Blackbow and the Ithilien Rangers

By:Isabeau
 February, 25 2006

The place to discuss this eternal WIP. Also a good place for Ranger questions. Suggestions upon ways to get Faramir's shirt off in the next chapters are also appreciated.

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 [11] Or how about a sudden shower catching Faramir outside and soaking him, just after Hethlin or one of the other Rangers finished washing his other clothes, on a chilly day when it wouldnt' do to stand around in wet clothes? Oh wait, is there a fireplace in his little alcove in the cave? Stripping off wet clothes would be better done in front of a fire...

Rebecca
Posted:Feb 28, 2006 13:41 GMT  Reply to this Comment


 [12] Even though I'm not a big Denethor fan, I can't blame him for everything.

I didn't mean it as blame as such. But we do see that Denethor in his latter years was not quite up to his usual exacting standard. But, now that I further think on it, it sounds wrong to see this happening as early as the events in Blackbow (and earlier still). I do think Denethor was nearly fully "capable" until, say, the time of the finding of the shards of the horn, and then Gandalf's & Pippin's arrival. These discussions with Gandalf can't have been easy - I don't think Denethor was accustomed anymore to dissenting voices and maybe even reproaches from others, added to grief and all other sorts of issues...

Not sure exactly how many Rangers there are total in Ithilien-I think the number is about 200, or at least 200 in Faramir's main company. That's not a lot of men, really, and Denethor may think that they don't just don't rate a healer.

Okay. To me it seems a disproportionate ration healer-potential patient in such a trouble spot, but I don't know any RL-examples to compare. And if you have only so-and-so many healers, you have to distribute them carefully, and keep them as safe as may be.

I'll go with the thought that there are, just as in the Swan Knights, many men with basic first-aid skills (and rangers have to be flexible and resourceful, anyway, non-regulation as they are). Which, I guess, would take care of most the common injuries, and really serious wounds would perhaps often be beyond a "professional" healer, too, anyway.

re: getting Faramir out of his shirt: In Altariel's "Proof" we see a young Faramir, newly arrived to command the rangers, all laced- and buttoned-up on a terribly hot day, sign for his reserve. Perhaps, by now, he has relaxed a bit more and has adopted a more casual attitude?

And IIRC, in one of your stories you have Heth remembering seing Faramir unclothed some time while standing watch while he was bathing. Blackbow isn't told from Heth's PoV, so you can Faramir bathing as often as you like ;), without his having to take the proprieties into consideration (because she isn't on some kind of watch-roster).

Imhiriel
Posted:Feb 28, 2006 18:05 GMT  Reply to this Comment

 [13] Rebecca wrote: Or how about a sudden shower catching Faramir outside and soaking him, just after Hethlin or one of the other Rangers finished washing his other clothes, on a chilly day when it wouldn't do to stand around in wet clothes? Oh wait, is there a fireplace in his little alcove in the cave? Stripping off wet clothes would be better done in front of a fire...

I like that one - there's definitely something appealing about Faramir needing to be warmed up! Unfortunately, I doubt they'd risk a true fire in HA - but don't they have some braziers that've been mentioned before?

Denise
Posted:Mar 1, 2006 03:47 GMT  Reply to this Comment


 [14] Nargil wrote: Does Andra or any of the other swan nights ever go to Henneth Annun and does Heth ever run into him in her Ranger days? Also is he any good at archery?

No, other than that one time meeting Esteven, none of the other Swan Knights go to Ithilien. It's not one of their usual haunts. Esteven was driven to go there by the Prince's edict and the knowledge that Faramir was in mortal peril.

And no, Heth doesn't run into Andrahar before the end of CMC. And Andra doesn't know one end of an arrow from the other. Though he respects archers who are proficient.

Isabeau
Posted:Mar 1, 2006 11:38 GMT  Reply to this Comment


 [15] I like that one - there's definitely something appealing about Faramir needing to be warmed up! Unfortunately, I doubt they'd risk a true fire in HA - but don't they have some braziers that've been mentioned before?

Yeah, I was wondering about that. But, in order to keep braziers or similar full of hot coals, wouldn't you need a fire somewhere? And to cook food, boil water, etc? You can have small fires in caves, can't you? Especially if you were clever about tiny, scattered holes to let tiny bits of smoke diffuse out, instead of in one big stream. Although the orcs would be better than most at detecting such things I suppose. Hm.

OK, I'll ask again the question that brought me to this fandom in the first place: why is the Forbidden Pool forbidden? What's the story there? Anyone know?

Rebecca
Posted:Mar 1, 2006 15:31 GMT  Reply to this Comment


 [16] Isabeau: And Andra doesn't know one end of an arrow from the other.

You mean there is one weopen the man DOESN'T know how to use

Also, if Esteven grew up in a resturant why does he call himself Lord Esteven in Blackbow, or did Imrahil give him the title?

Nargil
Posted:Mar 1, 2006 17:27 GMT  Reply to this Comment


 [17] On cook fires, I thought that the arrangements in Blackbow made a lot of sense. You don't want the smell of fire or cooking anywhere about due to the Orc's strong sense of smell. (I wonder if the Rangers tried to disguise their human scent somehow as well with special soap or herbs - you'd think there would be a pretty strong concentration of it at/around HA after so long occupied. But then cook-fire odors would travel farther, and they had a strong perimeter defense.) But the Ranger's who cooked away from the stronghold could bring back coals for the braziers. I'm not sure how long well-banked coals can last, however.

On the Forbidden Pool: You got my curiosity up, so I looked - but you probably have the same resources I do. No explanations and only one specific reference out of HoME, Letters, Fonstad's atlas and the Tyler & Foster encyclopedias. And you already Googled... I can only offer the unoriginal guess that it was called such because anyone who finds it - accidentally or otherwise - is summarily executed. Sorry!

Denise
Posted:Mar 2, 2006 21:02 GMT  Reply to this Comment


 [18] Nargil asked: Also, if Esteven grew up in a resturant why does he call himself Lord Esteven in Blackbow, or did Imrahil give him the title?

I love being caught out like this! The quick answer is that if you become a lieutenant in the Swannies, you're a lord. But since I've not actually written Esteven's background in anything I've posted, I might change it again. Do feel free to bring these little inconsistencies to my attention. Quite honestly, I've written so much that though the big stuff sticks in my mind, increasingly I find these little problems slipping through.

Isabeau
Posted:Mar 4, 2006 16:02 GMT  Reply to this Comment


 [19] Re: Esteven - Is he too young in Blackbow for Imrahil to have "landed" him for service in the Knights? Does being granted an estate automatically confer a "lord" title? I really like Esteven's current background and would hate for you to feel you needed to change it! The Swans need a few former wild children among them...

Denise
Posted:Mar 5, 2006 00:09 GMT  Reply to this Comment


 [20] ^Yeah, it would also explain why it's always Captain Andrahar as well, apart from the few Harradrim who now feel the need to address him as "prince".

Another for the ideas on Faramirs shirt loss, it snowed and he needed to put it on one of the snow rangers, (like snowmen but rangers) or they went sledging andd it got torn or it got soaked in a snow ball fight.

Or the other rangers could hide all his clothes as a joke, or they could all get a bit tipsy and decide to have a "who's got the best sixpack" contest with Heth as judge, that way you could get everybodies shirt off........... or maybe that would class as sowing desent?

Nargil
Posted:Mar 5, 2006 10:54 GMT  Reply to this Comment
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