Gryfflet has been inspecting Aragorn's pavilion and has some strong opinions, but Aragorn is preoccupied with the impending funeral for the fallen. Gryfflet has some armour to distribute which is gratefully received, and he helps the recipients put it to the test and then repairs it for them while we discuss some Lore. We decide to proceed with the funeral which proves to be just as evocative and emotional as we hoped: we recognise all of the names having met them in the course of the game. Éomer then asks us to place a stone on Snowmane's cairn and we visit Théoden with him. When we return to the Pavilion, Aragorn wants us to go to Osgiliath to liaise with the Rangers of Ithilien whom we met on our approach to Minas Tirith. Gandalf also has a task for us so we ride around the Pelennor Fields to recruit trumpeters to announce Aragorn's departure for the Black Gate and then we are off to Osgiliath. Gryfflet is surprised to bump into his old friends Nethadan and Bandron who are overjoyed to have an opportunity to unload the barrels of nails that the former bought all those weeks ago in Gondor to the latter's erstwhile dismay. Our route takes us pretty much straight across the city with brief pauses to confront lurking Orcs and Gryfflet is happy to see that the new occupiers have more of an eye for safety than those previous. We meet up again with Mablung who wants us to search for hidden supplies and say hello to some of his friends whom we met before. We set off around the city visiting various buildings and reminiscing about our previous visit and what has happened since, and on our return to Mablung it comes as no surprise when he asks us to search for and defeat more enemies around the city which on the bright side affords us more time to discuss a Lore Question. While we are busy with that, two mysterious figures are spotted and of course Gryfflet is nominated to investigate: he is very pleased when they turn out to be the Sons of Elrond who have been tracking a wounded Troll and volunteers to take over from them. Happily the Troll has left a trail which is relatively easy to follow for the most part and we catch up with him in the Palace of Eldacar which we just searched. He doesn't last long and Gryfflet dares to mount his war-steed to return to base where Mablung is happy to hear both of the identity of the mysterious figures and the death of the Troll. While we were gone he received word that a Variag Jarl wishes to negotiate so we set off to the East Gate where we bypass Gandalf who is patiently awaiting our arrival. The Jarl wants supplies in return for letting us know where to find some of his former allies and Mablung thinks it is worth trying, especially when we discover that the allies in question are infesting the culverts which we were intending to visit at some point. Gryfflet has enough time to get just inside before we have to wrap up the session.
"Hey, diligence is my middle name!"
"A battered and bruised trumpet is also something I can relate to!"
"It's only 10 seconds but still I kind of grudge it!"
"Maybe pull that back a little bit?"
"Red is a bold statement!"
"No? One at a time, huh?"
"I remember when these were a lot more full of enemies than they are now!"
"What are you two scallywags doing here?"
"Oh, you would turn around! Do I need to loot your body?"
"So I have permission to slaughter them all should things go south?"
"Oh, fresh baguettes!"
Lore discussed this week included some of JRRT's "textual ruins" including the story of the Sleeper in the Tower of Pearl, how Treebeard evolved from a Giant to an Ent, and our lack of information about various Elvish customs. We also discuss a medieval treatise on the subject of dreams.