Twelve had gathered as agreed, as fine a body of fighting men and women as you could wish for. As well as the leader, Thoronthor the Captain, there were Viosmos and Miosha, both renowned hunters; Belegorn, another leader of men; Lamonti and Forgar, one a well-known and respected bodyguard, the other yet to prove himself in battle. Met was there, a famous champion, standing with Eresmir, a veteran fighter. Two skilled minstrels, Ertana and Jeffrie, were entertaining the group while they waited for everyone to arrive and finally there was Crowfoot, a mysterious scholar. Zara stared at them in awe, all of them looking rather stern and concentrated. After a very short conference the group started off. No use putting it off, the place had to be purged. That was what they had come for. Zara made her way down the slope towards the terrible-looking gash known as The Rift in the floor of what must once have been a fine building. As they all descended into the huge cleft, she took a deep breath while gazing around her at the world above-ground. Would any of them ever see it again?
Inside it was hot and stuffy. There was no denying it, she was nervous. Holding her daggers so tightly made her palms sweaty. She wiped them on her trousers, readjusted her grip on the daggers and moved forward, following the others and keeping an eye out for trouble. Suddenly they halted. 'There's a troll up ahead sir' Miosha spoke softly, not wanting the troll to become aware of the group before they were ready for it. Thoronthor whispered to the group, 'Right, attention people! Forgar you take the troll, everyone else attack the Troll-Keeper, move out!' his orders were clear and concise, delivered confidently and instilling courage into the group. The next few minutes were a whirl of flashing blades and spraying blood as the troll and his keeper were mercilessly cut down. The first skirmish was a success. None of the party had been injured, so after the bodies of the enemy had been searched for gold and useful items, they continued on. Encountering several small enemy groups in the tunnels, which they dispatched skillfully, Zara was told to knock out certain enemies. Sometimes she was successful, more often not. A knock on the head seemed to have little effect, the Slave running past Zara to fling itself into the melée. She would have to work on her technique.
Suddenly they arrived at huge cave containing a large group of orcs and hillmen who had captured a giant. There was no time for discussion as the orcs and hillmen engaged the party, yelling warcries and hacking and slashing at the group. 'No survivors!' yelled Thoronthor above the noise of battle. After a few minutes of bloody fighting, it was over. Thoronthor walked over to the giant to parley. 'How came you here?' he asked 'I thank you for my life, little folk. My name is Asmolf,' the giant said. He told of his capture and that there were more of his kind in the Rift. He explained how there were two Troll leaders he wanted to see dead and that if the party was willing to kill them, he would open the door to the great city in return. Thoronthor returned to the group and after a brief conference the group decided to do as the giant requested. Unexpectedly, a new wave of orcs and hillmen entered the cave, saw the giant and attacked him. 'You go, kill the Troll leaders! I will stay here and keep this cave free!' Asmolf thundered. The band turned as one and fled up the ramps before the enemy realised they were even there, leaving the giant to deal with them.
'Oh my, what an ugly troll!' was Zara's first thought when she saw Barz. The band was skulking in a tunnel discussing tactics. Zara was on watch, ready to warn the group of any enemies that strayed too close and able to sneak a peek at the great troll every so often. Barz was huge and hideous and carried two enormous clubs, lording it over the hillmen workers and palefolk slaves in the cave. 'Who has hope tokens?' asked Thoronthor quietly, trying not to alert the enemy too soon. 'We must use any advantage we can.' Zara searched her backpack. She never left home without a few hope tokens, you never knew when they would come in handy. 'I do' she said and showed them. 'Everyone ready?' Thoronthor asked. Still watching Barz, Zara tripped over a rock, spilling her hope token. 'Next time please wait 'til I've said the word' Thoronthor grumbled. Zara's Feast of Rohan didnt taste quite as delicious as usual because of her chagrin at having spilled the token. Then there was no time for regrets as the battle was engaged. Lamonti and Forgar ran out to meet the troll, who looked delighted at the prospect of a fight. 'I'll gnaw your bones!' he yelled and fell on Lamonti, who managed to duck under the troll's first attack and hit him on the thigh, making the troll spin around in pain. He ran to the other side of the cave with the troll following him closely. 'No power is stronger than Barz!' the troll yelled again, running to Crowfoot. The Lore-master staggered backwards, drained of some power, while Barz ran back at Lamonti who was taunting him, 'Eyyy, ya big ugly troll, yez hits like a gurl! Is that the best yez can do?' Barz, realising he was getting the worst of the fight, shouted for aid. A troll and it's keeper promptly answered his call, causing confusion in the left flank of the group for a few seconds. Luckily, Forgar quickly managed to get to grips with the troll while the rest attacked the keeper. Then Barz was in amongst them. 'I'll gnaw yer bones!' he yelled, swinging his clubs, scattering the group and hitting Eresmir who collapsed in a heap on the floor of the cave. 'Nooo, not Eresmir!' someone cried out. 'It's alright, she's just unconscious, keep fighting!' someone else yelled back. It was impossible to tell who was making more noise, Barz or the group. Blood flowed and weapons flashed. The troll and keeper quickly succumbed so Barz called for new reinforcements. 'To me!' Thoronthor yelled as a wave of Hillmen Workers under the command of a Hillman Slave appeared from the right. Crowfoot mesmerised the Slave, white light glowing around its head, hypnotising it and effectively disrupting the Hillman's leadership. The Workers were dispatched within seconds, after which the Slave was torn to pieces. Barz was not happy about the death of his underlings and yelled even more loudly. This time a Slave-Master, a Hillman Slave, more Workers and some palefolk arrived. Crowfoot expertly mesmerised the Slave-Master. Zara snuck up behind The Slave, gave it a rap on the head, which stopped in its tracks for a few moments, then shrugging, it ran to the attack. The rest of the group swung their weapons and swung again, the ground treacherously slick with blood and gore. Killing this last wave as quickly as possible, the group turned yet again to confront Barz. 'I'll gnaw your bones!' Barz shouted defiantly and swung hard with his clubs. Ertana slipped in the gore, her lute nearly smashed to pieces by one of Barz' clubs. Lamonti stepped in, using his shield as a wall to protect her while she ran for safety. The group slashed and battered at Barz until, finally, his great form slowly sank to the floor, blood oozing from a hundred wounds. He looked around confusedly. 'No power is stronger than Barz!' he whispered as the light fled from his eyes.
It had been an epic battle, one worthy for the books. The group tended to the wounded and rested while those who were fit enough searched around. Anything of value that was found was brought to Thoronthor to be distributed by dicing. A Near-Perfect Sapphire was found inside a large casket along with some inferior weapons. 'May I look at the gem? I'm rather good at appraising precious stones,' Zara asked hesitantly. She studied the jewel closely, then whistled under her breath. 'Wow, it's a sapphire, a Near-Perfect Sapphire! You'd be able to buy a new pair of boots with that at the very least!' she said, gazing covetously at the gem. Thoronthor asked if anyone had brought dice with them, for loot distribution so Zara searched her backpack for her lucky dice, but couldn't seem to find them. Viosmos found his before she did so they used those. Eresmir won the Sapphire, Viosmos won the rest. 'Time to move on folks, more enemies await!' Thoronthor announced, so the party gathered their belongings together and moved back through the tunnel they had entered by.
Passing the place they had rescued the Giant, the party saw Asmolf still engaged with a host of Hillmen and Orcs. He didn't have time to look up and notice the group as they entered the next set of tunnels as quietly as possible. Neither, luckily, did the crowd he was fighting. The band followed Thoronthor through the caves again, occasionally catching small groups of the enemy by surprise. No one was seriously injured and they entered the cave that was Zurm's domain without real incident.
Zurm looked formidable in his armour, it's red hue shining like freshly-spilled blood. Hope tokens were handed out and the group ate a meal before engaging Zurm. 'Right, same tactics as before', Thoronthor said. 'Only Belegorn, make sure Lamonti doesn't lose concentration', I want you both up close and personal with that troll. Get up his nose!' The party sprung their attack, completely surprising Zurm. He yelled for reinforcements just as Barz had. 'Get on it, Crowfoot, Zara!' Thoronthor cried over the noise of weapons clashing, when help for Zurm arrived. The fight lasted only a few minutes as Zurm was no real challenge to the well-coordinated fighting-machine the group had now become; Zurm yelling for back-up two more times but not really having the heart for a fight it seemed. Another Near-Perfect Sapphire was found in Zurm's personal belongings, along with a few weapons. This time Forgar won the dice roll for the jewel, smiling happily. 'Hooray, now I can buy new boots!' he exclaimed, showing his well-worn buskins, one of which had a hole in the toe. 'Well,' Zara thought philosophically while congratulating Forgar, 'At least I haven't been seriously injured yet! I'm sure to win a roll sooner or later! My lucky dice will win for me!' Though rummaging through her backpack, she still couldn't seem to unearth them.
Forgar and Jeffrie, becoming restless, started slapping each other around in a friendly fashion until Thoronthor signalled the group that it was time to continue their trek. She abandoned her search, closed her backpack and went to join the rest to let the giant Asmolf know that they had kept their end of the bargain. The gate was duly opened and the party passed through where they met several more of Asmolf's kind. Zara wanted to talk to them, to learn more about them. The rest of the band however, was anxious to continue, so she took her leave and ran towards the group. It was none too soon, for the giants were suddenly beset by a group of Ghâshfra Butchers. The giants seemed to be able to hold their own though, so the band continued on their way while the enemy was distracted.
The group met and fought with several groups of Ghâshfra while cautiously making their way through caves and down stairways until they arrived at a large troll encased in armour, sitting in the corner of a strange room, apparently waiting for something. 'Enter quickly!' the group was instructed. Zara looked behind her in dismay as the metal doors they had just gone through swung shut with a clang. They were trapped! Then from the front she heard a great cry. "Frûz!" yelled Forgor, clearly recognizing the troll and unable to contain himself. Frûz attacked! Forgor quickly taunted the troll, taking it back into its corner as four Ghâshfra Fighters appeared at the top of the stairs to help Frûz. The party attacked the Ghâshfra, preventing them from getting close to the troll as they knew the Ghâshfra would give the troll time to recover if not downed soon enough. The fight mercifully ended as rapidly as it had begun, the groups skills now so honed against trolls that no one was injured. A great chest standing on a dais was forced open and the contents revealed. 'So, what have we got then? Oh, very nice, a Sparkling Diamond!' Thorondor announced. Yet again, Zara failed to roll well, Met winning with ease. 'I just don't have any luck today', Zara thought to herself, once more searching her pack for her dice with no luck. 'Where could my lucky dice be?'
The enormous square of the city was dark and silent, only the occasional bonfire lighting the way for the group of adventurers foolhardy enough to venture this far down into the Rift. Above them, standing on the broken top of a tower, stood Zogtark, surrounded by lesser drakes and casting spells and enchantments as the group watched from the shadows. 'And I thought Barz was the ugliest troll I'd ever seen!' Zara thought. The group quietly slid past Zogtark, sending silent yet fervent prayers that he wouldn't discover them until it was too late. They massacred the lesser drakes as silently as possible, then stopped in front of a pair of enormous Fire Drakes. 'Kill them before they can take flight!' rang out the order and the fight began. The dragons were rather formidable enemies, able to hurl their firey breath many yards. Their hair curling with the heat, the group valiantly fought on until the first was taken down. The second dragon died faster than they had anticipated and the group turned as one towards Zogtark. 'Now it's his turn' grinned Eresmir, her face grimed with soot, nodding towards Zogtark as the huge orc descended upon the group in a fury of blows. It wasn't a remarkable fight, though the damage given and taken was heavy. Several members were knocked unconscious at some point, then revived by water thrown quickly in their faces. Zogtark died painfully without being mourned and his personal belongings were plundered.
'Look what I found, look what I found!' Miosha bounced around excitedly, while Jeffrie was teaching Zara how to play the Moor Cowbell. Something was sparkling in her waving fist, 'I bet it's worth a fortune!' 'May I take a closer look?' Zara asked. Miosha handed it to her then clapped her hands in her excitement. 'Isn't it pretty?' 'Its only a Glinting Amethyst, you will be able to buy a new pair of leggings with it' Zara replied and handed the jewel back to Miosha while the group gathered for loot distribution. Assorted weaponry and odds and ends were found and diced for, Ertana winning the Amethyst and Viosmos once more winning the lesser booty. Everyone congratulated Ertana and commented on Viosmos' good fortune in winning so much booty. 'Shall I tell you why I'm so lucky tonight?' he asked and held out the dice he had been using all night for everyone to see. 'My lucky dice!' Zara exclaimed. 'How... when?...where?!' Viosmos grinned widely. 'Remember when I killed that warg that was hunting you up in the Misty Mountains and gave you that beryl shard?' Zara stared at him, recalling how she had got lost in the Northern High Pass a few days ago, when a thick, enveloping mist had caught her by surprise. A warg named Sulmog had been tracking her without her knowing. Viosmos had killed the warg and given her the beryl shard he had found hanging around it's neck. 'Well, they fell out of your pack when you put the shard away and you never noticed. I picked them up intending to give them back, but you ran off so quickly!' Viosmos roared with laughter, handing the dice to Zara. 'They surely served me well tonight' he said and winked. Zara couldn't help grinning back at the chortling dwarf, while silently vowing to be more careful with her things as they set up camp for the night, planning to continue into the Rift the next day.
