Dawn pales behind the russet hedge. The western ridge route is judged first: dry ground, shallow roots, and a clear approach toward Caras Amarth, though rain threatens the stream crossing beyond.
Radagast the Brown
This is the first road we can trust. Grain and healers will travel by the ridge, while the stream crossing waits for scouts to test it.
Two covered wagons stand beyond the hedge with sacks of grain, herb chests, and rolled blankets. Four Woodland escorts, adult human men and women in weathered green-and-brown travel clothes, sturdy builds, and leather boots, hold the reins, while Calion checks the route marks against Thranduil’s map.
One Woodman
Our scouts will lead them as far as the old birches. Families along the ridge will shelter the wagons and carry warning onward.
The three Woodmen, adult human men with broad, weathered builds in patched green and brown tunics and leather boots, remain behind to organize the southern households and guard the copies of the route map. Gandalf stays with Radagast at Rhosgobel, preparing the Council’s next dispatch.
Calion
I will accompany the wagons to the first settlement, then return with word of the road. Princess, your knowledge of these paths may decide whether we turn before the trees close.
Gandalf
The route is open for now. Choose whether to ride with the first aid or remain here while the next messages are prepared.
The wagons begin toward the western ridge, wheels creaking softly over wet earth. Calion rides ahead, and the first allied aid route waits for Tuiwen’s decision at the hedge.
− Story Quest Removed
Ensure Thranduil’s promised aid reaches the threatened Woodmen
“"I think I am the best person to test the route. I can precede the wagons and detect any dangers, while remaining unseen."”
SUCCESS (Superb Stealth, rolled -1)
Tuiwen
I am the best person to test the route. I can precede the wagons unseen and detect any dangers.
Tuiwen slips ahead beneath the dripping branches, her elven step leaving no mark. She moves beyond Calion and the wagons, reading the ridge by sound, scent, and the quiet language of roots.
Ahead, rain has loosened stones beside the ridge, and a shallow washout threatens the wagon wheels. Tuiwen finds a firmer line through the birches and marks it with a discreet cut known only to the guides.
Tuiwen
The wagons can pass safely if they keep to the higher ground.
She continues unseen to the first settlement, checking the bends and hollows before returning along the safer line. No ambush waits there, only wet earth, watchful deer, and the road opening westward.
Calion
The route is sound, Princess. Your mark gives us the safe ground, and the wagons may proceed without delay.
Tuiwen rejoins the march without being seen until she chooses to reveal herself. The wagons follow her tested path toward the southern families, carrying aid beneath the protection of the Woodland Realm and its new allies.
The wagons creaked onward beneath the birches, their loads of grain, herbs, and blankets guarded by steady feet and watchful eyes.
Tuiwen
The road holds. Let it carry more than hope.
Behind her, the marked path led safely back toward Rhosgobel. Ahead, it opened toward the southern families, no longer a promise spoken beside a fire, but aid in motion.
By dusk, the first wagons had passed the washout and taken the western ridge toward Caras Amarth. Tuiwen’s sure-sighted work had turned a threatened road into a living chain between settlements, while Calion bore the aid onward and the next dispatches gathered behind him. For that day, Saruman’s shadow had not closed the paths; the Woodmen were joined, and the road endured.