Alone

[tomcat]

She fell into the muddy fen, slogging along the river bank as she had. Her hair was matted down with the fetid mud, and her clothes were covered. Esgalwen was in pain from the multiple stings and bites she had received during the pursuit. It was fortunate that the wounds she had received in the north had healed, for certain they would have been corrupted, if not.

Now Esgalwen only worried about her new wounds!

The Dúnadan ranger had achieved her goal and delivered the stolen children to the cottars and river-folk in the northern territory of the the Western Vale. She had not found all of their families, but it was a close-knit group of people and most knew the other - and many were blood-kin in some fashion. Esgalwen found that a few of the parents had been slain in the Viglunding raids, but that the children would be taken care of and made part of their new adoptive families.

With her task complete, she had contemplated what to do. She could return to the wastes of Gundabad in hopes of finding her friends, or...what? Perhaps she should return to the Elven-king and wait for their return there with Ruithel? Perhaps she should go to the House of Beorn and explain who she was and that she knew his son would be coming?

Esgalwen did not know which was the best choice, save that to return to the north would be - perhaps - the most fruitless. Alone, it would be deadly. And then fortune made her choice.

While she camped one night in darkness, and while her friends were looking down upon the orc slave encampment, Esgalwen heard the passing of heavy feet. Not great in number, but urgent in their movement. She quickly had moved to observe who the strangers might be, for she feared it could be more slavers. Instead, she found two orcs - bandy of leg and fleet of foot - moving with great urgency.

The Ranger set her ambush and brought one of the creatures down and wounding the other. She extracted information from the one before she ushered him off to oblivion. The news she gained made her heart leap in both joy and despair. The orc had told of a man held captive within the Elftower - a man that was taken captive along the eaves of southern Mirkwood and had been languishing within the prisons of the lord of that tower for years. A man of Gondor!

The orcs were sending word north and east to the powers of Sauron, for surely the Master would want such a man. The Lord of the Elftower was offering him up to the best bidder.

All Esgalwen could do was think about her Company out of Ithilien - the men that had joined her in her original trek north - for certainly it must be one of them.

That had been twenty-five days passed.

Esgalwen had followed the river south through the empty lands of the Anduin Vale. There were settlements along the way and places she had been, but she avoided these areas. She had no time, or desire, to bandy words with lords and chieftains. If one of her companions survived, she must get to him as quickly as possible.

She thought of her new companions - the Fellowship that she had been part of for these many years - but knew that they had each other and worst case was she would see them once more in Rhosgobel. Esgalwen would be in that region soon.

Udo saw her.

She was covered head-to-toe in the fen and river mud. The woman was crouched down in the reeds that grew high along the banks of the Anduin. He would have avoided her completely, as was the wont of the Wild Hobbits, but he had become intrigued. She was dressed in torn up clothing and her flesh was scraped and bruised, along with evidence of many bites and stings.

What was she doing?

The thing that intrigued him was that adorned as she was, she wore a sword across her back. This made her more than just a shepherd, or farm girl. The Hobbits did not interact with Men of the Vale, but they observed them and learned all they could of them, so as to keep themselves safe.

There was sudden thunder of horses, as a party of men rode by in haste. The woman went down into the water to hide - only her eyes and the top of her head poking up from the reeds. Udo watched her as she watched the riders continue north along the run of the river.

That was when the Hobbit espied the large snake that weaved within the reeds. It was venomous - a cottonmouth - and it was apparently threatened by the woman. Perhaps she had disturbed its own hiding spot, but now it swam in her direction and most assuredly it would strike!

[tomcat]

Hey Matt, you'll just have to tweak your character backstory just a bit for how you and Esgalwen met.

[BristolMatt]

The big, blundering (and yes, beautiful) human couldn't see the approaching snake, despite the bending reeds clearly signaling its presence.

He couldn't just let this injured, sword-wielding person be struck down in such a common manner, by a cottonmouth of all things. Sighing quietly in consternation (what would his mam say!), Udo slipped a stone into his sling and whirled out a shot at the snake.

From his vantage point on the elevated opposite bank, he had little fear of missing, but surely his action would give away his presence to the woman below...

[BristolMatt]

  I'm not sure if I need to make my first combat roll or not. Also, I'm not sure whether to go with the sling or the spear as my favoured weapon. I had a very cursory look through the combat section of the book and am not certain of how it actually works! I think I'd go with sling if my stats for ranged combat aren't too terrible...
I'll also update my background now to work in the snake. 

[tomcat]

I'm not sure if I need to make my first combat roll or not. Also, I'm not sure whether to go with the sling or the spear as my favoured weapon. I had a very cursory look through the combat section of the book and am not certain of how it actually works! I think I'd go with sling if my stats for ranged combat aren't too terrible...
I'll also update my background now to work in the snake.

I am just making this a narrative introduction, so don't worry about rolling for now - but hopefully at this point you have sorted out your weapons.
The stone flew from the sling with an accuracy that would have made the best of archers envy the skill. The stone slapped into the water just in front of the snake's nose and so caused it to immediately veer from its intended course.

Esgalwen heard the stone hit and turned in time to see the snake now weaving away from her. She started at the sight and shoved herself backward in the water, splashing water in the snake's direction as she did, in hopes of chasing it away further. The woman was back in the mud and crab-walking backwards, though she sunk deeper into the morass than actually moved.

No matter, the snake's interests had been obviously altered as it slid along the reeds and onto the muddy beach. It slithered away in pursuit of new concealment and an easier prey.

Udo watched as Esgalwen fell flat to her back in the mud. He was happy for his success, and it seemed that the woman had not perceived his presence through it all. He quickly moved without a sound through the scrub and climbed a low-branched tree that gave him good observation of the horse-riders.

They continued north, along the eastern riverbank, but he was not sure how long they would search before they returned - or how long the woman would be able to keep from being revealed. The Hobbit recognized the men. They were cruel and harsh and came from the ancient Elftower that sat just to the east. Udo and his companions did not engage the Men-folk, Dwarves, or even the Elves - only the Brown-wizard had visited them in their concealed villages.

He continued to watch her. She was breathing deeply - obviously tired and worn out from her efforts. The mud along the banks of the Anduin could wear out the strongest of beasts. Udo had seen large oxen stuck within the quags and dying under the heat of day.

There was a noise to the north. He looked to see that the riders had stopped and were now closely searching the river's edge. He wondered if he should offer anymore aid. Again the thought rang in his mind, What would his mam say?

[BristolMatt]

She'd call me a fool of a Pebbletoe and cuff my ears, he answered himself, setting himself to her aid, and unknowingly altering his destiny.

Sliding down the tree back into the reeds, Udo made his way through the undergrowth, being careful not to make any noise or disturb any of the vegetation.  As he drew nearer to the female human, he pulled a bundle of carefully cultivated reeds back from the entrance to a small hobbit-crevice.  In fact, there were quite a few hollows along the river that the big folk knew nothing about.

He frowned as he looked at the space, but he thought she might just fit...

Sliding into the river, so that she would be able to see him if she looked in his direction, but so that he would be hidden from the riders, he took a breath and then spoke softly.

"Lady, please do not be frightened.  My name is Udo and I wish to help you hide from those men looking for you.  You do not have much time, for they are searching the bank and will soon be upon us.  If you can crawl or swim silently over to me, there is a little hobbit-hole here that I think you will fit in.  I will cover you once you are in, and then will swiftly go into another one a short distance away while we wait for them to pass."

It briefly struck Udo that this was the first time he had ever spoken to one of the big folk, but he did not dwell on that point for long, as Esgalwen responded...

[tomcat]

Esgalwen was a startled mess.

Her hair hung wet and clinging to her face, along with the mud that caked her body. The water caused the mud to streak her face and it ran into her eyes, along her nose, and filled the creases around her mouth.

She started at the Hobbit's whispered offer to help and the noise made by her jumping worried them both that the men would be drawn down upon them. Esgalwen saw the small face, like that of Bandy's - a Hobbit, not a child - and she relaxed. Udo's words were the next thing her mind contemplated and her eyes followed his gesture to where the Hobbit-hole was hidden. Still not sure of her situation, but knowing that it would not be long before the men would be searching the river grass in which she hid, the Dúnadan woman nodded and allowed Udo to lead her to safety.

She clambered into small opening in the ground and felt claustrophobia as it pinned her somewhat tightly, but then it opened into an underground room that was large enough for her to stand. Udo held a finger to his lips as he, too, moved off to find another secret hole. Esgalwen waited quietly and allowed the tension to leave her. In her hands was Nimronyn, and she squeezed its hilt in preparation, but also in hopes of not needing the sword.

It took about an hour, but the sound of men and horses finally ended. Pushing her sword out before her, Esgalwen exited the Hobbit-hole and looked around at the river and grassy shore that was slowly being drawn into shadow by the departing afternoon sun. As she stood watched and listened for any sounds, Udo returned to her and once more Esgalwen jumped - they were an extremely quiet people.

Once her heart stopped beating so hard, the Ranger smiled at the Hobbit and said, "Hello! Thank you for aiding me when you did. My name is Esgalwen, daughter of Eradan, and I am pleased to meet you. Though you are not the only Hobbit I have seen, still I can only count you as the second I have met. And if you are anything like Bandobras, it gladdens my heart greatly to have said meet!"

[BristolMatt]

Udo gave Esgalwen a little bow.

"Udo Pebbletoes at your service, Esgalwen, daughter of Eradan."

Noticing her scrapes, bruises and general tiredness, he pursed his lips in thought.

"Perhaps you should rest in this hobbit hole for tonight.  I can bring you some fresh water and dried fish, and there are some reed beds deeper inside that would be long enough if I put a few of them together.  Then I can help you move silently along the river tomorrow.  Can I ask why those men are hunting you?  Maybe I can help you get to your destination unharmed."

[tomcat]

"It would seem I pushed a stick into a hornet's nest, for lack of a better explanation, Master Pebbletoes," replied Esgalwen. "A number of years back, I was part of a Company that had traveled north out of Ithilien, in Gondor, and we were set upon by Orcs. Most of my friends were slain, yet some of us fled the attack when we saw the situation was untenable. The forest of Mirkwood was there and we made use of its shadows to hide. Unfortunately, I lost track of my remaining companions and wandered north.

"I was fortunate to meet up with some folk out of Rhosgobel - good folk, who I now deem as boon companions. They stayed in the north Upper Vales, when I came south to deliver home children that had been taken as thralls." The woman's eyes looked off into a distance that Udo could not see, wondering as she did if her friends were still alive and well.

Esgalwen continued, "Once done with my mission of mercy, I decided that if I would see my new friends again, it would be best to return to Rhosgobel - where we all now make our home. Along the way, I gained tidings that a man was being held captive by orcs...and some other...a sorceror. The tale I was told was that a man of the south was being kept imprisoned within an old structure called the Elftower."

At her words, Udo felt the hairs on his neck rise for he knew this place. Most of the Wild Hobbits of the Anduin Vale knew this place, and all of them kept a wide distance from its surrounds.

"It is my belief that this 'man of the south' is one of my fellow Rangers of Ithilien, and I would see him rescued. It was from the mouth of an orc that told me he would soon be offered to He that haunts the Shadow region of Mirkwood. I can not have that!" Her last words were grim and filled with determination. "As I approached the tower, it is now apparent that I was seen for riders gave chase and hunted me all the way to the river, just south of here." Esgalwen smiled - the now dried-mud cracking where her smile creased her beautiful face. The Hobbit could see that, though filthy, she was very fair to look upon. "Yes, Master Pebbletoes. I will accept your offer of hidden rest. I have much to do once my strength has returned to me."

[BristolMatt]

Udo followed her words closely, though he some of the names he did not recognise.  Ithilien? Gondor? They must be far away indeed!  But certainly this news about the Elftower worried him.
Udo bustled around a bit, making the hobbit hole as comfortable as possible for the big human, then left her for a time to fetch some items for her comfort - a pantry hole not far away hid a reed jug and some dried fish.  He added some dried mushrooms from his own pack to the fish and found some wild garlic nearby.  Not much of a meal, but better than nothing.
He filled the jug with fresh water and returned to Esgalwen, laying the water and food before her.
"Esgalwen, it seems you are need of someone who can slip in and out of places without being seen.  It just so happens that my people have been doing this for as long as we can remember.  I'll help you if I can, for we have no great love for the Elftower."
He didn't mention his longing to leave his home and see more of the world, for there was great shame in this desire.  Nevertheless, he saw Esgalwen as the perfect means to effect his escape.

[tomcat]

"Master Pebbletoes, I fear to put you in any danger. Your aid here is enough. I could not think of asking for any thing more. The Elftower is dangerous and I am not sure it is wise that plumb its depths."

But Udo was passionate about his offer to aid and he pleaded his case to the ranger. The Hobbit was knowledgeable about the region in which he lived and knew a thing or two about the old tower, yet it was evident that fear surrounded his stories. She listened to him speak in his odd manner, using words that were not always understood. Esgalwen realized that Udo and his people lived a life of hiding from the tall-folk, unlike Bandy's kin to the west.

When she finally had a break in his argument, she sighed and resigned herself to the fact that Udo would not be dissuaded.

"Very well! Very well," she smiled. "We shall go forth together and see what we can find. But know this - once done, I will not be returning this way and from there we will need break our new company, or you may join me as I return to Rhosgobel. You need not decide now, but give it thought. We will rest one more day and then we shall make our way east, okay?"

[BristolMatt]

Udo agreed with Esgalwen, hardly believing that after so much time dreaming about it, his time to leave his home - to escape! - was finally at hand.  At dawn the next day, Udo woke Esgalwen, his meagre belongings packed and ready to go.  His stomach was all aflutter, but he remained stauch in his resolve, until Esgalwen had broken her fast and they were finally ready to set off...

[tomcat]

She felt herself again and the fresh eggs and bread that Udo had brought her filled the void that was in her stomach. When the food was consumed, Esgalwen poured water over her cook-fire and gathered up her own things.

The woman smiled at her new companion, "We will march along the river to keep concealed, and then we will head due east from there towards the old ruin."

Udo nodded hesitantly and Esgalwen could see his mixed emotions on leaving. A part of her wished her companions were with her - she needed them - but the brave, young Hobbit before her would do in a pinch. She remembered Bandy's brave heart and his always pleasant disposition. He had more than once kept the Company moving with naught but a happy song, or tale.

Cinching her baldric across her chest, she slid her sword into its sheath and then hitcher her pack on her opposite shoulder. "Come," she said. "Let us be off."

They followed the river south and moved along the green rushes and cattails. The late summer sun beat down and the flies came out in swarms, hovering over the water and moving to any living thing that they might be able to bite. The conditions left the two travelers humorless after a while, and so they moved in silence. It was Esgalwen's goal to make the southern route in two days, but Udo's short legs could not cover her own long strides and she had to slow down. Grimbeorn was not here to carry the Hobbit on his shoulders, as he had done with Bandy quite often, to allow them to move apace.

When the sun lay across the mountains to the west, the ranger assumed they had moved maybe twenty-miles. She called a halt and they quickly began to set up a camp. Esgalwen smiled at the difference between Bandy and Udo. Bandy had seemed more...civilized, and carried the paunch (or at least he had when in town) of a well-to-do Hobbit. Udo, on the other hand, was wiry and austere. She made the comparison of the city-folk of Minas Tirith, and those that resided in the country - a more simple folk.

As Esgalwen lay down and looked to the stars, she made mental measure of the trip. It would take some time and she hoped that captive within the tower would not be moved before the could get there once more. Lastly she looked where the stars hung in the sky and made a mental estimate of the date - it had to be the onset of September.

Little did she know, her remaining two companions were under the same stars, planing their next day's travel as they made haste towards Rhosgobel.

[tomcat]

Udo and Esgalwen spent the next day moving along the river, until the Hobbit led her east. They would not see the tower by the end of the day, but they would come well under its influence.

Again the day passed in relative silence, with only the buzz of flies to interrupt any conversation. The heat was stifling and the only trees to offer shade grew in sparse groves across the yellowing fields. This side of the Anduin rolled in long plains of grass with the dark, shadow of Mirkwood ever on the eastern horizon. Esgalwen adjusted her gait for Udo, but still the miles passed.

Soon their shadows were growing long to the east, as the sun began to wane across the afternoon sky. Esgalwen targeted one of the groves of trees and brush and told Udo that that was where they would camp.

Neither was aware that they were now being watched.

The night passed in darkness, as the Ranger did not feel that a fire was wise. They both listened to the night sounds and knew that things moved about in the shadows. At one point, a flare of light was seen to the north, passing swiftly, signaling riders bearing torches were abroad. Esgalwen knew them to be more of the cruel men out of the tower - for where else could the be from...and who were they? Who did they call master?

Fear filled her heart that these could be more of the Blood Moon Raiders out of the Toft, or worse, they could be men of Tyrant's Hill. The Dúnadan woman did not allow herself to believe that - for surely Mogdred would not ally himself with men of this kind. She laid back against the trunk of the tree and dozed. They would need all their strength with the new day.

The sun rose and the two were quickly on their way. By mid-afternoon, when Grimbeorn and Arbogast were just finding Radagast sitting upon the field of the eastern Vale, Udo and Esgalwen were espying the Elftower. What had once been an architectural beauty, crafted by the Elves, was now broken and looking decayed. But that only belied the truth, for its masons were masters at their art and the tower was still formidable.

The white structure stood atop a rocky outcropping and a wide set of stairs - now broken and cracked - led up to a great front porch with large arched entrances. A hole was evident in its western side starting at what had to be its seventh story. Esgalwen looked closely but nothing could be seen moving in the light of day.



The lonely tower of ivory stone was once a watchtower on the road to the land of Oropher, the Elvenking, in the days when the Woodland Realm extended over the whole forest. It was abandoned long ago, but so solid are its foundations or so powerful the spells that were laid upon them that it still stands intact. For many centuries, sheep grazed inside its curtain walls and the tower was nothing more than a strange landmark in an empty land, and people called it Elfengard.

That changed two years after the fall of Dol Guldur.

[Telcontar]

"What have we here?"

His raiment and gear hung awkwardly upon his frame, as if it sat lightly upon a physical frame that was only paper thin. His dark hair framed a face of sharp features, a face that was better called timeless, as no certain age could be placed upon it. He looked both young and extremely old, especially if one were to look into his eyes.
Rings of mail showed beneath his outer garment, they were dark, almost black and they shimmered like the skin of a wet snake.
He sat upon an elven ruin and it some how seemed appropriate and indicative of his character somehow.

"One of the Adan, with a beardless dwarf, wandering about the wilderness. Why have you come here?"