The Glaurung Prepares to Sail

Six months have passed since Denethor tasked his nephew Breged and the aged seer Mandracoth with the recovery of the ancient Nauglamír. To aid in their task, the shipwrights of Dol Amroth have spent months crafting a mighty vessel, the ship called the Glaurung. With room for a crew of thirty, Breged and Mandracoth have recruited warriors from far and wide. Along with a complement of the best soldiers of Minas Tirith, they have gained the services of a number of mighty heroes. From Gondor came the Lady Valetha of Pennith Gelin, Darcaven of Lossarnach, Galinor of Pelargir, and Althérion, the Sea Prince of Tolfalas, with a contingent of his household guard. From further afield they recruited Halvarn the Reiver, an experienced sailor; Traegan of Dale, a far traveller and herbalist; Peldroc the Hunter; and Rymond the Breelander, a master of languages. Finally, Breged’s mother, Princess Ivriniel of Dol Amroth, offered the services of her personal ship captain, Nereth, to guide the vessel.

On the night before the vessel was set to depart, Princess Ivriniel summoned all of the crew to a great feast in their honour. All attended, except for Peldroc, who claimed illness. During the feast, many great tales were sung of ancient seafarers and their voyages of exploration. Then Prince Imrahil stood up and spoke. He wished good fortune upon the travellers and offered hope that the stars would eventually guide them home. 

Then his sister, Princess Ivriniel, stood. She added her wishes to those of her brother, but also gave out small gifts of appreciation to those who would travel with her son. To Traegan she gave a book of southern herblore, to Halvarn a pipe carved of bone, said to keep away insects. To Rymond she gave a runic scroll, to help communicate with those who shared no language. Galinor received a ring, whose small diamonds glowed faintly with blue light. To Darcaven she gave a silver whistle that sang with bird song, while Valetha received a string of obsidian beads, whose rattle spoke to snakes. To Peldroc she sent a leather pouch, which water could never enter, and to Mandracoth she offered a wooden staff, carved in runes of old that no one could now decipher.

Finally, the Princess turned to her son. To Breged she said she had a mightier gift, but one that came with an obligation. Then she told the story of her grandfather, Imrathel, who led an expedition against the pirate port of Arech in Harad. It was a famous tale in Dol Amroth, of the successful, yet doomed mission, that left Arech an abandoned ruin, watched over only by the dead. Somewhere in those ruins, Imrathel’s body lay, and with it, his great sword Skymír. Ivriniel tasked her son to visit Arech, to find the tomb of his ancestor, to return with his bones if he could, and to claim the sword as his own, to aid him on his greater quest.

The feast continued long into the night, but slowly, one by one, the heroes slipped away and made their way back to their lodgings near the harbour, near where the Glaurung waited quietly to take them into unknown lands...