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By the time the Eorl of the Middle Emnet of Rohan was rising, most days, Náin son of Narin had been awake for a couple hours. It was not that he was an early riser by nature. Left to his own inclinations, he would probably have rarely risen before the noon hour most days. Náin loved his sleep, and savoured every minute he could acquire.
But the Dwarven people were a race that prized, among other things, hardiness and hard work. Inclined though Náin might have been to sleeping in, fifty-some years of training automatically woke his body at five in the mornining. And, though he would have enjoyed more sleep at times, Náin was accustomed to his habits and was not troubled by them.
This particular morning, as he strolled over to the alder in the middle of the courtyard between the main hall and the new kitchen, he was awake and walking before Eodwine by a matter of several fewer minutes than normal, though he knew it not. Nor did Náin particularly care.
As had become his habit since dwelling at the Mead Hall, Náin's first walk of the day took him to his chief project, which was nearly finished. The double-scale statue of Falco Boffin, tall as a Númenorean, sat almost done on a stone base at the foot of the alder tree. Náin didn't care much for trees one way or another, but he had to admit that the alder made a suitable and impressive backdrop to Falco's statue, complementary to the relationship between Hobbits and nature.
When he had started on Falco's statue, the Men had expected him to do it in a room somewhere, and to move the statue out when it was finished. Náin had scoffed at that idea. The weather was nice, the courtyard was a scene of busied construction anyway, and there was a good deal more room to work in. Why cramp himself in a stuffy room somewhere?
Looking over the statue with a pleased eye, Náin mentally guessed that it should be finished either that day or the next. It was a job well done, he thought. Already, he had several ideas for his next project. The late King Théoden had been a great hero, and yet Edoras was completely unadorned with any semblance of him, or possibly a smaller statue of the Lady Éowyn for the King, or maybe a couple of fancy columns to spruce up the gates to the city. Yes, Náin had many ideas. It was simply a matter of running them by King Éomer or Eodwine, or some other important lord of the Mark, and finding one that one of them liked. An easy task.
Pleased with himself and his work, Náin made to take a detour back to the Mead Hall's main entrance, where he would make his way to breakfast. A short walk was just the thing to get ready for a good day's labour.
Though he had kept mostly to himself over the past few weeks since his arrival, Náin had become fairly well acquainted with the normal habits of life in the Mead Hall, and as he re-entered the Hall, ready for breakfast, it seemed to him that there were more people astir than normal.
Ah yes! he thought, Eodwine was holding court today. Small doings, compared with the whole kidnapping affair involving that Gondorian lady, but revelant to the daily lives of a few more people in Edoras. Wondering if he might not get as much work done as he'd intended, Náin headed in for breakfast.
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