[Ransom]

While poison was generally considered a somewhat cowardly way to bump an opponent off, both Thagon and Leena had had some experience with the use and acquisition of such contraband. In the knight’s case, a certain stubborn ambassador from Umbar had mysteriously fallen ill after spending a night in a inn a day’s travel from Minas Anor. While the poor man had recovered, the king had prevailed on the less experience deputy to grant certain trade concessions. He secretly suspected that Leena used it somewhat more frequently, but it was not a normal conversational topic. The knight was somewhat curious about the use of a poisoned arrow. Either the archers knew that their victims didn’t wear armor, or had never considered that they might come to the attention of the White Tower. Whatever poison the bandits had used, it certainly didn’t kill quickly. Perhaps they were trying to terrorize the villagers before some sort of assault?

In all honesty, Thagon didn’t have much hope for the continued survival of the village. It certainly hadn’t been designed for a siege, and the steady depopulation of the town seriously hampered the possibility that fieldworks could be erected in time. Perhaps the best course of action would be to call for reinforcements and smash the foe in open battle, but no one seemed to know any sort of useful information. All the Gondorian had been able to glean from the scant scraps of news was that the enemies in question weren’t very well armed. At the moment, the best he could hope for was to capture a prisoner for interrogation. He made a mental note to suggest such a move to Laurel when things quieted down.

[ May 26, 2003: Message edited by: Ransom ]