[Nuranar]

Dusk had fallen on the Shire. For a brief moment, the last rays of the sun had transformed the snow into a sheet of flame, glowing red. The famed Green Dragon Inn had seemed roofed with gold, blazing like a beacon on the shore of a dim sea. Now the blue shadows grew, rapidly deepening into night, but those enjoying the inn’s famed cheer cared little. The brief winter day had ended, but it would be a busy evening of laughter and song in this oasis of light.

When the wide front door swung open, its creaking hinges were unheard amid the chatter and clatter. In stepped an Elf, throwing back the hood of his cloak with one hand as he held open the door with the other. The warm yellow light of many oil lamps and candles glinted on his fair hair as he paused in the doorway; for an instant as his blue-grey eyes surveyed the room. Then he stepped forward and turned to hold the door for his companion.

She, too, was Elven, and clad like her escort in a dark cloak that had seen many seasons of service. However, her hair was darker than the twilight against which she was silhouetted; braided and wound about her head, it framed her face with a dusky coronet. Her features resembled those of her companion so strikingly that it was clear they were near kin. Furthermore, although most Elves appear young in the eyes of mortals, these two were truly young in their kind.

The two approached the Elven lady who appeared to be running the inn. “Mistress Innkeeper,” the young man addressed her, bowing courteously. “I am Tarondo, and this is my sister Luinien. We originally hail from that which was once Greenwood the Great; now we are from wherever we find ourselves. Might we request supper and some of the ale for which the Green Dragon Inn is renowned?” His eyes twinkled with merriment as he waited for her reply.