The old north passage convulses as living branches knit into a towering wall of thorns. Behind Tuiwen, the Ashen Pursuer raises their damaged staff, its sickly pulse answering the heat of the royal message case.
Eldred
The roots are taking orders from the staff. Break the binding, and the passage may open!
Eldred hacks at the nearest limb, but each severed branch twists into two more. Through a narrow gap, Tuiwen sees pale road-stones continuing north, and beyond them, the distant gleam of open woodland.
The Ashen Pursuer
The king's words will never reach Isengard. Give me the case, and the forest will release you.
The Pursuer plants their staff against the earth. Shadow races through the roots toward Tuiwen, while the message case flares with Thranduil's seal. The sealed case is not merely being tracked, it is also resisting the spell.
A thin seam of white light opens at the wall's center, aligned with the case's royal mark. Eldred sees it and throws himself against the writhing branches, forcing a passage wide enough for Tuiwen to reach the road beyond.
“She passes through, then turns back to help Eldred”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -2)
Tuiwen slips through the white-lit opening as the thorn wall contracts behind her. The royal case pulls toward the light, and the passage yields just long enough to let her reach the road beyond.
She turns back at once. Her injured shoulder catches a hooked branch, reopening the wound as she reaches through the gap toward Eldred.
Eldred
Do not come back for me! The road is open. Run!
But Tuiwen seizes Eldred's forearm and hauls him toward the white-lit seam. The living branches rake across his cloak, then split under the pressure of the royal seal.
Eldred stumbles onto the road beside her. Behind them, the thorn wall folds inward with a thunderous crack, sealing the passage and trapping the Ashen Pursuer on the far side.
The Ashen Pursuer
You have opened the road, Princess, but you have not escaped the forest. Will you carry the case into the open, where every watcher can see you?
“This is HER forest, and she aims to prove it, dancing between the trees, as only an elf can.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +1)
The road opens into the northern woodland, but Tuiwen does not flee in a straight line. She slips between the trees, light-footed and swift, turning the forest into a living maze.
Eldred
Keep moving. I will follow your lead.
Tuiwen bends beneath a low bough, pivots around a silver birch, and crosses a patch of moss without disturbing its dew. Her wounded shoulder burns, yet her steps remain sure.
Behind her, gray sparks spit from the Ashen Pursuer's damaged staff. Roots lash across the road, but the thorn wall holds them back, trapping the hunter beyond its sealed folds.
The Ashen Pursuer
Run beneath your father's trees, Princess. Their roots remember every trespass.
Tuiwen vanishes among the firs with Eldred at her heels. The sealed case remains secure against her side, its Woodland Realm seal and Gandalf's mark hidden beneath her cloak. The northern road lies open before them, while the pursuer's voice fades behind the wall.
“She moves stealthily along the road, destination Rhosgobel.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)