video

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin is standing in the bay of the pumping station on the north bank of the reservoir. The firefighters finished building and testing the the second of two tanker trucks the day before, and it is ready to be filled with its 11,000 gallons of water. You can hear the noise of the machinery in the background. The first tanker is already filled and ready to go. Outside, the firehouse and the ladder truck beside it are visible. ]

Firefighters and supporting crew, report in! We'll allocate our resources as soon as we know who's available and where we are needed.

And as we're a bit shorthanded, anybody who wants to join us, you are welcome to do so. Post in, and we'll find you a job.

If you want to report the exact location of a fire, or call for emergency help, this is the place to do it!

Comments

(Video)

[stonebird]

(She had been relieved to see Maedhros too. She can't help wondering how he and Maglor are faring. Their pasts are not kind when it comes to fire.)

I thought so! He was called the Mountain that Rides for good reason. (And a more vicious man cannot be found, she is certain.) I remember my father's proportions - as well as the proportions of my eldest brother. I shall make the garments according to them.

(She sighs empathetically.) You are so good for looking after others. Burns can be devastating even if they are not fatal.

(Video)

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Maedhros and Maglor are both bearing up, and their fierce energy is going to good purpose. But if Curufin had his way, neither of them would be anywhere near fire. Still. . . he is glad for himself and glad for the whole of Hadriel that those two are out there and doing their part to save the city. ]

It sounds as though he was rightly named! But indeed, I wouldn't take him for average. Your father's and your brother's sizes are probably more what is needed.

[ She thinks well of him. That matters. And he thinks the same of her. ] Our family. . . we know about burns. That's one reason I took on this project. I was sure we would have a fire sooner or later. I don't want others to experience what some of my family members have. I will take risks for that goal.

(Video)

[stonebird]

(Every ill turn leaves a mark on their already heavily scarred spirits, she knows. She too has scars, but nothing like what the Elves bear. She imagines each mark adds weight to their conscience, pushing it down until they are overcome with guilt and grief.

She wants to, in her own way, relieve some of that pressure. That was her goal in Ruby City and so shall it be her goal in Hadriel.)

They were near six feet - if not slightly over. I am nearly that height myself. (Since she is 5'9".)

There was a man... On Westeros... The Mountain that Rides was his older brother and you can imagine the danger of being related to someone of that size who has no conscience to speak of. He killed men from an early age and took pleasure in it. There was even a tale of him murdering children, but I will spare you those details. (Since they are enough to make even someone with a strong stomach retch.) Anyway, the Mountain's brother angered him one day. The Mountain pushed the boy's face into a lit brazier and burned half of it away.

I saw the scars myself on the man he became. The mere sight of them drove me to tears once. (Her eyes are slightly unfocused.) Burns can change a person; harden them. I am glad they are being prevented.

(OOC: "...Look at me. Look at me!” Sandor Clegane put a huge hand under her chin and forced her face up. He squatted in front of her, and moved the torch close. “There’s a pretty for you. Take a good long stare. You know you want to. I’ve watched you turning away all the way down the kingsroad. Piss on that. Take your look.”

His fingers held her jaw as hard as an iron trap. His eyes watched hers. Drunken eyes, sullen with anger. She had to look.

The right side of his face was gaunt, with sharp cheekbones and a grey eye beneath a heavy brow. His nose was large and hooked, his hair thin, dark. He wore it long and brushed it sideways, because no hair grew on the other side of that face.
The left side of his face was a ruin. His ear had been burned away; there was nothing left but a hole. His eye was still good, but all around it was a twisted mass of scar, slick black flesh hard as leather, pocked with craters and fissured by deep cracks that gleamed red and wet when he moved. Down by his jaw, you could see a hint of bone where the flesh had been seared away.

Sansa began to cry. He let go of her then, and snuffed out the torch in the dirt. “No pretty words for that, girl? No little compliment the septa taught you?” When there was no answer, he continued. “Most of them, they think it was some battle. A siege, a burning tower, an enemy with a torch. One fool asked if it was dragonsbreath.” His laugh was softer this time, but just as bitter. “I’ll tell you what it was, girl,” he said, a voice from the night, a shadow leaning so close now that she could smell the sour stench of wine on his breath. “I was younger than you, six, maybe seven. A woodcarver set up shop in the village under my father’s keep, and to buy favor he sent us gifts. The old man made marvelous toys. I don’t remember what I got, but it was Gregor’s gift I wanted. A wooden knight, all painted up, every joint pegged separate and fixed with strings, so you could make him fight. Gregor is five years older than me, the toy was nothing to him, he was already a squire, near six foot tall and muscled like an ox. So I took his knight, but there was no joy to it, I tell you. I was scared all the while, and true enough, he found me. There was a brazier in the room. Gregor never said a word, just picked me up under his arm and shoved the side of my face down in the burning coals and held me there while I screamed and screamed. You saw how strong he is. Even then, it took three grown men to drag him off me. The septons preach about the seven hells. What do they know? Only a man who’s been burned knows what hell is truly like.

My father told everyone my bedding had caught fire, and our maester gave me ointments. Ointments! Gregor got his ointments too. Four years later, they anointed him with the seven oils and he recited his knightly vows and Rhaegar Targaryen tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘Arise, Ser Gregor.’”)

(Video)

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin nods, perceiving Sansa's desire to help the Elves she has come to love. She is highly sensitized to guilt and grief, having some of her own to deal with -- but probably she was born empathetic, and would want to help in any case. He is grateful for her concern over the family he loves.

She speaks of the abusive Mountain man with such trepidation, and of his scarred brother with scarcely less. There is obviously an untold story, here. Or an only partly told one. ]

Burns can do that, and it especially matters in what manner the person received the burns. I am glad that my family had you in that other world, to care about them and for them.

But you, Sansa, you too need people to care about you and your life and how it has affected you!

{{OOC: I never got around to reading the books or watching the TV series, but your Sansa convinces me I should find a way to do both! }}

(Video)

[stonebird]

(She has had more than her fair share of guilt and grief. She knows the signs in others because their sorrow is very much like hers. If one could die from a broken heart, she would have managed it. Yet she knows too that she is tenacious and stubborn. To let her enemies see her perish is the last thing on her mind.)

Our home was safe and warm. I wish I could replicate it here. You would enjoy it. (Her eyes sparkle.) It was situated in the trees with stairs leading up. We had a pet deer and wolves, of course, and they lived harmoniously. There were also beings called Fire Lizards. They were very sweet.

(She falters and looks away.) I do not know what to say of it. It feels like a bad dream.

(OOC: The first book is great. The books that follow get progressively crazier/more cruel/gory and there's a lot of just useless (and gross) smut. But the story lines are interesting if you can block all of that out. XD )

(Video)

[so_dark_a_road]

[ And how he admires her for those qualities! ]

I wish I could have been there to see it. [ A house in the trees, animals who share the love and warmth along with the people, harmony. It's a very Sylvan Elf kind of aspiration. Sansa is a mortal, but if she had been an Elf, he supposes that is how her life would have been in Middle-earth. ]

Perhaps in some way you can replicate it? I mean, not necessarily the tree-house -- unless you want one! But the family, the love. You must know that we will adopt you, if you wish it.

It sounds as though in Ruby City you began to find healing from your experiences. Not that that makes them any less horrible. But you are a determined young woman, and you seem to be seeking healing. It is a long process. We will help you.

[ OOC: Thanks for the review! Nice! And ROTFL useless smut. IMHO, smut should always be useful. XD ]