Rumbling tums

East Road - By the Old Forest

The road runs close here to the edge of the Old Forest, one of the most ancient stands of trees upon all of Middle Earth. Rumours both good and bad abound regarding this place, but ask any of the locals and they will tell you to stay out! Continuing west brings you closer to the land of the Hobbits, while eastwards lies Bree and points beyond.The air here is filled with the stench of something rotten. Most likely a wild animal decided to die nearby, and judging by the overwhelming pungency of the odor, it died at least a few days back.

Obvious exits:

South, East, and West

================================== Bree Time ==================================

Real time: Sun Jan 10 16:38:41 2010

Bree time: Late Night <04> on Sunday of Autumn - November 28,1448

Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent Moon

Breelands Weather

The late night autumn air is cool but pleasant around you. The night sky is clear with only slight wisps of clouds overhead. The moon is above the horizon and in its waxing crescent phase.

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[Boldibad(#22742)] As the moon tucks itself behind a thick blanket of dark clouds, a small fire blazes within a circle of stones close to the north side of the road, beside a large, stationary covered wagon. The ponies which must pull the vehicle stand lazilly by, and a small group of hobbits sit around the fire. Among them is Boldibad Bolger, who sits on a overturned, wooden bucket, leaning forward rather quietly. He seems to be staring at a kettle resting over the flames and glowing embers.

Attached to the Shire caravan like a tail to a dog is the wagon belonging to the Breefolk. This, too, is halted, and currently snatches of indignant speech drift from it. Ma Bywater is holding forth. \".. Pella Took think she is, with all her airs and graces? Putting eggs in bread? Why, every good cook knows that all a baker needs is flour, salt and water! Just goes to show that Shirefolk-\" Someone hushes her, loudly.

Young Brandebras Bywater emerges from the wagon with his ears burning red and goes to stand at the edge of the road, peering into the forest. \"It doesn\'t smell very nice,\" he comments in Boldibad\'s direction, screwing up his face and holding his nose.

[Malorie(#28410)] If ever there were someone who betrayed the mien of wanting to be somewhere else, it is Malorie. The Breeguard sits and smokes her pipe, draped in a heavy woolen cloak, apart from the others nearer the wagon and tries to create smoke rings with puffs of exhaled breath. Indeed, the young woman makes no verbal acknowledgment of the others in the caravan as they sit about the fire.

One of the ponies snorts, shaking its head and tossing its dusty mane. Malorie looks overhead and wrinkles her nose, sniffing disdainfully. \"I don\'t blame you,\" she mutters with a sidelong glance over her shoulder towards the firelight. \"I\'d rather be home, too...\" Young Brandebras Bywater\'s comment receives only a crooked smile in return from the human.

[Lemuel(#30356)]  Sitting next to the fire is one of the tall folk Lemuel, the carpenter. He holds a long stick, which he idly whittles into a point. He tests the point of his stick with his finger, and seemingly satisfied, removes a paper package from his satchel. Unwrapping it he reveals a parcel of sausages, three of which he skewers on the stick, and then props it up on a stone near the fire.

At the comment of Brandebras, Lemuel says shortly, \"Oh, hold your whining. We\'ll be home soon enough.\" A guilty look flashes across his face, and he follows up, \"Here, d\'you want one of these bangers?\"

[Tym(#16638)]

In the forest, the darkness is blacker than black, as if the trees have closed in upon each other and not a hint of starlight or the now hidden moon shines through. Leaves and branches rustle, though it is a low moaning sound more than a pleasant rustling. And the forest might seem to loom out over the road. There: one huge, ominous black shape. A tree that has moved closer? Tall it is, rivaling teh trees, the moaning of the forest coming from it softly as well.

Thilo Bracegirdle sits close to the fire on a somewhat smooth rock, his head tilted to one side, apparently supported by his great girth. As his eyes drift close, a pipe slips from his hand and tumbles into the dirt of the road beneath him, and he begins breathing slowly and heavilly.

Boldibad is well within hearing-range of the old hobbit\'s outburst, but nothing in his expression shows that he has any opinion on it. He looks up from his long stare into the fire for a moment as Brandebras arrives.

\"Indeed it does, Mr. Bywater, indeed it does,\" he says quietly. He glances at Lemuel for a moment, wrinkling his nose, but turns back to the fire before it becomes obvious that he doesn\'t feel satisfied with the present company. As the conversation goes on around the fire, he peers off in the direction of Malorie (again--it seems that he\'d been doing so, off-and-on for some time now). \"Who is that big-person over there? She doesn\'t wish to be close to us hobbits, does she?\" He glances back at Lemuel, as though asking the question of him. The keen sense of hearing gifted to hobbits in general causes his head to jerk over his shoulder, and he squints toward the Old Forest for a moment. He sighs, \"Some of these animals around here--I\'ve heard nothing like them anywhere in the Shire...\"

Brandebras catches Malorie\'s smile out of the corner of his eye, and turns an even deeper shade of red (unless that\'s just some trick of the flames). \"I didn\'t mean that /you/ smell,\" he says hastily. Lemuel\'s offer is a welcome distraction, and he nods eagerly, troubled features brightening. Looking toward the fire as he is, he does not see any moving trees.

There is nothing wrong with his hearing, however. As the forest seems to moan, he shivers, and nods unhappily to Boldibad. \"We don\'t have wild animals in Bree. And,\" he adds in afterthought, lowering his voice. \"That\'s Mistress Blackroot. She\'s a bit fier- uh.\" The words trail off awkwardly.

[Malorie(#28410)] Malorie seems to have little gift for making smoke rings, as her attempts yield almost laughable results. At last, she simply puffs quietly as she moves from sitting cross-legged to stretching her feet out before her. Leaning back, however, she hunches her shoulders uncomfortably and reaches up to unstrap the leather holder that bears her axe. The weapon is laid down at her side, and she sighs as she rests against one of the wagon wheels. The chatter of the others seems to go unnoticed until Boldibad comments about the low moaning sound which emanates from the forest.

\"Probably wolves...\" Malorie says, though she looks wholly unconcerned.

[Lemuel(#30356)] Lemuel continues turning his sausages, and nods at Brandebras. He takes another sausage from his greasy parcel, and sticks it onto the top of his sausage-stick. As he does so, the bottom sausage starts to split. His efforts to save the doomed sausage result only in swearing and Lemuel blowing on his burned thumb, before the sausage itself meets its end in the ash at the bottom of the fire.

The sausage is forgotten, when noises come from the woods. Lemuel turns and looks, peering into the darkness, but his eyes, just turned from the fire, reveal nothing to him. He shakes his head, and says quietly to no-one (or everyone), \"Is it always like this in these parts?\"

[Tym(#16638)]

Thud. Thud. The very ground seems to shudder, the leaves and trees shaking as two tremendous thudding noises cut through the night. Wooooooooooooooo...the wind howls through the trees. Or maybe that\'s \'fooooooooooooooood\'? Have the trees moved closer? Does the wind now sound like a rhythmic breathing of someone congested with a cold?

[Boldibad(#22742)] The ponies suddenly become rather uneasy, backing into each other and making noises of discontent.

And, at the mention of wolves, Thilo, who had just begun to snore, opens his eyes and looks around sleepily. He blinks several times, and picks up his pipe, his grogginess quickly fading, as he looks from face to face to pick up on what\'s going on.

Boldibad glares at Malorie, \"Wolves! Now, that\'s the silliest thing--\" his eyebrows shoot up his forehead as the ground rumbles. \"Wh-what was that?\" he asks uneasily, not daring to look at anything but the others sitting around the fire.

[Boldibad(#22742)] One or two of the Shire-folk at the fire get up and move cautiously back to the wagon.

[Malorie(#28410)] A sneer might be betrayed as Malorie catches snippets of conversations from the others. At any rate, she doesn\'t seem impressed by anything going on around her and purposely remains aloof....

...Until thuds shake the ground and a very long, drawn-out \'howl\' causes the pipe to fall from her mouth. \"Not wolves,\" she says, hurriedly brushing the pipe from her lap as she gets to her feet. \"Get in the wagons!\" she says to those gathered about the campfire. \"Quickly!\"

\"Wolves?\" Brandebras jumps at least a foot at that suggestion, and the reddening of his features fades as the blood drains from his face. He does not even notice the demise of the sausage or the swearing that follows. \"I- I don\'t want to be et,\" he murmurs, staring wide-eyed at the ponies and then at his companions. Suddenly he points to Lemuel. \"They must smell the food! If you hadn\'t cooked those sausages ...\" The words fade and he takes a shuddering breath as Malorie issues orders. \"M-maybe if you threw the food to them,\" he suggests doubtfully, his legs wobbling too much to move yet.

[Lemuel(#30356)] Lemuel has only a brief moment to mourn his lost sausage, when the \'wildlife\' of the area makes itself better known. He rises to his feet rapidly, and grabs his sausage stick, almost as though brandishing it as a weapon. At the suggestions of Brandebras, he murmurs, \"I didn\'t mean any harm, I...I...\"

Lemuel looks towards the shadows from which the noises came, and looking woefully at his stick filled with the Shire\'s finest pork sausages, he hurls it into the darkness, before scrambling in the direction of Malorie.

Thilo finally gets the meaning of what\'s going on and cries, almost a little louder than anyone would have liked, \"Wolves dont shake the ground like that. It\'s trees, or I\'m no Bracegirdle--it\'s walkin\' trees!\" He struggles to get up from his seated position.

[Malorie(#28410)] \"Confound it!\" the Breeguard utters as an oath. \"Stop arguing and get to the wagons!\" Though she barks orders, Malorie\'s face has paled and her hands tremble as she tries to undo the clasp securing her cloak.

Brandebras nods vigorously and takes a few trembling steps toward the Breefolk\'s wagon, shivering uncontrollably. It is then he notices Thilo Bracegirdle - taking a deep breath, he forces his unsteady legs in that direction and holds out a shaking hand toward the older hobbit.

[Lemuel(#30356)]  Lemuel reaches Malorie\'s side, and he wheels around to face the dark trees once more. Breathlessly he says, \"You know what\'s going on here?\" His eyes dart around the darkened woodland ground, but seem not to find what they are looking for.

[Malorie(#28410)] \"Food.\" Leaving the stubborn clasp of her cloak for a moment, Malorie turns to Lemuel and any of the Hobbits standing nearby. \"Get some food...anything. But some meat, too. Hurry!\"

As she tries once more to unclasp the cloak, she utters a very unladylike expletive and simply tears the edges of the cloak until it is free, letting it fall to the ground.

To Lemuel she simply says, in lowered tone, \"It better not be what I think it is,\" as she grabs up the axe and leather holder.

[Boldibad(#22742)] As everyone begins to scurry around, coming close to a state of panic, Boldibad gets to his feet and makes for the wagons. As he approaches the humans, he throws his arms up in excitement, and sputters, \"Not the food! What in the world is a tree going to do with meat and such which we will NEED?!\"

[Tym(#16638)]

\"Fooood.....\" The word is quite clear now, and there is another thud as a large dark form steps just in front of the trees of the forest. Beady little eyes in a gigantic face and body stare at the camp. The thing pounds the ground with one foot, sending a scattering of pebbles down a gentle downhill and toward the camp. Pebbles and small rocks, that is.

The good citizens of the Shire and Bree have little reason to love the Old Forest. It is dark, it is malodorous ... but worst of all is that unseen /something/ out in the trees. First the moaning, then the ground shaking, then ... what? Most folk have followed Malorie\'s direction to hide themselves in the wagon, and do not see the stamper of feet.

Food? Brandebras is shaking like a leaf, but once Thilo\'s up he stumbles over to the Breefolk wagon, calling urgently into it, \"M-Missus Blackroot says to b-b-bring her food.\"

[Malorie(#28410)] \"You can die if you\'d like, instead,\" Malorie snaps in Boldibad\'s direction. She secures the axe and leather holster about her waist--not as it\'s meant to be worn, but far swifter an action than buckling it behind her back. She grabs the cloak back up from the ground and looks warily towards the shifting shadows of the woods.

[Ivera(#16507)] Seeing the wagons, Ivera realizes she hadn\'t been that far behind the hobbitsshe was supposed to travel to Bree with. As she gets a little closer she sees that everyone is scrambling around like crazy. Not quite sure what is going on, she continues toward them. \"Hello?\" she calls out, hoping they weren\'t startled because of her.

[Lemuel(#30356)]  Lemuel finally seems to spot what it was he was looking for, as he darts from Malorie\'s side, and stamps on a stout branch, snapping it in two with a satisfying crunch. He hefts the shorter of the two pieces - about the right size to swing at a ruffian\'s head, if needs be. He returns to Malorie\'s side, and says grimly, \"And I told me lady that nothing ever happened on the road these days. You don\'t s\'pose it\'s a...y\'know...one of them giants, do you?\"

Boldibad\'s eyes go from Malorie\'s to her axe, and he sighs, \"Well, if you can\'t stop a walking tree with that chopper of yours, THEN we\'ll throw or food from the Shirefolk wagon. You big-folk, with your--\" His head turns, then, when the thudding sound returns, and the danger is suddenly obvious. \"By all the farthings,\" he exclaims, \"Throw out the food, hobbits!\" He scrambles toward the back of the Shirefolk wagon. \"Throw out the food! Mr. Thilo--your hunting bow!\"

Thilo gets up with the help of Brandebras and utterly shrieks at the sight of the troll. He makes his way slowly toward the wagons, calling over the ruckus to Boldibad, \"My bow? What good is an arrow going to do against that?\"

Brandebras staggers away from the Bree wagon again with a large round cheese under one arm and a part-eaten ham under the other. \"M-Ma offered some of her b-b-bread but I d-didn\'t think-\" The words fade, and he stares at the trees and what is visible there - or rather, what isn\'t. That dark blot against the trees is definitely man-shaped. Equally definitely, it is far bigger than any Big Person. Almost as big as a house! His face is now the colour of the cheese, and he\'s in no state to answer Ivera.

[Ivera(#16507)] Still oblivious as to what\'s going on, Ivera assumes the hobbits may have just enjoyed a little too much ale this night. She hears a familiar voice and goes over near Boldibad. \"Master Bolger, what\'s going on?\"

[Tym(#16638)]

And a huge paw of a hand comes down to swipe at the offered food. Only Tym, a leering grin on his face, does not stop there--he aims for Brandebras himself, trying to grab -that- particular food. \"Puny man food! I\'ll take a snack instead!\" he roars as he steps forward to try to grab at this tasty morsel.

Tym attacks you with her Club!...

...and she misses!

[Malorie(#28410)] \"It\'s...it\'s not just any food!\" Malorie stutters as the Troll advances, but it\'s too late as the beast takes a swing towards Brandebras.

\"It\'s magic. Magic food! See?\" Malorie shouts, hurriedly moving away from the wagons and the others. She looks at Tym, and swallows hard. \"These Hobbits taste bad, anyway,\" she adds.

An ear-splitting shriek splits the air, something like the whistle of a kettle magnified several times over. As Brandebras sees a huge .. huge .. something, his brain cannot quite cope with the concept of \'hand\' at that scale, travelling toward him, his legs give way entirely. The outstretched paw-hand passes over his prone body, setting up a wind that buffets the hobbit a good few feet further off. He lets out a soft whimper and tries to wriggle away, rather like some small burrowing animal.

The \'magic food\' lies where he had dropped it.

Boldibad moves behind the Shirefolk wagon, and leans in the back. \"Miss Pott! It\'s awful,\" he whispers, wiping sweat from his forehead. \"There\'s something... big out there, and it\'s hurt poor Mr. Bywater. I\'ll say, I think it wants to eat him! Do hand me Mr. Thilo\'s Bow over there. One of those arrows might scare it away, if the big-folk can\'t do anything...\" He backs out and carefully peeks around the corner of the wagon.

[Lemuel(#30356)]  Lemuel wisely drops his makeshift ruffian-beater, and looks fearfully on as Malorie attempts (and seems to fail) at convincing the troll to eat the proffered food in place of the hobbit. Then his courageous (or more likely idiotic) side manifests itself, as Lemuel runs to a nearby tree, and begins hacking at a low hanging leafy branch with his pocket knife.

[Ivera(#16507)]  Puzzled, Ivera pokes her head around the front of the wagon to see just what Boldibad is talking about. \"Something big?\" And then she saw what all the commotion was about. It took everything she had not to turn and run back the way she had came, but she did as she was told and grabbed the bow as fast as she could. Her hands were shaking with fear as she handed it over.

[Tym(#16638)]

\"Magic?\" Tym rubs at his nose nose, snorting, though for the instant, this thought stops him. \"Huuuuuunnnnnngrrrry...\" he growls irritably, and then stoops and picks up the dropped ham. He turns it this way and that, pops it in his mouth, then smiles. \"Still hungry and ....\" he sniffs loudly at the air...\"there\'s food here.\" And by food, if you go by his eyes, he means humans and hobbits. \"Short food...but food.\" That said on looking at the hobbits.

[Malorie(#28410)] It\'s a desperate strategy, to be sure, and even Malorie seems uncertain by it as she edges near the campfire, but she doggedly continues, nodding as the Troll takes the food.

\"You\'ll be full for a whole week if you eat all of it!\" she says encouragingly, though at one point her hand grasps the haft of the axe. \"You\'ll ruin the magic if you eat Hobbits, though...er....or humans,\" she adds.

Tym\'s munching of the ham gives Brandebras a little respite. The hobbit continues to wriggle away and then, regaining a little of his senses, to crawl on all fours. He does not stop until he has reached the Breefolk\'s wagon, which he crawls right underneath, curling up in a terrified ball.

If he\'s lucky someone will get out and lift him into it before long.

Boldibad darts back out of view, pressing himself up against the wagon, when the troll begins looking over the hobbits. Once Ivera arrives, he takes hold of the bow and says, \"Oh! I wish you wouldn\'t have looked, Miss Pott, I wish you wouldn\'t have! The sight of that monster is enough to give a gentlehobbit nightmares for a week--but a lass like you, I can\'t even imagine.\" He takes out one of the arrows, and peeks carefully around the wagon again. \"Oh,\" he groans, \"I should have stayed home. I\'m supposed to be respectable. What happened to good hobbit-sense?\" He swallows hard and watches the goings-on from his place.

[Lemuel(#30356)]  In a stroke of typical Breefolk genius, Lemuel looks desperately over his shoulder as he finishes cutting through the branch - and his poor thumb takes a second wounding tonight, as his knife keeps on going. He swears again, and drops both knife and branch. Seeing Brandebras get away, Lemuel decides he has time, and he begins scrabbling on the ground trying to find the knife in among the mulch on the forest floor.

[Combat(#13388)] Boldibad wields Bow.

[Ivera(#16507)] Unable to move, out of fear, Ivera stares as Boldibad weilds the bow. She then starts looking all around her. \"Do you think it knows I have all this candy,\" she asks motioning towards the boxes she was carrying. \"Do you think I should get rid of it?\"

[Tym(#16638)]

\"Candy?\" Tym cocks his head to one side, repeating the word. \"Only it\'s not looking at Ivera as he says it but at the hobbits, or those that can be seen at the moment. Conveniently, that means Boldibras, who has peered out from behind the wagon. \"Short humans is candy?\" he asks, feet now pounding the earth with ponderous strides toward the wagon and the \"candy.\"

[Malorie(#28410)] Malorie rolls her eyes as the Troll is distracted. Judging by the beads of sweat that have gathered on her forehead, she fears her ideas for luring Tym away have failed.

But Malorie is nothing if not stubborn, and as her hand draws back to curl around the axe\'s handle--knuckles whitening--she tries one more verbal feint to turn the Troll away. \"You\'ll ruin the magic!\" she calls out. \"Them hobbits have been eating mewgrass, anyway...and they\'ll taste something awful!\"

[Combat(#13388)] Malorie quickly and easily slips her woodcutter\'s axe from its leather holder and molds her grip to the wooden handle.

[Boldibad(#22742)] As the troll\'s interest moves to the Shirefolk wagon, the discovered hobbit with the bow, steps back a few paces, and fixes the arrow. With quivering hands, he pulls the arrow back on the bowstring, and holds it there. \"Sir,\" he hisses toward Lemuel, who isn\'t far from him in search of his knife. \"That creature is coming this way! You\'ve got to do something!\" He steps forward again and leans against the wagon, still holding his aim with shaking arms. When he hears Malorie\'s attempts to fool the troll, he seems to forget their troubles for the briefest of moments, \"What? Mewgrass!\" And, he accidentally lets his arrow fly, even though Malorie is in the path of the projectile.

Boldibad launches an arrow...

Boldibad\'s arrow flies wide, doing no harm.

[Lemuel(#30356)]  Lemuel steals another quick glance, and sees the troll bearing down on the poor little person under the wagon. He takes in Boldibad\'s appeal, and nods. He forlornly abandons his search for his knife, and takes up the branch he has just cut off. He sucks the blood from his thumb, then spits, and sets a grim expression upon his face. He runs brazenly toward the fire, keeping the fire between him and the troll, then starts to wave his branch in the air, and shouting, \"Hey, you, I ate three dinners yesterday, and I ain\'t even a short person!\"

Boldibad adds, \"Yes, Miss Ivera, I would get rid of that candy!\"

[Ivera(#16507)] Ivera doesn\'t know what else to do besides throw down her candy packages and move away from them. She keeps quiet, hoping the troll still hadn\'t realized that she was even there, and she moves behind where Boldibad fired the arrow from. \"Did you hit it?\" she asks as she sees Lemuel light his branch ablaze. \"Is he out of his mind? \"

[Tym(#16638)]

\"Lies,\" Tym scowls. That is, if something so big and ugly can actually scowl. Still, Malorie\'s efforts have turned the olog\'s attention from the hobbit and wagon toward the Breeguard woman. \"No magic food. Unless the short humans...\" He turns his beady eyes around the camp, searching for the \'treats.\' \"BUt I\'ll take human better...bigger, more meat.\" ANd with that he steps decidedly toward Malorie, hesitating a moment as Lemuel dances and calls. \"Hrmmmm....\" the troll rumbles. But he steps toward Malorie, a hand trying to snatch at her.

Tym attacks Malorie with her Bare Hands and mildly wounds her!

[Malorie(#28410)] As Boldibad launches an arrow, Malorie sees the shaft fly harmlessly by. Her eyes widen, and if harm might be conferred by a glance, certainly the offending hobbit would smart from the sting.

But soon she has another annoyance to contend with as Lemuel lights his branch and taunts the Troll.

\"What ARE you doing?\" Malorie says, distracted long enough to turn her gaze from the troll.

Though not long, this distraction serves to allow Tym to make a snatch for her, and Malorie finds herself roughly cuffed and cupped by the brute beast\'s huge hand.

It\'s not really a graceful swipe she makes in return--only able to chop at the troll\'s arm with a one-handed motion. But, considering that the troll has a grasp upon her, it\'s all that Malorie can do in an instant.

Malorie attacks Tym with her Axe!...

...and she misses!

Boldibad winces as he watches the arrow fly, and seems somewhat relieved that his shot was too far off to hit the human, even though it had no chance of hitting the troll. He gasps, \"Miss Pott! I don\'t mean to be rude, but... perhaps you should have thrown the candy farther, why it\'s right outside the wagon!\" He pulls back behind the wagon and looks around, worry all over his face. He calls to the humans, \"Do something!\"

[Ivera(#16507)] Slightly embarassed, Ivera makes a run for the candy. \"I\'m sorry, I\'m sorry,\" is all she keeps repeating as she makes her way for the packages. Not sure wether to pick them up or move them further away, she kicks them as hard as she can into the bushes, hoping not to have caught the attention of the troll. \"Master Bolger, do you think we should run for more help?\"

[Lemuel(#30356)]  \"Oy, you!\" shouts Lemuel, as loud as he can manage, \"Can\'t you hear me? That lady ain\'t going to be tasty, is she? Me on the other hand, I\'m a big strapping fellow, good and tasty. What\'s the matter, are you scared of me?\" His bravado, shrinks somewhat after the clout taken by Malorie: \"Er...\" he pauses, but then regathers himself, and shouts, \"That\'s it, isn\'t it? You\'re too scared of a bloke like me, so your taking on a girl and the hobbits!\"

\"Slippery nasty food!\" Tym grunts in frustration as the woman attacks with her axe. He twsits out of the way, but it makes him lose his grip on her, and one big paw of a hand now comes down toward Malorie\'s head as if the troll is trying to club his dinner to submission. The blow might be somewhat softened by Lemuel\'s distraction again, as Tym turns toward the taunts. \"You...soon...Tym hungry. No food here for days. Yellow thing...too much.\"

Tym attacks Malorie with Bare Hands...

[Combat(#13388)->Tym]

The attack against Malorie mildly wounds her!

[Malorie(#28410)] \"Okay, it wasn\'t mewgrass,\" Malorie grunts as the troll still has her in its grip , wincing as the clout from the creature has left her bruised. The twisting movement of the troll releases the Breeguard, who spurs away a step or two as she insults, \"It was bearbristle, you Oaf!!\"

But even as she grasps the the axe two-handed, Malorie hasn\'t time to even face the troll as its clubbing hand swats her alongside the head.

\"Oof!\" The Breeguard crumples to the ground, stunned and motionless.

[Boldibad(#22742)] As Ivera throws the candy, Boldibad hesitantly inches away from the wagon, moving closer to the forest. \"So far, it seems we\'re safe, as long as those Bree-humans keep it interested.. It\'d be best if we all went back together, in case more of these things are out there. I think, if we can hit it with a rock to the eye, or an arrow under the skin, it might just find us too much trouble to... well, to do whatever terrible thing it might feel like doing with us.\" He puts another arroe to the bow, and aims somewhere around the upper half of the troll\'s body, his arm beginning to quiver again, from the stress of the situation and of holding back the bowstring. \"Look out, Bree-folk!\" he calls, and lets the string go with. At the last moment, however, he closes his eyes and his arm moves slightly.

Boldibad launches an arrow...

Boldibad\'s arrow flies wide, doing no harm.

[Lemuel(#30356)]  Seeing Malorie collapse into a heap, Lemuel is stunned for a moment, but his courage (madness) quickly returns. He gives one more shout, \"That does it, you\'re for it now, you big oaf!\" With that he plunges the leafy end of his branch into the fire, and runs directly toward the troll, hoping to stick the brightly burning branch in the troll\'s face. Unfortunately for Lemuel, leafy branches do not burn that way: instead he has a smoky branch which is all smoke and charcoal by the time he gets to the troll. He says, quietly, \"Oh bugger.\"

[Ivera(#16507)] Taking Boldibad\'s advice, Ivera begins looking around for a rock big enough to do damage, but not so big that she won\'t be able to throw it. As she finds the perfect size rock, she bends over to pick it up and realizes the humans aren\'t being of much help, and she becomes even more frightened. \"Should I throw this, Master Bolger, or just stay hidden? I\'m afraid we can\'t rely on the big folk, and we need to do something here.\"

Dinner, distracted. Just as Tym is leaning over the fallen Malorie to pick up tonight\'s fast food, here comes a crazed side dish, flambe, even. \"Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!\" The sound of a troll screaming in sudden, irrational fear of fire is enough to shatter eardrums. Malorie is forgotten. Tym stumbles backward, looking right, left...and then running, or shambling, at the least, right toward the wagon as if to shelter in or underneath it somehow!

[Malorie(#28410)] Stunned momentarily, Malorie comes to her senses rather quickly, though is slower to find her strength. When she looks up, she shakes her head and blinks, then sits up. Her axe is easy to grasp once to her knees, and with a forward glance she shoves herself to her feet, following on the heels of the troll.

Boldibad lowers the bow and begins shuffling backwards, away from the wagon. \"Yes, I think you may be right, Miss Pott,\" he says. \"I don\'t think this bow is working right, anyhow. The, er, string is too loose.\" He speaks more and more quickly as he goes, \"You\'d better get away from there!\" The small group of Shirefolk come out of hiding and get clear of the area, and Thilo tumbles out of the back and crawls off the side of the road in a panic.

[Lemuel(#30356)]  Lemuel gives a whoop, as the troll scampers away. Triumphantly brandishing what is by now a mere blackened stub of a branch, he gives chase. In the darkness, he fails to notice a pack lying on the ground - the pack which catches his foot and sends him sprawling headlong towards the nearest wagon wheel. After the sickening crunch of skull-on-wood, Lemuel knows nothing more of the night.

[Ivera(#16507)] Picking up the rock she found, Ivera throws it as hard as she can at the troll, who was running towards her at this point. It lands with a thud somewhere around the trolls mid section, and she doubts it was even noticed.

The little rock that Ivera throws does hit, doing no damage--except that the troll is already in a state of panic, somehow, over a bit of fire. The rock strike sets it into a frenzy so that the beast blindly heads straight tworad the hobbit wagon--unaware that the fire-wielding Lemuel behind him has tripped and the flame is out. If someone doesn\'t stop or distract Tym, he is liable to run right through the wagon, crushing it to tiny bits, likely.

[Malorie(#28410)] Not having run more than a few paces, Malorie halts as Lemuel stumbles over a pack in the darkness. And there...next to the pack and the unconscious Breelander....the Breeguard\'s own cloak, removed earlier!

Dropping her axe, the young woman wraps the cloak about the pack as she backtracks towards the campfire and touches the bundled garment to the fire, hurling it as heartily and as quickly as she can towards the troll...

[Combat(#13388)] Malorie unwields the axe and sets the black-metal blade back into its leather holder.

Boldibad continues backing away still, but as Thilo Bracegirdle begins waving his arms and shouting rapidly something about a pipeweed shipment, he steps forward again and produces a third arrow. \"You are the one who knows how to use a bow, Thilo,\" he says bitterly. He nocks the arrow and pulls back, letting the string twang quickly, without as much concentration as he should have applied. The arrow is shot right after the flaming object is thrown by Malorie. Immediately afterward, he drops the bow and moves as if to make a run for it.

Boldibad launches an arrow...

Boldibad\'s bowshot hits Malorie, mildly wounding her.

[Ivera(#16507)] Seeing Boldibad make a run for it, Ivera is at a loss for what to do. She looks around for another rock to throw, but realizing how little her last attempt helps, she decides to run as well. Clumsy as always though, she barely turns around before she stumbles and falls to the ground. Instead of getting up and trying to run again, she thinks it safer to crawl quickly back to the wagon and take shelter huddled up behind the wheel. Little did she know, the wagon was more than likely headed for a disastrous end itself.

[Combat(#13388)] Boldibad unwields Bow.

Flaming balls of fire, or seemingly so arrows archign through teh fire: It\'s all too much for Tym suddenly. The ground shakes under his feet as he moves his oversized body as fast as he can toward the nearest route to safety: Which happens to be, in this case, -through- one of the wagons.

Crack! Splinter!! Crrrrrack!!!

Pieces of wood fly every which way--the troll not knowing and not caring who might be in the wagon that it is overrunning. And if he can, Tym now disappears into the dark safety of the tree.

[Malorie(#28410)] Malorie\'s just doing her job, after all. No wonder it should exact a price?

For moments after the unfortunate Breeguard hurls the flaming backpack-as-missile towards the retreating troll, she feels a sharp sting to her shoulder.

\"Ouch!\" she cries involuntarily, the force of the arrow forcing her a step back as she recoils from the pain. Lodged in her upper left shoulder, the arrow\'s wound is not enough to send her to the ground, however, and she watches in horror as the troll plows straight through the wagon towards the forest.

Boldibad didnt seem to notice where his arrow landed in his movement down the road. Upon hearing the smashing sound, he turns and realizes what has happened. \"Miss Pott!\" he exclaims, just as Thilo cries, \"My pipeweed!\" As the troll moves in toward the trees, Boldibad begins to make his way back toward the wagons, approaching Malorie.

[Ivera(#16507)] Trapped under some of the wagon rubble, Ivera is still, possibly unconscious.

All that is left of the troll is a howling sound that follows him into the woods...and likely continues off and on throughout the night, sometimes closer, sometimes further away.

[Malorie(#28410)] Looking slightly dazed, Malorie presses her right hand upon her shoulder, where a bright blooming of blood makes a small circle upon her shirt about the arrow\'s shaft. \"Who shot me?\" the Breeguard wonders, catching her breath and swallowing hard.

But her gaze is pulled towards the wagon, and she looks sickened to behold the troll\'s destruction. \"See if there are any wounded,\" she breathes, her gaze falling upon Boldibad.

Boldibad peers at Malorie\'s shoulder and then glances up at her. \"Yes, Miss Pott was behind the wagon when the monster attacked it--your human friend over there appears to be dead. The whole thing is a disaster! The pipeweed is probably destroyed, as well as this expensive wagon.\" He puts his face in his hands and shakes his head. \"I never should have left the Shire.\"

[Malorie(#28410)] Where Malorie\'s gaze had softened before, it now turns steeled with determination as Boldibad speaks.

\"Stop it!\" she says, wincing. \"There\'s work to be done and a troll out beyond these woods. Make yourself useful now or march yourself back to The Shire!\" The next is a murmured oath. \"I\'ll not risk my life protecting cowards.\"

She pauses a moment, then says, \"Are there healers among us?\" Her gaze drops back to her injured shoulder.

[Ivera(#16507)] As she started to come to, Ivera could feel nothing but pain in her leg. She had been knocked unconscious for a minute, and as she came to, noticed a rather large piece of wood pierced through her calf. Not knowing the troll had gone, she still tried to be quiet, and just laid where she was and cried.

Boldibad begins to go on about a ham, when Malorie\'s words sink in. He glares up at her, and says, \"A troll, eh? Well, I would march back to the Shire, but those things might be out there. And... well, seeing as how this is just about you Bree-folks\' fault, I suppose it is your responsibility to guide us to Bree and see to the repair of our wagon!\"

Thilo goes over to the remains of the wagon cautiously. He seems to be looking for barrels of pipeweed, but first finds Ivery and kneels down. \"Are you alright, lass?\" he asks. He glances at her leg, and calls to the others, \"I found young Miss Pott--she needs help!\"