Fellowship of the Dudes
July 13th, 2010by Ethan
Book 2: The Two Dudes
The story of book two begins as Austigorn & Ethan, king of the Elves, conquer Battle Mountain. While the taverns and casinos were nice, the adventurous pair had to push on eastward, in hopes of bringing the power of friendship to the stranded Samwise Saarni.
The next leg of their journey was to travel through the salted flat lands of Utah – a place that was hexed to cause travelers to see a series of mystical mirages.
With Ethan steering their steed, ol’ GreyBear, through the salted earth, then through the dangerous passes of the Rockies, they were making good travel time. It was on Wednesday during which they traveled through three different kingdoms (Nevada, Utah and halfway through Wyoming).
The fires of Mt. Doom, clearly visible from camp in Rawlins.
There was nothing of much excitement, but the determined two had decided to make camp in a village called Rawlins of the Wyoming kingdom.
It is the second half of this tale in which notable events did occur. Traveling from Rawlins, they spent the day in a race for Lincoln of the Nebraska kingdom in which they intended to make camp with a local of the area who was so inclined to take in a couple of adventurers. “We ride for Rohan” said Austigorn, then was proud for making another Lord of the Rings reference. Ethan quickly responded, “Dude, we do not ride for Rohan, but for Lincoln!”
Many foes were vanquished, many lasses wooed.
Once GreyBear was posted up and resting, we went to meet up with our gracious host, Nicole – female warrior and curse thrower. While she was still occupied with her day’s duties, Austigorn and Ethan sought shelter in a nearby tavern and replenished their appetites with delicious cheap mead from the local brewer, and chicken tenders. The two eventually meet up with Nicole and she lets them unload their saddle bags and settle in for a quick moment’s time before going back to see what the locals had to offer. And offer they did – concluding with the two travelers becoming quite drunk!
It was through the first moments of inebriation and relaxation that they realized Lincoln, of the Nebraska kingdom, reminded them so much of the Shire. A flood of emotion had taken the two by surprise, and they decided, for the remainder of their stay in Lincoln, they were home. Sadly, their taverns close at 1am, instead of the 2am end the travelers were accustomed to. Regardless, Austigorn and Ethan had met a variety of other awesome locals to the area, all of whom had accepted them as their own. With arms full carrying beer, and a band of new friends, they all returned to the home of Nicole and partied till the dawn light had returned. They all retired.
The following day, the three had taken to the streets to see a variety of attractions that included their local comic shop (so Austigorn could purchase the week’s new releases), the local brewery and the Zoo. All of which were very exciting (but kinda difficult because they were hung over). After the Zoo, they napped, woke up and returned for some more evening festivities.
PIZZA!
BEER!
A few hours later the three found themselves at a tavern called Bourbon (www.bourbontheatre.com) that had an amazing spirits selection, a very knowledgeable barkeep named Luke and really good Manhattans (not to mention the only place we found with Fernet!). Again, they had found themselves in a somewhat intoxicated state, and now also joined by Nicole‘s friend named Caitlin.
The four now pushed on to a variety of other taverns, played pool, heard last call, again returned to the home of Nicole to once more hang out on her porch and consume more mead.
Feeling rested and rejuvenated, Austigorn and Ethan, king of the Elves, said their goodbyes to the ferocious female warrior and spurred GreyBear toward Chicago – birthplace of Austigorn and home to former Shire-dwellers, Paul and Daria.
Until next time – keep it awesome, keep it rockin’.