Bree\'s newest arrival

Breelands Weather

The late morning autumn air is cool but pleasant around you. The sky is clear and the sunlight shines brightly.

Common Room

This large and rectangular room serves the purpose of Common Room for the Prancing Pony. Large windows along the western end of the room peek out over the Great East Road which runs outside the Inn. There are long tables with bench seats for the patrons in the centre of the room. Nestled into the wall is a large fireplace with several bundles of wood piled next to it. Sunlight streams through the windows to mingle with the smoke that floats above the ceiling beams, and provide an odd sort of illumination that, even in daylight, doesn\'t quite reach the corners. The lamps which hang down are presently unlit.

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Contents:

Cordelia

Ale

Dart Board

Obvious exits:

Out

[Cordelia(#1394)] It\'s late in the morning on this fine autumn day, the sun streaming in to form puddles of light and shadow on the common room floors and tables. The inn is still fairly quiet this time of day, folk not yet ready for the mid-day meal. The only occupants seem to be a few cats lazily sprawled in the warmest spots of sun, and one young woman hunched at a table near the fire, hungrily eating a bowl of stew. She looks to be just short of 20, and her hair is a mess of twigs.

[Frarin] The lazy atmosphere of the common room is broken by the sound of heavy footsteps beyond the door leading to the chamber. They create a strange noise, for certainly there is the sound of iron-clad boots, but there is another sound, the hollow thunk of wood upon the floorboards. A second and the odd combination of sounds became more clear. The door opens with a creak and in steps a dwarf to the common room, clad in a tunic and vest, though no cloak, and walking with the support of two sturdy crutches.

He moves gingerly, favouring his left leg and putting very little weight upon it as he moves into the common room. A young lad belonging to the inn quickly approaches the dwarf and pipes out an excited, \"Good morning, Master Frarin!\" The dwarf nods and replies, \"Morning, lad. Fetch me a pint, if you will. And something to eat, aye?\" The lad scampers off, leaving Frarin to glance around the common room.

[Cordelia(#1394)] It\'s a lot of commotion for an otherwise quiet morning, and the woman, of course, looks up--spoon poised before her as she watches. She might seem to take in the dwarf carefully from head to toe, but if so, she is cunning about it, glancing to her spoon and casually resuming eating. \"I didn\'t realize there were dwarves in town,\" she notes toward Frarin as he glances around the room.

[Frarin] The dwarf looks to the woman as she speaks up, brows lifting as he looks her over for a moment. He frowns even, dark eyes narrowing slightly. \"Did you not?\" he rumbles out conversationally. \"Then you either do not prefer the gossip of the town or do not notice the obvious.\" His tone is still conversational, not scolding as the words might imply. \"We have been here now over two months, and only just beyond Bree before then.\"

He turns towards the table at which she sits, slowly bringing his crutches around to redirect his route. \"Are you new to town? I have not seen you about.\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] It\'s another few spoonfuls of food before the woman answers she\'s eating hungrily and the conversation with the dwarf seems secondary to eating. \"Yes, sir, I\'m new. Looking for work, too, but I get the feeling it will be difficult for outsiders to find enough work to get by.\"

[Frarin] \"Indeed?\" the dwarf replies as he nears. He does not take up a seat at the woman\'s table, but instead pulls back a chair at the table beside hers. He eases himself gently into the chair before unlooping the twine connecting the supports to his wrists and leans the two crutches against the table. \"No, I imagine not. And even less so with the fields lying fallow for the winter. Have you asked about?\"

At that moment, the inn\'s lad returns with a pint of beer and a plate with bread and butter and cheese. \"There are various odd jobs around town that always need filling. Though aye, you\'ll be vying with others and these Breefolk do not take kindly to Foreigners.\" The last is said with a humourless smirk, as if he knows all too well the truth of his own words.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"I\'ve asked somewhat,\" the woman answers, eyes going jealously to the dwarf\'s bread and cheese now that her own bowl is finished. \"And they don\'t take kindly to outsiders. Though here and there I get some work. Mostly a slice of bread in exchange for milking cows or herding sheep. Still, I figure if I keep at it enough, maybe I can find some sort of decent living. You\'re not from here, either, and /you/ earn a living,\" she points out.

[Frarin] The dwarf spares a glance for the woman as she answers him, but otherwise his attention is given to spreading the butter across his bread. If he notices the other\'s jealous look, he does not say so. But he gives a half-smile to the woman\'s last, shaking his head. \"Ah, but I have not earned my living in Bree. I have brought it with me, and now it feels the pinch of long months without being refreshed. Fear not, lass, you are not alone in needing a manner by which to earn you leaving. But me and my kind will shortly depart.\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] The woman snorts, shooting Frarin a look. \"Easy for you to say,\" she mutters, scraping a wooden spoon along the bottom of her empty bowl. \"But you and your folk will just pack up your wagons and peddle your wares elsewhere.\" She licks off the spoon--a rather fruitless effort--then perks up brightly, suddenly. \"Don\'t suppose you need a helper, do you?\" She smiles brighter, shaking out her hair. \"Someone to put folks more at ease with your presence in town? Me mum and dad used to travel about with their wagon, peddling their wares, so I\'ve grown up with it.\"

[Frarin] Eyes narrowing, the dwarf frowns at the woman for a moment, returning her look with a grunt and a shake of his head. \"You think so?\" he says, pulling from his tunic a long-stemmed pipe. \"Well then, you have seen no dwarves when they are there and imagine wagons when we have none. Our company abandoned our wagons and goods when we entered this country with haste many months ago at the start of summer. We mean to recover them, but for now we have nothing to trade at all.\"

He lifts his brows again, eyeing the woman with a keen look as he packs a thumbfull of weed into the bowl of his pipe. \"What say you to that, then? And no, I have no need of a helper, not when I have no goods to peddle. As for the folk of this town, they are as at ease with my people as they will ever be. But there you have something. There has recently been a trading group departed to the Shire. If Bree sends another, they might have use of your services.\"

Cordelia sighs and goes back to messing with her spoon and bowl, frowning as she takes in her empty bowl. \"The Shire is full of hobbits and I won\'t be wanted on that trip in any case. I\'m sorry about your wagons, of course--I\'m new here and didn\'t know. Perhaps I can help you find them?\" She lifts a shoulder in a shrug, then stands. \"If you\'d like to tell me what happened, I\'m a willing ear. But for the moment, I am going to try to barter my services in the kitchen for more food.\" She moves that way.

[Frarin] Frarin eyes the woman as he partakes of his snack, removing his pipe as he chews. Sweet-smelling blue-grey smoke rises lazily from the bowl. \"Nay, thank you, lass,\" he says to her offer. \"We are already setting about retrieving what we might. And it is a long way off in either case.\" He says no more on the subject, though he does raise an eyebrow as the woman mentions her willingness to listen. A half-smile, tainted with small amusement, pulls at his mouth.

\"You can hear all you need from the gossip of the town. It is highly entertaining, I assure you. Tales of the mad dwarves and their tendency to inflict self harm. I am sure I am considered the clumsiest of all, \" he says, gesturing towards his useless left leg. There is obvious sarcasm in his words, but he seems also guarded, as if skirting the real issue. He nods after the woman as she disappears into the kitchen, then places the stem of his pipe between his lips and draws deeply.

[Cordelia(#1394)] It takes a few minutes, but the woman comes back out. Empty handed. Tight-lipped, she resumes her seat, now without an empty bowl of stew before her. She moves the bench she sits on so that she can lean her back against the wall, then eyes the dwarf again. \"So do you and your folk come often to this town? Is the living good?\"

[Frarin] Glancing up as the woman returns, the dwarf eyes her a moment before returning to his fare. \"For dwarves?\" he says. \"The living is not superb, but adequete. And we have been before, though not often. It is a long way from our home, it is almost twenty years since I last came to the town.\" He pushes his empty plate away and draws his pint of beer closer, but for the moment he points the stem of the his pipe at the woman. \"And what about yourself? Do you come to Bree often? I do not know your accent, do you hail from Eriador?\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] The young woman shakes her head. \"My first time here, though my folks had a farm here ages ago, before I was born. Well, not *here* actually--out further toward the wilds. They couldn\'t make it as farmers, so they took to trading, traveling by wagon throughout the lands and peddling goods. So I didn\'t grow up anywhere in particular and my accent is a mix of things, I suppose.\" Her eyes roam the tavern as she speaks, only coming back to Frarin when she finishes. \"Twenty years is a long time. What would bring you out here again?\"

[Frarin] The dwarf nods along with the woman\'s words, quietly enjoying the warmth of the common room. Little wisps of blue-grey smoke spiral about his head. As she finishes, he shrugs and shakes his head. \"Trade and...other things,\" he rumbles. \"But if you do not know, I will not burden you with the knowledge.\" Strange though his words might be, they seem more casual than forebodingly guarded. Indeed, he continues conversationally, \"Bree is a good town to take up residence in, for humans. It makes for a good trade, but serves its own best. Do you mean to stay here then, or are you merely looking for a place to last the winter? I daresay if you stay around long enough, finding accomodation and generosity will grow easier.\"

Cordelia stretches her arms out in front of her, cat-like, then shrugs. \"Don\'t know. If I can find a living and a decent place to live in, then perhaps. I\'ll try, certainly. Haven\'t yet been able to put down roots. I blame my folks for that. Put the wanderlust in me. But...\" she pauses from gazing about the room again to concentrate on the dwarf, \"it\'s easier to take up the peddling trade when you\'ve more than one person traveling about. Safer, especially these days.\" Another pauses, accompanied by a half frown. \"Don\'t suppose I have to tell *you* that.\"

[Frarin] \"No indeed,\" says Frarin, giving a humourless half smile around his pipe. He pauses, taking a draught of his beer. \"Good luck finding a travelling companion in Bree, however. The folk here prefer their quiet lifestyles. Tis a shame, really, for Bree was once a great crossroads of trade, long ago as I understand it. And now it cannot abide thoughts of the wild.\" He sighs and shakes his head, waving away the cloud of smoke gathering around him.

\"But still, you may yet find someone in the town with the wanderlust, as you call it, of old. There is the trade caravan gone to the Shire, for example.\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] The woman suddenly sits forward, shifting so that her back is no longer against the wall, taking a sudden interest. \"Yes, I\'ve heard of that,\" she says in a low tone. \"Is that very far? Is the route dangerous? It\'s a hobbit village, right? Why would Breelanders risk trade there?\"

Lucille enters the Common Room through the open doorway.

Lucille has arrived.

[Frarin] Frarin looks first surprised, then mildly amused at the woman\'s reaction to his mention of the trading expedition to the Shire. His brows come together and he gives an amused shake of his head. \"Risk trade there?\" he repeats with a silent snort. \"The road to the Shire is not exactly akin to the Wilderland, lass. The most dangerous part of the route is the Old Forest, on the eastern edge of the Shire, and that is far from the most dangerous wood in this Middle Earth.\"

Still shaking his head, the dwarf shrugs also, puffing on his pipe. \"As for why they do there, I would think that evident enough, though you are new to these parts as you say. But the Shire is very similar in wants and interests to Bree, even if the halfings there would not admit as much. They dislike Outsiders even more than this town. You seem very interested, though. If you want to see hobbits, they prefer the village of Staddle to Bree itself. Though Bree\'s mayor is a hobbit, and a very well to-do one, as he\'ll no doubt be happy to tell you.\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"No, you mistake me,\" Cordelia answers with a slight shake of her head. She\'s sitting on a bench with a table before her and a wall behind her--and not a bowl or a mug in front of her. \"I\'ve seen hobbits here and there in this town. It\'s not curiosity that drives me, but wanting to know where there\'s a living to be had. Perhaps there\'s some sort of good or trade that these hobbits lack that I could see to bring them. But I wouldn\'t know without knowing them better. And the human Breelanders, as well. If I\'m to fit in here and earn some sort of living, I need to know what they lack.\"

[Frarin] \"Ah,\" says the dwarf, nodding with understanding now. \"Well, that is something else entirely. I\'m afraid the Shire does not take kindly to non-Shirefolk. I have never been myself, but it is my understanding that they dislike Outsiders even less than Bree. Your best hope is here in the town.\" Tapping his pipe against his lips, Frarin takes a moment to consider. \"The town is not especially wealthy. Gems and precious metals have little of a market here. But leather, working tools, pipeweed, perhaps carved crafts and the like, those might fetch a good price.\"

\"Your best chance of business would likely be to trade between Bree and its outlying towns. There is little else unless you are willing to travel far to the south or east.\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"And that I can\'t do alone,\" Cordelia says, nodding slowly to the dwarf\'s advice. \"It\'s not safe for a woman by herself,\" she says, then adds in a hurry, \"which is why I usually try to find some sort of employment with whatever group of traveling peddlers I happen upon these days. I can cook, for instance. And mend clothes. And I know how to tend horses and I\'m not afraid of hard work.\"

Lucille enters quietly, or tries to. As she steps into the nearly empty room, one of the small bundles in her arms slips and clatters to the ground. It did not sound breakable, but it certainly sounded heavy. She glances down to the bundle, eyes narrowing as if accusing it of doing it on purpose. She bends, picks it up, and tucks it back into her arms.

Luci walks directly toward the bar, nodding to the man standing there and murmuring to him while pointing to the back room. The barkeep sets down the mug and cleaning rag in his hand, offers the young girl a grin before looking around the room. Satisfied there are no new patrons needing his attention, he disappears into the back room.

[Cordelia(#1394)] A cat that had been lazing in a sunny spot on the floor goes skittering across the room with a hiss as Luci\'s bundle thuds on the floor.

[Frarin] The dwarf eyes the woman for a moment, absently drawing from his pipe and releasing a hazy smoke ring. \"Do I sense a desire to join up with our company?\" he says with a knowing glances. \"I do not deny that we have lost quite a few of our number in the previous season, but it is not the custom of the dwarves to travel with those not of our kind. Not unless we are bound for the same destination and the company is only sensible.\"

He opens his mouth as if to say more, but the clatter of a dropping bundle brings his attention away from Cordelia and towards another woman who has just entered upon the common room. Lips pursing around the stem of his pipe, Frarin frowns, especially when she begins pointing towards to the back of the room as she converses with the barkeep. But for the time, he says nothing.

Aaron enters the Common Room through the open doorway.

Aaron has arrived.

[Cordelia(#1394)] \"Well, of course I want...\" Cordelia starts to answer the dwarf. As he turns, though, she drops whatever it is she was going to say, instead watching in the same direction as the dwarf.

Lucille turns as she hops up on one of the stools at the bar, setting her bundles on its top. It seems practiced, as if the girl has been doing this very routine for a long time. Resting one elbow against the bar, looking a little bored, she lets her gaze pass over the room. At the sight of the woman and dwarf, she offers an awkward smile.

The dwarf looks familiar, then she smiles wider. He is one of the ones from the healing house! She hops from the stool and makes her way over to their table. \"Its good t\'see you up and about, Master Dwarf.\" She turns then to the lady and nods, \"Im sorry for interruptin\'.. I haven\' seen him since he left and wanted to say hello.\" She offers a hand, \"Im Luci.\"

[Henry(#24624)] A short squat man lumbers into the Common Room. Sitting down, he bangs on the table rudely. His eyes are hard and his mouth is set in a frown as he takes some items from his pocket. Then, he bangs on the table again and shouts in a gruff voice, \"\'Ey! How \'bout some ale over here? I\'m parched!\"

[Lucille(#1660)] A barmaiden jumps from wiping down one of the tables, hurrying over to take the order of the particularly loud man. The barkeep is still gone in the backroom after speaking quietly with Lucille, but the maiden waits. \"Ale, sir? Would ye be needin\' anythin\' else t\'day?\"

[Cordelia(#1394)] It takes a heartbeat, perhaps: Cordelia\'s glance goes from the girl\'s face to her extended hand, as if she is weighing whether or not it\'s safe to shake. Then she smiles, though it\'s a cautious expression. \"Cordi,\" she says, taking the offered hand. \"Are folks always like that?\" Her head inclines toward the loud customer.

[Frarin] Frarin beholds the newest-arrived woman for a moment, frowning as she seems to register recognition of him. But soon a similar recognition dawns upon him and he inclines his head a fraction of a inch. \"Good day, lass,\" he says. \"You are one of the healers up at the House, are you not? I hope you will forgive me for seeking refuge here?\" And then, gesturing towards the two crutches leaning against the side of his table, he gives a half-smile. \"I assure you I will not get far.\"

He glances up at the arrival of the short man and his prompt call for drink. \"This is an inn, lass,\" says the dwarf, looking back to Cordelia. \"It is a loud place at its busiest. A pint of ale and a good song or two never goes astray.\"

Lucille smiles brightly, nodding to the dwarf at his recognition. \"I am. And it\'s so good t\'see you up and about. I have visited the House only a few times since you were awake, each time ya seemed so much better. Im sure it gets bored layin\' there all th\'time, so I think it\'s good ya got out.\" Luci spares only a brief glance to the loud man, as if she were used to the bustle and noise.

The barkeep is still gone from the room, presumably in the back.

Cordelia slips off the bench as Lucille\'s attention focuses on the dwarf. She doesn\'t leave any money at the table, but then she had no food or drink in front of her. A nod is silently given to the dwarf and the girl--whether or not they see it is another matter. Then she makes her way out of the common room.

[Henry(#24624)] The man looks up at the maiden and his frown becomes more deepset. \"Just ale,\" he says quietly, looking the girl up and down, \"But git me a pint! I can\'t have no cups! And make sure it\'s really cold, too!\" Turning away from the barmaid, he takes this chance to survey the room. His gaze falls hard upon the dwarf, and he gives a stiff nod. \"I am not loud, I \'ssure you! Just in the mood for a good pint of ale! Give me a couple drinks and I could start a rousing chorus!\"

[Lucille(#1660)] The barmaid gives the man a wide-eyed look, nodding as he barks his order. She tucks the dingy cleaning rag into her apron and turns on her heels to go fetch his drink.

Frarin gives an appreciative nod to Lucille as she smiles at him. \"Well then, my thanks, lass,\" he says. \"Indeed, I am better now, though my hip is yet to fully heal. It may be some months more before I walk without support, but I will be gone from Bree by then, so you need not worry over my fate.\" He says this with another half-smile before his attention is again stolen by the man at the counter.

\"Indeed, I do not doubt, Master,\" says Frarin as the man addresses him, and he gives Henry an amused look. \"Will you give us a rousing chorus all alone though, I wonder?\"

[Lucille(#1660)] The barkeep returns from the backroom, a small cube-shaped package is bound with twine and simple brown coverings. He holds it up to get Lucille\'s attention, and when she nods to him he places it with the rest of her things. Eyeing the louder man (that he no doubt heard from the back), he picks up the packages left at the bar by Luci and places them underneath and out of sight.

Lucille nods a farewell to the lady as she goes then turns her attention to the dwarf and the man. Helping herself to an empty seat, her heels prop against the underside of the legs. \"Whether yer here or gone again, I\'ll wonder how ya are. All of yer kin. I know ya helped keep somethin\' away from here. And though I dont know what it was, you can be sure you have my thanks.\"

[Lucille(#1660)] The barmaid returns with a large mug of frothy ale. She walks slow, careful to not spill and sets it on the table in front of the man. She stands, waiting silently by the table.

[Henry(#24624)] Taking a sip of ale, Henry smiles and turns to the barmaid. All of the hardness is gone as he reveals a set of browned teeth, shouting, \"Here is the best ale I\'ve tasted in weeks! You ain\'t nearly so bad as I took ya to be lass. Now, why don\'t you go get more, now there\'s a good lass, and I\'ll give ya something in return!\" Then, taking another sip of ale, he turns to Lucille and says, \"Wha\' was that? Somethin\' bad \'round here?

[Frarin] The dwarf\'s brows lift slightly at Lucille\'s thanks and he frowns, but he is quiet a moment before replying. \"Then you are wiser than many of your folk, lass,\" he says quietly. \"But thank you for your help, and your gratitude.\" He has no chance to say more though, for the man at the bar is once again shouting. \"Not anymore, Master,\" Frarin says absently, neither kind nor perturbed, though perhaps with a hint of weariness on the subject. \"But then, there never was. Bree is ever safe from the evils that afflict the Outside, is it not? It is unusually blessed in that respect.\"

Lucille stands from the table, and reaches out to touch the dwarf on the shoulder. She does not normally reach out to those she does not know, but to someone who risked his life for perfect strangers should, at the very least, have a friendly pat on the shoulder. Smiling at his compliment she murmurs, \"Be well Master dwarf.\"

She turns then and approaches the bar. Wordlessly the barkeep fetches her things and hands them over. After a moment of shuffling the packages around, satisfied of their position, she looks to the man. She says nothing, for the dwarf had answered better than she could have. She grins thinly and calls a farewell to the barkeep and barmaid as the woman rushes past again, telling the \'keep of the man\'s order. Lucille goes the way she came, only this time no package is spilt.

[Henry(#24624)] Henry nods and finishes his ale. Belching loudly, he looks over to the dwarf and laughs, perhaps a bit drunk. \"We do like our privacy, and aren\'t always fond of some visitors. Not to say you. You dwarves are my greatest customers, but...them tall men is always makin\' me feel uncomfortable.\"

[Frarin] \"You as well, lass,\" says Frarin, nodding after Lucille as the woman makes for the door. That seems to suit the dwarf just as fine, for he drains the last of his beer and pushes the tankard away. Holding his smoking pipe between his teeth, he takes up his two crutches and slips the twine loops about his wrists. With apparent effort, he heaves himself to his feet.

\"Well, we are always glad to oblige, Master,\" Frarin nods to the man as he hobbles awkwardly for the door. \"Enjoy your ale. I take my leave before the crowds arrive, but no doubt you\'ll have that rousing chorus soon.\" And with that, he is gone, leaving only the sweet smell of pipeweed lingering behind.

[Henry(#24624)] Henry belches once more. \"G\'day to you then, Master Dwarf,\" he replies before lumbering off towards another table and joining in converse with a group of fellow merchants.