A World of Danger: Part One

Irid could see that the dark elf was suspicious for other creatures, but also that he could kind of comunicate with Aldea. Although she didn't know his name yet, she knew that someone that was trusted by a wolf, could be trusted by her. She also heard the wolf saying she could comunicate with her. She decided to tell the truth.

"Well, sir, I don't know what this quest is, but it's very likely I will join. If you could be kind enough to tell me what it is? As for my ability to communicate with your wolf, i'm able to speak to all animals, as I was raised by wolves in a wood, and they taught me to speak their language, and of all the other animals. Later they took me to a man that lived their to, and he taught me my fighting skills. So, you see, i'm not only able to speak to animals, but I know how to save myself when i'm attacked."

Tal looked up, his eyes focusing again as he left his train of thought and focused on the newcomer. After looking her over for a few seconds, he said, "Greetings, kin. My name is Tal'niel, and my companion here is called Dain. If you truly wish to join us on our quest, you would be more than welcome - but I must warn you, we seek to go towards the very land of Angband, and we seek out one of Morgoth's most vicious servants, a grim mercenary."

"To rescue a girl called El'nela," Steward said with a nod. "She's Tal'niel's sister."

Irid turned around as she heard the other elf speaking. This one was tall, and attractive. He said it would be against Morgoth, what made her to make up her mind about joining. Then the human man spoke.

"If it's against Morgoth and to save someone, I'm in. If it's needed, I can go right now, I don't need preperations, as I'm always ready."

Steward glanced at Tal. "Tal? What do you say about my former suggestion? Now is the time to decide."


*If we're to involve those players in the game, I think he'll have to say yes. That's my suggestion, anyway. I don't know how many are still interested, but we'd better not leave them behind.*

*I'm gonna be leaving this game, sorry. Just say that Folstan died or got left behind or something.*

OOC: That's a shame, I thought your character added a bit of underhandedness to the game. But I do hope that you might be able to join back in, either to this game or a later one!

IC: Tal blinked at Steward's words, and then nodded. "Of course, any who wish to join are welcome. We will need all we can with us on our quest. And what of you - did you plan to come along, eh?"

*Yes, that surprises me too. Why are you leaving, Tater?*

Steward shot a quick, almost unnoticable glance at Shelina's door before nodding to Tal. "Yes, I think that that would be best. I may not be good with any weapons except the longbow, but I may come in handy in other ways. I used to hunt a lot, and have learned the ways of the forest." Seeing the look in Tal's eyes, he suddenly shook his head, raising a hand. "No, no no no no no no. I'm not going to pick up the longbow again. These old arms could barely bend the thing and I haven't shot an arrow in thirty years.

"Now if you'll excuse me," he said, nodding his head to the others. "I think I'll check if that halfling or any of the others are interested in coming."

*Sorry for the lapse. I was lost with the story and needed time to comprehend it*

Arcon, in the common room, had eaten reluctantly the tasteless porridge that the innkeeper had delivered to him. Fair was the day, and he had wasted much more time here on his supposed sales trip than was the norm. After setting the spoon down disgustedly, he rose with a great clatter of the chair and wore again his hood.

"Going so soon, my sire?" the innkeeper started in a squeaky tone, but a glance from Arcon shut him up.

And thus Arcon went to the door, but just like what had befallen not too long ago, he paused and he gazed far off into the misty surroundings of the morning. Without a word, he trudged back to his table and sat down, looking intently at the entrance.

Before long had passed, he saw two strange figures coming into the inn. The leading one, he saw, was clad in dark raiment unlike many he'd seen in the inn. Indeed, he reminded him of himself. Yet the sharp ears on his head betrayed his appearance. Arcon had never seen their like before, and he wondered.

But the other figure Arcon felt a strange bond towards. He was carrying a figure, an Elf in bonds, and something about that gave him a perverse pleasure. Yet, that was not the bond, for the man seemed to have something in common with him, not just that he seemed to be of the race of the Followers.

He beckoned for the man. The first figure bade him go and carried the Elf upstairs. There, on the seat, they just stared at each other, and Arcon's eyes delved into his mind, and seeked his thought, and realised his Orcish ancestry.

"Where by do you come, and wherein this journey lies your motive?" Arcon said softly.

"My name is Folnast, and I come to..." the man's voice trailed off as he snapped out of his trance.

"Begone, stranger," Arcon suddenly rose and his voice hardened but never wavered, "I hint at your motive, and its folly. You shall be gone."

Words of poison they were, and somewhat unsurprisingly, for Arcon was a master of poison. And thus, Folnast stood up and fled out of the inn, only burned by them, yet the scars were in the hidden meaning of the words. Whither he fled, no one knew and he wasn't seen for some time.

Arcon sat back at his table and gazed at the door with a subtle smile, which revealed nothing of his thoughts.

[Irid al'Menie]

Irid stopped the old man by putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Who are the others? I like to know who i'm dealing with."

[Lief Erikson]

"Which others do you mean?" Steward asked. "The enemy we face, the comrades I go to collect now, or these that we were just speaking to?"

[Irid al'Menie]

"The others you are gonna collect now", Irid said.

[Shenna McBain]

**Howdy all... I was thinking of joining this, but it appears you have enough going on without me dragging a new character into it all. Perhaps I start my own thread, I'll have to think on it. Carry on!**

[Mouth of Sauron]

*Hi, it's me, The Black Lieutenant. I signed up for 'Mouth of Sauron' which would have been my ezboard global username if it hadn't already been taken*

Angar sat down in one corner of the room, enveloped in shadow. Aldea curled up at his feet. He pulled out a long-stemmed clay pipe and filled it with pipeweed. In his travels he had met many strange and interesting people, and had learned the art of smoking from a company of dwarves he had adventured with once. Little did he know that it was invented by those funny little creatures called halflings, and that the best leaf came from their homeland.

As he puffed on the pipe his thoughts turned to the Grim Wolf. He tried to remember everything he had heard about him. Any detail could help in their quest, and forewarned was forearmed. He could not afford to underestimate this enemy as he had the Dark Lord's own Lieutenant. He looked around the room at the others. Any one of them could be a traitor; a spy for Morgoth. He would have to be very careful, and watch his back every minute. His eyes rested on the distraught Sindarin, Tal. He could trust him, perhaps. Anyone could invent a story about having their village destroyed by the Grim Wolf -- but there was little doubt in Angar's mind that this elf was telling the truth.

He regarded the newcomer now, with curiosity if not outright suspicion. Aldea would have to be the touchstone by which he determined this elf's trustworthiness. She would sense anything false in her -- or at least he hoped so. Her story about being raised by wolves was incredible, but made sense. How else could she have learned Aldea's language? Still, there were wolves, and then there were wolves. He could not forget that not a few wolf packs had allied themselves with wargs in the past, and that wargs also knew the wolf language in addition to their own.

[Mathron]

Tal says, eyes flashing, "I do not know much about these others, but Steward seems to think they may have skills that will aid us. I only saw this halfling briefly in the common room, dancing about, while the girl was found at the door, weak and starving. What use, I do not see, but any extra hands may help."

[Irid al'Menie]

Irid nodded. Then she sat down on her knees before Aldea.

"Your dark friend here seems to be distrusting the rest. Do you know why that is?"
"I only know why he distrusts you. There are wolves that allied with wargs, and they know the wolf language too."
"Maybe it doesn't say very much to him, but the wolfpack that found me was that of the Ashmarian wolves. These are very noble animals, and they would never allie themselves with such wicked beasts as the wargs are."

This conversation being over, Irid stood up and walked over to another corner and sat down on the ground, happy she atleast sorted that out with the wolf.

[Mouth of Sauron]

*Pipeweed makes me paranoid *

Aldea had no way of communicating to Angar exactly what Irid had told her, because his understanding of her language was limited to simple concepts. Because of this, she had always thought that elves and other two-legged beings were not intelligent enough to learn her language, but now she knew that she was wrong in thinking so, for Irid was living proof to the contrary. In any case, she did her best to convey to him that his mistrust was unfounded, for indeed the elven lady had spoken true; she knew of the Ashmarians and they would not have had anything to do with wargs or any other servant of the Black Foe.

"Forgive me," said Angar, smiling in spite of himself. "I didn't realize my thoughts would become a topic of conversation between you two." He gave Aldea a mock scowl. "But I don't think anyone here is of a very trusting sort, given the circumstances."

Turning to Tal, he said, "What do you think is our next best course of action? Admittedly, we must proceed cautiously. But time, I fear, is not on our sides." He would have said more, but caught himself. There was no point in reiterating the imminent danger to the Sindarin's captive sister; he knew that only too well.

[Lief Erikson]

"You asked about the ones I am about to collect?" Steward asked Irid. "They consist of one pushy hobbit and one floppy thief.

"Plus I'll also speak to any others that I have forgotten," he said with a slight frown.

[Mathron]

Tal nods to Steward. "You should go see if they will join us. First, though, let me cover our basic plan. After that you can go, and I shall fill you in on anything you miss while gone."

Turning to the others, he spoke quickly, outlining what he knew. "The Grim Wolf is a mysterious figure, known only to be a cold, ruthless man. His company consists mainly of hardened humans, but they are accompanied by a large half-troll and some dwarves of dark descent. Dain heard news of them in town - they are camped about a few days walk from here, but likely will be moving north towards Angband any day now. They have with them a large batch of slaves to be delivered, and our goal is to stop that from happening."

Silence fell, and the others exchanged glances. Steward rose, nodding to them, and left to see if he could persuade the others to join them. Dain looked up, and said, "Well then, what be our plan?"

[Irid al'Menie]

Irid listened to the explanation of the Grim Wolf, then she let her mind wander. There was said a few days away, so she felt for animals intellegent enough to communicate with.

There was a wolfpack near the place it should be. She asked them to tell her what they saw. The image of a large camp crossed her mind, but there was no sign of breaking up. Then she saw a group of human and elves tight up. Those must be the slaves. The following image is that of a large tent, but she couldn't see anything but that. Except for a flag at the top. On it she could see the face of a Wolf. Now she broke the contact with the wolves, and returned to the room.

"Well, if it's any consolation, the Grim Wolf is not yet leaving. There isn't a sign of live there, save a group of enslaved human and elves."