The fellowship rested at Fornost before they set out for their reunion with Uruial at Steel Fall. It was expected to be a three day journey that would take them right past Mount Gundabad. Thankfully the wardens of Annuminas had taken good care of their mounts and they were ready for a long journey.

The Wardens also shared the lore of Mount Gundabad:

Mount Gundabad is a mountain in the north of the Misty Mountains. Shortly after the elves woke in the First Age, this is where Durin, oldest of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves, woke up. He soon moved further south and founded his home in Moria, but Mount Gundabad remained a holy site and meeting place for the dwarves.

In the Second Age, Orcs attacked Gundabad and took it for themselves, one of the main causes of the hatred between the Dwarves and the Orcs. During the Third Age Gundabad was  the Orc capital of the kingdom of Angmar, and remained so even after Angmar fell. However, the Orc populations were severely lessened during the War of the Dwarves and Orcs and the Battle of Five Armies.

Mount Gundabad was used by Sauron during the War of the Ring as a strategic outpost, but it was abandoned after the ring was destroyed. When the ring was destroyed, the three peaks of Mount Gundabad were broken and left in rubble. Mount Gundabad now lies in ruin. Recently the rumours abound of the area being overrun by Vampires and other creatures of the night. Travel is not recommended after dark and the wardens recommend to trust no one on the road.

The Wardens also mentioned that they have seen a village of Dwarves on the way to the Ettenmoor mountains but they have not approached them or made contact with them. The wardens mentioned that one curious aspect of the Dwarf village is that there appears to be no children.

The fellowship departed in the morning. It would take them one day to get to the Ettenmoor mountains, one day to get to Mound Gundabad, and one more day to get to Steel Fall.

The travel was uneventful until the fellowship saw a village in a valley in mid-afternoon. The fellowship approached the village cautiously.

The party encountered a couple of dwarves when they entered the village. They were welcomed by Durgan Emberhelm and Thilda Rockroot. The party noticed that these Dwarves were paler and somewhat darker than other Dwarves. Durgan and Thilda offered to take the party to the town’s leader – Vladin Blackvein.

The fellowship met Vladin in the town’s tavern – The Crimson Cask. Vladin welcomed the party to the village of Grimhollow Delve and was very open with the party that all the villagers were vampires that escaped from ‘her’ control. Vladin wouldn’t name ‘her’ by name and when pressed just named her as ‘T’. There wasn’t any doubt in the party that Vladin was referring to Thuringwethil.

Vladin told the story that they escaped and roamed the wilds hunting and drinking the blood from whatever creatures they could find until they were far enough away and her influence waned. Vladin mentioned that they also had a Cleric that was able to conduct a cleanse ritual to further remove her influence. Vladin mentioned that this Cleric was Borin Ironvein and he could be found in the chapel if they wanted to learn more about the ritual.

Jesoc’s curiousity was insatiable and Vladin answered all of his questions patiently and honestly:

• No, we aren’t under her control anymore
• No, we won’t report you
• We escaped about 2 years ago
• All of us were imprisoned together when we escaped, except for a couple of relative newcomers who joined the village recently – Kargan Deepdelver and Ysmira Axebinder.
• They are a fully sustainable community with hunters, farmers, brewers, goats, chickens, and even an apple tree.
• Vladin explained there are no children because there were no children imprisoned and they haven’t been blessed with children since their escape.
• Aren’t you scared Thuringwethil will come for you? No, we just live without fear of what might be.

The party thanked Vladin for his hospitality and sought out Borin Ironvein to learn more about the ritual.

The chapel was empty but they heard whistling coming from the orchard next to the chapel and found Borin picking apples. Jesoc offered to pick the apples high up to which Borin gratefully accepted.

Borin explained to the party that he learned of a ‘rebirth’ ritual that helped to remove the bloodlust and the influence of Thuringwethil. The ritual involved burying the individual under dirt and a combination of chanting and prayers to remove the bloodlust. Borin mentioned all the villagers had gone through this ritual, even the recent newcomers and it again removed their bloodlust.

The fellowship asked if they could undergo the ritual in the hopes that it might offer some protection. Borin could not speak to that possibility but was open to conduct the ritual if they liked. Hallamir opted out of the ritual and watched the other members of the party being buried and reborn.

Once they were re-awoken, the party members did not remember any part of the ceremony and felt no different. The party thanked Borin and took their leave.

The party returned the the tavern and to talk to Vladin. They met more villagers who were just as friendly as others. Vladin offered them a house to stay in if they wanted to rest in the town before they left in the morning. The fellowship agreed but Kifak cast Glyph of Warding on the door to make sure they weren’t attacked. The night passed without incident.

The fellowship had breakfast before they set out in the morning, Before they left, Kifak sent a message to the captain of the Wardens of Annuminas:

“Nothing to fear from the villagers. Please trust them’

Kifak asked Vladin if there was anything they could do to repay them for their hospitality. Vladin just asked that they keep the village of GrimHollow Delve a secret as they wish to not be bothered.

At the end of the day of travel, the party approached Mount Gundabad. They saw a campfire ahead of them with a solitary figure. They were welcomed to approach and as they came close, the figure threw off a cloak and attacked! This appeared to be an Elf Vampire!

The battle was engaged and this vampire dealt vicious damage. The tide of the battle was turned, but before the party could become victorious the Elf vampire transformed into a bat and flew away.

The party camped here before embarking on the last day of travel to Steel Fall to parlay with Uruial. The night passed without incident and the party set off in the morning. The day’s travel passed without incident and the party entered the lair of Uruial.

The party was greeted by Uruial who proceeding to give them the Shackles of Manwe as agreed to. The fellowship tried to get Uruial to join their cause, but Uruial declined preferring to not get involved in these mortal causes. Uruial repeated again and again that she had nothing to gain and that she had all the titles she needed.

Ururial did share that she knew the that the home of Thuringwethil was Gerlkuneshe and it was hundreds of miles north. It could only be reached by ship or if you were a dragon and could fly. Uruial again declined offers to help them reach Gerlkuneshe – stating she preferred to not get involved. Uruial also shared that the Hags were known to be agents of Thuringwethil in the past.

Jesoc was overly eager in his attempts to get Uruial to join them and Uruial reminded Jesoc twice:

“Watch yourself little man. Know your place.”

Eventually the fellowship realized they would not be able to convince Uruial and took their leave of Uruial and thanked her for the Shackles of Manwe.

Outside of her lair, Kifak cast Scry on Nixe before the fellowship decided to start the next leg of their journey. Everything went dark and Kifak saw the following:

“Nixe was nowhere to be found. There just was a white cocoon on the ground with a immense shadowy figure above it, twisting it over and over and spinning more and more silk. In the corner of the cave, a black orb sat amongst hundreds of spider’s eggs’