#halloth

[ridingforrohan]

Another WIP

Sorry I've been so slow to write this chapter. Here's more of chapter 41. @from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras there's mention of your favorite of my characters in here for you.

Fréaláf shakes his head, “No, my mother would not hold that against you even if she had. I’ve spoken well of you to her. She will adore you like a daughter…a daughter she actually likes.”

“Aren’t all mothers resentful of the woman who steals their son away?”

“I can hardly count as stolen away when she left me at court all those years ago. She will be glad someone wanted me enough to marry.”

Halloth scoffs and moves a step closer, “I’m certain there are plenty of women who have wanted you. Men too from what you’ve told me.”

“To bed perhaps, but not to marry. I do not think that many like the idea of me siring dark haired children who look as though they belong in Dunland.”

“Not even Ethelwine? There would have been no worry of children from that coupling.”

“In another life perhaps, where I could give myself to him fully and not pull him away from all that he loves in Harrowdale. He stayed with me in Edoras for a time, before the coronation, and he was miserable there.” Fréaláf admits, wondering if he should have told her sooner.

“He sounds like a good man,” Halloth says. There is a question there, but Fréaláf isn’t quite sure what it is. 

“He stood by me and held me against the darkness of that winter when no one else could. I owe him a debt I can never hope to repay.” Fréaláf tells her as he reaches for her hand. 

“Why me and not him?”

“Because you love the king, he loved the man I was before I was any of this. I can make you happy in Meduseld and keep you at my side in public and in private. I could not offer him that.” He explains gently. “You can love someone and know in your heart you are not meant to belong to one another forever.”

She nods, “I am afraid to give myself to you fully. I still worry that there are parts of me that are too ugly for you to truly love.”

His hand settles on the small of her back, “I do not think that will be the case. Most people would have found a way to at least hint at their worst qualities by now.”

“And since you are so wise, what are mine?” Halloth asks. 

He pauses, for that question seems dangerous. Still he will not back down from a challenge so easily, “You’re reckless, stubborn and you refuse to let anyone see what you’re thinking. Which I could argue are some of your best qualities as well.”

“How so?”

“You were reckless enough to climb into bed with the king of Rohan on only your second night in Edoras.”

That draws a smile from Halloth, “Well, I was invited and he happened to be the prettiest man I’d ever met. How could I refuse? Besides, he was infuriatingly chaste.”

“You were stubborn enough to pursue me all winter, even when I was too thick headed to see your interest was sincere.”

“As I said, the prettiest man I’d ever met. I couldn’t let you slip away that easily now could I?”

“I only take issue with the last one, I wish you would let me see more of what you think and feel. Sometimes I worry you hide even more from me than I think.”

She leans into him, “I don’t mean to do it, not to you at least. You’ve met my family now, I’m certain you can see why I learned to be so guarded.”

[so-mitzycal]

Drawing more than two characters together is a pain in the ass

1/10 would not recommend

[we-were-legends]

Halloth Adasserion | Red fox

Master Archer | Officer of the Wolverine Banner

Lead them or fall.

Agility, cleverness, mischief. Foxes are extremly clever and remarkably resourceful. From hunting strategies to comouflage, foxes are going strongly through. Fox symbolizes spirit world and is honoured for its wisdom. It reminds that all tools and resources are there to help with career and difficulties in life. It is good luck when a fox crosses path.

Symbolic fox is adaptive, outgoing and insanely loyal. They are endowed with a keen sense of humour that is often tough to control. The way they solve their issues mark their creativity and wit. This allows them to share small talk with those around them, but it does not mean they enjoy all the attention they receive.

15 / ?

[ridingforrohan]

WIP

I have let my long fic sit for so long while I got involved with the LARP community...but today I sat down to write again and I was amazed at how quickly the characters came back to me. Here's a little sneak peak of chapter 41.

Halloth is a stoic creature. She is tight lipped and tense as they walk through the city, but she holds her head high and dismisses any attempts he makes at bringing up what had just transpired. He waits as she organizes the ship for departure and takes the helm to steer them out of the harbor. 

Halloth is quiet and tries to send him away as the sails are raised and the ship lists to one side as the wind catches. She tells him she needs to focus as she guides the ship out the channel cut in the kelp, but it is a weak excuse. Still, he will not force his company on her and retreats to stand by the rail behind her. 

As Halloth had predicted, the wind picks up and the sea ripples with it like grass on the plains. She grips the tiller tightly and keeps her gazed fixed ahead, calling out adjustments to the sails as they surge forward. 

“Halloth,” he coaxes as she lowers her shoulders and settles a little. 

She turns to look back at him and her gaze travels behind him to Dol Amroth. He does not miss the grief in that gaze nor the tears she will be sure to dismiss as summoned by the sting of wind in her eyes. 

“Just go, I’ll be alright in a moment,” she says, turning away again. 

“Do you want to go back?”

She shakes her head and when he approaches he sees there are tears running down her cheeks. 

He pauses, unsure what to do. With any of his kin he would have embraced them already, but Halloth is like some cornered animal, fierce and fearful in a way that makes him think his touch would not be a comfort. Instead he moves closer to stand at her side, “What do you need?”

“Nothing, it’s only….I don’t know when I’ll see this place again or my mother. I know she’s not the warmest woman but I had hoped that she might see me differently now that I have you. Perhaps she did and it only made things worse.” Halloth tells him. 

“I think she is drowning in her own hurt, don’t let her drag you down with her. She loves you, even if she struggles to show it.” Fréaláf offers. 

“I’m relieved she’s not coming to the wedding. Perhaps if your mother takes to me she might stand in her place in a way. I wouldn’t mind having someone there to make a fuss over the dress and all that goes with it.” Halloth says quietly. 

“I’m sure she will, she’s eager to meet you. Ask it of her, I imagine it would only endear you to her further.” Fréaláf decides that he will make certain his mother receives Halloth well regardless of what she thinks of her.

[ridingforrohan]

Definitely not Wednesday anymore WIP

Thank you for the tag @lady-of-ithilien, Here's some more of chapter 40 of Tenth Queen of Rohan. Like @lady-of-ithilien 's Faramir, Fréaláf is quite respectful when it matters but he will make a fuss when Halloth tries to leave their bed too early in the morning for his taste.

Halloth catches his cheek in her hand so that he must meet her eyes, “I am ready to go home and become your wife. If I ride down to the harbor this morning I can have the ship ready by noon.”

He pauses, “I admit I’m eager to be away, but this is your last chance to be here for some time. We can spare a few more days.”

Halloth shakes her head, “I’ve had enough of my mother’s hospitality. I hope you won’t mind if we spend another day or two with Khamis? I haven’t given up hope on reconciling with my father yet and he may be able to help.”

“Of course.”

She kisses him again and sits up, “I’d best dress and hurry down to the harbor. Stay in bed if you like, I’ll be back in time for breakfast.”

He catches her by the wrist as she makes to leave and turns it over, kissing the underside, “Wait…just a few more moments.”

She grins, “Just a few?”

“Come back to bed,” He coaxes. 

Halloth sighs and obliges him, kissing him deeply and letting her hands roam over him. He is exceptionally well built, though his sword arm is more muscled than the other. She straddles him with a hand on either side of his head and kisses him again, then he tilts his head to give her access to his neck. He manages to shove the covers aside and hook a leg over her back, and then wraps his arms around her and holds her close against him.

“Fréaláf!” Halloth says angrily as she thrashes to escape him. Unfortunately for her he has her pinned and rolls them over so he is on his side and can use both legs to trap her. 

“Ha! Try running off to the docks now.” He says smugly.

“Oh you think you’re clever don’t you?” Halloth asks. 

“A little.”

“Hmmm,” She tries again to twist out of his grip and finds him impossible to shake free.  “Let me go,” She demands. 

“I’d rather not.”

“You’re the one who told me the story about biting Haleth, don’t think I won’t try it.”

He seems to consider this but then squeezes her slightly, “You wouldn’t.”

Tagging anyone who would like to share something! I feel like my usual suspects have already been tagged.

Btw would anyone like another set of character related questions? I haven't done that for a while and I think we all had fun with that.

[ridingforrohan]

WIP Wednesday

I've been taking forever with Tenth Queen but I'm excited to see there are a few people reading it! Here's a little preview of the current chapter I'm working on.

“Halloth I meant to send you off with your grandmother’s jewelry from her father, if you’ll have it. It’s from Rohan, and I had hoped to send you away with some good silk and lace for a wedding dress.” Her mother protests. 

“My mother is making her wedding dress. I saw the start of it when I visited with her on my way here,” Fréaláf tells her. 

Halloth frowns at that, “She doesn’t have my measurements.”

“She lined up the young women of her household and told me to pick the one who most resembled you in shape,” Fréaláf explains. 

“So your mother is sticking some poor woman full of sewing pins on my behalf?”  Halloth asks.

Fréaláf nods, “I’m afraid so.”

“Shouldn’t she be dressed in Gondorian finery?” Halloth’s mother asks. 

Fréaláf shakes his head, “I think it would be better for her to be already dressed as a queen of Rohan, not a lady of Gondor. It will be the first time she appears publicly as queen and if she is dressed as one of our people then they will more readily accept her. There are too many Gondorians who come to us and speak to us as if we are a simple and unlearned people. If I am to take a bride from Gondor she will have to prove to them she does not hold them in contempt.”

[ridingforrohan]

Play date time! If you were to introduce one of your ocs to someone (oc or canon character) that they can't/wouldn't meet in canon, who would it be?

@from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras this has the the look of your work. How kind of you. If it wasn’t then thank you anon!!!!

I would introduce Halloth to Faramir. They both have bitchy fathers and marry into the line of Eorl after a time of crisis. I think they would like a chance to compare notes. While they both love their spouses I’m sure there are times they find them and their culture a little odd. Maybe they can meet in whatever afterlife the Rohirrim go to?

By extension, I think Fréaláf would be so proud to know that one of his distant grandchildren took out the Witch King. Though he would be deeply saddened at the circumstances that drove her to ride to battle. The art book for War of the Rohirrim says that Fréaláf’s sword was a copy of Éowyn’s in the Jackson movies, implying that it was the same sword or modeled after his. I like the idea of Fréaláf leaving his sword to his eldest daughter Haleth and over the years the weakened edge is filed off and sharpened to make it shorter and slightly less thick. It is used sparingly by the ladies of the house of Eorl for generations after.

[ridingforrohan]

Another Character Facts Writing Prompt

I'm too tired to write my long fic and the last one was fun. This one is more mundane stuff. I find it easy to think about and it helps me worldbuild.

For this I'm going to use my OC Halloth, who appears in my long fic The Tenth Queen of Rohan and in several related works.

1.) How does your character sleep? When do they go to bed? What sort of bedding do they prefer?

Halloth is used to spending a lot of time at sea and really loves sleeping at sea, even if it means waking up for night watch at the helm. She likes the rocking of the boat and the sound of waves on the hull and whale song below while she's all cozy in a bunk. Once she's married and living in a landlocked nation, that's not something she gets to experience often. She traded it for a very attractive man in her bed, and would tell you it was a good deal. Generally, Fréaláf will go to bed first and Halloth will follow a little while later. In summer, their bedding is mostly linen with wool covers folded at the end of the bed for cold nights. Winter sees the bed covered with fur blankets and a sheepskin mattress topper. Meduseld is cold in winter and at night they let the fires die down, so even if you have a husband who generates a fair amount of body heat, you still need some good layers to keep it in.

2.) Where and when do they get to socialize with friends?

In Gondor Halloth has friends in most of the major ports. Her mother keeps a house in Dol Amroth and while she will put on a nice dress and entertain nobility. Halloth will also discretely head down to the dockside taverns with her father's men and drink and dice where the more important deals are done. Her father has an iron grip on most trade going in and out of Gondor by sea. If you want to move cargo, especially from foreign ports without paying the steward Beren's taxes, you had best see Halloth about it.

In Pelargir she has her childhood friends Samir and Karam, the sons of a merchant from Near Harad who is a close friend and business partner of her father. They particularly like racing horses on the tidal flats at the mouth of the Anduin and hunting with hawks in the nearby hills.

In Anórien Halloth's grandparents and younger sister live near the uppermost port on Anduin and her grandfather controls a vast swath of fertile farmland. There Halloth likes to ride with the hunts, helping to manage her grandfather's hounds in the field on boar hunts (the boars in Anórien are nowhere near as terrifying the monsterous wild boar in Rohan). In Rohan once Meduseld is rebuilt and Rohan starts to thrive again, Halloth will help to popularize riding out with huntsmen again by patronizing the hunts riding out of Edoras. Her husband has a fine pack of hounds and she loves the cry of hounds and horns. It is seen as a way to honor Béma and a good day of riding with friends.

I also like the idea of Rohan building bath houses over hot springs. Being at the base of mountains they could be quite common, and be one of the reasons so many of their people settle there. Halloth would frequent the one in Edoras and usually brings a few female friends with her to soak in the hot water and chat. She usually leaves smelling a little sulferic, but that's ok.

Of course her best friend (besides darling Wídfara) is Fréaláf's cousin Héra, who dragged her to Rohan in the first place.

3.) What is something their partner or someone else close to them does that annoys them?

Fréaláf is pretty ideal as far as husbands go, but no man is perfect. If Halloth is up in the morning and trying to get out of bed, she has things to do and places to be. Sometimes Fréaláf will attempt to hold her there for prolonged snuggling in the morning. While he is very cute, enough is enough, and she's not afraid to tell him off when it goes from cute to annoying.

When Halloth marries him she makes a commitment to learning Rohirric fully to do right by her people as their new queen. Fréaláf favors an immersive approach to teaching and just stops speaking westron to her entirely, which he thinks is hilarious. Halloth appreciates the effort but eventually it gets a little overwhelming and they have a little spat about it. Luckily Fréaláf is the sort of man where you can correct him when he's doing something you don't like and he doesn't get too weird about it.

Tagging @yoursincalendricalheresy , @frodothefair , @lady-of-ithilien , @from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras and any others who would like to join.