After I left the Shire, I went through Bree where I changed my form several times to steal some weapons that could be of use until I got the three elven swords from the First Age.
My travels were mostly without anything to kill me, for now, since I was traveling the East Road. The only times I encountered danger were in the form of a few common predators and orcs near the Weathertop.
Trolls didn't go so far away from the mountains and forest, there was no protection from the daylight on the road, and the stronger orc tribes only came so far into Eriandor because they were hunting Thorin and Company.
After leaving the Weather Hills behind, I just followed the road for a few days until I saw a large forest in front. From there I deviated from the road and entered the forest for a certain cave, which was harder to find than I expected.
After searching for four entire days, I still didn't find the group of trolls I was looking for. Don't get me wrong, I met more trolls in these woods than I anticipated but none of them were the ones that took a certain special cave as their shelter.
Finally, shortly before the sun of the fifth day rose, I smelled a disgusting stench I had smelled several times already and didn't even need to be in the shape of a more scent-sensitive animal. The smell was absolutely disgusting but in this special situation, it gave me hope.
Sure enough, I finally found them, I mean, how many trolls could possibly live together in one small forest? Now, how was I going to do this?
I could wait till the next night before sneaking into their cave while they were out or I could try to attack them from the outside during the day, making them unable to counter me. I was thinking about doing the first one since although it would waste a whole day, it had a much better chance of succeeding.
Since the cave went downwards in a spiral path, I couldn't shoot arrows or throw things at them, at most I could pour some of the oil and alcohol I stole from Bree down and set them on fire but if this failed they would definitely be alarmed.
I turned myself into a small bird and made myself comfortable on a tree not too far away from their cave. My shapeshifting has proven itself invaluable during my short journey, it not only allowed me to take the form of anything, be it living or not, but also eliminated my scent if I wanted and that was very useful since many dangerous beings in Middle Earth had powerful noses.
A few quick naps and snacks later, the sun started to go down again and I could hear the trolls waking up, not long after they left their cave and went hunting. I took that chance to fly into their cave before transforming into a human to pick things up more easily and took a torch out of my inventory.
In front of me shimmered dozens of chests filled to the brim with gold and jewels, as well as many weapons of different kinds as well as other rubbish and troll feces. Jackpot, though I definitely have to wash the troll stench away if I want to use any of these things.
I started packing all the gold and weapons before sneakily making my way out of there. I was surprised by the trolls returning twice but I always just stored my torch away and turned into a mid-sized stone.
They didn't notice the missing weapons and gold, nor the new stone in their cave the first time. The second time, they noticed the content of their cave decreasing but still didn't notice the rock and started smelling, searching, and accusing each other. They might have been the dumbest intelligent beings I had ever met but I'm pretty sure that not even most humans would have suspected a rock of stealing their stuff.
After they left for the third time, I collected the rest of the remaining things before making my way out of the cave in the form of a small snake before turning into a small bird outside the cave and flew away in the direction of Rivendell.
Next, I was going to enjoy the hospitality of Rivendell and travel through the Misty Mountains.