Ekithrin and I woke early to prepare for our next foray into the orc-held territory surrounding Echad Eregion. Two days had gone by since our battle with the giant orc leader. As we headed out of camp, Ekithrin pointed out some horses coming towards the encampment. There were four in total. As they approached, it looked to be a party of dwarves with a human in tow.

The four companions hailed us as they got closer. In the light of dawn, it was hard to make out, but the forms took shape and became very familiar to me and Eki. It was our kinsmen.

Godrik, Gelthorin, Thorgarth and Glorybound reined in their horses at the last moment and skidded to a stop right in front of us. Godrik looked worried. There are few times where I’ve seen my brother looking that grave before and one of them was when news was brought to us of our parent’s deaths.

He immediately dismounted, grabbed and pulled me aside. Ekithrin, moved off to talk to the others, glancing occasionally in my direction.

“Hallys is missing!” Godrik stated. “It’s been three weeks since he was last supposed to report in to his watch commander in Bree.”

I told Godrik that Hallys can take care of himself. “I’m sure he just got caught up in a hunt for mordor scum and lost track of time.”

Godrik pulled out a bundle from under his hauberk, It was Hallys’s cloak, the one Godrik made for him upon his joining the Breeland Wardens. It was torn badly and coated in blood. This was found by Candaith just North of Weathertop and across the river. Word has it that he may have been investigating an Orc compound in the area.

If Hallys had indeed fallen to orcs, none of that tribe would live to see the next full moon.

“When do we leave?” I asked while nodding at the others.

“It will just be you and I, brother.” Godrik stated. “Ekithrin and the others will finish up here in Eregion. This mission you and Ekithrin took up is too important to abandon. Once we’ve verified what happened to Hallys, we’ll join up with the others in Moria.”

WIth an all too familiar feeling of hatred for orc-kind burning within me, I press for Godrik and I to leave immediately. He agreed.

I went to the stables and leapt into my horse’s saddle, grabbed the reins and spurred her into motion to join the others. After a few parting words between close friends, our groups parted ways. Godrik and I heading to the Lonelands and Ekithrin and our Dwarf kinsmen remaining behind to deal with Eregions problems.

We have a long ride ahead of us, Godrik and I.

~Wil

(The continuing tale of Wildegarde Mudge.)

The ride from Rivendell to Gwinris was not long. After asking around for a bit, I found it was quite easy to learn about the various factions plaguing the goodly folk of Eregion. In fact, most of them wouldn’t shut up about it. Closest to Gwinris, a troupe of trolls was harassing anyone bold enough to leave the settlement without a squad of guards in tow.

The troll leader’s name was not known, but he was referred to as the Lord of the Wood by those in the area. I’m pretty sure the elves in Rivendell would not take kindly to that name.

That afternoon, I went out to test my mettle against one of their number. It only took a few hours searching to find one. These trolls were unlike any other I’d seen before. They appeared to be made of wood, with bark instead of skin. I’d heard tales of similar creatures in the Trollshaws and near Lake Evendim, but I’d never seen them before.

Slowly, I crept up on the position of one of them. He was standing stone still, however I could make out his humanoid shape. Based on his posture, It seemed he was laying in wait for prey to approach. As I sidled up from behind, a 7ft long branch-like arm lashed out at me. He knew I was there! Not to brag, but I’m nigh undetectable. He should not have spotted me moving so silently. Perhaps he can detect vibrations in the ground.

His reach was enormous at over 10 feet tall; His arms like branches, his fingers like whips. He managed to rake me across the face as I rolled in under his guard. Using my Heavy Mace I scored a hit to the side of his knee. It buckled a bit, but man, was he solid. Using the momentum of my strike, I positioned myself behind him and hacked again at his leg muscles. This time I used my dagger and started slashing at the smaller branches that appeared to connect his tissue together. These cut more readily. My defender’s blade slid through the branch-like tendons as a hot knife through butter.

He staggered, turned towards me, swung his arm in a huge upward strike and connected. The blow hit me like a ton of boulders. My feet left the ground and I was propelled back a good 20 feet. I landed on the ground and  rolled up into a crouch. I was reeling. I needed to avoid him hitting me like that again. Glancing blows were fine, but if he connected another solid blow like that, I was finished. I thought about Janna and the children I wanted to have with her some day. I can’t afford being reckless anymore.

This time I approached more cautiously. He charged toward me and readied to launch another mighty blow. As he came in, I parried his attack with my mace and drove my dagger into his wooden skull. With the force of his forward momentum, It was buried up to the cross-guard. The tree Howled in pain as he shot past my position and tumbled to the ground dislodging the dagger from my grip in the process. I jumped on his prone form, grabbed the dagger with both hands and twisted it in the wound. WIth a sickening crack and the release of some fluids from his skull, the trolls life was spent.

I pried my dagger from his lifeless form, picked up my mace and quickly found a place to hide. The dying troll had made a lot of noise.

I waited….

Soon, I could see a few more of the trolls coming to see what had happened. If trees could display anger, I imagine the expressions on their faces were what it would look like. They threw back their heads and howled. The noise was painful, loud and piercing. More started to gather. They generally, came from South West of my position. Making an educated guess, I bet that’s the direction of their lair.

Since they are out here, it might be a good time to pay their leader a visit.

I slowly crept away from the gathering of trolls and up toward their lair. It was easy to find. Go figure that tree men have a hard time with concealing constructions. The entrance was a cave mouth near the deeper wood. No one guarded the entrance. I crept up and peered into the darkness. Not seeing anything, I made my way in. It was difficult at first, but I was able to see well enough once my eyes adjusted.  I chose not to light a torch in order to avoid being spotted.

I moved deeper into the cave, my cloak concealing my body motions. I managed to sneak past a few guards and after moving through some harrowing twists and turns in the tunnel, I approached what appeared to be the back of the cave. What a tree troll was doing living in a cave was beyond me, but who am I to judge. Isn’t Thorin’s Hall just a really elaborate cave, itself?

The leader was staring into a fire intently with his back facing me. He seemed engrossed in something.

I crept up to his position and caught a glimpse of his handiwork. He was eating a person. Thankfully, they were not still alive. As I got closer, I noticed he was gnawing on an arm. The rest of the corpse had bite sized chunks missing from it. It was female and Elven by the looks of her. These trolls disgusted me. I could feel the bile rising up in  my throat. I must put an end to this now!

I maneuvered up behind the beast and attempted to thrust my dagger into the back of his skull.  It glanced off as he reacted to the blow. He turned, using the elven corpse’s arm as a club and knocked me back. One thing in my favor; being in a cave made it difficult for the beast to wind up for a full swing. On the down side, if I did manage to get knocked back, a nice, hard rock wall would stop my fall.

The glancing blow seemed to disorient him, but as he stood, I realized he was larger than the others. This was going to be a tough fight if I didn’t take him down soon. Realizing I had a moment to get in a staggering blow, I struck. I darted in and slashed my dagger at his neck muscles. The dagger bit deeply. I quickly followed up the strike with a blow from my mace to the same location, rocking his head backward and ripping more of the woody sinew.

His breathing became ragged and raspy. I had cut open his throat. What passed for troll blood was dripping from his wounds. He went into a fitful rage. Fully extending his arms, he flailed away at me. His mighty blows were softened as his arms connected with the rocky walls and ceilings of the cave before they dragged past and aimed for my head. He made an impressive effort to bring me down, but I was the quicker of the two. Being smaller than him in a tight cave helped too.

Realizing one good hit could finish me off, I kept inside his reach hacking at his limbs and slamming my mace against his leg joints in an effort to bring him down. He did manage to connect with a few blows, but by that time, the fight was over. There was no longer any force behind his strikes. In a final blow, I sent my mace crashing down on the top of his skull. With a sickening crack his skull yielded to the weapon and the force brought him to ground. His body stopped moving as it hit the cave floor.

I later realized my lucky slash to his throat had prevented him from screaming for help, thereby keeping me alive. Gotta love dumb luck. I seem to have a lot of it.

Tired and out of breath I sprinted out of the cave. The guards I had initially snuck past, caught sight of me, but aside from a few bruises and cuts I made it out and away from the creatures lair. I made way back to Gwinris and let them know that the Troll leader was dead. Fearing a retaliatory attack, the guard started to prepare for the worst.

The worst never came. The creatures were disoriented and unfocused. It seemed my kinsman’s plan might work after all. The rangers and scouts from Gwinris formed a party and went out to pick off stragglers. The threat of the tree trolls was far from over, but they were not not the threat they once were.

After a day or so of rest I’ll move on to my next target. For now, I sleep.

~Wildegarde

It’s been a week since leaving Janna behind in Thorin’s Hall. I miss her greatly.

A few of my kinsmen met up in Rivendell. I found that Bronyar and Godrik were both staying at the Last Homely House. This serves both of them well, since I’ve always told them they each have a face only their mother’s could love. I could tell right away this was not a time for humor. Both had an air of purpose about them. I knew they had a job for me and neither appeared eager to ask me to do it.

After some small talk, Godrik clasped both Bronyar and I on the arm, wished us luck and headed off to meet a few of our kinsmen in the High Pass of the Misty Mountains. It seemed his path was taking him to Goblintown.

Bronyar leaned in close and stated, “Lad, what I’m about to ask you to do is not right or noble, but it needs doin’! You’re brother and I think you are the only one right for the job.”

Sobering up a bit, I ask him to elaborate. Bronyar informs me that armies are gathering to the South in Eregion. Seven commanders of Mordor are looking to declare war on the lands of men. He says that we cannot allow this to happen….No kidding. I press him for more information.

He states, since these groups are fairly large it would take a large army of Free Peoples to siege their forts and route the orcs. The armies of men are not ready and both the dwarves and the elves don’t have the necessary reserves. What they needed was stealth.

…Ah, here’s where I come in.

Bronyar confides that based on my skills, I’m the perfect candidate to sneak in and take out the leaders. With their leadership gone, he thinks their forces will break into factions fighting to fill their dead commander’s role. Based on past experience with orcs, I tend to agree with Bronyar’s assessment. Bronyar confesses his reservations about assassination, but it seems we have no other alternative. He asks if I’m up to doing such a vile task.

At last! A challenge worthy of Wildegarde!

Apparently, Bronyar had not read my prior memiors to know that I’m okay with morally ambiguous tactics. I assured him that not only was I up for the challenge, I would have it no other way.

I could tell Bronyar looked uncomfortable with the whole business. I could see the mantle of leadership was wearing heavy upon his shoulders. This cloak and dagger business that we had gotten ourselves into was not his forte. I assured him that I would be fine and asked whether he had any information on Eregion and the locations of these followers of the dark lord.

Bronyar told me that other members of our group have made forays into the desolate lands of Eregion. He provided me with some maps of old. Most had recent markings on them. I recognized the markings as those of my friend and kinsman Ekithrin. Maybe I could talk old Eki into coming along for the adventure. I know his home is not too far from here and as a master hunter, he’s pretty stealthy.

After a study of the maps, I thanked Bronyar and assured him the job was as good as done.

I packed my things, resupplied and rode out of the valley to meet with destiny.

~Wil

(It’s been two weeks of wedded bliss in the Mudge Household…)

Janna is getting used to life in Thorin’s Hall. While there is snow here all year round, it’s not nearly as frigid as the lands of the North where she was born. This has led to some interesting encounters with the neighbors as my wife walks around in Summer attire while our neighbors huddle in furs as they bustle about the town.

I was afraid of the redecorating that would be done when my wife joined my household. You are always warned as a bachelor that your home will have a woman’s touch once your wife moves in. Frankly, I have yet to see that. In fact, one of my wife’s first comments upon arriving on our home was to comment on the lack of furs and animal trophies. I suppose I’ll need to remedy that.

The last few weeks have been a wonderful time for us, but soon we will have to part for a bit as I resume my duties with the Shadowguard of Eriador. The good thing is I now have a reason to come home more often. The bad news is, I now don’t want to leave.

The Shadowguard have been visiting to congratulate my new bride and I. We’ve been showered with gifts. My brothers, in particular, come over quite a bit now for Janna’s cooking. I’m a fair cook myself, however they’ve never asked for seconds when it came to my elk stew. I’ve tried to take over the cooking on several nights, however as soon as I approach the kitchen, I’m ushered away and told to go and fetch fire wood or water from the stream. How things have changed.

Janna has decided to go into town to set up a shop in a week or two to sell some of the jewelry I manage to craft between adventures. Being that she is not Dwarven, I’m not sure what kind of reception she’ll get in the marketplace. I’m sure she will acquit herself nicely with the Dwarven Merchants having dealt with similar personalities in the Northern barbarians from which she descends.

In a few more days, I’m off to Eregion to work with my kin against the dark forces of Mordor. While, I’ll miss my beautiful bride, duty to the Free Peoples calls.

Until next we meet,

~Wil

(Check out my gallery of Wildegarde’s Photos page for some insight into how it all began.)

My brothers answered my summons quickly. Both Hallys and Godrik made way to Suri-Kyla in record time to meet with me.  Godrik, the eldest, tends to be extremely conservative and always thinks things through thoroughly before making a decision. Hallys tends to be a bit more flighty and free. My thoughts are they will have differing views on my getting married.

Godrik arrived first. He strode through the gates of Suri-Kyla like he owned the place. The sunlight gleaming off of his armor as he led his horse through town. It seemed he was well known in these parts as I noted a few people waving to him as he passed them. Older brothers are sometimes hard to live with. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t advertise my relationship to Godrik previously. Don’t want to live in the big guy’s shadow…..maybe that’s why I’m so good at hiding in them, the shadows, that is.

He came over to me and we embraced. He hoisted me off the ground. It’s quite embarrassing actually to be a grown man lifted off the ground like a child, but I’ve learned to deal with it. We wasted no time. I filled him in on my situation. Throughout the conversation, he looked thoughtful. He listened to all that had happened and prompted me for other bits of information regarding my prior dealings with the girl and her family. Afterward, he informed me that he wanted to sleep on the information.

In the meantime, I headed off to see Janna. She was wandering the marketplace selling her wares. After observing her for the past few days I could see that she was a hard worker. She seemed to negotiate prices better than many Southern tradesmen that I knew. The way the sun glinted off her hair….um, needless to say, she seemed to be very good at her work. I walked by her a few times trying to make eye contact, however she stubbornly refused to meet my gaze. I did however catch her looking in my direction a few times when she thought I wasn’t paying attention.

Why do I feel the way I do? I have limited experience with this woman, yet I can’t help being drawn to her. These feelings are new to me and I’m at a loss for what I should do…

That night I was awoken from my slumber. My arms were strapped to my sides and I was being hoisted up over someone’s shoulders. I tried to shout to those sleeping around me, but I realized quickly that my mouth was gagged. I must have been imbibing a bit too much of the local grog not to have woken up prior to this. We had started making our way out of town. This person knew how to keep to the shadows. They were almost as good as me… They were even using some of my moves. I heard him speak and knew he would not hurt me, so I started to struggle against my captor.

“I’m doing this for your own good, Wil”, he said in an all too familiar voice.  He placed me down not too roughly near the entrance to the town. It was my brother Hallys. He was a year younger than me. While I pursued the art of burgling, he took the path of the warden. He was a free spirit and never lingered too long in one place.

He slowly removed the gag from my mouth and told me to be quiet. I asked him when he arrived and he explained it was late last night after I’d already passed out. He told me he had spoken with Godrik who was going to advise I marry the girl. Knowing that Hallys and I were kindred spirits, he wanted to assist me in getting away from Godrik’s proclamation. Generally, when Godrik told us to do something it was difficult to refuse.  After our parents died he took over the role of Patriarch in the family. Hallys and I were closer in age and more than a few years junior to Godrik. We tended to stick together, Hallys and I.

I asked Hallys to untie me so we could speak….more comfortably.

As he released my bonds, Hallys told me I shouldn’t rush into marriage. It was too soon. I had my life before me yet. There were still many maidens out there that had not met the Mighty Mudge brothers. (Hallys had gone by the surname Farstrider for years, but that’s another story.) I informed Hallys there was something different about this girl. She attracted me in a way no other had. She would make a good wife (am I realy saying this?). While I tended to bristle under Godrik’s direction and follow his orders only grudgingly, I found myself coming to the same conclusion as my older brother. While Hallys and I were much closer, Godrik seemed to have a keen insight on this situation.

I knew what I must do; what I wanted to do…

That morning I headed over to Janna’s family tent. I asked her brother to see her. He informed me Janna had no intentions to be seen with a South-lander. I tried to push my way past him. He stepped out of the tent, all 6′7″ and 300 lbs of him and told me in no uncertain terms to leave. I told him of my intentions to marry his sister, to which he laughed at me. My anger started to rise.

I balled up my fists and decided to take matters into my own hands. I landed a sturdy blow to his jaw. To my surprise, it actually had an effect shaking him up a bit. I don’t think he expected me to fight back. A smile grew on his face and he came at me. I moved swiftly out of his way as he tried to put me into a massive bear hug. As I dodged to the side,  I landed a swift kick to the small of his back sending him reeling. To my side I noted one of the curtains in the tent closing rapidly. Was she watching?

Her brother recovered and turned to face me again. The curses coming out of his mouth would have made a southern sailor blush. He entered into a barbaric rage. He quickly closed the gap between us and landed a staggering blow to my shoulders driving me to the ground. I quickly landed a kick to the knee buckling his legs and sending him sprawling to the ground. I rolled up onto his chest and started pummeling his face repeatedly. He was starting to tire from his wanton rage, but managed to struggle out from under me. Realizing I had to end the fight quickly, I struck him hard and fast as he was getting up. I managed to knock him backward into the icy cold water of the lake near the house. Had our fight actually ranged so far from it’s start?

I could see him floundering as soon as he splashed into the icy water, his skin started to turn an blue almost immediately. How does someone who lives near ice flows not know how to swim? Without thought for my own safety, I jumped into the water to save my opponent. It took all my strength to push his panicked body near the edge of the water. He managed to latch onto the ice ledge and haul himself out. I started to feel a numbness settle into my body and quickly made my own way to the edge. As I hauled myself out of the water my body was spent. The last thing I saw before blacking out from the icy cold was a vision of beauty looking into my eyes, Janna…

As my eyes opened I found myself laying near an open fire with a large fur blanket wrapped around me. I could see Janna’s hulking brother close by as well. The color was returning to his face. As soon as I started to stir, Janna was there for me. She held me tight in her arms…. I was home.

Both of my brothers were there as well as Janna’s family. When I was strong enough to stand, I got dressed and grabbed Janna. Both families followed me as I made way to the Elder’s tent. We got married that day. Even Hallys seemed happy for me.

Looks like my home at Thorin’s Hall is going to receive a Northern woman’s touch soon. Bronyar may not like the changes, but it is pretty much my home now, after all.

Looks like my bachelor life is over. The women of Middle-Earth will have to mourn their loss. Wil is off the market.

~Wil

It was a stormy day in Suri-Kyla… The wind was howling and the snow was whipping about, so heavily that it was difficult to keep my feet under me. My face was accumulating a layer of frost and my exposed skin was red and numb.  I decided to get under cover and wait out the bad weather, so I headed to the main lodge. I opened the massive lodge door with some effort and went inside.

I nodded to the Chieftain sitting high on his throne at the top of a dais. He greeted me with his usual look of indifference. I was an outsider to them, despite having fought 3 of their largest members in combat to protect my friend Kaj about a week or so ago. To them I was still a weak southerner. I made my way towards the central fire pit and started to warm my hands.

Of the people from the North, I must say, they are a very hardy folk to live in such a place. How they managed to thrive under such conditions escapes me. The men are giants and the women are strong and sturdy. Now, I’m not saying this is a bad thing. Their women are tall, tall as me in most cases, some taller. They have a strength to them that women of the South only possess inwardly. For such a hardy people, one would think their women would look….hardy. I must say, though, the majority of these barbarian women are quite striking. Most have blonde or strawberry colored hair, a muscular, but feminine frame and beautiful faces.  What they do lack is the softness of the southern women.

It was in ruminating these things that I was approached by one of them. I had seen her once before and knew her name was Janna. She was younger than me, but not by much. She was carrying a basket of market goods. No sooner had the words “Can I show you my wares?” come out of her mouth before I stupidly made one of my famous sarcastic responses. The next thing I knew I was sitting on my backside with a swelling eye and the target of my comment standing over me ready to strike again. The men in the lodge were laughing hysterically. The women in the tent were giving my assailant an approving smile.

I think it was at that point that I realized I was in love.

I gathered myself up and apologized to the lady. With that, she got even angrier and forced me out of the tent into the cold, screaming at me the whole time in the Northern tongue. I tightened my cloak and headed off to find another place to warm myself. My thoughts were focused on this angelic creature the whole way.

When I got to the campfire I noted a few northerners I’d previously conversed with. I recounted my story to them and with barely suppressed mirth they told me I was in trouble. Apparently, I had started a courting ritual with the girl without realizing it. By letting her know I was interested in her, even in a sarcastic manner, I had started the courting process. They informed me that the proper response from a good woman in their tribe was to rebuff the advance. They sobered up quickly as I informed them about how I responded. Apparently by apologizing, I had insulted her. The appropriate response would have been to take her over my shoulder and find an Elder to perform a marriage ceremony.

Now, I never thought that Wildegarde was the marrying kind, but this woman intrigued me. The women of the south would have either blushed at my statement or would have had their male friends hunt me down for making the comments.

I’m at a loss for what to do.

It might be a good idea to talk with family about this. My brothers are not too far off. I suppose I should call upon Godrik and Hallys for some advice.

~Wil

The past few weeks have been harrowing. I have traveled all over Eriador since my time in Evendim. Unfortunately I’ve had to head back to Ost Forod a few times to resupply on my way to Forochel, but I’ve made sure to avoid Tinnudir and my Ranger “friends” there.

I’ve also spent a great deal of time in Angmar, North of Esteldin. The more experience I gain and the more contacts I make with the enemies of Angmar, I’ve been forced to split my time between these two areas. Lots of travel for Wil, but after my last rest, I relish the adventure. Sitting at home tends to get me into trouble.

I’ve spent time with my friends and kinsmen. The Shadowguard are indeed advancing into Angmar and Forochel as I say these words.  We march on the enemies of the Free People and seek to destroy Angmar’s attempts at yoking the Gauredain and barbarian tribes for their nefarious purposes.

I’ve taken a more active role in my kinship. My experience is starting to rival those of our senior membership. It will not be long before I’m considered one of their number.  Recently I was gifted two weapons of unsurpassed quality by our leader, Bronyar. Two blades made of Ancient Steel, crafted in the finest of Elven techniques. Both are precision instruments that should last me for quite some time. These will be heirlooms for my children and their children’s children. I owe quite a debt to my kinsman for gracing me with such a gift.

All that, and he lets me crash at his place too. He is, after all living in Moria right now.

During my time within both Angmar and Forochel, I’ve been building up my reputation with the local factions. I’ve assisted the Northern Barbarians in Suri-Kyla and greatly assisted the Dwarves of Forochel. My exploits with the Dwarves have actually given me access to an area of special significance in Thorin’s hall.

One of my Dwarven friends actually gifted me with a statue of a battle-hardened dwarf to grace my property. A nice gesture. It actually looks a little like Bronyar, except for the sword and lack of an eye patch. Maybe I can alter that… nevermind.

I feel my time in Angmar is approaching it’s end. I’ve heard rumors from my Dwarven friends that there is need for Heroes in Moria. I’m looking to soon go to Eregion and test my mettle.

Until next time,

~Wil

I had spent several weeks working with my friends at the Eavespires. We had been making headway against the gauradain tribes in the area. I needed to resupply our camp and made way back to Ost Forod. I brought some items to Robin Dunkley as requested. He thanked me and asked me to visit Calenglad in Tinnudir with my findings. Why can’t all of these people hang out in one town? Really?

Anyway, being the great guy that I am, I quickly picked up enough supplies for camp and made my way to Tinnudir to talk to Calenglad. I’m certain that he’ll decide to send me to the four Corners of Middle Earth for whatever he needs. Sometimes I feel like an errand boy as opposed to an adventurer.

So anyway, I hop up into the saddle and head to Tinnudir. The journey was uneventful. When I arrived and met with Calenglad, he seemed happy with my findings….wait for it….He also stated that a friend of his named Gwineth needed my help. Go figure, she was on the Western side of the lake….is anyone EVER near eachother?

Being the wonderful guy that I am, I head back around the lake, drop my supplies in the Eavespires and then let my friends know that I’m needed elsewhere. They bid me farewell and I’m off to find this Gwineth. As I’m heading south, I have to fight my way through some gauradain,  some bears and wolves. I reach the area where Gwineth is supposed to be and all I find is a waterfall and some dead tree stumps. Not wanting to have wasted my trip, I decided to check behind the waterfall. Low and behold, there’s a cave entrance behind it. I slowly creep in and make my way down to the back of the cave keeping an eye out for enemies. As I get to the back, I notice an Elf standing there in front of me. She’s beautiful and has an ethereal quality about her. I approach catiously, but she sees me and hails me right away.

I let her know that Calenglad sent me to assist her. She smiles and proceeds to let me know about fallen kings and restoring their former glory….blah, blah, blah.  She eventually gets to the point of finding two statues that need to be restored…..Seriously? The lands of Middle Earth are under siege from Orcs and Goblins and she wants to restore two statues? I’m about to smack her across her gorgeous face when she tells me three men at the Eavespires may be able to assist me in my task. THAT’S WHERE I STARTED FROM!!! AUUUUGH!!

My patience wearing thin, I make my way back to my friends at the Eavespires. They seem to have smirks on their faces. I guess bidding them farewell was a bit premature. I tell them about Gwineth’s request and they provide me with some cleaning solvents made from the local flora. I quickly head to the island where the statues are supposed to be. I say this because one of them is missing. When I get there, I use the solvents provided to me at the eavespires and cleanse the statue…. The other statue was rumoured to be back in….wait for it…Ost Forod. I head back and talk to Robin Dunkley. He had the statue the whole time. So I take it from him, strap it to a wagon, take the wagon to Tinnudir grumbling to myself the all the while. I then strap the statue into a boat and row out to the island where the statue came from. Once there, I place the statue back on its pedastal and go to Gwineth to let her know her precious statues are safe.

I arrive, go through the waterfall and let the elf know I’m done.  She asks me to show her a sign of respect! Seriously? After what I’ve done for her, she want’s me to show her respect? So I bow to her the whole time thinking, what a pretentious horse’s behind she is. To think I thought she was beautiful initially.  She thanks me for the sign of respect and bestows a gift on me. She hands me an enormous greatsword. Um, do I look like the kind of guy that would use a six foot long sword. Oh well, I’m sure I can pawn it off on someone when I get back to town. With that, Gwineth asks me to inform Calenglad of my success.

I slowly row my boat back to Tinnudir. I’m fuming the whole way, ticked off at the abuse I just suffered over cleaning and repairing two statues of dead kings. My talents are better used fighting the forces of Sauron, not repairing statues.

I get back to Tinnudir and stride up to Calenglad. He offers me his hand and I punch him right in the face knocking him to the ground. The rangers surround me and hold me back as I try to choke the life out of the smug jerk. He tells me I’m no longer wanted in this area as he wipes the blood from his nose and off the corner of his mouth. The rangers escort me to my horse at the stable and I’m followed all the way out of Evendim.

Good riddance!

Maybe someone has something of use for me to do in the Trollshaws!

~Wil

My friend, Robin Dunkley in Ost Forod asked me to collect some artifacts from a group of men rumoured to live across Lake Evendim.

The ride was long. As most know, Lake Evendim is huge, so circumnavigating it was not easy. As I made my way around the Northern part of the lake, I started to notice some some tracks. Normally, I don’t consider myself a tracker with any level of skill but this was different. The footprints were unusual. The impressions were roughly man-like, however they were enormous. Each of the toes seemed to have a claw attached. I realized I’d need to keep my eyes wide open as I crossed to the Western side of the lake.

Heading South along the waters edge I hadn’t gone too far before I spotted a giant….beast-man. I dove for cover behind a rock. It had to be what made the footprints. It was humanoid and hunched over. If it were standing straight up, it’d most likely be over 10 feet tall. It was easily twice as broad across the chest as a man and well-muscled. Since it was wearing clothing and carrying weapons, I assumed it was reasonably intelligent so I decided to try and make contact.

I slowly crept up on it’s position, my heart pounding in my chest. This thing instilled a foreboding in me I never thought I would feel. I carefully emerged from my cover and hailed the creature, hoping it was friendly….No such luck. As soon as it saw me. it let out a guttural howl that everyone back in Ost Forod probably heard. I hope he wasn’t calling friends…

It hefted and promptly threw a javelin at me. What looked to be a javelin in his hands landed too close to me for comfort. It was the size of a boar spear.  The creature wielded it as a toy. I rolled out of the way just in time, drew my weapons and charged in. I made a few quick stabs to test his defenses. He was fairly agile and knocked away all my initial trusts with ease. This was not going to be an easy fight.

One thing I did note was that most of his attacks were very pronounced. I’m not sure how much of this was due to his size or his inability to conceal his actions. I wonder if men’s attacks appear so awkward to halflings?  I ran through a series of feints and thrusts while simultaneously fending off his blows or dodging as best I could. With my heart beating too rapidly and my stomach tightening, I decided it would be better to end the fight quickly. Taking into consideration the information I had noted from my first series of thrusts, I rolled up under his defenses and trust my sword straight into it’s ribcage. It howled and lurched backward, wrenching the sword free from my grip. Blast! I could see it’s life’s blood falling to the ground as he scampered off on all fours like a beast. I reversed the grip on my dagger and charged after him. I noticed that while he was fairly fast, he was starting to slow from blood loss. I caught up, leaped onto his back and thrust my dagger between the beast’s shoulder-blades. With a final cry, the monster fell to the ground.

I rolled him over. No small feat…and retrieved my sword. All I could think was this area was going to be interesting.

I remember hearing some gossip in Ost Forod that a camp of men was located on the west bank of the lake. Making my way South along the shore I headed towards it and possibly safety. Over the course of the day, I avoided a few more of the beast-men. I observed a few of them for a while and noted they seemed to have a developed sense of smell. They moved on all fours when traveling and occasionally stood up on their hind legs to sniff the air. It was disconcerting for me to witness this level of bestiality coming from humanoids. Even the hillmen of Angmar are more civilized.

By the end of the day, I found a campfire in the distance. Approaching cautiously, I noted some humanoid shapes around the fire. I crept up until I took a good look at them. They were human. I moved in cautiously and revealed myself only a few feet from the fire. As I came into the open, I felt a giant tree branch clamp around my stomach. The grip was like iron. I had no chance of escape. My arms pressed firmly into my body. I was at their mercy. After a bit of struggling, I saw my captor. It was a giant tree man. Was this one of the Ents I had heard tales of as a child?

The three men in the camp approached me and asked me my business. I shared my connection with Robin Dunkley to them. The seemed to recognize the name and they beckoned the tree-man to put me down. I was asked to elaborate on my story. After recounting my tale, they seemed to decide that I was friendly. They then introduced themselves. Their tree friend was indeed an Ent. It took some getting used to, but I quickly picked up his accent and was soon conversing with the living tree and the men.

The men were rangers and had been in this area for quite some time. They had attempted to contact the beast-men, called Gauradain to assist with the fighting against Angmar. The issue was these beasts were xenophobic and seemed intent to slay anything that came near them. At the end of their tale, they asked that I assist them in trying to reduce the threat posed by these beasts. Based on my encounters with the beasts, I agreed and from there accompanied the men on a series of quests. Those tales are best left for another day.

My new allies and I had some work to do.

~Wil

(A week has passed…)

Wil sits at his table tapping his fingers in rhythmic motion to an unnamed beat. His mind wanders to past events. He ponders the meaning of his past, present and future. He reaches out and takes a long slow draught of his Inn League mug filled with Bullroarer’s Brew. After a few moments he slams the mug down on the table with a resounding thud.

With a swift motion he stands, chair skittering into the wall behind him. He heads into his room with a determined gait. He buckles on his sword belt and slides both his sword and dagger into their respective scabbards. He grabs his pack off of a chair in the corner. In it, he places some rations, changes of clothing, maps and other sundries.

Taking a brief check around the house to make sure fires are doused and food is put away, he grabs his weathered black cloak, pushes out the front door and heads off to the stables.

Where to?

The road calls to Wildegarde Mudge and he seeks to answer it.

As he jumps onto his horse and spurs his mount forward, Wil muses, “A sedentary life is just not for me.”