Play Report: The Gore of Anduin

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Angdall – The Gore of Anduin
Once upon a time there was a king of men, undying and powerful. He brought a lineage of lords of wolves and crows to the Wilderland, and together they carved an empire among mountains and snow.

When Fornost fell and nothing else was left of the North to conquer the Angdall turned against their master. And once Angmar has fallen the family offered peace and for their deeds in the eleventh hour, centuries of enmity were set aside. They would linger in the ruins of their once proud empire, ever watchful of forces of the Shadow, for they knew no one else would suffer so much its wrath.

So, the great betrayal was never uncovered and the surviving members of the lineage retreated from the West, back into the Wilderland. For centuries they kept their word, but then a dragon came and left no witnesses – the family would have died there and then if not for children fostered among the kings of the free men of the west.

Prologue
In 2945 the surviving Angdall elders exchanged missives and decided to meet and pool their resources in reclaiming their ancestors’ lands, for the Dragon was dead. Their gathering point was the Old Ford in the Anduin in Yuletide, and there a company was formed by:
• Randall from Dale, a young and reckless swordsman.
• Alaric of the Beornings, a wandering hunter of great renown.
• Edda from Laketown, the trusty wife of Farald Angdall, who disappeared two years back.
• Arn, her brother-in-law, a clever trader.
• Azhagor Broadbeam from Bar-en-Thurin, the son of the last seneschal of the Angdall state.

There they are introduced and advised on the little was known of their lineage. Also, they receive Wolfbiter, a family relic lost to the Woodmen centuries ago.
After vowing to return to the Old Ford Sanctuary with glorious news, or die trying, they depart.

Chapter 1 – The Journey North
Staying clear of the hills of the west bank, the company travels in early spring. Two days ahead right south of the Forest Gate, Alaric finds signs of a flock of Grim Hawks harassing a rider. He returns and confers with the company, advising on staying clear from the beasts and once the rest of the company decides to intervene he still warns them – “Sling and arrows save a man’s bone and marrow!”
True to the advise Edda brings down some of the hawks and relieve the rider with her bow, while Randall and Alaric protect her, who receives the brunt of the wicked beasts wrath! They are victorious, but not in time to save the rider’s horse and almost too late to save the rider. To their surprise it’s a woman, Aesthid, daughter of Viglund, running from an arranged marriage. However, without her horse and injured her escape seems frustrated. Edda and Randall convince her to return to her father’s hall instead of risking so much on the travel south. Wearily, she agrees.
Once they reach the hill fort they meet the harsh ruler of these lands and his twelve warriors. Viglund is not surprised (nor rejoiced) to see the runaway bride back, much less brought back by one of the hated Beornings. The company is taken prisioner when they reveal their quest, because Farald has spent many a season as a guest here, but fled after murdering Viglund vizir, Saviga! Alaric takes great insult in this treatment, but is forced to go with the guards. While Randall challenges Aesthid’s husband to be, a brute of a man called Othbald, to a “constest of wills” – and somehow he stops the warrior from approaching and forcing Randall from his seat at the dinner table. Grudgingly, Viglund suffers Randall freedom until the next day, when he will pronounce his decision on the fate of the company.
During the night though, one of Viglund’s warriors approaches the company’s cell and offer them a deal: he would free them if they swore to help oust Viglund! Alaric readily accepts. They are taken to the armory and retrieve their arms. With Wolfbiter back into his hands the Beornign hunter leaves the group and evades Viglund’s guards; entering in the chieftain’s throne room. There Alaric threatens Viglund with bloody vengeance, unless the company is granted safe passage. Alone, the chieftain chooses not to risk the Beorning’s wrath and let them go.
Alaric is not satisfied.
The hunter claims on the humiliation of their treatment and soon they exchange blows. The company and the Viglundlings are brought to the throne room by shrill screams. Alaric throws the chieftains head to the stunned audience that quickly assembles, tastes of his wine and thrusts the cup into Thunar’s chest – “My part in the bargain is fulfilled. We are free!”
Othbald seizes his chance and takes charge of the clan, clearing the Angdalls to leave, with their weapons and their honor, but decrees that for their crimes they should take the Path of the Lonely Giant. By morning the host crosses the river and deliver then to a path in the hills, making camp to assure that the company would not simply turn back. Thus they take the Path and indeed find it guarded by a prodigious giant! Nor arrows or blades would win the day… so they set a trap, and once the giant tumbles down the scree the company runs for as long as their lungs allow them to.
By then, where the Greylin and Langwell meet, they reach Tom Black’s farm, where they ask for refuge.