Author's Note: This is a bit of a joke that I wrote with the help of a friend. We thought that Faramir was skilled at different languages, and wondered just what languages he could speak.
Trying to think of as many as possible, and writing a story on each. Some languages will be from Lord of the Ring, some will not, but we will name them and where they come from. So Have no fear
This time we chose not to do an actual language, but more of an alphabet, we have used Braille and have had a book written in Braille appear.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Ring, I only borrow parts of it and shall return them as soon as I am done. Completely undamaged, as I am certain it will be impossible to see where we glued the pieces back together.
Now, please read this, 'ehurm', masterful work, or whatever it is. I do however hope you enjoy it.
The Book of Braille
Aragorn entered Faramir's study with a confused expression on his face. He was holding a slim leather book in his hand, and he was frowning at it. Faramir had never seen him look upon a book with such confusion before.
"Faramir, I think this book is broken."
"Broken, sire?" Faramir asked raising an questioning eyebrow. Aragorn had entered claiming strange things, seemingly out of the air before. Usually it had to do with his desk, but this sounded like it might top the list, and what was it with Aragorn and his desk anyway?
"Broken." Aragorn confirmed with a nod. The kind of nod Faramir's children gave him when they thought that Faramir should understand something so obvious. Something that was usually only obvious to them. "You can't read it." Aragorn went on as he held it out to Faramir.
Faramir took it carefully and opened it to flip through a few pages. "There is no print." He noted.
"I noticed." Aragorn said with a tone that was on the brink of sarcasm. Something like how Faramir's children sounded when their father finally understood what they had been talking about.
Faramir flipped through it again. "Where did you find this?" He asked.
"In a corner of the archive. It had no title, so I opened it to see what it was."
"It has some odd dents on the pages." Faramir noted.
"Which is why I do not think it is just a blank book that wound up there by mistake. However no one knows what it is. Faramir, you are usually able to find out these things. Do you think that you could find out about what it, what it is?" Aragorn sounded almost pleadingly.
"I can certainly try." Faramir offered, if naught else he was curious enough about it to want to.
"Please do." Aragorn grinned. He was confident that Faramir would be able to figure out what it was. He was usually able to get results on these things. Aragorn did however no have any idea of how he did it. Faramir was closemouthed about where he went for information, and Aragorn was loath to ask. If Faramir preferred to keep that information to himself, then Aragorn would not ask.
"I will get to it as soon as I have finished this." Faramir promise with a gesture to the document that was in front of him.
"What is it?" Aragorn enquired leaning in closer to see better.
"A routine report from the army." Faramir held it up for him to see. "The report they send every three months."
"I can deal with that." Aragorn offered. Those things was boring, and he was aware that Faramir often took care of them to spare Aragorn.
"I do not go through all the trouble I do to get it before you, just to have you take it back from me as soon as you see it." Faramir answered with a grin. "It is my duty to spare you from the heaviest workload, and I shall not relent." He gave Aragorn a confident and amused smile. The one that made him look so much like his brother.
"We try to spare each other." Aragorn nodded knowingly. "We shall see who wins in the end Faramir, I can command you with more authority than you can command me."
"Not so, sire." Faramir allowed a victorious smile tug at his lips.
"How do you come to that conclusion?" Aragorn crossed his arms across his chest.
"Because if I think that you take on to much of the workload. I may go and inform the Queen." Oh, Aragorn recalled that cocky lopsided smile from Boromir. When the big dunce of a man held all the cards, and he so smugly only used enough of them to keep you on the edge. Never pressing all of it, just making sure you know that he could do that.
"You forget something Faramir." Aragorn chuckled. He knew Faramir well enough by now to turn the table on him.
"What is that?" The grin faded away slightly, as he tried to figure out where the flaw in his plan were.
"I may tell your wife as well." Aragorn told him smugly. "And I would think that Eowyn would be far more upset than Arwen."
"I was rather hoping that you would not see it that way." Faramir admitted as he looked like a small boy who had been caught trying to raid the cookie jar.
"I know." Aragorn chuckled. "I could still do it though, so you had better hand me that document and look like you are happy to do so."
"You do not fight fair my Lord. You steal my tactic and you use it against me." Faramir complained as he handed over the document. He would make sure to take something else off of the King's hands later as he had been made to surrender the document.
"I was not aware we had decided upon any rules for this game we play." Aragorn grinned. "And before you get the idea into your head that you will steal something else equally tedious, I shall be guarding my documents well." He gave Faramir a friendly smile as he picked up the document. "Now see what you can find out about that one."
"As you wish, my Lord." Faramir performed a seated bow.
When Aragorn had left Faramir went of in search for a dear friend of his. He was certain that he would find Carl where he always was. If anything at all was certain, it was that the Friar would be hiding from the monks who thought he should spend more time praying.
He entered the Kingdom of Dust and noted that the dust motes had grown since his last visit. They now looked more well fed than ever. It was not wonder that Carl was the only one who braved going in here. Present company excluded of course. He had no calms about going in here.
"I was beginning to wonder where you had gone off to." A voice suddenly came from behind him and he spun around.
"Hello Carl." He said cheerfully. "I apologize for having been away rather long."
Carl shrugged it off with a small smile. "It is no matter my friend. As long as you have brought something interesting." He rubbed his hands together eagerly.
"My King found this book which he claimed was broken." Faramir held it out to Carl. "I think that the dents are the print, but I have no idea of how to read it."
Carl took the book from his hands and opened it. "Well I can tell you about this right off." He said happily. "It's Braille. You read it with your fingers."
Faramir gave him a strange look. "Read it with your fingers?"
"Yes." Carl absently ran his fingers over the dents. "That way even a blind man can actually read. Each group of dents is built up out of a pattern you see."
"And each pattern represents a letter." Faramir guessed and Carl nodded. "A very useful method.
"Yes, precisely." Carl looked around with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I know that there is a book here somewhere that has the whole system in it. You could study it and then you could tell what that book is about."
"Around here somewhere." Faramir nodded with an amused smile. "I do not suppose you know at least what corner it would be in."
"Well, actually yes." Carl grinned smugly. "It should be somewhere over here."
"Let us find it then." Faramir grinned. If Carl knew where it would be it could not be too hard.
"Define, too hard." He muttered to Carl as he wondered if he dared to stretch just a little further to the side. The book had turned out to be placed on one of the highest shelves and Faramir had been forced to retort to using the ladder to reach high enough. Only the ladder was a slight bit too far away from the book, and he was not sure if he could stretch any further to the side without the ladder toppling.
"For the moment I would define, too hard, as taking a certain book from its shelf." Carl stated. The spine of the book was just out of reach from Faramir's fingertips. Faramir tried to stretch another centimetre and felt the ladder waver beneath him. With a sigh he climbed down and moved it. It was a bulky one and so he only pushed it another foot closer before climbing up again.
There it was, just out of reach for his fingertips. Faramir blinked with surprise. "I just moved the ladder closer, did I not?" He mumbled confused.
"You most defiantly did." Carl said sounding baffled. "It should now be within easy reach."
"It is not." Faramir pointed out.
"It should be." Carl stated.
"It is that book. Is it not?" Faramir asked as he recalled a previous encounter with a book that seemed to be moving around on the shelf whenever one tried to grab it. It had been night impossible to get the book that time.
Carl nodded ruefully. "Unfortunately it is a very useful book." He explained. "I am however afraid that it has become aware of it, and thinks that it therefore can do what it wants."
"I am almost willing to agree." Faramir finally managed to take the book down, but he did not like how the ladder wavered beneath it. "Can we not leave it somewhere where it is easier to reach." He asked as he quickly climbed down.
"I already did that." Carl pointed out.
"I take that as a 'no' then." Faramir sighed. "At least we now have it, and hopefully we shan't need it for some time. They brought the book over to a table where Faramir studied it intently for some time. In the meantime Carl took the book Faramir had brought and studied that one. Trying to figure out what it was about.
"I think that I know this well enough now." Faramir closed the book.
"I think I know this well enough as well." Carl closed the book. "Just put that somewhere, it shan't really matter where after all."
Faramir brought it over to a shelf that looked nice and snug. "If I place you here, will you please stay here." He asked it. At least it made no escape attempt as he slid it into a place on the shelf.
"You will be going back now I take it." Carl noted.
"Aye, My King just discovered that I had been stealing some of his workload, and he made me give it back to him. Now I need a new plan for stealing it back from him."
"Why are you stealing the work from each other?" Carl asked curiously.
"I do it because I think that he works to much." Faramir shrugged. "He does it because he thinks that I work to much."
"So instead of just telling each other to work less, you are always stealing the other one's work." Carl decided. "Would it not be much more simple to just agree that you booth should work less."
"It probably would." Faramir was forced to admit. "But we would not have as much fun. I think that it is the distraction of doing it that keeps the job from becoming too much for us."
"I think that I understand then." Carl smiled lightly.
"Yes, so I think that I shall take my leave now. Hopefully it shan't take so long before I am back this time." Faramir made his way back where the King awaited.
"Did you find out what it was?" Aragorn asked eagerly as soon as he saw Faramir.
"Actually yes." Faramir laid the book on the Kings desk.
"Are you going to tell me?" Aragorn asked raising his eyebrows.
"Of course my sire. Just as soon as I receive my work back" Faramir grinned smugly.
"Blackmailing, Faramir? I am surprised." Aragorn teased him.
"I am as well my lord, but I thought that it might work." Faramir grinned.
"Not so Faramir. This time as soon as you have told me you are going to take an early evening with your family." Aragorn stated kingly. "I intend to do that, and I will not leave you to work when I do."
"Very well then sire, I shall explain how you read this particularly book." He demonstrated his newfound skill to Aragorn.
"That is clever." Aragorn decided. "Very cleaver."
"Whoever made it knew what he was doing." Faramir decided.
"And do you know what you are going to be doing now Faramir."
"Back to work sire." Faramir tried wishfully.
"Back home to your family. And then later in the evening you shall bring your family over to mine to dine. Is that understood."
"Aye my liege." Faramir performed a perfect bow.
"Good, I shall see you then my friend, now get out of here." Aragorn moved forward threateningly as if he would resort to bodily force to get his Steward to go home, however the smile on his face somewhat ruined the image.
"Until later then, Sire." Faramir took his revenge on the teasing in the way he knew best. By his best and stiffest formality. The bow was deep and he slipped backwards towards the door. Of all things that made Aragorn grind his teeth the best was that he could not make him stop that formality. Faramir kept the smirk of his face until he had reached the corridor outside the study.
Now this chapter have reached its temporary end, as there is not much more to tell here. It seems to me better to leave that for a future chapter as we temporary do not have anything to put there. Fear not though, we shall soon have put some temporary substance there. Until then may you all fare well.
Pronounciation Guide by Celebrion:
Why does it feel like I've just been degraded to 'temporary substance'?
Especially since the 'language' of this week really is an alphabet... So there isn't anything weird to pronounce. Well, I'll just be my usual permanently irritating self then.
Tata!
Silver Sniper: Yes, at times those things really seems to multiply, which is why we got the idea. The desk fic should be out soon, hopefully this week, but I do not dare to promise that. Until then I hope that this gave you a good laugh.
Legolas's Girl 9: Glad you liked the chapter, I have actually been presented with the Greek alphabet as a code we had to crack once on a scout camp, so I know how confusing it can look. We did manage to crack it thought.
Steelelf: Yes, a very good desk. We all like it, and the desk is not done yet. Besides the afore mentioned desk one shot that will be posted soon, we have more ideas regarding the desk.
Lindahoyland: If you laughed, then we succeeded. Oh yes, Aragorn and Faramir have a few well developed routines by now, such as trying to steal all the work from one another, and Eowyn is getting quite inventive in her ways of distracting Faramir. Also, both Aragorn and Faramir fear the wrath of their wives just as much, with Arwen and Eowyn, would not you?
Foreverfaramir: Ah, yes, it seems like the nightgown was quite appreciated. I thought that it was a rather humorous idea, and it seems like it worked out very well. Feel free to remember it and use it however much you want, I might come back to something along that line myself.
Earendil Eldar: No Romanian yet I must admit, thought it is a very interesting idea, would you happen to have anything that you think we can use?
If so, please send it along, we are always grateful for ideas and tips. Thank you very much for the vote, it is slow going, but we are steadily approaching our goal.
Here I would like to thank everyone who reads my works, thank you.
Here it must also be said that in the tale "A Two Colour Chain Mail," we started the vote
based on the fact that Sean Bean and David Wenham made the perfect image of two brothers. We also got plenty of agreement on that.
So here it is, if you agree with us and think that they should be real brothers. Say so in your review. It shall be your vote. On my authors page, in the bio I shall keep score.
When the score reaches 100, they shall be declared official brothers. Then on my authors page shall be an official declaration written by Elenhin and Celebrion.
Then the truth can not be denied, they shall be brothers.