Gwai & Rowena--Middle of Nowhere
Gwai finally took the blindfold off after the required thirty minutes, and blinked as her eyes adjusted to the sun. She had not been pleased about the blindfold, but had allowed it. The ride to wherever they were now had been long, in the back of a rocking wagon overnight. Being in the middle of the forest without her sword or bow, or even a knife, made her feel naked. She glanced around quickly, looking for any immediate danger, but saw none.
Fortunately she was paired with Rowena, who was taking stock of their scant pile of supplies, speaking at a rapid pace. Gwai looked around, turning in a circle. They were in a forest, the rising sun partially hidden from the height of the trees. The trees and underbrush were so dense it would be difficult to move around in the woods. However, she could see a brighter patch of daylight not too far ahead, making her wonder if they were in fact closer to the edge of the woods than she had anticipated. “I have a feeling my wagon driver was driving in circles for at least part of the time,” Gwai commented regretfully in response to Rowena. “But since it is first thing in the morning, at least we know that way is east,” she said more cheerfully, gesturing at the sun.
She took a moment to stretch, working the kinks out of her back, still a bit sore from her fall out of the boat during the Summer Festival. Her weapons had been politely yet firmly confiscated. She was wearing her usual outfit of well-worn brown riding boots with a short heel, well broken in so she could walk for miles, with light brown breeches, and a cool button-down off white linen shirt, with her green cavalry cloak loosely tied. She wore light leather armor, which was all the she had been allowed to bring. Her blonde hair, sun-streaked from the summer sun, was neatly plaited back.
A note accompanied the supplies. “Find your way to the main camp. Use your skills and work together. Good luck”. “The quartermaster must have grudge against one of us!” Gwai said half jokingly with a smile as she looked ruefully at their supplies. Rowena teasingly asked if Gwai was planning on getting hurt, and Gwai laughed. “I hope not, but Béma knows it wouldn’t be the first time! I’ll fare much better with you here,” she said, glad to have been paired with an experienced hӕland.
Gwai untied her cloak and neatly folded it, the sun already warming the air despite the early hour. There was little around to establish where they were. Just trees and dense underbrush, no significant landmarks. Gwai frowned slightly as she closed her eyes and envisioned a map of Rohan in her mind. The largest nearby forest was Fangorn, and it was entirely possible that was where they had been unceremoniously dropped. The denseness of the underbrush would support that as well. Rowena commented on the rowboat, wondering if they were perhaps close to water. “We most certainly might be,” Gwai agreed, as Rowena listed off several possibilities of what may be close. “Since we are in a forest, and a rather dense one as well, this is most likely Fangorn, or at least the outskirts, which would make the closest major river the Entwash, but it is difficult to be certain at this point,” she added, glancing around at the forest again. “We could also be in the Westmarch, in which case we would be in between the Isen and the Adorn, but most of it isn’t quite this dense, so I would put that as less likely. Also I doubt they would have left us there unarmed,” she said, ticking ideas off on her fingers. “There’s also a fair chance we’re in that small forested area where the Snowbourn meets the Entwash,” she added. As Rohan was mostly grasslands, the fact that they were in a forest did give a bit of a clue to their whereabouts. “We also could be by the thick wood that is at the Maring Stream, but that is quite close to border of Gondor, and seemed again less likely. But if we are close to the Maring,” Gwai commented to Rowena, “The good news is we would most likely come across it sooner rather than later.” She paused for another moment, brow furrowed, before saying, “The only other area with trees would be the western side of the Emyn Muil, on the west side of the Anduin,” she said, looking around once more. “That has mostly smaller trees and scrubs, which could account for some of this underbrush,” she gestured, hoping that was not where they were. It would be an odd choice for an unarmed cavalry exercise. “But my best guess remains that we are on the outskirts of Fangorn Forest,” she concluded. “It has the feel of it.”
Gwai turned her attention to the supplies Rowena was sifting through. It took little enough time to survey the supplies they had been left with. There was the rowboat, a cowbell, a couple of bedrolls, and a pair of woolen socks. Gwai shook her head. Not even a speck of food or the semblance of a weapon. She made a mental note to be sure to give the Quartermaster a Mettarё gift this year since clearly he was angry about something, although what she wasn’t sure what it could be, not having seen the man in years. This collection of items was…well, she wouldn’t finish that thought. There was nothing to be done now.
Gwai squared her shoulders. “I’m sure we can find some sort of use for all of this,” Gwai commented to Rowena, trying to think. She paused for a moment, frowning in concentration, as she rocked the rowboat, testing how heavy it was. It was fortunately relatively light, which gave her an idea.
She took a minute to gather her thoughts, before continuing, “I have a plan, tell me what you think!” she began. “We can try to bring the rowboat with us, hoping we encounter some water. In the meantime, we can use it to carry our supplies, and anything useful we find along the way!” she said, feeling more cheerful as she developed some sort of a plan, albeit not a particularly clever one. “We can unroll one of the bedrolls and tie it around the bow of the boat and use the other end to drag it, at least as long as we’re on relatively level ground, and it seems reasonable to keep it with us.” She hesitated briefly before adding, “But if we do not find a use for it, or we establish we are far from water, I’d recommend leaving it behind. They didn’t leave us with enough supplies to warrant dragging the boat for too long,” she suggested.
Gwai looked critically at the remainder of the supplies. Rowena was right, and the items would likely be more useful if someone was injured rather than surviving stranded in the middle of a forest. She took the cowbell, which fortunately was a large one, and held it upside down. “I could probably break the gong out of here fairly easily,” Gwai thought out loud, “And then we could use it as a container, hopefully for water.” It wouldn’t carry much, but it was better than nothing. “We can keep the gong with us in case we need to try to signal someone. We need to find water as one of our first priorities, however, and it would be most helpful to be able to carry at least a bit with us,” she said, smiling as she knew as a hӕland Rowena could likely tell her much more about that aspect of being stranded in the middle of nowhere.
“Once we find water, another option would be to lightly fill the bottom of the boat with water, but I’m sure you wouldn’t necessarily advise that, as a hӕland?” she questioned, as most hӕlands seemed particular about clean drinking water. “It would be fairly heavy to drag along as well,” she added regretfully. “And if we find a big enough stream or hopefully a river to give us a landmark, we probably would want to use the rowboat at that point, and at least we wouldn't have to worry about water!”
“I think our next priority will be to find some stout sticks to use for makeshift weapons. If we find a sharp enough rock we may be able to sharpen the edge and make a spear of sorts,” she commented, not enjoying being in an unknown location without even the semblance of a weapon. A spear had never been her weapon of choice as she much preferred her bow or her sword, but she had learned to use one fairly competently when she had first joined the cavalry.
“And then I suppose we can just take the rest of the supplies with us. The bedrolls and socks won’t be too hard to bring with us, and at least are light,” she said with optimism. “You’re right we could use the socks as flags if we need to. If we can't find something to make a spear, we could fill the socks with rocks and use that for a weapon! I'm sure we will be able to find some stout sticks here in the forest, as well in which case we could use the socks to collect berries, or even filter water if we needed to," she said, thinking out loud.
She looked doubtfully at the bedrolls. “And then I might be able to fashion some sort of snare with the bedroll, but it would be fairly rudimentary,” she said with regret, having attempted to make homemade snares in the past but with mixed--and mostly poor--results. This would likely be an exercise in futility as they did not even have rope, and Gwai did not feel desperate enough yet to donate her boot laces. "We probably can just fold everything else in them if we end up leaving the boat behind, and then at least our hands will be free. We can look for berries or edible roots to eat as we walk. Or, if we are able to make a spear and find a stream or a river, we could use it to fish!” Gwai was not the most expert of spear fishers, but she had done it several times in the past with moderate success (the fish didn't think so). A homemade spear, however, would make spearing anything a challenge. "Do you have any other ideas for food or weapons?" she asked Rowena.
Gwai looked around the woods again. The lighter area in the distance seemed like a good landmark to make for. “I suggest we leave the forest. We can head that direction,” she gestured, “And use that as a starting point. Since our goal is finding the main camp, I think it seems more reasonable for it to be more in an open area than in the middle of the forest,” she added. “And then we can find some likely sticks before we leave the woods, and hopefully a sharp rock or two to use to sharpen them, as well as some extra rocks to put in the socks for a secondary weapon,” she concluded, feeling much more confident now that they had an approximation of a plan and hopefully would have weapons before too long.
Third Marshal of the Mark
Meduseld Éored
