It was a dark night, so the stars seemed to shine more brightly than usual. The few torches about the area flickered quietly among the hushed voices and deep hoods. The ruined towers of Ost Forod stood by solemnly in the darkness, far from the prying eyes of the Rangers. It was the monthly black market of Ost Forod, in which the ancient legacy of Arnor was given a price. Stolen treasures from all over Evendim and even beyond were bought and sold here among all manner of suspicious characters. And surely not the least suspicious among these characters was Frimsi Gembeard. He was in the area on business, but tonight was different. Rather than his usual practice of betraying the trust of strangers for some easy coin, Frimsi was here to buy something. He had reason to celebrate: his business partner Thorgonsi Bronzehand had wrought a pair of beautiful silver necklaces adorned with ancient elf-stones for an inn-keeper in Bree named Ristiinna. And Frimsi, being the middle man who organized this arrangement, was getting a healthy share of the profits. It was an unusual act of fairness on his part; Frimsi actually offered a genuinely fair price. He was still not entirely sure why he did it. He sighed and shook his head. Better not get into sentimentalities. Those are expensive. Tonight he wanted to do something for himself, for his own. He sought to claim one of the ancient treasures of Eriador as a gift for his father back in Erebor. It would serve as a sort of way to prove his conquest of the markets of Eriador to his father. With all this conceit burning inside of him, Frimsi was looking forward to an enjoyable night.
Frimsi had befriended a brigand who was almost as eager for the black market as he was. This brigand boasted of a great treasure that was going to win him a fortune tonight. His name was Ropard, and Frimsi appreciated his reckless greed, as he saw something of himself in it. Frimsi casually asked, “May I have the high honor of assessing this said treasure? Perhaps I can safeguard you from selling it at a lower price than its true worth.”
Ropard smirked, “I’ve already arranged the price with a buyer, and he is paying a lot! But just in case you may see it…so long as you don’t charge me for the assessment.”
Frimsi chuckled, as that was exactly his intention. But Frimsi found him endearing, as they seemed to think alike. But Frimsi’s well-meaning chuckle was cut short when he actually laid his eyes upon this ‘treasure’. This treasure was comprised of the two delicate silver necklaces adorned with two beautiful elf-stones…the very same necklaces that he had arranged to be made for Ristiinna! Frimsi was usually quite skilled at hiding his true emotions, but as the terrible implications of this theft assaulted his mind Frimsi could not hide the look of shock on his face and Ropard was able to sense something was off, “Do you…recognize these necklaces?”
Frimsi collected himself after his brief moment of surprised stupor and began his usual sequence of lies, “Oh, no. And a shame I don’t know of these necklaces too! As they are quite exceptionally beautiful. I suspect they are of Dwarven craft…tell me…how did you come across these necklaces? Surely you will grant me just this one more honor.”
Ropard chuckled as he haphazardly put the necklaces away, “The Dourhands of Ered Luin got word that this idiot Dwarf named Thorgonsi was going to make these necklaces. He told every Dwarf in Thorin’s Hall about them, including the Dourhand spies. Ha! And he shared everything about his plan to transport them to Bree entirely on his own. They said he thought doing so on his own was a sort of ‘symbolic gesture’…whatever that means. The Dourhands informed me about this, so robbing him was a piece of cake!” Ropard shifts awkwardly, “I hope you don’t mind me robbing your kin. Business is business, as you know.”
Frimsi gritted his teeth. He knew that phrase well, as he used it himself all the time to justify all manner of unethical business practices. But what irritated Frimsi more than this acute moment of irony was how much of an idiot his business partner Thorgonsi was. Behind his casual smile Frimsi’s heart was violently brewing with all sorts of conflicting emotions. “So when will you be putting the necklaces to auction?” Frimsi blurted this out almost without thinking.
Ropard raised his eyebrow, “Err…I wasn’t planning on putting them to auction…I had already made a deal with an interested buyer I will be meeting soon.”
Frimsi shrugged, “Well, I mean…if you really believe these necklaces should go to this particular buyer, then by all means forgo the auction. I understand you humans do not value coin as much as us Dwarves do…”
Ropard almost looked offended, “Now just wait a minute! I don’t care about this buyer! All I care about is the coin! I can still change the arrangements. I’m going to make the most out of my find, so the auction it is!” Frimsi sighed deeply, but he could not tell if he was sighing in relief or distress.
As Ropard made his hasty preparations for the impromptu auction, Frimsi frantically paced about a secluded corner of Ost Forod. Ristiinna did not have the product she was promised. And for some reason that deeply concerned him. And the fact that he was so deeply concerned concerned him even more. Why should he care about this random human from an obscure frozen wasteland on the surface? He has deliberately broken promises for profit countless times before. And this time it was not even intentional. Technically speaking, he could get away with it. Frimsi was about to decide that he was not about to buy back his own product that was stolen when the auction began. There was a commotion as it suddenly grew much colder. The light of the torches dimmed and the stars in the sky seemed to go out as the aforementioned ‘buyer’ arrived. There was no mistake; he was of the Angmarim. He wore a deep scarlet hood so that only his frown could be discerned from the darkness. And he was not happy that his arrangement had been suddenly changed without warning. Frimsi immediately strode towards the auction; he had made his decision. He was not about to let Dwarven-made jewelry fall into the hands of Angmar. Especially when that jewelry was made for a friend. He had to win the auction at whatever cost.
The Angmarim hissed at Ropard, “We had an arrangement. These elf-stones are of great interest to my master. You have no idea what sort of power they possess, and any other buyer will squander their potential. I will have them by tonight or I will have your head.”
Ropard shifted nervously; he was about to give in. Frimsi chuckled as he stood by Ropard, “I’ve found that direct threats are not a very effective means to negotiate. Ropard here is a brave adventurer, and as such he is not about to be cowed by your threats, especially if by ignoring such threats he could earn more gold and glory!”
Ropard nodded eagerly, apparently concerned enough to maintain his image as a gruff brigand, “Indeed! Let us commence with the auction!” The auction that followed was quite a harrowing experience, especially for Frimsi. The starting price was two gold coins. Frimsi ultimately won the auction, but at the considerable price of six gold coins. Ropard was surprised at Frimsi’s apparent interest, but he cast any suspicions aside as he was getting three times the amount of coin he was originally going to get from his Angmarim buyer. Frimsi can vaguely recall the Angmarim laying a curse upon the necklaces, but the events during and immediately following the auction Frimsi could only remember in a haze. So difficult was it for him to part with his six gold coins; it was almost traumatic! But such is the price of friendship.
