Arriving at the Unfamiliar Gates

[Bluehorse]

Grins at old Auntie. "Oh course you are. Sorry, my mind is in a bit of a whirl is all." He takes a moment to hear what Frodo has to day and nods listening. Looking here and there to make sure the gathering hobbits are listening. Fight ready or not, the more that hear the more the word will spread. "Here, here!" He shouts as Mr. Baggins finishes, hoping to muster up some more moral. Feeling ready for another fight he goes around to those in the army he knows speaking words of encouragement, making sure to push the right buttons to get them excited and hopefully a good deal mad. "You hear that boys? Sounds like we have us a good and genuine fight up at yonder mill. Let give them what for! We put a whoop on them here, now lets hit them where it hurt and free us some good hobbits! And tonight, we can all hold our heads up high and toast a FREE SHIRE!!!" With that he claps Sam on the back encouragingly with one hand and raises his pitchfork with the other.

[coil23]

Hob shakes his head sadly when he sees that the other sheriffs will not even acknowledge him. So be it. He retrieves rope and tries to get them to cooperate with the trussing. Once they are tied up he moves away to take in the whole scene though he makes sure to put plenty of distance between him and the intrusive, braying old woman accosting everyone. I want nothin' to do with that! A quiet moment on the porch at dusk, a pipeful of weed, some ale, and a faithful hound. Oh, to return to the old days. Nothing for it but to find out more about this mill for now.

[Inferno]

At Merry's sage advice, Pippin pulls out his horn of Gondor and grins at it with mirth and mischief. He glances at Merry with a conspiratorial smile.



The young Took takes a deep breath, readying to try it when Mrs. Bracegirdle suddenly gives them all what for.

"Maybe later, Merry!" he cries as he begins to scamper for the millhouse, rushing past Samwise.
At the gardner's protests, Pippin calls over his shoulder, "Sam! It's a mill! It's mill-sized! With as many room as a mill! Hurry! Hobbits are being tortured as we speak! We have to save them! Come on!"

Pippin wondered if maybe he should blow the horn to rally the morale of his own companions!

[greyarea]

Frodo jumps back when Auntie gets in his face! Then he regains his footing. That's Lotho Sackville-Baggins, mind you. We called him Loath-ful, so I wouldn't have like what he's done regardless. I'm sure you've got a relative or two that you wish weren't! I recall a Lobelia Bracegirdle, also known as Lobelia Sackville-Baggins? Aunties in glass hobbit-holes should not throw stones.

And then to the rest of everyone: Speaking of stone throwing, let's gather what we can to use as weapons! Help Hob truss those "sheriffs" and that orc-thing! We don't want them sneaking up on us from behind. WE'VE GOT A MILL TO FREE!

He grabs Sam and Pippin, Sam, I need you to be brave. No matter what we face in that Mill we have right on our side. Pip, blow that horn, we need everyone we can. We truss these guys up and then head to the Mill.

[tkrexx]

Merry returns Pippins grin and unstrings his own horn. Let's see what these things can do! Ready? One, two, three... HONK!

[Pulpatoon]

Duly chastised, Sam huffs and puffs and follows the others to the mill.

[Bluehorse]

His blood boiling with excitement he exclaims "Yes! That's it! FOR THE SHIRE!" And with his pitchfork held high he begins marching in the direction of the mill.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sam asks the old Auntie a plethora of questions that she can't really answer. His friends see that the far more urgent need right now is for action, not questions. The halforc is easy enough to bind but, the three mean sheriffs are having none of that. They simply run away when threatened with the rope. Frodo does not want any more hobbits injured or killed in the shire so he waves off the attempt.

Auntie Bracegirdle lowers her aggression considerably once Frodo reminds her that no family is perfect. She is very happy however, to see that the group of young whipper snappers is willing to go help the poor souls at the mill.

The party takes off westward towards the plume of smoke. The road leading west out of town is still intact and quite usable. The fields and countryside grow upward in elevation just outside of town and the road is recessed slightly into the earth. A pair of 6 foot tall bricked earthen walls are built along both sides of the lane to keep erosion at a minimum. Merry sees this as a great strategical choke point if the need ever presents itself. Abandoned wagons litter the sides of the lane, in town and out in the fields.

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As the group runs the few hundred yards to the mill, Merry pulls out his Horn of the Roherim and blows it loudly. The sound it makes is loud and impressive. It's tone reverberates off of the brick roadside walls, not quite making it out into the clear open air. A few more hobbits leave their buildings to see what the noise is all about as the group arrives at the sickening mill and the once beautiful but now blackened, fetid pool that lies behind it.

As you approach the lane that leads up to the big doors of the mill you see a hobbit carrying two pails of what looks like black, smelly goop. The hobbit ignores the horn sounding completely and doesn't even look your way as he turns right with his pails, heading up the east road towards Hobbiton. The mill itself is a disgusting edifice. Through the open windows you can see that it is filled with mechanical gears and pulleys that creak and groan as they slowly turn and grind. Just like Esmeralda reported, you see dozens of dirty, half dead looking hobbits all pushing one massive wheel around in a continuous circle. The black smoke it is emitting into the air stinks of something foul and there is a black goo that covers the ground around the whole area. You see a few more mindless hobbits wandering around aimlessly closer to the building.

[Inferno]

"Merry! What's wrong with them?" Pippin whispered in sorrow and astonishment.

"Let's find out!" he suddenly added with determination. He pulled up the hood of the cloak he received from the Lady Galadriel, and scampered off toward the mill to get a closer look.

"Come on!" whispered the impetuous fool of a Took.

[greyarea]

Frodo looks for someone not-a-hobbit. Who holds the lash? he wonders. He pulls up his own cloak's hood and follows the fool of a Took.

I can't see the image in the post, OM.

[Pulpatoon]

Sam follows, peering up at the machinery, looking for the best place to apply a little strategic damage and wreck as much of it as he can.

[tkrexx]

Pip, not so fast! Merry complains as he dons his own hood. Remember, we can't even see each other so veiled!

[coil23]

The behavior of the hobbits is disturbing. Whatever you do, don't let that black gloop touch you, Hob whispers.

[OGRE MAGE]

The hobbit carrying the pails of goo continues on up the east road without any acknowledgement. The heroes don the hoods of their magical elven cloaks and move in for a closer look. This area around the mill pond was once one of the most beautiful places in all of the shire. Now it is little more than a stinking eyesore, which irritates the group even more as they approach the buildings.

There are about 20 hobbits inside, all pushing on the spokes of a massive horizontal wheel. Frodo does not see anyone forcing them but, they all seem very malnourished and exhausted. As the wheel slowly turns in a huge circle, a puss-like, black goo bubbles up from out of the ground. Another hobbit scoops up the goo with a small shovel, transporting it into more of the wooden pails. The moving mechanisms that fill the room are loud and filthy. This once tidy flour mill has been converted into some type of earth drilling device.

Sam sees plenty of spots where a solid 2x4 would really do some damage to the gears and shafts. He also sees plenty of boards and other refuse just lying around the place.

There are 4 more haggard looking, mindless hobbits milling around the outside of the place. They say nothing to you and don't even look in your direction. They seem to be ignoring your presence completely.

[coil23]

Hob, not being camouflaged as his four companions are with their cloaks, takes pains to try and stand behind things and being as little visible as possible. He also does his best impression of acting like the mindless hobbits around them in case he is spotted by someone who might be suspicious.

[Pulpatoon]

Samwise whispers to Frodo and any other nearby hobbits: "Whatever this whirligig is, I don't like it, an' I reckon it'd be easy enough to wreck. But I don't know if that'll put these poor sods at risk, an' they don't look like they can get themselves out of harm's way. Also, it'll likely bring the bosses' enforcers down on us. So, d'you think this is th' right time, or should I hold off?"

[tkrexx]

It would certainly get some attention, Merry nods invisibly, Maybe get someone down this way who has some authority, or someone who could point us toward authority. He clears his throat and speaks more directly. Might get us some answers.

[Bluehorse]

Farmer Cotton

Seeing the more adventure seasoned hobbits take to a spur of the moment Recon mission, Cotton takes it upon himself to speak to the other hobbits. "Alright Gents, no worries. Our friends here are going to get us some good Intel on what's happening up there at that blasted belching bucket of bolts they call the mill. It's up to us to be ready when they get back or give us a signal. In the meantime, You, you, and you... no not you... You! You three..." He point to three younger and presumably sharp eyed hobbits. You keep an eye out there, there, and there," he point in the directions behind and to their flanks. "You see anything fishy like a sheriff, give us a warning so we don't get snuck up on. If you see any good folk about, spread the word and see if we can muster up some more numbers. Understand? Good! No move. As for the rest of you, is there anyone that knows anything at all about that sort of thing or these poor hobbits that might be useful?" Pointing to the mill and the hobbits nearby.

[Inferno]

If Pippin sees any hobbits in bondage that he recognizes, he'll try to snap them out of it. "Wake up! It's me! Peregrin Took!"

Otherwise, he'll grow still, to let his wondrous cloak camouflage him as he scans for anything that might be responsible for the hobbits' strange behavior; some dread, powerful magic artifact like the palantir perhaps?

[coil23]

Hob looks around carefully for signs of anyone who does not seem dazed, anyone who might be in charge or at least supervising.