The blue-lit stair shivers as Tuiwen and Radagast climb. Behind them, the stone threshold folds shut with a deep chime, releasing nothing from the sealed hall.
Above, Calion and the three Woodmen guides wait beside the mountain pass, keeping watch over the protected routes while Tuiwen and Radagast return toward Rhosgobel.
By evening, the russet hedge of Rhosgobel glows around them. Its wards recognize their passage, and the birds stir uneasily as the pair enters the wizard’s yard.
Radagast the Brown
The hall remains sealed, and Caras Amarth is shielded. Yet someone has brought us a fresh account from the lands around Dol Guldur.
On the cluttered table lies a rain-darkened report, marked with several witness signs and a rough map of the southern forest. Radagast unfolds it beside the earlier routes.
Radagast the Brown
This is more than rumor. The movements around Dol Guldur align with the command web we found. We may now demand action from the White Council with precision.
Beyond the hedge, a tremor passes faintly through the earth. The report, the sealed roads, and Saruman’s fortress now form one dangerous pattern awaiting Tuiwen’s judgment.
“She studies the report closely. Is there any description of the enemy forces?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Perception, rolled +0)
Tuiwen retrieves the rain-darkened report from Radagast’s table and spreads it beneath the lamplight. Faded marks resolve into distances, timings, and careful witness descriptions.
Her perception separates rumor from repeated observation: three small bands moved near Dol Guldur, each disciplined, ash-marked, and traveling without campfires. Their paths converge on old command routes.
The report describes armed orc scouts among them, accompanied by lean, dark-coated beasts that obey whistles rather than spoken orders. None bears a banner, but all avoid the fortress roads by day.
Radagast the Brown
The witnesses agree on that much. These are not a marching host, Tuiwen, but hunting parties and messengers, testing which settlements still answer one another.
A second layer emerges in the copied route marks: the bands pause at wells, crossings, and abandoned watchposts before turning west. Their purpose is surveillance and influence, not an open assault.
Radagast the Brown
This gives us precision. Saruman is extending the web through small, obedient forces, keeping the settlements divided while he studies the roads.
The report now yields a clear picture: three mobile hunting bands, orc scouts, trained beasts, and hidden couriers probing the southern forest. Tuiwen knows where the threat concentrates and what it seeks.
+ New Item Acquired
Dol Guldur report
“"Orcs! Saruman has stooped so low. They are obviously preparing for an attack. We must preempt them, or our settlements come in danger. And while we are communicating with the White Council, ask about this sealed door. I think it must be something from the First Age. No one ever mentioned it to me."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Tuiwen
Orcs. Saruman has stooped so low. They are preparing an attack. We must preempt them before our settlements are endangered. While we contact the White Council, ask about the sealed door. I believe it may be from the First Age. No one ever told me of it.
Radagast studies Tuiwen across the lamplit table, then draws the three converging routes together with one firm stroke. The report’s scattered signs become a map of impending danger.
Radagast the Brown
You have persuaded me. We will not wait for the hunting bands to choose the hour. I will send warning to the settlements and an urgent appeal to the White Council.
Radagast reaches for fresh parchment. Beside the warning, he copies the sealed door’s runes and the order of its binding marks, preserving every detail for those who may recognize its making.
Radagast the Brown
Gandalf, Galadriel, and Elrond will receive both questions: how to break the hunting bands’ advantage, and whether that passage truly predates the histories we know.
He seals the letters with wax and calls the waiting birds from the hedge. One carries the military warning west, while another bears the copied runes and Radagast’s account of the deep threshold.
Radagast the Brown
The settlements will be warned, the bands will be hunted before they gather, and the Council will answer about the door. Your judgment has given us the time to act.
“"If there are orcs in Mirkwood, my father must know of it. I will write a report, and advise him to gather our forces. The Woodmen cannot face this danger alone."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Radagast clears a space beside the copied runes and brings fresh parchment, ink, and a trimmed quill from his stores. He sets them before Tuiwen without ceremony.
Tuiwen
If there are orcs in Mirkwood, my father must know. I will report these hunting bands and advise him to gather our forces. The Woodmen cannot face this danger alone.
Tuiwen writes with measured clarity: the ash-marked bands, their trained beasts, their movement near wells and crossings, and their convergence on old command routes. She distinguishes witnessed fact from inference.
Her report urges her father to gather the Woodland Realm’s forces, reinforce the southern settlements, and coordinate with the Woodmen before the hunters can divide their roads or choose the hour of attack.
Radagast the Brown
That counsel will reach him plainly. I will add my seal and send it by the swiftest safe messenger, while my warning to the Council travels beside it.
Radagast reads the finished report, then presses his seal into warm wax. The parchment joins the urgent dispatches, carrying Tuiwen’s warning and her father’s requested call to arms toward the Woodland Realm.
“"And now comes the hard part. We wait."”
Tuiwen
And now comes the hard part. We wait.
Radagast the Brown
Aye. The messages must find their wings, and the Woodland Realm must gather its strength. We shall not mistake stillness for surrender.
Radagast sets the sealed report beside the Council’s dispatches and dims the hearth. Outside, the birds settle among the houses while evening deepens over Rhosgobel.
Time passes without interruption. No horn sounds from the forest, no runner arrives from the southern roads, and the russet hedge holds its quiet watch.
Radagast the Brown
Rest while we can, Tuiwen. When answers come, they will demand clear judgment, not haste.
The night settles around the house. The reports remain sealed, the aid routes remain guarded, and the unopened deep roads remain beyond reach beneath the mountains.
For now, waiting is itself a choice: the settlements are warned, the Council has been summoned, and the next move belongs to those who receive the truth.
“"We have to stop meeting like this," she jokes. "People will call it romance." She goes to bed”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +2)
Tuiwen
We have to stop meeting like this. People will call it romance.
Radagast the Brown
Then let them gossip. I have survived worse rumors than that, and you have earned your rest.
Radagast’s weary smile softens the quiet house. He gathers the sealed reports from the table and leaves the lamp burning low beside the stairs.
Radagast the Brown
Sleep, Tuiwen. No council, courier, or mountain door will demand an answer from you before morning.
Tuiwen goes to her chamber and closes the door on the waiting dispatches. The russet hedge keeps its watch beyond the window, while Rhosgobel settles into darkness.
At last, she lies down beneath clean blankets. The night passes without interruption, and sleep claims her before the next decision can arrive.