FOROCHEL FEVER
A tale of a woman called Ynel, who once ventured to the frozen lands.
The following is a caption of the story consisting of 7 parts, which are as following:
1. Prologue
2. Dwarves, Angmarim & alliances
3. Letter with conclusions
4. Painful search
5. Fish-tales
6. Strangers in the night
7. Closure
You are now reading...
PART 5: Fish Tales
Two months later at Kauppa-kohta....
Ynel Shivers a little as she stands in the snowfall with her buckets of fish sitting nearby. She calls out with a shivering voice "Fresh fiiiish! Sea-fish form the bayyy!"
Silma bows deeply before Ynel.
Ynel looks to Silma and arches a brow "Oh, hello little madam..."
Silma Silma looks around, and then at Ynel. "Do you live here? I mean... you don't really look like the rest of the Big Folk around..."
Ynel blinks some snow off her lashes and shakes her head "You are right on that, I am not really from around here. And I live by the sea." She looks her over "And you...are you in fact, a hobbit?"
Silma shrugs. "A Hobbit, yes, but a Bounder, too."
You say, 'Ahh! I see. The bounders patrol far these days. May I interest you in buying some fish? You wont find any like this anywhere south form here, this is from the Bay of Forochel!"'
Ynel gestures to the buckets that are full of ice-hale and fish
Silma says, 'I patrol as far as the bounds go. Someone has to. Fish sounds good, though. They're from here?'
You say, 'From the bay, yes. Sadly, the people who live by the sea do not buy them there, because they can catch some themselves. So I have to travel a little further to make it worth a coin. These are fresh, though. Fished this morning.'
Silma says, 'Ah, the Big Folk here... call themselves Lumi-väki, I think." Silma looks at the buckets of fish. "They seem nice and good... and in this weather, they'll certainly keep well!"
You say, 'I know them as Lossoth, and they are very proud and reserved. I'm glad to met someone more umh...humane for change, hehe. Well, it's a silver for a fish, no more. Are you staying here?'
Silma says, 'Staying? No, not me... just patrolling the bounds. It would be easy to stay, though, if only for the stories these people can tell.'
Ynel quirks a brow "Do you know many stories? I am here in hopes to collect a few, but the locals, -like I said, are not too talkative to strangers."
Silma says, 'They tend to be a bit like the weather here; cold at first, but bring enough furs, and they'll warm up. I've shared a fire or two with them, and they talk a bit funnily, but it's not hard to figure out if you stop and listen.
You say, 'Hmmh... sadly, I am no hunter. I only know fishing... but for that the seaside seems to be generous. I hold a small camp by the sea and do my fishing there. Tuli-paista or somethign like that, it is called... but it was empty when I found it.'
Silma says, 'By the sea? There's a flat stone there?'
Ynel nods and smiles faintly "Yes, that is the place."
Silma says, 'They have a story about that, I think... But first, there needs to be a fire.'
The hobbit lit a fire nearby, on an empty stead, and the two got comfortablnear it.
Silma "Much better."
Ynel sits down on the other side of the fire and takes a fish from the bucket. She pierces it to a stick and holds it upon the flames. "A fish for that tale then, hmm?"
Silma says, 'That sounds good. Let's see...These Lumi-väki... of course, they have their stories of the Moose Who Married The Tree and all that, but most of their stories are either about the Sea or the Sky. And that Sea... they say it's not just water.'
Ynel stares blankly at the hobbit "A moose....married a tree. That is something..." She nods then. "The water there doe seem different. It puzzles me, for I know that the King of Gondor once brought a fleet there across the water. But the water in the south is warm, where this water up here is cold. It makes no sense for me, for you can't separate warm water from cold, if you put them in the same bucket. And for the ship to come here rom the south it means the sea must reach form here all the way to Gondor."
Silma ponders for a moment. "I think they mentioned something about a King, in one of their stories. Could be the same."
Ynel nods "I've heard that story many times in the southern lands. But I do not know how possible it is to sail from Gondor to here. Like I said...it can't be the same sea...because this sea is cold, and gondorian seas are warm. But...nevermind that. You were saying?'
Silma shrugs. "Some of these folks talk of a tale where a King was eaten by a monster, and others that there's this spirit or something in the Sea."
You say, 'Spirit In the sea?'
Silma nods "Yeah. They sacrifice some of the fish they catch and some of the prey they trap to that spirit, saying that they owe their lives to it, or something. They have their own name for it... Wayshenke, or something like that. I think it means... Water-Spirit. Anyway, they say that long ago, it talked to their leader, brought them a treasure to hide and keep.'
Ynel turns the fish over upon the flames and stares into them. She seems to have grown very quiet and thoughtful for now while she listens. Finally she openshermouth to pry carefully.
You say, 'What kind of treasure?'
Silma says, 'Piece of eternal ice, by the sounds of it. Might've been a jewel. Any ice is eternal here, though... unless you keep it above a flame."
You say, 'Could it have been a crystal or something? And the locals just see it as ice since they don't know crystals?'
Silma shrugs.
Silma says, 'Might be. That thing had its own name, too, but I can't remember it.Anyway, that flat rock you mentioned, by the Sea? That's a sacrificial stone. That jewel-thing was bound to it, somehow...'
Ynel blinks her eyes rapidly. The wheels in her head are clearly turning.
You say, 'Goodnes... that is...somethign I wouldn't have known. I thought the stone was there for a place to clean the fish...'
Silma says, 'You clean fish, they sacrifice it... same thing, really.'
Ynel pulls the fish on a stick out of the ire and inspects it. Then she moves over to hand it to the hobbit. "Do you think that the spirit is still there in the bay?"
Silma shrugs. "Might be. Whenever someone speaks of spirits, there's a good chance that they're right. There's a good chance they just had too much to drink, or the snow's made them see things, though, too."
You say, 'Yes, I suppose... I am a little afraid of them, to be honest. I feel like they don't want me here...like I would steal their snow or something.'
Silma says, 'They don't like outsiders... but like I said: get enough furs, and they'll warm up.'
You say, 'Who do you think I shoudl ask form, if I wanted to confirm this story? Do you know any scholars by chanse?'
Silma says, 'These folks... they sing and tell tales. I think the first person I heard mention the stone or jewel was up the road, in the settlement they call Pynti-Peldot.'
You say, 'Hmm... well suppose it is worth a shot, although I had hoped to avoid dealing with them too keenly. Oh well... how is the fish?'
Silma digs into the fish. "Oh, it's delicious!"
Ynel smiles "I am glad to hear that. And the story was delicious too! Left so many questions that I can further dig into. I do aprechaite a bit of mystery."
