Esgalwen fell to a knee as the black knife sliced into her thigh and the other goblin's arrow pierced her. They ran buy her with a snarl, "She-man pig! We'll skin you next time!"
She had fought valiantly and many dead goblins lay around her, but she was cut and stabbed in many places and each wound burned like fire. She knew that the wyrm-folk poisoned both blade and shaft and she wondered if she may not see the coming light of day. Esgalwen rolled onto her back and stared up into the night sky, panting with pain. No, she told herself. I did not die on the lonely road to Minas Tirith, I will not die here.
The ranger rested a while, listening as the sounds of combat below began to ebb.
Arbogast, too, was badly wounded and Bandy came to him with the retreat of the goblins. The halfling looked at the dark-stained leather cuirass worn by the Fire-watcher and the air hissed through his teeth. The Hobbit's small hand put pressure on the wound as he called for aid from nearby Mountain-men. It was the women who came to his call, and Arbogast was lifted and taken to the main hall where the healers were already gathered. It would be a long night.
Rorin and Grimbeorn heard a voice and turned to see Hartfast approach. The man was now sober having fought a good battle of his own. He, too, had a wound that was just under his hairline and the concerned look from the Dwarf made him say, "Worry not of this - t'was a stray arrow that caught under my metal cap. Fortunate that it only grazed."
The Mountain-men were now gathering about their leader. Hartfast stood up on a barrel, "The enemy made an insidious attempt to undermine our homes - attacking in two places whilst trying to lead our best fighters off with a ruse. They have burnt our winter stores and have apparently made ways into our mines, but we shall overcome! Let not, too, the efforts of our new friends be forgotten. The Blood of Beorn has stood beside us! The Blood of Gondor has stood beside us! The Blood of Erebor has stood beside us! The Blood of our kin in Mirkwood below, has stood beside us. " His voice softened, "Bravery was found even in the smallest of our guests. So, let us heal our wounds and secure our fences. Then we shall take the fight to the wyrm-folk and drowned them in their holes!"
HUZZAH! HUZZAH! The men of Mountain Hall cried out their victory and their challenge in the night and it echoed throughout the vale.
Still fueled by the fire of battle in his blood, Grimbeorn only remembered Esgalwen when Hartfast made mention of Gondor. "Rorin! Where's Esgalwen?" Looking about he sees her form back on the hill surrounded by fallen foes. He rushed off to her side, beckoning his Dwarven companion to follow. "You'll not be rid of us that easily, Lady." Looking her over, he knew she was worse for wear and administered to her injuries as best he could. "Rorin, please see to her things and bring any weapons that may have pierced her so the healers can identify any poisons." Gently as he may, he picked her up to bring her to the healing houses.
Arbogast is grateful for Bandy's assistance as the Hobbit helps him stagger towards the Great House. Gentle hands take his shield and axe from him, and faces unknown but kind and concerned gather as he is lowered on to a bed of soft straw. His eyes close as he hears the first strains of the Staunching Song, familiar from childhood days.
Rorin pointed, "There! She lays on the hill!" Seeing Arbogast in good hands with Bandy at his side, Rorin ran after Grimbeorn to go help their friend.
After Grimbeorn had left with Esgalwen, Rorin marveled at the scene of the fight. Numerous goblins lay slain by the Ranger's hand, their bloodied blades and shattered arrows lay scattered around the area. Rorin quickly cut a strip of cloth from one of the goblins and removed it's belt, he used these to create a bundle with which to carry the many weapons that may have pierced Esgalwen's skin. He then retrieved the Gondorian steel from where, in her exhaustion, Esgalwen had laid it down and he carefully wiped the grime of battle from it. Rorin carried this burden back to the healers and hoped that both of his friends would make it through the night.
Bandy was not convinced that the men of Mountain Hall had achieved the victory that they thought they had. In his mind he was pretty sure that the burning of the grain was but the beginning of their troubles, and this battle was not the battle, but a raid. The Hobbit worried for the Firewatchers sister if she were to come here to live. The fight had also left his companions in worse shape then when they had began their rest here, now even more of his friends were wounded and hurt.
With nothing else to do the Hobbit exaimned the field to see hoow many of his arrows he could retrieve. As he set out he made sure his small blade was at hiis side and that he was armed, he would from here forward only go unarmed reluctantly.
The wounded were made comfortable. Wine was boiled along with water, and clean linens gathered. Iron was heated to red hot. It would be a long night for the healers, and only the morning would reveal their successes.
:ooc: Okay...only one Healing tests needed for the Company [Arbogast]
TN 14 healing ♦♦♦♦○○:00: 1d12 : 5, total 5
Rolled 4d6 : 4, 2, 3, 4, total 13
Everyone else recovers...
Endurance equal to Heart attribute for the short rest (half hour) following combat [bottom of TOR page 130]:
Bandy 6 :csu:
Esgalwen 3 :csu:
Grimbeorn 4 :csu:
Rorin 4 :csu:
PLUS - Endurance equal to 2 +Heart attribute for the short rest (half hour) following combat [bottom of TOR page 131]:
Bandy 8 :csu:
Esgalwen 5 :csu:
Grimbeorn 6 :csu:
Rorin 6 :csu:
:ooc: The second END recovery was from the long rest (eight hours), as it is stated on page 131.
Arbogast is successfully treated and will heal 2 END daily until complete. :csu:
He will need six days of comfortable rest to be completely healed.
I need to add a box to our character sheet to tag when a wound has been treated.
The next day came with rain falling cold and threatening to ice. It was summer, but this high in the mountains and within the vale in which it sat, the air around Mountain Hall seemed more cold, reaching deep into the body to chill. The colder air meant sometimes that ice would cover the rocks with a rain shower.
Arbogast lay within the main hall, his wound bandaged but treated. The healers within the vale were quite adept with their skills and though uncomfortable, the man felt much better. The healers' skills were a testament to the troubles that these people must always face. Esgalwen sat across from him on the floor, her legs crossed. She smiled when he stirred from his rest and handed him a cup of warm broth, "You are to drink this slowly and while it is hot. It may seem bitter, but I am told that is the healing herbs within."
The Dúnadan had been brought into the hall near unconscious, herself, but proved to have no major wounds. She was merely worn down by her enemy and only had superficial cuts and bruises. She thought herself fortunate, as it could have gone much worse. Esgalwen had taken the time to thank Bandy for his skilled shots, for surely it had been the small archer who had sent shaft after shaft to her defense. They had truly proven to be her saving grace, as she herself had been unable to achieve control over her skirmish. The goblins had scurried about her like rodents, and each swing of her sword had seemed only to wear her down.
Esgalwen could see the question in Arbogast's eyes, "The others are all well. The goblins were driven back into their holes. Even now, Rorin and Grimbeorn are with Hartfast and his men-at-arms, exploring the mine from which the goblins had come." Then her face grew grave, "You must know, too, Arbogast that the man named Theodwin, son of Deorwin, to whom I believe is some relation to you...he is in grave health. It seems he was on watch yester-eve when the goblin raiders attacked. He took an arrow and plummeted over the side of the cliff to the river rocks below. It is a miracle that he yet lives and that he was not swept away in the current. The townsfolk lowered ropes to bring him up and quickly brought him here. He lays just yonder and the healers have tended him for hours."
Arbogast looked to where she gestured and saw three healers working vigilantly, while a soothsayer chanted some ancient healing song, or divine prayer.
Rorin looked at the stone wall that had been breached. It was not unlike goblin-kind to do such things. They were crude stone-workers, but still very capable. There was nothing these men could have done to stop it, save perhaps to flood this shaft like they had planned. But that was a labor that could not be achieved in the time that the goblins had given the men of Mountain Hall.
Grimbeorn stood nearby, truly lost in the workings of stone, but at the ready with his axe. If he could do anything, it would be to cleave goblin-heads and protect the master of this vale, while he and his dwarf-friend explored the mineshaft.
"I have heard that the goblins run tunnels the length of the mountains. Rorin, what can they do to defend against that?" Grimbeorn mused.
Now that the fire of battle has left his limbs, Arbogast feels every cut, bruise and strain. The pain in his side is a cruel, lingering thing that causes him to move like an old man. Still, he reaches out with his good arm to take the bowl of broth from Esgalwen's hand. The vapours are bitter, but rich. Garlic and thyme, to purify the blood and prevent putrefaction. A little fat to make it palatable.
"Thank you," he says. "I am glad to see that you yet live, who fought a harder battle than any of us."
Then he shifts his gaze toward his kinsman-to-be and watches the healers of the Mountain-folk do what can be done for his life.
What folly of this was mine! I heard the shouts of alarm, but in bitterness thought more highly of my own protection. I saw the folk huddled at the lip of the cliff, but in fear assumed an ambush. Now here you lie, who would be a fine husband to Sunne and a fine brother to me. It is a damnable and wretched thing.
His back to the fire pit, he drinks the broth in slow sips and waits to see what doom may befall Theodwin, son of Deorwin.
Bandy had followed the men and the dwarf into the cave, though none there took notice of him. As he listened and thought about the goblins he had seen a thought clicked in his head. Things that he had observed before took on a new meaning. He had noted that not all of the mountain men appeared the same. Their clothes and their look was similiar, all were strong and had the appearance of long toil, but not all of them looked the same. The Hobbit was familiar with the rudy and weathered look men got from climbing and being out of doors. He was told that even in the winter men in the mountains were bronzed by the sun. Here in Mountain Hall many of the men were pale. His time at the forge with Rorin also taught him something of the ways of metal work and though disguised and moved he had found traces of slag piles within the town. He thought then of the goblins and while they were all filthy, not all of them in the same way, there were patterns.
"Miners."
When the Hobbit spoke it surprised the gathering in the cave for none had known he was there. Rorin spied his short friend first and responded only with an "eh?'
"They are minning, not to collapse the town, but minning the same as any other folk would. Perhaps they are not trying to breach your walls, but are instead following the same ore viens that you are from another direction?"
The lord of the mountain men frowned, "who told you anything about ore?"
"Pardon me sir," said the Hobbit, "but you are not a rich folk, yet we came here for gold to craft a helm...my guess is that you have fouund a vien of gold and that the Goblins have as well."
The chief and great warriors of Mountain Hall were not overtly pleased by what the Hobbit said, though a small chuckle erupted from Rorin, "I'll better mind what i teach you and where you go if you ever find your way to the Lonley Mountain Master Hobbit."
"Well, not all the Goblin folk looked like warriors to me, and the attack seemed more like a raid than one bent on destruction."
The Hobbit tightned his belt, wiped his hands on his pant legs and strode to the opening. "Very well then, want me to go in for a look?"
The affect on the crowd would not have been greater had the Halfling told the mountain men that he was the King Returned and all looked upon him with a cross between seriousness and unsure if they were the subjects of a jest.
Rorin inspected the breach from which the goblins had come just hours earlier. He carefully ventured a few feet into the tunnel and ran his hand along the walls, feeling the gouges in the wall from the goblin's tools. After thinking for a time he finally spoke up.
"Aye, 'tis as I feared. This is no mere gaggle of goblins, this is a thriving colony. They did not dig this tunnel on a whim, they are carefully mining out the inside of this mountain according to some semblance of a plan. Now that they know the way directly to your home, you can expect their warriors to follow.
I believe the time for waiting is over, you must deal with this threat soon before they can attack again with greater numbers."
"Yes," said Hartfast, still looking at the Hobbit. "Yes, we must Rorin. We cannot have these creatures spilling out into our home at their whim. We struggle already with the presence of trolls and orcs on the fences of our lands - travel and trade is hindered. With this hole they will now hinder our very production."
The old man turned his attention now to Bandy, "Master Bracegirdle, you feel you have the power of insight and I say to you maybe we are not that wealthy a folk, but we do a good trade with the forest and vale in many ores, gems and metal. Granted we are not Erebor or any other House of Dwarves, though they be great or small, but neither are we slouches. My fathers have lived and mined these mountains for generations and I will not be called poor in my own house."
Bandobras could sense the old man's agitation and realized he may have caused some insult. He began to find words that would smooth the situation, but was cut off by the Master of Mountain Hall before he could speak.
"I will have this hole plugged, but before I do I will accept your offer, young Master Bandobras. If you would be so kind as to venture into the shaft and see which direction it leads. I do not need you to go deep, but any information that you might glean will be of help."
Bandy wondered if this was now some penitence that was being demanded from the haughty man. He swallowed hard and nodded.
The shaft cut by the goblins was coarse and much rubble was left by the burrowing creatures. Immediately the light dimmed as Bandy entered the passage, as the lights of the Mountain-men were left behind - only a small oil lamp was given him to light his way.
A feeling of claustrophobia fell on him - this was no Hobbit hole with bright windows and lanterns, and the knowledge that the massive mountain above him only seemed to push him down. He listened for any sound beyond his own softly padding feet, but only the whispers of the men behind him were heard. Bandy continued until even these were gone and at last he came to a place where the shaft changed its direction.
The Hobbit stood at the top of a hole that went almost straight down. A cold breeze blew up from below, whistling slightly as it did, but only inky blackness could be seen downward. There was a wood and metal tackle affixed to the stone wall of the shaft and a heavy rope descended out of sight. Bandy felt the rope for tension, to see if anyone was pulling it from far below, but it was slack. He pondered the thought of taking it in his hands and swinging his body out over the hole to see how far he would go down. It was then that he sensed someone nearby.
With a start, Bandy turned his light to see the glowing face of Rorin. "Though you be brave and somewhat foolish, I couldn't see you doing this search alone," said the Dwarf with a smile. "I don't recommend we follow that rope down. If there is trouble below, we would be hard put to get back up."
Rorin took a visual measurement of the hole and the gear that the goblins had put to support their ingress into the man village. It would not be possible for them to bring too many of their kind up this rope with speed - nor would they be able to bring any great weapons of war. No, this was a hole to allow for forays and sneak attacks meant to hassle the Mountain-men. For what purpose he could not say, but the Dwarf wondered if it had anything to do with the words of Hartfast regarding the Dwimmerhorn. The Master had spoken over cups of the tales of the greybeards, who said that the fortress was atop a 'great black rock' in the marshes below in the vale and that Orcs and other foul things dwelt there.
Was this some conspiracy between Orc and Goblin? To unseat the men of Mountain Hall? He scratched at his beard.
Suddenly the two companions froze as the soft sound of a hammer tapping on stone could be heard far below.
Grimbeorn couldn't do more than watch and wait for his friends to return. Though he's climbed the Carrock with his father and the eastern slopes of the Misty Mountains, caves and holes were not his purview. He preferred open spaces to swing his axe and ability to move swiftly hunting his enemy. This kind of sneaking and delving seemed to him to be something of devious and treacherous nature, yet didn't begrudge his dwarf friend as he knew hewing of stone and rock was in his blood. Sighing, he wished they'd hurried up.
:ooc: I know Steve is off on doing wedding things and Tom is in Germany (?), but I am going to give him a chance to post a reply. No matter what, I will move this on by tomorrow for the characters that are waiting.
The Hobbit was glad to see the face of the dwarf in the cave, for his bow would be of little use in the confined space.
Bandy nodded to his friend, "I have no desire to go below, but i see no way to block this up that wont in time be unblocked by the goblins. I also can make no sense out of theirr delvings. Perhaps we should report what we have seen and leave the woodman to ponder this problem on their own."
The halfling paused and listened to the hammer taps.
"I dont think we are in a position to conduct a raid of our own. The two listened for a moment longer and then the hobbit started to back his way back to the cavern where the woodmen waited.
:ooc:
I'm officially a married man now! The wedding was this Saturday and we had a fantastic time, I'm back home right now until Friday when we fly out for the Honeymoon for a week.
:ooc:
Rorin nodded in agreement with the hobbit, once again he was surprised at how quickly Bandy was able to learn things that he had never been taught, and he felt a small moment of pity for Bandy's enemies who made the mistake of underestimating the small creature.
When they reached the mouth of the tunnel again, Rorin spoke up, "My friend Bandy found a hole that we believe the goblins are using to move their soldiers into position to attack your town. It is naught but a small hole with a rope to ease the climb, so they cannot muster any great numbers through it. But as you saw, they do not need more than a score of fighters to cause the destruction they seek.
Until you have a plan to take the fight to these creatures, you should keep this hole well lit and guarded, each of your soldiers is worth two of theirs so even a small garrison there should be able to prevent another larger attack. "
"These reavers have found a way into our homes and we shall see that this hole is stopped up before they can further excavate the access," said Hartfast. "I admire your courage, Master Bandobras. You Hobbits must be made of stronger stuff than I gave credit."
The Master of Mountain Hall gave orders to his men to set guard as the Dwarf suggested, but also to send for the stone-smiths to plan a way to collapse the whole passage. "Let us see to it that if they want in our homes, they will need work for it once more. Too shall we place men of keen sight and show the goblins that blood is the only price they will pay to enter our hall." Once done, he turned back to the three guests, "Come, let us return to my hall and partake in a meal. We can also check on your companions and see how they fare."
The quartet exited the mine into the falling rain and made haste to the warm hearth within Mountain Hall. Hartfast left the three travelers to their friends, as he turned his attention to other matters. Bandy was pleased to see Arbogast was awake and taking food - at least the warm chicken broth and a wedge of bread. Esgalwen, too, was looking her self once more. Rorin still made a complete inspection of his wounded friends. Once satisfied, the Dwarf bid them adieu as he needed to return to his labors. The helmet was almost complete and they should be able to depart anytime within the next ten days. It would come down to Arbogast and how he felt by that time.
When the Dwarf had left them, the remaining companions sat quietly and discussed their course. It was the mid of August [T.A. 2951] and the company needed to be back to Rhosgobel by mid-September at the latest.
:ooc: I edited our story timeline just a tad, making it three weeks that you all have been at Mountain Hall waiting on Rorin to forge the helm. You guys have to journey back to Rhosgobel, which could take up to 10+ days if you leave from Mountain Hall - longer if you go north to the Hobbit Inn. Ceawin wants to be on his road back to Sunstead by October, so let me know if you plan on using the time to explore (or even stay here and work with the mountain-men).
:ooc: I'm ready for the straight road back.
:ooc: Agreed. The Hobbit inn sounds cool, but it's an unconfirmed rumour to the Fellowship at this point, and we're on a schedule.
:ooc: Grimbeorn is non-committal but would prefer to be on his way back as he is duty- and honor-bound to complete it.