Faramir was woken by Anborn in the early dawn.
"Come quickly, lord," the elder Ranger urged him breathlessly. "Evil is afoot!"
Anborn led him to a ledge of rock overlooking the pool and pointed downward. On the rocks near the shore of the Forbidden Pool lay the broken body of Pithwivion.
"I saw him lying down there when I came to relieve him and did not find him on his post," said Anborn. "I would say there is little chance he misstepped and fell by himself, my lord."
Faramir shook his head. "No, he did not. He knew every stick and stone around this place; he would not have slipped and fallen by mistake." His brow furrowed. "Rouse the men and have them bring his body up to the cavern. When you are done, come to me; I need to speak to you."
* * *
A little later, Anborn met Faramir in the captain's private chamber and reported that Pithwivion's corpse had been laid out in the great rock cavern.
"The men are very upset about this, my lord," he added. "Pithwivion was well beloved by many of them."
"They have every reason to be upset", said Faramir grimly. "Sit down and listen."
He told Anborn everything he and Pithwivion had talked about the evening before, and also about the vision that had come to him in his dream.
"If I had any doubt about it before, I see clearly now," he concluded. "There are indeed servants of the Enemy among us, and they will not shrink back from Nightly murder. This must not happen again, Anborn! You at least I know I can trust, for you have served long under me and always offered good advice; if a spy of Sauron can wear your mask well enough to deceive me, we are doomed anyway. Therefore I would ask this of you: that you mark well what goes on amongst our company, and try to guess as best you can whom the traitors would fain do away with; and every Night you shall stand guard next to him whom you think the Black Númenóreans would most likely slay next, and protect his life. Will you do that for me?"
"That I will, my lord," replied Anborn gravely, "and gladly."
Faramir nodded to him. "I thank you. Now assemble the men; I must speak to them."
* * *
When Faramir appeared before the gathered Rangers, his face was dark and stern as they had never seen it before.
"One or the other of you," he began, "may already have surmised that our encounter with the Orcs yesterday was no chance meeting. You are right. They knew where to find us, for there are servants of the Enemy among us spying for them." He proceeded to tell them what the voice in his dream had said to him. "If any of you would dismiss the vision I have been granted as a figment of my imagination, the Nightly murder of Pithwivion should be enough to make you think again. I will not suffer this, and neither should you! For now, we have a dead comrade to lay to rest; but when he has been buried, we shall all assemble here again, and none of us shall leave this refuge until this matter has been cleared up and the traitors have been exposed and put to death.
"This Day, and every following Day, we shall hold a trial and attempt as best we can to unmask the servants of Sauron, and those we deem most suspicious shall be executed. And I urge every one of you to speak your mind and not hold back; for those who will keep aloof and will not help us by sharing their opinions shall be held to be in league with the Enemy and will be dealt with harshly."
________________________________
IT IS NOW DAY 1. Cease all private conversations and let the trial begin!
DEAD
Pitchwife (Mod) - pushed over the edge Night 1
ALIVE
Aganzir
A Little Green
Bom Tombadillo
Boromir88
Galadriel55
Glirdan
Inziladun
Loslote
Nogrod
Pomegranate
Rune Son of Bjarne
satansaloser2005
Shastanis Althreduin