Fellowship of the Dice

"You are right," says Telurin. "Thank you Hartley." Turning to the others he adds, "Hugo, Perrie, let us keep watch here. I am sure you won't mind some fresh air?"

The Fellowship decides on a strange course, Halleth and Hartley will spend the night in the tomb, waiting for something more to happen. The others slip outside to set up a camp atop the hill to keep watch and to not be in a barrow over night. Nimriel is there, she is seated on guard, is a deep meditation. As you arrive atop the barrow she glances at you and asks for an update. You tell her what you've found and she is concerned about Halleth's vision and the lack of your goal. "Perhaps we have read the signs wrong." She is silent after that.

The night then continues, the wind is cold, the weather poor, and yet those atop the mound are warmer than those that are inside. The lamp in the central chamber burned red keeping the area illuminated and giving a false sense of warmth to the pair inside. Long into the night you sit and wait, hoping that some midnight something more may happen.

As Perrie and Hugo doze atop the mound, and Telurin and Nim speak in hushed tones after a few hours of meditation a light creeps out of the barrow below.

Hartley is awoken by Halleth who nudges the hobbit, who fell asleep even though he tried to stay awake. A sliver light is growing from the chamber of Arphan's grandfather. A bright light that is difficult to look at when it first arrives. Then it seems to lesson, and a figure steps from the barrow door, through it, as if it wasn't there. It is Arphan, but not as Halleth knew him, it is his spirit as a young man, in his late teens perhaps early twenties. He gazes about the chamber, not seeing the pair within at first. Then his eyes land on Halleth, "I know you. You are father's friend, a Ranger." He smiles, "Where are we?" He doesn't wait for an answer, "I know this place." Then he looks about worriedly, from side to side, as if realizing for the first time you are in a tomb. "This isn't right, I shouldn't be here? Why am I here?" Both hobbit and dunedain can sense the confusion in the spirit's voice and in his empty eyes.

Privately, Hugo breathes a sigh of relief!

Halleth kneels before the spirit. "My liege--for you are the last of the line of the kings of Cardolan--I do not rightly know what is going on. I and my companions came here, drawn by a dream I had of you calling out for help. We stopped at the ruins of the fortress your father tried to reclaim and there we saw a vision of you being tortured by some unseen hand. Further clues lead us here." He pauses. "But you are younger than I remember you. Does any of what I am saying make sense to you?"

The hobbit stares in amazement at the apparition. "Where have you come from? Have you been tortured?"

Arphan looks worried, he pauses, his face long and drawn. "The keep, no no I'm not at the keep. I'm here."

He paces around, confused, and lost, "No where is here? This isn't right either. I'm not here, where..." he looks off into the darkness, as if seeing something else. "Oh..." he turns his head and looks to Halleth. "I feel strange."

He touches his chest, where a silver chain hangs, a small amulet, the same design as the brooch that Hartley has hangs on it. "I am broken. They took me. They took it. They broke me. I am not here." He looks west, "I am not at the keep. I am not in the cold north." He shakes his head, "No I am in these places, in all of these places. All of them but none of them. I should be with Father. I don't belong here, or there." He steps to Halleth and reaches out to grabs the Ranger, to urge him to action, but his hands pass through Halleth's shoulders and he looks terrified. "You must put me back together. Please, I can't be broken like this! I can't find Father like this!" He points at the brooch now that Hartley has removed from his pocket, "The key! That's the key, no no no no, that's part of the key! You need, I need, them all." He's starting to get erratic, his voice is growing faster, confused, upset, "All three pieces, put me back together! All three pieces of me... " he point at Hartley's brooch, and then grabs at the amulet around his neck and it vanishes." He turns and looks back into the chamber where his grandfather is laying in state. He grabs at his head, as if some noise is driving him mad. "FIND ME! ALL THREE PIECES!" he runs back into the chamber where his grandfather lays in state.

"There are three chambers. Only one was empty. Come, Halleth quickly, lets search the other two sets of remains. Perhaps we missed something on them, another amulet? He said three pieces and this is one. The other two must be here somewhere."

"Yes," says Halleth, following Hartley. "One of the the three pieces should be here. And I reckon another is back at the ruined keep. And hopefully yours is the third piece. Let's start with where Arphan's grandfather is laid to rest, since that's where I had the vision." He pauses, then says, "Let's go wake the others--more eyes mean more chances of finding the amulet."

Telurin sits next to Nimronyn when Halleth emerges from the barrow. After he has shared about the vision, the Elf nods to Nimronyn wordlessly, who remains on the hill.

"Perhaps a little stronger light will help us find it?" he suggests.