The story of a troll-hunting party gone awry during Amathlan's time in Evendim, as told to Ithilwe, Galtharian, and Dalbran in Imladris.
"I have spent the last several decades in Evendim amongst the Dunedain who protect the fallen cities around the Lake. The younger Rangers were not so fond of me; I usually worked alone, I did not give in to their tomfoolery so much, things of that nature. To my absolute dismay, three of those said young Men were assigned to me for a mission. I was not one to be outwardly put out, of course - I took them under my wing for the time until the time came for us to depart.
We rowed silently across the Lake in the dark of night; just before dawn, though the moon glimmered above the mountaintops still. Though I threatened to send them overboard several times, we made it to the northern shore in one piece. A few weeks prior, a separate team of Rangers had put aside for us a weighted net. They immediately began bickering amongst themselves over the plan; we were to take down a terrorizing troll, you see, and all of them wanted to be responsible for its capture, as young Men do.
I was not going to have it, so I told them this; they were all to get into the treetops of a nearby cluster of trees. They would be responsible for dropping the net - I, of course, was going to have to be the bait. I did not trust them to be fast or quick-thinking enough in their arrogance to even outsmart the troll. I did not say that to them, of course! I told them they would each get their proper glory if they all dropped the net; I was just to be the bait. Thankfully, they agreed. I did not need their three young, foolish lives on my hands.
So, I took with me a torch and after some time of searching, I located the nearby troll camp. Just as we had been scouting; this lone, smelly troll was by himself and fell quickly for the light of my torch and my cruel, nonsensical taunts. 'Your mother must have mated with an Orc!' Things of that ilk. Oh, I had no need to be clever! It was a troll. It found the very sight of me offensive. It began to lumber after me, so I ran as the plan told. So long as I lagged enough to keep the troll tantalized and on my tail, my part of the plan was going smoothly. The light of my torch led the way, and dawn began to break just behind the shadow of the mountaintops. Assuming we timed it correctly, we could - at the least - trap the troll long enough for the sunlight to turn its skin to stone.
Yet, as I passed beneath the threshold of the trees with the troll at my tail... indeed, the net was dropped too late. I turned to realize that the ugly beast was angered and realized that it had been tricked. Thankfully his ire remained on me; the poor Men watched me with shocked expressions, as they did not know what to do in that instant. Perhaps a failure on my part, I did not prepare them to expect mistakes in our plan.
I turned to run, abandoning the torch on the ground. The troll followed me in his rage, and I knew I just had to get him away from the young Rangers and into the breaking sunlight - I had to outrun and outlast. I ran down to the shoreline of the lake, weaving along the rocks and trees, driftwood, and slowing sands. I pulled away up an embankment; where the shore goes sharply upwards into a hill. I drew my sword and turned to do battle with the troll to delay his retreat into the shadows. Behind his shape, I saw the figures of three cloaked Men following us. Furious they had foolishly followed me, I was distracted in my footwork.
You see, as the sun began to rise and the sky began to warm... I did not account for the slick dew along the grasses of the shoreline - not to mention the generally muddy grounds along the water. I slipped on the grass and slid down the embankment - and did not slow until I was so rudely tossed into the cold waters of the Lake Evendim. The troll escaped from us that morn, and the young Rangers certainly faced my ire once they pulled me out of the frigid waters.
They called me 'troll piss' for the following weeks until one morning they awoke to the very same offending liquid in their bedrolls. Then they bore the cruel nickname themselves. As for the troll, it was taken down by a different team a few days later. My men - boys as they truly were then - were not happy about it. I was stuck as their mentor for the following three years."
Dalbran says, "Ah, and where'd ye find the troll piss? That's what I want to know."
Galtharian burst out laughing. "You are quite lucky to have experienced such a tale and lived to tell it! How scared must the men have been!"
"That is another secret and a story I shall NEVER tell. I was not concerned about my own life; I could manage a troll by myself if I had need to. I was worried so for them, and I think 'troll-piss' was their way to attempt to show that affection in return. I would trust them with my life even today."
