Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Apr 17, 2024 16:20:48 GMT -5
Telperos:
After breakfast, he led them to the well. He and Auros stared down into it.
Telperos' voice echoed back up at them. "As you can see, the walls further down are stone, but up here, it was all wood. If we're careful, I think we can pull up the broken planks before they slide further down, and maybe even recover the bucket."
Auros stepped back from the edge. "It's as bad as an orc-hole."
"Aye."
"I suppose it would take too long to try and dig at it from the side."
"If you brought a shovel you think could do the job in less than week, by all means, I'll do the digging myself. There are none here, and yes, that surprised me as well."
"Oh well, there's nothing for it. Give me a rope and tie the other end—"
"You're not the one going down there, my friend."
"It'll go faster if—"
"Someone needs to go through those manuscripts, and you're the one who knows what you're looking for. I just hope you know how to read them."
Auros grimaced. "So do I."
"Go ahead. The four of us can handle this."
Auros looked around. "Very well." Off Auros went to the cellar.
"Well, now that he's gone, we need a sentry in the tower, one person to climb down into the well and pass things up, and two people to secure the rope and grab what's passed up." Telperos stretched his arms and legs, a wry grin on his face. "When was the last time any of you went caving?"
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Feb 8, 2024 23:26:22 GMT -5
Auros:
"Aye, let's do that. After breakfast, our first order of business will be to assess the damage to the well."
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Jan 28, 2024 12:05:49 GMT -5
Auros:
"Rise and shine!" The sizzle and scent of meat filled the room as Telperos kicked the boots of the sleepers. "Our captain has agreed to permit our gracious hosts to supply us with some cured ham, so eat up and prepare to face the day! Alas, the eggs weren't in such good condition."
Auros sat by the window, staring into the streets filling with daylight. He hadn't bothered waking Fourth Watch. The quiet of that hour was the perfect time to reflect, and he had much to reflect on. He didn't notice Telperos until he was ready to nudge a plate into his arm. "Here, eating means you too. I found a decent enough plate for myself in the food stores."
"Thanks." The ham was salty, but it was hot, and there was a chill in the air. "Perhaps I should've asked last night, but have you found any water while you've been here?"
"Yes and no. There is a cistern the orcs used, that I wouldn't drink from on a bet, and a deeper well that seems to tap into much cleaner water. The only problem is it was of rather shoddy construction and I broke it when I threw an orc against it the day before yesterday. I don't think it collapsed completely, and we should be able to clear it and make it usable again."
Auros sighed. "Very well. That needs to be a priority. We also need someone on watch for anyone approaching."
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Oct 6, 2023 8:50:01 GMT -5
Happy 26th Anniversary!
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Sept 2, 2023 21:39:28 GMT -5
Auros:
A low voice carried in the night, sounding the notes of the high-elven tongue. "It's not even halfway through second watch and you already stir. Do you actually sleep or do you just pretend to set others at ease?"
Auros stood up, pushing himself off from the wall against which he'd perched, answering in the same tongue. "It depends on my mood. How do things look?"
Telperos shook his head. "There's nothing out there, at least not orcs. If you want to see it, you're still too early."
Auros leaned against the wall next to the window, a watchful eye focused on Telperos. "What is this thing? Surely no shade of the Atani could have you so concerned?"
Telperos glanced up at Auros, the look of someone hunted again flashing in his eyes. "One of the Atani? I don't think so. It's... some watchful presence that wanders the city. I have not before met its like. I do not fear the dark, or the foul things that creep under its cover, but I find this thing unsettling, as if it bears a fate I should not wish upon my worst enemy; a fate that, but for different choices, I could have borne. You've ventured to enter places ill-advised. Perhaps you've been unfazed by things that would make another's blood run cold. Perhaps this thing will mean nothing to you. I know not what binds it here, whether it haunts the city by its own will or anothers', but I almost pity it."
Auros nodded. He could see the earnestness in Telperos' face, hear it in his voice. "I suppose I'll have to judge for myself after all. What of our mission? What do you think?"
"I think you have your work cut out for you. Everything here looks prepared for a long sojourn. Perhaps the one who prepared it has some connection to the one you seek. Perhaps not. I hope we find something of use, but if it's here, I believe it's in that cellar." Telperos' mood lightened as he glanced up at Auros' hardened expression. "How is she?" Telperos pointed to the sword on Auros' right hip.
"Aldawë brought it to me."
"I see." Telperos frowned.
"I was going to see her, then something important came up."
"What could be more important ---" Telperos' scowl didn't even have time to form. "I'm sorry. Perhaps I shouldn't have set out again. It doesn't seem to have gone well for either of us."
"I made my decision, and you made yours. She would understand."
"She would've sent you after me. She would've come with you."
Auros smirked. "Indeed. Besides, I wouldn't say it's been ill fortune. You've found your father's trinket, and we've found you. I think we'll need all the help we can get before this mission is over."
Telperos glanced around the room, then took up the conversation in the Sindarin tongue. "Aye. I'll leave the cellar to you. I shall take Master Frali with me to the smithy in the morning, and we'll see if there's anything of import to be found. There's a tower in the center of town that should give an excellent view of the surrounding land. Someone positioned there should be able to see anyone coming from a distance. I don't think we'll need an archer up there, but that's up to you. I would suggest someone to --- wait. This is too early!" Telperos glared through the cracks in the shutter. "It's never come this early!"
Auros nudged Telperos out of the way. A menacing presence, a cloud of fog, poured through the street, lurching toward the guardhouse. Out of the cloud a form coalesced. One might consider it a fair visage, but something was off about it, something Auros couldn't discern until it drew closer. Auros could see the face, the eyes. It was fair, but hollow and cold. The warmth of life and the love of it had long since left those eyes, and all that shone in them now was a forlorn desire for what it could not have. The form halted before the door to the guardhouse. Recognition sparked in its eyes. It reached an arm towards the door, and the hand looked to be as firm as Auros' own. For a moment the missing warmth returned; only a moment. The hand flickered and faded. The warmth vanished as fast as it had come, and the hollow was filled with hatred and rejection. The visage twisted until it became as hideous as an orc's. The face screamed at the door, but no sound ushered forth. The face turned upwards and again took up a silent wail. The form faded back into the cloud, mouthing a curse for all living, and retreated down the street towards the cellar.
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Apr 5, 2023 5:30:23 GMT -5
Telperos:
Telperos looked upon the Dwarf. A feeling of unease settled upon him, though he kept his tone amiable. "I beg your pardon, Master Dwarf, but I think I shall hold onto it. I have not had much opportunity to examine it closer until now, and if there is some secret about it to unlock, I think I should like to do so myself."
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Jan 14, 2023 7:27:00 GMT -5
Auros:
Auros took a thoughtful pose as he looked out the window. "Well, I suppose it did lead him faithfully to one destination." He waited until he had everyone's attention before he turned back to the room. A wry grin formed as his eye caught a glimmer of moonlight. "Home."
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Oct 25, 2022 1:22:10 GMT -5
Telperos:
Telperos shrugged. "Repels? I suppose as much as anything Elvish unsettles orcs. We are supposing this trinket is the cause of the orcs avoiding this building, but not without cause. As for detecting distance and direction, I'm not sure it works quite so well as a compass. I've never seen my father use his in such a manner. Perhaps Auros knows something I do not."
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Oct 6, 2022 20:17:06 GMT -5
Happy 25th Anniversary!
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Aug 26, 2022 2:44:05 GMT -5
Telperos:
What virtue it may have, I do not know. My mother had it made some time before I was born, but until it was lost my father was seldom without it unless he was home. If indeed this is his, how it came here can only be guessed, save that someone found it and brought it here, and I doubt it was an Elf. As for what help it could give us..." A wry grin spread across Telperos' face. "I suspect a well-placed arrow will do more in that regard. Though, I say that without yet knowing our mission."
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Jun 18, 2022 6:17:14 GMT -5
Auros:
The gaps in the shutters gave Auros a view of the street they'd come down, and with the shutter slightly open, he could see down towards the end of the far wall. The fog seemed to be letting up; moonlight was having no problem illuminating the town. Auros let the others converse while he kept his focus outside. A clean plate flew at him. He caught it without turning to look and muttered a preoccupied "Hantal" before blinking as if waking up.
"Nothing happens until third watch." Telperos was looking at Auros.
Auros shot him a glare. "You could've said something sooner."
"You were going to put yourself on watch either way." Telperos had a slight grin.
"Fine. You'll be on second watch then. Frali, you get to have a full night's sleep tonight. What I'm really curious about is why this building, of all the town, is so relatively untouched. There's no orc scrawlings on the walls inside, and even the outside is fairly clean, as far as abandoned towns go. Are any of the other buildings in this good of condition?"
Telperos was silent for a moment. "Besides the few that seem to be in use by whoever is running things here, I don't believe so. The orcs didn't talk much about this building in particular, but they seemed to avoid it when they could. They've been in and out once or twice that I've seen, at least while looking for me, but never stayed longer than they had to."
"Hmm. I would've expected the guardhouses to be the worst off." Auros watched as a wry grin formed on Telperos' face. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you have a thought."
"Well, I don't want to say 'yes' or 'no', but if it has nothing to do with it, it's an amazing coincidence. Really, it's a rather amazing coincidence anyway."
Auros couldn't hold back an amused grin of his own. "Ok, Telperos, I admit it. You have me curious. What do you know?"
"Well..." Telperos got up and walked back to the chimney. Against the wall he loosened a stone, and behind that stone, in the pale moonlight that crept in through the gaps in the window and door, Auros saw a flash as something reflected. Telperos picked it up and brought it to Auros with a smirk. "What do you make of this?"
Auros turned the item over in his hands, scrutinizing it. After a moment, his eyes widened and he laughed. "Surely this cannot be! One like it perhaps, but not the same one?!" It was a small trinket of gold, shaped like a small box, with a hole on one side, and opposite that hole a sapphire set into it.
"Try it."
With no small amount of eagerness, Auros reached into a small pouch at his belt and retrieved his naltalma. Opening the window a little more to let more moonlight in, he held the trinket away and used the reflective surface to direct the moonlight through the hole in the trinket. A grin spread across his face as a blue light was cast upon the far wall in the shape of a Great Eagle.
"I would very much like to think this was Meneltir's, but I cannot imagine such fortune falling upon us after this long, and here of all places. Do you remember how long we searched the fields of Fornost?"
Telperos had a grin as he began to reminisce. "Very well. We found some coins of the realm, a woman's locket that had apparently been lost long before Fornost fell, a couple of rusted swords, and a Halfling's walking stick as well as other minutiae, but we never found that trinket from mother. Father was not pleased that it'd somehow fallen from him, but even he had to give up the search. Mother was less upset than he was."
"She was upset. Hirilaur hid it well. It was a war, after all. She had to accept it was gone. She knew if she didn't Meneltir and I would've gone back to find it."
"And that would've meant the rest of us." Telperos looked around for a moment as a subdued grin overtook him. "There are others who wouldn't have been pleased about you riding off again so soon, and I suppose father didn't want to incur any unnecessary wrath." Telperos' face turned somber. "It does seem to me to be of elvish make, and not an imitation by even the most skilled among the Dunedain. And yet, even if it is the very same gifted by mother to father, could something so small really have afforded such a blessing of safety upon this building?"
Auros sat in silence, thinking, turning the trinket over in his hands. "If it is your father's, then it's now yours by right. If not, you found it, and it's yours by right. Either way, I wish to take this as a good omen."
Telperos nodded as he accepted the trinket back from Auros. "For now at least, if by some grace it does provide us a haven, I would not move it."
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on May 1, 2022 7:25:04 GMT -5
Telperos:
"Hmm, favored weapon? It's hard to choose. They're all important in some way." He lay his sword across his lap. "This is Tangwestaro. My grandfather was the first to wield it in combat. It was given him by my grandmother's father in acknowledgement of my grandfather's and grandmother's troth, a clasp to bind the union of their two houses, as it were. When he sailed West shortly after my birth, it was left for me."
He set aside Tangwestaro and lifted his short sword. "This was a gift from my aunt before I marched with the Last Alliance to war in Mordor. She was quite an archer --- both my aunts were, actually, but I digress ---" Telperos had a grin that made clear he could tell many stories if he allowed himself to. "She was quite an archer, and when I showed an affinity for archery and had been properly trained, she gave me this to hang at my side next to my quiver. She called it 'Cûmellon', but I'm fairly certain that was in jest." Telperos set aside Cûmellon.
"Now this..." Telperos hefted his bow into his lap. "I call Palyanwë. I am not one who thinks I should keep my enemies close, but it is important to build bridges, is it not? My bow closes the gap between me and my foes, even at a great distance, lest they forget me too quickly. It was fashioned for me before the Last Alliance, and I have borne it since."
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Apr 5, 2022 6:06:36 GMT -5
Telperos:
Telperos nodded and grinned. "Well, that's fair enough. I suppose I've chosen a discussion that's difficult to have without delving into your mission, so perhaps I should pursue a different topic." He thought for a moment. "Aha! Fainan, does your bow have a name? If you do not mind my asking, of course. It seems to be your favored weapon, unless I am mistaken. Has it been passed down in your family for many generations, or are you the first to bear it?"
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Apr 3, 2022 8:03:21 GMT -5
I'm going to say Balrogs.
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Eonwë
Vala, Council
Vala and proud member of the Valar Guild. A quarter century of Tolkien fun.
Posts: 1,323
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Post by Eonwë on Mar 31, 2022 6:01:32 GMT -5
Telperos:
"Well, isn't that the way of things sometimes. I know many who can attest that sometimes the most interesting adventures are not sought out, but stumbled across." He glanced at Auros. "What of the Greenwood? Er, I suppose it is Mirkwood now. I know... I used to know, rather, people who dwelt in the forest. It has been many years, and they no longer dwell there. How did you stumble into Auros' company? I gather from Calion's remarks earlier it was not Auros' winning personality." Telperos couldn't help but grin wide at the end.
Auros shot him a glare, but said nothing as he turned his attention back to the window, glancing through the gaps as he chewed a piece of dried meat.
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