Elendor
Trick or Treat On The Barrow Downs
A large group of Breefolk come out to the Barrow Downs to investigate a "murder" but are warned off by a Ranger
Sort Date: no date set
Location: Barrow Downs
IC Time: Daytime
Weather: Spooky
Description: Roadside Brush, South of the Great East Road
A low ditch to the south of the Great East Road, this area is filled with low-lying brush and ancient trees that were planted alongside the road long ago by the men of the Kingdom of Arnor. The road runs east-west just north of here. Southward, a wide expanse of grassland stretches toward a structure in the distance that appears to be a ruined wall. Beyond the wall rises the spectral and ill-rumored land of the Barrow Downs.
A lightly-worn path leads out of the ditch and southward toward the ruined wall. The Great East Road runs past just to the north.
The sun is not yet fully overhead when the wagon load full of friends and various hangers-on claiming to be friends of the mayor arrives in this green area that marks the beginning of the Barrow Downs. All in all, it seems that this will prove to be a fun trip--the sun is shining, the day is warm, flowers and trees are dressed in spring's full bloom, and those in the wagons have spent the time laughing and talking and singing. And eating, of course, hobbits and men eating their way through the cookies and pastries and breads that have been packed for this journey--and that's only for the morning snack. Another meal awaits them for lunch and snack again, of course! Though a few of the riders are already beginning to complain quietly that their stomachs hurt. Still, the wagons pull up and the group clambers down.
Just to the south is a low wall that marks the Barrow Downs. And over the low wall can be found scattered trinkets--small pieces of gold, an earring here and there, a ring, or a bracelet. In the distance is something darker--the skeleton of a man, bones bleached--dead about a year and a half. Around the bones are more (and better) jewels and gold.
[Torebras(#25187)] Bree's Mayor, formerly so keen to go on this little expedition and 'investigate' the rumoured treasure, seems to be one of those who has overindulged in the food, for as he emerges from the wagon he looks rather pale. "All that bumping and jostling," he murmurs. "Oh, my stomach! Oh, my head! Some fresh air, that'll be the thing." A little dazedly he hobbles forward, his steps taking him toward that looming wall, though that may be more by chance than design, for his path is a wavering one.
[Thulion(#28108)]
Not with the wagon load, indeed, coming rather from the opposite direction, a tall man in weathered brownish grey cloak, his hood pulled up, the shadowy cowl concealing his face. Seeing the folk unloading on down the road, he slips over the wall quickly and proceedes towards them, flitting among the trees and the brush, his steps scarce to be heard. He stops, then, leaning against a tree in such a manner as to not be easily marked from the road, the direction of his hood indicating some interest, at least, in this unusual wagonload of folk.
"Mr. Mayor," Cordelia says, scrambling down from the wagon. "The skeleton is over that wall there," she points south to the low wall. She hurries after the mayor to catch up to him, cookie still in her hand. There seems to be bites taken out of it. Surely the girl was eating the baked goods, too?
[Torebras(#25187)] Torebras pulls out his fine white silk pocket-handkerchief to mop at his sweating brow, only to have a capricious gust of gritty wind snatch it away from him. "What?" he demands, sounding quite outraged. "Who did that? Who's there?" There's only the slightest quaver in his voice as he asks that, brought on perhaps by Cordelia's words. "I thought I saw ... something," he murmurs, uncertain now, as he stares at an unmoving jumble of rocks and brush.
"It's a skeleton, Mayor. Over there." Cordelia again points toward the bones, which are over the low wall. "It was a man," she whispers to him, and then very low so that noone might hear, "there are jewels by him." Still, the wind blows, throwing some leaves against Cordelia's legs, and she jumps, turning around as if spooked.
[Thulion(#28108)]
"There is nothing there at all," Comes a man's voice, the cloaked form steps forward from the shadow of brush and tree towards the wall, reaching a hand up to push his hood back. It is he known, at least to some, as Leland Foxbrush. His gaze shifts between the woman and the hobbit, his grey eyes narrowing a little upon the latter. "Good day to you, Mayor, Miss Wood. Quite a party you have brought here for your... ah... investigation?"
[Torebras(#25187)] Torebras still has one hand resting on his ample stomach. As the north wind moans, he gasps and clutches at Cordelia's hand, Bree's Most Important Person looking for all the world like a child in need of reassurance. "J-jewels? Yes, of course."
Pulling himself together somewhat, the hobbit retrieves his hand and trots forward - only to be brought up short with a squeak. "I thought you said ... a ... a skeleton?" He stares at the distinctly non-skeletal Leland with round brown eyes.
Behind him, assorted Breefolk have spilled out of the wagon like marbles from a jar and are now quartering the ground near the road in search of 'treasure'. Some look rather nervous, others flushed and excited yet others simply sit down and carry on the business of eating.
[Jack'o'lantern(#14161)] Whispering voices seem to fill the air as the wind shakes the trees, the sound seeming to grow angrier and louder with each passing moment.
"Leland..." Cordelia nods to the ranger, then glances over at the Breefolk now tottering all over the grounds. She raises a brow and shrugs at Thulion. "Yes, mayor, but there's a skeleton. There." She points again.
From the south, there comes a sudden scream from one of the townfolk who have wandered too far: "Ghost!!!!" Followed swiftly by a giggling fit. "Oh...no..just wind...."
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger turns a hard stare momentarily upon Cordelia, his grey eyes flickering. It is, however, to the Mayor which he next speaks. "Grave peril you would risk in touching those jewels," says he in a low voice. "You aught to warn your folk as such, or better, take them back to Bree, lest they endanger themselves. Nothing good have I ever heard happening to folk who go meddling around the barrows."
[Torebras(#25187)] "Oh, of course, how silly of me," Torebras replies to Cordelia. "Pleased to meet you, Mister Leland." Torebras doffs his hat and offers Leland a wobbly bow. The shriek from behind causes him to shake his head and mutter apologetically, "Young folk." Perhaps the motion makes him uncomfortable, for he mops at his brow. He doesn't seem to notice that he's using his hat instead of his pocket-handkerchief.
The ranger's words do seem to have /some/ effect on him, for he mumbles, "I see." What, Mister I-don't-believe-in-ghosts actually scared? No, there must be some mistake. "Still, an official investigation does have to be made. "Over here, you said?" Gamely he starts to climb up the wall -and stops, his eyes wide and horrified.
Cordelia offers "Leland" an exasperated look as the mayor speaks of jewels. "Tried to say something but he was busy eating cookies..." she says under her breath to the ranger. "Mayor, yes, there's..." She, too, stops as the hobbit does, giving a horrified gasp and then, "what is it, Mayor? What do you see?" She shrinks back from the wall.
[Nob(#16122)] Lek, having joined himself to the party despite anything any adults may have had to say about it, is standing by the wagon, one hand clutching a rope. His eyes are very wide, and he swallows hard, and shakes his head a little, as if trying to clear the sound of the wind out of his ears.
Keldean isn't far from Lek, another that joined the group under the pretense of "needing to help the -mayor- with important business". At least, that's the excuse he gave Acelen. The teen was just about to go after the gold, but the whisper, angry voices send a chill through him. Still.. wealth.. Slowly Keldean begins walking towards where Cordelia mentioned the skeleton was, looking for the trinkets she had mentioned before back in Bree.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger, who is standing already on the other side of the wall, arches a brow slightly and casually half-turns to glance in the direction of the Mayor's horrified stare. "And telling ghost stories as well?" he asks of Cordelia, turning back towards them, his expression resigned and a shade annoyed. "By all means, Mr. Mayor," he gives a slight bow, gesturing with one of his hands away along the glittering trail of jewelry. "On with your investigation." Tugging his cloak about himself, he folds his arms across his chest, sparing but a passing glance about as the wind whispers eerily through the trees.
[Torebras(#25187)] Torebras seems entirely oblivious to the Ranger's words and gesture, his eyes fixed entirely on a single distant point. "It's a g- g-" Words fail him, and he points a shaking finger across the wall to the place where something white flutters in the breeze, caught on some bushes beneath which something gold glints. The wind's shaking only causes the white thing to dance the faster, as branches rustle with the dry whispers of things long-dead.
"No, I swear I didn't," Cordelia shakes her head to Thulion. "Couldn't get a word in edgewise, in fact. They were too busy eating..." She holds out a cookie that has a bite taken out of it. "There's more in the wagon... ghost? Where?" she says, squinting southward, her voice shaking.
[Nob(#16122)] "Ain't no such... such... thing as ghosts!" Lek says bravely, but his knuckles are white with holding on. Although, possibly that is due to the strange dizziness he is feeling.
Keldean wasn't shy about stuffing his own belly with the free food. It's not the first time he's overeaten and he ignores the slightly too-full, sick feeling and continues walking slowly towards where the adults are pointing and arguing. Hopefully no one will notice what he's doing. He sees the glitter now of gold, and it takes all the willpower he can muster not to bolt straight over there and snatch it up.
No, calm and collected is Keldean. Calm and -collecting-, that is. He casually reaches down to pick up one of the coins and slip it into his pocket, the excitement seeming to make him feel a bit off-balance. He ignores the feeling.
[Thulion(#28108)]
With a soft sigh laced with exasperation, the Ranger unfolds his arms and strides right up to the fluttering white 'ghost'. He plucks a silk handkerchief from the bush, and walks back over to the Mayor, holding it out to him. "There will be worse than handkerchiefs about if you don't heed my warning about the jewels, Mayor," says he, his cloak whipping about him and in the sudden wind.
[Torebras(#25187)] The mayor is looking /very/ pale now, and when a hollow moaning comes from the hillock to the east, he gives a moan of his own in answer. "But - what's that?" He lifts his hand to point - his second hand, for the first is by now half-extended to take the handkerchief Thulion holds out. And then, of course, it takes but a passing push of the gusty wind to push him off-balance. Bree's Mayor tumbles groundward, rolling back down the hill like a barrel. He is lucky there's a bush not far away to break his fall.
Cordelia gives a quick shriek as the mayor falls, then hurries after him. "Are you all right?!" That damned cookie is still in her hand. "Mr. Mayor!"
[Keldean(#23332)] The howling is scary, and Keldean is just stuffing a second gold coin into his pocket when it sends another shiver down his spine. He looks around nervously, then watches as the mayor falls over and rolls down the hill. "Mayor!" The teen calls in equal alarm just as things go quiet, and cringes at how loud his voice is. He looks like he might rush after the tumbling hobbit to help, but Cordelia is already rushing down the hill. Instead, the Bree teen slowly slides the second coin into his pocket and looks around nervously.
[Torebras(#25187)] Alas, for the first time in his life Bree's Mayor is not in a position to accept a cookie. He doesn't respond to Cordelia's query - doesn't do anything at all, in fact. The bruise on his right temple is indication tht he's been knocked out cold. Not even the chill fingers of breeze stroking the grasses can wake him.
[Nob(#16122)] Lek is staring out at Keldean his semi-glazed eyes have caught a glimpse of something glittery. He pries his fingers loose from the wagon and moves towards the low wall, stumbling a little as he reaches it. And his round eyes grow rounder still as his gaze lands on the trinkets and coins scattered in the grass.
"Mayor?" Cordelia's voice is puzzled, but her expression is troubled. Stuffing the cookie into a pocket, she grabs the mayor's legs and drags him toward the wagon to tend to his bruised head with whatever skills she has managed to pick up from doing laundry for the healers. The mayor may get a slightly rough ride on his way over to the wagon, but Cordelia's 'rescue' of him does no more than inflict a few bruises on the hobbit.
[Keldean(#23332)] Lek's approach catches Keldean's attention and he turns sharply, startled at first. "Oh.. Lek. Quick, lets get some more while they're distracted with the mayor." It's greedy, but the teen is living on almost no pay these days and there are jewels just -laying- on the ground. He moves to grab for the younger boy's arm, intending to tug him towards the trinkets.
[Thulion(#28108)]
A concerned frown flickers across the Ranger's features as the hobbit falls and he begins to move to Torebras's aid, but stops as Cordelia hurries to help as well. Bundling his cloak about himself once more, he steps aside to allow Cordelia to rescue the toppled hobbit Mayor. "Likely for the best," he murmurs as she drags him away, his gaze narrowed slightly as he watches the pair of them leave.
As the twain - Lek and Keldean - approach the wall, his gaze shifts to them, studying them closely. "And I suppose you two are here to 'investigate' as well?" he asks, frowning as Lek makes to go for the trinkets. "I would not do that, if I were you," he adds in a low, warning tone.
[Nob(#16122)] Lek lets Keldean give him a hand over the wall - he's oddly unsteady - then freezes, one hand already closed around a small silver coin as Thulion speaks. "Why not?" he asks, defensively.
Keldean whispers to the boy, "Grab as much as you can, we'll split it later. I'll distract him." Keldean straightens and crosses his arms over his chest, trying to look older and more mature than his fifteen years. "Aye. I came to help the mayor. He wanted me to help with gathering things, and that's what I'm doing. Who are you?"
"Since when was thievery part of an investigation?" asks the Ranger, meeting the teen's eye with his keen glance. "If you looked beyond your greedy hands for half a moment, you might see yon skeleton," he lifts a hand and motions along the trail of jewelry southward. "The skeleton of a man. Must have been trying to make for the road with these very trinkets, and when he was attacked, and dragged from behind. Have you heard any rumours of the barrows away to the south?" he asks then, his eyes narrowing upon Keldean and his voice darkening a shade. For the moment, the teen's distraction seems to be effective for Lek goes ignored.
"It's not thievery if it's lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere." Keldean retorts. "And you didn't answer my question. You're not from Bree. Who are you?" The teen moves closer to the skeleton to study it, stumbling a step and pressing his hand against the wall to steady himself. "How do you know he was attacked from behind?"
Lek slides the coin into his pocket nonchalantly, then edges a step away and bends down again, snatching for another shiny bit of something. But then.. skeleton? The boy gulps and his freckles stand out in his suddenly pale face. He backs towards the ranger and older lad - stopping only once (well, twice) to grab up another coin or two.
"Foxbrush is my name, Leland Foxbrush, and I've been about Bree longer than you have, young sir," answers the Ranger. "You can tell by the way the bones are laid. You and your friend here are like to join him, too, at that... if you try to make off with these trinkets. Finding something upon the ground does not make it yours, and does not mean it is unwanted by someone, or something else."
"Where are you from?" Keldean asks, crossing his arms again now that he's caught his balance. His brown eyes stray off to the south, catching movement in the distance. "And what good is the money laying here in the middle of nowhere?" He asks, suppressing his fear by focusing anger at the stranger. "You just want to take it all for yourself! Trying to scare us away as if we're dumb kids! There's nothing here but bones."
Lek bangs hard into something, and yelps, leaping away and nearly falling into the other two. Then his face turns red as he realizes it was just the stone wall.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger reaches out a calloused hand to help catch Lek and steady him back on his feet. "Careful," he says softly, then lifts his gaze and squints away to the south. A strange urgency comes to his voice then, and he looks back to the two boys. "Put back what you have taken, before you get all of us into trouble or the sort that no man can fight. You have not heard, then, of the Barrow Downs, and the ghosts that haunt those hills? Cursed some say these lands are, and I would believe it by the strange things that have happened here. The man who now lies over there likely stole these trinkets himself, and perhaps angered something in so doing. Do you want that anger to come upon you, next?" He gives each of the young ones a hard glance, his eyes flashing.
"That's a load of rubbish." Keldean argues. "I've never seen a ghost. Maybe the man here tripped and fell. If someone attacked him for stealing the gold they would have -taken it-, not left it here in the dirt." He gives the tall man a smug look, as if daring him to argue with that logic. "Don't listen to him, Lek. He's just trying to scare you."
[Nob(#16122)] Lek grabs Thulion's hand to keep from falling, but Keldean's belligerence doesn't find much of a match in the younger boy. "Are...are they really?" he quavers, then tries to strengthen and steady his voice. "Th-there ain't no ghosts!"
"Are there?"
"Unless they /could/ not have taken it, for the dead cannot grasp things such as gold and gems, but still they will protect what is theirs," says the Ranger in a low voice. "And if I wanted to take these things, what would have stopped me from gathering them up myself before you lot showed up? Would have saved me a lot of headache. Cursed gold, that's what this is, and you'll bring nothing but woe upon yourselves by taking it. I would not touch it if someone paid me." He glances to the quivering Lek. "Ghosts, and worse, from the tales I've heard... evil spirits of men haunt the Barrow Downs. How much of that is true, I cannot say, but it is not worth the risk!"
Perhaps Keldean has been tricked too many times. He doesn't seem terribly trusting and only stares at Thulion with a skeptical scowl on his face. "If there were ghosts and they cared so much, wouldn't they -be- here right now trying to scare us off? And if a ghost can't grasp things, how could it hurt us anyway?"
[Nob(#16122)] "Cursed?" Lek's voice goes high. His hand, fisted around the last gold coin he had snagged, opens to let the money fall to the ground. His eyes, caught by something in the distance, stare south towards the distant barrows, and he takes a hesitating step that direction. Then another...
"Perhaps they cannot stray by daylight, as it is with many evil things, but there is naught to keep them from roaming the lands by nightfall. How would I know how they hurt you?" The Ranger shakes his head. "All I know is those bones show no mark of weapon, or breaks from a physical blow upon them..." He falls silent, looking up as Lek begins to walk southward. Quickly, he reaches for the boy's shoulder to stop him. "Do not go that way! The Downs are that way, and if you go there, you will surely not return."
Keldean reaches down to pick up the coin that Lek drops and he quickly adds it to his pocket. "It sounds fishy to me." Keldean says again, looking to where the younger boy is wandering. "I wonder if there's more gold to the south. What's out there besides ghosts? I bet there're riches more than I could count. This poor sot got the gold from somewhere." He studies the trail of gems and coins in more earnest now, beginning to follow it.
[Nob(#16122)] A heavy hand falls on his shoulder, and - eyes still fixed vaguely on the south - Lek wriggles a bit to get free. But his struggles are only half-hearted as if his body is as vague as his eyes just now. "I heard it," he says thickly. "Heard it..."
The Ranger keeps a hand upon the boy, his brows furrowed with grave concern. "Do not listen to it," says he quietly to Lek, then calls out to Keldean. "We should leave, all us, and leave the gold behind. Your friend here is already in peril." He shakes his head, his gaze flickering between the far Downs in the south and Keldean. "Open your eyes, and look about you. He got the gold, and was murdered because of it! Do not be so foolish as he."
Keldean only makes it a few steps when the howl of a wolf fills the air. This gives him immediate pause and he swallows. Ghosts are one thing. Wolves? That's entirely different. Wolves are real and wolves are dangerous. He glances back towards Lek and Thulion, his face paler. "I heard it too. Wolves." The teen grew up on a farm, and while his family didn't have many animals ever, he's learned a healthy respect for the pack-hunting lupines.
Keldean gives up on following the trail and reaches down to scoop up more of the shimmering gold in the grass.. it's only a few steps away! Things are quiet again and the youth feels the unease of a hidden presence watching him.
"We'll be safe back in Bree." Keldean states, but frequently casts glances southward.
The long quavering howl breaks Lek's half-trance. "Wolves?" Without bothering to find out where it might be coming from, the boy scrambles over the stone fence and dives into the wagon. From under a blanket, his voice floats out disconsolately. "Ever'thing's... moving funny."
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger looks visibly relieved as one of the boys, at least, dashes towards the wagon. "The day is getting late," he says to Keldean. "I will tell you once more: leave the gold here! No good will come of your taking it. Back to Bree with us, before the wolves descend out of the hills." He moves towards the wall, but waits to see if Keldean will follow.
Keldean hesitates, part of him seeing a chance to finally get out of the rut he's been stuck in and another part reminding him that Giliath might not approve. Then again, he's not really depriving anyone other than a corpse. Maybe Giliath wouldn't care. The teen makes a compromise. He doesn't pick up any -more- gold. He makes his way towards the wagon, stumbling again as another wave of dizziness hits him, but says nothing about the disoriented vision he's also suffering.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The sky darkens eerily, a chill in the wind from the Barrow Downs. Between this, and the howling wolves, and their fearless Mayor indisposed, the folk who came on the wagon eagerly seeking riches are now all too eager to be on their way home. Those who had fanned out along the wall and brush now come wandering dizzily back to the road, their steps meandering. Eventually, all gain the wagon however, and once everyone is securely inside, it rolls slowly away back towards Bree.
Standing at the wall, the Ranger watches all this with narrowed gaze, a frown upon his lips. When at last everyone seems to have staggered their way back to the wagon, he lifts his hands and replaces his hood upon his head. A nimble hop gets him back over the wall and upon the road, and he, too turns towards Bree, walking along some distance behind the wagon.
A low ditch to the south of the Great East Road, this area is filled with low-lying brush and ancient trees that were planted alongside the road long ago by the men of the Kingdom of Arnor. The road runs east-west just north of here. Southward, a wide expanse of grassland stretches toward a structure in the distance that appears to be a ruined wall. Beyond the wall rises the spectral and ill-rumored land of the Barrow Downs.
A lightly-worn path leads out of the ditch and southward toward the ruined wall. The Great East Road runs past just to the north.
The sun is not yet fully overhead when the wagon load full of friends and various hangers-on claiming to be friends of the mayor arrives in this green area that marks the beginning of the Barrow Downs. All in all, it seems that this will prove to be a fun trip--the sun is shining, the day is warm, flowers and trees are dressed in spring's full bloom, and those in the wagons have spent the time laughing and talking and singing. And eating, of course, hobbits and men eating their way through the cookies and pastries and breads that have been packed for this journey--and that's only for the morning snack. Another meal awaits them for lunch and snack again, of course! Though a few of the riders are already beginning to complain quietly that their stomachs hurt. Still, the wagons pull up and the group clambers down.
Just to the south is a low wall that marks the Barrow Downs. And over the low wall can be found scattered trinkets--small pieces of gold, an earring here and there, a ring, or a bracelet. In the distance is something darker--the skeleton of a man, bones bleached--dead about a year and a half. Around the bones are more (and better) jewels and gold.
[Torebras(#25187)] Bree's Mayor, formerly so keen to go on this little expedition and 'investigate' the rumoured treasure, seems to be one of those who has overindulged in the food, for as he emerges from the wagon he looks rather pale. "All that bumping and jostling," he murmurs. "Oh, my stomach! Oh, my head! Some fresh air, that'll be the thing." A little dazedly he hobbles forward, his steps taking him toward that looming wall, though that may be more by chance than design, for his path is a wavering one.
[Thulion(#28108)]
Not with the wagon load, indeed, coming rather from the opposite direction, a tall man in weathered brownish grey cloak, his hood pulled up, the shadowy cowl concealing his face. Seeing the folk unloading on down the road, he slips over the wall quickly and proceedes towards them, flitting among the trees and the brush, his steps scarce to be heard. He stops, then, leaning against a tree in such a manner as to not be easily marked from the road, the direction of his hood indicating some interest, at least, in this unusual wagonload of folk.
"Mr. Mayor," Cordelia says, scrambling down from the wagon. "The skeleton is over that wall there," she points south to the low wall. She hurries after the mayor to catch up to him, cookie still in her hand. There seems to be bites taken out of it. Surely the girl was eating the baked goods, too?
[Torebras(#25187)] Torebras pulls out his fine white silk pocket-handkerchief to mop at his sweating brow, only to have a capricious gust of gritty wind snatch it away from him. "What?" he demands, sounding quite outraged. "Who did that? Who's there?" There's only the slightest quaver in his voice as he asks that, brought on perhaps by Cordelia's words. "I thought I saw ... something," he murmurs, uncertain now, as he stares at an unmoving jumble of rocks and brush.
"It's a skeleton, Mayor. Over there." Cordelia again points toward the bones, which are over the low wall. "It was a man," she whispers to him, and then very low so that noone might hear, "there are jewels by him." Still, the wind blows, throwing some leaves against Cordelia's legs, and she jumps, turning around as if spooked.
[Thulion(#28108)]
"There is nothing there at all," Comes a man's voice, the cloaked form steps forward from the shadow of brush and tree towards the wall, reaching a hand up to push his hood back. It is he known, at least to some, as Leland Foxbrush. His gaze shifts between the woman and the hobbit, his grey eyes narrowing a little upon the latter. "Good day to you, Mayor, Miss Wood. Quite a party you have brought here for your... ah... investigation?"
[Torebras(#25187)] Torebras still has one hand resting on his ample stomach. As the north wind moans, he gasps and clutches at Cordelia's hand, Bree's Most Important Person looking for all the world like a child in need of reassurance. "J-jewels? Yes, of course."
Pulling himself together somewhat, the hobbit retrieves his hand and trots forward - only to be brought up short with a squeak. "I thought you said ... a ... a skeleton?" He stares at the distinctly non-skeletal Leland with round brown eyes.
Behind him, assorted Breefolk have spilled out of the wagon like marbles from a jar and are now quartering the ground near the road in search of 'treasure'. Some look rather nervous, others flushed and excited yet others simply sit down and carry on the business of eating.
[Jack'o'lantern(#14161)] Whispering voices seem to fill the air as the wind shakes the trees, the sound seeming to grow angrier and louder with each passing moment.
"Leland..." Cordelia nods to the ranger, then glances over at the Breefolk now tottering all over the grounds. She raises a brow and shrugs at Thulion. "Yes, mayor, but there's a skeleton. There." She points again.
From the south, there comes a sudden scream from one of the townfolk who have wandered too far: "Ghost!!!!" Followed swiftly by a giggling fit. "Oh...no..just wind...."
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger turns a hard stare momentarily upon Cordelia, his grey eyes flickering. It is, however, to the Mayor which he next speaks. "Grave peril you would risk in touching those jewels," says he in a low voice. "You aught to warn your folk as such, or better, take them back to Bree, lest they endanger themselves. Nothing good have I ever heard happening to folk who go meddling around the barrows."
[Torebras(#25187)] "Oh, of course, how silly of me," Torebras replies to Cordelia. "Pleased to meet you, Mister Leland." Torebras doffs his hat and offers Leland a wobbly bow. The shriek from behind causes him to shake his head and mutter apologetically, "Young folk." Perhaps the motion makes him uncomfortable, for he mops at his brow. He doesn't seem to notice that he's using his hat instead of his pocket-handkerchief.
The ranger's words do seem to have /some/ effect on him, for he mumbles, "I see." What, Mister I-don't-believe-in-ghosts actually scared? No, there must be some mistake. "Still, an official investigation does have to be made. "Over here, you said?" Gamely he starts to climb up the wall -and stops, his eyes wide and horrified.
Cordelia offers "Leland" an exasperated look as the mayor speaks of jewels. "Tried to say something but he was busy eating cookies..." she says under her breath to the ranger. "Mayor, yes, there's..." She, too, stops as the hobbit does, giving a horrified gasp and then, "what is it, Mayor? What do you see?" She shrinks back from the wall.
[Nob(#16122)] Lek, having joined himself to the party despite anything any adults may have had to say about it, is standing by the wagon, one hand clutching a rope. His eyes are very wide, and he swallows hard, and shakes his head a little, as if trying to clear the sound of the wind out of his ears.
Keldean isn't far from Lek, another that joined the group under the pretense of "needing to help the -mayor- with important business". At least, that's the excuse he gave Acelen. The teen was just about to go after the gold, but the whisper, angry voices send a chill through him. Still.. wealth.. Slowly Keldean begins walking towards where Cordelia mentioned the skeleton was, looking for the trinkets she had mentioned before back in Bree.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger, who is standing already on the other side of the wall, arches a brow slightly and casually half-turns to glance in the direction of the Mayor's horrified stare. "And telling ghost stories as well?" he asks of Cordelia, turning back towards them, his expression resigned and a shade annoyed. "By all means, Mr. Mayor," he gives a slight bow, gesturing with one of his hands away along the glittering trail of jewelry. "On with your investigation." Tugging his cloak about himself, he folds his arms across his chest, sparing but a passing glance about as the wind whispers eerily through the trees.
[Torebras(#25187)] Torebras seems entirely oblivious to the Ranger's words and gesture, his eyes fixed entirely on a single distant point. "It's a g- g-" Words fail him, and he points a shaking finger across the wall to the place where something white flutters in the breeze, caught on some bushes beneath which something gold glints. The wind's shaking only causes the white thing to dance the faster, as branches rustle with the dry whispers of things long-dead.
"No, I swear I didn't," Cordelia shakes her head to Thulion. "Couldn't get a word in edgewise, in fact. They were too busy eating..." She holds out a cookie that has a bite taken out of it. "There's more in the wagon... ghost? Where?" she says, squinting southward, her voice shaking.
[Nob(#16122)] "Ain't no such... such... thing as ghosts!" Lek says bravely, but his knuckles are white with holding on. Although, possibly that is due to the strange dizziness he is feeling.
Keldean wasn't shy about stuffing his own belly with the free food. It's not the first time he's overeaten and he ignores the slightly too-full, sick feeling and continues walking slowly towards where the adults are pointing and arguing. Hopefully no one will notice what he's doing. He sees the glitter now of gold, and it takes all the willpower he can muster not to bolt straight over there and snatch it up.
No, calm and collected is Keldean. Calm and -collecting-, that is. He casually reaches down to pick up one of the coins and slip it into his pocket, the excitement seeming to make him feel a bit off-balance. He ignores the feeling.
[Thulion(#28108)]
With a soft sigh laced with exasperation, the Ranger unfolds his arms and strides right up to the fluttering white 'ghost'. He plucks a silk handkerchief from the bush, and walks back over to the Mayor, holding it out to him. "There will be worse than handkerchiefs about if you don't heed my warning about the jewels, Mayor," says he, his cloak whipping about him and in the sudden wind.
[Torebras(#25187)] The mayor is looking /very/ pale now, and when a hollow moaning comes from the hillock to the east, he gives a moan of his own in answer. "But - what's that?" He lifts his hand to point - his second hand, for the first is by now half-extended to take the handkerchief Thulion holds out. And then, of course, it takes but a passing push of the gusty wind to push him off-balance. Bree's Mayor tumbles groundward, rolling back down the hill like a barrel. He is lucky there's a bush not far away to break his fall.
Cordelia gives a quick shriek as the mayor falls, then hurries after him. "Are you all right?!" That damned cookie is still in her hand. "Mr. Mayor!"
[Keldean(#23332)] The howling is scary, and Keldean is just stuffing a second gold coin into his pocket when it sends another shiver down his spine. He looks around nervously, then watches as the mayor falls over and rolls down the hill. "Mayor!" The teen calls in equal alarm just as things go quiet, and cringes at how loud his voice is. He looks like he might rush after the tumbling hobbit to help, but Cordelia is already rushing down the hill. Instead, the Bree teen slowly slides the second coin into his pocket and looks around nervously.
[Torebras(#25187)] Alas, for the first time in his life Bree's Mayor is not in a position to accept a cookie. He doesn't respond to Cordelia's query - doesn't do anything at all, in fact. The bruise on his right temple is indication tht he's been knocked out cold. Not even the chill fingers of breeze stroking the grasses can wake him.
[Nob(#16122)] Lek is staring out at Keldean his semi-glazed eyes have caught a glimpse of something glittery. He pries his fingers loose from the wagon and moves towards the low wall, stumbling a little as he reaches it. And his round eyes grow rounder still as his gaze lands on the trinkets and coins scattered in the grass.
"Mayor?" Cordelia's voice is puzzled, but her expression is troubled. Stuffing the cookie into a pocket, she grabs the mayor's legs and drags him toward the wagon to tend to his bruised head with whatever skills she has managed to pick up from doing laundry for the healers. The mayor may get a slightly rough ride on his way over to the wagon, but Cordelia's 'rescue' of him does no more than inflict a few bruises on the hobbit.
[Keldean(#23332)] Lek's approach catches Keldean's attention and he turns sharply, startled at first. "Oh.. Lek. Quick, lets get some more while they're distracted with the mayor." It's greedy, but the teen is living on almost no pay these days and there are jewels just -laying- on the ground. He moves to grab for the younger boy's arm, intending to tug him towards the trinkets.
[Thulion(#28108)]
A concerned frown flickers across the Ranger's features as the hobbit falls and he begins to move to Torebras's aid, but stops as Cordelia hurries to help as well. Bundling his cloak about himself once more, he steps aside to allow Cordelia to rescue the toppled hobbit Mayor. "Likely for the best," he murmurs as she drags him away, his gaze narrowed slightly as he watches the pair of them leave.
As the twain - Lek and Keldean - approach the wall, his gaze shifts to them, studying them closely. "And I suppose you two are here to 'investigate' as well?" he asks, frowning as Lek makes to go for the trinkets. "I would not do that, if I were you," he adds in a low, warning tone.
[Nob(#16122)] Lek lets Keldean give him a hand over the wall - he's oddly unsteady - then freezes, one hand already closed around a small silver coin as Thulion speaks. "Why not?" he asks, defensively.
Keldean whispers to the boy, "Grab as much as you can, we'll split it later. I'll distract him." Keldean straightens and crosses his arms over his chest, trying to look older and more mature than his fifteen years. "Aye. I came to help the mayor. He wanted me to help with gathering things, and that's what I'm doing. Who are you?"
"Since when was thievery part of an investigation?" asks the Ranger, meeting the teen's eye with his keen glance. "If you looked beyond your greedy hands for half a moment, you might see yon skeleton," he lifts a hand and motions along the trail of jewelry southward. "The skeleton of a man. Must have been trying to make for the road with these very trinkets, and when he was attacked, and dragged from behind. Have you heard any rumours of the barrows away to the south?" he asks then, his eyes narrowing upon Keldean and his voice darkening a shade. For the moment, the teen's distraction seems to be effective for Lek goes ignored.
"It's not thievery if it's lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere." Keldean retorts. "And you didn't answer my question. You're not from Bree. Who are you?" The teen moves closer to the skeleton to study it, stumbling a step and pressing his hand against the wall to steady himself. "How do you know he was attacked from behind?"
Lek slides the coin into his pocket nonchalantly, then edges a step away and bends down again, snatching for another shiny bit of something. But then.. skeleton? The boy gulps and his freckles stand out in his suddenly pale face. He backs towards the ranger and older lad - stopping only once (well, twice) to grab up another coin or two.
"Foxbrush is my name, Leland Foxbrush, and I've been about Bree longer than you have, young sir," answers the Ranger. "You can tell by the way the bones are laid. You and your friend here are like to join him, too, at that... if you try to make off with these trinkets. Finding something upon the ground does not make it yours, and does not mean it is unwanted by someone, or something else."
"Where are you from?" Keldean asks, crossing his arms again now that he's caught his balance. His brown eyes stray off to the south, catching movement in the distance. "And what good is the money laying here in the middle of nowhere?" He asks, suppressing his fear by focusing anger at the stranger. "You just want to take it all for yourself! Trying to scare us away as if we're dumb kids! There's nothing here but bones."
Lek bangs hard into something, and yelps, leaping away and nearly falling into the other two. Then his face turns red as he realizes it was just the stone wall.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger reaches out a calloused hand to help catch Lek and steady him back on his feet. "Careful," he says softly, then lifts his gaze and squints away to the south. A strange urgency comes to his voice then, and he looks back to the two boys. "Put back what you have taken, before you get all of us into trouble or the sort that no man can fight. You have not heard, then, of the Barrow Downs, and the ghosts that haunt those hills? Cursed some say these lands are, and I would believe it by the strange things that have happened here. The man who now lies over there likely stole these trinkets himself, and perhaps angered something in so doing. Do you want that anger to come upon you, next?" He gives each of the young ones a hard glance, his eyes flashing.
"That's a load of rubbish." Keldean argues. "I've never seen a ghost. Maybe the man here tripped and fell. If someone attacked him for stealing the gold they would have -taken it-, not left it here in the dirt." He gives the tall man a smug look, as if daring him to argue with that logic. "Don't listen to him, Lek. He's just trying to scare you."
[Nob(#16122)] Lek grabs Thulion's hand to keep from falling, but Keldean's belligerence doesn't find much of a match in the younger boy. "Are...are they really?" he quavers, then tries to strengthen and steady his voice. "Th-there ain't no ghosts!"
"Are there?"
"Unless they /could/ not have taken it, for the dead cannot grasp things such as gold and gems, but still they will protect what is theirs," says the Ranger in a low voice. "And if I wanted to take these things, what would have stopped me from gathering them up myself before you lot showed up? Would have saved me a lot of headache. Cursed gold, that's what this is, and you'll bring nothing but woe upon yourselves by taking it. I would not touch it if someone paid me." He glances to the quivering Lek. "Ghosts, and worse, from the tales I've heard... evil spirits of men haunt the Barrow Downs. How much of that is true, I cannot say, but it is not worth the risk!"
Perhaps Keldean has been tricked too many times. He doesn't seem terribly trusting and only stares at Thulion with a skeptical scowl on his face. "If there were ghosts and they cared so much, wouldn't they -be- here right now trying to scare us off? And if a ghost can't grasp things, how could it hurt us anyway?"
[Nob(#16122)] "Cursed?" Lek's voice goes high. His hand, fisted around the last gold coin he had snagged, opens to let the money fall to the ground. His eyes, caught by something in the distance, stare south towards the distant barrows, and he takes a hesitating step that direction. Then another...
"Perhaps they cannot stray by daylight, as it is with many evil things, but there is naught to keep them from roaming the lands by nightfall. How would I know how they hurt you?" The Ranger shakes his head. "All I know is those bones show no mark of weapon, or breaks from a physical blow upon them..." He falls silent, looking up as Lek begins to walk southward. Quickly, he reaches for the boy's shoulder to stop him. "Do not go that way! The Downs are that way, and if you go there, you will surely not return."
Keldean reaches down to pick up the coin that Lek drops and he quickly adds it to his pocket. "It sounds fishy to me." Keldean says again, looking to where the younger boy is wandering. "I wonder if there's more gold to the south. What's out there besides ghosts? I bet there're riches more than I could count. This poor sot got the gold from somewhere." He studies the trail of gems and coins in more earnest now, beginning to follow it.
[Nob(#16122)] A heavy hand falls on his shoulder, and - eyes still fixed vaguely on the south - Lek wriggles a bit to get free. But his struggles are only half-hearted as if his body is as vague as his eyes just now. "I heard it," he says thickly. "Heard it..."
The Ranger keeps a hand upon the boy, his brows furrowed with grave concern. "Do not listen to it," says he quietly to Lek, then calls out to Keldean. "We should leave, all us, and leave the gold behind. Your friend here is already in peril." He shakes his head, his gaze flickering between the far Downs in the south and Keldean. "Open your eyes, and look about you. He got the gold, and was murdered because of it! Do not be so foolish as he."
Keldean only makes it a few steps when the howl of a wolf fills the air. This gives him immediate pause and he swallows. Ghosts are one thing. Wolves? That's entirely different. Wolves are real and wolves are dangerous. He glances back towards Lek and Thulion, his face paler. "I heard it too. Wolves." The teen grew up on a farm, and while his family didn't have many animals ever, he's learned a healthy respect for the pack-hunting lupines.
Keldean gives up on following the trail and reaches down to scoop up more of the shimmering gold in the grass.. it's only a few steps away! Things are quiet again and the youth feels the unease of a hidden presence watching him.
"We'll be safe back in Bree." Keldean states, but frequently casts glances southward.
The long quavering howl breaks Lek's half-trance. "Wolves?" Without bothering to find out where it might be coming from, the boy scrambles over the stone fence and dives into the wagon. From under a blanket, his voice floats out disconsolately. "Ever'thing's... moving funny."
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger looks visibly relieved as one of the boys, at least, dashes towards the wagon. "The day is getting late," he says to Keldean. "I will tell you once more: leave the gold here! No good will come of your taking it. Back to Bree with us, before the wolves descend out of the hills." He moves towards the wall, but waits to see if Keldean will follow.
Keldean hesitates, part of him seeing a chance to finally get out of the rut he's been stuck in and another part reminding him that Giliath might not approve. Then again, he's not really depriving anyone other than a corpse. Maybe Giliath wouldn't care. The teen makes a compromise. He doesn't pick up any -more- gold. He makes his way towards the wagon, stumbling again as another wave of dizziness hits him, but says nothing about the disoriented vision he's also suffering.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The sky darkens eerily, a chill in the wind from the Barrow Downs. Between this, and the howling wolves, and their fearless Mayor indisposed, the folk who came on the wagon eagerly seeking riches are now all too eager to be on their way home. Those who had fanned out along the wall and brush now come wandering dizzily back to the road, their steps meandering. Eventually, all gain the wagon however, and once everyone is securely inside, it rolls slowly away back towards Bree.
Standing at the wall, the Ranger watches all this with narrowed gaze, a frown upon his lips. When at last everyone seems to have staggered their way back to the wagon, he lifts his hands and replaces his hood upon his head. A nimble hop gets him back over the wall and upon the road, and he, too turns towards Bree, walking along some distance behind the wagon.
Players: Torebras,Lek,Cordelia,Keldean,Thulion
