Eowyn of Rohan

Those who visited the stables seemed in Eowyn's mind to be of two types: those who did not consider horses to be essential and those who did consider them to be essential.    Neither was better or worse, but she did find that those who had known of horses before their arrival here tended to treat the horses slightly differently.  They were not just a hobby to be considered once a week or month, nor were they a pet -- they were companions, and their lives were as important or more so than the humans around them.  Truly the Eorlingas would not have survived without their horses, and not merely for battle.  They carried goods and people, helped plow fields, and performed many other tasks.  

Lord Villiers was certainly of the type that knew horses to be essential and respected them for all their skills.  He was at the stables as often as he could be and had largely claimed Bramble as his own mount.  Bramble was a spirited gelding and most unsuited to beginners, but Lord Villiers seemed to work well with him.  It was possible it was because they were both fast and slightly vain and so they understood each other.

She was brushing Branwen the small grey pony after she and Branwen had had a lesson with a small child when she glanced up and saw him enter the stableyard.

"Well met, my lord.  How is Bramble today?"

Eowyn's dwelling had been built by the Lady Galadriel for Aragorn.  The Lady had built the cabin so that Aragorn might dwell not far from her, and for herself she had built a house in the trees.   Eowyn had never entered the house in the trees, for it was not built for her.  She did not think the Lady nor Aragorn would mind that she lived in his cabin, and that she had expanded it so that also there was a paddock and a stable for Bleod, but she would not enter the house in the trees.


She had decided, though, that she would tell Maedhros of the Lady's treehouse, in case he might wish to dwell there.  And so it was that she had invited him to accompany her on a ride from the stables, and thus brought him into the clearing that contained the treehouse, her home, and the paddock.

Their conversation on the ride had been light and casual, but she fell silent as she gently instructed Bleod to halt so that he might look upon the thing she wished him to see.

[Description of the treehouse here:  https://thecityneversleeps.dreamwidth.org/1412387.html]

 The days grew colder and they reminded Eowyn more and more of her own land as they shortened and darkened.  She was still alone in this place, even with the friends that she had, and she missed her people.  She missed the weather, the smell of fires to keep warm as the harvest was brought in, and the way the horses' fur grew more shaggy to keep them warm.   Bleod was, in Eowyn's mind, best seen with a full winter coat, even though it also meant much grooming in the spring as the mare lost the now-unneeded coat.  

Today she was grooming her mare in the shelter of the practice yards at the stables and speaking to her mare quietly in Rohirric.  One of the other horses had been nippy today, and Bleod's fur was ruffled in multiple ways.   Eowyn was wearing garments more suited to Rohan than to here, since it was cold, and knew that she was an interesting sight, with her horse and her attire and the way she spoke.  She did not care.  She was of the Mark, and so she would always be.

When another person came closer, she looked up and smiled at the young woman.

"Well-met, Lady."

Her nightmares had increased in intensity and number until she slept no more than a few hours a night. When she woke, she knew she would not sleep again that night, even had she wanted to close her eyes and once more see those images of pain, loss, blood, and suffering.

She did not wish to see them even once more. She wished to never see them again, but some small part of her wondered whether she must see them because they were her fate and her people's fate. Aragorn spoke of their progress to defeat the shadow and she had discerned that she had a part to play in it, though he respected her wishes not to know more. Still, though, she wondered if these nightmares were true dreams and if the progress he knew would fade in comparison to the death that came after it.

This night had been particularly bad and she could not stay within her chambers any longer, with the walls seeming to close in on her as Grima had once taunted her. She slipped a long, comfortable dress on and then covered it with a cloak that would not have been out of place in the Mark. She had had the cloak specially made and it gave her comfort to wear it and to be reminded of her people and her land.

As she walked slowly along the beach, she breathed deeply of the clean salt air. She did not know the meaning of her dreams, but she prayed to all the gods there were that they were not true dreams. She was not certain she could bear it if they were.

Nikita:  Fully fledged EMT and thus working two jobs, but generally happy about it.  I almost gave her an item last month but it seemed like there were a lot of item posts, so that will probably wait until September.   I have an abundance of terrible items to give her, so I picked one that should allow a lot of interaction with anyone who tags it.  She will eventually need to decide if she can or should continue to work two jobs, but since she doesn't have much of a personal life (by choice!), she isn't as worried about not having time to do things.

Eowyn:  Might get an Aragorn or an Eomer at some point, which would be fantastic.   Other than that, she avoided being in a fairytale and has just been working at the stable and getting to know people.  She's pretty content, but her voice is strong, so I'm happy to let the plot come to her.  She transitioned from wanting to date someone and being a little lonely to deciding that perhaps she is not meant to do that. I have opinions about the way her story was wrapped up in canon, but I'm trying not to push too far away from that lest I be set upon by Tolkien scholars.

Sam:  Sam just spent about a month stuck in Dean's shape, although he is now human-shaped again.  He did not enjoy being dog-shaped for that long and is trying to now clean up the literal and figurative messes from that.   I will probably do something with his magic again during the Unmaker plot.  This time, he's not going to change at the full moon during the plot, so he'll be out and about during three nights when he usually isn't.   Personal-life wise, he doesn't have one, but he's got a bit of a pack in Biffy and Lyall and that's a good thing for him.  He feels somewhat older-brotherly towards Daine, too.   

Daniel:  Daniel is pretty sure he won the lottery about three months ago and has continued to be in a general state of bemused bliss.  He's getting an item in August right before his six month anniversary in the city, but it's a goodish item.   He's continuing to make friends with people from Marvel and not, and I think he and Hawkeye Pierce are someday going to get a little drunk about how terrible war is.   I have an idea about a Hydra/HYDRA (which of those is correct?  Do I just pick one?) plot this fall, jumping off from the Drembleydrop plot, and there will be some Action there if I do it.  

Future:  None.  

 The weather was cold and snowy, which suited Eowyn well.   She had warm garments and a warm place to sleep, as did Bleod.  The heat of the summer here was one that did not suit her nearly as much, and certainly did not suit Bleod.  A winter coat could be grown, but in the summer Eowyn had to be sure not to allow Bleod to overheat.  

Such it was that she was able to take long, leisurely rides in the countryside, stepping with Bleod through new-fallen snow and untrod paths while the horse's breath steamed gently in the air.  They rode only as long as Bleod wished to, of course, for the mare's Mearas blood meant that even one of the line of Eorl could not and would not force her to do what she did not wish to do unless the circumstances be grave indeed.

Fortunately for both of them, the circumstances were not grave, and so Eowyn paused when Bleod indicated that she wished them to.  The stream they were near flowed freely even in the winter and Eowyn thought it must be fed by some underground spring.  The water was thus not too cold to drink and Bleod took her time in doing it.

Yes, this weather suited Eowyn well, though she turned in sudden attention to a noise behind her.  

None of mine are going to be alted for Darrow 2 because I'll be traveling for two weeks in the middle of the plot.  I'm happy to play with alts, but I decided that travel plus major plot would end up equaling me dropping threads like I drop my phone (twice today!).  

NIkita:  Nikita will be starting classes at DCC this fall.  She'll start out slow, mostly trying to catch up with the fact that her secondary school experience is pretty much nonexistent.   Fortunately for her, she's intelligent and will pick up and possibly eventually test out of most of the really remedial classes.  But it's Developmental Math and Developmental English for now.  

Future:  John Reese interests her, and I would like to see where that goes.   I'm interested to play her as a student.   It'll be a whole different kind of stress for her, and it'll mean she'll possibly have to give up some of her defensiveness about her lack of education.

Eowyn:  There are several new horses at the stable, which Eowyn is quite pleased to know.   She's met a few new people recently and I think she's developing a friendship with Arry Pottah.    That tickles me to pieces, for obvious reasons.

Future:  Please to be bringing me an Eomer, someone?  Or a Faramir or Aragorn or Legolas, or really, anyone from LOTR.   She tends to be sort of perpetually noisy and wanting to be played, but her blind date EP has gone over like a lead balloon, so I guess I'll just keep tagging her around.   

Sam:  Sam is also not good for EPs, I think.   He's much more of a tag-around person.  He's getting to know all the two-natured, though he hasn't met Luke yet, which we should fix.   

Future:  Puppy Play Date.  It has to happen.  

The holidays here were of course not those that would be celebrated at home, but there was still a harvest festival as well as a midwinter feast, it seemed.  It was called "Christmas" here and was centered around both a religious observance and a non-religious one.  She had not determined how the small child related to the aged man, but one thing she had noticed was that gifts were exchanged.

She was thankful and grateful for her friends and she wished them to have gifts.  Some were simple and could be purchased from the merchants here, but Hild was different.  Hild was the closest Eowyn had ever had to a sister, one who understood the challenges and the joys of a unique position in her society.  Eowyn wished her to have something of Rohan, and hoped that even if Hild was sent back to her own time, the memories and the gift might follow.

After some thought, Eowyn decided a small piece of jewelry with a Rohirric motif might suit, and there was only one craftsman who would make it to her standards, she knew.    She made her way to Fili's store and pushed the door open, hoping he was not so busy for a consultation. 

Riding with Robb had begun as a way to exercise two of the horses at once, as well as a way for him to acquaint her with the island's farther reaches. At first it had occurred infrequently and accidentally, merely because both were in the stable at the same time. Recently, however, she had begun arranging to be in the stables at the same time each day to provide the horses with more structure, which some seemed to appreciate. She had noticed that Robb had also begun to appear at that time more often than not. While she did not presume to believe that he was arranging his visits to coincide with hers, she would not object. Conversation with Robb was always enjoyable and two pairs of hands were often helpful if the horses declined to do as they were asked to do.

When she walked into the stables today, she was mostly unsurprised to note that he was there was well.

"Good morrow to you, Robb," she said warmly.