An unexpected letter

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Eofor
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An unexpected letter

Post by Eofor »

Eofor lounged in the shade. As long as he didn’t move the room felt cool but he knew if he opened the shutters the shimmering waves of heat rolling off the sand hills in the distance would ruin that illusion.
He hated this place, the heat and it’s customs, the dishonest nature of the people, he hated the poverty and the squalor, he hated the stinking great Mûmakil and above all he hated that he was stuck here in this interminable season of misery.

He had travelled here seeking information, but the locals all looked at him with mistrust and a scant regard and so that mission had stalled. Then to make matters worse word had come down that there was some plague abroad, a wasting sickness and that the cities had all closed their gates.

He had tried to leave immediately then, to make a run for home but the local innkeeper had at least warmed to him enough to explain that the local authorities would be patrolling looking for curfew breakers ‘And what will you do friend? Take to the hills? You wouldn’t last a day without knowing where to find water’
The simple truth of that statement had hammered home the situation and so he had stayed in the inn, his supply of coin dwindling while the invisible enemy besieged the town.

A strange lethargy had then descended on his days, one he had never felt before. He had taken to lying in bed during the heat of the day and even to get up sometimes was an effort. He was ashamed of this cycle but had neither the energy or will to break it. As he lay there berating himself a knock sounded at the door and the break in his daily monotony was enough to rally his spirits enough to sit up and take stock. The room was clean and neat but felt like a prison and the abandoned writing on the desk seemed to mock him.

The knock sounded again and drawing a knife he walked to it and opened it a crack seeing nothing at first until he looked down to where a dwarf stood, not an unusual sight by any means but Eofor knew that there were no dwarves in town which meant this fellow came from…. Outside?!?!

‘Excuse me but might ye be Eofor? Of the Black Tusk?’ the dwarf asked.

‘I am indeed!’ Eofor puffed his chest out, ‘and who might you be master Dwarf?’

‘Marek of Tindun, traveling merchant at your service’ the dwarf swept his hood off in a low bow.

‘Eofor of Rohan at yours and your family’s’

‘I will need to see a token first….’ The dwarf hesitated until Eofor retrieved and held forth his spear, a famous weapon and asked ‘ will this do?’

‘Indeed it will, I was asked to give ye this oh Horse Master’ The dwarf held out a small package tied with string, ‘along with these words from the North - you are sorely missed.’

Eofor took the package, turning it over in his hands feeling the malaise of the past few months war within him against some new feeling. It would be so easy to just lay down again and look at the thing in the morning, to dismiss this pesky dwarf…
In the end the unknown feeling won and he ripped open the package, it’s soft contents fell to the floor but he ignored them unfolding the letter…..


Friend Eofor......
Fortunately.I.know.better.than.to.go.anywhere.near.the.raven's.wing.with.items.of.value.in.my.possession......
Besides.your.letter.was.easily.an.entertaining.enough.read.to.be.worth.both.my.gift.and.the.loss.of.the.original.mattock......



The simple letter awoke something inside of him and he began to laugh long and hard. He had expected some grave missive or bad news but what he held was a simple thank you between two friends that had somehow crossed half the world through a plague.

‘Master Dwarf?’ He said while scooping up the small leather items that had fallen to the ground. ‘You got into the city, can you get out?’

The Dwarf grinned ‘we have our ways Master Tusk, all goods in and out for the right price’ He eyed Eofor calculatingly ‘But I'm afraid you're too big’

Eofor smiled as he felt new hope fill him ‘Oh not me, but if you are returning might you carry some messages back for me? I wont be leaving until my work is done’

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But the white fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, and more skilled was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove through the Southrons like a fire-bolt in a forest.
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Elleth
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Elleth »

How fun! How mysterious!


.... I love it. :mrgreen:
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
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Iodo
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Iodo »

neat story :P I hope things aren't really that bad down under?

you've probably noticed there are a few small ways that my runes differ from yours, it took me a while to decide if I should write the same as you do or not, but eventually I decided to write the same way that I have always written because I am less likely to make mistakes that way

I don't know where the dot notation appeared from, it might have been Tolkien, somewhere on the internet or an invention of me and my brother when we were young, but 1 dot means a space and two dots (one above the other) means a sentence end. It makes things a lot easier when carving in rock because the spaces end up larger between letters and if you leave a gap for an uneven bit of surface you can no longer tell where words start and end
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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ForgeCorvus
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by ForgeCorvus »

I was taught* to always put dots before and after words or single runes (To 'Seal' them) and to be very careful when designing bind runes so as not to accidentally enscribe additional runes.





*By a Runemaster and follower of the Northern Druidic path (his words not mine)
All debts are paid....... Nothing forgiven. Nothing forgotten.

"All Things Strive" Gd Tak 'Gar

Barron (BAH-Ron) son of Barris (BAH-Ras) AKA Barron 'Blackcap'.
Independent Fellsward, Jobber, Tinker and Traveller in Trifles
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Iodo
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Iodo »

ForgeCorvus wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 3:45 pm I was taught* to always put dots before and after words or single runes (To 'Seal' them) and to be very careful when designing bind runes so as not to accidentally enscribe additional runes.


*By a Runemaster and follower of the Northern Druidic path (his words not mine)

cool, so maybe there was logic behind my dot-notation

"bind runes"? do you mean runes that are used to represent two runes together? I don't think I used any of those in the letter (no one else would stand a chance of knowing what they meant) but we did come up with some for common letter combinations years ago, purely to speed up writing
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Elleth
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Elleth »

Yes - more on bindrunes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG9d95vJibk

FWIW, I quite like Dr. Crawford - he's always very scrupulous to talk about what's known, what's not known, what he's sure of, what he's not, sources for what he says, etc...
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
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Iodo
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Iodo »

Elleth wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:01 pm Yes - more on bindrunes:
Thanks for the link Elleth, that answers my questions, and it's interesting that the stuff me and my brother invented as children was under exactly the same principle, we joined runes together because carving into rock is time consuming and using runes joined together meant less lines, and less time to write a word, cool :P
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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ForgeCorvus
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by ForgeCorvus »

Some people also use them as a monogram or a touchmark.
I treat runes like I treat Tarot, for some they are special and should be shown respect irrespective of my beliefs.
All debts are paid....... Nothing forgiven. Nothing forgotten.

"All Things Strive" Gd Tak 'Gar

Barron (BAH-Ron) son of Barris (BAH-Ras) AKA Barron 'Blackcap'.
Independent Fellsward, Jobber, Tinker and Traveller in Trifles
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Iodo
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Iodo »

ForgeCorvus wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 8:49 pm I treat runes like I treat Tarot, for some they are special and should be shown respect irrespective of my beliefs.
That's an nice way to put it, and you are right too :P I learnt the runic script I used it that letter at such an early age (before I knew of such things) that I just think of it as a written language just like what you are reading now, I hope I have never caused anyone any offense by using runes randomly and interchangeably with the alphabet for no apparent reason for most of my life?
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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ForgeCorvus
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by ForgeCorvus »

Most early written languages were regarded as magical, this bloke makes funny marks on a clay tablet/kidskin/plank/slab and that guy (whos never met him) knows what he means..... Mind blowing concept in a mostly illiterate society.

Besides, things look much better written in runes
All debts are paid....... Nothing forgiven. Nothing forgotten.

"All Things Strive" Gd Tak 'Gar

Barron (BAH-Ron) son of Barris (BAH-Ras) AKA Barron 'Blackcap'.
Independent Fellsward, Jobber, Tinker and Traveller in Trifles
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Iodo
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Iodo »

I guess that's why people seeing runes as magical started, it must have been very strange for someone who doesn't even understand the concept of written text to see
ForgeCorvus wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:18 pm things look much better written in runes
agreed :P
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Eofor
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Eofor »

Iodo wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 8:45 am neat story :P I hope things aren't really that bad down under?

you've probably noticed there are a few small ways that my runes differ from yours, it took me a while to decide if I should write the same as you do or not, but eventually I decided to write the same way that I have always written because I am less likely to make mistakes that way

I don't know where the dot notation appeared from, it might have been Tolkien, somewhere on the internet or an invention of me and my brother when we were young, but 1 dot means a space and two dots (one above the other) means a sentence end. It makes things a lot easier when carving in rock because the spaces end up larger between letters and if you leave a gap for an uneven bit of surface you can no longer tell where words start and end
It occurs to me that I never replied to you dear Iodo.
Things aren't all that bad down here, I was just going through a rough patch for a while where even existing seemed to take a lot of effort. Add in the various other pressures of the world and my writing took a morose turn.

You are 100% correct to use your own runes. I have a habit of making mine as simple as possible to aid in translation and at the time I forgot that you are a Runemaster in your own right.

ForgeCorvus wrote: Sun Jan 16, 2022 3:45 pm I was taught* to always put dots before and after words or single runes (To 'Seal' them) and to be very careful when designing bind runes so as not to accidentally enscribe additional runes.
I am afraid my doing so is for the reasons above, it makes translation a wee bit easier for those not used to seeing a single unbroken line of runes.
But the white fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, and more skilled was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove through the Southrons like a fire-bolt in a forest.
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Eofor
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Eofor »

Oh and your gift has already seen use! I took a bunch of our new cards out on an event this weekend and it concealed the modern nature of them perfectly. It was a VERY thoughtful gift.

Image
But the white fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, and more skilled was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove through the Southrons like a fire-bolt in a forest.
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Elleth
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Elleth »

Those cards are just adorable. :mrgreen:
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
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Eofor
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Re: An unexpected letter

Post by Eofor »

Elleth wrote: Tue Feb 22, 2022 12:36 am Those cards are just adorable. :mrgreen:
Thankyou! We wanted something a bit different from all those generic angry viking Reenactment groups.
The plan was to linocut print them so I carved it but time ended up meaning I had to digitise it and use a printing mob.
I'm going to do several more and just jumble them so we're handing out a variety.
But the white fury of the Northmen burned the hotter, and more skilled was their knighthood with long spears and bitter. Fewer were they but they clove through the Southrons like a fire-bolt in a forest.
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