#worthy inheritors of marauders

[mittenyaare]

Finrod counseled... but for the first time he did not know

Andreth survives the flames, but leaves life behind her not long after anyway.

Aegnor, Ambaráto Akianáro perishes in fire.

Even as her spirit leaves her body, Andreth Saelind recalls her debate with Aegnor's brother Finrod, Findaráto Ingoldo Artafindë...so many names (it is amazing the clarity and knowledge one gains upon leaving life behind).

She had not...lied, not exactly. And neither had. Aegnor. The Noldor did not, then, traditionally wed during war.

It had not been war, then, not exactly. It had been called the Long Peace and then the Battle of Sudden Flame.

Andreth had not, in life, begrudged Aegnor for never informing his family (though she is sure his younger sister knew) of his marriage to her. It was not, after all, a traditional Eldarin or Noldorin or even Telerin marriage. They had wed, in secret, with the barest formalities existing among the House of Bëor.

Three others had been aware—though the whole of Ladros had understood in gossip and rumor— that Andreth Saelind, Wise-Woman of her House, was married to one of the Noldorin Lords of the House of Finarfin, and not ever approachable for courtship.

Aegnor had taught Andreth what he could of hiding her mind and thoughts, and though she never could close her mind or lie to the likes of Finrod, she could distract with truths and the blazing brightness of emotion of the Atani which is felt as innunmerable burning bonfires against the steady rivers and lakes of the Elves.

Finrod knew of her heart, of his brother's heart. He did not know of the consummation and continuation of their shared love.

Their only children, dark-haired as their Atani-mother and long-lived as their elevn-father, only met their uncle(s) after long Ages of the world and rebirths of said uncles in the lands which Andreth was fated to never tread upon.

So no, Aegnor and Andreth did not wed, according to Noldorin custom. But they had married and joined their spirits as they could. They had loved and lived and laughed for the time that was allotted to them, even if in mostly secret, and Andreth laughed as her spirit met her the soul of her husband in the Halls of Mandos (before each moved on to the unknown together, cloven as they were) for she was finally able to pull one over the all-knowing, ever-lofty Finrod Felegund.

When Andreth's and Aegnor's children finally sailed West (their lineage and heritage an open secret by the Third Age among those in Middle-Earth) they met their long-awaited uncle in both sorrow and joy.

And somewhere, distantly, both Andreth and Aegnor smiled and laughed at pulling one over on pretentious Finrod.

[of-forossa]

Within Farron several factions exist among the Watchdogs, some forming after the fall of the old order following the burning of the Abyss Watchers and the drying up of the wolf's blood and others coming about in the centuries following.

Brom leads the relative newest, having arrived at the marshlands after the decline of his own kingdom several decades past. Between his efforts to restore the many ruins dotting the swamp into servicable holdouts, his devotion to guarding the honored dead, and the care in which he has looked after the long slumbering Old Wolf, he has earned himself a growing following-- especially among those who like himself began as outsiders. His is the most open to interaction with foreigners and the ones most likely to engage in a dialogue with you before drawing swords should you be trespassing in their lands. As a result, they are the ones most likely to receive you into their ranks should you prove willing and able enough to join their covenant, and over the years the camaraderie shared between them and their leader through constant training and battles together have made them the most unified of the factions.

Rhiannon the Dragonscarred and her devoted followers are the second oldest, formed of pyromancers and other casters with a perchance for destruction. Rather than protecting the waterlogged graves of the now nameless dead or concerning themselves with the culling of trespassers, Rhiannon's devout instead turn their magicks towards the poisoned earth itself in an effort to purify their home, with great swathes of flame and raging elements beibg common signs of their work, the remnants of still cooling cinders on the wind and the ashes of what was clinging to them as they cleanse their lands. A survivor of the ruination of Shulva by Sinh that seared the flesh of her face and earned her grim title, Rhiannon's obsession with fire and flame contrasts sharply with her cunning intelligence at times, making dealings with her difficult even for those who count themselves among her number.

Finally, Aiulf Irontooth heads the oldest and most bloodthirsty of all the factions, having seized control of vast swathes of Farron after the fall of the old order and the corruption of the former forests into decaying swampland. A native of the lands and one of the few who can trace their lineage back to the days of the Abyss Watchers and their pact with the Old Wolf so long ago, the warlord abhors outsiders regardless of their intentions and will try to kill any who haven't sworn themselves to the oath of the Wolf. Even those that do may find themselves facing the edge of his axe and the strength of his shield, for his tolerance of his fellow Watchdogs who aren't of the blood of Farron is short indeed. Consumed wholeheartedly with the hunting and slaughtering of foreigners as well as culling the Ghru whenever their numbers begin to rise too high, Aiulf's marauders have come to blows more than once with the other Watchdogs, their savagery only outdone by their desire to prove themselves as worthy inheritors to the stalking grounds left by the Old Wolf in his unending sleep.

[anushakhuranawritings-blog]

BOOK REVIEW -KOHINOOR -WILLIAM DALRYMPLE AND ANITA ANAND.

Once u have turned page 199 what do u think?You think u read something interesting in bits and pieces ….whether that something was the KOHINOOR is a bit difficult to answer

Visions of a King Abdali owner of the KOHINOOR with his nose half eaten by maggots which fall into his food…..graphic details to deter the bravest into owning the diamond. Raja Runjeet Singh is portrayed à bit subtly in a way as if some physical attributes could take away from the Lion of Punjab. In fact the spiriting away of the KOHINOOR was after his death. The story that follows the inheritors being faced by luck which couldn’t get worse….The next Prince having his head crushed to death…..followed by the demise of his successor too till it reaches 10 year old Duleep Singh.To get him to sign the handing over of this precious diamond is no mean feat….After all he has the experience of 10 noble years on his stately shoulders. As the fair sense of the marauders takes over the diamond is taken by Lord Dalhousie, if my memory of this great gentleman serves me right.His attempts to first prove it’s a worth it acquisition and therafter to make it worth holding on to is laud (gh)worthy. The travails of Duleep Singh who must have been a confusedly unhappy soul make one unhappy for him.His mother Jindan wrong time born, in the sense of being smart but wrongly placed also evoke sympathy in the book. Also attached to the book is the system of sati which surprisingly comes across as a confounded conundrum….its actually portrayed as an uplifting occasion with sprinkling of slave girls as a bonus to the ceremony. Trying to convince others of your conviction is herculean indeed especially if others conceptions of a good diamond are that it has to be polished to a T. I suppose to see goodness in the raw doesn’t come natural to the more embellished of us mortals. Then starts the grind. …of the diamond…and the reader.It isn’t really the most interesting of tasks to see the hysterical changing of gears so that the scoffed at or not adulated diamond should now be prostrated to. In an attempt to get the public to ooh and ah at the acquisition My fair lady has to transform from the Ugly Duckling.The taming of the diamond makes one wince as it is polished and cut and cut and polished. The book finishes on a note not befitting such an acquisition. The interesting angle is of course the claimants to it ….its easy for the British were they ever in their most befuddled moments to think of returning it. Right from Pakistan to us to numerically pompous numbers there’s a waiting line long enough to embellish many a route. The long and short of it is that it’s a book split into 2 by 2 .Two writers narrating spicy bits of history and effortfully anchoring it on the diamond is the crux.Part 1 is so dry that the tribute to it is in a pithy narrative -fill it forget it. So should u desire to read history of the forgotten variety here’s your pick.