The Golden Perch Inn

[Flame of Udûn]

"Thank you a beer would be wonderful, and please could I have some food brought?"

Arandon nodded as he listened to her talk of the places she had been he nodded as she spoke of areas he knew well enough, he had spent many years wandering in Eriador especially around the misty mountains.

"I have travelled throughout most of middle earth west of the lonely mountain and north of Harad. Though most of my travels have been north of Rivendell in Rhudaur and the Misty Mountains and occasionally I have been further north than that but not often thankfully."

[xMellrynxMaidenx]

Her eyes sparkled in curiosity, especially at the mention of Haradwaith. Aeron was focusing her full attention on the elder Ranger at this point, enthralled by the sounds of foriegn lands. She dreamed of one day traveling as far as this experienced Ranger has; bringing back tales and memories of adventure in distant lands.

"North of Rivendell? You've journeyed into the Ettenmoors, then?"

It was a cold land and litte known to any save for the trolls that lurked there. It was a land her father forbade her to travel to due to it being so dangerous. Aeron was studying the Ranger's face intently, awaiting an answer. There was much this Ranger knew, and many flights he had taken. Aeron was intrigued by him, to say the least, and she wanted to hear anything he had to say.

[Flame of Udûn]

Arandon was peased to talk about the places he had travelled for this was where his true enjoyment lay. The desire for travelling had been kindled in him when he was young and had stayed with him ever since and talking to someone who seemed to be truely interested in the wider world (which is something not often found in the shire) gave him great joy.

He was surprised she chose the Ettenmoors as her place of interest, it seemed very strange that that of all the places he had travelled she chose one that was so near to places she herself had been. "The Ettenmoors? Yes I have been there, though of it there is little to tell, it is not a truly evil place yet evil has chosen to reside there. Sometimes though it can appear pretty on a clear day perhaps even occasionally beautiful but those days are few and I must admit I have only been there a few times and never have I lingered longer than was needed, it is for the most part a rather bare and lonesome land. I would not have have expected to be asked about it, of all the lands you have not seen you choose one so close it seems to me that you could go there yourself if you were so inclined."

[Envinyatar]

‘Left here, Midge!’ Tolly tightened the rein in his left hand and flicked the loose right against his sturdy grey pony’s flank. Midge, for his part, twitched his ears and angled left, though his slow even pace did not increase in the least.

‘We’ll rest up here, lad,’ Tolly went on. This was his last delivery – two small casks of smoked fish, one of trout, the other perch. He was much looking forward to a pint of the inn’s fine ale and a nice feathered bed to sleep in for the night. Camping out along the road, living out of the back of his wagon was getting a bit old.

He pulled the wagon round to the inn’s side door, the one just past the garden, intending to bring his wares in. A movement on the far edge of the cabbages caught his eye and he craned his neck, narrowing his eyes to see better.

[piosenniel]

Iris

Iris knelt down among the cabbages, shaking her head as she inspected the slug eaten leaves. ‘Tsk, tsk!’ she muttered as she picked up one of the offending creatures and flung it as far away from the garden as she could. ‘This poor garden!’ She could see the glistening trails which wended this way and that among the plantings. ‘Needs some nice marigolds to keep the slimy critters away. Yes. . .’ She nodded her head. ‘That and a few hungry ducks to eat them!

The whole of the garden, really, had a sad, neglected air. What could the Cook be thinking to leave her vegetables and herbs in such a besieged and bedraggled state.

Iris stood up, dusting off the dirt from her knees, shaking it off the hem of her skirt. As she straightened her apron, she noticed some curious fellow gawking at her across the way.

‘Well,’ she said, fixing him with a steely stare back. ‘What are you looking at, good sir?!’

[xMellrynxMaidenx]

Truly, she didn't know herself as to why she chose to ask the seasoned dunadan about the Ettenmoors. Perhaps it was the sole reason it was off limits to a ranger of her skill, currently, is why she was so curious about it. "I am not as skilled in the art of the Ranger as you, sir, but one day I will be, and mayhap then I will journey there." Aeron dropped it from there, too eager to linger on one place for too long, for there was many areas this elder Ranger had traveled to.

"Do tell me more about your travels, master Ranger." Aeron smiled,"I am most curious about the distant lands; you say you've been north of Haradwaith, what was it like there?"

The young woman patiently awaited his reply, hoping he had a tale to offer her.

[Bom Tombadillo]

The man smiled. "My name is Hamwill, of Bree - though lately I've been travelling across the Shire, researching. I am afraid I didn't spend much time in Brandy Hall though - there was a farmer nearby who told me a good bit about mushrooms. He had horses the size of hounds - er, hounds the size of horses - too."

He carried on, utterly oblivious to the hobbit's annoyance. "In any case, if you are from Brandy Hall, would you mind talking?"

[Folwren]

Seredic busied himself behind the counter, listening in on the two ranger’s discussion about distant lands. All in all, none of them sounded as nice as the Shire, and he marveled that anyone could ever want to leave. But Aeron seemed quite enthralled and Dick didn’t have the discourtesy to interrupt and tell them his honest opinion of traveling.

Once or twice, his attention was drawn over to where Al sat with the man with the book as Al’s voice raised on occasion with anger, but he saw that Rowan was keeping a sharp eye on them as well, and until things got very out of hand, he wouldn’t interrupt. Everyone else in the Common Room seemed to be content. That trouble-making Ibin sat sulking at his table, with both hands resting on the board and looking about. He had not ordered anything. Dick wished he would, and if he was not going to, he wished he would leave.

Dick caught sight of Tolly almost as soon as he had come out of the kitchen. “Ah, I guess he’s just brought the fish,” Dick said to himself. “Tolly!” he hailed the hobbit. “If you’ve finished your work, would you like to join me for a mug of ale and we can discuss what’s been going on?”

[Envinyatar]

‘Well, I’ve finished my work, that’s for sure. One crate of smoked trout, one of perch stowed away in the kitchen.’ Tolly reached for the half-pint Seredic had drawn for him and took a good swig. ‘Good as ever!!’ he said with an affable nod toward the Innkeeper.

Tolly set his mug down on the bar and glanced toward the door to the kitchen. ‘More than just my fish tucked away in there,’ he said, motioning with his chin. ‘A Mistress Puddifoot is in there, too. Tsk-tsking over the state of your kitchen, I think, as well as the garden patch just outside it.’ He grinned at Seredic. ‘If you’re not fast enough, seems like the kind of lady be straightening up and rearranging things more to her liking.’ His eyes sparkled with laughter as he nodded his head. ‘I do believe I just got out of there before she recruited me to start some weeding.’

He lifted the mug again and drained it. ‘Wouldn’t say no to another, if you’re offering, Master Boffin,’ he said with a hopeful eye on the ale cask. ‘How’s the Missus, by the way? And the wee ones?’

[xMellrynxMaidenx]

The chattering between the man and the haughty hobbit captured the attention of the young female more than once, though she did not glance away from the older Ranger. "I have been somewhat untruthful in my description of Ithilien for while most of the land is free from shadow there is one place that is now totaly consumed by it, Minas Morgul." A shiver ran up her spine as the name slipped from his lips. "And I would prefer not to hear of it, Master Ranger."

Aeron glanced over her shoulder at the chattering table again, frowning slightly. The Inn had definitely become busier since she first arrived, that was for certain. "And you've traveled across these lands in solitude, haven't you?" The young ranger had caught some of Arandon's previous conversation with Dick when he first arrived at the Inn.

[Bom Tombadillo]

Hamwill noticed the Hobbit's smile and felt relieved that his rapid comment had not been taken too hardly. He thought that the last part of the saying the Hobbit had quoted sounded rather queer, but perked up when he asked what he wanted to know.

"Well, what about Brandy Hall itself; its history, say. Starting with its founding, of course - I got an earful about who, but nothing too sure about when. I've got a bit of a timeline assembled for the history of the Shire, and I'd like to expand on it."