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Old 05-29-2008, 10:51 AM   #126
Groin Redbeard
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
 
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Facing the world's troubles with Christ's hope!
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Groin Redbeard is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.Groin Redbeard is battling Black Riders on Weathertop.
Somewhere in the plains of the Westemnet

The hunting party slowed their horses to a trot, making it seem unbearably long to make any progress across the never ending stretches of land. Lither was whistling a jovial tune as he swayed in the saddle; the high pitched ringing of the notes began to get on Erbrand's nerves, but it seemed that neither Balvir, nor Matrim, paid any attention to him or Lithor. Lithor, looked to Erbrand, as if he was fifteen years his senior, yet it seemed that he had the enthusiasm of a young boy. Not once when they were riding had Erbrand seen a stern look on the guard’s face, it was always lit up with grin or a smirk.

"Lithor!" came the quick words of Balvir, "Either you sing a song or you ride in peace, that whistleling is getting on my nerves." Lithor responded by shutting his lips. Erbrand couldn't help but smile.

Balvir struck Erbrand as a serious person, the Gondorian's dark bearded face was always stern and his deep blue eyes were always watching something. His hair hung down to just below his shoulders, which were extremely broad. Erbrand remembered him mentioning something about him being a captain in the house of a man called Aeol, or something like that; he never was good with remembering names.

“He’s not as bad as he is,” Erbrand suddenly noticed that Matrim had been riding beside him, “He’ll calm down in a little bit,” Said the Gondorian in a low voice.

Matrim was a calmer sort than Balvir and had a lesser likeness to Balvir. He never seemed to be angry or happy, Erbrand had not seen him smile or frown at all. However, the way that Matrim spoke seemed to sooth Erbrand’s tense feelings, and he could see that Matrim was a calm and gentle sort when it came to handling people.

They rode on in silence for around twenty more minutes until they came to a sloping area of the plain. Balvir motioned for silence and to dismount, they did so as quietly as they could. They left their horses to feed on the grass as they all followed Balvir up a wide hill. When they reached the top Erbrand could see that they were looking over a small basin of land. All around the place the ground rose and then gradually sloped down to where it was once again flat. There were no trees on the hills, but the grass got deeper and greener as the ground sloped down, to a small group of trees near the center of the basin.

“Well, this is certainly an ideal spot for hunting!” Erbrand said smiling. He would never suspect to find something like this in the vast open spaces of the Westemnet.

“Yes,” Matrim replied, “We’ve had luck here before in the past, and we usually find a good quarry here, mostly deer.”

“Let’s hope we have that same kind of luck again,” Balvir said grimly, “Come, let us prepare for the hunt. If there is anything in those trees we’ll flush them out soon enough.”

Erbrand followed Balvir down the hill back to the horses. There they strung their bows and examined their arrows. Erbrand could feel the amount of excitement in Traveler; he loved the hunt as much as his master did. Erbrand patted the horse on the neck and stroked his mane while making adjustments to his stirrups. A familiar procedure that Traveler knew well: “It won’t be long now, old boy,” said Erbrand, “It won’t be long now.”

Last edited by Groin Redbeard; 05-29-2008 at 11:05 AM.
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