The Tale of the Lindelemacil - 01

It had begun... well, when did it begin? When she found the armor in Eregion? Naye. Before that. When she retrieved the sword? Naye... with the tales of her grandmother? Or her brothers? Naye, far earlier. It had begun when young Morielen looked upon the suit of armor in a little village in fair Lothlorien. She had not thought much on it, and neither her mother nor her father spoke much of it. But she grew ever more curious. And one day, she asked, and she remembered this: "Mother?" The dancer looked to her daughter, curious of the glance she gave her. "Did you teach Cala and Alassë to fight?" The dancer's expression darkened. She clearly was unhappy of the question, and though always quiet, she was too silent now. "Would you teach me too, mother?" The dancer sighed, abandoning her task and stepped over to her daughter, setting a hand on her shoulder and glancing in to the eyes of young grass and young curiosity. "I would not teach you, Morielen." The faint words were answered with a look of disappointment. "But you taught Cala and Alassë, right?" "I showed them what they needed to know." the dancer whispered. "And I hope dear that you will not need to know, too." "But what if I want to know how to fight, Mother? To use a sword and a bow! And go out and-" but she could not finish the sentence, a finger pressed against her lips. Her mother's eyes filled with sorrow, and she shook her head. "My daughter, you do not want to fight. It brings only pain." Her mother left her be, and young Morielen bowed her head. She could not quite understand, but the glance and the words made it clear that she should not know, either. She was lost, and looked up to the proud armor standing nearby, and the weapons set against the wall, and the tall shield that bore the marks of past battles. "But... You fought too, didn't you?" And though the proud armor stood there and was cared for, never came to rust and weapons ever remained sharp, Morielen never did know any answers. But there it begun. Far later, years after her mother and her father left this world, and shortly after Morielen was reunited with her brothers, they spoke to her. And though they, too, wished to protect her from harm, from battle, they had to see that their little Muinthel was grown now. So they shared all they knew of their mother: Of the Lindelemacil, as she was known in Imladris, and in Eregion, and perhaps in other places. Journey led Morielen at last to her mother's mother, but she had little answer, only that she who became the Lindelemacil fled safety and haven to become a great warrior, and that no message ever was passed to the shores of Lindon until the sons were born, and one more message when Morielen herself had been born. So Morielen returned to Lothlorien, and there she took up her mother's sword and watched her homeland's borders for some time until she returned to Imaldris, and there spoke with the Chief Guard in hopes of finding knowledge of her mother. He could say little, but what she knew alredy: Her mother had been fierce, and her only love belonged her voice and to her blade, and any foe that came across her found a swift death; and during her final battle marching against Angmar she lost her voice and thus her love and left Imaldris. Morielen's search then took her to Eregion. Rumor was that the Lindelemacil served there, and she found an old warden that still protected his homeland that was lost long ago, and truly, he did know the Lindelemacil, and he spoke highly of her, dispite her lack of care in all but song and battle. And through hard search, Morielen came to the few remnants of Ost-in-Edhil, and there she found but a single note and a single armor, and thus she had found a remnant of her mother's past: The armor of the Guard of Ost-in-Edhil. It fit Morielen perfectly...