but not of it. I cannot love them. Nonetheless I would not see them alone. Yet maybe they are no longer as they were in my mother's tales. And this, at least, is true: that they look no more to the princes of the Elves as liege-lords, and never once have I heard tell of them asking rede of our Lady. Leave them alone, say I, for they cannot touch us here, and their change and troubles are shut out!"

--------------------

Veredhiel listens quietly as the other elleth speaks, and the squire's own countenance mirror's that of her friend's deep thought. Her soft hand shifts downward to tug at the cord of her bow again before she replies, "That is one of the many wonders of the Golden Wood! We are able to live here in safety, dwelling in the world and yet apart from its evil and changing times. It is a place in which we can preserve the memory of our people." A smile returns to her lips. "The second born are indeed peculiar they do not understand and respect nature as we do, and they appear to be good-hearted though their hearts are easily corrupted."


[Nalas(#31744)] "So it would seem," Nalas agrees readily, clasping her own slender hands before her. "Mayhap it is because they are so brief their flame may burn more brightly because of it. They consume all that is before them - rock, tree, water, fair blossoms - yea, and to lies and evil their ears are ever open." For a moment Nalas turns her face away from Veredhiel, her eyes dropping as one ashamed, and upon these words she is swift to add more in far softer tones, "I speak unfairly, I think. To say that all of the Noldor are proud and haughty does great injustice to our Lady, and to Felagund and the children of Finarfin. So I will say also that there must be warmth and love in the hearts of Men. And if they see with other eyes than the Elves, maybe it is for the good of the World. Oftimes two sets of hands can make more beauty than one alone."

--------------
The squire's gray eyes look warmly upon Nalas as her gaze wavers, as if to reassure her. "It is true we should not be quick to judge those whom we know not fully. Men are the Aftercomers of the Eldar, created by Illuvatar just as we ourselves were of old. Surely they must have their own goodness and purpose, though their ways deviate from our perception."

Veredhiel sighs and frowns, the breeze continuing to flutter through her gray cloak and black hair. "Speaking of strangers...I have heard tell recently that a fellow Imladhrim has journeyed here, kin to the Lady. Elladan, I believe it is, and he has come with ominous tidings that speak of a dark shape prowling the highlands near his own land. What is could be, I cannot guess."

[Nalas(#31744)] "Elladan!" Nalas cries with such joy as to banish all traces of their serious
conversation, "Has he indeed come again? I am glad for it!" Glad, indeed her clasped hands are drawn up to her breast in expression of this happiness, "What joy I take in the sight of any of the line of fair Luthien! My foremother danced with her of old in Neldoreth, and for sorrow of the loss of the Morning Star she has gone into the West. But among her kin a love she has left for our Blossom. Now I know indeed that to Men we owe neither rede nor aid, for long
ago we gave that which is best beloved!"

She speaks quickly, the words a tumult of harmonious sound, but in forming they draw a sorrow upon her and she slips down to her knees once again. "You say he comes with ill tidings? I hope, mellon, they do not portend evil for thee? If the danger lies, as I guess, near Imladris, what has that to do with us, here?"

---------------
"I do not know what such fell news bodes for those of the Wood. All I know is that Elladan has arrived seeking the Lady in the grim matter perhaps he wants her councel in the spirit's identity, for it is well known that Lorien holds much information, both new and long lost, in its library." Veredhiel's grip upon the yew surface slackens a little as the words are uttered, the foreboding mood settling heavy upon her mind. The eyes she turns to Nalas are filled with concern, and she seems for the instance afraid. "You do not suppose it could be--" There is a hesitation. "--one of the Black Riders? Surely such a presence would not hint at pleasant things to come. I do not like to think our kin in the valley are troubled by so foul a menace."

[Nalas(#31744)]

Nalas' eyes flash with anger and dart to Veredhiel, studying her sharply for a moment before giving answer. "They are nothing without their head, and he is gone," is Nalas' clipped reply. Rising, she reaches an apologetic hand to rest upon Veredhiel's arm, kindness overtaking her momentary abruptness. "Well, may such as we debate the fate of the Secondborn or mourn for our folk and our lore that is lost. Yet all otherwise is it to speak of such evil things, of which we
are but infants in our knowledge. I will leave such counsels for wiser heads than mine, lest I call down that very evil or ill chance by some unknowing word."

"Yet as you were open in sharing your fear with me, I shall be as free with my own mind. As I understand it, those of whom you speak are gone. Even were it not so, why should the Imladhrim seek counsel in Lothlorien? Within Imladris they hold such minds as Elrond's...Glorfindel, Erestor. Together, I think, they keep greater store of knowledge and wisdom than one could find in all the tomes of Lorien! If your fears are founded, then I doubt not that Elrond knows already with what he has to deal. And if Elladan has come, as you have said, to speak to our Lady, then we must do him the service of keeping our whispering lips closed, lest in any way we hurt or hinder his purpose."
Nalas smiles then, but more firmly than aforetimes, "Fear, Veredhiel, when Shadows cover the rivers and the forests and the Lady has left us forever. Until that day I shall not trouble, no more than did Luthien in starlit Beleriand within the Girdle of Melian."

-----------
The light but firm touch is comforting to the squire, and Veredhiel relaxes slightly, hearing intently the words of the elleth beside her. She returns the smiles, glad of her friend's response. "Yea, let us speak not of these evil things! You are right, mellon, in what you say of our safety whilst the Lady resides with us and our people. Such dark times are past, and the future bright and promising under the light of Anor! Master Elrond, I trust, will be well set to handle whatever problem has reared, for as you say he has seen much and possesses great wisdom."

She casts a swift glance around at the darkening
evening before turning once more to Nalas, a kind grin upon her fair face. "I am afraid that the heralding night signals my turn for watch above." A gesture indicates the hidden talan overhead. "I must leave you now." The elleth reaches out to clasp a warm hand over her companion's in farewell. "Be well, mellon, and I hope our paths may cross again soon."

[Nalas(#31744)]

"Navaer, mellon," Nalas answers, clasping Veredhiel's hand a moment, "May the stars shine upon you." She dips her head, a wave of black hair, throwing her gaze up to the sky a moment, where already a few of the brighter stars may be seen glimmering in a veil of deep blue. No more words from Nalas. Back she goes a few paces, then turns and darts with doe-like grace between the trees, running back toward the heart of the forest.

---------------

Veredhiel watches the white-garbed figure as it disappears with silent and fluid motions. Then, with a swift movement of her own, the squire reaches up, grabbing the concealed rope hanging down from the golden boughs, and is gone in
a gray-blurred leap.