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Danas' Tale: Way of the Warden	By : NiaraAfforegate Category: +G through L > Lord of the Rings Online, The Views: 1003 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is set in the universe created by Turbine, with permission from Tolkien Enterprises. I have no affiliation with either, and no such permissions. No money is made, and no ownership of LotRO, its universe, or related media is claimed.

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- 1-Danas' Tale: Way of the Warden
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This is part of a series, though stands alone in its own right as a collection of tales. This entry will contain the stories of Danas, hobbit if the shire, and Warden. Until such a time as his tales are ready, this will contain some simple backstory for Danas.

A few other things need be said concerning Danas. The character of Danas was originally housed on a different server to Niara and the others. As a different Server, so a different world, becuase I had no room for him on Niara's server, and thus they could not interract. The result is an unusual divergance in their stories, because of one primary difference, namely, in Niara's world, Danas was a man, and one she found particularly comely. In Danas' world, however, he is a hobbit, and was certainly of no interest to Niara. This ultimately led to a completely different unfolding of events where he and Niara are concerned.

With the consolidation of the worlds, a fair solution presented itself but the decision will not become aparent until I have re-done much of Danas' early story. I will leave this brief history in place, because it represents Danas' original beginning, but the chapters which go up will ultiamtely be based in Niara's version of the world and will show how things were different.

This will not make any difference to any of the other stories, save that any time when Niara thinks fondly on memories of Danas, it is her Danas she is thinking of, not this Danas... This Danas, tends to cause thoughts of impatience and scorn, from Niara.

One final note here: In Danas' case, I was forced to go into more detail than I usually would with what is supposed to be a simple Backstory brief and this has led, in some spots, to an almost prose-like style that simply feels rushed. I am sorry for that; I would like to make it briefer, but there were certain details that I felt needed covered, even though this is just a backstory.

As with the others, once there's an entry or two up propperly, please do comment and let me know what you think.

-Niara

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A Warden's Chronicle: Way of the Warden

Placeholder: The History of Danas

In his younger days, Danas always envisioned himself as a glorious defender of the free, and a stalwart champion against those who would do harm. The problem was, of course, that there was no time to get out saving people when the apples needed pressing, and there were eggs that needed collected, not to mention any number of shrew burrows that wanted for a sound closing, and their occupants driven away from the fields.

Also, it just wouldn’t do to stray overly far from the farm, when his mother made such excellent apple pies, that simply demanded to be eaten while they were still cooling.

Eventually, he mustered his willpower and joined up with the bounders, to patrol the borders of the Shire and be a ward against ill will. Though he wielded his club bravely, Danas found, much to his disappointment, that guarding the bounds of the Shire was a terribly boring job for the most part. Nothing much ever really seemed to happen, at least not on his watch, and tending the complaints and worries of the shire folk was never really what he had had in mind when he joined up.

There was just something rather un-heroic about running messages between lunching friends, listening to grievances about pinched mushrooms and leaning on one’s club in a friendly but warning manner outside the Ivy Bush Inn.

Soon enough, Danas took it into his head that there was more glory and adventure to be had elsewhere, out in the wide world, and so he set out, with club, shield and a day’s worth of traveling food from his mum. He was hungry before he reached Bree, but wasted no time presenting himself to the mayor there as an adventurer for hire. One thing Danas wanted made clear, though, was that he didn’t feel cut out for simple town guard duty, being quite certain he was made for greater things.

Somewhat bemused, the mayor picked out a task he was sure wouldn’t be too dangerous, but enough to scare the young hobbit back home, and sent him along with a trader’s caravan headed south towards Rohan, and Edoras, to trade with the Rohirrim. The merchant in question knew already that there were troubles in the region, and had with him a somewhat sizable guard already, so for the most part, Danas rode on the caravan, while the other mercenaries rode alongside on their own horses.

Though a little strange, they mostly seemed to take his presence in good spirit, and seemed amused when he insisted on joining in with their training of an evening. Most of the other mercenaries preferred bladed weapons, and kept the edges wrapped in cloth as they trained, though a couple began to instruct him in the finer points of sword play, as it differed from other forms of armed combat. In particular, though some laughed, one mercenary by the name of Arlan took to teaching him some clever ways to use his small stature to his advantage, and stressed that he ought never let it hold him back.

As they passed into Rohan, Arlan found Danas a long fighting dagger amongst their supplies, suitable for him to wield as though it were a short sword, and between them, they devised a bladed fighting style that made great use of his size and nimbleness. Another chipped in cheerfully pointing out all the various places on a man that would bleed profusely if cut, and his technique quickly grew into something very different from his style while wielding his own club.

More days passed as they approached Edoras, and the hunter in their party spotted several lone orcs, and even a few small groups roving the plains. None were large enough to risk an assault on the convoy, guarded as it was, for which Danas found himself very thankful, but a sense of wary preparedness settled over the other mercenaries that he felt himself become acutely aware of, and it left him feeling far from home and out of place.

He woke one night to shouts, and scrambled from where he was sleeping amongst the various wrapped bundles, to find several of the other mercenaries, swords out, arrayed around the campfire and the caravan. All of them were up and at the ready, he noticed, and wondered briefly why he had not been. There were a number of slain orcs around the outside of the ring the guards had formed, and the fighting seemed to have stopped. When he caught sight of Arlan cleaning and sheathing his blade, the man looked up, as though feeling his gaze. He had smirked at the young hobbit, and explained that a small raiding party of orcs had tried their luck in the night, but had been felled to the number. He also told Danas that, if he wished to make it as a warrior of any sort, he’d need to learn to sleep more lightly, and always be ready for such assaults in dangerous territory.

They arrived in Edoras without further incident, and the band dispersed about the city. Danas himself received a great many strange and uncertain looks, a number of them distinctly suspicious and unfriendly. Unsure what to do with himself in such a strange place where hobbit folk were all but unknown, he hovered around the merchant he’d arrived with, but was informed that his contract was concluded, as the caravan would likely remain in Edoras for a season or so. Unsure what else to do, he presented himself to the nearest authority figure he could find, and was taken, eventually, to the man he was told was handling the defenses of the land as best he could. He didn’t catch any names amongst the quick conversation of those over his head, but the captain had met his eyes and told him, somewhat bluntly, that though he believed in giving all able bodies a chance, Danas’ small size, and a lack of a mount he could ride limited the ways in which he could be of help drastically.

In the end, he was set to more caravan duty, this time traveling with a supply caravan returning to a horse ranch further out on the plains, and advised to lend his help to protecting the stead once he was there. To Danas, he was sure it was just boring guard work again, but without any means of returning to Bree on his own, he went.

The Foregate farm, so it was called, was run by a burly man of Rohan who loved and cared for his horses and raised them with great skill and practice. He was, however, struggling to do the same for his daughter, Niara, left motherless since birth. Though he was leery of Danas initially, the hobbits open-faced honesty and generally helpful nature won him over before long, and he slipped more or less beneath the notice of both the father and the daughter, who seemed to be just as much a leader to the others as her father.

The other hands, however, largely seemed to have other matters on their minds anyhow, spending just as much time with their normal tasks, as with training for combat. Many other steads had been preyed upon by white hand raiding parties already, and it was only a matter of time before they were attacked in force, so they told Danas. Duly, Danas took to training with them, as well as helping around the farm where he was able. The prospect of unavoidable and immanent conflict stopped him from growing bored with the work, though he found that the farm hands here favoured a different weapon again, training now with spears. They told him that enemies were won’t to attack quickly and without warning, and often this didn’t leave time for intricate melee combat. Instead, they used spears, best suited to using an attacker’s momentum against him.

With some good humour, they found a spear for Danas, and cut about half the length from its haft to allow him to wield it properly. Though his size limited some of the training he was able to do, more than one of the farm hands noted the strength and accuracy of his arm, for such a small creature, and set him up with a set of resized throwing spears, to compliment the spear training.

A sense of studious peace settled over Danas as he trained and worked, ever wary now, of the immanent fighting that was sure to come. Meanwhile, Niara’s father struggled with the girl. She had trained as a shield maiden from a young age, true, but at the same time he also wished to see her safe, cared for and well off. Niara herself was disinclined to either of these paths, and spent what time she could with the horses, or else practicing with her bow, for which she showed a natural talent. The whole while Danas was there, the two were starkly at odds, though the others reasured him that the storm between them was both justified, and very unusual. It grew stonier, some days later, until Danas was more worried by the oppressive air between the father and daughter, than the orcs outside.

Though he never learned of this, the fight began becuase Niara's father had arranged a marriage for her, with a son of Gondor, high up in council in the White City. Furious, but unsure what else to do, Niara threw herself into her martial training in protest, and though she had never shown particular aptitude with sword and shield, she quickly grew in competency, and rallied the other hands to their training all the more. Supposedly, a day came when niara was supposed to leave, for Gondor, but it came and went and Niara remained. Danas never understood the why of, but he had been shocked to see her draw sword in front of her father when he had tried to get her to go.

The long expected raid came late in the evening a few days later, and those at the farm were ready to defend themselves. The force of the defenses saw Niara fighting side by side with her father in the central courtyard, defiant shouts in both their lungs. Danas, on the other hand, found himself shocked and overwhelmed by his first real engagement. Training was one thing, but the hectic rush of the battle turned out to be nothing like the calm and ordered practice ring for the poor young hobbit. His courage in the face of the oncoming enemy faltered for a moment, and he hesitated as the battle raged around him, unsure and confused. One orc sought to cut him down in passing, and his reflexes kicked in, but no sooner had he dispatched the enemy than a sharp crack on the back of his head from another direction sent him headlong into a nearby stack of hay, unconscious.

When his senses returned, he emerged to find the raid all but turned, with loss on both sides. None of the other hands seemed to have missed him as he helped see off the last few raiders, but a heavy feeling of shame weighed upon him all the same. Moreso when the bodies of Niara and her father were found amidst a great number of orcs, overcome despite their great valour, fighting back to back in the central courtyard.

Overcome with guilt and distress, Danas fled the farm soon afterwards, first returning to Edoras, then further, making his way back to Bree. His return journey was much harder, on his own two feet, but he forced himself to march on, running from the cries in his own mind that this was not how adventures were supposed to be. He swore to himself that he would never allow himself to fail like that again, and that he would be ready for anything, no matter what came. Though the lands were hostile, Danas was small, and quick, and he avoided the large raiding parties carefully.

It was thus a very different Danas that returned eventually to the shire, far removed from he who had set out less than a year previously, and though some commented about the rougher look in his eyes, he always claimed to be a better person for the lessons he’d learned. This in turn led his old friends to all think him quite queer and obviously affected by his journey into the outside world, but where once it would have annoyed him to prtoest, now Danas said nothing in his defence. Instead, he worked the bounds, quietly and without complaint, but a fierce desire to protect the sheltered life that he now understood all Shire hobbits lived. It was with such thoughts that he found himself running with an urgent message to Archet in the night that terror descended upon the shire.

Though this is the start point for his adventures, some of Danas' tales will be told from these earlier events. The time frame will be established roughly chronologically, I hope, but it will be framed as necessary.
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Danas' Tale: Way of the Warden