(Archive) The Fellowship of the Sword 8 - Having a Few at Stjernholm

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Having a Few at Stjernholm

Great West Road--near Stjernholm

The Sun is still quite high in the sky and the plains and waters lay sparkling

under a clear Autumn sky.

You stand just north of the mountain Stjernholm, and the small village that goes by the name of that mountain, underneath which it lies. To your north the River Snowbourne continues it\'s path across the plains of Rohan. The Great West Road continues to both the southeast and the west, while a smaller path leads up to Stjernholm to the south, and soon curves away around the mountain.

Contents:

White Pavillion

Obvious exits:

North leads to Off the Main Road.

SouthEast leads to Great West Road---Eastfold.

South leads to Village of Stjernholm.

West leads to Widening of Road.

Doing set.

As dusk starts to settle in by the village of Stjernholm, the adventurers have made their camp outside of the village and on the road. The reason for this, by the strange rationale of these hard men, is first so that the squires do not get soft by being allowed to sleep upon a bed, and second, and more importantly, the haste of their errand. This of course has not completely avoided the strange stares from the local peoples.

It is thus that Indilzar Bragollach is at the new wrought camp and he suffers himself to look southward to the mountains. He then says, \"We have come a full arc from Dol Amroth. A round-about way of travel I daresay.\"

Coming up beside the Bragollach is his counterpart among the men of House Girithlin -- more subtle is the lot they\'ve drawn, yet as at times, as stern as their fire-hearted kinsmen. \"Due south,\" agrees the Lord Thorondur, quietly. \"As the crow flies, at least. And will the crows like what they see there, I wonder? I often fear for my home, Indilzar, when I am away.\"

\"As do I,\" replies tall Indilzar, \"and this journey has just begun. Now though should not be the time to lament I suppose. Come, while the squires finish their chores how about you and I see what is what in yon village?\"

\"Good drink, I would hope,\" replies the Lord Girithlin -- svelte in his sueded riding leathers, and looking hardly the sort of man who enjoys his liquor. Yet he laughs that ringing, boyish laugh, and claps Indilzar upon the shoulder. \"Good drink, and golden-hairted wenches. Though the latter, I fear I must leave to you.\"

Indilzar arches a brow, \"An interesting philosophy I have on that matter. I shall share it with you over a drink of fine ale. Come.\"

With that Indilzar strides to the south, pulling the cloak of Denethor about him tightly.

This is a typical Rohirric village. The buildings of the town are mostly of wood, with one lone exception. The townhall seems to be made of granite. Just to the west of the main collection of houses lies a large corral. A path leads to the north, towards the Great West Road.

Contents:

Krutt

Obvious exits:

Tavern leads to Tavern.

North leads to Great West Road--near Stjernholm.

Through the village Indilzar walks. He sniffs the air, \"There is a good mountain breath here. Its cold and clean. This is a good place Thorondur Girithlin. Perhaps not as many people as some of the other villages of Rohan, but it reminds me of Ethring, or Calembel.\"

\"Then your vision must run deep, Indilzar Bragollach,\" quips Thorondur in his inimitible fashion, \"for I see golden hair and thatching where Calembel has raven and slate.\" Yet easy is his walk, light-hearted is his tone, and bright the broad look of contentment on his face.

\"Oh?\" says Indilzar. He then pauses and motions to the townhall, \"These riders have learned to shape stone. Perhaps not as fine as the walls of Minas Tirith, but still, the climate is at least the same. Or perhaps I long for home.\"

\"The same as Minas Tirith, mayhap,\" the other agrees, fingering his own sable cloak, \"but not our home. I daresay it may even snow here soon -- and I have not seen snow in long years,\" he sighs.

Quietly, Thorondur notes, \"Not since I last stayed a time in the Riddermark, in fact.\"

\"I have seen such a phenomenon on my errantry in the Northlands,\" replies Indilzar slowly, \"But in truth most of my errands have been in the south.\"

Then Indilzar says at length, \"Ah! There we are, a tavern by the looks of it. I wonder if they can match the Kraken?\"

\"Better to wonder if snow is white, I think,\" answers Thorondur, wryly. \"But come -- let us try our Southern hands at these dark horseman\'s ales.\"

Indilzar grunts and pushes open the doors to the tavern...

Tavern

The air of this neatly kept inn is decidedly.. homey. The floorboards of immaculately cleaned and polished oak are blanketed here and there by the softness of a hand woven rug, the thick wool of sheep put to use after being dyed in various shades of earth and forest. The immensity of a hearth comprises one wall, the mounted head of stag and bear above it, before which an assortment of different sized tables sit ready for guests. Along the opposite wood panelled wall a well cared for bar runs the entire length with racked bottles and tapped kegs lined neatly behind. The scent of good cooking fills the air along with those of wine and ale and spices, and a carpeted stairway of solid oak leads to the sleeping area upstairs.

Contents:

Bregenar

Obvious exits:

Front Door

Walking into the tavern, Indilzar sniffs the air, \"Well, it seems like we are not in Gondor anymore.\" He inclines his head to some of the locals who are gathering, \"Where shall we sit?\"

Accepting the stares and errant looks of the regular clientele, the second of these Knights of far Dol Amroth, fair Dol Amroth, gestures to a nearby table. Sitting down, he slides aside the used and empty tankards still upon it, chuckling. \"A busy night,\" Thorondur says. \"Do you think they\'ll have enough for us?\" Choosing his seat across from Thorondur he laughs, \"I have heard that the draughts of the Rohirrim are strong.\"

At that the barkeep comes to take an order...

Bregenar frowns and says,\"Indilzar, Blackberry Brandy costs 7 copper pennies and you have not paid me anything yet!

Bregenar smiles and says,\"Ahh very good choice Indilzar! Blackberry Brandy it is then!\" Bregenar hustles back to the back room for a brief span of time before returning with some Blackberry Brandy that he promptly brings to him.

Indilzar looks at the brandy and frowns, \"I never heard of a reputable establishing asking to be paid first!\"

Bregenar frowns and says,\"Thorondur, Malt Beer costs 4 copper pennies and you have not paid me anything yet!

Indilzar glances again at the menu, \"Perhaps we can share something to eat? Roast boar looks... wild enough.\"

Scowling at Bregenar, the southron Knight fishes in his purse for a few measly pennies. \"Order food if you like,\" Thorondur says, staring after Bregenar incredulously, \"but such a rude man as that shan\'t have any more of my custom.\"

Bregenar smiles and says,\"Ahh very good choice Thorondur! Malt Beer it is then!\" Bregenar hustles back to the back room for a brief span of time before returning with some Malt Beer that he promptly brings to him.

Indilzar ponders the words and then says, \"I think perhaps boar...\"

You give Bregenar 20 Copper pennies and he thanks you by saying,\"Feel free to order at any time!\"

Bregenar looks over the menu and then says,\"Indilzar, I do not see anything called roasted boar on the menu!\"

Bregenar smiles and says,\"Ahh very good choice Indilzar! Roast Boar it is then!\" Bregenar hustles back to the back room for a brief span of time before returning with some Roast Boar that he promptly brings to him.

Indilzar grumbles, \"Not only is he rude, he is stupid as well.\"

Indilzar takes the brandy and drinks a sip before taking a knife to the boar. This he begins to cut slowly into strips, allowing the rich meat to air slightly to the mountain air. It is then that the knight says, \"Take some. There is more than enough for me....\"

\"Now,\" says Indilzar slowly with a smile, \"What was I going to tell you. Ah yes! Women.\"

\"I only order boar that I\'ve hunted myself,\" remarks the Lord Girithlin, and not kindly -- nor beyond certain range of the servingman\'s ears. Still, he laughs, too cheerful to be dimmed by Bregenar\'s gruff antics.

\"Indeed. You had a theory on comely lasses?\"

\"Oh yes,\" says Indilzar, \"I have lately found that maids are actually shy to men and that one merely state something silly. Such as complimenting their hair, to woo their hearts. Very interesting, though I suppose that if a lass were to do the same to me (well perhaps not with the hair) I too may be wooed. The chief point Thorondur is that men need not be fearful of the gentle woman. It is obvious to me that they are just as eager to find... company I suppose is the proper term.\"

Only with subtly-raised eyebrows -- dark, slender, and paradoxically knowing, in their hint of innocence -- does the Lord Thorondur answer, at first. Slowly then, slowly, a grin twists his lips, and he laughs at length.

\"There are certain ladies of the Bragollach family,\" the Herald remarks, \"who seem even more eager than most, I must tell you.\"

\"Alas for my sister,\" says Indilzar slowly, \"she had to go and marry that abomination and now is nothing more than a harlot. A harlot-whore!\"

\"Your sister,\" wonders Thorondur, now truly amazed, \"is -wed-?\"

Indilzar nods gravely, \"Indeed. To a merchant no less. I think she sought to embarrass our house and now resorts to wine and seducing Men to pleasure herself.\"

Indilzar adds to this, \"She has been estranged from him for several years. It is a pity and I wish I could help her, if I could.\"

Thorondur falls silent -- silent, in the face of such true and awful bitterness from his colleague and sworn brother. For long moments he remains thus. Finally, he wonders, \"Could the marriage not be anulled?\"

\"It may,\" says Indilzar ruefully, \"but it would but further embarrass our house. And with the incident with Melethron and Aearwen - well, this is something that would best be avoided.\"

\"Aearwen was ever more the Bragollach than any of you, I often thought,\" muses the Herald, \"with a temper to match even yours, my friend. Yet your sister is too subtle by half, I deem. I wonder -- what motive did she have, in wedding some lowly trader of goods?\"

Spreading out his hands before him Indilzar says, \"Now you come to the heart of the matter. It is my belief that my twin was not so loved by my father, and therefore has longed to gain vengeance upon him by bringing ruin to our house. I do not think she does this of free spirit rather I deem she acts upon a deep seeded resentment toward our father.\"

\"Then you must pack her off to some house of seclusion, I suppose,\" Thorondur sighs, studying the murky depths of his malted liquor. Most of the draught, perhaps nearly thirty of its forty ounces, has been drained by the time he adds, \"I believe the Sisters of Yavanna have a hermitage near Amon Dinras, on the Cape of Andrast.\"

Indilzar laughs finishing his first drink. He orders another but this time the bright eyes of the Bragollach are a stern warning to the barkeep that he shall pay when he is ready. More brandy is given and as he sips it he picks up more of the boar meat and eats. After swallowing a mouthful of the flesh he then says, \"Now, how about some business. Have you met this... wizard before?\"

Raising his gaze from the depths of his draught, Lord Thorondur reveals eyes of a clear and piercing blue left unclouded by a simple tankard of ale. Their glance alights upon Indilzar, and a frown is within them. \"Saruman the White? I have not. The gates of Isengard were shut to me, when last I tried them,\" he says.

Though soon after, he ventures, \"Yet Amarthion has had words with him, and accounts him wise. The words of Denethor, though... they weigh heavily on my mind.\"

\"Saruman is a strange name to me,\" says Indilzar slowly. He then takes another sip of the brandy and then says, \"Though I have heard the Rohirrim call him that. Yet what troubles you about the words of Lord Denethor?\"

\"Saruman, Curunir,\" begrudges the Herald. \"Live so long as an Elf, and you\'ll have as many names. But do you recall the Steward\'s wording, when speaking of him? It seemed to me as though this wizard is not dutiful about his loyalty to Minas Tirith. Does he even keep a garrison?\"

\"This is beyond my ken,\" says Indilzar slowly. He takes a strip of the meat and eats it before continuing, \"I have seen the wizard\'s tower from afar and it is clear it is a strong place. The tower itself is like the walls of Minas Tirith. He must have Men there. Strange, but for time out of mind Curunir has held that tower for us. I wonder what Denethor is pondering.\"

\"He has held the tower of Orthanc, true enough,\" admits the other, \"but does he fly the banner of the White Tower? Are there soldiers of Gondor to aid him in his need? I know not the answers to these questions, but I ponder them -- and it may be that Denethor bends his thought in a like direction.\"

\"It is not in my nature to second-guess the Steward,\" replies Indilzar taking up more of the brandy. He swirls it slowly, \"I think we have enough to think on. Yet I would know if he shall help our cause.\"

\"Not your nature, but the heart of mine,\" Thorondur reminds the Lord Indilzar. First briefly eyeing his own tankard -- now empty -- he looks back to his fellow-knight and says, \"We must needs ride on to discover it. Yet the ride must not all be shrouded so in doubt.\"

\"These are Rananar\'s lands,\" says Thorondur of the mighty Rohirric captain. \"If he has heard of our coming, we shall see him, and that is good. He and I have not spoken in some time, and it may be he knows something of this wizard.\"

\"This all may be true Thorondur Girithlin,\" says Indilzar slowly. He takes up another swig of brandy and more of the roasted boar, its rich meat savoring in his mouth. Making sure to swallow before he speaks again he says, \"Yet we must have haste. For ever day that we delay, the longer the torment of Amrothos can be, and that would be a sore hurt to the Prince. That I cannot bear. If by chance Rananar may aid us, then this shall be well. But I am thinking that you may seek to learn too much of the counsels of our lord. That is not our mission.\"

Slightly drawn away from the knights\' table is the chair of Doran, though he is seated facing the lords of Bragollach and Girithlin. No strong drink is on the table before him, only an empty wooden cup. On his lap he holds a plate that he is currently cleaning with a large crust of bread. For now, the squire seems content to sit back, finishing his supper at his leisure, though intently listening to the conversation.

\"I keep my own counsels, Indilzar,\" demurs the Knight-Herald, \"as ever I have. Yet I am sworn to this mission as well as you fear not.\" And thus does a fey glimmer pass from the Herald\'s eyes, even as it first began to flicker -- leaving doubt as to its very presence behind.

\"Secrets are hard things to keep Thorondur Girithlin,\" replies Indilzar with the flame of his own eyes flashing for a moment, \"be wary of them. Yet will you not tell me what else you know of these words: Ost-in-Edhil - truly I know well what City of the Elves means. Yet what other meaning might it have?\"

Then Indilzar glances at Doran, \"Or perhaps Doran may know? You have been studying, have you not?\"

Rather than answer, Thorondur, too looks to the squire -- and now his keen glance falls heavily upon that one, discerning what it may of the trainee\'s knowledge.

Looking up suddenly at his questioner, a bit of bread apparently sticks in Doran\'s throat. The squire leans forward quickly, placing his board on the table\'s edge and reaching for his cup. Finding nothing therein, the young man coughs and manages to struggle the morsel down anyway.

\"Ah? Hmmm..\" Doran begins in answer, face still red. \"I had not given much thought to what meaning these words of the verse might hide... truly the only large settlement of the Quendi that I have come across in my readings to date would be that of Imladris, that we seek tidings of. Well that, and perhaps the Elven-havens, of which there is some mention in the old tomes. Of the grey ship-yards of the Firstborn which lie to the far north and west.. In the same direction as the home of Elrond, I should think.\"

Clunking his way into the tavern comes the squire Maernus. He nods to the Knights, though he quickly turns to towards the innkeep. As he crosses he removes a small amount of money, ordering a small meal and a light ale as soon as he\'s in earshot of the innkeep.

\"There is also the Golden Wood,\" says Indilzar slowly, \"or at least that is what the tales tell.\"

Abruptly, Thorondur sets his palms upon the small table he shares with Indilzar. Pushing upward, he stands, and as if with an ancient weariness says, \"Ost-in-Edhil is no more. No more, and they will never come again....\"

And then as if some fell glamour is upon him, the knight staggers back, turns, and moves slowly for the door on uncertain feet.

Indilzar watches the herald leave with his keen grey eyes. He then turns to Doran, \"He speaks of course of Eregion. Strange is the Lord Thorondur at times.\"

Thus does the Herald pass from the tavern, beneath the stares of the local folk as well as his own kind.

Thorondur opens the door and slips from the warmth of the tavern, into the street beyond.

The White-squire pushes his chair back swiftly once again, so as to make sure that he is removed from the Herald\'s path. \"Oh? Celebrimbor, then..\" Doran returns, his voice hardly more than a whisper. Drawing nigh to the knight he asks, \"Then is that the land that we must seek, where the great Elven-smith once dwelt? Perhaps we must first journey to seek the council of Elrond Half-Elven, to gain knowledge of the land that we must search out?\"

\"It must be ruins by now,\" says Indilzar to that, \"but were you not listening to the words of the Steward?

To four parts it flew, blackly broken,

Aged Anaril now only a word,

Of mindful memory mere token.

Four by four were the shards flung afar,

One to the Dwarves in stony hard hills,

Hilt high to northern kin under the star

One to elves where enchantment thrills,

The last was laid in monument of stone,

By the kings kin, in the hidden hill,

Of Aragurth, silent and last alone

Where wonders woven in fate fill.

\"I deem we shall have to go further than there,\" says Indilzar slowly, \"Well, we shall have to see what Curunir shall say.\"

\"But great and numerous must the concerns of this Wizard be during this age..\" Doran says with a sigh. \"Do you think that the keeper of Isengard will have knowledge such that will be helpful to our errand?\"

\"If not,\" replies Indilzar, \"then we shall find Imladris ourselves. We shall not be denied. Amrothos must be freed.\"

Upon retreiving his food and ale and paying the innkeep, Maernus walks over towards Indilzar and Doran. He takes a chair and pulls it to the table Doran was sitting at. He slowly begins to eat, listening to their conversation for a few moments.

\"Indeed,\" returns the squire, wide-eyed. He seems lost in thought for a moment, finger tapping his right temple softly, when he looks up at their newly arrived companion. \"Ah, Maernus..\" Doran smiles faintly. \"How are you finding Rohan? Or perhaps you have journeyed here aforetime?\"

Indilzar rises from his seat, \"Well, I shall leave you two squires to your wiles. Do not stay over late, we leave early on the morning.\"

With that Indilzar turns and strides out from the tavern