[Nerindel]

Hálfr (Raakaharn/ Wolf chieftain)

A stocky well built man in his early fifties sat at his desk, thoughtfully stroking his well kept greying beard as he looked over the maps and notes that littered his desk. It had been a long and troubling day and it was not yet over, he put down the map he had been studying and rose to stretch the stiffness out of his legs, arching his back and letting a tired yawn escape his lips he wandered over to the large arched windows of his office. Opening the wooden shutters, he looked out into the clear desert night sky and onto the growing Maenwaith city.

All had been going according to plan, with many of the residential builds already complete, but the larger and more important buildings were taking a little longer to build, as it was proving more difficult than first imagined to gather the raw material, without drawing unwanted attention. However that was soon to change, several months ago with the approval of his mother Markal had established another smaller settlement, about three days south east of the city on the banks of a river that ran it course to the inner sea where the outriders had reported fertile lands for crops and livestock. The outriders also reported finding a thick grey coloured mud that dried hard when left in the heat of the sun to dry. It had been agreed that they should see if this new discovery could be put to use, and that evening a messenger from the village arrived reporting that they had managed to make strong bricks by mixing the dark clay with the sand of the desert and that they would send a shipment for them to examine.

Slowly he drew away from the window rubbing his temples, that had been the only good news of the day, the Stone meant for Wyrma’s main headquarters’ had been destroyed during a seasonal desert storm And all indications pointed to a rampaging Oliphaunt. The odd thing was that there did not seem to be any tracks leading to or from the storage area. Shaking his head wearily he sat back down, almost instantly the rumours had spread that there was a Maenwaith that could take the form of one of these mighty, but unpredictable beasts, Even Kumat Wyrma’s third son was inclined to believe that the destruction was an act of sabotage from one of the rebel clans. This troubled him greatly, he had faith in his men and could not believe that someone or thing could have got past them undetected, but it had, be it saboteur or simply a wild Oliophant whose tracks were covered by the shifting sands in the storm.

By now, Kumat would be delivering the news to his mother and in the morning, they would have her orders. But in the mean time, he would concentration on another possible problem that his son had relied to him in a message. Pushing his left hand into his pocket he pulled out the folded piece of parchment and carefully unfolding it, he read over its contents once more. It spoke of strangers from the northlands, who asked openly of their kind, in the city of their enemy. He could tell from reading that his son was not only concerned that the strangers would find what they where looking for, but also that they would inevitably alert lord Falasmir to their presence, which would undo all that they had so far achieved.

A curt knock at the door, made him look up and in entered Wyrma’s second son and his chief lieutenant, Walat. “You sent for me, Raakaharn?” Walat said standing tall and straight before his desk. An approving smile crossed his lips, of all of Wyrma’s son’s Walat was the only one to display any regard for discipline and order, he also displayed the traits of becoming an admiral tactician and his skill with the sword was remarkable to say the least, he had been his most impressive student to date. But his candidness and straightforwardness left him being un-liked by many, but not Hálfr he liked the man’s candour.

“Yes, Walat. Korpulfr has sent some troubling news for the city” he handed the message to Walat watching the expression of his lieutenant as he quickly read the news.

“You want me to increase the watch?” Walat asked looking up and handing back the parchment.

Hálfr nodded, “But I think we should also send out a few scouts, just to keep an eye out for any strangers,” he added.

Walat nodded his agreement and his eye showed that he understood that Hálfr was not only referring to the northerners but of the uninvited visitor, they had apparently missed earlier.

“Be sure that the scouting party are made aware that they are to keep out of sight and report any unscheduled passage, no matter how insignificant it might seem!” He added as Walat turned to leave. The young man nodded curtly and left to carry out his orders. Halfr grinned certain that Walat would chose to lead the scouting party himself.

Hálfr rose again and looked west in the direction of Umbar, “Soon!” he grinned subversively raising his hand and clenching his fist. “Yes soon I will have my revenge and those who thought to destroy the wolf clan or abandon them to their fate, will regret having let me live!” he hissed coldly into the dark night.