Of Wraiths and Kings, and Friends and Rings (Calling All Nazgul)

[CrazySquirrel]

"How can they know I am here?" asked Viv. "I am here since this night, and the letter was sent two weeks ago. It's unnatural!"

Lilly was not the brightest of the wraiths, so Viv's worries did not trouble her. Lilly was lost in her own pleasant thought, purring softly to herself an orc-march tune, en vogue in Barad-Dur.

"What you are up to now?" asked Viv suspiciously. She has had plenty of time to learn Lilly's moods. That was the excitement of a cat ready to jump on an unsuspecting mouse. "Why all that fuss with the dress? What do you want with this Chancellor?"

"He is a man, isn't he?", purred Lilly. "And a young man, the King's third cousin, I heard. The only king's relative, as it goes, here in Tharbad at least"

"I thought you were after the King himself?" inquired Viv. Lilly was incorrigible.

"Well, one must always have a second choice", explained Lilly with a flash of her green eyes. "Moreover, his advice will weight much, when the King starts to consider marrying me".

Viv rolled her eyes. Lilly always made her do it repeatedly.

[Rían]

RÃ*an put the finishing touches on the now-almost-unrecognizeable kitchen and hung up the last towel. It was a lot of work, but with the lovely view of the forest through the window, she didn't mind. Indeed, it was an ideal set-up - tasks to keep her mind just busy enough, and a lovely view to refresh her. Sometimes she found that with too much free time, unpleasant thoughts resurfaced. Some sorrows, apparently, never quite heal, at least in this world - but she wasn't ready to leave this world just yet, either.

She stood still, the breeze though the window gently lifting her long, dark hair, and looked at the faces again. So many killed, at the eve of Tarnin Austa, long ago ... but worse than the memory of her friends that had died was the memory of those whose fate she did not know. The lovely trees, dancing softly in the wind, grew blurry.

She stamped her foot and turned away from the window. Yes, this was a good place for her to be in, at least for now. Now what else was there to do here?

Remembering the pile of crockery on the small table outside Lilly's door, she headed quickly upstairs, making no sound with her feet, as was the elven way.

What she heard, unintentionally, through the door, made her almost drop the dishes ...

[CrazySquirrel]

"I thought you were after the King himself?" asked a melodious woman's voice.

"Well, one must always have a second choice", Rian recognised Lilly's slightly shrill voice, though now Lilly was almost purring.
"Moreover, his advice will weight much, when the King starts to consider marrying me".
Shocked, Rian forgot about the broken pottery and descended back to the kitchen to think.

[Grey_Wolf]

Penny, yet again in invisible mode, had sauntered into the ladies room and overheard the conversation.

'What's this about a Chancellor?' he thought, yelously, almost having in mind to make a sudden wrathful appearance.

[Butterbeer]

The USAT Squirrel Clan were the chattering classes of the university Grounds ... of all the Campus creatures the best source of information... thought Beautiful Boomerang


young Walnut son of Acornagorn had met Beautiful B high on the branches of a stately tree close-by the inner University cloisters.

Beautiful Boomerang had been busy on his flight over Tharbad, the Wings were now out. As he had flown into his meeting word had come in from old purple heart of the sighting of a mysterious and gaudy carriage approching the City's northwestern gate .... and of the unease of the City guards ...

Boomerang smiled .. this was a currency that Walnut would like ... fresh news indeed and intruiging ...

And Indeed he had.

Boomerang had learned much in return from the bushy tailed Squirrel Chief: among other things of an upcoming and much anticipated event at the university ... and obscure rumours regarding the New Arch-chancellor ...

[Gordis]

At last everyone was ready. Khamul saw his “family� to the door, grinning evilly. He certainly had some private joke to amuse himself, but nobody dared to ask.

The Main building of the University and the Chancellor’s Palace were two blocks away from the Orrodel house, so the company went on foot. The University was build a century ago at the place of a smaller college, existing from the times of the Numenorean colony in Tharbad. Several inner cloisters contained famous old gardens, with plants and flowers from all the Middle Earth and from the drowned Numenor. At half-past-five, Penny proudly led both his beautiful “sisters� up the steps to the huge doors with the sigil of Arnor inlaid in mithril.

A small crowd of new students, many of them from Arnor, some from Gondor, a few from Harad, Khand and Rhun waited in the ornate hall. The carven doors to the Chancellor’s office were still closed. Among the students, Lilly noticed several girls and eyed them critically. Dresses of all possible colours were proudly displayed along with jewellery; many wore precious stones or their brow or flowers in their hair. Men sported jewellery as well, along with ornate weapons. One student even donned a dented helmet, the legacy of the Last Alliance. Five wondered whether he fought in the war himself, but no; he was too young for that. It was his father’s helmet probably.
Viv noticed a beautiful she-elf dressed in green with long flowing hair, waiting in the crowd and a poorly dressed girl waiting alone in a corner.

Suddenly Ray and Marty appeared and bowed before Lilly and Viv, resplendent in dark velvet tunics embroidered with gold and silver. Marty started to tell a funny story, something that has happened at the gates, but Lilly interrupted him impatiently.
“Tell us about the Chancellor, please. We know nothing, I only heard he is called the Ice-Chancellor, and that he is much feared and respected here, but that’s about all. Is he really King’s relative? How old is he? Do you know his story?�

Marty was happy to show that he was privy to the gossip at the court. Indeed, the story of Lord Ilmenzor was well known to all in Annuminas, and was quite interesting to tell.

“Well, the Chancellor, Lord Ilmenzor, is the King’s third cousin. He is the great-grandson of the younger brother of Amandil, our King’s great-granddad. But though he is of the same generation, he is older than our King and fought in the War. His father was Captain of Minas Ithil, under King Isildur. When the War started, the enemy sacked the City in his first stroke. King Isildur barely escaped, but the Captain and his family were not so fortunate. They perished, defending the Citadel to the last man. Lord Ilmenzor was King Isildur's esquire at the time, and they fought their way out, but Ilmenzor was the only one left of the whole family, and wowed to make the Nameless Enemy pay for it. When Lord Isildur went North to seek help from his father, Lord Ilmenzor remained in Gondor with King Anarion. Many assaults had he led on the Moon city, but the accursed Ulairi held it fast.�

By that point in the story, Mary noticed that almost all the students in the hall were listening to his story with abated breath. The stories of the Great War, or the Last War, as it was often called, were always popular, and Marty was a good storyteller.

“The enemy’s strength has already waned, when Lord Ilmenzor led his last assault on Minas Ithil. They breached the Gates and fought in the streets. But the accursed nazgul pushed them back; few could withstand their power and terror. Lord Ilmenzor was wounded and taken captive. Many long weeks he was tortured in the dungeons of the city of Dread. When the forces of the Great Alliance came at last to the Gates of Minas Ithil in great strength, the Ulairi departed, vanishing into the shadows, cowardly orcs ran in all directions, and the Moon city was abandoned. Lord Ilmenzor was rescued from the dungeons, but he was close to death and spent many long years recovering from his injuries. After the War, he travelled far and wide even to the Far Harad, where the stars are strange, and to the East, to the borders of the Eastern Sea. At length he returned to Osgiliath and dwelt there, teaching at the University, as he is a famous scholar, and his knowledge in all sciences is vast and deep. Foe three years now, he is the Arch-Chancellor of the USAT, and rules the University with iron hand.

A respectful silence followed Marty’s tale. It was broken by Lilly’s shrill voice asking,
“And is he married?�

[Lotesse]

Viv gave Lil a sharp little kick on the ankle. "Lil," she half-whispered, half growled, "calm down!"

"Tsk," Lilly snatched her foot away from Viv and re-composed herself. "I have my priorities, little one, now COOL IT, and let me do my thing!" Lil responded to Viv out of the corner of her mouth, then pasting on a deceptively sweet and innocent smile, she rephrased her question with elegantly contrived honey-tones.

[The last sane person]

OOC: IS he married? *shrugs*

Marty grinned. "Sorry milady, but I think he is already taken! Though I can see your intrest, he is a great man." Many people nodded in agreement. Lily looked downfallen for a breif moment then regained her composure. "But of course, one can hardly expect a man like that to go unwed for long...." The group stood and waited as the list of names were announced. Raendil and Marthalion occasionally pointing out their friends and other notable people from the list.

[Gordis]

Listening to Marty's tale, Annawen left her corner and joined the main group. She loved tales, and the storyteller was a close friend of the King. Annawen sighed at the thought of the King. Kings and Chancellors and such like, will any of them even glance at such as herself, a country wench, earning her bread working in a tavern?

Annawen has heard the story before. She was from Tharbad, and, in the last few years, the Icy -Chancellor and his beautiful daughter had been the main topic of gossip in the City and in the University, before King Val came to get his share of it.
Then an overdressed readhead (oh, it was the same one that flirted with King Val in the "Herring"!) asked
"Is he married?"

The King's friend muttered something in reply that sounded like "yes".

Annawen couldn't stand it. The desire for gossip overwhelmed her.
Blushing furiously, she began in a shaking voice:

"If I just may say, I am sorry if I am too bold, but the Chancellor's wife died in Gondor some years ago. It was a tragic accident, a fire, and the poor Lady was burned beyond recognition. Lord Ilmenzor moved here after her death, as he could not stand living in Osgiliath after that, poor man. They say, Lady Isilimë was uncommon beautiful, kind and noble, and the Chancellor's daughter, Aiwendis, is exactly like her. She is the first beauty of Tharbad, Lady Aiwendis, she is. Happy will be the man she will choose to marry, that's what they say, begging your pardon, lords and ladies."

Annawen stopped lamely. However, she noticed the hum of approval, and the green-eyed readhead looked at her kindly and smiled.

"Thank you, my darling", said Lilly, obviously pleased.
"A widower", thought Lilly. "Better and better!" A prowling cat's smile appeared on her face and the green eyes flashed hungrily.

[Valandil]

(earlier that same day)

Valandil rode through the winding streets of the city toward the northwest gate - the gate serving the main North Road which went up into the heart of his kingdom. The guard rode beside him, Marty and Ray right behind.

The thoughts kept pouring through his head. Why couldn't he get away from matters of state for a bit? He was here to study... to learn... or at least, to observe... but he kept getting distracted.

When they neared the gate, there was an obvious disturbance in the street ahead of them - people screaming and running in all directions. Suddenly an enormous, ornate coach rolled into view.

"My Lord," said the guard, "the very coach for which you were summoned here!"

Of all things... the driver was an Orc! Only he wasn't driving. He sat slumped in his seat, with an arrow in his shoulder. The great beasts pulling the coach seemed to be panicing. With much effort, Valandil and his companions got control of the situation, stopping the coach. Valandil leapt to the door, flung it open and looked inside.

The coach was empty.

"Was THIS what they called me about?"

A squad of guardsmen came running up from the gate, and Valandil soon learned that the Orc had been distracted by an odd butterfly, that his movements to shoo it away had triggered the beasts of burden, and that one of the guard had fired upon the driver, attempting to stop the coach, but that had only worsened things.

Strangely enough, Valandil also found the Orc driver to be somewhat POLITE! From all he knew, Orcs were mortal enemies... ALWAYS to be killed on sight. This orc wore a heavy steel collar, chained to the coach, and was dressed in ridiculous attire - similar to that of a court jester, for those who favored such things.

Valandil sent a group of guardsmen to take the coach to the governor's mansion. He drew the arrow from the Orc himself and dressed the wound. At the Orc's request, he bid him be released after a couple days to heal and given something a little less obtrusive to wear - and commanded that he be given provision and escorted by six guards a day's march away from the city... toward the Misty Mountains, but avoiding the swamps of Nin-in-Eilph to the south.

Valandil was tired. He told Marty and Ray that he planned to head home for an afternoon nap.

Too bad about the game... wonder how it was going?

[CrazySquirrel]

At last the golden doors of the Chancellor's office opened, and a clerk, dressed in silver-and-blue livery of the University, called out the first name:
"Annawen, daughter of Andubel".

The poorly dressed girl, who has just brought Lilly the best news in the whole day, stepped timidly forward. Lilly smiled at her encouragingly, she liked plain, poorly dressed women. However, she hardly expected to see an obvious commoner take precedence. But Lilly was in too light mood to take offence. Pleasant thoughts flashed through Lilly's head.

"Yess", she thought, "If the King proves difficult, I can marry this Chancellor... He is the King's relative, and if the King dies... perhaps this Chancellor will be his heir. Or, perhaps, not him, but that little upstart Meneldil. But, Morgoth's balls, he has already got Gondor! No way he will be getting Arnor as well! I will see to that. Valandil, of course, will have to die. Sorry, King Val. Too bad you escaped my hook at the "Herring!"

Lost in pleasant thoughts, Lilly saw the poor wench leave the office. It has barely taken two minutes to deal with her.

[Gordis]

Annawen entered the room, her knees shaking. The room was big and elegantly furnished. Sweet smell of exotic flowers drifted through an open window. Annawen noticed a large table, strewn with papers and maps, and tall bookshelves full of books. But she was unable to see details of the room, as, right in front of the window, stood the Arch-Chancellor. She never saw him that close. He was younger than she thought, as his face was unlined, but his long dark hair was streaked with silver. Numenorean of the royal kin - his appearance confirmed it. Perfect features, grey, almost silver, eyes; very tall, lean and broad-shouldered he was.

Annawen bowed low, wondering if she should have fallen to her knees instead.

The Chancellor’s cold and deep voice spoke. “Welcome to the University, Annawen. It is commendable that even the commoners seek Knowledge. What exactly do you wish to learn?�

Annawen had difficulty finding her voice. “Commerce, My Lord.�

“Commerce?� repeated the Chancellor, his silver eyes piercing her very soul, like sharp icicles.

And his gaze she couldn’t endure.

Annawen shivered and hung her head feeling she was the lowliest and stupidest creature on Arda.

“Very well, Annawen, you may attend the Commerce�, said the Chancellor at last. Annawen thought he sounded slightly amused.

Annawen bowed again, while the Chancellor nodded slightly in dismissal.

[Lotesse]

Viniglaen gracefully whisked herself over to the young woman exiting the chancellor's office; now THIS was a brain she wanted to pick.

"Annawen, is it," Viv extended a hand to the trembling Ann, and gently guided her to the refreshments area of the room. "I'm Lady Viniglaen; my family's from Andunie but I come from Osgiliath. May I call you 'Ann'? How are you holding up?"

"F - f - fine, and - and yourself?" The poor girl was having a shivers attack, and was obviously feeling nauseous from all the glossy excitement of her surroundings, and from that ArchChancellor encounter, and now this unsettlingly intense blue-blood was actally SPEAKing to her, to HER! But Viv realised the magnitude of the effect she could have upon mortals, especially "normal" mortals, so she tempered down her Nazgullian spirit a great deal so as not to overwhelm Annawen. Viv found herself strangely enough actually taking a liking to this modest, unassuming young woman.

"Here, have a drink," suggested Vin, handing Annawen a flute of Nurn '68 champagne, while deftly snatching herself a snifter of miruvor from the passing tray of a server. "It'll settle your nerves a little. Believe me, these functions are no picnic no matter WHAT your bloodline happens to be!" Viv flashed Ann a comforting little wink and friendly smile, then threw back the contents of her snifter, and surveyed the room.

[Gordis]

The clerk glanced at his list and announced:
"Lilaenwen, daughter of Aldacar."

Lilly bit her lips to make them redder, and entered the room swaying her hips most enticingly. The Chancellor stood near the window looking in the garden and seemed lost in thoughts. Lilly couldn’t see his face, but eyed his tall muscular figure of a seasoned warrior appreciatively. Nonplussed by the lack of attention, Lilly scrutinised her host, coming to the conclusion that the marriage to the Chancellor could be fun in itself.

“Decidedly,� thought Lil, smiling wantonly, “I like my second-best choice more and more. He must be great in bed, much better than that baby-King.�

The man at the window interrupted her pleasant thoughts saying:
“No King in his right mind will ever marry you, Lilly. As for me, I lost interest in your charms very long ago�

Hearing that voice, Lilly was stunned and lost control of her Ring completely, turning suddenly invisible. The Chancellor, however, lost no time and followed her to the Realm of Shadows. Lilly looked through the swirling white mist and saw him clearly again, the tall pale King with a gleaming crown on his head. Bright eyes gleamed with cold amusement.

“My…My Lord Captain� croaked Lilly at last.
“Well met, Lilaenwen, answered the Chancellor. “Would you mind if we return in the World of light? I need to check some papers.�
Lilly found herself back in the light facing the Chancellor Lord Ilmenzor.

“But…HOW?, What are you doing here, My Lord?� piped Lilly

“It is not the time and the place to talk, Lilaenwen� replied the icy voice. “I see, you wish to study Bridge-building, Ship-building, Commerce, and Wine-tasting. I don’t need to ask your reasons for such a choice, as they are plain to see. I think you can excel in the Wine-Tasting, Lilly. As for the Commerce, that class is really going to be most amusing. Melkor be praised, I will not teach it.�

“But I will not let you attend Bridge- and Ship-building, as I am teaching those classes myself, Lilaenwen, and you can hardly count to ten.�

“That is not true, I can count!� cried Lilly. “And what has it got to do with counting anyway?�
“And you, what do you know of ship-building?�, asked Lilly acidly.

The great ancient King Tar-Ciryatan, the Shipbuilder, merely laughed.

[CrazySquirrel]

Viniglaen saw Lilly finally leave the Chancellor's office. Lilly was visibly shaken, angry and distressed, red spots on her cheeks plain to see. Viv tried to contact her silently via their rings, but got no reply, only the feeling of Lilly's confusion washed over her.

"I was right, something is wrong with that Chancellor", thought Viv. All her sences on alert, Viv approached Lilly to talk. But Marty was there before her.

[Earniel]

Eärniel was slightly overwhelmed by being plunged into a sea of Men all of a sudden. I have burried myself too much in Nîn-In-Eilph this aera, she mused. I've forgotten how it feels.

She kept to herself at the reception, trying to get used again at so many people so close by. None approached her on their own volition either. Eärniel supposed perhaps they didn't get many Elven students here. She'd have to overcome that barrier if she didn't want to be all by herself during the rest of her studies but that was something to worry about later. For now she was content to stand apart and observe the crowd.

She heard a group to her right discuss the Chancellor's history. Eärniel thought she recognized the voice of the waitress of the Red Herring but too many people stood in her way to be certain. She smiled to herself. Gossip still seemed a mayor human past-time, that much at least hadn't changed. But judging from one woman in yellow she had seen in the crowd (everyone must have seen her by now, that dress was certainly... eyecatching) modesty did seem to have changed somewhat during her years of absence. Eärniel decided this was a fashion she herself would not be following during her stay in Tharbad.

Then a clerk started to call students' names to meet the Chancellor privately. Eärniel noticed that every student leaving the Chancellor's office afterwards, seemed rather upset or shaken by what had passed behind those closed doors. It would seem the Chancellor lived up to his reputation. Meeting him would definitely be... interesting.

"Eärniel, daughter of Eitheldur" the clerk announced next.

Ah, Eärniel thought as she put down her glas and turned towards the Chancellor's office. Show time. Let us see who the man is that made such an impression on those other girls.

The Chancellor looked up from the window at her entrance. Eärniel bowed slightly. "Lord Chancellor, well met."

"Well met, Lady Eärniel. It is seldom Men of Tharbad are graced by the sight of a visitor from Nîn-In-Eilph, far less of their Lady herself." The chancellor replied courtiously. "Is that not so?"

Eärniel smiled. "Aye, indeed it is, Lord Chancellor. But I am not here in my official capacity. I wish to follow these courses at your university as any normal student would."

"Nevertheless, my lady, you are entitled to receive the respect and courtesy due to your station. I am... surprised to meet you today. Surely my clerks would have given you an invitation for tomorrow."

"No, my lord, the invitation I received was for today," Eärniel said. "Although I suspect that may have had something to do with the clerk's reaction when I enrolled. He said the most peculiar thing when I stated my name and lineage. He said: "Sure you are, love, and I'm Túrin Turambar." It seemed such an odd thing to say, considering Turin has been dead for quite a while but at the time I was too pre-occupied with filling in those papers to pay notice."

A smile played around the Chancellor's lips at that explanation. For the rest, his face remained unreadable. "Yes," he said at last, "I can see now where the error occured. But let me rectify it immediatly."

He sat down at his desk and wrote a new invitation which he handed to Eärniel. When she came closer to the desk to take the envelop Eärniel could not help but thinking that this Man read more into her than she would have liked. She could see why this had ennerved the other girls so.

As she took the envelope with the new invitation their hands briefly touched; and in a flash Eärniel was reminded of her earlier meeting with the new Professor of Oriental languages. Yes, there was something about the Chancellor that she had felt around the professor as well, something not quite right. But it was less palpatable here than in the swamps.

The Chancellor's words interrupted her line of thought.

"Now, I understand you wish to study Swamp Ecology, Art History, Irrigation and Swan Speech?"

"Aye," Eärniel said, trying to re-focus on the conversation. "I would have liked to take Basket-weaving too but I've heard that course won't be taught this year. I've been suggested to follow Commerce instead. It seems a quite popular class."

The Chancellor's eyes lit up with some hidden source of amusement, one that Eärniel didn't quite understand.

What was is with people and that Commerce Class, Eärniel wondered. Everywhere it was mentioned, people would react so strangely to it. Had, during her years in Nîn-In-Eilph, the word 'commerce' suddenly taken on more amusing meanings than merely 'trading'?

"Commerce, a good choice. Very well, you may attend all five." the Chancellor concluded. With a nod of goodbye he indicated the audience was over.

As she left the office, Eärniel shook her head in an effort to shed her unease. Yes, she thought, it has been too long since I've spent time among Men.

But if being among mortal folk made her feel like this, Eärniel was uncertain she wished to spend a long time among them.

[Telcontar_Dunedain]

Galadannun arose from his bed in Orrodel soon after the others had left. As he left the room he heard a voice singing downstairs. He quicklyjumped back inside the room and drew a long blade from a black sheath near his cloak. Silently walking downstairs hheard the voice clearer. It was an elf's voice. He quickly made his way to the kithen door. What was an elf doing here, in his house, without his permission.
"Who are you, and what are you doing in his ouse," he said clearly, stepping out into the doorway pointing the blade at the elfs throat.

[Lotesse]

The young man stationed at Chancellor Ilmenzor's door pulled out his scroll, and officiously called: "Lady Viniglaen, of Osgiliath, by way of Andunie."

"That'd be me, " Viv said, quickly setting her empty snifter on a passing tray, straightening her necklace, and smoothing down the front of her dress. "Well - how do I look?" she queried her new mortal friend, half sincerely wanting to know and half to help put the girl at ease.
"Ready," Annawen replied, "You look ready, my lady."

Mustering up her inner reserves of trained dignity, she strode toward the Chancellor's door, all cheeky elegance.

The door was opened, and her preparatory smile and pre-thought-out introduction fell flat on its proverbial face. Without saying a word at first, Viv instinctively shut the door firmly behind her, took a step forward, and curtsied, bowing her head.

"My Lord and Captain," she spoke, without missing a beat, although it WAS quite a shock to see him standing there in that office.

The Ice-Chancellor's eyes belied a hint of a warm twinkle at Viv's formal curtsy.

"Little Viniglaen!" he exclaimed. "So, you've decided to study what you love to take, my dear?" The punnish double entendre was hard to miss. "I see here you want to learn all there is to know about jewelry design and antiques."

"Yes, my Lord. Indeed I do, for I have a deep love of all that is art in this middle-earth, and would someday like to build an art museum of sorts."

"Of sorts?" A quizzical and not-terribly-amused eyebrow went up on the Ice-Chancellor's face. "Perhaps a 'monument to art & culture,' my dear?"

"Yes, y-yes, like that," Viv tried to respond but realised it was going to be futile trying to be duplicitous with her answers to her powerful Captain.

"We'll see, little one. You are more than able to handle the course load you've chosen, but this, this -" he looked down at Viv's application form, "This 'Bridge-Building' is a bit off your interest chart, isn't it?" He removed his eyes from the form, and fixed Viv with a piercing peek into her soul.

"Ah, well, I - I - "

"Save it, my dear. Bridge Building you may not take. Your other requests will be granted, though, Viniglaen. Military History of Middle-Earth, Art History & Art Theory, Modern Western Philosophy, hmm ... Structural Engineering," at this he couldn't resist a tiny smile to himself at what he could clearly perceive Viv's intentions were going with THAT choice, "and Wine Appreciation. Very well. You may go now, Viniglaen. I will be watching you, young lady, so stay in line," he added, as Viv politely backed away and then exited the room.

[Butterbeer]

Boomerang had arrived late. Following his enlightening talk with the Squirrel chief, Walnut the young ... he had flyer after flyer sent out and had them report to him throughout the day.

The king had rushed out of the Red herring earlier to that mysterious and ostientatious coach ... acting very oddly when he had got there ... by all reports Red Admiral had been by the wharfside and overheard some puzzling gossip from the Widow about the new owners of the House at orrodel ...


Later on the visiting team of Rochdol players had all retired to the now very lively 'Stinking swordfish' where the Ale was flowing ...

Finally beautiful boomerang had alighted on the Bookshelf in the Arch-chancellor's room. Making himself comfortable by a half open book on growing marrows in northern Climes, he watched as the door closed and he was alone with the morgul Lord.

Arch-Chancellor Ilmenzor's aura seemed to be glowing, a particularly amused tulip red he thought.

With his back still to Boomerang Lord Ilmenzor's penetrating voice called him over.

"You are late, my friend"


"Wotcha!" replied beautiful B mischieviously as he turned.

The Morgul Lord smiled, he found Butterfly minds almost impossible to read, they were so diffrerent from those of men or Elves.

"What news from the air? from Tree and leaf? ..." he began : but stopped at a loud knock on the door.

Boomerang retired to his position by the opened book 'Marrows in Northern Climes' as the Arch-Chancellor turning swiftly and silently, barked the command "Enter!"

[Rían]

RÃ*an's hand slipped inperceptibly to the handle of her dagger, hidden from sight by the table which separated her from her unknown assailant. A blade of the Gondlothlim, it was slender and small, but of a metal that was quite capable of holding its own against bigger blades.

"I might ask the same of you," she replied warily, but with a slight smile on her lips in an attempt to defuse the situation - after all, there was no reason to automatically assume that this was anything but a misunderstanding. This was a large house, and she had only seen a few occupants - there might be several more that she hadn't met yet. And if they were anything like Lilly, then they wouldn't be overfond of elves!

"However, I see no reason not to answer. And my answers will come more quickly if you lower your blade."

Galadannun weighed the pleasure of stabbing an elf versus the pleasure of satisfying his curiosity about a strange situation, and decided to listen to the she-elf - at least for the moment. One could always stab after listening; the other way around didn't work as well! And he liked spunk - always more interesting than those who went quietly! He smiled an evil smile as he remembered other elves to whom he did not grant the option of talking, and then moved back slightly and re-sheathed his knife. "Well?" he inquried imperiously.

"My name is RÃ*an, and I am here at the desire of the lady of the house, in order to manage her household affairs for her; which, I might add, were in dire need of being managed. I have only arrived today; apparently she has not told you about me. So if you would please tell me who you are, then I will be on my way, for there is much yet to be done."

"RÃ*an?" said Galadannun. "That is an odd name for an elf ..." His mind considered the various languages with which he had come into contact, but this name didn't quite fit into any of them, for the Gondlothlim were a secretive people and their dialect was not familiar to many who were now living. "Where do you come from? Who are your people?"

"My time belongs to the Lady Lilaenwen - at least a portion of it - but my history is my own," she replied, and suddenly she looked down, her eyes veiled by her long, dark lashes, and her hair falling in profusion about her slender form.

Galadannun decided that perhaps the house did need a manager ...