Adventure of Tuiwen 2

Inside Radagast’s house, maps, birch fragments, and copied testimony cover the herb-laden table. Three wary Woodmen stand near the hearth while birds rustle uneasily above.

One Woodman, an adult man with a broad build, weathered brown skin, cropped black hair, and a rough green wool tunic beneath a patched leather vest places a rough charcoal mark beside Caras Amarth. Another traces the routes between the town and the threatened paths, while the third watches Radagast in guarded silence.

Radagast turns the map toward Tuiwen, leaving the blank space beside the Woodmen’s town open. The practical plan waits on the priority she gives her father.

The Woodmen listen closely. Their stores, families, and southern paths now stand plainly within the danger, while Radagast studies Tuiwen without interrupting.

Radagast accepts the cost without softening it: the White Council must hear of the Woodmen’s weakness, and Thranduil must be asked to defend them openly. He takes up his quill.

Tuiwen draws her Elven blade and lays it across the map table. Its quiet weight falls between the scattered reports and the Woodmen’s charcoal marks, turning reassurance into a visible pledge.

The broad Woodman closes his hand over the charcoal mark, while the other two nod. Their guarded faces have not lost their fear, but fear no longer dictates their answer.

Radagast draws the sword’s reflection across his parchment and begins the council summons. Outside, his birds stir among the eaves as the Woodmen gather close to the table, ready to name each threatened path.

Tuiwen watches in silence as Radagast drafts the summons. Her attention follows each name, route, and promise of aid, weighing what the Council can act upon first.

Radagast writes Caras Amarth, the southern paths, and the Woodmen’s short stores beneath the summons. Tuiwen catches his careful wording: warning without panic, urgency without surrendering authority.

The Woodmen indicate, three adult human men in weathered green-and-brown work clothes, one broad and dark-haired, the others leaner with russet and ash-brown hair, three vulnerable settlements and a concealed track joining them. Tuiwen memorizes the pattern, recognizing where protection would preserve both people and testimony.

By the time Radagast sets down his quill, Tuiwen has learned the immediate measures: alert the Council, reinforce the settlements, and watch the paths without exposing the larger design.

Radagast pauses over the parchment. The birds quiet above him, and the Woodmen lean closer as the importance of Galadriel’s support settles over the table.

He adds Galadriel’s name beside Gandalf’s, then records that her aid may be sought without delay. The summons now carries both urgency and the weight of trusted authority.

Radagast seals the first copy for Gandalf and prepares another for Galadriel. Around the table, the Woodmen begin naming the settlements and paths that her support must help protect.

Radagast’s quill stills above the parchment. The Woodmen exchange guarded looks as Tuiwen’s words add another powerful ally, though one distant from the immediate danger.

He adds Elrond’s name beside Galadriel’s and Gandalf’s, marking the message for swift passage. The request now carries a chain of authority strong enough to reach the Council before Saruman can shape the account.

Radagast folds the first letter and seals it with silver light. The Woodmen begin supplying the names of their threatened settlements, while a bird lifts from the eaves toward the western roads.

Tuiwen watches as Radagast arranges the sealed letters beside the maps. His careful marks connect settlements, roads, and the names of those who may answer before fear closes around the Woodmen.

The Woodmen lean over the table as Radagast copies the names of their settlements. Tuiwen observes each route being paired with provisions, wardens, and warnings rather than left to rumor.

Radagast records their answer without embellishment. Beside each settlement he writes its stores, its vulnerable households, and the nearest concealed track, turning scattered testimony into an actionable appeal.

Tuiwen remains silent beside the lamp, watching the letters receive their seals. Around her, the plan takes shape: warning carried swiftly, aid named plainly, and the Woodmen kept within the defense of the realm.

Tuiwen crosses to the bookshelf without interrupting Radagast. Dust lies thick along the upper ledge, while newer volumes crowd the lower shelves beside field journals and bird-lore.

Her perception settles on the titles: Caras Amarth and the Southern Paths, Records of Abandoned Elven Roads, and A Woodman’s Guide to Hidden Crossings. Their dates span generations, but their routes converge on the same ruined town.

A narrow journal supplies the actionable detail: a dry ridge path reaches Caras Amarth from the western settlements, while a stream crossing links the northern track to Rhosgobel. The route avoids the Old Forest Road.

Radagast watches from the table as Tuiwen absorbs the entries. The study costs her the time in which the first messenger birds are loosed, and she cannot verify which crossings remain passable.

Tuiwen takes the quill Radagast has left beside his parchment and bends over the map. She copies the hidden elven routes in a precise hand, joining the western ridge to Caras Amarth and the northern stream crossing to Rhosgobel.

The lines avoid the Old Forest Road and thread through concealed approaches between the settlements. Tuiwen adds marks for the dry ridge and stream crossing, distinguishing known paths from crossings that still require inspection.

Radagast leans over the map as Tuiwen finishes the final connection. His expression brightens when the routes form a practical circuit linking the western settlements, Caras Amarth, and Rhosgobel.

The Woodmen gather around the table. Their guarded attention fixes on the marked crossings, recognizing paths their families can verify and, if passable, use to move provisions and warnings.

Tuiwen folds the copied map and places it into the hands of the Woodmen. The hidden routes to Caras Amarth and Rhosgobel pass from elven keeping into their care.

The Woodmen bend over the map, tracing the western ridge and northern stream crossing. Their wary faces sharpen with purpose as each settlement finds a safer connection.

Radagast copies the newly entrusted routes into his report for Thranduil, while the Woodmen designate scouts for each crossing. The map now serves both warning and defense.

While the Woodmen wait for Radagast’s report, Tuiwen turns from the marked maps toward the crowded shelves. Field journals give way to older volumes bound in cracked leather and bark.

Her trained sight finds a narrow cabinet behind herbals and bird-lore: treatises on wards, root-speaking, spirit bindings, and the cleansing of corrupted places. Dust lies undisturbed across most of them.

Tuiwen draws out a green-bound volume titled The Living Memory of Trees and a thinner book concerning paths altered by hostile enchantment. Their pages contain diagrams, old warnings, and marginal notes in several hands.

Tuiwen carries both books to the lamp table and opens them beside the copied routes. She now has the magical references in hand, ready to compare their lore with the signs gathered from the Woodmen.

Tuiwen looks from the open books to the Woodmen gathered by the hearth. Their charcoal-marked map lies between them, crowded with routes, settlements, and notes on stores.

Her trained sight follows their hands and glances. The broad Woodman guards the southern settlements, while the two leaner men divide the concealed crossings between their households.

The broad Woodman has marked the western ridge for provisions, while another has assigned watchers to the stream crossing. The third records which families can shelter messengers.

The plan is practical and immediate: scouts verify the hidden ways, households protect one another, and aid can move quietly between the settlements and Rhosgobel.