1.0 - The Marsh Bell

The second of the four gallows-weed clumps falls to your weapons. The other two remain docile given the distance. Robin, for his part, suggests helpfully, "Perhaps we could give those a wide berth?"

Inar nods "Aye laddie, we can hopefully pick their trail up on the other side."

Frór stows his handaxes, picks up his walking stick and mattock and cautiously follows Robin safely around the remaining hostile plants, thankful for the hobbit's wisdom.

Giving the gallows-weed a good, wide berth -- you continue forward on your search for the missing Dwarves. In due course, you begin to come across some low, tumbled stone -- as if there were a village or town here long ago and it has fallen into ruin. Here and there you come across stretches of discarded bones. They appear to be of different ages -- some newer than others.

Robin frowns over the sight of the bones, inspecting the area for anything of note.

"Bones!" observes Frór decisively. The tall dwarf hoists his mattock into the ready position and looks warily about for the denizen of this place that leaves bones behind.

Inar casts a wary eye across the surroundings "Careful, if there are bones here some beastie or other can't be far away" he says quietly to the group in general, scanning about with an arrow nocked in his bow.

Gilly nods and looks about warily, giving random weeds an especially close eye.

Inar, alas, can discern no thing of particular interest about the bones other than, well, they are bones. Gilly and Robin, however are able to identify that the bones have a variety of ages -- some are quite old, while others might only be days or weeks old. There's not something particularly fresh and Dwarf-sized. The bones themselves show signs of having been gnawed upon.

Robin's quiet is disturbed by an audible gulp before he speaks, "I think something feeds here, and has been for some time. But, some of these are none too old."

"Let's be careful, then, but keep moving," Gilly says as she carefully steps through the ruins.

A short while later -- you've had time for a brief stop and a snack -- you find your way deeper into the ruins and a large, dark pool. Here, the ruins are more prominent. The remains of a great marble arch can be seen on a distant shore of the pool, still holding a massive wooden gate, with the other walls of that building now crumbled into the surrounding mud. There's a croaking sound coming from the nearby treetops, as if some of the local birdlife is underwhelmed or alarmed at your presence.

Robin will navigate around the dark pool, toward the arch, careful of where he places his bare feet.

Walking around the pool and being careful not to place his feet where he feels they don't belong is straightforward enough. Robin is soon in front of the arch with its wooden gate. The gate is in surprisingly good shape for what is obviously a ruined town or city of another time.

Gilly follows after her brother, mesmerized by thoughts of the ancient civilization.

"Any sign that Father Balin actually went this way?" asks Frór as he looks around for signs of the old dwarf.

Fror doesn't see signs of the missing Dwarves, but he's able to identify that the gate and the archway are not of Dwarven make. More likely the work of Men from an age ago. Each of you can make out what sounds like the soft, muted ringing of a bell...

Inar cocks his head to try and get a better sense of where the bell is ringing from and then slowly starts to move in that direction.