Sailing Away RPG

[Child of the 7th Age]

Bingo rubbed his knuckles against his eyes and struggled to stay alert. It was near nightfall and he felt increasingly tired and cranky. His side had begun to hurt again, though not so bad as last night. Bingo was so weary that he was having trouble putting one foot in front of the other and staying on the path.

Things had gone a great deal better with Gandalf in the lead than they had before. The hobbits had made excellent progress through the morning, singing and listening to tales as they tramped along their way. For lunch, Gandalf had pointed out a shady spot underneath a thick grove of trees where a number of fine mushrooms grew. The hobbits had made a feast of the mushrooms and finished off their meal with fresh water and some berries that Reggie discovered growing just a short distance away.

Setting off after lunch, they had tramped steadily onward for several hours. But as the afternoon wore on and Gandalf gave no sign that he meant to stop for dinner, a number of the hobbits began to grumble among themselves.

"I wonder where this blasted forest ends," Bingo whispered to Sassy, being careful to keep his voice low. "And I wonder if Gandalf ever means for us to stop and have a bite of dinner. My stomach is grumbling miserably..."

Bingo's voice trailed off as Gandalf turned about, imperiously tilting up one eyebrow while looking sternly looking at the young hobbit, "Perhaps, Master Bingo, you'd care to spend another night underneath these trees? Because that is what is going to happen unless we continue going steadily orward till we come to the edge of the wood. Every tree in the vicinity surely knows we're here. With all our singing and chattering, it would be hard for them not to hear us. Or did you forget how the trees tricked you to fall into the ravine?"

So that's what happened, Bingo thought. I knew it was more than our clumsiness or unfamiliarity with the woods. With a sigh, Bingo nodded his head, "All right, Master Gandalf. I'll do as you say. I don't want to sleep under these trees tonight any more than you do. Still, it would be nice to know when and where we'll be bedding down for some sleep. It's a good thing that we've got a full moon tonight...."

With that Bingo closed his mouth and continued walking forward hoping that very soon the trees would end and there would be a place to set up camp.

[Primrose Bolger]

The old man in grey walked briskly along, his strides short enough for the band of rag-tag children to keep up. There were grumbles as empty bellies protested their lack of food, but a word of encouragement from Gandalf and a bit of dried fruit and nuts helped them to push on.

It seemed to get darker as they neared what the man said was the edge of the forest. Sassy supposed it was because the sun was beginning to near the western horizon, though the trees ahead of their little band seemed to crowd in over the track they were following as if to drive them back into the forest.

‘Stop that!’ Sassy yelled as a small branch dipped down its leafy fingers and scratched her cheek. She was last in line and she could hear the tree creak as it bent toward her. She felt the malice of will as another branch whipped down to bar her path. Mustering her courage and her speed, the little girl ducked beneath it, feet flying as she pushed into the middle of the Hobbit line. Her panic had set the others now behind her running, too – to get away from whatever imagined horror had made Sassy run.

The group jostled up close to Gandalf just as he raised his tall staff and tapped the branches of two lowering trees, murmuring some uncaught words to let him and his companions pass. ‘Well, here we are,’ he said, stepping through the opening now between the trees. His feet met the soft grass of the clearing beyond, the last light of day softly lighting the tips.

He stepped to one side, just in time to miss the jumble of Hobbits that came piling through the narrowing portal. They fell over one another in their haste. Last was Sassy, who was almost through when a sharp ended branch snagged the edge of her cape. With a determined tug, she ripped it free and rolled backward, head over heels to the clearing.

‘Stupid, mean trees!’ she yelled back at the shadowed forest. With a big sigh of relief she picked herself up and stumbled over to where the others were. Gandalf was urging them toward a small, clear brook, saying this would be a good place to set up camp.

Sassy took one last look at the forest behind. The exit they’d come through had now closed, and she could almost hear a foul, dry laughter that chittered among the leaves. She turned away quickly and ran up to be near the old man.

[Kitanna]

Things were going a good deal better for the hobbits since Gandalf took the lead. Marroc trusted Sondo as a leader, but even he would never have been able to get them out of the forest. Now with every step the hobbits drew closer to the edge of the forest. Unfortunately with Gandalf in the lead they weren't stopping to eat and the wizard made it clear he had no plans to stop.

Marroc felt his stomach growl. He hoped the forest ended soon so they could stop and eat and rest their weary feet.

Marroc moved closer to Gandalf. "Is it true, do the trees really trick you here?"

Gandalf turned to him. Amusement in his eyes. "Have you heard none of the stories, young Marroc?"

"Of course I have, but I never thought any were true. I thought they were just stories to scare us." Marroc had been told hundreds of tales about various things he should be wary of. He barely believed any of them. Now he wished he had listened better to his elders.

"Even legends have some truth to them, Marroc." Gandalf said simply and turned his attention away.

Marroc thought about it for a moment and nodded to himself. He'd have to keep that in mind for any future adventures.

[Firefoot]

The little brook that Gandalf had pointed out looked like absolute heaven. The sun had now all but set, and none of them had eaten anything of substance since lunch. Sondo wondered how they had ever gotten through a couple days with hardly anything to eat, before they encountered those ruffians.

The hobbits quickly had a small fire going and the aroma of cooking meat filled the air. Some dry bread and fruit was passed around while the meat cooked, and those were gone in a matter of minutes. Luckily, the meat did not take long to cook and everyone was soon satisfied. Having eaten, most of the hobbits were ready to drop off; few of them had gotten much sleep the night before and it had been a long march.

Before doing so, however, Gandalf had a few word of advice for them. "You have come quite a ways north of where you entered the forest," he told them, "and you are almost home. If you follow this little brook for perhaps a mile, it will run into the Brandywine River. Keep the river in sight during your march tomorrow, and the Old Forest will give you no trouble. Your march tomorrow will be unpleasant, but not terribly difficult. Here between the Brandywine and the Old Forest is marshlands which are inhabited by little more than stinging insects. A full day's march will take you to the banks of the River Withywindle; I do not recommend trying to cross it during the night, nor should you camp too close to it's shores. You will have to use your wits to get across, but I have no doubt that you are capable."

"But wait!" said one of the hobbits. "Why are you telling us this? Won't you be with us?"

"I will not; I will probably be gone by the time you awake tomorrow," answered Gandalf. "I have important business elsewhere, and I have no doubts that you will not need my aid to get home. Your journey has been hard, but all of you have grown from it. Use what you know, rely on yourselves and each other, and you will be fine." Sondo had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, Gandalf's leadership had been vitally important in saving them from the forest, and could continue to be helpful, but under Gandalf's leadership, he had become just another of the group. "Leader" had merely been a nominative role, yet another blow to his pride. To top it all off, their trip had not really been any more adventurous than before Gandalf came; in fact, it may have even been less so. So, in all honesty, Sondo could not say he would be entirely sorry to see Gandalf go.

A few hobbits pleaded with Gandalf not to leave them, but while Sondo wasn't one of them, he wasn't obvious about it, either. One of those things he had learned was that he couldn't be a leader without having followers, a prospect that had been threatened more times than he liked.

Gandalf could not be moved to remain with them, and the talk eventually died down as the hobbits drifted off to sleep.

~*~*~*~

The sun was casting its first rays upon the land when Sondo awoke the next morning. Gandalf was gone, even as he had said, and Sondo was the leader again. The last stage of the journey was before them; here was his last chance to prove that his plan had not been an utter disaster. He knew he had made a real mess of things more than once, but not today, he wouldn't. Not today, and not for the rest of the trip.

With that in mind he got up, and a few others who were by now awake joined him. The rest were up once breakfast started cooking. They ate, put away their bedrolls, and shouldered their packs, ready to set off. Sondo led the way down the creek. The day was warm, and the creek shallow, so Sondo soon switched to walking in the creek. The cool water felt good on his feet as it swirled and bubbled past. And then - there it was! The Brandywine River, which none of them had seen for several days past, became visible. A broad grin lit Sondo's face. "Almost home, now," he murmured.

They turned north to follow the river. His good mood was quickly dampened as the ground became soggy, opening into shallow meres and pools. The insects were horrendous, biting and buzzing about their faces. Swatting at them in irritation, he nearly tripped into a pool of greenish-water. Cursed swamp. Sondo set his jaw. He had beaten ruffians and evil trees; he would not be ousted by bugs and marshes.

[Primrose Bolger]

Sassy could not tell which was worse. The muck or midges. She was wet to mid thigh with the slimy goo that passed for much of the marshland; her face and arms were welting up from the insect stings. No wonder the old man had left them, she thought to herself. Her only comfort, and small comfort at that, was that the others were as miserable as she.

Lunch was eaten as they slogged along. The little group had found that if they kept up a good pace, the insects were less able to land on them. Sassy’s legs, though, were growing tired and she did not know how long she could keep on being a moving target for the blood thirsty midges.

Sondo was leading the way and she hoped he had a clearer view of their route than she did. She was once again at the back of the line and her gaze was focused on the pair of muddy legs in front of her. If they stumbled or dodged something she made sure to avoid whatever obstacle there was as she came along.

As the sun set, cool breezes began to blow across the marshes from the two rivers. Now the Hobbits were wet and chilled. Sassy’s teeth began to chatter. She hoped with all her might that a patch of dry land could be found and a warm little fire built.

Tomorrow, she remembered the old man had said, they could safely cross the Withywindle and be home.

[piosenniel]

Firefoot's post

As the day faded into twilight, Sondo was beginning to wonder if they would ever see the end of these marshes. He was hungry, chilled, bug-bitten, and wet, but they could not stop and set up camp until they found some dry land. He was ready to be home, and wanted nothing more than a hot meal and a real bed.

Suddenly, he stepped foot onto firm ground. Looking around, he realized that they must be close to the Withywindle, for the Old Forest had curved around and was now not more than a half-mile to the east, and very close indeed to the north. Sure enough, some five hundred yards distant, he thought he could see where the Withywindle met the Brandywine, and beyond that, the tall, dark shape of the Hedge. Home was so close now... did they really have to spend another night here?

He stopped and turned to face the other hobbits. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to spend the night here, not with home in sight. Just past the Withywindle up there is Buckland. I know Gandalf said not to try to cross the Withywindle at night, and it’s starting to get pretty dark, but if we did, then we could be home tonight, with hot meals, clean, dry clothes, and real comfortable beds. And, unless we go and get wood from the Old Forest, there aren’t any trees from which we could get wood tonight for a fire.” He looked around, trying to figure out if they agreed or not. “We don’t have to, but I think that we should try to cross the Withywindle tonight.”

[Encaitare]

Home! The word never sounded so enticing to him before. Only a few days ago Reggie had so badly wanted to leave, but now the thought of going back to the comfort of Brandy Hall was far more appealing. However...

"Gandalf said we shouldn't cross the river by night," he said. As much as he wanted to be back home, he trusted the wise old man, who had seemed to know so much more than he was telling. "I don't know about you all, but I think I can wait one more night to get home."