Middle Earth [TA 2997]: The Phantom of the Northern Marches

[Festy_Dog]

Antroine looks up the opposite slope, slightly puzzled.

"Watcha mean?" he asks Breor.

 

[Inez Hull]

Actions?

 

[rangerjohn]

Arathorn motions for the group to follow, as he continues to follow the light. Always looking out for danger as he goes.

 

[ferretguy]

"Watcha mean?" he asks Breor.

"Well it stays just out of reach, teasing us....perhaps it is waiting for us to tire before attacking" replys Breor

 

[Inez Hull]

The company grit their collective teeth, steel their nerves and continue following the pulsing lights. As before, they continue to flash in and out, disappearing for a moment then returning, but ever leading you on northward through the gorge. The gorge walls gradually steepen and after you have travelled for perhaps twenty minutes of cautious pursuit, the rangers guess that you must be in much the same position as where the lights crossed over to the other side of the gorge before. The lights stop moving and sit eerily throbbing and glowing a fey greenish blue in the middle of the gorge not sixty feet from you. You exchange uncertain looks, contemplating what to to do next now that you are where the lights were seemingly leading you. When suddenly the lights wink out once more....

Breor:

Spoiler

You see movement further down the gorge just after the phantom lights disappeared. It was quick and you are not sure what it was, only that it appeared to move away and then....up!

Only moments after the lights have disappeared the party hears sounds from overhead at the top of the gorge. A pebble bounces down the steep sides of the gorge, kicking up loose dirt onto the party, but none is bothered for their attention is instantly transfixed on the low rumble overhead of a rockslide.

 

[Festy_Dog]

"It really musn't like us!" Antroine says, trying to retreat out of the vicinity of the rockslide.

 

[rangerjohn]

Arathorn also tries to back quickly out of the way.

 

[ferretguy]

"Damn" whistling for Grey, Breor quickly moves back down the gorge away from the sudden rockslide.

 

[Inez Hull]

The party scatters, seeking shelter from the falling rocks, but the fall is relatively short and their is little time to get away. The rocks tumble down with an overwhelming, shuddering roar, blocking out all sound and sight of the night sky. Antroine and Arathorn are under the worst of the fall but both react cannily, throwing themselves against the side of the gorge. Arathorn escapes the worst of the fall taking 13 damage (saved for half) and Antroine's natural grace and spatial sense navigates him harmlessly through with nothing more than a few bruises (save made with evasion, fortunately as it was by far the highest damage roll). The others catch the fringes of the rockfall but the rocks are hard and fast nonetheless. Artos takes 19 damage, Breor 18 damage and Valandil 16 damage (all failed saves but damage rolls were much less). Breor's warning to Grey sees his wolf friend streak out through the rockfall but take a painfull blow on the hip as she emerges. The dust slowly settles allowing you to see by the light of moon and stars. You realise that the scope of the rockfall was quite significant and obviously not natural. You are all quite bruised and battered, several of you nursing possible fractures with the exception of the bewildered looking Gondorian who has even managed to retain his still smoking pipe.

 

[Manzanita]

Valandil

Valandil's lips tighten in a smile. "It seeks not to avoid us, but to kill us. And it seems to possess some physical form. Enough to move large rocks. And it can either move with extreem rapidity, or there's more than one of it. Let us make our way back, our of avalanch danger." He lowers his voice to whisper to the gathered group. "We must set a trap for it." He then checks the party over. "Does anyone need healing right now?"