Arriving at the Unfamiliar Gates

[OGRE MAGE]

Sam chokes up as he remembers better days, trimming shrubs and planting trees around Bag's End:

Wiping tears from his face, he pulls himself together and confers with the others. "I don't see guards 'r sentries or any such a thing. I reckon whoever's in there ain't worried about being interrupted. That gives us time to figure out how we're going to approach this."

Are the two dump-holes on the Hill? Do they lead into Bag's End?
Are there other entrances into the Baggins residence? If the doors are not intact, what sort of shape are they in? Windows?
How many mindless hobbits are about the place?
Is exhaust smoke coming out of anywhere from Bag's End?

Great artwork!

The dump holes are out in the burning fields a ways behind the ruined hill.

There are no other ways inside. The doors and windows are all intact. The hill behind the hole is missing but the front part is still there.

You only see two mindless hobbits at the moment. They are near the holes.

There is no smoke coming from the chimney of the home. The entire field for acres around is smoking however.

The entire area seems desolate and completely deserted. The acrid smell of burnt pipe leaf and noxious chemicals fills the air. The lone door seems as though it beckons you to enter.

[greyarea]

Frodo mutters through clenched teeth, disbelief transmuting into anger, Looks like the Sackville-Baggins really know how to keep their own. I knew they were no good.

[tkrexx]

Merry can't find words to express his horror. This is what he feared would befall the Shire if Sauron would have prevailed. He glances once at Sam and Frodo, then sets down his pails and slips closer to Frodo's ancestral home to see what he may see.

[Bluehorse]

Farmer Cotton

He rest a sympathetic hand on Frodo's shoulder but can't bear to look at either him nor Sam, seeing their former homes like this. Angery smolders in his eyes and gut. He scans the horizons and wreckage for any signs that may gove them direction for a new move.

[coil23]

Hob shakes his head in amazement and horror at the scene before them. His mind slowly clears to immediate concerns. Is Bag End deserted or is something still here? He considers the possibility of using the black goop to create patches outside the door and making noise to draw anyone out before igniting it. Seeing the hobbits stomping out flames around him he wisely keeps his mouth shut on this tactic, however.

Softly, should I sneak up and peek in the windows? He looks to the sky to gauge how much daylight they have left.

[Inferno]

Pippin snaps out of it. He nods once at Hob's words and follows Merry closer to Bag End, anger rising. "That Lotho Sackville-Baggins! He finally got what he wanted! And all it cost was The Shire!" he whispers to Frodo.

[Pulpatoon]

Sam to Hob: "A few of us should peek through th' windows, and few more of us should peek down those holes.

"Who here's dab at sneaking? Pippin and Merry? Who else?"

[coil23]

Hob nods, I've done some sneaking in my time.

He creeps toward the windows at a side angle to prevent being seen.

[greyarea]

Frodo whispers to Sam, Just make sure no one uses the "clipping the grass underneath the window" technique. That never works.

[OGRE MAGE]

The realization of all the horrific destruction starts to set in as the hobbits ponder their limited options.

Sam sneaks out into the fiery field to have a look into the holes. One of them is clearly where the mindless hobbits have been dumping the black oil. The inside walls and rim are covered in the black goo and the stink and heat that belch forth from it is most foul.

The other spews forth a thin grey smoke that smells of burnt wood and moldy pipeweed. The heat that it emits is intense. Sam thinks that any attempt to enter either shaft would be certain death.

Hob sneaks up to a window to have a look inside. The interior of Bag End appears completely empty and is totally void of furnishings. He sees one small stand in the middle of the reception room but that seems to be the only thing left inside. There is a huge circular hole at the back of the kitchen that appears to lead down into the earth.

Suddenly Hob sees a small form appear in the opening of that hole who walks past his window and through the home. The front door opens and a withered hobbit shuffles outside carrying a marked cask of Old Toby leaf. When the party outside sees the mindless slave with a red neck mark carrying the cask towards the burning holes, they notice immediately that this thrall is (or was) non other than Lotho Baggins himself.

[Inferno]

Surprised again, Pippin gasps, "...Saruman discards his tools without mercy..."

Then he quietly sneaks into Bag End to look around.

[Pulpatoon]

Sam reports his finding to others. "Them smoke holes might be chimneys, like, for some kind of works, underground. I don't know what it might be fore, but I guess it needs sludge and pipeweed to keep going. So, let's make sure it don't get anymore. How's it look in... Pippin! Well, of course the fool couldn't stick to peering in windows. Should we go in after him? He's sure to run into trouble."

[tkrexx]

We've seen this before, Pip! Merry's eyes reflect recognition, fear and anger simultaneously, At Isengard!

[Bluehorse]

Farmer Cotton

Grumbles seeing what Sam sees as Pippin strolls inside Bag End. "I'll go in after him." With that he does the only thing he really knows, move forward and do what needs done right now. He moves forward as if he owns the place and stands a moment in the foyer looking to see where Pip went, checking the floor for muddy prints of an unusually large hobbit.

[Pulpatoon]

Sam: "Mister Cotton, sir! It does us no good to wander off in drips and drabs! Hold on, let enough us head in with you as to make a difference. Merry? Mister Frodo? Hob? What do you say?

"As for the rest of us—make sure nothing else gets dumped down those holes, make sure no one enters the house, and if you hear the horn blow, come running!"

[tkrexx]

Merry agrees to enter and draws his blade.

[greyarea]

Frodo agrees, I'm right with you, Sam.

[OGRE MAGE]

Surprised again, Pippin gasps, "...Saruman discards his tools without mercy..."

Then he quietly sneaks into Bag End to look around.

Save vs. Spells, please.

[Inferno]

Save vs Spells (15): [1d20] = 3

[coil23]

Hob stays by the edge of the window to still be able to peer inside while he waits for more of his companions to gather so they can all go inside together.