November 6, 2965…

The Prancing Pony was already bustling with activity, as people came to the tavern to enjoy their food and drink, for breakfast. Some of them spoke of the storm and the rain and how it had impacted their crops, while others spoke in hushed, murmured tones about the “altercation” that they’d heard about that happened outside the Prancing Pony. Some spoke of a robbery, some spoke of several people getting into a fight, the story varied and changed, each time it was told; but one thing was agreed upon, Bree wasn’t as safe as it used to be and something was in the air – the storm was evidence of that.

In truth, in November, it frequently rained in Bree. As a matter of fact, that was common during this season. But the people of Bree are sometimes superstitious and create possibilities that simply do not exist.

Hobart was awake, seated at the table they had sat at night before, his feet kicked up on another chair, sipping at a drink. Fay came out of her room next, looking more exhausted than rested, the pounding thunder throughout the night, causing her to jump throughout the night. She was thankful to see that both the rain and thunder had stopped in the morning – this should make their travel more bearable.

Fay covered her mouth as she attempted to stifle a yawn. “Good morning. If we’re setting out soon, know I have never traveled far out of Bree, but I will try to help where I can.”

Maethordan stepped inside the Prancing Pony, having come in from the outside. He saw his companions, “Lodin is out in the stable with his horse.”

Lodin was in the stable, running his hands through Dolly’s mane. “Sorry about the rain and thunder last night.” Dolly huffed and stomped her hoof on the ground once. Lodin laughed, he knew that meant that no mere thunderstorm was going to shake the spirit of Dolly. “It’s good to hear,” he laughed, and patted her on the head before returning to the Prancing Pony and joining his comrades at the table for breakfast.

Barnabas Butterbur approached, genuinely concerned. “I know you’re all leaving on that business you have,” he whispered, keeping his voice low. “Do be careful. It can be dreadful out on the road, especially for friends of Master Gandalf. You all have a free room here, whenever you might return. And I am sorry about that business with the twins and Lenny. I should have caught that sooner, I should have!”

Waiting for Barnabas to leave, Lodin looked to Maethordan and the others and whispered, “Speaking of those three - Where do you suppose is the most likely for those scoundrels to have hidden those weapons? Do you think the wilds, or somewhere near the road?"

Maethordan looked grimly at them, "We will have to  leave that to the captain of the Wardens, Percy. Gandalf asked me to bring you to Weathertop and I will. We must move quickly as there are Goblins to the north of the road in the marshes due east of here."

Lodin nodded, "I understand your urgency – one should not keep Gandalf waiting, but even he would probably say to not let problems to fester. We may have a much bigger problem on our hands later if we don't deal with it now. Looking for a hidden cache while we travel will not slow us down. If we find it, we can quickly rehide it and deal with it later. If we don't find it, so be it."

Maethordan looked at Lodin, and replied, "We will be following the south side of the road to avoid the goblins in the north. Please do not move too far away from our route."

“That eases my mind,” Lodin smiled as he packed the last of his belongings, tightly into his bag. “This time of year I wouldn't want to be caught in open country if the first snowstorm blows in. I do not expect us to roam the wilds or downs, only to keep an active eye out. No harm in being vigilant, but Captain Skyhawk asked us to report to him if we find evidence of the weapons.”

Traveling along the Great Eastern Road leaving Bree, the first night of travel had been easy, if not muddy, from the endless rain. Hobart had managed to find a boar to kill, providing for three days more of meat on the road.

While Lodin had been scouting, he kept an eye out for this wagon of weapons the ruffians had mentioned, but it would seem if there was evidence of it – last night’s rainfall may have washed it away (or it wasn’t along this road that it was hidden).

The second day of travel saw the rain return. The rain had come down gently at first, but it was not long before it had come down so hard, that visibility was hampered, and moving through the well-traveled path that was normally harden dirt, now seemed to be no better than the Midgewater Marshes to the north, as the mud seemed to clasp and hold onto their boots, as if doing everything it could to slow them down. That second night, when they camped, it was unclear if the thunder had rattled Fay, but she swore all night, she could hear things moving through the brush and swore she heard howls to the south.

November 8, 2965…

Event – Look-Out – Mishap – Fatigue DC +2

Fellowship Points:

4 (1 per player) + 2 (Gandalf) = 6

Fellowship Bonus: Gandalf

You can spend a Fellowship point to roll an additional d20 after a saving throw (but before the outcome is determined), and choose which of the d20s is used.

Eye Awareness: 2

Maethordan – Guide

Are we keeping the rest the same?

Fay on Look-Out

Lodin on Scout

Hobart on Hunter

Hobart is next alphabetically – roll me a d4 to determine the next leg of the adventure’s weather – 

1 = Hard rain fall (where you guys are)

2 = Rain fall (normal)

3 = Light rain fall

4 = Rain stops. 

Feel free to RP what you guys might have said during Day 1 and Day 2, if you want. I will feed it into the next post, as needed.

Side note, Fay had messaged me about the character being afraid of thunder/lightning, so I used that for the Mishap (and so great that Fay rolled for Hard Rain, so that really made he Mishap seem natural)