A Travel Journal - Annuminas’s Search Leads To Forochel

Entry 3

What a night ! What a fight ! So  as the sun was setting on Lake Evendim yesterday Hubbald and I  were finally able to wear our new armors  that were specially made for us by a man from Rohan as a ‘thank you’ gift for our charity work. With the armor we also received an invitation to visit his home in Rohan one day, oh that would be so  lovely to see such a place we heard so much about in  travelers tales.

Anyway the armors are lovely, we also wore hoods to cover our faces at night and took a boat to reach the outskirts of Annuminas as the sun was setting behind the mountains. Quietly and unseen we started climbing the hills above the city and from there scouted the roads below. Oh my, the place is filled with these Angmarims fellows and they do not look friendly, not the sort of people you want to invite for tea and muffins. Heavily  guarded , the entrance gates of the city were to represent a bit of a challenge even for two small hobbits at night but we was not to turn back and go home because of that.  With our hearts pounding , holding our weapons, we sneaked silently as close as we could get to the gates when we was spotted by a guard on patrol...we had no choice, we had to fight our way past them gates.  Oh that was a scary moment but we made it through and found a hiding place behind a pile of rubble where we rested for a few moments trying to prepare ourselves  for  what was to come.

Moving forward,we reached  an opening and stood next to a column, and there, just in front of us , standing around a fire we noticed a group of shady looking men and overheard them …”Siridan” , we had found the fellow we was looking for but it was not going to be easy with  so many of them against two hobbits with a tiny dagger and a small club.  Then something happened....suddenly, out of nowhere a hobbit wearing black  and holding two sharp blades appeared, and started taking out the  guards around the fire, little time to think for us, we run forward and took on Siridan. The fellow started yelling at us ‘Fight On! Fight On!’ well, we  did because he was not in a mood for a chat.  When Siradan finally felt to his passing , I looked around trying to find the hobbit in black but I could not see  anyone.  Frantically we searched the body of the man for the pendant ...no Shire Rose, only a bunch of papers that Hubbald grabbed  quickly before we heard the screams  of guards running towards us, the alarm had been raised...it was time to escape or die.

-RUUUUUUN! THEY ARE COMING!

We started running  , there was no other way...we jumped into the water and started swimming as fast as we could as some archers were shooting at us from the ledge.After what seemed hours, we finally  reached a safe hidden place, and there we rested for a few moment. Hubbald was complaining of a sore back, and no wonder..he had two arrows wedged in his armor-plate.  The Rohan’s armor had saved his life, although one of the two arrows did manage to open a small wound on his back.  After taking out the arrows  and using some of Yule special ointment on the wound, we sat there for a while, eating an apple and trying to read them papers with no luck.  

Those markings and letters did look really strange and we could not make any sense of them so we decided to  take them back to Tinnudir and ask the rangers to help.  We went back in the water  and started swimming out of the city at night, it was the only way. The lights of Tinnudir in the distance we swam  for what to me seemed like hours. our arms and legs burning, running out of breath  but determined to make it. Hubbald kept looking at me, making sure I was fine. Tired, wet and cold we  reached the shore in front of the keep and collapsed on the soft sand, gasping for air.

Safe at last, after changing in dry clothes , a muffin and a cup of of hot tea, we went to show the ranger Calenglad them papers we found.  ‘ Sorry hobbits, I can’t read Black Speech, but there is a dwarf named Farald in Ost Forod that can. You better go and see him. ‘ I have no idea what Black Speech is, but I am sure of one thing....I dont like it ! It was time to leave Tinnudir.  On the road again, heading to Ost Forod...a strange place filled with rude and grumpy men.  the dwarf Farald  we did find by the Inn - after a bottle of wine and a few silver coins he kindly agreed to translate the papers for us.  

Those papers turned out to be a cargo list   to a fellow called Roibeard  in....ooh my, in Forochel ! Amongst other things  on the list  this : Elven Locket ( Magically Sealed?)  Shire Rose in Forochel ! As it seems the pendant is running away from us , like if it had a will of its own, yet follow it we must.  Wearing our warmest clothes and after packing extra supplies and fur blankets, we left Ost Forod at night , heading north in the mountains.  The land of ice and snow , Forochel ! As we climbed to the snow-covered mountain pass the air became colder. Wolves howling in the forests, the north wind blowing in our faces, snow falling.  We spent the night by a fire in a place called Kauppa-kohta, cuddling under the fur blankets to keep warm. Today we will ride to Sûri-kylä  , the main Lossoth town in Forochel, there we plan to ask more about Roibeard to the local chief...ooh and we also decided we will play again some lovely  new music we have  for the locals and visitors alike tonight....ooh will be lovely.
 

Hobbit Heart’s Music by the camp-fire - Sûri-kylä , Forochel , August 16

(8pm BST - 9pm CET)