Far Away From Home II.
After a few weeks, our strength was returned and Kerandrim and I left for Bree. It was a good few days walk to the town, and we soon found The Prancing Pony Inn to rest our weary feet. While we currently had no coin for ale or a room to stay, the inkeep, Barliman Butterbur, suggested we find work with folk at the hunting lodge. We were informed that the lodge was located near the south gate of the town, back the way in which we arrived. On our way to the suggested lodge, Kerandrim found a training hall in which he spent some time alone in while I went off to explore the town, luckily I kept the training hall within my sights, for I swore if I lost sight of it I would never find it again within the maze of streets. The amount of people residing in this town also made it difficult to maneuver the streets. The hustle and bustle of the townsfolk reminded me strongly of home. One thing I did notice on my travels around the town, were some derelict ruins of old. Each of them bore a symbol of Arnor; a memory of our kin that focused prominently around King Elendil in most of the historical passages I’d read in the library back home. These symbols reminded me much of home.
I soon made my way back over to the training hall sitting down on the hard floor to wait for Kerandrim. I whittled myself a few arrows while I waited. Kerandrim joined me shortly after and began to make our way to the hunters lodge. We were denied entry until we had proved our worth and gained their trust. I suppose this was fair seeing as though we were outsiders to their lands. They did however suggest we join them on an expedition to a place they called the Barrow Downs that would be leaving once all preparations were made. We agreed to assist them, before taking the long journey back to Hookworth.
Upon our arrival in Hookworth, we learned of the vacant house we now call home. We have settled in nicely. It’s a rather cosy little place, with plenty of room for the two of us, which over time we have managed to purchase a few items with coin we have earned to personalise the place. It isn’t as large as my house back in Gondor, however it feels a lot more homely with the company I share.
A week later found us traveling to the Barrow Downs, where we spent five days with our companions from the hunters lodge. Within that first day or two we were held up by brigands who demanded coin to allow us to pass through what they called their road which led to the Barrow Downs. When our company refused, one of the brigands tried to draw their bow on us. Before he had the opportunity to do more, I had drawn my own and let loose an arrow straight between his eyes.
This was my first kill against man, before this I had only killed while hunting food. This unnerved me a lot. While it was something I am trained to do, it is never something I wished to do. In that moment though it was either my life or his, and I had to make that decision. Kerandrim took out the other brigand as he tried to attack us also. Shortly after we made camp. The others ate a cony they’d cooked over the small campfire I had built, I chose to decline dinner. The thought of eating meat after what I’d done turned my stomach. Kerandrim soon noticed I wasn’t eating and offered me some bread he’d brought with him, while reassuring me I had done the right thing. He took first watch. I spent most of that night awake, dwelling on how the brigand looked with that arrow between his eyes, pretending to sleep so Kerandrim didn’t become suspicious or worry about my wellbeing.
The next night as we set down to camp, I asked if I could keep watch, I wasn’t going to sleep anyway, a sense of dread filled me from the lands ahead, and the image of the man from the day previous was still etched into my mind. Kerandrim offered to keep me company, I refused at first, wishing that he get some well needed rest, but he would not wish for me to be alone on watch. I relented and accepted his company, and spent the night on guard in his arms, before one of the hunters from the lodge took over for us, I think I managed a little nap before we gathered up our supplies and moved on into the Barrow Downs.
The further we dove into the land, the heavier the dread felt around me. When walking the lands I could feel its history surrounding me. It was almost suffocating. A heavy fog surrounded us, forcing us to keep close to each other in fear of losing someone from our group. That night I fell into a deep sleep, exhaustion taking over from my lack of sleep previously. I awoke early the next morning to find two of the men from the lodge had gone missing. My heart sank. I couldn’t place my eyes on Kerandrim. Fear gripped me at the thought of losing him, but he soon approached and I calmed. Together we set up a search party for the missing men.
I tracked some footprints and followed them into a barrow. No one really wanted to enter such a place, but given the situation, we had no choice and reluctantly entered. The smell that lingered in the dense air is the first thing I remember from that dank and dark place. Kerandrim and I made rubbings of symbols we noticed, etched onto rune stones located upon the walls of the tomb. We also collected treasures for the Hunters back at the lodge, who had asked for them. I tracked a path of blood and fought with the dead who crept up behind us to attack. It didn’t take long before we found our missing men, they didn’t look alive, but then they also didn’t look like they were dead either. One of the hunters that had joined us in the barrow ran towards his friend. Before we knew what was happening, one of the men who had been missing, had jolted up and started to attack the others. I grabbed for my bow, but the others had already loosed their arrows and had knocked down the missing man. I am unsure if he remained down after we left though.
We, as a group, decided we had found what we were looking for and turned to leave the barrow, no one wished to disturb anything else that remained in there. We made it back to the camp where some of our group remained, namely the scholar folk that assisted us, and told our story of finding their men. We left the Barrow Downs shortly after, making our way back to Bree.
We traded the treasures and rubbings for payment. It felt quite nice having coin sitting in my purse again. I had also managed to collect some other small items that I traded in the marketplace for a high price. We were beginning to live comfortably again. You don’t realise until you have nothing how important a few coins can be.
