The Great Golden Hoard Game Thread - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Eomer of the Rohirrim · 08-24-2006, 11:33 AM

Éomeléo continued west through the great forest, liking it less and less all the time. He could see eyes all around him. He shuddered at the size of these beasts, and hoped that they would leave him well alone. He guessed that this was wishful thinking, and he was all too right.

With terrible speed and skill, a giant spider descended from the forest-roof not ten feet in front of him. It was monstrous, slimy and wicked-looking. It licked its lips, or did the equivalent. Éomeléo could not tell.

He wasn't as scared as he had been when confronted with the swarm of mosquitoes, and he attempted to strike up a conversation with the beast; but apparently this was a dumb spider. It just looked at the Gondorian as if he was trying to teach a cat Sindarin. Birds had been disturbed by the movement of the monster and fluttered hither and thither among the trees. Éomeléo begged the spider to feast on them, but to no avail. The spider started dancing over to the man.

"Poor fool" muttered Éomeléo, as he took out his sword and dove into a collision with the homicidal arachnid. Gondor's finest steel won the day easily, the blade slicing through the head of the spider, sending it into sickening convulsions before it finally lay still. Éomeléo walked on, his boots sticky with spider-goo.

Naria · 08-24-2006, 12:46 PM

The slosh of footsteps walking through puddles and dripping water was all Narleah had heard through the grunting and squealing of her captors. Her turmoil began while she was walking past a mountain; six monsters grabbed her from behind. Narleah had no idea that she had marched herself right into Orc territory.

They pulled her along until they had reached the tunnel opening and pushed her through. Her eyes opened wide as to try and absorb any light that may be present. None....Narleah was in complete darkness. She heard more grunting as they pulled and pushed her further in. Suddenly there was a squeal from one of the Orcs that was in the front of her and the group stopped. Narleah heard a shuffling of feet moving away from her and then as quickly as they moved away, the footsteps returned...this time four out of the six had lit torches in hand. She thought that the light would help, but it didn't. In fact it was quite the opposite, the small flickering flames were casting eerie shadows on the tunnel walls and it didn't help her to see any further down or where they had come.

Narleah was getting more and more fearful for her life and it made her to want nothing more then to escape her nightmare. She had to find a way out, but how? Although she had thought of herself as a tougher female dwarf, she knew that she could not stand up to the towering stature of an Orc guard. Narleah remembered that her pack and weapons were taken from her at the start of the attack. She also remembered hearing what sounded like the Orcs dropping her pack on the ground inside the tunnel and she also heard the clanging of metal as it came to settle on the tunnel floor. Her only hope was that they had left her belongings just inside the opening. She knew that without her weapons she would have to use all of her strength and agility to escape.

The little dwarf made herself bottom heavy, almost to the point of dragging her feet. At once the Orcs that held her where beginning to have a hard time keeping things moving. They would get her going, then have to stop and re-adjust then move again. It was working, but not enough. She needed to think of something more drastic, something that the Orcs wouldn't be able to just pick her up and keep moving her to her death. Narleah let out a painful howl, that seemed to echo forever....it startled them! She let her legs go limp and found herself being dragged on her knees, however the back two Orcs didn't see this, while they were complaining to each other about the noise they walked straight into Narleah and the two buffoons that were holding her. Chaos immediately ensued and she found herself under a pile of scaly Orc bodies. There was no lack of shouting and whining from them, Narleah had to take this opportunity now for she knew that she would not get another chance to get out.

She stayed on the floor of the tunnel clambering and clawing her way through the dank, slimy corridor. In an odd way, she would be thankful to her captors for using torches. They had lit enough of the tunnel for her to notice that the group didn't make any turns and she knew that they hadn't gone far in with her. She pushed herself on, "Come on ye blustering fool! Go, go, go!" Narleah could feel her finger tips burn from trying to get a grip on the stone below the slime. Then she heard them! The angry beasts were running fast towards her, they weren't about to let there prize go that easily. 'Thud'! A rock hit the back of her head. Dizziness came over her, but Narleah had to keep pressing forward. More shouting came from behind and more stones were thrown at her, the Orcs were closing in.

Through blurry eyes Narleah saw a faint hue of daylight. She was almost there and she knew it. With her fingers grasping dryer ground, she half way stood up and ran towards her freedom. She ran through the door of the tunnel and into brighter light. "Run Narleah...keep running!" She kept shouting this to herself as she blindly tore through trees. She ran as far and as fast as her legs could take her, then her body could take no more. Narleah heard no more screeching from behind and felt safe enough to stop, only then did she allow herself to collapse. She had escaped, but not unscathed. Her night was going to be long and painful.

Valier · 08-24-2006, 01:03 PM

Day six has now ended. Night six has begun. You have 24 hours. Day 7 will start at 1pm CST tomorrow.

Eomer and Naria have both finished before the extended deadline, they will move forward Day 7, but are still uneligible for your daily fav. vote.

Glirdan and Gil-galad did not finish before the extended deadline, they will not move forward on day 7. They must still post their day 6 scenario post for day 7, then they may move again on day 8. They are also uneligible for the nightly vote.

Players that may converse are...

Valesseka & Eomeleo

Thin-gloomy & Kafkalina

Galadster & Glirdingo

all other players are alone for the night.

You may now pm me your nightly vote.

Valesse · 08-25-2006, 12:53 AM

Using her marred shawl as a large bulky bandage, Valesseka bound the athelas salve to her arm where she would leave it over night, and probably longer. She was shivering more from nerves than the temperature but every once and a while her trembling would build up into a voiceless sob. Want to see the world! I'm greedy! I just wanted more... Valesseka wiped her face and winced. She needed to find some clean water to wash in soon; yesterday's mud was now some part gooey and the other part itching dust.

I just wanted to go somewhere. she sniffled. Just then she heard Éomeléo humming proudly and then joyfully bursting into song. Nothing else at this point could make Valesseka feel quite as bitter.

Noble -indeed-. He has everything he's ever wanted, pampered to the core, and so insensitive he can't seem to rise early enough to escort a lady through these nasty woods. Of course, the girl was forgetting her entire plot of waking early just to avoid him doing that very thing. Such a cad. So... two faced. He noticed her and grinned brightly, heading her direction with a hearty 'Hullo!'

"I see you had some spider issues, yourself" He beamed, giddy to bump into the Arnorian girl while he was still fresh from battle.

Grimly she took notice at the small splatters of goo which Éomeléo was sprayed with, compared to most of her current outfit. "Yes..." Valesseka replied, somewhat through her teeth. Once more she invited him to stay and eat with her where the two talked, mostly about their lives previous, as Valesseka unconciously built new reasons to hate her competition. Probably only had to battle a tiny spider compared to that monster that attacked me.

About when Éomeléo was settling in to sleep something caught Valesseka's eye. On his strap there was a funny sort of patching... as if he repaired it himself.

Eomer of the Rohirrim · 08-25-2006, 06:08 AM

While gazing at the starlight, Éomeléo was concerned at how strangely Valesseka was behaving. She kept sneaking glances at him with a mad glint in her eye. He didn't think it was her run-in with the spider that was causing her this anxiety. No, it was something else, something less tangible.

He realised it was probably his own presence. After all, she kept sneaking off in the morning to avoid him. This race might be making her paranoid of human-contact. A shame; poor girl, he thought. At least I'm holding up quite well.

Quite well? It hit him: he was actually exceedingly happy. "I say, Valesseka, I think I don't want to ever go back to Gondor."

What was he leaving? Little but restrictions and the lack of intimacy. He had been raised by servants, not a loving family. Everyone envied his perceived riches but what really makes a rich man? A plethora of fine clothes and a seat at every banquet? Or freedom and your own responsibilities? Valesseka stared at him, not quite understanding how Éomeléo could be so naïve; but Éomeléo did not take heed, and began formulating daring plans and schemes. Thought of his wealth in Gondor had him excited again.

"Valesseka" said Éomeléo, "if you could have anything in the world, what would it be?"

Valier · 08-25-2006, 01:18 PM

Night 6 has now ended. Day 7 has now begun. You have 36 hours.

The Daily favorite for Day 6 is.....There has been a tie!!! Both Thin-gloomy and Valesseka will move twice as far for today only.

Glirdan and Gil-galad must post their Day 6 post today, then they will move on Day 8.

Players for today.....please pm me your directions....Most of you will be moving into Rune's zone. I will pm Roa with any remaining players in her zone and you will receive your scenario from her.

Glirdan · 08-25-2006, 01:48 PM

Glirdingo fell quite behind the next day. He had fallen ill the day before and was unable to move forward. Today, however, he was feeling quite well. Well enough to start off again on his quest. "Mind you, there's not really any chance of me getting to it first. But oh well, I'll go on anyway," he thought a little down-hearted.

He ended up in the foothils of the mountains. He was getting quite exhausted because of the continuouse mounting and de-mounting of the slopes. To make matters worse, it had rained there recently. "Must have been over night," he thought miserably. "And that's why my clothes were soaked this morning."

It was on the last rise when he decided to take a little rest before continuing. He clambered up the slope and fell down in the grass. It was then that he noticed that there was an encampment ahead. "Ooo! Perhaps they'll be able to help me!" It was then that he noticed who the campers were. "Easterlings!" he thought, suddenly quite alert. Fortunately, they had not yet spotted him as he was lying down in the grass. He quickly looked and saw that there were only ten of them.

He looked to the left, then to the right, hoping to see if there was a way to get by. Unfortunately, he had no luck. "There are too many for me to fight single handedley!" he thought desperately.

Then, an idea struck him. He drew out his bow and one arrow, strung it to the bow and crept quietly forward up onto the highest point of slope and went into a kneeling position. "Okay, have to take careful aim but make it quick," he thought, his chest starting to hurt from how fast his heart was pounding inside. He thought that it was unlikely that they hadn't heard it. He took aim, off into the bushes to the right, aimed a litte upwards to give the arrow enough height, pulled back the string and let the arrow fly and then heard a dull thud which echoed through the forest.

He looked back to the encampment and saw them all rushing off towards where the arrow had flown. "Yes!! They heard it!! It worked!" he thought happily, darting forward and running through the camp. "Well, you'd think those baffoons would be smart enough to leave a sentry, but nooooooo!!" he smirked happily.

He made it through the encampment and continued on, not daring to stop until he was sure that he was safe. "Whew," he said, wipping his brow off of sweat. "That was close." He took a long rest, drinking from his flask and eating a whole of his lembas bread before continuing on this hair rasing journey.

08-24-2006, 12:46 PM	#2
Naria Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 500	The slosh of footsteps walking through puddles and dripping water was all Narleah had heard through the grunting and squealing of her captors. Her turmoil began while she was walking past a mountain; six monsters grabbed her from behind. Narleah had no idea that she had marched herself right into Orc territory. They pulled her along until they had reached the tunnel opening and pushed her through. Her eyes opened wide as to try and absorb any light that may be present. None....Narleah was in complete darkness. She heard more grunting as they pulled and pushed her further in. Suddenly there was a squeal from one of the Orcs that was in the front of her and the group stopped. Narleah heard a shuffling of feet moving away from her and then as quickly as they moved away, the footsteps returned...this time four out of the six had lit torches in hand. She thought that the light would help, but it didn't. In fact it was quite the opposite, the small flickering flames were casting eerie shadows on the tunnel walls and it didn't help her to see any further down or where they had come. Narleah was getting more and more fearful for her life and it made her to want nothing more then to escape her nightmare. She had to find a way out, but how? Although she had thought of herself as a tougher female dwarf, she knew that she could not stand up to the towering stature of an Orc guard. Narleah remembered that her pack and weapons were taken from her at the start of the attack. She also remembered hearing what sounded like the Orcs dropping her pack on the ground inside the tunnel and she also heard the clanging of metal as it came to settle on the tunnel floor. Her only hope was that they had left her belongings just inside the opening. She knew that without her weapons she would have to use all of her strength and agility to escape. The little dwarf made herself bottom heavy, almost to the point of dragging her feet. At once the Orcs that held her where beginning to have a hard time keeping things moving. They would get her going, then have to stop and re-adjust then move again. It was working, but not enough. She needed to think of something more drastic, something that the Orcs wouldn't be able to just pick her up and keep moving her to her death. Narleah let out a painful howl, that seemed to echo forever....it startled them! She let her legs go limp and found herself being dragged on her knees, however the back two Orcs didn't see this, while they were complaining to each other about the noise they walked straight into Narleah and the two buffoons that were holding her. Chaos immediately ensued and she found herself under a pile of scaly Orc bodies. There was no lack of shouting and whining from them, Narleah had to take this opportunity now for she knew that she would not get another chance to get out. She stayed on the floor of the tunnel clambering and clawing her way through the dank, slimy corridor. In an odd way, she would be thankful to her captors for using torches. They had lit enough of the tunnel for her to notice that the group didn't make any turns and she knew that they hadn't gone far in with her. She pushed herself on, "Come on ye blustering fool! Go, go, go!" Narleah could feel her finger tips burn from trying to get a grip on the stone below the slime. Then she heard them! The angry beasts were running fast towards her, they weren't about to let there prize go that easily. 'Thud'! A rock hit the back of her head. Dizziness came over her, but Narleah had to keep pressing forward. More shouting came from behind and more stones were thrown at her, the Orcs were closing in. Through blurry eyes Narleah saw a faint hue of daylight. She was almost there and she knew it. With her fingers grasping dryer ground, she half way stood up and ran towards her freedom. She ran through the door of the tunnel and into brighter light. "Run Narleah...keep running!" She kept shouting this to herself as she blindly tore through trees. She ran as far and as fast as her legs could take her, then her body could take no more. Narleah heard no more screeching from behind and felt safe enough to stop, only then did she allow herself to collapse. She had escaped, but not unscathed. Her night was going to be long and painful. __________________ MONEY Anyone who says it doesn't buy happiness.....is probably broke.

08-25-2006, 12:53 AM	#4
Valesse Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: \|Away Posts: 614	Using her marred shawl as a large bulky bandage, Valesseka bound the athelas salve to her arm where she would leave it over night, and probably longer. She was shivering more from nerves than the temperature but every once and a while her trembling would build up into a voiceless sob. Want to see the world! I'm greedy! I just wanted more... Valesseka wiped her face and winced. She needed to find some clean water to wash in soon; yesterday's mud was now some part gooey and the other part itching dust. I just wanted to go somewhere. she sniffled. Just then she heard Éomeléo humming proudly and then joyfully bursting into song. Nothing else at this point could make Valesseka feel quite as bitter. Noble -indeed-. He has everything he's ever wanted, pampered to the core, and so insensitive he can't seem to rise early enough to escort a lady through these nasty woods. Of course, the girl was forgetting her entire plot of waking early just to avoid him doing that very thing. Such a cad. So... two faced. He noticed her and grinned brightly, heading her direction with a hearty 'Hullo!' "I see you had some spider issues, yourself" He beamed, giddy to bump into the Arnorian girl while he was still fresh from battle. Grimly she took notice at the small splatters of goo which Éomeléo was sprayed with, compared to most of her current outfit. "Yes..." Valesseka replied, somewhat through her teeth. Once more she invited him to stay and eat with her where the two talked, mostly about their lives previous, as Valesseka unconciously built new reasons to hate her competition. Probably only had to battle a tiny spider compared to that monster that attacked me. About when Éomeléo was settling in to sleep something caught Valesseka's eye. On his strap there was a funny sort of patching... as if he repaired it himself. Last edited by Valesse; 08-28-2006 at 08:25 AM. Reason: signature

08-24-2006, 11:33 AM	#1
Eomer of the Rohirrim Auspicious Wraith Join Date: May 2002 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 4,859	Éomeléo continued west through the great forest, liking it less and less all the time. He could see eyes all around him. He shuddered at the size of these beasts, and hoped that they would leave him well alone. He guessed that this was wishful thinking, and he was all too right. With terrible speed and skill, a giant spider descended from the forest-roof not ten feet in front of him. It was monstrous, slimy and wicked-looking. It licked its lips, or did the equivalent. Éomeléo could not tell. He wasn't as scared as he had been when confronted with the swarm of mosquitoes, and he attempted to strike up a conversation with the beast; but apparently this was a dumb spider. It just looked at the Gondorian as if he was trying to teach a cat Sindarin. Birds had been disturbed by the movement of the monster and fluttered hither and thither among the trees. Éomeléo begged the spider to feast on them, but to no avail. The spider started dancing over to the man. "Poor fool" muttered Éomeléo, as he took out his sword and dove into a collision with the homicidal arachnid. Gondor's finest steel won the day easily, the blade slicing through the head of the spider, sending it into sickening convulsions before it finally lay still. Éomeléo walked on, his boots sticky with spider-goo.

08-25-2006, 06:08 AM	#5
Eomer of the Rohirrim Auspicious Wraith Join Date: May 2002 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 4,859	While gazing at the starlight, Éomeléo was concerned at how strangely Valesseka was behaving. She kept sneaking glances at him with a mad glint in her eye. He didn't think it was her run-in with the spider that was causing her this anxiety. No, it was something else, something less tangible. He realised it was probably his own presence. After all, she kept sneaking off in the morning to avoid him. This race might be making her paranoid of human-contact. A shame; poor girl, he thought. At least I'm holding up quite well. Quite well? It hit him: he was actually exceedingly happy. "I say, Valesseka, I think I don't want to ever go back to Gondor." What was he leaving? Little but restrictions and the lack of intimacy. He had been raised by servants, not a loving family. Everyone envied his perceived riches but what really makes a rich man? A plethora of fine clothes and a seat at every banquet? Or freedom and your own responsibilities? Valesseka stared at him, not quite understanding how Éomeléo could be so naïve; but Éomeléo did not take heed, and began formulating daring plans and schemes. Thought of his wealth in Gondor had him excited again. "Valesseka" said Éomeléo, "if you could have anything in the world, what would it be?"

08-25-2006, 01:48 PM	#7
Glirdan Energetic Essence Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Where Lark Nor Eagle Ever Flew Posts: 3,285	Glirdingo fell quite behind the next day. He had fallen ill the day before and was unable to move forward. Today, however, he was feeling quite well. Well enough to start off again on his quest. "Mind you, there's not really any chance of me getting to it first. But oh well, I'll go on anyway," he thought a little down-hearted. He ended up in the foothils of the mountains. He was getting quite exhausted because of the continuouse mounting and de-mounting of the slopes. To make matters worse, it had rained there recently. "Must have been over night," he thought miserably. "And that's why my clothes were soaked this morning." It was on the last rise when he decided to take a little rest before continuing. He clambered up the slope and fell down in the grass. It was then that he noticed that there was an encampment ahead. "Ooo! Perhaps they'll be able to help me!" It was then that he noticed who the campers were. "Easterlings!" he thought, suddenly quite alert. Fortunately, they had not yet spotted him as he was lying down in the grass. He quickly looked and saw that there were only ten of them. He looked to the left, then to the right, hoping to see if there was a way to get by. Unfortunately, he had no luck. "There are too many for me to fight single handedley!" he thought desperately. Then, an idea struck him. He drew out his bow and one arrow, strung it to the bow and crept quietly forward up onto the highest point of slope and went into a kneeling position. "Okay, have to take careful aim but make it quick," he thought, his chest starting to hurt from how fast his heart was pounding inside. He thought that it was unlikely that they hadn't heard it. He took aim, off into the bushes to the right, aimed a litte upwards to give the arrow enough height, pulled back the string and let the arrow fly and then heard a dull thud which echoed through the forest. He looked back to the encampment and saw them all rushing off towards where the arrow had flown. "Yes!! They heard it!! It worked!" he thought happily, darting forward and running through the camp. "Well, you'd think those baffoons would be smart enough to leave a sentry, but nooooooo!!" he smirked happily. He made it through the encampment and continued on, not daring to stop until he was sure that he was safe. "Whew," he said, wipping his brow off of sweat. "That was close." He took a long rest, drinking from his flask and eating a whole of his lembas bread before continuing on this hair rasing journey.