[Elora]

I've put up the pause on the trail. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Naiore is using the last of a substance that is no longer in wide production since Mordor was gate-crashed by the Free Peoples. It's like the exlir that orcs would use, but Naiore's has a twist. Hers dulls the mind also. She would use it to disarm the mental defences of her prey and strengthen their physical resilience so that she could "play" with them a little longer.

For Naiore, a play mate who expires too soon is a real disappointment. Nasty, ain't she! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]


I'm struggling a little to capture Vanwe's complicated state of mind. She's not an idiot but she is gullible to the fantasy of a loving mother. Naiore will never be able to build a maternal bond that is genuine. She will only be able to create the guise of one, faster if Vanwe's senses are befuddled.

I'm deliberately not writing in that Naiore and Vanwe are cantering or galloping yet, as I don't want to give rise to an unreasonable lead of time or distance before everyone has departed from the inn.

NerindelThe worn leather belt did come off. I didn't know just how well the Rangers would have inspected the site beyond the footprints. The belt and puch could well have fallen into undergrowth.

However, if you think it would be found, I'd be perfectly happy for that to occur. The contents of the pouch are as follows, just in case you think this could be used for insight:

* A piece of paper that Vanwe made her notes on (I described what they actually were for future reference in a post for Vanwe prior to her capture). Vanwe's hand writing is feminine and distinctly smooth and graceful, but it is written in Common Tongue as she was raised by the Haradrim and does not know Aduanic or Eldar modes of written expression.

*A length of braided leather - it's a piece of the flail that the Villagers would use to correct Vanwe. She cut it up the night she fled and took it with her for impetus on the road should she ever think about falling back.

* A lock of hair given to her recently by Hanasian - it's the same colour as her own and Naiore's and it's bound by the leather braid - an ironic juxtaposition that Vanwe will come to fully appreciate later.

*Carrot - to entice Deor should she have found him.

*A small belt knife - Vanwe used it for carving.

*A small carving of a swan - Vanwe made it on the road when she learned of her mother's noble title "Lady of the Swan". It's a symbol of what Vanwe wanted to be true of her mother as opposed to what she had been told. In that carving, Vanwe invested all of her creative ability, hopes and dreams and she is a remarkably gifted carver.

* 3 copper coins, the last of her financial means.


That pouch contains all of Vanwe's worldly possessions. But that pouch also says a lot about the person who owned it, depending on who looks at it and what they know of Vanwe. For Vanwe, that pouch is her life and she guarded the meagre contents of it with all she was worth. She had planned to give the notes to Hanasian in hopes it helped him as he had her.

Hope that helps! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]