Dear Cae, Warg-Slayer!
Thanks for sending news of your dramatic exploits, it made it much less shocking when we stumbled upon your scene of carnage. I've been telling the captain that you were scouting ahead for us, so I'm pretty sure he's expecting your report any minute now. If I tell him you're waiting in Rivendell, do you think he'd get distracted enough to come hear the report there? Seriously though – your messenger said (although, my guess is that you didn't tell him to) that you were hurt, and one of your party worse. I hope everyone (especially you) is all right. Send back by bird if you need anything. More home-cooked food? I might be able to wrap something up tightly enough that the bird doesn't eat it on the way!
We're all well here – bored of waiting, so the captain has us planning out ridiculously elaborate bait-and-ambush scenarios for when the Lorien Lot finally make their move. We've also thoroughly scouted around your own adventures – good job hiding your trail away from the walls, it took me three whole minutes to pick it up! I have to say I was disappointed to see that after all your time in Rivendell you haven't started fletching with some fancy feathers – peacocks, maybe? They must have some great birds you could plunder, and that old grey stuff is not very inspiring. Even if it was nice to see a familiar sight. Right, anyway, I have to dash – I am supposed to have been on cooking duty for all of the time I've been writing this letter, and if I serve up raw roots again the captain will probably have my head!
Yours,
Erion.
PS: I almost forgot the main reason I tried to find such a quick bird for this. Just to warn you, Meril is NOT HAPPY. You might want to 'lose' her letter if you don't feel like reading several pages of rage. If not, consider this a friendly warning to read it somewhere private!
PPS: Next time, find us first, okay? We'll be more than happy to just watch your back and say you did all the daring heroic stuff. We love you that much.
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Dear Cae,
I was going to refuse to write to you at all after that reckless stunt, but then Erion pointed out that that wouldn't give me the opportunity of telling you quite how furious I am. What were you playing at, you and your crazy healer friend, venturing off to such a dangerous place by yourselves?! If this is the kind of thing you're getting up to in Rivendell, you'd better come back immediately – what is the point of any of it if you go risking your life at the drop of a hat? Without even decent companions to keep an eye on you? Write back immediately and promise me that this will never happen again – or I may have to take back what I said about not telling your parents. This cannot go on.
Yours furiously,
Merilindis.
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Dear Caethel,
Just a short note to thank you for your message – your knowledge of the positions of the enemy was useful, and I passed everything on to the captain (without explaining why you weren't reporting for yourself – if you get a note from him shortly reminding you that you have missed the last three watches, blame Erion! He said this would be easiest!) I am glad to discover that your skills have not dulled too much in your time away from us. However, as our beloved captain taught us, resources are important, and it does seem that your time in comfortable Rivendell has made you a bit lax in recovering your arrows! With that in mind, I have enclosed a selection of your preferred feathers for restocking your supply. Merilindis picked them out for you, so I am assured that they will be ideal. She would not send them herself. Are you two fighting?
Best wishes,
Turdor.
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Dear Cae,
Don't listen to whatever Turdor says about me, it's not true. He's just angry because I accidentally put too much salt in his portion of stew last night. I was distracted by all his moaning about having to wait, of course. On the plus side, I think I'll be off cooking duty for a while after the fuss he made!
Did you get the feathers all right? Thanks for writing back to Meril so quickly – she appreciated it. It's made her a lot easier to live with now she's not ranting quite so much. She's still pretty angry, though – perhaps you'd better send some happy stories about your peaceful (party-going?) life ASAP to cheer her up? Still nothing happening here. We might die of boredom and/or overtraining soon. Send me cheerful stories too, I could use something new to think about.
Yours, drearily,
Erion.
