[Alkanoonion]

**** Harad/Umbar ****
Any ship will hold copious amounts of rope. It was a matter of pride for any seasoned sailer to have a good supply of it on board, rope being a primary tool on a ship. Rope is so important to sailers that if you were to strike up a conversation with one about rope, he would rant about the stuff. He would describe all the benefits attributed towards rope and would most probably demonstrate all the various holds and knots made with a rope (those who have found themselves in such a situation would know how boring the company of a sailer really is. This explains why sailers are encouraged to drink. A drunken sailer is a more interesting person then a sober one).

With such a large source of rope available on board the ship, it was not difficult to find a solution to the dilemma Fuinur found himself in. Especially now that Urken had been able to prevent the impending assault of the villages. All he needed to do to release his ship from the sand bar was to combine all the spare rope with that which was responsible for the whole situation, The Oluphaunts.

Fuinur had his men rig the Oluphaunts into sturdy harnesses so that they could be lowered over the side of the ship. With this done, they were herded to shore, the men in small open boats and the beasts swimming.

Secretly Fuinur hoped the horrible beasts would drown. They did not. They instead, seemed to enjoy the swim. Seeing this, Fuinur fled the deck towards the gully, to hunt down some mouldy bread and cheese.
“I wonder how a Oluphaunt would taste as a sausage”

Meanwhile, the Oluphaunts had the rope tide to their harnesses and were slowly dragging the ship away from the sandbank.

With the ship freed, and with all the crew safely back on board, including the Oluphaunts, the ships made good time travelling down the river. The town’s men, from the ruins of the town watched as the ships moved off down the river. A small ragged child was observed throwing a rotten tomato after the two vessels.

With all the excitement of the day over Fuinur decided to spend the rest of the day alone in the ships hold with his pet Oluphaunt.
‘ I’m sorry my Zohra for being mad at you this morning. Daddy is under a lot of stress’ He whispered to the Oluphaunt while hugging its long trunk.

The Next day the sun dawned bright and clear. Fuinur loved the mornings. They always seemed so full of promises. Fuinur was happy; the ships had made good time during the night and would shortly be reaching the river Poros. Feeling refreshed and ready for the new day Fuinur headed up to the deck for a feed, a stale biscuit washed down with some ale.
After a quiet talk with Herumir, quiet only out of pity for Herumir who was not feeling so well this morning due to a hard night drinking with the crew, Fuinur moved on to check with the lookout to see if the Corsair ship had been sighted.

A crewmember brought Fuinur the news that the Corsair ship had been sighted to the right side of the ship. Fuinur ordered that a message be sent to Urken to let him know of the ships presence. The Corsair ship would not have sighted the ships as the sun was rising behind them and for the moment masked their presence.