[Child of the 7th Age]

Narrative - Guthwine

Guthwine sat perched on a log close to the campfire, pouring over a map of Bree that had been salvaged from last night's raid. His men had accomplished a great deal over the past seven days. He had been careful to stay out of Lotar's way as much as possible, focusing instead on preparing the camp to accomodate the hundreds of families now migrating down from the Weather Hills. Guthwine had somehow managed to keep a tight rein on the recruits to stave off further troubles. Although there were still occasional fistfights and grumblings, things had generally settled down.

Just yesterday, Edgar had returned to Chetwood with his wagon empty, spilling out his story as to how the provisions had been gratefully received and the details of what was going on in the main encampment. As soon as he and Tomba had arrived there, their fully laden wagons had been greeted with enthusiastic cheers, as hungry men and women crowded close, eagerly reaching out to make sure their families received a fair share of food.

The two men had distributed the supplies to those in greatest need and then appeared before the council with Guthwine's letter in hand. After reviewing the message, the elders had agreed to adopt the strategy and timetable Guthwine had proposed and immediately ordered the families to begin collecting their belongings so that they could break camp in just three days. If all had progressed according to plan, the larger band had left yesterday morning, setting a course northward along the base of the Weather Hills. This group was expected to arrive in Breeland within a space of only three to four days so there was not a minute to lose.

Still, there was one point that still bothered Guthwine. He felt they knew very little about the city, the state of its defenses or the layout of its streets. And it was simply impossible to plot a battle strategy unless he had at least a modicum of such detail. He'd tried pumping Minastan for information but that had yielded surprisingly few results. And, once or twice, Guthwine could have sworn that Minastan had actually contradicted himself in the descriptions of the town that he had offered.

Telling himself that there had to be a better way to gleen needed information, Guthwine stared down at the map. The one helpful point that Minastan had volunteered was that there was a clear break in the hedge to the north of the town. It was hard to believe these citydwellers were such fools as to leave their flank unguarded. But, having lived through the nightmare of the Orc attack in the Misty Mountains, he did not doubt that foolhardy men could bury their heads and refuse to act on an obvious problems.

Still, that gap in the hedge posed an interesting opportunity, not just for the battle itself but also for these days of preparation. What better way to get an idea of Bree's defenses than for him to pay a little visit to the town? No one had seen his face in these parts, and he was unlikely to be detected. He thought about mentioning his scheme to Lotar but decided against it.... There's no use getting his back up again!

Guthwine had done such spying within enemy encampments on one other occasion, and he felt confident that they would be able to get the information he needed and successfully return. But there was still one answered question. Exactly who should come along with him on this little venture?....

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 5:37 PM December 11, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]