It had such a fine weather that morning.The sun was shining, but there was a fresh.cool breeze of air in the atmosphere,that renewed your senses.A perfect day for training.
"Alright, my lovelings.You are now officially entering the service of Good, opposing tho world's greatest enemy,Lord Sauron." Ambrosius heard his voice spreading through the courtyard of his parents' house and looked the eager young faces in front of him. There was only a handful of things he enjoyed more than a good, loud speech to lift the spirits.
"As you are now part of the irregular army of Freedom,representing your homeland, ya miserable creatures, I have to supply you with basic equipment; Weapons and Armor for those of you, that did not understand it!So,you will be tested in order to find the proper use of you.Make no mistake gentlemen,it is not your companion,who will save you during battle and it is not your captain ,me,(at least until further change). Certainly it is not you skills, assuming you have some.What will save you is the condition of your equipment.With a rusty sword you can kill nothing.With wet feathers on you arrows you are a danger to you comrades in arms.With broken armor,well ,simply, YOU.ARE.DEAD!"
The tests were a surprising success. Six of the recruits were chosen for meelee combat and Ambrosius noticed with a strange pride that they were more than capable in using swords.He gave them blades that he found in his travels or bought lately for that purpose.These swords were not but ugly pieces of metal,but he knew that, soon, the men would have enough money to replace them.The other three recruits were hunters, so he ordered them to shoot at targets.
He found out that the knew their trade well.That meant archers for the army and food from the hunt.One of them was a tall ,blonde fellow, who if had not round ears and flushed face, he could pass as an elf.He was a cheerful fellow and in some exercises he showed leadership skills and intelligence above the average measure.It seemed that Ambrosius had found his second in command.
Now, the roofs of the tallest houses of Bree were being lost in the morning mist.Ambrosius looked at his hands and admired once again the splendid armguards that his father gave him.His words still echoed in his mind."Son, I know I am not like you.You do not know how your mother and I feel every time you
leave." He drew a chest from under his bed and pulled out a package."I want you to have these.",he said,"They are a pair of armguards given to me by an old dwarf before many,many years.The dwarf said to me that he was king in a mountain far away in the northeast and that this piece of armor was forged by the best blacksmiths.The poor old fella gave them to me ,because I had helped him while all the others kicked him and his family and mocked them.I thought that these armguards was a garbage of a fool, but after I examined them with the aid of a friend of mine, who was a smith,I found out that they were fine crafted.Light and yet so strong,that when I took a sledgehammer and hit them with all my strength, it was like hitting a rock with a candle.The hammer was smashed,take my word for it!"...
This memory faded and joined the others inside the long corridors of his mind.He thought about their journey.Their first stop was the swamps of Swanfleet and the had many,many miles ahead of them.
"Alright, my lovelings.You are now officially entering the service of Good, opposing tho world's greatest enemy,Lord Sauron." Ambrosius heard his voice spreading through the courtyard of his parents' house and looked the eager young faces in front of him. There was only a handful of things he enjoyed more than a good, loud speech to lift the spirits.
"As you are now part of the irregular army of Freedom,representing your homeland, ya miserable creatures, I have to supply you with basic equipment; Weapons and Armor for those of you, that did not understand it!So,you will be tested in order to find the proper use of you.Make no mistake gentlemen,it is not your companion,who will save you during battle and it is not your captain ,me,(at least until further change). Certainly it is not you skills, assuming you have some.What will save you is the condition of your equipment.With a rusty sword you can kill nothing.With wet feathers on you arrows you are a danger to you comrades in arms.With broken armor,well ,simply, YOU.ARE.DEAD!"
The tests were a surprising success. Six of the recruits were chosen for meelee combat and Ambrosius noticed with a strange pride that they were more than capable in using swords.He gave them blades that he found in his travels or bought lately for that purpose.These swords were not but ugly pieces of metal,but he knew that, soon, the men would have enough money to replace them.The other three recruits were hunters, so he ordered them to shoot at targets.
He found out that the knew their trade well.That meant archers for the army and food from the hunt.One of them was a tall ,blonde fellow, who if had not round ears and flushed face, he could pass as an elf.He was a cheerful fellow and in some exercises he showed leadership skills and intelligence above the average measure.It seemed that Ambrosius had found his second in command.
Now, the roofs of the tallest houses of Bree were being lost in the morning mist.Ambrosius looked at his hands and admired once again the splendid armguards that his father gave him.His words still echoed in his mind."Son, I know I am not like you.You do not know how your mother and I feel every time you
leave." He drew a chest from under his bed and pulled out a package."I want you to have these.",he said,"They are a pair of armguards given to me by an old dwarf before many,many years.The dwarf said to me that he was king in a mountain far away in the northeast and that this piece of armor was forged by the best blacksmiths.The poor old fella gave them to me ,because I had helped him while all the others kicked him and his family and mocked them.I thought that these armguards was a garbage of a fool, but after I examined them with the aid of a friend of mine, who was a smith,I found out that they were fine crafted.Light and yet so strong,that when I took a sledgehammer and hit them with all my strength, it was like hitting a rock with a candle.The hammer was smashed,take my word for it!"...
This memory faded and joined the others inside the long corridors of his mind.He thought about their journey.Their first stop was the swamps of Swanfleet and the had many,many miles ahead of them.