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| 6 Fourth Age: Cruel Intentions; [Dagoras, Gwenneth & Haeleana] | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 4 Oct 2008, 09:14 PM (512 Views) | |
| Deleted User | 4 Oct 2008, 09:14 PM Post #1 |
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After the celebration of peace in Gondor the Chamberlain Sadorannant had stalked away into the night, with Gwenneth close at his side and his malicious scheme flowing through his brain with an exact precision. He had a plan, a wickedly brilliant plan that would allow him to keep his daughter just exactly where he wanted her which was to say exactly where she was right now. Stashed away in Minas Tirith's highest level and secure from the rest of the world. Out of sight and out of mind but most importantly, unable to participate in the Kings retinue to visit the hobbits. Tsk, tsk,and such a shame that would be. The plan had been carried out flawlessly so far and the Chamberlain had done some meticulous research until he'd found just the man for the job and had recruited him to the cause. Needless to say he gave the 'gent no reason of why, just the who and how the whole thing would be achieved and half the dues promised him paid up front to help with motivational concerns. The girl was not to be killed, just drugged on the sly so it seemed that she'd simply taken ill. It was to happen only a couple days ahead of the Kings journey out of Gondor to visit the hobbits. A feasible reality and a respectable reason for Gwenneth to have no other option but to decline Elessar's invitation... * * * Gwenneth had often times sat and pondered about her father and how they had in plain truth very few things in common. She wondered, as she walked with a small basket of fruit, cheese and breads in a basket, if it was this way with all daughters and their fathers or if it was with just her own that she felt so contrary. The train of thought continued as she entered into the seventh levels dining hall, where every day people came to eat outside of their homes and chambers to enjoy the scenery and company of friends over a meal. Gwenneth had come with only Ioreth, her fathers servant girl and earnestly one of her only friends, and food and a book for company. She chose a relatively empty bench with a lively view of the citizens that past and the guards that marched by in odd numbers and pairing. Most of them she recognized and knew by name, but very rarely knew on a personal level. They were all polite, nodding and smiling if they made eye contact but continued on their way with the days business. Ioreth had chosen a seat a little ways away and was practicing her stitching while Gwenneth occupied her time with unpacking the basket of food and drink and arranged it on the small, secluded tables surface before folding open her book on her lap. She'd lost her page the last time she'd been reading and had to flick through a few pages to figure out where she had last left off. |
| Deleted User | 8 Oct 2008, 05:52 AM Post #2 |
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In his room, Dagoras sat at the far end bent over a pestle and mortar that was on the table before him. A dull, light pounding was the only thing that was to be heard as the man grinded away what appeared to be dried vines and leaves. This was the first stage of his preparations - preparing the poison, and it had been relatively easy so far, indeed Dagoras was still marveling at the sheer brilliance of his decision on which poison was to be used to get the job done. He smiled to himself as the foliage in the mortar became unrecognizable as anything that had previously grown from the earth. He had chosen to use the leaves of a tomato plant which would cause his victim intense stomach pain and agitate her nerves. His decision had been simple, in case she suspected poison, something domestic and readily consumable had been chosen. Nothing exotic that could possibly be traced back to him. Of course, he wasn't simply going to poison someone just for the sake of poisoning, no this was a task that would yield not only material rewards, but would hopefully with enough care, watering, and feeding gain him a new ally in the end. Dagoras and the Chamberlain had talked before, mostly about dull topics and only when their duties intersected. At first Marroc was distant and stiff, but gradually, Dagoras had picked away at that exterior like a carrion eating crow and had revealed something far more malicious lurking inside his dutiful façade. The Corsair had slowly revealed select pieces of his own soul in order to commiserate with the man. He had of course, been very careful not to say too much, he was a loyal Gondorian after all! Perish the thought that he might with to see Elessar's head mounted on a spike outside Minas Tirith's walls! When he had been approached for this very mission he had been so very understanding of Marroc's plight. And he had agreed that this thing must be done for the girl's own good. He hummed a little tune from his childhood as he poured what was now powder into a piece of folded paper on the table. He could still remember what the song was about that he used to sing as a boy. It was a song about the sea and about Corsair ships, and somewhere inbetween there was talk of sea monsters and bodies floating in the water. He pulled a ring with a red jewel from his pocket and then promptly lifted the jewel from it which was attached to the base by a hinge disguised as a an ornate leaf. The inside of the ring was a hollow compartment into which he poured the powder before slipping it onto his finger. No one would think anything of it, after all Dagoras was attentive to his appearance, no one would think twice about this ring. Snatching a basket that his tater-brained manservant had left at his door, Dagoras headed toward the seventh level where he had been told that Merroc's daughter, Gwenneth would be taking lunch. Merroc had taken an opportunity to point her out to him previously and so, once he had reached the seventh level, he had little difficulty in locating her. Plastering a smile onto his handsome face he strode over to the beautiful, dark-haired woman seated alone at a bench, bent over a book. Hiding away his more harsh Corsair accent and adopting the more genteel Gondorian one he spoke brightly, "I hope you do not mind if I join you on this most beautiful afternoon? I simply could not help but admire your beauty, or understand how you could be sitting alone!" His dark brown eyes seemed lightened in the bright sunlight, and the crinkles around them from his smile made them positively dance with life. |
| Deleted User | 17 Oct 2008, 04:22 AM Post #3 |
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Dagoras was one of those faces that Gwenneth had known for a very long time but had never directly associated with. Not because she thought him uncomely or wished him away when ever he was near, more simply because her father hated with a passion any moment that she shared with a male. It was unbefitting and unappropriate, plus many other words that started with 'un' and generally meant that she shouldn't be seen doing it. Still he approached her with such a honey sweet smile and eyes that bedazzled her senses, she succumbs to her innate womans nature (and his flattery) and nodded to allow the handsome man to sit. "I would greatly enjoy it if you would." she says with an earnest and sweet sing song of her voice. Already folding closed the book she had been reading onto her lap and turning into the table to face him. Her basket looks mirror image of his own she notices, something that undoubtedly promises a wealth of goodies and foods to be inside of it as well. "I insist in fact, as you will be doing me a great favor by pulling me away from my reading and into a more pleasant bit of company." The way she goes about unfolding her own lunch, the language of her body and the subtle glances across to Dagoras himself are all abundant with a shy inexperience. She has no practice in socializing with men, never mind men as handsome, strong as noble as Dagoras. He is after all guard and protector, what more noble thing is there than that? |
| Deleted User | 28 Oct 2008, 09:23 PM Post #4 |
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"I would greatly enjoy it if you would." The charming smile that had been fixed to his face did not falter for a moment, and indeed it had no reason to do so as this lady of Gondor seemed all too eager to wile away her lunch time with him. Dagoras took a seat beside her, the small ruby on the poison ring twinkling merrily in the warm, afternoon sunlight. "I insist in fact, as you will be doing me a great favor by pulling me away from my reading and into a more pleasant bit of company." "You are too kind, my lady," He said earnestly, "And before I succumb to rudeness, I am Dagoras, Warden of this fair city," Here he slightly bowed his head, "Although I am ashamed to admit it, I do not ever recall having the privilege of matching your face to a name." Of course, he really did know her name, she was Gwenneth, daughter of Chamberlain Sadorannant Marroc, who had asked Dagoras to temporarily incapacitate his daughter with poison. And by the way her voice lilted when she spoke to him, not to mention the way her entire demeanor had changed after he had expressed his interest in her, he knew that she was absolutely smitten. He felt doubly glad now that he had taken on this "job," for not only would he be closer to putting the Chamberlain in his pocket, but the price for that accomplishment now seemed perfectly trivial as the task was now revealing itself to be absurdly simple to accomplish. And in that, there was a slight disappointment to be found. Despite the very real danger that came with his role as a spy of Mordor within the heart of the Kingdom of Gondor, day-to-day life had a terrible tendency to become unbearably droll, especially when compared to the way he had lived in his former life. He had lived a life of danger and extremes. He lived on the ocean with a crew that could be just as deadly as the sea. It was a time that seemed to be a hundred years removed from the present day where he shared a bench in the city of Minas Tirith with one of the noble ladies of Gondor, daughter of a people that he had been conditioned to loathe. The least she could have done to add a little excitement to his day would have been to have given him a frosty reception. He began to unravel the basket of foods beside him, revealing sharp green apples, along with bread, cheese, and a small bottle of red wine. His servant may have been lacking a little in the area of intellect, but he did know how to prepare a meal. "I really hope that I am not disturbing your afternoon. After all, someone like you must always have potential suitors courting you incessently! How do you manage to get any reading done?" |
| Deleted User | 31 Oct 2008, 09:12 PM Post #5 |
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For a moment, Gwenneth seemed to focus on unpacking her own parcel food out of her basket. Trying not to emphasize the slight ting of guilt that chided at her for not only eating with a stanger but a male. Surely the Chamberlain would not have approved and it made her doubt for a moment that maybe she should not have accepted. Maybe she should excuse herself even now before it was too late and the offense would be all the more greater to him. Bright baby blues flicked up back to Dagoras and immediately the thought past. The Chamberlain was on duty, down in the lower levels where he would be for the duration of the day. Why insult such a fine gentlemen where the was utterly no need for it. The meal had not be planned and the company was innocent as she. There was not a single false pretense in his stare that suggested she should be wary, so she wouldn't. The lilt of her laughter filled the space between them, like angels playing their chords from a high and she smiled with kindness towards him. His compliment, although flattering, obviously very much untrue. "I am Gwenneth Marroc, Daughter of the Minas Tirith Chamberlain Marrow." She announced with a bit of daughterly pride behind her voice. "And I am most assured, you disturb no others place here Dagoras. The way is clear and my time to read most plentiful." Her eyes then fell back to the food she had laid out and slowly began to layer a single slice of fresh bread with a piece of meat and cheese. She set this, with a few plucked grapes from their stems, onto a napkin that feigns as a plate on the tables surface. "You say you are a warden, Dagoras? Is it a dangerous position to hold, if you don't mind my asking that is. I've often wonder, aside of my fathers, what it would mean to hold different responsibilities such as your own." |
| Deleted User | 11 Nov 2008, 08:56 PM Post #6 |
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"I am Gwenneth Marroc, Daughter of the Minas Tirith Chamberlain Marrow." "A beautiful name, it suits you perfectly," He felt that he might have been overdoing the flattery, so he changed his course, and set his words to something else. "Your father is well-known to me, you know. We often have to exchange reports and sit at meetings together. He is a fine man." It was always best to mix your lies with truths, so while he did have official dealings with the Chamberlain, he did not think that any man who would poison his own daughter could be a 'fine man.' Dagoras may have been a Corsair, who partook in piracy and then sided with the Hand of Sauron, but he had his standards. He would have never laid a hand on his mother or his daughter, if he had one. "And I am most assured, you disturb no others place here Dagoras. The way is clear and my time to read most plentiful." He smiled genialy, "Ah, and you possess the fine virtue of humility as well, I see." "You say you are a warden, Dagoras? Is it a dangerous position to hold, if you don't mind my asking that is. I've often wonder, aside of my fathers, what it would mean to hold different responsibilities such as your own." He began to spread his own food out on the other side of the bench, talking as he did so, "The title sounds far more impressive than the duties. All that I do is maintain order and security inside Minas Tirith, I also monitor the gates to see who comes in and out of the city, and finally I spend a great many hours writing up reports for King Elessar, who I'm sure doesn't have the time to read half of them!" He joked. "But tell me, my lady, what is it that you set yourself to?" He then pulled out the small bottle of red wine, "Would you care to share this with me?" He asked innocently, disguising the question as an after thought, as he held it up so that she could see it more clearly. |
| Deleted User | 17 Nov 2008, 06:43 AM Post #7 |
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Her smile was pleasant in response to his words. The kindness and flattery he had shown was so completely unexpected that he had, in all truth, left her without words. Though she had tried desperately enough to find some, she felt silly on the inside when all that came about was the urge to laugh quietly and fidget with her napkin. Was she so adolescent? So inexperienced that she couldn't accord the gentlemen some worthwhile company? No. No in fact Gwenneth became convicted to prove otherwise of herself. She would be articulate and pleasant, not some shy giggling girl. So in turn, she nodded appreciating his willingness to expose a little bit more of Gondors' mystery to her and satisfied to hear that his job was not so dangerous as it was scrupulous and accomplished. "My thanks, I would. That's a find brand you have there. I couldn't rightly refuse it." she assented to his query for the wine and then continued to answer his question. "I would one day aspire to work in the Houses of Healing here in Gondor, I've always felt inspired by the goodness and hope the healers radiate as they work. If not that, then perhaps I would strive to become a Master scholar and obtain a place amongst the King and Queens councillor's. In truth, I just wish to be of some value. I have lived too long in Gondor not to try and serve it or its people as I might." |
| Deleted User | 9 Dec 2008, 09:01 PM Post #8 |
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"My thanks, I would. That's a find brand you have there. I couldn't rightly refuse it." He smiled graciously, as though Gwenneth had done him a great favour by accepting his offer of wine. He began the attempt to uncork the bottle as his comapanion answered his previous question about her life in the city of Minas Tirith, and despite himself, he found that he was surprised by her answer of wanting to contribute and give back to the City. He had taken her for a woman who was content to leech off others for the remainder of her days. He nodded his approval as he pretended to struggle with the cork. In reality he could feel that it was wedged in very loosely, and that he should be able to open it with little effort, however it was all part of the plan. He turned his back to her and apologized for his inability to open the bottle. Once his back was turned he opened it quickly, while still maintaining the facade that he was struggling with it. He poured the dark red liquied into the two cups that he had taken out beforehand and as he filled Gwenneth's cup he unclasped the ring containing the poison with a slight of hand and the dark green powder fluttered into the cup only to disappear from view completely. He turned around and handed the poisoned wine to the fair lady. "A toast!" He proclaimed, "To the fulfilment of hopes and dreams for the future!" And he took for himself a single sip of the sweet wine. |
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