Wednesday 24 February 2010

The true story behind Legendary Items

Silirien brushed away sweat from her forehead only to realize with utter disgust that her gloves were covered with slime as if she was walking in Dar Narbugud on her hands, scribing Words of Power with her feet.

Rhyaewald jumped over the carcass of the Mistress of Pestilence and proceeded towards the circle of throbbing eggs, crushing them one by one. Nameless creatures not fully formed yet fell to the floor in fountains of (ewww) slime to die under the Warden's boots, others were quick to help.

And then, instead of the usual *plop*, a much more desirable sound of *bling* reached their ears - in the faint light of a few fires (and a few pillars of flame - after all, Sil was a Rune-keeper) they saw the unmistakable shine of Gold. Dwarves, naturally, got an instant +3 modifier to Mood.

"So the Mistress was indeed female", someone commented, looking at a pile of golden leaves and some other shinies.

And then... she saw it... the unmistakable shape of a Rune-stone with the power of the Word simply radiating from it, calling her... As if in a trance, she approached the pile of loot and took it in her hands. Even through her slime-covered gloves she could feel warmth emanating from it and she knew before she even laid her eyes on the runes covering it that this stone has told many tales of Fire and that they were scorching to the core of the Earth. Its intricate beauty was unmistakeably elf-made, with delicate lines of ornaments following natural lines of existence.

This was the most amazing Rune-stone she had ever seen but nothing in her centuries of elven life had prepared her for the shock she was about to experience when she saw the signature of the maker...
...Fëanor...

A few months later, in Ost Galadh...
Legindir, Relic Master: *with clear panic in his voice* You want me to do what?
Silirien the Alluring, Rune-keeper: I want you to deconstruct these.
Legindir: But... but... they are works of immeasurable value, you surely are aware of that?! This Rune-stone... I would never believe it if I wasn't holding it in my hands. It was crafted by Fëanor for the love of the Valar! And these satchels here, Yavanna bless me, are the works of our beloved ladies Melian and Luthien..!
Silirien: Yes. but... I kinda don't need them anymore...
Legindir: *with tears in his eyes* ...and this Rune here, a work of Celebrimbor...
Silirien: A personal gift from the last era, a pretty trinket, but...
Legindir: Rune-keeper, have you any idea what you ask of me?!
Silirien: *a tad irritated* Yeah, I just did kinda... Destroy them! I need some settings to decorate this rune. A very nice aspiring hobbit tinker from Stock created it for me last week and his younger sister sewed this satchel here. Lovely, ain't it? It has the Bullroarer stitched on it! And next week I am planning to maybe make my own stone, I'm quite good with metals, you know, and I have those miserable trinkets from the fabled works of Celebrimbor that I can use to improve the overall design. I'm going to attach it to my stone and create a true avatar of pew pew!
Legindir: Silirien...
Silirien: What? I can't help it! Apparently the schooling work of this hobbit tinker from Stock holds more power than the creation of the legendary maker of the Silmarils. So destroy them, as I'm still asking nicely and not by making a barbecue out of you, and give me back some relics!

Legindir, crying, shatters the rune stone made by the hand of Fëanor and tears apart satchels stitched by Fey Queen Melian and her daughter, fabled Luthien Tinuviel in Nargothrond thousands of years before. The relics they hold and that he is able to extract he delivers with a shaking hand to Silirien the Alluring, proudly wielding her Rune-stone of the Third Age, made by Bobbie, a young tinker's apprentice from Stock.

Silirien: What the..? Copper settings..?
Legindir: *cries*
Silirien: Out of my three First-Agers and one Second-Ager? I was planning to update my Third-agers with the left-overs and all I get is this crap?!
Legindir: *races to the top of Minas Celebolf and leaps to his death*
Silirien: ...

Many thanks to Raedwulf for proof-reading and refining this little story!