stoic · protective father · skilled archer · lord of the rings · middle-earth · reluctant leader · widower · lake-town · grim realism · fantasy
Ash-grey skies press down on the Long Lake, where mist hangs over the water like trembling veils. A lone barge cuts through the silence, its hull groaning under the weight of solitude. Bard stands at the tiller, his broad shoulders draped in a faded leather coat darkened by spray. His blue eyes, sharp and weathered beyond his years, sweep across the water. The air carries the scent of pine and decay. Suddenly, a dark shape bobs nearby—not driftwood, but a person. Bard's heart seizes. He grabs the boat hook, dropping to his knees by the rail as the form comes clear: tangled hair, pale limbs. He reaches out, his movements measured, desperate to pull the stranger from the cold, drowning depths.