The blue-lit stair descends into a narrow hall of smooth Elven stone, untouched by dust or decay. Tuiwen follows Radagast the Brown below, while Calion and the three Woodman guides remain above securing the cleared routes.
Carved panels line the walls, showing roots winding beneath mountains and figures sealing dark apertures. A low vibration passes through several side doors, yet none opens.
Radagast the Brown
These carvings speak of containment, not conquest. The makers guarded the deep roads while allowing water and living roots to pass above them.
Radagast raises his staff near a panel depicting branching channels. Blue light gathers in its grooves, revealing smaller marks hidden beneath the ancient relief.
Radagast the Brown
Here is the guidance we need. The cleared routes can be protected from below, but only if the living channels remain distinct from whatever stirs beyond these doors.
The vibration deepens, traveling through the sealed doors like a distant heartbeat. Dustless stone remains still, but the carved roots brighten one branch at a time, pointing farther into the hall.
Radagast the Brown
We should read the whole ward before we go farther. Knowledge may shield Caras Amarth, but haste could wake what the Elves chose to seal.
“She studies the ward.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Lore, rolled +0)
Tuiwen kneels beside the branching panel and studies every groove, rune, and joining mark. Her lore distinguishes the ward’s age, purpose, and limits beneath the blue light.
The pattern resolves into three protections: living channels are permitted to carry water, sealed doors contain the deep roads, and any foreign force crossing the boundary is drawn into a harmless loop.
Tuiwen follows the silver traces across the carved roots and identifies the ward’s governing junction beneath the hall. From there, the protection can be extended upward toward Caras Amarth without disturbing the mountain seals.
Radagast the Brown
You have found its center. The ward does not merely bar the deep roads; it sorts what may pass, preserving water and root while turning intrusion aside.
A final hidden inscription brightens beneath Tuiwen’s hand. It records the safe sequence: name the living channels, bind their boundaries, and leave the sealed doors untouched.
Radagast the Brown
With that knowledge, we can reinforce the cleared routes from below and keep the disturbance from reaching the settlements. The ward has given us its answer.
The blue markings settle into a complete map. Tuiwen now knows how to protect Caras Amarth’s living channels while preserving the ancient containment, and the hall falls quiet around the sealed doors.
“"So we should simply leave it where it is? I will not endanger my people simply to satisfy my curiosity."”
Tuiwen
So we should simply leave it where it is? I will not endanger my people simply to satisfy my curiosity.
Radagast the Brown
Wisely spoken. We need not open the deep roads to protect those above them. Curiosity must bow before lives entrusted to our care.
Radagast places his staff beside the governing junction and traces the ward’s outer lines without touching the sealed doors. The blue map remains steady beneath his hand.
Radagast the Brown
We will reinforce the protection from this side, then return to Rhosgobel. The settlements need warning and watchfulness, not a door opened for answers.
Together, Tuiwen and Radagast mark the living channels for protection while leaving every deep seal untouched. The ward accepts the boundary, turning its light upward toward Caras Amarth.
The distant vibration continues below the stone, contained rather than challenged. With the routes guarded and no danger released, the pair turns back toward the blue-lit stair.
“"I hope Saruman knows nothing of this. He could hardly refuse the temptation to open the doors and the chance to gain more power. We should press him, challenge his hold on Dol Guldur, and so divert him from the mysteries of Caras Amarth."”
SUCCESS (Good Reasoning, rolled +2)
Tuiwen
I hope Saruman knows nothing of this. He could hardly refuse the temptation to open these doors and seize greater power. We should challenge his hold on Dol Guldur, diverting him from Caras Amarth.
Radagast the Brown
Your reasoning is sound. We need not open the deep roads, but we can make their warning serve against him. I will press the Council to challenge his designs at Dol Guldur.
Radagast turns back to the blue map and draws a second line above the sealed doors, linking their ancient warning to the roads leading toward Dol Guldur.
Radagast the Brown
The Council can demand his attention there without disturbing these passages. Gandalf and Galadriel will understand that pressure at the fortress may protect the settlements below.
The ward accepts the altered purpose. Its blue light rises along the map toward Dol Guldur, while the channels beneath Caras Amarth remain protected and undisturbed.
Radagast the Brown
We will leave the doors closed, warn the settlements, and confront Saruman where his ambition is greatest. His attention will turn westward, away from the roots he sought to command.
With the deep roads contained and a challenge prepared for Saruman’s hold on Dol Guldur, Tuiwen and Radagast ascend toward the waiting light and the road to Rhosgobel.
Leave the sealed hall safely