MERP: With a Giant for company

The party are camped out in the ruins of a small fort. They are exultant at the destruction of a goblin band, but almost everyone is badly beaten and injured from the battle. Aralash (a young giant the party have befriended) is overjoyed at the recovery of his huge engagement ring and dances with joy around the camp. He is very glad to follow the instructions of the party to barricade the entrance to the fort with boulders and sets to with gusto, building it (as directed) to the height of a dwarf. “None of you are very tall, are you?” he says helpfully.

The party sets a heavy watch schedule. For the first six hours after nightfall, the badly injured pair of Laus and the halfling patrol the wall, barely able to keep their eyes open. At 1am they collapse into their bedrolls and Saul and the bard take their turns for another 6 hour shift. Following her meditation the elf is totally alert, while the dwarf slips in and out of a doze….

Meanwhile about 2 miles away a novice Rohirrim warrior on a long-range scouting mission has been ambushed by wolf riders. He charges them and leaves one orc dead, skewered by his lance. Unfortunately his lance is left embedded in the foul creature. Judging his skills insufficient to face the other three alone he tries to outrun them. Galloping East, he spots the silhouette of a fortress on the horizon and head towards it. It is too late when he realises it is a ruin and he decides it is as good a place as any to make a last stand.

The elf spots riders heading this way and heads to the gate for a better view. Once there she realises that Saul has fallen asleep and wakes him with the shout of “Riders!”. Saul has just climbed to his feet when the Rohirrim, astride a warhorse, flies over the barricade and over his head! The rider’s shout of “Orcs!” brings Saul quickly back to alertness and he stumbles to the tower to kick his sleeping brother awake. The Eleven Bard notches an arrow and lets fly, hitting one of the advancing wolf riders and then they are in.

Aralash leaps up and jumps to the attack, knocking one of the orcs from his mount and out of this world. Saul moves forward and taps the snarling wolf, but receives a heavy strike in his side from its hideous rider. The bard unleashes another arrow at the third orc before the Rohirrim lord charges in and finishes the evil creature. Laus and the halfling can barely drag themselves out of their bedrolls.

Nurn delivers some much needed healing magic to Saul, whilst in front of him Aralash strikes the other orc with his 2-handed club, sending it flying across the courtyard to slump against the far wall. One wolf flees, while the remaining two are hacked to pieces by the heroes, although Dobin receives a nasty bite from one of these foul mounts. The Rohirrim lord leaps to the chase of the vanished wolf, but can find no trace of its trail. The party collapse into unconciousness with an enraged Aralash stalking the area being entrusted to guard them.

The next day the group take it easy, tending their wounds and planning their onward journey. The bard makes a bloody mess of her clothes and coats herself in gore in an untrained effort to skin the wolves. The Rohirrim is welcomed to the group and his generous nature is reflected in the gifts he bestows on them, perhaps partially linked to them saving his life! He rides off to recover his lost lance. Aralash heads North for his tryst with the lovely Benelimard, having been made a secret offer from Laus before he leaves.

The group reunite and head on to town where they induge themselves in stew and ale and try to find out about the missing princess and mysterious Kurstone Keep. Between the barman and their old friend Brother Tomas they find out some details of an exiled Northern lord, who appears to have set up in the ruins of the keep to indulge in an unnatural cult. Tales of orcs and terrible monsters have surrounded the area since then, with terrified villagers talking of leaving the area. Rumour has it that the kidnapped Lorien princess has been taken to the Keep and that either an awful fate awaits her tomorrow night (the dark of the moon) or that she will be taken to the land of the shadows to the East. Tomas tells them that their friends Talkamon the ranger and Darramon the mage have been seen in the town, but have since disappeared.

Austin the Elven diplomat arrives and it his only his state of desperation which in the end resigns him to hiring the uncouth mercenaries that the group metamorphasize into, talking openly in front of him about the various appalling ends that the princess may have come to. The group demand an advance of 20gp on the offered rewards (150gp for the safe return of the princess, 50gp for the holy crystal that she holds), which they then ruminate on hiring cannon fodder in the form of farm hands, or a guide for the trip.

More chaos next time as the group embark on their long-awaited rescue mission!