Horses, Weathertop and Wargs



It has been three days since the fellowship of GM's were last checked in on.  While in Bree, they had procured the use of some horses thanks to the cunning and skill of Ragnar and Kalesalad and to say that they have put it to good use is an understatement.  Compared to the previous seven days of travel where the group trudged in a total of 163 miles, they were able to cover almost that much (99 miles) in just three days.  Ragnar, being of comfort in the saddle was adding up the most mileage taking it upon himself to scout just ahead of the group.  As we catch up to them, we find them camped on the Great East Road, having just passed Weathertop where Frodo and company had their first major run in with the Ringwraith horde.  While camped we can see that over half of the horses are missing.  Geek, Yosh, Kale, Sve7en and Ruggsy are all sitting near the campfire with various bandages, scrapes and cuts adorning their bodies.

One Day Ago

"We are making excellent time now.  Good decision again on your part for the gamble Kale" spoke up Ragnar as they rounded a bend and started to pass northeast.  Ahead on their left was the commanding rise of Weathertop, still adorned with its ruins and weather scarring from hundreds of years of decay.  

"Oh look, Weathertop" spoke Yosh, who seemed to have a slight affinity for Middle Earth history.  As the party continued to ride, Yosh went into an abbreviated history lesson on the location.  "You know, it was also known as Amon Sul and the ruins on top are what remains of a watchtower.  It stands roughly one thousand feet high!"

"I can understand why someone would want people up there" continued Sve7en as he gestured to the surrounding flatland.  "I'm sure you could see forever up there."

"Why don't we go take a look?" inquired Geek, who himself enjoyed good Middle Earth tourism, though unbeknownst to him this would prove to be a poor decision.

The party nodded in agreement, citing their accelerated timetable thanks to the horses and moved off of the main road.  The commanding sight of Weathertop became even more commanding as the party drew closer, and closer to its base.  By the time they reached the bottom, they could no longer see the ruins at the top.  Even now, the entire place put off an eerie feeling simply due to its age and present condition, but unknown to the party something else lurked there.

Almost at the same instant, all of the horses in the party began whinnying and backing up as if they sensed or smelled something frightful.

"Whoa there, easy" spoke Ragnar as he worked to reign in his steed.  Various similar statements passed through the party like wildfire as the horses increased their reluctance to stay and their desire to depart.

"There's nothing here!" encouraged Geek and Yosh as they continued to try and calm their mounts.

Nothing at the moment was making sense, but the horses were obviously spooked by something...and then they too, the GM's smelled it on the breeze.  A smell of death and decay, like rotting meat in a garbage can, or roadkill on a highway.  This smell, however, did not emanate from that which was dead.  Slowly from behind a boulder, a snout emerged followed by a mud-brown muzzle and eyes as black as a moonless night.  Soon too, another, and another emerged all around five feet in height.  Fur, dark with dirt and mud with hair as coarse as a wolf and ears pinned back, teeth bared and dripping with saliva.

Wargs.

No sooner than had the wargs appeared, than half of the horses bucked their riders and fled.   Of the party now, Geek, Yosh, Kale, Sve7en and Ruggsy all found themselves watching their horses run back west as they caught their breath in the dirt listening to the snarl and fear inducing howls to their immediate east.  Evok, Toast, Aleris, Thunder and Ragnar surprisingly were able to keep their mounts from bucking them off as well, despite how hard it was tried.

They group circled up and grabbed what they could to prepare to fight back.  Rocks became projectiles and hockey sticks became makeshift swords.  With a howl, the wargs rushed in on their new prey.

Thunder and Aleris charged forth with a yawp and slashed at the lead warg with their sticks.  "Two minutes for slashing!" cried Thunder, pushing one warg back.

"Two minutes for hooking!" shouted Aleris, being able to trip up one of the wargs momentarily.

"And two minutes, for high sticking!" shouted Sve7en as he raised his stick above his head only to have it crash down on the snout of the warg nearest to him.  Others too joined in.  In a tumble of dirt and blood, howls and screams the GM's fought the devilish wolves with the ferocity of the Hansen brothers.  As sticks were broken they were turned into spears and random shouts of "Game Misconduct!" were heard followed by injured yelps.  For nearly an hour this dance of death continued before one beast lay lifeless on the plain and the two others ran.

The adrenaline was high, and the GM's roared in victory.  It was not without casualty though as those who had lost their mounts and opted to defend the wagon seemed to take the larger part of the injuries.  Jess, Wulf, Evok and Toast immediately began administering aid, with assistance from Sve7en who himself was applying his own arm sling and bandages.

"We should leave, I'll scout ahead" shouted Ragnar as he started galloping east again.

Aleris and Thunder manufactured a makeshift harness system for their horses and connected them as well to the wagon as to not put too much strain on that horse as all who were injured climbed in.

The party traveled slowly now, nursing and marveling at how they performed as day turned into night.  It has been two hours since anyone had seen Ragnar.  By hour three, everyone was beginning to get nervous however those nerves were put aside as in the distance they started seeing the glow of a campfire on the north side of the road.  It was Ragnar.

"I scouted up to the next river crossing.  Its clear, but this is the best place for the night so I doubled back to make sure there were no other signs of those things and I saw none."

"This will make a fine camp." spoke up Geek as he gingerly hopped off the wagon.  "You all did fantastic.  Lets rest here and keep an eye out in shifts.  I'd say we're about halfway to Rivendell.  If we can make it there in the next couple days we ought to be okay.  I hear there's a decent restaurant there now and maybe a Starbucks haha."

His attempt at humor to ease the situation wasn't well met.  Wulf snarked from the wagon as he hopped off. "Hopefully it will be a better idea than 'WhY dOn'T wE tAkE a LoOk' right?".