Gryfflet has become aware that his weaponry is not in proper working order so he has ventured to Rivendell to upgrade his gear, which he accomplishes with some help from the peanut gallery. Shopping accomplished, he returns to the Rohirrim War-stead and sets off, only to discover why this place is notorious for what is known as "rubber banding". He eventually gives up on his horse and runs to the Beacon Hills, allowing some time for discussing some Lore. Arriving there he mounts up for faster progress, then slows things down again by deciding to visit the beacon at Calenhad, and then by decoding to find out where the road goes to. A brief visit to the Eastfold later, he ventures up the slopes of the Halifirien to the beacon set thereon, thus completing a feat of exploration that he has long been pursuing. Elendil's Tomb is swarming with looters, so Gryfflet is happy to obey instructions to defeat some of them, using his newly-upgraded weapons which prove very effective. Waiting for more enemies to spawn, he is ecstatic to find the huge statue that we saw from afar, and we contemplate what it might be holding before setting off into the nearby wood for what turns out to be a fruitless search for a last quest, but this does allow us to discuss an interesting Lore Question raised in chat. Eventually Gryfflet gives up and jumps directly to Guthlaf who has been awaiting our return with remarkable patience. Also eagerly awaiting our return are the Riders Three who have a cunning plan to track down the traitor who killed their fourth member, Léofdag. Since the plan requires Gryfflet to wreak some mayhem he happily joins in while we discuss his likely progress over the next year or so. He brings the spoils of his havoc to Ulf the Reaver who has persuaded a Variag mercenary to spill the beans on the traitor, revealing a name with which we are already familiar. The Riders decide to set off with the rest of the Rohirrim, to catch their prey during the upcoming battle, but they want Gryfflet to provide a distraction to cover their tracks. He therefore sets off to the Beacon at Amon Dîn and sets it alight, fighting off the response with no bother thanks to his newly-improved weaponry. His attempt to make the rendezvous with Éomer is first of all thwarted by yet more rubber-banding, then by a chance meeting with poor Sithgar who has lost his horse again. Nothing for it but to lend a hand again, only to find a Wose who wants to swap a shield for helping with the horse. However the horse has other ideas so we need to rescue her from some wood-trolls while Sithgar and the Wose come to an agreement, so we are able to leave them all in safety while we continue to our delayed rendezvous. We meet up with Éomer as our session, the last for this year, comes to a close.
"The majority of Gryfflet's stabs are really quite subtle!"
"I snapped all the way back to here! Holy cow!"
"I see it with the statue! Not subtle!"
"I just put my hat on!"
"Combat is so much quicker with effective weapons!"
"I'm going to stab you in the back but it's for science!"
"I love this plan! This is a great plan!"
"Oh, I already have enough spoils! Sorry dude!"
Lore discussed this week included the tricky question of whether integrating Christmas into Middle-earth might be possible, and JRRT's ever-evolving ideas about the Wizards.