Hunt for the Palantíri RPG

[Arry]

The passage through the tunnel narrowed down in both height and width. The Elves and man had to tuck their elbow close to their bodies in order to traverse it. And by the time they neared the cavern itself, they were all three hunched over.

“Ouch!” cried Annû as he stepped into the main body of the cavern and attempted to straighten up. A string of rather colorful curses followed as he dropped his torch and slapped his hand to his injured head. From behind him came the unsympathetic laughter of his brother. “Look up next time, before you stand up,” came Carrandû’s unsolicited advice, followed by a surprised cry of pain as his Annû, in frustration, gave his brother a sharp rap on the shins with his now unlit torch.

A few moments of uncomfortable and rather dark silence followed. Then, the sound of giggling began bubbling up into full blown belly laughs. With a whoof of expelled air Annû sat down on the stony floor and reined in his laughter. The hand which held his unlit torch came round to be handed off to his brother. “At least Galhardir has kept his head about him,” laughed Annû, rubbing his own. “Pass our torch on to him and let’s get it relit.”

As the additional light flared up, the brothers and the man looked about the small cavern about them. “This is not a good sign,” commented Carandu, his hand going out to touch the encrustations in clumps on the walls of the narrow area and on its low ceiling. “Looks like barnacles and limpets, doesn’t it? That means the tide water fills this place completely.”

Annû retrieved the lit torch from Galhardir. “Let’s take a quick look around for a roundish sort of rock stuck in the cavern floor. Spread out in a line and we’ll crawl about for a close look-see. Hold your torch low, Galhardir, so we get a big pool of light as we move along.”

The three explorers moved in silence, their gazes fixed on the floor of the cavern. Carandû, at one point, reached out briefly and brushed some sediment off a likely looking little outcropping. The other two looked at him hopefully, but he shook his head ‘no’ at them and they moved forward in their search.

Carandû smiled to himself at the little specimen of rock he had found . . . the imprint of a whorled fossil imprinted in the small shale slab. He slipped it carefully into the pouch at his belt. Rodhal would have a souvenir from the adventure he had not been allowed to go on, he thought . . .

[Taralphiel]

Freyn followed at the end of the group, surveying the large cavern they had entered. Finally finding the source of these events was of great interest to him, and the story of this Stone had struck his curiosity. His boots padded lowly along the floor of the cave, making the familiar noise, and a loud echo following it. His old eyes darted across the tips of the slender peaks of ice, watching every slight movement or tremble of what was around him.

A few of those in the group divided, and he stood where he was, still watching the Cave cautiously. One hand was in his pocket, his thumb pressed on a small fur pouch of herbs and cloth, bandages and salves. He was not the fastest or strongest of this group, this he was oft reminded of. And so he though to provide service where it may be needed most, to those who may find trouble on their search instead of this Stone. He smiled as he recalled the worried mumbling of his wife as he left the tent, complaining that one so aged as he should not try such adventures of boys.

He chuckled inwardly, though saying nothing to the others of the group, as they waited for more to be said to him. The men they had chosen were good and brave, and he had no fear of this cave when trod through properly. Still, the familiar nagging in his gut told him that caution was always best, and his supplies would be well used by the end of this expedition.

[Orofaniel]

"What's that you've got there?" Annû asked his brother with great curiosity. He tried to crawl towards Carandû but was stopped by the big rock that lay in between. "There is a rock there..." Carandû said, without turning to look at his brother as he stumbled over it, loosing his torch. "Ouch!" Annû exclaimed. Galhardir crawled forwards to help the poor elf up, but Annû managed it on his own.

"I apologise brother," Carandû said causally as he still seemed fixed on his discovery. "Eh..no problem," Annû said, with a great deal of sarcasm. "I'm alright, if you were wondering," he then added, smiling widely. Hs brother burst into a merry laughter and so did Galhardir. But still, Galhardir was a bit worried about Annû’s fall, and asked him if he really was alright. Annû didn't seem to want to discuss it so Galhardir accepted Annû’s short answer. Now both Galhardir and Annû had reached Carandû and his discovery. "What exactly is that?" Glahardir asked Carandû as he examined it with his own torch. "It's...it's a fossil," Carandû said, looking very proud of what he had found. "See the lines here?" he then asked. Galhardir nodded.

"Where is your helmet Annû?" Galhardir then asked, noticing that Annû’s helmet could be everywhere else than it should be; on his head. "Uh..I don't know," the elf said, touching his head. "I probably lost it as I fell over the rock..." he then said. "Without noticing?" Galhardir then asked suspiciously. "Aye, must have been..." Annû continued.

"You better go get it," Carandû then said, finally looking away from the fossil. "Ah..you're right," Annû said. "Hand me your torch, Galhardir, will you?" Annû said, holding his empty hand out. "I could need both; it's so dark in here..." he then said, while Galhardir handed his torch over to Annû. "You two just stay here," Annû then said, turning his back on them to find his helmet.

Not a minute had gone by before Galhardir and Caranû could hear a great boom. Galhardir jumped, holding Carandû by the arm. "What was that?" he whispered. Carandû didn't answer, just had the only torch they had in the direction they had heard the noise. "Maybe it's Annû!" Carandû exclaimed. "Maybe...he went after all, in that very direction!" Galhardir then whispered back. "What shall we do?" Galhardir continued. He suddenly became aware of the tales that had been told about this cave; what if they were true? He got anxious and frightened, but could not tell by looking at Carandû that he felt the same; he seemed so calm. "We should just stay...hush!" Carandû said. "I hear something," he continued, he too was whispering. Galhardir could also hear it; slow footsteps, as they were dragged along the cavern.

"Who's there?!" Carandû then yelled.

Galhardir heard nothing but the echoes.

"It's just me..."

It was a familiar voice. It was Annû’s voice! "Annû!" Carandû exclaimed, as he saw the elf move slowly towards them. "Aye, it's me.." he then replied. "What was that frightful noise we heard? Did you hear it too?" Galhardir then asked.

"I did hear it, indeed. Too well, one might say..." Annû then said. He had now reached the two others. The light from the two torches he bore mad it possible for Galhardir to see the blood from his forehead. "What happened?" Galhardir then gazed. "The same old rock..." Annû said, smiling a bit.

"That doesn't look good, my friend," Galhardir continued, shaking his head. "No, we better return to the main cavern, don’t you think?" Carandû then said, holding his hand out to touch Annû head. "Nah-a," Annû said, taking a step backwards. "It's alright my friends," he said. "There is nothing to worry about...although returning to the main cavern is something we could...and should do after, my opinion," he said as he handed Galhardir the torch back. "Aye, there is nothing to find here...let’s go," Galhardir then said, leading the way.

[Niluial]

Er, Elwë where exactly are we going?" Andtuariel asked anxiously.

"I want to go into that unexplored tunnel," Elwë pointed to the dark, lifeless tunnel. He shivered; the icy air had bitten right into his
bones, and his teeth couldn't stop clattering together. Andtuariel followed him, grabbing onto his hand as they entered the small tunnel.
They had to bend over to walk in the tunnel as it was low and the sides
touched them as they crawled along. As they kept on going, it got smaller and smaller, and soon they had no choice but to squeezed through.

Andtuariel muttered something to herself and Elwë chuckled. "First sign
of insanity to talk to yourself, you know." Elwë said trying to joke, in hope to avoid the anxiety and fear. Before Andtuariel could reply Elwë said abruptly, "what's that?"

"Oh, it looks like a cave!" Andtuariel said jerking her head trying to see more of it.

"Yes, a rather small one."

"Let's go see." Andtuariel said with a sudden tone of excitement.

Squeezing through the blacker hole that marked the entrance into the smaller cave, Elwë stopped and looked about it. It had a surprisingly high ceiling covered in long pointy pieces of ice. The thought that one of those icy swords could come tumbling down upon them was too terrifying to put into words. Elwë then shivered. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Andtuariel said, walking slightly ahead of Elwë exploring the iced cave.

"Beautiful, yet dangerous," he added.

Elwë walked around the small cave, looking for another tunnel. A few
rocks fell from the ceiling and Elwë lifted his head and pricked his long, pointy ears up looking around suspiciously. "Did you hear that?" He asked Andtuariel, with a worried expression.

"Yes, but it's probably just the vibrations or something like that,
nothing to worry about" Andtuariel said, sure that everything was right.

"Vibrations from what? Do you think some of the elves have ventured up
above us, on the roof?"

"Probably!" Andtuariel said sounding not very concerned. She crouched down examining a strange looking rock. It was covered in what looked like sickly fungi. She stood up, starting to walk towards Elwë, "I really think. AAAAA!"

Elwë rolled his eyes. She's probably seen a spider, silly girl.
"What's wrong now?" He waited for a reply. Nothing. "I said, what's
wrong!" he shouted but quieted himself, remembering the long ice pieces
hanging from the ceiling.

He walked to where she was. He suddenly froze, "Andtuariel!" he shrieked as he saw her body on the ground. "I. I. I think I'm ok" she stuttered, slightly opening her eyes. Elwë shone his torch to examined her; her one foot was stuck in a hole and her head was bleeding as it had hit a sharp rock. He tugged at her foot, trying to get it out. "Try and get it out Andtuariel! We need to get you to Freyn."

"I can't"

Elwë sighed and sat back after ten minutes of tugging. Now what? Do I keep on trying or leave her and get help? It's too dangerous! I wonder where Rôg is.

[Arry]

‘Hmmm . . . this doesn’t smell too bad!’ Annû lifted his helmet off and fingered the bandage that Freyn had applied. Carandû hissed at him and jammed the helmet back on his brother’s head. From the corner of his eye he could see Captain Luindal looking their way.

Galhardir, catching the last of Freyn’s question, stepped forward and introduced himself. Freyn’s gaze fell on the man’s injured hand and he offered to take a look at it. ‘Go on,’ said Annû. ‘Let him look at it. He’s not half bad!’

Carandû sighed and stepped forward. ‘I’m Carandû, from the elven ship . . . but then you probably already knew that . . . the Elven ship that is.’ He dragged his brother forward. ‘And this is my brother, Annû, . . . my younger brother. And you need to know his “not half bad” comment really was meant as a compliment.’ Carandû nudged his brother who shook his head ‘yes’ as he made a small bow toward the healer.

‘Say,’ said Annû, ‘we seem to be your only patients at the moment. Would you like to join us for a little exploration of one of the side tunnels.’ He looked toward his brother. ‘We have enough time for that, don’t we? Before the tide turns and begins washing in?’

‘It’ll have to be a quick search,’ returned Carandû, after giving the question a little thought. ‘I think the Captain will probably call us together soon and we’ll need to get out of here – back to the boat.’ He looked expectantly at Freyn. ‘What do you say? Four pairs of hands and eyes would make the work go more quickly. And besides,’ he said laughingly as he looked toward his brother, ‘the medicines and bandages would probably be where they’re most needed.’

[piosenniel]

After his ‘encouragement’ of the Elven brothers and the Lossoth concerning their need to visit the healer, Rôg joined Luindal’s group in one of the smaller caverns on the northern end of the big cave. ‘Might as well get in on the action,’ he said to the captain, as he lit the torch he’d brought and bent down close to the floor with it. It was back breaking, dirty work - all hunched over, eyes glued to the surface of the floor, hands prying through whatever silt had mounded up around objects on the floor. Rôg inched along, on his knees for the most part, brand in one hand, knife in the other for prying at likely objects.

After a bit, Luindal motioned him over. ‘I’m worried that we might spend too much time in here and the tide start to come in,’ the captain said. ‘I’ll have my little group move back out to the main cavern. Can you contact the other groups and tell them to head back there, too? Once we’ve all gathered together and all are accounted for, we can head back to the ship and make plans for the morrow.’

With a great sigh of relief, and a small rub to his back to ease the cramped muscles, Rôg handed the captain his torch and changed back to a little bat. Soon he was zipping in and out of the tunnels, bringing the message to the search groups . . .

[Arry]

It was Carandû who took the lead this time. He’d spied another tunnel half hidden behind a pile of loose rock that had apparently fallen down from the ceiling. The four searchers cleared away the pieces – carefully, as Freyn and Galhardir reminded them that the rock, though soft and easily flaked often bore sharp edges where it had separated from the surrounding stone facings.

Freyn was tied on to Carandû and him in turn to Galhardir, with Annû bringing up the rear. The tunnel itself was short, and thankfully high enough that it could be crawled through without elbows or skulls hitting the sides and top of the passageway. Once they were in, the cavern it connected with was another small sized on, at least in ground area, but to the Elves’ delight, it was tall enough for them to stand.

‘I think we should untie ourselves and each take a torch,’ offered Galhardir as he looked about the area. ‘Good idea,’ said Annû. ‘We can each go over a quarter of the ground.’ He looked about the small area. ‘It does look promising. The tunnel was big enough for the smaller of the palantir to be wash in. and there are plenty of piles of loose rock that it could be hidden beneath.’

The four men divided up the search area and going to the farthest boundary of their part of the little cavern. They got down on their hands and knees and began an examination of the floor, moving the piles of rubble carefully as they did so..

‘Remember,’ said Carandû, calling out from his lit corner, ‘work as quickly as you can without hurting yourselves. We can’t spend long in here. The tide will be coming back in soon . . .’

[Orofaniel]

"The tide!" Galhardir exclaimed. He had completely forgotten about it; The water would be flowing all over the place when the tide came. They ought to be out before then. What happened if someone didn't make it out until that time, Galhardir couldn't say for sure, except for that they would indeed be in a difficult situation. He shuddered while thinking about it, before he followed the others through a new narrow, dark path.

"Do you actually think we'll find something?" Galhardir whispered to Annû. He didn't quite know why he was whispering, but he couldn't help it.

"It depends, I guess," Annû said. "But it's too dark," Galharidr replied. "Aye, it is. But if the thing we are looking for really is here in the caverns, I don't think the darkness will stop us finding it," Annû then said. Galhardir shrugged. "You're probably right," Galhardir then said, thinking about the others who were also looking around in the other tunnels. They had to find it eventually.

Galhardir then turned his thoughts towards Rodhal. He still felt a bit bad because he left him behind. But at the same time, it wouldn't be responsible to bring him along. Rodhal was old enough to know that and he had shown his uncle how mature he was by telling just that to him.

"I think we should return to the others," Carandû then said after a while. He didn't have to repeat that as all four of them moved quickly. As they came towards the end of the tunnel, Rôg asked the two eleven brothers to help two of the other elves that were stuck further down the tunnel. Galhardir gasped as he heard the news. How would they get out? But he trusted the Carandû and Annû as the two of them followed Rôg. Freyn and Galhardir continued forwards, waiting for Annû and Carandû, together with the two elves to return...

[Lalwendë]

Lalwende's post

Tarn moved quickly down the tunnel, following the elves and Galhardir. He was eager to keep up with what they were doing and did not move quite so awkwardly on his return to the main cavern. He moved in short bursts, stopping to hide when he thought he may be spotted, carrying on when he could remain within the shadows. A change in the level of the voices indicated that he had arrived back at the main cavern; they were not so clear, and it sounded as though a crowd had gathered. Yet when he peered around to look, there was just a handful of elves and men.

Creeping along the dripping wall of the cavern, away from the light, Tarn edged out of the tunnel and into the wider space. He started to breathe a little more easily, and side-stepped along until he came to a corner where he could hide. He heard who he thought was Nilak move into the corner next to him, but his breathing was different, and he seemed to be taller.

"Outside, now " said Marreth

Tarn didn’t refuse. He was desperate to be outside once more. As soon as he left the cave he stretched, screwing up his eyes as they adjusted to the light, and greedily breathed in the clear, fresh air as though he was drinking after a long thirst.

Tarn's eyebrows shot up when he heard Marreth’s plan. He didn't know whether to say something defiant to the captain, to try to refuse, but this sounded like a task he could relish. He nodded his assent and started to climb with speed. He was eager to be one of the first to reach the ledge above the cave entrance and as Tarn was a good climber, nimble and surefooted, he was soon standing near Marreth. He began loosening a boulder, working quickly but with a wry smirk on his face.

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Rinfanawen’s post

Diera climbed quickly up the jagged rock wall alongside her captain and other officers. Despite the fact that she still hated the land immensely, she loved the thought of not entering the caves for at least an extended length of time. She smiled merrily at sun. A bright light was finally shining on their mission. The top of the cave soon came, and the crew stepped foot on the peak. Marreth began to address them once again:

“The plan is to push the rocks on the ledge onto the ground below, making it look like a rockslide, so that the Elves are not suspicious. When they try to get out, they will be trapped. So…there are some large boulders here and we will need to work together. Who will help me push these rocks down?”

The corsair crew immediately began to aid Marreth in loosening the boulders from atop the cave. Some, Marreth for one, used tools such as crowbars or metal rods to loosen the protruding rocks. Others, Diera included, chose a more subtle approach. She began with the smaller rocks near the edge of the cliff, tossing them aside for lack of purpose, which slowly began to free the larger rocks from their positions on the cave wall. If nothing else, Diera thought. We could use the smaller rocks for hurling directly at the Elves, just in case one manages to escape. The rocks began to shift slightly as the stones beneath them were removed. Diera smiled evilly. She returned to the previous side of the larger boulders and began to push against them, aiding their plunge to the cavern entrance.

[Regin Hardhammer]

Marreth had chosen a medium sized rock which was perfectly situated for blocking the cave's entrance. He began to heave his entire weight against the boulder with the assistance of two of his crewmates. The stone shuddered mightly and then began rolling downward. With a thud it hit the earth, right in the center of the opening. A few smaller rocks fell as the tremor created by the original reverberated through the mountain.

This is a good start, thought Marreth, but they needed more rocks. And larger ones too. The Captain selected a bigger boulder that was a few feet from the edge. Once again, Marreth pushed the rock with all the effort he could muster. bearing down on his crowbar. It budged an inch, but refused to move any farther.

Marreth turned toward his men and yelled, "What are all you standing there for. We need more than three people to push this boulder. Get your behinds over here and lend a hand. All of you."

Marreth turned his attention back to the rock and pushed, waiting for his entire crew to pitch in. Pushing boulders over the edge was not as easy a task as he had first thought.

[Kitanna]

Nilak had crawled out of the alvoce and was following Tarn back to the main entrance. He could still hear the Elves and their Lossoth allies moving about the cave. For fear of being caught Nilak moved along the wall and a few feet behind Tarn. Two would be easier to spot then one. He was swift and like a shadow, making as little sound as he could.

When he moved into the main cavern he shrunk against the wall to avoid unfriendly eyes. Tarn was not five feet away. Someone moved next to him. It was Marreth. Nilak barely made out what he said, but when the Lossoth and Corsair headed for the entrance to the cave he followed.

It seemed Marreth was planning on pushing boulders down to block the entrance of the cave. This captain was Nilak's kind of scum. Marreth and two of his crewmen were able to free a medium sized boulder and it rolled down and blocked the entrance. The Elves would be trapped inside.

"What are all you standing there for. We need more than three people to push this boulder. Get your behinds over here and lend a hand. All of you." Marreth snapped.

Nilak smiled a wicked smile and went to aid the others. This was a job Nilak could enjoy. Eliminate those who were after his treasure.