Originally Posted by
Aexodus
"There is a darkness in that forest. I used to gather roots and hunt game as a young lad, but now no-one dares bare cast their gaze to the East these days. They speak of some kind of-some kind of, deep evil, spreading like poison in the very veins o' the forest. Some say its dark magic, others say it's something much older and fouler, some even claim it's the doing of the wicked elves of Thranduil's realm. Whatever the cause, people are disappearing from towns and villages up and down the vale. But there's no trace of a struggle, no sign of even a break-in. In some cases, many days passed before we knew the poor soul was gone. It's as though they're disappearing right from their beds... an' it's makin' people fear every dark corner, every creak in the night. It has to end."
Thorik paused and moistened his lips, acutely aware of the total attention the table of misfts, nobles, dwarves and beornings was giving him, seemingly leaning towards him without moving at all. The room was impressing upon him, like a cavern that was becoming a cave, that was becoming a tunnel. The atmosphere was physically claustrophobic to him. It wasn't the environment he was used to compared to the remote lifestyle of the vale he preferred to live.
"They, or it, took my own father as well. I have nothing left, but my axe and my horse.
Tis is not the orcs, the spiders nay the trolls I fear, it's what I can't see with my own eyes that I fear. Until, that is, I found anonymous note telling me to journey to Dale, if I wished to seek the answer to my problems, pinned to my front door.
On the inside, of my front door, however it got there.
So here I am."
Thorik paused, noticing for the first time the fact that Hallas not only was, but felt.. huge. He had an unseeming presence, with a twinkle in his eye that betrayed the gruff exterior he maintained. He was unlike any 'man' Thorik had ever dealt with in his 24 winters. For someone not used to social occasions such as this, Thorik had an uncanny connection and judgement of all creatures. And he sensed something in this strange man, who stood out among the men of Dale, or indeed, of any mannish Kingdom besides.
"And who are you, exactly?", Thorik finally added.