Raina's Journal.

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.

I can't fault you on your logic there. The only thing keeping me from killing our current version of Vanimo is his usefulness in terms of magic, combat, and the fact he hasn't stabbed any of us yet.

We traveled through the guard house, traveling along the road again. The road was gradually climbing higher and higher up the mountain and we could look over the other side too see the river getting further down from us, it was not long before the river was at least 500 feet below us but we could still not see the top of the mountain on the other side. Vanimo says the magic required just to make this road was beyond anything he has ever seen before, if so what horrors are we going to find waiting for us at the city? What sorts of traps and guardians are we going to have to fight our way through?

We had only been riding for a few hours before a large landslide barred the road, it looked as if part of the mountain had fallen leaving boulders and lose debris on the road. It was clear that most of us would not be able to climb over it and there was no way we could get the horses past without clearing the road. Milamber wanted to try and scramble up the loose rocks and recklessly insisted he would be fine when we asked him to tie a rope to himself, fortunately Vanimo was able to convince him that it was a bad idea to not tie a rope to him and the other end to one of our horses. After securely fastening a rope to himself the ever nimble Milamber climbed up it to see how far back it went, it was at least 30 feet in length. He then went on to scout the road further up, finding no threats he came back

We talked about a few ways to try and clear it but in the end Vanimo was going to use the same method he used to get past the wall. It was tiring for him so he had to take frequent breaks; luckily Agrippa got the use of his magic and was able to help him move the landslide. Agrippa is a powerful wizard it is comforting to know he had his abilities back and could fight alongside us again.

We cleared the road and started to move on. I know this road is very wide and I am not afraid of heights really but I find it very unnerving that there is a 500 foot drop just to the left of me and it does not help knowing that this road has not been used or repaired in a few thousand years.

We traveled on until it grew dark and we had to camp for the night. This road is long and there didn’t seem to be any end in sight. We have had to have Agrippa use his magic to create water for the horses and that takes hours to do and there is no food for them to eat, if we do not find something for them to eat soon they will die. Vanimo was very worried that the horses had no food to eat and we all agreed we would walk until we had more food for them.

We travel for a few more hours before we came to a massive old stone bridge. The bridge looked warn and seemed as some of it had fall off. No one really wanted to cross the bridge until we tested it. Milamber wanted to send the lightest person out to see if it could hold their wait however I pointed out that it does not matter if the lightest person can make it across what really mattered was if the heaviest of us could make it across. We did not have a rope long enough to tie to a person as the bridge looked to be more than 500 feet in length. After some time and argument we decided it would be best to let Vanimo test the bridge, he could use his magic to keep himself from falling if the bridge collapsed on him.

Vanimo started to slowly walk his way out on to the bridge everything had seemed to be going well until he stopped dead in his tracks for no reason that we could see. Expecting rubble I readied my crossbow and looked to see what was troubling him. A few moments later we all heard a dreadful screech; it was unlike anything I have ever heard before it was a terrifying sound that would have made lesser men flee. Vanimo took off running back to us and Milamber and Peludo charged out on to the bridge to protect him, Deorwine and me stayed back to give cover with our crossbows at whatever made that sound. Vanimo's horse panicked and jumped on the bridge too its death on the rocks below or at least it would have hit the rocks had a massive fell beast not caught it in mid-air and flown off with the horse as if it weighed nothing. A second fell beast was flying straight for Vanimo and I took aim at it hoping to kill or dissuade it from taking him. Vanimo left with no options dove over the side of the bridge and used his magic to try and hide under the bridge so the fell beast could not swoop by and grab him. Even though I knew Vanimo had magic to prevent himself from falling, my heart still leapt into my throat, it took all my will to keep concentrating on aiming at the fell beast. I could not help but fear the worst.

I had been aiming at the vile creature and loosed my bolt at it even though it was moving fast and it was far off I still managed to land a blow. My bolt pierced its left talon in the center of the claw hoping that it could not use that claw to snatch Vanimo. Deorwine also shot his crossbow at it but I could not see if he hit or not. The Fell beast wounded and unable to catch it’s pray and flew off. Vanimo came back on top of the bridge safe! Not wanting to wait and see if they came back everyone quickly road across the bridge, we all made it safely across.

Once we were across the bridge relief set in, no one died and we made it across the dilapidated stone bridge. We decided to rest here as it was getting dark and no one wanted to try and travel in the dark with those monsters flying around.

Once again Agrippa went about making water for the horses; it took him a few hours to finish making enough water to satisfy the horses. I cannot help but feel the horses are becoming a burden for us. I think we soon may have to travel on without them, no food and hours of using magic to make water for them. We might as well set a beckon for Sauron to find us.

Agrippa as always used magic to protect us while we slept and I believe we are very lucky he did as we were all woken up by the horrid screeching of a fell beast. We could not see where it was but it was close to our group, I think it had some idea we were nearby but it simply could not find us thanks to Agrippa.

Milamber wanted Vanimo to use his magic so he could see in the dark and fire an arrow. I argued that I would be a better recipient of that magic as I am a better shot and can do far more damage with my crossbow. Milamber seemed rather wounded with the idea and said that it is just because I carry a mobile arbalest on my back. It is true that I carry a rather unwieldy crossbow with me but I rarely get the chance to fire more than one bolt and it’s better to make sure I get the job done the first time. Milamber grumbled that he wanted to use his fancy new bow he had custom made back in Minas Tirith but since it was not magical Vanimo did not care.

He cast a spell on me that allowed me to see as if it was mid day, magic can be an amazing thing...as long as it doesn’t knock you out and make you bleed from your eyes. I loaded one of the bolts I got from Riffilan and took a good long and careful aim since the beast was at least 500 yards away a difficult shot for most people but I am very skilled with my crossbow. My aim was true and I landed a solid hit in the middle of the beast’s chest. It unfortunately did not kill the fell beast but it did drive it off for the rest of the night, allowing us some much needed sleep.

The next morning after Agrippa watered the horses we set out again about mid day we came to another stone bridge. This bridge was not quite as long as the last one but it had collapsed entirely. This was yet another obstacle in our path. We talked about a number of ways we might try to use the bridge but in the end we asked Agrippa to use h is magic that would allow us to walk on the air as if it was solid ground. We blind folded the horses so they would not panic when we tried to walk out over the edge of what was left of the bridge. I readied my crossbow and stood at the edge of the bridge hoping that a fell beast would not come while we crossed but I was ready if one did. Milamber went first follow by Paludo and then myself, once on the other side I again sat ready with my crossbow.

Deorwine started to cross with his horse in tow just as the rest of us had done however; his horse did not step across like the others instead it simple walked off the edge if the bridge and plummeted to its death. Deorwine unsure of what to do hesitated a moment and then as quickly as he could ran across the chasm that was once a bridge. Vanimo and Agrippa were the only ones that had yet to cross. Agrippa dislike of elves is as amusing at times as it is stupid, he spent quite awhile pretending he was just talking to himself and or having a conversation with the air. After a while they decided it was safe crossed to the over side. Vanimo and Agrippa concluded that for the magic to work you must have at least a little imagination and intellect. Deorwine horse was unfortunately too stupid to make the crossing.

We traveled for a few more hours before we had to stop for the night. I don't know how much further we have to travel on this damnable road or how many barriers we have to overcome but the horses wont last much longer if we don't find them some food very soon. Once again Agrippa used his magic to protect us while we slept, no harm came to us that night but as always we could hear that awful screeching of the fell beasts in the night.

I grow tired of this road, we have only been traveling a few days on it but it feels like there will never be any end to it. Our horses are starting to stumble and fall because they have no food, Vanimo has to talk to them, sooth them to even get them to go forward. The only reasons our horses have lasted this long is because Agrippa can use magic to create water. Whatever we are doing here better be worth it.

The next morning to set out yet again on the road, it only took us a few ours before we came to a tunnel that headed down into the mountain. The tunnel was 30 feet wide much like the spiral ramp we first encountered when we started this journey. The tunnel was very dark, fortunately we had magic stones that glowed like daylight and let us see were we where going.

It took about an hour of walking before we could see light shining through from the end of the tunnel. We were about 30 yards from the exit when Vanino stopped everyone, he seemed to feel that something was amis. We stopped to check and see if we could find any traps both magical and mundane we took our time and could not find anything but Vanimo often has a premonition before something bad happens so we were on guard and moving slowly down the tunnel weapons at the ready.
As we reached the end of the tunnel we saw two steel golems similar as the two we encountered on the bridge, however these two were not nearly as tall. They stood about six feet five inches tall and they were also dressed as elegant Numenorean Nobles armed with long steel spears. They started to walk towards us the moment they saw us and there was nowhere to retreat too or hide this time.

The steel golems silently, patiently walked towards us with spears at the ready, preparing to enact the will of long dead wizards of Numenor. I stepped forward to engage the golems and with blinding swiftness they both struck at me, the speed of their spears made it difficult to defend against. They both attacked me twice, I managed to parry two of their strikes but 2 hit me, piercing my armor and biting deep into my abdomen. despite the pain I knew they were not life threatening. Fury boiled inside me and I swung back at them, the golem defended my first strike but not my second, my blade struck true and when my sword was deep in the golems chest I tried to pull my sword back but it felt as if some force was trying to pull my blade into the golem. With some effort I was able to pull my sword back and ready my self for their next strike. Vanimo stepped next to me striking the golems and Milamber circled around them to attack from behind, a fool hearty idea as he was standing inches from a 200 foot drop, one miss step or if the golems turn on him he would fall to this death. Deorwine and Paludo took up arms together to try to kill the second one, I heard Agrippa yell something at me from in the back and in that instant I could feel his magic wash over me.

Again the two steel golems attacked me with blinding speed but the magic of Agrippa was coursing through my veins and I could clearly see the spears coming at me, even though they were moving with blinding speed It felt as if I was moving faster and with a precision I never had before, I easily parried all four strikes. I struck at them but my sword was easily knocked aside, Vanimo struck a blow so mighty that the golems attention turned to him. The golems gave little care to Milamber who's swords was stuck in the back of one. I could not see clearly what Paludo and Deorwine were doing but the golems were paying no attention to them.

The golems struck Vanimo four times gravely wounding him but Agrippa used his magic to heal him. I struck at the golem landing two massive blows, carving large rends in their metal bodies, Milamber still struggling to to pull his sword out. The golems both turned back to me but I defended their strikes with easy, the golems then said something in High Numenorian that I did not understand, Milamber told me later that they demanded our surrender in a most insulting way. The golums seeming to give up on trying to get past my defences turn back to Vanimo, again they struck him and again Agrippa healed him. Vanimo feeling overwhelmed tried to move into close combat with the one Diorwine and Paludo had attacked, Milamber finally pulled his sword out.

I focused my resolve and using my years of training dug deep into my self to deliver to two mighty blows that tore through the golem leaving large rends in its body, in a flash of light and a jarring thunderclap the golem exploded send a painful shockwave outward. It took all my focus to stay on my feet but I readied my self and turned to the still standing golem, the same golem that Vanimo was foolishly stand too close to.

The golem threw its spear at Agrippa and turned on Vanimo with its bare hands It grabbed him by the neck and started choking him. My heart leapt into my throat at the sight of Vanimo having the life choked out of him by a steel statue, in a moment of panic I almost threw down my sword and ran forward to try to pry the golem fingers open with my bare hands, fortunately I kept my wits about me and started to try and cut the golem arms off to free Vanimo. Deorwine, Paludo and I started to hack at the golums left arm while Milamber was trying to sever the right. With a sickening crack Vanimo's neck broke and he went limp dangling from the statues hands, hearing his neck snap I went berserk and started to recklessly attack its left arm and with a mighty blow I brought my sword down with all my strength and fury severing its arm. With amazing accuracy Milamber started cutting the figures off one by one with out hitting Vanimo. As I was getting ready to attack the other arm when Vamino vanished in whirling gust of wind, not sure what was happening I finished cutting the arm off the golem and we all began to attack the golem with everything we had, moments later just like the other golem this one detonated with a flash of light and a deafening thunderclap.

I looked behind us to see Vanimo laying on the ground with Agrippa looking over him, Milamber rushed over to give what aid to Vanimo he could and he and Agrippa started to cast what spells of magic healing they could. Knowing how much Agrippa hates elves I commanded him with all the might and authority of the Princess of Arnor to do everything in his power to save Vanimo, Agrippa swore he would do everything he could but that Vanimos wounds were too extensive and he was unsure how much his magic would help.

I was badly wounded from the fight and two explosions but I was not going to say anything untill everything that could be done for Vanimo had been done.

As I sat there bleeding and feeling useless my mind drifted back to the time we had all been captured by a company of Saurons men. I volunteered to stay behind and lay my life down to buy everyone else time to get to the river and disappear, how quickly they all agreed to leave me behind, everyone but Vanimo. Vanimo said he would fight by my side, everyone else ran but Vanimo, he didn't have to stay behind but he did and when the fighting was done and he and I stood victorious in a battle we should have lost a bond was formed. From that day forward I looked at Vanimo as more of a brother then just another member of our group and when the others, the very same ones I was willing to lay my life down for abandoned my sister and I, that gave the bond I had with Vanimo that much more meaning.

After they had done everything they could Agrippa came and tended to my wounds, healing me magically leaving not even a scratch behind.

After seeing to Vanimo, Milamber walked up to his beloved horse Granny and slit her throat. Thrashing about violently, Granny eventually died and Milamber went about skinning her and harvesting her meat. He said we were not going to be leaving this spot for a month or two and we were going to be need the food.

The tunnel ended with sheer cliff were once there was a road. Milamber got out this climbing gear and scaled down the cliff face to see what was below.

I do not have a lot of friends, in fact I have only ever had one friend my whole life and he is laying on the ground with a broken neck...

grumpit wrote:magic can be an amazing thing...as long as it doesn’t knock you out and make you bleed from your eyes.

Haha! Thanks Milamber

Milamber went about skinning her and harvesting her meat. He said we were not going to be leaving this spot for a month or two and we were going to be need the food.

Yeah, that's what Milamber said. Milamber ain't the boss of me though. That stupid city is about in sight that needs some knocking down. I say let's take our sledgehammers and get to knocking down some walls.

I do not have a lot of friends, in fact I have only ever had one friend my whole life and he is laying on the ground with a broken neck...

That is why we don't make friends in Jon's game. You make a friend and then they get smashed like fragile ants. That's why Deorwine has no friends.

The Son of Dior wrote:That is why we don't make friends in Jon's game. You make a friend and then they get smashed like fragile ants. That's why Deorwine has no friends.  

Some might disagree that Deorwine has no friends. One person, though, might give an opinion as to why she believes that Deorwine has no friends....

After we got Vanimo as comfortable as we could I decided to go out and look at the valley below, I didn’t walk all the way up to the edge mind you just close enough that I would not plummet it to my death should I trip or stumble while encumbered in my armor and gear.

The valley below was beautiful, full of green grass and pine trees, there where birds flying and in the distance and I could see deer and rabbits running across the valley below. It was nothing like the harsh, lifeless and seemingly endless road we took to get here. This valley is rather large and from our vantage point we could see in the distance a few villages scattered around the valley and what looked like the tops of a few large towers in the center of a forest in the middle of the valley. The valley looked large enough that it could support an army of men just waiting for us below.

It’s clear that there must have been a large ramp that led to the valley bellow but the same magic that was used to seal the entrance must have been used to remove the ramp. I find it highly unlikely that they would have abandoned this valley and sealed everything up as they left; no I think they sealed themselves in...Unless there is something dark and terrible they were trying to keep in. If that is the case what hope we would have fighting something so powerful that the staggeringly powerful wizards that lived here could not...

Milamber and Diorwine wanted to relocate our camp to the valley floor below us, I did not feel as it was safe to do but I had to concede the point as our current location was not a place we could defend well and we would have nowhere to retreat to if we where over run.

Diorwine went first, he climbed down the rope and then we used my large leather bag I got in Rifflein to lower his gear to him. I cannot climb so Milamber used his magic to lower me down and then Vanimo. Because of his broken neck we had to be very careful with Vanimo or we could kill him.

Milamber was still up in the tunnel with my unruly horse, he was half starved and we had no way to get him down so the only thing we could do was put him down, it was the kind thing to do since otherwise he would have starved to death. I have to be honest I am going to miss that horse, he was violent, angry and absolutely hated Milamber... he was a good horse. After Milamber had put him down he pushed the body over the edge so we could harvest his meat, nothing like a 200 foot drop to make horse meat nice and tender.

Milamber threw the rope down and then used his magic to slowly drift to the valley floor where we waiting for him. Diorwine had been busy building a litter to carry Vanimo with while I had been busy harvesting my horse for meat, it was not until Diorwine had finished that I realized what he wanted to do and I had to point out that it would most likely kill Vanimo if we tried to carry him like that, the only safe way to move him is with Milamber magic and that is just what we did.

I looked around to try and find a location to set up a hidden base camp; it did not take very long to find a small dell to set up in. Over the next 2 days I dug a small trench and set spike along it to try and fortified our base camp while Milamber went about smoking the horse meet. During this time Diorwine did his very best to march in the open in his shinny metal armor wearing a nice path in the dirt to make a easily spotted trail that would lead anyone who saw right back to us, after the first day Milamber figured out what he was doing and kindly asked him to stop. It took Milamber the rest of the day to try and hide all the tracks leading back to camp; Deorwine decided the next best course of action he could take to help us was to have a staring contest with a nearby tree... Diorwine won.

Once we had finished setting up and fortifying our base camp Milamber went about scouting the nearby forest, the only thing he found within a few miles of us was a small building near us. Milamber wanted to explore the building in hopes that it might be a more secure place to make camp but I talked him out of it, I felt we had set up a good camp far removed from any where someone might randomly stumble across.

We decided set watch rotation, one person would sleep, and one would watch camp and the third would watch the tunnel. Nothing happened until the 3rd night when Diorwine spotted lights moving in the dark, it was hard to tell because of how far off they were but it seemed as if the light was getting closer to us. Diorwine woke me up and I went off into the dark to find Milamber who was watching the tunnel, it did not take long to find him and get back to our base camp.

Milamber and I decided to go see what the lights were, we both snuck off into the dark. I am an expert at moving without being heard or seen but Milamber is like a ghost, even knowing where he was and only being a few feet away I had a hard time not losing track of him as we made our way to whatever it was making the light. Once we got within a few hundred yards we could see that the light was coming from people holding torches near the building Milamber had found when he was scouting the second day we were here, we were still too far away to see any detail so we decided to risk getting closer.

When we got to about 100 yards away we could see that the building was a small open temple made up of cylindrical columns and that there where 15 people holding torches and walking in around and alter in the middle of temple. We dared not get any closer until they had left. I sent up at the edge of the temple to keep watch while Milamber inspected the alter and the rest of the building using his magic glowing rock for light, the only thing he could find was that had left fruit on the alter in what seemed to be a ceremony to Yavanna. Not wanting to disturb the alter we left the fruit there and headed back to camp.

Over the next week nothing really happened. Vanimo started to show some signs of recovery, he was at least well enough to start complaining about Milamber's cooking. I passed the time by practicing with my broadsword. Milamber spent his time trying to come up with new and horrifying ways to eat worms and beetles and Diorwine passed the time by being surly.

Three nights after we saw the 15 men with torches walking at the temple we saw them again. Milamber believes that they are performing a ritual to Yananna and might be friendly if they worship Yavanna, I however do not. I don’t think we will find anything wholesome in this valley, I don’t know what it is but something has me on edge and I think we are in profound danger.

Three more days go by and nothing happens until that night. While on watch I hear a horrible screaming as if a man is in terrible pain. I woke Milamber and he crept off into the dark to see if he could find who had been screaming, he returned after a brief search and could not find anyone. We decided it would be best to check on Diorwine who was watching the tunnel, once again Milamber silently drifted off into the dark.
I really started to become worried after a few hours had past and Milamber still had not returned and I could not leave to check up on them as I had to watch Vanimo. As I stared off into the darkness crossbow in hand I started to think of all the things that could have gone wrong, was that screaming Diorwine? Did Milamber run afoul of whatever had made Diorwine scream in agony? Had they been captured? Where Vanimo and I the only ones still alive?

By early morning nether of them had come back and I was exhausted from having to stay awake for both my watch and Milambers. It was not until mid-morning that Diorwine wandered back to camp, it seems that he had fallen asleep during his watch and had not heard any of the screaming, upon finding the sleeping Diorwine the jackass Milamber decided to stay and watch over the sleeping man. I was beyond furious with Milamber; he did not think to check back with me to let us know everything was ok. I decided not really confront him about this as I did not trust myself to not lose my temper and strike him.

That day we found who had been screaming, it was the body of a lesser man. At least that is what Milamber called him. I had never seen a lesser man before, he was short almost a foot and a half shorter then myself, he look rather primitive and dull-witted. He had been cut apart by a sword; it must have been an agonizing way to die. Milamber says that the tracks show that the lesser man had been running but was caught somehow by a man in boots who had been taking a walking stride. Milamber must have read the tracks wrong, how could a man walking catch a man who had been running?

I think the lesser man had been hunted for sport, Milamber thought he could have been an escaped slave because he had been wearing manacles but perhaps it was both.

I was worried about Vlak or Sauron beating us to whatever it was they were trying to find while Vanimo recovered but this valley is not uninhabited and whoever is living in this valley is evil and no friend to us, maybe we will get lucky and Vlak or Sauron will get here first and fight the inhabitants so we don’t have to and while they are weakened we can finish them off.

We have been here for twelve days now, nothing much has happened since that night I heard the horrible screaming, other than the ceremony we see about every three nights or so. The people performing it where quiet, they would walk around the marble alter for an hour and then silently march back to wherever they came from. We never saw anyone during the day and have never seen anyone out hunting. I know this is a big valley but you think if people live here we would see more signs of it.

It’s been nineteen days now and still nothing. We have not heard or seen any of the fell beasts that hunted us on our way here and I find that most odd. This valley has game in it; you would think they would come here to hunt. The Fell beasts must be afraid to hunt here, that not a worrying thought at all.

On the twenty-second day Vanimo was feeling much better, he asked Milamber to use magic to help heal him. Vanimo was now able to feed himself a very good sign.

I told Vanimo that he better hurry up and finish healing so we can get on with this mission, that the sooner we can finish here the sooner we can go pay a visit to Gehenna, that I still had unfinished business there. Vanimo gave me a stern look and said that we will go together; he emphasized the “we”. He was mad that I had gone without him last time I went. I was reckless last time and it cost my sisters life, I won’t make the same mistake twice.

I have been thinking about Gehenna and my sister’s death a lot. I died there...I died. My life came to an end there but yet here I am. I cannot know why the Valar allowed me to return, they never told me nor do they ever speak to us. I must assume it was to try and make amends for all the evil I have done in my life, I have much to atone for.

I have been putting off returning to Gehenna for too long, I have been afraid of going back, of confronting the men that killed me. I have done many things, fought many monsters that would make most grown men run in fear and yet my hands shake at the thought of going back there. No, I have allowed my fear to get the better of me for too long. I will go there and put an end to any that had a hand in my sister’s death...but is that the right thing to do? I just wrote that I had needed to make amends for all the evil I have done, is killing for the sake of revenge justified?

Will anyone other Vanimo even be willing go? Last time two was not enough, we were overwhelmed. I will not risk Vanimo’s life if no one else is willing to go.

A few days later Vanimo was fully healed, he was up walking around and back to full strength. There was no end to Vanimos complaining about Milambers cooking, he fired Milamber on the spot and was taking over all cooking duties. In all it took 30 days to heal just like Agrippa said it would take for his magic to work. Agrippa saved Vanimos life, something think I am going to remind him of on a regular basis.

Now that Vanimo was fully recovered it was time to find what we came for. We started out from the building where we first saw the worshipers. There was a well worn path leading us back to where whoever was laying out the fruit would be. We follow the tracks of the fifteen worshippers back to an old village, one that lay in ruin and was eerily silent. The village must have once been a beautiful place to live, now the once grand homes are rotted and crumbling and all that was left were some of the larger stone structures.

In one of the homes Vanimo found a silver spoon, he was most pleased with his new spoon.

In one of the more intact homes we found the fifteen worshipers just stand in the center of the building. They stood still and unmoving but not as if they were stand at attention, no this was more like a corpse lying upon the ground. They did not breathe or sway; they just stood there each one covered in a white sheet that looked much like a burial shroud.

Milamber walked forward pulling the shroud off one of them; it did not react in anyway. What we saw was most disturbing; they had jackal heads sewn on to their bodies. Some form of dark magic was at work here... I am a loss of words for what I saw.

I wanted to destroy them or seal them in that building so they could never again get out. I am worried that they will attack us at some point, that if we anger whatever great power that is in control here it will summon them to attack us. But no one seems to worry about them.

The others did not want to destroy or seal them in because they fear it will alert the others that outsiders are here, I think that is foolish as we are about to do that ourselves. Better to deal with them now instead of them coming after us while we are fighting others.

Vanimo knows many necromantic spells and thought that maybe he could talk to the...things but the group decided the best course of action was to leave and deal with them another time, something I very much disagree with. We could have potentially learned so much of what has happened here and what to look out for.

Milamber clearly became upset when Vanimo started to talk about Necromancy; he insisted that Vanimo was not a Necromancer and that we should not use that kind of magic. I guess I do not understand what the problem is. Vanimo knows magic that could help us; he is not going to do evil things with such magic. Milamber has very peculiar notions of right and wrong.

The next village looked very much the same as the last one; we searched this one and only found the corpse of a recently killed lesser man. The stench was awful, and much like the first lesser man we found he had been mutilated. Finding nothing else we set out for the third village we had seen from the tunnel.

In the 3rd village we found a large fortified manor house, the manor house must have been a grand and luxurious home 2000 years ago unfortunately all that is left is the stone structure.

As we approached the entrance to the manor Vanimo stopped us about 15 steps from the door way and in that uncanny way of his Vanimo sensed danger. We did not know what the danger was, nor would we until we entered into the Manor House. We had a brief debate about whether or not we should go in but since we do not know what we were looking for or where to find it we decided that we had to find out what was in the house, regardless of how danger it might have been, we had a mission to complete.

I readied my sword and shield and as always I take the lead. When I got with ten steps of the front entrance a cold and terrible dread started to grow in me, with each step I took the noon day sun grew darker and darker until as if the light of the sun had been extinguished and all that was left was the dark of a new moon. My chest started to tighten, my heart was clenched in ice and all the strength I had was started to slip from my fingers, my sword felt so heavy I did not think I could hold it let alone lift it. My head started to spin and I felt as if my mind had been covered by a heavy woolen blanket. In the deepest recesses of my soul I knew what this was, I had felt this evil before, the word was there yet I could not think it, I could not say it.

Standing there inside the manor house I saw a man yet I knew it was no man. He had no eyes, yet I could feel his gaze burning though my mind and in the moment when I felt as if all was lost, that my strength would fail me, that I would fall to the ground weeping and trembling. I almost succumbed to its malevolence but I had faced a Nazgul before, I did not fail that day, nor would I fail today. I had to protect my companions. I would not fail them; I would not allow this dark thing to bring harm to them.

With all my resolve I shook free of its malevolent will and with anger rising in me I stepped across the threshold, I entered into its domain with the intent of destroying this foul abomination. Vanimo and Milamber followed in behind, however Diorwine could not find his courage and remained outside. Once inside I could see more clearly, the Nazgul was wearing a gilded suit black full plate of Numenorean design.

I moved forward about half the distance to the Nazgul, Vanimo flanked me to my right and Milamber to Vanimos right. We stood at the ready waiting for it attacks. The Nazgul spoke to Milamber I do not know what they talked about as it in was Adunaic. After the brief exchange of words Milamber rushed forward striking at the Nazgul and starting what would be a disappointingly pathetic battle.

Milamber rushed forward engaging the wraith landing a mighty blow to its leg, Vanimo and I followed suit. The wraith was blindly fast moving and moved behind Milamber to strike at his back but Milamber deftly parried his strikes. Diorwine was finally able to break free of the terror of the Nazgul and joined us in battle.

Milamber knocked the blade from the Nazguls hands and before it could reach down to retrieve its blade I used my sword to knock it across the room, with blinding speed the Nazgul ran after its blade but before it could pick up the blade Milamber was there to again knock the blade across the room to where I was standing. I picked up the blade so the Nazgul could not retrieve it. With no sword and outnumbered we quickly made short work the foul monstrosity, Diorwine delivering the killing blow. Its armor crumpled to the ground empty.

With the Nazgul dead we searched though its armor and found a ring of power. Vanimo insisted that all of the nine rings of power were accounted for and are in Saurons possession. We all stood staring at the ring for some time trying to decide what to do with it. Vanimo was very concerned about the corrupting nature of the ring. He asked who would carry it. Vanimo did not want to let me anywhere near the ring; he was worried that the ring would easily corrupt me. He did not want to get “the old Raina back”.

What Vanimo said hurt a great deal, I did my best to hide it. I tried to make a joke about wanting the ring. I know Vanino did not say it to be hurtful but out of a genuine concern that I would become the monster I once was. It was a stark reminder that nothing I do will ever erase my past, that people will always remember the things I did.

Milamber asked Vanimo for one of his gold necklaces. Vanimo did not want to and demanded that Milamber pay him one gold piece for it. Milamber picked up the ring and put it on the chain he just bought. He had intended to put it in the bag but and carry it around but instead it was decided that Vanimo should try to melt the ring first.

Vanimo used his magic to heat the ring. The ring became intensely hot, so much so that when Milamber carefully placed a gold coin on it, the coin melted instantly. It was clear that the ring was not going to melt. Milamber then came up with the idea of melting 2 daggers over the ring sealing it in a steel ingot. With the help of Vanimos magic it was an easy task to do so. With the ring safely seal inside the steel ingot we decided to clear the rest of the village. We found nothing else so we need to take a break and recover from the fight.

I asked Vanimo to see if the two handed bastard sword the Nazgul had been using was magical and indeed it was. There many powerful magic enchantments on the blade. I decided to keep for myself and use it in place of my magic broadsword. It is and intrusting sword even though it was designed to be used with both arms I can still use it with only one arm, now my reach with a blade is as far as any great sword.

I feel that this bastard sword is a considerable upgrade for me, so I decided to give my old sword to Vanimo. I felt awkward giving him my sword; I have fought with that blade for years. Part of me struggled to let it go.

I will also keep the Nazguls armor in hopes that we can sell it for a great deal of money that armor must be worth a fortune.

Some of the group thought that there was a good chance the Ring of Power we found was what Sauron was looking for. Milamber thinks there is something in the valley keeping Sauron from see this ring.

I disagree with both of those thoughts. I do not think that this ring was made by Sauron nor do I think it is what he is looking for. I believe that the people of Uta’aka made the ring and that we will find more of them. I think, like Sauron there will be one ring controlling the lesser rings in this valley. I think Sauron cannot see this ring because he does not know it exists.

Deorwine decided the next best course of action he could take to help us was to have a staring contest with a nearby tree... Diorwine won.

You're damned straight. In a staring contest against sightless greenery, Diorwine wins. Every time.

The others did not want to destroy or seal them in because they fear it will alert the others that outsiders are here, I think that is foolish as we are about to do that ourselves. Better to deal with them now instead of them coming after us while we are fighting others.

Actually, Diorwine wanted them dead too. He mentioned a number of times to set them all on fire, but no one listened to Diorwine because everyone was deep in arguing mode.

I disagree with both of those thoughts. I do not think that this ring was made by Sauron nor do I think it is what he is looking for.

Diorwine didn't believe it was a ring of any power; it was just another sparkly bit of treasure. One game later, Diorwine saw his face. Now he's a believer.

In hindsight, we really should have duct-taped a message to that empty suit of armor for our faster-than-the-human-eye friend to find. It would read:

grumpit wrote:When I got with ten steps of the front entrance a cold and terrible dread started to grow in me, with each step I took the noon day sun grew darker and darker until as if the light of the sun had been extinguished and all that was left was the dark of a new moon. My chest started to tighten, my heart was clenched in ice and all the strength I had was started to slip from my fingers, my sword felt so heavy I did not think I could hold it let alone lift it. My head started to spin and I felt as if my mind had been covered by a heavy woolen blanket. In the deepest recesses of my soul I knew what this was, I had felt this evil before, the word was there yet I could not think it, I could not say it.

Standing there inside the manor house I saw a man yet I knew it was no man. He had no eyes, yet I could feel his gaze burning though my mind and in the moment when I felt as if all was lost, that my strength would fail me, that I would fall to the ground weeping and trembling. I almost succumbed to its malevolence but I had faced a Nazgul before, I did not fail that day, nor would I fail today. I had to protect my companions. I would not fail them; I would not allow this dark thing to bring harm to them.

THIS, and pretty much the rest of the entry, is exactly why writing journal entries is such a great way to add dimension to the game. I've said it before, but after this journal entry I'll say it again. There is simply no way to properly express many things during a game. Unspoken emotions - while an absolutely necessary part of a person's experiences - are practically impossible to portray in a game. What, are we going to sit around and tell each other how we feel? No way! We're not girls. We're going to be talking about what we do. Like this:

Raina wrote:I really started to become worried after a few hours had past and Milamber still had not returned and I could not leave to check up on them as I had to watch Vanimo. As I stared off into the darkness crossbow in hand I started to think of all the things that could have gone wrong, was that screaming Diorwine? Did Milamber run afoul of whatever had made Diorwine scream in agony? Had they been captured? Where Vanimo and I the only ones still alive?

By early morning nether of them had come back and I was exhausted from having to stay awake for both my watch and Milambers. It was not until mid-morning that Diorwine wandered back to camp, it seems that he had fallen asleep during his watch and had not heard any of the screaming, upon finding the sleeping Diorwine the jackass Milamber decided to stay and watch over the sleeping man. I was beyond furious with Milamber; he did not think to check back with me to let us know everything was ok. I decided not really confront him about this as I did not trust myself to not lose my temper and strike him.

So funny!

Raina wrote:Milamber knocked the blade from the Nazguls hands and before it could reach down to retrieve its blade I used my sword to knock it across the room, with blinding speed the Nazgul ran after its blade but before it could pick up the blade Milamber was there to again knock the blade across the room to where I was standing. I picked up the blade so the Nazgul could not retrieve it. With no sword and outnumbered we quickly made short work the foul monstrosity, Diorwine delivering the killing blow. Its armor crumpled to the ground empty.

Poor Nazgul! It's hanging out at it's house, and when visitors come knocking they fight a very non-epic battle with it, all the while whistling the tune to the Benny Hill theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK6TXMsvgQg. Hopefully next time they fight a Nazgul he'll be more up to the task.

There is simply no way to properly express many things during a game. Unspoken emotions - while an absolutely necessary part of a person's experiences - are practically impossible to portray in a game.

I beg to differ. Whenever situations requiring emotions come about, you'll constantly hear Diorwine huffing, harumphing, snorting, or pooh poohing all the sickening sentiment. So, in the act of grumbling about any feeling, Diorwine expresses the way he feels without having to write it all down in a silly book.

With the Nazgul dead we decided to spend the night in its home, it was getting dark and we felt too might have been too dangerous to travel at night. In the morning we decided to travel to a fourth village we had seen. We set out on what was left of an old road; you almost could not tell it was a road except for the occasional cobblestone that could be seen through the grass.

The road took us to an old stone bridge, the bridge was in disrepair but it seems sturdy enough to hold us. After crossed the bridge we came to a think alpine forest, it was mostly aspens but with a few clusters of pine trees scattered here and there. Not long after entering into the forest we came to a cross roads, one path lead west the other north. We set out north hoping that this would be the way to the fourth village.

It was nearing sunset and the shadows were starting to grow long before we reached what looking like an old fortified monastery built up against the sheer wall that surrounded the entire Valley. Milamber and Paludo decided to sneak ahead of the group and look for any dangers that might await us, to be honest I were grateful that they did. I had been walking in my heavy armor all day and I was caring both my gear and Agrippa’s as it was too much of a burden for him because it would have slowed us down too much to make any good time, I starting to get much tried. If we were going to do battle with anything in the monastery I was going to need a rest first. Paludo and Milamber came back not long later and had found nothing; they said that from what they could see it was deserted.

As we approached the monastery we did our best to keep to the shadows and move silently, though with two of us clad in full plate us where rather obvious. We entered into the first building with the light of Vanimos and Milamber glowing rocks. We fully explored the place but found nothing; it was getting late so we took shelter in the kitchen and spent the night.

The evening had been uneventful for all but Milamber, when we woke he was looking pale and had black veins running through his neck and face it was clear that the Ring of Power starting to take its toll on him.
It was clear that Milamber could not carry the ring much longer. We started to have a debate on what to do next, we all agreed that we could not just leave the ring here because something worse would come and find it or claim it. Next we began to debate that should carry it. I told them that I should be the once to carry this burden, I had done many dark and terrible things in my past, evil things but I turn away from that path, that I would have the best chance of resisting its corruption. They did not at all agree with me and instead gave the ring to Paludo even though he really did not want to take it.

It is clear that they do not fully trust me; they seem to keep waiting for as Vanimo put it "old Raina to come back". It is upsetting not being trusted but there is nothing I can do about it for now, I will keep trying to do what is right and will do my best to keep true to myself if nothing else.

Having settled on who would carry the ring we set out in the morning back on the road into the forest. We came to the cross road we encountered yesterday and took the western path, after a while it opened out to a grassy field and another stone bridge crossing the main river in the valley. It would seem that the valley continued on to the west through a narrow passage way about one hundred feet across. We decided to return to our base camp to rest up and gather what was left of our supplies. We had finished exploring this side of the valley and needed to go further west.

It was getting late so we decided to spend the night in the village that we found the body of the lesser man. Before we bedded down for the night Agrippa wanted to use his magic to create a pentagram on the ground around Paludo to not only protect him from outside forces but also in the hope that it would protect him from the corrupting nature of the ring but Paludo refused, it seems as if he does not trust magic.

We had setup watch that night as we normally do. Diorwine and Vanimo were on watch when Diorwine work me up quietly; at once I was overwhelmed with a sickening dread, an abject terror washing over me in waves. This was the same feeling I have had each time I have unfortunately had to contend with a Nazgul only this time it was infinitely more powerful then it was last time it was clear that we were dealing with a very powerful foe. I tried to focus myself and shake off the dread only this time I could not clear myself of its power fully I could still feel its terror bearing down on me though it did not stop me from acting.

I got up off my bed roll and ready my sword and shield while Diorwine and Vanimo finish waking all the others. I looked out into the dark night and I see two blazing white hot eyes burning into my soul about 30 feet away. It looked at me and drew an eerie white sword that gave off no light. Its eyes and sword were as clear to the eye as if they were in the light of day; they glowed but gave off no light.

Milamber tried to speak to it in Adunaic but it responded to us in the common tongue of the west. It claimed we had stolen the ring and demanded it back and also said that it is unfortunate that Milamber liked elves for some reason, not any of the rest of us no just him. Milamber then asks the Nazgul what its name was, it tell us Har'aven. (Don’t ask me how to spell that).

The Nazgul then commanded Paludo to bring it the ring, Paludo struggled at first but then started walking towards but Milamber knocked him to the ground and Diorwine sat on him.

Trying to buy time to figure out what to do I asked the Nazgul where it got the ring. The foul monstrosity said the "Great Dark Lord" gave them the rings. (Guess I was pretty wrong). It also said it was not going to kill us, just show us great pleasure. Somehow I do not think any of us would enjoy its idea of pleasure

Again it commanded Paludo to bring it the ring but I wanted clarification and asked it if it was indeed Sauron that gave him the rings, it was offended by my use of that name and said that the name was in an elvish insult. In return I asked him what I should call Sauron; it said I should call him Master. I swear there was a hint of amusement in its voice when it said that.

The Nazgul commanded Paludo a third time to bring it the ring but it was clear that Diorwine had too strong of a hold on him. In a blink of an eye the Nazgul vanished into thin air and reappeared behind Diorwine and struck him with a massive blow that threw him a yard back, his plate armor was rent open from his side to the middle of his chest. It then stabbed paludo in his wrist crippling his hand. I turned around and began running towards the Nazgul as it was no behind me. I saw Vanimo and Milamber both attack the Nazgul at once, but with ease it parried both their strikes as if they where children being taught by a weapon master, it then reached down picked up Paludo, throwing him at least 40 feet behind me.

The Nazgul walked slowly over to Paludo and him stab him a second time crippling his other wrist, it then ran its blades down the back of both of Paludos legs, crippling him even further. I again turned around and ran toward the Nazgul as it picked up the Ring of Power, put it on one of its figures and walked away, only it was walking faster than I could run. Its walking was so smooth it almost seemed like it was floating and I do not know how to describe how it could walk faster than I could run, it just did. As it faded into the distance I could feel the terror start to ease and they completely vanish.

At once we began to tend to Paludo and Diorwines wounds. Paludos wounds were able to be cured by magic but Diorwine was far too injured for magic to work, it was going to take time for him to heal some before magic would be of any aid. Having tended to their wounds we went back to bed, we did not think the Nazgul would return again that night.

We talked a little that next morning on how we are going to defeat the Nazgul that attacked us last night, it was not a fruitful conversation. We then made a stretcher to carry Diorwine back to our base camp. Along the way we reached the village that had the 15 zombies with jackal heads. Vanimo tries to talk to one of them but he is unable to, he says they have been dead too long and his spell will not work. We then decided to destroy the zombies, they were no challenge to fight and the battle was quickly over. We then proceed back to our base camp.

We try and make Diorwine comfortable while we wait for him to heal. Diorwine is no stranger to bed rest, more than once he has taken blows so powerful no magic would be of aid to him. His chest was a patch work of scars and it had one particularly large scar on his chest that from his groin to his neck. I remember that day; he had almost been killed by a mad axe wielding Dunlender.

10 days went by while we waited. Milamber relentlessly hounded Vanimo to teach him a magic spell that would make arrows deflect from you, Vanimo tried his best to do other things but Milamber would not relent. I practiced my broadsword too pass the time as I often do, as did Paludo.

On the eleventh day Agrippa was out for a walk near our base camp when he saw 9 Hobgoblins. Seven of them riding massive white wargs, two of the wargs had been hitched to a wagon pulling it. He raced back to camp to warn us. We all gathered our arms and got ready to do battle if necessary.

We went out to confront them, one of the Hobgoblins who was at least two feet shorter than the rest walked out by himself to talk us. Milamber wanted to go out with me but since they had only sent one I went out by myself. He greeted me seeming to know my name and know all about the rest of us. He introduced himself as Ahuskhlug and said they had come all this way to check up on us, they wanted to make sure we would honor our word about not taking action against his people.

I ask him to come back to our group and he does. We update him on what has happen; he says one of his people is a physician and that she might be able to lend some aid to Diorwine. He also warns us that about of the his men would not be friends of ours and says for the sake of keeping things peaceful we should not talk about religion, hinting that half of his men worship Melkor but as long as we did not attack first they would not fight us.

We set back with the 9 Hobgoblings and their wargs, the Hobgoblins where dressed in heavier and thicker than normal armor, most of it being scale but some had steel breast plates. The wargs they rode were pure white and I thought it odd when they would snort frost from their noses but I was shocked when they started to talk and they DID NOT like us.

When we got back to our base camp their physician was a female Hobgolin, she went about working on Diorwine and helping cure some of his wounds. When she was done Vanimo was able to use magic to heal the rest of his wounds, fully restoring him. After Vanimo had finished healing his wounds the female Hobgoblin seemed as if she wanted to talk to Vanimo but he would have none of it, retreating away from the rest of the Hobgoblins.

We talk to the Hobgoblins leader about the Nazgul and how we plan to go after them to kill his and destroy the rings; he agrees to help us as all Hobgoblins seem to hate Sauron. We Ahuskhlug what he would do if we all died but the Hobgoblins lived, what they would do with the rings. He said he would take them to the elves to be destroyed, that the hobgoblins would not want the rings.

There is some talk on our side of killing the Hobgolins after we deal with the Nazgul just to be safe but it was quickly dismissed.

Our two groups where not really mixing very well but Paludo tried to break the ice by teaching them how to smoke pipe weed. None of them have ever seen someone smoke before and it seems no Hobgoblins smoke, so it was funny to watch one of them do it for the first time. He tried it but I almost died hacking up a lung, though Paludo managed to convince him to try it again and after a while he had a number of them smoking. Things started to ease between the two sides after that.

We are unaccustomed to watching what we say and sometimes we talk about our past lives without really thinking about it and we started to do so in front of their leader Ahusklug, they seemed rather confused by what we were saying but didn’t really question us about it.

Hobgolins are a very odd bunch, they taking everything you say literally. If it’s cold outside and you say to the cook" Hurry up or I am going to starve to death" they will take it as if you are literally in danger of starving to death.

We had been curious how the Hobgoblin managed to get cross the broken bridges and down the 200 foot drop with the wagon and their wargs. When questioned about it they said they "came well prepared", they had taken the wagon apart and took it over piece by piece via rope, they also said they had to carry the wargs over by rope and that while the wargs did not like it after a few beatings they accepted their fate.

Now that Diorwine had recovered and we had made an accord with the hobgoblins we set out to find the Nazgul and destroy it. We had marched most of the day and decided to stop for the night. The Hobgoblins started to dig a ditch to fortify the camp, they are extraordinarily strong and with amazing speed they had a trench dug around the both our groups. Agrippa then used his magic to keep us hidden while we rest, though I doubt that would have helped us at all if the Nazgul came looking for us.

In the morning we practiced training with our swords as we normally would do however Milamber did not want to fully show what he could do in front of the Hobgoblins so he just went about basic maneuvers, worried that we might have to fight then later.

I had noticed that one of the hobgoblins kept watching Vanimo. It was common for them to stare at him because he was an elf and they thought him to be beautiful, however this was more than that. The hobgoblin was always looking right at Vanimo; he was always near Vanimo keep track of everything he did. I pulled the group aside and told them what I had seen; we decided to talk to Ahuskulg about it. It would seem that some of the hobgoblins believe that the elves somehow saved their kind and venerate the elves and that hobgoblin was as religiously devote in his belief in the elves as the others are for Melkor. I think the hobgoblins are a lot more complex then we give them credit for and so far I am glad that we did not fight our way through them.

Later that day we crossed thru the narrow pass in the valley, it opened back up to a large valley again much like where we first came down from the tunnel.

It was afternoon when we say another village, this time a little large then the last ones we had been to. This village was much newer; it must have only been a few hundred years since this village had fallen into ruin. When we went into the village we found a lot of we found some of their art was still intact, frescos and statues. All the art showed the people had jackal heads but the heads had been knocked off or scratched out or otherwise defaced.

After searching all we found we more of the zombies with jackal heads, everyone wanted to destroy them like the others we found but I started to really question and doubt that was the right thing to do. I really wanted to destroy the first ones we found but after seeing this art and hearing from the Nazgul that Sauron was the one that gave them the rings I have really started to believe that we should not destroy them.

We know Sauron is looking for this place and that the Nazgul here are loyal to him, so why can’t he sense them like the others? They very powerful, why can’t they just leave? What made it so Agrippa just could not fly up here? I believe the Jackal headed priest performing their ceremony to Yavanna is what is causing all of this. I think that it is the Nazgul that damaged the art in this town out of anger and frustration; I think that for whatever reason the jackal headed priests are protected from the Nazgul and cannot be harmed by them or maybe the Nazgul cannot even see them at all.

Agrippa tried to use magic to figure out the history of the undead jackal headed priests, he tried a few times but nothing worked. I tried to convince the group that we should just leave them be but Milamber would have none of it, he absolutely insisted that we destroy them. He at least agreed to try to move one around before destroying them. He tried to pull one out of the room but when he got to the exit the rest attacked us to try and stop him. We quickly killed all of them, I helped but truly I had not. I can’t help but think we have made a grave mistake, that we have opened the door to Sauron to come here now.

Raina wrote:It looked at me and drew an eerie white sword that gave off no light. Its eyes and sword were as clear to the eye as if they were in the light of day; they glowed but gave off no light....

Very nice description. Certainly more concise and better done than the way I described during the session.

Raina wrote:...it said I should call him Master. I swear there was a hint of amusement in its voice when it said that.

Raina wrote:Milamber then asks the Nazgul what its name was, it tell us Har'aven. (Don’t ask me how to spell that).

Khar-Edhen.

The "Kh" sounds like the "ch" in German "Ich" or the Scottish "Loch". The "dh" sounds like the "th" in "the". Both Milamber and Vanimo could tell you that Khar is an Adûnaic word for a very lesser lord. A close modern English translation might be "Esquire". Edhen is just a rather common name with no meaning of any importance, as far as anyone is aware.

Diorwine comfortable while we wait for him to heal. Diorwine is no stranger to bed rest, more than once he has taken blows so powerful no magic would be of aid to him. His chest was a patch work of scars and it had one particularly large scar on his chest that from his groin to his neck. I remember that day; he had almost been killed by a mad axe wielding Dunlender.

You remembered. I wish I could forget.

Khar is an Adûnaic word for a very lesser lord.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you Saul. From the way this guy moved and fought, I would say he is a very upper lord. He may have been a lesser lord in the past; but, in the absence of all the upper lords being banished to the void with Morgoth, he now sits atop the feudal heap.

This foe is beyond us.

This foe is beyond us.

Guess its time to for Diorwine to man up.

The Son of Dior wrote:I'm afraid I have to disagree with you Saul. From the way this guy moved and fought, I would say he is a very upper lord. He may have been a lesser lord in the past; but, in the absence of all the upper lords being banished to the void with Morgoth, he now sits atop the feudal heap.

This foe is beyond us.

Then perhaps you should consider joining him. By worshiping him and becoming his loyal servant, perhaps he will spare you.  

Raina wrote:

This foe is beyond us.

Guess its time to for Diorwine to man up.

Ouchie!  

Saule wrote:Then perhaps you should consider joining him. By worshiping him and becoming his loyal servant, perhaps he will spare you.

He does have a spare ring now, perhaps one that he could give to Diorwine.

Then perhaps you should consider joining him. By worshiping him and becoming his loyal servant, perhaps he will spare you.

I'LL NEVER JOIN YOU!

He does have a spare ring now, perhaps one that he could give to Diorwine.

Nah, that'd never fly. Diowine's never been into fancy jewelry, let alone sparklies with super magical abilities. Give it to the elf.

This foe is beyond us.

Look, I'm just saying that the only way for Jon to challenge us forced him to create a GURPS super to contend with our OP levels. To account for what we're capable of, he needed to use some specific cinematic advantages he'd never let normal characters take in a million years. Because of this and the way GURPS brutally works, there's every likelihood that some of us (maybe all of us) will be cut down by this thing.

Let's be thankful that Jon didn't give his superwraith enhanced time sense as well. If that were the case, he'd be going first every turn regardless of how fast we puny mortals can go.

Guess its time to for Diorwine to man up.

Uh huh, that's easy for you to say since you didn't lose nearly a third of all your hit points in one shot. Knowing your luck in final boss showdowns, you might go into negatives and roll an 18 on your roll to stay conscious in the first round of combat.

Uh huh, that's easy for you to say since you didn't lose nearly a third of all your hit points in one shot. Knowing your luck in final boss showdowns, you might go into negatives and roll an 18 on your roll to stay conscious in the first round of combat.

True story.

True story.

Diorwine cannot tell a lie.

Diorwine wrote:Nah, that'd never fly. Diowine's never been into fancy jewelry, let alone sparklies with super magical abilities. Give it to the elf.

If you had put the possession of the Ring of Power into the context of obtaining some additional bling, Vanimo might have considered it....  

Diorwine wrote:Look, I'm just saying that the only way for Jon to challenge us forced him to create a GURPS super to contend with our OP levels.

Have you looked at the party's character sheets lately?  Heck, with any other group but this one, that fight against the other Ringwraith would have ended just as quickly, but with a different victor. If the PCs are actually feeling some fear now, maybe the GM is starting to get things right.  

Deorwine wrote:Uh huh, that's easy for you to say since you didn't lose nearly a third of all your hit points in one shot.

It should be noted that you mean 1/3 of the damage it takes to kill you automatically.   Still, with the amount of damage that you took, that also speaks volumes to the utility of taking a few Extra Hit Points.

Raina wrote:

Uh huh, that's easy for you to say since you didn't lose nearly a third of all your hit points in one shot. Knowing your luck in final boss showdowns, you might go into negatives and roll an 18 on your roll to stay conscious in the first round of combat.

True story.

Good thing that Raina usually does really well in the Final Boss Fights. Now if you guys come across a peasant with a pitchfork, you'd best make sure that you protect Raina....  

Deorwine wrote:Diorwine cannot tell a lie.

That's mostly just because he never says anything, as opposed to some sort of Truthfulness disadvantage.

I am too lazy to quote anyone.

That super magical sword Raina has had for years she got off the fight with the Sauronic commander who was the big boss from our Techmachen adventure. He dropped Raina in the first round of the fight.

And I honestly don't know what you are talking about when you say the group had gotten too powerfull Jon. Raina only has 22 hit points and does 5D+3 using a 2 hex reach sword with one hand and has a combat move of 6 in full plate.

I am not afraid of your fancy pants new Nazgul.

grumpit wrote:That super magical sword Raina has had for years she got off the fight with the Sauronic commander who was the big boss from our Techmachen adventure. He dropped Raina in the first round of the fight.

Ah yes, I had forgotten that.

grumpit wrote:And I honestly don't know what you are talking about when you say the group had gotten too powerfull Jon. Raina only has 22 hit points and does 5D+3 using a 2 hex reach sword with one hand and has a combat move of 6 in full plate.

I am not afraid of your fancy pants new Nazgul.

The reason I gave him Super Move is so he can run away when the party finally tracks him down.

That's mostly just because he never says anything, as opposed to some sort of Truthfulness disadvantage.

This is what Diorwine has to say about that spurious charge. "..."(harumph)

The reason I gave him Super Move is so he can run away when the party finally tracks him down. clown

That's actually a good idea. The one thing you always program into the villain NPC you want to keep around is a foolproof means of escape.