In An Age Before – Part 155
They were drawn from their ruminations by a sight so peculiar that neither could explain it. To their northeast, and therefore o'er the path they had but recently found, came what the two ellith could only describe as a cyclone of birds, and this composed of many common species. Wren, swallow, crow, jay, sparrow, pigeon, mockingbird, and finch, all flew together in a whirlwind that advanced down the path at a walking pace. The birds flew in no particular order, going endlessly 'round and 'round as if possessed.
"'Nigh draws 'aught that I have ne'er seen aforetime," Helluin marveled. "'Tis not a proper flock. I wonder what goes forth."
"I have no idea," Beinvír said, "for ne'er have I seen birds behaving thus. Perhaps 'tis a game they play together, or some malady that afflicts them?"
"Huh. I mark their sundry kinds, yet 'naught of raptors amongst them, and so I deem 'tis not a hunt gone berserk," the Noldo observed.
"Aye, absent art the falcon, hawk, and kite," the Green Elf agreed. "'Tis bugs and seeds these would seek, yet they chase each others' tails and spare not a moment for call or song."
"Surely they must eventually tire," Helluin said, "save perhaps if they art bespelled and shalt fly 'til exhausted ere they fall stone dead."
Indeed the birds checked not their haste, and save for the whirring of their wings, the phenomenon proceeded south in silence. The Elves could only look on in astonishment as it drew closer.
Now when the cyclone of birds had reached some twenty-five fathoms north of them, it left the path and made its way east towards the Greenwood. By then, thoroughly consumed by their curiosity, the Elves exchanged a glance and followed in haste, for here was a wonder they had not witnessed aforetime in all their years upon the Mortal Shores. 'Twas only because the birds remained in their cyclone that Helluin and Beinvír were not quickly left behind. Still, 'twas a mad dash they were forced to make, 'cross the path, o'er rough grass, and finally into the eaves of the forest. They came not a hundred yards ere the cyclone disintegrated and the individual birds disappeared into the exterior of the strangest abode they had e'er beheld.
There stood a construct comprised of a ramshackle and disorganized heap of bird houses and bird nests, wooden animal shelters of myriad sizes and shapes, and what appeared to be diminutive mine heads of stone, all haphazardly arranged in a pile that rose from the ground to the height of a three story house of Men. And where some Men might have had a decorative shrub in the front yard, there rose a massive termite mound of two ranga in height. They could but gape at all it in amazement.
After a lengthy perusal, they deemed that 'twas a house indeed, whose exterior walls were composed of a tenement of birdhouses, from tiny to voluminous, most of which were augmented with sticks, leaves, and plant fluff, all interspersed with squirrel nests. At ground level were stacked several rows of doghouses, cat towers, badger and weasel dens, foxholes, and the shelters of deer. Where there should have been the upper courses of a stone foundation, there lay instead the dark maws of wolf dens, rabbit warrens, groundhog burrows, and lynx nests, most of which were protected by covered stone entrances. All about arose the combined reek of animal urine and feces, the plastering of bird guano, secretions of musk, and the decomposing leftovers of meals that filled the air and struck the Elves like a physical blow. 'Twas too many wild beasts living too close together to remain wholesome.
Surrounding this structure was a cleared verge of some four fathoms breadth, upon which animal spoor lay so heavily that 'twas little wonder the olvar had fled. There the ground had been laid bare by abundant paw marks, scratching, half-hearted digging, the burying of nuts and tidbits and bones, and then liberally anointed with droppings, the repeated sprays of urine to mark contended territories, and the scraping, clawing, and scent marking of any ill-favored trunk that still remained standing.
Helluin and Beinvír walked in a slow circle 'round the "animal house", e'er mindful of their footing, and discovered that 'twas of the same character on all sides, and those sides were of irregular height and length. O'er the entire structure a roof of thatch had been laid, providing eaves 'neath which yet more birds found shelter, swifts and swallows, mostly, though some impressive beehives and wasp nests dangled there too, pendant and threatening. And as if 'twas not already bizarre enough, through the roof thatching protruded the trunk of a large and spreading common oak tree.
The proofs of some person's habitation included a few randomly located and mismatched windows, front and back doorways, (each upon a raised landing too small to be a proper porch), and a scary, field stone chimney laid without mortar, that seemed more a fire hazard than 'aught else, and from which drifted a thin column of smoke.
For some time Helluin and Beinvír simply stood viewing it in disbelief, yet eventually they marked the soft footsteps of a mortal drawing 'nigh.
"One comes, meldanya," Helluin muttered, though she knew the Green Elf would have marked the approach ere she. Beinvír simply nodded her agreement and together they looked to the arrival of someone, the home owner, perhaps.
Indeed 'twas not the home owner, but rather one of the skin changing settlers, a burly mortal Man, dark of hair and eye, and of a type familiar to them both. He marked their presence straight away and offered them a nod of acknowledgement ere he walked o'er to stand before one of the doors. There he set down the lidded basket he carried and called forth to whoe'er was inside. 'Twas obvious that he was at least familiar with the inhabitant and intended to conduct some barter.
"Ho! 'Tis Balorn, come with thy mushrooms, m'lord," he said, his mien wholly serious. Thereafter he stood and waited, neither fidgeting, nor repeating his call.
'Twas some time ere the sound of footsteps was heard from within, and shortly after came the opening of the door with a squeal of hinges and the scraping of swollen wood in an ill-fitted frame. At last an elderly Man stood upon the landing, wild-eyed, long hair a tangle, with a pair of chipmunks sitting upon the left shoulder of his voluminous brown robe that exuded the scent of animals, sweat, and wood smoke. He bore a sack, from which came an alarming buzzing, and this he set down ere he placed a shapeless hat with heavy earflaps upon his head, casting his features into shadow 'neath its broad bill. He greeted the settler with a smile, and then, with unexpected agility, hopped down from the landing.
"Balorn, my friend, 'tis good to see thee," he said, as he turned to recover the sack from its place on the landing. "Art those my mushrooms in thy basket?"
"Aye, they art indeed," the settler said, and then eyeing the sack, asked, "is that my colony?"
"It is indeed, and happy they shalt be to have a new home free of Yrch and spiders."
Goods were exchanged and the deal sealed with a handshake.
"To their new hive I should take them now," Balorn said, "for they endure homelessness but poorly."
The old Man in brown chuckled in agreement, adding, "they have been ill-tempered of late. Pray offer them some smoke ere thou open the sack."
Balorn nodded and took his leave, mindful of his footing, and holding the sack at arm's length to minimize any jostling. When he was gone from the clearing, the Man lifted the lid of the basket and a broad smile lit his face as he examined the contents.
"Ahhh, fresh Psilocybe¹, what a treat. Balorn has indeed outdone himself this time," he said to the chipmunks. Reaching down into the basket, he broke off a piece of a mushroom cap and offered it to the creatures, which nibbled at it and then took it in their tiny paws. Finally, he turned to the two ellith for the first time and looked them up and down. ¹(Most likely Psilocybe cubensis)
"Helluin, it hath been a long time since our last chat. I recall that thou had quit Aman in that silly exodus of Fëanor's, way back when. 'Tis good to see thee well, and so tall." Here he chuckled, ere continuing with, "come in, come in. I should like to catch up with thee and meet thy charming friend. I'll make us some tea."
"T'would be our pleasure, Aiwendil, and indeed there is much to tell," the Noldo replied as the Wizard hefted the basket and made his way to his door.
Beside her, Beinvír rolled her eyes and silently asked, thou knows him? Ne'ermind, of course thou dost.
He is one of the Istari, meleth nín. I knew him in Aman. She started towards the door, but then looked back and silently added, his refreshments may seem…odd.
The Green Elf received this advice with a questioning glance, but held her peace and joined Helluin in entering the strange abode of the Brown Wizard.
Shortly later, the two ellith were ensconced in Aiwendil's vast kitchen, an open space encompassing a hearth, pantry, and dining table, and surrounded by many cabinets, shelves, and cupboards. Beinvír marked a family of hedgehogs living amidst the china, and a rock hyrax dozing on a bookshelf. Helluin eyed the birds flying free just 'neath the ceiling. The Wizard took hot water from a kettle, poured it into a teapot, and then dumped in a heaping handful of herbs from a canister. The teapot was chipped, the cups mismatched, (two having broken handles), and 'twas but a single saucer, (also chipped), which he offered to Beinvír. A dish of nuts he presented as refreshments, along with slices from a loaf of black bread, with honey and butter. After introductions were made all 'round, Aiwendil explained his arrangement with the Man.
"The honey and butter come of Balorn, a most gracious neighbor," Aiwendil said, and then after a pause for thought, he added, "so too did the bread flour."
"Dost thou oft trade with the settler, Balorn?" Helluin asked.
"Aye, we see each other a few times a month," he said, "for I bring him 'aught from the forest and he the products of his homestead, milk, honey, and the mushrooms that grow upon the dung of his cows. They art quite tasty. We shalt have some later."
"So he gets his bees from thee?" Beinvír asked.
Aiwendil sighed and sadly shook his head. He said, "of late I have brought him several colonies. The Yrch hew such trees as contain their hives, simply out of malice, I wager, whilst the spiders endanger all with their webs. More than once has a queen beseeched me to find them a new home."
"And Balorn offers them peaceful fields filled with flowers, whilst in repayment, they give him some honey," Helluin guessed, now understanding the arrangement.
"'Tis just so, my old friend," he said as he poured the two ellith tea from the pot, observing its color and nodding to himself in satisfaction. "Ummm…thou may favor some honey in this."
The Wizard poured the remaining contents of the teapot into his own cup, blew on it a bit to cool it, and then drank it down straight in one long guzzle. He followed his last swallow with a sigh of contentment and a small handful of nuts.
Helluin sniffed the aroma, found it pleasant enough, and dared a sip. 'Twas perhaps the most bitter tea she'd e'er tasted and she scarcely managed not to spew it 'cross the table. After a gasp and the labored suppression of her urge to spit and clear the taste from her mouth, she set down her cup. Beinvír had seen her eyes grow wide and the forced manner in which she'd swallowed, and reached for the honey pot.
"Balorn is a skin changer, of course, as art all his kin," Aiwendil stated, "and earns thus a measure of regard from me, howe'er I have found him to be an honorable Man as well."
Helluin nodded in agreement, and after adding most of the honey to her cup, finished off her tea. The Green Elf had taken only a few sips of the sweetened brew.
"I have known his kindred since early in the past Age, and all have been honorable, courageous, and fierce foes of the Shadow, yet gentle in 'aught else. We saw smoke rising to the west of our path, perhaps two hours walk north of here. 'Twas Balorn's homestead, was it not?"
The Brown Wizard scrunched his brow whilst calculating the distance, and then said, "t'would be a reasonable guess, though I know not for sure as I have ne'er visited his home. We met in his youth, when at times he would explore the verge of the forest. I found him a friend to all creatures save the Yrch and the spiders, and oft did he bring the injured hither for healing. To this day, we aid each other as we can."
Helluin and Beinvír shared some tidings of Eriador, the North and South Kingdoms of the Dúnedain, and the realms of the Quendi. Anor passed to the horizon and evening fell. 'Twas indeed much to discuss. More ominously, the Green Elf had marked that the eyes of the chipmunks were glazed, and then one rolled off the Wizard's shoulder and fell into the dish of butter where it curled up and went to sleep.
"Balorn and the few living here 'bouts have come to call me Radagast¹, which I find apropos. If any of mortal kind e'er knew the name Aiwendil, their lore recalls it not, at least so far as I can tell," he said. "Besides, none of them speak 'aught of the Quenya tongue." ¹(Radagast, Beast Tender = radag(beast, animal) + cast(tender, caretaker) The –c becomes –g at the partition in Sindarin proper names, and the duplicate –g is dropped. Sindarin. It is noted that in UT, (Pt 4, II, pg 390), in an essay on The Istari, that the name Radagast is attributed to Adûnaic. In a later note, it is attributed to the tongue of the Men of the Vales of Anduin. In either case, it translates from known Sindarin vocabulary, according to known Sindarin grammar, and I have attributed it as such.)
"I know my home seems odd to most," Aiwendil said, chuckling as he plucked the buttered chipmunk out of the dish and set it back on his shoulder, "for it hath grown without a plan o'er many centuries into what 'tis now. Indeed, it grows still. The folk here 'bouts call it Rhosgobel, a Brown Walled Compound. 'Tis strange as the walls art not brown. In truth 'tis a simple home, not a compound at all."
He shook his head ere he continued, saying, "in the beginning I merely arranged the shelters I built for those creatures I had healed in the yard 'round my cabin. Ere I realized it, the cabin had been swallowed up, the tree had grown tall, and the shelters had risen o'er five fathoms in height. My friends aided me in thatching a roof o'er the walls, each of them lifting many straws in their beaks and weaving them into place as they do whilst building their nests. They art constantly renewing and expanding it."
During his explanation, Helluin's attention had wandered and she was staring off into space, a silly grin plastered on her face. The Green Elf marked this and asked, "Lord Aiwendil, what herbs compound thy tea, pray tell?"
The Brown Wizard said, "'tis a delicacy brought to me from the southern continent by some Condors. Ayahuasca is their name for it. It contains Caapi vines, Chacruna and Chaliponga leaves, and perhaps some mimosa. It seems to vary each time."
The names meant 'naught to the Laiquende. Not a one was familiar.
Aiwendil set to work cleaning the mushrooms that Balorn had brought. Most of these he hung on a string to dry, though some he put in his mouth and ate. A small dish of them he brought to the table and offered to the two ellith.
Having seen their host eating the mushrooms, Helluin and Beinvír sampled them as well, finding them a bit bitter, a bit stringy, but not altogether unpleasant.
"Aiwendil, how is it that thy home remains free of spiders and incursions of Yrch," Beinvír asked, "for of late we found both 'twixt the Dwarf Road and the Emyn Duir."
Her question brought a bark of laughter from the Wizard ere he said, "perhaps thou marked the animals living here? They art refugees from the souring of their lands in this part of the forest. The more that made their homes here, the fewer there were to contest with the Yrch and spiders there, yet when those miscreants came 'nigh, both found themselves subject to attack. Few living here abide the presence of the usurpers of their old homes. Thus we and they each find it beneficial to avoid the other."
The two ellith nodded in understanding, though both now seemed a bit…detached. The Maia was running a refugee camp for the displaced creatures of the Greenwood. It took little to imagine Yrch assailed by resentful wildcats, bears, or wolves, and spiders harried by vengeful birds, wasps, or bees if they strayed too close.
Thereafter the conversation trailed off. The Brown Wizard tended to his creatures whilst Helluin and Beinvír succumbed to the effects of the Ayahuasca tea and the psilocybin mushrooms. At first 'twas some changes in their vision that they marked, such as the enhancement of colors, the "breathing" of walls, tabletop, and floors, whilst 'aught else was o'erlain with geometric patterns, insubstantial, yet easily perceived. 'Twas peculiar and required close examination. Helluin stared at her hands, Beinvír at the empty teacup before her. Soon they discerned that noises came to them as from a distance, sometimes with an echo, and sometimes not. To test the effect, they repeated simple sounds such as "buh, buh, buh", and "zyme, zyme, zyme". The passage of time too became strange, seemingly slow from moment to moment, and yet fast in hindsight.
Aiwendil checked on their condition from time to time, but seeing 'naught of panic, deemed that they would be fine and their lives enriched thereafter by their acquaintance with alterations in perception. When he waved his hands through the air, he noted that it drew their attention, but with a lag that indicated they were seeing persisting trails.
Now the intensity of the effects increased for a couple hours, but their familiarity with those effects made them less distracting. Helluin and Beinvír's minds accommodated the superficial changes in their senses so that they could concentrate upon other things. Eventually they were gifted with visions, for the herbs and mushrooms allowed them a limited and temporary access to some aspects of the First Song. Indeed this was Aiwendil's motivation in employing such agents himself, for with his Maia spirit sheathed in flesh, like Mithrandir he had found his memory obstructed and his vision curtailed.
Helluin saw herself in a great cavern, dark and deserted, where a rift in the floor admitted reddish flames and the stench of brimstone. 'Twas not Orodruin in Mordor, for that chamber she knew well. Then, as she sought for clues, in the distance there came a moving fire whose source was hidden from her sight. Soon she marked that 'twas not one alone, but two that advanced in her direction like living creatures. 'Twas too dark to see more, but with other senses she felt great evil and the fear of it, and yet she was driven to destroy it. The Noldo looked down, and in her hand she clasped an unfamiliar sword whose blade glittered like ice, and from it she sensed an obsession with vengeance long frustrated.
The vision shifted and she found herself trapped in darkness deep underground. The glittering sword was gone, and before her lay a vast lake whose further shore she could not see. Behind her a craggy wall rose to unguessed heights, and somehow, Helluin knew that her only path back into the world was to climb it.
Beinvír found herself in a field of tall grass that went on and on 'twixt a great forest and a great river, 'cross which rose a range of snow capped mountains. The sun shone down upon many homesteads that formed a hamlet of Men, from which a dirt track led away north and south. In the distance, a herd of horses grazed whilst their lead stallion kept watch. Her own horse whiffled and blew its warm breath through her hair, then gave her shoulder a push, turning her to her left.
With a slender hand she brushed back her pale hair and smiled at the boy and girl who rode double towards her calling out, "mother, ride with us!"
She reached to grasp the reins, then set her foot in the stirrup and swung herself up into the saddle. With the pressure of her calves and a cluck of her tongue she coaxed her mount into motion, joining her children in an easy trot towards their home.
The visions faded and the two ellith slept as would mortals, deep and dreamless. When they awoke they felt a bit groggy, but the visions remained, clearly recalled. They were still seated at Aiwendil's kitchen table, a pigeon perched atop Helluin's head, Beinvír's hands resting in the butter dish. The two chipmunks attended them with curiosity, one fat and fluffy, the other slick and disheveled, still coated with butter. Bright sunlight shone through the windows, hinting at a morning lost and the noon hour 'nigh. They saw 'naught of the Brown Wizard.
"Upon our way we should be," the Green Elf said as she looked 'round for their host.
"Aye, and the sooner the better," the Noldo agreed. "'Twas a night stranger than any since last we tarried in the house of Iarwain Ben-adar."
A glance revealed Balorn's mushrooms, hanging on a string and already completely dried. Beinvír shivered. The drying should have taken a couple days at least. She stood from her chair, suspecting that they had lost time and eager to be away.
They left the peculiar house of Rhosgobel, noting that the walls were not brown, but due to the abundant animal droppings, much of the soil was, (and hence the name, Helluin thought), and made their way from the clearing in haste. They didn't pause 'til they were well down the path. A day's walk to the Dwarf Road they anticipated.
Upon 15 Cerveth, (having indeed lost two days in Aiwendil's odd home), the two ellith reached the Men-i-Naugrim, which they followed west to the ford, and they crossed o'er Anduin in the early evening of the 16th. Only then did they stay their march for the night, setting a camp upon the west bank. Both felt relief at being somewhat further from Rhosgobel, for though neither suspected the Brown Wizard of any ill intent, 'twas just too bizarre for comfort, and they had no intentions of e'er visiting there again.
To Be Continued