Episode 3
The fellowship spend a few hours browsing the surprisingly vibrant, semi-permanent market stalls on
Trader's Island. Hathus befriends a meat-pie trader and Monin buys a lucky rabbit foot. All too soon, however, they resolve to continue their quest. The price of a skiff is prohibitive, but the party manages to convince two fishermen to row them the short distance down
The Anduin to the
Gladden Fields.
They spend a miserable few days scouring the marshy lands South of the River Gladden in search of
The Dwimmerhorn, and are only buoyed by glimpses of a raised hill through the misty marshscape.
Three days into the allotted ten days agreed with the fishermen, the party encounters a raiding party of
Orcs and
Warg, chasing down an emaciated, escaped woodman captive. Just as the parties well-planned ambush can be unleashed,
Magric betrays them by shouting a warning and diving headlong into the mists. Many corpses collapse into the murk of the marshes before the skirmish is concluded. The freed captive is called
Walar and is eternally grateful to the fellowship for his rescue and has some vital clues as to the whereabouts of the illusive hill...
Episode 4
As the silence of the marshes re-cloak the fellowship they quickly get to work removing the manacles from
Walar. He tells a sorry tale and partly confirms the party's fears about the threat within the
Gladden Fields.
“They made us repair the walls of the fort, and to work in the smithy, making weapons for the Orcs. They whipped us without reason, tortured us... they made us suffer for sport!”
“I don’t know how many Orcs there were. A great many. Perhaps a hundred or more. There were Men, too, not as many. And in the temple... there was something else, something horrible. It... was a watchful shadow. It hated us. It delighted in our torment.”
“On the north side of the rock, there is a stone building. They never let us see beyond its doors, but I heard whispers from within. The dead dwell there, I am sure of it! I do not know what evil they wreak there, but... please, no, don’t make me remember!”
“When I was repairing one of the side walls, I saw that there was a goat path down the side of the rock, on the far side from the main road. I waited for weeks until I had my chance. Two of the Orcs began quarrelling over typical Orcish things, and while they brawled, I jumped over the wall and climbed down the cliff. I nearly fell, but luck was with me, and I reached the bottom alive. A sentry spotted me, and I fled, and they have been on my heels ever since.”
"Thank you for rescuing me. Thank you."
Walar was too exhausted to accompany the fellowship to
The Dwimmerhorn and after a brief discussion about the risks of an attempted infiltration, they decided to try and escape
Gladden Fields immediately and bring a warning to
Hartfast and the merchants of
Trader's Island before returning investigate further.
For four days, the group manage to evade
Orcs and worse as they criss-crossed the
Gladden Fields in search of the River Gladden. As mutterings about low food supplies began to dominate the sparse conversation, they finally stumble across the river and traverse East, meeting
The Anduin in just a few more hours.
During the night the fellowship is approached by a determined and well-camouflaged
Hobbits called
Byrgol. He tells a sad tale of loss of the River Hobbits some fifteen years ago and his quest to reclaim the
Gladden Fields for his folk. The fellowship convince the earnest chap to travel with them to warn the surrounding leaders of the threat in the marshes and he agrees to travel with the.
Escape from the Marshes
Unfortunately, one day after the appointed deadline for meeting the oarsmen, they decide to push on without them and plan to return to
The Dwimmerhorn to mount a rescue later in the year. Leaving two innocent fishermen to the hands of the
Orcs and worse gnaws at the fellowship as they clamber aboard a slow-moving barge traveling up
The Anduin.
Warnings
The walk along the banks of
The Anduin towards
Trader's Island is uneventful and they waste no time in issuing a warning to the concerned merchants in the strange market. The next day the party pushes on towards
The Wolfswood and another warning for
Hartfast.
At dusk on the third day out from
Trader's Island Sigmarr spots some huge footprints in a broken moorland scene and the group decides to camp in a secluded area of brush and push on in the morning. As the steady rain pours down, everyone is silent with their thoughts, and the stolen glances are anxious and concerned. No warming fire for the party tonight...
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