In her recent quest to find something to do other than moping over her misfortunes and wander like a haunted soul the paths of Imladris, Carniquesse decided to go somewhere she had never gone to before, despite it being practically next door the hidden valley.
She knew that Lord Elrond never quite approved Captain Lainedhel's decision to set up a stronghold along the line of the Ettenmoors, but she had to admit, it worked. Perhaps the Lord should admit it too. The tides of Angmar remained contained in that tiny strip of land, contested day after day never managed to breach the hidden refuge after the Siege of T.A. 1356.
At first, the amount of people coming and going from Glân Vraig and the noise overwhelmed her. She was a lone wolf and the fortress cramped, so much that she thought to have made another mistake in coming here. Breathing deeply to calm herself, she looked around and the more she looked the more she found herself surprised by the surroundings. The fighters especially, although calling the band of volunteers fighters was perhaps a stretch. Some surely could be called so, she could recognize at a glance a war veteran when she saw one, and there were many. Some mercenaries, others to her surprise civilians who decided to take residence in Glân Vraig and help the resistance in whichever way they could. What was most surprising though, was the place basically became a melting pot of cultures. The Free People all together, even some hobbits whom she saw passing by, directed towards a high pass up the mountains dressed lightly, probably a scouting party by assumption.
"First time here eh? As you might have realized, nobody willing to help is turned away. It matters not who they are or where they come from". Carniquesse turned her head towards the voice. Sat on a stump not far from her, whittling some arrows was a huntress. One she knew by sight more than else, having rarely interacted with her. Dressed in a blue tunic, knee-high elven boots and the face half hidden by a curtain of dark hair, she beckoned her near.
"That look of bewilderment you just had, it's normal for every new volunteer as soon as they step in Glân Vraig"
"..."
"What is it? The warg bit your tongue?". Chuckling, the dark haired elleth patted the frowny huntress on the shoulder. "Just a joke"
"You are Turuviel, right?". She nodded. At that, the red haired elleth sat beside her. She did not expect to find a familiar face among all that rabble.
"Did you volunteer for Lainedhel's cause as well?"
"... no, not quite. I just... needed something to do away from Imladris. For... reasons". Turuviel glanced at her from the arrow she was whittling, her gaze deep, dark and questioning.
She didn't voice her questions however, for which the other elleth silently thanked her. "We all have reasons to be here. Would you like a tour of the place then? There is always stuff to do out here, I'm sure we will find your "something". Perhaps we can go to Ost Ringdyr? Although I am not sure we will find Captain Lainedhel himself... he is always on the move"
"Ost Ringdyr?"
"Another fortress, far to the east of Glân Vraig, surrounded by a deep trench with only a few paths into its heart. Where the ranked officers issue most of our orders". Carniquesse shrugged and nodded her consent.
Turuviel fetched a horse for her from the stables, and off they went, up on the hidden pass where she saw the party of hobbits disappear earlier. It was a winding, weather-beaten path facing a ravine. Stationed at regular intervals, archers stood immoble, their eyes only betraying that they were not statues, vigilant. Carniquesse nodded to herself looking at them. That's how a professional archer should behave.
They arrived to Ost Ringdyr as the sun stood high in the sky, just past noon and the fortress buzzing with people coming and going, some barking orders, others moving crates and vases, they even saw a patrol returning in bad shape and a cadre of healers hurrying to their side. "There must have been a skirmish somewhere... come" muttered Turuviel. She silently followed her, shutting the noise out of her mind, letting the dark haired elleth guide her to the stable then up two flights of stairs where the noise subdued, less people hurried around them and the air was less stuffy.
From a closed door to their left a bunch of voices were talking over one another. "Hm... seems Lainedhel is occupied". Turuviel then guided her to one of the towers where a short, stocky dwarf with an impressive auburn beard kept watch. "Good day Liutenant Ingi" saluted Turuviel.
"Harrumph" was his response. "Good day to ye... and your pointy eared friend. It is not a good day fer me, though".
"Why is that?"
"Well... ye've seen the commotion downstairs right? We had a nasty encounter with a battalion of the enemy, blasted orcs had reinforcement from trolls... we were forced to flee the Isendeep mines. We've sent reinforcements not long ago and MAHAL BURN MY BEARD IF WE WON'T TAKE IT BACK!" the dwarf slammed his fist against the wall and Carniquesse winced, his booming voice ringing in her ears. Such display of anger would have ben considered extremely inappropriate in the battle environments she was used to... but she realized nothing about the Ettenmoors could be considered "usual".
"We can join them and lend a hand, if you said the reinforcements were recently deployed"
"Aye, do whatever ye want... but I won't be responsible if your new friend gets in the way--" he was interrupted by an icy gaze from the aforementioned newbie. The red haired huntress held her gaze until Ingi "harrumphed" again and sent them off with a good luck. Retriving their horses, Turuviel took the lead and spurred them down the hill slope. “Don’t mind him Carni, he has a good heart but is rough around the edges. I can call you Carni yes?”
“…”
Turuviel chuckled behind the curtain of hair. They galloped fast on the plains, directed towards a small, half ruined watchtower north of their position, perched atop a steep hill dusted with snow. Carniquesse kept her bow ready. She was informed enemy parties could attack them at any time, even in plain sight under the sun. Truly, the ‘moors were desperate lands.
Despite their fast mounts, they arrived under the watchtower as the sun began its descent under the horizon. Turuviel motioned to take cover behind a group of pine trees. She dismounted, and waited for a bit. As the other elleth was about to ask if there was a problem, they spotted a small figure climb onto the wall, and… raise a flag with the symbol of the Free People.
“Ah! They captured the outpost! Let us go”
“Wha…”
Leading the horses by the reins, they run inside the watchtower, or outpost as Turuviel called it, and once again the other elleth was left very, very surprised by what they found: the hobbits she saw that morning, making space for crated, foodstuffs and weapon racks. They simply nodded at the two elves, busying themselves without talking.
“We should proceed on foot from here on, the terrain will be treacherous for horses. Will you take our horses back to Ost Ringdyr?” Turuviel asked. The one who raised the flag, a hobbit lass, saluted them and nodded.
“Come. I actually have a small errand to make before we hurry to the mines, it won’t take long and we are on the way”
“You could have told me”
“Yes but I wasn’t sure if the road was safe until I saw our flag. See that river over yonder?”. She pointed at a string of silver glittering in a gulch not far from the outpost.
“Yes, that is the river Hoarwell if I am not mistaken”
“Correct. It is the major source of water in this region, and the servants of the enemy seem to find it amusing to dump their foul liquids into it from time to time. I was asked by Captain Tordúr to cleanse it with this”. She took a small vial from one of her satchels. The vial was filled with a pale green liquid, pleasant to the sight. Turuviel led her down the gorge to a spot where the river current slowed down and dumped the content of the vial in the waters. She sighed. “We have to cleanse the Hoarwell every now and then. This liquid ensures it will stay so for a while… the enemy hoard likes to defile it’s waters too much to let it be”
“Is there no permanent solution to keep the river clean?”
“If there was, we wouldn’t be here. We have to run now, the mines are near. Hurry”
The two huntresses reached the main entrance of the Isendeep mines by late afternoon. Carniquesse was unsure how they could be of help to the skirmishers, but her companion seemed confident. She decided to rely on her confidence as in this ravaged region of Eriador she had the most experience. Albeit the thought made her grimace a bit… it reminded her of her own limits and she hated the feeling.
Keeping close to the stone walls, silent and stealthy they moved through the tunnels. They encountered no orcish patrol or any sign of enemy scouts, which seemed quite strange to her. As she was about to ask Turuviel a question, the other huntress suddenly smiled and beckoned her to sprint ahead. It soon became clear why: sounds of battle echoed nearer and nearer as the tunnel enlarged and ended in a big cavernous space filled with scaffolding and rail tracks. There, the reinforcements Ingi spoke of were facing the enemy party, composed of uruk-hai, wargs and two armored trolls. The reinforcements were led by another ellon, one Carniquesse assumed to be a veteran, inciting his companions to keep the trolls busy as he faced the uruk-hai leader one on one. She was quite impressed at the display.
Turuviel climbed on a scaffold near them, telling her to keep an eye for any back attack from the enemy. The vantage point allowed them to stay under cover and take turns in sniping those from the enemy ranks who were left distant from the bulk of the action, giving the skirmishers an opening to press on their assault. The red haired huntress smiled inside her head. This was the kind of action she was used to. The way her people in the plains of Tumhalad kept Nargothrond safe for years before giving up their secrecy in favor of a bad advice.
Still, it took the assailants a good while to completely repel the enemies, and both huntresses nearly depleted their reserves of arrows. Climbing down the scaffold to greet the surviving Free People, both her and Turuviel helped gather scattered weapons and patch up the injured. The unfortunate souls who fell under the attack were hosted on makeshift stretchers.
“They shall be buried with honor in the plains near Ost Ringdyr… we cannot tarry here. Who knows when the next raid will crush upon our heads”
“It is a never ending struggle”
“It is. But as you can see, none here is intent on letting our enemy win. As long as we draw breath, we shall always fight them back”. Turuviel’s voice was harsh and raspy. Carniquesse wondered what happened to her while away from Imladris, but she kept the question to herself. Turuviel didn’t pry about her reasons, she would do the same.
They offered to scout ahead for the party, getting out of the mine sas dusk fell on the world. They didn’t encounter anything more dangerous than some cowardly goblins up a mountain pass on their way back, whom they easily dispatched.
°_°_°
Back in the safety of Ost Ringdyr’s walls, Turuviel clasped her shoulder. “It was a good day wasn’t it? Can I convince you to stay a while longer? We could use your help”
The red haired elleth considered it, in silence. She had unfinished business to take care of in the hidden valley, business that might take her away from Eriador altogether in the near future… yet the idea of staying took root in her head. Life in the Ettenmoors had the potential to be... intresting. And she did feel useful for a change.
Shrugging, she replied “Perhaps. I can’t make promises… buti if I find myself with some free time again, I wouldn’t mind helping again”. Turuviel nodded, a thin smile on her face. “At least stay for the night. We both need rest after that skirmish and it wouldn't be wise for you to return to Imladris tired and sleep deprived. Not to mention dinner. You have to try the ale the hobbits brew in Hoarhallow, and Ingi’s famous boar flanks”
She didn’t quite like the idea of being near the shouty dwarf again, but she couldn’t quite refuse the offer. With another shrug, she walked side by side her new comrade-in-arms. A good day indeed, all things considered.
