Gondor Gambolling 17: in which Brave Sir Gryfflet makes a brief reappearance then disappears
15Gryfflet has been waiting as patiently as one can when being attacked by deer: they just will not leave him alone! He consults again with Arvaethor as to what they should do next, so they set off for the nearby Lumber Camp while we choose a juicy Lore Question. He is only slightly distracted when attacked by some Orcs wearing bearded skulls after which Arvaethor says they need to get back to town where his wife Laerind has been awaiting his return. It turns out that the town is under attack so we scurry around covering the various entrances from an Orc raiding party, then set off to their camp to take the fight to them. Arvaethor is shocked to find so many Orcs and Trolls, but not as shocked as Gryfflet when one of the Trolls turns out to be a Roving Threat: a super-powerful foe which is perfectly capable of reducing them both to a smear on the floor. Gryfflet's attempts at stealth go fairly well until Arvaethor's enthusiasm gets the better of him and Gryfflet escapes only by the skin of his teeth. He is able to summon Arvaethor again and they enter a nearby cave whither the Orcs have decamped. After a brief moment of misdirection they find the Orc Chieftain and teach him a lesson, only to discover the Ruthless Dead who have been orchestrating the invasion behind the scenes, so they very sensibly flee. Gryfflet's next task is to visit the nearby beacon as requested by Borhador, Arvaethor's father, where he is somewhat surprised to discover an infestation of huge spiders. The beacon-keeper, Authest, is happy to see him and directs him to the nearby woods whence the infestation came. He clears out some of the webbing, and some of the spiders themselves, then ventures into the nearby cave which is apparently the source of the problem. He fights his way through to the Weft-Mother who is standing next to an ominous-looking purple stone, and defeats them both. He then takes advantage of geography to head to the next beacon which is where Jajax wanted him to rough up some raiding Corsairs. Authest and Jajax are both happy to hear that their requests have been fulfilled, but Borhador is still unhappy and his mood is not lightened when a cave-troll invades the town. However the townsfolk rally and defeat it, which gives him heart: just enough to hand off his duties to Arvaethor and Laerind and go for a long-overdue nap. Their first request under the new regime is for Gryfflet to deal with the invading dead, which will have to await our next session as we have run out of time.
"I love how they stand up before they drop dead!"
"You're supposed to say 'hi' when you pass by your wife!"
"It's a daring linguistic gambit!"
"Let's try to go around it!"
"Is he still dying up there?"
"Now this is a reasonable-looking cave-troll!"
"I like the skull knee-pads, I mean that's just cool!"
"Oh good, he's with his wife, that's wonderful!"
"I approve of naps!"
Lore discussed this week mostly concerned the incarnation of the Istari although we did range widely around that topic!
For more information about Mythgard on LOTRO, visit https://mythgard.org/lotro/
Join our community:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MythgardInstitute/
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/mythgardian
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/mythgardian
- Forums: http://forums.signumuniversity.org/
Mythgard Institute (@mythgardian) | Twitter The latest Tweets from Mythgard Institute (@mythgardian). A center for speculative fiction studies from @SignumU. We offer #free online seminars on #books picked by our supporters.
Mythgard Institute (@mythgardian) • Instagram photos and videos A center for medieval, Tolkien, fantasy, and SF studies, offering fully interactive courses online with world-class scholars and professors.