The Bloody Dawn

"You are to scout the Trollshaws and report back with anything you find on your way."

'My darling son, these are the hardest words I have ever had to set down, they say time heals all wounds, but that presumes the source of the grief is finite....'

That dang pirate Peggy... he has gone and died! Now what am I going to do with the cow and donkey that I was going to switch his horse with?! And worse of all, they buried his shiny leg with him, I was going to take that and hang it from the Pony!

Mind you, his funeral wasn't that fun... I tried to make everyone cheer up but they kicked me off a table, and when I tried to balance myself on a casket of ale, I fell into the fire pit and they left me to burn! Good job I got out in time though, or my great looks would be ruined!

Hardoleth...

“The tears I feel today
I'll wait to shed tomorrow.
Though I'll not sleep this night
Nor find surcease from sorrow.

It was a fine afternoon when a gathering started to form on the yard of the Dawnhall. At the corner, by a small hill, a hole disturbed the earth, one that was set to be Hardoleth's, The Captain of the Bloddy Dawn, final home. 

Well, Bree-Town turned out to be just as devoid of honest work as anywhere else... The first day I went into an inn (locals call it the Prancing Pony... What an odd name for an inn!) I almost had my money stolen. I managed to catch the thief before they got away, but otherwise the trip to the Pony was a complete waste of time. There's little work here, as the townsfolk seem to be awfully distrustful of strangers, even of Men such as themselves!

One day when your mother gives you this journal to read, and you see what she and others have written for you, I hope I will be beside her, though battle may take me before then. Whether I live or not, I would have you know that you are my true son and heir, whether any others have been born of my blood after this time. I love your mother with all of my soul, and I have known you as a part of her since you were a tiny babe in swaddling, too small even to crawl.

By the fire Deorgast sat, near his tent set in the Old Forest. He had just crossed the borders of The Shire to observe the river that flows under the Brandywine Bridge, under heavy rain that fell through all morning.