The living-root chamber shudders as a dull pulse rises from the sealed deep roads. Dust slips from the ceiling, and the silver thread gutters but does not break.
Radagast the Brown
The keeping place was disturbed from below, not by our hands. We must withdraw before the ward’s warning becomes an invitation.
Radagast gathers the birch-bark report and leads Tuiwen back through the western channel. The restored water runs clear behind them, while the sealed doors remain shut and unanswered.
Eldred
The wagons are ready below. The Woodmen can withdraw with the prisoners, and the Galadhrim will hold the southern stair until the last of us is out.
At the gate, Eldred turns the guarded wagons downslope while the Galadhrim wardens remain beneath Dol Guldur’s broken arch. Radagast and Tuiwen accompany the retreat, carrying the map, report, and unanswered warning.
Radagast the Brown
We leave the darkness contained, not conquered. Until the White Council chooses its course, no one must open those roads or face what stirred within them alone.
The allied host begins its measured withdrawal through the ash fields. Behind them, Dol Guldur’s black towers stand silent, but a faint blue pulse continues beneath the hill, marking the mystery still unresolved.
− Story Quest Removed
Warn every reachable settlement of the enemy’s movements
“They return to Rhosgobel and await the decision of the White Council.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +2)
At Rhosgobel, rain whispered over the eaves while the last wagons rolled into shelter. Radagast set the sealed shard beneath a guarded table, and Eldred finished counting the weary survivors.
Eldred
The prisoners are secured, the wagons accounted for, and the southern stair holds. That is a good night’s work.
Radagast
Aye. The deep darkness sleeps still, though the blue pulse has carried its warning far beyond our knowing.
Tuiwen
Then we have done what we could. Let the Council decide what must follow.
For a moment, none spoke. The silence was not defeat, but the hard-won quiet of those who had kept a door shut.
The allied host withdrew from the ash fields, leaving Dol Guldur’s buried darkness contained beneath root and stone. At Rhosgobel, Tuiwen and the others gave their report and awaited the White Council’s judgment, while the blue pulse remained an unanswered sign in the night. For now, the roads were closed, the prisoners sheltered, and the living world endured.