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Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli have been pursuing the party of Uruk-hai across the Gap of Rohan and have been gaining on them, but they are still about a day behind. While in pursuit, they come across a group of horsemen that Aragorn recognizes as the Rohirrim, soldiers of Rohan. He hails them and asks for news.
The riders of Rohan tell them that about a day ago they encountered a group of orcs bearing the White Hand of Saruman and slaughtered them, leaving none alive. They did not see any halflings.
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli hurry on and come upon a smoldering pile of burning orc bodies, which smells like the aftermath of that late night of sausage pizza and pork rinds. After a short search, they find a little hobbit belt and assume the worst. To their surprise, the belt has a small container attached which contains a puzzle. Once solved, this puzzle may show you which direction the hobbits went.
After solving the puzzle, Aragorn notices that there are hobbit tracks leading away from the field of battle, and following them they finds two sets of cut ropes that were binding the hobbits. They follow the tracks that lead into Fangorn forest, one of the creepiest and supposedly haunted forests in Middle Earth. What madness drove them in there?
The night before, Merry and Pippin lay bound as the orcs stopped to make camp for the night. Suddenly, a band of horsemen were upon them, hacking and killing the orcs. The hobbits were able to crawl away in the chaos, cutting their bonds, leaving the container with the puzzle for you to find, and escaping into the forest. One orc noticed their escape though, and followed them in. He sprang upon Merry while Pippin climbed up a tree.
To Pippins utter surprise, the tree he climbed began to move, opened its eyes, and groaned. It saw the orc, smashed it with his huge root-like feet, and scooped up Merry and Pippin.
"BA-HROOM! My name is Treebeard," said the tree-like creature, "and I am an Ent. The White Wizard will know what to do with you. He has given me some clues in a cache to pass on to you."
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Treebeard stands alone in a small clearing about 20 yards from the main trail. He is very distinctive and you should not miss him once you get within 50 feet or so. Mary and Pippin were in sort of a hurry when they made the puzzle for you, so the coordinates might be a little fuzzy. Actually, they're more than a little fuzzy; they're about 60-80' too far south, so check to the north a bit.
Please make sure you note how the cache is placed and replace the cache EXACTLY as found so as not to disrupt Treebeard's delicate grip on the cache!
PLEASE NOTE: THIS CACHE REQUIRES A SHORT (3-4') CLIMB! it is not high, but could be very precarious. RETRIEVE THIS CACHE AT YOUR OWN RISK!! I would suggest doing this with someone who can either give you a boost up or at least steady whatever you choose to stand on. If you are searching for this cache solo, you may want to consider bringing a small stool or step ladder, although it can be done with only materials you may find nearby. I placed the cache solo without bringing anything with me, so it CAN be done. This will be ESPECIALLY difficult in winter. Please, no broken bones. I don't want to have to read your xrays when I'm on call...
Do NOT attempt to retrieve the cache from the ground with any kind of tool or stick, as you could cause it to be lost for good! Please see the cache notes in the Introduction and Helpful Info page for more details.
Congrats to Hoss_Man on the FTF!