Ever On: The World Beyond - Free RP

The fair valley of Rivendell, upon whose house the stars of heaven most brightly shone.
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@Revered Grandmother

Gladhron
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree. Rather far from the road.
(Suffering from a serious concussion)


Gladhron still did not understand why this woman would help him, and then try to kill him. It made no sense whatsoever, and to even try to make sense of it was likely to give him a worse headache. Not only that, he didn't have time to try and figure it out now. All he had time for was evading her oncoming attacks. He was a bit slow in dodging the second attempt, and the knife grazed his unprotected arm as he lunged to one side. A graze on the arm was nothing to worry about, however, compared to what he would have had, if her attack had succeeded. The dizzy young man was struggling to think through how survive this, but his head was starting to swim again, and he figured the stuff she'd given him was wearing off. That reminded him of what a risky thing it had been for him to accept the stuff she gave him. Suppose it had been poison? Gwestion would be saying 'I told you so' right about now, if he were there. Despite that, Gladhron wished he was. Or, at least someone who could see straight and was on his side.

The knife spinning certainly didn't help his sense of dizziness, the mixture of colors swirling around her making him feel like the whole forest was swirling around him. It was hard to focus, but his life depending on focusing, so he struggled to see where she was. It was by sheer luck that, as she moved in to attack again, his hands instinctively moved to try and intercept what might have been a fatal blow. The blade nicked his fingers, but he felt his grip close on her wrist, and he tightened his hold on her, desperately hanging on to prevent the knife getting any closer. He'd lost a lot of blood, but still had some strength left, and with the adrenaline starting to flow, the grip remained tight as he tried to twist her arm, trying to keep it well away from her other hand, and hoping to make her drop the weapon altogether.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

High Lord of Imladris
Points: 5 208 
Posts: 2755
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:53 am
Umoya
A few hour's ride from the Forsaken Inn, a long ways from the road (or a very long days walk)
TA 3014

@Rillewen

She was shocked at how fast the man moved he'd stopped talking at least his words made her head hurt, the man was an idiot. He still seemed to be confused about everything the look on his face told her as much but his body, well... Perhaps these rangers were better trained than he let on with how stupid he was as his hand snapped around her arm like a vice the blood from his bleeding fingers should have made it so that she could escape but he tried twisting her arm and she had to fight to keep her knife in her hand as his finger tips dug painfully into her much smaller arm. She hissed angrily about this not expecting him to be able to react anywhere near as fast as he had. She was still certain though that she had the advantage though, he was hurt his balance was still off, and he was without a weapon. He did have size on her but that would only go so far.

She reached out with her other arm to shove his chest back her feet moving to sweep his legs out from under him hoping the knock him back and send his head spinning even more with the jolt that would come if he went down. She twisted working on shove his upper body backwards her own adrenaline spiking as well excited to see just how well she had learned to fight even if this was suppose to be an easy body - she could tell he wanted to fight to live, a sinister smile splitting her face since this was now going to be a challenge - one she was still certain she could win.

Steward of Gondor
Points: 5 584 
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Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:12 pm
@Revered Grandmother

Gladhron
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree. Rather far from the road.
(Suffering from a serious concussion)


As the world continued to swirl and tilt around him, the malicious grin of the woman swam before his eyes. Gladhron still couldn't make sense of why she wanted him dead. Hadn't he explained that his job, as it were, was to protect this land, and its people? If she wanted to rid the world of him and other rangers, then who would be left to defend its people? Somewhere in his head, he felt that ought to tell him something about her motives, but that was for figuring out later; if there was a later. Ignoring the sting of the cuts on his fingers, he dug them into her arm, twisting it harder, his thumb pressing hard against her wrist, trying his best to force her hand to open. If she dropped the knife, he'd be a lot safer. But did she have any others, he wondered? With his vision as it was, he had no way of knowing that, unless she drew another. With any luck, she only had the one.

And then, her feet knocked his out from under him, and he was falling. The sensation was far worse than just standing, and he shut his eyes, trying to just keep gripping her arm. Hitting the ground with a yell, he felt as if he was still falling, rolling... then realized that he was, and that he had dragged her down with him. They had been standing near a slope of the ground, covered in deadfall, sticks, stones, and thick with underbrush and trees. They both narrowly missed Mael's hooves as the horse bolted, finally deciding to just get away from all of this, and fled off into the forest. Then, at some point as he rolled down the hill, Gladhron's grip came loose from her arm and he arrived at the bottom with his hands up around his head, just trying to keep from sustaining any further injury to it. As They both narrowly missed Mael's hooves as the horse bolted, finally deciding to just get away from all of this, and fled off into the forest.

Unconcerned, for the moment, about what the horse did, Gladhron tried to catch his breath, feeling a little winded after all the bumps and bruises going down the hill. Despite his head throbbing, he looked up and squinted through blurred vision, trying to spot his adversary. Where did she go? Had she fallen all the way down, like him, or only part-way? He managed to raise himself up to one knee, then grasped a nearby tree to steady himself as the world seemed to tilt and spin viciously around him. His face felt clammy, a cold sweat having broken out across his face. A faint breeze felt like a blast of icy wind on his face. Nausea from all the tumbling threatened to overwhelm him, but he fought it back. Feeling absolutely awful, Gladhron wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed somewhere. But being stuck out in the middle of the forest with a crazy woman trying to kill him, that wasn't exactly an option at the moment.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

High Lord of Imladris
Points: 5 208 
Posts: 2755
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:53 am
Umoya
A few hour's ride from the Forsaken Inn, a long ways from the road (or a very long days walk)
TA 3014

@Rillewen

He took her down with him even as she tried to break free they kept rolling for a while, the horse bolting past them and Umoya for her ducked her head to avoid that particular danger. She attempted to put her elbow into the man as often as she could until his grip came loose and they seperated. Umoya for her part had enough of her senses that she was able to slow herself a few more rolls and was up on her feet crouched low as he kept tumbling. She glanced up her knife had dropped a few rolls back and she scrambled back up the hill to where she could see the bright white ivory handle sticking up in the leaf litter.

Her arm stung terribly from where he had gripped her, it would be bruised badly as she grabbed a hold of her knife and slipped behind some scrub to try to make it so that he couldn't see her as she glanced down at where he was struggling up to his feet. That tumble should have disoriented him with how badly wounded his head wound was if it hadn't made it worse. She crept along doing her best to make it so she wasn't making enough noise that this so called Ranger. At least the mans horse was gone, which meant that at least it wasn't as well trained as the ones in the Horse Lords lands - it wasn't going to help him fight her off like some of those beasts. She licked her lips and stayed low moving slowly like a circling wolf trying to get out of the Rangers field of vision so she could attack him from behind or to the side.

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@I Said What I Said

Gladhron
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree. Rather far from the road.
(Suffering from a serious concussion)


The woods swam all around him. Moaning softly, Gladhron shut his eyes, trying to stop the dizziness, but it was relentless. What was it someone once told him about using all his senses, not just sight? That was his father who said that, wasn't it? That didn't matter right now. That woman was out there somewhere, and his vision was unreliable, as it wouldn't stop spinning. It kept blurring and doubling, and the light hurt his head. He tried listening, instead. If he could hear her, he should be able to find where she was, right? But all he could hear was a faint buzzing sound in his ears, and not from a bee or anything like that. He remembered hearing that before... just before he woke up on the forest floor. He quickly opened his eyes again, fighting with all his willpower to keep conscious,. If he blacked out now, he'd probably never wake up, with that woman lurking around, intent on killing him.

To that end, the ranger tried to rise to his feet, but slumped partly against a tree, putting a hand to his head with another quiet moan, wincing. He took a moment to try and recover as a wave of nausea washed over him, then slowly faded for a bit. Pushing away from the tree in determination, Gladhron managed to stagger a couple of steps before he collapsed back down to his hands and knees, panting lightly as he tried to keep nausea at bay. The air around him felt far too icy, and he wished he had a blanket to wrap up in, but of course he had bigger things to worry about right now. He found himself staring at a cluster of white flowers with yellow centers. A strong, bitter smell rose up to his nostrils. Turning his head away, he looked around slowly, hoping he might spot his adversary some where, but she seemed to be hidden. Was she even still there? Perhaps she'd fled once he released her arm. One could only hope, but he didn't think it would be a good idea to trust in that hope too much.

The leaves of the bushy plant were tickling his arm, and he brushed it aside, trying to move away from it. Glancing back at the small cluster of flowers, he felt puzzled as a memory flashed into his mind, unbidden. He didn't even quite remember it, but he was sure it had happened.. but he was very young when it did. It seemed that Gwilithiel was not even born yet, and his mother had sent him to find some flowers, white with yellow centers, with feathery leaves like a fern, and bring them to her. He remembered she'd been sick, throwing up and getting lightheaded, her head hurting -he remembered that because she kept asking him to stop being so loud in his play- and that was why she didn't go herself. Staring at the plant right before his eyes, Gladhron could not recall what it was called, but he knew that was the same plant. A plant used to treat at least one of the symptoms he was experiencing now, if not all of them. Eagerly, he grabbed a handful of the plant, then frowned. How did his mother use it? He vaguely recalled that she'd asked for either the flower or the leaf.. and he couldn't remember then which she'd asked for, so he brought her both. But which part did she use? Frustrated, he couldn't remember. Why hadn't he paid more attention when she tried to teach him these things? Hoping it wasn't a mistake, he crammed the whole handful into his mouth; leaves, flowers, stems and all. And hoped also, very much, that there were no ants or other bugs on them.

Coughing at the bitter taste, Gladhron hoped that would be enough to help, if it even would. Only then did he recall that some plants looked like others but were quite poisonous. That gave him pause. Worried, he peered closer at the plant, reassuring himself that it was, as far as he could tell, the same one his mother had once sent him to find for her. He shut his eyes for a moment, trying to tell his stomach to stop turning flips and to settle down. A quiet noise nearby reminded him of the threat lurking, and his eyes snapped open again, trying his best to fight the urge to just curl up and wait for the miserable feeling to pass. Whatever the noise was, he saw nothing.. it might have been a bird or a squirrel, or it might have been her.

One hand held his throbbing head, lightly pressed to the source, while the other searched the ground for something he might use to defend himself, looking around as best he could. With how things kept swirling around and blurring and spinning, it was hard to see very much at all. But she must be around somewhere, he thought, she was too determined to just leave him here still alive. Though he still didn't know why she wanted him dead, he was sure that she wasn't going to just abandon the idea simply because it proved more difficult than she first anticipated. But where was she hiding?
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

High Lord of Imladris
Points: 5 208 
Posts: 2755
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:53 am
Umoya
A few hour's ride from the Forsaken Inn, a long ways from the road (or a very long days walk)
TA 3014
@Purrmonster of Doom

Umoya slunk low to the ground careful about where she put her feet as she moved making sure to not make more than a rustling in the leaves that might be mistakeable for the wind in the fallen leaves. She could see his eyes were shut perhaps that tumble had done him even worse than she had thought. She moved quickly working to get behind him as she moved down the hill she made it to beside him perhaps twenty feet away still hidden behind the scrub, he wasn't her objective just yet, she wanted to get behind him, he was stronger than her and on alert for her. She needed to get an advantage beyond the fact that she had a dagger. He knew how to fight even if he was an idiot. Given that information she knew the other rangers would be dangerous as well.

Especially since had shown this ranger her true colours. No he needed to die. He lunged to his feet and ended up leaning against a tree and she watched him closely, he was - she wasn't sure what he was doing. Likely looking for her , though his focus was currently at least up the hill where he'd let go of her finally before continuing down the hill. She stood in spot watching him waiting to see what it was he would do, when he pushed off the tree a few steps and before falling to his knees, that fall was her opportunity she took a few quick steps still mindful of broken branches before she stopped again, now outside of the unarmed and unarmored rangers field of vision she kept moving keeping a fair ways away from him for the time being.

She watched him eat a plant, she didn't know it so she had no idea what it was. Perhaps it was some local plant that would help with something. What she wasn't sure. She didn't know the plant or what it could do. He let out a cough and she moved to fully behind him a wicked smirk playing across her face as he stayed still sitting pitifully like the wounded creature he was. Really. Putting him out of his misery was a kindness. To him and the world. The world didn't need foolish men like this in charge of the fates. She began closing in on him one careful near silent footstep at a time, getting closer and closer her knife at the ready to reach about his throat and slit it ear to ear.

Steward of Gondor
Points: 5 584 
Posts: 2651
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:12 pm
@I Said What I Said

Gladhron
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree. Rather far from the road.
(Suffering from a serious concussion)


The ringing in his ears grew to a near roar, which frightened him. Gladhron vaguely remembered that happening just before he blacked out, before, on his horse, and he feared that if he let himself pass out now, he would certainly be dead.. because she must be lurking somewhere nearby, waiting for an opportunity to finish him off. He had to stay awake, and so he pushed his willpower to the limit, struggling to hold onto consciousness, and fight it with all his inner strength. Somehow, his mind summoned enough strength to succeed. Perhaps it was due to the fear of dying, he didn't know. He was breathing hard, feeling nauseous. After a moment, the ringing faded significantly, and mild relief washed over him, though he knew he was most definitely not out of danger yet.

Something moved.. or was that his vision spinning again? He blinked, struggling to clear his vision. He wasn’t sure if the plant was helping, but it did seem a little bit as if his vision wasn’t as doubled. Squinting a little, he tried to see what it was that had moved.. was it her? He blinked.. there it was again. A slow, deliberate movement, not like the way the world was swirling around. He peered intently at the ground before him.. and it took him far longer than it should have to realize that what he was seeing was a shadow. Of a person’s head. A fresh chill passed over him, and he tensed, remaining very still, not moving a muscle aside from his breathing. She was there, behind him, but how close? He dared not glance behind him, trying to make use of this one small advantage he had.. she probably didn’t realize her shadow had given her away. He watched the shadow moving closer.. she was sneaking up on him.

His hand closed around a stick on the ground before him that felt about the size around as his sword handle. With any luck, it would serve him almost as well. The shadow moved a bit closer… closer.. his heart pounded in time with the pounding in his head. At last, he was afraid to wait any longer, fearing his senses may be off due to his present impairment. Gripping the stick and hoping it was solid, and also not too short or too long to be useful.. he whirled suddenly and swung his new weapon toward where he judged her head to be, hoping for a bit of luck.. hoping she wasn’t further away than he thought, hoping she would be caught off guard, and wouldn’t duck in time, and hoping he wouldn’t have to engage in a long, drawn-out fight, as she would certainly have the advantage on him there...
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

High Lord of Imladris
Points: 5 208 
Posts: 2755
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:53 am
Umoya
A few hour's ride from the Forsaken Inn, a long ways from the road (or a very long days walk)
TA 3014
@Rillewen

She saw him tense and narrowed her eyes, only to realize that despite the dappled light of the trees she'd made an error, her shadow was visible to him she watched him closely his hand moving slowly, and she knew she was had. She kept closing in on him though, if he struck the action might cause him to be ill, or to fall over from the sudden movement. She was almost upon him and blessedly he seemed to forget one thing about fighting in the woods.

As he spun she stood her ground turning her head only slightly to keep herself from having dirt or broken bits of wood fly into her eyes as he swung. A mighty and terrible blow to be sure, that would have struck her head except for the tree trunk that his new weapon connected with. A wicked grin split her face as she turned back towards him. "'ard time wit de trees?" She asked and dove forward hoping that the jarring from the impact with the tree trunk and the spin while standing up would have him near passing out.

Her hands reached out trying to keep a hold with one to the stick that he had used , not wanting to miss where that weapon was moving improvised or not she had seen more than one person die in harad to a stick, normally in the hands of someone far more competent. Her mother though had always warned her to not underestimate the stupid luck of the fool.

Steward of Gondor
Points: 5 584 
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Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:12 pm
@Fuin Elda

Gladhron
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree. Rather far from the road.
(Suffering from a serious concussion)


Whack! The stick made contact.. very solid contact. But not with his opponent. Gladhron knew immediately from the sound it made as it struck something else. Half of his stick broke off from the impact, spinning off somewhere as a shower of acorns came down around them. Her taunting comment followed, and he found it very irritating, but it was even more irritating that his awesome sneak attack had failed so miserably. If only he could see properly, he would have avoided that mistake. To top it all, the sudden spinning motion had set his stomach turning again, and his head spun faster than he had done.

As she was diving toward him, Gladhron had staggered a step back, and then she collided with him, knocking him over, and he fell backward... the whole world seem to flip upside down again. A cry of pain slipped out as his head hit something..maybe a tree root or something. Whatever it was, it was hard, and hurt, and it made his vision go dim for a second or two. Somehow, he managed to maintain his grip on the stick, with both hands, and as he mentally fought to stay conscious, he tried to angle it toward his attacker, but he couldn't swing it to actually strike her, and somehow it dawned on him that she had grabbed onto it as well, preventing him from using it properly. If he could see.. and think.. he knew that he knew a way to free his 'weapon' and turn this against her, but he was on the edges of passing out.. his head throbbed, vision swam.. he could just tell that he would pass out any second.

While trying to maneuver the stick to try and hit her, somewhere in his memories, he recalled his mother telling him to never, ever hit a woman.. and his father's sensible reply, 'Unless the woman is trying to kill you. That doesn't count then.' To which his mother replied, 'Why would any woman want to kill our boy?'
The memory might have brought a smile to his face if it had not been such a serious, life-and-death moment. As he struggled, both mentally, to ward off unconsciousness, and physically to fend off this woman, images flashed through his mind. Images of his parents, horribly slain. The memory of his brother, stricken with grief, how devastated he had been when the brothers had found them that way... it was not just self-preservation that gave him the strength to hang on a little longer, to keep trying..keep fighting. For his brother, as well as for himself. Because he and Gwestion were all each other had now, and he didn't know if Gwestion could bear another loss.

He suddenly let go of the stick with one hand, the back of his fist striking swiftly directly toward her face, aided by the momentum of having released the weapon they were struggling over. With any luck, she wouldn't expect anything like that and maybe it would help him, somehow.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

High Lord of Imladris
Points: 5 208 
Posts: 2755
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:53 am
Umoya
A few hour's ride from the Forsaken Inn, a long ways from the road (or a very long days walk)
TA 3014
@Rillewen

They struggled for mere moments but it seemed almost like an eternity she had the high ground as it was, almost straddling him as they fought over the stick with her left hand and she worked hard to keep him pinned so she could kill him swiftly when he let go of the stick and struck her face, which shocked her at first and she could taste copper in her mouth but she had the upper hand literally as she managed to get her dagger right under his chin the point of it denting into the soft skin there.

"Me motha 'as a stronger punch den de like o' you." She said with a grin leaning forwards letting the blood from her split lip drip onto his face her teeth once immaculate and white now stained pink from the blood. She spit to get the copper taste out of her mouth and ran a dark hand on the side of the mans face. "Iffin de rangers are all as stupid as you be, I dunna think de Dark Lord be 'aving any issues wit taking over dees lands." She smiled again pressing the dagger harder into his skin his head was swimming she could tell from his eyes having a hard time focusing on her, she wouldn't be able to stay awake much longer, the punch likely had been his last effort to try to escape and that had failed him. Utterly she thought and debated on writing a blessing in Mordorian praising Sauron on his chest before she gutted him "Maybe I be making you inta an offrin for 'im alone in dees woods so that 'is dark spirit 'as a 'ome 'ere." She whispered in to the mans ear not knowing how much he was actually able to understand. First though she decided she would incapacitate him and moved to strike his right shoulder first making that arm useless, her dagger raised ready to take the plunge.

Steward of Gondor
Points: 5 584 
Posts: 2651
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:12 pm
@Fuin Elda

Gladhron
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree. Rather far from the road.
(Suffering from a serious concussion)

The throbbing in Gladhron's head was getting worse and worse, the ringing in his ears was back, and he hardly felt the blade against his neck. His vision was beginning to fade and the struggle to stay conscious was more difficult than ever. It was a losing battle, but he fought it still, with all the willpower he had. She was talking, saying something but Gladhron could hardly tell what. The sound of her voice was muffled, almost drowned out by the ringing. It was like trying to hear someone talking while being underwater. Whatever she was saying, the sound of her voice was making even harder to stay focused. "Trying to..talk me to death..?" He mumbled, barely audible. His head had been bleeding all this time, which had been making him weaker and weaker as this fight went on, and had run out of adrenaline, it seemed.. vaguely, the thought that he had lost, and failed, flitted through his mind but there was little he could do about that, now.


Daedhrochon
"Daed"
On different portion of road, a short walk from Gladhron and Umoya

The wagon ride so far had been fairly uneventful, since the bandits had fled. At least, until they got within about a day of the inn. Daed was beginning to feel that it had been too quiet, too uneventful. Looking around, he wondered if he was feeling that way simply because it was growing dull, riding along when he usually walked. There was little to do. It made him feel lax, and he didn't like it too well.

Suddenly the monotony was broken by a flash of movement. Daed's head whipped around and his gaze found the source rapidly; a small, dappled grey horse emerged from the forest to the side of the road, and ran across their path, quickly running off into the forest on the other side. "Hold it!" Feeling that there was something wrong, Daed motioned to the merchant to stop the wagon, and he was leaping out before the man had a chance to do as he said. "Stay and guard the wagon," He called back to the other man who had been riding with them, as a guard to the merchant. With that, the ranger set off at a rapid pace, following the tracks the horse had made on the forest floor. Someone may be in trouble.. there could be bandit, or perhaps wolves had beset some traveler.. perhaps something had merely spooked the horse and it threw its rider, but they could be hurt, and he had to find out.

And a good thing he did come, because as he drew nearer, he caught a glimpse through the forest of two people fighting. Daed's rapid approach slowed to a more cautious one, then he ducked behind a tree, trying to make sense of what was happening. He frowned, watching a moment, and saw a young man, barely an adult by the look of him, (by Dunedain standards) was bleeding heavily from the forehead, while a woman approached him with a dagger, looking intent on killing him. Even from here, he could tell the young man was badly wounded, but more than that; he had the features of one who was of Dunedain blood. In fact, he looked somehow familiar, though he'd never seen his young man before. Daed was just in time to see him try to swing a stick at her. The poor boy failed miserably, and she knocked him down easily. Daed began stealthily moving nearer, grey eyes narrowing at what was happening. After a brief struggle, he saw the woman, Haradrim by the looks of her, put the blade to the young man's neck, and he felt certain she was going to kill him if no one stopped her. A rage filled Daed at this sight... a woman, clearly an enemy, trying to kill an unarmed man, who was too wounded to fight back. Forgetting stealth, he now leaped across the distance. Hopefully, she was too absorbed in her 'killing moment' to hear any sounds his boots made. He had moved near enough by now to hear what she was saying, too.

An iron grip caught her arm as it was poised to stab the boy, followed swiftly by Daed's other hand grabbing the back of her collar. With a sharp yank upward and back, he hauled the female away from the helpless young man with all his strength, fueled by his fury. Whirling now to face her he glared at this enemy, a servant of the Dark Lord, according to what he'd heard her saying to the wounded man. It was tempting to draw his sword for a better, more impressive effect, but he resisted that urge.. there were too many trees around to use his sword in combat here, and he sure didn't want to make the same mistake the young man had made with his branch. Instead, the seasoned ranger swiftly drew out a long dagger. "Well," He gave a wry smile. "You must be very proud of yourself. You've proven that you can defeat an unarmed, wounded boy." Glaring, he stood where the woman couldn't get to the young man without getting past him, his dagger out and ready to fight. "Let's see how you do against a more experienced ranger, hm?"
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

High Lord of Imladris
Points: 5 208 
Posts: 2755
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:53 am
Umoya
A few hour's ride from the Forsaken Inn, a long ways from the road (or a very long days walk)
TA 3014
@Rillewen

She felt the hand on her wraits and her collar too late fortunately whoever had rescued the fool was not smart enough to hold onto her. One always kept contact with a viper to limit its ability to strike he had her by her collar and he'd let go. She spun her short blade in her hand and licked her spit lip before spitting blood.

"De fool is a ranger, I do be happy to test me metal against an ol' goat." She said with a smile. "Ye smart 'nough tana use yer sword." She said as she lowered herself down into a fighting stance more common in the far east, she was no northern bandit and it was still as far as she was concerned one against one, those odds were decent and she had no doubt that she could out run this old man who would undoubtedly give up a chase to save the younger mans life. After all he couldn't tell how injured he was quite yet. She was low enough in her stance she could drag her fingertips through the leaf scatter while moving smoothly like water, something precious and equally deadly in the South.

Steward of Gondor
Points: 5 584 
Posts: 2651
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:12 pm
@Fuin Elda

Daedhrochon
"Daed"
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree.


It occurred to him a little too late, that he ought to have simply kept hold of the woman and pinned her against a tree, or to the ground, and taken her weapon. It must have been the anger that had come over him, that kept him from thinking of that idea. Perhaps some desire in the back of Daed's mind had made him want to actually fight her, but whatever the case, he was going to have to fight her now, whether he still wanted to or not.

Her stance was unfamiliar to him; he would have to be wary, not knowing what to expect, but he hadn't gotten to the age he was without learning to fight against a variety of foes. He might have circled around, watching for an opening, but he refused to leave her any chance to jump at the unconscious young man on the ground and try to kill him before Daed could stop her. He had no idea why she wanted to kill him so badly, but he didn't want to take any chances... according to what she had said, he was a ranger, though obviously a young one with not much experience. Rangers didn't often run into each other, but they were allies, just the same, and they had one another's backs, as it were.

"Old goat, perhaps.." He smiled wryly. "There's even a rumor going around that I'm dead. In that case, you ought to have no difficulty defeating a dead old goat like me..." He grinned, keeping his gaze on her the whole time, watching for any move that she might try. As he finished speaking, which was meant to distract her, he suddenly kicked one foot.. not at her, but at the ground. A spray of leaves, pebbles, and dirt flew toward her face. As low as she was to the ground, it was easy to make that happen. While she was hopefully caught off guard, and possibly a little blinded by the dirt and stuff, he immediately lunged forward with a stab toward her middle.

Fully expecting that she would block it if she was any sort of fighter, he swiftly followed up his attack with an arc around his head that flowed into a powerful slash toward her face, then another slash the other direction as he steadily moved forward, leaving her no time for a respite. His other hand stayed up, defensively close to his chest, ready to block anything that got past his dagger.. or to grab for her, if he could. Hopefully, if nothing else, his advancing attacks would drive her backward and further away from the wounded young man behind Daed. He'd rather not trip over the poor boy while fighting to defend him, if he could help it.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Umoya
A few hour's ride from the Forsaken Inn, a long ways from the road (or a very long days walk)
TA 3014
@Rillewen

Umoya let out a dry laugh as he suggested that there was a rumor he was dead, killing a dead goat was hard they were already dead, and she knew no way to bring back the dead. That was the Dark Lords trick, one that she did not know her father for all of his 'magic' which were illusions and misdirects couldn't do any real magic and she knew it. "I tink de rumors be false, mayhap I make em true." She said as he kicked she lifted the spray hitting her chest as he lunged forwards moving back was easy in the higher stance and the stab found nothing but air she didn't even bother to block the attack she wanted to see his fighting style.

He was much better than the fool. His first slash he relayed with the arc around his head this one she blocked starting to understand how he attacked the second cut towards her face she riposted it her target his guarding hand that he kept up it was close enough for her to push the tip of her dagger into it. Not a lethal wound by any means more of a sting to inflict a wound to the mans pride.

"Asides, I dunno a goat tha can defend against a viper." She said with a laugh drawing back once more out of range.

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@Fuin Elda

Daedhrochon
"Daed"
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree.


There was no telling if the dagger she held might be poisoned, but Daed wasn't willing to take any chances if he could help it. He reacted swiftly when her hand moved for a stab. With a swift sidestep, his free hand swung across to strike her wrist, pushing it toward his other hand. His dagger simultaneously swiped across from the other direction toward her wrist, coming just below the other in a scissor-like motion that should push her wrist into his dagger to be slashed, if she wasn't quick enough to evade it. The same move that Gladhron had earlier used, without a dagger, which had enabled him to catch her wrist, more by chance than anything.

He intended to follow up with another move, but her words struck him suddenly, and he paused for half a second, a startled look on his face for the briefest moment. Viper. He hadn't heard that in years... It was obvious she wasn't referring to the same one, she meant herself. But to hear that word again, it caught him off guard. He recovered very quickly, on the outside at least, and put on a smirk. "Viper? No.. you're no viper," Watching for her next attempt at an attack, he gave a grim smile. "She died years ago... perhaps you'll soon meet her."
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Umoya
A few hour's ride from the Forsaken Inn, a long ways from the road (or a very long days walk)
TA 3014
@Rillewen

Umoya recognized the move the fool had done it earlier and it was far more dangerous now that there was a dagger that was not her own in play and she had no intentions of having her wrist cut by this man, her arm darted back making a quick block of the dagger that went to cut her before she realized the man had paused. It wasn't too long of a pause but she seemed to have found a nerve. Viper. Something to do with the swift snake bothered him - and whatever it was they were another woman in his life.

"No Viper?" She laughed in his face and took another slinking step back wanting to lure him a bit further away from the idiot make it easier for her to circle about him and get to him. He was protecting the boy that was clear and what better way to drive an old goat mad than to kill it's kid? Even if they were not blood. "You do na know much if you tink der is but one viper. We are a nest unending you silly goat. Always more." She gave him a smirk and slid her foot back through the leaves.

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@Fuin Elda

Daedhrochon
"Daed"
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree.


Daed managed a grim smile as she swiftly pulled her arm from his attack. Smart.. he wondered if she'd seen that move before. He knew of few others who used that maneuver, and found it a bit curious, but that wasn't something to dwell on, of course. That was for pondering on later, after he had dealt with her, and tended to the boy. He was still bleeding, behind Daed, and his face was deathly pale, clammy looking, and he had passed out some time ago. Probably the moment Daed showed up and he no longer had to fight for his life. He'd really like to get a bandage on that wound, and stop it from bleeding any further, but he couldn't do that until the woman was either dead or gone elsewhere.

The woman was slowly backing away, he noticed. Good. He'd rather be rid of her permanently, so that she couldn't make any other trouble later. But, if she fled, he would let her go for now. It was more pressing to tend to the young man, who might die if he didn't get help quickly. Daed held his position, ready to fight again if she tried to get past him; he wasn't sure why she'd been trying to kill the boy, but if she was still set on it, he wasn't going to give her a chance to. "We rangers tend to stamp out nests whenever we can," He mentioned with a faint smirk. "I'd suggest you run while you can, little "viper", because I have a particular hatred for your sort, and it's the only chance I'm going to give you." He narrowed his eyes. "Not to mention that my partner will catch up any moment, and then you're going to be outnumbered.." He added, letting his eyes flit swiftly off toward the forest, behind her, to give the impression he was actually expecting someone.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

High Lord of Imladris
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Umoya
A few hour's ride from the Forsaken Inn, a long ways from the road (or a very long days walk)
TA 3014
@Rillewen

Umoya knew when she was beat this man didn't leave her an opening to the fool that was laying bleeding on the ground but he did not look like he was doing well either, perhaps he wouldn't make it much longer, if there were more men though she would not either and she did not know where he had come from, just that he had come from somewhere and if he had come there could be more.

"Watch yer ankles ol goat, de leaves an grass o' de world are tick." She said with a laugh at his threat about stamping out nests, her own ominous warning to him about how many of her kind there were. If she'd managed to find her way all the way up here as a woman of Harad - a country with little respect for its women in terms of letting them wander alone, truly vipers from the south were dangerous creatures for they had to escape their own home first which was twice as deadly as these wilds.

With that she spun ducking behind trees making any attach that he might try with dagger or bow a near impossible shot as she slipped down a gully and disappeared into the leaf scatter her clothing helping her to blend in and disappear until all that was left of her was the damage done from her attempting to kill the young man.

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@Fuin Elda

Daedhrochon
"Daed"
Somewhere in the woods between Forsaken Inn and vaguely the direction of Bree.


Daed stood his ground, unmoving as he faced-off with his adversary. And then, much to his relief, his bluff worked. She took the opportunity he had given her, probably fearing there may be many other rangers about to show up. Little did she know, he was alone, aside from those two who had stayed back at the wagon. And they weren't rangers, though the younger of the two seemed quite capable in a fight. As Daed watched her dart off into the forest, ducking and weaving among the trees, he heaved a soft sigh of relief the moment she was finally, completely, out of sight. Only then did he whirl around and kneel beside the young man, desperately checking for a pulse.

It was there, but weaker than he would have liked. The ranger took a swift glance around, checking his surroundings. Partly, checking to ensure that the woman hadn't doubled back, but also, checking to see what sort of plants were growing nearby. He didn't see any of those which he could have made good use of, and let out another sigh of disappointment. "Alright, boy, let's get a bandage on that cut, and I'll get you to the wagon." He murmured, though the young man was totally unconscious. Daed had no bandages with him, but he cut off a strip from the hem of the boy's tunic, taking another cautious glance around. He didn't know what the woman might try, but he didn't plan on getting caught off-guard if she did decide to come back.

"That's a pretty nasty cut," He told the unconscious young man, frowning at it. By the development of the bruise around the cut, he guessed it to be at least a day or two old. So he'd already had this wound when he started fighting the woman, Daed mused thoughtfully, wondering about that. "What're you doing out here, wounded like that? How'd you get hurt?" He wasn't surprised to not get an answer, and shook his head with a sigh. He probably wouldn't find out until the young man awakened, if he wasn't already too far gone. Concentrating on binding the strip of cloth over the wound, with a quick glance around now and then, Daed felt glad that they were only a short ride from the Inn. Hopefully, that makeshift bandage would help something, until he could get him bandaged more properly. Sitting up, Daed took a long, careful look around now, listening for a long moment, then stood.

"Alright, come on, boy." He muttered, hauling the young man up onto his shoulder with a slight grunt of effort. He was a bit heavy, but not more than Daed could manage. With one hand holding his load secure, slung over his shoulder, Daed rested the other hand on his hilt in case he needed to fight again. With any luck, the woman was gone and he'd never see or hear of her causing trouble again. But, he wouldn't put it past her to lie in wait until he headed back toward the wagon, and then try to ambush him. Daed would be ready in case she tried that. Another concern that passed through his mind was that the woman might flee, then come across the wagon and try to cause trouble there, or try to take it over, or some such thing. He tried to be prepared for anything, while hoping for no further trouble, as his steps carried him steadily through the forest, back to the wagon.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Private with Ercassie

Years before the Noldor Rebellion in Valinor

Alqualonde


The wind played with his black hair as Aran paced back and forth on the sandy pearl riddled beach. It was early evening and the Two Trees were in the midst of mingling its hues. The low tide enabled him to witness tiny crabs scuttling left and right whenever he raised a foot at their direction. The Noldo did wonder how the crustacean would taste like, but he’d make sure to let Fea try it first. When the chance arise, of course. His belly was empty and they weren’t privy on any eating outlets at the sea city.

Speaking of that, he turned his head and stealthily picked up a small shell and let it fly towards Fea’s red hair. Aran would not be surprised if it did not reach its intended target. He was a bit frustrated at their current situation actually. Being in the land (or seaside) of the Lindar for the first time, he kept asking himself why he’d agree to join Fea here. He was cold from hunger and feeling slightly bored, even a bit put off with their different dialect which interested him somewhat at the same time. He told himself that the Sea was not for him. Give him the mountains and the greenery as far as the eye can see to content his immortal heart.

Fea! He called her. He hoped she would like the surprise gift from him. He gave her a cheeky smile and waved innocently. A bit of amusement to distract from his current predicament. His eyes lit in bright joy.
“There are few even in Rivendell that can ride openly against the Nine; but such as there were, Elrond sent out north, west, and south,”.

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Umoya
A few hour's ride from the Forsaken Inn, a long ways from the road (or a very long days walk)
TA 3014
@Rillewen

She slipped away but rounded back to follow this new ranger. This one seemed far more knowledgeable than the fool she'd not managed to kill though she'd likely messed with his head a good bit and he'd probably take some time to recover. She kept low and in the cover of the scrub letting the wind cover the sounds of her foot steps in the fallen leaves. She kept low her clothing helping her to keep hidden as well as she listened to the old goat as she would call him from now on.

Eventually he got the boy up off the ground and started on his way back from where he'd come from she slipped along giving him a decent berth so that he wouldn't hear her as she watched. She saw the wagon and the person on it armed similarly, but he seemed to have not been coming to his friends rescue, she was glad though that she had not taken the chance on that, she would not have been able to fight both of them. She tucked away this knowledge that occasionally rangers travelled together or perhaps even in small groups the young fool likely didn't even know that he was too young. She stayed hidden in the woods and tried to decide if she would follow and attack later but decided against it watching to make sure they kept going before slipping further west to see what else and who else she could find in this new region. If there were rangers guarding against evil then surely there was more evil here than just her. She wanted to find that and push it to greater depravity.

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@Fuin Elda

Daedhrochon
"Daed"


The whole way back to the wagon, Daed felt as if he were being watched. He probably was. He knew better than to assume that the woman had fled entirely. He was mostly worried that she might try and ambush him. He was an easier target than normal, with carrying the young man across his shoulder, but at last he saw the wagon ahead, as he arrived back to the road. Calling out to his traveling companions as he approached, the ranger enlisted their help in getting the young ranger situated on the back of the wagon. "He's been hurt, I think it's very bad." He explained. "I think we'd better make haste in getting to the inn, it shouldn't be far now. But beware, too." He frowned as he tucked a rolled-up blanket under the unconscious young man's head. "There was a Haradrim woman.. she was trying her best to kill this boy while he was barely clinging to consciousness." He scowled, wishing he could have taken the time to properly deal with her. If the boy hadn't needed tending to urgently, he absolutely would've.

Moments later, the merchant started the wagon rolling again, with his bodyguard sitting up on the seat beside him, watching for any danger. Daed, now, remained in the back, keeping watch on the patient. He kept the back of the wagon opened up enough that he could see out, both for the purpose of watching for any enemies, as well as watching for signs of herbs that might be helpful. More than likely, though, he would have to set out on foot once he got the boy to the inn, and find the right herbs to use to treat his wounds. He only hoped there was someone there who would be willing to watch over the boy while Daed was off searching for healing herbs... it had been several years since he visited the establishment, and honestly had no idea if anyone still ran the place, and if so, who it might be. He supposed he'd find out soon enough...


(Will be continued in the Forsaken Inn thread)
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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"I should like to see the fool as thinks that he may stop me do aught as I like !" she remarked. Calm, confident. Suddenly composed anew. "Seek not to shroud the stars ... Seek not to soothe my sound. I am Fëapoldie. I know only how to be myself. Do not ask me to be anything less."

(Excerpt taken from the flashback post, ‘Best Laid Plans’)


Image

Fëapoldie Aiwenariel, with @Aranadhel
Visiting Alqualondë, some time before the Flight of the Noldor, YT


The very furthest reach of her, those milky opal toes, two of them ringed even now still in a slender song of silver, scrunched down low to immerse their small heads in the cool, star-kissed sand. The Noldo enjoyed a small shiver of excitement, to experience the very land beneath give way for her illustrious person. Never afore had she felt so capable of leaving an impact on the world which had conceived her. The tiny sparkling grains that swarmed her skin seemed truly alive, and she was merrily making imprint on them, unaware as yet that the tide would wash all such a trace to naught again after. The sparkling cobbled streets of her distant city had never proved so accommodating as this, nor the light grass of fine gardens which raised her tread almost as soon as she had laid it. Eyes closed in a satisfaction there were no words to define. An arm extended out to either side, she leaned into the wind with such flightless wings, her tousled nest of flaming hair cavorting like a frantic beacon at her peak.

In the end it was a curious little missile, launched at her most peripheral sight, which awakened the She-Elf from her trance. Fëa’s closest hand intercepted it in flight, closing swiftly around the exotic artifact with a surprising grace for all that. Blue eyes blossomed into being, lighting colour to her face, and she raised her small catch in a slowly unfurling palm for better inspection. Her face so close she all but set a whisper to the shell, as bidding a small ladybug to fly away and free … yet the She-elf stowed it instead, safe in the soft purse which hung from her coiled golden belt.


I am Fëapoldie,” she recalled, in reply to her friend’s cry with a grin, equally pregnant with roguery. “Do you hear me, Alqualondë ?” she swooped her head back then as far as the swan neck would support it, and proclaimed her own conquering of this strange place unto the sky. Leading a personal charge into the waves, she thwarted it’s expectation at the last possible moment; teasing back beyond it's reach in a series of small, backwards skips. The beach flicked up a smattering rebuke of sandy freckles to cling at her ankles, while white skirts ruffled all about her motion, unchecked by a single care for their condition. Glancing over one shoulder, the Noldo found her friend, now close enough to touch, and lifted her chin, imperiously.

What think you now sir ?” she declared, in an overly grown impression of the lady that her mother wished she was. “Do you dare ?” she unfolded her challenge, flicking eyes to the playful ocean that crashed and bellowed for attention, spitting up foam to float as gifts toward them. The She-Elf cast an eye of wonder about this latest spectacle, could no more restrain herself, and seized at her best friend's hand with a bracing assault of surprise. If he did not stall her, for she could ne'er see a cause for any to even try stall her, she would see him in that sea along with herself !
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost
The old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not touched by the frost.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

The journey out to the forest was fairly uneventful, much to his relief. He wasn't sure whether the young recruit may have found it dull or less than adventurous, but the more experienced ranger was glad. He hoped it would be a good long while before Rome had to worry about any actual danger. For now, he hoped to focus primarily on basic survive, setting traps, and learning to identify and follow tracks. What tracks they would find, well that was yet to be determined.

Eryn, as usual, had begged to come along, but Duinion, as usual, told her no, she was not yet ready for this step. It was one thing to learn some of these things while safely on the meadows of the farm, surrounded by the wall and safety of the Pelennor. It was entirely different to venture out into the wild, perilous forests of Ithilien. It had grown less dangerous since the King returned and the forces of Mordor were defeated, yet the long-time ranger could not shake the feeling that it was too dangerous for a fifteen-year-old girl who knew only how to shoot a bow.

"Here we are," The man spoke to his student, stopping once they had ventured some distance into the depths of the forest. He smiled, inhaling deeply. The woodsy fragrance surrounded him... the cool shade of the trees.. everything about this felt like home. While he was anxious to keep Eryn safe, another tiny part of him was eager for the day she finally joined the rangers, so he could show her all of this, and enjoy watching his daughter come to love these woods as much as he had, himself. But for now, he had another student to introduce to the wonders of the woods. "Here in the woods, you can find all that you could possibly need, if you know where to look." He said to Rome. "Beautiful, isn't it?" He asked softly, gazing around with a smile.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

The woods had always been a happy place for Romeran growing up. He had spent a great deal of his free time, when he had it, with his friends in the woods playing games and chasing each other. That he could have a profession that involved being in the woods and not on the farm was an exciting prospect for Romeran and he was enjoying this lesson -- although it felt mostly like an enjoyable hike so far -- immensely.

The backpack on his back was quite comfortable, Romeran, thought, the one provided to him at the armory was much nicer than his old one. Romeran had acquired a new backpack when he went to get a bow. There had been quite a few options for bows and Romeran was sorely tempted to opt for a full sized longbow like the one which Duinion used, having enjoyed himself so much the day before. Ultimately he had decided, partly convinced by the armorer, that if he planned to carry a two-handed axe at some point that he ought to carry a smaller bow, as it would be a secondary weapon. Romeran was forced to concede the point. He had selected a bow that was the same D-shape of a longbow but shorter, about three feet .

The bow was unstrung and strapped to the side of his new backpack along with a small quiver of arrows which he could attach to his hip if he needed. He had put a great deal of thought into what he had packed on the trip. Romeran had brought a bedroll, as requested, and attached it to the exterior to the pack as the armorer had shown him. He had also acquired a nice waxed cloak which would help keep him sheltered from the rain.

In his bag he had packed a tinderbox, whetstone, some thin strips of leather and cord (as requested), a woolen blanket and extra pair of woolen socks, some linen bandages and extra bow strings just in case. Some rations, a mess kit, and two canteens full of water. At his hip was his single-handed axe, blade sheathed and he carried his full-tanged knife in a sheath horizontally on his belt behind his back.

"Like a farmer who looks upon a plot of land and can see where the crops may be, a ranger can see his tools in the woods?" he asked, somewhat rhetorically. "I wish to gain that sight, eventually." He continued. "Beautiful does not seem sufficient" he agreed.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

Duinion's pack held a good deal more supplies. He didn't want to overload the young man with a lot of items, figuring he could adapt his list of things to pack for next time, after learning about a variety of things. He had given a good deal of thought about what all he intended to teach to the young man on this occasion. It wasn't a good idea to throw too much at a person at once, after all, and so he'd settled on only a few basic traps, enough to catch dinner, if they were lucky. Along with a handful of other basic survival skills, like how to pick a campsite, and build a fire if he didn't already know how.

"Alright, now that we're in the forest," The ranger began, "What do you think would be the first thing to do, Rome?" He paused to look at his student, wondering if he would have any idea without being told. He'd trained a couple of young men in the past who had no clue, and he couldn't really blame them; he'd been fairly clueless himself, the first time he set foot in a forest. He didn't entirely expect Rome to know any of this right away, but he didn't want to assume he didn't, without giving him a chance to at least guess, first.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

It was getting late in the day as they had been hiking since early morning, it was one of the longer hiking days that Romeran had been on. He guessed they had traveled eight leagues or more. There had been so much new to see, including passing through the ruins of Osgiliath, that Romeran had barely realized how far they had traveled if it wasn't for the tiredness in his legs and the lateness in the day. He had never been north of Minas Tirith let alone through Osigiliath and into Northern Ithilien. The land didn't look that different, yet, but still it was not familiar.

"Well it's getting pretty late so we should at least be thinking about where we will camp." He said in response. When Duinion didn't immediately respond, Romeran continued "somewhere close to water is usually ideal, and with some natural protection like trees or large boulders can be useful for protection from the weather" Romeran looked around at the beautiful forest "not that the weather is poor now but you never know. I suppose it also depends on what the plan is." He added, thinking out loud.

"Are we staying in one spot for some time? Are we moving on quickly?" he continued in a stream of consciousness "I suppose if we were planning on getting up quickly and moving on we could make do with the water we carry and we might want to push on. But if we were staying longer it would benefit us to spend the time finding a good place to set up." Romeran felt fairly confident with his reasoning so far. There were many things to take care of when out in the wilderness but finding shelter, especially as the day drew to a close, seemed to be a high priority, unless they were running from something or under attack.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

Rome's answer brought a smile, and the more he spoke, the more Duinion smiled, until he had finally finished. "Very good, now that you know what our first objective is, how about you see if you can find a good spot for us to camp?" He suggested. "We will be staying at least two nights, one because it's already so late, then we'll have all of tomorrow to work on some training, and we'll camp once more that night and set out again early the next morning. So we'll want a spot where we can build a fire, cook supper, and sleep without fear from ambush." He explained to the recruit.

He didn't want to take Rome away from his other training for too long, but that amount seemed about right for the beginning, later he could extend the training for a longer period, and build on what he learned from this trip. Duinion knew of a few areas not too far from here which ought to serve well for camping sites, but he wanted to see how well the young man could pick such a spot without too much help. It was a useful skill to have, and something every ranger should definitely know.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

Duinion seemed content with his response and had given him another task. Romeran pause for a moment and listened. “I was pretty sure I heard running water before and I think there’s some up this way” he pointed north-west. They walked for a brief time before coming across a small running stream about three feet wide, it was running at a moderate pace towards the River Anduin. “Good fast running water.” Romeran said approvingly.

There wasn’t an area immediately by the stream that was quite to his liking and some Romeran lead them upstream for another ten minutes until he settled. “I think I like this spot. There was one about five minutes back that was okay and I almost turned back but I think this one is better.” Romeran pointed to the stream “the water is close but not close enough to be too loud as to drown out the noise of things near us and in case of a flash flood.”

They we’re standing in an area with slightly less densely packed trees and at the foot of a hill which led steeply up. A large crack in the face had broken and several boulders had dropped nearby. There was an open clearing of about 10 feet in diameter in front of the boulders before more trees. “The rocks should make good natural shelter and a waxed cloak can double as a tarp if the rain or wind comes in at a different angle. We can tie it down with cord and some heavier rocks.” He said, pointing out first where he thought they could sleep.

“A fire a few feet from the shelter should keep us warm if it gets too cold and there should be enough space in front to build one, far enough from the trees to not be dangerous.” Romeran assessed the camp again seeing if he had missed anything. It seemed reasonable enough to him at least. There was probably something he hadn’t considered though, he thought.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

Following along with Rome, Duinion kept quiet as he passed up a few spots which might have worked well enough, but not quite satisfactory. And soon, he stopped and watched the young man check out a spot that appeared nearly perfect. Duinion nodded slowly, eyes scanning the ground carefully. "It looks good. I'd pick it, but there's one more thing to check for," He mentioned. "You should always check around for tracks or any evidence of animals, or..other dangers, before you decide to camp somewhere." It was a minor thing to miss, and overall he was quite impressed with how well the young man had done at finding a good spot. "If there's a lot of signs of, say, bears or wildcats, or other predators, then we probably will want to move on and find another spot."

A careful glance around told him there weren't any such signs, but he still wanted Rome to check for himself, and to be sure of it, so that he got the experience himself. "And the boulders," The ranger added. "There could be something living behind them." That was definitely not a lesson he wanted to be learned the hard way. "Once we're satisfied that we're not likely to be visited by any unwelcome guests... we can start to set up camp." He smiled slightly at that. "Otherwise, we'll need to move on to another spot.. we don't want to disturb the wildlife any more than we have to."
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

Animals! How could he have forgotten. One time when he had gone camping as a young teenager they had accidentally made camp near a fox’s den. They had woken up to both a fright and most of their food eaten to boot. He cursed himself for not mentioning or checking for tracks.

Crouching down, Romeran scanned the ground. He wasn’t good at distinguishing between different prints but he could at least spot one if he looked hard enough. He didn’t see any. At least nothing heavy enough to leave a print had been there recently. Checking behind the boulders required a little squeezing and a stick. He approached slowly at first just in case there was something there. Soon he came out and confirmed it was empty behind.

“I never got a sense of guessing the weather” he said, looking up at the sky “nor really much of an idea of which directions the wind will prevail in this area.” He held a finger up to test the wind, it was mild so far. “We could use my cloak as a tarp, unless you have one, if you think we will need the additional shelter. I brought some flint and tinder for a fire and the back of my knife is a flat with a right angle so I can make a spark with the flint” he was particularly proud of this part. He had selected his knife diligently to be able to perform a number of tasks.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

Hiding a smile, Duinion watched the young recruit check, while feeling fairly sure he would find nothing. He was fairly familiar with this particular spot, and knew that there were generally not many animals to be found around here. But he felt it best to make him go through the formality of checking, just the same. And sure enough, the report came back all clear. "Good!" He smiled and set his pack down, at last, stretching and rolling his shoulders a little. It got heavy after a while, but not a thing in there was unnecessary.

Listening, he nodded in further approval as Rome talked about his knife and other things he'd brought. "Good, smart thinking." Duinion had brought his own fire starter kit, but it was even better to hear that Rome had brought his own. "You seem to have a good idea how to pick a campsite, already." He wondered how familiar he was with building different kinds of campfires. There was building a fire, and then there was building the right kind of fire for your needs. "I'll gather water, while you gather some wood, and then we'll see how you do with the fire," He suggested with a smile before setting off toward the stream.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

They had at least found a camping spot for the next few nights, that made Romeran already feel more comfortable. He had never had a problem sleeping out in the wilds, it's not like he grew up on a fancy farm anyway, in fact he rather enjoyed it. Romeran got a suspicion that Duinion was actually quite familiar with this area and had already known it to be a good spot even before Romeran mentioned it.

"I did a good deal of camping and such growing up. It's not like we had the gold to go on any trips, so my friends and I would just go off into the woods for a few days" he explained, half reminiscing. "I'll start looking for some kindling then." He said in response to putting together a fire. His axe wasn't the right type of axe for splitting heavy logs, but Romeran had a few techniques up his sleeve for splitting logs even with his axe.

Romeran's tinderbox contained flint and some charcloth she he didn't need to look for that. Luckily for them it hadn't rained recently which meant finding reasonable tinder (mostly leaves and small twigs) wasn't too much of a challenge for Romeran. He was able as well to find a small tree which had fallen some time ago and the wood had dried out reasonably well. Romeran started using his axe to segment the small tree into sections about a foot long. It was tiresome work since his axe did not have the proper head-weight to make it easy but Romeran half made up for it with brute strength. To split the logs into smaller pieces so that the kindling would have a range from small to larger logs, Romeran knew that a standard approach wouldn't work.

Instead, Romeran first struck the log so that his axe wedged into the center (with a proper maul this would have split the log already). Next he heaved the log onto his shoulder such that the axe was now at the bottom of the log, and proceeded to drop the log onto the back of the axe (the head of which was still firmly inside the log). The weight of the log and the force of the fall caused the log to split down the middle as if Romeran had used a proper maul for splitting wood.

He repeated this process several times before piling up the firewood by size. Before he starting to work on the structure of the fire Romeran asked "Are we going to be cooking anything, or at least boiling water tonight? If not I might build the fire differently". Romeran was familiar with at least three different ways to stack wood, two of which were conducive to cooking, the other faster but not terribly conducive to cooking unless you wanted to wait for the fire to burn down to charcoal.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

Making a trip down to the stream, Duinion filled the canteens and took a careful look around. He was looking for tracks, for one, but also watching for anything else that might be noteworthy. He didn't see much of anything, which told him they'd need to travel a ways tomorrow to find a good spot to set a trap. It was about as he had expected. With the canteens filled, he returned to the campsite and began taking a look through his supplies, trying to decide what to cook for supper. He'd brought a few supplies, but not a whole lot, as he intended on having Rome catch or forage the majority of their meals while out here, so it was a matter of decision whether to use the remaining supplies, or begin the lessons already.

As Rome returned with some wood, Duinion was gazing thoughtfully out toward the stream. The young man's question drew his attention back. "That's a good question. We'll certainly be cooking, but it depends a bit on what we cook," He thought a moment longer. "I think we'll be catching fish for supper. So, there's a few options there. We can boil the fish, or we can cook it over the fire on sticks, or wrap it in leaves and put on the fire, or we can even use stones. So it's up to you which method of cooking you prefer. After we get the fire going, I'll show you how to make a trap for fish. There are usually a lot of fish in the stream around here, so we should have plenty to eat."
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

Romeran had eaten fish before, many times -- Lossarnach is not that far from the Anduin -- and he'd even been fishing although he had never caught anything. He had never prepared fish before, and certainly not by campfire. "Boiling seems the simplest but the most bland, unless we turn it into some sort of stew, which could be good but would take some time." Romeran thought out loud, reasoning through the options.

"Cooking the meat on sticks would require us to make at least some stakes and find some suitable sticks or metal to skewer them on. I certainly didn't bring any metal rods." He continued with the next option, it sounded good but wondered if perhaps it required too much setup. "I've never cooked fish in leaves or on stones, but either one of those sounds simple enough but would taste better than boiled meat, if you ask me" not that Romeran was going to refuse food, but if they had the option he'd rather it tasted good.

"I'm not sure how you find appropriate stones? I know that rivers often flatten stones which perhaps could be useful?" he asked "And I'm not sure about what type of leaves you would use to cook, I would hesitate to guess they need to be fresh, rather than dry, otherwise they might burn away immediately." Romeran looked around to see if there were any trees with leaves large enough for such a task. "In any case, I assume we'll want a flat fire rather than a triangular one, as we'll need a flat surface to place the fish on, assuming we're ruling out skewering over the fire for lack of tools?" Romeran started organizing the pieces of firewood so that he could build a rectangular 'box' shape for the fire.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

"Good thinking on all of that." Duinion nodded. He seemed less inclined to the more basic methods that were more commonly-known, and he was sort of glad because he had hoped to teach the recruit about the less commonly known ways, as it was good to know about things like this for times when he may need to know how to gather food and cook it with hardly any gear. "You're right, the leaves do need to be green, so it's not likely to be an option in the winter. If you tried to use them green, they'd just break and crumble. But aside from that, the green leaves are more flexible, but also the moisture in them helps to retain moisture in the food, and they can even be used to steam the food," He explained. "There's a number of leaves that can be used. Each different type of leaf will impart its own flavor. If you find cattail leaves, that's a good option. While the leaves aren’t as large as others, you can weave them into a mat large enough to wrap food into. Plus, the roots are a good addition to a meal."

While Rome worked on building the fire, Duinion was gathering up some sticks from nearby. "Burdock is another good option. Sycamore.. you'll usually want to look for larger leaves, but also be careful that they aren't something poisonous. It's best to do a few layers of the leaves, maybe three to four, so the food is enclosed well enough to cook properly." He paused and took a look around at the trees and plants nearby. "And if we were to use a stone, you're right, we will want a flat one. But not taken from the river. There's something about stones that come from the river, that they have a tendency to pop and sometimes explode, which can be dangerous*. If we do that method, we'd basically lay it across the coals and let it heat up and cook the meat right on the surface of it. Personally, I prefer the leaf-wrapped method, but it's good to know different ways to prepare food." He smiled.


*my researching says that this has to do with the stones absorbing water and when they heat up, it changes the structure and stuff like that.. but without a lot of scientific study to provide answers like that, I figured duinion wouldn't know what causes this
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

Romeran listened intently to Duinion’s explanation as he was organizing the firewood. “Well let’s try the leaf method then, I’ve never seen anything like that.” He looked around at the different trees. “I don’t really know the names of the different trees and such so I’m not sure what those tree leaves look like.” He said, slightly embarrassed. “What leaves around here would be good?”

Before starting the fire, Romeran stopped. “Should we try to catch a fish first?” Romeran asked. He was not confident. He had never actually seen someone catch a fish. It must be possible as he had eaten fish but he assumed mostly people on boats did it with large nets. What were they going to do? He didn’t voice these concerns, Duinion seemed so confident.

“Did you grow up in the woods?” Romeran hesitated to ask when there was a pause in the conversation. He was curious to learn more about his new teacher. He had met quite a few rangers so far but had not really gotten to know any of them well, or make any real friends yet. Duinion was older than him but that didn’t concern Romeran much.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

"Oh, I'll have to teach you the different kinds of trees, then." He took a look around, pointing out a few of the nearby ones. "There's an oak, and a poplar.. that one there is a sycamore." He indicated one with large leaves and peeling bark. "They're fairly easy to identify, but see how large the leaves are? That's why they're good for this purpose." He took a look around. "And burdock grows just about anywhere, it's another good option."

He paused at the question about the fire. "No, we'll want to let the fire get going so the coals are hot enough to cook by the time we have the fish." He answered, still working on gathering sticks. "After the fire gets going, I'm going to show you how to build a trap to catch fish. Someone else may teach you other ways of catching fish but I find this method works best for me." He smiled and checked Rome's progress with the fire.

Rome's other question caught him a bit off-guard. Duinion hesitated, then shook his head. "No. I..grew up in the city, actually. In the orphanage." He answered softly. He gave a wan smile. "I'd never even set foot in a forest until I was a young teenager. Didn't get to learn anything about the forest until after I'd joined the rangers." He explained. "My best friend and I used to roam around the Pelennor, seeking adventure when we were young. We camped overnight a few times.. we had some really great times." He smiled at the memories, then the smile faded. "He's.. gone now." Duinion sighed, missing his old friend from childhood. "His older brother, actually, was a big part of my choice in joining the rangers," He added thoughtfully. "He was a.. big inspiration to me, growing up. Though I.. I don't think I ever told him that."
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

Remembering all of the different trees was going to be a challenge. He inspected the sycamore leaves and nodded. That one at least seemed like he might remember. “These should be easy enough to gather for cooking” he agreed “we shouldn’t need too many to wrap a fish”. Romeran was still quietly suspicious of whether or not they would catch something.

Sparks flew from the back of Romeran’s knife blade as he struck it with a piece of flint from his tinderbox. His knife was wedged into a log holding a small piece of char cloth in place as he struck the back of the knife blade. The flat ninety degree back of the knife made it easy to strike sparks with the flint. Quickly the char cloth caught a spark. Romeran bent down and blew on it gently until the spark grew into a flame.

The dry leaves and small twigs caught quickly as Romeran moved the burning char cloth into the center area of the square he had built for the fire. Romeran continued to blow on the fire as he slowly added more larger pieces of wood making sure to leave enough space for air to come in.

Romeran felt guilty that he had brought up having grown up in an orphanage, although Duinion seems to be at ease with it. “It’s comforting to know that even you had to learn about the woods as a young ranger. You seem so at ease here.” He said. Romeran frowned sadly when Duinion had mentioned his friend was gone, he was far too young, Romeran guessed, for it to be old age and so he assumed it had been an untimely death. He didn’t want to push too much on a potentially painful subject. “My father was a Ranger. Or so I’m told. He died before I was old enough to remember him.”

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

"Sadly, that happens far too often," Duinion replied, saddened. "That's why I worry so much about Eryn joining the rangers, one day." He knew little could stop her, and he was proud that she wanted to be, yet couldn't help worrying. "What was your father's name? I wonder if I may have known him." He was curious, for he had been a ranger for a long while, longer than Rome had been alive, so it seemed logical to think he might have at least known of his father.

The sparks finally came, and the fire was born. Duinion smiled faintly, watching the young man coax it into existence, and nodded approvingly. At least that was one thing he wouldn't have to teach him. "Yes, the forest is.." He thought for a moment for the best way to put it. "It's far more comfortable to me than the city ever was. It's home. You'll get more comfortable as you get used to it," He assured him. "Everyone starts somewhere," He smiled. "And it holds true for everything. I imagine you know enough of farming that you could be successful as a farmer, if you wanted.. whereas, I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to begin farming," He confessed. "Nor would I want to. The taste I had of it in my childhood was..quite unpleasant."

Once the fire seemed stable enough to be left alone, he motioned the recruit to come over to where he had made a pile of sticks. "We're going to make a trap, something similar to a cone... like a basket, almost. We want enough gaps for the water to pass through, without allowing the fish to pass through." He explained. He pulled out a roll of twine he'd brought along, to fasten the sticks together, then made a rough sketch of the design in the dirt, to help Rome understand how it would be constructed. "This part allows the fish to pass in, but then it can't figure out how to get back out." He pointed to the cone part that fit inside the bigger portion. "Once we finish it, we'll put it in the stream where a lot of fish tend to be, and secure it so it doesn't float away. Give it a little time, and we're sure to have a few fish wander in there."
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

Romeran cast a stare at the ground "My mother never told me his proper name" he said "I think there was some conflict in the family over it" he explained "I do know that I was named after my father" he continued "so I assume the name 'Romeran' featured somewhere in his name. I'm told it has some sort of meaning but I don't speak any elven tongues"* The only people he knew that had met his father were his mother (of course) his uncle and his grandfather (his grandmother having passed in childbirth with his uncle who was the younger sibling to Romeran's mother). None of them had talked openly about his father. His mother always seemed to be full of pain and sadness whenever Romeran brought up his father and he had learned to avoid the subject. His uncle and grandfather seemed to hold some anger or contempt, although he never discovered why, perhaps his death and consequent abandonment of his mother and infant child.

"I suppose you are right" he said, as Duinion discussed learning to become comfortable somewhere "I find the city quite daunting as well, more so than the forests, if I admit it." he had only recently been to the city before and prior to that had seen Pelargir as a child, which was a big city itself, but had never been to Minas Tirith until recently. "The most comfortable I have been was on the farm with you and Erynneth, it's the closest I've been to a land which I'm familiar with." Romeran laughed at Duinion's discomfort with farming "it's certainly not for everyone, he conceded, and while I could manage a farm, it's more something that I grew up with, rather than chose"

Managing a fire was something Romeran was quite familiar with. The main house might have had a proper fireplace but with such a large farm many pieces (like some kitchens) were almost entirely outdoors (but covered) and so Romeran had some skill in lighting and tending a fire. He felt glad that he had at least some things which wouldn't require excessive oversight by Duinion. Romeran watched in awe as Duinion sketched out and described the trap. He supposed it made sense, assuming they could find a reasonable area where fish swam in the stream. He expected since Duinion had suggested this, that he already knew of such a spot. How would one discover this though? Simply watching perhaps, he made a point to observe Duinion carefully. Were fish really dumb enough to swim into such a trap? He supposed fish weren't exactly renowned for their intellect. "I look forward to seeing it in action" he said half skeptically half in interest. "I'll start looking around for appropriately sized sticks. I assume these don't need to be dry like firewood and I can take them directly from a tree?" he asked, eying some of the branches.

*Romeran's name derives from the Sindarin word for Wanderer. It was an epithet to describe his father: Indo Romeran, who had been a man from the far east before he wandered west after his home was destroyed by Easterlings. Romeran was named for this epithet but his mother did not disclose its meaning, his father's history, or even his father's first name for sadness.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

"Hm," Duinion tried to think if the name Romeran seemed familiar, but if he had ever known him, it was forgotten for now. He thought about that, understanding how it felt not to know about a parent... "I'm sure your father was a great ranger, in his time." He told Rome, sympathetic in his lack of knowledge. At least he knew something about his father. He couldn't quite imagine a parent not telling their child about the other parent. After losing Idhrenel, it was painful, but it was also nice sometimes, to talk to Eryn about her mother, and remember happy times together. Perhaps Duinion's lack of knowledge about his parents had some impact on him in that regard, not wanting Eryn to not know or remember enough about her mother.

There were other matters to focus on, now. He smiled as Rome seemed all set to rush off and gather up sticks to build the trap. "Rome," he pointed to the pile of sticks he had gathered already. "I've already gathered all you should need. And yes, you can use green sticks, but for the straight pieces you can also use dry, dead ones. You'll use the thin, green ones for forming a circle for the frame." He mentioned, demonstrating with one such green stick which was far more bendable than a dry one. "It will take a little time, but I'll help you as you need it."
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

All Romeran could do was shrug, "I hope so" he said, although he wasn't sure if he believed it was true. Romeran's childhood dreams of his father had always been about him being an adventurous and successful ranger, but in reality he had no real idea of what his father had ever done. It had still inspired him to be a ranger, he wasn't sure if he would have known about it other than for his father. Romeran always got the impression that his mother had wanted to run away with his father and that Romeran's birth and his father's subsequent death forcing her to stay had caused turmoil in the family.

Not having to search for suitable sticks for the trap was nice, Romeran thought, as he pulled some tarred cord from his bag. He laid down the cord and with the help of Duinion they set out the sticks arranged appropriately on the cord. That was the easy part. Putting it all together, especially the 'entrance' was tricky, each section had to be tied and secured before moving to the next. It got particularly finicky towards the end when the two sides had to come together to form a single cylinder, with the 'entrance' trap, before the back end could be tied off. Romeran tried and failed a few times before Duinion gave him some advice. They finally had put the trap together. Romeran got the sneaking suspicion that it would have taken Duinion about half or less of the time. But you learn by doing, Romeran thought.

"Well that's done, I suppose" he said, standing up and looking down at his work, work with a generous amount of Duinion's help that is. "I suppose we take it down to the river now? What do we secure it with? Rope?" he paused for a moment "or rocks? or something else?" he wondered. Romeran was very curious as to whether or not they'd catch anything. He was also getting hungry, although hunger seemed to be a practically permanent state for him, he was glad to have brought some rations even though it made his pack heavier.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

Helping Rome build the trap indeed took longer than if he had done it himself, but this was for Rome's learning experience, so Duinion made him do as much of the work as possible. "That turned out very good for your first attempt," He told Rome, smiling. "Now.. yes, we'll put it in the river. There's a few ways you can secure it, so it depends on what works best for the situation. You can tie a rock to a string, like an anchor, or you could drive some stakes into the riverbed to hold it in place, or tie it to something.. I find that a stone anchor is generally the best way though, because it would make sure that the trap doesn't float up to the surface while also making sure it doesn't drift away with the current."

Heading toward the bank, he looked down at the water, considering. "We could put some bait in the trap, but it's not always necessary. Fish are fairly curious, and not terribly smart overall, so most of the time they'll just swim in to check it out and then can't get back out." Wandering a little ways downstream, he watched for any sign of fish. "Of course.. knowing how to make the trap is only part of being successful. The rest comes from knowing where to place it," he explained. "Sometimes, you'll get lucky and see or hear them flopping back in after making a jump for a bug, but most of the time there won't be any surface activity to tip you off. Rivers and streams each have their own kinds of plant and fish life, there may be some places where there are no fish, but further up or downstream there might be a lot of them." He paused to look and see if the young man was listening.

"For example, a portion of river with a strong current and not many obstructions like rocks and logs isn't likely to have much fish hanging around. Also, very shallow sections with few hiding places are also not very good places to expect them. They like deeper pools with a lot of good hiding spots, so look for a bend or an obstruction like a large tree which slower moving water. Areas where fast moving water meets slow water are fairly good spots to find fish feeding. Many areas where a boulder or log exist and serves to slow down the water, or simply create a hiding place are good. Weed edges are always good places to check. Outside bends where the current undercuts a bank and provides both shelter and shade are often good places. Outside bends, where the water is usually deeper, are almost always better than inside bends." He paused to look at Rome, hoping he'd remember at least most of this information. "There's never any guarantee that you will find fish even in the best of places, of course, but knowing where to look for them significantly increases your chances of catching them. Do you see anywhere that would be a good place to put the trap?"
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Istari Sage
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Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

There was a lot of information to retain but luckily most of it seemed to make sense. Fish wanted hiding places and they wanted to feed, not to different from themselves. They would settle where those things would be most likely to acquire. Again just like they had done. Fast moving, barren areas weren’t good for fish just like deserted areas with harsh weather were poor fit for men.

As they had been walking along the river, Romeran had been listening and watching. The river had bent a few times as they had walked along. That seemed like a good start, he thought as Duinion asked where they ought to lay the trap. “Well there was a bend about a furlong back the way we came” he pointed in the distance where he meant “there’s a tree overhanging on the outside of the bend there” he said, pointing more specifically to the tree. The river bank appeared to have fallen at some point revealing some of the roots which were now submerged in the water.

“It’s on an outside bend and the roots and debris ought to slow the water down and create little hiding spots right?” he said confirming that he had understood correctly. Romeran hadn’t recalled seeing any fish jump out of the river like Duinion had mentioned and he didn’t see a whole school of them conveniently sitting there. But he supposed that those were likely unusual circumstances. He looked around to see if there were any other obvious candidates. “The river does get wider up ahead. It might be more like a ‘pool’ I suppose. Although I think the tree might make an easy anchor for setting a trap.” He thought that might make it easier “assuming there are fish I suppose.” He added. There wouldn’t be much value in a well laid trap without any prey.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

"Good observation," Duinion nodded. "I passed it up because I wanted to see if you'd notice that it was actually a good place." He smiled and headed back in the direction of the bend, stopping once they had reached the spot with the tree. "Now, we just put the trap in the water, but there's one more thing we need to add first. We'll tie a length of cord onto one of the stronger portions of the trap, and use it to lower it into the water. Then tie a float onto that and it's all set."

He crouched near the edge of the water and found a twig that had gotten caught against the roots, but it floated well. "This is for us, to mark where our trap is. Because, if we put this in the river, and then go off to do other things, we'd want to be able to find it later." Once the trap was in the water, he held out the float to Rome so he could tie it on. "Now that that's set, let's go set up our camp and check on the fire, give the fish a little time to find the trap, and hope for the best." If that failed, though he felt sure it wouldn't, he did have some backup supplies. But he'd rather use that only for emergencies.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Istari Sage
Points: 1 954 
Posts: 940
Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2022 5:02 pm

Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

The tree had indeed slowed the river, Romeran noticed as they got closer, he nodded in approval. He suppose it made sense, but he had never really thought of it before. “I had wondered how we were going to find the trap again, other than just remembering and hoping that it doesn’t move too far”.

After they finished setting up the trap Romeran stood up approvingly. He had learned quite a lot already today. He sorely hoped they would catch a fish, despite his earlier skepticism. The cooking with leaves method also seemed interesting and he wanted to try it. Romeran quite enjoyed cooking probably because he enjoyed eating and few people enjoyed cooking enough to satisfy him. He had brought some basic seasonings: a mix of salt, onion powder, and garlic power.

When they returned to the fire, Romeran stoked it. Since they were looking for embers for cooking, rather than a roaring fire, Romeran didn’t add any more wood to the fire, they would do that after they finished cooking. But they hadn’t been gone for that long and the fire still had a fair amount of wood to burn through yet.

Since the trap was laid and the fire burning, Romeran decided to see to setting up a place to sleep. The rocks would offer protection from one side but not above from wind or worse, rain. Romeran opened his bag and pulled out his oilcloth tarp and stakes. There was a tree nearby so he tied one corner of the tarp to the tree. He shoved a tall log between the rock and the hillside and tied the opposite corner so that it was suspended across the rocks. He then pulled the tarp down in front of the rocks and tied them to small metal stakes in the ground which he pounded into the ground using the backside of his axe which featured a hammer. This ‘open’ tent could heated by keeping the fire by the open side, roughly where Romeran had placed it.

As he worked Romeran decided to ask some more questions. He had already asked some personal questions and didn’t want to push his luck too much. He looked to more immediate affairs. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

At last, the trap was set, and they were heading back to camp. Duinion watched Rome go about setting up his shelter. He definitely knew how to set up camp, that was good. He did wonder if he knew how to construct shelters out of whatever was around, rather than bringing it along... but maybe that was something to bring up another time. For himself, Duinion wasn't terribly worried about a tent or anything, as they wouldn't be staying here very long. He knew how to throw together a quick tent if the weather turned bad, and he knew the signs to watch for to indicate bad weather was coming.

"Tomrrow," He sat down by the fire. "After breakfast, I plan to show you a few different traps, along with different animal tracks and other signs, to help you know where to place those traps. If we're lucky, perhaps we'll have something besides fish for tomorrow's supper." He smiled. "I imagine we'll do a good bit of walking through the forest. There may be a few other things come up that I can teach you about, but we'll see where the day takes us."
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Istari Sage
Points: 1 954 
Posts: 940
Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2022 5:02 pm

Ranger Recruit Romeran studying under Ranger Duinion
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War
@Rillewen

The fire was slowly burning down to embers with the occasional crack and snap as the fire found pockets of air. Romeran got the feeling that maybe he didn't need to put the tarp up as Duinion watched him. It was lightweight enough that he always took it with him when he went afield. Romeran was not great at detecting incoming changes to the weather and furthermore was a deep sleeper, the last thing he wanted was to wake up to being poured on or blown away. Better safe than sorry, he thought, although he wondered if he'd have such luck if he lost his tarp, say if he lost his entire pack. Most of his camping experience assumed he had, at least, a handful of essentials (like his knife, canteen of water, etc.)

Romeran nodded as Duinion explained the plan for tomorrow. It seemed like it would be another day full of learning, he hoped that his mind was up to the task and that the information wouldn't simply fall out the other ear. Romeran was vaguely familiar with some tracks from his hunting trips, although mostly from his uncle or grandfather pointing them out rather than him looking for them, but he wasn't adept at telling which animal was which or how long ago they had been there. "It sounds like a full day, I look forward to it" he said with a smile. The nice weather combined with the beautiful scenery and it hardly felt like Romeran was 'working' although technically he was. He supposed that it would not always be like this, especially when the weather is foul or danger was afoot.

After a while, Romeran decided to ask "how long should we wait before checking the trap?" this was the most elusive part of trapping. At least when you were hunting with bow-and arrow, or fishing on a boat with a net, you knew immediately if you had succeeded or failed. With trapping there seemed to be some indefinite amount of time that they had to wait before checking back. He supposed, at some point, it would get too dark to eat that night, but perhaps they would still leave it to see if any fish were caught for the morning. In any case, Romeran was excited to find out if they had caught anything.

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@Romeran

Ranger Duinion, training recruit Romeran
Ithilien Forest - a couple of years after the War

"That was good thinking to bring that," Duinion mentioned, nodding toward the tarp. "If the weather takes a bad turn, it's good to have something to use for shelter." He paused for a moment. "I wonder though, if you didn't have it, what could you do to create shelter without something like that?" He was debating if building basic shelters might be something they should go over, tomorrow. He figured they were both a little too tired for very much more learning tonight, and his stomach was complaining. Rome must be far more anxious to eat, he thought, being a young man, still a teenager really.

Sure enough, he soon asked about the trap, and Duinion smiled. "Well, normally I'd suggest leaving it for a few hours at least... but I'm hoping we found a good enough spot to place it that we won't have to wait long. I thought we'd give it a little more time, while we finish up here, then go back to check on it. I do have some backup food in my pack, in case we don't catch anything tonight, but I hoped not to have to use it." He figured if nothing else, they should be able to have fish for breakfast. "I also saw a tree I'd like to point to you, along the way." He chose a spot where he'd like to sleep and then set his bedroll down, though he didn't unroll it yet. "I prefer to wait on unrolling my bedding until I'm about to lay down, so there's less chances of having any.. unwelcome guests. Spiders, snakes, that sort of thing." He explained, thinking it might be good to pass such tips on to the new recruit.

At last, he felt that a reasonable amount of time had passed, and he stood up. "Let's go and see if the fish found our trap yet. I'd like to have a good meal before we sleep." He was quite eager to find out if they'd caught anything, and he was sure Rome must be even more eager, this being his first time doing anything of the sort. Feeling hopeful, he set out back downstream, keeping an eye out for that tree he had mentioned earlier.
Last edited by Rillewen on Sat Mar 16, 2024 9:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

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