What good fortune follows me through this forsaken place? It is strange to find any at all, but here of all places it is highly unexpected as well as being doubly welcome!
As I rested next to the springs, awaiting the eventual appearance of my love and his companions, I saw a strange figure through the fog. At first, I thought it might be one of them but my hopes were quickly dashed. It turned out to be a strange woman whose language I cannot understand. She does not speak Westron very well, but we manage to communicate all the same.
To begin with, she raised her spear to hurt me. After a short time she lowered it, though, satisfied that I meant her no harm. She told me that it was dangerous at the springs, that there were terrible enemies ahead and that I might yet freeze to death during the bitter nights. Having little choice but to trust her knowledge, I followed her as she bid, to a village out on the ice fields.
I have never seen the like! It is breath-taking to say the least!
It is sheilded on all sides by hide walls, like a leather fence stretching all the way around the settlement to keep the wind out. Inside, taking pride of place picked out by what look to be teeth as tall as four men standing atop one anothers shoulders, is a large roaring fire. It is not that, though, that made me look on with awe as she led me in. It is the buildings; large and small, each one carved from huge blocks of ice with snow in place of mortar. They sparkle in the sun like diamond encrusted houses, making my eyes ache if I stare too long.
As night fell, she spoke to me of many things. We huddled around the fire, me moreso than her. She told me of the dangers of this land; aside from the obvious perils of starving or freezing to death.
The Guaradan, or Susi-Vaki, as she calls them, roam the lands, stealing the prey of the Lossoth; making it harder for the people here to find food to eat or hides to use for shelter and clothing.
The Rauta-Vaki, or Angmarim as I know them to be called, come through the Forodwaith pass in droves, taking what they can find and razing the houses of the Lossoth. The people here believe that the King of the Angmarim can control the weather, sending terrible storms to wreak havoc on them. I know not if this is true but if it be so, then that thought is a terrible one indeed!
She, Saija is her name, drew my attention to the lights in the sky once darkness fell. I watched them for hours. So beautiful, so strange; they appear in hues of green and turquoise, looping back and forth amongst the stars in an entrancing fashion. She said that they are made by the Vesi-Henki - guiding spirits that these people believe in - as omens. The colouring of those that night are apparantly a sign that the Vesi-Henki will protect my love and that I will see him again.
I have never believed in anything myself. No gods or spirits, no afterlife, no intangible and immutable beings and places that exist only in peoples thoughts, but watching those lights and hearing her words, I wished with all my soul that it could be true. I found myself wondering if, somewhere out there, he watched the skies with as much fascination as I.
Seeing the wonders of this place and its people, I find it hard to keep in mind my purpose for coming. Perhaps, for now, that is a good thing for all my doubt, my fears, my uncertainties and insecurities, seem to melt away as my eyes feast upon the fantasically strange delights of this frozen land. It is about time, I feel, that I let some wonder into my life and forgot, for the moment only, all that has plagued me in recent months.
