A Consultation on the Bridge

After sunset, the Elves gathered to assess the problem. The plant Arradril had found at the water's edge had turned black from the inside, not the outside -- indeed, it looked almost as if it had died of sheer despair, if such a thing were possible. The friends quickly agreed that the blighted plants and the reports of sickness must be related, and perhaps the corruption was waterborne, as horrible a thought as this was. More investigation was needed, and the group decided to make for the small encampment known as Gaerond.