Game In Middle Earth - Chapter 14

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(This link is going to be a little help for the readers in this chapter: http://corecanvas.s3.amazonaws.com/theonering-0188db0e/gallery/original/shire_map.jpg)

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When arriving at Buckland Aldarion decided to stay to spend the day there and soak up the Hobbit culture as much as he could, since, even though he was going to cross the entire Shire, he had no intention of making any contact with the Hobbits. He did not want to influence his calm and peaceful lifestyle.

You could say that Aldarion knows everything there is to know about the Hobbits. According to the books, the Hobbits are a race related to men, feel the height of a human child, walk barefoot and tend to be plump.

Of its character you could be said that in general all the Hobbits are very peaceful and they like to lead a very quiet life. Moreover, they are very reticent towards everything that can destroy their lifestyle.

The Hobbits are a breed of which little or nothing is known about their origin. According to what Aldarion could learn in his other life was that they were originally from the valleys of the Anduin River, between the Misty Mountains to the west and Mirkwood to the east.

The reason is not known, but in the year 1300 of the third age most of the Hobbits began to emigrate towards the west. They crossed the Misty Mountains and were traveling without contact with other races because of his shyness when communicating with other people. In the end they ended up settling in Bree.

The years passed and Arnor’s kingdom had declined being only a shadow of what it had become in the past. Due to the lack of population, Argeleb II, king of Arnor at that time, granted them the land west of the Brandivino River with the condition that they pay homage to the King and help the messengers. Basically the Hobbits led a self government.

The Hobbits fulfilled their part of the bargain and even when Arnor split into three kingdoms and the last of these, Arthedain, fell silent in front of the army of the Witch King of Angmar at the Battle of Fornost the Shire commanded a group of Hobbits archers to help the defense of the city. Of course, due to the defeat, none returned, but the fidelity of the Hobbits was demonstrated.

Over the years the Hobbits became less interested in the outside world to the Shire. The peace, tranquility and the carefree life of the Hobbits was thanks to the fact that, without their knowing it, they were being protected by the Dunedain of the North, who although few were dedicated to protecting the ancient people of the kingdom.

Aldarion quickly searched for a place to rest that night. He knew that a long day of walking awaited him throughout the Shire and he would also have to sleep in the open, therefore he had to take advantage of every moment in which he could rest well.

Los Gamos was the easternmost territory of the Shire and the Hobbits who lived there were very accustomed to humans since they were engaged in trade with them. Thanks to this, it was not difficult for Aldarion to find an inn in the settlement closest to Brandywine Bridge, Newbury.

Once in what would be his room Aldarion, tired, lay down on his bed, closed his eyes and began to plan his trip to cross the Shire and reach the Tower Hills, where he was supposed to find Cirdan .

Aldarion had studied several times a map he had managed to buy. On the map, he observed that the region was divided into four regions called East Farthing, North Farthing, West Farthing and South Farthing. Of course, their names coincided respectively with the cardinal axes.

The route that Aldarion had planned began crossing the Brandywine Bridge, from there instead of following the eastern road it would travel southwest until it reached the Woody End. After reaching it, it would cross directly in a westerly direction, arriving at the Green-Hill Country, named for the great extension of the land and its main characteristic, which is, that it is plagued by hills.

Once crossed the Green-Hill Country, Aldarion would follow its route towards the west, When it glimpsed Mivhel Delving, the capital of the Shire, he would surround it and he would arrive at the White Downs.

From there to the Tower Hills it would only be two or three days so there would be no problem. Besides that once there could be considered outside the borders of the Shire and would be in the borders of the kingdom of Lindon, elf territory, so it would travel more quiet.

Aldarion had decided not to take the East Road, even though it would save several days of travel for a simple fact. Aldarion had begun to fear that his brother would find him.

During these days he had begun to think that he had not been sufficiently cautious. In Bree he gave his real name and is now known there.

‘I do not think my brother took much time to find out what I did there and if he manages to meet with Gersten, this could indicate my plans, which would take him to the west. Also this Slippery, he did not tell me but I know he is a Dunedain. I gave him a false name, but I do not know if he recognized me or not.’ Aldarion could not stop thinking about these thoughts.

After reviewing his plan a few more times his plan, he thought of solutions to go unnoticed. Of course, from now on he would use the false name he invented when he introduced himself to Slippery, Thalion. This would allow him some advantage, and of course in the Shire he would try to make as little contact as possible with the people.

Luckily, the route he had chosen allowed him to carry out the latter. The truth is that he had been very inspired by the route used by Frodo when he left Hobbiton and began his secret trip.

While he kept thinking about these plans and ideas, his eyes began to slowly close until he fell asleep and went into a deep sleep.