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The following was tacked on to the end of the last adventure (even though we played it during last weekend's session):

Later the three travel the Elf-path across Mirkwood to the Woodland Realm. Me’lereal wrestles with whether or not to tell Thranduil about the Lamp of Balthi, and Idril, Falandor, and Ardorwyn convince him to keep that information from his lord, for fear of his reaction. Instead, as they share news of their adventures, the Elves do their best to persuade the Elf-King of the value of the other Free Peoples.

Then we finally rolled into the next one:

“The Death of Ingomer”
Spring 2959

Conflict flares between the Beornings and Viglundings, and Thranduil sends a group of Elven warriors to aid Beorn; some in the King’s court whisper that their king is acting unwisely. Idril, Falandor, Ardorwyn, and Me’lereal journey back to the Woodmen, and as they arrive in Woodmen-town learn that Ingomer Axebreaker has died suddenly. Many folk of the Wood travel to his funeral in Woodland Hall, including his son Mogdred, and the rites last for four days. Many call for a new war-leader, to bring the Houses together. At the end of the four days of mourning, representatives of the major Houses gather at the doom-ring and hold a council. The main candidates for war-leader are Mogdred, Ceawin the Generous, Munderic the Ponderous, and Malaric. Different Woodmen speak before the council in support of their various representatives, and the Elves make speeches supporting Malaric. At the end, Malaric is chosen as war-leader, and he is presented with the Great War-horn of the Hunter.

It's pretty awesome to have a mostly retired PC as the new war-leader of the Woodmen!

We played on Friday night, adding a small bit to the end of the last adventure, then doing a Fellowship Phase and then rolling into the next year.

So first, adding to 2960:

Me’lereal checks on his cottage outside Rhosgobel and finds the body of his caretaker, Arnel, outside, apparently killed by a wild beast. He buries the Woodman and reports his findings to the community.

“Paying the Troll”
Summer 2961

Frár the Beardless calls for the adventurers to meet him at the Easterly Inn. Me’lereal, Idril, Falandor, and Ardorwyn first visit homesteads near Woodland Hall, which have faced recent attacks by the Werewolf of Mirkwood. They follow tracks south near Rhosgobel for days, until the monster assaults them in the middle of the night. The heroes swiftly slay the beast, but realize that all that is left is the body of a giant Wolf; the spirit likely survived. They travel to the Easterly Inn, where Frar tells them of a band of ferocious Hill-trolls that have recently taken up residence in Northern Mirkwood, ambushing travellers near the Elf-path. He leads them to a hidden cave refuge in the forest, where they meet his kinsman, Flor. The next day the six journey through the woods until they see three Stone Trolls around a campfire. As the party begins to sneak up on them, Flor shouts out, alerting their adversaries, and four more Trolls, one a powerful chieftain, ambush the four Elves! Flor flees, Frár following after him; Falandor seriously wounds Flor with an arrow as he disappears into the woods. The companions find themselves surrounded and outnumbered, and Me’lereal attempts to hold them at bay with his lamp. Ardorwyn falls, and things look bleak until Frár returns, bringing with him mad Dwarven brothers, Polin and Pomin. One by one the Trolls are taken out or take flight deeper into Mirkwood. The group finds a nearby hoard with much gold and other treasure, and the Elves graciously allow the Dwarves the larger portion of it.

We just played tonight. I think this is the first time I've typed up the summary so soon after playing.

“Honour among Thieves”
Summer 2962

A delegation of Wood Elves, accompanied by Sigmund and other men from Dale and Lake-town, arrives in Woodmen-town in the spring and pays homage to Malaric. Later, as the community sets up for the Midsummer feast, a Marsh-Ogre and many large Hunter Spiders assault the village from across the Dusky River. Falandor, Idril, Me’lereal, Ardorwyn, Sigmund, and the Wolf-Bride hold them off for a short time down by the water as other Men and Elves launch arrows down from behind the palisade. As the heroes are retreating up the hill, exhausted and completely overwhelmed by the dark forces, the Lamp of Balthi is unveiled, shining brightly from a carved pole outside the Great Hall! Woodmen-town rejoices as the Spiders and Ogre are forced back into Mirkwood! The next morning, as the party plans to journey to the Woodland Realm to prepare King Thranduil for news of the Lamp, an emissary asks them to meet with local outcast Geirbald Kinslayer. The six adventurers travel to the Brotherhood of Outlaws camp, now a small town north of Woodland Hall, and again see Valdis, along with her new lover, Elfsigil, and pet raven, Eágbitar. Honourable Geirbald, old and dying, begs them to negotiate his return to Woodland Hall one last time. Falandor counsels mistrust of the outlaws, but the others insist on peace. Followed by about thirty outlaw warriors, they return to just outside Woodland Hall. Ardorwyn and Sigmund persuade the Elders to accept their former kinsman, but one Elder, Atarmud, decides that he will give his answer the next day. That night, the Wolf-Bride and Me’lereal follow Atarmud as he visits the burial mound of his former betrothed, Geina, the sister Geirbald accidentally slayed many years ago. The Woodman Elder is persuaded by (what he believes to be) a ghost to reject Geirbald, but the Wolf-Bride changes his mind, convincing him that he was fooled by the raven ally of Valdis. Geirbald, barely kept alive by Malaric, is brought into Wuduseld, where he whispers a foresight about the Werewolf of Mirkwood before dying peacefully. The outlaws choose Beral, one of Geirbald’s oldest followers, instead of Elfsigil as their new leader.

Majestic wrote:That night, the Wolf-Bride and Me’lereal follow Atarmud as he visits the burial mound of his former betrothed, Geina, the sister Geirbald accidentally slayed many years ago. The Woodman Elder is persuaded by (what he believes to be) a ghost to reject Geirbald, but the Wolf-Bride changes his mind, convincing him that he was fooled by the raven ally of Valdis.

I don't remember this from the original adventure, but if it's your own invention, then I must congratulate you, Majestic!

Thanks, Falenthal, but I can not take credit for that part. It has it in Darkening, though I bent things a little by allowing Atarmud to be persuaded (I had him stubborn, but after excellent roleplaying and good rolls, I had him cave).

The part I did improvise was the spider attack. There's a reference in one of the books that says that the Woodmen villages are under continual assault from Spiders and other foul beasts. I feel like I blew it, too, by not double-checking the skills for a returning player (that only plays occasionally, as he visits periodically from California). His PC the Wolf-Bride only had two ranks with her long-hafted axe, and the player grew quite frustrated continually missing in combat (the Hunter-Spiders proved extremely effective overall!) Because of that especially (earlier in the session), combined with the combo of good roleplaying and rolls, I went with Atarmud changing his mind.

I haven't updated who our main companions are for quite awhile. Right now the company is entirely Elves (usually), and mostly made up of Scholars.

Ardorwyn: High Elf Scholar from Rivendell
Falandor: Elven Scholar from Mirkwood
Idril: High Elf-maiden Wanderer from Mirkwood
Me’lereal: Elven Scholar from Mirkwood

Amazing that it has been over three months since we last played this game! One of my players, before we started, mentioned how he was kind of hoping we could go back to my (sporadically played) supers campaign. But during the session, he seemed to be having fun, and he said that now he was feeling like sticking with this game!

We played through the longest stretch (campaign-wise) that we've ever done in a single session, covering two chapters/adventures in Darkening, the latter of which covers a battle of around two years. So, game-wise, we played through all of 2963 and 2964, and the PCs are tied up (reclaiming the Greydelve) for all of 2965 and a good chunk of 2966.

“The Anger of the Elvenking”
Spring 2963

The Elven delegation returns to the Woodland Realm, and Thranduil learns that the Lamp of Balthi may be one of the lost lamps of Amon Lanc. Suspecting treachery, he insists that Gandalf be brought before him. Hearing of his demands, Me’lereal, Ardorwyn, Idril, and Falandor travel to Rhosgobel, where they meet Ash, the Elf-woman leader of the free slaves from Dol Guldur, and learn of Gandalf’s itinerary from Radagast. They journey to Beorn’s home, but find that he is not there. The next morning, four travellers ride in: Gandalf, Thorongil (secretly Aragorn), Elrohir and Elladan. After Ardorwyn says a blessing over Thorongil, the other three depart, and the adventurers explain the current predicament to Gandalf. Though concerned, the Grey Pilgrim suspects the hand of Dol Guldur behind the actions of the recently defeated Viglund, and seems determined to learn more. A contingent of armed Silvan Elves arrives and escorts the wizard and the companions to Thranduil’s Halls. The Elvenking questions Gandalf publically as if he was a prisoner, and the wizard admits that he gave the lamp to Balthi centuries ago. But he explains that it was hidden from the real Enemy, and that the Woodmen have the greater need in the coming war. If the Elves reclaim the lamp, then the Woodmen will be destroyed, as will the Woodland Realm eventually. He then turns to leave, and the King allows it. Some of the Elves wish to go to war with the Woodmen, but Idril and Ardorwyn convince them of the need to work together with their allies. Thranduil chastises Me’lereal in private, but has him fetch Ormal the Lampmaker. The two High Elves meet with the King and encourage him to choose peace, but he makes no decision.

“The Greydelve”
Summer 2964
Escorted by Elven warriors, the four adventurers accompany Ormal as he travels to Woodmen-Town in the spring to see the Lamp of Balthi. Along the way they meet Beorn and Gandalf, who have returned from the far north, and learn of displaced Viglundings seeking homes. Ardorwyn and Idril bestow riches upon the community of slaves that live west of Woodmen-Town, and encourage them to begin trade with the Woodmen. Months later, emissaries of Frár arrive and explain that he has been granted permission by King Dáin to reclaim the Greydelve, though he must assemble his own army to do so. The four heroes join many warriors, sell-swords, and mercenaries, mostly men from Dale and Lake-town, and for two years they face pitched battles in the shadows of the Grey Mountains. After clearing the once-proud citadel above, and defeating countless Orcs and Trolls in the iron mines below it, the Free Peoples root out the last of the Orcs from the deepest dungeons. The companions learn that many of the mercenaries plan to murder Frár once the fight is finished, intent on recovering some supposed vast treasure. They put an end to the potential coup with minimal bloodshed, and are rewarded for their loyal service by now Lord Frár with Dragon-gold and Dwarf-steel. When they return to the Woodmen, the Elves learn that the Lamp of Balthi was stolen while they were gone!

With much thanks to zedturtle and others for helping flesh out the non-combat stuff, and James R. Brown and Eluadin for their fantastic Mythic Battles rules, my session last weekend went really well.

It's the first time I can remember going back and playing through something in more detail that had originally been covered with simply narration. As you'll see from my last summary (above), I originally intended to handwave over a couple of years worth of Reclaiming the Greydelve. But I then decided to play some of it out, award my PCs with weapons and armour, and explore some of the specifics.

“An Army Gathers”
Summer 2964

Escorted by Elven warriors, the four adventurers accompany Ormal as he travels to Woodmen-Town in the spring to see the Lamp of Balthi. Along the way they meet Beorn and Gandalf, who have returned from the far north, and learn of displaced Viglundings seeking homes. Ardorwyn and Idril bestow riches upon the community of slaves that live west of Woodmen-Town, and encourage them to begin trade with the Woodmen. Months later, emissaries of Frár arrive and explain that he has been granted permission by King Dáin to reclaim the Greydelve, though he must assemble his own army to do so. The four heroes join many warriors, sell-swords, and mercenaries, mostly men from Dale and Lake-town, north of Mirkwood, as hundreds of fighters assemble in the shadows of the Grey Mountains.

“The Greydelve”
Autumn 2964
Scouting near the Grey Mountains, Giant Bats and Hobgoblins ambush Idril, Me’lereal, Ardorwyn and Falandor in dark tunnels, cutting them off from a large group of mercenaries. The Hobgoblins prove to be extremely tough, and eventually both sides disengage and retreat back the way they came. Having suffered heavy losses, Ontoral and many mercenaries plan to leave. Frár begs the heroes to intercede, and they successfully persuade the men to stay. Over the winter bands of Dwarves join the cause and food becomes scarce, so the group hunts and brings in much game. Frár tells the adventurers rumours of a secret entrance on the north side of the mountain, so in the spring the four travel there. After solving a riddle, they find a cache of treasure, armour, and ancient records, though a cave-in blocks the way to the main complex. After many months more of fighting, Frár gives magical gifts and treasure to the Elves, in thanks for their great help. The Free Peoples’ army then assaults the main citadel, battling hundreds of Orcs and many Trolls. They accomplish most of their objectives, killing the opponent’s commander, breaking down the outer wall, and destroying the enemy food supply lines before they are forced to withdraw.

Sounds awesome!

What did you use as the riddle? (Just curious, especially if you came up with something better than mine...)

Oh, your riddle was awesome; I used it exactly as written.

And it stumped my players for a bit.

I was quite proud of my son, who at 21 years old (and sometimes quiet in the presence of much older and experienced gamers in their 40s to 60s) threw out a forge as the answer after just a few minutes.