Long Lost Leaves

[orithil]

Hedrim drew his sword and hung it loosly, "Dol guldor, I have never ventured here myself, what defences should we expect?" he turned to look at the rest of the group.

[Aikanáro]

They were going to that place itself! Tabrîl gasped at the realization. Three days now she had been trailing after them unseen, and this had never occurred to her as a possible destination. It was madness, did they not know the evil that lurked there?

She had been more than a little relieved when the group's course had veered away from the latest home of her people, the prospect of having to raise the alarm was not one she relished. If they had strayed too close to Kindi territory, however, she would not have hesitated for a second. But they had not, and yet she followed them still, and this was something Tabrîl did not understand of herself. She had needed to gather more food, she told herself, before she went back. She had needed to make sure they would not turn back on their path...

Now she found herself wishing she had not stayed, cursing her curiosity which had always been a fault in her. Even Ferai had said it, with a wave of his hand and 'no more questions, Tabrîl,' on countless occasions. What would Ferai say to her now?

Now, that was a question she ought not to ask. Ferai was lost, had passed long ago, and in any case, she could not possibly think to guess at his answers. Yet she was too far from home to seek advice from any who might give them to her. It was simple - she left her hidden position, revealed herself to them, and warned them not to go any further, that it was a danger too great for any of them. Or she did nothing, and left them to their fate.

It was a choice Tabrîl could not bring herself to make.

[Earniel]

"Defences, Hedrim? There are none." Radagast said. "Dol Guldur is abandonned since the lady Galadriel brought down its walls."

As they rode on, he pointed to crumbling remains of blackened walls.

"As you can see almost nothing of what stood above ground still stands today. The Elves of Lórien have been quite thorough in tearing Dol Guldur down, at least above ground."

"Underground there are still structures and corridors. The Elves were content to block and burry the entrances. But I have been down there too, not so long ago to scout ahead, and they seem deserted too. The only thing that remains are the echoes and the memories of the evils that has been done here but those are frightening enough on their own."

[Willow Oran]

"We Beornings rarely venture here even now, with it in the custody of the elves whom we count as friends," Haldis said, edging a little closer to Radagast, "We should know what it is we are looking for before we dare the tunnels. Even echoes can be dangerous in such places as this."

[Mari]

Hearing the exchange, Ellysa thought back to what she saw earlier. Should she...?
Yes, I must. They are good people and losing them either because of this curse or because of falling rocks... what's the difference?
With a serious and perturbed look on her face, Ellysa looked at Radagast and Haldis and spoke up:
"Uhm, you know, I don't think it's safe to go down. Tunnels can collapse and being squashed by rocks or suffocating isn't a very nice way to die.
Is there no way we can avoid going in? Or at least protect ourselves against cave-ins?"

[feawen]

Nami, who had been using her bow to turn over bits of broken stone, was still pulling a face when she heard Ellysa's comment. She straightened her back and turned towards the young woman.
"Thats a very sensable thought to have. Although i am know this place is old im sure the forces of evil would build it well. Unless...you have reason to believe otherwise?"
Nami cast her eyes quickly over the ruins.
"I'll be the first to admit i have no desire to go down there, deserted or not, this place is evil."

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf came to a halt. There ahead of them lay Amon Lanc, like a barren island of nothingness amidst the greens and the forests who were advancing slowly, but stubbornly on all fronts.
He had never set foot on the grounds of Amon Lanc, but had seen it from a distsance a good deal of times. Each time it looked less hostile, older, until one day he hoped it would be covered by greens, a home to birds and beasts. But that point in time was very far away..

If the company was planning to go into the mazes of corridores underground Quickleaf would stay put overground. He had no desire to get caught in its dark, arcane entrapments.

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

"Aye." said Borin, speaking up "Ellysa is right. Old tunnels are only safe if they are made out of a speicial rock."

[Coffeehouse]

"Special rock?" enquired Quickleaf. "Aren't old tunnels by definition unsafe?"
He thought little of a half-mad expedition into the depths of what most likely was a dark, cold and lifeless place.

[feawen]

"Underground, dark, cold, wet, dark, closed in, stuck, trapped, dark". Nami stepped talking and looked a little sheepish, "I dont like being underground."

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf nodded in agreement, knelt down and brushed the coarse dirt-ground. His gaze moved to the dilapidating emptiness of the hill in front of them, "Being underground.. it's not natural."

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

"What are you talking about?" asked Borin "Being underground is the closest to nature anyone will ever get!"

[Mari]

Ellysa felt conflicted, but she spoke up again, a little bit stronger this time.
"Caves can be quite the lifesavers. But going deep into these tunnels... I have a bad feeling about this."

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

"If You want me to, Master Radagast I'll investigate those caves fer ya."

[feawen]

Nami pulled a face, "Underground, its just wrong." She shivered. "Cave in's, dark corners, little crawling things!" She started to edge away from the ruins, "I really don't like being underground."

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf ignored Borin. Taking advice from a dwarf on what's natural wasn't his cup of tea. Beasts and birds, trees and skies, that was natural. If Elves, Men and Dwarves were meant to roam the underground they would have every other conceivable feature suited for the dark, dead underground.

[Earniel]

"My dear Ellysa, we simply cannot avoid going underground," Radagast said kindly, "the underground archive is the very reason we have come here. I do agree it is not a pleasant place to venture in and we shall indeed have to tread carefully. But ironically, we are in luck that Dol Guldur has not been destroyed too many years ago. Most of the masonry is still quite sturdy. The Dark Lord and his Lieutenant were not keen on cave-ins either!"

"But I will not require of all of you to enter the tunnels, there will be things to do on the surface as well, although I hope some at least will accompany me underground."

He turned towards Borin. "Your knowledge of mining and tunnels will definitely be much relied on, master Dwarf. In fact, our very lives may depend on it."

[The Sasquatch of Fangorn]

"Right then!" said Borin, clapping his hands together "Let's just see how sturdy thiese tunnels really are!" He ran his hands up and down the entrance-way. "Yes" he mumbled "They chose the most sturdy rock that can be found aroud these parts. And they probably had Goblins working for them. The second best stone-layers in the land, you know."

[Aikanáro]

Still they stood there, and Tabrîl though she was not close enough to decipher their words reckoned that they must be planning their course of action. They were fools, all of them, she thought, if they could not see what lay before them. It angered her, almost, that any so ignorant should wander about so. Where were the wardens of the in'kasha Galadriel, who claimed responsibility for this place, or so it was rumored? Perhaps the rumor was only that.

Impatient with them, Tabrîl waited. She could leave them, she told herself again. She could still turn away...

And yet she could not, and so it was that she approached them, a solitary figure in her dark, hooded cloak, and she stared at them, the unflinching gaze of her grey eyes almost a challenge, and addressed the nearest elf.

'There is a danger here,' she said in heavily-accented Sindarin. 'A danger, and you ought to turn back, if you would live.' She repeated herself in Quenya, with an equally foreign lilt to the words, to be sure they had understood.

[Coffeehouse]

Quickleaf's ears shot up as he heard steps behind them. It was an Elf, cloaked and walking steadily towards them. Beneath her cloak Quickleaf caught glimpse of her eyes, grey like morning mist, yet glowing as if candles lit them up from inside.. She spoke, and he was mystified by her accent, use of words.
"Aiya Hail. To whom to we owe the honour of receiving such stark warning?"