An errand runner

Breelands Weather

The dawn summer air is very hot and dry around you. The night sky is clear with only slight wisps of clouds overhead.

Bree\'s Healing House - Front Yard

In front of the healing house is a narrow cobble stone walkway that wends its way to the double front doors of Bree\'s Healing House. On one side of the path is a yard filled with lush green grass and a rambling rose garden, while on the other side are neat rows of medical herbs, each one clearly labeled with a little sign. Along the cobble stone path are two benchs for guests to sit upon - one for human guests, and the other for hobbit guests. A small brass plaque on the front of the Healing House reads: \"HEALING HOUSE OF BREE - NO WEAPONS ALLOWED\"

Contents:

Tamhill

Obvious exits:

Healing House and Out

[Frarin] The lengthening shadows bring some relief to the hot town this evening and the thin haze of clouds above lend some cover from the sun, but the air is still dry and crackling, still just as potent even if the daylight is beginning to fade. Supper time is only just done with and the sun has only just begun its descent into the west, but the heat of day is at least on its way out. As far out as an August night can go, that is.

Whether it be the heat or the recent mealtime, Bree is relatively quiet this evening. The market is still moderately busy perhaps, but up towards the hobbit Smials and the north of Bree there is only some sleepy activity.

One of those out of doors this eve, however, is neither hobbit nor human, but dwarf. Clad in a white robe, oddly offset by the heavy black boots protruding from beneath, Frarin son of Forli is seated on the shorter of the two benches in the front yard of the Healing House of Bree. Beside him is propped a walking stick and on the bench is a crumpled green tunic. Another tunic, this one red, is spread across his lap. The dwarf sits very gently, seeming to make an effort to keep his torso still, and his left arm is held in a sling. But the fingers of the broken arm hold fast to the garment in his lap, while his unharmed right arm pulls a needle and thread up from it.

[Tamhill(#32501)]

A young, thin, dirty, familar scamp of a human lad skips into the yard of the Healing Houses, carrying his ever presant staff. Tamhill pauses in the warm evening light, the heat of the day doing little to wilt a youth\'s enthusiasm, and looks around. It does not take but a moment for his young, changeable eyes to land upon the white garbed, short, stout, bearded form of Frarin.

The lad\'s face brightens and he changes his course to intercept the bench Frarin sits upon, working on his mending.

\"Heard some\'o yas folk ha\' returned ta town!\"

[Frarin] Up the needle and string come, tugging with practiced patience through the worn red fabric, then down again, Frarin\'s eyes flicking intently to inspect his work. Through the material the needle goes again, then--But the dwarf\'s attention is distracted for a minute as the sound of the lad entering the yard brings his gaze up. For a moment, Frarin\'s face is only curious about the disturbance to the quiet evening, but then the curious lad\'s voice pipes up. The silver merchant\'s expression does not grow stony, but it sharpens slightly, one might even say he smirks.

\"Oh, you,\" he grumbles, dropping his glance again to pull the needle up a second time. \"Did you?\" he continues in response to Tamhill\'s exclamation, not looking up again. \"Well there are not nearly so many of us for your entertainment this time. Only those too sick to do anything worse than mending.\"

[Tamhill(#32501)]

The ever curious lad cocks his head, almost bird-like, and watches the man ... or rather Dwarf, doing his mending, \"Why ya do\'n that? Woman\'s work. Folk rich as yas could buy a new tunic at th\' market.\"

Not waiting to be invited, no not in the least, the boy plops down in the dusty path in the middle of the garden here where he can watch Frarin. The human lad studies the Khazad as though there were nothing else in the entire town half as interesting. \"Where yas come from, anyhow? I never seen no folk like yas \'til ya shown up. An\' how come ya all beat up so? Some folk t\'ink thar be trolls \'bout but that\'s just silly talk, says me pa.\"

[Frarin] Frarin\'s eyes flick up from his work as the lad plunks down on the path before him. Then the needle is pulled through again. \"I\'ve been mending my own clothing since long before you, Master Lad,\" he rumbles, adding the \'master\' without even a flicker of a glance to suggest any fondness. \"And if you know any tailor in Bree who makes a tunic larger than a hobbit and smaller than a man, then you know more than I.\"

At the lad\'s continuing questions, however, Frarin\'s needle hand does slow and he glances up. \"Have you never seen a dwarf? Well now you have, for that is I. And my home is far from here, away to the east, with great plains and mountains and forests between.\"

The barrage of queries continue and the silver merchant halts his work entirely, dropping his good arm into his lap and beholding the boy with a mock look of exasperation. \"You ask a lot of questions, young lad. If I told you that I tripped, would that satisfy your curiosity?\"

[Tamhill(#32501)]

The boy is unphased. Scrubbing a hand through his overlong, disobedient dark hair, he frowns, \"Any clothman in th\' market could make ya a tunic made ta fit. Don\' ha\' ta settle fir someth\'n already made.\" The lad\'s indignant voice is toned as though even a Dwarf outlander should know that - if he has coin to spring for such a service.

To the rest, Tamhill just shrugs, shifting his staff to lay over his crossed legs in his lap, \"I seen a few Dwarfs before, pass\'n through. But I never got ta talks ta any \'fore.\"

There is a mischievious gryn to the last, however, \"Na, you na fell down! Ya get gored by a deer, I bet.\" There is bright amusement in the lad\'s youthful face at that most cheery thought.

[Frarin] \"I have better things to do than be measured for a new tunic,\" the dwarf grumbles in reply, resuming his needlework with a grunt. \"And better things to spend my money on. An armoursmith would be more helpful than a tailor.\"

Frarin\'s glance spares a moment for Tamhill as he mentions his limited interaction with dwarves. \"Well then,\" says the merchant, still working, \"you must be the envy of the town, young master. The proud lad who gets to talk with the mad dwarves. And what do you think of us then, beyond how deep our pockets go, mm?\"

The dwarf\'s heavy brows rise at Tamhill\'s amusement though, and a deep frown might imply he does not share the boy\'s mirth, except that it seems more kindly than not. \"Very well, I was gored by a deer then. Antlers have a nasty habit of breaking bones and not skin, after all.\"

[Tamhill(#32501)]

Probably for lack of other trouble to get into at the moment, the boy listens with something between half interest and half boredom. But he keeps returning his attention to -looking- at Frarin with more visual interest than verbal.

Still, the lad shrugs, \"Dunno any armoursmith in town. Me Pa, he\'s the town smith an\' he does iron. Nails, horse shoes, pot hooks, hinges \'n such.\"

As for envy of the town, Tamhill laughs, \"Don\'t be silly. Noboby envy me nutt\'n.\"

Frarin\'s last though pauses the youth to look at the dwarf more closely, \"T\'wasn\'t a wild boar, was it? I hear th\' can be someth\'n fearful.\"

[Frarin] The boy\'s mention of his father brings Frarin\'s working hand to a halt again and he looks up with interest. \"Nails and horse shoes?\" he repeats with a half snort, shaking his head. \"I need to repair chain mail, boy, not hinges. You ask your pa if he knows that sort of smithying, or else I\'ll do it myself once I\'m able.\"

As Tamhill continues to question about the source of Frarin\'s injury, the dwarf\'s frown deepens and his eyes narrow. \"It was trouble, is that enough to know? And it was my own trouble, not yours. And I\'m here now, not there. That\'s all you need to know.\" Perhaps the dwarf\'s attitude of doom and gloom has had a change since his last visit to Bree.

[Tamhill(#32501)]

Getting to his feet, the lad dusts off his own bottom and then leans on his staff, screwing up his young, dirty face still in need of much washing, \"Chain mail? Wha\'s that?\" Clearly, the boy has no idea and hasn\'t perhaps even heard the term before. So he shrugs his thin shoulders and says confidently, \"Pa can fix almost any t\'ang made o\' metal.\" Whether that is true or not.

To the Dwarf\'s gloomy mutter, the boy continues undaunted but he does move off a few steps, glancing around the garden for signs of anyone else about, \"Well, yas need somebody ta run ya errands \'bout town, ya know yas kin call on, right?\"

And there is a that flash of a grin again, \"If\'n ya still ha\' coin ta pay wit\', I\'m ya lad.\"

[Frarin] \"Mm,\" Frarin murmurs at the lad\'s boasting of his father\'s skill, neither questioning nor agreeing with the statement. \"Chain mail\'s what does the protecting when I\'m not safe -\" the word is said with a hint of sarcasm \"- in a comfortable town.\"

The lad\'s grin, however, brings an odd, dry smile to Frarin\'s lips. It is small and lopsided, pulling at only one corner of his mouth, but genuinely it would seem. \"And what errands do you think I have to run? I am a mad dwarf outwith his usual company and able enough only to mend a tunic. There is no one here who would seek a message from me.\" But the mention of coin does seem to remind the silver merchant of something.

\"But mayhap I\'ll find something for you to do. I trust you delivered my first errand after my departure, hm?\" he says with an interrogative glance. \"The earring? You delivered it to the hobbit at the inn or Mayor Torebras?\"

[Tamhill(#32501)]

Tamhill has nothing to add in comment or reply to the Dwarf\'s first two rumblings, either about the chain mail or Frarin\'s need of message or errand running. But to the latter, the boy hesitates, trying to remember what the other might have asked him to do.

\"Earring?\" The boy blinks, and then suddenly he looks guilty and his face flushes, \"Oh that! Ehm, well, actually...\" The youth eases off a few steps, \"Well, yas see, I think I forgot \'bout it.\" And then he gives a hint of that smile again, but warily this time, eyeing the dwarf.

[Frarin] Frarin\'s brows rise at the lad\'s sudden guilt and wariness. Tilting his head forward in a disapproving manner, the dwarf eyes Tamhill with a hard stare. \"Forgot, is it?\" he says, dropping his needle and wagging a finger at the youth. \"And you want to be my errand runner? Let me tell you, when I put down money, I expect to see a task done, boy. Your pa never teach you about business, hm?\"

He continues to glare at the boy. \"Have you got the earring still even? Or have you gone and lost it? I\'ll hand it to Master Torebras myself if you\'ve not lost track of it. And have my money back to boot,\" he adds with a grumble.

[Tamhill(#32501)]

Careful to stay well out of the injured Dwarf\'s reach now, the scamp eyes Frarin with wariness, \"My Pa teach me nutt\'n bu\' that he has a temper\'n a hard hand ta stay way from!\" Suddenly sullen, the lad changes his grip on his staff to both hands defensively, jutting out his chin at Frarin, young eyes of indeterminate color glaring right back, \"An\' ya kin tell\'m wha\' ya like, I don\' care. Tha\' be an overused threat, anyways.\"

But to the last, the boy frowns, checked, \"I ha\' it. Safe place. I just forgot.\" It might be the truth, even. Or not. Tamhill licks his lips, \"I aint never seen no gold \'fore. I just want\'d ta look o\' it a while.\" Then a small hesitation as the boy thinks on it, perhaps thinking not on the trouble this stranger might make for him, but Torebras is the Mayor of Town.

The lad sighs, \"I kin go find it.\" He eyes the dwarf a moment, that hint of fey, rebellious attitude coming back to him, \"If\'n I do it, ya let me do other errands?\" The boy adds quickly, \"I know everyth\'n that goes on in town!\"

[Frarin] No look of kindness returns to Frarin\'s face, but the hard glare relaxes a little at the youth\'s sullen words about his father. Whatever the dwarf may think of the town smith, however, he does not say. \"Never seen gold before?\" he repeats, grumbling. \"Well now you have, and for nearly a month, no less. You be an honest lad and do what you were paid to do, now you\'ve had your fill of looking. You\'re nearly ten, aye? Well, you\'ll never get an ounce of respect if you slack in your duty, mind that.\"

The dwarf\'s chin pokes out, lifting his beard out from his chest, as he beholds the boy awhile longer. \"Aye, you go and find it. Don\'t think I won\'t check to see it\'s been delivered. You do that good and honest, and I\'ll pay you to run my errands.\"

And as if to prove his point, Frarin takes up the faded green tunic from the bench beside him. He thrusts it out towards the lad. \"First you can take that to a tailor. I won\'t be marching around to get measured up, but if he can make a tunic that size, it\'ll suit fine until I return to my home.\"

[Tamhill(#32501)]

Biting his lower lip, the lad listens to Frarin but there is distrust in his eyes, watching the Dwarf - especially handing out the tunic. Is that a trap to lure him closer for a beating?

Careful, the lad edges only near enough to hold out the tip of his staff to snag the tunic upon it, if Frarin will allow, \"I kin do that. What color cloth ya be want\'n? Tailor, he be want\'n ta know that ya will pay \'im.\"

The rest of it the boy edges back again and bites his lower lip again, then nods, \"I do it. Both.\"

[Frarin] Frarin\'s frown deepens at Tamhill\'s continued wariness and with an impatient grunt, the dwarf tosses the tunic towards the youth before his outreached staff can snag it. \"I do not bite,\" he says with the same impatience. \"No matter what your fellow Breefolk might say, dwarves lay hand only to our enemies. And you certainly are not one of those.\"

\"Tell the tailor green, nothing fancy. And dark, so as to blend with the wild better.\" Pausing, Frarin seems to mull something over for a moment. Then he adds, grumbling voice lower than before. \"And there is also this, if some strange news comes to Bree, you are to let me know as soon as possible, understand? Whether one of my own kin arrives or one of the wild men you know of or some disturbance, I want to know of it as soon as it happens.\"

[Tamhill(#32501)]

Catching the tunic on his staff and not letting it touch the dusty ground to become further soiled, the boy nods sollumly, \"Aye, I kin do that... an I good watch\'n out for folk \'n talk.\"

Tamhill eases back and then smiles thinly, a bit of his sudden wariness evaporated, \"I go now!\" His enthusism rekindling, \"I\'ll be back fast, wit\' wha\' th\' tailor he say. Then go look... \" but then he frowns, \"Mayor, he went ta Combe me thinks I hear. Bu\' I kin go \'n see if he be back yet.\"

And not waiting to see if this is all agreeable to Frarin, the boy turns on his toe and starts to dart off to eagerly set forth with something more interesting to do than sulk about in the day\'s remaining heat.