Daffodil and the Goblins

Got a song, a tale, some news of far off places or Orcs gathering? Step up and loose your word hoard.

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Mirimaran
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Re: Daffodil and the Goblins

Post by Mirimaran »

Daffodil's jaws were clenched as her eyes welled with tears.

"Oh, I will do him that honor, surely", she said finally, "but when this is over he will have his song, Master Ranger. Do not hold over me your years of wandering and loss; I will not pretend to understand. But, I have lost a friend, as I know you have, and I will mourn in my own way."

Before the Fox could respond, a Ranger ran down the path.

"The Twins! They approach!", he exclaimed. Forgetting their argument, the Fox helped Daffodil down just as the Twins rode from the ill-used path on their gleaming horses and leapt down with a fluidity that amazed the hobbit girl.

"Hail, sons of Elrond, what news?" asked Fox. Elrohir threw back the hood of his cloak and said,

"Ahead, they camp, in the old ruins of your people. The children still with them."

Daffodil's eyes lit up.

"Well, let's go then!" she exclaimed. Elrohir looked down at her with dark eyes.

"If it were as simple, Mistress Underhill, the children would be among us now. There is something with them, a Presence."

"What...what do you mean?" she asked.

Elladan, who had given her the dagger she now carried in her belt, said,

"Men of the South ride with them, and there is something of the dark as well. We cannot see but sense it. The children, they are not bound, but sit among the goblins, almost as if..."

Daffodil's brown eyes went wide, and then she thought back to the farmhouse, and the words of the old Ranger Mirimaran rang in her ears.

"The stones!" she exclaimed, and then looked up at the puzzled Rangers around her. Quickly she related the story of the farmhouse, and the origin of the stones the Greenfields had used in its construction, and of the wight that had homed itself there.

"You think they have something with them, something that escaped from the Barrows?" asked Elladan.

"Well, I am no expert on such matters, but Mirimaran thought as much, and Fox said himself that something seems to be against us."

"Where is Mirimaran?" asked Elrohir.

Before she could respond, the Fox put a hand on Daffodil's shoulder.

"Fallen, at Weathertop, a battle with goblins that young Underhill here escaped while he stayed behind."

The Twins looked at each other and nodded. Elrohir then said something to his brother that almost sounded like a joke to Daffodil.

"She-who-strayed, indeed."
"Well, what are you waiting for? I am an old man, and have no time for your falter! Come at me, if you will, for I do not sing songs of dastards!"
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Mirimaran
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Re: Daffodil and the Goblins

Post by Mirimaran »

The Rangers, along with the Sons of Elrond and Daffodil, made their way along an overgrown path to a small hill, one of many that dotted the rolling plains, where they climbed and looked down at the scene below them. There were ruins, tucked into the shadow of a shallow valley. Perhaps once a fortified farm or small outpost, long since overrun, but now peopled by goblins and indeed by the black-cloaked South-men. The goblins had been busy, industrious as they are, their ability to burrow and delve only matched by the dwarves. Great mounds of fresh dirt lay around the ruins, and the Rangers could see them coming and going, disappearing into the earth. The South-men numbered less than a dozen at most, and the goblins a few more-so. The Fox peered through the frost bitten grass and looked up at the failing sun.

"Bad odds, what are they doing there? The children must be below now."

Elladan nodded.

"Who knows what they plan, I cannot remember this place, do you?"

"Part of the outer defenses of Fornost, I think", said the Ranger, "back when Arnor stood alone against Angmar. I am no historian, you would have to ask Mirimaran."

He stopped talking as quickly as he could, glancing to the hobbit and seeing the pain in her eyes.

"My pardon, Mistress Daffodil, I cannot seem to accept our good friend's passing. He would have been of great value at this moment."

"Indeed", said Daffodil, crawling up beside him and looking down into the valley, "but as you pointed out, more than once, I might add, he liked to talk."

They scampered back down the hill, the Rangers and Elves gather around Daffodil.

"Mirimaran spoke at great length of his people, your people, and your lost kingdom. Your Númenórean ancestors were here long before the Kingdom was founded, and before them, other Men, and before them..."

"Where history and myth meet, we have legends", said the Fox.
"Well, what are you waiting for? I am an old man, and have no time for your falter! Come at me, if you will, for I do not sing songs of dastards!"
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