The Red Book of Bree

[Lalaith_Elf]

I called quietly for everyone to slow down. Even though the Shire was in trouble, my heart couldn't help wanting to stop in this peaceful forest. Thinking to myself that I had been unfortunate to neglect this forest, I wanted to savour the moments in which the magic of Middle-Earth still exsisted. I looked to Aragorn, and I familier feeling came over the both of us. The feeling that the Middle-Earth that we knew, was dying, the old magic of the Elves and the Valar was seeping away, following the ships that has sailed for Valinor. The sweet sound of the river was soothing, yet Old Man Willow seemed to be in his deep sleep, like the rest of the forest.
Not sure whether this was the right path to take, I followed relentlessly, hardly containing a smile at the thought that Aragorn was following a group of strangers from another world, rather than being the one in charge.
As the sky grew grey and a slight cold breeze swept through the forest rustling the leaves, I pulled my cloak around me and thought of the past. And the Middle-Earth I had loved, wondering why I never took the ship to Valinor when I had the chance!

[ethuiliel]

As we rode over the Withywindle, I heard Lalaith's call to slow down, and I happily did. Though the Old Forest was sort of creepy, I didn't really want to leave it yet. I slowed and trotted just in front of Lalaith and Aragorn.

[sirigorn]

Eventually, we left the Old Forest. We conversed a little, about what we were going to do now, and decided that Keita and I would go to Lothlorien to try to recruit the Elves that were left in Middle-Earth, and Jean, Lalaith, and Elessar would stay here. After a quick break for lunch, Keita and I got on our horses and headed south...

[ethuiliel]

I groaned. Why oh why did I have to be stuck alone with a MOVIE FAN for any length of time? A movie fan!!
But, having no choice, I checked that I had all I would need in my saddle bag, and checked on my LotR books, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and my extensive homemade guide to Elvish (both Sindarin and Quenya). I knew Elvish pretty well, but I would need to be able to look up any words I didn't know. After all, very few of the Elves in Lorien knew the Common Tongue. And no Movie Fan could be much help, all she would know would be the lines used in the movie, not much use for our purposes.

[Finrod Felagund]

OOC: Feel free to PM me when you get to Lorien, I will play an elf lord. (My usual character, Fimbren)

[sirigorn]

ooc: Finrod, the reason we're going to Lorien is because we won't be able to post. But you can go ahead a make up a whole bunch of stuff there, be my guest. That would be great. You can pretty much say anything, we haven't really planned what we're doing.

ic: As Keita and I headed towards Lorien, we didn't meet anything unusual and didn't hit any obstacles. We made pretty good time, and before long, we were outside of the Golden Wood. We dismounted and lead our horses into the forest. An elf stepped out of the trees, with some more elves behind him. He spoke to us, and said:
"I do not know who you are, but I will take you to a visiting Lord, Fimbren. He will know what to do with you."
We glanced at each other, and shrugged. We followed the elf into the forest...

[ethuiliel]

The Movie Fan and I followed the elves deeper into Lorien. I hoped that they wouldn't fear us too much for being humans, as I got the impression from the LotR books that the Elves in Lorien weren't very trusting of strangers, especially those that weren't Elves. But they trusted the Fellowship, and if we convinced them of our mission, they might trust us. I tried to remember all the Elvish I had learned, and remember what was Quenya and what was Sindarin. I needed to be able to comunicate with them as well as possible.

[Lalaith_Elf]

I turned to Elessar as the others rode away. He was standing looking towards the Shire. With a heavy heart and a sigh, I started to set up camp. It looked as if we would be here a while. Somehow the thought that two beings, who were not part of this world, making the decisions brought a smile to my lips. But it faded, as they dissapeared over the horizen. I longed to go home.

[Sicirus]

ic; I was left alone with one of the greatest kings in novel history and could only say one thing in such a time of peril and need.
"Are there llamas in Middle Earth? Oh...I mean will you teach me to use the blade?"

He looked at me in shock then realized that I in fact did not want to know about the mysterious llamas but about sword play. He agreed to me teaching and brought out a short blade that he had kept from a fallen soldier.

I took the blade in my hands and felt happy to be learning from the best swords men ever!

He looked scared for a moment because I started to pet the sword and smiled as though I were holding something precious.
He took up his own sword and my attention switched at once. I marveled at his sword for a moment then held out my own to test its weight. It was quite heavy and I waited for my first lesson.
Aragorn taught me how to hold the sword then did some simple sword movements that could lightly cut your flesh.
We then started to do feet movements and then used our swords at the same time as moving away and towards each other.

When we finished I was still liable to be killed extremely easy but not as easy as before,
We rested for the rest of the day and in the morning we were to set off towards the Bree to detect any suspicious people in the bar.
"The biggest meeting place in Bree." Aragorn said with a smile. He wanted some drink too.

[Lalaith_Elf]

I had dissapeared off for the day, into the forest to pick up any information that I could find, leaving Aragorn and Jean, to practice their sword technique. Returning, Aragorn informed me about his decision to head to Bree.
"I don't know when to expect the other two to return - they seemed" I paused trying to find the right words, "Determined to help the Shire."
Aragorn nodded and I continued to speak in Elvish, instead of the Common tounge we had been usuing previously.
"I met up with another Ranger, I'm going to head North for a while and sort things out up there. I'll try and find out what's happening as well. They seem to have had a bit of trouble, but what with, I cannot say. I fear it may be what were trying to save the Shire from. I'll try and return as quickly as possible."
I nodded to him, and leading my horse, I picked up my weapons and headed deep into the forest and to the North.

[sirigorn]

ooc: Since we did pm Finrod, and he didn't post, I guess I will...

ic:
As we headed deep into the forest of Lothlorien, I looked around in wonder. The mallorn trees were all I had imagined, and more. They were positivly beautiful...
Finally the elf lead us to his lord, Fimbren's, abode. It was a beautiful place, just like everything in Lorien. He showed us to a flet, where we waited a little while, while he went to go find Fimbren. Soon he came back, speaking softly in Elvish to a very tall and handsome man, who I assumed was Fimbren.

[ethuiliel]

I looked up at the Elf lord, and opened my mouth to say something, when I suddenly felt so nervous that I couldn't think of anything to say, in any language, let alone Elvish. I closed my mouth and waited for him to tell us what would happen to us. I really hoped I would get over my nerves soon, because I needed to be able to comunicate with the Elves, and tell them about the Shire. I didn't know if they would help, but they definetly wouldn't if they didn't know anything was wrong, and I was the only person who could tell them; I somehow doubted that the Movie Fan knew much, if any, Elvish.

[Finrod Felagund]

"What is wrong young one?" the tall elf asked. "Child, do not be afraid...I am lord Fimbren, lord protector of Lothlorien. Since the Lord Celeborn went to Rivendell to dwell with the sons of Elrond, I have commanded here. I am Noldorin, and was born in Valinor. I am very old. But that is not why you are here, nonetheless, if you ever wish to know of my history, simply ask. But now, why have you come to Lorien?"

[Sicirus]

ic: We traveled off to Bree as morning aproached the next day and cleared out the camp to leave no trace of our stay. I smothered the fire and hoped onto my horse who stood patient to beggin. We arrived at Bree that night and ate a big dinner to have an excuse to stay late hours at the bar. So far we heard nothing concerning the Shire.

ooc;can't continue now sorry.

[ethuiliel]

OOC: Your character is speaking in the common tongue, right?

IC: My ability to speak Elvish semi-fluently still hadn't returned, but I magnaged to relax a little, now that I realized that I had nothing to fear from him (why was I so scared in the first place, I wondered, I knew Elves were good) and that I didn't have to say everything in Elvish. Still, I felt sort of rediculous. I was a human, from another time or world, asking Elves, whom I had never met before, to help the hobbits, only one of whom I had met. But, there was nothing else to do, so I told him, as well as I could. "We come from another world, or maybe from this world in the distant future, and we're not quite sure how we got here. But that's not important. We found a book that told that the Shire was attacked, in what will be next year. So, we wanted to help. But humans aren't allowed in the Shire, and we're human. You're not, and you were the first non-humans we could find to help." Did they use humans or Men? I didn't want to say men, because we're girls, and I don't consider us to be men. But Tolkien didn't say humans he said Men. Oh well, it's too late now, and Fimbren should be able to figure out what I meant.

[Finrod Felagund]

"humans..." Fimbren mused, "That is a word not used very often child, but I see your meaning. However, do you not think that King Ellesar would break this one rule to protct the Shirelings?"

[sirigorn]

"You see," I answered, "we met a Ranger, who knew King Elessar. She sent a messenger to him, and he came himself to see what needed to be done. We decided to split up, with Keita here and I coming here to see if we could get more help, and Elessar, the Ranger, Lalaith, and Keita's friend Jean stayed near the Old Forest. So Elessar does know about it, but we did not have enough help, as he came by himself, so he asked us to come here to get your help, if you're willing to give it, of course."
Fimbren nodded, looking thoughtful...

[Finrod Felagund]

"It does seem strange for the King to travel alone...hmmm..." mused the elf.

[ethuiliel]

"But he travelled alone before he became king, why shouldn't he now?" I asked. "Elessar was a Ranger, he knows how to travel in the wild, alone. But he was with others when Lalaith went to find him, and when he left them, he immediately joined us. And now he's with my friend, Jean, and maybe Lalaith, though she might have gone to the Shire... she's a half-Elf, and was raised by Elves."

[Finrod Felagund]

The elf laughed. "I know my child, I know the king well, but he does not often travel alone, Queen Arwen does not permit it." He laughed.
"But now, what would you have me do?"