Angmar Bound, Chapter 2: Where Shadows Lie

[Eonwë]

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?"

[Varda]

Fainan:

"Yes, it is my favored weapon. A ranged weapon helps to hit a giant spider before it attacks with a poisoned bite. The name..." She invented one hurriedly, as she made new bows whenever an old one became damaged or she found a better technique for the making. Rivendell had given her several new ideas and a lot of time, when not stuck in the library, to enjoy making this hybrid recurve. "It's name is...Sadorcû, 'trusty bow', and my hand is the first to bear it. What of your own favored weapon? I would assume it to be of great lineage and craft, with a worthy name?"

[Eonwë]

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."

[Eonwë]

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."

[arienv]

Frali:

The young dwarf listened and nodded. "I don t know whether to be pleased about that or not, Master Auros." Frali laughed. "I want to do my part and not be regarded as a useless ragtag that dangles along or lies around like a sack of flour." Then he looked curiously at the gleaming trinket in Auros' hand. "That looks a nice little thing that you 've got there I must say. But why should it have the power to keep the orcs away from this building and, if it truly has that power, how does it come to be hidden in this building in the first place?"

[Varda]

Fainan:

"I, too, would like to know what quality in your heirloom is keeping us safe, and if it would help us on our journey?"

[Eonwë]

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."

[Varda]

Fainan:

"If this device repels evil, might it also detect the direction and perhaps distance of an evil object or creature, giving warning or helping track?"

[Eonwë]

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."

[Eonwë]

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."

[Varda]

Fainan:

    Fainan smiled slowly, thinking of a flet so very far away. "The best of destinations, and one we all hope to reach again after our work is done. So, will you be taking the trinket with you?"

[arienv]

Frali:

The young dwarf looked at the gem with a professional glance. "It seems to be a precious stone indeed can I have a closer look at it?" He stretched out his hand demandingly a barely visible gleam in his eyes.

[ArPharazon]

Calion:

Raising an eyebrow at Frali's request, Calion shrugged it off as a dwarf thing. Agreeing with Fainan's question, he added, "If it does have some orc-repelling property that they are not aware of, it may help us avoid their detection as we go deeper into enemy territory."

[Eonwë]

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."

[arienv]

Frali shrugged and smiled at Telperos: "As you wish , Master Telperos But I would do it no harm, honestly Such beauty can be treated only with the utmost respect, especially when it has such valuable qualities." Despite the polite and neutral sounding tone his words sounded disappointed. Frali realised it s soon as they were spoken but it was too late now - he could not unsay them. "Maybe you can set them up as a ward of some kind near the entrance of the room, so we are protected from unwelcome visitors or at least warned." Frali added