Radagast spreads maps, birch bark fragments, and copied testimony across the herb-laden table. The sealed warning remains beside Tuiwen, its royal wax unbroken in spirit if not in seal.
Radagast the Brown
Caras Amarth is the first root. Saruman has chosen an abandoned place, where old paths and older memories may still answer when called.
He lays a strip of birch bark over the map’s northern edge, then marks the ruined refuge with a dab of dark resin. Several routes seem to converge there without touching the main road.
Radagast the Brown
Ordinary fear scatters. It leaves different tracks, different stories, and no agreement among root, beast, and traveler. A spreading command does the opposite.
Radagast opens a second map, showing streams, deer paths, and the old approaches to Caras Amarth. His birds rustle uneasily in the rafters as he compares the markings.
Radagast the Brown
We must find the same instruction echoed in three living signs: beasts avoiding a place, roots turning toward it, and frightened folk repeating words they never learned together.
He leaves one blank space on the map beside Caras Amarth and looks toward Tuiwen, waiting for her to decide whether the evidence should be sought there first.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine Saruman’s first western target
“"I suggest this: we should send a message to my father, reporting what we have thus far learned. Then, we should speak with the Woodmen and aks what they may have observed. With this information, we can then decide what further measures to take."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled -2)
Tuiwen
Send my father a report of what we have learned. Then let us speak with the Woodmen, and decide our next measures from what they have observed.
Radagast nods and draws a fresh sheet beneath the maps. He copies the signs of Saruman’s design, names Caras Amarth, and seals the report for Thranduil with a silver thread of light.
Radagast the Brown
Your father shall have it before nightfall. But the Woodmen will not speak freely merely because a king asks. They must see that their peril matters to us.
Radagast sends a russet-feathered bird toward the nearest Woodmen town, carrying his summons. Before sunset, three Woodmen arrive, each a travel-stained adult human man of average build with weathered faces, rough brown or black hair, and worn green-brown cloaks at the hedge, travel-stained and wary.
One Woodman
We have seen deer abandon the southern paths, roots turning across clear ground, and neighbors repeating the same words in their sleep. The signs gather near Caras Amarth.
Their testimony confirms Radagast’s three living signs. In return for their candor, Tuiwen’s report must promise protection and aid, binding the Woodland Realm to the Woodmen’s defense.
Radagast the Brown
Then we act on two roads: warn Thranduil, and send aid toward Caras Amarth. I will guide you through the signs, but the Woodmen will expect your king to stand with them.
Protect the Woodmen from Saruman’s influence
Quest Complete
Determine Saruman’s first western target