The Fellowship Slogs South
After descending the pathless crags of Emyn Muil with skill and terror, the party finds itself at the start of the Dead Marshes.
"This is disgusting," said Merry.
"You think that's disgusting," said Frodo, "look at this pool!"
"Yuck!"
"I thought we weren't supposed to look into the pools," said Merry. "Aren't you supposed to see dreadful things in there?"
"Worse than this?" said Frodo, squelching along.
"You only see bad things if the little flickering lights are lit," said Mariole.
"What, you mean these little flickering lights?" said Maggie.
"No, those are glowworms," said Mariole. "They're all over New Zealand. I mean, Middle-earth. Should we take a closer look?"
"Ugh, no. Let's just keep going."
The ground began to firm up on the far side of the Marshes.
...where we belatedly discovered, in another Middle-earth improvement, that someone had thoughtfully marked the ground as unsafe.
"I wish we'd seen that on the other side," said Mariole.
"Don't be ridiculous," said Maggie. "No one approaches the Marshes from the Emyn Muil."
"Except me," muttered Frodo. "Every single time."
"Come on," said Merry cheerily. "Let's head on down to the Black Gate. That ought to be fun."
Crevices in the ground cracked and steamed, emitting the smell of rotten eggs.
Mudpools burbled and glopped...
And here and there the earth reguritated its lingering displeasure with the Sauron diet it had been fed for so many long years.
Gradually the ground became baked, pale and dusty. Bitter fumes rose from the earth.
"Why are we doing this again?" Frodo complained.
"To put aside our troubling memories of the Quest and find healing," said Merry.
"Are you sure we aren't just reinforcing those memories?" Frodo asked.
"Naw, it'll be great," said Merry. "Look, that's all that's left of the Towers of the Teeth that once guarded the Black Gate!"
"Spiffing," said Frodo.
"And here's the pit where you spent the day hiding with Sam and Smeagol," Merry said excitedly. "Wanna look at it?"
"Not particularly," said Frodo.
Sensing a certain reluctance on Frodo's part, Mariole came up with a new plan. "How about if we proceed on to Ithilien and round up some lunch?"
"That's the best news I've heard today," said Frodo. "Take the southwest road, and step on it."
So on we went to Ithilien, where everything would be green and calm and perfectly safe...
Don't miss our next exciting chapter when we are perturbed with stewed Oliphaunts.
Click here for a complete list of our NZ adventures.
"This is disgusting," said Merry.
"You think that's disgusting," said Frodo, "look at this pool!"
"Yuck!"
"I thought we weren't supposed to look into the pools," said Merry. "Aren't you supposed to see dreadful things in there?"
"Worse than this?" said Frodo, squelching along.
"You only see bad things if the little flickering lights are lit," said Mariole.
"What, you mean these little flickering lights?" said Maggie.
"No, those are glowworms," said Mariole. "They're all over New Zealand. I mean, Middle-earth. Should we take a closer look?"
"Ugh, no. Let's just keep going."
The ground began to firm up on the far side of the Marshes.
...where we belatedly discovered, in another Middle-earth improvement, that someone had thoughtfully marked the ground as unsafe.
"I wish we'd seen that on the other side," said Mariole.
"Don't be ridiculous," said Maggie. "No one approaches the Marshes from the Emyn Muil."
"Except me," muttered Frodo. "Every single time."
"Come on," said Merry cheerily. "Let's head on down to the Black Gate. That ought to be fun."
Crevices in the ground cracked and steamed, emitting the smell of rotten eggs.
Mudpools burbled and glopped...
And here and there the earth reguritated its lingering displeasure with the Sauron diet it had been fed for so many long years.
Gradually the ground became baked, pale and dusty. Bitter fumes rose from the earth.
"Why are we doing this again?" Frodo complained.
"To put aside our troubling memories of the Quest and find healing," said Merry.
"Are you sure we aren't just reinforcing those memories?" Frodo asked.
"Naw, it'll be great," said Merry. "Look, that's all that's left of the Towers of the Teeth that once guarded the Black Gate!"
"Spiffing," said Frodo.
"And here's the pit where you spent the day hiding with Sam and Smeagol," Merry said excitedly. "Wanna look at it?"
"Not particularly," said Frodo.
Sensing a certain reluctance on Frodo's part, Mariole came up with a new plan. "How about if we proceed on to Ithilien and round up some lunch?"
"That's the best news I've heard today," said Frodo. "Take the southwest road, and step on it."
So on we went to Ithilien, where everything would be green and calm and perfectly safe...
Don't miss our next exciting chapter when we are perturbed with stewed Oliphaunts.
Click here for a complete list of our NZ adventures.