The last bitter sparks of the archway fade. Tuiwen kneels in the soot and crushed roots beside the Forest Warden, and her light settles gentler now, more like moonwash than fire.
Tuiwen
The strain is gone, but the wound still lingers.
She lays her hands near his brow and works slowly, drawing clean warmth through the torn places in his spirit and flesh. The ragged breath eases. Color returns in small, cautious touches.
Haldir
You... still stand with me.
At the hedge, Radagast lowers his shoulders at last, though his gaze keeps drifting to the trees. Eldred does not move, but some of the tightness leaves his jaw as he watches Tuiwen's healing take hold.
Radagast the Brown
Good. Let him rest. Some harms mend best when the fear has passed.
The Warden turns his head toward Tuiwen, his expression tired and grateful. The air smells of wet earth and old ash, but beneath it lies the softer scent of leaves warming in the sun.
Haldir
Stay a little longer, if you can. Your hands are quieter than the dark.
“"I will be here as long as you need me."”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled -3)
Tuiwen
I will be here as long as you need me.
Tuiwen stays where she is, her hands still and warm beside him, as if holding the last of the fear at bay. The Warden breathes deeper and lets the tension drain from his shoulders.
Haldir
Then I can rest. I had forgotten what that feels like.
Radagast the Brown
Rest, yes, but keep an ear for the woods. They lean in when wounds close.
A faint ember flicker remains in the broken archway, and the ash drifting past it turns silver in the afternoon light. Beyond the hedge, the trees seem to press a little closer, listening.
Eldred
You have done more than bind a wound. You have given him room to breathe.
Haldir
That is a gift worth naming. I am called Haldir.
Haldir tries a weak smile, then winces as the motion tugs at the old hurt beneath his skin. The relief holds, but the forest's hush feels watchful, as if it has turned from his pain to the others standing over him.
“"Tell us your story, Haldir, for we are eager to hear it."”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Tuiwen
Tell us your story, Haldir. We would hear it.
Haldir draws a slow breath, and the restfulness in his face settles into something older, wearier. His hand tightens once on the soot-black ground, a small cost for speaking.
Haldir
Then I owe you the truth. I walked long under shadow, and the light of Anor found me when I thought my trail was ended.
Radagast the Brown
A trail can be followed back, if one has patience. Tell it plainly, Haldir.
The Warden nods, eyes on Tuiwen more than the others, as if measuring whether her kindness is safe to trust. The ember in the broken archway flickers, and the hedge rustles without wind.
Haldir
I was sent to watch a border and listen for rot. Instead, the rot listened first. It found the weak places, and used them.
Eldred
Then it was never a simple wound. It was a hunt.
Haldir gives a faint, rueful smile, then steadies again. Behind him, the trees beyond the hedge lean in, attentive but held back; the danger remains, but for this moment the circle around him holds.
“"Please spare us no details."”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Tuiwen lets the silence hold for a breath, then asks Haldir for every detail he can give.
Haldir
You shall have it. I kept watch at the border of light and fell into shadow’s accounting. It began as weariness, then a pull beneath the bark, as if the wood itself remembered a wound.
Radagast the Brown
And you felt the change before it showed? Speak of that part.
Haldir
Aye. Cold in the sap, silence in the birds, and a pressure in the roots. When I turned aside, the path seemed to turn with me.
His voice stays steady now, but the broken archway gives a small tremor of light, and the hedge answers with a slow shiver. The trees beyond it lean closer, as if listening.
Eldred
So the trail was never merely to lead you away. It was to make the forest walk with the wound.
Haldir
Just so. When the light of Anor found me, I felt the burden loosen, and I knew I had not been abandoned. I had only been hidden.
Haldir’s shoulders settle a little farther. The strain in his face eases, but the hedge still stirs under the pressure of the unseen woods.
“"Tell us what you know about the enemy and his plans."”
SUCCESS (Great Diplomacy, rolled +1)
Tuiwen
Tell us what you know of the enemy, and of his plans.
Haldir
Gladly. He does not strike as a beast does. He lays paths, leaves weariness where strength should be, and waits for choice to do the harm for him.
Radagast the Brown
Then the shape of the wound is no accident. Speak plainly, Haldir, what sought him? What did he wish to make of you?
Haldir
A bearer, or a beacon. I was meant to be turned, then sent onward with a false road in my wake. The light of Anor broke that claim.
Eldred
A beacon. So the trail was never meant to end at one victim.
Haldir
He watches the borders, not the hearts. Those who falter are marked, then guided where the darkness has prepared. I think he means to open more such roads.
Radagast the Brown
A network of wounds, hidden as paths. That is craft, not chance.
Haldir’s breathing evens at last. The hedge still bows under the hush beyond it, but the archway’s ember steadies, holding its dim light against the pressing trees.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn how the enemy makes false roads
“"This is not just some lone monster laying false roads. He had a master who set him to this task. It is part of a greater plan."”
SUCCESS (Fair Lore, rolled +0)
Tuiwen
This is not some lone monster laying false roads. He has a master who sets him to this task. It is part of a greater plan.
Radagast the Brown
Aye. A hand with purpose, and patience. Not a beast's hunger, but a will that teaches others to mislead for it.
Haldir
Then my road was chosen before I ever stepped upon it. The wound was made to travel.
Eldred
A master in the dark, then. That makes the false roads a net, not a chance trail.
Radagast the Brown
It does. And if there is a net, there are knots. We must find where it is tied.
Haldir’s breathing steadies. The hedge bows harder as if the trees beyond have leaned in to listen, and a faint ash-dark fleck drifts from the archway’s glow onto the moss.
Find where the net is tied
Quest Complete
Learn how the enemy makes false roads