Club Eclair II: Into Moria

[Tiempko]

To: Daffodilia Wildfeet
Chief, Bounders of the Shire - Addernotch Station

Sir!

I am writing this follow-up message to report that we completed the task the Dwarfs gave us of sneaking up on one of these Camp commanders in the Fil Gashan region and killing him. The dwarfs wanted us to do this because they thought it would make all of the other commanders afraid for their lives, even though they were surrounded by all sorts of troops. Furthermore, we did it by dressing up as orcs ourselfs, so that the orcs may be given reason to fear that the raids are coming from rival orc camps rather than from the dwarfs. Hopefully, they will fight among themselves and not bother the dwarfs until the dwarfs can grow quite a bit stronger.

I spent a few days going over my maps and notes so as to plot a path through an Orcan camp that had the leastest chance of getting us eaten. And then we mustered and got ready to go. I am trying to recall who was with us on this adventure. I know that Sagla and Thorfaniel were there . . . the tall folks are conspicuous to say the least. And Roy was with us. I remember him standing on my foot. I am thinking that Thirdal was there, though I am not certain iffen I am recalling him from this patrol or the next one, which was simply a hunt to go out and slay as many orcs was possible with Alphred, Roy, Medloth, and Thorfaniel.

I think Thirdal was with us. And Bohimli. There were three dwarfs, that is for certain, but there's a lot of dwarfs with our company here in Moria, as is fitting.

The first task was to get past a sentry what was watching the hallway we had to walk down. One of the things that I had learned in my trainings as a minstrel is how to play a little song what is distracting to orcs and causes them not to pay so much attention to what is happening around them. So, I put this song of distraction in the sentry's ear, then we walked past and up a flight of stairs and out of sight of the sentry 'fore his attention returned to his job.

The next step was to jump down from a ledge into a room where there were orcs milling about. I jumped down first, and got my foot caught in a pile of rubble when a rock shifted and trapped me . . . and then Roy landed right atop of me. It was a struggle getting us free. And we didn't even have our orc uniforms on yet so as any orcs what came upon us would certainly see that we were hobbits, dwarfs, men, and elfs rather than orcs and goblins. Fortunately, we got free without being spotted.

The next part of our plan was to ambush a group of orcs and take their uniforms. We found some milling about nearby and Sagla began the ambush by making a sound what caused the orcs to come into our darkened corner to investigate. We ambushed them and quickly brought them down. There was enough orcs that each of us got our own uniform - though they did fit poorly and were prone to fall off.

Then came the first really dangerous part, where we had to sneak down a hallway and through a mess hall filled to the brim with hungry orcs so as we could get into the back rooms. This, we were able to do without much trouble at all. We just walked through nice and casual - like we were some kind of orc patrol returning from our patrolling.

However, the orc cook and kitchen staff seem to have noticed something odd about us as we passed through. The next thing we knew, the orc cook had a frying pan and bashed Thorfaniel along side of the head that knocked her out fully and the cook and the staff grabbed what kitchen utensils they could to begin to dismember us for supper. We made quite a bit of noise, but I am thinking that it is not so much uncommon for orcs to get into scuffles with other orcs - particular orcs what did not like what the cook had prepared for them and a cook prone to take insults poorly.

We left the cooking staff upon the kitchen floor and went further into the maze of hallways and rooms that made up the back part of the campsite.

One of the sentries saw us and we could not stop him in time afore he set off an alarm and a whole herd of orcs came galloping at us. One of them was an orc who had lead his squad into practicing maneuvers what were much like our fellowship maneuvers. Also, like our fellowship maneuvers, they have a weakness in that iffen it were possible to stun one or more of the villains it would disrupt the maneuver and make it much less powerful. So, whenever we saw that they were setting up one of their maneuvers, we would do our best to trip, whallup, frighten, or distract them so they couldn't complete the maneuver. It worked quite well.

This gave us a new set of uniforms we could use - ones that were befitting of the orcs living in the back rooms so as we would not be seen as front-room orcs intruding where we did not belong. Orcs are territorial in that way. We put on the new uniforms.

On my maps, I had plotted that we needed to climb some stairs, walk past another sentry, and pass into a hallway beyond. And so I lead the way - since I knew the maps - though I was trembling the whole way as I expected a orc to run a spear or sword through me at the slightest provocation - me being obviously a weak and easily bullied goblin - though I did have some burly friends right behind me.

We made it past and into a hallway where there were a couple of orcs on patrol. I closed the door to this passage and told the others that we had best kill the patrols, and so we dispatched them and stuffed their bodies into a corner.

There was an officer with a key to the General's quarters just ahead. By my map, it was through a door and was the first door on the right. Only, two orcs stood guard across the way and a sentry was patrolling about. We had our uniforms back on, so I lead the group into that first room on the right and, lo and behold, the second floor commander was right there with a couple of his lieutenants discussing battle plans. They were sure surprised to see us!

I shut the door so as those beyond won't pay attention to the scuffle. These were some of the toughest orcs about and I will not pretend that this was not a difficult fight. However, we were able to hold our own and, in a short while, the three orcs lay dead and I found the key we needed to reach the General.

Before we left, I figured we needed to do something about them two orc guards across the way. I watched the sentry come and go, then stepped made a noise that drew the two guard orcs into the room to investigate. Then we ambushed them. After slaying the floor commander and his two lieutenants, defeating a couple of door guards was not so difficult. We added their bodies to the pile. Then, we needed to get to the General.

By my map, we needed to return back whence we came, past the sentry, and up to the top floor of the camp. I am afraid I did a poor job of preparing the others for where we were supposed to go, and they ended up travelling a bit of a ways down a wrong hallway, all with an increased chance that the orc sentry would recognize we were not orcs and goblins. But we managed to get past them up to the third floor, where we defeated a couple of door guards.

It was now a straight shot down the hallway to the General's quarters. I was standing there mulling about how we were going to sneak past four sentries and bunches of other guards without alerting them when Sagla suggested that we simply run and make a break for it and not give them any time to react. The next thing I knew we were running down the hallway at a full sprint. I was grabbing on to the parts of my goblin uniform to prevent them from flying off and me standing there as a hobbit in the middle of what must have been near to two dozen orcs. Sagla proved to be right, though, and we ended up in the General's quarters, panting and out of breath while the General himself looked down upon us questioning why these orcs had come bursting into his room unannounced.

I closed the doors softly behind us while Sagla stepped forward and introduced herself to the Orc general. And the battling commenced.

Because of our earlier adventures, we had learned their tactics and we were getting much better and battling these orcs. We had defeated four of the Orc camp commanders in the past weeks and this was our fifth victory against them. We did so while only Thorfaniel was knocked out of the fight for a bit. To be honest, Thorfaniel has been feeling under the weather for a few days now - we suspect that it may have been something she ate. Mayhaps the illness and the heat of the fight together got the better of her and she was out for a while. But, after a bit of rest, she got back to her feet and joined the fighting.

Lo and behold, we defeated the commander, just as the dwarfs had asked us to do.

From that point on, we went on a patrol for a bit - finding what gatherings of orcs we could and battling them. They had no leader now - nobody to organize them - so we did not see them as being much of a threat.

And so we were able to meet the Dwarf's challenge yet again.

After the battling, Sagla and Thorfaniel got to complaining that these ventures into Fil Gashan were getting tedious. It was certainly the case that it would take us a good long while to work our way through all 200 or so camps with all of their orcs - and we were bound to mess up eventually and unite the Orcs against the dwarfs rather than having them battle each other. Since I discovered that there were so many orcs, I had gone back to the 21st Hall to tell the dwarfs that we won't be able to put much of a dent at all in the orc numbers. They told me that they were working on another plan, and I passed that news on to Sagla and Thorfaniel in the hopes that it would satisfy them some. I am waiting now for the dwarfs of the 21st Hall to summons us back for their new planl.

I will report to you as to what is decided.

Until then, I remain,

Bounder Hedgerow Shrewburrow


We have six Eclairians who have finished the Challenge, and near to 20 who have completed all of the quests. Some are nearing the end of completing their deeds as well, so there is a question of whether it may be time to move on.

With the path ahead dominated by landscape roleplaying, there seems to be some interest in leaving the slayer deeds undone and spending the next few weeks with some early roleplay, followed by telling "stories" of past adventures to finish up the session and to get people help completing previous tasks and deeds. We will stay at Fil Gashan at least one more weekend while we discuss options.

The options are:

(1) Stay at Fil Gashan for a few more weeks while folks finish up their slayer deeds.

(2) Return to the 21st Hall and start roleplaying our way through the Epic Story line instead, stopping the roleplay after an hour or so to gather about the camp fire and tell stories about Fil Gashan (and, perhaps, other places where players want to complete prior tasks - perhaps with an eye to completing deeds and getting virtue points, or collecting marks and medallions for use on legendary items).

Also of note: On Sunday, several of us (Sagla, Thirdal, Thorfaniel, Alphred, Kaeylea) had a long (2-hour) discussion on legendary items. We covered relics, legacies, scrolls, crystals, shards, forging, reforging, scrolls of empowerment, scrolls of the delving, marks, medallions, melding, crafted relics, the building and breaking of spare Lis, LIXP, first, second, and third ages, and the like. It occurred to me that others may have regretted missing it - and that perhaps we should have another such discussion.

Don't be afraid to bring up any questions you may have. One of the merits of Club Éclair is that, since we spend so much time at each level rather than rushing through, we have an opportunity to learn things and actually make use of them that otherwise get buried in the rush to the level cap.

Let me know what you think.

[Tiempko]

Father

Well, we are headed back to the 21st Hall.

There are far too many orcs for us to handle here. There's mention that Bori back at the Chamber of Leadership has another plan, and so we are heading back to hear the plan and to see what we can do to help.

I paid one last visit to the orcs of Fil Gashan before leaving - along with the company of Jaytull, Medloth, Thorfaniel, Bohimli, and Fraori. Thirdal was about, but he was having problems with his leg and opted to stay back, ready for us to call upon him iffen we needed reinforcements. I have to do him a special favor some time.

We opted to try to meet the Dwarf challenge of slaying one of the camp generals without overly alarming the soldiers he has guarding him - to cause the other camp commanders to be a little less at ease. I had talked to Hedgerow, who had worked out a precise mapping of how to get to the commander while disturbing as few orcs as possible - including picking up a key from one of the sub commanders. He impressed on me that his instructions had to be followed to the letter or we would be discovered and the gig would be up.

We were fortunate to have Jaytull around has he was able to put a song in the ear of the first Orc sentry which prevented him from noticing us as we snucked past. You know how you get a tune in your ear and you just can't get it cleared out and it just sticks there repeating and repeating? Jaytull can put a song in an orc's ear, and he gets so focused on it that he can't think straight. That was when we stealthed past.

Next, it was one step at a time . . . slay a bunch of orcs . . . take their uniforms . . . sneak through the kitchen . . . kill the kitchen staff . . . sneak to the sub-commander's room . . . kill the sub-commander and take his key . . . sneak upstairs . . . slay the General.

The battle against the general was a beast! Jaytull got roasted and was off dealing with some serious burns right away. He was the only one among us who can properly tend to a casualty in a fight and get them on their feet - something he can't do for himself. So, the battle became a contest to outlast the enemy.

I don't recall when folks got knocked out of the fight. I just noticed our numbers slowly dwindling. Fraori, Bohimli, and Thorfaniel - one by one - went down. But, we were wearing down the enemy as well.

I didn't notice who exactly was still in the fight until it was down to Medloth and me. Medloth was trying to distract the Fang - who is the deadliest of the villains - while I sought to battle the General and take him out of the fight. I was running about . . . throwing my javalins and spears at the General and trying to get away before he closed the distance between us. Then . . . I don't know what happened . . . I slipped on some oil or stepped into a trap. However it happened, I fell, and before I could regain my feet the General was upon me. He gave me a good swift kick and I could scarce breathe. Medloth came running over when she saw me in trouble and she tore into the General. She caught the General with a couple of rakes across his chest and the General was down. When that happened, the General's aides lost their will to fight.

Well, once the General was taken care of, we then went out and about and took on the rest of the orcs. They sent messages to the General wondering what to do . . . but the General was no more. That made them fearful.

There was the time Medloth fell off of a bridge into the lunch room. There he was . . . alone . . . in hostile orc territory. So, she opted to just return to us as quickly as possible. Bears are not stealthy, so she got noticed easily enough and had a whole train of orcs on her tail by the time she returned to us. That was one of the bigger battles of the evening, but we dealth with well over a dozen orcs without a loss.

We agreed that it was a good last day of orc hunting, and it was time to pack up and return to the 21st Hall.

You don't need to address your letters differently. They all go to the 21st Hall anyways, and the dwarfs there know where to find me.

I do hope that Bori has a fitting plan. "Charge into the orc-infested depths of Moria and battle 20,000 orcs living there" just does not strike me as something that has any hope of turning out well for us in the long run.

I'll let you know when I learn more.

Alphred Troute



We are opting to leave Fil Gashan and the other instances behind and pick up the epic quests where we left off.

Week of July 13: We will muster at the 21st Hall. We will be tasked with getting help from the other dwarfs, so we will spend a half hour or so milling about the 21st Hall, then we will gather at the Chamber of Leadership to tell stories of our adventures in Fil Gashan. There's still folks who want to try the Challenge. Twelve of us have made it through, so quite a few have not yet. (It's not vital for any quests or deeds . . . just bragging rights.)

Week of July 20: We will muster at Orc Watch. As a part of Bori's plan, we will have to make a patrol about the Redhorn Lodes. I am thinking that we can pass by the Grand Stairs and pay a visit there. I hear there's a few folks who could still stand to pick up a few wargs and goblins.

Week of July 27: We will muster at the 21st Hall. We are going to Zud-Melek. This is new territory so, as per tradition, we march into a new territory the first time we enter for adventure purposes. We have a quest to work on and, once we get there, we will get other landscape quests as well.

August: We will be exploring the new region of Zud-Melek. This could take a few weeks. During that time, we will also finish the relevant part of the epic story line and return to the 21st Hall. There are actually the last two elements of the Redhorn Lode explorer deeds to finish up while we are in the area - they can only be approached from this direction. And the 16th Hall is here. We will need to decide if we want to enter now or later.

We will reach a Zud-Melek quest that will send us outside. I would argue for leaving that quest undone and returning to the 21st Hall at that time to continue with the epic story line. "I'd like to go outside, but there are dwarfs here who are needing our help and we must finish our chores here first." We will then turn our backs to the gate and head back to the 21st Hall. The point is to go outside again when the epic quests and the landscape quests both are sending us out there. This will happen at the start of Book VI.

[Craiden]

Dear diary,

when we returned to Anazarmekhem, the Generals at the table had another mission for us. It was to infiltrate Fil Gashan, a stronghold of the orcs in the Flaming Deeps, dispatch the leader of the orcs there and look for any orders or other pieces of information we may find about their plans. The leader is a General named Talug and he is rumored to be the right hand of Mazog, Chieftain of the orcs in Moria, and defeating him and his troops would deal a heavy blow to any plans the orcs may have.

The place didn't look too much from the outside, just a normal door and no guards to be seen. Hedge speculated that this was not the main entrance, but rather a secret dwarven backdoor that the orcs have no knowledge about. But as we entered, we found that Fil Gashan is a military camp teeming with orcs. We had cleared out numerous orc camps before, but this was by far the biggest of them all. Hedge had heard there may be 150 to 200 orcs inside, maybe more.

And they were vigilant. We saw the first of many alarm bells in a room at the end of the side tunnel we came through, a large bell hanging from a wooden tripod, an orc sentry sitting in front of it. I was thinking that this alarm system was not set up because the orcs were worried about the dwarves, but more about the other orc tribes they are at war with, like the White Hand orcs or the Mordor orcs. But that didn't matter much, for as soon as the sentry noticed us, he jumped up, shouted "Intruders! Get them!", and rang the bell. And immediately a full squad of orcs came running at us. We defeated them handily, and then, silence. I listened, but no more orc cries. Then Hedge pulled out the pins which held the bell in place, and it fell to the ground with a loud clang. I feared that would now alert all the 200 orcs and they'd come storming in on us, but it didn't happen.

Cautiously, we made our way further in, peeking around every corner. There were corridors leading in various directions, orc patrols everywhere and more bells. The orcs were wearing armor, and Hedge had the idea (or he was told by some dwarves about this) to use their armor to disguise ourselves as orcs. So we dragged some of the dead orcs into a corner, undressed them and put on their filthy outfits. I wasn't too convinced. I think we didn't look too much like orcs.



Hedge looked more like a goblin, while Sagla looked like a tall Uruk-hai. But at least we smelled like them, ha! And we could indeed fool some of them, they even greeted us, or called us "Sir" and told us it's not safe here, because there are intruders! The rest of us stood back a bit, while Hedge bravely walked forward to one of the bells and disabled it. But the orc standing nearby didn't like that, took a closer look, then screamed: "You're not one of us! To arms!" He wanted to sound the alarm, but the bell was gone, so he wailed "The alarm doesn't work!", ha! We still had to fend off a few nearby orcs though.

We found several chambers with stinking bunk beds, and orcs sleeping, carving spears or eating. Speaking of eating. At the end of one hallway we came to a mess hall. Many orcs were sitting there, devouring their meals at crude stone tables. Must have been thirty at least, maybe close to fifty. Hedge had the idea to walk right through it and sneak by them, wearing our uniforms. Again, I was not convinced, we would be behind enemy lines and if something happens, we would have to get past all these orcs to get out.



Well, we tried anyways, and then a loose button fell off Hedge's uniform and it split open. An orc sitting at a nearby table eyed him supiciously, then he yelled: "You are no orcs! Intruders!" and next thing I knew was they were all over us. We grouped together, fighting back to back in the middle of a pile of orcs, and it was a gory, bloody massacre as we slaughtered them all. They were not too strong, maybe fresh recruits and not well-trained fighters yet.



When the battle was over, the mess hall was filled with dead bodies, and then the cook showed up! He saw the mess in his mess hall, called even more orcs to fight and joined himself. He wore a blood-stained apron and wielded a large butcher's knife and a searing-hot frying pan. He was totally enraged, shouting he'd make minced meat out of us, ha! Maybe we should have told him that we liked his dishes to flatter him and make him leave. He was pretty strong for a cook, but in the end we made minced meat out of him, ha!

Behind the mess hall, stairs were leading up. Where the lower floor had the regular troops' quarters, here were the officers' quarters. Luckily, the orcs here were unaware of what had happened downstairs, and there weren't that many. We found several single rooms, some empty, in some a lone lieutenant, or whatever orc-ranks they have. In the corridors however we had to fight some patrols led by an officer and they seemed to have learned and practiced some manoeuvers, just like we had. The were pretty adept at it, and sometimes it felt they did even better on their manoeuvers than we did on ours. So we had to be on our toes and interrupt them, otherwise they could hurt us pretty badly.

Behind one door, in a room full of barrels, we found an even stronger commander and his personal guard, two lieutenants who looked like twins. He ordered his guards to lock the door, apparently he was certain to defeat us and didn't want us to get away. It was a tough fight. I was knocked out once when I attacked him, his guards were strong and muscular and very skilled and quick on their manoeuvers. The commander used several different weapons too, a blade spread with poison or a flaming axe. After we defeated them, we found a key in a chest and in a nearby chamber several papers - the war plans the dwarves had asked us to bring back.

The key opened a door on the third floor, the command quarters, where we finally, at the end of yet another long hallway full of orcs, found the general the dwarves wanted dead. We were pretty wary and exhausted by now, but there was no turning back now. The General was big, wearing a full-body armor made of hard metal plates, a heavy shield and a large sword. He was only accompanied by two goblins and walked about slowly and clumsily, so I thought this was not going to be a big deal. But by Durin, was I wrong! Those two goblins were quite elite and problematic. A nimble archer who used flaming arrows and struck fast and hard and laid down traps, the other doing some nasty tricks with fire and hot oil. Plus, the General's armor withstood all our blows, we just could not harm him at all.



Luckily, he was pretty slow and could hardly follow us in this heavy suit of armor he wore. He also didn't seem to see too well, for he tripped in one of the traps laid down by the archer-goblin, and when he was on his knees we beat him up a bit before he got back up. He either followed Sagla or Thorcundo, and while I chased after the archer-goblin, they went over to another of the traps, into which the General promptly stepped. After a while, he seemed to grow tired of this and his clumsiness and stripped off his armor. Still carried his shield though which he skillfully used to block all our blows. Plus, we still had to deal with the nasty goblins, who had knocked down several of us by now.

We killed the one with the fiery tricks right next to the General, and it accidentally set his master on fire. He roared in anger and in pain and we noticed the smell of burnt flesh, when yet another goblin stormed in. We lured that one next to the General again, killed it and again the General roared, suffering from severe burns. He threw away his shield, and now he was fast and dangerous, but also vulnerable, and we cut him down in the end. Without his armor and shield, he wasn't too much a problem actually, and then we also managed to kill the ominous archer-goblin.

Phew! This General and his goblins were definitely worthy opponents and I'd go so far as to say the strongest orc we've ever fought. No wonder he was Mazog's right hand and I hope Mazog doesn't have more right hands. Or more of these elite goblins for that matter. Two or three orcs of his caliber plus a few of these goblins may even defeat our group of experienced battlers.

On his body, we found a message he had written to Mazog. It took a while to decipher it, but when we did we learned it was about Krankluk, the one who ran the forges. He was uneasy about him, writing that something is "off" with that Uruk. And that they should pay attention to troops disappearing into the deeper and darker parts of Moria. He ended with "There might be something more than mushrooms there". So Mazog and his orcs have also noticed something odd there and they are not allied with whatever that is and may also fear it. I have a feeling we will soon be sent down there to investigate further.

But first, we will return to the Twenty-first Hall. Maybe Bosi has by now found out where Mazog is.

[Tiempko]

I just want to remind folks . . . I update "Where we are at" and "Where we are going" at the top of the very first post in this thread . . . page 1, post 1 . . . every week.

If anybody wants to know where we are at, and where we are going, can go there and see, even if I have not yet posted anything here.

[Tiempko]

To: Daffodilia Wildfeet
Chief, Bounders of the Shire – Addernotch Station

Sir!

I will have you know that we had a surprise yesterday when Bounder Kestril showed up. Well, I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t even there. She showed up at Orc Watch, where Alphred and Medloth were organizing themselves for some training. Kestril showed up all of the sudden and went with them on the training. From what I hear, she is well. It is a pleasure to see her again.

There’s still more than a dozen of us here in Moria battling the orcs. Bori has this daring plan to eliminate the leader of the White Hand orcs. He’s sending a part of us out to create a diversion and to draw the main body of orcs away, at which time Bori and a small group will use secret Dwarf passages to attack where Bori thinks their chief orc is hiding. We haven’t seen this chief Orc so Bori is guessing that he don’t like to put himself in danger too much and will be staying at his stronghold while sending soldiers to defend against the diversion. Erikin were saying the same thing before Bori figured it out – the part about the White Hand Orc chief not being inclined to share the fates of his soldiers.

We started off by raiding some orc camps within the Redhorn Lodes in order to pick up some materials that Bori thought would be useful – including several barrels of black powder. Erikin, Thirdal, and Roy were with us to handle the kegs of black powder. I don’t like to touch the stuff. It’s soaked through in dark magics. But the dwarfs seem to be able to handle it. They seem to think of it as just another mining tool.

We even visited the Grand Stairs while we were there . . . me and Sagla and Erikin and Bohunc and Thirdal and Galdhron. The dwarfs had abandoned it since we were there last and drew up the draw bridge, as they did not have the dwarfs to hold it. But, we figured it would be worthwhile to pass through teach them that they ought to be sleeping with one eye open as the Eclairians are not to be trifled with. Then we returned to the 21st Hall with the bounty that Bori wanted us to collect.

The next thing we need to do is to scout out a path of attack that would likely draw the most soldiers away from the White Hand Chief orc. For that end, we are heading off to the east, into a region we have not seen before called Nud-melek. Truth be told, the day after we got back to the Twenty-First Hall to bring back several packs of supplies we took from the orcs - including our black powder - I took a venture by myself just to check my maps and find a proper way there. I found the way we will be using and put a proper mark on my maps for the route, but I did not go any further. I have my hobbit sense! I am not wandering off into a new region by my lonesome!

By my maps, I am thinking that we should be able to head south once we get to Nud-melek and find a path what takes us into the Redhorn Lodes. And, to the North, there ought to be a passage that connects to the cave of the bat folks. I hope the others don't think it is too far out of our way to go with me as I get our maps built up proper. It does help folks to not get lost. Though one of the difficulties about this place is the upness and the downness. Just because two places look like they are near each other, they may be quite far from each other once you count the ups and downs.

Well, that is what I hope to see when we go on our patrol. Folks are packing up, getting supplies ready, sharpening weapons and repairing armours. The several months we spent battling orcs in huge battles in the Grand Stairs, Forges of Khazad-dum, and Fil Gashan, has left us battered and worn. It's nice to be in a nice bed for once - even if dwarf beds are a bit hard and dwarf's snore would drown the sound of a tree falling in the woods. And the beds are near a nice warm fire, with lots of food. It'll be hard to leave, with travel rations and a bed of hard stone in the deep darks of Moria once again.

We'll be gone for a bit, I think, depending on how well the mappings and the scoutings are going. It's hard to predict these things. Not to worry, we will keep in touch. And the dwarfs even have a lookout off in that direction for us to meet up with.

I will keep you informed as always.

Bounder Hedgerow Shrewburrow


In our next exciting episode, we will muster at the Chamber of Leadership to start our scouting of a whole new region. There's a dwarf just inside the region that will start us on a landscape quest chain that we can begin working on as we complete new quests and deeds.

Hedgerow is going to bug folks about going south and looking for passage to the Redhorn Lodes. There is a couple of items on the Redhorn Lodes explorer deed that we need to finish up (a few more virtue XP to pick up). We will see how it fits in, but I do think it will be a bit of a digression. Hedgerow will be anxious to get the passage on his map, though. It would be tragic to have an important passage in Moria that did not get drawn onto his map.

The very last quest in the Nud-melek chain is "Friends at the Age", which sends the group outside. As mentioned earlier, I'd like to return to the 21st Hall to continue the epic quest line, then make the trip outside once we get the Epic quest Volume II, Book 6, Chapter 1, where Bori will send us out to talk to the elves as well. Then we will pack up and head for the east gate.

[Swanee]

From the journal of Thalachon. Guard of the Seventh Gate of Gondolin.

I awoke to the curious stares of several unfamiliar dwarves. The room was familiar, my weapons and armor still where I left them but something felt…….off. I remember returning to the 21st hall to replenish supplies and see to my equipment. I had been offered a small room, out of the way from dwarven activities, to rest and prepare from my return trip to the fiery deeps. Why then were these dwarves here, and looking at me with such concern?

It has been six weeks. Six weeks!!! One of the dwarves, a healer named Cordin, explained I had been asleep for over a month. I had been found in my bed when it was noticed nobody had entered or exited the room in some time. They had been unable to wake me and set a guard, as well as sending for healers and others that may have knowledge of my strange affliction. I wonder if word has made it back to Lord Elrond. I suspect this “fatigue” is residual from my previous wounds. Perhaps my exertion in the forge battles has caused a relapse of sorts. If that is the case, I shall have to be mindful of my activities, or at least ensure I only find rest in friendly locations.

There is word that the Eclarians have cleared the forges, as well as other orc strongholds in the deeps of Moria. I hope my absence has not caused the death of any good warriors. I shall have to search them out once again. Luck is with me this time. Messages have been received indicating their arrival at the Orc Watch. I remember a path leading towards this outpost. Once I have assuaged the fears of Cordin, that I am fit for travel, I will attempt to rejoin the group.



I've had a lot of things going on in RL in the past months so I was unable to make any adventures. Things are still kind of in flux but I should be able to make the Monday patrols for at least the next few weeks. Thankfully you guys move at a pace where a few weeks isn't hard to make up. See you guys in-game soon, hopefully.

[Tiempko]

From the journal of Thalachon. Guard of the Seventh Gate of Gondolin.

I've had a lot of things going on in RL in the past months so I was unable to make any adventures. Things are still kind of in flux but I should be able to make the Monday patrols for at least the next few weeks. Thankfully you guys move at a pace where a few weeks isn't hard to make up. See you guys in-game soon, hopefully.

We have a rule, called the Bounders' Rule (since it originated in the Bounders of the Shire kinship, where my characters belong) that says, "Home and family come first". It recognizes that this is a game and the real world is for living, so nobody ever needs to say sorries for giving priority to the real world.

Or, as Chief Meadowlarke tells each new Bounder recruit, "We don't pay nothing, so iffen you need time to take care of home and family, by all means, do so. We wouldn't be fit to be protecting the ways and traditions of the Shire iffen we commanded Bounders to abandon home and family, now, would we?"

We eagerly await your return. You have been missed.

Oh, and a few folks typically show up Sundays at 10:00 for the purpose of helping folks who return to catch up on things missed that they can't accomplish solo - or for skirmish or siege training if nobody needs catching-up help.

[Tiempko]

To: Daffodilia Wildfeet
Chief, Bounders of the Shire - Addernotch Station




Sir!

We are changing our plans.

We left a couple of days ago with the intent of spending some time scouting and exploring Nud-melek, in advance of Bori’s daring plan. Bori wants to launch an attack on Nud-melek, so that the chief of the White Hand orcs in the Redhorn Lodes will send reinforcements, and then he can be slain. Bori and Thorcundo are going to do the slaying.

We did the scouting. We found the path to use to reach the orcs. Gad, you should see this place. It is like an underground forest with trees 500 feet tall and its high branches holding up the roof. Only, the trees are carved out of stone. It is the hugest room I have seen here - larger even than the 21st Hall. But it is filled with villainy. Orcs, goblins warg riders, cave bears, glowy worms, flappies . . . they are everywhere. We tried to give some illumination to the place by lighting the fires along the north wall, but the fires burned out quickly and the room again became dark. Not wholly dark - there were glowy crystals about. But dark, nonetheless.

And steps! We actually showed up at Nud-Melek on a platform about equal to the tops of the trees. And then we had to climb down . . . and down . . . and further down . . . and more down . . . and down some more . . . before we even stepped into the room.

The route to the Orcan hallways was on the far corner, so we headed in that direction. To get there, we had to cross a rickety old bridge. It weren't dwarf construction. It was something the orcs had built, and it had the look and feel of orc construction - like it would collapse at any moment and spill me into the river of lava below.

Gad, I was half way across the bridge when the dwarfs decided they needed to test its sturdiness by jumping up and down. Erikin, Thirdal, and Thorcundo were all with us. Roy was off visiting kinfolk and Galdhron went travelling as well - I think back to Eregion to talk to the elfs. Anyways, with the dwarfs jumping about, I grabbed on as best I could and commanded them to stop. They just laughed. Erikin thought it was funny. I don't see how deep-fried hobbit is the least bit funny.

It was just past this that we found the Orcan passage. We did some exploring and made sure that the diversion had a hope of success - which it did. A proper attack group will be a real threat.

And then we found we had more reason to return to the 21st Hall than to continue our explorations of Nud-melek. We found plans to some special kind of torch that we wanted to give the dwarfs, and wanted to report our findings to Bori.

So we did.

Which meant, of course, climbing all of them steps. Imagine if there were steps going up on the outside of the Stock Tower . . . and then imagine that the Stock Tower were five times its height. That's what we got to climb to get back to the 21st Hall.

Once there, it was decided that we should be launching Bori's daring plan sooner rather than later.

As I said, Thorcundo will be heading out with Bori. While they are gone, the rest of us are going to muster and return to Nud-melek. We will do what harms we can the orcs there and, hopefully, draw reinforcements out of the Redhorn Lodes.

Another patrol what went out - consisting of Alphred, Jaytull, and Fraori, are telling us that we won't be able to reach the east side of Moria. They said that they came across a huge canyon that went down into total darkness with a massive stone bridge constructing it. Only, the bridge was broken. Jaytull said that it was broken just recently, too, as the charring and soot upon the bridge was fresh. Alphred said that the part that was broken had the sparkle of a rock that was just recently split.

But it does not matter whether the bridge was destroyed last week or last month, the canyon - they tell us - is so vast, that there is no hope of crossing it. And so we will not be crossing that way, as we had hoped.

I am sad . . . as I so wanted to see the sunshine again.

Bounder Hedgerow Shrewburrow


As mentioned, after adventuring through Nud-melek, we found that it made more sense to return to the 21st Hall.

August 3, 5: We will be mustering at the 21st Hall to launch diversionary attacks into Nud-melek. We will enter Nud-melek and patrol to the east, reaching the broken bridge and battling the orcs there to draw orcs out of the Redhorn Lodes. When we are done, we will return to the 21st Hall.

August 10, 12: We need to decide if we are going to return to Nud-melek again or, instead, head west and work on the epic quest line. I am proposing that we advance the epic quest line, and finish our explorations of Nud-melek when the epic quests send us east to find a way to get to the east gate and out into the land of the elfs beyond.

Books IV and V of the epic chain are going to be hard to put into an entertaining story. It involves several cases in which you travel half way across Moria just to talk to somebody or to perform a simple quest in a low-level region we have already explored at Level 51. So, seriously deficient in entertainment value. Exceptions being the Drowned Treasury fellowship instance at the end of Book IV, and the three skirmishes at the end of Book V. Oh well, it is not the end of the world. Or is it?

ADDENDUM: I think I got it. I went through Book IV and I think I have figured out a way of presenting the story in an entertaining fashion. We will have an opportunity to try a turtle hunt while we are at it. When I know the precise day, I may see if we can find some reinforcements. Book V returns us to Nud-Melek, followed by three skirmishes, so that should not be a problem.

[Tiempko]

Father,

I have had a good couple of weeks here in Moria. Unexpectedly, it seems that this Chamber of Leadership has become our home for a while. We’ve been patrolling out into an area called Nud-melek and, even though it is a bit of a walk, it is close enough that we get to return to the 21st Hall, with its beds and warm fires and abundant food when we are done.

This is where I am at now. I am in a large room with bunk beds on one side, sitting at a table before a roaring fire, with a loaf of bread and some cheese and some ale sitting before me.

That's not to say that we are not doing work. Twice now I have buckled on my shield and headed out to Nud-melek for a patrol; once with Jaytull and Fraori and once with Thorcundo. Thorcundo wanted to get some practice in as he was about to go out on a dangerous mission.

You see, Bori came up with this daring plan to defeat the leader of the White Orcs. He learned that the leader was in the Redhorn Lodes and exactly where to find him. Bori didn't want to take a whole army with him as that would alert the orcs and the leader would no-doubt flee. However, Bori felt that he and one other orc could get to the leader without being seen and then slay him and leave the orcs without a leader.

Things didn't go fully to plan, but that would be to get ahead of my story.

Thorcundo was feeling anxious about the trip so he and I went to Nud-melek just to get our mind off of what was about to happen. We walked about for a bit - coming upon a broken bridge and attacking some of the orcs there. It was in the area that Jaytull and Fraori and I had reached the day before.

Well, then came the day for making good on Bori's daring plan. I stayed behind at the 21st Hall ready to be summoned to whomever might be in need of help, though it turned out that I wasn't needed and ended up staying here for nothing. First, Sagla left, with Thorfaniel, Hedgerow, Wandrin, Erikin, and Bohimli - I think. They were going to attack an Orcan stronghold off in Nud-melek. The hope was that the leader would send some of his orcs from the Redhorn Lodes to reinforce them in Nud-melek, and this would clear the way for Bori and Thorcundo to reach the white hand leader.

A couple of hours after Sagla and her group had left, Thorcundo and Bori headed off for the Redhorn Lodes. And it was all I could do but wait and see which group made it alive, or which summoned me to come to their aid.

It was a long wait, during which I stood around fully ready for battle with a goat saddled and ready to ride at the first hint of need.

I didn't hear anything for the longest time.

Then . . . in came Bori and Thorcundo on their goats, cheering and celebrating their victory. It seems the assault went just as expected. The pair were sneaking their way across the Rednorn Lodes when, of a sudden, news reached the orcs of fighting in Nud-Melek and off they went to join the fray. Leaving the route clear for them to reach the White Hand leader. Thorcundo said he weren't even a threat. Apparently, he'd been counting on his soldiers to defend him and gotten soft in the ways of combat. Either way, they slew the leader and returned. Only, they did tell us that the leader reported on a greater power in Moria. The claim here is that he was saying this to save his life, but the way the story is told this was not how he said it.

Sagla's squad came back a bit later - a bit worn and ragged but all in one piece. When they launched their diversion, they saw no signs of the orcs calling for reinforcements or summoning any aid. They kept pushing their way down a long hallway in the hopes that they could inspire the orcs to send to the Redhorn Lodes for reinforcements. They were debating the wisdom of Bori's plan as they were in a passageway beyond the north side of Nud-melek and the Redhorn Lodes were to the south. They kept pressing further and further in. Then, they discovered the passage was blocked, and they could go no further.

It turns out the passage they were in ended at the Chamber of Mazarbul - the crypt to the north of the 21st Hall. The east side of that crypt had collapsed and, accordingly, Sagla and her squad found that they could not get back using that route. So, they had to backtrack the whole way. That is what made for such a long day.

Apparently, somehow, news did get to the orcs at the Redhorn Lodes it seems, so Bori's plan worked . . . somehow.

Well, there's still orcs in Nud-melek what need battling - it is not as if the whole of the area has been pacified. So, we'll be making another patrol that way here shortly. It looks like we have taken an important step to reclaiming Moria.

Unfortunately, it looks like we haven't made an important step getting to that east door. There is a chasm on the east side of Nud-melek that is too wide to cross. And the stone bridge what crossed it has been destroyed. Fresh destroyed, too, by the looks of it, but destroyed nonetheless. So, it seems, we are trapped from going in that direction, and the only way out of Moria is back the way we came - or finding whatever secret paths that the White Hand orcs have been using to get here from Isengard.

I'll leave you with that. Stay well, and know that, for the time being at least, things seem to be turning our way here in Moria. I will write soon.

Love,
Alphred Troute


Saturday, August 10: Muster at the 21st Hall for a final trip to Nud-melek, where we will aim to complete he quests on and about the broken bridge.

Monday, August 12 and Saturday, August 17

Homework: Complete Book III - which includes a solo instance at the Chamber of Leadership to slay the white hand leader, a trip to the Chamber of the Crossroads, followed by a solo session play to learn about what happened to the previous dwarfs to enter Moria.

We will muster at the Chamber of the Crossroads after having heard the story. We will work on Book IV, Chapter 1, consisting of three parts.

[Tiempko]

I have gotten a lot of questions about long-term plans recently - including level cap increases and when we will work on various regions.

NOTE: To see our current and immediate future status, go to the top of the very first post of this thread. What follows is longer-term plans.

So . . . remember . . . long term plans almost always end up getting changed as I learn more information. But, it does give a general feel for what to expect.


(1) Book IV (WaterWorks and Flaming Deeps) - we will advance Book IV of the epic quest line and, while we are at it, throw in a turtle hunt or two to see how difficult it is.

(2) Book V (Nud-melek) - This will send us into the southern (unexplored) portion of Nud-melek, and then through three new defensive skirmishes.

(3) Book VI: This will send us to Lothlorien. There are some camps (quest hubs) between the east door of Moria and the Lothlorien elves - we will spend some time doing those quests before meeting the elves. HOMEWORK: One of the Book VI quests will be to finish the Orc Slayer and Goblin Slayer deeds in Moria. I trust everybody had those done long ago and we can skip through to the next chapter. We will then be sent to the Elven refuge in the Foundations of Stone.

(4) 16th Hall: On our way to the Elven refuge, we will stop and spend a few weeks battling the vermin in the 16th Hall on the southern portion of Nud-melek. This is a fellowship instance - and a long one - and one with a very difficult challenge if people are not careful (and very easy if people are careful).

(5) At the Foundations of Stone, we will advance the landscape quests, epic book quests, and the Skumfil and Dark Delvings fellowship instances. I believe that this will be the best time to take on the Dar Narbugud raid as well - which is in this area. This will be a few months - much like the time we spent in the Flaming Deeps, but longer. We have two fellowship instances and the Dar Narbugud raid to advance while here.

(6) Book VII: We will return to Lothlorien for a bit, then be sent back into Moria where we will help around Durin's Way for the most part. This is landscape work in a Level 53 zone, so no difficulties. [WARNING: At this point in history, Turbine decided that the epic quest should be solo, rather than fellowship. From this point on, the epic-quest line a solo quest line. So, we will have to adjust how to follow the story accordingly.]

(7) Book VIII: We will continue with the epic story line in Moria. This will include the Lumul-nar and Nala-dum small fellowship instances. So, we will muster and then break up into groups of threes when we get to these regions. We will also likely take a detour into the Flaming Deeps to work on the Hall of Crafting fellowship instance.

(8) Lothlorien - Return to Lothlorien to finish its quests and deeds. This includes one fellowship instance.

(9) Raise the level cap to 58, return to Moria, and spend a couple of months on our Level 58 class quests and deeds. We will try again against the Turtle and Watcher while we are here.

(10) Raise the level cap to 60. While we are advancing from 58 to 60, we will try to hunt Turtles and Watchers some more until we feel that we are ready to move on. Mirkwood is level-gated, so we cannot continue until we are level 60, even though we are entering a Level 60 region. Our goal here will be to finish the Moria mega-deed so that people can get their black goat.

[11] Book IX - We will advance through Mirkwood from questhub to questhub. It actually should not take that long to reach Dol Guldur as we will be landscaping across the countryside, using landscape patrols to advance quests and deeds. Once we reach Dol Guldur, we will have a number of skirmishes and instances to advance at the end of the story, culminating in the death of the Lieutenant of Dol Guldur.

[12] Celebrate our victory of Dol Guldur. Declare an official end to Club Éclair, Volume II. Say our tearful farewells.

Volume III. Yes, Hedgerow and Alphred will be continuing on through Volume III. They will round up the Gray Company and accompany them through Dunland, the Gap of Rohan, and ultimately reach Isengard to confront Saruman. Company will be welcome, of course. As we get to the Gap of Rohan at Level 65, we will "hear stories" of things happening up north and digress as we go through the "In Their Absence" instance chain. Then continue on to combat Saruman.

[StinkyGreene]

The Thors do get confuzzled. Thanks for the detailed information... now only if there was some darn farmland in that mine.

[Tiempko]

General Announcement: Anybody with a character of <=55th level with access to Moria wants to provide us with reinforcements, our roleplay will take us to the door of Filikul and the turtle Nornuan on Saturday. Through the roleplay, we will likely reach the door at about 9:45 AM on Saturday. (Roleplay starts at 9:00 AM at the Chamber of the Crossroads). We will take volunteers to fill out our ranks if you are willing. Send a note or contact Hedgerow.



Father,

You should have seen the size of that turtle! Gad! Your smial could fit inside of its shell. Well, maybe not now that you have made those expansions - but when it was the size it was when I was living there. It would have easily fit.

We have heard rumours of these giant turtles since first entering Moria. I was anxious to get a chance to see one. You get to them through a special locked door and through a tunnel that is far too narrow for the turtles to use, into the realm where the roam freely.

It was a surprise that I found myself here. Hedgerow had gone to the Chamber of the Crossroads to tell Bosi of our success in slaying the White Hand leader - well - Thorcundo and Bori's success, actually. Only, Bosi was not pleased. He figured that all we had done was to get the orcs mad and that now, with all of their great numbers, they will do to us what the did to Balin's expedition. He is expecting a massive Orc assault on the dwarfs, now seen as a threat. And so he started worrying about how best to set up the defenses.

One of the things he was worried about was orcs and goblins coming up the well, so he asked us to find the bottom and to see iffen orcs could attack from there. I figured that this was nonsense - for what if the orcs had a tunnel into the well half-way down? Finding the bottom would never tell us this. Besides, there is only one way to find the bottom of a well. We did try throwing a torch down it, naturally, but quite some ways down the well turned slightly to the side so we had no straight line of sight.

Well, we mustered up as much rope as we could find and down we went. I went first. I did not find any orc tunnels as I went and, lo and behold, I ended up suspended high above an underground lake. And it was a lake I recognized. It was the Water Works - where we had done some work clearing off the water wheels and such so as the dwarfs could get water and air to the various parts of Moria. It was safe enough.

Once I got to the bottom - which was a very long trip - others came down after me. Thorfanial, Amio, Bohunc, and Thalachon - who seems to be doing better now after his illness. Thorfaniel got stuck part way down and we had to shake her loose. There weren't no orcs down here. There was some toads and lizards and spiders and such what had been growing down here and still do, but naught but an infrequent Goblin messenger running through.

But it was near to the gateway to the great turtles.

When news got out that we were going to go look for a turtle, others started showing up. Wandrin and Roy found their way to is - as well as a couple of battlers we had not seen in quite some time - Kaehlee and Carnndan. Gad, I think we might have seen them once since they helped us against that beast in the belly of The Rift. But here they were, when we needed them most.

But, can you imagine how difficult it is to battle a creature of this size? We can scarce get through its shell. I recall when we battled the fierce turtle in the tombs of Evendim - we were able to crack its shell with a particularly powerful maneuver, but we couldn't even get into positions for a maneuver against this creature. It was just a matter of trying to wear it down and wear it out before we got worn down and worn out ourselfs.

We almost did it! It was quite close. Close enough that I know that we can complete the task iffen we only had a couple of reinforcements. I could tell that it was getting tired. But, in the end, it had a bit more stamina than we did. We're letting folks know that we will be trying another hunt in a couple of weeks, iffen we get a chance. Gad, if we hunt one of these turtles, it will keep the dwarfs of Moria in turtle soup for a month!

We are going to try again, if we get a chance, amidst our other concerns. Bosi is quite concerned that the orcs are organizing themselves and planning a serious attack against the dwarfs. Of course, that is most important. Mayhaps you can tell that I do not think that the orcs are as much a threat as Bosi does. There are great gobs of them - to be certain. We took out only a very small fraction of the Orc camps in the Fil Gashan region, and they never have seemed all that well organized. But Bosi seems to think that this leader of theirs - Mazog - would be able to make a real army out of them.

We shall see.

Anyways, to prepare for their assault, Bosi has asked that we bring in some supplies to help them withstand a siege. After I finish this letter and get it in the post, I will try to get some sleep and head out to the gateway myself to help bring in some more supplies to add to their stockpile. Though the stockpile is well stocked, I assure you. It is my hope I will get there in daylight - and get to see the sun again. Hedgerow just got back from a trip - but he said it was night time when he got there and so he saw naught but stars. But he was happy to see the stars.

I will let you know how we do.

Mayhaps I can get Erikin to draw a sketch of us battling this giant turtle so you can see what we are up against! Iffen he is willing, I will send it to you.

Love,

Alphred Troute


Look at the first post for an idea of where we are at.

Look two posts up for an outline of the grand scheme of things.

We did fight the giant turtle. We lost the battle, but everything suggests that we can defeat the turtle with a full raid of 12 folks. If we had Jaytull and Medloth and one other Eclairian in our group to fill up the group to 12, we would have likely defeated the turtle.

Some folks left the battle thinking of things that they could do to make themselves a bit better next time. Wandrin' reduced his rally cooldown.

Amio made a discovery I did not know about. When you change your stance (e.g., from red to blue), your virtues change as well to the corresponding stance. When he switched to blue for minstrelling, he unknowingly switched to a virtue slot that had no virtues in it. This is something to look for. So, Amio will be better set up at the next battle as well.

I'll be seeking some company for siege trainings as I have some jewelries that could us an upgrade.

The Saturday group will take a crack at the turtle as they work on Chapter 1 and go down the well.

[Tiempko]

To: Daffodilia Wildfeet
Chief, Bounders of the Shire – Addernotch Station


Sir!

We did it! We hunted down one of them giant turtles!

We sent a patrol of five Eclairians down the well in the Chamber of the Crossroads to make sure that orcs could not sneak up the well. Indeed, they found that there were no ways to break through, and the buttom is so far down inside the massive Water Works that there’s no way for the orcs to build a scaffolding and climb up without being noticed. Then, they went off to look for the region where the giant turtles grew. When they returned, they reported that they had found it. And though they were met down there by others what helped them in the hunt, they could not bring a turtle down.

Well, so, some of us decided we wanted to give it a try. Roy , Wandrin, and Thalachon decided that they wanted a rematch against one of the great beasts. Me, Erikin, Thirdal, and Sagla, all volunteered to go along. We actually went down the well, as that was the quickest way to the Water Works. None of the reinforcements that Alphred had found down there remained, so it was just the seven of us. And it was considered foolish for us to even try. But Sagla said we should at least give it a try so as we can test it for weaknesses and learn how to have a better hunt next time.

It turns out that we discovered a weakness. We had been fighting for a good, long while when we figured it out. Roy, Erikin, and Thirdal had all been badly mauled and were out of the fighting. Thalachon was laying, battered and near to giving up hope. But Wandrin and I were keeping Sagla in the battle in such a way that we felt we could wear it down eventually. Sagla would battle the turtle until she was fully spent . . . she would collapse . . . but either Wandrin or I would get her back into the battle refreshed and ready for another few minutes, before she would collapse again. We could not tell which of us would be worn out first, but it was a test of endurance.

When I saw we were holding our own, I took a risk. I rished to Thalachon and assured him that we had a chance iffen he would only return to the battle. I got him to his feet. He shook off the earlier defeat and rushed at the turtle, and while Sagla kept its attention, Thalachon hacked and hewed at its shell and any soft parts he could reach – it truly was a horrendous monster.

Then Sagla’s weapon shattered. Her armour was rent and torn and was appearing more of a hinderance than a protection. But we could see signs of the turtle wearing down as well. Sagla would rush up, shout and scream and it and draw its attention, do the best she could to evade its snapping jaws, while, all the while, Thalachon delivered a series of small cuts and scrapes. Then, it stumbled. It fell to its knees and Talachon aimed a fatal blow. And we had slayed a giant turtle.

There was cheering and celebrations, to be certain. The room was packed full of the treasures of countless hunters who had met an untimely end. We lifted up all we could take with us, then informed the dwarfs of the Water Works that there was turtle soups waiting – enough for a month. They immediately organized work crews to carve up the meats and see to its preservation.

Bosi was sending us to the front gate of Moria to hasten the deliver of supplies so that the dwarfs could withstand a siege of orcs. Now, with our hunt being successful, they were smoking and salting enough turtle meat to last through a month of siege.

Bosi is now content that the Chamber of the Ccrossroads is able to withstand an attack from the orcs. He’s still fearful that when Thorcundo and Bori slayed the white hand leader, that they filled the orcs with a resolve to rid themselves of the dwarven menace. That while, before, we were a bother not worth much time and attention, by Bosi’s account they will now see us as a threat to be eliminated. We’ve not seen any real sign of it yet. But Bosi is assured, they are in their dark corners and camps, organizing, planning, and making themselves ready to drive the dwarves out of Moria so as they can have the city to themselves once again.

One of the places Bosi wants to make sure to hold is the Hall of Fire. These newly discovered forges are being used to melt down the metals that are taken from the orcs in battle – a great many broken swords and pieces of armor that we have collected in our battles – and turn them into gears useful in the defense and reconquest of Moria. So, Bosi is sending us down south to help in its defenses.

I have marked on my maps a campsite outside of the door to the Forgotten Treasury – an array of about 20 vaults that we had cleared out long ago. These areas are regions where we have already patrolled, so there is no serious threat to travelers any more along these hallways. So, I told the fellow Eclairians that I will head south to that campsite and wait for them there. I will be leaving in the morning after a good night’s sleep. We’re not doing anything dangerous – except hunting the turtles. We are just preparing for an orcan attack that may never come.

I will keep you informed.

Bounder Hedgerow Shrewburrow


See the start of the first post for an account of where we are at.

For those who experienced the box bug with the troll at the start of Nud-Melek (you could only pick up the first quest), Sagla has reported that, once the torch quest is done, you can return to the troll and get the second quest if it is your pleasure to do so.

Also . . . I did not know this at the time . . . but, if you were not among a group that went to the far back of the dead-end hallway with the riddle quest . . . this is a part of a much larger riddle quest chain. All of these riddle quests we have been doing fit together. So, you might want to get to the end of the hallway to do that riddle quest if you care about such things. We did make that walk three times (much to my surprise), so most of us have gotten the riddle quest done.

[Tiempko]

Father:

I am exhausted, but I cannot sleep.

We hunted down one of them big turtles that I wrote to you about. There were 11 of us in the hunting party - including a couple of new folks who came along to fill on our troop. Among us Eclairians, there was me and Thalachon, Roy, Fraori, Amio, Jaytull, Thorfaniel, Thirdal, and Medloth - plus the two helpers. I regret I do not remember their names. Its hard to remember names of folks one just met.

After the last hunt, as I hear it, Sagla and Thalachon had a discussion and worked out some improved tactics. Thalachon told me about it and we decided to give it a try. Our usual tactics involve sending in some particularly good battlers to get the attention of the villains while the others engage in battle to defeat them. But the turtle will wear down our chief battler until she simply cannot withstand the attacks and has to withdraw from the fight for a bit of rest. Then it will destroy the rest of us. That is what happened to Sagla. Though Hedgerow and Wandrin could keep her in the fight, she was in tatters by the end of the hunt.

The tactics that Sagla and Thalachon worked out was a way for one of them to battle the Turtle until too tired to do so, then the other will take over the fight while the first rests, and they go back and forth, each resting while the other fights, slowly wearing down the turtle.

Thalachon told me the tactics and, though we never practiced them, we decided to give it a try. There was a bit of fumbling at the beginning while we worked out the way of it. I would draw the turtle against me. I would keep its attention until it had worn me down until it was getting near too much to continue, then Thalachon would step up to the turtle, shout and make noises to get its attention. I would rest in a bit - still in the fight, but not in such a way that I need worry about having the turtle's attention. Then, as Thalachon got weary, I would bang my shield, shout, and draw the turtle after me, giving Thalachon time to rest.

Meanwhile, the others were busy wearing the creature down.

Still, it was a deadly creature and it would sometimes turn on the others and knock them from the fight. The first turtle had so weakened us in this way we had to give up the fight and retreat and let it go.

Well, we gathered together and discussed what happened and how to keep others in the fight. We put the rock wizards to keeping Thalachon and me on our feet while the minstrels and Medloth the bear lady kept everybody else in the fight. The creature would still sometimes go on a rampage, trampling and tossing us so as to knock two or three of us out of the fight. But, Amio and Jaytull and Medloth would get them on their feet.

We had almost won when, for some reason, as Thalachon was getting tired, I could not get the turtle's attention off of him. The turtle was bound and determined to drive Thalachon into the ground. And did so. Without rescue, Thalachon could not stay in the fight. Only then did the turtle turn to me determined to do the same and turn the fight in its favor. I could stand against the creature for only a couple minutes before I was worn down as well. But, because of Fraori's rock wizardry, Thalachon was on his feet again within a moment. He rested and recovered and got himself back on his feet, and was ready to take the turtle's attention as I became too weary to continue.

The turtle never had another chance to turn the tables on us and, eventually, could fight no more. It fell, and we quickly finished it off.

The Dwarfs have yet another large supply of meats to prepare and store so as to better last a long siege.

The reason we were in the area to hunt turtles is that Bosi is still concerned that Thorcundo and Bori have riled the orcs into launching a serious attack against us, and he is trying to disrupt the attack as much as possible. There are goblin messengers what travel the Water Works delivering messages among the various tribes, coordinating their activities. It was hoped that, by slaying the messengers, we could disrupt communications and discoordinate their assaults. We must have slayed near to two dozen messengers about the Water Works on the patrol.

I will head back to the Hall of Fire after some rest and let the dwarfs know that we did as asked and see what else we can do to help them prepare for this attack. So far as I know, we are preparing for an attack that will never come. But, it is better to be prepared for what never comes than to fail to be prepared for what comes.

But, things are actually a bit restful, when we want them to be. Preparing for an attack what might never come is a bit of hard work, but not dangerous work. And it will make the attack to come - if it comes - less dangerous as well.

Be well. I am sure Bosi's concerns are for naught.

Love,
Alphred Troute


To try to minimize IC boredom, I would like to cut the IC travelling back a bit.

August 24 (Saturday group): Vol. II, Book IV, Chapter 2: Muster at the campsite outside of the Forgotten Treasury. We will walk into the Heart of Fire, talk to Stothkell, then walk down into the Water Works to disrupt messengers. While there, we can try another turtle hunt. We have a strategy now. It still takes work, and skill, and a bit of luck, but we can do it.

Homework (between sessions): Turn in Chapter 3, "send a messenger" to the 21st hall to report to Brogur and get his instructions (Chapter 4) and then pick up Chapter 5, then return to the Heart of Fire.

August 26 (Monday group) and August 31 (Saturday group): Vol. II, Book IV, Chapter 5: Muster at the Heart of Fire where we will receive Brogur's instructions via messenger. We will walk to the Flaming Deeps to complete the quest and end at the Rotting Cellar, where we will "ship" what we gather back to Brogur in the 21st Hall and await further instructions.

Homework (between sessions): Return to the 21st hall to finish the quest and pick up instructions for Chapter 6, return to the Rotting Cellar.

September 2 (Monday) and September 7 (Saturday): Vol. II, Book IV, Chapter 6: This involves a long patrol around the Water Works.

Homework: Return to the 21st Hall. Turn in Chapter 6 and be ready to start Chapter 7 - the fellowship instance.

September 9 (Monday) and September 14 (Saturday): Fellowship instance: The Drowned Treasury. We will probably try to fit in other trips during the week - Saturday at 10:00 and Wednesday at 8:00 PM - to get everybody through this. It has that "inspired greatness" which I seek to avoid by having at least 5 people in a mission.

Then we will start Book V. We will spend some time in the southern part of Nud-melek, finishing up unfinished business there, before returning to the 21st Hall. We will probably spend a couple of weeks here, taking us to the end of September. This time, we may use the mustering horn at the 16th Hall.

Once at the 21st Hall, the massive orcan assault will begin, forcing us into serious defensive battles at the Deep Way, the Way of the Smiths, and the 21st Hall itself. I am thinking that we will spend 1 week involved in each skirmish.

Last week of October, we will leave the 21st Hall to go to Lothlorien - start of Book VI of the epic quests. Where we will see sunshine again.

[Craiden]

Dear diary,

Back in the Twenty-first Hall we were called into the Chamber of Leadership again. There was no word of Mazog's whereabouts, but Bori had come up with a bold plan to strike a blow against the White Hand orcs which should cripple their presence in Khazad-dûm. His idea is to form two groups where one would attack one of the orcs' strategic outposts, which should then draw most orcs from their main camp to defend that position. Bori himself will lead the second group, which will assault the main camp, which should then be mostly unguarded, and kill the leader of the White Hand orcs. Ha, he must have heard about our victory in Fil Gashan and is also looking for some glory for himself now!

Well, that is indeed so. Brogur told us Bori still grieves for Broin and feels it is his duty to do something, to earn honor, not only for himself, but also for Broin. To somehow make good for his, Broin's, sacrifice. It is a daring plan, and I was wondering if it is a good one, or if Bori is really the right person to carry out such a plan. He is young and has no experience, and he seems to be guided more by his emotions than by rationality. Maybe he should leave such matters to the generals of the Iron Garrision like Narfi, those who we've always gotten our orders from. Seeing the state he was in, and his noble intentions, we nevertheless agreed to help him.

But not every dwarf felt the same way about it. For as we were looking around in the Twenty-first Hall for any volunteers for Bori's mission, most of them politely declined, stating that they have other tasks, are on guard duty, or bluntly saying they don't like the plan. Only Stiling and Wíli were willing to follow Bori into battle. I must say I was a bit frustrated... ashamed even. And so was Bori, but it would not deter him. Maybe more will follow once we have organized some decent armor and weapons.

For that, we went back to the Redhorn Lodes and fought some more orcs. That was the place where we had seen the best armor on the orcs and even though the quality was still low, the things we brought out could be melted down to forge some decent new equipment.

When we got back, still no other dwarf was willing to join us. It was decided that Thorcundo will go with Bori and the rest of us attack the position of the White Hand orcs for the diversion. The place was a crossroads in Nud-melek, an area we had not explored yet. And it was quite a ways off, but Hedge had been given a map. After quite a bit of walking, we got out of Zelem-melek and stood on a high ledge, looking down into the Second Hall. And what a glorious sight it was!



A wide and open hall, with rows after rows of tall trees carved out of black stone. A forest of stone trees, its canopy of branches holding up the ceiling. Huge statues of dwarves adorned the walls, light crystals bathing the hall in a dim, green light. I think I have never seen anything this grand. I almost started to cry, overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of it. Everybody that came along was in awe.

A dwarf in the Twenty-first Hall had told me that the stone forest is near the eastern exit, that after the Second Hall there is the First Hall and then... sunlight. Even I as a dwarf think it must be nice to see the sun again, to walk under real trees and breathe fresh air. I don't really know for how long we have been under the mountains now.

We had some time to kill before we were supposed to launch our attack, so we decided to explore a bit. Near the hall we came across another lone dwarf, Svanr. He also said he was longing for a walk in the sun and looking for the exit. We also found, of course, more goblins in a camp above, from where they had hurled spears at Svanr. Cleaned out their hideout before we went down near endless flights of stairs to the bottom of the Second Hall.



It was mostly empty but for a few orc patrols, glow-worms and drakelings. We lit some braziers and marvelled at the statues, but also discovered a few spots where fungus had grown out of the ground, as if it had risen from a deep shaft in the rock. It smelled terrible.

At the far side, the hall was mostly in shambles. The ground was broken and sunken in, as if large boulders had dropped down from the ceiling. Alas, there were no boulders. Smashed rock, toppled columns, broken stairs. A makeshift suspension bridge led across a deep chasm, obviously made recently and not by dwarves, a river of lava flowing deep below. Then we got to another chasm, and the bridge across was sundered.





Svanr said this was the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, which had once connected the Second to the First Hall, but now there was a wide gap, too wide to jump across. He studied the rock and said it wasn't too long ago that the bridge was broken, but we couldn't figure out why, or by whom.

There was some speculation among us that maybe the orcs did it to prevent the dwarves from escaping. But why would they? There were a few nearby and it seemed as if they were also trapped on this side of the bridge. Did the elves do it to prevent the orcs from getting near their sacred forest outside the eastern gate? I think the White Wizard did it. I think he might be afraid of the elves from Lorien entering Khazad-dûm and helping the dwarves. Or he is afraid his cowardly orcs may desert him and leave Moria on their own.

Anyways, there is no way across, or at least we couldn't find one. There is no way to reach the eastern exit. Hedge didn't say much, but I could feel his disappointment. For us dwarves - me, Thorcundo, Hroik, Thirdal, Bohunc or Wandrin - it is not so bad to be under the mountains even for a long time, but for him it must be hard. He is not complaining mind you, but he often spoke about the sun and how much he'd like to walk under the trees again, and it seems he does so more often as of late. He came to help the dwarves for we helped the Shire, and now he has been trapped in a huge cavern underground for... I cannot even remember for how long. And with the path leading out impassable, it seems he will be trapped here for quite a while longer.

But he wouldn't let himself down, at least not towards us. He studied his maps and led us through another side passage to the crossroads where we launched our attack. It didn't look too significant to me, it was just another junction, and off the more frequently travelled paths it would seem. We have seen places that looked more important. Also, there were no White Hand orcs at all, only some Mordor orcs I think. Wili and Stiling were also nowhere to be seen, so I was wondering if we got to the wrong location and if not, hoped that Bori still knows what he is doing.

After we defeated the few orcs that were there and made as much noise as possible, we went down another long corridor, found an old abandoned dwarf camp and came to a collapsed wall all the way at the end. According to Hedge, we were pretty close to the Twenty-first Hall, but unfortunately we could not get past the rubble. Hedge all of a sudden realized that we must have been on the other side of the Chamber of Mazarbul, where Balin's tomb stands and where the dwarves have been trying to clear away all the debris for weeks. So we had to backtrack and go all the long way back.

In the Chamber of Leadership, Bori and Thorcundo were already waiting for us. Thorcundo said their mission went well. He and Bori snuck about the Redhorn Lodes, avoiding to be seen. Then they watched a messenger arrive and a host of orcs leave. So, our diversion did work indeed! They found the leader, all alone, and slayed him. Glory for Bori, son of Bosí, son of Bifur! But before he perished, he mentioned a power in Moria far greater than the White Hand orcs. And this now has all of us, including Bori, concerned. What did he mean, what could this power be? Brogur thinks the White Hand orc made it up, just wanted to mock us with his dying breath. That may be, I am not as certain about it as he is though.

[Tiempko]

Father:

This is just a quick note letting you know that all is well.

Here in Moria, we have fallen into something of a routine as we work for the dwarfs in regions that we have patrolled long ago and where the vermin and villains are scarce of any real concern any more. Bosi is still convinced that, as a result of Thorcundo slaying the leader of the white-hand orcs, that there will be some form of retalization. He has us running about preparing the dwarfen strongholds for the attack. But we've seen no signs of an attack. We may be doing this work for nothing. Though it is better to be prepared for an attack that does not come than to be unprepared for an attack that does come.

There's a chance that the very fact that the orcs are planning an attack is the reason why things are so calm these past few days. They are leaving us alone until they are ready. This is the calm before the storm, as we say in the Shire, though when I use this phrase among the dwarfs they look at me as they are not at all accustomed to the kinds of storms we sometimes see in the Shire.

That's not to say that we're just sitting about eating our pies. We’ve been out on a few patrols. As it turns out, we have been spending most of our time about the Water Works - the grand underground lake with such fine fishing. While we are there, we take the narrow hallway for some turtle hunts from time to time. We are now veteran turtle hunters and the beasts we originally saw as invincible monsters are no longer so monstrous. Just yesterday a group of six - Alphred, Sagla, Roy, Bohimli, Thalachon, and Erikin - went on a turtle hunt and then sent the dwarfs in to harvest the meat from the creature that they hunted.

I am preparing for another patrol ourselfs. We are going to head through the Flaming Deeps to clear it of orc patrols and gather whatever we can find from the orcs that may be useful. Mostly, we are hunting for metals and wood what can be melted and turned into weapons and barracades to serve as defenses against the orc attacks, if they should come. Wood is particularly valuable as trees do not grow well within the mines so that the wood must be brought in from outside. Sometimes, as we wander about, we come upon piles of wood what the orcs have stockpiled for some area and we grab what we can and send the whole pile back to the dwarfs. There won't be any turtle hunt on this patrol as we expect to cover a lot of ground and be gone the most of the day . . . maybe next week.

I suppose that this is disrupting the orc plans, to have us march through and disrupt everything and send the orcs a flying while hauling in all of the materials they have been intending to use.

That's all that is happening for us at the moment. I hope things are well and peaceful in the Shire.

Love,
Alphred Troute


Mon. 08/26 and Sat. 08/31: Volume II, Book IV, Chapter 5 - Muster at the Heart of Fire for a patrol through the Flaming Deeps ending at the Rotting Cellar.

Mon. 09/02 and Sat. 09/07: Volume II, Book IV, Chapter 6 - Muster at the Rotting Cellar a patrol through the Water Works looking for plaques - then return to the 21st Hall.

Mon. 09/09 and Sat. 09/14: Volume II, Book IV, Chapter 7 - Muster at the Chamber of Leadership (21st Hall) for a fellowship instance quest.

[Tiempko]

Daffodilia Wildfeet
Chief, Bounders of the Shire – Addernotch Station


Sir!

I am sending you this report even though I don’t have much to report just so as you can know that we were not eaten by orcs or squished into jelly by a giant turtle.

Bosi is still thinking that the orcs are going to get revenge for Thorcundo and Bori going out and slaying that white hand leader so, instead of sending us out on dangerous battles against the orcs, we have been helping them to prepare their defenses. We have helped to stockpile foods and other supplies, collected equipment for constructing defenses, and disrupted goblin messengers so that they cannot so easily coordinate their attacks – assuming that there will be attacks.

It hasn’t been all that difficult working in places where our previous patrols have mostly made safe already. The creatures here breed like Shire coneys – the lakes of the Water Works are swarming with lizards and such again. But it’s not so wild as it once was.

To get some excitement, we do go on turtle hunts. Alphred, Amio, Bohunc, Thorfaniel, Fraori, and Thalachon just came back from a successful turtle hunt, giving the dwarfs even more turtle meat to store up in case of a siege. One of the big turtles got away from them, but they hunted down another. From the stories they are telling, that second turtle almost ruined them. They were going along well with the hunt, doing what needed to be done, and nearly had the turtle defeated. Just as the turtle was nearing exhaustion, it quit cooperating. It had fixed itself on Alphred and, no matter how hard Thalachon tried to get its attention, it just focused on Alphred and wouldn’t leave him alone. Alphred finally just flopped down in the muck as if dead, and then the turtle turned on Thalachon. Alphred laid there as long as he was able, recovering from when the turtle mauled him, but it wasn’t enough rest to shake off the effects of battling the turtle. The instant he was on his feet again, the turtle noticed him and went right back after him. But, this time, Thalachon was able to demand its attention and Alphred had time to recover fully.

Amio was talking about how stressful the turtle battle is and, indeed, it is stressful for whomever is put in charge of maintaining morale. All the other folks in the hunt just go about their regular business and, though it’s likely no great fun standing in front of a monstrous turtle while it snaps at you, there are few decisions to be made other than to continue the fight.

But the person who has to handle the morale – sometimes me and sometimes Wandrin’ or Jaytull and sometimes the rock wizards Fraori or Roy and even the bear-lady Medloth when she is in the right mood – has to always be worried about how everybody is doing and trying to decide iffen there is a need to refresh some archer or support some warden or even keep from flopping over due to pure exhaustion. Lots of decisions to make and who stands and who falls rides with many of those decisions. Folks think that we who manage morale rather than directly battling have it easy during a fight. I’d like to see them try what we do.

Kestril is another one of our morale tenders, though she don’t travel with us often any more. She was with a team that included Amio, Thorfaniel, and Alphred when they went in to attack one of them orc camps in Fil Gashan. I think they got tired of waiting around for the orcs to attack and launched their own preliminary attack. There was only four of them, but they managed to sneak past most of the orcs and slay their commander without raising an alarm . . . then they wandered through the leaderless camp destroying any other orcs they came across. That is another batch of orcs that won’t be participating in the attack Bosi fears. And perhaps the fact that those who went snuck through using Orcan uniforms will help the orcs fighting each other more and the dwarves less.

Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Jaytull in a bit. I thought he would love to come along on a turtle hunt. Though we do kinda know what we are doing now and have hunted two turtles with six people.

Well, I suppose, that’s a lot of words to let you know what little is going on. Mayhaps once Bosi is happy that we have helped as much as we can setting up defenses, he will send us out on another patrol. I still have a spot on my map that is empty – a connection I hear exists between Nud-melek and the Redhorn Lodes. I wouldn’t mind going to fill out that part of my map.

Bounder Hedgerow Shrewburrow


Reminder: I try to keep the information in the first post as to what we are doing next as accurate as possible – and I can keep it more up to date since I do not need to write a story to post an update.

But . . . just to repeat . . .

Saturday, September 7, 9:00 AM: Volume II, Book IV, Chapter 6. We have collected the materials that Brogur has asked for and shipped them back with a request for instructions. However (since some folks have missed the previous gathering due to holidays), we may venture into the Flaming Deeps for a few more supplies to ship back before starting our patrol. Then, we will act on Brogur's request that we look about the Water Works for plaques that may provide a needed clue for finding a hidden vault.

Monday, September 9: 8:30 PM: Volume II, Book IV, Chapter 7. Bori, having viewed the sketches, thinks that he knows where the mithril axe is hidden. He summons the Eclairians to send us off to find it. [NOTE: This is a fellowship instance. We will need 5 or 6 people if we want to avoid “inspired greatness” - and I do. If we have 7-9 people,we may send 5, come back, then send another 5 with some going twice. We might also ask for “sit-ins” - higher level characters that merely sit inside the instance to ward off the glowies while the rest adventure.]

Also, for readers . . . if you want to follow along with a character of the appropriate level, and only show up when we do “fun stuff”, that is perfectly acceptable, so long as you are of the correct level and participate in the role-play during our group adventures. There are players doing this – and we much appreciate their help showing up in situations where we could use a little extra help. When the elves of Lothlorien send us back into the Moria, we will have two raids – the Watcher and Dar Narbugud – that may require some help. (NOTE: We have learned how to defeat the turtle with as few as 4 of the right characters, but it is a slow slog.)

We also gather at other time – most often, Sunday at 10:00 AM, but can gather at any time – for group adventures, such as the adventure into Fil Gashan mentioned in the report above.

You can join the club éclair channel (/joinchannel club-éclair) and listen and wait until we are doing something you want to help with.

[Tiempko]

To: Daffodilia Wildfeet
Chief, Bounders of the Shire - Addernotch STation


Sir!

We rescued Broin!

Broin is Brogur’s son, and was taken by the monster what once guarded the gate to Moria and pulled into the water. Of course we thought he had been eaten! The monster had apparently had its fill of dwarfs that day and set Broin aside for safe keeping. Broin found the axe, and used it to keep the monster from eating him. But he was trapped.

It weren’t ten minutes after we showed up that the monster came, mayhaps because it heard us. This time, we had them special items the dwarfs had given us earlier, plus others we have found in Moria. We were able to drive it back and then get Broin out of there.

Oddly, when we got back to the 21st Hall, Bori seemed more interested in the axe than in the surprise rescue of Broin. He mentioned Broin more as an afterthought - only to tell us that he was up at a place called the Peaceful Way where he was recovering. Broin did not have much to eat while he was captured. I bet that the best he could hope for was some cave rats and spider. He might not have tried the spiders. They are good food. Steam them, break open the legs, pull the meat out, dip in in melted butter! Wonderful! Though Broin had nothing for steaming nor butter to melt.

Bori is saying that the axe solves all of their problems. Broin says that it is cursed. Bori is planning something to use the axe to drive the orcs out of Moria. He wants us to return to Nod-melek and scout out what he thinks to be Mazog’s fortress. Mazog is, if I understand orc lineages well enough, the grandson to Azog the Defiler, an orc leader who killed Thror, father of Thrain, father of Thorin Oakenshield as mentioned in Mad Baggins’ stories.

Iffen we are scouting Mazog's fortress, this suggests that Bori is thinking of taking action against Mazog. Mayhaps he is planning something like what we did to attack the leader of the White Hand orcs. That mission were successful, but Bosi is fearing it has attracted the attention of the orcs and that they will soon attack with their great numbers. Iffen we attack Mazog, and things go poorly, he will for certain see the dwarfs as a threat not only to his kingdom but to his personal self.

Erikin was wandering as to why Bori got to keep the axe. After all, we were the ones who risked life and limb to find it. I mentioned that Bori did all of the work of finding out where it were hidden and that he deserves some credit for that. Still, I think Erikin truly wanted that axe and I don't think it would have been a bad idea for him to have it. After all, Bori has ventured outside of the Chamber of Leadership but once since we got here in a way what did any good - when he and Thorcundo went to slay the White Hand orc chieftan. Bori went with us on this trip where we rescued Broin and found the axe, but he stayed back and was nowhere to be seen, in fact, until we returned to the Chamber of Leadership and found him here.

Sagla is saying she has doubts that the axe will be the answer to all of the Dwarfs' problems that Bori thinks it will be. It is, after all, just one axe. It don't make the dwarf who wields it immune to arrows or javalins, and it is still but one axe. I keep trying to impress upon the dwarfs how many orc camps we found in Fil Gashan. Many seem to think that the regions we have visited are all there is to Moria. Mayhaps this is because it was the extent of Moria the last time dwarfs were in control of it. But, in the deep dark places where we have not even reached, there is a kingdom what is to Goblin Town that which Bree is to Little Delving. There are not enough dwarfs here to hold it, iffen the orcs and goblins were to give it their full attention, and one axe will naught make a difference.

But, these decisions are beyond the reach of a clerk such as myself. Mayhaps they know things that I do not understand. I will have to trust to their wisdom and do my job as best I can. Bori does want us to go into the southern part of Nud-melek, what is a region which I have not yet added to my map. Iffen my guesses are correct, there is a path here what will take us from Nud-melek into the Redhorn Lodes. It is the path them orcs took when we drew them away from the White Hand leader to let Thorcundo and Bori slay him. It has to be there, and I intend to place it on my map.

Maybe a proper map of Mazog's fortress will serve Bori well in securing Moria for the dwarfs. It may well be the key to their success - a full set of properly drawn maps what will allow them to plan and coordinate through all of Moria.

I will let you know how things go, of course.

Until then, I remain:

Bounder Hedgerow Shrewburrow


This week, we will be making sure everybody gets through the Chapter 7 instance and is ready to proceed. So, we will be telling stories at the Chamber of the Crossorads about the axe and, time permitting, about turtle hunts as well.

By the following Monday, folks should be on Book V, Chapter I, ready to return to Nud-melek.

Following this, there will be some skirmishes coming up, so folks should see to getting their skirmish soldiers fitted out proper for skirmishes. Dwarven skirmish soldiers will be particularly fitting for this adventure. You can choose or change a soldier's race at the skirmishing camp. We'll do the skirmishes in order. As per usual, we can expect these battles to be a genuine challenge.

[Tiempko]

Father,

This is just to let you know that we are heading out on a little patrol. Bori thinks that he knows where Mazog’s fortress is. Mazog is the orc that they think is leading the Moria orcs these days. He is . . . apparently . . . Azog’s grandson.

Think back of the stories of Mad Bilbo Baggins that you used to tell me while I was growing up. The ones we thought were a part of Mad Baggins’ imagination and what you used as a way of warning me that I didn’t want to ever leave Little Delving and venture into such a dangerous world. The Dwarfs, long ago, had an enemy in Moria named of Azog. He beheaded Thorin’s grandpa and . . . well, the stories involving Thorin’s own father and Azog are somewhat confused.

Anyways, that was long ago and Mazog is the new leader of the orcs. Now that Bori has the mithril axe, he seems to be wanting to use it to put an end to the Orcan leadership. Toward’s that end, he wants us to go out and scout what he thinks is Mazog’s fortress. We’re going out to investigate tomorrow. If we discover that there is truth to it, another group of Eclairians will follow us to do a proper mapping so that Bori can use the maps in his plans.

Gad, I might not have told you that we found the mithril axe. I think the last time I wrote to you, we were patrolling the Water Works – a big underground lake with massive falls of water used to power the most powerful of waterwheels one can even imagine. While we were there, we got a message from Brogur to look for evidence of some secret hidden vault. Bori saw it mentioned in an old dwarfen diary we found up in this massive tomb near to the twenty-first hall. Balin’s tomb . . . remember, he was one of the dwarfs Mad Baggins travelled with. He was able to set up home in Moria here a few years back . . . but he seems to have met with a terrible end. It is all mentioned in that book.

Anyways, Bori looked through the book and found mention of a vault which might have held the mithril axe we had searched for long ago. It was a vault near the water works so he set us out looking for it. Then he sent a group in to try to find it. Alas, they did so. They even found Broin . . . who is Brogur’s son . . . still alive and uneaten, since he was using that very same axe to fend off the lake monster.

Anyways, so . . . that’s how it came to be that Bori now has the axe and is planning to use it in an assault on the Orcan leadership.

I had not realized that it has been so long since I have written until now. Time just seems to have slopped by when I wasn’t noticing. I am so sorry.

Now, you don’t need to be sending your posts anywhere new. I don’t expect to be gone on this patrol any more than a couple of weeks. Then we’ll be back here to show Bori our maps so as he can make his plans. If things go as well as they did on the last to ventures – the one where Thorcundo and Bori slayed the leader of the white hand orcs and the one where we rescued Broin and brought back the mithril axe, this final assault may end the orc menace, or weaken them enough that the dwarfs can reclaim the rest of Moria.

As is, the dwarfs are seriously outnumbered. Iffen a powerful leader were to organize them into an assault of the dwarfs, the dwarfs will not stand. As is, the orcs seem to be directing their attention to things outside of Moria . . . places south and east of here, as I understand it . . . which is why they are ignoring the dwarfs. It would not only be a boon to the dwarfs but will certainly aide them others to the south and east who Mazog is helping to have this leadership removed.

Anyways . . . that’s all speculations. We’ll have no way of knowing what Bori has planned until we return with our reports and maps.

Then . . . who knows? Maybe we will assault Mazog’s fortress with proper maps and plans and be done with this menace . . . and I can think about coming back home, at least for a bit.

Love,

Alphred Troute

[Tiempko]

Father,

I know that I have just written to you, but we finished our patrol faster than I expected, and worry keeps me awake. I fear that the dwarf Bori may do something rather rash.

We found a fair sized camp of orcs before Mazog’s fortress, but the dwarfs scoffed and said that there is no cause for concern.

Further, we found evidence that the dwarfs are being funded from a place called “Dol Guldur”. I think I heard of this place. Maybe it was mentioned in Mad Bilbo Baggies’ story, or the dwarfs here have mentioned it in passing. Medloth seemed to ‘now something about it - some place in Mirkwood, she said. It seems associated with Sauron somehow, as he seems to be behind all of the great evils in the world today.

We had been hearing that the orcs were being aided by somebody outside Mordor. I had assumed they were referencing the White Wizard - who certainly commands the White Hand orcs. But there seems to be a third party to this alliance - and its home is at Dol Guldur.

Well, Bori started speaking as if there is no time to waste and he must deal with Mazog before these Dol Guldur folk have too much influence. I'm of the opinion that he is rushing things . . . though I never did like things to be rushed. I am thinking the other Eclairians agree with me - though they may just be being polite. Whichever is the truth of it, we seem to have agreed to put off any decisions until the mapping expedition can come back with some decent maps.

We have an added problem with Bori in that he seems to have the idea that this axe he found makes him invincible. I think that it is something like Mad Baggins’ dagger - the one mentioned in his stories. But that dagger didn’t make Mad Baggins invincible, even in the stories.

Anyways, I worry about Bori. We've never fully trusted his ideas, though the recent ones have worked out. But, since he got that axe, he has given no thought to what might go wrong. He seems mindful of only great glory. Mayhaps Broin was right. He did say that he thought the axe may be cursed.

Don’t worry about me, father. I told Bori that I’m opposed to going on an unplanned attack. Though, of course, if he resolved to go, I would have to help. Neighbors are s’posed to help each other in times of trouble, you taught me that yourself. But I think he understands that I am firm in my resolve. I have until the mappers return to decide how to address these concerns.

Either way, we may not be so near to victory as I recently believed.

I an starting to feel sleep come upon me now, so I will close this letter here.

Love,

Alphred Troute


The story gets a bit complicated, so I would like to decomplicatify it.

***In character***
Sept. 28: The Saturday group returns from its mapping expedition - and present its findings to Bori, who will insist on attacking Mazog immediately.

Sept. 29: Bori will do something rash and confront Mazog on his own. (Players should treat the Chapter 3 solo instance as session play. Your character is not there. You are simply hearing the telling of the tale from one who was there.)

Sept. 30 - Oct 6: We know that the orcs are going to attack the dwarves in force and are preparing ourselves for the inevitable attack. The hard part is knowing where they will attack.

Oct. 7 and Oct. 12: Muster at Dolven view. That is a good central location. From there, we will rush to the Deep Way to defend it and return, then rush to the Way of the Smiths and return.

Oct. 14 and Oct. 19: Muster at the 21st Hall to defend it from orc attacks. After defeating the orcs, get our instructions to go to Lothlorien and ask the elves for help.

Oct. 21 and Oct 26: Muster at the 21st Hall packed and ready to head east and try to find the elves.


***Out of Character***

Saturday, Sept. 28: The Saturday group will go to Nud-melek to map the area of Mazog's fortress and return - completing chapters 1 and 2.

Sept. 30, Oct. 5: We will mill about the 21st Hall discussing the consequences of Bori's rash action. (Folks should complete, but will not need to complete, Chapters 3 and 4 on their own before this.) I want to give everybody time to catch up. I would like to do a Gondomon skirmish because (1) it is most like the skirmishes we will be doing, (2) it will help me to judge what level to set the actual skirmishes at, (3) it will help folks to prepare themselves for the skirmishes, and (4) it will earn some marks and medallions for those who need them to train up their skirmish soldiers.

Oct. 7 and Oct. 12: Important: Be on Book V, Chapter 5 when we muster at Dolven View. On this day, we do the first 2 skirmishes - the Deep Way and the Way of the Smiths, using Dolven View as our advanced base. Each skirmish should last about 20-30 minutes, with some roleplay and travel in between.

Oct. 14 and Oct 19: Muster at the 21st Hall for the 21st Hall skirmish.

Oct. 21 and Oct. 26: Muster at the 21st Hall . . . where we will march to the east and leave Moria (for a few weeks, at least).

Also Note: Before leaving Moria, you should be sure to have your Orc and Goblin slayer deeds finished in Moria. I sincerely doubt this will be a problem for any of us, but just making sure. You do not need to complete "Advanced" - completing the basic slayer deed will be sufficient.

Please help to make sure that other Eclairians are properly informed if you see them about.

[Craiden]

Dear diary,

After slaying the White Hand leader, we reported our victory to Bosi, who was still in the Chamber of the Crossroads. He had a different opinion. He had studied the book we had found in the chamber of Mazarbul and told us the grim story of the end of Balin's expedition. It was such a vidid telling that I thought I was there myself! How Frar, Loni and Nali sacrificed themselves. How they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of orcs. Balin had fallen, killed by a spear, and they fought hard, but there was no end to the creatures. For every orc they slayed, two more sprang up from the darkness.

They decided to abandon their expdition and escape from Moria, but there was just no way out. At the eastern exit, past the bridge of Khazad-dûm, the way through the First Hall was blocked by an unknown terror, veiled in shadow and fire. Durin's Bane! This was a foe they could not hope to challenge.



They retreated to the Twenty-first hall, where a scout told them the pool outside the Hollin Gate had risen and that way was also blocked. Óin was taken by the monster in the water. The orcs meanwhile had taken hall after hall and were closing in on them from all sides. It was hopeless. They decided to make their last stand in the Chamber of Mazarbul and when they met their end, the doors were broken and every remaining dwarf of Balin's expedition was slain. The last words written in the book say: "We cannot get out. Drums, drums in the deep. They are coming...". When he read those words to us, a shiver ran down my spine and I cried.

And now Bosi fears the same fate may befall the Iron Garrison. "We must get ready for the orcs' onslaught", he said. The orcs at that time were led by Mazog, son of Bolg, son of Azog, who had tortured and beheaded King Thror. And this same Mazog is still ruling the orcs, today! He is the power far greater than the White Hand orcs! Bosi thinks the orcs will soon launch a massive attack on the dwarves from all sides and we should prepare for it if we were to survive where Balin's expedition did not.

So, we spent the next couple of days helping the dwarves prepare for the storm Bosi thinks is coming, starting in the Great Delving. While some of us went outside to make sure that enough supplies will be brought in, I patrolled around the Chamber of the Crossroads and caught a couple of Goblin spies. Then we went down into the Water-works to check on the other side of the well. We found it is way too high in the ceiling for any orcs to crawl through and start a surprise attack. We also looked for goblin messengers to disrupt their communication. Didn't find any messages on them though which might have given us clues to what they plan. And we went back to the Flaming Deeps, where we collected wood and iron bars which will be made into barricades in the Twenty-first Hall and the Heart of Fire.

While down in the Water-works again, we heard rumors about a giant turtle in one of the huge structures and decided to investigate. "The mother of all turtles", as the dwarves said. We entered the one in the center, and lo-and-behold, there she was, walking back and forth in an enomous room in the middle. I wonder how she got in there, maybe she already did when she was much smaller.



As soon as she saw us, she ran over, probably distressed that some intruders had entered her lair. It was a most intense encounter. The dwarves said a whole army would be needed to bring her down, and we were only seven: Hedgerow, Hroik, Sagla, Talachon, Thirdal, Wandrin and me. Seven good battlers mind you, and among them the High elf. And yes, I count Hedge as one of them, as he was one of only four still standing when the turtle fell after a long, hard and exhaustive fight. I was knocked out half-way through the fight. She must have hit me with her tail and sent me flying over a trellis, and when I regained conciousness I was trapped behind it and couldn't get in anymore to help my friends. The door was for some reason locked.

I was not the only one, for the same fate had befallen Thirdal and Hroik, and we could only helplessly watch as the others did battle with this monstrosity. Sagla, Talachon, Wandrin and Hedge stood their ground though and pulled off one of the most impressive victories I have ever witnessed. When the turtle dropped, Sagla, who herself had been knocked out numerous times but always quickly helped back on her feet by Hedge and Wandrin, dropped down to her knees, utterly exhausted. Her armor was completely tattered, even her shield and weapon splintered. She threw everything away later and was never seen in the same clothes again that she wore when she entered this dungeon. I secretly admired her, as we all congratulated those who had pulled off this remarkable feat. Talachon smiled quietly. I think he even enjoyed this fight, and has seen worse. Thirdal said it was truly a fight worthy of song.



After we got everything done, we returned to Bori and Brogur. They were pleased with the progress that was made. Bori had taken a look at the book we found near Balin's tomb and discovered something he thinks might be interesting. It was written that Óin had been seeking to find a special "armory of the Third Deep" and there was also mention of a mighty axe. Did he find the axe? Bori thinks this armory is somewhere in the Water-works, so we went back and looked at every hidden and half-flooded chamber and hall. There were often plaques near them and we drew and brought the traces back to him.

He studied them for a while and then said he may have discerned the place Óin sought. It must be the Hall of Mithril. I wasn't convinced, but we nevertheless accompanied him there, of course.The Hall was difficult to navigate, parts of it were flooded, and parts of it sealed off and could only be opened by turning a number of wheels. And it was full of bugs, frogs and spiders. At the end of it all, Bori turned one more wheel and we came to a large, half-flooded chamber. The water was black as ink, as if it had seeped in from the pool outside the Hollin Gate.



In one corner was a heap of treasure and, lying next to it, a skeleton and a lone dwarf. We ran over and... it was Bróin! Can you imagine! He was alive! Barely though. In his hand he was clutching a great axe, the likes of which I had never seen. Could this be Zigilburk, the axe Bori hoped to find? What a miracle! Bróin of course was in bad shape, almost starved to death and totally scared. He could hardly speak. He looked at us and mumbled "Are you really here... my friends? Or do I dream?" He coughed and told us that, after the beast had pulled him into the water by the lake, it brought him here, probably to eat him later. Maybe it wasn't hungry at the time, it took several other dwarfs that night too, right? And here he found this axe in the darkness, lying next to the skeleton. We think these must be the remains of Óin. With the help of the axe, he could keep the monster at bay, but he found no way out. Seems the door could only be opened from the other side.

Poor Bróin! All this time we explored Khazad-dûm, all this time when we secured many halls and fought many a battle, he had been lying here in the dark, alone, starving, damp and constantly in fear that the Watcher in the Water will come and finally do eat him. And, while he was still speaking, the monster showed itself. It raised its ugly head out of the water and lashed out at us with its tentacles. Now, we all still had the weapons we found in that cache near the Walls of Moria, and violently fought back, and after a short fight it slipped back beneath the surface.



We brought him out and when Bori saw him, he was in such joy! He embraced him and tears were running down his cheeks. Bróin was brought to the Peaceful Path, where the healers of the Iron Garrison tend to the wounds of those injured in battle with orcs or other creatures. We visited him there, and he was in very low spirits. He said this was not the kind of adventure he had in mind when they arrived at the Doors of Durin. "I desire adventures no more. No songs or tales for me, I've had enough", he said. I don't blame him, I'd probably feel the same way.

He also believes the axe is cursed and will bring more harm than good to the expedition. May awaken greed or make them overconfident. The axe, which he spent so much time with, fills him with dread. I think he is just confused and depressed and it is perfectly understandable after all he went through. But I do think the axe will be of great help. Sagla was skeptical, saying it is just an axe and asked how it can change things for the better. And I told her that it gives hope. To all dwarves currently in Moria. And when Hedge had asked me earlier if now, with the axe brought back from the dark, we can leave, I told him he can go any time, he has done more than enough to repay his "debt", but that now that we have the axe, the war will start. We are going to throw the orcs out of Moria once and for all!

[Tiempko]

To: Daffodilia Wildfeet
Chief, Bounders of the Shire - Addernotch Station


Sir!

We hear drums. Drums in the deep. They are coming.

Bori has gone off and done something rash. He took his fancy new axe and a half-dozen dwarfs with him in a daring plan to assault Mazog’s fortress, using the maps I had just brought back from our mapping expedition. We know little of what happened except the word of one dwarf who managed to return. The story is that the orcs let him flee so that he can spread panic amongst the other dwarfs.

What happened is that Mazog had a sorcerer with him . . . a conjurer of some sort who was able to stun the dwarfs and arrange their capture. The axe did little good as Bori lost the ability to wield it in battle. There was no battle. While the dwarfs stood there, stunned, they were easy to wrap up in a nice package and haul off to Mazog’s prison. I do not even know if they were hauled off to a prison – they might have been slayed on the spot. Though, knowing orcs, they might want to keep the meat fresh for some future meal.

We knew something was up even before the dwarfs returned the with the news. We could hear the drums. They are not loud here. They echo for long distances in these mines, bouncing off of the walls. You can feel them through the stone more than you can hear them. It’s a vibration you can feel through your feet. They started off, and they were reminding me of the last words written into that dwarf book what was found in Balin’s tomb. Every dwarf here has those words on their mind as they hear the drums. The orcs are coming. Bori has riled them up to the point where they intend to push what is left of the dwarfs out of the mountain and slay them who stay behind.

Many dwarfs have decided to stay, as it turns out.

And we’re staying, too. We are veteran orc battlers now and there is some hope that with our help they might actually be able to hold off the attackers. Things might not go so well if we leave. Any who want to leave has been given permission to do so. But, so far, all are still here. I just saw Thorfaniel and Roy just recently, both getting ready for what may be some of the most deadliest battling we have done in Moria – even worse than what we had chasing the orcs out of the Grand Stairs or the Forges of Khazad Dum. This time, the orcs will be coming after us rather than us going after them.

And there are a lot of orcs.

There’s no telling where the orcs plan to attack. The dwarfs have picked one location they are seeking to defend – the Deep Way. It is a passage that give the orcs the best most direct route to the places that the dwarfs control, going from the Waterworks to Dolven View. They have set themselves up some defenses where the orcs can attack only a few at a time.

The dwarfs are also going to try to hold on to their newly discovered fancy forges in the Way of the Smiths. That place is more open . . . and harder to defend . . . but the dwarfs want to keep those forges for the manufacture of weapons and armor and not allow the orcs to take it for those purposes.

There’s agreement that it will take the orcs a bit of time to get set for their assault, and we are going to spend those moments preparing ourselfs. It is our hope that the assaults we made on the orcan messengers will prevent them from coordinating their attacks very well. There’s a flock of dwarfs and others who are being assigned to us as reinforcements – folks the dwarfs call “skirmish soldiers”.

Gad! Imagine my surprise when they came to me saying that one of them skirmishing soldiers was claiming to know me from the battles in the Misty Mountains. I rushed over and found Sigbert, polishing his axe and preparing himself for battles. I met Sigbert at the mountain fortress of Hrimbarg in the Misty Mountains when we had annoyed the goblins of Goblin Town and they came out in all a rage intending to destroy us. We made our stand at Hrimbarg and won the battles, driving the goblins back into Goblin Town.

He said he had come when he heard the dwarfs needed help and was doing chores. He’d seen me about, or so he says, but hasn’t said anything on account of he doubted that I would remember him. Indeed, I did not remember him to look at him – all dwarfs look much alike to me. But we were soon talking as if we were old friends.

Anyways, I said I was sure going to be happy to helping him in battle again. He is a good soldier with an axe and shield and reports that he has trained up since I had seen him last.

He did say that he is starting to tire of turtle stew for every other meal.

Things are suddenly getting dangerous.

I hope that this is not the last you hear from me. I hope to get this out to you while it is still possible to get things out.

Bounder Hedgerow Shrewburrow


IMPORTANT! You must reach Volume II, Book V, Chapter 5 to participate in the skirmishes. Otherwise, you will be locked out.

The plan is to take an extra week to make sure that folks are caught up. I also want to complete a Gondomon skirmish before the actual battling starts. This will help folks get themselves ready for the battles to come. Skirmish soldiers will need to be updated, and we will get some practice. I am also wanting to figure out how difficult skirmishes are at this level. It is my hope that a Tier I, Level 55 raid is doable with 7 folks.

More specifically, Mon. Sept. 30 and Sat. Oct. 5: We are at the twenty-first hall. In the distance, we can hear (feel) the drums of the orcs preparing for battle. Scouts have reported that the orcs are going to strike at the Deep Way and the Way of the Smiths. They are planning to hit both places at once. However, it is hoped that our efforts to disrupt their plans will prevent them from coordinating their strikes, giving us time to defend each location in turn.

On Oct. 7 and 12, we will muster at Dolven View. This is half-way between the Deep Way and the Way of Smiths. When the call comes in that one of them is being attacked, we will rush there and aid in the defenses. And then the other. ((Level 55, Tier I, raid skirmishes; Tier II if we get 10 or more battlers)) Each skirmish should last about 30 minutes - meaning that we can get both done.

On Oct. 14 and 19, we will muster at the Twenty-first Hall. the Orcs will seek one final all-or-nothing attack against the Twenty-first Hall. We will muster there for its defense. This is a longer skirmish than most. When we are done, we can celebrate our victories and receive our instructions to go visit the elfs.

On Oct. 21 and 26: We will muster at the Twenty-first hall and leave Moria. Our mission is to visit the elfs, but we will have some business to take care of along the way. ((For example, find the Nud-melek mirror quest and help Svanr with some more chores.))

On Oct. 28 and Nov. 2: Wake up under the wide open skies outside of the Moria east gate and make our first patrols in Lothlorien.

[StinkyGreene]

Skirmish soldiers will need to be updated, and we will get some practice.

No doubt. I spent some time looking through my skirmish soldiers and realized they were way outdated. Should be fun!

-Thor

[Tiempko]

Just a reminder:

One MUST BE on Volume II, Book V, Chapter V, to participate in the skirmish.

And while our training exercises suggest that having 7 people in a raid skirmish might be doable (so long as 6 of them are in a common fellowship), having more would certainly help to ensure our victory. If you can make it. All help will be appreciated.

Please be timely because we will need to start quickly.

Muster at Dolven View.

[Tiempko]

Important: Folks will need to be on Volume II, Book V, Chapter 5 to participate in the skirmishes.

Father,

I have just returned from a great battle.

I mentioned in my last letter how Bori – with his shiny new mithril axe – was considering challenging the head of the orcs to a fight. He was confidence that with his axe he would be invincible and he could win a great victory for the dwarves of Moria. No doubt, he had visions of being a story of song and legend through the ages. And so he gathered about a half-dozen dwarves together to win glory.

What happened is that he got himself and the rest of his squad killed or captured and now some orc holds the great mithril axe we have only so recently found. It is frustrating to note – if we had not found the axe, then it would not be sitting in the hands of the Orc chieftain today. Our own victories get turned against us and make us the instruments of our own destruction.

Now, the orcs have had enough of this dwarven infestation.

I have just spent the day holding off their assaults . . . me, Roy, Amio, Fraori, Medloth, and Tharachon. We were the ones who were on alert at Dolven View in case the orcs attacked. We got word that we were needed at the Deep Way and off we ran on the run. We got there before the orcs launched there attack, but we had only a few moments to prepare.

I think they were just testing us. They did not throw their best orcs against us – though they did throw quite a few and those what came made a fight of it. Near to 100 orcs charged at us to do battle, and there were naught but us six Eclairians and a bit more than a dozen dwarfs – including a squad of skirmish soldiers we had brought with us. The orcs herded some species of frog from the deeps of the water works that put out some kind of toxin that made our movements slow and sluggish. We had to fight through the effects to stay in battle against the orcs until the frogs were slain and the toxins flowed from the air.

These weren’t the best trained orcs they had available. We have fought tougher in places like the Grand Stairs and Fil Gashan – even the regular orcs stationed there were better trained than these. So, it is my thinking that these were just a test to determine how we would do in defending the dwarven homes.

I think they learned their lessons. It weren’t but a few moments after securing the Deep Way that we heard of a large group of orcs and other monsters heading towards the Way of the Smiths. Off we went to bring them reinforcements.

This almost did not turn out well. Along the way, running as we were, we got split up. When we reached the forges, I checked the roster and discovered that the bear lady Medloth was missing. Hoping that there was enough time before the battling started, I rushed back along our trail in the hopes of finding her and leading her back to the group before the fighting starts. She was back on the trail galloping into the Way of the Smiths when I encountered her.

It was a good thing, too. She saved us at the battle to come.

This time, the orcs sent a fiercer squad against us. These must have been filled out by a couple of them Fil Gashan camps as they had about the same skills and training. Stothkell closed the doors to the Hall of Fire thinking that this would make the place secure, but the orcs brought in some monstrous trolls what bashed the doors into bits and charged at us in great numbers. They brought some wizardry to quench the fires of the forges as well – swirling masses of ice and snow like the worst of winter packed in a swirling storm of wind.

While battling one of these, it flew apart, sending shards of ice everywhere, cutting through us like knives. Fortunately, Amio was there and able to provide quick aid to keep us all on our feet and fighting even as the blow of the blue swirly caused us to stagger and falter. Indeed, he was able to keep all of us on our feet, except Fraori took a blow from a troll and lay crumpled on the ground until somebody could get him back on the feet and into the battle.

They must have got frustrated and fed up in the end as their final assault was truly massive, with two monstrous trolls working along side near to a dozen orcs of various types. I simply waded into the middle of them and shouted and demanded their attention then hid behind my shield while the others wore them down. But some of them seem to have fixed their attention on Stóthkell. If he had fallen, it would have been a serious blow to the dwarfs of Moria who looked upon him for stability and strength. Medloth rushed to his side and provided him with what comfort and help that bears could provide and likely saved his life. This is to what I referred when I said that I was glad that she found us before the battle started and Stóthkell had closed the doors on her.

Well, we’re back to recovering. Other Eclairians such as Sagla and Thorcundo are mustering new so that those of us who fought these battles can get some rest. I would not expect them to have it as easy as we did. The orcs are done testing us now and will likely be throwing orcs into battle with enough skill and numbers that they may think can defeat us.

I cannot yet say if we can prevent them from breaking through.

I will let you know how things go or get word to you one way or another.

Love,
Alphred Troute



Saturday, Oct. 12: Muster at Dolven View and be ready in case we are needed as reinforcements against another wave of orcan attacks – as I am certain we will be needed.

Monday, Oct. 14; Saturday, Oct. 19: We are at the 21st Hall. After winning the battles at the Deep Way and Way of the Smiths, the Eclairians will be back at the Twenty-First Hall, resting. Unknown to them, the orcs have sent a truly massive force up through Zud-melek around the other strongholds and straight at the Twenty-First Hall. Suddenly, an alarm goes out. The enemy is just moments away. TO THE BARACADES!!”