[Schmendrick]

”Well, my mother still dwells in Dol Amroth…although she has changed much and hardly ever leaves her father’s house.” Durmán said with a sigh.
“ But all this I told you is only the beginning of the story. After these events, my father started acting very strange. I didn’t understand what was going on, for I was only a boy, but now I believe his mind was shattering already then. He very soon found himself a new companion – much too soon. She was a daughter of the rangers, fair and courageous, Almera was her name. I was happy to have her around and for a while everything seemed to be fine. They had a boy, Endel, who I came to love like my own brother.”

Here Durmán paused a long time. He seemed reluctant to continue now. He hadn’t spoken of these things to anyone, and although they were always somewhere in the back of his mind, he was afraid of letting them out, he was afraid of the power of those memories. Finally he spoke again, now slowly, pausing from time to time.


“ But my father…something was terribly wrong with him. I could see it ever more clearly when I grew older. He was very moody, sometimes he left us for days and when he came back, he looked old and weary. Once I followed him. He rode as close to Dol Amroth as he dared and just sat there on his horse, watching the distant city, for hours and hours. I knew he hadn’t forgotten about my mother. He also started treating Almera badly. He had never been very kind to her, but now he started calling her names…I tried to defend her, but I was still young and he wouldn’t listen to me. This went on for a long time.


Then one day, I wanted to go for a ride, for I needed some time alone, away from all this. I remember that day clearly, it was a beautiful autumn day, the sky was so blue it almost hurt the eyes and everything was so quiet…” for a while Durmán looked lost in thoughts. “ I had planned to stay away the whole day or maybe more, but I hadn’t got far, when I had a strange feeling that something bad had happened. I returned immediately, fearing that orcs or some wild men would have attacked my family. But when I came back, I found only my father there, although I hardly recognized him.
I could see the madness had finally taken over him. He sat on the ground with a knife in his hand and didn’t even seem to recognize me. Almera and Endel could not be seen anywhere.

I tried to question him, but he gave me no reasonable answer, only laughed and cursed them.” Durmán shivered. “ I thought he had killed them. But there were no signs of a struggle, so I left to search for them, in case they hid somewhere nearby. But all I could find was Endel’s necklace. It was hanging on the brache of a tree, near the place where we used to play, when he was small. Then I knew they were alive. They had escaped.

I wished to follow them, but couldn’t leave my father alone in the wild, in the state he was. So I returned and promised myself to take care of him and leave only when he was better again. But he never got better. For two long years I took care of him and got not as much as one grateful word.”
Durmán paused again. He tried a smile, but it died on his lips and never reached his eyes. “ So from that day on I have been looking for Endel. And Almera, too, of course. But they are nowhere to be found.”

[ February 02, 2003: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]

[ February 02, 2003: Message edited by: Schmendrick ]