The Forsaken

Previous Reading: Light in the Darkness

The following story can be experienced the starting the quest "Vengeance for the Lost" at the Forsaken Inn in the Lone-lands.

Music Accompaniment:Chance Thomas - Lay of the Free People

Strider had no choice but to take the east road towards the Trollshaws. They had been attacked by the Nine on Weathertop and Frodo had been stabbed in the shoulder by the Witch-King himself. Strider had stemmed the poison of the Morgul-blade, but Frodo would need elven medicine to survive. 4 days had passed since Weathertop, and they were fortunate not to have encountered any more evil. Gandalf had been to Weathertop three days before they arrived, and Strider now knew the flashes of light they had seen in the distance within the Marsh had been the Wizard's battle against the Nazgûl. He desperately sought for any sign of Gandalf but there would be none. They would have to reach Rivendell as soon as possible or Frodo would be lost.

...

The heroes had arrived at the Forsaken Inn. The Inn was in shambles and the people within stared curiously at them as they entered. The Eglain, or the Forsaken, were a hardy people. Long ago, they had chosen to leave Bree-town behind and live in the ruined cities of their ancestors, the Arnorians. The Lone-lands were not as fertile a land as Bree-land was, and the Eglain had long learned to cope with cold nights and empty bowls. These hardships made them headstrong and unwelcoming to strangers from the west.



The Eglain relied on the selling of artifacts within ancient ruins of Arnor spread across the Lone-lands to trade. Recently, Orcs, Foul Dwarves, and Goblins had driven the Eglain out of their ruins, killing many of their people in the process. Gadaric Munce, who had taken refuge in the Forsaken Inn on the border of Bree-land, asked the heroes to prove their allegiance to the Eglain by defeating the goblin menace within Minas Eriol and bringing vengeance to their fallen people.



Within Minas Eriol, the heroes found that the goblin ranks had grown significantly within the ruins. These goblins had also been servants of the White Hand and were in league with the Orcs to the north. With an army of goblins defeated, the heroes returned to the Forsaken Inn.



Satisfied with their work, Gadaric sent the heroes to his brother, Hunulf, who camped near the eastern border of Minas Eriol, for further tasks. While Gadaric had sought vengeance, Hunulf sought to reclaim the treasures of their people.



Beneath Minas Eriol, a great valley was now home to evil spiders who feasted on the bodies of dead Eglain and goblins alike. Hunulf tasked the adventurers with reclaiming their precious relics as well as thinning the spider population and, if any remained, to burn the bodies of the fallen Eglain and give them peace.



The valley was infested with great spiders who sought to feed on the heroes. With the relics reclaimed and the creatures slain, Hunulf set his gaze to Naerost, another ancient Arnorian ruin in the shadow of Weathertop. His people reported that Half-Orcs bearing the mark of the White Hand taken up residence and threatened travelers on the road to Ost Guruth, the Eglain’s home.



The heroes had reached a startling revelation while atop Naerost. Strider and the hobbits had almost certainly cut through the Lone-lands and the growing number of creatures loyal to Sharkey now littered the land. Skorgrím Dourhand and Ivar the Blood-hand served the Kingdom of Angmar led by the chief Nazgûl, the Witch-King. The heroes did not know of their relationship to one another, but one thing was certain; Strider and the hobbits were under pursuit by two forces of evil.



The heroes had cleared Naerost of the White Hand Half-orcs. They returned to Hunulf with the news. Relieved, Hunulf gladly informed them that they had earned the trust of the Eglain. He sent the heroes towards Ost Guruth, where Nain Enidh met Talath Gaun. There, the heroes would find Ragast the Brown, who had taken up residence within the city’s tallest tower. The time had come for the heroes to uncover the evil that Ivar the Blood-Hand had wrought...



Further Reading: The Red Pass

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