highlander211
06-12-2007, 14:30
It had hardly stopped raining in three days, and the streams of Mirkwood ran full and swift towards the Forest River. Not many eyes could spot the figures around the clearing, bows at the ready, and alert eyes scanning the gloomy oppressive trees. In the centre of the clearing crouched a single wood elf tracker, his brow furrowed in concentration as he fingered the soft earth. He rose slowly and turned to his Captain.
"I do not understand this Captain...we were right to investigate those sounds we heard yesterday, but I am at a loss to explain what the earth is telling me"
The Captain frowned, unused to hearing that his best tracker was defeated. "Go on Lathron, tell me what you have found anyway, we can report back to the Halls later".
The tracker walked slowly across the clearing to the pile of dead spiders. "These are recently slain, not more than a few hours ago. The grass and leaf litter is sodden from the rain, but over here is a burnt circle." He stopped and picked up some burnt leaves, sniffed them and recoiled at the stench. "But no natural fire was this, and the plants around it seem as if they have withered. There are strange footprints here also, like nothing I have seen before, like an animal that walked upright.”
Lathron motioned his Captain to follow him and they walked round the edge of the clearing. “See here…” the tracker pointed to a pile of bones, “they are old bones, but they look to have been dropped here almost. And there is a set of tracks that end at the bones, almost like bare feet, but they have sunk into the mud too much to make out the detail. There is a more recent corpse here too, near the bones. It has a foul stench about it as well, and the expression on its face is of…. much pain.” He tailed off , ran a hand through his hair and continued to look closely at the ground.
“There are tracks leading to and from here, all recent and that fit with the spiders and yesterday’s sounds. Three sets came into the clearing from the south. One heavy, human sized and probably metal shod, and the other smaller and lighter. The third set is the one that ends in the pile of bones, and does not emerge from it.”
He walked across the small wooden bridge over the rushing stream and the rest of the patrol slipped quietly along behind him. “The two sets of tracks that are leaving here turn to leave the wood…but here the heavier one seems to vanish for a while.” He crouched once more over the forest floor, and after several minutes rose again and walked on slowly for about twenty paces “And reappears here. Nothing in between except spider tracks, which are everywhere. And then they make for the edge of the wood, towards Long Lake.”
The Captain nodded slowly. “Good work Lathron. We should return to the report this I think. Something fell has passed here I feel…the air has something dark in it” He turned and whistled softly at the figures in the woods and the patrol vanished into the trees.
//thanks to Equi for the rp session that left the elves stumped. Valuable prize to the first know it all Dunadain that can help poor old Lathron out ;)
"I do not understand this Captain...we were right to investigate those sounds we heard yesterday, but I am at a loss to explain what the earth is telling me"
The Captain frowned, unused to hearing that his best tracker was defeated. "Go on Lathron, tell me what you have found anyway, we can report back to the Halls later".
The tracker walked slowly across the clearing to the pile of dead spiders. "These are recently slain, not more than a few hours ago. The grass and leaf litter is sodden from the rain, but over here is a burnt circle." He stopped and picked up some burnt leaves, sniffed them and recoiled at the stench. "But no natural fire was this, and the plants around it seem as if they have withered. There are strange footprints here also, like nothing I have seen before, like an animal that walked upright.”
Lathron motioned his Captain to follow him and they walked round the edge of the clearing. “See here…” the tracker pointed to a pile of bones, “they are old bones, but they look to have been dropped here almost. And there is a set of tracks that end at the bones, almost like bare feet, but they have sunk into the mud too much to make out the detail. There is a more recent corpse here too, near the bones. It has a foul stench about it as well, and the expression on its face is of…. much pain.” He tailed off , ran a hand through his hair and continued to look closely at the ground.
“There are tracks leading to and from here, all recent and that fit with the spiders and yesterday’s sounds. Three sets came into the clearing from the south. One heavy, human sized and probably metal shod, and the other smaller and lighter. The third set is the one that ends in the pile of bones, and does not emerge from it.”
He walked across the small wooden bridge over the rushing stream and the rest of the patrol slipped quietly along behind him. “The two sets of tracks that are leaving here turn to leave the wood…but here the heavier one seems to vanish for a while.” He crouched once more over the forest floor, and after several minutes rose again and walked on slowly for about twenty paces “And reappears here. Nothing in between except spider tracks, which are everywhere. And then they make for the edge of the wood, towards Long Lake.”
The Captain nodded slowly. “Good work Lathron. We should return to the report this I think. Something fell has passed here I feel…the air has something dark in it” He turned and whistled softly at the figures in the woods and the patrol vanished into the trees.
//thanks to Equi for the rp session that left the elves stumped. Valuable prize to the first know it all Dunadain that can help poor old Lathron out ;)