An Unexpected Addition (Thilbo - Bagginshield)

Skin-Changers

"Something must be wrong. Skin-changers never visit without a good reason."

The throne room was lined with members of the Company, Royal Council, and an entire contingency of the Royal Guard. Bilbo stood at the far side of the chamber with Ori and Nori at his side, watching the huge doors at the front of the room in anticipation and a trifle of nervousness. Everyone was quietly whispering amongst themselves, their King an unmoving statue upon his granite throne, the royal heirs and princess seated on either side of him. More than a little confused by the strained atmosphere in the room, Bilbo came to the conclusion that some extra reading on skin-changers and their history with dwarves or northmen would be necessary in the near future.

"Will they be dangerous?" asked the hobbit.

"Not unless we attack them first. They're a pragmatic bunch, the skin-changers. A lot like Beorn, although not quite as bizarre in their behavior. Well, okay, I take that back. They're still a peculiar bunch, but these skin-changers live in communal packs, so they're a little more sociable than our beary friend," explained Nori. "The line of Durin has had a long-standing agreement with this particular pack and several others around the numerous borders of Erebor. Basically, if we stay out of their territories and let them live in peace, a strange presence of any type in or around Erebor will be reported to the King. Aside from Smaug's assault, the Lonely Mountain has always had timely forewarnings from the skin-changers about potential invasions."

"What do these ones change into?"

Nori grinned. "We've got ourselves four wolves and two badgers today. They're a part of two conjoined packs, if you want to get technical. Because of this, the full range of their territory's huge, stretching from eastern Dyr to the edge of Mirkwood and then north to the upper foothills of the Barl Syrnac. I'm sure you'll find a bunch of maps about those regions eventually, just ask our aunt for some help with it. If you ask me, next to the men of the Forodwaith, they are the toughest people of Middle-Earth. Only those with balls of pure iron could live right under the snouts of dragons. I'm surprised they weren't eaten by a drake centuries ago."

"Do they know Beorn?"

"I've no idea," admitted Nori. "We've only been in communication with them for eight months now. It was actually one of the first things Thorin did after taking the throne since they're such a great source of information. Well, when we can actually find the wily bastards, that is. Took over six months for me to track them down along one of the northeastern rivers, and even then my lads had to corner them near a high ravine to even start a discussion." He shrugged his left arm. "I got an unpleasant bite for that particular scheme of mine."

"They sound fascinating," said Bilbo with an amazed smile. He'd never given too much thought to skin-changers in general. "Are they friendly at all? Or do they distrust all outsiders like Beorn did when we first met him?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Nori pointed to the throne room doors, his dark eyes growing more serious now. "Here they come..."

Six cloaked figures walked to the front of the chamber, each bowing their heads to the King Under the Mountain in an open display of respect and solidarity. Considering all of the ways Beorn had behaved towards the dwarves, Bilbo was genuinely surprised that a skin-changer of any form would be willing to show even the minimum levels of deference to a dwarven king. Of course, the hobbit could also see many similarities just from gazing at their bare feet.

"Looks like we got the nude ones again," snorted Nori. "Shedding clothes must be annoying, especially in this climate." One of the skin-changers glanced over at them. "Oh, yeah, they can also hear you talk from afar. Wolf ears and all."

"King Thorin," said the figure at the front. "We come to your mountain city at the behest of our matriarch, Mother Nymeria. We've an urgent problem to discuss with you. I ask that you listen to our words without interruption."