OOC – Author’s Note:
This is a continuation of producing a narrative summary for live sessions of “Where Webs Whisper”. This time, we look at four sessions 19, 20, 21, 22 & 23 of the overall campaign.
(Click on the links to jump down to the appropriate part):
- Session 19 - 'Escape from Thorenhad'
- Session 20 - 'Smoke and Webs'
- Session 21 - 'The Overlook'
- Session 22 - 'After the Overlook'
- Session 23 - 'Following their trail'
Additionally: This piece was shaped with a little help from AI. It provided help on things like the structuring, some names, shortening some verbose language/ideas as I'd written them, and it gave me the odd turn of phrase here and there. The heart and shape of the story are my own, but I realise it is important to be transparent about my use of AI assistance in the final piece.
Session 19 - Chapter 3
Dusk settles over Thorenhad with the weight of Elrond’s council still hanging over the fellowship. Word has spread through the camp, and the group finds that being told ‘others will take it from here’ brings no real ease, especially with Barachen unaccounted for and the two caravan survivors, Wéthorm and Blacksteel, fearing for their lost kin. The question before the fellowship becomes simple enough: do they go home, or do they disobey.
Over the course of the evening they discuss, but the shape of their conversations is such that they have already made up their minds. They quietly gather what they can. Elven merchants and smiths offer equipment freely and without suspicion, assuming it is for the road home.
When they regroup by the fire, their talk turns to departure – how to do so quickly and quietly. Wéthorm warns they will not be allowed out after dark, but the fellowship settles on slipping away regardless, even if it means squeezing through broken wall-stones or finding a risky route down the face of the hill upon which Thorenhad sits. They split into two groups: Tivlyn leads Rothlung, Benjenn, and the Dwarves toward a weakened stretch of wall, while Vratni goes with Daewen, Wittkun, and Meltharian toward the stables.
At the wall, the work is slow and careful, and a patrol nearly catches them when a lantern shines along the overhead walkway, only for the light to turn away at the last moment, as if called back. Elsewhere, Vratni’s group slips between tents and crates, overhearing guards speak of war, and craftsmen speak of unease. They then reach the stables to find their steeds unbound, calm, and already fully readied as if by deliberate hands. They weigh their chances of leaving with their steeds, when Daewen shares that she can have her steed guide the others out later on, by calling to her. This simplifies the plan, and so the group elect to make their exit down the side walls, though with some difficulty. Before she leaves, Daewen writes a note and leaves it to be found, ultimately for Elrond.
Both groups reunite just out of earshot of Thorenhad, and to their surprise the horses follow down from the fort, answering a quiet whistle. Without lingering, the fellowship rides south and then east into the night, Thorenhad still seemingly unaware, until Daewen looks back and exchanges a silent gesture with a tall Elven figure standing between the pillars before it fades into shadow.
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Session 20 - Chapter 3
The fellowship continue their flight eastward through the Trollshaws, riding through the night until the first light of dawn appears ahead of them. By then, they are far enough from Thorenhad that pursuit seems unlikely. Rivendell’s attention has turned toward wider mustering and open war, and the road behind them remains quiet. Even so, they do not linger, knowing the open way leaves them exposed, and soon turn toward forest paths.
As morning breaks, the Trollshaws reveal a gentler face. Colours return to the woods, birdsong rises, and the land feels briefly alive rather than threatening. Conversation turns to the lost caravan. Wéthorm and Blacksteel speak again of how they were originally bound for Glóin’s camp in the Misty Mountains, with entirely ordinary supplies, trusting long-standing arrangements and elven watchfulness through the Trollshaws. Their confidence makes their loss harder to bear, as nothing about the journey should have invited disaster. Thanks are offered to the fellowship for not turning back and for helping search for the truth of what befell their kin on the road.
The mood shifts sharply when the smell of blood reaches them. The remains of the Dwarven caravan lie wrecked ahead, wagons torn apart rather than looted, goods scattered and untouched. Webs, tracks, and cocoons confirm a spider attack.
Several dwarves are found dead within the cocoons, others scattered where they fell trying to defend themselves. Signs in the ground reveal that a large group of elves arrived at some point, but clues tell a story of them being overwhelmed and then attempting to draw the spiders away. Three elven bodies lie among the wreckage, confirming the attempt cost them their lives.
Before the fellowship can decide their next steps, screams carry through the forest. Wéthorm and Blacksteel ride toward the sound without hesitation, and the others follow. They soon reach a camp, known to those who pass through these lands as that of the elf Barachen and find it devastated, bodies strewn across the clearing. Among them is Rochwen, still alive but mortally wounded. She manages only to gesture toward the trees before dying in Daewen’s arms.
A single survivor is found, Calenroch, one of Barachen’s men, though of Dúnadan origin. He recounts how Barachen led a relief force to the caravan, realised it could not be saved, and ordered a fighting withdrawal to draw the spiders away. That withdrawal saw the Company of elves and men fall back beyond even this camp, to another location, higher and more defensible. It is from here, between attacks, where Calenroch and others were sent to seek aid from Thorenhad, but on their road past their old camp, they were ambushed and cut down. As the fellowship tend to the dead and light a signal fire, the spiders return, drawn by smoke and scent, and the camp is once more plunged into battle.
The battle breaks only when Calenroch, with a burning torch in hand, drives fire into the spiders and sends a barrel of oil rolling down the ramp, igniting a line of flame that causes the spiders to scatter, shrieking as the fire and heat force them back into the trees. The fellowship is left shaken, wounded, and coughing in the heat and smoke, but alive.
With the fire already beginning to die and the certainty that the spiders will return once it fades, there is no time to remain. Calenroch urges them south toward Barachen’s overlook, where the Company and supplies may yet be found. The group gathers the injured, mounts in haste, and rides hard from the burning camp, leaving the dead behind and carrying the knowledge that this was only the beginning.
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Session 21 - Chapter 3
The flight through the forest continues under the pursuit of the spiders, who attack the fellowship with webs and relentless pressure until the ground rises and the trees thin. As they near a clearing before the overlook, arrows suddenly rain down from above. Barachen’s defenders, already in position, let loose disciplined volleys that tear into the pursuing spiders and break their charge long enough for the fellowship to reach the barricades of the camp.
The overlook proves to be a prepared fallback for the surviving Company; comprising of archers, infantry, and the wounded – both Barachen’s soldiers but also others. Barachen himself stands at its heart, armoured and bloodied but composed. A brief reunion follows as Wéthorm and Blacksteel find surviving kin from their caravan, and both Calenroch and others are tended to. Barachen and Daewen exchange sharp but warm words, the two knowing one another. They acknowledge both loss and survival, before everyone’s attention turns back to the threat below.
For the respite is short-lived. A horn sounds as spiders surge from the treeline in great numbers, swarming the approaches to the overlook and crashing into its barricades. Battle erupts. Archers fire until forced back, spears and shields lock, and the fellowship joins the defence.
Webs bind fighters together, spiders leap the barricades, and the line buckles under the weight of their numbers. Benjenn fights in bear form, Wittkun and Rothlung struggle at the barricades, Meltharian leaps into the fray, while Tivlyn and Vratni hold ground within the camp ensuring spiders leaping over the barricades aren’t given free run. Daewen presses on by Barachen’s side despite her mounting injuries.
As the defence begins to collapse inward, salvation comes from an unexpected quarter. Giants of the valley arrive, drawn by the spiders’ trail, and wade into the melee with overwhelming force.
Their intervention turns the tide, crushing spiders and scattering the swarm, though some giants are dragged down and lost in the fighting too. The spiders eventually break and flee, leaving the overlook littered with dead.
In the aftermath, grief and tension flare between elves and giants, only barely contained by Barachen and Daewen, who try to broker a fragile pause rather than let things slide into more conflict. The cost of the battle is counted, the wounded gathered, and the dead tended to. Though the overlook stands, it is clear the danger has not passed, and that greater reckonings lie ahead for all.
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Session 22 - Chapter 3
In the aftermath of the battle at the overlook, the camp settles into the work of survival. Elves, men, and dwarves move among the fallen, tending wounds, binding injuries, and clearing spider carcasses from the barricades.
Alphlanc, a lieutenant of Barachen takes command of the efforts, directing others with authority while holding back her own grief at what she suspects is the fate of her sister, who has not returned. Her captain, Barachen remains engaged in tense discussion with the giants, their voices carrying across the camp like distant thunder.
The fellowship disperses through the camp. Tivlyn tends the wounded, grinding white willow bark, kingsfoil, and honey into a salve for burns and injuries, moving from Benjenn to Calenroch and then to Daewen. Benjenn collapses into deep sleep whenever he is not being treated, recovering his strength having fought ferociously in his bear from; rousing only long enough to provide a vial of honey before sinking back into exhaustion. Rothlung checks his gear and horse repeatedly, his sharp words toward the elves masking disorientation and strain from the fighting. Meltharian helps shore up the barricades alongside the surviving dwarves of the caravan, while Wittkun sits apart at first, shaken, but reflective of the battle and what was almost the unintentional slaying of an elf by his hand. He soon rejoins the camp’s work.
Tensions rise as the giants express long-held grievances against the elves, accusing them of acting only when their own kind suffer. They speak of how they tracked these spiders from the North, and that the elves must have done something to awaken such evil.
These words spark sharp responses from Rothlung and others, and the camp edges toward open conflict. Voices rise, old resentments surface, and lines begin to form between elves, dwarves, men, and giants. The situation only steadies when multiple members of the fellowship speak in favour of unity, warning that division serves the spiders and their unseen master. Alphlanc physically restrains Barachen at a crucial moment, preventing violence; his own characteristic calm having come undone.
At last, the lead giant, who Vratni calls ‘Big Eyes’ acknowledges the truth in these words. He calls for restraint, declaring peace for the day and urging cooperation against the common enemy. The giants announce their departure east to return their dead and warn their kin, with Big Eyes giving his name before leaving: Arifael.
As calm returns, the dwarven survivors thank the fellowship and decide to travel west; this conflict is beyond them, but without the fellowship’s aid, they’d not have been reunited with their surviving kin.
Night falls over the overlook as watches are set, wounds are bound, grief is shared quietly, and the fellowship begins to speak openly of moving north, knowing the conflict is far from over. Tivlyn voices concern about lingering too long at the overlook, noting that delay risks drawing trouble that is not spider-born, while Vratni cautions against marching north on instinct alone, warning that poor knowledge of the land leads as often to ruin as bravery does. Benjenn counters that inaction is no safer than reckless action, and that readiness matters more than certainty. Calenroch then states plainly that if the fellowship goes north, he will go with them, explaining that he owes them his life and would be dishonoured to remain behind while they face what is coming. This prompts debate, with Meltharian noting what Calenroch would leave behind, and Barachen arrives and challenges Calenroch’s choice on grounds of duty and consequence.
Despite all this, the fellowship’s resolve hardens. They make clear that Rivendell has already refused their help, and that they intend to continue north regardless. This is as much their fight as it is Elrond’s.
Barachen acknowledges that he cannot dissuade the fellowship from their course. He states plainly that if his lord had truly wished to stop them, perhaps they should have been stopped already, but the moment has passed. Though he does not withdraw his loyalty to Elrond, he recognises the necessity of action before him. He’s a soldier, and sees the need to be direct when opportunity knocks. He concedes that while he may still send word to Rivendell, he will not obstruct the fellowship. Instead, he commits to supporting them in what ways he can before they part, offering his own aid, though he is unsure how things will end.
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Session 23 - Chapter 3
Setting off the next morning, both Barachen’s Company and the fellowship return to the ruins of Barachen’s old camp on their march north from the overlook. Smoke has faded, but the dead still lie where they fell. Alphlanc breaks upon seeing Rochwen’s body finally, collapsing beside her sister in grief, with Barachen gently supports her. Around them, the camp is subdued as survivors tend the fallen and take stock of what was lost.
Their mourning is interrupted by the arrival of scouts from Thorenhad, led by an elf called Linrion. He confirms that Thorenhad itself has been attacked by spiders, with scouts killed and others gravely wounded, though Elrond and his sons are safe. He speaks of how Lord Elrond is assembling a warhost and has ordered all to return to Imladris, including Barachen and the fellowship, which he is most happy to see alive.
Barachen refuses to abandon his word to the fellowship. After tense discussion, a compromise is reached: Barachen will accompany the fellowship north with a small detachment, while Alphlanc assumes command of the remaining Company and leads them back toward Rivendell.
With farewells made and grief set aside as best it can be, the fellowship departs northward, Barachen riding with them, but ahead alone, and in silence. They soon find clear signs of the spider swarm: churned earth, broken undergrowth, silk clinging to bark and stone.
As they follow the trail north, the signs become confused and contradictory. Tracks double back, webs appear where no tracks lead, and the forest itself feels disordered. Skilled in tracking both Wittkun and Benjenn attempt to read the land, noticing not only signs of passage, but also areas where animals avoid entirely. It is as if the land itself masks their trail.
Eventually, a subtle trail is found and followed, only for it to vanish again. As they press on cautiously, fine strands of silk at ground level go unnoticed until too late. The ground erupts as funnel-web spiders burst forth. One elf is dragged under and killed instantly. Wittkun and Benjenn are seized in succession, dragged toward hidden nests beneath the forest floor. A desperate struggle follows. Trees are torn down, spiders crushed, and several narrowly escape a grizzly end.
But Benjenn is pulled beneath the earth entirely, vanishing from sight, only to erupt moments later from within a spider’s body, transforming back into a great bear and collapsing from his ordeal.
The fellowship regroups, tending injuries and applying athelas to venomous bites. Though they survive the ambush, the forest feels hostile and watchful. So too are the elf soldiers accompanying them. With unease pervading their thoughts. The fellowship are shaken, injured, and aware that they are now deep within the spiders’ domain, with no safe ground beneath their feet.
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The story continues in the chronicle: "Where Webs Whisper"...
