what a piece of work is man (open)

[saerwen]

It had been a long time since Saerwen had last been in Rohan. For the last thousands of years she had been in the wilderness basically, although she had visited a few places during that time, she had not frequented this place of men. Saerwen still did not think much of men, since they were to blame for many problems in the world. One of them being that the ring of Sauron was never destroyed. And thus, the person that was dearest to her heart died in vain. There was nothing noble about the cause he had fought for. The battle had been no true victory. And for that, she chose to blame men. They were at fault for many things, and it wasn't difficult for her to judge them. Saerwen had lived for three thousand years...in all that time she had never seen anything that would give her a better opinion of man. But unfortunately, the elf would have to deal with them for the time being. Something strange was occurring, and she needed a fast horse to take her all over Middle Earth. And the people of Rohan tamed the best of horses. While Saerwen did not respect them for their own nature, she did respect them for their horse taming. The riders of Rohan were very good at what they did. And therefore, she had to do her best to impress and encourage good dealings with them. Even if that meant being overly polite to people she considered to be slobs. Everything came with a price.

The elf had been on foot for about a week now, since her last mount bolted in a fight she had with a band of orcs. Thankfully she had been smart enough to keep all her important belongings on her at all times. Her pack was secure on her back, and her sword in it's sheath around her waist. Most of her days she spent in armor, since she felt safer with it on than roaming around in a flimsy dress, but once she started approaching Rohan, she realized that this method would not gain her much trust. And while Saerwen trusted nobody, she needed the people of Rohan to trust her enough to sell her one of their great steeds. And so she would play the part of a woman, not a warrior, as irritating as that was. Men were foolish in the opinion that war only had a place for them. Women were just as capable of taking another life. Saerwen had proved that much time and time again. But for now, she would deal with the customs of men. Saerwen put on her best elven dress, one she had not worn in a very long time. Fortunately for her, it still looked as it did in the past...she had kept it from taking any harm during her travels.

As soon as she was a short walk away from Edoras, the elf stopped and went somewhere she knew nobody could see her to change into the elven dress. She stashed her armor in her pack, but kept her sword on top and the pack open, ready to reach in and grab it if necessary. Once Saerwen was certain that her looks were suitable, she ventured out from behind some trees and made her way to Edoras. As she did so, she wondered what tale she could spin to make the use of one of their horses to be of the utmost importance. She had yet to come up with a suitable lie, but for the moment, that was unimportant. Rohan had changed in the years since she had last ventured into the land. Saerwen would first need a guide to show her around the place. She walked up to the nearest person in the city and smiled, in order to reassure the person, before asking, "Excuse me, would you help me? It has been a long time since I last visited Edoras, and things have changed greatly. I do not know where to find what I am looking for."

ooc: dress is the blue/purple one in her sig.

[espen talaïtha]

He wasn't staring. No. No. He took a few steps away from the accusing party. He wasn't.. he didn't even know where he was. But he'd never even seen the woman before, so he couldn't have been staring at her. Her husband didn't seem to believe that though. Probably because Espen never said it. Just blinked blearily at the question and stepped away like he'd been caught stealing something more than a breath of air. Get, the man told him. The man who had no right to tell him what he could and couldn't look at. The man who he could have taken easily in a fight when he was fifteen. The man who, if he'd gone on harassing anyone else, would have been on the ground right now. But none of those retorts formed over the swirling images in Espen's mind or took precedence over the urge to get out. And so get he did. Away away away until he couldn't see them anymore. Until the man and woman's faces were out of his vision and a different man and woman's face was out of his mind. Edoras. He was in Edoras, he told himself. He was delivering something... something which he'd left by the shop on the street with the couple. His face fell and he slouched his shoulders. He really didn't want to go back.

Truely, Espen was not a fan of the great city, it's people, or atmosphere. He'd spent most of his life on the smaller settlements out in the plains of Rohan and he felt like so many people so settled together was very.. unsettling. Very forbodding of a disaster. At the same time, Edoras was where there was work, and where there was a place he could rent a room. It was big enough that he could get lost in a crowd, and if he was very lucky, avoid interations all together. Today he was not very lucky. There were okay days, bad days, and worse days, and he knew from the begining that today was going to become one of the later. There was a certain amount of willpower needed to get through a day and today his was off deep in the forest and refusing to come back. He'd go back and get the package later. Carry it later. Do everything later. When he was more calmed down. But until then he had nothing to do other than stand out in the street and that was as nerve-wracking as it was relieving.

Later didn't come very late. Maybe only a few minutes after the thought. Espen had to double take in his head to assure himself that he was actually being spoken to as the woman approached him with her question. "I'm not the best person to ask,"he said quickly, before picking his head up to look at the woman. She wasn't anyone he recognized from around the town. Which explained why she was talking to him. And asking to be shown around. He rubbed his shoulder and made a gesture. He didn't.. words: form. "I.. uh, I mean, I haven't been here long. Sorry, I might not be know what you're looking for.. but I'll help you if I can." In truth, he knew the city rather well for someone who'd only been a resident maybe a week. He always had had a good sense of mapping. The only time he'd ever spent more than a day in Edoras before now was when he was first brought back after the attack, and he'd spent very little time able to really see the city for what it was. Being unconscious had that nasty side effect. He supposed he'd been a little antsy about it this time though and just walked, everywhere, basically until he knew where everything he might need was. Valor knew he wasn't asking for a tour guide.