Life in the Mark III (Free RP)

[Rillewen]

@Melahny_oftheWoods @Pele Alarion
(Invite only)

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Xyler & Grandma/Aérlyn
Wyndhorne - late September

Before long, with Hadassa helping with preparation, the stew was nearly ready to be served. Xyler had been working on prepping the flowers for his grandmother, so that they could be drying and ready for using in salves or whatever she wanted to use them in. He finished just about the time she was asking him to please set the table.

"Yes ma'am!" he agreed, hurrying to go grab dishes and silverware. "Melahny should be here soon," He mentioned, hoping that she would, in fact, arrive soon. He set a place for all of them, and was just glancing toward the window to see whether it was dark or not, when Melahny came in from the back door. "Ah, just in time." He smiled.

Aerlyn brought in the pot of stew. "Have a nice walk, dear?" She asked Melahny as she began serving up portions of stew for each of them. "It gets a bit chilly out after dark up here in the mountains.. I should have warned you," She added in concern. "Speaking of,"

Xyler anticipated what she was going to ask and spoke up before she could ask, "I'll chop some wood after supper, don't worry grandma." He hadn't been home in months, and with winter coming on, he would definitely want to make sure that she had plenty of wood to last her through the season. Otherwise, she'd have to go and try to do it herself, and she was too old to be trying to do that sort of thing, in his opinion anyway. He motioned to the table, and smiled at his two friends. "Shall we?" He waited for them to choose their seats, first. Then his grandma, then he would take the last of the four chairs for himself.

[Pele Alarion]

@Rillewen , @Melahny_oftheWoods
Hadassa
Travelling with Xyler and Melahny

Hadassa enjoyed the warmth of the kitchen and the delicious scent rising from the cooking stew; she was very well aware that soon enough they were likely to spend nights under open sky unless they came near homes and someone gave them a place to rest under the roof. She assisted Aerlyn as she could in everything she was asked for, happily humming as she did so.

She was glad that both Xyler, earlier, and Melahny, later, returned before the night set in properly. "At least we are all here and all in one piece, right?" she said, waving towards the darkness outside the window. "If needed I can join the chopping, or putting the firewood away," she then offered, slipping into one of the seats at the table, ready for a hearty meal before any other more or less vigorous evening activities.

[Melahny_oftheWoods]

Melahny
@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

Herbalist Melahny & Cocoa Willow
On a journey - late September

"Ah, just in time," Xyler said as Melahny entered the kitchen.

"Excellent," she responded and sat down at the table. "Yes, it was a pleasant walk, and I found a few things for my stores. I can help out with the wood or anything else," she added. "Thank you for your hospitality, ma'am; it is much welcome before we begin our journey to Gondor."

She tasted some of the stew. "Delicious! You are a talent," Melahny gave her compliments to the chef and began to enjoy the meal. She felt very lucky that she ran into Xyler and Hadassa, as this was a nice treat for her, being accustomed to sleeping and cooking outdoors most of the time.

[Rillewen]

@Melahny_oftheWoods @Pele Alarion
(Invite only)

|
Xyler & Grandma/Aérlyn
Wyndhorne - late September

Xyler blinked in surprise as both girls offered to help with the firewood. "No, that's alright. You're both guests," He pointed out. "We only have one ax anyway, but... if you really want to help, though, I guess maybe you could carry the wood in while I chop it," He added a bit hesitantly. "I've never actually had anyone offer to help with that chore, to be honest." He admitted with a little laugh. "I don't need the help, but I guess it could make it go a bit quicker to have help carrying it all in."

He intended to chop enough to, hopefully, last his grandmother through the winter. It would actually be the first winter she'd spend without him there, he realized. And that somehow bothered him slightly. Sure, their neighbors would probably, hopefully, check in on her from time to time, and help out with this stuff if needed. But he decided at that moment that he would make sure to write her plenty of letters to check on how she was doing.

"Thank you, you're both very kind," Aerlyn smiled at the two girls for their compliments as well as their offers to help. "I'm glad you were able to find what you needed, Melahny. Where all do you usually travel, to sell your wares? I don't believe I've ever seen you around here, yet you seem to be at least somewhat familiar with our village." She mentioned, partly out of curiosity and partly for conversation during the meal.

Once the meal had ended, Xyler went to retrieve that ax, and he set off outside to start on the firewood, while Aerlyn began to wash up after supper. While neither of the guests were expected to help with either task, if they still offered to help, then the help would be accepted. Xyler would be going off into the woods to find some wood that he could chop up into smaller pieces, and since he wanted to make sure that she had enough, it was likely to take him a long while. Meanwhile, Aerlyn would need to bring enough water from the stream to make up a pot of dishwater, heat it, and then scrub all of the dishes that were used for the meal.


(figured we could sort of move it along a little bit if no one protests, since we've sorta been stuck here for a while now)

[Pele Alarion]

@Rillewen , @Melahny_oftheWoods
Hadassa
Travelling with Xyler and Melahny

"Why, it might take your all night without any help if you mean to make sure there's enough for winter," Hadassa responded to Xyler with a grin. "And I would certainly not mind a little bit of work. It'll be endless hours on the back of the horse when we start off from here, unless we run alongside our horses, so..." She lifted one shoulder slightly.

"Thank you!" she then turned to Aerlyn to express gratitude for the delicious meal. "This was so filling and... very yummy!"

She glanced at Melahny to see if she would join her or perhaps rather stay indoors after having already spent some time looking for plants, and then moved the chair gently closer to the table and set off after Xyler.

"Can I help you carry some larger branches?" she called after him as she ran to catch up.

[Melahny_oftheWoods]

Melahny
@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

Herbalist Melahny & Cocoa Willow
On a journey - late September

Melahny smiled and replied to Aerlyn, "I travel all over. I am around Rohan a lot, I live in Edoras. But I am gone abroad most of the year. You've perhaps seen me in the market square in the summer, just before harvest. I usually go home to my Uncle's ranch to assist him during harvest."

"Surely, it will go quicker with the three of us," Melahny winked, agreeing with Hadassa that they could help out with the wood chopping.

"Yes, thank you," Melahny said as they left the table and went outside to chop wood. They worked for a while but it didn't take too long with the three of them. After accumulating a large pile of wood, they laughed and talked and said their goodnights. Melahny laid down, weary after the days events, ready to sleep well and journey the next morning onward to Gondor.

[Rillewen]

@Melahny_oftheWoods @Pele Alarion
(Invite only)

Xyler
Wyndhorne - late September

"Well, alright then, that'll be nice." Xyler agreed, when Melahny also decided to help him. He was appreciative of the help, and although he did all of the chopping due to the fact there was only one ax, the work went much quicker with having them to bring him wood, and to carry it to the woodpile after it was chopped, and it was also less of a chore, having them to talk to and laugh with while they worked.

After all the wood was chopped and everyone had gone to bed, Xyler had very little difficulty in getting to sleep despite having his bedroll spread out on the floor in the main room, letting the girls take his old room and work out between them, whatever arrangements they preferred. After helping his grandmother prepare a hearty breakfast, and after they'd eaten, it didn't take long to pack up. Before long, they were readying to set out again, and Xyler bid farewell to his grandmother, promising to write as often as possible. By noon, the group were setting off once again, and Xyler was rather eager to cross the border into Gondor.

Tucked deep down into his pack was a bracelet which was the only thing he had from his mother, which he hoped to somehow manage to trace back to her people. While he wasn't really sure how to begin going about his search, he was rather hopeful about it, anyway. The trio had been traveling for about an hour when Xyler thought of something. "Melahny, you've been to Gondor a lot, right?" He checked. "How well do you know the various regions? I know there are a few, like Lamedon, and uh.." He paused to think, but could only come up with one other, off the top of his head. "Belfalas... And others. But is there any easy way of distinguishing a person as being from a particular region?"

[Pele Alarion]

@Rillewen , @Melahny_oftheWoods
Hadassa
Travelling with Xyler and Melahny

Working higher up on the mountain ridge felt more refreshing than down in the flats, and Hadassa found herself filled with vigour and joy. All the activities eventually did take their toll and she found herself falling asleep as soon as she had settled down for the night. The morning seemed to come too soon though, and she lingered under covers as long as she could, only getting out when she thought her companions would start thinking that she had reconsidered and would be going back home. The sight of others and the breakfast did the trick though, and soon she was in a good mood and ready to travel on.

When they set out, she rode last for a while, trying to get into her role of a guard and training watchfulness as she glanced this way and that. She did listen to the conversation as well though, and then said light-heartedly: "I figure we might meet people from some of those regions and you will get to evaluate some differences yourself, right? Unless you changed your mind and want us to go the direct and well-travelled road rather than round-about?"

[Melahny_oftheWoods]

Melahny
@Rillewen @Pele Alarion

Herbalist Melahny & Cocoa Willow
On a journey - late September

Melahny bade farewell to Aerlyn, thanking her for her hospitality and saying she would see her around when she was back in Rohan. The air was fresh and clear as they set out for their journey, and Melahny felt she'd had a decent slumber. Although, she was already missing her uncle Wulf since she knew it would be a while before she saw him again. Even though she loved to travel and live on the road, she still got an ache in her stomach every time she left Rohan, and she couldn't help feeling guilty at leaving her uncle and community behind. But she would try to go through Rohan again before travelling north this year, so she could see Wulf more than once in the whole year.

After the three travellers got their horses tacked up and ready to go, they waved farewell and began their journey down the mountainside and onto the road to Gondor. After a bit, Xyler asked her about the peoples and regions of Gondor. She answered him, "Yes, there are many regions in Gondor. We are going into Anorien, of course, that is the region where Minas Tirith is located. There are also Ithilien, Lebennin, Lossarnach, the Blackroot Veil, Pinnath Gelin, Belfalas and Lamedon as you mentioned, and some more smaller regions. There are regional accents and indicators such as clothing styles..." Melahny went on to describe some of the prominent accents that she knew of. It was difficult to describe, since she couldn't really imitate any of the accents or dialects. "I hope that answers your question. Sorry, I can't be more specific. I can't really imitate the accents... you'll just have to learn those as you meet people and ask where they're from. That will be easy in the city. There are many traders and peddlers such as myself," she smirked. "Us vagabonds are from all over."

Hadassa pipped in, "I figure we might meet people from some of those regions and you will get to evaluate some differences yourself, right? Unless you changed your mind and want us to go the direct and well-travelled road rather than round-about?"

"Yes, we'll pass by many settlements on our way," Melahny answered. "Personally, I think we should stick to the Royal Road since it's the safest and a straight shot to Minas Tirith..." she said, a little concerned that they wanted to veer off course. "It would be unwise to go another way. We could get lost in the mountains or simply end up taking twice as long to get there, and I need to get into the city to sell my wares. Venturing into the mountains would only make sense for people who simply want to explore, or if we were particularly going to visit a small community in Lamedon. I have gone that way before, but again, my aim at that time was to explore the regions and visit some villages in Lamedon and Lebennin. When do you need to be in Minas Tirith by?"