Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeNotCharles" data-source="post: 5707238" data-attributes="member: 79945">To your surprise, Glóin cracks open the seal and scans the scrolls contents himself. "Good," he says, "Now all but one have responded. Please thank your king in the name of mine for his acceptance of our invitation." He stands and bows from the waist, beard brushing the table.  He sits again and sits pensively for a moment."To the rest of you, I apologize for having little time to devote right now to ordinary matters of trade. My time is consumed with preparations for the celebration to be held at the Lonely Mountain this fall. This year is the fifth anniversary of the Battle of Five Armies, and we are expecting travellers from across the land to come to Dale to join the great feast and harvest revels.What is not so well known is that while King Brand's people host the common folk, King Dain intends to host the wise.  Members of each of the four allied peoples will meet beneath the Lonely Mountain to take council for the future of this land.  King Dain of the Dwarves and King Brand of the Men of Dale will attend, of course, along with many chieftains of other human folk, and we just now," he nods towards the scroll delivered by Vardolas, "Have learned that King Thranduil of the Elves will also personally join our conclave.  We have taken to calling it the Gathering of Five Armies, although of course we don't intend to invite the goblins of the mountains!  Only one of the four armies that fought on our side has not been heard from...Last week, my cousin Balin son of Fundin left the Mountain with a companion.  He was meant to personally deliver a formal invitation to the Lord of the Eagles to join the gathering.  They planned to go south along the Running River, to investigate the conditions of the Old Forest Road and possibly traverse it, now that the threat of goblins has been greatly reduced.  But I grew filled with foreboding about their errand, and called on our friends the ravens of the Mountain.  Hraf son of Hrabin, a noble bird of great cunning, immediately answered my call and flew over their route, but found no sign of them.  It is as though they've been swallowed by the marshes.I am filled with fear for my friend Balin and his mission.  But alas, I have too few helpers here to mount a search.  My son Gimli bravely volunteered, but I have too many tasks I rely on him here for.  I had thought to send these two messengers, Orin and Borin, but I worried that this was too dangerous - whatever befell the first pair of dwarves might easily swallow two more.  But I had nobody else to send.Until now!  I remember well when I set out with many companions on our great quest to drive the dragon from the Lonely Mountain.  The turning point that guaranteed our success was when we recruited a humble hobbit, and he proved to have a worth equal to any of us.  And now, when I am most in need of aid, I find two of that fearless race in my office!Hobnob and Riggins of the Shire, will you accept my charge, and join these two dwarves in following Balin's footsteps to discover what has become of him and his companion, and the message they bear?"He notices Kurin still waiting quietly for his turn and raises an eyebrow at him. "Or perhaps, three dwarves?  Another strong axe would be a blessing, and you'd be well rewarded."  He pointedly refrains from looking at the elves while calling for aid.[ooc]Anybody making an Insight 12 roll - or invoking a Trait that would help with reading a Dwarf's manner - can read the following block.  With an extraordinary success, you may also read the block labelled "Insight (Extraordinary)".[/ooc][sblock=Insight]Glóin is even more worried than he is letting on - he is struggling to hold back a profound fear.[/sblock][sblock=Insight (Extraordinary)]Whenever he pauses for thought, Glóin glances towards a set of framed portraits on his desk. One is of himself, the other is his son Gimli (the red bearded dwarf who showed you in), and the other is a dwarf with a marked resemblance to Glóin, but with a single pointed beard showing even more streaks of white.  The portrait is labelled, "Óin".You realize that this must be the companion who went with Balin, and Gimli must be exceptionally worried about the fate of his brother.[/sblock]</blockquote>

Verification