Still been thinking about Lord of the Rings even when my internet is screwing up and I can't play. *ahem* So, I thought I'd figure out the story behind two of my characters.
I realized a long time ago that I'm a romantic. I like having my characters paired up with someone, because hey, no one really wants to be alone, right? So back when Ilfariel started getting into my head, one of the first things I thought of was "Is she in any kind of relationship?" It took a while, but I finally figured out that yes, she's with Elgo, my champ. They're very happy together, and planning on getting married as soon as the war is over. This is some of Fari's backstory, along with how she met Elgo and what proceeded from there. And yea, they're a pretty mushy couple, but it's cute.
The one thing I kind of regret is having only one account, which means I can't play them both together. So all their RP together happens in my head. But it works for now.
(Mild PG warning >.>)
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Ilfariel grew up in Gondor, the middle of five offspring. where she helped run her mother's shop while her father oversaw their "main" business. They dealt mostly with cloth and leather goods, importing and exporting both raw material and finished products, with success enough to make them fairly wealthy. The inevitable odds and ends from each shipment, and any new products that they wanted to test the market for, wound up in her mother's shop in Minas Tirith, which was also where the family home was.
Ilfariel's brothers were more than capable of helping their parents, and stood to inherit it all anyway, so by the time she was twenty she had decided to "find her fortune" however she may, and left with her family's blessings. There had been rumors and more concerning the war even then, and Ilfariel decided to head to Bree the moment she heard of them. Her weapon skills were sufficient that she thought she could help the guard there against goblins and brigands.
She
was accepted, the moment she got there and spoke to the captain in charge in fact, and once signed in she was assigned a guide until she knew her way around well enough. The guide was a young man, about her age, named Elgo, a native of Bree. They got along famously right from the start, and after just a few months they seemed inseparable. The guard captain noticed this, of course, and began worrying about when he would have to split them up. No one patrolled with another- they just didn't have the bodies to spare, and the threat wasn't great enough- yet- to warrant more than single patrols. Still, he found himself putting off the moment that he would have to separate the two young guards.
After Ilfariel had been there four months, however, there was no more reason to delay it, and he finally pulled Elgo back to his former duties patrolling the southern Bree-fields. Fari he set to patrolling up around Archet, where she would have little chance of running into her friend. The separation was unexpectedly hard on her, and she found herself missing Elgo fiercely. Still, it took her a few weeks to figure out that she had been falling in love with the young guard.
She had no sooner realized that when something happened that was both good and bad. Good, because it distracted her from her thoughts- bad, because the thing turned out to be bandits and brigands near Archet. When she and her fellow guards had fought enough skirmishes to know this was not just a minor threat, Ilfariel was sent back to give the captain a report.
The captain was understandably grim when he heard her report, but then he surprised her. "I'll need to think on this before I send you back with new orders," he told her. "Also, I need to speak with the town's leaders. Why don't you take tonight and tomorrow off? I'll send someone for you when we've decided what to do."
Ilfariel was only too happy to follow his command. As she reached the Prancing Pony and was about to head inside, she was suddenly stopped by a hand on her arm. She turned and came face-to-face with Elgo. Without thinking, she gave a happy cry and flung both arms around him in a hug. Immediately she knew that that was
not the proper thing to do, but by then Elgo had
his arms around
her too, and was chuckling in her ear. "I take it you missed me, too?" he asked as he, mercifully, let her go. Fari tried to hide her growing blush by straightening her jacket, which really didn't need straightened. "Well, I umm..." she began, then his words registered and she stopped, looking at him in surprise. "Too?" she asked, then blushed again. Elgo chuckled again as he took her arm. "Come on, love," he said gently. "Let's find a place less crowded for supper, eh?" Fari could only let him lead her on.
They found a quiet inn and had supper there, then spent the rest of the evening walking about town, filling each other in on their adventures, or lack thereof. Elgo mentioned that he'd had a few scuffles with bandits, but mostly the Fields had been quiet. He seemed as disturbed as the captain when he heard her tale, but they both agreed there was nothing to be done about it for now.
It was getting quite late by the time they reached the rented room Ilfariel kept in the city. Elgo paused at her door, suddenly looking very self-conscious but obviously reluctant to leave. Fari could guess what he wanted to say to her, however, and beat him to it when she asked him, very softly, "Stay with me tonight?" He looked at her, startled, then nodded and followed her in.
* * * * * *
Morning dawned with clear skies. Ilfariel woke shortly after dawn, taking a moment to simply enjoy Elgo's warm, strong arms around her before quietly slipping out from under the covers. She found her pants and a clean shirt and dressed quickly, then went to the window and stood looking out, thinking.
She heard a soft yawn behind her and turned to see her lover stretching and blinking awake. He spotted her and smiled. "Come here, love." Fari smiled back and crossed over to the bed, sitting on the edge near him. He brought one hand up to rub her back, looking at her face searchingly. "Any regrets, Fari?" he asked her softly, using her nickname for the first time. She shook her head firmly. "No, love. None from me." She quirked an eyebrow at him, and he smiled again. "No, love. And I love you. In case I didn't say it often enough before." They both chuckled, then he nudged at her. "How about letting me up, love?" he asked her, half-joking, and she grinned back at him as she stood.
They had all that day together, which they spent in the city and nearby countryside again, and it took little convincing for Ilfariel to get him to stay that night as well. In the morning, however, they left her room to find a runner waiting for her. The boy was clearly startled when they came out together, but was tactful enough to say nothing and merely handed her a note from the captain before trotting off. Ilfariel read it quickly, then looked at Elgo with some regret. He simply nodded. "Duty calls, m'love. Nothing to be done about that," he said, then gave her a quick hug and a kiss before letting her go on her way.
Ilfariel took her orders from the captain- they weren't much changed from their previous ones, just stating for them all to stay alert- and headed back to Archet. This time, however, she had memories of Elgo to warm her when she grew too lonely, and she knew he would be waiting for her whenever they could manage the time.
* * * * * *
They'd been together for almost eight months now. Ilfariel had sent a letter to her parents as soon as she could, and knew that Elgo had done the same, and now he was courting her truly, with her parents' blessing. Despite all the trouble from the war that everyone felt was coming, Fari couldn't be happier.
