A Grand Celebration is Coming!

[Digger]

My Dearest Kinfolk and Friends,

Raise high the tents!  Let the oven fires be lit!  Set the cooks to baking and the brewmeisters to brewing!  Call the Hunters to gather!  Let all the craftsmen know that there is coming a grand celebration!  The time has come!  The hour approaches!  Send the invitations!  Ring the bells!  Start the Band!

The Tinnu uin Galadhrim, renowned for their hospitality and parties, are going to CELEBRATE!  Our First Anniversary is coming in a few weeks.  We will be one year old, making us among the eldest kinships in Eriador.  Now we shall have a great party for this day!

There will be jewels from the farthest reaches of Middle Earth - sapphires, rubies, beryls in necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets.  We will have great armour from the smiths of Thorin and the forges of Imladris.  Prizes will arrive from Dale, from Gondor, from the farthest markets and finest artisans.  Blades of renown and finest steels.  Bows!  Maces!  Weapons of wonder.  All will be given as prizes to everyone who attends this great day - the First Anniversary Celebration!

We will have games - Riddles!  Races!  And announcing here for the first time ever, there will be a SECRET MYSTERY EVENT!  And we will have music from the elves, from the Shire, from Bree and Dale and beyond!  Tunes to rouse your spirits!  Songs to soothe your passions!   Anthems and ballads and jigs and there will be BAGPIPES!

Gather now!  Help is needed!  The work begins at last!  Line up here to lend a hand for this Wonderous Party, our Grand Celebration.  *We need artisans to craft prizes.  *We need cooks to make refreshments.  *We need tailors to make party hats and tunics.  *We need farmers to grow pipeweed and produce.  *We need team leaders to help with events.  *We need hosts and hostesses to serve and welcome.

Voluteer now to help with this Grand Celebration!  Drop a note here about what you wish to do, and I will be in touch.  And PLEASE spread the word far and wide so that all our kinfolk know.  A Party is Coming in April.  When?  Date May 2, a Friday evening at 7.30pm EST! Send the word now.  Tell everyone.  Hurry. Hurry. Time is running out.  Help make this one the biggest and best ever!  We are famous for our parties so let's take it over the top on this one.  Come all Tinnu uin Galadhrim!  Gather and lend a hand.

Digger Goodsong
a party loving hobbit

[Digger]

A SECRET Mystery Event will happen at our First Anniversary Celebration!  Be prepared!  Come with all your gear and be ready!  It may happen at anytime.  No one knows what this is.  It will challenge the entire kinship.  It will test our oaths and demand our most valiant effort.  It will be a huge moral decision that strikes at the very heart of our integrity.  What is this?  What is going on?  What will happen?  No one knows.  Be wary!  Be alert!  Stand ready Tinnu uin Galadhrim!  A trial is coming.

Digger
a serious simple hobbit

[Digger]

The SECRET Mystery Event has started! There are mumblings in the Trollshaws coming down from the Misty Mountains.  The event is in motion and time has started to expire.  Will our kinship be ready?  Will they have enough allies?  What is going to happen?  We are almost one year old, but have we ever been tested?  A trial is coming, and no one can stop it now.  May the Valar bless us and keep us strong in spirit as well as body.

Digger
a very worried hobbit with a SECRET

[Digger]

My kindred in Esteldin sent me a strange message today that something is happening around Aughaire with the orcs up there.  They have seen signs of large gatherings and some kind of council.  The Rangers are investigating.  I will report more as it happens.  The SECRET Mystery Event has started.  Are you ready?

Digger
a hobbit news reporter

[Digger]

Finally, we are finding out something about these mysterious night visitors and orc councils.  From Gloin's camp, I have learned that the goblins are up to something with Baggins.  We assume they refer to our dear Bilbo Baggins.  There does seem to be something big looming with all of the secret night meetings and activities recently.  Could the orcs and goblins be planning an attack on Imladris?  They burned Archet and Trestlebridge.  Rivendell has been attacked before.  Could it be?  Would Imladris be able to defend against a massed orc and goblin invasion?  What if Elrond were overwhelmed?  What is happening?

Come to the Anniversary Celebration of the Tinnu uin Galadhrim, May 2, at 7.30pm EST and find out - a SECRET Mystery Event!  Meanwhile, if anyone sees or hears anything - no matter how small - about these mysterious activities, please let me know.  I will keep you informed as news develops.

Digger
a hobbit reporter on the spot

[Digger]

My Good Friends and Inquiring Minds,

This last weekend, with my stalwart companion, Mithasul, the Great Scout, we ventured deep into the Misty Mountains to learn some hard details about the recent orc and goblin activity.  Mainly, we were worried about the rumor that an attack on Rivendell was imminent.  I am relieved to report that it is not.  Repeat:  There is no evidence of a planned attack on Rivendell.  This is both good and confusing news.  The orc and goblin gatherings are real.  Ariadan has seen them as have the Rangers and Gloins scouts.  So what are they up to?

After freezing our toes and fingers with waiting in the snow around both the goblin camps at Coldwell Pond and Goblin Town, Mithasul and I were able to find a few strange things out.  First, most definitely something is going to happen soon, in fact any day now.  The goblins are gathering in a war party but not in the Misty Mountains - in the Trollshaws!   Yes, sightings are confirmed of large goblin and orc war parties moving secretly into the Trollshaws.  Mainly, these troop movements occur at night under darkness.

Second, we found out that our worst fears are right - Mithasul and I both heard goblins clearly saying that the night visitors were from him - the Witch King!  This is not a trivial plot then of some upstart orcs and goblins.  If the Witch King is pushing his minions in the area of Eriador, then something most serious is happening.  I decided to connect with an underground group of rebels in Angmar to find out more.

Late at night, Mithasul and I dragged our weary and frozen bones back to Gloin's Camp for some rest and then on to Imladris at last.  It was really good to be in an elf haven again after so much sneaking and spying.  Mostly both Mithasul and I are used to battling these enemies.  But the long, tiring task of slipping into and out of enemy camps, listening to idle conversations, seeing but not close enough to feel their bonfires burning, and waiting - endlessly waiting - for any sign or news, this is not at all the same thing as fighting.  Nonetheless, we were very successful and bring both the news that Rivendell is not the target and that the goblins and orcs are moving into the Trollshaws.

As soon as I am back from my contacts in Angmar with news, I will share it with you.  I am going to get to the bottom of this before we are taken by surprise.  Be alert!  Report anything strange you see!  Inquiring minds want to know - what is the Witch King planning in Eriador?

Signing off,
Digger Goodsong & Mithasul, the Scout
a hobbit reporter and his noble companion