Around The Fire - The In-Character Discussion Thread

Baldhart: "How would you assist me with my foe, Ankari? Chop off the lower half of my legs?

"My only foe from home is my height. There's a shortage men who desire a woman who has to duck when entering a door. I knew that the day my father measured me at six feet… on my twelfth birthday. He had already been training me to use a sword. Iron, not wood like most boys my age were using—even the ones strong enough, as they'd have killed each other, the idiots.

"Father treated me like the son he never had. I didn't mind that. Boys could be cruel—especially to a girl who's a spectacle, so my father wanted to make sure I could take care of myself in those moments when he'd not able to rescue me. By fourteen, I had the arms to prove I'd been training, and that made me popular with the pretty girls. Not in the way the rumors would have you believe. They came to me for protection. But… those friendships only lasted until they were nearing marrying age.

"Ha! Maybe you should visit home with me, Ankari. If I show up with a man, that will be my protection!"

 

Ankari: We are all talking, this is good. Baldhart, let us team up on the ancient one and the man of few words. Perhaps, with your easy words and my blunt ones, we can shake a few details out of our companions. Which one do we corner first?"

 

Baldhart: "Oh! I'd love to hear about the lucky girl, Líadan!"

 

Ankari: "The root of the problem between elves and humans is envy and fear. Envy on the part of the humans and fear from the elves. You have to counter the basic obstacles to mend the relations. For elves, defeat envy with generosity. For humans, defeat fear with knowledge.

"The solution is simple but impossible to implement. Only when we combine forces to fight a common enemy do we forget our problems. Look around this campfire. You can see that survival dwarfs our innate animosity. It would do well for all races to send their leaders into the wild to survive together."

 

Baldhart: "I don't see it. The difference, I mean. Other than that you elves age gracefully. I suppose that's where the envy comes from. But I know envy all too well.

"The girls used to envy me for my height, at least until they saw me bump my head on a door. And there are even men from the Iron Mountain who envy my strength. But I have it, so I know there is nothing to envy. Except red hair. My best friend--a true friend because she didn't get married off and forget I exist--is Addison Lane. I love her hair! Everyone does.

"But I'm the only girl who was ever jealous of her name. It means 'awesome warrior.'"

 

Baldhart: "Aw, thanks. But Addison is more like you—a sharpshooter. Or maybe more like Ankari. A knight like you is too proper to compare to one of my mountain girl friends!"