THUCK...THUCK...THUCK...
Ethariel curiously looked at the man hammering a thick sheet of leathery paper to the wooden wall. He was in his late twenties, had the straight and upright posture of a soldier and even with his three day’s beard and rust smeared hands he emitted an aura of calmness and dignity. It was one of the things that fascinated her about the former Gondorian Soldier, although she knew what a mess the man was, it never showed.
“What are you doing there Darius?” She asked curiously and carefully. She knew what would come next. Darius was never happy to see her, in fact he openly admitted... or rather burst out how much it irritated him that he became an object of study for her.
“What’s it look like to you?! Never seen a man nailing a post to a wall before?!” He replied grumpily and with unmasked annoyance. Although it was tempting to go there and read the signpost Ethariel knew if she did that he would get even more angry and just push her away. She had to distract him first and calm him down a bit.
“I see you are wearing new colours... it looks like a proper uniform. Did you find a new employer?” Ethariel asked curiously and with calm voice. Although she loved to study humans, she was more interested in their character rather than their kingdoms and strange organisations. Yet she feigned interest because she knew for Darius this was one of the few important things in life. She could have asked him any question about music, art, love or food and he would have outright ignored it. But he wouldn’t be able to ignore a question about his precious military, and his new uniform looked strikingly familiar to a soldier’s hauberk.
“Aye... signed up with the Knights of Gondor. Couldn’t stand wasting my life working for spoiled merchant-idiots anymore...” He briefly looked up to Ethariel before he continued “Speaking of spoiled idiots... leave me alone, I’ve got work to do!”
THUCK... THUCK... THUCK...
Ethariel knew she had to recover the conversation quickly. There was surely something interesting going on. Darius had been one of her key subjects in studying human nature, her precious hobby. “Didn’t you say you’ll never go back to Gondor, that you left behind soldiering there and came here to start a new life?” It was a long shot. Darius was clearly getting more and more annoyed by her, and Ethariel wasn’t sure he was going to answer her question, especially since he always avoided talking about Gondor.
“Yes, yes... But it’s not like that. The Knights of Gondor is just a group of soldiers who were sent to the northern kingdoms, and it looks like they... we... are going to stay here for a while. It’s not like going back to Gondor or anything.” Ethariel smiled like a cat that had managed to catch the mouse and had the animal at her full mercy to play with.
“And they commanded to you put up a signpost? Why?”
THUCK...THUCK...THUCK...
Grumpily Darius stopped his work and waved her over. The nails he had put into the signpost and the wall were all unsymmetrical and in an angle. Ethariel knew the Soldier had no eye for beauty at all, but he seemed to be especially bad at carpentry.
Men of Gondor, Bree, Dale and Rohan!
We, the Knights of Gondor seek any able man who is willing to fight for Gondor, his home and the free people to head our call and join our ranks.
Join one of the most disciplined military forces of Middle Earth! Do your part to keep the shadows at bay and fight to protect what you hold dear!
Training and basic equipment will be provided. Apart from Soldiers we are also recruiting able scouts, scribes and healers.
Recruits are encouraged to contact:
-Knight Captain Dentar Amerdon
-Lieutenant Norandir
Or any of the recruiters who roam Bree and the surrounding villages and settlements
Ethariel shook her head disapprovingly. “If you are from Gondor, why do you recruit people at all? Why don’t you just request more men from your superiors?”
Darius made an annoyed grunt. “Woman, go back to picking flowers or writing poems or whatever you’re good in, you understand nothing of war and supply! Gondor is far away, even communication with people there is almost impossible to maintain. And even if we still had contact and managed to request recruits, do you think we’d be granted them with all the trouble we have at home? And how long would it take until they are here... If they arrive at all. No, Etta... we have to recruit locally to replace our losses and fulfil our mission.”
Now it was Ethariel’s turn to become annoyed. Her father always told her innocence and ignorance of war and killing was a virtue. How could this oaf slander her? And how could he still dare to shorten her name... again. With a sigh she forced herself to calm down. “What is your mission anyway?”
Darius looked at her as if he was shocked. “Assess the situation, identify any threads to Gondor and the North and help folk here to deal with them accordingly. That’s what a soldier does, what else could be our mission, stupid?!”
Ethariel was getting furious, with a stubborn anger she lifted her chin to an arrogant and defiant gesture. “And if I wanted to join?” She challenged the soldier.
“Men of Gondor, Bree, Dale and Rohan... “Darius read out lazily “I didn’t read anything about pointy-ears, did you?”
That was it... This soldier’s arrogance was just too much. Ethariel would look for a different subject to study human behaviour. “You ruined your signpost with your inadequate skills... good day!”
With this she turned around and pretended not to hear the “yeah, yeah... old hag...” the man was muttering. All that was left was her anger and the sound of a hammer hitting rusty nails at a wrong angle.
