The fellowship decided to rest for the night on Weathertop before undertaking the last day of travel to Bree. The night passed without incident and the fellowship set out after a quick breakfast. The east-west road to Bree was clearly marked and the party easily followed it and reached Bree in the middle of the afternoon. As the party approached the gate, the town guards inquired as to what their business was in Bree. The party informed the guards of their adventures on the road and the Orcs they encountered on Weathertop. The guards nodded approvingly when the party described the manner of which they killed the Orcs.

The fellowship inquired about rumours about the Barrow Downs and the guards mentioned that they should seek out the owner of the Prancing Pony. The fellowship thanked the guard and asked if there has been trouble of late. The guards mentioned the gang of Orcs that were a problem in town but that they seem to have left.

One guard inquired if there were any Orcs in the party and welcomed them in once they confirmed that there were no Orcs in the party. The party entered Bree and quickly made their way to the Prancing Pony.

The fellowship saw the Prancing Pony in the distance and noticed that there were two Half-Elf sentries guarding the entrance. They cautiously approached and entered the Prancing Pony.

The Prancing Pony was busy for an afternoon. Arbun noticed that there were no halflings in the bar even though halflings accounted for a third of the population of Bree. The party sought out the bartender and owner – Arlington Bowman. After some chit chat, Arlington Bowman shared the following information about Bree.

• There has been trouble with Orcs recently coming in and causing problems at the bar.
• Halflings have stopped coming to the Prancing Pony due to the fact that the Orcs started trouble and often fought with the halflings as they viewed the halflings as an easy target.
• The Orcs seemed to be looking for something at the Barrow Downs and mentioned they were looking for a “Black Marble”
• Arlington mentioned they Orcs were led by an old crone that frequently paid their tab and covered any damages they caused.
• Arlington also mentioned that some of the Orcs returned fragile and a pale image of themselves. Many fierce warriors returned weakened and clumsy – unable to even lift an axe.
• Arlington also shared that two guides and Rangers, Mortimer Tiller and Bernard Smythe, were at a table and they could be hired to take the party to the Barrow Downs if they wanted.

Hallamir proceeded to buy a round for the entire bar – eliciting a hearty cheer and shouts of undying affection.

The party then approached Mortimer Tiller and Bernard Smythe and they shared the following information:

• They will guide them to the Barrow Downs for 50 gold pieces
• They will not enter with them
• It is not too hard to find the Northern Barrow Downs. Fog is the main challenge to finding the Barrow Downs.
• Mortimer also shared that the Barrow Downs contained the following crypts:
• Royal Burials of Arnor – North part of Northen Barrows
  • Aristocratic Barrows – Mort Gorthad
    • House of Eldanar Crypt
    • House of Narmenacir Crypt
    • House of Mendacil Crypt
• Royal Burials of Cardolan – South part of Northern Barrows
  • Edain Burials – Tyrn Gorthad
    • Ostoher – Malin Crypt
    • Imrahil – Blackclaw Crypt
    • Baragor – Moringol Crypt

The party decided to not hire the guides and to try and find the North and South Barrow Downs themselves. They then continued to mingle with the other patrons in the Prancing Pony and learned the following:

• Carter and Lily Parson were seated together having dinner
  • Husband and wife that were very welcoming and pleasant.They informed the party that they own the bakery – “Tokens of my Confection” They recommend seeing them in the morning to get some cinnamon buns.
  • The party thanked them and moved on.
• Albert and Herbert Chamberlain were sitting at the bar
  • They informed the party that they were blacksmiths that specialized in custom crafting. The party inquired whether they would craft weapons and armor from Yeti claws. The Chamberlain brothers agreed but unfortunately the cost was beyond what the party could afford.
  • The Chamberlain brothers were very intrigued at the mention of Yeti claws and offered the party 16,000 gold pieces for the Yeti claws. The party accepted and the Chamberlain Brothers exchanged 4 gold bars each worth 4,000 gold pieces for the Yeti claws.

The fellowship then visited the last remaining table and met Baldrick Tinder and Percy Draper. Baldrick and Percy were business owners of businesses that were struggling with all the recent problems in Bree.

• Baldrick owned a music store called Aural Masters that sold instruments and earplugs
• Percy founded the Laboratory of the Verification of Pomology that was investigating the healing properties of pomegranates.

The party was interested to talk to the Mayor and waited until the Mayor, Paul Clerkin, arrived. He was very open and shared as much information as he knew.

The Mayor shared that he reached out to the new leader of the Mirkwood Woodelves, Aenwyn Leorieth, to seek protection when Bree was overwhelmed by the bands of Orcs. Aenwyn had sent six Half-Elf Guards in response. The names of the six Half-Elf guards were:

• Fredlanor Crafina – Ranger
• Tanvalor Trabalar – Ranger
• Emeosrin Venlee – Bard
• Rogkoris Gilthana – Rogue
• Malword Holarora – Rogue
• Galnian Holalamin – Cleric

The Mayor further confirmed the stories and rumours the fellowship had heard from Arlington Bowman and other patrons.

The party then settled in for a night of drinking and burping contests after they had arranged for lodging for themselves and their mounts. The conversation quickly turned to a discussion of religion, old gods, philosophy, and brotherly love. The fellowship eventually retired to their rooms to prepare for the next day.

The fellowship awoke early the next morning and headed out after a quick breakfast. They were sure to drop by the Tokens of my Confection Bakery to get some cinnamon buns. Lily Parson remembered them and told them how the cinnamon buns were so good that people said they have recuperative powers. Lily gifted two cinnamon buns to each party member and Arbun was so enamored with them he bought an additional two for 1 gold piece.

The cinnamon buns were a work of art. They were as large as Arbun’s head and had hundreds of buttery layers covering a variety of walnuts and hazelnuts. The bun was covered with a sinful glaze of heavenly icing that was topped with a single golden gooseberry. The fellowship thanked Lily and carefully packed the cinnamon buns away.

The fellowship decided to travel to Barrow Downs on foot and leave their mounts at the Prancing Pony. They followed a path south through the downs and came upon a gated cemetery that enclosed a series of crypts and barrows. Mist covered the hills and flowed around the crypts. The party moved closer and saw the gate was open and beside the gate there was a sign that read:

“Royal Burials of Arnor”

The fellowship cautiously entered and the gate slammed shut behind them. The party looked around and saw that the fence around the crypts and barrows was at least thirty feet high. The fellowship then set to exploring the cemetery.

There were three crypts in the cemetery with a pedestal in the centre surrounded by four large cross sculptures. Hallamir went to explore the crypt to the northwest and found a sign outside that read:

“House of Eldanar”

Hallamir kicked the door in and found that the crypt was empty. Whatever was here was now gone.

Arbun carefully approached the pedestal and saw the figure of an old crone lying dead on the pedestal holding a black orb in her decrepit claw of a hand. Arbun told the fellowship what he saw and Jesoc quickly sprang forward and ran up to grab the Palantir. He gave the Palantir to Kifak to place it into the bag of holding.

Suddenly from all around the party, Barrow Wights exploded from the ground and moved to attack. The Barrow Wights all moved toward the pedestal and converged on Jesoc. The Barrow Wights unsheathed their swords that were blacker than the night itself. The rest of the fellowship were able to avoid the attacks, but Jesoc was hit twice. The damage seemed minor but both times Jesoc felt his life energy drain from him after each hit.

The fellowship was able to rally to Jesoc’s aid and defeat the rest of the Barrow Wights before anyone else was struck.

The fellowship then heard movement and a low moaning from the south. Another Barrow Wight moved forward but this Barrow Wight was larger and wore a black crown. The Wight King moved forward and opened his mouth unleashing a shrieking song. All of the party were overwhelmed by the sound and felt themselves almost passing out. They all recovered and moved forward to ruthlessly attack the Wight King. They all delivered vicious strikes that staggered the Wight King.

The Wight King stepped back and once again sang his dark melody. This time Kifak fell under the spell and fell fast asleep. The rest of the fellowship was able to recover and moved forward to finally vanquish the Wight King.

Jesoc rushed forward to the corpse of the Wight King and picked up the black crown. Jesoc quickly put on the crown to the horror of the rest of the party. Jesoc was undeterred but was disappointed when nothing happened. Jesoc continued to wear the Wight King’s crown as they continued to explore the cemetery.

Hallamir explored the other two crypts and found them empty as well. The crypts bore signs identifying them as crypts for the House of Mendacil and the House of Narmenacir. Finally, the party explored the pedestal but found no signs of entrances, levers, or subtlety. Arbun searched the hag and found a note in her pocket that read:

“Blood Sister Agarwaen, we have located the palantir of Cirith Ungol – unfortunately the arachnid queen has it in her possession. Awaiting the arrival of Nixe to assist us. – Blood Sister Vasa” 

Arbun also found that the hag was wearing a solitary black ring. Arbun wrenched the ring off of the hag’s finger.

Jesoc had an idea! Perhaps the cinnamon buns would help this feeling of being two levels emptier. Jesoc wolfed down both the cinnamon buns and he soon felt almost normal again.

The party looked around and discovered they had another problem – they were still locked inside the cemetery. Arbun moved forward and tried to pick the lock but he was unsuccessful. Jesoc told everyone to back off and unleashed an Eldritch Blast. The gate wavered but held. Jesoc unleashed another Eldritch Blast and the gate finally flew off its hinges.

The party left the cemetery and decided to go south to try and find the Southern Barrow Downs. No matter how hard they tried to maintain their bearing, they lost their way and end up back at the Northern Barrow Downs.

After trying to find the Southern Barrow Downs a couple of times, the fellowship decided they would make their way back to Bree, stock up, and perhaps hire a guide to help them find Southern Barrow Downs. They were able to find their way back to Bree and arrived just around suppertime and found the Prancing Pony busy with two gambling tables set up for the evening. Arlington was pleased to see them and welcomed them in.

The fellowship ordered a well-deserved round of ales and told Arlington Bowman their story.