Children of the Stones [an Anthropology RPG]

Where now are the horse and rider? In here, probably.
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Balrog
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“How much further do you think?” the young elf gasped for breath as they crested the hill, their partner already unstringing his back and setting it on the grass.

“Not much further, I think,” he mused, his eyes trained on the ridge ahead of them. “I think, if anything, what we seek will be just beyond that ridge up there. It has good coverage and protection from the elements, if you look at the at ravine coming down it looks as though they could have had a good drainage system. See, Redhor?”

Redhor inhaled and stepped up and looked where the other elf was pointing. They could just make out the remains of what could be been a ravine, hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Despite their exhaustion, Redhor smiled. “I think I do.” He began to laugh, their eyes filled with merriment and exhilaration. “We found it Amrûndir, you found it!”

The other elf joined in the merriment and sat on the grass, falling into a cross-legged, meditative pose. “We haven’t proven anything yet, that’s just the most likely spot; patience young grasshopper.” He closed his eyes and leaned back until he was laying flat on the sun-warmed earth. He was startled by a clump of dirt and grass that fell on his chest. He jerked, eyes opening wide. He moved just in time to avoid another clump of earth tossing by Redhor.

“Come on, we’ve been searching these mountains for weeks,” Redhor said, dropping a third clump they had held in reserve. “If it’s not there, then it’s not going to be anywhere. We should have brought more supplies.”

“I wanted to,” Amrûndir pointed out, standing and dusting himself off. “But someone” he looked meaningly at his partner, “thought we’d be able to search faster if we brought less with us. And because someone has a high-ranking father in Bar-in-Gonagwelu, I was overruled, and they won they argument.”

Redhor smiled sheepishly. “My mistake.”

Amrûndir grabbed Redhor’s hand and held it tight. “I cannot deny that I’m just as excited though,” his grin was wide and full of joy. “What do you think? Should we rest up, or do you think we could make that ridge by noon?” Instinctively they both looked toward the sun. It was still low in the sky, a great ball of yellow and gold and orange. They had at least a few hours before the sun was at its height and trekking about in heights unknown became hot. The air was still cool. The mists had burned away. The White Mountains were living up to their name. The stones all around them were bleached and bright, they shone with an inner light. If they had had the time, the pair would have stayed there and enjoyed the other’s company as the day wore on, but they had more things to do, things that were more pressing. They could relax and watch the clouds on a thousand other midmornings. Without having to speak, they both picked up their packs and slung them over their backs. They trekked down the hill and began their way up the moraine. Amrûndir in the lead, and Redhor following close behind him.

They’d been searching for weeks and weeks, it felt as though they’d been searching for nearly a year for a mythical place that was just beyond their reach, just over the next ridge or just behind the hills. If they were being honest, Redhor was happy just getting to spend time with Amrûndir. Even if they were dragged along on his meandering, sometimes frenetic searches. They were never able to spend this kind of time together back home. No matter where they went, they were constantly bombarded by people or responsibilities. Out here though, time and space worked differently. Amrûndir was constantly distracted and Redhor had to share him with this mad search (a search that was feeling less and less mad as they clambered over rocks and sedimentary debris) but they felt less crowded, less socially claustrophobic. They didn’t want it to end.

At the same time, though, they were excited by the idea that Amrûndir, a scholar and researcher with the Lindon Guild of Anthropological Studies, might have found that place he’d been looking for. A decade long search, coordinated with a few trusted fellows and researchers, might be coming to a close. The energy of discovery and anticipation fairly thrummed in their ears. Redhor smiled.

The higher they climbed, the rougher the terrain became, the more debris they had to climb over or maneuver around. After about half an hour they were both gasping for breath. They rested against a rounded white stone and looked up, the incline ahead was steep, very steep, but it looked as if there had been cutbacks carved into the mountainside. They were old and had gone unmaintained for hundreds if not thousands of years, but the zig-zag pattern was unmistakable. “Someone’s been here before us,” Redhor pointed up. “Aulë does not build in straight lines like that.” Amrûndir, the elder of the pair by more than three centuries, looked up, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun. He smiled broadly, his brilliant emerald eyes sparkling.

“You really think it’s going to be up there, don’t you?”

“I do,” the elder elf said as he began to walk again. “I have faith.”

Redhor nodded. “Your faith is all I need to keep going.”

They climbed and scrambled and hiked for another two hours. The sun climbed higher and higher in the sky, making her fiery presence known and felt. Both Sindar had begun to sweat; but still they climbed. They hardly felt the weariness seep into their bones as they rose in elevation. From time to time Redhor stopped and looked out over the edge of the mountainside onto the world they were leaving behind. They were moving from one world into another, as surely as the sun continued to rise. They were leaving behind a world they knew and understood, a world they could quantify and relate to, and were entering into a world of mystery, of unknown, the future as much as the past.

Then it came. They crested the ridge and overlooked the small valley on the other side. They gripped their hands and inhaled sharply at what they saw.

GM Update


Deep within the White Mountains, on the border between Rohan and Gondor, two elves went searching for evidence of a long-forgotten city, an emblem of a civilization long turned to dust. They believed this city could help map the spread of Men as they expanded and travelled westward. They found ruins they believe to be that city. They reported by back to the Lindon Guild of Anthropological Studies and soon plans for a full-scale excavation were underway. Ñarmotar, the king of the Mablui and head of the Guild, wrote to the King of Rohan, asking permission to send teams of researchers and scholars into the mountains promising to share all information found and send all artifacts to Edoras. Having been given permission, he assembled a team and gave leadership of the entire expedition to a young elf, a newly minted member of the Guild (and originator of the theory of the ruins’ existence): Yoshiyo. Now she’s arrived in Edoras with her group of elves and awaits the arrival of the king appointed liaison: Lailyn and the men and women chosen to accompany them on this exciting new chapter.


Rules and Guidelines:
1. If you wish to join, simply RP your character (or characters if you wish) arriving in Edoras and joining the expedition, stating whether you are on the Lindon side of the team or the Rohirric side
2. Remember, this is Yoshiyo and Lailyn’s team, they make the rules and by joining you are agreeing to follow their orders
3. This is an anthropological RPG, anyone is free to join, including Cav and Rangers, but it is not a militarily minded game so please keep that in mind
4. No excessive images and no gifs whatsoever
5. Refrain from using #8B0000 (GM) and #8B4513 (Yoshiyo) colors
6. Should the need arise, the GMs reserves the right to godmode particular characters and situations
7. Regarding canon characters, check with your GMs first (Lail and myself) beforehand but it shouldn't be too much of an issue
8. We are all adults here and can decide for ourselves the stories we want to read so rather than dictate what can and cannot be written in this thread, we will ask that any CW (at the discretion of the writer) be placed at the top of the post
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

Ent Ancient
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Lailyn

Upon her return to Rohan, Lailyn had envisioned a quiet life for herself. A house in the city, a lovely little garden. No more adventures and no more travelling. Or so she thought. Much to her chagrin, a number of interruptions had punctuated her attempts to reach this ideal provincial bliss, but Yoshiyo’s expedition was a welcome one. After discussing the ruins with the elleth at the Mettarë feast, her curiosity was piqued. A few days later, she wrote to the King to put her name forward to assist with the expedition.

The days that came after King Eomer appointed her the Rohirric representative were a whirlwind. She needed an entire day just to let it sink in that she’d actually been chosen for the role while her mind ran away with worries; she knew nothing about ancient ruins or artifacts or what it took to conduct such an excavation. With all the planning to get on with, she soon forgot her doubts, and now the day of departure was here.

Leaving the comfort of her house behind, she readied her horse, shouldered her pack and headed off to meet the teams. Lailyn arrived on the scene dressed in a green cloak, trousers tucked into sturdy boots, a warm wool jumper and golden hair woven in a tidy plait. A chestnut mare clip-clopped along beside her, led loosely by the reins, and a dog trotted along at her heels, tail wagging so fast it looked ready to fly off. Her own excitement was tempered by the responsibility and trust the King had placed in her to represent the Mark and do it well.

She paused to take a slow, calming breath. In and out, then adjusted the pack on her shoulders and forced herself to stand tall to meet the elves. Her nerves began to settle at the sight of Yoshiyo, the jubilant and intelligent elleth leading the expedition.

“Westu Yoshiyo hal!” She greeted her with warmth. “It is so good to see you! Can you believe this day is here at last!? I can’t wait to get going, I can only imagine how you must feel. My crew ought to be arriving here soon. I arranged for some horses to carry our gear and a few extra mounts in case anyone is without, whether they are an elf or a Rider.”

Clattering hooves were not an uncommon sound around Rohan, but the sound of these steeds rose above the rest and caught Lailyn’s attention. As if summoned by her words, a huddle of a dozen or so horses made their appearance. They ranged in colour from dun to bay, grey and cream, chestnut akin to her own mare, everything except the white of the Mark’s noblest steeds.

“Ah! Here they are now.” She waved at the stable-hands and grooms accompanying the fine horses, who were charged with helping look after them throughout the expedition. So far at least, things were off to a smooth start. Hopefully, the rest of the party would arrive soon and the journey into the mountains could begin.

Balrog
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It was really happening. It was really happening! Yoshiyo was still having trouble believing it, even after several weeks of back and forth travel. She inhaled the air deeply, the regretted it as soon as she got a noseful of horse, hay, and well horse. She coughed and gagged a bit. Thankfully the common room of the inn she was staying at was relatively empty before dawn, so her social faux pa went unnoticed. She straightened her jerkin and coughed quietly in her palm. Her spirits, though, remained undampened. Nothing could quell her enthusiasm. Nothing at all! She had not been able to stop smiling for weeks now. She pulled the letter out from her notebook, unfolded the parchment with delicate fingers, and read it again. It was the letter she’d received from Ñarmotar telling her to come back to Lindon as soon as possible. The Guildmaster hadn’t told her why she was being called back, but the very fact that he had gone to the trouble of sending her a letter in Rohan told her exactly how urgent it was. When she arrived, she was bombarded with the confirmation of the rumor she’d learned while in Edoras for the Mettarë Feast.

There was a ruined village in the White Mountains, on the slopes of a sub-mountain of the Starkhorn. All preliminary observations indicated that it was from very early in the First Age, before most of the Men made it across Middle-Earth and arrived in Beleriand. This was exactly what she had been looking for! This was exactly what she’d hoped to find! It would have been Redhor and Amrûndir that found the ruins. Amrûndir was nearly as great a proponent of the theory as she was, as well as one of her greatest allies within the Guild itself. She had been prepared to work under him, in fact when she was called into the Guild Hall at Bar-in-Gonagwelu, she assumed it was to be told that she would be able to join the expedition on a probationary level. What she had been told utterly floored her (thankfully that was not literal and she’d managed to keep her composure during the actual interview).

She was going to be the leader of the expedition. She was going to be the one in charge. She’d barely been in charge of anything in her life! She barely managed the study group that kept her afloat before she started her independent study assignments. They told her that since it the theory had originated with her, she was the natural choice. They also said that this mission was tantamount to her entry exam. No pressure, Yoshiyo!

She laughed and took a sip of the strong tea. It had been whirlwind of activity from there, coordinating and gathering supplies, finding people to bring along for the expedition, and making sure that Rohan would be sending a liaison with her so there would be no doubt what to do with any artifacts they found. She had hoped it was Lailyn, she’d lightly pressured the young Rohir (maybe not lightly, she had had a lot to drink by that point) into volunteering for the mission and all the letters that had been exchanged confirmed it.

They’d managed to it hit off very well after another one of Yoshiyo’s faux pas and there was no on in Rohan that the elleth trusted more. She grinned. She couldn’t stop grinning. The idea that she could be leading a major anthropological mission, one that revolved around tracing ancient, dead languages back to their ultimate source, still had not settled. There were moments of panic on the journey back down through Eriador to Edoras that she thought she was being set up to fail. It was a cold, terrifying feeling. But both Redhor and Amrûndir, who were travelling with her, reassured her that this was not the case, that she had been chosen because the guildmasters had faith in her.

The sun was starting to peak now, it was time for her to get going. She was going to meet with Lailyn soon and she wanted to check on her horse before they met. Rohan had a particular thing about horses. Yoshiyo knew that first impressions were important. Yes, yes, she’d met Lailyn already but not in a capacity like this! This was professional and official and all the other words Yoshiyo’s mind couldn’t settle on with all her nerves afire. She cut across the yard from the inn’s front doors to the stables and found her sorrel gelding. He was a mild creature, the only horse that would stand to let her near when she was offered a choice. She had had a rudimentary, theoretical knowledge of horses and riding that had been sorely tested on the trip to Edoras. Paciencio, as she’d come to call the equine, was a gentle teacher, but he was not immune from tossing her in a river very now and then to remind Yoshiyo that she was not an expert rider yet.

“Are you ready to meet Lailyn?” She took a brush off the wall and began to use it on the horse’s richly colored coat. She brushed and brushed and brushed, letting her mind wander a bit. The tea and biscuits had helped calm her nerves, but she could still feel a few of the butterflies flittering about in her stomach. Paciencio whinnied. “An apple? Is that what you need to start the day?” Yoshiyo produced one and looked around conspiratorially. “I managed to sneak an extra one from the innkeeper while she wasn’t looking, just for you," she whispered. She held the apple to his mouth and he greedily, and noisily, chomped down on the fruit with gusto. She giggled and scratched his ear. “That’s a good boy, now let’s get going. Don’t want to be late on our first day as the boss do we?”

She saddled him up and they were soon ready to make their meeting. Yoshiyo passed under a window, saw the light still off, and grinned deviously. She bent down to pick up a stone and tossed it at the glass. It CLINKED a little louder than she’d planned and she winced. “Erniel!” she whispered hoarsely. Paciencio whinnied, making it a pun. “Erniel!” she whispered again.

Erniel was one of the elves that had travelled down with her from Lindon, one of the first volunteers she’d come across. She knew his name before knowing him (he’d been at the Mettarë Feast as well and had given her lovely flowers and a telescope but they’d never been able to interact with Yoshiyo’s appetite for alcohol) and assumed he was a girl. Chock up another embarrassing moment for Yoshiyo! Thankfully, he was just as jolly and forgiving as she was and they became fast friends on the journey south. He wasn’t a member of the guild, but he was very excited for an adventure. His enthusiasm for pranks was infectious, she was sure there would be a back and forth between them on this trip. She had already written down a few ideas in her notebook. “Wake up you sleepyhead!” She whispered again and tossed another rock at the window.

Stifling a giggle, she led Paciencio away down the street until she arrived at the predetermined meeting place with Lailyn. “Westu Lailyn hal!” she shouted with an overabundance of excitement. “I can’t believe the day has come already! I feel like there are still a hundred thousand things we need to do, but it’s finally the day we get to set out!” She beamed a bright smile, placed her hands on her hips, and looked south, toward their destination, towards adventure. “The troupe from Lindon should arrive soon. They’re all a bunch of lazy sleep abouts though so it might be an hour or two before we see them. Did you have any luck finding volunteers here in Edoras?”
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

Black Númenórean
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A beautiful, bright blue butterfly winged its way down the coast, and Erniel followed eagerly. He had never seen such a pretty little insect! He wanted to say hello and inspect it more carefully, for Its wings were edged with gold, and they flashed brightly in the sunset. The butterfly paused on a tall, deep green hedge, then fluttered onto a huge, purple toadstool. Erniel hopped lightly onto the mushroom cap and held out his hand. The butterfly floated toward him. It settled onto his outstretched fingers with a loud tap. Erniel started. “How strange,” the snowy-haired ellon mused. “You’re not so heavy as to make such a loud noise!” There was another TAP, and then the butterfly spoke his name.

“Erniel!”

He knew that voice! It was not the voice of a butterfly at all, but of his friend Yoshiyo. Was she the butterfly? If so, it was a most stunning feat of metamorphosis! He peered down at the butterfly and had just opened his mouth to ask it its name when his eyes flew open. “Wake up you sleepyhead!” came Yoshiyo’s soft voice through the window of his room at the inn.

Erniel sat up, blinked slowly, and looked around. “Ahh, yes,” he thought. “I’m here! And I’m me, and Yoshiyo is out there. And she is not, in fact, a butterfly. Yes. That all makes much more sense.” Cheered by the perfect sensibility of his circumstances, he rolled out of bed. It took him several moments more to realize that not only was he here, but today was the day: the day of departure! Was he late? Oh, he must be if Yoshiyo had been up and was leaving already! He jumped into his traveling clothes and swung a cloak over his shoulders, fastening it with a practical yet finely-wrought brooch. He’d had the foresight to pack up most of his gear the night before, and so he threw a few final items into a sturdy leather bag and was on his way. He raced out of the inn, calling his thanks to the innkeeper and the stablehand who brought out his horse. The elf secured his bags and all the horsey accoutrement he had no words for, then hopped lightly into the saddle. “We’re off!” he cried, and he nudged his horse into a trot through the streets of Edoras, heading for the appointed meeting place.

Rohan was nothing like Lindon, but he found it charming all the same. He’d enjoyed himself not too long ago at a winter feast, and there he had been gifted some of the finest woodworking he’d ever seen. It was a shame his new mortal acquaintance had balked at the prospect of trading with the elves. Perhaps he would meet Æric and little Edda again once this trip was done. He beamed at the prospect.

Soon enough, he found Yoshiyo standing with a woman he thought he recognized from the feast. “Well met!” he called, raising a hand in greeting. “Good morning, Yoshiyo! It is I, Erniel, elf of Lindon! I am here for the expedition!” He grinned at the woman (Lailyn) beside the leader of the Lindon contingent. “I do not believe we have met, but now you know my name! Pray, tell me what is yours?”
she/her | Esta tierra no es mía, soy de la nocheósfera.

High Lord of Imladris
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Fuin had heard of the expedition through Lailyn, the joys of being an elf with a shop in the market afforded her some comforts in the kingdom of Rohan, and a welcome place it seemed on expeditions. She'd offered the service of both of her horses that she had brought though she had laced red cords on Lune's bridle the young warhorse was not yet mature enough to know not to bite those that came to near without sharp command from Fuin to not take off fingers. Beside him his mother, a docile pale golden toned horse, with blue eyes that was also of Rohirric stock like her son, but she was older now 14 years and was as solid as a rock, she offered her to bare any that needed a mount for she had no worries that Lisse would bare any rider safely to and from this expedition.

She arrived with heavy packs strapped to both Lune and Lisse, filled with food and water as well as books and ink and charcoal to write down and draw that which interested her. After all a Forge Mistress should always seek out knowledge where one could. On her back she did carry her bow and quiver as well as a short sword, after all, while she was not expecting too much trouble, the bow and arrow could be good for food, and she was old enough she did not travel without a weapon to defend herself. She was happy to hear that Yoshiyo was heading this expedition, she'd been quite the bubbling brook at the Mettare Feast though she had slipped away unfortunately before the end if it. The Forge Mistress was certain that in time she would be quite the scholar, especially if she kept most of her bubbly personality. She was certain there would be elves that found it exhausting having lived long enough to forget that there was good merriment to be had but Fuin tended to prefer a mix of bubbly and stodgy. She gave the younger elf a smile and a nod "Yoshiyo it is good to see you once again, and already you are leading an expedition that is excellent for you."

With that she headed towards Lailyn for that was in this case who she was traveling with. "Suil Lailyn, it's good to see you again outside of the market Loithne will be joining us shortly I am sure she's on the wing hunting pigeons until we begin moving." She said with a smile, remembering how fond the woman had been of the falcon in her shop. She was fairly certain that she had seen Erniel, as she caught their name as they introduced themself to Yoshiyo at the feast as well but she was not sure if she had introduced herself then as well. "Suil Erniel, I caught your name when you introduced yourself, I think I remember your face from the feast here in the Mark but my name is Fuin."

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What might have appeared to someone fanciful from afar as a bright blue butterfly skimmed over the fields outside Edoras. But this one was edged in silver and was not a butterfly at all, but an elf. But not a tall, willowy elf, rather a small and compact elf with black curls chopped off sharply above the shoulders that bounced and danced as she ran and flashing dark eyes. She was garbed in a bright jewel-blue tunic, with long slashed sleeves that gathered into tight cuffs at the wrist, a simple neckline, and a diagonal hem that fell just above her knees. At home, Ottor (for this was her name) was more inclined to wear frothy frocks with delightful swirl, but she through that here in Rohan the horse people might not understand that such things could be just as practical as they were pretty, and had toned it down a bit. She had however retained some silver trimmings to the tunic because they were shiny and wonderful, and much like a jackdaw she loved shiny things. Below the tunic her legs were wrapped in sturdy dark hose, and above it an enormous blue flower was pinned behind one ear. She ran in a tripping, spritely manner, back up the hill and through the gates of Edoras and towards the appointed meeting place.

Ottor had come down from Lindon with Erniel for the Mettarë feast of course, and when Yoshiyo had begun recruiting for her expedition they had both jumped at the chance to join. Adventure! Excitement! Shiny things! Ottor loved Lindon but it could get awfully boring sometimes. She would never understand how Yoshiyo could spend so much time in libraries but if it led to excellent expeditions like this she supposed it was alright. She had been staying in the same inn with Erniel but had sprung out of bed before dawn to go exploring outside the walls of the city, and now she was running late. Maybe? Anyway, she was running, and thought that other people would probably be there before she was. As she rounded the corner to the meeting place there were indeed other people there already and she practically ran into Erniel’s horse.

“Ernie!!” Ottoer exclaimed, bouncing back away from the horse and her friend atop it, “You made it! Oh, hello everyone! I’m Ottor!” she introduced herself with a vigorous wave all at once to those present she did not know, before looking sharply back to Erniel with a swish of her uncontrollable hair. “Ernie! Where’s my horse! Didn’t you bring her??” Ottor couldn’t actually remember whether she had asked Erniel to bring her horse with him or not, but it seemed like a thing she would have done. Fortunately at that moment a stablehand from the inn came panting up, leading a little chestnut mare who was whinnying furiously in protest. “Ah!!” Ottor cried, springing forward to take the reins from the stablehand. Like many elves she didn’t usually ride with tack but being among the horse people it seemed right to abide by their conventions even if the pony didn’t like it. A chestnut mare, and a pony? If there was ever a steed with a personality to match Ottor, that was it. They got along famously, mostly by arguing, the big pony and the little elleth. “Thank you, thank you!” she augmented her thanks to the stablehand with a coin and sprang up onto the mare’s back.

“When do we leave?!”
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Evil is a lifestyle | she/her

Ent Ancient
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Lailyn

If Yoshiyo was at all nervous, it didn’t show. “Yes, I know exactly what you mean.” Lailyn told her, following her gaze toward the snow-capped mountains waiting for them in the distance. “I told everyone I know, and anyone else who would listen.” She grinned. “I thought I managed to talk a few people into coming…” Doubt crept into her voice as she wondered if maybe she had not done a good job of being persuasive. “I know there are some people outside the city who plan to meet us along the way.”

The dog at her side nudged a nose toward Yoshiyo and took a few sniffs. Having decided she posed no threat to Lailyn, or possibly noticing more interesting new smells, the dog bounded off for the pack of horses to inspect the new arrivals.

A sudden flurry of activity ensued with the elves’ arrival. “It’s nice to meet you, Erniel!” She greeted the elf whose expression was as golden as his hair. “I met Yoshiyo at the Feast. I’m sorry we did not get a chance to do the same though I think I saw you--you were wearing the most wonderful shade of blue!”

She lifted a hand in greeting to Fuin. “Fuin, how good to see you! I can’t wait to see Loithne flying out in the open skies. I’m glad you decided to join us.” With a pair of mounts and weaponry at her back, Fuin looked prepared for anything.

Another bright and finely-dressed elleth joined them and seemed more than ready for adventure. “Well met, Ottor! You have a very lovely steed.”

Following behind Lailyn’s dog, one of the stablehands, a youth of no more than seventeen, approached. For a moment, he stood in silent awe of the elves before he finally addressed Lailyn. “The horses and gear are ready to leave when you are, miss.”

“Thank you, Fenlaf.” She smiled. “This is Yoshiyo, I told you about her. She is leading the expedition. Yoshiyo, this is Fenlaf. He works in the Royal Stables and is in charge of our packhorses. If you need anything at all, please just ask! He oversaw the packing and he knows where to find everything, from the food and tools to needle and thread.”

Fenlaf looked like he absolutely could not remember where a single thing was packed at that moment, but he mumbled a “yes” anyway and stood hovering awkwardly, waiting for the word to depart. The lad had caught her attention when he finally rounded up Arod in the market and she hoped this expedition would bolster his confidence. Hopefully, he would manage to avoid losing any horses along the way.

“Well...everyone seems ready to leave.” She scanned the group of adventurers, some of them already mounted, and the poor stablehand, itching to return to the familiarity of his horses. “I can wait here for a bit in case anyone is lagging behind,” she offered to Yoshiyo.

Balrog
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Erniel was exactly what this expedition would need. He might not know much about linguistics or excavation or anthropology, but he knew how to bring people together and how to make them feel welcome and included. He was also very good at building snow forts and was the consummate snowball fight ally. The young ellon was pure, kinetic energy with a smile brighter than the stars. That was probably why Yoshiyo considered him such a great friend and why she insisted that he come on this adventure with her. What the ellon lacked in diagnostical prowess, he more than made up for in perspective. Yoshiyo was more than a bit jealous though as he rode up, looking the most radiant ray of the sun. How did he do it? She had to work to look like she hadn’t spent the entire night face first in a snow drift. Still, she smiled and waved as he presented himself. “It’s about time you lazy lob!” Quickly, and as surreptitiously as she could, she grabbed an apple from nearby cart and tossed it at his too pretty face, grinning like a mischievous moon bear. “Catch!”

She caught sight of a tall, slender figure as they appeared as if out of thin air, ethereal elves and all that. It was Fuin, the elf she’d met at the feast! Yoshiyo coughed, clearing her throat loudly whilst trying to act like the throwing motion of the apple toss was, in fact, just her stretching her limps out in the form of early morning calisthenics. “Master Fuin!” she said with a smile. “I had no idea you were still in Rohan!” They had not gotten a chance to talk much during the feast, Yoshiyo’s crippling shyness and the amount of people swarming both of them to compete for conversation had made sure of that. “You’re going to be joining the expedition?” the young elleth thought for a moment, tilting her head in thought. It didn’t make sense for a forge master to accompany a troupe of natural philosophers on... oh! The image smacked her in the head. There would be more than just tablets and paintings in the village. Learning ancient forging techniques could be invaluable to someone who’d spent hundreds and hundreds of years working the fires. “Oh!” she said a bit louder than she’d anticipated. “Well, I think we are lucky to have you, you betcha!” She gave the forge master the proper bow, only stumbling a bit. “I hope the expedition is as lucrative for you as it will be for me.”

Lailyn had not been idle in their time apart! The elleth beamed, impressed with her Rohir counterpart. “It’s very nice to meet you, Fenlaf.” She said as Lailyn made the introduction. “I have a feeling you are going to be very popular, especially if you know where all the mead is being stored.” She gave the young man wink. She realized that she did not exactly fit the stereotype of the aloof, detached elf of unknowable mystery and etherealness (to say the least) but she did enjoy seeing people react with shock and surprise when she cracked a joke. She wasn’t very good at them, but this expedition was the perfect time to practice. “As long as you save this bottle for me.” Out of her horse’s back, the elleth produced a green frosted glass bottle and handed it conspiratorially to the young man. “Whisky, compliments of Finnbarr Galedeep, supposedly he got it from the dwarves of the Blue Mountains. We can share a glass when we get to the ruins.” She gave the lad another wink and felt something sniff at her hand. She pulled away instinctively (not being used to animals) and once she realized it was just a dog, apparently belonging to Lailyn, she squatted down to give him a scritch; however, as soon as she did the dog bounded off in another direction. She rolled her eyes and smiled. She certainly had a way with animals. Maybe she’d find a pet goat on this expedition that actually liked her.

Something, someone was missing. “Erniel have you seen...” then, as if summoned by her half-spoken question, around the corner appeared her other close friend from Lindon: Ottor! Ottor was the only other elf Yoshiyo had ever met that could out talk her. And Ottor made it look easy; she could talk about half a hundred different topics and switch back and forth between them at the drop of a feather. The only time Yoshiyo had actually been louder and more rambunctious than her friend was at the Mettarë Feast after she’d had so many drinks that she’d lost count (and fell asleep in a snow drift). She thought it would take more convincing to get the bubbly socialite (at least from Yoshiyo’s perspective) to join an expedition that would doubtless be grueling and dirty, but Ottor jumped at the idea. Proclaiming that adventure, excitement, and shiny things awaited! And it was getting boring in Lindon, something Yoshiyo could neither confirm nor deny. She appeared with her beautiful chestnut pony in tow looking as radiant as Erniel! “Ottor! I was beginning to think some Rohir lad had stolen your heart and you decided to stay, or at least stole your horse.” She smirked and waved. “We’ll be getting ready soon. I think there are still a few stranglers filtering in.”

Again, as if summoned by some dramatic force, two more elves materialized out of the bustling morning crowd. Yoshiyo recognized the pair immediately: Amrûndir and Redhor, the two surveyor-adventurers that had found the ruins (though the term “found” could be argued to be the wrong word in this case) in the first place. Redhor was the taller of the two, indeed they stood at least eight inches taller than Yoshiyo who was no slouch in the height department. They waved and finished the conversation they were having with a cheesemonger and on feet that barely seemed to touch the ground made their way to Yoshiyo. “Lailyn, Master Fuin, this is Redhor one of the pair that found the site we’re going to. They’ll be able to lead us back with some luck.”

The tall elf bowed elegantly. “It is so good to meet you, Lady Lailyn, Lady Fuin. Yoshiyo has regaled us of you and your honey for weeks. I do hope I’ll be able to sample some on our expedition. The way this one talk about it, it must be the food of the Valar.” Amrûndir appeared then, leading a pair of grey packhorses laden with far more than either of them needed. He had hard time saying “No” to Redhor and consequently had more cheese, apples, oats, and mushrooms than either of them actually needed. He was arrived with less aplomb than his many counterparts, a little out of breath from convincing two stubborn horses to follow him.

“It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintances. I think we are the last of the stragglers? I would offer my apologies,” he looked from Lailyn and Fuin to his partner and looked at them sternly. “but someone needed to visit every market stall in the city before deciding it was finally time.”

It was happening! Yoshiyo wanted to jump with all the pure, energetic joy that was coursing through her body she managed to maintain her composure, just barely. She settled for beaming from ear to ear, her bright eyes gleaming in the morning sun.
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There had been both positive and negative adventures, and yet all of these combined could not hold Pele back from seeking to set out on another one, when she heard of it. Well, she had been thinking about it ever since the feast, and had decided it might just as well turn out to be a good experience. So it happened that she made sure to have a leave and to set out from Minas Tirith early enough to allow for a leisurely travel.

Yet there was not much about Pele that gave away the length of travel, if only a bit of dust on her boots and the gleam of sweat on her horse's body showing that her four-legged companion had already been at work this morning.

It was not difficult for Pele to locate Lailyn, Yoshio, and a few other familiar and unfamiliar folk, and she reigned in Temper's gallop to a more or less collected walk before she halted her somewhat mischievous mount a safe distance away from the others.

"Greetings, friends!" she called out, slipping out of the saddle not to appear too haughty if she remained seated. "Westu Lailyn hal! Are you in need of another companion?" Pele's blue eyes reflected a fair amount of excitement, though she tried not to let it seep through otherwise. And while she was not dressed in Ranger uniform, she still appeared to be armed to the teeth: dagger, sword, and a bow with a quiver full of arrows, at least as much as could be seen.

"It seems that I am not yet late, right?" she added with a small grin, as it seemed to her that the party was getting ready to leave.
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Quite a little crowd was beginning to form. Cheery as ever but still somewhat sleepy, Erniel blinked and shaded his eyes from the brighter of the sun’s morning rays. His smile, as ever, was radiant. Still astride his horse, he gave Fuin and Lailyn as deep a bow as he could manage. “Greetings, fair ladies! The feast was magnificent but all too short - clearly, I did not manage to meet everyone present, though I dearly wish I could have. I hope you both enjoyed the party!” As he exchanged these greetings, Yoshiyo's chiding voice called to him. “Ha!” Erniel cried, deftly snatching an apple sailing toward him from the air while staring straight at her. “You’ll have to be faster than that to get me with snowball or apple or stone!” Inwardly, he was deeply excited about the apple. He loved apples! They were so sweet and crunchy and portable - the perfect snack for an energetic elf on the go! One of the bags dangling from his saddle held several apples he had purchased not long ago, and he hoped they would find more along on the road. Erniel took a bite and savored the moment when his teeth broke the skin and the apple’s sweet juice burst from the fruit.

As he chewed, he gazed dreamily into the distance, having been whisked back into his memories of the feast by his meeting with two fellow feast-goers. He recalled the beautiful lanterns which had cast their warm light upon the snow that night. This new journey would be altogether different, he supposed, with fewer fine trappings and comforts, but it would be a wonderful trip all the same! Here were new friends and old, ancient mysteries to solve (or so Yoshiyo had intimated), and a literal mountain of sights to be seen. He was snapped back to the present moment when his horse gave a start. He gripped the reins and cast his gaze about. A familiar elf clad in blue met his gaze. He should have known! Who else would bounce about Edoras so early in the morning? “Hello, Ottor!” he piped. “Your horse?! Why, no! I thought you’d be riding her here from the stables! But it seems your own two legs carried you just as well!” Luckily for Ottor, the horse (accompanied by an out-of-breath lad) appeared soon enough.

The mention of whisky caught his ear, and he perked up (if that were even possible, what with his perpetually upbeat state). A fine drink at the end of a long journey was as good as anything! And with apples, or perhaps something more substantive! He wasn’t quite sure what they would eat, but it seemed that there were supplies and plenty. Erniel was an abysmal hunter, being too easily distracted by the many wonders of the woods to stalk his prey with sufficient focus, but he enjoyed the spoils of others’ efforts all the more for it. Who among them would be the hunters? He gazed about. Perhaps the adventurers, Amrûndir and Redhor, or the shy Fenlaf? Or the woman (Pele) who had just ridden up? She at least looked well-traveled and was equipped with sufficient weapons to bring down any number of animals.

“Well met!” Erniel said to her. “I may not be leading this group, but I do not believe you are late for this journey by any definition of the word in the tongues of the elves or men.” He took another bite of his apple and chewed, then went on, “My name is Erniel! I come from Lindon. What is your name?”
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GM Update
Alright, we are off! The next phase of the journey is the trip to base camp, a staging site where supplies can be gathered and easily transported to the excavation site and back to Edoras. The journey there will take about 3 – 4 days. So, for the next week or so, I’d love to see posts about the journey southward, what do your characters do, think, say, etc. over the course of those 3 to 4 days? It’s not necessary to post in this section but if you want to give your character(s) some background or what they plan on doing this trip or what they hope to find and accomplish then this is the perfect spot. Also, this is the last chance any stragglers will have to catch up because once we begin the climb into the mountains, that’s it.

Took out the original "if you aren't here now, you can't come" line to encourage more peeps coming in after the Blip.
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Fuin gave a nod to Yoshiyo ''Indeed I am, I like to travel back and forth often and have myself a market stall in the Riddermarket for my raptors." She gave a small bow back though not quite as deep to Yoshiyo. "I do think that this will be quite fruitful, even if I learn nothing of the metal working of this old settlement, I always find an adventure is good for my old bones." She said seeing the excitement in the younger elves eyes. Indeed she was nearly as bubbly as she had been at the feast, perhaps it was the lack of drink that had her slightly more tempered than she had been then. She smiled as she was introduced to and greeted by Redhor as they greeted both herself and Lailyn. "It is good to meet you, this should be an interesting-" She looked at the heavily laden pack horses that their friend Amrundir brought along "-And well fed expedition." A smile lighting across her face as he (Amrundir) offered an apology about Redhor looking through every stall in the town. "Oh dear and my stall was closed. Perhaps for the best or you'd be carting along a falcon or hawk as well." She said with a chuckle that fell to a full laugh as Erniel called her a fair lady.

"Greeting Erniel I should warn you that fair, and lady and my name do not tend to go together terribly well in a single sentence. My father would die laughing were he to hear such a thing, though my mother did try ever in the first age to raise a lady." She gave her horse a pat before mounting up "My name is Fuin, and you are more than welcome to lose title Lady." Atop her horse and caught sight of a woman riding up and was relieved to see that she was not going to be the only one armed to the teeth as it were as she appraised the woman (Pele) riding up.

"Between the two of us we will surely eat well if nothing else." She said to herself more than to anyone else as the group seemed to begin to mount up and move on southernly. Fuin for part was happy to ride near the back keeping watch for any movement in the long swaying grasses of Rohan, so far it was quite relaxing and she caught sight of her falcon circling far overhead every once in a while. She glanced to the mountains and knew they were a few days away at least at the pace they were setting which was quite leisurely compared to what Fuin normally travelled at but, she mused to herself this was good. It had been so long since she had travelled with others for anything other than trade, or military that they could have been going flower picking and she'd have been happy for the change even if she was armed for the worst possible scenario.

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"Well met, Erniel," Pele responded to the Elf who greeted her, and offered him a nod and a smile. He seemed somewhat familiar, and she wondered aloud: "It might be that we have seen each other at the Mettare feast, even if it was in passing? I am Pele of Gondor, and at any rate I am also glad not to be late and thus not forced to chase after this group of folk all throughout the vast fields of Rohan."

In fact, it seemed that she had arrived just in time, as the group made ready and sooner rather than later set out. For the time being, Pele did not attempt to mix in among the others and remained at the back, thus finding herself near Fuin. She offered her a friendly nod. "It seems that we tend to run into each other in some adventure or other," the Gondorian spoke, "And if I recall correctly, you are Fuin?"

For the purposes of travel, Pele intended to either remain at the back, or ride some ways alongside the group back and forth if Temper became too restless - as the means to lend any additional protection to the travellers, if necessary. Somehow the thought of just riding along and enjoying it for enjoyment's sake did not sit well with her, and she wanted to make herself useful in one way or another.
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Lailyn and Fenlaf

Fenlaf was still speechless when he took the bottle of whiskey from Yoshiyo. He held it in his hands much like a new parent might hold a baby, with a delicate and careful touch, fearful of breaking the precious thing. He sent Lailyn a look of horror, as if asking her to rescue him from this new situation.

Unfortunately for him, Lailyn did not prove to be an ally. She ignored his obvious plea for help and merely gave him an encouraging smile. Getting out of his comfort zone would do him some good and she hoped placing him in a position of leadership would let him stretch his wings. The only way a bird could fly was to set it free, after all, much like Loithne’s graceful flight that Lailyn watched with wonder.

Meanwhile, Fenlaf looked somewhere between ready to faint and immeasurably honoured by Yoshiyo’s request. “Yes, I’ll save it...just for you…” He stuttered the promise.

In her trousers and well-worn boots, Lailyn felt the furthest thing from a Lady and Redhor’s praise of her honey was almost enough to send her into a similar state of discomfort. “I’m not...I mean...I’m just Lailyn,” she insisted humbly, echoing Fuin’s own words. “It is nice to meet you, Redhor.” She smiled as Amrûndir arrived with the two well-laden horses. “It seems I’m not the only one who thinks a well-fed expedition will be a successful one. ” In fact, she worried she had planned for too many provisions, but she didn’t want anyone to go hungry and believed good food fueled positive morale.

“You are right on time, Pele!” She exclaimed when the Gondorian approached, also appearing ready for anything including a battle. “Of course we are in need of your company! I’m so glad you decided to come, you are very welcome here.”

Taking the cue to leave, Fenlaf returned to his myriad of horses and fellow grooms with relief. He tucked the green bottle away with his very own personal gear for safe-keeping. He mounted his own steed and the packhorses and fellow grooms followed. The young man sat tall in the saddle now that he was right where he belonged, safe and comfortable on the back of a horse.

Satisfied that everyone was ready, Lailyn climbed into Fairmane’s saddle and fell in alongside Pele and Fuin while her dog followed. She loved Edoras and its busy humming like a hive but equally loved the countryside and was eager for the fresh mountain air outside the confines of the city. The wisps of freedom a new journey promised already made her feel lighter. She had spent years traveling and chasing that freedom from one place to another. This time felt distinctly different and new--she was trading her responsibilities in the city for different ones.

She gave the elleth and Gondorian a sheepish look. “I confess I have not followed my own advice,” she said to Fuin, referring to her visit to the falconry shop. “I’ve left my weapons at home, and gladly so.” In truth, she wanted to part with them forever. “I thought this would be a tame adventure to the wilderness. I hope I won’t regret it. Now that I see you two,” she told Pele and Fuin, “I feel a little foolish. I'm meant to be leading our group and I won't be able to help should a need for weapons arise.” Not that she any confidence she could help even if she had a blade, she did not go so far as to make this known to them. Somehow, looking at the snow-capped mountains in the distance, she rather felt she was leaving the possibility of danger behind and not heading into it.

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The position at the back of the group gave Pele a good opportunity to familiarise herself with its members - though presently it may be rather from a small distance rather than face to face. Out of a well trained habit, she quickly counted the people, and then after a brief hesitation, also the horses and other animals, as far as she could see.

As soon as she had all the numbers safely stored in her memory, Pele rolled eyes at herself. She was not here to take on any responsibilities, merely to assist where she might, and yes - to enjoy a leisurely adventure. It would probably take her some effort to relax and simply enjoy herself while out here, away from her usual surroundings and duties.

"I thought you were not leading us into a military campaign, Lailyn?" Pele asked, her blue eyes lit with restrained amusement, when the woman joined them. "For that is not why I came here, can get those a plenty back home. So presumably it must not have been a bad idea that you came without weapons? I'm sure we'll be more than capable to deal with any trouble as a group should there come any."

Adjusting her position in the saddle for an expected long ride, she reached out to pat Temper's neck sensing that her four-legged companion was already becoming restless. He'd just have to learn to have restraint - Pele did not feel like riding in circles around their company just to satisfy his desire to feel the wind in his mane.

"I'm simply too used to carrying all this stuff with me wherever I go," she explained, nodding at her equipment. "Feeling as if I were naked if I don't have a whole armoury with me." Of course, she pretty much exaggerated, as she did not bring any weapons into the Houses of Healing, not usually at any rate.
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Erniel laughed gaily as Fuin chided his choice of words. He took her laughter for an indication that she was not offended. “Well then,” he replied, “I’m sure with time I will learn the appropriate means of address for you.”

He turned back to Pele, who had introduced herself. She had a kind smile, and he liked her immediately. “Why, yes! I was there at the feast. Perhaps you saw me choking on a sip of hwitsceo? I believe that was my most notable contribution to the feast.” He laughed again, recalling that most inelegant of displays. He would be the first to admit that he was not the most graceful of elves, and he certainly was not the most sophisticated. What he lacked in refinement, though, he made up for in sheer enthusiasm.

As he spoke, the group began to move. He nudged his horse, Ranyatal, into a gentle walk, matching the others’ pace and in the middle of the pack. It seemed they would move a leisurely rate, at least at this early stage of the expedition. With bright eyes, the snowy-haired ellon took in the group, then looked ahead toward the mountains, which rose stark and white in the distance. Erniel was an elf of the coast, and he loved to hear the crashing of waves against the shore. These lands were silent and still by comparison, and the stones of the mountains would be, if anything, stiller. But his curiosity was indomitable, and he wondered what they would look like up close. Would there be trails to follow, or would they forge their own paths? Would they encounter many creatures, and what kind would they be if they did? How long did the snows last? He certainly hoped that the answer was “a while”, for he owed Yoshiyo a snowball fight. They were long overdue for a rematch: Erniel hoped to even the score with his archeologically-minded friend after their last battle.

He let the reverie about a vicious snowball fight pass, then gave Ranyatal a gentle kick. The horse trotted forward through the group. He had not yet had the pleasure of meeting some of the people here, and he made it his business, as a rule, to be on friendly terms with everyone. “Hello!” he piped as he caught up with the young man who seemed in charge of supplies (Fenlaf). “I am Erniel of Lindon! I have not yet had the pleasure of making your acquaintance.” He did not stop at this simple introduction, though. Before he could stop himself, a stream of questions flowed from his mouth: “What is your name, and where do you come from? And what is that delicious amber liquid you've just stowed away amongst the baggage?”
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The old elleth nodded as Pele asked if her name was in fact Fuin. "I am it is good to see you once again." She said with a nod and caught Lailyn using her own line that she was no Lady and chuckled under her breath that of course none of them on this fantastic journey to history were 'Ladys' before she stated that she was not following the advice that she had given Fuin many weeks ago now in the Riddermarket.

"It is alright friend, between Pele and I I am certain that should there be any need for defence the two of us will manage. Worse comes to worse I can toss you my sword, though I should hope that the most I will need to use my weapons for is hunting for fresh meat for the camp during our long stay that way we can have fresh meat rather than dried or salted meats." She chucked and pulled up her horse who was starting to want to
rush to the lead of the column as the group began to move. He wanted to lead and Fuin was of a similar mind to Pele, that the back of the group as the best placement for her with her weapons and her sharp eyes and ears.

Fuin for her part smiled and laughed with Erniel before he turned to Pele, "I am certain you will Lord Erniel." She said with a chuckle a bit of a merry tease at him calling her a lady, some of these elves of Lindon took their courts far to seriously. She did quite enjoy them though which is why she visited Lindon as often as she did. She was certain that Cirdan would hear of her teasing of his elves and chide her as harshly as she had chided Erniel in the future when she did return to the western coast of Middle-earth, he'd probably call her a princess or some nonsense. The horse she was on bobbed his head wanting very much to run and she quietly corrected him in elvish telling him that he would be able to run about later that night when they were finished traveling for the night. She looked forwards to the far off mountains, they seemed so near to her despite them being several days away yet.

"So Pele should we have a tally to see who can bring in fresh meat in for the company since hopefully that is all we will need our weapons for?"

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Fenlaf
Fenlaf was like an entirely different person in the saddle. On the ground, he’d hunched and stuttered and looked to others for direction. Up here, he sat tall and proud and steered his piebald gelding with easy confidence he lacked in other aspects of life. He even snuck a glance or two at the elves when he thought they weren’t looking.

Perhaps he had not been so circumspect because one of them was soon asking after his name. After swallowing a lump in his throat, he answered, “I am Fenlaf. Just Fenlaf, nothing fancy. I am from Upbourn...we may pass by on our way, I’m not sure of our route. Now I live in Edoras.” As for the amber liquid…”What’s that?” His voice rose in pitch. “I don’t know what you mean. I haven’t got anything that isn’t official gear and definitely nothing that’s even close to an amber liquid!” He had taken Yoshiyo’s promise very seriously. No one would find out about whiskey, not from him!

“Would you tell me your name, so that I’m sure I have it right? And your horse’s too?” He patted his horses’ neck. “This here is Blue-eye, but I usually just call him Blue.” Strangely, the horse did not have blue eyes.

Lailyn
Between Fuin and Pele’s assurances, Lailyn relaxed a fraction in the saddle. They were taking a breezy pace and while the others’ horses seemed a bit restless, both Lailyn and Fairmane were quite content to mosey along behind the others. It made for a rather refreshing change of pace for the pair who had, for the most part, traveled without other company.

“You’re right, Pele.” She agreed with a firm nod. “In that case, I’d have stayed home and not signed up to help lead it. Trust me when I say that would be a good thing-- I can’t say I was ever very military-minded as much as I once tried. I’d go so far as to say I’m not sure I could catch a sword tossed my way. I’m sure I’d wind up injured and then Pele here would have to get out the bandages and you’d have to answer to Yoshiyo!” She told Fuin with a chuckle. Unless elves were experts at sword-throwing (a distinct possibility), Lailyn did not think Fuin meant that literally. She hoped.

At Fuin’s wager, a genuine smile crossed her face and her eyes shone with amusement. “If my cousin were here, he'd make all kinds of bets on it and then I suspect he'd try to sweet talk the both of you, Lady or no.” They may not be shieldmaidens, but they were women with weapons, which happened to be Nymlac’s personal preference (though he was not usually very picky). “Thankfully he is not here to inflict himself upon you. As for the wager itself...I’m sure you are both excellent hunters, but I reckon I might give Fuin the advantage with Loithne’s eyes in the sky to help…sorry, Pele.” She tilted her head at Pele with an apologetic look.

“Either way…” Lailyn glanced toward the mountains ahead. Now that they had left the city behind, she could make out their pine-clad flanks and even spied a cascade winnowing down the face of a rocky escarpment. “I’m sure there’ll be plenty of game for you both and more to keep you busy besides. Who knows what we are going to find up there?” The ruins were likely full of mysteries and lost pieces of the past, things knew little of beyond the stories she’d been told. One thing was certain: this group was going to write some new stories and she was glad to be part of them.

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The journey northward was quiet. Well, not exactly quiet. Okay, it was actually pretty loud and chaotic, but Yoshiyo was happy for it all nonetheless. She liked all the chatter and speculation, she enjoyed, and partook in, theorizing exactly what they’d find up in those ruins. The most outlandish and silly was Redhor’s theory that they would find an entire underground civilization of halflings that adapted to living underground. It was ridiculous, right? Yoshiyo had immediately thought it was a joke but, as with all things, she thought about it too long one night and decided that nope it was far too creepy and too possible to be a thing. Nope. No thank you, no halflings coming up from the ground in the middle of the night to... do whatever. No thank you sir! She’d met some hobbits on her travels this last year. They were all wonderful and pleasant and made her feel more welcome than she’d ever felt in Mithlond within ten minutes of meeting her. They were odd and silly, but so was she. Still, she would like to not see any of them pop out of the ground in the middle of the night to have coffee and beignets.

The reminded her, she really, really missed coffee and beignets. She had a recipe and even went to Redhor to see if it were possible to make them, sadly they informed her that not only was it impractical to do, it was impossible with the equipment they brought with them. She tried to not sulk, she knew the chances were basically zero (that one class she took about statistics coming back to haunt her with knowledge), but that didn’t stop her from wanting a cup of coffee and a pastry.

She and Erniel had a few snowball fights, none of them to her liking though, mostly because the snow they encountered was thin and sparse and she could never gather up enough snow to make a proper snowball before being pelted by a hundred from her silly, fun loving foe. She was clearly going to have to rethink the strategies she’d devised to defeat him. Clearly, he was more than an expert than she’d thought. He only looked like a happy go lucky silly elf, he was really a devious strategic mastermind with a taste of blood. He was ruthless, and so Yoshiyo decided that she was going to have to be just as ruthless if she was ever to pull even with him.

Yoshiyo spent time with Lailyn as well. Despite the amount of time they’d already spent together, both at the feast then the morning after when it was revealed that the young elf had fallen asleep in a snowbank after consuming far too much alcohol, Yoshiyo felt drawn to her and wanted to get to know her newest friend and working partner. The elleth was naturally curious about all things bee keeping (a curiosity she didn’t even know she had had until Lailyn had told her that’s what she did). What kinds of bees produced the best honey? Was spicy honey a thing? Did wasps and hornet make honey as well? Is cross breeding bees to make different honey something anyone has done? How many species of bee were there? What’s are some of the non food uses for honey and was there demand for that? What’s the weirdest thing she’d ever seen bees do? Yoshiyo’s questions were endless, both silly and serious. While she was not sure what she would do with the knowledge (maybe coauthor a book with Lailyn about bees and honey and add it to the libraries in Minas Tirith and Mithlond) she was hungry for it. Also for the honey but that was something that was easily fixable, since Lailyn had the genius foresight to bring some with her. Likely she knew the substance was addictive to Yoshiyo as if she were some silly floofy bear with little brain. She maaaaaay have been right about that to some degree. Time spent with Lailyn was always special. Neither were fluent in the other’s mother tongue so, in keeping with the theme of the whole journey, they taught each other a few words here and there. It was going to be a while before either of them were any good at it, but it was a start.

Yoshiyo and Ottor got along swimmingly as well. There was no actual swimming, the water was far too cold and swift for that, but they had a wonderful time talking about the latest fashions and how much this expedition would change all that. An exciting little bauble that they could reproduce and start to sell in the Havens? Heck yeah! Yoshiyo didn’t really understand the fashion industry, but Ottor did and together she was sure they’d take it on. Whatever the heck that meant. There were a few snowball fights, more minor skirmishes than full on offensives, but Ottor usually came out ahead using the more snow equals more hits method of throwing massive piles of snow haphazardly into the air.

Yoshiyo made time to visit with Fuin as well. As the honored elder (something Yoshiyo never actually called her for fear of getting smacked), Fuin was a fount of knowledge, both practical and theoretical (and even some whimsical). While Yoshiyo barely had the knowledge to know which was the pointy end on her dagger, Fuin was an expert in creating them. Was it knowledge that she needed? Maybe, she wasn’t going to join the guard as soon as they got home and start fighting in the army, but learning how to stab with the pointy end would be usefully she assumed.

Yoshiyo, ever the pest with the pencil and paper, also pestered Pele about the healing techniques and methods of Gondor. Herblore was something that interested her but she’d never really taken the time to dive in and explore it, mostly because it had nothing to do with a lot of her work as a linguist. However, she reasoned, going to this excavation site could bring about all sorts of cross referencing into play, something she adored getting to do. All in all, the trip might have only lasted a few days, but the connections were made (at least Yoshiyo thought so). They were a small band, not quite the score or more that she’d expected or hoped for, but she still had absolute faith in everyone coming with her. As the mountains loomed large, white, and foreboding, Yoshiyo’s enthusiasm reached a new height.

“Well, what say we all to a break? We can set up a basecamp here in this little valley here before we start our ascent to the site itself. We can climatize, take stock of our provisions, and get ready for the climb itself. I saw a goat rancher, is that the right word, a bit of a ways back. Perhaps he could be persuaded to part with a few of them to help us get the equipment up? I would hate to have to put the horses through something like that.”
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The travelling was loud and jovial overall and Fuin for her part could not help but stick her tongue out in perhaps the most immature manner she could muster at Lailyn when she ratted out that the elf had a raptor in the sky to help with hunting. "How am I suppose to cheat and blame it all on my elf eyes if you give up the game so swiftly? Now I'll have to beat her legitimately." She said with a chuckle. The falcon liked to hunt birds for herself the occasional rabbit which Fuin suppose if she caught enough rabbits everyone would be able to eat but over all Fuin felt like a hart, or hind would be the best thing to feed this rabble.

Honestly from the back of the group near Pele she got to watch a lot of the interactions as they happened and most of them brought a smile to her face as she was able to listen in on a few conversations she did enjoy listening to Yoshiyo pestering Pele about healing in Gondor, something Fuin was also interested in but didn't overly have a lot of time in order to go and sit about and study in the Gondorian House of Healing instead she was happy to quietly listen to the conversation and learn.

Of course her own interactions with Yoshiyo were brilliant. She was quite fond of the young woman and her bubbly attitude and questions that Fuin wasn't always certain if she was serious or not, and had proceeded to gift one of her bracer daggers to Yoshiyo slipping the small sheath from where it was pressed under the leather and fir in hands reach with a flick of the wrist so that the young woman could practice making sure she was holding the dull end. Fuin also suggested practicing on sharpening pencils with it and to cut AWAY from her self. For safety reasons of course and that stabbing things that were alive that needed to be made unalive could in fact come much later if she really wanted to learn how to do that. Pencil sharpening seemed like a fantastic and safe starting point.

Of course Fuin would absolutely need to forge a replacement dagger when she returned to Imladris but honestly she still had her sword, her fathers knife and bow, and her second bracer dagger. She blinked and stopped realizing that they were already basically at the base of the mountain and Yoshiyo was calling for them to make base camp. She was certain her horses could go a bit further up the mountain but honestly what they would eat up there would be sparse so Yoshiyo was likely right that this would very likely be the best place to leave the horses for the time being and climb the rest of the way on foot. She glanced at her stocks of food on her second horse and debated on whether or not she could carry it all by herself on her back or if it would be wise of her to get a goat or if they would be making regular trips down to base camp to replenish. A goat for each of them might be a brilliant option if they could get that many goats.

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A lopsided grin and a shake of her head was her non-verbal response to any ideas of hunting competition with Fuin, and only then she added the words to go along with it: "My primary business is not hunting animals, though suppose I can do that when in need of food. But suppose we could set up a bit of a friendly rivalry... Lailyn, I do not have too many arguments to persuade you to take my side, but suppose, as the saying goes: time will tell." For the present, she was not too much in a mind to rush and kill as many animals as possible just to prove that she was better than the experienced Elf, yet it might possibly change under certain circumstances.

"No sword throwing, I beg you,"
she then added with a hearty laugh; "Unless it is at an inanimate object for throwing accuracy purposes."

The noisy procession onwards half amused and half perplexed the Gondorian; she was used to quiet and swift movements of the Rangers, so this felt in a way unfamiliar to her. While she did not actively avoid contact with people, she did not overly engage either, most of the time staying out of the thick and observing both the processing itself and the surroundings. That is, except the times when Yoshiyo came to ask about the healing techniques applied in Gondor. She obliged, and provided as much information as she could, without overwhelming details - though she could expand the explanations at any time and go on with something of a lecture, if she was not careful.

After a certain amount of travelling, they had come so close to the mountains that Yoshiyo suggested making a camp and then going upwards without horses. Goats would definitely be a good aid, but then again Pele had brought only enough supplies for her to be able to carry if needed. That, out of habit. She did not make any suggestions, and only nodded her agreement silently, as she treated Temper to one of the apples that still remained in her bag.
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Erniel, ever amicable and sociable, brightened even further when he saw how the lad he’d spoken to carried himself in his saddle. Such confidence for one so young! Erniel’s eyes sparkled kindly; it did him good to see a person come into their own. It had been that way for him long ago, too. It had taken many a year, but when he finally began to feel comfortable in his own skin and find those who accepted him as he was, he made some of the happiest memories of his life. Similarly, this lad seemed quite comfortable on horseback and perhaps would be more at ease speaking with one of the Firstborn from this vantage point.

“Well met, Fenlaf! Upbourn!” he repeated, feeling the shape of the word in his mouth. Such interesting sounds these Rohirrim had chosen to carry meaning. Languages fascinated him, and he longed to learn more. “What a lovely name for a place. I would love to see the town of your birth - please, do point it out as we pass. Even if,” he grinned, “I am engaged in the most intense snowball fight you’ve ever seen. I can afford to lose one or two to Yoshiyo over there if it means catching a glimpse of your fair home!” He winked, then carried on with his well-intentioned questioning. “And how do you find Edoras as a place to live? I quite liked my visit just before we began this journey, but I must admit, I didn’t have enough time to explore it fully.”

The ellon grinned mischievously when Fenlaf’s voice rose an octave or more at the question about the appealing liquid Erniel had espied. “I see . . .” He winked again and said no more on the subject. Perhaps Yoshiyo would reveal her secret in time.

“My name is Erniel! Just Erniel,” he said, paralleling Fenlaf’s introduction. “My horse is called Ranyatal. I rather like the name Blue! Short and to the point.” He nodded his approval for good measure.

* * *

As they traveled, Erniel’s gaze wandered over the lines of the mountains in the distance and the ever-approaching foothills. Even from afar, he espied white blankets of snow in the mountains’ upper heights. Even further down the slopes where they rode, there were patches of cool snow which sent the sun blazing up into the traveling party’s eyes. Neither cold nor flashing sunlight could deter Erniel from a fierce snowball fight at every chance, however. He and Yoshiyo carried on their time-honored tradition of pelting one another with snowballs of varying sizes and consistencies, which always left them rosy-cheeked and giggling madly. He could not have asked for a more pleasant diversion from the long journey, though the journey itself was by no means unpleasant. They had everything they needed and they made steady progress.

When Yoshiyo gathered them to announce the formation of a base camp, Erniel lit up. “Camping!” he crowed. “I just love camping!” Every word was true. He enjoyed sleeping in a self-made shelter beneath the stars, the sound of the breeze rippling through the fabric of a tent, the smell of wood smoke, and the chance to get up close and personal with the mountains. “Oh, Yoshiyo, you couldn’t have picked a better spot!” He dismounted eagerly and moved at once to unburden his horse of the necessities for a cozy campsite.
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Lailyn and Fenlaf
Somehow, an elleth who was as graceful and possibly as dangerous as her falcon managed to look like a small child when she stuck out her tongue and Lailyn was overcome with laughter. She had to wipe the tears from her eyes before she was able to speak again. “Oh, Fuin, I am terribly sorry I spilled your secret! Forgive me. Maybe a just punishment for my big mouth would be getting served whatever you hunt last. Sometimes I just cannot keep a lid on it.” She lowered her voice to the two so he would not overhear. “Do not count Fenlaf out of your estimations. I have it on good word he is quite handy at setting traps and these valleys are his home.”

Not only did Fuin and Lailyn’s spirits seem to lighten even as the ground underfoot grew rockier and more treacherous, she also spied Pele’s shoulders somewhat relaxed. Though she knew none of her fellow travelers very intimately, she had seen enough of the world to know they each must have had their own trials and tribulations to face. To joke and laugh and share good-natured fun was a blessed thing indeed.

And it was all thanks to one individual...Yoshiyo. Her questions and curiosity never seemed to end. Lailyn loved every minute of it and conversations with Yoshiyo seemed to flow effortlessly while the sun swam across the sky, the time passing barely noticed. There was much to learn from Yoshiyo, from the obvious like her language to the idea of spicy honey and the less tangible aspirations of staying true to yourself and never giving up on a dream.

Even Fenlaf managed to shake some of his reticence once mounted. Lailyn overhead him repeating Erniel and Ranyatal’s names and paying a compliment to the horse’s coat. The sheen told of a hale beast who had been well cared for and in Fenlaf’s eyes, that earned the ellon great respect. “Edoras is the only other home I have known and I am kept very busy there with my work at the King’s Stables. I am afforded a little bunk nearby as part of my position and I do not get out much...except,” he frowned and his ears turned red at the admission, “when I have to chase a lost charge about the streets.”

When the others started a snowball fight, Lailyn tried to encourage him to join in, seeing the longing on his face, but he insisted he was here to work, not play. In her opinion, a lad of seventeen ought to have plenty of time for both. When she told him as much, he simply shook his head at her.

---

Upon arrival at the basecamp, Fenlaf immediately tended the horses and began setting up a paddock where the ground and conditions were just right. A creek tumbled past in a series of little drops and pools where the horses might drink. Once she finished with Fairmane, Lailyn paused to take it all in. Up here, the world somehow seemed brighter and more vibrant. The snow and rocks blazed bright white and the grass underfoot shone springy green. Even the sky seemed a deeper shade of blue and the air was crisp and clear. Though pleasant now, it hinted at a bitter cold that would deepen the higher they climbed.

“Yes…” she agreed with Yoshiyo, surveying the group, their gear and the climb they had yet to traverse. “We’ll need some help hauling things. There is some heavy gear, shovels and picks and the like...I don’t fancy hauling it all on my back and my horse won’t thank me for it, either.”

“Why don’t you take Fenlaf with you, he knows beasts better than anyone and he’ll be sure to get a fair price?” she suggested. “And anyone else who has the energy for a bit more adventure today.” She smiled. “In the meantime, the rest of us can set up camp and see if we can’t get a dining tent and food prepared in time for your return!”

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All the jovialities with the snow had not gone unnoticed by Pele, and once she would have joined in without thinking, yet now she only watched with a smile. Perhaps she would join at some point when she was satisfied that there would be no danger threatening and she can enjoy more fun, for now though she held to the duties of a guard she had appointed herself to.

Having ensured that Temper was comfortable and would not get in trouble right away, Pele stood for a while breathing deeply, and her gaze lifted to the mountains. Now and again she liked to seek solace in the White Mountains, sometimes scrambling up steep rock walls to get to more picturesque locations, and the crispy fresh air reminded her of those adventures, of home. And yet the surroundings were somewhat different, and she looked forward to exploring.

"I wouldn't mind helping with setting up the camp," she volunteered then, deciding that standing around and pretending to be a deeply breathing statue would not get things done. "The travels have left me slightly sore, so a bit of 'housework' would do good; I'm willing to set up tents, cook food, or whatever else you'd have me do."
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Fuin was happy to be off of the back of her horse and her horse was glad for it as well, and it was obvious that Lune relaxed as she undid his saddle and slid it from his back. Lisse was
equally happy as well when the pack saddle came off of her. Fuin was busy setting up her small tent on the edge of the camp, a guards position as it were. She kept Lune on a lead near her tent, being a war horse and a stallion the last thing she wanted was him fighting with mares. That would be... irresponsible of her at the very least. Happy that he wouldn't get off the lead she had him on she began caught Pele staring at the White mountains for a moment, and Fuin could not help but also appreciate the beauty of the lands they where in.

They reminded her very much of her home when she was younger when they had all been certain that the darkness had passed after the Valar had marched on Morgoth and cast him into the Void. After that what darkness could have prevailed? How foolish they'd all been. She shook her head. This was hardly the time for such dark thoughts, after all they were on their way to find a lost civilization, the weather had been kind to them, and there had been more merriment and laughter than their had been sore backsides from riding for long hours.

Staying busy would be a good thing she was certain and nodded as Pele offered to help set up camp. "I will get a fire started so we can cook a meal." So far Fuin had not used her falcon to catch anything on the trip, it was nice having her flying about without having her on a specific mission and able to just fly and enjoy her freedom for a good long while.

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A knife. Fuin had given Yoshiyo a knife. The elleth’s initial reaction had been one of shock and awe. She’d never had a knife before, well unless the one she ate with counted (did it count?). She held in her small palms reverently. This was indeed a great gift, something created by the Forgemaster herself. When she’d received it, Yoshiyo’s eyes had been as big as dinner plates. It only took a moment for the awe to pass and another emotion to take its place. She smiled secretly and licked her lips. She’d never had a knife before, yet now she did. The weight and balance were perfect, it was made by a forgemaster after all. The girl who once nearly burned down the Library of Mithlond falling asleep on a candle now had a knife. She giggled. But the sound was cut short by the presence of Amrûndir grabbed Redhor who both looked at her with clear concern. Redhor went as far as to open their mouth to ask if Fuin might want to rethink such a princely gift, but they remained silent at a look from Amrûndir. “I think that Lady Fuin is correct,” they finally said, “starting with sharpening your pencils, away from you would be a very good way to start your learning process.” Their eyes never left the naked blade. In Yoshiyo’s hands it might as well have been a poisonous snake. Yoshiyo, with a knowing smirk and another burst of bubbly giggles, winked at Fuin and darted off, ready to test this knife on her charcoal pencils.

On the way, she ran into Erniel (her erstwhile best bud). She snuck up behind him, creeping on her very best catspaws, picked up a handful of snow, and stuffed it down his shirt. “Erniel! You’re covered in snow, dontcha know! How did that happen?” She burst into another fit of giggles. Initially she’d intended to pretend that it was the falcon Lail brought with her but the sight of Erniel covered in snow down his shirt was too funny and the plan fell to bits. “Did you remember to pack yourself a tent?” There was a plan in her mind to cover the entire tent he pitched in snow and turn him into a snowman. She cleared her throat. The White Mountains in front of them reminded her that it was not all fun and games (though there would be a fair bit of that). She was the leader of this particular mission. Some pranks were just going to have to wait for another occasion. “Be sure that no critters get into your sweets. And don’t bother telling me you didn’t bring any!” she wagged a finger at him in mock disciplinarian fashion. “Raccoons love sugar as much as you and I do not need those little buttfaced miscreants, and no mistake!” She ruffled her friend’s hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Maybe you can share some of those sweets by the fire tonight?”

Lastly, she stopped by to see Lail. “My horse, I can tell you, is not going to want to climb up all those rock faces and cliffs. I’m quite certain he wants to stay right here and munch on grass for the rest of the trip, the old fuddy duddy.” She cast a glance back at her horse who was doing exactly that, munching on grass and idly casting his eyes about. “And my shoulders are more equipped to carry a hundred books rather than a hundred pounds of shovels.” She took in the mountain air one last time, closing her eyes as she inhaled as deeply as she could. The air was so cool up here, it smelled of pine and peaty earth. “Alright then Fenlaf! You and I are off to get some goats! How many do you think you can carry?” She gave Lail a mischievous wink. The poor boy was going to have to endure her for a bit longer today.

“I think I’ll join you,” Amrûndir appeared behind them, silent as ever. Yoshiyo yipped and jumped at least three inches in the air. He smiled and gave her a feigned innocent look. “I think poor Fenlaf will need some help with you. Redhor will stay back and help set up camp. Shall we?”


GM Update: We’ve made basecamp! Congrats! All those not going to talk to the goatherder will need to help set up camp. Please feel free to use Redhor as you need (just remember their pronouns are they/them) to pick up the slack. Anyone coming with Yoshiyo and Fenlaf is welcome. I’ll be playing the cantankerous goatherder unless someone wants to jump into that roll (let me know on the OOC or on Discord). As soon as we finish this up, we can start the real journey up to the ruins! In the spirt of “slow and steady” I’ll give everyone about two weeks to mill about.
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Fuin for her part watched as Yoshiyo retreated without the small sheath for the small dagger and shook her head at the shear... was it joy? The older elf wasn't entirely sure but she did know that she had just caused what could only be described as utter chaos in the lives of Amrundir and Redhor judging from the looks on their faces both cast at Fuin herself and at the naked blade in the young womans hands and she couldn't help but laugh. Even as finally it was agreed that the pencils would be a good first place to learn to use the knife.

"I promise I shall help teach her to respect it, and hopefully without loss of fingers or life." She said still chuckling she'd make sure that she put the daggers sheath with Yoshiyos stuff so that she would be able to keep it properly. The blade was sharp and would hold it's edge far longer cutting back charcoal sticks than what Fuin used it for but she wasn't about to tell either of Amrundir or Redhor that. With a shake of her head and a smile still on her face at the chaos sown she headed off to take care of the task she had offered to take care of.

The base camps fire she looked about knowing she'd need wood, she headed for a small stand of pine near by and found plenty of dead fall to bring back to the camp, she brought back a few arm loads of decent sized branches that would burn a while before going and fetching dried needles and twigs as kindling. She would probably need to find more branches tomorrow or later that night depending on if they decided to make the fire large or leave it to hot glowing embers for most of the night.

After a bit of work with a bit of flint she had the fire going and she was sitting looking at the flames licking the small twigs working on catching large branches ablaze with a steady crackling of the sap in the pine, she debated on if she would even set up her tent tonight, it had been nice enough that she wasn't overly bothered by the idea of sleeping out under the stars.

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Pele allowed herself a few moments to admire the majestic mountains and to simply be and breathe; remaining in peace a little now and then was something that she was learning to do, and this was as good a time as any. However, the activity and bustle around her soon reminded her that she was not out here alone, and there were things that had to be done. Like setting up a camp before the dark set in.

"Right!" her voice held a note of determination, as she looked around to see that a few folk were already on their way off to find some goats, and Fuin was busy with starting the camp fire. Perhaps that moment of sizing up the mountains had taken Pele longer than she meant to.

"Will we eat the food from the provisions?" she asked, mostly addressing Lailyn, "Or should I go and see if I can hunt down something for us? And where are the pots and such?"
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Fenlaf

Fenlaf checked and double-checked that all the horses were safely secured, getting brushed and cooled down, watered and fed by the other grooms. He was about to triple-check, intensely fearful of another escaped steed as it would be the worst thing that could ever happen (again), when Yoshiyo called his name. There was no time to ensure the whiskey was also safely stowed away but he was certain it was. Right? He had guarded it almost as carefully as he had the horses the whole journey, even cradling it in arms when he slept. No one, not even the quietest, sneakiest, most mischievous elf among them could snatch it under his watch...or could they?

He scrunched up his nose as he thought over her question. “How many? Er, I think two, one under each arm, but--but if you need me to carry more, I will try! For you, Lady Yoshiyo! Er, Honoured Yoshiyo!” There was an eager light in his eyes but what honorific did one use for an elleth like Yoshiyo? He was sweating under his cloak and it did not get better when Amrûndir appeared as if out of thin air! “Um.” He finished lamely. It was all he could say at the prospect of going on an errand with the two elves even though he was terribly excited to be in their company, he still felt a bit like a fish out of water. As they set off, he cast a single longing gaze back at the horses.

Lailyn

Lailyn nearly burst into laughter at Yoshiyo's wink and Fenlaf's response. To hide her amusement, she bent down to ‘adjust’ her boot-laces and straightened again only when she was sure she could keep a straight face. “Sounds like that’s settled!” She exclaimed, eyes still glittering. With a respectful nod at Amrûndir, a clap on Fenlaf’s shoulder and a wide grin for Yoshiyo, she bade them farewell for now. “We’ll have food and drink ready for your triumphant return! I can’t wait to find out how many goats you can haul, Fenlaf.”

Fuin and Pele and those who stayed to set up camp were wonderfully efficient in her eyes. Not for the first time (and certainly not the last), Lailyn was grateful to have helped assemble such a well-rounded and hard-working, if small, team. Tents sprung up left and right, gear was sorted and divvied up and Fuin took on the important task of starting a fire. “Don’t hold back on the fire, Fuin!” she called, not that she wanted to burn the mountain down. She was certain someone of Fuin’s experience would not let things go that far. “Tonight we celebrate our first milestone!”

“Well, I never thought I'd say no to fresh meat, but we have plenty of provisions.” she told Pele. “It’s been a long few days for us all, even at the pace we took, why don’t you leave hunting for another day?” It was a gentle way of steering the Ranger towards hopefully relaxing at least a little, though she appreciated her vigilance. Perhaps she might need a little nudge again later when the mead (and secret whiskey) were on tap.

“Oh yes, the pots and cookware…” Lailyn mused, scanning the piles of gear with hazel eyes, momentarily regretting having sent off the one person who was sure to know where every last thing could be found. Still, she had supervised and helped with the packing and generally ought to know where things were. It took her a moment to think it through.

“Ah yes!” Snapping her fingers, she took a step over a large sack of oats or flour, she wasn’t sure which, and found her way to the cookware. She returned to Pele’s side with an armload of pots and cutlery. “I’ll bring some of the food over to the fire to get started if you wouldn’t mind taking care of this. I’d like to get a large tent set up for eating in...” A glance at the clear blue sky sent a wry grin across her face. “Perhaps tonight the stars will be shelter enough, but I can’t imagine the fine weather will last for long out here…what do you think, Redhor?” Knowing they had traveled this way before, she knew they would have useful wisdom and experience to share.

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Fuin heard Lailyn call that she shouldn't hold back on the fire that there was a celebration to be had and the elf couldn't help but chuckle at that - it would makes sense that the forge master would be put in charge of the fire. "I promise not to make this the Second Battle of Sudden Flames." She called back to Lailyn with a chuckle, it was dark humor of course, having been alive during that terrible battle, though fortunately not part of it. Few that were a part of the flame part of that battle lived to tell of the horrors. The foes that flew from the Dark Lords fortress afterwards that besieged the kingdoms around it, there were plenty of those but there were few still in Middle-earth itself. She glanced at the stack of wood and figured that it would not be enough for a celebration, they were going to need more wood and Pele had Lailyn looking for pots and cookware. She put another log on the fire and made sure that it was well caught. She figured she would leave its watch to whoever would be cooking so she could head out and get more wood.

"Do we have an axe Lailyn? " She asked leaning back "If we've got one I'll find it so you can deal with other things but there is only so much small dead wood I can drag back where I can probably cut up some of the large dead fall with an axe that will keep us going far longer than me snapping branches off of it." She was sitting relaxed by the fire for a moment half watching it half glancing at Lailyn as they threatened to bring food over to cook over the fire.

"Pele if you are okay with starting to cook I'll let you take care of the fire now that it's well started an on its way," She motioned to the stack of wood which would be plenty enough for cooking the meal. "Once I find the axe I'll start getting some bigger wood so we can have a bonfire to celebrate around."

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“Ai!” Erniel yelped. It felt like he jumped a mile high when a large clump of something very cold and wet slid down his shirt. In reality, he only jumped a few inches, but still. He thought it was quite dramatic. Or at least he felt dramatic. Yoshiyo’s teasing voice made him giggle in spite of the drama. “Hmm, I wonder! There couldn’t possibly be a rascally archaeologist about, could there?” He fished some rapidly melting snow out of his shirt and flung it in her general direction, not thinking twice about who else might be caught in the crossfire.

His mouth dropped open when Yoshiyo mentioned the sweets. How had she known?! Possibly it was because she knew him quite well. But still. He thought he’d kept his little treats a secret! Presuming they hadn’t been crushed as the group journeyed up the mountain, he had a box of chocolates to munch on. Now that she had outed him, he would simply have to share. It was a pity, he thought. He had been rather looking forward to stuffing all the chocolates into his mouth at once and slowly savoring their bitter sweetness. (Chocolate generally made him feel terrible, so it was probably a good thing he would be sharing.)

“Oh, fine, you! And we’ll have no raccoons in this camp, that’s for sure! Not if I have anything to say about it!” He puffed out his chest rather unimpressively and went on, “And yes, I suppose I’ll share the sweets, now that you mention it.”

The snowy-haired (and shirted) ellon chose to stay behind and set up his little camp. He pitched his little Erniel-sized tent in a flash and unfurled his bedroll with a tiny flourish. “Ahh! There we go!” he sighed. The down stuffing of the little thing had gotten rather smushed on the most recent leg of their journey, and so he set about fluffing up the thing by slapping and punching at it. When it was done, it looked quite inviting. With a little glance at the others (who looked like they had everything very much under control), he plopped down onto the thin cushion. He lay on his back, hands behind his head, and looked up at the dim orb of sun which shone through the fabric of his little tent. This was the life!

As the sun began to set, the temperature dropped accordingly. Where was his blanket? In all the excitement about cuddling up in his little tent, he had neglected to unpack the rest of his supplies! He emerged on all fours from the tent, sprung up, and went to where Ranyatal stood, grazing on the thin mountainside grass. He dug around in a bag and removed a wool blanket and his treasured box of chocolates. He also found his tin plate and mug (both well-worn and dented - they had seen much use in Erniel’s many journeys). Blanket around his shoulders, he wandered over to the little group that had done such a wonderful job preparing the camp.

“Hello!” he piped, stopping to speak to Lailyn and Pele, who were with Fuin and Redhor. A small fire was crackling merrily. “May I be of some assistance with the cooking? I’m afraid the only ingredient I have to offer is chocolate, but I will happily stir and chop things if the sweets are best saved for after the meal.”
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Lady Yoshiyo? The elleth had to admit, she really liked the sound of that. She covered a chuckle with a cough though. It was not proper for an elleth of her status (not actually a lady or honored in anyway) to giggle like that. That attempt lasted all of about fifteen seconds. Who was she kidding? Not five minutes ago she’d stuffed snow down Erniel’s back. There was no hope for her to become a “proper” elleth. She liked herself just the way she was, thank you very much! “Geez Louise, oh you sweet young man,” she said once she’d been able to smooth her cheeks and stop smiling, “please, I’m just Yoshiyo, tis true ya know. Oh geez I’m no lady or honored or anything like that, dontcha know. Maybe one day, but boy howdy that is a long way off and no mistake.”

The three walked together in silence for a bit, Yoshiyo enjoying the refreshingly cold air. More than a few times she blew out a long breath just to see what it would look like as the air from her lungs made contract with the air outside. It was like a miniature form of cloud gazing. She, however, stopped when Amrûndir caught her making a face (making faces was how you made different cloud shapes, duh) and smirked. Being dignified was hard work. “Tell me, Mr. Fenlaf, what do you hope to gain from this expedition?” he asked, breaking the silence that had held them. “It’s good to see a young strong lad like yourself take an interest in things like anthropology. In my experiences the only things on a young man’s mind are fighting and… finding a partner.” He looked back in the direction of the camp and his own partner. “I think we can each carry a goat or two under our arms, you needn’t be the only one burdened so.”

The cottage and the yard loomed into sight. It was a nice, quaint little place. The chimney had a thin grey line of smoke pouring from the top and an orange glow in the window. The place smelled earthy with pine and animal. Yoshiyo, more used to the smell of musty books and candlewax, found the sight and smell very relaxing. She could see the appeal to a life like this. There was peace here.

“Hey! Whaddya want?” the serene seen was broken by the raspy sound of an older man coming down off his porch. He had a knife in his hand, ready to fight. He took a look at the three interlopers and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What’s two elves and young boy got to do on my farm? They kidnapped you boy? Eh? Speak up?”

“Oh geez, oh wow, no,” exclaimed Yoshiyo through her hands up in surrender. “We ain’t that sort of elf, dontcha know. We’re jus’ travelling through, making our way up to the White Mountains. We’re on a mission from the King of Rohan himself and no mistake, you betcha.”

The old man made a face. He’d probably never seen an elf before, let alone one as… unique as Yoshiyo. He glared and flexed his fingers on his knife.

“Good sir,” Amrûndir interjected, his hands raised outward to show he was no threat, “we are on a joint mission with your fellow Rohirrim. We’re going to be travelling up into the White Mountains to a ruin. The king wishes it to be studied. My name is Amrûndir, this is Yoshiyo. She’s the one leading the expedition.”

“Oh, you betcha,” Yoshiyo said, jumping back into the conversation. “it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr…”

“Name’s Varg.” His voice was not anymore friendly despite the explanation of their presence.

“Mr. Varg. Well it’s very nice t’meet you, and no mistake. We were hoping to have a conversation with you, dontcha know. We were hoping you might be willing to part with a few of your lovely goats for a few weeks. You see, our horses might have a rough time of it going up in the mountains with all our…”

“You want my goats?” he cut her off.

She swallowed the rest of the speech she was going to give. Her smile wavered just slightly. This was one of those rude humans. Cantankerous and suspicious.

“Ah, yes. We would pay handsomely for their services.” She tried, but she was failing to convince him. She could see it in his eyes and the way he was clinging to that dagger. She frowned and looked back at Fenlaf. “You think you might be able to talk him? I’m not seeming to have much luck.”
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Lailyn
At basecamp

Climbing over the maze of gear and supplies with arms full of food, Lailyn hurried to the fire to start cooking. She lost a few items along the way, leaving a trail of mushrooms she didn’t notice and settled in to work on preparing the cured ham with a honey glaze and assorted vegetables. If there was one sure thing she could contribute to the group, it was hearty meals.

Her dog had other ideas, constantly sticking his nose in her workspace trying to get at the ham. “No, no, this is not for you, my dear. Not yet. Please don’t drool all over our food.” She tapped him on the nose and shifted her body to shield the food, a gentle reproval, while smirking with amusement at his behavior.

“Hmm? Axes?” she asked, distracted by the dog’s unwillingness to quit, now whining softly. “Um, yes, there are some over there.” She gestured to a stack of gear. “They should be packed on the very top of one of those pine crates. And Fuin, before you get more wood, would you mind taking him with you? I’d rather you didn’t go too far alone though I know you are very capable, it’s just that I worry if a tree branch were to fall or something...and it would get him away from the food. If you don’t want to, it’s fine, but I promise I won’t hold you accountable if he gets into trouble.”

Lailyn turned her hazel eyes to the dog and tried her most stern voice. “You will be very good for Fuin, won’t you?”

Dollops of honey glaze dripped off the lid and back into the jar when she opened it and brought it to her nose to breathe in the sweet smell. One of the best parts about cooking was the olfactory feast enjoyed along the way. Her hand stopped in midair over the pot and glaze oozed off the spoon. All things were forgotten at the sound of one very special, very delectable word.

“Did you say...you didn’t say--chocolate?!” She gasped at Erniel and practically felt her mouth watering. “You wouldn’t joke about that, would you? It would be cruel to tease me about something so delicious, you know!”
---

Fenlaf with Yoshiyo, Amrûndir and Varg
The fact that Yoshiyo (just Yoshiyo) giggled like many of the young girls his age did not really help the lad. Sure, he did not expect an elf to behave this way but it made her no easier to talk to. It was a mystery how he ought to know what might set her off on another bout of it. Silence was the easy solution. Especially when she started puffing out big streams of cloud on purpose. Better to say nothing than to embarrass himself.

“The most fighting I’ve done is wrestling horses into having their hooves re-shod or helping a mare with a difficult birth. Um...a partner? Er...I’m not sure I want to...” Anything but those giggling girls! He scratched his barely-stubbled chin. “I want to be the Royal Stablemaster someday,” he confided. “I’m not sure that leaves room for anything else. I know the mearas are not stabled like other steeds and only the King may ride them, but just to be close to one...have you ever seen them? They must be the most beautiful and intelligent creatures alive!” Fenlaf’s eyes practically glowed at the very thought.

Things quickly went south at the goat-keeper’s cottage. Even for someone more familiar with horses than humans, he could sense the man was growing hostile. Frowning, Fenlaf was not sure where they had gone wrong but he stepped forward and gave it his best. At least if the man lunged forward with his dagger, he’d hit Fenlaf first. In his opinion, he was the most expendable member of this party-- just a boy who loved horses. They were a dime a dozen around the Mark.

“Westu Varg hal.” With his fist to his heart, he gave a little bow of his head. “I am Fenlaf, son of Fréaláf, of Upbourn. I work in the Royal Stables in Edoras. I know a good animal when I see one. Your goats are the fittest ones we’ve seen on our journey.” A little flattery could go a long way, nevermind they were the only goats they’d seen; hopefully Varg would not puzzle out that little detail. “As they said,” he gestured at Yoshiyo and Amrûndir, “the King has sent us on this task. I, and a number of other Riders, are accompanying them. We have gear to carry into the mountains and hope you might lend us your goats for the task.” His palms were sweaty and his chest felt tight. He could hardly remember what he’d said. He thought it important to impress upon the man there were Riders of the Mark involved. Had he missed anything important? Oh, of course. “For a fee.”

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Lailyn gave directions more or less to the axes and Fuin was on it heading to the pine crates that had been motioned to swiftly. It didn't take her terribly long to find an ax that would work well enough for what she intended to do as she hadn't even overly waited for where in the pine crates the tools would be found when she heard the request to take the puppy with her.

Fuin looked at the little beast so very happy and excited to be around his owner and all the new and fantastic smells but a puppy round the fire and the food was perhaps far more dangerous than a puppy round someone cutting up dead fall. "Aye I'll take him with me, I'm only going in to get the larger deadfall that is down so we should be safe from falling branches for the most part." She walked over to where Lailyn was and crouched down balancing herself with the handle of the ax as she looked over the puppy who was looking back and forth between Lailyn.
The old elf couldn't help but chuckle at the attempt at being stern with the dog who's eyes were darting back and forth and his tongue was lolling and his tail was double timing it completely and blissfully unaware of the instruction he'd just been given. "Asi, sí (Come now)" She said calmly looking at the pup and stood looking down at him as his ears perked up "Samlwë mólë. (We have work)" She said tipping her head towards the stand of trees she'd gotten the bits of wood from earlier. The puppy took off as fast as his legs could go and Fuin followed after him.

"We'll be safe. You save some chocolate for me too!" With that she was gone jogging after the dog who was happily looking back at her and running back and forth to the woods and then back to her excited for work to do.

"Tiris (Watch)" She said with a laugh as she finally came up on the first fallen pine tree that was laid down and the puppy for his part did absolutely nothing along the lines of what he was told looking at her with big brown eyes and so little comprehension that she couldn't help but laugh as he stood up and ran about the small clearing left by the fallen giant of a pine. He was too happy to be running and chasing after butterflies and shadows and barked in happy little yips at birds and squirrels up in trees.

"Well at least Lailyn won't feel too bad." Fuin muttered shaking her head "I only managed to get you to more or less follow me," and brought the ax up to start cutting the larger boughs that she had not been able to break off the dead trunk by from the underside of the tree until it was cleared out. These she tossed under the thicker portion of the tree and glanced at the puppy who was busy with a squirrel perhaps twenty feet from where she was that was chattering at the puppy who tried as hard as he could to climb and jump up the tree. She was perfectly find with this as it kept him out of any sort of danger with her swinging the ax as she finally began cutting through the tree about ten feet from the top of the tree. She would bring the wood back to the camp where she'd be able to clear the boughs off and set them aside as well as cutting the thick trunk and splitting it as needed for wood.

She heard the puppy whining and looked over in the puppies direction he was sitting pawing at the tree that still had the squirrel in it realizing perhaps that he wouldn't be able to catch the fluffy rodent.

"You aren't going to be able to catch every squirrel. You're going to have to get a lot bigger and faster I think before you catch your first one." She said with a laugh. The puppy looked at her as he knew full well she had a way to catch the creature in question. And she did, she had a few ways though she did not have her bow with her and her falcon who was flying about wasn't normally overly fond of squirrel.

"No. I'm not getting the squirrel for you. You need to do it yourself if you want the squirrel." She said shaking her head and setting the head of the ax down and using its handle like a stick to balance on as she took a break. The puppy trotted over to her and pawed at her leg. "I already said no." She stooped down and gave his soft ears a good scratching making him shut his eyes and wag his tail so hard his entire back end was caught up in it. She took several moments and glanced at the squirrel in the tree and pointed at it and the puppy was off back to watch and try to catch the rodent that Fuin wasn't even sure she'd be able to reach for the moment. She let out a little sigh and continued the cut she was half way through the trunk. There was still plenty of light but she could tell that evening and the setting of Arien would be coming soon so she wanted to finish this bit of work as quickly as she could so she could get the portion of tree back to camp. Soon the top of the tree that she was working on was groaning from the strain of staying attached and with one last hit the thin amount of wood that connected it to the main tree splintered and collapsed with the lack of branches to hold it up.

This got the pups attention with a yelp and wide puppy eyes having never heard that sort of noise before. She called to him softly and gave him a good number of pats and showed him what had happened and let him sniff at it inquisitively until he was calmed down "It's time to get back to camp so we can get the top boughs cut off and read for this celebration fire." She said and the puppy let out a yawn tired from the excitement and the hard work (as he likely thought it was) of protecting his elven friend from squirrels and butterflies. Fuin grabbed a sturdy bough that would take the weight of the top of the tree and began dragging it out of the forest tucking the ax into her belt as she didn't have any other good way of carrying it and dragging the tree. The pup for their part followed along tired enough now that he was happy to walk along beside her.

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Pele
At the basecamp


In a way, Pele was rather grateful that she did not need to go hunting just yet, and she very much believed Lail that the provisions held a good amount of food, if the number of packs was something to go by.

While she stood around, given to the sudden sense of relief and some measure of absent-mindedness, watching with a smile Lailyn bring an armload of cookware, and then a similar load of food. "Oh, right. I'll keep the fire going just fine!" she responded to Fuin, who set away and took with her the pup who rather more liked to assist Lail with cooking (or eating the food before it was cooked).

"This looks like such a delicious meal!" Pele exclaimed, finally setting to doing something besides standing around and observing the activities of others. Picking a longer stick from the stack of firewood, she carefully prodded at the fire and then placed two logs on the fire to keep it going properly. "I offer my help with chopping too, joining in with Erniel, if you need that, Lailyn," the Gondorian offered, looking up from where she squatted near the fire with her prodding stick in hand. "Unless Erniel would rather take a position of a chocolate provider?" Her blue eyes danced with merriment, when she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at the Elf.

The whole bustle of the camp, the warmth of the fire, and the scent of food in preparation worked together to set Pele at ease, and she found that the constant and tense watchfulness she had experienced this far was letting up. She allowed that perhaps a few moments of rest would not do too much harm - surely, there were no enemy forces large and bold enough to attack their group? At least not this very moment...
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A delectable scent rose from the cookfire over which Lailyn was working. Erniel crept even closer, curious about what might be cooking. Meat, definitely. But there was a sweet scent in the air. Honey! The sticky stuff shone as a glaze on the ham.

“How clever!” he remarked, drawing his blanket closer around his shoulders. “Honey on ham! I’ve heard of it before, but I never would’ve thought to do such a thing over a campfire. You must be a master chef.” Erniel laughed when Lailyn shooed her dog away; it recovered from this rejection quickly and went bounding off into the trees with Fuin. Dogs were excitable and adorable - naturally, Erniel felt a strong affinity with them, for he knew himself to be both those things, too.

“I did say chocolate!” he said proudly. “I may be a tease, but I wouldn’t joke about such serious matters as chocolate. Here!” He swept out one arm, showing Pele and Lailyn the little wooden box of chocolate he had been carrying. “I am your Chocolate Provider, indeed! Would you both like a bit now, or shall we wait until after the meal? I wouldn’t like to spoil our appetites before we get to sample this wondrous ham.”

He glanced around the campsite and noticed a line of mushrooms winding its way about the campsite.

“Are those mushrooms for eating?” he asked Lailyn. “Or have we been leaving trails of mushrooms behind us this whole time to let people know where we’ve gone?” With a grin, he offered to help: “I can collect and wash them off, if they are indeed a part of the meal.”
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Westu hal! Yoshiyo could have kicked herself. That was how she should have opened up the dialogue! The fact that a self-proclaimed lover of languages and linguistics forgot that was unforgivable! She ought to just crawl in a hole and eat the worms! She ought to just ride home in shame and hide under her bed! She ought to – The young elleth’s self-conflagulation was cut off with a hand on her shoulder. She nearly yipped in surprise. She’d zoned out from the conversation (a bad habit when she was berating herself) and hadn’t realized Amrûndir had come up beside her. He’d been her mentor for the last dozen or so years. He was, apparently, well versed in her moods.

“Don’t bet yourself up Yoshiyo,” he whispered, “even you can’t remember everything all the time. It’s okay. We’re lucky the young Fenlaf was here to rescue us from our own foolishness.” His voice was soothing and melodic. For a moment, it made Yoshiyo forget that she’d flobbed the negotiations. She clearly had some work to do with social interactions. She exhaled slowly and felt her shoulders and chest loosen up.

“Thank the stars I’m not the only one on this project and no mistake,” she breathed. Mortals were so much lighter on their feet when it came to conversation, she’d learned. They were faster thinkers and wittier than elves, they could also be more cutting and harsher than elves too. The young Fenlaf and the misery Varg were prime examples of that. She touched Amrûndir’s hand and smiled, mouthing the words “thank you.”

Meanwhile…

Varg eyed the boy suspiciously, looking at his ears and eyes for signs of elfish intrusion. What was this lad doing with the elves? Had he been bewitched or some such bother? He rubbed his scraggly, oily beard. Weren’t none of his business either way. His mother had told him not to get mixed up with elves and their mischief. They’d steal his sugar and dance on his grave if he so much as looked at them wrong. He chose to focus on the boy instead. His fingers twitched with the knife still in his hand. “Eh? You be wantin’ my goats, do you?”

He looked at the boy again, squinting his eyes. No, the lad weren’t no elf, he was too much of a beanpole to ever be mistook for an elf, and that hair, ha! He crossed his arms and looked back toward his goat pen. There were two dozen of the creature jumping around and bleating up a storm. He licked the front side of his teeth and grinned. “Well now, then, why didn’t you just say so to start with, lad? I wouldna come at ye and your… with a knife and all hostile like…” money from the King was nothing to sneeze at. And he could charge whatever he felt like. His crooked smile revealed crooked teeth as his grin widened. He looked back at his goats and saw them dancing about in gold.

“Twenty gold pieces per head then, if the King is paying for it.” He took a few steps closer to the boy, doing his level best to ignore the elves that hung about just at the edge of his peripheral vision. “How many goats did ya need?”
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Lailyn at basecamp

Lailyn watched her eager pup bound along before Fuin after she thanked the elleth for accepting the dog’s company. Watching Fuin hasten to catch up, she hoped she had not been wrong to send them together in case the dog had too much energy which would likely only cause Fuin split hairs. The recently adopted pup was quite sociable and she strove to allow the animal to explore and be exposed to all kinds of people and places. Accompanying an elf was a novel experience for a dog born in Edoras and she very much appreciated Fuin’s willingness.

“Well, I think good food and staying well-fed will keep everyone in good spirits!” she exclaimed to Pele, though she blushed when Erniel called her a master chef. “Oh, I’m nothing of the sort.” She waved his complement off. “I’d welcome both of your help chopping if you don’t mind,” she told both Pele and Erniel. “Though some mead would go down nicely, Pele, if you’d like to do the honours opening the barrel?”

The crackling fire illuminated the Gondorian’s face in a warm, flickering glow and Lailyn was pleased to see how much more relaxed she appeared now. A draft of mead, a well-deserved treat, would surely set them all at ease, bring them together and break down social barriers, if any still remained after their journey. Lailyn finished dousing the ham with the glaze and brought her finger to her lip to lick with a distinct lack of decour. It tasted even better than it smelled but chocolate tasted better than almost anything.

“I don’t think it would hurt our appetites if we had just a little bit now…I mean just a little. Do you?” The wooden box Erniel held out had practically entranced her and she imagined she could almost taste the delectable morsels melting on her tongue. It was no secret that Lailyn suffered from the plague of having a rather insatiable sweet tooth. Still, her spirit of generosity demanded some restraint. “We must be sure to save some for the others!”

Her attention was so thoroughly diverted, she had stopped cooking and momentarily forgotten about supper. “Hmm? What mushrooms?” Following Erniel’s gaze, she spied the errant fungi littering the ground and laughed at herself. “Oh, those. Yes, they were meant for the meal as well. Thank you, that would be very helpful though only after you complete your very important chocolate duty, of course!”

Brushing her cloak out of the way with one hand, Lailyn stooped closer to the pot suspended above the flames to inspect the ham more closely. Fortunately, it had not suffered any burns or other catastrophic disasters due to her brief neglect, which was much more than she could say for some of her past cooking ventures. “Should be done once the vegetables are ready!” she proclaimed. “Now when will Yoshiyo and our troop of goat-herders be back?” Glancing at the darkening sky, her brow knit in a slight frown. How long did it take to hire some goats, anyway? She didn't want them to miss hot food, drink and of course, chocolate.

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Pele, at the basecamp

"By all means, just a little bit of chocolate would only do good for the appetite," Pele concurred with Lailyn, as she tried her best not to focus on the little box too much. When on duty, she would not let something like this distract her, but here it was more an adventure than a duty, or so she tried to tell herself. And chocolate would be so great...

When Erniel mentioned scattered mushrooms, she too look in the direction he pointed and chuckled softly at the sight. "Well, at least it seems that the wealth of mushrooms has not brought any foragers or hedgehogs to our camp just yet," she commented and then looked about for the barrels. "Right, the mead."

To avoid snatching the box of chocolate from Erniel and run off with it into the woods, Pele turned on her heel and headed for the barrels. Finding a mallet and a tap among the provisions, she proceeded to roll one of the barrels back towards the campfire.

Taking a deep breath and flexing her muscles she somehow managed to lift the barrel up onto a nearby tree stump, though it made for a rather uneven base. Making sure that the barrel was still stable enough, she than proceeded to knock the tap in hoping that the drink would not burst out and create a fountain of mead.
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Returning to Basecamp

Fuin could see the campfire now as she dragged the top portion of the deadfall back to he camp, the puppy was running circles about her and she couldn't help but laugh at the dogs behaviour. She gave a wave to Pele, Lailyn and Erniel as she made it to the edge of camp where she would finish the task of cutting up this portion of tree.

"Go say hello to your mother." Fuin said looking at the puppy who was looking up at her expecting something probably a treat or something something she did not have for the moment (or perhaps that she would since they had listened so well now fetch that squirrel for him which she would not) He spun in a circle and looked at her again and the elf laughed and rolled her eyes. "She's over there, go make sure she didn't eat all the chocolate." With that the puppy took off like a bolt running straight for Lailyn.

"Incoming puppy!" She called just in case the dog got too close to the others that had stayed to make food or were was that Pele opening up a barrel of alcohol? She needed to get this wood cut so that she could relax and take part in that.

With that she began clearing the remaining limbs from the tree top she'd brought making plenty of kindling and small wood which would be good if they needed to restart the fire as well as lots of smaller logs before getting to the thicker portion of the tree itself, the constant knocking of the ax on wood fairly rhythmic until it was all cut up. She began the task of carrying and stacking the prepped wood closer to the fire. She eyeballed where the mead was and decided to put it opposite the mead about as far from the fire as the mead was. Mostly so that there wouldn't be any accidental knocking over of the pile or tripping on it as she had a feeling there would be a good number of people enjoying the mead and she didn't want them tripping on the wood especially towards the fire.

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Fenlaf with Yoshiyo, Amrûndir and Varg

Twenty gold per head! Fenlaf nearly fainted. It was robbery, plain and simple! In his utter shock, he exclaimed, “those goats better produce a hundred pints of milk for that much!” Varg had moved closer and the knife seemed to shine at him in warning. He forced himself to stand his ground though he really wanted to high-tail it out of here and away from this whole expedition. What was Lailyn thinking, asking him to come along? What would she do if she were here? A little kindness goes a long way, she would say, and something about flies and honey but he couldn’t quite recall the exact wording.

“That is, er, what I mean to say is...uh, your goats are very fine, good sir,” his voice shook, “but, well, though I cannot speak on behalf of the King, I think he may have some…” He tugged on the collar of his cloak. Sweat broke out on his brow. “Questions about the price.”

Fenlaf had no idea how to speak for the King, or what he would say or think at all, or if he had any authority to do so. In fact, the stablehand in the Royal Stables had never even had an occasion to meet the King. (Except, of course, that one time that he never ever ever told anyone about. A few years ago, late in the day when all was quiet, Fenlaf had stumbled upon the King and his wife in a passionate display of affection in one of the stalls. When he tried to edge back quietly, he stepped on the prongs of a pitchfork, sending it tumbling to the ground where it smacked loudly into a bucket of water, thus spilling the water and calling attention to his crimson-faced self. Everyone in Rohan knew, of course, what happened in hidden haylofts after dark but Fenlaf had not really paid it much mind until then. Ever since, he made a habit of loudly stomping his feet before proceeding into any stalls.)

Clearing his throat audibly, Fenlaf edged toward the goats in order to better see them though he did not need a closer look in order to understand the man was taking advantage of the King’s purse. It was much easier to talk while he faced them instead of their keeper. “The thing is, if I know one thing, it’s animals and no goat is worth that much. I work in the Royal Stables, you see. I wonder if the King would like your goats as breeding stock for his own goat herd after they prove themselves worthy...” He flourished a bright smile at the end, hoping to persuade Varg with his bumbling compliments and flattery before holding out his hand to pet the nearest goat.

Well, he’d probably done it now. Completely mucked it all up. As far as Fenlaf knew, there was no Royal goatherd, but well, if he didn’t know about that, then Varg certainly would not. “Um, what do you think about lowering the price for the great honour it is for you, and your goats to be part of our expedition?”

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“I think we can all manage to share just a little between us!” Erniel said, beaming. “And then you can set me to work chopping vegetables. Or,” he went on with a grin, “harvesting fallen mushrooms!”

With a clumsy attempt at a flourish, Erniel removed the lid from his box of chocolates to reveal a dozen round morsels tucked into soft paper wrappers. He had purchased these at the finest chocolatier in Lindon for the express purpose of cheering himself up if he got too lonely on his travels to Rohan. Luckily for him and his fellow expeditionists, he had not felt any pangs of loneliness as he traveled from west to east; in fact, he’d been so taken by the sights and the people and animals he met along the way that he’d almost forgotten about the chocolates until today.

“Help yourselves, my dear ladies!” he said to Lailyn and Pele, placing the open box upon the flat surface of an upended log - this would serve nicely as a small table. “But mind you, choose carefully! Each one has a different filling. I have no idea what, but they’re all different.” He laughed merrily, then skipped off around the campsite, following the trail of mushrooms. He removed his blanket from around his shoulders and used it as a makeshift sack, into which he placed his makeshift harvest. He hummed as he stooped to pick each of the morsels up and soon had quite a lovely load of toadstools.

He slowed his jog back over to Lailyn and the cookfire just enough so that the mushrooms stayed safely inside his blanket - they had had quite enough of laying about in the dirt! It was high time they became something tasty and useful for filling his belly. “The mushrooms have been recovered!” he announced. “Now, where shall I put these? Or would you like me to cut them up first?”

At that moment, Fuin’s voice carried to them across the campsite. “Incoming puppy!” A blur of fur and lolling tongue raced toward them.

“Oh no!” Erniel cried. “The chocolate!!” He scampered over to the box where it sat, still carrying his blanket full of mushrooms. One or two fell sadly back to the earth in his haste. He stood guard in front of the candies and kept his eyes on the puppy, hoping that it would be distracted by the scent of glazed ham on the air.
she/her | Esta tierra no es mía, soy de la nocheósfera.

Balrog
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She felt a little guilty that the negotiations were going just as wonky with her in charge as without. Fenlaf, stars bless him, was doing his best to recover from the rather outrageous price the man had set for the goats. How much did a goat cost? Yoshiyo had never had cause to rent a goat in either Mithlond or Bar-in-Gonagwelu so unfortunately the elleth had no point of reference as to what an outrageous price might be. However, given Fenlaf’s nearly apoplectic response to twenty pieces of gold per head, she could gather that that was far, far too much. Varg, the most unpleasant man she’d met since Dunland, didn’t seem ready to back down on the prices whatsoever. There was a mean, wicked glint to his eyes that made Yoshiyo’s stomach twist and roll in knots. He was clearly taking advantage of the situation. That in and of itself was not a bad thing. She had certainly done something similar with King Ñarmotar, getting herself about a hundred pens with a hundred different inks. This situation, however, felt like it was more malicious and sneaky than good natured and indulgent. This Varg fellow was charging at least twice what Yoshiyo would have thought was a good price for the goats. And they were only renting them. It wasn’t like they were going to ride the goats up to the top of the mountain then slaughter and eat them.

She looked to Amrûndir. He was eyeing the situation with patented elven skepticism. “What are we going to do about this?” she whispered, the façade of indifference not quite fitting on her face.

“I have an idea,” he mumbled then stepped forward, placing himself beside Fenlaf. He placed a reassuring hand on the young man’s shoulder.

“Mr. Varg. I think we can all see that twenty coins per head is a rather high, it’s a good opening bid, but I’m afraid that it’s not quite in the budget for this particular mission. I do understand your situation though. My mother and father raise goats and sheep up north. I can see that you are very attached to them, as they most likely are to you. We would never dream of taking such wonderful creatures away from you, banish the thought. We merely want to rent them, borrow them.” He leaned back and pointed toward the mountains. “Just up that way, not overly far from where we are now. You have my word that I will let no harm come to these creatures that you love so dearly.”

The man sneered and snorted. “Those mountains be dangerous. I’d be a fool to think that all my little ones would come back unharmed and able-bodied.”

Yoshiyo wanted to smack him. More likely they won’t want to come back to your dirty pens and your heavy hand.

Amrûndir, to his credit, did not flinch. “You speak true, Master Varg. These mountains yonder can be dangerous. What with heavy snowfall in winter and spring floods that come down. It’s a testament that you and your homestead have managed to survive as long as you have. You have my appreciation.”

The house was not in good shape. The roof looked like it was caving on one side and the wood on the porch looked like it was one or two termites away from total collapse.

“What if,” Amrûndir continued, “I were able to pay you for the goats right now? It wouldn’t be twenty gold pieces per head, but you wouldn’t have to travel all the way to Edoras and wait for an audience with the king. He seems more and more busy these days. I was invited from Mithlond and it still took me half a day to get an audience. I would have for you to have to be away from your homestead for too long. I believe you are the thing that holds all these things in place. I bet your farmhands are a bunch of lay about coal biters?”

Varg snorted a laugh. “Aye, me son and nephew are as allergic to hard work as a fish is to air.”

“And you can’t take them with you, they’d run off to the taverns the moment you got into town and spend half of the money you made from the goats!”

Again, the old man laughed. His face was still mean and sinister, but it lacked the hardness of before.

“I can give you eight pieces of gold per head—”

“Eight!?” the man interrupted, his joviality drained in an instant.

“Eight pieces of elven gold. Gold that you don’t have to go all the way to Edoras to get and leave your farm in the hands of incompetent lazy oafs.” Amrûndir finished. “Think of what you could do with that. I can see you aren’t a superstitious man,” he totally looked like a superstitious man to Yoshiyo, “you know that value of something like elven gold.”

“Ain’t no different from the King’s gold.”

“Right you are, good sir, right you are. I knew you would see it that way. But what about the woodcutter who comes through here tomorrow looking to sell you new wood for your porch and roof? I bet you can come up with a fantastic tale of you acquired mystical elven gold, found it in a hidden hill whilst chasing after a white stag perhaps?”

Varg smiled, his teeth showed.

“Fifteen pieces.”

“Ten.”

“Done.”

“Excellent,” Amrûndir smiled genially. “I think we’ll need ten.”
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

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Pele, at the base camp

It took Pele quite some effort and time to deal with the barrel since she was not used to doing such chores, but eventually she was satisfied that it was ready for use and nothing was spilled (well, except for a few escaping drops). She stepped back to admire the finished work, and then wheeled around to heed the call of chocolate.

"Fillings, Erniel? But I am sure it is not poisonous at least," she said, snatching up one of the chocolates which found its way into her mouth in no time. "Mmmm," was the only comment she made, as she allowed the tasty morsel to melt in her mouth. This one turned out to have a deliciously sweet fruity filling; and Pele wondered whether others were also sweet, or perhaps tangy, or even bitter or salty? However, she exercised willpower and instead of reaching for another chocolate picked up the few mushrooms that had repeatedly fallen to the ground.

"I suppose these would need cutting first," Pele suggested with a soft chuckle. "I might assist with that, since you might be rather distracted with keeping the pup away from the chocolates." And - while she reached to take the knife from the sheath on her belt with one hand, she eventually gave in and took another chocolate with the other hand.

"Just one more, and that's it," she said aloud, just so that there would be witnesses to keep her accountable should she feel tempted to gobble up all the sweets and leave none for others.
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Lailyn at basecamp

“Well, I do love nice surprises!” Lailyn exclaimed to Erniel, eyes glowing as she reached for a chocolate. “Thank you!” She popped it into her mouth and savored it. “Ohh, hazelnuts!” Sighing contentedly and forcing herself not to reach for another, she busied herself instead with adding another log to the cookfire. The barrel had been opened thanks to Pele and while their meal sizzled over the flames, she filled a few cups to go around.

Fuin's call reached her ears and she thought to bring some mead over to the elleth when the pup came bounding toward them and the chocolates. The chocolates! “Here, take this.” She shoved a cup toward Pele and rushed over to Erniel’s side where he had quickly placed himself in a position of chocolate defender and dog protector.

The dog nearly bowled her over with affection as if they had been parted for days and days. She laughed and surrendered to it, patting him on the nose and cheeks. To her great relief, he seemed more interested in her than the chocolates. “Were you very good for Fuin?”

Leaving her with dirty paw prints and a bit of drool on her cloak, he followed his nose around the campfire and did not seem able to make up his mind what scent was most interesting. He tried to nose around at the chocolates but fortunately Erniel was there to guard them. “I didn’t even think of it until you said something!” Shaking her head at herself, she sent him a grateful smile. “Who knew there were more dangers at a campsite than in the woods? I’ll put him on a lead so we don’t have to worry.”

After some closely-monitored sniffing, Lailyn led the pup away and returned with him on a lead. The reward for his lost freedom was the leg of meat he held in his mouth that would soon be nothing but bone to gnaw on.

“Thank you for taking him, Fuin! Help yourself to some mead and have a rest! And make sure you grab a chocolate before Pele and I eat them all.”

Fenlaf with Yoshiyo, Amrûndir and Varg

Fenlaf felt his pulse going weak. His vision darkened around the edges. He was convinced Varg was going to carve him with that knife right here, right now, and he was going to faint in front of two noble elves and he would never hear the end of it but he’d be dead and so he wouldn’t hear anything at all ever again. He’d forever be known as Fenlaf the stablehand who lost fine steeds and let them run amuck in the market, failure at goat-bartering and unable to maintain consciousness in the face of a challenge. Or maybe it was just the mountain air...it somehow felt like there was less room to breathe up here.

He knelt down to gather himself, trying to make it look like he was just very interested in the goat. (And he was, though he was more interested in not further embarrassing himself). The goat butted his hand, bleating softly, and he ran his hand over its soft fur. And then the most amazing thing happened. Amrûndir negotiated the price (and the man’s temper) down to a reasonable level.

Amrûndir was a hero. A real hero right in front of him, a brilliant one, like the ones in the stories and tales, who defeated demons and built great cities and lived happily-ever-after. (That’s how they ended, right?) Fenlaf did not belong in such company but he was more grateful for it than he could ever express in words.

The feeling in his body returned and the young man leapt back to his feet. “Let’s bring this one!” He brimmed with renewed enthusiasm.

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Pele at basecamp

The returning dog did bring quite a fair bit of excitement to the camp, though Pele considered it to be of a very good-natured kind rather than annoying. She laughed at all the busyness of protecting the food, though she mostly kept herself out of the way not to add to it, and took a sip of mead from the cup Lailyn had pressed into her hands.

"Let me see to those mushrooms then," she said, and reached out to collect the mentioned items from Erniel. With the easily excitable pup now secured and contentedly feasting on some meat, Pele settled down on a tree stump, placing the mushrooms on a cutting board and proceeding to slice them up neatly. It might not matter that much, but she was somewhat of a perfectionist, and at least she did not go to such lengths as measuring every little piece before cutting. The idea made her chuckle softly, and laughter danced in her blue eyes, as she made sure not to cut off her fingernails in the process.

"I figure we might end up with a whole big herd of goats, considering the time it takes for that group of our folk to return," she commented, as it seemed to her that it was indeed taking a very long time. "Or - there might only be two after a very intricate trading process taking immense quantities of time." And yet she suspected that it was likely to be neither the one nor the other, especially since her words held obvious exaggerations.
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Balrog
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Attention RPers:

I’ve decided to put an early end on this RPG, early being somewhat operative as the story seems to have stalled and calcified since we reposted everything after the Blip. I simply don’t have the time and energy to run the story the way it deserved to be run, and from what I can tell of the decline in posting, a lot of you felt the same (and I completely understand). So, I want to thank everyone for all the work they put into it and all of your enthusiasm as it was getting underway. I’m not much of a GM but it filled my heart with joy seeing how interested people were to participate in something I concocted.

That being said, I did enough planning that I know how things were going to go and didn’t want to deprive anyone who cared of closure on the story. As a final goodbye I’m gonna post a vague outline of the big events that were going drive the story and if anyone wants to, they can give a summary of what their character(s) did, how they reacted, what they found in the ruins, and what they think it all means.



Event 1: After securing the goats from the thoroughly unpleasant farmer, the troupe moves through the mountains at a very good pace. They’re about halfway through by the time night falls and they set up camp. Sometime in the night, those on watch notice something in the crags coming toward them. Goblins are attacking!! I rolled this on a random encounter table and knew it would be a perfect way to band this group adventurers together.


So how does everyone react? Yoshiyo, being the take charge woman she is, tries to fight off a goblin with her newly acquired knife and ends up well over her head. Thankfully, Amrûndir and Redhor were able to drive the goblin off and managed to hide while the more capable fighters finished off the rest of the goblin mercenaries.

Event 2: Upon making it to the ruins, the group gets to work. There are seven buildings visible, constructed in a circular pattern with the largest in the middle. Yoshiyo theorizes that the middle building was a communal space where the people gathered for special daily ceremonies and meetings while the other buildings were houses. She also finds evidence that there were many more buildings that have since crumbled.

What does everyone else think? Any competing theories?

Event 3: Yoshiyo begins her excavation of the main building, making notes and cataloging and sketching every bit of debris (perhaps being far too thorough for her own good). She eventually finds a broken clay tablet with what looks like a very rudimentary form of writing on it. In real world terms the tablet would look like it’s covered in cuneiform. Yoshiyo sees this as reason to celebrate. Even though it needs to be translated and studied, it’s the first evidence of a pre-Crossing language. There are also tools that indicate possible Avari contact.

Who’s working with Yoshiyo and who is exploring the rest of the houses? What discoveries do you make along the way?

Event 4: Yoshiyo, diligent but neglectful of her own physical and mental needs, begins to stay later and longer in the main house trying to translate the tablet she found. One night, during a particularly stressful session, she falls asleep and knocks over the lamp she was using (someone needs to invent the electric torch so these things stop happening to Yoshiyo). A fire starts.

What does everyone do?

Event 5: in the aftermath of the fire, Yoshiyo starts to search outside the ruins for signs of habitation, she finds some firepits and latrines that offer clues to daily life, then discovers a gravesite.

What does everyone else do after the fire? Who is looking for what? Is the gravesite a cemetery or a dumping pit?

Event 6: Yoshiyo make some headway with the translations, being well versed in proto-Adûnayân languages and Avari writing techniques. Eventually she finds more tablets buried with the gravesite that have a different script altogether, something older with characteristics of dwarven influence. Also, in one of the houses, someone (fight amongst yourselves to determine who) discovers a horrific/fascinating artifact: a human (or elven) skull covered in the cuneiform script.

What does it say? What does it mean?

Event 7 (Final): With the mission winding down for now, Yoshiyo and Lailyn need to work together to catalogue and process all the artifacts they’ve found and decide where they are all going.

Who thinks what should go to Rohan, back with Yoshiyo, or to Gondor or Imaldris? What arguments were made in favor of/opposition to each decision? What are everyone’s final thoughts on the trip? Was it a success? Will there be more trips up here? Will any of your characters come back?


Again, thank you all for coming with me on this journey. Even though it was cut relatively short, I had a fantastic time and hope you all did as well.

🧚
Strange Fruit got holes in the flesh but it ain't gonn' spoil cause it never was fresh

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