Faolan the Ranger of the Foraoise Daoine, the forest people, hunted in the Minhiriath, near the Mitheithel, the Hoarwell River, with his white wolf companion when they felt a rumbling of the earth.  Taking to a treetop, Faolan spotted two hill trolls – obviously denizens of the nearby “trollshaws” – chasing two riders of the North, bearing on their tunics the emblem of Nimloth, the white tree of Númenór.  One of the trolls yanked the tree in which Faolan hid clear out of the ground and wielded it as a large club to batter the riders.  Faolan leaped from the tree onto the troll’s shoulder, and with his bow, peppered them with arrows, sending them fleeing into the woods.  Tending to the riders, he learned that they were heading to Tharbad to find Ekhart the builder and deliver to him a summons of Er-Murazor, King of Carn Dûm, who wished Ekhart’s services and counsel.  Faolan led them to Tharbad and to Ekhart, who received the riders welcomingly, and set off in short order with them for the kingdom of the Men of the North.

 

Upon arriving in Carn Dûm, Ekhart and Faolan found Irimë and Gràinne there, the latter dressed in the trappings of a princess of Carn Dûm and referred to as Âruphel, King-daughter.  The party arrived from Tharbad to find a funeral procession for the queen taking place in Carn Dûm.  Whispers among the noble family of the late queen attributed her suicide to the coming of the girl embraced as the King-daughter by Er-Murazur.  In the wake of the queen’s funeral, Irimë divided her time soothing the subjects’ sorrow with song, while spending her nights forging Elven weapons for the king.  Er-Murazur met with Ekhart about fortifying Carn Dûm as well as Tharbad had been fortified, to protect the kingdom from raiding parties of goblins and orcs that seemed to grow in number in the borderlands, in service to the Lord of Bones.  Ekhart drafted many plans to transform the keep of Carn Dûm and the surrounding territories into a sanctuary for Men.  As the weeks went by, and the king sent his subjects out to gather materials and prepare to build, he urged Ekhart, Faolan and Irimë to scout the borderlands to assess the might of the goblin and orc armies, so they could be better apprised of the scope of the threat against which they were preparing to fortify.  Gràinne Âruphel insisted on donning her armor and taking up arms along side her companions, but the king objected vehemently, wishing not to lose his newly found daughter, and risk the last of his line in the wake of the queen’s death.  But Âruphel would not be restrained, and against the king’s wishes she departed Carn Dûm for the goblin caves on the borderlands.

 

Along the lonely road to the goblin caves, the party found a sacrificial site littered with human remains.  A short distance away, they found a large, hollowed-out tree that served as makeshift living quarters.  From the brush, a man called out to Irimë as she conducted a magical ritual to cleanse the site, and as she approached, he attacked her with a sacrificial dagger.  His wildcat pet attacked the rest of the party.  They killed the wildcat and subdued and interrogated the hermit, who revealed that he served the Lord of Bones.  Around his finger, he wore a magical ring, not unlike the protean ring Irimë wore.  As they bound him so they could camp for the night, he demonstrated an obsession with the ring.  The following morning, they took the ring from him, and buried him up to his neck in the dirt before departing for the goblin caves.

 

At the caves, the party found a lair of goblins and engaged them.  The goblins fired crude arrows at them from the safety of their cave.  Dousing the goblins with oil, they set the cave on fire and shot the survivors with their bows.  When all the goblins lay dead, they entered, and the ground beneath their feet began to rumble.  The floor collapsed and all fell into darkness.