In the land of the horse-riders, a shield-maiden and a bowman of Rohan lived as a family on a certain farm. Redwick had taken his late father’s farm to his hands and happily tend to it, recalling Threland’s ramblings about crops. Therwen, once a proud sell-sword and so keen to be free from any responsibilities, was quite satisfied with her life as a mother of Erline and as a wife to a farmer. Naturally she did not take care of the crops and saw her duty as the overseer of the farm, making certain that Redwick was not slacking in his duties. Redwick did as his wife demanded and as soon as her keen eyes were focused on their daughter Erline, he took a sip from one of his hidden bottles and continued his work with more mirth. Erline grew to be a lovely girl, very curious about the world around her, constantly asking questions from her parents. And their life was peaceful, being a family, even though they never wanted such a thing. Sometimes, after Erline had gone to bed, they would sit on their porch and share a bottle of ale, recalling their adventurous past. They would sigh at the slightly boring, quiet life they lived, and then they would go to bed, glad that their days of adventures are gone. But not forgotten.
Therwen was even more eager storyteller in her older days. Often she was seen sitting by the heart in a tavern, with a tankard of mead on her hand. And should anyone approach her for a story, she would certainly share a tale of her adventures for any listening ear. Erline was especially eager on hearing her mother’s tales over and over again, and she would bug her mother to tell her them. There was a certain tale that Therwen most often told, most likely wishing to warn her daughter about trusting too eagerly on people she did not know well enough. And the tale goes like this:
A JOURNEY WHICH NEVER REACHED ITS END
Long time ago, there was a company of friends. There were two sisters, not blood related but sworn sisters. Their bond was so strong, so strong that it lasted for eternity. Then there was a wildman, rough on his manners, but he had a golden heart. Then there was a traitor who called others as his friends and hid his evil nature from them. Lastly there was a coward and a bard, a strange couple, but their minds were adventurous. At least so they claimed.
One day the younger sister decided that she wants travel to the gates of Moria, the forsaken city of dwarfs. She had heard that there was a great treasure hidden there. As greedy as she was, she was hungrier for an adventure. The older sister loved her so much that she declared she would follow her dear sister to Moria, even to the end of the world, no matter how mad it would be. It happened to be that at the time the wildman loved the older sister and therefore he joined the adventure without hesitation.
Since three was not enough for such a dangerous task, more were recruited. The traitor pretended to be their friend and agreed to lead the company. He hid his motivation to join the trip and inviting him was the first mistake they did, but when they finally realized it, it was far too late. The coward longed for adventure, but did not wish to join them alone. He invited the bard to join them, to write a song about their triumph.
But what a sad song it would be.
The company gathered in a tavern, to leave for their journey. It was then told, that the traitor had a task for them. A new member was to join the company and she was to be escorted to the elven lands.
And that new member was the mad woman.
The company agreed to the task. This was the second mistake. Little did they know that the mad woman would bring their company into ruin. Along with few additional members, they set forth on their journey. Cheerfully they traveled towards the Lone Lands.
Soon, Bema showed them first sign of turning back. Sharp eyes noticed that they were followed. Sharp minds knew they had walked into ambush. A party of brigands attacked them. But the company won, though not without injuries, and the brigands fled for their lives. The company retreated to a forsaken inn, to tend to their wounds. They decided to rest for the night and continue their journey the next day, with better luck.
However, in the morning members of the company noticed a change in their leader. The traitor spoke foul words of his friends. And as they continued their journey, he abandoned them. The company decided to continue without their leader. However they could not leave the mad woman behind, thus she was invited to follow them. This was the second mistake they did. The woman should have been left behind.
And for a while, the company traveled with ease. They walked and walked, and went over a bridge. Then, sooner than they though, a new threat was upon them. Someone shoot an arrow at them, just barely missing one of the members. Upon examining the arrow, the company noticed that a note was attached to it. The message was short, written in Rohirric.
“Go on”
Since the perpetrator was nowhere to be seen, the company continued their journey, though more warily. Until at the certain point they stopped and the cowards wanted to take a detour. This was the third mistake they did. As the company walked through the forest, an arrow was shot. As before, it had a short message written in Rohirric.
“Run”
The company indeed heard a horrible roar and a rumble coming closer to them, and they fled for their lives. As they reached the road they had traveled on earlier, a troll appeared. A big, ugly troll. Unlike its fellow creatures, this particular one had followed the company’s trail.
The coward and the bard ran away, leaving the others to face the troll. The remaining company gathered their wits and battled against the troll. With heavy injuries, they won the fight. The company crawled to a safety provided by the mountains and stayed there for the night. The coward and the bard found their way back to the company of their friends.
Next morning the mad woman suddenly lost the little bit of sanity left in her and went for a stroll, alone. The younger sister followed her, since after all it was their duty to take the mad woman to the land of the elves. However, soon it became clear that the mad woman was a threat to the entire company. It was decided that the mad woman was to knock unconscious and to be tied down for the rest of the journey. Then yet another arrow was shot.
“Mistake”
The younger sister started to fear for the worst, as more and more arrows were shot and the bowman was nowhere to be seen. The coward and the wildman left to find the perpetrator, while others hurriedly tried to gather their belongings. But then, something unforeseen happened. An arrow was shot at the younger sister and she fell on the ground.
By a miracle, the younger sister’s live was spared. And the mysterious perpetrator was caught: it was their leader, the traitor. Upon questioning his reasoning, it was revealed that he was deeply in love with the mad woman. The company intended to kill the traitor, but after an intervention of an elf, he was free to leave and be alive, if he could survive with his wounds in the forest. And the mad woman followed him.
After this the company was set apart. Some of them returned back to their home. The sisters spend long time resting at the care of the elves and returned weeks later to their home, broken and beaten by their sad faith.”
At this point of the story, Therwen would often pause and fall deeply in her own thoughts. No matter how Erline would tell her to continue the story and tug her mother’s dress, Therwen would stare at the flaming fire. After taking her time to think, she would have the same conversation with Erline, every single time.
“Do you understand what is the teaching of this story, Erline? You should never, never trust others so fully, that you would leave your life in their hands. Be always prepared for the worst.”
“But mother, what if they are my friends?”
“Not even then, my dear child. Not even then.”
“But you trust papa, don’t you! And aunty too! And-“
“Your father and my sister are exception to the rule! Now off you go, my tankard is empty and my throat is dry. Fetch me another mead!”
“Yes, mother… But you know, even though what you say, I’m going to be an adventurer and you can’t stop me!”
And thus Erline would go fill her mother’s tankard and Therwen is left to chuckle to herself and her daughter’s stubbornness. “At least it is clear that she is daughter of ours”, she would often think. Rest of the evening she would spend recalling her adventurous past and question herself, if she could have prevented the sad end of the trip. She thought of her friends, she thought of Thayalengir whom she had seen as a friend but who had turned against her. She thought of Toadlicker, Welten, who was a coward indeed but she never hold a grudge against him for that. She thought of Drunn, who had loved her sister, but his love was lost when her sister was captured and tortured. And lastly she thought of Ahree, whose name she never mentioned in the story, even though he was there with them. Perhaps she still hold a grudge against him for suddenly disappearing and leaving her. But despite her memories, she was content with her life. After all, she had found her one and true love and she got the one thing she always secretly hoped for: a family.
