It has been about two weeks since I last laid eyes upon Ost Barandor. Days seem to pass as fast as they always do for a ranger on the road.
I have been in Evendim for the past four days.
I arrived through taking the road of Bullroarer's Sward, then into, then over the hills of Barandalf and past the road of Men Erain. This would give me an opportunity to see what Annuminas looked like these days though what I found did not please me.
The Angmarims have rooted deep into the old city and made various camps allong its enterance and waterline. It is almost impossible to sneak in unseen, yet I am aware that some rangers managed to do so. I hope they are still alive in there.... but there is nothings I can do for them at this point.
My road would lead me to High King's Crossing. Here I would help out another elder in training some youngsters that were stationed there at our outpost.
News came to us about a day after my arrival. One of our man has spotted two dwarves pass through the Bullroarer's Sward and they were heading for the sandplate of Barandalf. They moved slowly though....
It sounded a bit suspicious to me so I took twelve man with me to lure them into a trap and find out why they came to such a dangerous land.
Around noon we spotted them on the Barandalf road, they were fighting one of the small fire-lizards that roam those sands, and they were doing a poor job as well.
A volley of our arrows would ensure they did not get fried.
My men surrounded them and held them under control while I questioned them.
They were Ullfar and his son Hillfar, two traders from the Blue Mountains.
Their mission was to bring potions to Ost Forod to cure some disease.
We took them back to High King's Crossing and gave them some rest.
At dawn they told me they needed an escort to Ost Forod, something I thought be best as well.
And so we took off.
Everything was calm until, I showed them Lake Evendim and many sights of the ancient cities. I told them about the dire state they were in as well....
Everything went good until we reached the crossroad. We were ambushed by a band of brigands, the dwarves co-operated with them and laid down their weapons, this gave me a chance to strike.
The archers were the first to go and soon the dwarves joined my fight. They fought better then they did against that lizard, way better....
It was not soon before reinforcements came. But they came in vain....
The battle was soon won and we were able to move on once more.
We reached the gate of Ost Forod at nightfall,. The dwarves were welcomed but I was not, at least not at first.
It was thanks to the Arbiter that I was able to enter the stronghold.... Though he told us some grim news... Some news the dwarves were not happy with....
They are asleep now. Though I can not get these words of the Arbiter out of my mind. I have send a letter to Tinnudir.... Lets hope it reaches them in time....
((For the other part of this adventure check Hillfar's stories. http://laurelinarchives.org/node/27540))
