The Leavings of the City

[Eclecticon]

Awakening sore and tired after the flight from the broken watchtower, the Fellowship gathers itself for the last march to the City of the Éthéod.  Essylt, it seems, has recovered her wits after spending the hours of darkness insensate, lost in the shadows of her own mind and memory.  Now, she tends a cook-fire on which a thin soup simmers, much of the companions' carefully-stored food having been sacrificed to scatter and flummox the wolves. 

Her word is true, however, and early in the afternoon, as the sun makes a worthy effort to shine through the thick clouds, she points out the hill on which once stood the Horse-lords' halls.  "There," she whispers, as if the hill itself might overhear her and spring forth like a wakened beast, "lies as ill-starred a place as can be found save Gundabad itself.  Of old it has been a haunt of goblin-kind, for they gather together there before they go abroad to pillage and burn.  Sometimes my folk have gone along with them, and those who came back bore tales of the place along with goods from the south.  They told of holes leading to old tombs and cellars which were now the homes of trolls and orcs that could not abide the light of day." 

She casts a sidelong look at Grimbeorn and sucks at her remaining teeth before continuing.  "I know not what you hope to find there, but I wish the Raven's luck for you, for not even the goblins have ventured there in some years, though not even the seers and shamans could say why." 

[GandalfOfBorg]

"I don't rightly know what it be either but I have come to aid it its recovery all the same," says the Son of the Bear.  "You have been true to your word and I well appreciate it, Essylt."

[Telcontar]

"Well Firewatcher....what now?"

[tomcat]

The Ranger lay under her trail bedding, having only just awakened to the soft voices of Grimbeorn and Essylt. The smell of the weak broth barely noticeable to her senses, but still her stomach grumbled. She sat up and winced from the sharp pain of a stitch in her back and then grumbled at the fact that she had laid down, the night before, upon a root.

Essylt and Grimbeorn greeted her with quiet nods and she smiled to them both in reply. Esgalwen reached for her waterskin and the soft maple twig that she kept at hand, and rinsed her mouth and cleaned her teeth. It was the best she could do on the trail to feel civilized. She then disappeared for a few minutes, taking care of other needs, only to return to start the new day.

The remaining two companions slowly woke and all ate their breakfast in quiet talk. Once done, they started the day's march with the understanding from Essylt that today they would see the old city, and so it was.

"There lies as ill-starred a place as can be found save Gundabad itself."

"Oh, we have seen darker," whispered Esgalwen in reply, but only to herself. The dark paths of Dol Guldur were still prominent in her memories. They still haunted her dreams with Orophin beckoning her return, no matter how brightly the sun tried to shine.

The Ranger eyed the promontory upon which sat the ruined city and wondered at its dangers.

[Eclecticon]

"We get closer," comes the Fire-watcher's reply, and closer he begins to creep, his gaze fixed on the nearby hill, already watching and waiting, listening to the sounds of the wind and the beasts of the air and land. 


Arbogast is going to try scouting out the place using his Natural Watchfulness, but he needs to be fairly nearby to do it.  He'll try a Stealth roll to advance without giving himself away, and anyone who wants to is welcome to join him. 

1d12 : 10, total 10
Rolled 2d6 : 6, 1, total 7

[Eclecticon]

I'm happy with that roll!  As an example of how you can do this, I'm going to tag his Patient trait for that third AP - he's going slowly and carefully, stopping frequently to listen and check that nothing seems to be disturbed. 

This is purely an example for educational purposes and no selfish motive can be ascribed to me.

EDIT:  I'll hold off on further narration until I know who else is trying to sneak forward and how well they do at it. 

[tomcat]

Never to let her friend be alone, Esgalwen drew her Ranger's cloak around her and advanced with the Fire-watcher.
Stealth roll
TN -- stealth 3d

1d12 : 6, total 6
Rolled 3d6 : 4, 4, 3, total 11

[Telcontar]

The Longspear took the ace from his belt and gave it to Esslyt.

"Should you need something."

The Beorning then covered his head in his twill woolen hood and had his spear in the reverse with the tip down. He was wary and cautious od the structure itself and thought he would watch and listen as the two crept nearer. He observed the land and the ruin looking for signs.

Awareness? Insight?

Rolled 1d12 : 8, total 8

Rolled 3d6 : 5, 2, 5, total 12

[GandalfOfBorg]

While the others worry more so about keeping themselves hidden, Grimbeorn stoops to the group searching for any fresh signs of any enemy that would be near to do them harm.

 
 

Hunting -  1d12 : 3, total 3
Rolled 3d6 : 5, 1, 6, total 12

[Eclecticon]

Nice.  I'll have some more story up... probably early tomorrow. 

Awareness? Insight?

This is definitely an Awareness thing - Insight is for reading people.  A nice little success, though. 

EDIT:  Hathcyn can tag his Wary trait for an AP, and Grimbeorn gets one for a Hunting success. 

[Eclecticon]

The silence as Esgalwen and Arbogast set out across the open expanse begins eerie, and by they time they are half way across has become oppressive.  The pair spy regularly-placed stones such as even now mark the boundaries of fields and rows by settlements of Northmen, for here once flourished the crops of the Éthéod.  No other sign of them remains, the well-tended rows having long been given over to thistle and gorse. 

Wary and watching, neither Grimbeorn nor Hathcyn mark a sign of any other living thing.  No birdsong disturbs the tuneless sigh of the wind, nor do the leaves twitch with the passage of mice and voles.  The hill of the city sits at the centre of a desolation which for all its summer green is near as complete as that which once surrounded the Lonely Mountain in the time of the dragon.   

As the Ranger and the Fire-watcher draw nearer, they find a suggestion of why this might be.  Here and there, placed according to no visible order or purpose, rude stakes have been driven into the ground, each bearing atop a skull as a grizzly trophy.  Thinking at once of the baleful light that shone from dead eyes at the battle of the Black Tarn, Esgalwen halts, and Arbogast, alert to her sudden wariness, crouches low nearby.  But no eerie voice issues forth from the jawless skulls, and a longer glance shows that many of them have long changed from the white of new-exposed bone to the dull brown of age.  A great admixture of heads they are, too: the oldest clearly of Men, and some of horses, but among them the misshapen skulls of orcs, these all seeming new. 

A long pause follows wherin not a thing moves but leaf and needle, fitfully shaken by the wind.  Then at last, satisfied that no immediate threat exists, Esgalwen stands and waves her companions forward.  Arbogast, meanwhile, shuts his eyes and begins to listen. 


Explore roll for Arbogast to do his thing:

1d12 : 12, total 12
Rolled 4d6 : 4, 3, 6, 3, total 16

   

[Eclecticon]

As Grimbeorn and Hathcyn accompany Essylt, the Fire-watcher mutters almost to himself.  "The city is long a ruin, but the remains of stone walls yet stand.  There are... holes both shallow and deep, and the deepest are near the top of the hill.  I make out one in particular that has been filled with rubble but recently, for the wind blows clear across it, not slowed by thistle or bush."   

[GandalfOfBorg]

"That's as good an idea as any," replied Grimbeorn.  He takes up his usual position, at the rear of the group to follow the more competent scouters.

[tomcat]

Squinting her eyes from the sun, Esgalwen stared toward the blocked hole in hopes of seeing any signs of movement of threat. She watches and waits, her idleness plaguing her with each decision.
Awareness check to see if anything is blatantly (or not) watching their approach.
TN -- awareness 3d

1d12 : 6, total 6
Rolled 3d6 : 6, 1, 5, total 12

[tomcat]

Esgalwen seems to only move when Arbogast moves, or others in the party. It is her constant struggle to take any initiative in these dangerous actions - all thanks to her Idle trait.

Still that should count for a 18 success, if there is anything to see.