My father would be rolling in his bed if he knew where I was and what I am doing now. After our departure from our family homestead outside of Archet, my father and I settled in with my brother and his family in Bree. I miss the farm and the homestead, my father toiling in the soil and me helping him worok nearby with the farmhands. I miss the long field of flowers that I would pick through, now burned.
When we arrived in Bree, I followed the directions left by my brother in his letter. Our horse, Felgar was put up with the local stable-master, and I assured with coin that he would be safe and cared for until I could find a more permanent arrangement. From there I located my brother's home, but a few doors down from the local taxidermist, and was welcomed with open arms.
Odgen has a wife, now - a woman named Marissa who insists on being called Marsie. I don't mind this at all, as she seems very kind, and sweet. She is most concerned with caring for their young daughter, Jennefer, who is no older than eight. She reminds me of myself when I was her age, and I foresee us becoming fast friends.
Once I unpacked my sparse belongings in their spare room (a favor for which I will be eternally grateful), I spent the next few days integrating myself into their routine and growing closer to them. Today was the first day I went out to explore on my own. I noticed a cliff-side that reached over the Prancing Pony, a tavern I had heard was popular with everyone in town, and that Ogden warned me off from. Seeing as it was still early in the day, I instead hiked around the outskirts of Bree until I was positioned on the said cliff-side. I had brought my sketchbook and a piece of charcoal (the first thing I grabbed before leaving), and sat down and began to sketch the view. I must have gotten lost in my work, because the only indication of how late it had become was the brisk, cold wind that startled me from my focus! When I noticed the sun starting to set in the distance, I returned to the main town and decided to stop inside the tavern after all.
I intended to go in, sit at a table, and warm up. I did so, though there were others present. A trio of people were arguing angrily at the table to my right, one of which got increasingly louder until she was knocking things off of the table entirely. As I was trying to finish my sketch from memory, it was quite distracting, to say the least. I noticed a young man standing by the hearth at the front of the tavern, and decided to take my chances there instead.
I am glad I did - for not only is Mister Fenley Plumwood a gentleman, he is completely and wholly a charmer. I despised that of the suitors my father sent after me at home, but it was refreshing to be treated like a lady of standing (of which I truly have little) by a stranger to me being in a strange land. He seemed interested in my artwork, and myself, and proposed the idea of collaborating with him one day, as he is a craftsman of furniture. To be entirely honest, I had never considered my artwork good enough to support myself. Yet, Mister Plumwood seemed intrigued by just the sketch I had done of Bree and was convinced on that alone that seeing it painted in landscape would be just as beautiful. I could hardly believe it, yet I suppose I put the same confidence in the diagrams he showed me of the desk he is working on. He also managed to convince me to share a dance with him, then and there in the tavern, when I had never danced so intimately with someone before. It was so unlike home.
Seeing as how he was so enamored by my sketch, I tried to offer it to him - but he refused it, saying he would only take it from me after I had finished the painting, as an assurance that he could see both me and the completed work. I wanted to feel incensed by his flirting as I had back home, but instead, I gave in and agreed. Even if nothing comes to fruition by his charms or his offer of business, I still do need friends here.
