Scarburg Meadhall - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

littlemanpoet · 09-13-2012, 10:55 AM

"You have such high standards," Rowenna returned with a grin.

But she felt a strange sensation, something she vaguely remembered from some long ago time wrapped in mists of memory. It was associated with taking care of a very small animal that had lost its mother to a predator; she had cared for it until it died. She did not like the feeling: it was not her place to take care of a little lost one. And Nydfara was not that.

Nevertheless, her grin had slipped to a momentarily creased brow and a frown on her lips before she recovered.

Forcing a smile she asked, "What sort of living does suit you?"

Firefoot · 09-14-2012, 04:38 PM

Yet now he tried to jest and it fell flat. He’d seen her smile slip, just for a moment, and he had seen sincerity in her face enough times to see now that this was not it. He did not understand her: nearly all of his experience in life would suggest that she was merely manipulating him, feigning an attraction she did not really feel. He believed in his own ability to read people well; he would not have lasted so long with Sorn were it not so. And from Rowenna, he was receiving wholly mixed signals.

What do you think she would want with you anyway? You see how she is drawn to this new home she has made for herself here. She wants your secrets – nothing more.

He turned and faced the horizon again. “A place with a warm hearth,” he answered, rubbing his arms. “It grows chilly just standing here. Perhaps you are ready to return?”

littlemanpoet · 09-18-2012, 03:59 PM

"Yes, I'm ready."

They turned and she followed him back through the scar to the yards of Scarburg. As they came to the crest of the final hill before descending back into the yard, she noted smoke coming cheerily out of the smoke house, and recalled a most uncheery sight that had been discovered there.

"There was a dead body in the smoke house when we came here. Did you hear about that?"

Firefoot · 09-22-2012, 11:53 AM

“I did,” he replied, wondering at the topic and what might be behind it. “It was found, I believe, not long before I arrived. Did anyone ever find out who he was?”

Scyld wondered, not for the first time, who it might have been, and whether he had known him – though when he had first arrived, he had had more pressing issues on his mind than the identity of an unrecognizable body. He supposed that he probably had, but it mattered little to him. It was not as though he might have been a friend.

littlemanpoet · 09-23-2012, 04:53 PM

"The matter seems to have been dropped. There have been more pressing ones, I suppose, but maybe you and I could take it up. I suppoes it is a silly thought."

Nydfara stopped and turned to look at her, regarding her with a strange look that seemed to wonder what she was about.

"Nobody's death should remain a mystery. Maybe you knew the man, if he was one of those with Sorn."

Firefoot · 09-24-2012, 08:25 PM

“Maybe I did,” he acknowledged. He started ticking through Sorn’s people: Sorn, dead. Gurth, dead. Osfrid and Muriel, captured by the king’s men – but what had happened to them then? The cook… surely the dead body could not have been the cook. Selda, that was her name. She had been a decent woman, in her way, though initially he had been bitter when she came to replace the old cook. The old cook had been the only one who was kind to Scyld, when first he came to live with Sorn. She’d also been the only servant Scyld had ever seen Sorn show a lick of respect to. She’d taken ill after a few years though, and died, and then Selda had come. What had happened to her on the day of Linduial’s escape and rescue? It troubled him that he did not know, that he had only now just thought of it.

Not that he felt personally about it, so much as he wished for closure. He also found that he wished to know what had happened that day, from the others’ perspective. Here, perhaps, was a way to reopen those memories.

To find out if his offense was pardonable.

“And perhaps you are right. It is something worth looking into.”

littlemanpoet · 09-29-2012, 05:44 AM

"I can look over the smoke house any time since mine is the chore of getting meat for each meal, though I doubt there is much other than jostled memory that can be found there now.

"And I can ask Eodwine what has been done about it, too. He may not know, but he could learn with a few well placed questions."

They walked now in the meagre protection of the flat of Scarburg, the cold wind picking up suddenly out of the north beyond the Scar. Rowenna wrapped the cloak around her throat and folded her arms and stepped briskly to catch up to Nydfara and walk at his side.

"Is it a bitter wind blowing on us from the Misty Mountains. I have said what I will do. What will you?"

She looked up at the profile of his face, liking what she saw. He was thinking before he spoke, which was his way. But she noted the constant downturn of the corners of his mouth, the straight plain of his cheeks; not hollow, but not lively either. This man held many secrets, of which she now knew a small few. He also seemed to hold much underneath of darkness.

"What angers you most about your ten years in bondage here?" The question had risen out of her unintended, and the words were out of her mouth before she knew it. "Y-you need not answer that. It was not my place to ask."

09-23-2012, 04:53 PM	#5
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	"The matter seems to have been dropped. There have been more pressing ones, I suppose, but maybe you and I could take it up. I suppoes it is a silly thought." Nydfara stopped and turned to look at her, regarding her with a strange look that seemed to wonder what she was about. "Nobody's death should remain a mystery. Maybe you knew the man, if he was one of those with Sorn." Last edited by littlemanpoet; 09-29-2012 at 05:31 AM.

09-13-2012, 10:55 AM	#1
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	"You have such high standards," Rowenna returned with a grin. But she felt a strange sensation, something she vaguely remembered from some long ago time wrapped in mists of memory. It was associated with taking care of a very small animal that had lost its mother to a predator; she had cared for it until it died. She did not like the feeling: it was not her place to take care of a little lost one. And Nydfara was not that. Nevertheless, her grin had slipped to a momentarily creased brow and a frown on her lips before she recovered. Forcing a smile she asked, "What sort of living does suit you?"

09-14-2012, 04:38 PM	#2
Firefoot Illusionary Holbytla Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 7,547	Yet now he tried to jest and it fell flat. He’d seen her smile slip, just for a moment, and he had seen sincerity in her face enough times to see now that this was not it. He did not understand her: nearly all of his experience in life would suggest that she was merely manipulating him, feigning an attraction she did not really feel. He believed in his own ability to read people well; he would not have lasted so long with Sorn were it not so. And from Rowenna, he was receiving wholly mixed signals. What do you think she would want with you anyway? You see how she is drawn to this new home she has made for herself here. She wants your secrets – nothing more. He turned and faced the horizon again. “A place with a warm hearth,” he answered, rubbing his arms. “It grows chilly just standing here. Perhaps you are ready to return?”

09-18-2012, 03:59 PM	#3
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	"Yes, I'm ready." They turned and she followed him back through the scar to the yards of Scarburg. As they came to the crest of the final hill before descending back into the yard, she noted smoke coming cheerily out of the smoke house, and recalled a most uncheery sight that had been discovered there. "There was a dead body in the smoke house when we came here. Did you hear about that?"

09-22-2012, 11:53 AM	#4
Firefoot Illusionary Holbytla Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 7,547	“I did,” he replied, wondering at the topic and what might be behind it. “It was found, I believe, not long before I arrived. Did anyone ever find out who he was?” Scyld wondered, not for the first time, who it might have been, and whether he had known him – though when he had first arrived, he had had more pressing issues on his mind than the identity of an unrecognizable body. He supposed that he probably had, but it mattered little to him. It was not as though he might have been a friend.

09-24-2012, 08:25 PM	#6
Firefoot Illusionary Holbytla Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 7,547	“Maybe I did,” he acknowledged. He started ticking through Sorn’s people: Sorn, dead. Gurth, dead. Osfrid and Muriel, captured by the king’s men – but what had happened to them then? The cook… surely the dead body could not have been the cook. Selda, that was her name. She had been a decent woman, in her way, though initially he had been bitter when she came to replace the old cook. The old cook had been the only one who was kind to Scyld, when first he came to live with Sorn. She’d also been the only servant Scyld had ever seen Sorn show a lick of respect to. She’d taken ill after a few years though, and died, and then Selda had come. What had happened to her on the day of Linduial’s escape and rescue? It troubled him that he did not know, that he had only now just thought of it. Not that he felt personally about it, so much as he wished for closure. He also found that he wished to know what had happened that day, from the others’ perspective. Here, perhaps, was a way to reopen those memories. To find out if his offense was pardonable. “And perhaps you are right. It is something worth looking into.”

09-29-2012, 05:44 AM	#7
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	"I can look over the smoke house any time since mine is the chore of getting meat for each meal, though I doubt there is much other than jostled memory that can be found there now. "And I can ask Eodwine what has been done about it, too. He may not know, but he could learn with a few well placed questions." They walked now in the meagre protection of the flat of Scarburg, the cold wind picking up suddenly out of the north beyond the Scar. Rowenna wrapped the cloak around her throat and folded her arms and stepped briskly to catch up to Nydfara and walk at his side. "Is it a bitter wind blowing on us from the Misty Mountains. I have said what I will do. What will you?" She looked up at the profile of his face, liking what she saw. He was thinking before he spoke, which was his way. But she noted the constant downturn of the corners of his mouth, the straight plain of his cheeks; not hollow, but not lively either. This man held many secrets, of which she now knew a small few. He also seemed to hold much underneath of darkness. "What angers you most about your ten years in bondage here?" The question had risen out of her unintended, and the words were out of her mouth before she knew it. "Y-you need not answer that. It was not my place to ask."