[VanimaEdhel]

Barzûn - Dwarves

Barzûn sighed with relief as the rain let up. He had been afraid that the rain would stop the work for the rest of the day. The Dwarves lingered indoors still, however. Barzûn grumbled as he crossed from where he had been standing in the shelter over to where the other Dwarves were standing. He saw some stand back at his scowl, and he almost smiled at the effect. Others, however, glared right back. This caused Barzûn to miss a step. He tried to collect himself again and hoped that no one had seen his pause.

“Well,” he gruffly said to the group, “Time to get back to work.”

Barzûn traveled to tell every worker to get back to work. Within half an hour, all the Men and Dwarves were back to work. Barzûn wandered around watching the work. The work continued successfully for a few hours. Barzûn nearly smiled to himself at the progress…nearly…

A Dwarf came up to Barzûn. He looked nervous. “Um…Sir,” he said, “My name is Gamil.”

“I do not care one whit for your name,” Barzûn said, “What is it you desire?”

“Well,” the Dwarf said nervously, “The supplies for building…stone and the like…”

“Make it quick, boy,” Barzûn said impatiently, “I still have rounds to make.”

“They have not arrived,” Gamil said quickly, flinching as he spoke.

Barzûn swore quietly to himself. He knew something like this would happen. It was all going too smoothly so far. Well, now the Dwarves would have to decide what to do. Men could not be trusted with a decision such as this. The Dwarves would just have to find another location to obtain supplies.

“Dwarves!” Barzûn yelled. The Dwarves looked up from their work, “We must talk.”

The Dwarves gathered around Barzûn in the tent with the plans for the town. Barzûn called Gamil up and Gamil quietly explained their dilemma. A few Dwarves rolled their eyes. Others swore as Barzûn had done, and a few showed to be thinking of ways to solve the problem.

“It is our job to find new material,” Barzûn said, “So let us get thinking.”

Silence fell upon the Dwarves. Each one was obviously trying to form an idea. Their endeavors were unsuccessful for a time, however. Finally, one Dwarf’s face showed an image of realization. The Dwarf smiled. Barzûn looked at the Dwarf. It was Therin. Barzûn hoped the idea was not too ludicrous.

“Yes, Therin?” Barzûn asked. “You look as though you have just been struck with realization of something important. Would you care to share it with the rest of us?”

Therin looked up, startled. “Well,” he started, “I have heard talk. I was listening to some of the men. There is a town. I believe it is called Annuminas. It was once the capital of this area. It is in ruins now. They did not clean out the place, though. The men were wishing that they would refresh the place and create something where the skeleton of the city stands. That means there will be supplies there that we can use.”

Barzûn looked at the Dwarf with surprise. It was an intelligent, well-thought-out idea. It also might work in their situation. The other Dwarves nodded their agreement with Therin. A few muttered at his intelligence. Barzûn thought about it for a little while. The idea sounded completely logical and feasible.

“All right, Therin,” Barzûn said, quickly banishing the small smile that appeared for a second, “We will set out.”

“Shall we tell the Men?” Therin asked.

“We shall tell them, but they should not come,” Barzûn said. “This should be our work. They would just get in our way.”

After about an hour, the Dwarves stood at the ready. They carried with them wheelbarrows and other means by which they planned to transport the supplies from the wrecked city of Annuminas.

“All right, men,” Barzûn said, dragging a wheelbarrow himself.

The troop set out at a fairly brisk pace for the former capital of Arnor.

[ October 24, 2003: Message edited by: VanimaEdhel ]