The council chamber fills with maps, sentries, and messengers returning from the eastern road. White beacon-light pours through the high windows, laying a cold radiance across the gathered commanders.
Thranduil stands at the map table beneath the reflected flame. Tauriel takes her place beside Tuiwen, while the captured orc waits in chains beneath two drawn bows.
Thranduil
The host gathers beneath the broken ridge and intends the eastern road at moonrise. We will not meet it with scattered courage. Each commander will name the force he can commit.
Messengers lay fresh trail sketches beside Tauriel’s marked map. Beyond them, allied representatives confer in low voices, counting archers, scouts, healers, and wagons still available to the Woodland Realm.
Tauriel
The beacon party can hold the height, but not the road and the ridge together. I will commit the eastern guard to the road and send scouts around the host.
Thranduil
So recorded. Tuiwen and Tauriel, you have seen the enemy’s design most clearly. The council awaits the strength and counsel you will place against it.
“"We do not yet know the enemy's strength. We have already defeated on orcish army, but with the help of allies from Rhosgobel and Lothlorien. We should call on them again."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Tuiwen
We do not yet know the enemy’s strength. We defeated one Orcish army with aid from Rhosgobel and Lothlórien. Call on Radagast and Galadriel again.
Tuiwen’s Sovereign Heritage gives the appeal the weight of the Woodland Realm, while Protector of the Kin frames Rhosgobel and Lothlórien as allies whose people must not face Dol Guldur alone. Her Oath-Bound restraint keeps the request defensive: reinforce the beacon and eastern road, not expose the sealed roads or protected spring.
Thranduil
You speak wisely. We will not mistake one defeated host for the measure of the darkness. Send riders to Rhosgobel and Lothlórien at once.
The allied representatives bend over the maps as messengers prepare fresh route copies. No hand touches the mountain seals; the call for aid follows the guarded roads and leaves the beacon’s purpose clear.
Tauriel
I will divide the dispatches. Rhosgobel can strengthen our scouts and healers, while Lothlórien may send archers and wardens before moonrise.
Thranduil
Let the messages say plainly what we know and what we do not. The beacon remains lit, the eastern road remains held, and the enemy will find us ready with our allies beside us.
Two royal messengers depart beneath the white beacon’s glow, one bearing Thranduil’s summons toward Rhosgobel and the other toward Lothlórien. The council now has its reinforcements requested, while Tauriel begins placing the eastern guard according to the larger defense.