Raina's Journal.

Dear diary. Game day. 10-31-15

I am confused and disoriented. I am not sure what is happening or what has happened, the last thing I remember is laying on the sand and now I have somehow been transported back to middle earth. I feel as this is not my home, the land feels odd and sky's are gray. Something feels off, I can not tell what it is but deep down I can fill it.

Vanimo is here and it is him yet, I do not think it is, he claims to have seen me die but I saw him die. I believe I am not his Raina and he is not my Vanimo, yet at the same time we are the same... I do not care, I am just happy he is still alive, in some way.

Diorwin is also still here. He is the same and I believe it is the very same man I have known all these years... I truly wish he wasn't, that he was another version, perhaps then I could trust him, that I could let go of the despise I have of him. Diorwin aids in the battle against the enemy and that is enough reason to fight by his side but I will NEVER trust him, we will never friend's nor will I speak of my feeling about him.

I have finally meet this Milamber that Vanimo has talked about all these year. He is an amazing warrior, true be told I do not think I have ever seen a human as skilled as he is on the battlefield. I question his resolve to make the hard choices that must be made in fighting the enemy, however he is a good man to his core and I hope he can be the moral beacon I must have least I slip back into my old ways.  I am grateful he is with us.

There are others with us that I have yet to become acquainted with but, I hope with time I will learn more about them.

Peludo seems to be a skilled fighter yet, he fights with a sword that he can not handle and it hinders him in battle. I however can not question his bravery.

Sean is a bravery warrior yet I fear for his life. He seems to lack the Knowledge one needs to fight enemy's as strong as we have just faced. Though he does work well with us in the heat of battle.

It seems as if I have rejoined my companions mid mission. They have set out to retake a city, one held by humans and now infested with vile orcs and other unnatural spawn of the enemy that could have only been created by black magic. The city its self was craved into the walls of a canyon, if properly defended it would by very difficult to take, fortunately for us it was not defended at all.

Before we entered the city we came to a temple near to the city its self. This temple was also carved into the walls of the canyon and had it not been a place of the most dark and vile magics and I have ever encountered I might have thought it to be beautiful.

The entrance of this temple was cover in a black magical veil that we could not see through, we threw a glowing rock into the veil to test its limits, we could see nothing but we heard a low and hearty laughter taunting us to come in. After a short discussion we decided to enter the temple, I took the lead. After I passed thru the black magical vail, I could once again see, though it was dark and not the dark that night would bring but a supernatural darkness that no amount of light could push back. I felt as if the darkness was attacking me, it made it so I struggled to do what normally would come with eas to me.

Inside there was what looked like torches on the wall but, they did not burn with normal fire, instead they burnt with an unholy sickly green flame, it gave off no light but instead it seems as if these torches where pulling the strength from me.

At the back of the temple stood 6...things. They looked as if to be some unholy pairing of a goblin and a troll. They where clad in black full plate and had a variety of weapons but what stood out to me was one of them had a flail, I wanted to kill him first. There was a 7th sitting in a large throne, he seemed to be a priest or mage of some kind.

Leading this band of dark creatures was a male named "Narcissist". It is clear that the group had encountered him before my arrival and had spared him in the past, why they would show mercy to a servant of a dark god is beyond me.   He taunted us saying that "it is customary to bow when entering before the High Priest of a temple of Melkor". In what I felt was a fitting response Milamber fired an arrow at him. The priests dark magic must have caused the arrow to go astray as such a skilled warrior as Milamber could sure not have miss so badly.

We readied our selves and marched towards them, I must say I am most impressed with the skill in they demonstrated, they marched and fought in formation and unison, going forward I feel I must work hard to train with them so we may fight as one.

Four of us crashed into four of the foul beast and fought a titanic battle. I am sorry to say that I did not see any of it as I was battling 2 of the things with my back to the rest of my group.

I consider my self to be an expert of the fail and I know full well how deadly one can be, I stepped forward to attack the beast with a fail. He was considerably skilled and I believe the same dark magic that was hindering me was aiding him in some fashion. We fought to a stand still with each other until second beast with a two-handed sword came at me.  With my focus divided and at risk of being overwhelmed, Vanimo and Stephon came to my aid. They fought bravely, until the best with the flail side-stepped me while I was under attack from the other, it hit Vanimo with a tremendous blow that sent him reeling to the floor, stunned and unable to move. Fear gripped my heart as I remember the last battle I fought at Vanimo's side...I would not fail him again, I would not let my friend die this time. I leapt back and placed my self between the two beats and vanimo.

I cried out as loudly as I could for someone to kill the high prest. The High Priest had been invoking some kind of spell as we fought. I do not understand magic, I do not know what it would have done, all I knew was it had to be stopped. I was unaware if any of my comrade would be free to engage the Priest, all I could do was hope.

I could hear battle all around me, I could hear my friends crying out in pain and urgency. I did not know how they fared but it sounded as if the battle was going poorly for us, Stephon and Vanimo lay wounded on the floor, the high priest was about to invoke some kind of terrifying and terrible dark magic, and I was about to be flanked and overwhelmed.

I charged forward with reckless abandon hoping to sever the arm of the beast with the fail. Success! Luck with us as I was able to cleave the beasts arm off with one blow. To the side I could hear the Hight Priest cry out with pain and momentarily halter his invocation, I didn't know who but one if us was attacking him.

I then turned to the beast with the two-handed sword. He was good, almost good enough... but not enough to overcome the reckless onslaught I came at him with. Repeatedly I turned his blade in his own hand as I landed blow after blow to his arms in an attempt to cripple him. The beast was wavering but the dark magics in the temple must have sustained him.  The battle was long and fierce and despite my best effort I was unable to kill the beast, fortunately Vanimo was able to recover and with a savage blow killed the great beast.

Finally free I turned to see the battle all but over. The High Priest lay dead on this throne, and all but 2 of the beast where dead but, they soon would fall. My friends where badly wound, I thanked the gods that I was left unharmed from the fight.

After the battle was over I looked to explore the rest of the temple. There was not much to it really, only the main room and a small room behind a black curtain. What I saw in there left me greatly dismayed. On a large stone altar lay the remains of an Elf sacrificed to the dark god Melkor. In anger I took on a massive maul left by one of the dead beasts and struck the altar. The altar was too large and finely crafted to do much damage, though I tried my best.  

As I searched the room I somehow found... I dont know... a... window to the... other side. I do not know what I saw thru or how I saw it but what I saw horrified me!  I don't know how I knew but, some how I knew, I was looking at Gothmog the lord of all Balrogs. I was stunned with fright, I was unable to move or speak. In all my years and all the things I have seen and done, nothing could have prepare me for the visage I saw before me.  

I struggled to break free of the grip Gothmog had on me, I cried out in fear and pain for help.  The others came and the link was broken, I was free. Milamber searched the altar and was able to figure out that Gothmog has returned to our world from the void. I know we would be unable to stand against the Lord of Balrogs, we must get the aid of Rivendale.

As I was search the dead beasts, Milamber did something to Melkor alter, I know not what but, it seemed to anger the god and the room was engulfed in flames, Milamber and Sean where somewhat burnt but seemed to be ok.

The party was badly wounded, some of us where near death. We had to stop and take time to bandage and give aid to the wounded. I am not skilled in the ways of healing so Kept looking for anything of value. All I found was a great and terrible sword made of black steel that seemed to absorb the light. I tried to pick it up and I was overwhelmed with dread, I felt as if the sword was trying to take control of my soul and I could feel I was being watched. I quickly dropped the and we left it where it lay.

We still had a mission to complete, we still needed to clear the city of orcs and rescue their human prisoners.  

Vanimo wanted to raise the dead with black magic and use the risen dead to fight the orcs and save the people. We where too wounded as a group and we could not do it with out the aid of the dead. Milamber was ardently opposed to this,  he felt it was wrong and too much of a risk to use magic he felt got its power from the enemy, Vanimo disagreed and believed it to be safe. I agreed with Vanimo as I felt great urgency to recuse the people held by the orcs. We tricked Milamber into going to ready the horses while Vanimo raised one of the dead as a test and it worked! However Milamber came back and cut its head off and proceeded to do the same too all the dead yet to be risen. Perhaps it was best not to use the dark magic, perhaps Milamber is right.

As we got ready to head back to safe place where we could heal and figure out what to do next Milamber took the remains of the dead elf so we could give her a proper burial.
We made it to a safe place and took the day to rest and use magic to heal. We then went back to the city to see if we could retake it and set the humans free. Large stone walls blocked our path, I was not sure how we would scale them, there is no away I would have taken off my armor to do so. It was then with a great shock I took flight, though with some trepidation that I would fall, they used magic to float me over the wall, I didn't not enjoy it. We found the city empty of all but the fresh remains of many humans. I wished we could have saved them but, we where too hurt to attempt a rescue.

We then proceeded to take Stephon back to his home. Once there we discussed what to do next. I was adamant that we needed to get word to Rivendale as I felt we could not face what was coming alone.  
We agreed to head to a nearby Elven village in hopes we could find someone will to take a message to Rivendale or Lothlorien about what has transpired.There was some talk of a hidden city that Sauron is looking for, some felt we had to find it first but I do not know what good it will do or what we are looking for but, I believe this is where we will head to next.  

I fear for what is to come.

Diorwin is also still here. He is the same and I believe it is the very same man I have known all these years... I truly wish he wasn't, that he was another version, perhaps then I could trust him, that I could let go of the despise I have of him. Diorwin aids in the battle against the enemy and that is enough reason to fight by his side but I will NEVER trust him, we will never friend's nor will I speak of my feeling about him.

Looks like you have a -5 callous disadvantage toward Deorwine. That's fine because Deorwine has the -5 callous disadvantage against everything and everyone. He's not a very sentimental individual.

Very well written. I enjoy your ability to describe not only what happens in the game, but how Raina feels and reacts psychologically to the events that she witnesses, her inner motivations, and the silent reasons behind her actions. Your ability to expound upon what is seen and experienced as a person is also especially well done. These things are difficult to describe in a game, but fleshing them out in a character journal really helps to show what happens to people in such circumstances.

I hope you keep the journal entries coming.  

And as far as Deorwine is concerned, his betrayal at Gehenna obviously served a tremendous blow to Raina. I doubt his Callous disadvantage is so severe that he cannot at least reflect on his actions and whether they were the right ones, and whether Laith, Raina, and the whole of Southern Gondor would have been better served had he helped her try to remove a large group of Sauronic allies from that area. Perhaps he would have ended up dead also, but this is not to be unexpected in your profession.

I doubt his Callous disadvantage is so severe that he cannot at least reflect on his actions and whether they were the right ones, and whether Laith, Raina, and the whole of Southern Gondor would have been better served had he helped her try to remove a large group of Sauronic allies from that area. Perhaps he would have ended up dead also, but this is not to be unexpected in your profession. Wink

He may have reflected on his actions (It's not the first time he decided not clash against the minions of Sauron); but, because of his loner disadvantage, he'll go with that information to the grave. So...you'll never know. Ha! HA!

The Son of Dior wrote:It's not the first time he decided not clash against the minions of Sauron

Do tell...

Do tell...

Well, it happened a little something like this...

There were various occasions when Deorwine, and his indecisive disadvantage, allowed Sauronic stooges and corrupted guards the option of running off with women and children who were killed. And though I wasn't around to accept the evil quest of "find and kill the pregnant elf," I returned just in time to face off against three trolls we faced immediately after accepting that quest. And of course, there were the times, the timeless numbers of times, when we thought we were doing something good when in fact we were being manipulated by Sauronic forces.

So, yeah. Deorwine had his Isildur moments.

Stephons home was a large fortified Manor out in the middle of no where, more a fortress than a manor house truth be told. It was secure it enough to hold off a few hundred orcs so it would seem. Its was there that we rested up from the battle in the dark and foul temple. We need to make plans and see to this magical map that would lead to the lost city, so naturally Vanimo was busy trying to impregnate the lord's daughter.

Milamber came to me with concerns that when Stephon had been captured by the orcs he was coerced into working for them, possibly through the use of magic. It was however a misunderstanding, Milamber thought the high priest was talking about Stephon when he had said to "take their brother alive". Turns out the orc believed that Elves and Orcs are related somehow, a notion Vanimo found most offensive. To be safe however we asked Stephon if we could use magic to be sure that no magic was controlling him, none where.

We all gathered finally to use this map. To be honest I was nervous about using the map, I don't pretend to understand it, nor do I overly fear but I certainly do not trust it. I was fearful that somehow this was trick of the Enemy, that Stephon was a traitor or that this game would curse us. My fear where unfounded though, the magic it worked and it showed us where the lost city was. It was close to Rifflian, the Elven town we had business in we could work both tasks at the same time. I would rather just drop all this and go to Rivendale, anywhere just not RIfflian...

We set out the next day with Stephon in tow. He really didn't want to come and to be honest I can't blame him, we always find trouble anywhere we go and for a normal people it can be fatal to spend time around us. Stephon regaled us with stories of giant bees the size of large calf and how they can not eat any honey in fear of attracting these monsters. I didn't believe him at first, I have seen many odd things In my travels but I just could not see how this was true. It wasnt until later that night when we came to a river guarded by the local militia and asked them that I believed him. I wonder if I can find a large supply of honey, if it does indeed attract the bees as fast has Stephon claims this could be a good weapon to use. I will ask around..

We where waylaid so to speak by 3 horses, large horses. It turns out there is a horse "god" who frowns on wild horse being broken and sold. Stephon says that in the past they have had a great deal of trouble with the Horse God, that if he gets close enough to the horses they will go berserk and have to be broken again, I believe this is why my horse is so ill-tempered. The party also made a deal with the "god" to take word to the Valar of Melkors return, a deal the horse likely wouldn't honor. This horse is the one that sent them to fight Balrogs and to that black temple of Melkor, it seems the horse is trying to get the party killed. To be honest I doubt the title "god", all it took where a few arrows to dissuade the beast from attacking us.

The local Militia where happy to see us, it's not often that they see a group of people in full Plate and scale armor come through. I can only imagine how the average person feels or thinks when they see us. We are so heavily armed and armored, do we inspire fear in them? Do they feel safe and protected around us? Or do they see us as rich nobles, aloof and elite. I am not a Noble nor do I hold any station or rank of any kind, I don't even own any land. Truth be told all I own I carry on my back.. It is odd for me to think of my self as not one of the common people. While I was born into a wealthy merchants family, that part of my life ended long ago. Since I was 12 I have been part of the lower class, living in the muck and the mud, or the blood and mud to be more accurate.

That night brought much-needed levity. Vanimo was showing off his fancy new armor so as a test I punched him as hard as I could, didn't do anything. I tried stab him with my sword and then a Knife, you know to test it, had to make sure it works but he wouldn't let me. He did show me how his armor can not be damaged in any way, I really need to figure out how to make my armor do that. They said they got the armor from an ancient kings tomb that was guarded by undead elves and they were told how to find them by a talking horse, the things we get up to. Maybe when this is all over I will have a book written about our lives, of course no one would believe any of it. Also we really have to go back and finish searching the tomb.

Further down the road we came to a crossing with 5 men on horseback standing there, as soon as they saw us 2 took off running while the remaining 3 held their ground. This set me ill at ease, clearly this was a trap. We have killed many of The Enemies forces and used a large amount of magic in doing so, it was only a matter of time before they caught up to us, or so I thought. To be honest I see enemies everywhere, behind hind every rock and try I half expect an ambush in waiting. It is tiring to be on guard all the time.

The men we saw leave the crossroads where not ambusers or in league with The Enemy, in fact as it turns out they where allies. The Caravan was owned by an enormously fat and incredibly obnoxious merchant name Ahiktos. He came from a near by town where the mage in yellow was looking for us, he had given detailed description of us and knowing far more about us then he should have known. The mage in Yellow was in service of the Black Eagle Barony who is in turn in service of Mordor. They have placed a bounty on our heads and are seeking us out where ever we go. Never ones to shy away from a fight we decided our best course of action would be to seek out this Yellow mage and kill him, to this end we have decided to send a letter by post at the next town we come to, telling him where he can find us. Its time we finished him..
Milamber is a good man with a good heart, however he is also very naive. It would seem sometime back he found a very evil, ancient, elven amulet. This amulet is said to corrupt any that hold it, so naturally he shows it to Ahiktos who in turns tries to buy it... with fish...Yep that's Milamber in a nutshell. Then he tries to give it to me! Of all the people around us, he wants to give it to the women who struggles with her inner demons everyday. It takes all the willpower I have to not slip back into my old ways at times. So great! give me the evil corrupting amulet, that wont end badly at all! And what is his thing about fish? he acts like a giddy child at the very sight of one. It can be hard to wrap your head around Milambers duality, one moment he a bumbling, happy-go-lucky man-child and the next is a master swordsman. It could be an act to lure those that do not know him into a false sense of security. Or at the very least thats what I tell my self.

We had spent the night in Ahiktos camp, it was a heavily guarded camp with 50 Rohirrim mercenaries. It took me back to my mercenarie days, though most of them where spent in the Dunlands... I dont miss the Dunlands. I do wonder what happened to my former employer.. whats was his name? I wonder if he is still alive or even King.

A short time later we came to a small ferry crossing and I do mean small. It has been a long time since I have run across any hobbits and I had no idea there where any this far south, I would have thought this area to be too dangerous for their liking. Seeing them takes me back to Bree... Bree a name I have not heard in so long it almost doesn't seem real. The town was under attack, under siege, by a band of Dunish deserters that became bandits. It was a tough battle yet we won, the people of Bree where so thankful that they named me Guard Captain of Bree, an honorary title to be sure but a nice gesture. I wonder if they would recognize me if I went there.

The hobbits had an inn run by a nice fellow (aren't all hobbits nice?) named Adamwise, he and his wife ran the place and the food was amazing, best I have had in a long time. Maybe with that Vanimo will stop grumbling about the food we eat on the trail. We had all set down to eat some nice pancakes when out of the blue Milamber ran out the door saying something about being right back. He was gone for sometime so Vanimo and I ate his pancakes and blamed the crime on Diorwine, like he would say anything.

Milamber left because he saw a Umbarian man who seemed to recognize us and leave as soon as he did. Milamber stopped the man from leaving by cutting 2 saddles out from under him. They seemed to have a verble dispute in which the Umbarian came back inside the in and complained to Adamwise.. for 2 grown and armed men it was about the most childish display I have seen in sometime. Milamber explained to us that he stopped the Umbarian because he feared the man was going to go to the mage in yellow where we where... Its one of those moments where you place your face in your hand and hope you can squeeze the stupid that just invaded your brain out. We explained slowly to Milamber with very small words that we wanted him to go tell the Mage in yellow where we are.

We crossed at the ferry and headed out to Rifflian, I had been dreading reaching the town. Secretly I was hoping we would have been attacked before we got there, that the horse would all be killed or run off and we would have no reason to go, or perhaps the so-called "horse god" would find us and steal the horses. I had been running ideas through my head on how I could get out of going but none came to mind,that where plausible anyway.

My hands shook as we rode into town, what if Laith still had family here? What if I had family? How could I face them after everything I have done, all the evil that I have wrought? Even after I tried to change my ways I still let Laith die.

This elven town was nothing like I had ever seen. It looked very much like any human town you might see, muddy streets, the building where utilitarian in design. It lacked that flowing ageless grace most Elven towns had. Nor did the elves have the same manner or dress. The most shocking of all where the children, there where children! I can not say I have spent much time in many elven cities but I have been to a few and I have never seen any children before. Perhaps they keep hidden or most just don't have any but I really don't remember running across them. The children where very curious about everything and got into everything, rummaging thru our travel bags and dancing on top of the horses. It was nice to see to be honest.

We were greeted by the village elder named Peni'el. He seemed to know us, at least some of us. It was clear that he knew Milamber rather well and that he knew who I was right way. He told me that the spirit of Laith had come to them after we had been killed, that she told them everything. He greeted me warmly, with a kindness I did not expect. He told me I was family and I was always welcome here. My heart was in my throat, I could barely talk and it took everything I had to not breakdown and start crying right there in front of everyone. It brought up feeling in me that I no longer thought I had or that I was capable of.

Much of what happened next is lost to me. I was so consumed with my own thoughts that I don't really remember much of what had said after that for sometime. I learned later that the evil amulet that Milamber brought with and was so fearful was neither evil nor powerful. It was a simple elven charm that let people talk to spiders. Its kind of funny when you think about it. I had gotten so worked up with worry over it, for nothing. I guess it's always best to be safe when it comes to magic though.

We had settled down for quick meal and some rest at an Inn when in walked an elf unlike any I have ever seen. I have seen Noldorian elves before tall and strong but I have never seen an elf like this before. It's hard to put into words a way to describe him, Vanimo could have been his ugly, dimwitted younger brother I guess, they did sort of resembled each other in the same way that dead fish that has rotted in the sun for 3 days resembles a living fish. He was easily the most beautiful and handsome...anything I have ever seen in my life. He literally glowed, there was a light about him that filled the room, it was comforting to be near him. I must have just been staring at him, I honestly don't remember anything he really talked about I just sort of got lost in his eyes...

I know I have lived before, I have died and come back to the world of the living multiple times. I have been born more than once. I am special somehow, I don't know why but I am. It turns out so is Milamber. Peni'el came to talk to us, he spent a great deal of time telling Milamber about one of his past lives. He was the Prince of Umbar in the time of the Numenoreans, he was a good and compassionate leader, Peni'el knew him then. They talked a lot about ancient history, most of which I had never heard before. The lost town we are looking for is called Huta'aka it was the seat of power after Numenor was destroyed. It was a place of great evil and dark power. Cant wait to go!

The elves here live in a very odd way. They don't seem to care that much about homes or possessions, they told us we could sleep anywhere we wanted, even kick out any elves that we're sleeping there. It was a little odd to be honest. They are very kind, many of them wanted to talk to me, to get to know me, to learn more about what Laith was like. It hurts so talk about her, I have not spoken to anyone about her before. In the end it was very cathartic to talk about her, it finally get it off my chest. I have carried the guilt of her death for so long.

I was worried about bring harm to Rifflian, we had warned them that we where being hunted, that they needed to be ready for attack and set guards to watch for The Enemy. Rifflian seemed so unguarded, I saw few that ever carried weapons. I bring death with me wherever I go, by my own hand or through my actions, I didn't want Rifflian to be harmed. All my fears where set at ease after I asked if any wanted to spar with me. I condider my self to be a master of armed combat, few can match my skill with a sword but these elves made me feel like an amateur. Most used long knives and could close in on me with blinding speed and skill, and I really don't want to talk about how badly out matched I was with some of the ones that used a broadsword. No all my fears were gone after we spared, this my be the safest place I have ever been outside of Rivendale.

Peni'el asked me to stay, he wanted me to stay at least a week. I would like nothing more than that but after learning what we did about Huta'aka I felt a renewed sense of urgency, I talked to the other and we decided to leave the next day. All that was left was for Stephon to get his payment for the horses and to pay the group for escorting him. I was a little surprised to learn that all the money earned for the horses was to be given to us, guess they felt grateful for all we did. I was to receive a full share even though I felt like I had not done nearly as much as the rest of the group. When all the haggling was done we each ended up with 45 gold in the form of a large diamond for each of us. I was tempted to keep mine, a small part of who I once was struggled inside me to keep it but, I will not take money from my family. Both Milamber and I returned our diamonds much to the chagrin of Vanimo. I have plenty of gold on me and I don't really have much need of money these days.

I was getting ready to settle in for the night when an elf came to me and asked that I come get one of my companions. He took me to find Diorwine passed out and covered in his own urine... guess he decided to get piss drunk, literally. This was far too great of an opportunity to pass up. I immediately went and got both Vanimo and Milamber. We needed to confer about what to do to him. We thought of many ideas all of which had to do of screwing with his armor in some fashion, he loves it soo much. In the end we hauled him off to a sleeping chamber, stripped him of his armor and piece by piece we undid all the leather straps and scattered it about his room. The hardest part was that damn spear of his, it is magical and returns to him when ever they part. It took 2 of us to drag it into the other room and lock the door. Needless to say he was rather angry the next day and forced Vanimo to help him reassemble his armor. Milamber and I has quite the laugh though.

Huta'aka is in the mountains and we don't know how to get to it or what kind of climbing gear we might need. We decided to stay in town and extra day so that my family could help out fit us for the uncertain trek. I have a family! It sounds so foreign to me. I am glad we are staying the extra day, it will give me time to reflect on my thoughts.

The events of the last few days have brought into question everything I thought I wanted and in many ways even who I am. Who am I? Am I a violent mercenary with no pity or remorse, caring only for conquest and coin? Am I a princess of Arnor schooled in the ways of politics and polite Society? Or am I am a champion of the Valor sent to save all of reality? Am I a hero fighting to stop a dark god from returning to my world, is this even my world? I can't tell anymore. Maybe I am just a tired old warrior that has been stretched too far, pulled in too many directions, perhaps I am all of these things, I honestly don't know any more. I am not even sure how old I am anymore, or if that even matters.

I thought I had no family and no home, I never stayed in one place longer then I had to. All my family was dead, by my hand or by my failure. Now I learn I have family and I have a home. Though they are not my blood, they are not even human but they are family. I wish I could stay, I wish I could get to know them. Maybe when I am done, when I have stopped Melkor from coming I will return home.

It doesn't mater who or what I am. I am strong and capable, I have a sword and a mission to fulfill. I am ready.

I thought I wanted and in many ways even who I am. Who am I? Am I a violent mercenary with no pity or remorse, caring only for conquest and coin? Am I a princess of Arnor schooled in the ways of politics and polite Society? Or am I am a champion of the Valor sent to save all of reality? Am I a hero fighting to stop a dark god from returning to my world, is this even my world?

It's a pity Raina is going through an existential crisis right now. Not Deorwine. No. He knows exactly who he is.

NPC Red Shirt: Hey, Deorwine. Who are you anyway?

Deorwine: I'm a man with a spear.

NPC Red Shirt: (rubs chin with hand in confusion) What? That's it?

Deorwine: Well, I'm a man with a spear that's never going to touch elven mud ale again. But my spear. I'll never leave you, will we precious?

NPC Red Shirt: (more confusion) What? Are you talking about me?

Deorwine: No, not you. (hugs spear warmly)

I finally meet Agrippa, he had been with us since we left Stephons home but he had not interacted with hardly anyone save Vanimo a few brief times. He had been lost in some sort of arcane research; I believe Vanimo said he was trying to research a new spell form. Whatever that means and was so engrossed with his task that he almost seemed if he was not there at all.

Agrippa is perhaps the most profoundly annoying person I have ever met in my life. He never shuts up, all he does is talk, mostly about how great he thinks he is and how everyone seems to owe all we have done to his greatness. The only thing worse than his foul mouth is his grating and truly disturbing voice, it is like the screeching of a dying cat that is also in heat. We should send him to talk to Sauron, after a few minutes alone with Agrippa Sauron would just kill himself to get away from him. He says he comes from the reality where I was the Princess of Arnor, he claims that he knew me and does not like how "soft" I have become. He also hate's the Elves... I gave my life in that reality to save what was left of the Elves. He is an extraordinarily powerful wizard and could be a great boon in the battle with the enemy however, I do not like him and I trust him even less. I fear that he and I are going to come to blow's before we part ways.

We decided to stay another day with the Elves of Rifflian and I am grateful for it. I never know when I will find time to rest and relax, I am always fighting and traveling, it seems as if that is the entirety of my life... lives’. I had asked Peni'el if they had any leather armor that would fit me and to my great surprise they did, not only did it fit me but it is with out a doubt the finest quality I have ever owned. I am grateful for the gifts they have given me, I lost most of what I owned when we fought Vanimo B, and all I have left is what I have on my back. We have yet traveled to a city large enough to resupply what I lost. It would be nice to reach a city that would be large enough to find someone that could enchant my armor; I hear tell that there is magic that could make this plate lighter.

The same elf that out drank Diorwine offered me the same challenge, I thought better of it I would hate to see what the group would do to me where I to end up face down. I have to commend Milamber, he accepted the elf's drink and held his self together long enough to make it back to his room... mores’ the pity. I do not know what is in that elf’s drink but I plan to steer clear of it.

I woke the next morning to find my armor and shield missing. My first instinct was to panic, to rampage until I found it again, that armor is irreplaceable I would never be able to find its equal, it was made by the master armor crafters of Rivendale, of rare metal only an elf could work. I quickly remembered where I was. I was in Rifflian, a town of only elves and protected by elves thousands of years old if not older. I let my fear pass thru me, I am sure the elves took my armor for some reason and I was sure I would get it back. The elves here do not seem to share the same boundaries that most humans do over possession, they seem to be free to take from one and another, I am not even sure they always sleep in the same beds over and over again.

Peni'el came to find me, to warn me that the children done something with my armor and asked me to not be anger over it and that they would present it to me soon. Trust is told I was not angry at all and even a little excited what the elf children had done. It wasn’t until we were about to set out that the children came to me and asked me to wear a blind fold. They then put my armor on me and took off the blind fold. My armor was covered in flowers and vines of ivy where woven around the armor, up my legs across my chest and thru my armor. I was speechless at first, it was truly beautiful. I was grateful for it, I was grateful that they cared enough about me to do this for me. It was my shield that was the most amazing of all. I don’t know what kind of magic they used on it but they somehow painted a living scene! A rearing horse on a green field, it was painted on but it seems as if it is a window to another place. The horse is alive, the grass sways in the wind and the clouds in the sky move, they said it was my emblem. Now I need to find a new shield, there is no way I can risk such a work of art being damaged in battle.

It was not more than 3 hours after we set out from Rifflian that we were set upon by 4 knights in orange tabards, they blew a horn and rode at us, hard. We did not know who they were or what they wanted but we feared the worst, we set a skirmish line and readied our bows and swords. We called for the knights to identify themselves; they refused and instead demanded our surrender in an openly hostile manor. They demanded we take off our helmets and throw down our weapons or they would attack. Again we asked them to identify themselves and again they refused only to warn us one last time. Things where starting to get out of hand and I feared the knights were about to attack as they had footmen quickly closing in on us, I stepped forward to try and calm everyone down. I told the knights that we don’t know who they were and would not do as they asked. They didn’t believe me but they finally identified themselves as Knights of the Grand Duchy, they demanded to know what lord we belonged to and what we were doing in their lands, we told them we had no lord and were only passing through their lands. I tried my best to reason with them, tell them we would gladly answer any of their questions but that we would not disarm. The knights rode back and prepared to charge on us.

In truth the Knights where overly hostile and wholly unreasonable. They left Milamber and me with the feeling that the second we disarmed they would simply execute us. They were so openly hostile with us that I did not feel safe or trust them. I wish we could have found a compromise with the Knights, I wish they would have been a little more willing to talk. Perhaps had we better knowledge of this land and it authorities we would have made a different choice.

We decided that we had no other options then to fight; we lined up and began to march on them, as I said before Agrippa is a devastatingly powerful wizard and he has magic that let Dorwine strike them from great range. We didn’t want to kill or permanently injury them so Dorwine only struck at their right arm, hoping to stop their ability to fight us. As we one by one disarmed the knights their men at arms threw volley after volley of arrows at us, none of us where so much as scratched by the arrows, our armor was too great but Vanimo did lose his horse... so many horses die around us.

We in turn killed one of the knight’s horses leaving that knights unable to flee with his men, the rest turned and circled around him. We broke off our attacks see the fight having been taken out of the knights. I wanted to talk to the knight, to see if there was some way we could salvage any of this. Milamber and I set out with a white flag to talk and the knight who was in command came forward to talk to us. The knight once again demanded our surrender and would still not talk to us other than to threaten us. He said the Duke was also a powerful mage and would hurt us down and kills us. He branded us criminals...

Nothing feels right about this, Milamber seems to fill justified in this action but I do not. Milamber believes that because there is a chance they are working for Sauron that we should not surrender but I find this logic flawed as anyone at any time could be working for him, so what we just do whatever we want to whoever we want? I don’t know maybe them where maybe they were not but what we did doesn’t feel right. We need the Duke on our side not hunting us. At the same time though that Knight was unreasonable.

After we withdrew Vanimo asked Milamber to let him use his horse as walking in his armor was too much of a burden for Vanimo but for Milamber it was no burden at all and of course Milamber refused he would rather let Vanimo travel with no armor or protection then be made to walk. I was able to shame Milamber into giving up his horse but I am starting to wonder if I have put too much faith in Milamber, he seems to be growing pettier and selfish in the short time I have known him.

We decided to try and travel through the woods and back hills of the Duchy to avoid having to fight the Dukes men again. When we made camp Agrippa used a magic fog to hide us, saying that no one would find us while it was up. I don’t know much about magic but it seems as if Sauron can find us when we use it and there seems to be some argument about using it, I do not know how I feel about this to be honest, I am tired of running but we will never make it to the lost city if have to fight every step of the way.

The damnedest thing happened today, the Mage in yellow also named Golthan just happened to be flying on this carpet up in the sky, I don’t think he was looking for us, I don’t think he had any idea we were down below him as we were still hidden in the magic fog when Agrippa and Dorwine saw him and just like that killed him. They used that same magic that lets Dorwine strike with his spear from any distance, I doubt Golthan had any idea who killed him. Must be an awful thing, to be stabbed to death and never see the one who did it. I can’t think of a more fitting end for him!

He fell off his flying carpet and landed on the other side of a large flowing river, Agrippa turned his cloak into the same kind of flying magical thing like Goltan had and sent Milamber to investigate the body. When Milamber returned he brought Goltans head back so that Vanimo could talk to it. I knew that Vanimo could raise the dead to fight at his command and I had no idea he could reach so far into the afterlife that he could speak with the dead. It seems like death is so malleable. To be honest it is very disconcerting.

We spent longer then I would have liked just trying to think of question to ask the severed head of Goltan. Seem's the dead can be tricky and won't always answer the way you would like. We did learn names of Goltan's allies, Gaotus and Jolenta and how Sauron planned on destroying the Duke. I think we got very lucky with killing Goltan the way we did. I would almost think it that the Valar must have had something to do with it, the chances of that just happening is too great for it too have just been random chance.

We had been traveling and hidding in the woods for a few days when an elf found us, he was one of the Duke's men searching for us. Milamber and I went out to talk to him. We learned that the Black Eagle Ducthy had sent a raiding party killing people and taking slaves and some of them had been in full plate, clearly those knights thought we where that group. I can now understand why they where so openly hostile with us. We told the elf everything, who we were, why we attacked the knight and what we are trying to do. The elf said he would take the information back to the Duke.

he elf has just left us and now we are getting ready to move out in search of Uta'aka. We don't know where it is, how to find it, or what is there. We don't even know what we are going to do when we get there. What if the enemy is already there and waiting for us? What if the Duke's men find us before we get there? I don't like the odds right now. What if the Duke knows where the city is? Or knows who Gautus and Jolenta are but does not know they are working against him?
I have made up my mind. Knowing what we know now we can not just go to this lost city now, too much is at stake. I think we need to go to Threshhold and try to make amends with the Duke. I will do my best to convince the rest of us to go but I do not think I can, they are far too stubborn. If I must I will go alone.

grumpit wrote:The only thing worse than his foul mouth is his grating and truly disturbing voice, it is like the screeching of a dying cat that is also in heat. We should send him to talk to Sauron, after a few minutes alone with Agrippa Sauron would just kill himself to get away from him.

Haha! Classic.

I have made up my mind. Knowing what we know now we can not just go to this lost city now, too much is at stake. I think we need to go to Threshhold and try to make amends with the Duke. I will do my best to convince the rest of us to go but I do not think I can, they are far too stubborn. If I must I will go alone.

And so we did. I personally thought the Duke was going to press us into service or have us swear fealty to him to make amends for the evil we wrought on his soldiers. Honestly, we should have been executed, every last one of us swinging from a sturdy oak branch. Coming to this land to free it from Sauron. Ha! We're every bit as bad as he is; only we're just the butchers on the opposite extreme of the spectrum.

We've become as trigger happy as Han Solo in Return of the Jedi. We smirk and pretend we're on the side of good until a harmless fuzzy points a stick at our face. Then our joviality turns to malice, out come our superior weapons, and we shoot ourselves a smoking crater where that harmless fuzzy once stood.

Don't worry Paladin Raina will help keep you on the straight and narrow. She will be the beacon of morality this party needs.

Don't worry Paladin Raina will help keep you on the straight and narrow. She will be the beacon of morality this party needs.

A slim shimmer of hope amid a party twisted by evil. We're more machines than men.

grumpit wrote:Don't worry Paladin Raina will help keep you on the straight and narrow.  She will be the beacon of morality this party needs.

I find it extraordinarily ironic - and somewhat frightening - that Raina has become the voice of reason, attempting to restrain others from unneeded violence. Milamber, on the other hand, has taken up the mantra of "violence and death solve everything".

I find it extraordinarily ironic - and somewhat frightening - that Raina has become the voice of reason, attempting to restrain others from unneeded violence. Milamber, on the other hand, has taken up the mantra of "violence and death solve everything".

And not only that. Deorwine agreed with Raina's reasoning. This can't be right. Deorwine is now in danger of becoming a good man.

The Son of Dior wrote:

I find it extraordinarily ironic - and somewhat frightening - that Raina has become the voice of reason, attempting to restrain others from unneeded violence. Milamber, on the other hand, has taken up the mantra of "violence and death solve everything".

And not only that. Deorwine agreed with Raina's reasoning. This can't be right. Deorwine is now in danger of becoming a good man.

I don't know about that. Deorwine was the one who agreed - fairly readily - to attack the knights....

I don't know about that. Deorwine was the one who agreed - fairly readily - to attack the knights.... Wink

Yes, but that was before he suddenly found himself bound with a vow to destroy Sauron with the knowledge that the Duke declared against the Dark Lord. To strike at an ally is like sticking your war buddy in the face with a letter opener. I guess he felt (Impossible) a little bad about his actions. Not too much emoting, mind you. Just a Misty Mountain of guilt.

It would seem the dynamic of the group is changing. Raina is good now, Deorwine is starting his path to the light and Milamber is falling into the abyss. Where is Vanimo's growth?

I confronted the party and even though I am not at all eloquent my goal was achieved. The most surprising of all was that Diorwine sided with me; I am not sure what was more out of character for him was it that he spoke or that he had an opinion? Agrippa voted no, though I am not sure if he is just contrarian by nature or he thought it was a bad idea, it is hard to tell with him. Milamber was against the Idea for many reasons it would seem. He is too hyper focused on his goal of getting to the lost city; we still don't even know what we are going to do when we get there or what we are looking for. He did not seem to care if we are in good standing or not with the Duke or that his men would have been looking for us. To be honest I think I may have overestimated my initial opinion of him, he is too short sighted and blind to potential outcome of his actions. I am grateful Vanimo is not so short sighted. He spoke more eloquently then I did and was able to sway Milamber mind to the correct course of action.

After a brief debate about how best to surrender ourselves to the Duke we decided to surrender to the elf that had found us Laiealie, we needed to show we came of our own free will to make things right with the Duke. To show him we do have respect for his laws and people and that we could be potential allies in the fight with Mordor. I cannot even imagine what the outcome would have been had we not done this but I doubt it would have been without much blood.

Agrippa once again used magic to turn his cloak into a flying mount for Milamber to ride, with that he easily found the elf Laiealie and brought him back to the group. We all surrendered ourselves him with the expectation of Agrippa of course and we set out to meet the Duke. We came to a bridge controlled by the Dukes men; one of the Knights we fought the first time was there. Captain Lawrence. His name was mentioned more than once in our travel to the Duke, I have to believe he is of some renowned in The Grand Duchy, It almost felt like we should have been expecting some kind of reprisal from he but he never harmed us.

We were told to disarm and leave everything we owned at the bridge. I have to be honest I did this with great anxiety, without my armor and weapons I am without defense. I am paranoid about being ambushed the moment we disarm but it is more than that, my armor and sword that were made by me for the Elves means more to me then I can say. That the elves made this for me alone is amazing to me and I will never in my life find anything that is a match to them should I lose it. I have a tremendous amount of emotional attachment to them, so much so that I feel as I am not me without my armor and sword.

Diorwine seems to be as anxious as I am about being without his armor but it seems to be that his anxiety comes from the feeling of inadequacy about himself as a warrior. It seems as though he still regards himself as a simple footmen and not a warrior of legendary deeds. I have no such feelings of inadequacy, while I am not match for some elves that I have encountered in my time I consider myself to be one of the foremost human warriors of my time. I am a battle master that few could stand against.
Always the contrarian Agrippa had to make it hard to disarm, trying to find some loop hole or some way to get around the rules. In the end he agreed and we all set out on the road to the Duke. There seems to be some concern in the group that we would be ambushed along the way that some marauding band of orc or men from the Black Eagle Barony would ambushes but the road was easy, it took almost two days to reach Threshold.

We were not taken into the city proper but instead to a large fortified keep that the Duke was waiting at outside of the walled city, Laiealie went to speak to the Duke on our behalf. One at a time we were summoned to talk to the Duke, Milamber first then Diorwine, Agrippa myself and Vanimo last.  Milamber spent a considerable almost of time talking to the Duke, far more than the rest of us. I do not know what they talked about or what anyone else said to the Duke. My own time with him was short, I just wanted to try my best to explain myself and let him know we meant no harm or disrespect to him or his men.
 
The Duke decided to take his time figuring out what to do with us so he had us spend the night in the dungeon. While our cells where comfortable it seemed we were only there as away to keep most of his men away from us. I think he wanted to prevent any fighting between his men and us. They were clearly afraid of us.
I don't think I helped matters teasing the guards by reminiscing with my companions about some of our more heroics feats.  In truth we have done some pretty amazing and mostly unbelievable deeds. I doubt that the guard's even believed half of what we were saying. A rather uncouth guard told me he also had a large penis and asked if I wanted to see it. I told him I did and he should pull it out and show me. He of course did not know what to say to that, I knew he would not do so. It was fun to put him in his place.

The next morning we woke up to find Dorwines spear had magically come back him as it always does. When the guard saw it in Diorwines hand he ran as fast as he could to get his commander who came and took one look at it and simply walked away say he was going on vacation not wanting to have to deal with it or try and take the spear away, one by one all the castle guards it seemed came down to look at Diorwine, it became quite the spectacle.

It became more and more clear to the guards that we were only there because we wanted to be, in the end they decided to try and win favor with us by letting us out of our cells and just asking that we stay on the bottom level. There where actual prisoners on the same level as us and I can help but think with great amusement about what the prisoners must have been thinking about the whole thing.

On the second day they let us go, the Duke decided to forgive our battle with his men or at the very least felt it was safer to try and not hinder us. We were given leave to go north and stop Sauron from taking Hata'aka. I suppose what other choice did the Duke really had even without our weapons it’s unlikely he could have stopped us from escaping and killing everyone in the Keep. When we got out the Duke was already gone, as was the bulk of his small army he had with him. I wonder if he knew the two men we named as working with Mordor, Gactus and Jolenta. Perhaps we went to capture them; maybe we helped the Duke save his land.

The Duke did ask us to not go into the town of Threshold. I very much wanted to go into the city it's self, it has been far too long since I have been in a human city and I very much wanted to see about purchasing a few thing's and it does not look like I am going to be able to do so anytime soon. I was however able to buy a new shield from the keep. I will never take the shield the children of Riffilan made for me into battle, even if I have to fight without a shield. I don’t know how long the magic will last but I will do my best to protect it even if I have to fight with no shield. It was not until we reached the gates of the keep did we remember that Vanimo had no horse, the keep would not sell us a new one. A kind soldier volunteered to go into Threshold and buy us a horse as we were banned from going. After a 6 hour delay we finally set out.

Agrippa keeps pestering me to study my shield, he says he can analyze it without harming the magic of it but there is no chance I will let him. I have to say though despite my initial feelings about him I am starting to dislike Agrippa less. While I don't fully trust him he has fought by our side and despite his hatred of Elves he has so far given him no reasons to distrust him.
We set out once again to find the lost city; it feels like we have tried that a few times already now but something always gets in the way. As we set out Vanimo and Milamber yet again agreed about food, they seem to do that a lot. Milamber is overly fixated with eating off the land as we travel. I guess it’s good that he knows how to and that he would like to save money on food I guess but if I hear him tell us how to eat a pinecone one more time I am going force him to eat it from the wrong end.

We came to the mountains and started our way up them still unsure of the best way up them. We had traveled for about half a day when we could see smoke off the side of the trail we were following. We went to investigate and found a campsite that had been torn apart with the remains of people that had been torn and chewed on. It was hard what had happened to the people as there was so little left. We did find a few pelts and had to assume that it has been a camp of hunters. We found 3 sets of large foot prints that dragged something off with them. We guess it was a dead body as it was very unlikely a living person. Still we could not let this go unavenged as it must have been the work of trolls or some other large and dangerous creatures. Set decided we would follow the trail.

We followed the trail into a slot canyon; it was slow and dangerous as there was a thick fog making visibility very low. After a short time I saw someone sitting not too far off into the fog. It was a large female, she had spotted me and said in a low voice that the 3 creatures we were looking for were up a head and that they were 3 undead hob-goblins! After a short discussion we agreed to back out of the fog and talk to her. She was a female hobgoblin.

Her name was Krasgrat and she was a sight to behold, she was about eight feet tall with jet black skin, she looked more human then orc or troll and to be honest she was rather attractive. I was taken aback by her appearance as I had expected to find some ugly cross between a troll and an orc. I was even more surprised how intelligent she was and her willingness to talk to us. I guess I have my own preconceived notion of what a Hobgoblin should be and I am willing to admit I am wrong.

We interrogated her rather intensely and she was worried that we were going to kill her and rightfully so as I am not sure we ourselves had figured out if we should kill her or not. It seems awful in retrospect but our interactions with those we perceive to be our enemy or servants of Mordor or in this case Melkor are rather limited. I believed her to be closer to orc or troll then human until we talked and now I believe Hobgoblins are closer or elves then anything. It seems that many of them believe that they are the cousins of elves and while this opinion might be a bit unpopular with some, I can see the logic behind it.

We talked about the politics and religion of her people for some time. It would seem that not all Hobgoblins agree with or blindly follow their King Vlak and that not all of them worship Melkor and want to see his return. It also seems that they dislike and are in no way allies with Sauron, this is very heartening to hear. I hope that there is a chance that once we have dealt with Vlak and stopped him from trying to return the Dark God Melkor to our world that we could have peace with the hobgoblins and that we won’t have to fight all of them to stop Vlak. She was very surprised to find out that human will fight and kill each other and that we submit to the rulers that we don’t always like or agree with. It seems that hobgoblins are not like this at all, they don’t follow Valk just because his is there King.

Krasgrat told us that even though she can not sure magic she still studies it and alchemy. She said her people have only existed for about 85 years and she tries to study her people’s history and origins. She would make a great diplomat and a good ally if we can win her over.

She told us that 3 of her people died and came back as zombies and started attacking her people. They were very fast and strong and seemed to heal any wounds very quickly. Her people tried to fight them but did not have the heart to really try and destroy them, it seems her people fight never or kill each other like humans do. For some reason they did not seem able to see her, so when her people drove them off she decided to follow them and try to study the zombies. She also told us that magic weapons do not affect them as well as they should.

We had quite the debate on if should kill them or not. None of us were afraid to fight the zombies but it seems that Sauron can track us when we use magic and we have more than once argued about the use of magic. We knew that we could not fight them without needing to use magic in the battle or after to heal. Sauron does not know where the lost city is and if we keep using magic we are going to lead him right too it but we cannot just let the zombies run free and keep killing so we decided to destroy them and risk showing Sauron were the city is.

Though we were not afraid to fight the zombie hobgoblins, Milamber was far too eager to do battle with them. I have not known him long but he seems to relish war and fighting a little too much. Vanimo trusts him and that enough for me but I fear Milamber might be slipping down a dark path I know all too well. For his sake I hope I am wrong.

We had to wait until mid day for the fog to burn off before we could fight the zombies. We came up with a plan with the help of Agrippa. He can use magic that would let us strike at the zombies from a great distance. The plan was to head into the canyon the zombies and attack them from a great distance and hope they die before they get to us. To be honest I was not even sure they could be killed as they already died once.

The canyon opened up into a large swampy valley and we found the zombies just standing still not doing anything at all. The battle was completely one sided and over rather quickly as we were able to cut down all 3 before they could get it us. They were able to run faster than a horse and it took a lot of damage to take each one down. It was not until the first one dropped that I knew we were even hurting them. For how many strikes it took to take down even one I am not sure that is a fight we could have won if we had to stand and fight them toe to toe.

The strain of casting that magic took a massive toll on Agrippa. Normally the spell is meant to be cast on one or maybe two people but he was able to use it on 4 of us and for longer than it should have. The strain was so great that Agrippa fears he may have lost the ability to ever use that magic spell again. I don’t understand magic at all but Agrippa said that sometimes if a magic spell is too powerful and the wizard is too reckless with the use of its power it can overload and cause a tear in the mind of the wizard casting it, forever being burnt from his memory. Truly Agrippa is a hero and sacrificed much so that would not be harmed in that battle.

Krasgrat was shocked at how powerful she felt we are. She said her people had struggled to kill the zombie Hobgoblins and that we had done so with ease. It seems she also does not understand sarcasm when I made a flippant joke about how that was nothing for us.

I hope killing them will bring us some goodwill with her people. I have to admit I rather like her and I hope more hobgoblins are like her, they could make powerful allies.

The strain of casting that magic took a massive toll on Agrippa. Normally the spell is meant to be cast on one or maybe two people but he was able to use it on 4 of us and for longer than it should have. The strain was so great that Agrippa fears he may have lost the ability to ever use that magic spell again. I don’t understand magic at all but Agrippa said that sometimes if a magic spell is too powerful and the wizard is too reckless with the use of its power it can overload and cause a tear in the mind of the wizard casting it, forever being burnt from his memory. Truly Agrippa is a hero and sacrificed much so that would not be harmed in that battle.

Heh, heh. That was a nice way of explaining in game why a particular spell is no longer allowed as per the GM. Agrippa may have explained it away as a mere mental loss. The fact of the matter is that God Himself ripped it from his mind in a bid to restore the karmic balance of the universe. And now I fear the GM's wrath will lead us to an even worse fight when the next game rolls around.

I think I may have overestimated my initial opinion of him, he is too short sighted and blind to potential outcome of his actions.

I am starting to dislike Agrippa less. While I don't fully trust him he has fought by our side and despite his hatred of Elves he has so far given him no reasons to distrust him.

My my. Raina doesn't mind having rather strong opinions of people, but she also changes those opinions when she observes their actions.

I very much wanted to go into the city it's self, it has been far too long since I have been in a human city and I very much wanted to see about purchasing a few thing's and it does not look like I am going to be able to do so anytime soon.

Just like a woman: Raina gets to a new town and wants to go shopping!  

grumpit wrote:It would seem the dynamic of the group is changing. Raina is good now, Deorwine is starting his path to the light and Milamber is falling into the abyss. Where is Vanimo's growth?

There was a time when Vanimo has the Bloodlust disadvantage. I role-played it to the hilt. If someone fought with him, that person ended up dead. You probably remember this time period: it was when he would just stab anyone in the eye if he felt like they were his enemy. I gradually bought off the disadvantage as his character developed. He still has no problem killing people, but now he is much more careful with whom he fights. You might have noticed that he was the only one to drop his bow when challenged by the Grand Duke's knights.

There was a time when Vanimo has the Bloodlust disadvantage. I role-played it to the hilt.

I'll say you did. Like when all those alternate evil versions of Vanimo attempted to kill the party on various occasions dead, dead, dead--no exceptions. That was real fun.

I dont know. I mean what evidence do we have that they where the evil ones? Maybe they were the good ones and our Vanimo was the evil one. I mean think about it, Vanimo is always stabbing everyone he doesn't like in the eye AND he is being role played by Jon. Maybe they were the good ones trying to stop the evil one.

After the battle with the zombies we decided the burn the bodies to be sure they would not regenerate, perhaps we were being overly cautious but I did not want to take any chances with it. They were so much heavier than I thought these hobgoblins are massive it and took us the better part of the day to drag them all find enough wood and burn them all. It was late in the day so we decided to make camp there in the swamp. Krasgrat joined us for the night and we all took turns taking watch even though we were protected being Agrippa’s magic spell that hides us. In the morning I found Vanimo politely chatting with Krasgrat. We asked her if she would care to travel with us as long as our path lead in the same direction and she agreed to do so.

It was not long after we set out that Milamber spotted 12 hobgoblins riding wargs coming towards us, not wanting to fight then on open ground we decided to move to a nearby hill and make a defensive formation. Krasgrat said she would speak to them on our behalf, I think she wanted to try and avoid any bloodshed between our people. After a short time she came back to us and said that they wanted to talk to our leader. Milamber said he would go talk to them, I did not trust Milamber to talk to them on our behalf so I also said I would go with him in hopes to find a way other then killing all of them. We meet with the group’s leader, Kihos. He was much larger than the others; he was large even for a hobgoblin. He was armed with a massive two handed sword and wear scale armor so think it must have been as strong as plate armor he was a rather impressive sight to behold.

Kihos said he and his men had come to kill the 3 hobgoblin zombies and was grateful that we had done so, he said we had most likely said the life of a few of his men and instead on giving us a bag of jewelry as a reward for killing them. Krasgrat had told him we intended to cross into their lands and he wanted to know why, he said he might grant us free travel for his lands if we would tell him where we were going and why. Milamber and I said we could not tell him unless we talk to our group first. We went back to the rest of our party to see where everyone stood on telling the hobgoblins what our mission was. Diorwine naturally had nothing to say on the matter nor did Sean. Vanimo was ardently opposed to telling them anything or entering into any kind of agreement with them, he want to kill all of them and travel on insisting that hobgoblins or creatures of evil and servants of Meklor, he said making a pact with any of them was allying with Melkor himself. Milamber was undecided on the matter and Agrippa and I both wanted to tell them what we were doing. The hobgoblins are enemies of Sauron and so far have always kept their word and acted honorably, I saw no reason that we had to just slaughter them.
Milamber wanted to try and buy our way past them so we returned to Kihos and asked him if this was a possibility. He almost seemed as if he was insulted with the idea that he could be bought off and said no. Milamber told him that we have had bad dealing with his King in the past and that his King had committed atrocities in the Dukes lands, we were worried that his king would cause problems for us if he found out what we were doing. Kihos again said he would not give us permission to travel in his lands unless we told him what we were doing. I told Milamber that we should just tell Kihos and be done with it but Milamber wanted to talk to the rest of the group first. We went back to the group and to figure out what we were going to do.

All I knew was we could have killed all of them but I really didn’t want to. The hobgoblins I have met have been intelligent, civil and honorable. It does not feel right to just kill them if we don’t have to. Vanimo is insistent that they are all evil and vile creatures, I respect Vanimos opinion in most things but I cannot help but feel he is wrong about this, just as Agrippa is wrong about elves. Maybe I am wrong about this and I will end up regretting my choices, maybe we will have to wipe out every hobgoblin alive but I hope we do not, I hope we can live in peace with them like humans do with elves and dwarves but then again maybe he is right and I am just being stupid.

We were left with a choice of trust the hobgoblins, if they betrayed us we could have to fight and kill them or we could just kill them. The thought of having to fight our why through the hobgoblin seemed to daunting so we decided to take a chance and trust, to tell them what we were doing while trying to leave out as much of the details as we could. Milamber and I went back to talk to Kihos to tell him. We told Kihos we were looking of an ancient human city and that we needed to find and destroy an artifact before Sauron could get to it, we also told him were the city was. Kihos agreed to give us permission to travel through his lands and if any other hobgoblins stopped us that we can give them his name and they would let us pass he also seemed to know the area of where the city might be and said the only thing we will find is 2000 foot tall sheer cliffs.

We parted ways and both started down the path, they traveled in front of us about half a mile. Krasgrat decided to travel with us a little bit longer she and Agrippa talked most of the way. Agrippa wanted to learn the black tongue of Mordor, It turns out that does in fact know it but Agrippa is so raced that he would never ask Vanimo so Krasgrat had agreed to teach him some of it. I wonder were Vanimo learned so an awful language. We came to a fork in the road and it became time to part ways, we all said our goodbyes to Krasgrat, she told us she had to head home and till her fields it seems even giant hobgoblins need farms and she also told us we should come visit her if the future ever held more peaceful times. She also told Vanimo he was more than welcome to come see her, seems she rather fancied the elf. I truly hope I am not wrong about her and her people and that I don’t have to come and kill them.

After a short time traveling we came to our destination, the road continued on to along a sheer cliff face. It looked as if the road its self was cut into the mountain a 2000 foot wall on one side and a 30 foot drop into a river on the other side. It was very unnerving on a count of I do not know how to swim and even if I did I am heavy armor I would just sink to the bottom and drowned. The road came to an abrupt stop as if they just stop carving. There was a waterfall at the end of the road and no doors or any other passage ways we could see. We decided to have Agrippa turn in to a sparrow and fly to the top we needed to know what was up there and if there was any way up we had missed. While he was gone we all teased Vanimo about Krasgrat, about sleeping with her and liking her. He was not pleased about this at all and naturally we were merciless with teasing him about it, it was funny.

It was not long before Agrippa come plummeting back down to the ground. He said that magic did not work up there, something had stopped him and he had almost died in the process. There was no way from him to fly us up we had had to find another way in but it was not at all obvious how to do so.

I felt so useless, the only thing I have ever been good at is killing, and I don’t know how to do anything else. A sword was not going to get us into the city so I had to sit there and wait for someone else to get us into the city. I tried to come up with a few ideas but none of them pained out of course.

The first thing we checked as the back of the waterfall and nothing was there. Milamber decided to try and order some imaginary door to open as if magic concealed it and it had just been waiting for him all these years, surprisingly nothing happened, it was funny to watch though. Milamber then decided to go swimming bellow the waterfall in hopes of finding something a door or a clue I guess. He tried a few times even with the aid of magic that let him see and breath in the water he found nothing.

Once Agrippa recovered from the shock of his fall he started to check the area for magic, it was a time consuming process but he found nothing. He had another idea; he has a spell that lets him see through rock a few feet seemed like a pretty good idea until he somehow failed to cast his magic spell. Magic is a very powerful tool but there is always a risk with using it. Sometimes when a mage casts his spell and he screws up badly enough disaster can happen, I have seen Vanimo fail like this from time to time. This time though nothing happened at first and despite his dislike of Vanimo he needed to talk to him about it, they both grew very worried that nothing happened in response that is until Agrippa tried to cast another spell and he could not. Agrippa lost the use of his magic he could no longer cast spells. Vanimo told him he had seen this before and that Agrippa would get better in time but it was disconcerting that one of the most powerful us was now useless. Agrippa pouted like a child; he went and starred into the corner of the cliff useless and dejected.
We were lucky that Agrippa failed his magic as it seemed that Vanimo was required to take over for him. As Vanimo was looking and casting magic he came to the realization of what barred our path forward. He believed that they used magic create the stone wall in one location and block the path with it. Vanimo began to use his magic to move the stone to the side; it was a sight to behold. The magic turn the rock to something like water and it would flow out from the wall and reform back into solid stone. He did this time and time again slowly working his way through the solid wall, making a short tunnel in it.

The process was very tiring Vanimo had to take many breaks and rest to recover his strength before he could move on to the next section of the wall. Milamber being the novice magic wielder knew magic that would let him give his strength over to Vanimo greatly speeding up the process. Unfortunately Milamber is not very skilled in the use of magic, as he cast his spell that would allow him to lend his energy to Vanimo he failed and instead of giving him his strength hurt him badly. Vanimo was rendered unconscious and was bleeding badly from his eyes. Milamber quickly used his magic again but this time to try and heal Vanimos wounds, he remained unconscious but his eyes stopped bleeding.

I could not help but be filled with doubt and worry. This seems to me to be a rather bad omen for what we will find in the city. Both our wizards have been hurt using magic trying to get into the city. First Agrippa almost falls to his death when he tried to use magic to fly into the city and then he loses his ability to use magic when he tried to see past the stone wall and Vanimo is critically wounded and unconscious after another failed attempt to use magic to get into the city, it seems to me that using magic in this area is a very risky and dangerous thing to do. I hope whatever is in there is worth it.

It took a few hours before Vanimo was awake and able to start working his way through the wall and we all could do was sit there and hope while we waited, hope that the Hobgoblins did not tell Vlak we were here, hope that Sauron or his minions did not catch up to us before we found whatever it was came here to find and hope Vanimo would wake up and Agrippa would get his powers back.

Once Vanimo woke up he started to once again move the stone barring our way, it took him most of the day to finish breaking though. We he finial did the small tunnel he made opened up into a massive spiraling ramp 30 feet across, half of it a smooth ramp for horse and wagon the other half stairs for walking. The entrance was massive and meant for a lot of people and goods to be able to come in and out of the city. With how long it took us to make even a small tunnel in stone wall it would have taken tremendous time and effort to seal the entrance to the city the way they did. They must have desperately wanted to hide the city and keep people out...or perhaps keep something in.

I wanted to explore the stair way for dangers before we spelt that night so after squeezing through the uncomfortably small tunnel Vanimo had made Milamber, Diorwine, Sean and I started the agonizingly long march up the stairs. I am strong and my armor is lighter than it has any right to be but it was a long and tiring walk and I had to take a lot of breaks, I regretted wanting to scout it out knowing I had to walk back down.

The stop of the stair opened up and lead to a bridge with a large guard tower in the middle blocking the path forward, the top of the tower was broken and crumbling but the base was intact with a large bronze door that had been tarnished green with time and a lack of care, on the center of the door was an image of a needle and thread similar to that of the tapestry that Stephon had. We walked down the bridge to the door and opened it, in the center of the room inside the guard tower stood two 12 foot tall steel statues both holding a large steel spear, they were dressed like elegant Numenorean Noblemen stand on ornate pedestals.

As we started enter the room they seemed to come to life, they both opened their eyes and looked towards us. I immediately shut the door and started to walk way, Milamber reopened the door and the statues started to move off their pedestals and come towards us. I was fearful that Milambers aggressive and impulsive nature would get the better of him and he would start to fight them. I decided to just walk away hoping that if I was not there the group would not be willing to engage in combat with them. I knew this was a foe it we should not face without magic it was my intent to wait until Agrippa was healed.

After a while the rest of the group started back down and caught up with me, when we got to the bottom Vanimo and Agrippa were gone. I was overwhelmed with fear momentarily, what if Vlaks men had taken them or Saurons forces had gotten here, moments later I knew that could not be the case as they would have headed up after us or would have been waiting in a trap. We tracked them back to the entrance of the road; they had made camp to feed to the horses.

Vanimo wanted to take the horses back to Threshold, he was insistent that we not leave them tied up to die. I understand him not wanting them to die but we just did not have time to ride there and walk all the way back, not after we had opened the way into the city it was just too risky.

We decided to take the horses up with us but it was going to take an extra day to make the opening large enough to fit our horses through, I was happy with the idea as Agrippa had not yet regained his magic and I really did not want to fight the living statutes without his power. I also had great concern about my swords, how well would they hold up to be swung at solid metal. I understand Milambers point about having to make sacrifices in order to complete our task however my sword is a powerful weapon and losing it would hinder my ability to fight the enemy.

Once we cleared the path we started to make our way back up to the city, it was much easier this time as I could ride my horse and did not have to wear myself out. Once we got to the top we decided to test the golems and see how they would react to us. We opened the door and placed something into it keep it open, they came out of the tower and walked towards us. They seemed able to walk without making sounds, rather surprising for statues made of steel. They chased us until they lost sight. We tried again his this time attacking with our crossbows my bolt sunk in one of them and stuck but the others just bounced off. We started to retreat but for some baffling reason Sean rode forward toward the walking statues, when he was in striking range they both at once and in a manner that mirrored each other as if they were one the statues struck his horse, killing it instantly.

Fighting them seemed a little too dangerous; we needed to come up with a plan to deal with them that did not involve us being skewered by them. A lot of ideas were talked about, most of them revolved around the idea of destroying the bride under them or trying to knock them off the bridge. It was finally Agrippa that came up with a rather simple but brilliant idea.

We used magic to create two massive stones on one side of the bridge we the braided all of our ropes together and used magic to seal each end of the rope into the 2 block. When time came I went to the door to lure out the two statues they started to chase me. I ran across the 2 ropes grabbed my crossbow and started to shoot one to keep them coming after me. When they stepped past the first half of the rope Milamber used magic to lift the rope to waist height on the statues, Vanimo used his magic to knock both blocks off the bridge at the same time. The rope went taught and caught of the statues dragging them over the edge into the water 2000 feet below. The plan worked perfectly, we got rid of them without anyone getting hurt.

I went through the guard house to the other, there was nothing else guarding it and our path was open. There was a rode that went further up the mountain to the city.

What we will face there I do not know. Agrippa still does not have his magic back yet and I fear that we are going to need it before the end.

We left to stone wall open for anyone to follow us through, I really wished we would have sealed at least part of it off to make it harder to follow us, I hope Vlak doesn’t come.