[Legate of Amon Lanc]

The sunlight glistened on the green leaves of the trees, the bees buzzed in the air, warm wind blew from the south and the four Wizards stood by a swift mountain brook running merrily down the slope and discussed their position.
"It is very good, my friends," said one of them. "The foolish trolls won't even notice us. They are really not very bright."
"Less than bright," the second one agreed. "But still it won't go as easily as we thought. As long as there are enough of those who have only a bit of wit left, they will not stay outside until dawn, even if they are arguing like mad."
"Alas, not," said the third Wizard. "But perhaps if there are less of them, who can tell? We might try to lessen their numbers, few by few, until only the dumbest group is left, such a group that will argue until dawn and turn into stone."
"Then we should start by eliminating the most dangerous ones," said the fourth Wizard. "Have you noticed one of them looking around strangely? That one who was supposed to bring food?"
"Leg?" the second Wizard asked. "True, he has bigger head than is good for him, possibly. It does not mean he will be more clever, though."
"Or the leader, Lom," the fourth Wizard continued. "As long as the trolls have a leader, she can always put them in line."
"That is a good point," said the first Wizard. "As long as there is one will behind these creatures, we can never trick them into staying up outside until dawn."
"It's settled, then," said the third Wizard. "We must act, and quick!"

So it happened that Leg was very surprised when another troll woke him up in the middle of the day.
"What's up?" he asked, but the other troll only gestured to the entrance. Grunting and grumbling, he followed.
The troll's cave was huge, so it took them a while until they reached the mouth of the cavern, and there he stopped.
"But," Leg said, "there is still light outside!"
The other troll shrugged. "It ain't a big deal. Others are waiting there."
Leg frowned, looked from the troll to the sunlit ground.
"I ain't that stupid to go out when the sun is still up!"
"But we are here," said one of three trolls who emerged from a group of trees.
"Come, we have something to show you," said another.
Leg frowned even more, and the three, seeing his reluctance, walked close to the arm's reach. One of them extended his stone-colored arm.
"Come, you must see this," the troll said, but by that time, Leg had figured out something was terribly wrong here. He shouted and pounced at the nearest troll, who was still in the shadow of the cave. They fell to the floor, rolling and fighting.
"Help me!" the other troll yelled at his fellows, and suddenly he began changing shape, he was growing small and tried to slip out of Leg's mighty clutch. Leg grabbed for where a moment ago his neck was, but because the Wizard now became distinctly smaller, he grabbed only his hat. That confused him for a moment, and the Wizard rolled himself into safety, leaving Leg staring in suprise at the pointed hat.
That was the point when Lom appeared. She had been sleeping closest to the cave entrance and the sounds of battle woke her up.
"It's wizards!" Leg shouted, rising up. Lom had never been slow to act. With a roar, she slammed her fists into two of the fake trolls, almost knocking them down. Leg also lurched himself at the remaining one and once again it became wrestling on the ground. But what Lom and Leg realised too late was that where the three false trolls stood, the sun was already shining, and suddenly they felt their bodies becoming stiff and heavy.
"Blighted bu-" yelled Lom, and grabbed for the trolls' throats, but too late, she stumbled forwards and exposed her whole body to the sun. In the blink of an eye, she became a statue, holding the two trolls by their throats.
"Uff," said the Wizard wrestled down by Leg, and tried to move himself from under his newly formed statue. "That was close."
"We must be more careful next day," said one of the two Wizards held by Lom, who had returned to his normal shape. To his dismay, his hat remained closed in Lom's fist, as was that of his colleagues whom Lom had also clutched by his throat.
"You are right," he said. "But for now, let us disappear. More might have heard the sound of fighting, and we must not be seen here."
"Let us go back to our places in the cave unseen," advised the last of them, "and there resume our troll form. Let us see what the trolls will do."

Thus the Wizards dispatched the two trolls they considered the most dangerous of all. Unbeknowst to them, however, the most clever of all the trolls in the cave had remained there. This troll's wits were not apparent to everyone, but he, unlike his comrades, was able to think and remember familiar features. And even though it often took hours to the troll to think, he would eventually be able to find the minor details in which the Wizards' disguises differed from the real trolls.

Deep within the cave, one more troll could not sleep. He had been sleeping in a different place every day, in hope to cure his insomnia, but the truth was, he could hardly sleep at all.

As the night came, the trolls began wandering around the woods in the vicinity of their camp in search for something to eat. But there wasn't anything to be found, since all the animals had fled as far away from the troll camp as possible already during the past months. It took long enough for the trolls to discover the two stone slabs, but even as dumb as they were, they eventually figured out that something had changed in the scenery near their home. It was Rick who shouted out first to alert the rest of the trolls to the unusual phenomenon.
"Blimey, Gil, look what I've found!" she said.
"What is it?" said the others coming up.
"Lumme, if I knows!" said Rick.
"Ain't that some o' us?" asked Lot, observing the stones.
"Maybe," Mors opined. "Bu' who?"
"Let's count yerselves," Cop advised. "Tha' way we find how many o' us is missing."
"One," said Vol.
"Two," said Bane.
"One," said Nog.
"Two," Shaz finished.
"Tha' won't work," Pom opined. "Everyone say yer name."
"Nerve," said Nerve.
"Oz," said Oz.
"Where's Leg?" Bore asked, looking around.
"Under yer fat belly, Bore," Sal dismissed him.
"Not me leg, but Leg, with that big 'ead," Bore said.
"He's gone!" shouted Lad.
"Blimey, that's him!" Kat said, knocking at one of the stones in front of them.
"Poor old bugger got 'imself turned to stone!" Cab yelled in frightful voice. "What was he a-thinkin'?"
"An' who be th'other?" asked Green. "Who else is a-missin'?"
"Lumme, if I knows!" said Rick.
"'kay, who else's a-missin', raise yer hand," Brin suggested, but Nog interrupted her.
"No, ye lout! They can't raise them 'ands if they're not 'ere! It's us who must raise our 'ands, o'course!"
"No good raisin' our hands, it'd take all night," Gil remarked.
"Wait! Wait!" Pom began to shout, as she at last noticed something unusual about the statues. "Wha's tha' funny stuff they'r 'oldin' in their 'ands?"
"Lumme, if I-" Rick started, but Vol sprung forwards and tried to wrestle what looked like pieces of colorful clothing from Lom and Leg's closed fists.
"Blimey," Nerve gasped, looking over his shoulder. "These are hats! One, two, two, um, what comes after two?"
"Two, four hats!" Lot finished counting, surprisingly correctly.
"What's a hat got to do in 'ere hands, anyways?" Cab wondered.
"Blimey! These are wizard hats!" Lad gasped, as much as a troll can gasp.
"What's a wizard hat got to do in 'ere, anyways?" Cab retorted.
"Ain't that a-clear?" asked Green, and immediately answered to herself: "No, it ain't."
"Wizards kill trolls," Shaz remembered the one of two tales the trolls usually tell around their fireplaces. "Wha' if they did tha' to Leg and, um, wha' was his name again..."
"Our leader knows every-un's names," Cop suggested. "Let's ask 'er."
"Bu', where's she?" Oz wondered.
"Where's Lom?" others repeated, suddenly realising who's missing.
"Blimey!" shouted Kat, at last. "Tha' must be 'er!" She pointed at the stone standing beside Leg. "Them wizards done her in!"
"Wha' are we gonna do?"
The trolls started shouting on top of each other, as you probably know all trolls do, especially when they are leaderless. Among them, applauding their own ingenuity, were the Wizards, hidden and trying to cause even more confusion in their troll-disguises.

Not all the trolls had been totally careless, though. One of them, who had owned a special troll-purse, realised the full scope of the threat to his person. Using a moment of confusion, the troll slipped aside and whispered to his purse.
"If any dirty wizard wants to get 'is 'ands on me, 'e'll pay. Watch out, for tha' bugger," the troll pointed at one of the others.
"Just so," the purse squeaked. Content, the troll hid it in his pocket and returned to the rest.

The insomniact troll also did not feel entirely comfortable about the situation. Knowing full well he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, he decided to stand guard over one troll each day, hoping to protect them from the Wizards.

Another of the trolls, however, began to think that perhaps it might not be such a bad idea to get rid of the rest of the trolls. Obviously, if the other trolls were all turned to stone, there will be no need to share his food with anyone. The troll did not know who the Wizards were, but he figured out he could try to help them all the same.


~*~


Day 1 has started. Wizards, stop PMing. Purse-troll, you may send us your target for toDay. Everyone, start trolling. I mean, talking.


~*~


Dumb and Dead
Thinlómien, "Lom", dispatched by the Wizards as a threat on Night 1
Legate of Amon Lanc, "Leg", dispatched by the Wizards as a threat on Night 1

Dumb and Walking
A Little Green, "Green"
Bane Mantra, "Bane"
Boromir88, "Bore"
Brinniel, "Brin"
Coppermirror, "Cop"
Gil-Galad, "Gil"
Inziladun, "Lad"
Kath, "Kat"
Loslote, "Lot"
McCaber, "Cab"
Morsul the Dark, "Mors"
Nerwen, "Nerve"
Nogrod, "Nog"
Ozban, "Oz"
Pomegranate, "Pom"
Rikae, "Rick"
satansaloser2005, "Sal"
Shastanis Althreduin, "Shaz"
Volo, "Vol"