Last Ride of the Heir RPG

[astarielle]

The air inside Angmar was stuffy and putrid. A foul stench eminated from the inner chambers of the abandoned Kingdom. Moss clung desperately to the slimey stone walls, now crumbling with years of decay. All in all it was not a very nice place to be, a stark comparison to the light and fairness of Rivendell. The darkness seemed to grow thicker as the group made their way along the tunnel, by the time they split the dark was almost tangible.

The three elves, following commands from Arathorn, made their way up some stairs. Elladan lead the small group keeping his sword free in his right hand and the other hand against the wall. They climbed slowly and waited for the light of Arathorn's torch to disappear in to the growing darkness. Elladan raised his hand, barely visible to Elrohir at the back of the group, signalling to stop. With a sideways incline of his head Elladan signalled that they should make their way down into the depths of the forebodding place. "If any evil does still linger in this place, it will shun the light and therefore remain in the shadows below" he said quietly not wishing to disturb the air and signal their presence to anything that my be lurking in the vacinity. The light footedness of the elves meant they travelled along in relative silence.

[The Perky Ent]

Climbing down the stairs, Arathorn held his torch tight. If it fell, it would be a long way down. Looking around, Arathorn could tell that, as run down as the place looked, it wasn't empty. Hearing a scratching noice, Arathorn looked back at Owacyn, who had also looked behind him. Thinking nothing of it, Arathorn continued down the black sharp stairs to the dungeons of Carn Dum.

After about an hour of walking down the steps, Arathorn could see the bottom. It was smooth, even black marble, similar to that of Isengard. At the bottom, Arathorn could also see a small canal running through the middle, and continuing for miles. Halfway in the middle of the canal, there was a small, crumbling, bridge, which connected both sides. "Quiet men!" Arathorn said, looking behind him as he stepped onto the ground. "Shadows must not even know our presence!" As the men rested on the ground, Hanindur saw something very strange. "What is that light on the stairs?" He said, pointing to a soft, red light slowly comming down. Then, spontaniously, the elves jumped off the stairs onto the ground. "You really didn't think we'd let you have all the fun, did you?" Elladan said, greeting the men. Elrohir and Eldin followed close behind. "I figured as much" Arathorn said, taking a close look at the stairs, making sure it was just them. Arathorn wouldn't risk anything. That is, anything if he knew about it.

[Saraphim]

Elrohir kept his grey eyes open, searching the shadows for movement, and his ears tuned to every sound. An arrow was nocked on his bow, and his sword was loose in its sheath.

The ascent to the towers proved nothing more than dust, so Elrohir followed his brother down the steps to meet the men in the lower levels. He could feel Eldin close behind him, just as wary.

They were nearly down the stairs, Elrohir began to hear things from the chamber below.

"That cannot be the men?" he asked, incredulous at thier noise.

"The Dunadain are still men, I suppose," said Elrohir, using elven grace to avoid a crumbling step, "Shall we give them a good scare? Just to keep them on thier toes?"

Elladan smiled wickedly, "I wouldn't dream of doing anything else."

[The Perky Ent]

"Well! We're all here! Let's get started! There's nothing on this side, so let's cross the bridge and see what we find" Arathorn said, getting up and starting to walk. The others followed. As they approached the bridge, Eldin looked back for a second, sencing something. However, he quickly ignored it and continued. Crossing the bridge was a little difficult. There were many holes in it, and it wasn't very strong. It was a long drop to the bottom, and the group wasnt' fond on jumped into brown, dirty rapid water. So, they slowly crossed the bridge, and made it to the other side.

On the other side, there were many rooms, all going into different directions. At the end of the hall, there were two large wooden doors. Arathorn took one glace at them and said, "Well, we know where to start!" They slowly walked over to the doors and looked up at them. They were big enough to fit a family of eagles. Taking a deep breath, Arathorn slammed on the door, and it slowly opened. Inside, there were a bright light, which revealed treasure greater than that of Smaug's. But that wasn't what concerned Arathorn. Inside, there were orcs. Tens of thousands of orcs. The entire fellowship was quite. No one moved. Then, one orc looked at the doorway, and screamed "Intruders! Get them!"

Suddenly, a vast army of orcs began running out of the bright hallway at them. They didn't have time to breath. Immediatly, they began running for the bridge. Although they had a head start, the orcs were getting closer. "I told you this was bad!" Owacyn said, running for his life. Arathorn didn't have time to react, as he was trying to cross the broken bridge as fast as he could. Once everyone had crossed, Arathorn went back to the other side, kicked very hardly at the beginning of the bridge, and it collapsed, leaving only half the bridge left. The orcs couldn't cross.

Several orcs tried to jump, but then landed in the water. Learning from the experience, the other orcs could do nothing but yell at the travelers. "The stairs!" Elladan said, running to them. But something was wrong. Suddenly, Eldin realized why he had looked. He had smelled something. Orc. A bright light was moving slowly down the stairs, all the time screaming in the Black Speech. "We're trapped!" Hanindur said, running back twords the bridge. "Orcs are everywhere! There's no where to go!" Elrohir said. "There is one option!" Arathorn said, looking at the bridge. "We jump!" "Your crazy!" Paladir said, looking at the orcs on the stairs, who were getting closer by the second. "We have no other option!" Elladan said, running to the bridge. Then, he found a large hole, climbed down so he was hanging on, and let go. In an instant, Elladan had fallen into the roaring rapids of the canal. Realizing the only option, Elrohir followed his brother and jumped. After that, Owacyn, Paladir and Hanindur jumped. Leaving only Arathorn and Eldin.

"Let's go!" Arathorn said, grabbign Eldin and running to the bridge. "You first!" Arathorn said to Eldin. Eldin shook his head, and told Arathorn to go. Without wasting a moment, Arathorn jumped down the hole, into the canal, leaving Eldin. By the time, Eldin started for the canal, the orcs from the stairs had already reached the ground and were running twords Eldin. Then, just as Eldin jumped over the hole, about to fall in, a orc archer cocked his bow, and fired. Eldin never even reached the canal. His lifeless corps lay of the bridge, and the orcs took it. Eldin was gone.

Rushing through the canal, Arathorn tried to hold his breath as he was pulled down by the current. Underwater, he could see the others in front of him, but the current was too rough to look back. After several minutes, Arathorn ran out of air, and began to drown. Fortunatly for him, 10 feet ahead was a waterfall. It flung Arathorn, and the rest into a lake in the middle of a tall, large room. Emerging from the surface, Arathorn gasped for air, and got back onto land. There he found the others, all gasping for breath. Everyone, except Eldin. Looking around the large, dark room, Arathorn laid down on his back and said, "We are safe here...for now"

[Eowyn Skywalker]

It was dark there-- there was little light to change the bleak gloomyness of the place. Gasping for air, Hanindur pulled his fingers through his haid to get it out of his eyes. "I knew I had a bad feeling about this!" he muttered, looking around. As Arathorn had said, they were safe for now. Leaning backwards to catch his breath, something, or a lack of something drew his attention. He cursed, realizing that the water's push had washed his dagger away. "Well, that's handy," he added to his prevous statement, standing up-- getting to his feet easy enough, though the water dripping off of his soaked clothing gave an added challenge.

On his feet, and having regained his breath, Hanindur looked around some more. The room was large, empty, and quiet, save the breathing of the surviving men and elves. There was no daylight really to be seen-- an evil place it was. He had the feeling that he wasn't going to see daylight again, either. The darkness was foreboding in feel, and he didn't like it in the least.

A quick count of the others revealed what he had been certain of-- Eldin was also gone. Yet another that will be mourned, he thought, bowing his head a moment.

But there was no time to worry over the loss of yet another member. There was still the ever present danger to worry over, even if they seemed safe at the moment.

[Saraphim]

Elrohir wrung the dirty water out of his tunic, trying to keep from thinking too much about Eldin, whose death marked the end of all the elves in the group, save Elrohir and his brother.

He checked the quiver at his side, grateful for the waterproof cover he kept over them. His bow, however, was waterlogged. Sighing, he undid the bowstring and dried it as best he could on his wet clothes.

Elladan sat silently next to him, sword drawn to dry it before rust overcame it. That made Elrohir think of his own sword, which he drew.

"Well," said Elrohir, "We now number six. We are trapped in an enemy stronghold with no visible escape, " he smiled grimly, "I always thought it would end this way,"

"What?" questioned Elladan mockingly,"You never expected to follow Ada over the sea when he goes? Live a life of luxury in Elvenhome?"

"When there are deaths to be died here?" exclaimed Elrohir.

"Not likely!" said the twins together, chuckling as Arathorn came over.

"I wish the rest of us could be as good-natured about our oncoming doom as you two," said the Dunedain, "But perhaps it is simply an elven thing"

"No," said Elrohir, "It is our thing. I'd prefer to die in battle..."

"...Than to live a boring and safe life," finished Elladan.

[The Perky Ent]

Arathorn removed all his weapons and set them on the ground. If they rusted, they'd be useless. Ripping a piece of his tunic, Arathorn started removing the water from his sword. "Well, It's safe to say there's no exit." Elrohir siad, as he too was cleaning his weapons. "Wait a minute, remember those orcs that fell into the canal?" Hanindur said, looking around the room. "You're right! I don't see them anywhere! They must have escaped!" Elladan said, looking down at the water. "Someone check" Owacyn said, looking for a volunteer. "I got all of you into this, I'll get you out!" Arathorn said, jumping into the water. Under the water, Arathorn could see nothing but a stone bottom. All along the edge was stone. There were no cracks. "Where are they?" Arathorn thought to himself, checking the water. Then, swimming deeper, Arathorn felt two bodies. Orc bodies.

Emerging from the water, Arathorn looked at everyone with a meloncholly face. "The orcs are dead. They must have stolen treasure, as they sunk to the bottom." "Then there is no way?" Paladir said. "No, there's a way. Not a safe way, but a way. There's a purpass for this room. There must be. A giant circular room with a water source. If there's no grate for the water to exit, something must be taking it. It's not diffusion, as the rock bottom is hard. There is some secret to this place, but what it is, I do not know. Something tells me we're not alone here. Tread carefully men. I have a feeling our fighting days aren't over. "

[piosenniel]

~*~ To Elvenhome ~*~