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6 Fourth Age: Ships and Sails; [ Open ]
Topic Started: 24 Sep 2008, 01:27 PM (633 Views)
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The end of the day was a welcome reprieve from the endless meetings one had to endure to approve of trade documents. The meeting adjourned just as the flaming disk of the sun lowered itself behind the Bay of Belfalas and the pale violet sky was shot was stars. Lights winked on in every window of the palace and throughout the city of Dol Amroth. As the daily activities of denizens ceased, the sounds of the ocean multiplied in the quiet. The thundering waves drown out the distant snatches of song floating around the city.

Aragorn made his way from the palace down through the straight, sharp-angled streets towards a large one-story building where the shipwrights kept model vessels on display. Some might call it a museum, but the King knew better. It was their library. The entire naval history of Gondor was held within these walls.

Swords and spears Aragorn knew better than any man alive, but ships and sails were the domain of others. If he had taken anything memorable from the meeting today, it was that Gondor relied on sea trade as much as land routes. A King must know every part of his nation, and so Aragorn had come here, while others were celebrating the beautiful night, to study the ships that carried wealth to and from Gondor.

He stepped inside with a reverent air. The keeper of the house bowed low, and then withdrew from the handsome wood paneled room so that his King could observe at his leisure.
 
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Evening had fallen upon Dol Amroth and Haeleana was grateful to see the sun finally begin to set. It was a welcome reprieve from the all day meeting with the encampment. It wasn't so often she met with the rest of the Dunedain women anymore or any Dunedain for that matter but she had just passed her final step of her healer training. Tomorrow the Dunedain clan would grant her the title of Healer. Then she would be able to go to the Houses of Healing for a while. She was quite excited about that but exhausted as she had been asked to look after the Dunedain children for most of the afternoon. She was quite surprised that after running around with them for hours, only now she felt tired. It was unusual for her and she was glad to be free of the children for the night. She loved each and every one of them but she hoped that they would not always choose her for the minder of their children.

Yet someone hadn't been able to resist making a pointed remark about how Haeleana hadn't even gotten engaged yet. Haeleana had merely retorted that she had much bigger ambitions than getting married. Her mother had stuck by her though Haeleana suspected she was eager to see her daughter married and wanted a grandchild soon. Well Haeleana was deeply sorry but she didn't want to find anyone unless they were Dunedain because she didn't want to outlive her husband by about seventy years. Especially if she loved him greatly. It would hurt too much and Haeleana was enjoying being on her own.

So she had come to Dol Amroth which had been the nearest city away from the encampment. She was riding Athelas at a slow walk when she arrived at the city. She dismounted Athelas and led him through the city. There was a small courtyard opposite the building which held the naval information. Haeleana tied Athelas up and sank onto a stone bench gratefully. She pulled out a scroll which contained written proof that she had passed her training.
 
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The guards around him shifted in their places and marched for the door leading out into a courtyard. Looking up, Aragorn saw a fiery head of long hair. He recognized Haeleana, the Dunedain Healer he’d met in Minas Tirith. Rather than allow his guards to send her away, as they were always so keen to do, he waved them off.

“Haeleana, well met. Will you come into the library and look at the splendor of Dol Amroth?”

The Dunedain had no use for ships. He found the subject fascinating for that reason. The models were rigged with elaborate crosses of ropes, pulleys, sails, and masts. Each had a different name, but he did not know many of them.

“Have you come to Dol Amroth for the meetings? They are … tedious, but Arnor will profit in the end. Annunimas will not be an easy city to rebuild, and all Gondorians must agree to help before we can even begin.”
 
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“Haeleana, well met. Will you come into the library and look at the splendor of Dol Amroth?”

Haeleana turned when she heard the King's voice. She stood and walked over to the museum of Dol Amroth. She glanced around as she entered. It was quite a fascinating place but Haeleana wasn't all that interested in ships but she didn't mind looking around here. She turned to the King with a smile.

"Mae Govannen my King" she said with a bow of her head before looking around at the models of the ships. She found herself attracted to one of the larger models and her eyes gazed at it as she found herself wondering why only the elves seemed to wish to go to the sea. She brought her attention back to the King when he spoke again.

“Have you come to Dol Amroth for the meetings? They are … tedious, but Arnor will profit in the end. Annunimas will not be an easy city to rebuild, and all Gondorians must agree to help before we can even begin.”

"Actually my encampment lies a few miles east of this city. I returned to their company for the last few days" she said glancing out of the window. "I did not know such meetings were taken place. My camp insisted on detaining me to care for the young ones whilst the older ones held an important meeting" she said. "They also insisted I complete my training with them. I am finished now I become a Healer tomorrow" she said quietly.

"I hope Arnor can become a home for those without none" she said referring to the Dunedain. She hoped that they could finally have a place to call home

Translation

Mae Govannen - Well met
 
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“Many congratulations to you,” Aragorn said warmly. “It is only right that you finish training with our people. The Gondorians are able Healers, but much lore has been lost among their Healers.”

The King turned his attention to a ship called the Aeglos. It was a massive ship, the biggest in the fleet. Imrahil had told him it took two hundred of the finest Lebennin timber to build the vessel that would hold seven hundred souls.

“Yes, it our hope that Annuminas can become the northern capital it once was. Once Gondor’s ships begin sailing north with supplies, building can begin in earnest.”

He longed to ask what the Dunedain were doing so far to the south, but he refrained. The Gray Company were his House, and the other Rangers in his service, but he was no longer their Chieftain to watch every small decision they made. He would trust to the other elders.

“How do you find Dol Amroth? It can be something of a shock to those used to the rugged lands of the north. The first time we travelled this far south, with King Thengel of Rohan, we found the exotic beaches and strange food disconcerting.”
 
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It is only right that you finish training with our people. The Gondorians are able Healers, but much lore has been lost among their Healers.”

Haeleana smiled. "Indeed I am glad the training is behind. I would be honoured to be allowed to the Houses of Healing to start my time as a Healer but the tribe may require me as the Healer I knew is quite ill. It seems to be beyond herbs so perhaps they shall need me there" she said quietly. She noticed the ship he was looking at and she gazed at it with interest. She often wondered what it would be like to sail on the sea even if it was just to sail to Arnor.

“Yes, it our hope that Annuminas can become the northern capital it once was. Once Gondor’s ships begin sailing north with supplies, building can begin in earnest.”

"How did it get so destroyed?" she asked curiously. "The story does not seem familiar to me. It must have been long since my mother told me. What happened to Arnor to make it fall into such despair? Was it Lord Sauron? If you do not mind me asking"

“How do you find Dol Amroth? It can be something of a shock to those used to the rugged lands of the north. The first time we travelled this far south, with King Thengel of Rohan, we found the exotic beaches and strange food disconcerting.”

"I have been used to cities in general for several years now. Dol Amroth is beautiful and it pleases me to be here in the sight of the sea." she said. "I suppose it is disconcerting but it's a repreive in a way from the many forests and open plains that we're used to" she said appreciatively.
 
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“I am sorry to hear one of our own is doing so poorly. Even the long-lived Dunedain must come to death. Take comfort, Haeleana. If she is at peace, she will pass at the time of her choosing with grace and dignity.”

It was the greatest gift given to the lines of Numenor. Also, it was the greatest curse. Fear of death and the unknown plagued all men, whether Numenorean or not.

“Arnor was once the mightiest of the realms of men. It is not something we wanted to speak of when there was so little hope of victory. It began with the coming of the Witch-king of Angmar. He took up residence in Carn Dum and attacked with vicious intention. Our people fought for seven hundred years.

“In the end, it was the splitting of the kingdom that doomed Arnor but saved the Dunedain. What had seemed so good to King Eärendur’s sons, to make Arnor three separate kingdoms, turned out very badly for two of them. Two of the three armies were overwhelmed. Only the Dunedain were left to fight, and we could not stand against the Witch-king alone.

“That was when our people ceased being Kings and my ancestors became Chieftains. One thousand years we waited to become Kings again.”

Aragorn went silent. A thousand years was a lot of history to carry on his shoulders. As if in defiance of the thought, he stood up even straighter.
 
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“I am sorry to hear one of our own is doing so poorly. Even the long-lived Dunedain must come to death. Take comfort, Haeleana. If she is at peace, she will pass at the time of her choosing with grace and dignity.”

"She would not go any other way" Haeleana smiled albeit sadly. "I do not know if they will call on another more experience healer to take her place. I hope they do although it would be an honour if they ask me" she said quietly. "But that would mean staying with them" she said before closing her eyes. "I am sorry that was wrong for me to say" she said bowing her head in shame. "I love my clan...I really do"

Arnor was once the mightiest of the realms of men. It is not something we wanted to speak of when there was so little hope of victory. It began with the coming of the Witch-king of Angmar. He took up residence in Carn Dum and attacked with vicious intention. Our people fought for seven hundred years.

Haeleana shivered slightly when he spoke of the Witch King. She nodded along listening to the story and thinking of how their people must have suffered under his terrible rule. She looked up at him as he continued. Her eyes glistened with pain. She could ephasise with everything her clan's ancestors had faced.

“In the end, it was the splitting of the kingdom that doomed Arnor but saved the Dunedain. What had seemed so good to King Eärendur’s sons, to make Arnor three separate kingdoms, turned out very badly for two of them. Two of the three armies were overwhelmed. Only the Dunedain were left to fight, and we could not stand against the Witch-king alone.

"We have met with one or two other tribes of Dunedain but I have been told there aren't so many now. It seems the burden of Dunedain heirs lies with the younger ones" she said awkwardly. "It is a heavy burden" she said. "But one we must honour"
 
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His finger traced a gentle line over the diagram below the mighty ship. Aragorn could begin to see how the rigging all worked together in unison. He would ask Imrahil for copies of these plans to take back to Minas Tirith, however.

“The hearts of our people run free,” the King said, offering a small smile to Haeleana. “It is a contradiction then that we are so loyal to our own.”

This negation Aragorn had faced many times on his travels across Middle-earth. It had been necessary for him to wander so widely and aid so many before coming to Minas Tirith as King of the Reunified Kingdom. Always he had felt a little selfish, however, thinking of his brothers fighting in the North with no chance of reprieve.

“There are few of us left. But,” here he added a sly smile, “to our people, youth is an illusion. I have seen nearly a century, but I lest I fall in battle or of a sickness, I shall live to see another still. With Eru’s blessing, you will live to see many new dawns in the next two hundred years.”
 
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“The hearts of our people run free,” the King said, offering a small smile to Haeleana. “It is a contradiction then that we are so loyal to our own.”

Haeleana nodded her eyes glistening with tears. She felt the emotion that she had hidden from the moment he told her about Arnor rising up. "I have behaved in a despicable manner. I should have stayed with them all this time. I have behaved like a coward always running away from them" she confessed. "My duty was to my people and I believe I have let them down" she added.

“There are few of us left. But,” here he added a sly smile, “to our people, youth is an illusion. I have seen nearly a century, but I lest I fall in battle or of a sickness, I shall live to see another still. With Eru’s blessing, you will live to see many new dawns in the next two hundred years.”

"I fear I shall not live to see those two hundred dawns" she said quietly. "I have been somehow blessed by some power in the North and ever since I have wondered whether that blessing will become a curse in the long run. I do not know what happened to me but....all I remember is falling into darkness and when I awoke I had a kind of strength that I have never known before. It is unnatural for a woman to so tireless and so free from pain not least strong enough to lift a hobbit up Weathertop" she said. "Something stirs in me and it is most unnatural"
 
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