@Tapewyrm
Mail Message Number 19 (Message ID #: 16075)
FROM: Lotharc - Mon Apr 21 22:54:21 2025
SUBJECT: MIRKWOOD: Fight on the Mountain
TO: (Dlnews) (Rhov-rp)
MESSAGE: ---------------------------------------------------------------------
A dark night fell across the Mountains of Mirkwood, where mists are wont to gather and hang over the mountain slopes. So it was that the soldiers of Dale, the expedition to locate the dread fortress of Sarn Goriwing, found themselves barely able to see ten feet in front of them as they scaled the steep paths which lead up the slopes. Lieutenant Margon (LO) called a halt to the march while a scouting force led by Mastiff of the Royal Wardens (LO) was sent to find the summit, and upon their return they had grim tidings. Reporting back to DAVEED, LOTHARC and Balder (GAVVING), among others, it was revealed by the veteran Warden that they had encountered wargs near the summit, and that these beasts were ridden by orcs!
An alarming turn of events, this prompted Margon to order the King's Men to reach and hold the summit itself, hoping for a more defensible position should they fall under attack. So it was that the Bardings arrived at the famous falls of the Gulduin, known elsewise as the Enchanted River, and there the mists finally parted to reveal the black spire of an evil looking fortress to the east; the Northmen had found their quarry at last...
However, this was not a happy discovery, for even as they gazed upon the towers of the foul stronghold, they were assailed once more by a party of warg-riders under their captain Vortag (LO), and battle commenced by the thundering falls. Balder and Lotharc charged forth to do battle with the riders, and Vortag was forced to fight off both of them, even as the riders fired shot after shot into the Barding ranks. Daveed was not idle, likewise sending arrows back into the midst of the orcs, and at least one wolf-like mount was felled by the map-maker's bow; Mastiff ran to his side as an orc closed for slaughter, and the pair dispatched him deftly, before looking back to the carnage.
Vortag had by now suffered a couple of cuts from Balder and Lotharc, but there also had grown the sound of horns in the east, and the rumor was swiftly approaching of a larger uruk force from the fortress. So it was that Margon ordered a retreat before the fresh orcs could arrive, however the path downhill was yet swamped in mist, and offered a hazardous route under pressure for the Northmen as they contemplated their plight. In the end the lieutenant spotted another trail leading northward, further up, and bid the soldiers head thither.
This led the taskforce to the very summit of the mountain itself, a bald bluff surrounded by shadow wherein the Gulduin is sourced before its black waters cut their way down the mountainside; there Balder stopped to have a subordinate remove an arrowhead from his flesh. A dead end, it seemed, until Lotharc and Daveed were called to examine the north face of the mountain, finding that the path of the river might be followed by foot. It was then that a cackle of cruel laughter was heard from the watching spire of the stronghold, and so after some hasty deliberations the commanders chose to take their chances with the north face. With the Royal Wardens charting their course, the force of King's Men slowly made their way down the opposite side of the darkened peaks, hopefully to safety. At least, for the time being.
How will the Northmen escape their predicament? What size of enemy has been roused by the soldiers and their expedition? Will any of them make it out of this alive? RP is going to get you some answers...
RP Log: https://dale-lands.weebly.com/fight-on-the-mountain.html
