Session 27
Chapter 2: Among the Ashes
When we last left Our Heroes, they were departing Ost Ardulin for Bree, tasked with investigating a possible conspiracy rooted in Arnor's power structure.
Arriving in Bree late the next day, they immediately proceede to the Grey Goose to take council with Wil Standish. Taking a moment to glean what news they could in the common room, they retire to a private parlour for a long chat with their host.
Over the course of many meandering topics, they learn that Standish is to at least some degree well-informed regarding the ways of 'rumors' and secret knowledge within Arnor, and that their being dispatched to investigate matters may have been long overdue. The bandits have neither been seen near, nor troubled Bree, for months, and new grumblings and unrest are, as they will be, mostly taking the form of local rumors of witchcraft and unhealthy crops or livestock. Still, if the Prince wants the matter looked into, Standish will render whatever aid he can.
Standish informs them that from all he has learned, there appear to have been two bands of brigands operating near Bree; one group based out in the Midgewater Marshes that mostly harassed local farmers, merchants, and tradesmen, and another that preyed on the infrequent caravans moving north or south along the Iaur Men Harad, the Old South Road. Each band was believed to have numbered no more than a score of men, and when confronted by the Watch, they fled, scattering, and had not been heard from since then. Standish is curious about the timing: why would a plot be hinted at now, when the trouble seems to have moved away from Bree, but can't really offer any speculation.
The next morning, Sairin and Liathan decide to see if one of the complaints overheard in the common room, that of 'diseased' cattle being driven to town, shows any bearing on the matter. Going up the hill toward the central market square (yes, the pig fountain, though I didn't include that :P), they quickly locate the animals in question - Sairin's elvish way with animals is a great aid in this. Putting her natural abilities to further use, she determines that the 'illness' is in fact a mild poisoning as a result of poor hygiene. A toxic spoor was inadvertently allowed to spread through the trough, and is making the cattle ill. She leaves word with the drovers regarding how to clean up the trough and cure their animals, but the encounter leaves the party no farther along in their mission.
Afterward, Sairin and Llewellyn ride south along the Iaur Men, seeking signs of the movement of men or animals off of the road. Liathan and Turin follow in the morning, giving the scouts time to search ahead (and giving Sairin some time away from Turin, as the two of them continue to rub one another the wrong way). Just after noon on the 23rd of June, they find the tracks they are searching for. Sairin calls upon an eagle for assistance (a golden eagle, not one of the Great Eagles of the Misty Mountains), and they soon know that an old camp awaits them beyond the third hilltop.
In due time, Liathan and Turin arrive, and the assembled company moves off the road, following the tracks to the camp that the eagle had spotted, which rests in the shelter of a dug-out hillside. Now, Llewellyn and the others have the time to being a detailed examination of the campsite. Soon, it is determined that this was a reasonably long-term encampment for a group of perhaps a dozen men, and that it has been abandoned only recently, perhaps in the last 10-14 days - and probably on the short end of that assessment. At that time, another group, another 8-12 men, arrived, and shortly after the camp began to break up and move off in small pockets of 2-4, scattering in different directions, but all heading north.
As well, the charred remains of a note are found in the central campfire, which reads:
The party is alarmed to realize that they have stumbled onto what certainly appears to be a plot against the life of the Queen. Given the Prince's concern about the involvement of a traitor among the nobility, suspicion quickly falls on Lord Meallan, a minor noble whose lands lie north of Bree, and might be seeking to foment enough unrest and panic to lay claim to the town. Liathan quickly composes a report for the Prince's eyes, which is sent to Fornost tied to the leg of Sairin's eagle friend. Almost before the missive is away, Liathan has mounted Edhelant, the elvish warhorse gifted to him in Imladris, and is riding hard for Bree, with the others to follow behind.
**END CHAPTER**
*END SESSION*
When we last left Our Heroes, they were departing Ost Ardulin for Bree, tasked with investigating a possible conspiracy rooted in Arnor's power structure.
Arriving in Bree late the next day, they immediately proceede to the Grey Goose to take council with Wil Standish. Taking a moment to glean what news they could in the common room, they retire to a private parlour for a long chat with their host.
Over the course of many meandering topics, they learn that Standish is to at least some degree well-informed regarding the ways of 'rumors' and secret knowledge within Arnor, and that their being dispatched to investigate matters may have been long overdue. The bandits have neither been seen near, nor troubled Bree, for months, and new grumblings and unrest are, as they will be, mostly taking the form of local rumors of witchcraft and unhealthy crops or livestock. Still, if the Prince wants the matter looked into, Standish will render whatever aid he can.
Standish informs them that from all he has learned, there appear to have been two bands of brigands operating near Bree; one group based out in the Midgewater Marshes that mostly harassed local farmers, merchants, and tradesmen, and another that preyed on the infrequent caravans moving north or south along the Iaur Men Harad, the Old South Road. Each band was believed to have numbered no more than a score of men, and when confronted by the Watch, they fled, scattering, and had not been heard from since then. Standish is curious about the timing: why would a plot be hinted at now, when the trouble seems to have moved away from Bree, but can't really offer any speculation.
The next morning, Sairin and Liathan decide to see if one of the complaints overheard in the common room, that of 'diseased' cattle being driven to town, shows any bearing on the matter. Going up the hill toward the central market square (yes, the pig fountain, though I didn't include that :P), they quickly locate the animals in question - Sairin's elvish way with animals is a great aid in this. Putting her natural abilities to further use, she determines that the 'illness' is in fact a mild poisoning as a result of poor hygiene. A toxic spoor was inadvertently allowed to spread through the trough, and is making the cattle ill. She leaves word with the drovers regarding how to clean up the trough and cure their animals, but the encounter leaves the party no farther along in their mission.
Afterward, Sairin and Llewellyn ride south along the Iaur Men, seeking signs of the movement of men or animals off of the road. Liathan and Turin follow in the morning, giving the scouts time to search ahead (and giving Sairin some time away from Turin, as the two of them continue to rub one another the wrong way). Just after noon on the 23rd of June, they find the tracks they are searching for. Sairin calls upon an eagle for assistance (a golden eagle, not one of the Great Eagles of the Misty Mountains), and they soon know that an old camp awaits them beyond the third hilltop.
In due time, Liathan and Turin arrive, and the assembled company moves off the road, following the tracks to the camp that the eagle had spotted, which rests in the shelter of a dug-out hillside. Now, Llewellyn and the others have the time to being a detailed examination of the campsite. Soon, it is determined that this was a reasonably long-term encampment for a group of perhaps a dozen men, and that it has been abandoned only recently, perhaps in the last 10-14 days - and probably on the short end of that assessment. At that time, another group, another 8-12 men, arrived, and shortly after the camp began to break up and move off in small pockets of 2-4, scattering in different directions, but all heading north.
As well, the charred remains of a note are found in the central campfire, which reads:
The party is alarmed to realize that they have stumbled onto what certainly appears to be a plot against the life of the Queen. Given the Prince's concern about the involvement of a traitor among the nobility, suspicion quickly falls on Lord Meallan, a minor noble whose lands lie north of Bree, and might be seeking to foment enough unrest and panic to lay claim to the town. Liathan quickly composes a report for the Prince's eyes, which is sent to Fornost tied to the leg of Sairin's eagle friend. Almost before the missive is away, Liathan has mounted Edhelant, the elvish warhorse gifted to him in Imladris, and is riding hard for Bree, with the others to follow behind.
**END CHAPTER**
*END SESSION*