Ghost Busters

(Scene conducted over the course of a week)

Whatever would possess two women supposedly in their right minds to ride out of Bree on a bright and sunny March morning into the wilderness and danger? Such is what Muirgheal and Cordelia are now doing, drawing stares and mutterings from the guards at the gate, who shake their heads as the two pass through to the outside world, riding one horse. Cordelia glances behind her as the guards close the gate, the Eastern woman fixing one of the guards with a quick smile.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal rides at the front, seated atop her beautiful Elvish mare. Are Aurlalaith's steps lagging just a bit? Just like the guards, the clever mare perhaps senses some of the imminent danger that she is being steered into. Muirgheal is looking forward, and occasionally patting Laith's neck reassuringly. That paranoid Rohirric woman is visibly armed, her sword hanging at her side, knives strapped to her forearms. There might be more hidden elsewhere. What good would steel do against an angry spirit? Muirgheal may have the chance to find out, yet. "They look more frightened than I feel," Muir mutters over her shoulder to Cordelia.

The mayor has ordered that Cordelia is to carry no weapons in Bree, and as the girl passes through the city gates, clearly the guards can see that she has obeyed--or at least that no weapons can be seen on her, for she wears her long cloak. Muirgheal would know otherwise, of course--a sword is at Cordelia's hip, under the cloak, and she has at least one knife sheathed at her belt. "They're fools. You should know that by now," she answers. "Scared of their own shadows and not aware of the real dangers in this world."

[Muirgheal(#32535)] "These...men...are weak," Muirgheal agrees, trying still to urge Laith's steps to quicken. "I didn't want Rhifaroth to come. Oh, and how he worries..." she looks sad for a moment, though likely Cordelia can't see her expression from where she sits. Then a sly grin creeps across her face, and her dark eyes narrow with glee. "What of...Lith? Croaker? That singing fellow of whom you are so fond? As a ranger, it ought to be his duty to protect such helpless women as us. The spirit sounds very angry, after all."

Behind Muirgheal, a faint rosiness warms Cordelia's cheeks, at least momentarily. "Oh, I don't know him really, Muir. I mean...he makes me laugh and he's a looker, once he is cleaned up and had a proper bath, but...well, I can't see him wanting to help us in this foolishness. I mean...did you tell Rhif where we were going?"

[Muirgheal(#32535)] "Don't know him? Word around Bree is you two have spent a bit of time together...of course, I know as well as anyone that such things are exaggerated. They used to say all sorts of things about me," Muirgheal laughs this off lightly. "The barrows are a great place to look for our grumpy spirit." Finally, she answers Cordelia's question about Rhifaroth. "I told him some of it. Not all. I didn't tell him exactly where we were going." And it's plain to anyone who looks at her right then that she feels terribly guilty about her omissions to her husband.

The flush in the girl's cheeks deepens...or the winter air brightens her complexion. "Well...people say a lot of things. I met him in the woods one morning coming to the healers to work. And then after in the Pony, but that's all perfectly natural. Besides, Muir," she adds quickly, "Don't go saying anything...he's cute...a looker, like I said. But I can tell he's no interest in me." She falls silent at the other woman's admission of not telling all to her husband. "If you dont' say anything about Croaker to anyone, I won't tell where we've gone...."

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal turns around slightly in her seat to look at Cordelia. "Please," she says, trying to hide a grin. "With whom in this drab town would I try to gossip about you? More likely, since you're my friend, I'd gossip -with- you, but certainly never about you." She shakes her head. "So you needn't worry about my talking. And you can tell folk where we've gone- that's your choice. I would like to think they'll be thanking us for getting rid of their ghost. I could use a bit of gold from the mayor. Doubtless he's got plenty. The mayors before him..." Almost a slip. Muirgheal shuts her mouth tight.

Pushing back her hood, Cordelia shakes her hair out in the sun. "Well, as much as I can talk about him, Muir, the man is not interested." She sighs. "The only men in this town who are ever interested in me are either creeps or young boys." She frowns at that, falling silent for several minutes, then changing the subject. "What were the other mayors like?"

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal grins at what Cordelia has to say about the men of Bree. "Well, you never know," is all she says of the young ranger. As to the other men, she says, "I never really took notice of any men in Bree...unless it was business, of course. It was never a concern." She has to urge Aurlalaith to move a little faster again, and as a breeze picks up, she is grateful that this March day is not as cold as some. "The other mayors I've seen come through here have all been lazy, loud, and interested in their own riches." She counts the traits off on one hand. "I don't know much about the fellow we call the mayor now. It's not my business to know, anymore." Muirgheal smiles, rather glad about that too.

"It once -was- your business?" Cordelia asks, squinting in curiosity at the blonde's back. "When was that and whatever for?" She shakes her head. "As for men...Muirgheal, I'm 20 years old now. Do you think I want to live in my uncle's house all my life? Pretty soon I'll be too old to marry, and then I'll be stuck there, alone and looked on as 'that crazy woman who gets people in trouble' for the rest of my life. But...Bree...I just don't see a lot of prospects here. They're all so focused on their own little world here, and like you, I'm not from here." A pause, and then she adds, "Keldean wated to marry me, I think."

[Muirgheal(#32535)] "Oh, it's not my business anymore, and it hasn't been, for a while. It's nothing that need be dredged up now." Muirgheal is purposefully vague. But men, at least, she seems to be able to discuss. "I didn't meet Rhifaroth until I was twenty-two. You're hardly an old maid. I wouldn't worry so. You look lovely, and all the gossip about...what happened this summer...will eventually fade away. Other exciting things will happen to set tongues wagging, I've no doubt." That last about Keldean gets a raised brow. "Do you miss him? I wonder where he is.." She harbors no fond feelings toward the lad at all, that much is evident in her tone.

--Time passes--

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.

And not too far in the distance: Ruins of Cardolan Wall, Edge of the Barrow Downs
A wall that was likely once great in its ancient heyday runs past here. All that is left of it is a ruin now, perhaps 8 feet tall in its highest places, but with many areas that are low enough to climb over easily. A broad area of grassland stretches away northward, toward a line of tress and the Great East Road. Just inside the ruined wall, to the south, the land rises rapidly to a plateau high overhead: the infamous Barrow Downs. To the immediate east lies a wooded hill and a small path.


The sun is high in the sky by the time the two women make it far enough along the Great East Road to be near the place that Muirgheal was seeking for her ghosts. As they draw rein, Cordelia dismounts, surveying the land and then pointing to a small ditch south of the road. "That would seem a good place to have some lunch, no?" she asks Muirgheal. "Don't know about you, but I'm rather famished from riding for even those few hours."

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal's dark eyes are fixed on something in the distance. Is that a wall? It's crumbled and worn. "Hm?" Muirgheal says absently to Cordelia, frowning. "Oh, lunch would be nice." Finally she looks at her friend again. A hand strays to her belly, which is beginning to show that she's with child again. "This place is much...creepier...than I had imagined. But we should eat."

"And the horse has to rest. Even an elven horse has to rest." Cordelia's eyes follow Muir's gaze, and she squints into the distance. "Though I wouldn't mind stretching my legs a bit...This place is interesting," she laughs, shaking her head. "Kind of...well, never mind on that. I might go for a short walk..."

[Muirgheal(#32535)] "Not alone!" Muirgheal exclaims. "I'll lead Aurlalaith for a while. We could both use a bit of a walk after all this riding. I'm not used to it anymore." Muir gets ready to dismount. "But...not too much closer, right, Cordelia?" She tries to catch the other woman's gaze.

"Don't worry, Muir, I won't get too close...to what, though?" Cordelia looks around. "Not like there's anything out here at all. Might be thieves and bandits, but I don't think there are trolls in this area. Come on." She starts walking ahead.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal frowns. "No, trolls are the other way." The blonde gestures vaguely. "But I don't know," She slips off Aurlalaith's back, but keeps a hand on the mare's reins, leading her forward as she hurries to catch up with Cordelia. "This place makes me want to whisper, and it makes my skin crawl. Maybe it's orcs. Better bandits than orcs, though.." Neither possibility sounds too pleasing. She puts her free hand, her right hand, on the hilt of her sword, ready to pull it from its sheath. "I bet our bandits are in those ruins over there. Cowards like to hide behind walls, no matter what shape they're in.." Muir's voice trails off.

This gives Cordelia pause, and she pushes the right side of her cloak off her shoulder so that she can loosen her sword in its sheath. "You think so?" Her voice dropped to a whisper, and she looks toward where Muir points. "Well, ...let's get it over with, then." She sets toward that way again.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal squares her shoulders and stands up taller, trying to look more confident than she feels. Her mouth is drawn in a thin line, and she mutters in Dunael to her mare, who can't understand a word of it. She follows just behind Cordelia, looking jumpy with her hand still on her sword.

A quick glance behind her--Cordelia grimaces at Muirgheal, but then turns and keeps walking foward, quietly, her movements fluid and...trained? As the woman walk further south toward the wall, small trinkets are scattered here and there--a broken but decorated piece of a bowl. What seems to be part of a ring of a mail shirt. And ahead, closer to the wall, something golden, glinting in the sunlight of this March day.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal does pause to look at the jagged piece of a bowl, and at the mail ring (she almost picks that up). But what really catches her eye is the glint of gold up ahead. Something moves through her dark eyes. The former thief quickens her steps, no longer feeling very much afraid, just eager to get near the gold lying unprotected up near the wall. "What's that, Cordelia?" She calls, catching up with her friend. She's still leading Laith behind her.

Cordelia stops, then crosses the grassy area to the glint of gold, stooping to pick it up. "Piece of a necklace, from the looks of it...." she says, puzzled. She looks around at the grass. "Seems to be a few more things...but they're on the other side of this low area of the wall. Over there." She points, not far off.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] "Trinkets!" Muirgheal exclaims delightedly, her voice warming. "-Gold- trinkets.." She hurries over to Cordelia and the necklace, her dark mare keeping up behind her. However, no amount of gold could distract Muirgheal from realizing that there are likely thieves nearby. She glances all around the area as she moves, even though the grassy place is fairly open. She starts to head toward where Cordelia had pointed.

"There's more..." Cordelia says, pointing to the grassy area just over the low wall. "Rings, I think! Muir, where would all of this come from?" She starts off toward the wall, walking briskly.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] "Rings! Perhaps Kiern is looking out for me and mine after all," Muirgheal exclaims. It's hard for her to keep the hopeful, excited expression off her face as she bends down and picks up a ring. There's a dark red jewel in it that gleams dully. Then Muir lets the prize fall from her hand there will be time to come back for that, later. She takes the remaining distance to the wall at a run, with Aurlalaith trotting behind.

Strangely, Cordelia stops as she reaches the wall, not climbing over. She stares across the distance to the lands on the other side, expression on her face changing. "I don't like this...." There's nothing in particular to be seen on the other side, perhaps just a feeling.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal is busy scooping up a fistful of rings, then losing them as a necklace, its chain broken, but its aquamarine jewel bright, catches her eye and she makes a grab for it. She's trying to tie the broken chain around her neck when she hears Cordelia. "Bones?" She sets the pretty necklace gingerly down and leaves her mare at the wall. She's right behind her friend in climbing over the wall, gaze locked on the skeletal remains.

The skeleton is further from the wall than it looked at first, and Cordelia draws her sword as she walks slowly toward it, lookign around warily. "I don't like this place," she says, her voice now having dropped to a whisper. There's a trail of more trinkets near the skeleton, as is evident as they draw closer to it.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal's high spirits drop suddenly along with her stomach, which gives an unpleasant lurch as her eyes follow the jewels to the bones on the ground. "Oh," she murmurs. She swallows hard several times as they get closer, looking rather pale and queasy. Her bottom lip trembles. "This is the thief." She says to Cordelia, pulling the daggers from the sheaths on her arms in one quick motion, as if whoever laid this skeleton to rest might be waiting to do the same thing to the next trespasser.

One of Cordelia's hands holds her sword tightly, but the other clutches toward Muirgheal. "Perhaps it -is- the thief...but perhaps not. And ...I don't like the feel of this place, Muirgheal. And that says something--more than you know. Let's...let's leave it. We can tell one of the rangers of it, but let's go."

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal still looks as though she's going to be sick, but her grip on her daggers is tight, and her gaze is hard. "Let's just leave. If this is what becomes of thieves here, then this is no place for us." What Cordelia says- 'more than you know'- earns her a very curious stare from Muir. But the lady knows that this isn't the time to question her friend. "Alright, come on." She sheaths just one dagger, so that she can take hold of Cordelia's arm as they hurry back toward the wall. "Let's let the rangers take care of it, if they can," she mutters, giving the skeleton a last look over her shoulder.

Cordelia hesitates before Muirgheal hurries her over back toward the wall, the girl taking her time to try to mark the spot in her mind so that she can remember it. She climbs back over the other side of the wall, but keeps looking behind herself as if expecting an attack at any minute. "Don't see anyone...you could probably pick up that jewelry we found." And she does so herself, stooping to pick up a few broken trinkets of gold--though her sword is still out of its sheath.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal looks around at the scattered treasures with a skeptical eye. "You know...I guess I'm...superstitious, is the word? But I think I'll just leave the trinkets to their owner." The Dunlending girl gives an odd little bow in the direction of the wall, and all that remains in her hands is her dagger as she returns to her waiting mare, Aurlalaith. The horse is clearly uncomfortable, giving a nervous whinny before Muir tries to soothe her.

Hands now full of trinkets, Cordelia frowns at the other woman's words. It's with some regret that she nods her head slowly, dropping the gold back onto the ground here, nodding her head--or at least seeming to drop most of it. As Muirgheal turns, the girl tucks two items into the pouch she wears--one, a very old coin. The other, a very small jewel-encrusted dagger. "All right, Muirgheal. We should head home before the sun goes down. It's past the noon hour already, and by several hours. I don't want to be home in the dark."


[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal's eyes are elsewhere, seeking murderers, vandals and spirits, no doubt. She doesn't see what Cordelia tucks away. "On your own head if you keep any of it," Muir attempts a grin, but her expression is quite grim. "I don't think anyone could pay me enough to make me willing to stay here at night!" She is careful with the dagger in her hand as she gets ready to mount her Elven mare.

Cordelia, too, carefully mounts the horse after Muirgheal, shaking her head at the woman's words. "We didn't rob the grave, for that's what it would seem he did. Or she. I couldn't tell--could you?" She glances behind them as they ride out.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] "Mmmm, no, couldn't tell," Muirgheal murmurs, the thought of the skeleton making her rather ill again. "Just old bones. At least a year old, but not many years...they..they weren't too weathered." With that, Muir's had about all she can stand, and is looking rather green. She swallows again and urges Laith to move on quickly. "No, we didn't, but I remember stories from Dunland..." She shakes her head.