Session Two Recap
A Troll or Two
October 16th, 2946 TA
The Fellowship woke before dawn and broke their fast with the Lake-Town porters. While bringing their small boat down the Stair of Girion, the porters warned the group about the dangers of the Long Marsh and begged them to reconsider their trip.
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| Galion of Mirkwood |
Passage of the marsh was as difficult as the porters had warned and after a few hours the boat became mired in mud and weeds. Elondril and Hallas were forced to wade into the icy, brackish water and pull the boat through the more difficult sections, leaving them soaked, chilled, and miserable. As the boat struggled south, they soon entered a stretch of the river that enters Mirkwood. A gloom fell about the party and several members shivered with fear at the oppressive nature of the place. It was Hallastur from his place at the prow of the ship that spotted several figures amidst the treetops, following the ship. They were elves of Mirkwood, armed with bows. Hallastur lifted his voice in song to greet the elves and they, reluctantly, came down from the trees to parlay with the Fellowship. After introductions and a difficult interaction, the lead elf, Galion, informed the party that they had tracked several dwarves as they sailed down the river to a camp not far to the south, at the mouth of the Rotting River. While Galion was not at all thrilled to see a Hobbit of the Shire among the group, he agreed to guide the group to the camp for a share of Hallastur's Dorwinion Red.
The camp they found was hastily assembled but it looked as if the dwarves had never slept there. Elondril found an intricate box hidden in a nearby stump, hidden by a dwarven spell of concealment. The Fellowship took the box but, out of respect for Balin, did not open it. The sun was too low in the sky to continue so the group decided to sleep at Balin's camp. During the night, Hallas saw lights flickering above the marsh. He woke the party and they observed the lights from a distance. The Stone Troll that had been hoping to ambush the party as they investigated the lights grew frustrated at their caution and pulled himself from his hiding place in the muck. The Fellowship was ready for him as he charged into the camp and they made short work of him. It was the first combat for many of the members but they all handled themselves well.
The next morning, Hallas led the group south, following the tracks left by, they hoped, Balin and Oin. They soon found the remains of Balin's boat, abandoned and damaged by deep claw marks. The party hurried on until they came across the ruins of an old village. Foundations and crumbling sections of walls could be seen in the muck and mire. The Fellowship, having been warned about Gallows-Weed, easily avoided a large patch of the nasty stuff in the old village.
Eventually, the tracks led to a pool in the middle of the ruined village. The tracks of the dwarves seemed to go straight into the water and did not come out. As the Fellowship was contemplating this, they heard the deep, distant tolling of a bell. They swayed and swooned and soon found themselves awakening in a damp, dark chamber deep underground. Luckily, their packs were somewhat dry and they were able to get torches lit. The place reeked of rot. They found themselves in a large chamber with many side passages. In one of the passages, they found a stout door, covered in claw marks. Beyond the barricaded door they found the objects of their quest, Balin and Oin. Both were severely injured and suffering from dehydration. Balin would not leave until he recovered his axe, a gift from Thorin Oakenshield himself. He told the Fellowship that the smelly, slimy creatures that had attacked them in the larger chamber had taken the axe down a nasty hole that had been dug from the larger chamber. Reluctantly, the group agreed to recover it and made their way down the twisting passage. The passage ended at a wooden door on rusty hinges. To proceed, the Fellowship removed the hinges so they could sneak through. Lily, a skilled burglar, entered the chamber alone. A pile of treasure seemed to gleam and shine in the darkness at the center of the large cavern. Lily took note of Balin's axe and an old sword before she spotted eyes in the dark, growing closer. She grabbed the sword and axe and fled back into the tunnel, but the Marsh Dwellers were upon her. Hallas and Elondril stepped up to block the door, allowing Lily to slip past them. The group fought off the Dwellers for as long as they could but knew that there were too many and they would eventually be overwhelmed. Lily lit a torch and, through some miracle of Hobbit luck, was able to set the wooden door aflame. The creatures recoiled from the fire and that was enough to allow the Fellowship to flee up the tunnel. Grabbing the dwarves, who were too weak to flee on their own, the group plunged back into the pool and swam for the surface. Lily struggled and took in a huge lung full of water, but managed to make it to the surface. With the water churning and boiling beneath them, they fled back to the dwarf camp and their boat.
The trip back up the river was uneventful but upon reaching the porter shacks, the Fellowship found that old Nerulf had died in the night. Hallastur attempted to sing a song over his grave but his weariness overcame him and he faltered. Elondril stepped up and sang a song of such beauty that the porters wept and almost seemed to relive old Nerulf's life in the verse. It was something that they will tell their grandchildren about, such was the power and magic of the song.
Returning to Lake-Town, the Fellowship is met by Gloin on the Master's barge. He offers to let the group stay at his residence for as long as they are in Lake-Town, such is his gratitude. He also, of course, pays the group the reward he had promised.
With a week yet before the Dragontide festival, the Fellowship rests and recovers. Lily studies the sword she recovered from the cavern and discovers it is an ancient sword of Numenorean make, crafted for an old king of Gondor. She gifts it to Elondril who promises to use it well.
The Dragontide festival opens with the annual Tournament of the Black Arrow. This year the tournament is even more special as King Thranduil has promised to donate a bow from his own armory as the grand prize. Hallastur and Lily enter the tournament but everyone knows that members of the Bowman's Guild of Lake-Town or the Royal Archers of Dale win the event every year. Many bets are placed against the adventurers. Both Hallastur and Lily manage to qualify during the first event, the Wreath Shoot, and advance to the next round. Sadly, it was in the Wand Shoot that Hallastur fails to score enough points to advance to the final round, the Ring Shoot. Lily, along with one member of each of the guilds, participates in the final round. The Lake-Town and Dale men shoot well, but Lily's shots are dead center and, with the crowd cheering the Hobbit on, wins the tournament. The Master of Lake-Town presents Lily with a golden arrow to commemorate her victory and Thranduil, reluctantly, agrees to give the Hobbit the bow.
Later that night, the Fellowship is invited to join the Master and Gloin on the Master's private platform for the fireworks display. Pallando, a strange traveler from the east, gives a fireworks demonstration that would rival even that of the wizard Gandalf! During the show, however, Hallas overhears a conversation at the end of the platform. It seems a man of Lake-Town is desperate for the Master's help. His son has gone missing and has not returned. Hallas interjects and learns the man, Egwin, is concerned because his son, Edor, went fishing for eels at the Eel Tarn west of the lake and has not returned. He knows not to be out there after dark as there are many wolves in the area. The Fellowship agrees to immediately set out to find Edor, though reluctantly as it means missing the fireworks show.
Egwin leads the group to the Eel Tarn where they find the body of young Edor. He has several crude arrows in his chest that Hallas knows came from the bows of goblins. The group scares off a pack of wolves with their torches before heading back to town. The Master's assistant, Quill, is sorrowful at the death of the young boy and offers the group a small reward if they will track down the goblins and kill or drive them off. They agree.
The next morning the group returns to the Eel Tarn and, after searching around, find the remains of a camp. There are many goblin footprints and those of a huge wolf, or Warg. The group sets off to follow the tracks. They travel over the rocky moors for most of the day until they spot a small barrow at the top of a hill. Smoke curls from the barrow and a hunched and cloaked figure stands nearby. He invites the Fellowship to join him in his home and offers them hospitality for the night. The group agrees and crawls with the stranger into his bone-filled home. The stranger turns out to be Khor Man-Friend, a redeemed orc who had fled the Battle of Five Armies many years ago after an elven warrior had shown him mercy. He turned his back on his people and has been living here, deep in the moors, since that time. He tells the Fellowship that he had tracked the goblins to an area not far away called the scar, a deep and long cleft in the earth in which many creatures of shadow take refuge. He gives the group a skin of orcish "black water" and guides them to the scar the next morning. Hallastur is unable to keep up with his pace and Khor is forced to slow down. The group camps at a cliff-face that night, having been unable to reach the scar before sundown. The next morning, the group scales the cliff and Khor agrees to wait. The group enters the scar and tracks the goblins to a small cave. They ambush the goblin lookout and engage the main group in close combat. They find themselves arrayed against several goblin archers, a Warg, and a larger, well-armed orc. The battle is fierce and, just as the group thinks they are getting the upper hand, are attacked from the rear by a huge, lumbering cave troll that had been disturbed by the sounds of the conflict. Now desperate and attacked on two fronts, the group fights fiercely. Lily and Hallastur use their bows with deadly efficiency while Hallas and Elondril press the attack with spear and sword. Eventually, the orc and troll fall and the final goblin archer tosses his bow down and begs for mercy. The Fellowship binds him and agrees to turn him over to Khor. Before leaving the scar, the group tracks the troll back to its lair and recovers a small but valuable trove of treasure.
Upon returning to Lake-Town, the group is given a small reward from the Master's own treasury for their swift and decisive actions in the matter of the goblin spies. The group decides to winter in Lake-Town, continuing to stay at Gloin's manor, where they will enjoy the Yule season.
End of Session Two
Elondril's Song of Valor
As darkness falls
And hope's light fades
All around
The foes arrayed
Mortal men
In boots would quake
But us, we few
Shall not forsake
We come to smite
The evil here
To rid this land
Of dread, of fear
So run and hide
Or feel us rend
Your life's forfeit
Cause we're your end.
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