Kifak came out of his vision and shared his vision with the party.

“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’

The fellowship talked about the vision and their fear that this creature was some form of hideous offspring of Shelob. All agreed that was a problem for another day and they would head out to Dol Guldur.

The journey was a long three days to reach Dol Guldur – longer if they travelled through Mirkwood. The party agreed to follow the Anduin river as long as they could before they had to enter Mirkwood.

It was a long three day journey to Dol Guldur – one day to get through the Grey Mountains, one day to Meathelburg and one day to Dol Guldur. Their mounts would slow them down through the mountains but allow them to move quickly after that.

The fellowship climbed through the Grey Mountains and found the weather cold but bearable. As they approached the pass they heard a gnawing sound from over the pass. They cautiously approached and saw a huge dragon skeleton that was being consumed by a cohort of Carrion Beetles. The hungry Carrion Beetles had done their job as the Dragon skeleton was almost stripped clean of all the meat. The Carrion Beetles skittered across the skeleton trying to find the last scraps of flesh.

The party talked about how to proceed and they eventually decided to try and sneak past the Carrion Beetles by staying close to the rocky ledge of the pass. The party all moved stealthily except for one. Jesoc seemed to be distracted and didn’t see a rock sticking out of the snow. Jesoc tripped on the rock and fell in the snow with a great clamour of steel on stone.

Immediately three of the six Carrion Beetles stopped gnawing on the Dragon skeleton and approached their new meal. The fellowship moved forward to attack. The Carrion Beetles were slow moving and did not seem to generate much of a challenge for the fellowship. That is until they were almost dead, the fellowship found that the Carrion Beetles have a rage attack to spew acid if they feel they are close to death. Kifak was the target of this attack from one and survived the attack, but was left scarred. The fellowship was able to defeat the three Carrion Beetles carefully avoiding another acid attack.

The fellowship looked up and saw the other three Carrion Beetles were still gnawing on the skull of the Dragon. The fellowship decided to try and sneak past these last three Carrion Beetles. Once again, Jesoc got distracted and fell over an outcrop of rocks. Jesoc quickly picked himself up but the damage had been done. The remaining Carrion Beetles turned to approach as the rest of fellowship all swore in their native tongues at Jesoc.

The fellowship briefly considered outrunning the Carrion Beetles but decided to stay together and fight. Kifak smartly cast Spirit Guardians to swing the tide of the battle and the fellowship was able to defeat the Carrion Beetles without much challenge, other than a couple more acid attacks from the dying Carrion Beetles.

The fellowship took a short break and searched the Dragon skeleton for anything of value. Unfortunately, the Dragon skeleton had been picked clean with no teeth or claws remaining. The fellowship started down the other side of the pass.

The fellowship came down the other side of the pass and the weather continued to favour travel – the day was sunny and the temperature was warming up.

The fellowship came upon a plateau in the last ridges of the mountains and saw a series of nine graves and a ruined fort. Jesoc sensed that there were undead to the east by the graves and ruins.

The party decided to explore the graves before they continued down. Hallamir discovered the headstones had engravings of Elvish script and informed the party that they were inscribed with:

• Adunaphel
• Akhorahil
• Dwar
• Hoarmurath
• Ji Indur
• Khamul
• Ren
• Uvatha

Hallamir then went to the grave that was separate from the others and shared that it was inscribed with Murazor.

Hallamir shuddered and shared that these wear the Black Numenorean names of the lost kings that became the Nazgul.

Suddenly, a large floating shadow appeared asking why the party was disturbing their slumber. The party informed Murazor that they meant no harm and were just making their way out of the mountains. Jesoc asked Murazor if he know of Thuringwethil. Murazor did not respond to the question but informed the party of their story:

• When Sauron was diminished and he sought refuge in the Palantir, the Nazgul were also not totally defeated but also diminished.
• When Sauron was defeated, his army brought what remained of the nine back to the Realm of the Witch King to be buried here.
• With Sauron not totally defeated, the Nazgul are also banished to a sort of limbo. They travelled Middle-Earth as shadows unable to interact with the physical world. They returned to the place of the burial of their physical bodies to await the return of their master.

The fellowship asked if they could explore the ruins and the shadow of Murazor floated to the side and gestured for them to proceed. The party found the ruins contained nothing except for nine black rings surrounded by nine blacks swords in a circle. Jesoc and the party was tempted to try and touch the rings but they resisted. Arbun smelt an overwhelming aroma of seared meat which indicated a massive amount of Necrotic Magic.

Kifak smartly decided to kick dirt on the rings instead of touching them and saw the dirt fell through the rings and the swords. Murazor then said:

“They are as we are. But power is gathering, we await his return”

The fellowship shared that they are in a quest to stop Thuringwethil. Murazor simply replied:

“We have no desire to stop her”

The fellowship took their leave and continued on. As they left Murazor spoke:

“Next time we meet we shall resolve this”

The fellowship reluctantly decided to leave what remained of the Nazgul rather than attack them in their current state. They made their way down out of the Grey Mountains and set up camp once they got away far enough for Hallamir’s liking.

The night passed without incident and the sun rose the next day on a cold morning. It was another good day to travel and the fellowship followed the Anduin all the way down to Maethelburg.

As they approached Maethelburg they could see that the walls had been fully repaired in a short amount of time. The guard welcomed them in and recognized them. He apologized for their betrayal before and recommended they seek out the owner of The Jealous Pony tavern to learn more.

The party thanked him and made their way to The Jealous Pony. On their way, they saw that the entire town seemed to have been repaired and was thriving.

At The Jealous Pony, the owner, Tolbin Shortwick, offered the fellowship food, drink, and board as compensation for what the past betrayal of the town. Tolbin Shortwick informed the party that the entire town was digusted by the mayor’s actions. Tolbin told the party that the mayor told the town after the betrayal and no one else was aware of the scheme.

The party asked about how Maethelburg has been restored in such a short period of time and Tolbin Shortwick told of three wizards that came to the town and made a deal. They would restore the town in exchange for the following:

• 50% of all town income
• 50% of animal offspring
• 1 children per wizard as servants for 1 year

Tolbin shared that the wizard’s names are Avenior, Enathar, and Dhaleus. The wizards live on the summit of Maethelburg where the mayor used to live. Tolbin shared that the wizards now arrange for supplies of everything Maethelburg requires daily. How they are doing this he does not know.

While there are some people that dislike the bargain, the wizards seem to be living up to their side of the bargain and are treating the children well. The party asked if the wizards would see visitors and Tolbin said they would, but recommended they first take advantage of Maethelburg hospitality and visit The Private Squirrel Pub on the second level for ale and games of chance.

The fellowship thanked him and headed up to the second level.