Ardra Ruthànakhàs
The Green Company
World:	Landroval
Vocation:	Tinker
Class:	Burglar
Race:	Man
Region:	Gondor
Age:	Unknown (Near 50 but appears 25)
Height:	5'6"
Sex:	Female
Skin:	Medium Fair
Hair:	Brown
Eye:	Green

Description

Physical Description: Ardra appears to be somewhere in her mid-twenties, and it's no suprise that the wary citizens of Bree-land referred to her as a Ranger from the moment she arrived... She bears a number of scars- most noticeably one running down her face close to her eye. Unless in the company of Elves, she usually opts for the course protection of a green robe of dwarf make, and often wears a hooded cloak. Since becoming Captain of the Green Company, this uniform rarely changes and the occasions where she wears her hood down are noted as a sign of trust on her part. She also masks the lower half of her face often.

There have been some recent changes to her appearance, due mostly to her time in the captivity of the criminal, Hanson, who tortured her mercilessly seeking secrets he could sell to Angmar and a ransom from the Rangers of the North. Ardra survived the ordeal, but her recovery has been long. She has a number of slashes on her back made by a shard of glass she tried to hide as an escape tool (which was later pounded into her skin by Hanson's henchman, Acwel), and she has a new slash across her face opposite the one she recieved in Moria. Also, during another escape attempt her hand was badly broken in a doorframe. While her fingers have healed, she often still flexes her hand involuntarily.

The issue of Ardra's hair and eye color was a point of confusion when it came to determining her now-confirmed Dunedain heritage. In normal cases, the Dunedain are known for their dark hair and grey eyes. When Aminth of Lorien and the Elves of Rivendell were able to confirm Ardra carried the blood of Numenor (making her twice as old as she thought she was), it was considered her dark brown hair and green eyes may have been inherited from a parent or grandparent who intermixed with a Dunedain. Her Gondorian origins make this very likely.

Personality Description: Ardra had already changed a great deal from the time she was recruited to join The Green Company to after she became it's Captain. Her personality ranged depending on who she was around. In the presence of strangers she was usually a bit grim and quite serious. She was usually seen with her hood up and a pipe in her mouth, making her face difficult to see in poor lighting.

In sharp contrast, around her kinsmen Ardra had previously more and more shown her lighter side. She laughed more, smiled often, and was known for a terrible habit of 'poking the sleeping bear' (this often happened with her friend and Lieutenant, Aminth of Lorien) and finding humor and irony in the strangest places. Since her captivity, however, this side of Ardra has appeared somewhat less. Her long recovery gave her time to move on from her furious need for revenge against Hanson (who she was none too happy to learn was supposedly killed by the burglar, Jaco, whose death she has also been dealing with). She has been somber since the departure of Aminth from the company, and even communications with her long-time friend (and new Lieutenant), Scorric of Rohan, have been strained and sparse. Many have noticed she appears to be carrying many hidden burdens that she will not share with her kinsmen. On top of this, she's been a mite grumpy with those who have overseen her recovery, the young woman, Avadrin of Rohan (the widow of one of the Esteldin Rangers) and Mihangel, a hunter of Dale and long-time ally of the Grey Company.

Lately, her focus has been diverted to fishing, gardening, and reading, but the recent discovery that the Captain had 'snuck out' to meet with the Rangers right under Mihangel and Avadrin's nose has brought to question just what else Ardra has been doing with her spare time. Currently, she waits for an oppurtunity to ride to Esteldin to be cleared by Halbarad to return to duty.

Accent: Ardra's accent could be likened to a Scottish brogue, often replacing words like "don't" and "can't" with "din'ne" and "can'ne". It's described in RP as North Gondorian, due to the close proximity of where she grew up to Rohan.

Bio

Five years ago, Ardra woke up in an inn in Gondor with no memory of her past beyond her name. Bewildered and unsure how she arrived (the tavern-keep found her battered in the street), she took up work as a tavern-hand. When a group of prolific local brigands showed up to extort the inn-keeper, a humble man unable to pay such tributes, Ardra was taken against her will as payment. Shortly after leaving the inn, she attempted to fight them off and found that somewhere in her forgotten memories, she had combat skill enough to do so. She killed two of their kin before escaping. Knowing she was marked, she survived in the wilds, but it was not enough to protect her. The two men she killed were family members of the gang's leader, and the fiends pursued her relentlessly, even to the point of placing a bounty on her. With no safe haven to be found in Gondor, she was forced to head north-west towards Rohan and the mountains. She found no refuge in Rohan either, and hunters allied with the brigands chased her north, past the outer borders of Lothlorien all the way to the Misty Mountains.

She had hoped to lose her pursuers in the mountains but during their scuffles, too greatly had she inspired their rage. The price placed on her hide was more than she had expected, and a man nearly captured her while she was resting. She fled into the night, weaving through the peaks and hills until she miscalculated a step, falling down a slanted shaft into a black series of caverns... and found herself lost in the wicked darkness of the Mines of Moria.

She speaks little of what occurred during her ten days in the mines... At the mention of Moria, she will often suggest the name not be uttered in the Kingdoms of Free Men. Despite her silence, it is clear she was captured and tortured by Moria-Orcs during her time there, evidenced by the scar of a serrated blade on her face. While the traumatic experience was not enough to bring her memory back, more skills from her life before the amnesia became apparent to Ardra, and brought many questions concerning just who or what she was before her memory was lost. She had visions of a terrible battle where men were slaughtered by fell creatures. The ordeal built an unusual amount of endurance to torture and pain within Ardra, but also left with her a silent fear of goblin holes and the deep places of the earth (the Green Company witnessed this when they were forced to raid the Goblin's underground stronghold in the Northern High pass).

She escaped the mines barely alive, and it was only by the grace of Eru that scouts of Rivendell found her near-dead body a short ways from the Moria gate. Within Imladris, she was nursed back to health by Elrond and his helaers. During her stay, she came across an ancient book within the house's great library, chronicling words and speech of the men of Numenor. It was at this point Ardra recalled a peculiar name which had resurfaced during the tortures of Moria: Ruthànakhàs. She came to know it meant 'scar of the chasm' and took it as her surname. It was also during this time she began having her first recallings of understanding Sindarin, which she was quite surprised to learn she comprehended.

After departing Imladris, Ardra made for Bree-land where she would start anew... However, upon arriving in Bree-town, clad in robe and hooded cloak, sitting in the corner smoking a pipe she'd bought for a few coins, she gained a new title: Ranger. From that point on, she was no longer welcomed by the Bree-folk, rather looked at with suspicion at every turn. It was shortly after this that Borrhavan, leader of the Green Company of the Rangers of the North, approached her (at the suggestion of Elrond, who had reported the strange girl's unique qualities to Aragorn). Though she was hesitant, Ardra could not resist the call to aid in defending Eriador and joined the company as a Ranger of the free-folk of Gondor.

Several months later, Borrhavan was forced to retire his position as Captain and disappeared... In his stead, Anowyn of Rohan was made Captain for a time, and Ardra did what she could to aid the Shieldmaiden in the leadership of the somewhat makeshift company. In the end, Anowyn too was forced to return to her homeland, leaving her rank to Ardra...

While it seemed impossible, Ardra successfully lead and restored the Green Company. Shards of Ardra's lost past began coming forward when Aminth of Lorien revealed she had originally been sent to the company not as an ambassador, but to research the issue of Ardra's heritage for Elrond and Aragorn... and what she found had all but indicated that before Ardra lost her memory, she was in some way involved with the Rangers of the South and bears the Dunedain Faithful's gift of long life.

Ardra led the Rangers on many successful and dangerous campaigns, and The Green Company became a 'special forces' unit of the Rangers of the North. Their assault on the fortress of Garth Agarwen and the stronghold of Goblintown gained them renown amongst the Elves, who granted them Halls of Refuge in Falathlorn. The death of one of their kinsmen, Atharan of the Dunedain, weighed heavy of Ardra and for a time she became severely overprotective of her kinsmen, often taking dangerous missions upon herself...

Also, her ongoing spouts and dealings with the burglar Jaco were never fully explained; the Rangers mostly knew that Ardra had no liking for him at all and usually meetings between the Dunedain Captain and the self-proclamed "Best Burglar in Middle Earth" would end with the latter being punched in the face or making a dramatic exit... They also knew Jaco had something to do with Ardra's kidnapping, which occurred shortly after he led them to believe Scorric of Rohan was being held in the dungeons of Goblintown (they thought this was a ploy to claim a jewel for the burglar, but it was later revealed the task was manipulated for the protection of Rivendell... a very complicated matter). With no advocate, Jaco was held responsible for Ardra's plight when Hanson (his 2nd in command) and Jarys (a woman of Harad known for pickpocketing, assassination, and being a seductress) betryaed him to the Rangers.

RP Fodder

• 11/18/08: Yet another eventful meeting has taken its toll on the Captain... The return of former-captain Borrhavan was a welcome sight, as was his aid with the mission in Evendim. What was not so welcome was the mention that the Gates of Moria have been opened. Very few of the company know of Ardra's experience in the mines, though she almost gave herself away when they raided the Goblin stronghold in the Northern High Pass. On top of this, the news that Aminth of Lorien was indeed the elf confronted by Mihangel and stirred a series of conflicting emotions in Ardra.
• 10/26/08: Ardra recieved two shocking blows at the most recent rendevous with the Rangers at the Halls in Falathlorn. First, she recieved word that Scorric could not be found in the city of Annuminas, but had left without sending her correspondence. While she dropped the topic after several minutes of intense interrogation of those bearing the news, it clearly shook her... but what shook her even more was the confession of Mihangel that he had confronted an Elf woman who had been spying on the kin hall. Despite his best attempts to keep the situation vague, Ardra clearly had some suspicions of who the woman might have been, and she had to work hard to keep her emotions under control during the meeting... at the prospect she might get another chance to apologize to an old friend.
• 10/11/08: When Ardra was rescued and Jaco killed (knocked off the Nen Harn falls with Hanson), Ardra later clarified that Jaco was an individual that she had marked as an enemy when he was in fact a friend... and since then she has been careful who she shuns as a villain or burns bridges with. She also vehemently has stated that Jaco had never intended for Hanson to get ahold of her, and that it was poor choices rather than malice that led to both of their fates...

Friends and Enemies

Friends:

• Scorric of Rohan: An ex-Rohirrim footsoldier who acts as Huntmaster and 'Master Orc-Shanker' of the Green Company. Of all the free-folk who have joined the company, Scorric is most definitely the least 'ranger-like' (labling himself a proud brigand) but in the past had brought no limit of laughter, absurdity, and loyalty to the Company... Upon the departure of Aminth of Lorien, he was promoted to Interim Lieutenant, and since Ardra's move to the Halls in Falathlorn relations between the two have grown very strained... Scorric spends inordinate amounts of time fighting alongside the Rangers of Evendim in Annuminas, and usually does not show up if Ardra is going to be present.
• Aminth of Lorien: Aminth has always been a bit unique amongst elves, and Ardra noticed this from the start. She's often labeled "fiery" and is frequently given over to emotional ups and downs. She is undyingly loyal to Ardra, and acted as Captain during Ardra's captivity. Aminth's personal issues and her mixed feelings about the race of men did not help her in the position, and the toll of leadership was great upon her. When Ardra snapped at her about the death of Hanson and Jaco upon waking up after her rescue, Aminth broke and could not remain with the Rangers. Ever since realizing what she did, Ardra has made ongoing efforts to contact her friend through Amonthir (Aminth's brother), but only mysterious items marked with purple ribbon have been the response. Driving Aminth away is one of the great burdens Ardra still deals with.
• Amonthir of Lorien: Aminth's brother; Surprisingly brooding for an elf, he is The Green Company's self-labled "Nay-sayer and Doom-singer".
• Jaraak of "The Blue-Grey Mountains" (actually Edhellond): Jaraak is also unique amongst elves... After his kin abanonded the refuge of Edhellond in the east to head for the Grey Havens, Jaraak stayed behind... and to deal with his grief decided to delve into the culture of the dwarves. This has spawned a unique personality conflict in the elf where he will quite literally claim to be a dwarf, somewhat annoyed by his elven kin. Still, he is as loyal a kinsman as they come. He ended up leaving the Green Company to 'find himself', leaving Ardra with a finely crafted pipe as a gift.
• The Rangers of the Green Company: Her kinsmen, her loyal soldiers, and her friends...
• Jaco: Of what sort of bizarre history that led to the beginning of Ardra's rocky relationship with the 'Best Burglar in Middle Earth', little is known. She quickly marked him a fiend when he started playing tricks on the Green Company, leading the Rangers through elaborate games of manipulation and blackmail, usually to claim treasures for himself. He recieved many a punch in the jaw from Ardra during the company's early days, and during one particularly frustrating incident, used a journal he had acquired through unknown trickery to blackmail Ardra and Aminth into ordering a cease fire on him. During the time that Scorric had disappeared, Ardra met with Jaco in private several times, supposedly because the burglar didn't trust certain members of The Green Company to honor Ardra's 'no harm' order when he had information to give to them. After the incident at Goblintown, Jaco was the one who found Ardra drunk near the Archet ridge, supposedly making such a scene he had to take her to his hideout for her own safety... which gave him the idea to fool the Green Company into thinking he had kidnapped her so they couldn't harm him. This backfired badly on Jaco when he was betrayed by his fellow rogues, and the Rangers showed him little hospitality during his stay with them as a prisoner of war (Amonare of the Dunedain nearly killed him by hitting him in the face with a shield). Due to some unknown negotiations made with Aminth of Lorien (who supposedly hated Jaco with a passion), the burglar was released and aided with Ardra's rescue. Shortly thereafter, when the Rangers tracked the criminal Hanson to the Nen Harn using a series of traps and clues Jaco had devised, Jaco was supposedly killed when he stabbed Hanson, and a thrown dagger of unknown source caused both the burglar and his prey to topple over the falls. According to Ardra, Jaco had been on their side the whole time... she just didn't realize it until it was too late.
• Mihangel of Dale: Mihangel took interest in the activities of the Green Company shortly after the rescue of Ardra. A hunter of Dale, he had acted as a long-time ally of the Grey Company, and his skill has been of substantial aid to the Rangers many times. After meeting Ardra, he took it upon himself to aid Avadrin of Rohan in overseeing the Captain's recovery, and has acted as her bodyguard several times (to the point of locking Ardra in the kinhall if she tries to ride off alone).
• Avadrin of Rohan: Avadrin was sent to the Green Company by Halbarad to 'keep an eye on them' after Aminth of Lorien gave up her Lieutenant position to Scorric. Avadrin ended up become Ardra's caretaker during her recovery, and interactions between the two are often awkward. Despite having been the widow of a Dunedain Ranger, Avadrin is rather skittish and tends to not understand the Rangers way of doing things at times... She's also overbearing at times with Ardra, who insists upon not being coddled or looking weak when she can manage it. Ardra does like the girl and try to treat her well, but often miscommunicates with her...

Enemies:

• Hanson: While little of who Hanson truly was ever became clear to Ardra, he was her captor, torturer, and in a way her greatest nemesis. She caused him no end of frustration during her time in his captivity and he caused her no end of pain... Her time with him caused something very dark to snap inside of Ardra, and while it has remained hidden from her kinsmen since the opportunity for revenge is gone, the scars Hanson left are more than skin deep...
• Jarys of Harad: It could be ventured to say there are others in the Green Company who bear stronger hatred for this duplicitous Southron, but there's no doubt Ardra and Jarys are not on good terms from her time in captivity. A true Hasharin, Jarys has no qualms over expressing her intensely racist hatred for Gondorians, and explained on multiple occasions that had she been given the oppurtunity to stand less than six feet from Ardra, she'd have slit her throat simply for 'being a filthy (insert Gondorian racial slur'. The harm and troubles this woman has caused the Rangers are definitely marked in Ardra's mind, but at the moment the Captain has had to set her mind on bigger fish that need frying.

Trivia

• Despite her mostly rough edges, Ardra has been caught shaving her legs and other body hair by at least one kinsmen... She claimed it had to do with eliminating scent for tracking prey, but there are a number of things Ardra does that can't be easily explained away.
• While Ardra has been known to drink a fair amount of ale (she has a man's tolerance), she's had a particularly bad run of luck with Dwarf Whiskey. On one occasion in Thorin's Hall, she was hit in the head by a flying bottle of the stuff, thrown by a drunk dwarf who thought another had insulted him. After the traumatic assault on Goblin town, Dwarf Whiskey was the drink Ardra chose to drown herself in near the Archet Ridge in the Far Chetwood, leading to her captivity under Jaco, then Hanson.
• Much to the chagrin of her Elf companions, Ardra smokes a fair deal of pipeweed. She showed only one unusual lapse in this habit shortly before the assault on Goblintown, but since her rescue has picked it back up.
• For a Ranger, a number of Ardra's skills tend to lean towards the side of a thief. She's quite capable at the picking of locks, at not being seen, and occasionally will resort to dirty techniques in a fight. She has theorized perhaps she was a thief at some point before her memory loss, but there is no way to verify this.
• During the time she was in a coma after her rescue, Jael Ethilisome and Aminth often caught Ardra mumbling unknown words in her sleep... While they weren't able to translate what she was saying, the language of her ramblings was identified as Adunaic, a most curious finding indeed.

Gossip

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