(ic) As …… returns to the Dúnedain camp on Tinnudir island for some well earned rest after a long and perilous campaign inthe wild. Calenglad approaches …….as soon as he notices him dismounting his horse and hands to him a stained envelop, sealed with a wax stamp in the form of an owl. As …. takes the envelop, Calenglad says. ‘Le suilad, ………. Dúnadan!’ A young looking Dúnadan calling himself Dúnisthil has asked me to give you this. He forbade me to open the envelop and told me you have to be sure you are alone when you open it. I barely know him, I met him for the first time, only three weeks ago. I remember well the moment he came in full gallop up the bridge on his proud looking horse. It was a horse of the likes I had never seen before in these parts. Great with proud features and very swift. Oh yes,  very swift it was! He told he had come to aid us fight off the tomb robbers that had come from the south over the years and the Angmarim from the north-east. He wouldn’t tell us much about himself safe his name and that had come from Esteldín. We didn’t dare to trust him at first, therefore we tasked him with some errands that had been neglected, due to shortage of  men. In the end he proved true to his word en was accepted into our small community. As he campaigned alongside us, I began to notice that he searched all slain enemies for stolen artifacts, relics, and pieces of old scrolls. And each time when the opportunity arose, he would copy and squabble on parchment, the runes, markings and depictions that can be found on the walls of ruins we passed by. As time drew on he would become ever closer with Astiul. They would often passionately discuss the Dúnedain's history and legends of old. But then in the  morning of what would become a cold and dreary day. He came up to me when I was in Tinnúdir Keep, writing a report for captain Halbarad, and told me he would be leaving at once and travel to Esteldín. Once again he wouldn’t tell me anything about his motives. But he had proven himself to be trustworthy, therefore I told him to take my report and deliver it to captain Halbarad with haste and by the shortest road. Just when I thought he would turn around without uttering another word, he said to me: I would ask you for a favor as well Calenglad.. After these words he showed me a stained envelop and said: I too have a message that needs to be delivered. It is mend for a kinsman called ……... You know him quite well I doubt not. For he has aided the Wardens of Annúminas on many occasions, as Astiul has told me. I met him in the wild a few months ago and he has told me that he is wont to go Tinnúdir both out of necessity and for repose. Therefore I would ask of you to deliver my message to him when he shows up. After I had promised I would deliver the letter the moment you would show up. He thanked me for my hospitality bowed with his head bent and his hands folded on his chest and left. I haven't seen him since. ……. thanks Calenglad for handing over the letter and walks away to a quiet spot along the east shore of lake Nenuial. He breaks the seal, and takes out the letter written on a yellowed piece of parchment. He notices the letter is written in a fine hand.  Gen suilad, ………, mellon nín. We have known each other for several years now now and I dare say we have become friends. Nevertheless I haven’t told you anything about my life's story as of yet. This I now regret with pain in my heart, for how can one call another friend if he doesn’t know anything about his past. I have decided to tell you my story through this letter that I have given in the keeping of a man I respect though he may not know it. If you read this letter I am probably on my way to Esteldín or further away south-east heading for Imladris. I hope we will meet again soon. I have kept you long enough, so here is my story. Nan lû govaded vin ……., Benain na le!   Dúnisthil. It was on a bright yet cold morning of spring on April first. A tall, dark haired man with thoughtful grey eyes opened the main door and walked slowly outside, gently carrying a new born child. He walked up to the small group of people that had gathered  in front of his house,and held the child aloft while exclaiming with joy visible on his lined face: I have a son! And we shall call him Dúnisthil! Bless you and your son Dúnistas!, the small crowd replied, and  they  said: Benain na le!, may the Valar keep him. This rather peculiar scene took placein honor of my birth. In front of a stone homestead  surrounded by several other houses of similar shape. These buildings were build in a depression of the land  and were huddled against a wooded slope that ended suddenly as a steep cliff, falling into the chasm of a swiftly flowing river. On sides where the buildings weren’t shielded by the hillside,  there was in a crescent shape, a ditch and a stone wall  of four rangas high. Made out of rough stone blocks that were cemented together. Half ways the wall there was a gate made out of oak and with iron hinges. Within this wall there  lived  half a dozen families  as a small community. They lived both by hunting in the surrounding forest and husbandry, keeping  cows,  swine, chickens and  quite a few horses, tilling clearings in the forest or using them for the grazing of their cattle. These clearings were fenced from the wild and connected with the settlement by narrow paths that went in deliberate bents.  Each family owned at least one horse. And most families owned more than one, at least one for riding and another for plowing the clearings in the forest. There was one building that was larger than the others. It was a small communal hall, where most of the celebrations and important meetings were held. Opposite the communal hall on the other side of a small courtyard, were a cunningly build smithy and forge that were used for the crafting of tools of many sorts, but no weapons. Build against the inner side of the wall was a makeshift brewery, that produced ale in smaller  quantities, just enough for the small settlement´s needs. Several hundred yards away  from the settlement was a  forest brook, that powered a small stone gristmill .Right outside the wall there was an elongated field that had been cleared from the forest by the villagers. This field was used for weapon practice and as a shooting range.  For these people needed to be skilled in the handling of knife, sword, and bow and live in hidden[ fastnesses, in order to be able to fulfill their lives purpose. Which is safeguarding the lands that once belonged to the realm of Arnor and its royal blood line from any thread, both from without and within This oath of safeguarding the lands of Eriador and the heir of Isildur ,is taken by most men and some women of the northern Dúnedain. The ones who take this oath are called rangers of the north.   In this village of twenty souls, situated close to the west bank of the river Bruinen, twenty five leagues south west of Imladris. I spend my early childhood. It was called Dolthabar or hidden home. ] keep warm memories of living in this well hidden settlement for the first twelve years of my life. I am an only child and my parents devoted to me all the time they could spare. My father was oft away. My mother remained at home to take care of me. She did this with devotion and love. Now I know however her role as a woman staying at home and taking care of child must have choked her as well .For she was called  Naurelloth, fire flower. She was one of the women that had taken the oath and hence was one of the rangers. She had always been fierce and valiant. Fighting and hunting our enemies no less than any man. She rejoiced in traversing the vast lands of Eriador. Always desiring to see something new. This must explain why she took me on many occasions into the surrounding forest and beyond to the empty plains. From her I learned the basics of the skills that a proper Dúnedain ranger posseses. Every time I have the desire to roam in the wild or visit strange lands, I have to think of my mother for this desire is her gift that she passed down to me. My father taught  me how to write and read  in both Westron and Sindarin . The latter we used amongst ourselves. The noble speech we call it. But most of all, my father used to teach me ,more than was good for me I thought, about the long and tragic history of our people. And even about times before our people came into being. After an elaborate account of the fall of our former kingdom by the hand of an evil dark lord and its reasons and consequences, I asked my father why  he was wont to tell me so many tales of lore and old knowledge. He sighed but smiled  and revealed to me that he and his father and many fathers that came before them, are the direct descendants of  a man called Dúnisthir. It is this man, he said to me, that had been the founding father of the house that you belong tothrough me. He was a guardian of lore, wisdom and knowledge. My father looked at me for a moment with such a passion and seriousness, I had never seen before in any man. Then he began telling me a long history of all that had befallen our house in his typical ,detailed but vivid manner. Here, I shall give what was told to me that day in the form of a historical  work: Narn I Nost Dúnisthir It has been passed down in my family from father to son for many a  generation that we are descendants of an old family line which has brought forth many learned and influential scholars, historians and lore masters during Arnor's and later Arthedain's history. The family line was founded back in the days of long lost Númenor. Where the lords of Andunië, took into service  several learned men to collect into writing Númenor's knowledge and history as much as possible. One of these learned men would become the founder of our house. It is said that with his new office, this scribe took the name of Dúnisthir, which signifies master of western lore or knowledge as you may know. From that time his heirs would use in their name the syllable 'ist', which signifies knowledge or lore in Sindarin. This office of Lore master of the lords of Andunië would continue even after the founding of the kingdoms in exile Arnor and Gondor and a heir of the line of Dúnisthir called Côlistion continued the office in Annúminas under the lordship of Elendil the tall.  The heirs of this Côlistion can betraced in the annals of Arnor and Arthedain right up to the time of king Arvedui as they served as lore masters of Arnor's- and later in darkened times, Arthedain's kings. Many important books manuscripts and documents were secretly brought over the river Lhûn from Fornost Erain to Mithlond under supervision of my ancestor in the days of King Arvedui. After the time of Arvedui the northern kingdom was no more and the members of Dúnisthir's line fell into obscurity like the rest of the northern Dúnedain and the annals of the kingdom Arthedain, that are still kept save in Elrond's library would lengthen no more. It had always been the family tradition for the eldest sons of the direct line of Dúnisthir to work in- and to take care of the vast libraries that were to be found within Annúmias and Fornost, preserving the northern Dunedain's legacy. And so it is in a way still today. (ooc)Comment by the author: This part is still a work in progress and needs to become a more elaborate tale based on what is written above. Here continues the letter of Dúnisthil to his friend. This great story had  such a profound effect on me that I shall never forget it. Visions started to appear in my mind of me as a champion for the great things that had once been and shouldn’t be forgotten or what was left of them and should be preserved. From that day forward in a still childish naïve way, my interest  in- and love for the past or things of greatness that had been and things of lore and knowledge, were finally kindled. Only a few months after the conversation, the day after my twelfth first green. I was brought  by my father, my mother and another man of Dolthabar to Imladris, a refuge of the Eldar, to continue my education. It had been the practice for the elder sons of the direct line of Dúnisthir, since the days of chieftain Aranarth, to be educated  and trained in Imladris under the supervision of  the librarians of Elrond’s library. In that blessed valley I Learned all I could about the past, subjects of  lore, wisdom and knowledge that the elves could teach me in the limited time I would dwell there, however little it may have seemed to them.  I found myself drawn most to the subject of language and the crafting of swords. The language that intrigued me the most  and still does is the ancient language Quenya. The Eldar proved to be more reluctant to teach me in these two matters, but I managed to convince them to teach me after all. In the end I was able to increase my skill in these prestigious fields, to a higher level than they ever would have wanted me to have.  I also learned the more practical art of battle in all its facets by the ever skilled. Eldar. I learned the skills needed in the wild and to be stealthy in the manner of the elves as far as the gifts of my race allowed. (ooc) Work in progress

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