A Father's Revenge
by Andi Newton
Inspired by the adventures of Njal of Rohan in the world of LOTRO
Njal was always more skilled with books than with swords and staves, but when orcs attacked his village, he took up arms with the rest of the men to defend their homes.
The orcs poured over them like boiling pitch, and an orcish short sword drove Njal to his knees.
When he came to, the battle was over, the orcs were gone, and nothing remained of his village but smoldering ruins. His wounds were serious but not mortal, so he tapped his knowledge of leechcraft to bandage them, staunching the flow of blood and using herbs to stave off infection.
Then he pulled down what remained of his cottage and tossed fresh earth over it, a grave for his slaughtered family. And set off to find the orcs who slew them.
When he found the orc raiding party, they were already dead, likely laid low by soldiers or a band of adventurers. His guilt and anger not assuaged, Njal swore to kill every orc, goblin, troll, or other creature that allied with Sauron and the forces of Angmar. He practiced with a staff, sought out loremasters greater than he, and studied books and relics to learn spells to help him in his quest to avenge his fallen family.
And though he's cutting a wide swath through Angmar's allies and becoming a skilled loremaster, there's one thing yet that he does not know:
His eldest son, Skarphedin, is still alive.