Girindor flies Wilf, Jason, and their new chum Ubaron to Dingradur to meet Yspadadden. He is always delighted to receive customers – especially new ones – and Ubaron wants a magic sword. He has just the thing and sells him one he has just made called Wyrd Serpent. It is not only a fine blade but warns its wielder of impending threats. It is also timely, because after a month in his forge, Yspadadden wants to blow the iron dust out of his beard and feel sun on his face once more. As they make preparation for an expedition another two visitors arrive at Dingradur. The first is an elf called Cassira. She is an occasional visitor to Dingradur and seeks a magic blade. She is happy to offer her services as a fighter, tracker and minor magic user to any adventuring party. More surprisingly, especially to Girindor, Wilf, Jason and Ubaron, who last saw him plummetting to the deck of a Tyrosian schooner in the South Seas, the Ranger Aranath also arrives. He seems oddly changed of aspect and now goes by Uranath. He is vague as to how he managed to cheat death, but seems to have undergone some sort of transformation and claims to be a shaman of the “Clan of the Weasel”. Some of his erstwhile comrades, especially Wilfred, view him with undisguised suspicion. Yspadadden sees him as a customer, though notes with disappointment his plainly impecunious state. So along with Yspadadden’s trusty Za’hren Ranulf, it is eight that venture out to explore the forest around Dingradur.
It is late October and there is already snow upon the ground. They chance upon the spoor of a snow tiger, and hunt it down for its valuable hide, teeth and claws. That night they are troubled by forest trolls, who test their mettle and then flee, in the normal manner of such creatures when they are overmatched. The trolls are careless enough to leave tracks that in the morning the party, which contains two elves, follow to a large den with considerably more trolls therein. There is a good deal of fierce fighting, for trolls are strong, agile and cunning and alert for opportunities to isolate opponents from their comrades and fall upon them in numbers with their rending claws and powerful jaws. Moreover they are on their home ground. In one confused struggle, Girindor, who was ever careless in wielding his powerful ring of lightning bolts, blasts Uranath so severely that all thought him slain for sure this time. Once more he appears to shrug off death.
Eventually the adventurers slay the last troll and set about looting their den. They find great quantities of treasure, including a number of elvish artefacts, and a curiosity in the form of an Imperial bolt-thrower that Jason immediately pounces upon. They also find a tube of tightly rolled silk, upon which is inscribed, in Imperial script, a set of interesting and powerful military spells, ideal for a long-range wilderness explorer. They speculate that some kind of lone imperial pioneer or scout must have been caught napping by trolls. This was plainly in relatively recent times – the artefacts were modern imperial not old empire. Ubaron and Yspadadden in particular are delighted with the spells, many of which they have never heard of before.
The troll den complex is evidently originally of human construction and in exploring it they discover a wall that appears to be a bound demon. Deciding that they needed a magician with more expertise in demonology, they make a note for a subsequent return and move on.
On the way back, their scouts spot a large band of orcs and goblins with some sledges. They find an appropriate place and set up an ambush. Their victory is swift and complete. Those orcs and goblins that are not slain immediately flee, leaving behind their sledges. These contain mostly furs and female slaves. The women are mainly Picts, but one comes from Kriggs and claims slight kinship with William the Marshall. They take the women back with them to Dingradur in the first instance. Yspadadden uses his contacts with the Picts to return most of the women home. The Kriggs woman, he windwalks to the castle of William Marshall – who seems rather surprised that he should have troubled himself with so much kindness towards a woman of such little status. Yspadadden shrugs and asks what else would he do – she would have no purpose at Dingradur, he would not slay her out of hand and to expell her in the wilderness would be much the same.
F-15
OE Date: Late October-November 693
Characters: Yspadadden, Ranulf, Ubaron, Wilf, Jason, Aranath, Girindor NPCs: Cassira
Real World: 2000? ; Where: Nottingham