SHADOWS OVER GONDOR II

[Melian]

i think we should wait for ferther instructions from rhia, if she doent contact us in the next 2 days we will head ther to break her out.

[Rhiannon]

*The Uruk-Hai walks around her in a close circle.* Hrrr, Whiteskin, you're the first to resist the potion.* She smiles, remembering how she tasted the drop of the bottle Iridian had carried...feels the orc's mind reach out for hers, probing. Closes her eyes, quickly imagines the picture of taking her sense and carrying it slowly down into a cave, barricading the entrance. Hears the Uruk-hai grunt. The feeling of something drilling into her brain becomes stronger. Envisions a red hot drill trying to break into the cave. Releases her resistance a little bit, carrying herself deeper into the cave. Feels a strong sensation of someone following. FLames roar behind her eyes as she imagines twists and turns, leading both her minds deeper and deeper. As she feels she guides the orc securely, she carefully feels around the stream of fire coming from the Uruk-Hai, slowly starting to swim upstream...A few seconds later she feels like falling into a swirl of darkness as she reaches the orc's mind. Sweating with concentration and effort, she leads the orc on deeper and deeper, imagining a huge deep and ice cold pool. She jumps in, swimming to the other end as she can feel the hot flames coming nearer. They stop at the lake for a second. SHe holds her breath jump! In the fire the shadow of the red hot figure of the Uruk-Hai is visible, raging with fury. He steps back, runs and jumps. In the same split second as the surface explodes with steam she draws an imaginary sword and cuts the river of flames off from the Uruk-Hai's mind. She hears a loud scream and a thud. Shaking, she takes a deep breath and opens her eyes, seeing the Uruk-Hai lying on the floor. She kneels down, confirming he's dead. A smile flies over her face...* Not as smart as I thought, whiteskin...*She reaches out and cuts a few strands of the orc's white hair and put them in her pocket. Turning the Uruk-hai around, she starts searching the clothes.*

[LadyArwenUndómiel]

Arwen continues to follow the orc tracks for the next few hours, going along after them but trying to stick close to the footprints, though they were getting harder and harder to see even by Elven eyes.

She suddenly comes to a halt as she realizes that the prints are dark again for some strange reason and sees three dead orcs lying on the ground. She stoops down and sees an arrow of unknown design and wonders where it came from...

"Now how did this appear?" the Elf wonders to herself. "If my intentions are correct, these orcs must have been killed by some other foul creatures since I see no other footprints along the path here. On the other hand, I may be wrong since some creatures could perhaps have a different tactic altogether."

Figuring out that there was more to these orc tracks than she thought there were, Arwen decides to sit down on a rock and see if anyone would come to the spot soon; thinking about the unusual display of prints and the three deaths orcs all of the time...

[Melian]

*as the company rests, mel wonders around the camp thinking of rhia, trying to reach out mentaly, to kyth, to fing her. suddenly a red pain begins drilling behind her eyes, she see's hot flames, then she spots rhia, running, she joins her mental strangth to rhia's to help her, there is a river , cold and dark, she plunges into it, turns and has it engolf the dark red figure. mel blinks shaking herself out of the kyth, she is neer the center of the camp, the world spins around her and everything go's black. mel faints and regains conchesness moments latter, she gets up dusts herself off, and runs twards the others*

Rhia defeated the main uruk-hai! i think we should begin to fallow in rhia's direction so we can help her to excape if she needs it.

[LadyArwenUndómiel]

After pondering the possibilities for a few hours, Arwen decides to take a look around the place to see if she finds any other clues. She continues wandering around the area and soon comes across a deep pit, which has a foul smell coming from it; reminding her of the stuff which orcs drink.

"Orc liquer!" she suddenly says as she realises that the prints are darker here because the orcs have a small place to hide underground until their enemies comes. "I must go and find the others!" Arwen exclaims as she figures out that the real danger is anything but defeated...

Arwen begins to walk away from the pit, but an orc suddenly appears in front of her and the Elf has no choice but to draw her sword and face the beast!

[Rhiannon]

The orc wears surprisingly good clothes. Searching deeper through several layers of silk her fingers touch something on it's skin. Taking a closer look, she sees a strange amulett. Strange runes surround a perfectly shaped emerald. Slowly she reaches out, her hand lingering above it for a while. As nothing happens, she takes it carefully and slips it into her bag. Undressing the Uruk-Hai further, she notices several complicated tattoos on it's skin. Taking her book, she copies them quickly. SHe also takes the keys from it's belt. Hesitating for a moment, she also takes the ring from one of it's fingers.* I need anything that may help us putting an end to all this. Maybe Merlin can tell us what these items are.* She stands up and starts pulling the corpse towards a dark corner. Then she starts to examine the chamber. It must be part of a cave although the walls are prefectly smooth. THe only direct source of light comes from a small window in one of the walls. She takes the chair and climbs up to it. Looking outside, she almost falls off again. She can look down into the valley from very high above. The whole valley is a swarming orc citadel, heavily guarded. Orcs and Uruk-Hai are everywhere. In the middle there is a whole city of fences, cages and thorny hedges, imprisoning hundreds of people. Around them, there are several large circles of green tents which seem to be occupied by Gondor Orcs. Around them there are the quarters of other orcs.* THe Uruk-Hai must be living in the mountain....Anyway, I need to warn the others before they also stumble into this camp.* Takes out her falcon whistle and blows. THe notes can only be heard by birds. She hopes that there are no winged spies listening. Not long after, she can see a falcon circling over the valley. She blows again and it heads for the mountain. As it flies through the window, she takes it over to the table. Taking a piece of paper, she writes down what she has seen*.....Don't worry, I'm fine. I need to take a look around before I can ask you to come here, otherwise it will be too dangerous. THe map I attach will give you an idea of the castle. Take care, Rhia *She puts the message into a wooden capsule and attaches it to the bird's leg. Carrying to the window again, she points over into the direction of the village. *Go, my friend and find them.* The falcon takes off. *I can't stay in this room, sooner or later someone will look for their master...* starts to examine the walls.

[Melian]

*the troops began to pack up their things, and melody scrambles around trying to asist with the provisions, she has made some lembas, and is passing them out to the croud so that they ill have some emergancy food suply. *

screach!! screech!

*mel turns to find a falcon landing on a rock near by, she walks over to it and rleaves it of its berden*

its a message from rhia!!

[LadyArwenUndómiel]

Arwen puts her hand on the hilt of Hadhafang (Throng-cleaver), her sword and draws it; ready for battle. The orc was a bit shorter than her, but much physically much stronger.

Arwen brought her sword up and held it before her, letting the orc be the one to make the first blow. The orc brought it's bow and arrow up and tried to shoot the Elven maiden, alas! she dodged the arrow easily and brought up her sword, trying to get as near to the orc's throat as possibble...

But the orc was strong and had good reflexes, he brought up his sword and took some defence, then went underneath the blade of Hadhafang as he gave Arwen a slight cut on her leg; as she couldn't completely move away in time...

The two continued dueling with swords for a while, Arwen getting more and more weary with each blow when she suddenly decided to try a new idea, one which hopefully would work better!

[Imrel]

*at the sound of rhia's name, firebird hurries over to melody, carrying naron on her back.* what news? *reads the note over mel's shoulder. finishing, she looks up incredously.* rhia's in a camp full of orcs, and she's fine?! she never ceses to amaze me... *picks up the wooden tube that has been dropped to the ground, and plucks out the map rhia wrote of.* i think we ought to be at hand, so we can come quickly if she needs help. perhaps we could head to the mountainous area and await a request to join her?

[Melian]

quite right firebird, i was thinking the same thing, let us depart as soon as posible.

[LadyArwenUndómiel]

Quickly thinking, not letting a moment go to waste, Arwen decides to jump on the orc's feet - and HARD! The orc begins to howl in an earpiercing way and Arwen covers her pointy ears.

She then decides to make efficient use of her sword, Hadhafang and brings it to the orc's neck, alas! the orc had good relfexes and was able to parry her just in time. Arwen staggers under the orc's physical strenght and not being able to hold it longer, she pulls her sword underneath and the orc losses it's balance, falling to the ground.

All of the orc's arrows go flying in all directions, they are no longer in the quiver. The orc begins to look around the place for them, and Arwen sneaks up beside the orc and stabs it by surprise! The orc howls even more, but Arwen does not cover her ears this time.

The orc is almost dead, defeated, but not quite. It uses the last ounce of it's strenght and gives Arwen a bad scrape on her left arm by using it's claws alone!

Arwen winces at the pain, but decides to ignore it for the better. Her left hand lets go of Hadhafang and now only her right hand holds it. She brings it forth and attempts another stab.

The orc was still lying on the ground, but waving furiously with it's sword, which was a bad idea. Since the orc was only protecting it's torso, Arwen went straight for the head and cut it off! She wondered what was next...

[Rhiannon]

*Has been searching for a way to escape without using the door but found only solid walls. Walks over to the door, listening for any sound on the other side. She can hear the sound of one creature breething outside and the rustle of old chain mail. Making up her mind quickly, she turns the key, pulls the door open, grabs the orc from behind, putting her hand over it's mouth and draws him into the room within a second. Draws the orc's sword and cuts it's throat. Rushes over to the door. The corridor is still deserted. Closes the door again. Kneels down beside the orc and starts to undress it, fighting to hold her breath as long as possible. Looks at the heap of ragged furs, old canvas and pieces of armor, each obviously taken from different victims. Sighs and starts putting on the rags. Fighting hard not to pass out because of the smell, she sits down for a minute before dragging the orc to it's master's body. Takes the orcs sword and goes to the door again. Nobody to be seen. She steps outside and locks the door behind her. The walls and the floor of the corridor are blackened by dirt, blood and unidentifyable remains of meals or victims. With a sigh she wipes over the wall and puts some of the grease on her face and hands to hide the color of her skin. Looking to both sides, she notices that both directions slope downwards. She decides to turn left and starts walking.*

[Imrel]

birdie! *naron claps his hands at the falcon, giggling.*
*glances up and starts, not having realized it was still there. quickly rips a scrap of paper from her notebook, scribbles a message on it and packs it into the wooden capsul. (rhia~ the group will head to the mountains to assist you when you send word. keep safe till then. ~firebird)* here, falcon... here... *whistles. the amazingly tame bird hovers at shoulder level as firebird attaches the message to its leg.* give this to rhia, all right? *the bird soars off.*
was that a good idea? what if the bird reveals her position?
don't worry, iridian, if rhia is hiding, the falcon shouldn't be able to find her. i just thought she ought to know of our plans.
well... when are we to leave?
as soon as possible, in my opinion. could you start rounding the men? and i think maybe someone should go look for arwen, i've seen neither hide nor hair of her since the uruk hai camp.
i'll look for her if she doesn't return soon. *goes through the crowd of men, passing along the plan to leave.*

[Rhiannon]

ooc: Firebird, can you please leave the green color for the main storyline? Thanks
To the others: please remember, reserved colors are green, yellow, red (exception for Firebird as she always posts in red)

*Looks at the old and somewhat rusty blade she took from the orc* I must get my own weapons back...*The corridor spirals downwards. She simply follows the main way when she hears the bangs of weapons and chainmail being piled up. Carefully she looks around a corner into a side corridor where the noise comes from. She enters the dark way quickly, heading for the flickering light at the end. THrough a gap in the door, she can see two rather small orcs sorting weapons in a kind of storage room. She takes a deep breath and with a sharp hiss enters the room. Both look up. She says in a sharp voice, hoping that her command of the dark tongue will be enough.* THe masssterr wissshes to torrture the rranger with her own bladesss, where arre they?*Both orcs look at her suspiciously, one answering.*Masster sssending a Gondorr orc? he?* She answers* I'm hissss perrrsonal sserrvant. He gave me the key to hissss door. *Holds up key.* He will be verrry angry if I don't brring the belongingssss of the rranger. Alterrrnatively I prrromised to bring yourrr headsss.* Tries a growl that evokes the image of something big and hairy with huge fangs...THe smaller orc looks at the key and shuffles away. the other gives her a suspicious look but then starts to get her things. *Make surre it'ss complete. Rranger also had a bag with many powerrfull potions massster wishes to examine.* A few minutes after, all her things are lying before her. She takes them up. Turns around.* The masster will kill everyone who darresss to disturbe him for the nexxt five hourss. Make sure everyone knowsssss.* TUrns around and walks back again. On the main corridor, she quickly hides in the next small room, closing the door behind her and blocking it. Exhaling deeply, she decides to hide her weapons under the furs and go on with the orc sword as long as she's in the mountain.*

[Imrel]

(ooc: oop, sorry rhia. i changed it.)

*a time later, iridian comes back to melody and firebird.* well, they've all been informed. there is still no sign of arwen, though.
you know where she headed? *iridian nods.* all right. let's go and find her, then we can head to the mountains. melody, will you come, or stay here?