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At the homestead
At the tower
Jari, a gregarious dwarf, and Diarmoc, the saddest man, spin a long yarn about some treasure in a valley to the north of Bree, pulling the company into a scheme. The company grows suspicious of Diarmoc, and question him, getting some of the truth: Diarmoc’s family is being held hostage by trolls in the valley. Jari asserts that the company must help Diarmoc’s family, but they can have the treasure held by the trolls.
The company grows suspicious of Jari. Jari betrays the company, and the company is ambushed by a troll on the way into the valley. The troll attacks the company with a rolling boulder. Despite the daylight, the trolls are able to move around thanks to the deep shadows of the valley, and large cloaks which protect them from sunlight.
Iris tricks the trolls by crafting a troll baby statue. Two trolls are killed. In their hovel, the company finds Scylda Heather and she leads them to her family’s destroyed farm.
At night, they narrowly avoid an ambush, and Diarmoc is killed in the night by two great hands.
In the morning the party finds a boat and begins to scheme on how to save Diarmoc’s family. A great fog rolls in, blocking out the sun. The party attempts to fight the trollmother, Nelly Longarms, and both Yara Gond and Iris are wounded. Bjarne takes to the boat, rescuing two of the four hostages. Handíl distracts the Nelly a second time and the other two hostages are rescued. The company escapes with the hostages and Scylda. Iris’s family adopts Scylda.
Jari escapes capture.
At the behest of Dwarf Lord Balin, the Company sets out to find Jari’s family with the intent to convince them to declare Jari an Outlaw.
This is part of a scheme: if Jari is an Outlaw, any Dwarf may capture him and inherit all his titles, treasure, and claims. Balin thinks that Jari knows the location of the Low Road and wishes to capture him without raising suspicion, in order to claim the Treasure House.
The location of Jari’s family is unknown, so the company makes their way to The Last Inn, and there speaks to Rubb Grumm, proprietor, and Cigfa Bairg, bard. Cigfa Bairg speaks of The Low Road and asks the company to go north on the River Trail to Fulcwian’s house to retrieve the key to the Low Road, asking for Kine’s Horn from the treasure trove in return.
The company opts instead to take the High Trail to Tirthon, a ranger fort, and ask about the Dwarves there. They spend many days on the arduous High Trail, eventually coming to Tirthon exhausted.
The company enters Tirthon and speaks to Marendil, the Ranger Captain. Marendil knows the location of Dwarves, yes, but the party has not proved their quality. Marendil and Handíl compare axes, and then Handíl commits a misdeed by rummaging while the fort is under attack.
Tirthon is assaulted by orcs, giving the company the perfect opportunity to prove their quality. Iris draws first blood, skewering an orc, but is later wounded. Handíl knocks over a ladder and decapitates many orcs with Torgolal, which the orcs recognize. Bjarne destroys an orc ladder, and then takes 7 damage trying to shield surf with Athletics 1 in an attempt to impress Marendil.
Marendil reveals the location of Old Jorbad: it’s near Tri-Top. The company more easily navigates the High Trail this time, and eventually comes to Old Jorbad’s golden halls. After much persuasion and an account of Jari’s crimes, Lord Jori of Jorbad declares Jari Outlawed, and grants the party a Certificate of Outlawment.