Book 8: Act 1 - The Troubles of Men

It is the year 2946 of the Third Age, and the lands east of the Misty Mountains are astir. From the cloud-shrouded peaks above the High Pass to the spider-infested gloom of the forest of Mirkwood, paths long-deserted are trodden once again. Busy merchants carry their wares to new markets, messengers bring tidings from foreign realms, and kings send forth armed men to extend their influence and the rule of law. Some say that a new age of freedom has begun, a time for adventure and great deeds to reclaim glories lost in long centuries of oppression and decline.

But adventures are not really things that people go out and look for. They are dangerous and rarely end well. While it is true that a handful of valiant individuals set out to make their mark on the world, for others it seems that adventure chooses them, as though it is the path they are fated to tread. They are restless warriors, curious scholars and wanderers, always eager to seek what was lost or explore what was forgotten. Ordinary people call them adventurers, and when they return successful, they call them heroes. But if they fail, no one will even remember their names...

Run by the Loremaster Vardaen
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Othniel
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A Ringing Bell: Flooded Chamber

Post by Othniel » Wed Jan 20, 2021 4:53 am

Glirion likewise attempts to dry out his gear, looking at the same time for dry torch and tinder box.
Can I use Woodwright to fashion a workable torch in the event that stuff is soaked through? Alternatively, Keen-Eyed to see better?

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Blubbo_Baggins
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A Ringing Bell: Flooded Chamber

Post by Blubbo_Baggins » Wed Jan 20, 2021 4:52 pm

Finn puts his hand on the wall and begins to go around the room, feeling where they are and trying to get a sense of where Hild might have gone.

"I'm going for Hild," he says.

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Muskrat
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A Ringing Bell: Flooded Chamber

Post by Muskrat » Wed Jan 20, 2021 7:48 pm

Varuthil calls out, "Hold for a moment, Finn. Let us not walk in blind if we don't have to. We will do Hild little good if we stumble intro a trap or walk into an ambush and die as a result."

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Graven
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A Ringing Bell: Flooded Chamber

Post by Graven » Fri Jan 22, 2021 8:13 pm

Heva falls in with the others, looking around in the dark. "I'm sorry I've lead you all into this, we'll get Hild back."
Fantasy is the exercise bike of the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Of course, I might be wrong.
- Sir Terry Pratchett
I will always return
- Shinjo
Formerly Phlale

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Muskrat
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A Ringing Bell: Flooded Chamber

Post by Muskrat » Fri Jan 22, 2021 9:17 pm

Varuthil says, "Do not blame yourself. We followed you voluntarily. And we have faced worse." There is no warmth in her words--but then, there rarely if ever is--but they seem sincere.

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Blubbo_Baggins
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A Ringing Bell: Flooded Chamber

Post by Blubbo_Baggins » Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:04 pm

Finn holds back a moment at Varuthil's suggestion. If there was a deep pit before him and Hild had already fallen into it, he couldn't save her by blindly rushing in. "Can someone get a torch going?"

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Wbweather
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A Ringing Bell: Flooded Chamber

Post by Wbweather » Thu Jan 28, 2021 7:15 pm

Gerwald watches as the others move into the water and he dives in with them. In the dark damp chamber he joins the company. Alive he waits to see if someone can get a torch going so that they can continue their search.

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Vardaen
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A Ringing Bell: Main Cellar

Post by Vardaen » Fri Feb 05, 2021 8:29 pm

None of the company are skilled fire builders, but Glirion is skilled with wood. He produces his torch and a knife and slices off the wet outside enough into some shavings, and with some effort manages to get a spark and a light on the oil soaked head of the torch. Once the torch is going, after some fight, others are easily lit from it. The light shows there is but one opening leading forward, Finn delays no longer and moves forward into a much larger chamber.

This is a vast vaulted chamber, presenting six arched openings, three on the right side and three on the left. The farthest doorway on the right side is larger, its arch decorated with stones of many colours. In the wall opposite the opening to the flooded cellar from which you entered, there is a narrow vertical chimney, leading to the surface (a faint breeze can be felt if someone sticks his head into the chimney); inside the chimney hangs a rope. The floor inside the confined space of the chimney is littered with gore crow feathers and bird deposits.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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A Ringing Bell: Main Cellar

Post by Muskrat » Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:59 pm

Varuthil cautiously approaches and puts one hand on the floor, murmuring to the stones, "Was anyone taken through here against their will? If so, which way were they taken?" Given the sense of evil she felt in the stones above and waste lying on the ground before her, she suspects the stones will not give up their answers willingly, but she presses them if they resist.
The Speakers: Riddle 2. Don't spend Hope since there's probably other ways to get the answers if need be.

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Wbweather
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A Ringing Bell: Main Cellar

Post by Wbweather » Wed Feb 10, 2021 2:03 pm

Gerwald walks quickly around the chamber looking at the various archways looking to see if there is any other defining features and then stops before the more ornately decorated and larger opening. He holds up a torch to see what details the light might reveal.

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