Once again I find myself on the road with a search party to find an elf. He’s called Themodir, is of the Order of the Hammer and he betrothed to a lady living in Imladris and that is all I know of him.
I didn’t plan to leave this time.
First, I’ve asked lord Estarfin to train me at least a little so that I have something else than survival instinct and the knowledge that, no, taking a sword or a knife by the blade is NOT a good idea to rely on when I need it.
Second, I also have duties in Imladris and I didn’t want to leave it all behind.
However the group ready to go had no healer that I could see, and wasn't even actually a group yet, and for all healing supply, there was bandages. So I then volunteered to go.
As I couldn’t find lord Estarfin before leaving, I’ve send him a message and his cloak. Erdalir, a hammerite in training I think, agreed to bring the message and cloak to lord Estarfin. I am grateful for it although I probably could have been less… Impatient about it.
And speaking of message, lord Anglachelm gave me a letter for Gildor Inglorion in Nin Giliath, in case I was to go there.
But before going anywhere near Nin Giliath, we will stop in a human inn on the road, in case the owner of the place of, if Ancalasse is to be believed at least, doubtful reputation, remembers Themodir.
I guess we will see if it is as terrible as he says, but I doubt it. Even if I am wary of men when we enter their territory (and our little misadventure Rohan was just another example of why avoiding men when on their land is a good idea) I couldn’t believe that the place was as bad as Ancalasse made it to be. Of course, the alcohol is probably bad. But then again I dislike human brands of alcohol in general and every sort of beer in particular so I was not going to taste it. And as for the supposed behavior of the men… Well, if every man was leaving the inn naked as a result from drinking the alcohol there then I do believe that this place would have been in serious shortage of customers.
Besides, Ancalasse, it seems, is not the last to have… “stories”, about everyone and everything, beginning, but not ending, with his fellow warriors of the order of the Hammer.
I almost pity lord Daegond for having such an elf as a fellow warrior. “He has his uses” he said, and yet he took the first opportunity to speak about him in his absence and with people who barely know him, if at all. "he has no honor" and "we do not like hound too much in the order" were but a few of the statements he made.
Lord Daegond has his faults and from the little I know of him, I believe that saying he is insane is an understatement in his case. But if one recognizes that he needs him, whatever the reason, then one should at least show enough respect to speak only before him or NOT in public with people who don’t know him.
I am not saying that Ancalassë was all wrong about Daegond. Frankly, I am not taking his defense, but he had no right to state it that way.
That he did so and that almost everyone followed him in this doesn’t encourage me to trust them. Any of them really, but mostly Ancalasse.
Should they persist in that behavior, show such a disrespect to one of their own, I believe that I will leave the group and either find my own way to Nin Giliath, or go back home.
I prefer to travel alone than to travel with people I cannot trust. For yes, Ancalasse showed a clear capacity to find stories about everyone and everything. Some of it may be real. Some of it may not. What to believe when in the wild and faced with a decision that could cause all of our death, or worst, our capture ? I may like some of them for the few times we met in the hall of fire we were friendly and could talk relatively well, but I will NOT bet my life on their… potential capacities when they cannot even follow a basic rule of life in a group : respect.
Besides, I can survive on my own. I already did so several times and I believe I can do it again.
For now I wish to give a chance to lord Belethoriel as I did to lord Tindir and lord Veryacano when we went to find lord Anglachelm. And a chance to the others to prove that they have more intelligence than that. I don’t mind joking, I don’t mind talking about people, if it is harmless. But yes, I mind it when it is insulting someone and painting that person in a particular way for people who don’t know him.
I just hope that I will not live to regret giving that chance.
Of course, right about now I think that a few of them if not all, see me as a boring and cold elf. Even if I didn't answer her I did see the way Sargiel looked at me.
Well, they can see me however they wish. That will not stop me from doing what I set to do, or to tell them my problem with them before leaving if it continues to the point I really cannot travel with them anymore and believe in them.
Anyway, I took this book in order to keep track of my healing supply, not to complain about my companions in this journey, so here is a list of what I took from Rivendell :
-Bandages (More than enough this time I believe)
-Antidotes for the most common poisons used by orcs and goblins
-Antidotes for the most common spider poisons possibly used by orcs and goblins but mostly found in Mirkwood (well… We don’t know where we are going so…)
-Salve against burns.
-Salve to clean a not poisoned wound.
-Several dried plants and roots to replenish the above mentioned supply if need be, with a little cooking pot (Last time I had to ask others for their cooking utensils so this time I’m independent in that I hope)
-And two sets of splint for broken bones just in case.
I hope it will be unused for it would mean that the journey is going well but, call me pessimistic, I doubt it will stay unused.
