The Forsaken Inn must be the worst single building this side of the Misty Mountains. All of the food is inedible, the cider is sour, there's a huge gaping hole in the roof, and I'm sitting in a chair right now, but I can already feel the bedbugs crawling all over me, as they inevitably will tonight. I'm sure I've complained about the place before, but the complaint deserves to be revisited.
I would usually only stay at the inn one night a year, when I trade with the Eglain. But, now that I have Badger, I've decided to make that trip a second time this year, and as a result I've had to stay in the Forsaken Inn two more nights than normal in a year, which is truly two nights too many. That number would be one, if I hadn't run into an old friend, and subsequently went on a quest for her bow. It was Narys, whom I might've mentioned somewhere previously in this account.
I'm not entirely sure all where she's been since I last saw her. She told me, in brief, a tale about how she was rejected by a former lover, and then was near the brink of death. Somewhere along the way, in the tumults of the story, she had left her bow and quiver at a campsite south of Trestlebridge, so far from where I found her now. She refused to return to that place, so she could never retrieve her beloved bow herself. So, of course, I offered to get it for her. I stayed that night in the inn, and as soon as I awoke I did what I had originally set out to do: I traded the hides I brought to the Eglain for valuable trinkets and artifacts. It really pays to catch them early in the morning, before they set out for the day. By the time I was finished, Narys was awake as well, and she told me the general location of the bow. I made a joke about how I wanted to have to search for it, and she punished my humor by not getting any more particular than the vaguest of clues.
Then I went to the stables, got Badger from Pip Wortley (seemingly the only stablehand working there), and began my ride. My journey would consist of four legs: from the Forsaken Inn to Bree, then from Bree to Trestlebridge, then from Trestlebridge back to Bree, and finally from Bree back to the Forsaken Inn. Each leg would take about a day, making the entire journey four days in total, assuming I could find the campsite well enough. The first leg passed very easily; the weather was brisk, but not too cold (not with my cloak and gloves at least), Badger happily walked the whole way, and I fed him some apples that I had bought especially for him at the inn. The quest, though unplanned, was commencing very pleasantly.
I arrived in Bree, and decided my first stop would be in Combe to drop off the artifacts. So I went through the Combe Gate, arrived at Ellie's house, and told her to keep that sack safe. She was more than a little annoyed that I couldn't just sell them immediately myself, but I had more important matters to attend to, so I rode away on Badger even as she complained to me.
Then I made straight for the Prancing Pony. I left Badger in the stables there to be tended by Nob (or Bob, or whatever hobbit was working the stables at the time), and I went in to experience the joys of a real inn, unlike the goblin-hole known as the Forsaken Inn. I ordered cider (as I'm wont to do) and a plate of pork, and sat at the counter as the din of crowded chatter filled the room. There were many people there, many more than would ever visit the Forsaken Inn at one time. I didn't get to meet most of the people - they all seemed more greatly involved in their own discussions in their own groups - though I did meet one person. She called herself Thorn, though that was apparently more of a nickname. Her real name was Blossom. She told me much about herself, and despite her troubled past she seems like a fine lass nowadays. She said that she works as a caravan escort between the distant town of Ost Forod, and the even more distant region of Forochel. Sounds dangerous, but I suppose if she's good at it, then all the more power to her.
In any case, I stayed the night in an unbelievably comfortable bed, and then I went on with the journey in the morning. It had gotten colder overnight, and now I was shivering as I rode atop Badger. I tried wrapping myself tighter in my cloak, but that didn't add any extra layers so it was largely a futile effort. I eventually resigned to my fate and allowed myself to shiver.
I had almost reached Trestlebridge when I decided to jump off Badger and search for the campsite. She had said it was south of the town and west of the road in a bunch of pine trees, so that was where I searched and that was what I looked for. I led Badger off the road, but he was more interested in eating the tall grass than helping me look for the campsite, so I let him do what he wanted.
I was searching for less than ten minutes when I found it. It wasn't really hard to find, though I suppose a little time could've been saved if Narys had just told me the exact location of the place, rather than just generalities. But I digress. I found her bow in some brush off to the side, and her quiver nearby. I took some time to admire the handiwork - I think she made it herself, very impressive - and then I put it in a bag I had brought. I found Badger nibbling at some particularly tasty-looking grass, and I mounted him and rode the rest of the way to Trestlebridge, where I stayed the night.
While the quest was complete at that point, the journey was only half over, and it got worse from there. The weather turned still colder, and though I had bought an extra cloak in Trestlebridge it didn't end up doing much, especially when the snow hit on the fourth leg of the journey. But I suppose I'm getting a little ahead of myself, and it's worth noting that, besides the cold, the way from Trestlebridge back to Bree was uneventful and easy.
I stayed another night at the Pony, though it wasn't nearly as crowded as two nights before. I did talk to one Gondorian fellow about the weather, which was apparently too cold for someone so used to southern temperatures. I suppose it was rather too cold for me, as well, though I didn't like to admit it.
This morning I set out from the Prancing Pony, and thus began the worst leg of my journey. The cold was already uncomfortable, but then it started to snow, and it snowed harder the further east I went. My cloaks protected my torso and shoulders, but my face experienced the brunt of the assault, as my hood wouldn't prevent large clumps of snow from blowing directly into my face, and down as far as my lower neck. It was terribly unpleasant, but I kept going for the next few hours until I arrived at the Forsaken Inn once more, by which time the snow had blown westward.
I entrusted Badger to Pip once again, and I went in to present the object of the quest to Narys. To celebrate, she bought me some surprisingly decent venison stew, which apparently she was able to obtain because she befriended one of the waitresses there. Perhaps I should do that as well, for the next time I find myself at the inn.
I'm not sure where Narys will be going next, but I offered to let her tag along with me for a while. I don't know if she will, but I'll be pleasantly surprised if she does. As for now, I'm sitting in my bedroom in the basement of the Forsaken Inn, dreading to enter the surely bug-infested bed. Perhaps I'll go read out in the hallway and hope to run into Narys again. She's fun to talk to.
