Thief Hunt::Series III

[Zôrzimril]

Murder hornets defeated, Regdûsh ambled on his way. For perhaps the first time in his grubby orc life, Reg felt like his mouth could do with a cleaning. All the booze and ash had left him with pungent breath and a gritty sensation on his tongue, and the wine had not fixed his problem. He supposed he ought to ask around - maybe he could borrow the Mouth of Sauron's Toothbrush. He imagined that dude had to have a pretty intense one, given his very large teeth. Reg also assumed he didn't use it much, because that guy was foul, even by orcish standards, and might be happy to lend it out. Who knew his Thief Hunt for whoever took Blinky would lead him to improved dental hygiene? Reg shook his head solemnly at this realization and stroked at an imaginary beard (orcs not being able to match the fabled facial hair of the dwarves - even the female ones, given that Queen Nerwen's exemplary stubble).

[KingODuckingham]

"Oh dear, uh, it seems I have forgotten to return the Mouth of Sauron's Toothbrush!" Ducky stammered under Turin's watchful eye. "Excuse me, I totally have to go immediately to, uh, Grobby's Cupboard, and return it to him. Bye bye!" Ducky fled the towers, hopefully never to return. And yes, he had already returned once, but surely there was a last time for everything.

Hm.

Discarding that dark thought, Ducky carried his stolen book carefully to Landy, because he owed her a thank you for recommending the library to him in the first place. He would not mention the book stealing thing though.

[Gwai]

Grobby's Corner turned out to be a good hiding place, particularly as Gwai was partially convinced the fell beast would be back to finally eat her, possibly bringing some of his friends with him. It seemed the Mouth of Sauron's Toothbrush really had been stolen, and Gwai was concerned. Who would want a used toothbrush? Was it wrong to just assume it was Uruva? Gwai felt a bit better, however, when she thought it through. It wasn't as if The Mouth actually used it. But then, why steal it? It didn't matter, she was paid (hopefully) to catch thieves, not figure out their motives.

[Taethowen]

Taeth's very strange dream took a sudden turn into a nightmare when the floor fell out from under her. The Mouth of Sauron's toothbrush went flying through the air to only Bema knew where, and well... Taeth was very grateful that this was only a dream when she found herself impaled on numerous stakes in the bottom of a pit.

"Oh fredegar!" she groaned, trying to pull... or levitate... or pass Bema-damned through for pity's sake herself free of the stakes, but to no avail.

"Now would be a fantastic time to wake up!" she groaned.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

For some reason it wasn't the troll, which honestly surprised Zarâm. But it was still likely that the pink tricycle was the missing item and it was up to her to retrieve it from the clutches of Uruva. But where would that individual be? Like any hiding place, Grobby's Cupboard proved to be an interesting one, full of unexpected nooks and crannies, despite being a very tiny place. It would be a feat for anything other than Grobby to fit there, but perhaps a determined enough thief would be able to settle there and hide. But, they wouldn't be able to escape Zarâm's seeker abilities if they were in there.

[Moriel]

The thief has NOT been found!
The item HAS been found!
The hiding place HAS been found!

@Frostbite you may now hunt again!

[The Good Hunter]

Having no other recourse, Frost brought his makeshift family to the Thief Hunt, a place that existed in Mordor, not also only existed in a metaphysical sense. He could hide Grobby and Thali there and knew they would be safe. Being a metaphysical place, the Thief Hunt did not truly exist and could only be found by someone with an advanced understanding of semantics and philosophy. There weren’t many people in Mordor that could pull that off. He needed to get rid of the sleeping fell beast from the pub, whoever put it there (yes he was sure such a beast could not have just appeared there on its own), had meant to do him harm (or Írimë but the cast still stood) and he needed to find out who it was. They had attacked when Grobby was present and that was something Frost simply could not abide. He was going to need help though. With Zôr still missing (he did not suspect her of foul play, but did still wander where she’d gone) he was going to have to turn to the next best person: Reikon. It was going to rankle Frost to have to ask for his help, the two had never actually spoke more than a few words in all the years they were aware of each other’s existence, but desperate times and all that. Vaguely, Frost wondered if Grobby’s Pink Tricyle was still there (or the remnants of it at least, what had Grobby done to it?).

[Allacan ob Burzum]

After all the excitement with snakes and thinking (thinking was such terribly hard work, especially for such a young kobold) Grobby had found itself lifted up in Pop-pop's arms and carried out of the pub that it thought of as home. It wrapped its little arms around Frost's neck companionably and tried to pay attention to where they were going, or perhaps find the energy to protest at being removed from the On the Rocks pub, which it had imprinted on as home. But its little eyes drooped as its body remembered that it had only had a few hours rest. So it was oblivious to the world around it as it fell into a deep repose, dreaming of its hidey hole Grobby's Cupboard, which for some reason now housed not snakes but a Pink Tricycle until Thalionwen came along and spoiled all their fun. It wasn't the best dream... there hadn't even been any brooms!

[Gwai]

Why there was so much fuss over the Mouth of Sauron's Toothbrush, Gwai was unsure, but now apparently Krumhûr was after it also. Were toothbrushes at this much of a premium here that people were willing to risk using a used one? She pondered that from her spot in Grobby's Cupboard, as it seemed a good place to ponder, albeit a bit cramped. At least if wasn't dusty, a benefit to him sweeping. Another benefit of course included the fell beast, even if he tracked her down, would definitely not be able to fit in here. So many benefits of staying put.

[KingODuckingham]

Turin had snitched on him. It was the only explanation. Why else was there are full blown Thief Hunt on in Mordor. Such things only happened in full force when someone sounded the alarm. Elenhir himself was leading an expeditionary force in ever widening circles, looking for someone who would dare steal something so valuable as a book from the towers of no return. No doubt they desired to return the book. Well, Ducky would see to it that such an eventuality would never come to pass. This book meant everything to him. It was more valuable (and harder to find) than the Mouth of Sauron's Toothbrush, for Varda's sake! Now if only he could find an opportunity to, you know, sit down and read it? No rest for the weary though...he swooshed his cape around him (but not in an attention-grabbing way) and walked onward.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

The cupboard was bigger than Zarâm had thought, but it was obvious that Uruva was not hiding in any of its corners. But who would have swiped the pink tricycle if it wasn't her? Zarâm thought for a few seconds before coming to the conclusion that Reikon was the likely culprit. Surely he was hiding somewhere deep in a dark corner of Grobby's Cupboard. Zarâm was determined to keep exploring the tight place. One of her thievery hunches would have to be right at some point, so why not this one?

[Zôrzimril]

Reg focused on looking for someone who might be able to help him find the Mouth of Sauron's Toothbrush. The streets of Mordor were largely deserted that he could see, though (except for the ashes of the murder hornets, he thought with pride). He had just resigned himself to wandering the area aimlessly to continue his Thief Hunt for Blinky's abductor, when he spied a woman dressed in black hurrying from shadow to shadow. "Oi, you!" he shouted, rushing over. The woman paused, looking tired - as if she'd not slept a wink the previous night. Her hair was oddly disheveled, too. "Do you know anything about toothbrushes?" She gave him a disdainful look and swept away without a word, silk skirts trailing behind her. Reg fumed. "I know you can hear me!" he shouted at her as she vanished into the shadows once more. She was almost as bad as that Reikon, he thought grumpily.

[Dwim]

Akrag was having a hard time finding Dimcairien. He found himself wandering through barren lands, through ash and through smoke, as the Thief Hunt neared its end. It would not be long now before someone found the Mouth of Sauron's Toothbrush. Since he couldn't find Dimcairien, Akrag decided the best way to conclude this round as the victor would be to frame Krumhûr instead. It was a cunning plan, as long as he didn't get caught. He began devising the plan, which included smearing Krumhûr's name in toothpaste on as many boulders as he could.

[Moriel]

The thief HAS been found!
The item HAS been found!
The hiding place HAS been found!

[Dwim]

Akrag's efforts in framing Krumhûr had only served to confuse people, as the Mouth of Sauron's Toothbrush had already been accounted for. The orc had been going around showing everyone the toothpaste smeared boulders with Krum's name all over them. He'd put forth a convincing case, until someone told him that Elenhir had already found the toothbrush in Grobby's Cupboard. There seemed to be some really strange things going on lately surrounding Grobby and On The Rocks. Luckily for Akrag, Elenhir was not a thief hunter, so hadn't claimed any kind of victory yet. Akrag swooped in to try and claim the discovery as his own.

[Gwai]

It was starting to get cramped in Grobby's cupboard, and Gwai was wondering if she should leave. Perhaps looking for Reikon would be a good idea, as they were usually in the thick of things when it came to thieving, catching thieves, mischief, toothbrushes, etc. She was still concerned that someone would potentially be stealing the Mouth of Sauron's Toothbrush. Really, she thought to herself, clearly it had done absolutely no good at all. Why would anyone want it? Was the handle made of gold, perhaps? Would she be rich if that ended up being what was stolen? How much extra would they pay her if she found toothpaste also?

[Zôrzimril]

Still muttering about the unhelpful woman, Reg punched a wall. Several crumbles of rock and plaster fell away where his great fist made impact. It wasn't like him to go this long without killing something. Maybe he'd set his sights on that Krumhûr as a punching bag, then make his way back to murdering once he concluded this Thief Hunt. Or maybe, if he found Blinky first, Reg would just squeeze the life outta the bleeding snake and be done with it. What had Blinky ever done for him, anyway? He'd shared the spoils of his hunts, sure. And he'd killed that wild badger that one time while Reg had been snoozing in a cave. And he had, at least in the beginning, liked to coil affectionately around Reg's arm to make him look like a total badash in the pubs . . . Argh. Maybe he shouldn't be so hard on the little lava snake, after all. Reg didn't necessarily want to ride off into the sunset with the bilbo on a pink tricycle, but maybe he could lay off a bit.

[The Good Hunter]

Reikon had been no particular help, but Frost had not really expected him to be, deep down anyway. Frost could have wasted valuable time insulting him, calling him names, and questioning his parentage but time was of the essence (also he couldn’t think of anything right off the top of his head and he was stretched thin enough as it was). Who to go to for help then? Elenhir? That sort of help would be costly, but it would no doubt be effective. Elenhir’s causal knowledge of fell beasts and their roosting habits could prove invaluable, for once. If Frost could figure out where the beast had come from, he could track down the person that had brought it into the pub and endangered Grobby and Thali.

Sure enough, Frost was going to have to pay dearly for his help, but the aid proved invaluable. Not only had he been able to point Frost in the direction of the fell beast’s roost, he had given him a valuable insight into kobolds, who knew that Elenhir knew anything about them! Frost assumed he would think they were a mixture of “pseudo-canon slurry” and dismiss them out of hand. But no. In fact he had even helped Frost reconfigure Grobby’s Cupboard so that it would allow the little child more room to acquire many of the odds and ends they collected as part of their kobold… ing.

The price would be steep though, Frost was going to have to give up the Pink Tricycle. On the face of it, it was an easy trade. Grobby had destroyed the thing and even before then it was ugly and unnatural. How was he going to explain to Grobby that the thing was gone? That was a conversation, among many at this point, that Frost was dreading. But there was nothing for it, it was that, or distribute copies of Elenhir’s “On Balrogs” textbook with all his other wares, all 11,000 one thousand-paged copies. In face of that, Frost knew he could just get his kobold a new tricycle. Perhaps the trip would be a good chance to introduce the kobold to Zor.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

She was getting closer, Zarâm was certain she could smell the nearby thief in the shape of Krumhûr. What that creature had done to wish to steal Grobby's pink tricycle was beyond her mental capabilities, but the little creature had been quite distraught over the disappearance of one of its favourite playthings, so Zarâm was determined to help in the hunt to recover it. But why I thief would then proceed to hide in the exact place where the bereaved lived was a strange choice indeed, but there was still a corner of Grobby's Cupboard that had still gone unexplored.

[Moriel]

DING DING DING!

The thief has been caught!! @Dimcairien Luiniel has successfully apprehended that wily thief Krumhûr in his hiding place in Grobby's Cupboard, where he had made off with the pink tricycle. Dim, you are now a Minion First Rank Hunter! Nothing special happens.

As always in Mordor, thievery is rife, and it's time to set out after one again... a new culprit is abroad, the traps have been reset, Thief Hunt Round Three, commence!

[Moriel]

Oh yes and because I forgot to say and edited mentions don't fredegaring work...

@Taethowen, you may now hunt again!!

[Dwim]

Akrag decided it was time to tag himself out. He'd lost his touch. He thought to himself that he needed a holiday, and that was exactly what he decided to do. He'd spent too much time around the Thief Hunt that life had just become blahhh...

So he was going to have a holiday at Lake Nurnen. It was the perfect little paradise for him to rest and recuperate. No one to bother him. Just he, himself and him laying on the rocky beach, tanning his leathery skin, maybe even with a couple of SOTBONs.

But if he was tagging himself out, that meant he needed a replacement. And the perfect replacement was the hobbit who was behind the steering wheel anyway. His name was Dwim, and he was here to hunt. But first the hobbit had to get over the realisation that Lava Snakes were an actual thing. He was not quite sure about Mordor yet...

[OOC: Congratulations Dimcairien! I'm happy to see you get one!]

[Gwai]

This thief hunting business was clearly for the birds. Gwai had absolutely no talent for catching thieves, which struck her as odd because she was quite enthusiastic about it. She decided on a new approach. Perhaps she should start more aggressively finding thieves. Even if they weren't quite thieves, perhaps they were planning on becoming thieves in the future, and she could save herself trouble in the future. Someone like Moriel, who most likely would steal again, at any moment. Much like always, Gwai decided to begin her search at On the Rocks. For convenience, of course, nothing to do with Irime's Wine Stash.

[KingODuckingham]

Once upon a time, a long long time ago, there lived a hobbit. He was not a Shire hobbit, for he lived in Bree, across the street from the Prancing Pony. His name was Reikon. Right? That was his name, wasn't it? Regardless, he had never heard of anything as terrible as the Morannon. Indeed, he had barely heard of anything more terrible than only one breakfast. So you can imagine his disgust and confusion when one day he woke up, pulled back the covers, and found something disgusting decomposing between his sheets: One Rotting Leg O’ Las. He screamed and fell out of bed, then high tailed it out of the room as fast as he could. Only later did he wonder...why was that in his bed at all?

[Zôrzimril]

Zôr watched from The Shadows between two decrepit buildings as the great orc who'd accosted her moved along, mumbling to himself - she thought, she couldn't quite hear all of his low grumblings - about an accursed snake and murder hornets. She didn't catch all of it, but he certainly seemed unbalanced. An accursed snake did seem like an intriguing companion, though. When she was sure the orc had ambled off, Zôr slunk back out into the street and hurried along the dusty and broken avenue. She wished she had the One Ring to assist in her disappearance. Zôr smirked when she imagined what Frost might say if he found her in this little game of hide and seek.

[The Good Hunter]

Now that that mess with the fell beast had been solved, Frost had something very important to do. Two things actually. One, find Zôr and two, find out what it was they had gotten up to the night before. He had been left with all sorts of bruises, a few scratches, and what may or may not be a burn from a pipe bowl, they were clues to something alright, something that Frost would not mind going over with the woman as soon as he found her. That being said, she was a master at the art of disappearing and it was going to take all of Frost’s skills at hunting to track her down and find her. Before he left the pub, he grabbed a few bottles from Írimë’s Wine Stash and headed on (yes, the wine is absolutely necessary, thank you very much for your concern).

As soon as he was outside though, the winds kicked up and had to find cover. Winds in Mordor always brought bad news and getting stuck in a brown out like that could spell DEATH pretty quickly. There were all sorts of nasty things in those winds. Frost had heard something about murder hornets from some of the patrons and while the name is absolutely ridiculous and silly, he was not about to get caught in a swarm of them.

He ducked into an abandoned building, narrowly missing a giant Cloud of Ash that rolled by him. The building was decrepit and falling apart, but at least it was a shelter from the sand. There was no telling how long this dust storm was going to last. It could be minutes it could be days, without a reliable weather reporting system in place, the denizens of Mordor were at the mercy of the elements. Speaking of being at someone’s mercy, Frost could have sworn he’d seen Zôr across the street before he ducked in here. Should he brave the winds and cross, or wait? Either way, he was going to need a quick drink.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Yes! Her nose had been right this time. Zarâm had successfully apprehended the thief. But no sooner had he been caught, then another theft occurred. Well, before any more searching occured, she was determined to have a drink out of Irime's Wine Stash. It certainly was a good idea, considering she had just crawled out of the dusty place that was Grobby's bedroom. Taking a long sip of a drink while sitting in a chair in On the Rocks, Zarâm wondered where Thali had gotten off to and if she knew a thief had used her child's bedroom as its hidey hole.

OOC Dwim: (I'm glad I got something too!)

[Moriel]

The thief has NOT been found!
The item has NOT been found!
The hiding place has NOT been found!

@Dwim, within the Thief Hunt you have stumbled upon the Variety of Snakes! Here the thief has left a variety of poisonous and non-poisonous snakes to attack whoever enters. You are bitten and must RP your way out of the situation! You may not guess until the next turn.

[Dwim]

Dwim was off to a bad start. The main thing he was concerned about coming here just so happened to be the first thing that tried to attack him. There were snakes everywhere! They'd just come out of a hole or something and were slithering around him, with some truly aggressive ones striking at his feet. Luckily hobbit feet were tough and leathery, so he only got a couple of bites that actually pierced the skin. Hopefully not venomous ones. He kicked at them and watched them fling around the place. The lava snakes singed the woolly hairs on his feet (which caused a strange smell). The baby snakes flew the furthest. With a few Buggers, shires and Fredegars, he managed to get rid of the worst of them, then brushed himself off before making a quick getaway. He hoped he wasn't about to drop dead from the bites.

[Gwai]

Word got out quickly there were more snakes around, and Gwai made a mental note to avoid that area. It wouldn't be too hard to remember, as she had a particular dislike of snakes. She decided to stay as far away from that area as possible, and instead made her way to Cirith Ungol, deciding she should check on her old nemesis, the fell beast, as she had left him there not too long ago. Hopefully she would run into Taethowen on the way, because she could use some company, particularly if the fell beast was in a bad mood. Plus, with any luck, she would find something valuable on the way, such as the One Ring, although that was probably too much to hope for.

[KingODuckingham]

Reikon ran out of his room in a panic and searched out his good friend Toasty. He related the horrifying story, leaving out the most gruesome of the rotting details. He asked his friend what he should do.

"Do you have any enemies that you know of?" Toasty asked with concern. The hobbit ran through his memories, but it was filled with happiness, like playing with his friends in One Huge Barrel Full of Hobbits through the streets of Bree, not filled with hate and enemies. He shook his head.

"Then you need to go on a quest to find answers. I will come with you to help." Reikon's friend said. They went to go pack. Reikon didn't even know where they were supposedly going, some place called the Ringwraith Review? Apparently it was a place you could go to learn the truth about certain people, sometimes even yourself.

[Zôrzimril]

Rumors had reached her ears that Uruva had gone off in search of more cats. Zôr rather liked cats. Sleek, haughty, and cunning - they were animals after her heart, if she was the type to get attached to animals. Following this train of thought led her to think of the Cat O' Nine Tails. She shook her head to interrupt the feline reverie and ran a hand through her hair - it badly needed brushing at the next opportunity. Glancing about to ensure the coast was clear, she took her first steps toward Cirith Ungol - a potentially deadly hiding place, but one with lots of nooks and crannies into which she could duck if needed.

[The Good Hunter]

The storm cleared and Frost was on his way again, though that is not to say he did not have a Grond sized headache. Either from the drinking or the attempts to catch a glimpse of Zôr out amidst the clouds of as and dust it was impossible to tell. He had saved most, if not half, of the first bottle to be used as a celebratory drink when he found her (sharing of course), so he blamed it on the black of sleep and the dust outside.

Now that it was clear, he could go to his old friend Tzu. She often had a sense for these sorts of things. She could find any needle in a haystack, though to be fair the method she used was often “burn all the hay" but he could not argue with the results. If he managed to burn out all Zôr's hiding spots, he’d win the game! What that entailed had not exactly been made clear but he was certain blood would be involved.

Tzu was in Dhâd Bûrz, opposite the direction he wanted to go but this was a long game and he had nothing but time. He made sure to bring the chicken as Tzu requested. Why? Not his business to ask. Maybe it would be a pet, or maybe it would be a meal, or perhaps it would be both simultaneously.

[Moriel]

The thief has NOT been found!
The item HAS been found!
The hiding place HAS been found!

@Dwim, you may now hunt again!

[Dwim]

Dwim surprisingly knew a lot more about Mordor than he thought he did. His imagination of it being the worst place in the world was very accurate. And Akrag had filled him in on quite a few comings and goings regarding suspects and thieves. The first person the orc had told him to watch out for was Winddancer. Akrag said she was a cunning thief and could be a terrible adversary. He'd also told him that most of Mordor's trouble lately had been coming from the loons at Cirith Ungol. He also said if he had the energy, he would have knocked that tower down with Grond, because the orcs in there were all stupid. Dwim decided there must be some kind of connection between all those things, so he began his climb to Cirith Ungol to see if Windy was there, and to try find out who or what exactly Grond was.

[The Good Hunter]

Reading chicken guts, while not new to Frost, was not at all what he expected from to Tzu. Clearly her finding a needle in a haystack methods were evolving. They no longer included burning absolutely everything around her. As he was around her, he thought this was a remarkable achievement. What she had to say however, baffled him utterly. He was told to look for his old lava snake, Jormungandr, but he wouldn’t find him in the normal way now. Now he was a Hobbit named Jorgy. This felt like something straight out of a China Miéville novel (or he would think that if he were leaning on that 4th wall again). Apparently through Jorgy, Frost was going to be able to find Zôr. It was a detour and no mistake but it was going to give him a leg up. A bottle of wine as payment and he was on his way.

Unfortunately, Tzu had no idea where the "Hobbit" resided now, the chicken guts were not at all clear on that point. There was only one place he could go to find the answer he sought, but he was loathed to go there: the Ringwraith Review. An oracle of sorts where a petitioner might ask three questions. They would then get a dozen or so very unhelpful answers. From there, one could sort through those answers and find at least a tiny grain of truth.

This had better work. Frost hated the Ringwraith Review because no answer had ever helped him, bit in the slightest. In the slightest, it had earned him so much consternation that he once tried to set the place on fire. It was a poorly thought out response yes, incredibly hasty and utterly undignified for a Númenórean of his status but when the anger is on him, Frost is hard to dissuade. He brought with him a Cat-O'-Nine-Tails just in case the answers he was given were especially stupid and unhelpful. With any luck, Jorgy would be found quickly and that would lead him straight to Zôr and victory.

[Gwai]

The fell beast was nowhere to be seen in Cirith Ungol, and Gwai wished him and Shelob well, wherever they were. As long as they weren't bothering her, was the main thing. While she was here, she felt she may as well keep an eye out for Grond, although how anyone stole that and got away unnoticed was beyond her. Perhaps everyone was really, really drunk when it went missing? Even drunk, you'd think somebody would have noticed. Perhaps she should go look for Tarawen, who likely would know more about this than she.

[KingODuckingham]

Reikon stepped timidly into the Ringwraith Review. The whole place had a stench of terror and pain. It was probably all the Ringwraiths hanging around, they had that effect on things. It could also be Landy though, she had a very similar effect. Reikon winced. He had to keep why he was here at the front of his mind, or sheer panic would cause him to forget. It had something to do with a friend's advice, a friend whose name he could already no longer remember. He trembled. Was he looking for something? Advice, perhaps? Or maybe he just wanted to climb into One Huge Barrel Full of Hobbits and hide for the rest of his life? Yeah, that was probably the reason he was here, right? To hide?

[Zôrzimril]

Cirith Ungol stank as if the orcs of the pass had not yet discovered Silendris' onesies with bumflaps and had, as a result, been collectively soiling themselves for a thousand years. Zôr pinched her nose as she navigated the rocky terrain. A cool breeze blew from a cave as she passed and she thought she saw a hoppit-sized figure creeping about, too. No matter. As long as Frost wasn't onto her yet, Zôr was content. She crept into the next cave she came upon and found it was a bit cramped. If only she had a hammer such as Grond to widen the place a bit, it would be a cozy spot to camp out for a while in spite of the bad smells.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Her drink now over, Zarâm stood up and exited the pub. She was headed towards the Ringwraith Review. The interview office was a likely place to find anything of the mischievous nature, and considering that One Huge Barrel Full of Hobbits that was needed for tonight's round of Hoppit Darts was currently missing, someone there surely would know where it was gone. Why Gwai would have any interest in making off with the supplies after her magnificent feat of killing her hobbit was beyond Zarâm. All she knew was that the thief needed to be caught and game needed to be played.

[Moriel]

The thief HAS been found!
The item HAS been found!
The hiding place has NOT been found!

[Dwim]

Dwim very quickly realised that climbing the stairs to Cirith Ungol was not at all something that he wanted to do. So before he got too far, he turned back around and decided it would be better to investigate elsewhere. Akrag had informed him that Winddancer was a regular at Dhâd Bûrz, and frightened him with all sorts of stories of torture and deviant behaviour. Perhaps that would also be a good place to hide Grond. Dwim wondered to himself about Grond. What was it? Was it some kind of torture device then? He was sure he'd find out soon enough. The only thing was, he had no clue that if he was not willing to climb the stairs to Cirith Ungol, there was only one way to Dhâd Bûrz, and that was the long way.

[Gwai]

It was time to leave, and despite her better judgment, Gwai headed toward Dhâd Bûrz, a place she didn't generally care to visit. Tarawen could likely be found here, however, so it seemed a good starting point. It also seemed a place that someone who had stolen One Huge Barrel Full of Hobbits may have gone, and given her recent successes at the pub regarding hobbits, perhaps she was fated to find the barrel, and win all kinds of renown, fame, glory...her thoughts trailed off. There probably wasn't actually much of a reward the more she thought about it.

[The Good Hunter]

Just as Frost knew it would be, the Ringwraith Review had been utterly unhelpful. He received so many answers as to who and what Jorgy was that the “Hobbit" could in reality be anything and anywhere. Why did he even bother with such a foolish place? It was waste of valuable time. Zôr could be anywhere in Mordor now! This was not going to do. Not at all. He hadn't actually given thought tho what might happen if she won the game. There had been no agreed upon reward for the victor so it could be anything, and if she was involved, anything really did mean anything.

He had to win, he thought, for a moment, of going to Cirith Ungol, there were plenty of hidey holes she could hide in there but thought better of it. He was in no mood to deal with spiders today. Instead, he turned back to Dhâd Bûrz. Tzu had helped him all she could but perhaps there was someone or something that could help him. No chicken gut readings but perhaps she'd left an inadvertent clue there the last time she visited. Maybe? It was worth a shot anyway.

Once inside, the musical, lyrical screams of all the work being done filled his ears. Much off the time the sound was awful, there was no music to it, like a Barrel Full of Hobbits, but today the screams and crying were the perfect pitch. It was a shame there was no way to preserve these. No way to record the sound the way they recorded words. It seemed like such a sad waste. Anyway, he was not here for that. He was here for clues.

[KingODuckingham]

As it turned out, unfortunately for Reikon, the mysterious and horrifying presence he had been sensing was indeed Landy. And she did not take kindly to the intrusion. She snatched Reikon the little hobbit up and transported him directly to Dhâd Bûrz, where he would spend the rest of his days (very few of them) in misery and suffering, a fate no little Halfling should ever have to experience. He did not even understand where he was, why he was there, or what was going to happen as she strapped him down to the rack. Perhaps this is a safety measure, he thought. Perhaps I'm to be added to One Huge Barrel Full of Hobbits, and this is just a way of keeping me from poking anyone in the eye or any other sensitive bits while we're all stuffed in the barrel.

Oh, how wrong he was.

[Zôrzimril]

After several hours of waiting, the smell was getting to Zôr. She couldn't pinch her nose forever, either; her arm was getting tired. Plus, this cramped cave was really not the ideal place for hiding. Better to be someplace where, if Frost found her, they'd be comfortable staying for a while. She knew Dhâd Bûrz was a place that Frost enjoyed. Zôr hadn't visited that spot yet, but she imagined the screams (probably mostly from Winddancer's victims) would camouflage other sorts of sounds. With a soft laugh that fell dead on the close rocky walls around her, she realized maybe she did want him to find her. She began the long descent from Cirith Ungol to the Pits at once. Perhaps if there was One Huge Barrel of Hobbits awaiting torture, she'd even join in. She had rather enjoyed hoppit darts, after all.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

The thief was hiding out in Dhâd Bûrz, all the evidence pointed in that direction. Zarâm dashed over and began to earnestly search for the missing items. She was very curious as to why Gwai would be hiding out out in such a place. Of course, if the woman was indeed in possession of One Huge Barrel of Hobbits, it would make sense for her to be hiding out in a place where the patrons of the came would be less likely to venture. But, the Pits didn't scare Zarâm and she hoped to find the thief before the hobbits became mincemeat without becoming target practice first.

[Moriel]

The thief HAS been found!
The item has NOT been found!
The hiding place HAS been found!

[The Good Hunter]

The search for Jorgy stalled, well because Frost was getting bored looking for the lava snake turned Hobbit and he wanted something better to do. Despite setback after setback, Frost was confident that he would find Zôr soon. He had no real way of knowing this, it wasn't like he could just break the fourth wall and read exactly where she was or where she wad going to be. It would be nice though if he could. He'd have caught her before she made it to Cirith Ungol and spared her all those nasty smells. It was to bad really, but the wine would definitely help with that.

Dhâd Bûrz was a very busy place today. Frost had rarely seen the torture chambers so full. There was even a backlog in some places. Was there some celebration he had missed? A holiday? Mordor really needed more of those. The kitchens were quiet today, mostly because he was the only one to ever use them and he hadn't been in that sort of mood lately. Maybe, he mused, there was something down here that was normal that he could cook. The last time he cooked for Zôr things had gone quite well, why not try it again.

He rummaged around for about half an hour, finding all sorts of random knick knacks that didn't belong in a kitchen, philosophy textbooks, a bumflap onesie that Sil must have made as a prototype, a guide to grave digging, and ball gag. Whoever used that lay must have had an interesting time. He found what he wad looking for eventually though, a recipe book called “The Cat-O'-Nine-Tails and Other Wild Misnomers”. There was a recipe in here for oysters and chocolate that might be appropriate.

[Dwim]

As if being whipped along with a Cat O’ Nine Tails, Dwim made good pace towards the Black Gate. Unwilling to climb the stairs of Cirith Ungol, the gate was his only way into Mordor. Usually there'd be no rush. Of course Winddancer would still be at Dhâd Bûrz. But Dwim was worried that someone would beat him there and find her first. He was sure a criminal like her would have stolen something. The hobbit marched onward with the gate now looming in the distance. What a menacing gate! The only gates he'd ever seen were in the Shire, and they were nice little wooden ones which swung open easily.