(Archive) - A Ghost in Dol Amroth

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Weather: Clear

Time: Dawn

Season: Spring

Date: Sterday - May 5, 3021

Real Time: Sun Sep 17 21:26:32 2000

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*Note - log supplied by Drenlyn*

Dol Amroth: Prince\'s Castle - Hanging Gardens

A burst of verdure tucked in the space between the citadel to the north and the cliffs leading down to the sea on the south and west. The Gardens are surrounded by a slightly raised terrace, in which grow trees of all sizes and descriptions, from magnificent ancient lebethron to youthful rowan, their boughs and branches overhanging the periphery of the garden. Interspersed in the interior are massive chiseled cubes upon which rest pillars as tall as the trees while smooth stone arches between. Plants and vines spill from these arches in green cascades, birds and insects flitting among them. Sparse grass clings to the ground under this canopy, unable to grow thicker in the shadows beneath.

Though there are lanterns here, attached cunningly to the columns so that they do not show when unlit, they do little to brighten a place that Yavanna has claimed for her own. Insects hover about the flames, and small pools of light are indeed created, but they are insignificant in the vast, leafy darkness of the Gardens. Vaster at night, as they vanish into the shadows, leaving only the trickling sound of the water running in channels through the archways, the rustle of leaves, and the distant crash of surf on rocks.

The Sun is rising glorious red and gold in the east, with birds twittering asthe early risers greet the day. There is not a cloud in the sky..The sky is clear and the air is cool and fresh...

Contents:

Laenor

Gweneth

Obvious exits:

Archway

Laenor meanders into the gardens from the citadel. He steps towards the cliffs, faintly ignoring all else around him. His gaze traverses down the steep wall to the surf below, as he stands precariously at the cliff\'s edge. The updrafts from the crashing surf cause a slight wind, enough to splay his hair back behind him.

The wind carries a sound with it, a weeping hangs barely audible in the air. As the breeze dies, so too, does the sound, leaving the gardens once more silent. A true silence, there is no sound of rustling leaves, no crickets or bugs and once more, no breeze...

Laenor first dismisses the sound as part of the crashing waves, his suspicions seemed to be confirmed by the sound dying with the wind. His gaze traces the cliff edge, and spots the source of the sound from a cliff edge further down from him. He takes a few steps closer, taking care not to startle the other onlooker of the surf. Waiting for another lull in the wind, he calls out gently, \"Hello there!\"

Even as the young man calls out over the cliff, a voice sound unannounced from behind him, \"Are you hiding from him too?\" A young girl, around eight to ten years of age looks wide-eyed up at Laenor. She wears an aged dressed, preserved well, perhaps a family heirloom. Her hair is done up in a braid, her ebony locks hanging down her back.

Laenor almost takes a step back before he realizes how close he is to the precipice by the sudden wide-eyed look he returns to the girl as he swings around. He side-steps instead to divert himself, and his expression turns to one of deep concern, \"Who is it you are hiding from?\"

The girl, her expression completely somber, \"From the man in the wardrobe.\" She glances behind her shoulder quickly, then looks back at Laenor, her dark red lips contrasting harshly with her ghostly pale skin. If she sees or hears Drenlyn, she shows it not.

Laenor lowers his body to one knee to be able to look the girl directly in the eye. He maintains a concerned expression upon his brow and deep eyes show it purely, \"What has this man done to you?\"

The young girl tilts her head in confusion, as if never really considering the question before, \"He hasn\'t done anything to me,\" she pauses, her eyes lowering to the ground, \"Yet.\"

Listening to this exchange intently, Drenlyn\'s jovial features dim into a stern look of reflection.

Still towering of the two, Drenlyn interjects, \"But pray tell who this man is dear girl, and why you fear him?\"

Laenor smiles knowingly, \"Well, that is good, then.\" He pauses a brief moment and sighs to Drenlyn as he approaches. His eyes squint at the squire for a moment, half angry that he interjected so strongly, but he quickly turns his attention back to the young girl, \"Yes, the squire shares my thoughts, what are you afraid he will do to you?\"

For the first time, the girl takes notice of the squire, frowning at him, \"He\'s the man in the wardrobe, silly.\" Looking back to Laenor, she answers him as well, \"And I don\'t know what he would do to me. He\'s very lonely and gets awfully angry at me when I leave him alone. I think he would hurt me for leaving him alone,\" her eyes widen a bit, her face filling with fear.

Drenlyn eyes the girl carefully as his lips tighten in silence. A puzzled look sweeps over his face as he gazes intently at the girl, \"But where is this wardrobe that you speak of, and must you go back there to face this man?\"

Laenor gradually places a soothing hand on Gweneth\'s shoulder, ready to pull away if she responds negatively. He smiles brightly, \"You have myself and the squire here to protect you. You are safe and have nothing to fear.\" He turns to Drenlyn for a moment to ensure the truth in his statement. He begins to ask Gweneth a question, but lets her answer Drenlyn first.

\"Nothing to fear?\" The young girl\'s eyes widen even more so, her voice lowering to a near whisper, \"But you cannot protect me from the man in the wardrobe. No one can. That is why I have to hide, otherwise he\'ll get me.\" She turns and looks back towards the entrance of the garden\'s, \"You should hide too... he may hurt you if he sees you with me. He might think you stole me from him.\"

Laenor purses his lips and looks the young girl over, then back into her eyes, \"I will take my chances with him, but I won\'t let him hurt you. When did you last see him?\"

Still gazing at the girl intently, Drenlyn nods at this apparently traveled man\'s question and adds, \"I too will face this demon of a man if he comes, and will fight to my last breath to make sure that you are unharmed.\"

There is naught out of order with her than when she first appeared behind Laenor, though upon closer note, her wrists and neck are lightly bruised as if she had been bound or hung from them some time ago. Other than that, she appears fine. \"See him?\" she questions, again surprised at his question, \"I\'ve never seen him. You can\'t see through a wardrobe, silly.\"

Laenor licks his lips again and inclines his head, \"If you have never seen him, how do you know he is there?\"

Nodding to his companion\'s question Drenlyn adds, \"And still my dear girl, where is this Wardrobe?\"

\"He comes out..\" her head falls a bit, \"When he\'s mad.\" She pauses a moment, mumbling her answer to Drenlyn, \"In my room... silly.\"

Laenor ponders the next question carefully for a moment, as he sits back, wrapping his arms around his now upright legs, and invites the young girl to do the same. He asks after getting comfortable on the ground, \"Has he ever been mad at you?\"

The young girl digs her toe into the ground, \"Yeah... when I was bad.\" Her head then shoots up as if hearing something and looks back to the garden entrance. She shrieks in utter horror and runs from where the two men sit, her eyes fixed on the empty arch of the entrance, towards the back, walled area of the hanging gardens.

Laenor jumps immediately to a standing position at the shriek, preparing to defend himself, turning towards the garden entrance. Not being trained or equipped, he drops into a fully defensive stance. Upon seeing nothing, he relaxes greatly and walks slowly towards the girl, but maintains his distance. He asks softly after some time, \"Did you see him?\"

The girl darts to and fro between the trees and soon disappears behind a trio of trees lined up side by side, their trunks forming a sort of wall, darkness shadowed beyond them. Her shrieks stop as she disappears from sight...

Then at once they start up again, utter terror filled in her screams. Sobs mix with her horror... then there is sickening sound. Similar to a blade slicing into a bag of water. Her screams intensify, then again, the cutting sound again, this time a grating sound similar to a blade on bone... but surely it could not be. The young girl\'s voice grows softer, choking now on something, tear probably... then silence...

The gardens are as they were, no breeze, no bugs, no sound. The whole thing lasted perhaps only ten seconds of total horror, and now there is nothing... it is almost serene.

Laenor runs as fast as he can to her screaming as she disappears amid the grove. He does not arrive there until just after the screaming stops, and he darts in between the trees. He frantically stops at every tree, looking up and down to see where she may have run to, but soon walks away from the set of trees, completely aghast and perplexed. He does not take notice of Drenlyn and walks out of the garden in a daze.

Turning quickly to his companion with a look of horror, Drenlyn begins to speak but stops. Quickly he runs in the direction that the gruesome sounds had come from. Betting between bushes and trees, Drenlyn searches for the girl frantically. A look of sheer disappointment overwhelms his face, as Drenlyn rushes off towards the Knight\'s Tower.