Researching the scrolls
Day One - In the Hookworth Historical House
Loose papers and maps lay strewn across the oaken table in front of the fireplace in the large room of the Hookworth Historical House, illuminated by the unsteady light of the fire and a few candles. A man bent over one bundle of papers in particular. He kept flipping from one to the next, scribbling intermittently on another paper, which was now covered in his scribblings.
A firm knock came at the door, but it was not even noticed. A moment later, a dwarf entered. He surveyed the various bookshelves full of the collections of the Historical House. “Interesting selection,” he remarked with a grin, and added in a louder voice, “Anyone home?” He stepped into the large main room, and nodded with approval at the large collection of books and artifacts that met his eye.
Finally, he noticed the man bent over the table before the fireplace. “Ah, you there, lad. Greetings! Yer in charge here?” The man barely glanced up, still studying the papers before him. “I suppose so. You are?”
“Well, I am not in charge here… obviously.”
“No, no of course not. Who are you?”
The dwarf chuckled, “Well, me name is Drangan. How do you do?”
The man cleared his throat and straightened up, unwillingly pulling himself from the manuscripts, “Well met, Drangan. Sorry. I am Leothross. Can I help you?”
“I hope so – unless I am in the wrong village or building,” he waves a piece of parchment before him, “I got a strange letter from a friend – Beongarn. Do ye know him?”
“Yes, of course. I know him. You are a friend of his?”
“Aye, I am. He said my service might be need here. And seeing the amount of books here, I think I am in the right place.”
“Good. You are interested in literature then? Do you know many ancient languages?”
“As many as I was able to get my hands on. I like to read.” He drops his heavy bag to the floor with a sigh, and a few books drop out. “So – why am I in this library now? Not that I am complaining.”
Leothross turns back to the table and spreads out a few of the pages on the table, pushing aside the other maps and assorted scrolls. “These.” Drangan stepped closer and looked at them. He whistled quietly. “Where did you find this? It looks a bit unusual.”
The pages were unusual indeed. The writing was by a skilled hand, yet it had been scribbled on the pages chaotically, and it was accentuated by images of brains and heads. Leothross pointed to several different places in them, to certain words, “I could almost think it was elvish writing, yet, not quite. Talented… yet sloppy. And unintelligible. It is befuddling...” He trailed off before coming back to the question. “Oh, I think they were found in the home of a doctor in Bree.”
“In Bree?”
“Yes… Bree. I wonder though… I doubt they came from there.”
Drangan reads through the pages, occasionally mouthing the words he reads. He frowns, “Have you noticed the similarity of the changes between the language throughout the scroll?” Leothross runs a finger along the jagged left edge of one of the pages, following the script with his eyes. “Hmm. I had not noticed that, but you are right.”
“I doubt anyone would do that on purpose.”
“It does make it difficult to read. But perhaps that is the point?”
“A code? Hmm.” He continues reading down the page, and begins to look confused. “It says something about the brain.”
“The brain? As in, the head?”
“Well – I only know about one term brain – tell me if you know others.”
Leothross shakes his head, “No, I can't say I have read anything talking about the brain before at all.”
“At least this would solve the riddle about the strange drawing here.”
“True… perhaps it is not as gruesome as it seems… perhaps.”
“You said it is taken from a doctor? Maybe these are notes about a procedure? I like books, but the theory about healing and such things hold no interest for me.”
“Surely it is not as simple as pages from a medical book, right? There is no benefit to writing medical knowledge in code...”
“Wait – what is this. 'mind'? Why would a doctor write something about the brain and the mind? Maybe this is why it is encrypted?”
Leothross turns to gaze troubled into the dancing flames, “You may be on to something… An intelligent hand, probably, writing about a connection between the brain and the mind? … pages that look as if they were cut, or perhaps torn, from a book …”
“Cut? Why are you saying that the pages are cut?”
The man shrugs, but does not look, “With a dull knife, perhaps. The left edges of all the pages are torn.”
“Ahh. Yes, it seems you are right.”
He turns strides over to the table and rests his palms on it, “Can you tell if it says anything about spells. Or spirits… or possessions… or something of that nature?”
“You think someone wants to try to find a way to get in someone's brain to control his mind? C'mon, this sounds like crazy talk!”
“I hope so, yes. Look here, this definitely came from a book. There are numbers left on some of these pages.”
Drangan shook his head, hoping that this was really crazy talk. He looked at the scroll again, but steps back shaking his head. “Do you have some water for me, lad?”
“Water?” Leothross pauses, “Ah.. Hmm. There ought to be some around here somewhere.” He goes off to find a glass for the dwarf who leans back against the wall, closing his eyes.
He returns with a mug, “Are you alright there?”
“I feel a bit dizzy – staring too long at the cursed scroll. It seems I saw something – but it can't”
“This should help.”
Drangan gratefully takes a sip from the mug. “Thanks. This helps.”
“Good. You said, you said you saw something in them?”
“It was probably me mind just playing games.” He catches himself and chuckles at the coincidence – having just read 'mind' on the page.
The man closes his eyes and shakes his head, “Don't discount feelings like that… I did that once… What are you thinking?”
Drangan looked down at the scroll again, focusing on the scribbled lines. “Can you see these scribbles, that look even more chaotic then the others?”
Leothross looks to where he is pointing, “Yes, I see them.”
“If you follow the lines, can you see them forming an object?”
He steps back and tries to focus on the lines. “Sorry. I see nothing. It is just scribbles to me.”
The dwarf rolls his eyes, “Are ye sure? It was an object – like jewellery.”
“Jewellery? Wait...” He pulls a pouch of amulet pieces from a pocket and gently pours out the pieces on one of the pieces of parchment. “How are you with puzzles?”
“Well – I understand the logic, and I enjoy a challenge from time to time.”
“Here is a challenge then. Let us see if we can make your image of jewelery from broken pieces.” He began arranging some of the biggest pieces, trying to guess how they might fit. Half an hour later the pieces began taking shape. “Well, do you recognize it at all?”
Drangan glanced between the broken pieces and the scroll, fighting the dizziness. “Well… it could be partly the same.”
“In other words, it probably is! I mean, I believe these were both found in his home. And worse, I bet these are the same ones we saw on the bandits...” He had begun pacing back forth before the fire.
“Bandits? There were bandits in that doctor's home?”
Leothross waved his hand dismissively, “Yes. He was kidnapped a while back. That's what brought all this to light in the first place…”
“So you found the kidnapped doctor in his home with the bandits, and the scroll as well?”
“What? No… no, Oronir and some others managed to rescue him finally. He was found in a bandit camp outside of Bree. These things were found in his home after the fact, I think.”
“Ah, ok. That makes more sense now. So maybe the parchment belongs to these bandits too?”
“That… or it is what they wanted from him.”
“Well – we would need to know where they found the pieces, and maybe what this jewelery is.”
“Yes. Yes that would help. But if the picture you saw in the writing matches these amulets, then there is some dangerous connection.”
“And we don't know the meaning of the words brain and mind. And why it is encrypted. And what the encrypted text says… Still so many questions.”
“If theyy mean what we usually think of… but this was a doctor. They may mean something else to him. Have you ever run across books that could tell you about coded messages?”
“I saw books in some libraries during my journeys. But often you need a specific book for it. One that might be in the house of the doctor.”
The man rubbed his bearded chin thoughtfully, “Or at least one that he would have access to. There is a library in Bree. Would they have such a volume?”
“I don't know the library of Bree. I assume it is not as impressive as the one in Rivendell. And seeing the books here in the entrance hall alone, I assume this house has a more impressive book collection than Bree.”
“No,” he chuckled, “Bree is certainly not impressive. But our doctor did not likely travel all the way to Imladris. And he wouldn't have access here.”
“True. It took a while and some duties before even I was allowed to enter.”
Leothross seemed to continue his thought, “Then again… if he already knew the method by heart, he may not have needed a book at all.”
“But he would have needed it at some point. Well, we can check out the library anyway, maybe we find something.”
“Also true. It seems our most likely bet at this point is Bree.”
“Haven't been to Bree for a few years now. Is that tavern still there? They even served some nice dwarven ale there.”
The man shrugged, “As far as I know the Pony's still there. I actually haven't been myself in awhile… just got back from a journey.”
The dwarf laughed, “I haven't stopped being on the road for years now.”
He smiles briefly, “Ah… that is the good life.”
“Aye – most of the time. But sometimes you miss yer own bed.”
“'Tis true...” he trails off thoughtfully, “Well, we will not be able to complete our study of these papers here. Shall we meet at the library in Bree tomorrow?”
“Aye. Tomorrow.”
GM note: I would like to thank all those that rewrote the chat captures so the event is a readable document
