Sailing Away RPG

[Firefoot]

As the hobbits moved on, they had no choice but to go as two separate groups, one group travelling on the edge of the ravine and the other forced to make their trek at the bottom, though they kept each other in sight as much as possible. They had not gone far when night began to fall. The dark, shadowy wood became darker and and more menacing. Sondo would have sworn that the trees were talking to each other. The branches seemed to be moving, but not so that one could see them move. It felt like they were reaching out, preparing to snatch any or all of them up at any given moment. There was a sound like wind in the branches, except the air felt dead to Sondo. He found himself glancing over his shoulder numerous times, looking for an invisible menace. Though the evening air was warm, he wished he might have a cloak to draw about himself. All he wanted was to be out of this horrible place. As the deep ravine drove them further and further in, however, he became increasingly fearful that they never would. He was now a firm believer of every single one of those stories about the Old Forest. But, wait! The stories had to come from someplace - that meant hobbits did get out alive. There was hope. Sondo would like to know how they had managed.

As the twilight faded, Sondo called a stop. He refused to go blundering about in this place in the dark. He did not know where this ravine led, and who knew what the trees might do to those up top? "What do you think? Should we build a fire?" he asked. He wondered if a fire would make the trees angry at them. Of course not - trees couldn't be angry. He tried to laugh at himself for the silly notion, and found that he could not do it. There was some uneasy murmuring, but no decisive answer.

"Maybe with already dead wood?" someone up top suggested. Sondo could not tell who in the fading light.

"Yes; let's do that," said Sondo, trying to sound sure. Some wood was gathered by those not trapped in the ravine. Part was let down, and tinder was brought out. Soon there were two small fires going, one on top and one on bottom.

"Sleep if you can, I guess," said Sondo. "No need to set watch. I doubt many of us will sleep anyway." He reclined against the edge of the ravine. He could not even bring himself to close his eyes. Fine - I admit it! I'm terrified of this place. I'd let Sassy call me Bunnymuggins every day for the rest of my life if it meant we could get out of this place in one piece. Admission did not help, though. He still could not sleep, and he doubted he would at all this night.

[Encaitare]

Reggie was glad he had not taken a tumble into the ravine like some of the others, but he slightly envied them the protection that it provided. Even if they were stuck, the trees couldn't reach them down there. While in previous situations he had felt safest sleeping with his back to a tree, he did not dare go too close to any of them. They seemed unfriendly, if that was possible. The fire seemed to keep them at bay, though, and so he lay as near to it as he could, flat on his back so nothing could sneak up on him, and tried to go to sleep.

Lulled by the crackling of the fire and its warmth, Reggie did manage to doze for a while, and he dreamed...

He is home, playing games outdoors with his cousins under a bright, friendly sun. A good-natured game of tag is well under way; they are running from each other and shouting in mock fright. But then the sun seems to fade, and one of the players grows until he is the size as one of the Big Folk, but with sharp, wolfish teeth. He starts to chase Reggie, who runs as fast as he can. The monster is much stronger and faster, though, and Reggie looks over his shoulder to see the thing gaining on him. Suddenly a rough hand grabs his shoulder--

The young hobbit woke with a shout, grabbing his left shoulder, the one furthest from the fire. Something had just touched him there, he knew it -- and was he crazy, or did he just see a bough of the tree nearest him go snapping upwards, as if it had just been caught doing something a tree oughtn't to do?

He knew he would not be able to fall asleep again.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Bingo lay miserably still inside his tattered bedroll, unable to settle down and fall asleep. The eerie sounds of the forest and the impending presence of the trees hovering menacingly over them were bad enough. Even worse was the fact that, for the second time on the journey, he had managed to get separated from his brother. Reggie was on top of the ravine, while he was stuck here below. He cursed the ill luck that had sent him tumbling downward.

But there was something else very wrong. Bingo hadn't said anything to the others but he was in considerable pain. In his downward fall, he had glanced off the side of a jagged rock. Ever since then, he'd had a hard time even breathing. Every mouthful of air and compression of his chest brought an agonizing sensation of tightness, almost like someone repeatedly jabbing him in the side with a dagger; he could only guess that one of his ribs must have been cracked in the fall. He knew there were herbal remedies that could help stave off the pain, but he didn't know how to find the herbs or concoct a suitable potion. Maybe he could take his one spare shirt and wrap it tightly round his chest to help support the broken rib. Yet every time he tried to manoeuver his body to do that, the pain in his side worsened to the point that he had to stop.

Finally, he could take no more. Speaking loud enough so anyone who was awake could hear, whether in the ravine or on the hillside above, he spluttered out a plea for help, "Anybody awake? I think I've broken my rib. Can anyone help me.....?"

[Firefoot]

Sondo was startled out of a deep reverie by the voice in the darkness. He had not been able to fall asleep, and so had been contemplating their situation. Every time he ran through possible scenarios the forest seemed blacker and their position more hopeless. He was the leader; he had to get them out of this. Somehow. He was not accustomed to such real fear and did not know how to cope with it, though he knew he couldn’t let it show through to the group. So he was grateful for the interruption.

“Bingo? Is that you?” Sondo asked quietly.

“Yes.” Sondo could almost hear the pain in Bingo’s voice. Sondo got up and walked over to the other side of their small fire where Bingo had set up his bedroll.

“What happened?” he asked.

“When we fell down here, I think I must have broken my rib. Hurts to move, and to breathe.” Bingo’s breathing was shallow and his sentences disconnected. Sondo tried to keep the wince off his face. Sure sounds like a broken rib. He should’ve said something about it earlier - he probably made it worse by walking on it so far. Of all the injuries one of the hobbits could have gotten, this had to be one of the worst. A broken arm or leg could be splinted, a sprain could be wrapped (the pain and swelling in his own wrist had quickly gone down), cuts and such could be wrapped. But a broken rib? His oldest brother Longo had broken a rib some years back by falling out of a tree. His Ma had prescribed bed rest for quite a while. All you could do for a broken rib was hope it fixed itself pretty quick.

“You’ve been trying to wrap it?” asked Marroc. Rory was there, too. They probably couldn’t sleep either, so of course they would have heard us, he reasoned. Sondo caught sight of the shirt lying nearby that had caused the comment.

Bingo nodded. “I couldn’t - hurt too much.”

“Well, I suppose we could help with that,” offered Sondo. He was glad he wasn’t the only other one awake down here - he hoped that one of the others knew more about medicines and such than he did.

[Crystal Heart]

Sam woke from his sleep and walked over to where the small commotion of noise was coming from. He found the rest of them huddled around Bingo. The shallowed breathing caused Sam to tense.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked immediately as he joined the group. He watched Bingo's face, a wave of concern tingled through his body. He could see in the light that Bingo had been trying to wrap himself up. Realizations hit him before anyone said anything.

Thoughts flew through his head. How where they to treat it? Would he die? He had heard of hobbits breaking their ribs, it punctured the lung and they died in their own blood.

"Do you taste blood, Bingo. It's very important that we know that," Sam interjected, silently praying that the young hobbit didn't. If he did then Sam knew that Bingo would be as likely to survive as a rabbit did in the mouth of a fox. Worse yet was the thought that they would have to be the ones to carry his corpse all the way back to the Shire and tell his parents that they were to blame for the early demise of their son. No, Sam thought to himself, there will be no corpses.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Bingo glanced over at Sam and ruefully shook his head, "Nope. There's no blood. Just a bruise on the outside, and my insides hurt. But Sondo putting on the band has helped a little. I'm tough. If I have to go on like this, I will."

Clearly, none of the lads knew much about herbs or where to find them in the forest. A real potion would not be forthcoming that night. He would just have to do the best he could without it.

Bingo settled uneasily into a pile of leaves, being careful to lie on his good left side. He slept a little but only fitfully, waking up at the slightest noise or when he managed to twist the wrong way and the pain came surging up. The night seemed to drag on endlessly. Once or twice, he awkwardly sat up in bed and gazed around at the clearing. He thought he say two feral eyes in the bushes, golden and unblinking as they stared back at him. Another time, he swore he heard the distant patter of footsteps, not down in the ravine but up above. Craning his neck upward, he saw what appeared to be a shapeless grey shadow gliding forward. Bingo could not exactly make out the form of the thing, but it looked like a gigantic bearded ghost in voluminous robes gliding through the thicket of trees. His eyes grew round in trepidation, and, despite his resolve to be brave, he found himself shuddering. What if this restless spirit of the dead wandering the forest in the dead of night decided to attack them? He wondered if ghosts ate hobbits.

For the rest of the night, Bingo could not sleep. Visions of the floating ghost continued to occupy his mind. As the first strains of daylight filtered into the ravine and his companions awakened from their sleep, Bingo spoke in halting terms, first describing how he had broken his rib and then what he had seen late last night. "There's a ghost out there. I swear. I glimpsed it on the ridge. It's gigantic. Maybe twelve feet tall. And truly horrible. Looked as if it would like to swallow us all."

One of his companions burst out chuckling. "Bingo, I think you broke more than your rib. Your brain must be a little cracked!"

"Laugh if you want....but I swear I saw a ghost. And for all I know, that thing may be waching us now." He glanced up uneasily hoping his brother Reggie and Sassie and all the others were alright.

[Firefoot]

Sondo frowned uneasily. He didn’t exactly doubt Bingo, but really, a ghost? And so large - what could it be a ghost of? Bingo probably had seen something, like an illusion in the trees or the like. The truly concerning thing was that Bingo truly believed it was a ghost. If they were ever to escape this horrid place, they needed their wits about them. If they all started going mad, well, he simply refused to let himself go down that path.

Well, he had more important things to worry about right now than ghosts (he would worry more later, if Bingo’s mental health really did seem to be suffering). He called up to those on top of the ravine. “Hey, everyone awake up there? Did you make it through the night all right?”

“We’re in one piece,” answered Reggie, coming as close to the edge as he dared. “The fire seemed to have helped. You’re all okay down there?”

“I think so. Bingo seems to have broken a rip when he fell down here yesterday... but he seems to be doing all right.” Sondo didn’t mention the ghost.

“If you’re sure,” said Reggie, concern evident in his voice.

“It hurts, but I should be fine,” said Bingo.

Reggie nodded, apparently satisfied. “We were just getting breakfast - you have food down there, right?”

“Yes. Once we eat, we can get going,” said Sondo. He went over to their packs, ready to dig out some food for all of them. He flipped open the top pack and frowned. On top was a small bottle that he knew had not been there last night. What’s this? He took off the top and took a tentative sniff. It smelled herbish - but that didn't tell him much. It could be made out of good plants or poison plants. And where did it come from? He scowled up at the queer trees. This place got stranger and stranger all the time, and he didn't like it at all. There seemed to be no reason to any of it. First roots that moved to trip them, then trenches and ravines, then ghosts, now a suspicious bottle. In light of the other events, Sondo figured the bottle was probably poison. It had to come from somewhere, surely.

“Hey, do any of you know what this is?” asked Sondo, holding up the bottle. “It was in the packs.”