1999-11-02 Elendor

In this scene, Ardin tries to get on Derkin’s trip to Mirkwood again. Somehow all the other dwarves ignore him, however. Keeping his anger under control, Ardin decides to wait. Later, he catches Derkin alone in Longbeard and gets on the trip. As it turns out, though, Ardin will never go on the trip because I stopped playing because of an increased workload in RL (real life).

The Great Hall of Thrain I
A magnificently huge hall, full of light, sound, and dwarves coming and going,
reading the bulletin board, conversing with friends or haggling with traders.
This was once the Feasting Hall of Thrain, and then, the room Smaug hoarded
Erebor's wealth in. The walls and floor have since been repaired, and even
improved, glowing a soft blue in the light of the crystal lamps hung from the
hematite ceiling. Every surface the eye can find is smoothed and polished,
proving that the dwarves have not yet lost their famed touch in stone working,
save for one spot in the center of the floor, marked off by a ring of simple
stones: a charred spot, a legacy of Smaug. The four clan gates exit from this
hall, the hub of Erebor's society. It is still used as a feast hall on High
Days, but day to day serves as a market for those without permenant demesnes in
the Trader's Way.
Contents:
Quari
Bulletin Board
Danamax (Vending: lantern)
Obvious exits:
 Stone Door leads to Emerald Hall.
 Steel Gate leads to Trader's Way.
 Stairway (Out) leads to Great Stair, Lower Landing.
Barazin Arch, Mazarbul Arch, Bundazanul ArchWay, and Zinbar Arch




Elendor time is: Twilight (8 PM) on Trewsday, 12 October 3018.
In the Autumn sky, The last quarter moon hangs low in the sky but will soon
sail high upon its nightly course.



Ardin

Ardin is a young looking dwarf with brown hair and eyes the colour of jade.  He
wears a dark green jacket matching his eyes, a blue shirt, dark brown baggy
trousers and sturdy boots.  If outside, Ardin wears a maroon felt hat.  On his
hands, he carries several rings with big gems, around his neck he wears a big
golden necklace with a halibut shaped, sky blue sapphire.

Jorin

	Before you is the most eloquent looking dwarf. At about 4 feet and 2
inches of height this Khazad shifts occasionally and his chest heaves uneasily
after the simplest gesture. Actually he looks almost shy the way his deep brown
eyes shift about observing the most minute of details. However, any one who
truly knows him can testify that he is in fact the complete opposite,
especially in business.
	Draping over his broad shoulders is a long flowing green cloak,
fastened together at his breast by a sizeable jeweled emblem. His hood is
pulled back and rests lightly down his back, coming nearly to his waist. His
short hair is perfectly set, blowing on occasion from the surrounding air
circulation. From his chin hangs a magnificently maintained brown beard which
is braided into many ends and held fast in his belt by gem studded ties.
	Jewelry shines abundantly on Jorin pleading for attention. You can see
a glimpse of gold and diamonds shining out from necklaces beneath his beard.
Also proudly worn are large jeweled rings on his fingers, all of them. Many of
these rings bear the symbol of his clan, Bundazanul, as does the brooch
clasping his cloak. Sticking out from its poor concealment under the cloak is
the very bottom of the haft of Jorin's battle_axe, also gem studded.
	More than likely as you now peer at him Jorin is puffing on his perfect
pipe, handed down for generations of his family. This pipe is his prize
possession, though he often allows friends a quick smoke. His love for business
and his lust for good pipe-weed always have him travelling, though by his looks
he is not daunted easily. This obviously rich dwarf isn't always friendly to
those he considers 'under' him, but everyone surprises themselves and others
sometimes.

Derkin

A four foot dwarf is before you. One of the most noticable things about him is
his beard. Waist long and intricately braided, the beard has red and silver
beads of different sizes, smaller near the end but getting to the size of a
silver dime nearer to his chin. It would take a dwarf a very long time to braid
a beard this way, with smaller braids inside of larger braids. One could almost
call it a carpet, although if one valued thier life, one wouldn't. He's dressed
in fine attire, shirt and pants in prime condition. Around his slightly
rounding belly is well crafted leather belt with a large, intricately engraved
gold buckle. Around his shoulders and going down his back is a green hooded
cloak. Apparently, this dwarf is of some high social standing, and is obviously
well to do. His face is fast to laugh over a mug of ale, but often can turn
dour if one is not careful with their words.

Onlin (played by Jorin)

	You look at the second cousin of Jorin, Thane Bundazanul. He can be
found around The Mountain performing any number of tasks for his relative, but
he most often sells pipes and tobacco. This dwarf is a jovial fellow,
preffering music and the tavern atmosphere to politics. This fellow is rather
plump, even for a dwarf, and the smile etched on his face is a welcome
departure from the common merchant.

Toran

Standing four foot 4 inches tall, this dwarf is wearing his common clothes,
which are kept in impeccable condition. A dark blue shirt is covering his
torso, with the sleeves coming to the ends of his wrists. A silver button is
fastening the top of his shirt,which a tuff of hair is seen,and on each of the
ruffled cuff. His shirt is tucked in a pair of black pants fastened by a copper
button. A pair of finely crafted leather boots, which come up to the midcalf,
adorn his feet. A deep purple hood and cloak are draped across his head and
down his back which ends just before the ground. A brooch made of high quality
white gold with a plantinum trim is attached to his upper left brest side. His
facial hair is well trimmed and his brown beard is braided down both sides of
his face tied by gold-colored string.His brown hair is covered by his hood but
his brown hair is seen poking out from under it. His brown eyes burn with an
intensity to his foes, but appear more relaxed when in the presence of his
fellow dwarves and friends.

As the hall is being cleared for the night, Ardin moves through the crowds
overseeing the closing of his shops. He watches as the young dwarves carefully
place the gem cutting knives back into the black boxes wrought of blackwood and
silver. As he is handed today's earnings, a satisfied grin spreads over his
face. Only when one of the traders starts whispering something and pointing
towards the Bundazanul ArchWay, does the smile fade. Ardin nods curtly and
stares the way the young dwarf pointed. As he espies the Thane of Clan
Bundazanul, he hands the money back to one of his employees and pushes through
the crowd towards Jorin.

At the closing of shop under The Mountain, Jorin also is making his rounds
through the Great Hall on business. As he passes through the large room,
followed by whisps of soft white smoke of course, he pauses every once in a
while to converse with old trader associates of his. After the thane makes it
toward the center of the hall another dwarf, Onlin, can be seen following suit
behind him. The larger cousin of the thane tries his best to squeeze through
the masses that are constantly flowing against him.

Derkin walks from under the Bundazanul Archway. He walks slowly, watching the
Khazad traders close shop. Derkin seems to be enjoying his brief respite from
the current troubles that plague his craft, that of Embalming the Dead. His
mind wanders slightly with the smell of pipeweed coming from in front of him.
That is when Derkin remembers about his pipe. He begins to look around for a
pipe merchant, but alas, most are all packed up for the night. Then Derkin
notices Thane Jorin a few steps ahead of him. "Thane Jorin," Derkin calls,
hoping that his voice will carry itself around the berth of Onlin who is
trailing behind the thane.

Ardin intercepts Jorin half way through the hall, nimbly stepping in the
Thane's way. He bows, "Please excuse this sudden interruption, Thane of Clan
Bundazanul. My name is Ardin, son of Koilin, son of Oibart, at your service.
You might have seen me here or in Longbeard Tavern before. I come at this
unfortunate time of day to report a molestation of my shopkeepers by an unknown
dwarf that was seen leaving through the Bundazanul ArchWay. The dwarf was a
little less than four feet tall, black hair, black beard with no jewelry, a
brown coat and was seen carrying a large, green book. He started brawling right
in front of my shop, broke a chair, tore down half our decoration and started
running as soon as we stepped forward to hold him."

Jorin abrubtly ends a sentence in his conversation with one Floni when Derkin
shouts his name through the Hall. With a bow to Floni the flax vendor Jorin
turns to see Onlin bobbing his way across the hall nearby. He smiles at his
cousin, thinking that it was him that called out his name, and paces over to
see what it might be that he was wanting. Jorin, as he nearly meets up with
Onlin gets suddenly cut off by Ardin and gives him a perturbed expression to
relfect his rudeness. "Hold on, cousin..." he says, interupting Ardin
mid-sentence, "I'll be with you in a moment." The thane looks crossly over
ardin's shoulder at Onlin, who comes huffing up to the two merchants, and grins
at him crossly. "What is it, Onlin? Why did you call me?" he says.

Onlin glances side-long at the merchant standing before him, looks at Jorin and
shrugs, "I di'nt call you, cousin. I was meerly tryin' ta reach you ta give you
tha business fer the day..."

Derkin grunts something about the rudeness of some dwarves then attempts to
approach Jorin again. "Thane Jorin," Derkin begins with a bow, "If ye have the
time, I would like speak to you about purchasing a pipe..." Derkin give Ardin a
sidelong glance hoping that he won't be interrupted this time.

Toran strolls down the Great Stair to the Great Hall where most are finishing
up business or closing up shop. Glancing around with a bit of a frown on his
face, the Master Justiciar scans the room as if looking for someone. His eyes
fall on the Embalmer as he begins to make his way towards him. Parting his
kinsmen, Toran gives a rather disapproving look at the Embalmer, who is dealing
with Thane Bundazanul. Torna puts his arms behind his back and waits until the
transaction is over.

Ardin looks from Onlin to Derkin to Jorin and back, holding his tongue, his
face darkening by the second. As Onlin starts giving his report behind Ardin's
back, Ardin swivels around and looks at Onlin. Under his breath he mumbles
something, squaring his shoulders against Derkin waiting behind him.

Jorin sighs to himself and looks at the three dwarves gathered around him. Half
knowing already what Derkin desires, and guessing what Ardin will say, Jorin
decides to take the safe road first. As always, business is Jorin's highest
priority, so he first inquires with his cousin. "Onlin?" he says, allowing his
hand to slip away from the pipe in his mouth and holding both arms out toward
the others, "What do you have to say?"

The largest of the four dwarves, Onlin, looks down at his feet as he tries to
think of a way to let Jorin hear the business nicely. As he does so, in the
kindness of his heart, he helps an elder dwarf struggling by with his load and
then speaks up. "Cousin," he starts and motions his cousin over. Jorin excuses
himself and steps next to Onlin. After some whispering amongst them, Jorin
returns to the emblamer and the merchant and says with a grunt and a grim
expression. "Alright, who's first?"

Derkin glances over his shoulder and notices Toran standing there. He turns
back to Jorin then says, "I believe that Ardin has more pressing matters, my
thane." With that he turns to Toran then says, "Aye cousin, how may I help ye?"
Derkin puts his hands behind his back, waiting for Toran to speak.

Relieved, Ardin steps forward and bows again, saying, "As I mentioned, this
Bundazanul dwarf distrupted my business today and caused minor damages to my
shop. As you well know, there are rules and regulations dealing with this sort
of behaviour, but my employees were unable to rush forward from the collapsing
tent and hold the offender. Before they could call 'Hold!' he had left through
the ArchWay and being Zinbar merchants on business, my fellows would not
follow."

Toran forces a grin and nods, "I hate to be a bother sir, but I understand it
that you wish to go and retrieve materials for your profession. I was told that
a small group would be going also." Toran stiffens up as he says, "I would like
to join you sir. I fell that I owe you that much for not reporting me on the
incident in the Longbeard some time back. I feel that I owe you my protection
for this trip. Me and my warders are at your disposal if you will have us good
sir."

Jorin frowns as Ardin brings up some petty matters of a trader that may be out
to give him a bad name. With a nod he begins, "I assure you, cousin, that if
there were a Bundazanul merchant out to disrupt your business, he is in no way
backed by me or any other Bundazanul clan member. Can you be sure that it was a
Bundazanul that did this?" he says as his attention is drawn to the
conversation between the embalmer and Toran.

Having finished with his purpose, Onlin heads back toward the Bundazanul Hall
to scrounge up some food.

Derkin scratches his beard with a barely audible hmm. "Aye," he begins, "well,
Thane Jorin will be speaking with the Uzbad on the matter of an escort. If ye
wish to repay yer debt in that fashion, then speak to yer superiors when the
order comes down." Derkin glances over his shoulder at Ardin, hoping that the
Zinbar would soon finish his business and be on his way. Derkin turns back to
Toran then says, "Although any aid in this journey to the Mirkwood will be
appreciated, as we all have heard of the stories about that dark place."

Looking at Derkin while he continues to talk, Ardin's voice soon trailes away,
"I cannot otherwise imagine how this dwarf managed to pass through the
Bundazanul ArchWay. This is not the first attempt at scaring customers away and
I am starting to suspect a plot against me. I believe in fact, that some
merchants dislike my recent plans of extenting my business to the production of
gold smithing tools. The demise of my cousin and partner Gumbart -- may Aule
keep him safe -- seems to be an unfortunate turn of events for some traders...
But I will not bother you with speculations, I'll just post an unarmed guard at
my expenses and hope to present proof as soon as possible..." As Ardin's voice
fades away, his attention obviously drawn to Derkin's words, he turns halfway
from Jorin towards Derkin and Toran.

The thane looks back toward Ardin as he notices a break in their conversation.
Unaware of what exactly the other merchant was babbling on about Jorin fumbles,
"Um, yes...Well, perhaps you should keep your tent away from the Bundazanul
arch and things will turn out a bit better next time, eh?" At that, Jorin turns
completely away from Ardin and focuses his full attention toward the others.

Toran bows and backs away with a nod to the embalmer "As you wish good sir"
Toran walks away with a nod to Thane Bundazanul and his clansman. Toran walks
over to a small shop and begins talking with its keeper. He begins to help
close the shop down while glancing occasionally back at the embalmer and his
clansmen's discussion with Thane Jorin to try and listen in on the
conversation.

Derkin returns the nod to Toran then turns to Jorin and sees that his business
with Ardin is finished. "Thane Jorin," says Derkin, "If ye have the time, would
ye be able to show me the pipe that ye were speaking of before? I would like to
be able to have a smoke on the road when the time comes."

Jorin focuses on Derkin. "Aye cousin, so you've returned for business, have
you?" the thane says as he plucks the smoldered pipe from between his lips, "I
apologize that I have been unable to speak to the Uzbad as of yet Derkin, we
have both been very busy. Anyhow, let me show you a nice pipe that might suit
your fancy for your journey, eh?"

Noticing how Derkin will draw the Thane into some smalltalk, Ardin walks over
to Toran, "Good sir, my name is Ardin, at your service. I could not help but
overhear your talk with yonder dwarf about an upcoming expedition to Mirkwood.
If I knew that there would be an opportunity to see and perhaps to talk to some
elves, I'd be very interested in coming along. Before approaching him who is
just now talking to the Thane of Clan Bundazanul, I'd like to know some more
about him.  Can you tell who he is and wether it is he alone in charge of the
trip?"

Derkin nods to Jorin, "Aye. It will be a while until the full catalog of what
needs to be gathered will be written, for much goes into the craft." Derkin's
eyes light up with the mention of a pipe, "Ah now, let's see this pipe..."
Derkin pays Ardin barely a glance as the Zinbar goes to speak with Toran.

Jorin takes a bit of interest as Ardin passes over to speak with the other
Zinbar. His eyes follow the trader carefully before returning to Derkin
blankly. A distracted thought process causes Jorin to pause and think of where
his former conversation was headed. In only a moment Jorin recalls,
exasperated. "Er, yes, the pipe..." he growls, "It's back in my chambers, as I
recall. Would you like to see it now?"

Derkin nods to Jorin, "Aye, I would, if it wouldn't be too much trouble. I have
a few free moments this 'eve, and would like to get a pipe soon." Derkin
motions toward the bundazanul hall then says, "I'm afraid that all my pipeweed
will go to worms before I have the chance to enjoy any of it."

The thane eyes Derkin warily and notes, "I'll be back in a few minutes then.
Let me go and see if I can find the pipe that I have in mind. You will enjoy
it, I'm sure, cousin." Jorin grins and dashes off toward the Bundazanul
archway.

Derkin nods to Jorin as the thane heads off, "Thank you Thane Jorin." As Jorin
disappears, Derkin stands and nods to a few Khazad who walk by that he knows.

Derkin is standing near the Bundazanul Archway as Jorin heads off to his
holdings to retreive a pipe. Toran is helping pack up a trader tent while Ardin
speaks at him.

Toran mumbles a few words but doesn't pay much attention to Ardin, since he is
still observing Derkin. Ardin nods politetly and turns away as well as one of
his young dwarves waves goodbye, all things packed and stowed away for the
night. He nods and goes over to Derkin, "Hello, I hear you will be travelling
to Mirkwood. Might it be possible to join the trip? Can we talk about it
tomorrow at the Longbeard? I'm a bit in a hurry just now..."

Derkin glances from the Bundazanul halls back to Ardin, "Eh? Oh. Aye, Longbeard
would be fine." Derkin glances around at the quickly emptying Great Hall. Most
of the Khazad here now are those going to and fro in their own late-night
business, or finishing up thier closing thier stands for the night. Another
Khazad wearing red and gold beads in his beard approches Derkin, who bows in
greeting. They begin to converse quietly as Derkin waits for Jorin's return.

​#Elendor