Aeryn greets the good news with relief.

"The rumor of your feats have reached me. I am truly amazed by your power. We have been at war with the Orc Pride for so long... and now the war is over. While you were busy bringing an end to the orcs, we discovered a way to disable the magical shield protecting the High Peak. In order to do so, you must enter the slime tunnels, located in the Grushnak Pride bastion, find the control room, and use the four Orbs of Command which were in the possession of the four Pride masters to deactivate the shield."

"This should pose no problem..." thinks Haldor.

Aeryn continues:

"The entrance to the slime tunnels is sealed by a magical door. We have learned that the magical key required to open that door is kept hidden by an ally of the Orc Pride in a dungeon... back in Middle-Earth."

"In Middle-Earth?" exclaims Haldor. "But I have no idea how to get back to Middle-Earth!"

"Don't worry..." responds Aeryn. "Zemekkys should know how to send you back to Middle-Earth. He's living just right there..."

Haldor leaves Aeryn and knocks on Zemekkys' door. A slot in the door opens, and a pair of wild eyes peer out.

"What do you want?"

"Paladin Aeryn told me that you could help me. I need to go to Middle-Earth."

"Middle-Earth? Why not the moon while you're at it? You're wasting my time... The only way to go to Middle-Earth would be to create a portal and use the Orb of Many Ways to activate it. But the Orb has been lost for ages..."

Haldor pulls out the Orb of Many Ways from his backpack. Zemekkys' eyes open wide.

"Holy cow! It is the Orb of Many Ways! Maybe we can send you to Middle-Earth after all... Now listen... In order to create a portal, I will need a Blood-Runed Athame, a Resonating Diamond and 200 gold."

"Where can I find all that?" asks Haldor.

"Try your purse for the gold... as for the Athame and Resonating Diamond, try the Vor Armoury. The orcs should have some for their own portals..."

Zemekkys points the location of the Vor Armoury on a map. Haldor leaves the Gates of Morning and goes back to the Vor Pride bastion. After a small journey through humid tunnels, he finds the Vor Armoury. The door opens, and a ugly orc wielding a huge two-handed sword pops out.

"Guards! An intruder! Your Warmaster Gnarg calls you!"

Haldor has already fought orc masters. This one is no different from the others. He burns... and dies, leaving behind his blood-etched greatsword, Warmaster Gnarg's Murderblade.

In the first room, Haldor meets Gnarg's guards. All sorts of orcs, from berserkers to high pyromancers and cryomancers, blood mages, and even a corruptor. After having dispatched the orcs, he enters a second room containing a panel of weapons and armor parts. Among the treasures he finds the Blood-Runed Athame he was looking for. Maybe next room will contain a Resonating Diamond?

Haldor opens the next door... and stumbles upon a very experienced storm wyrm. A nasty surprise. After dispatching the wyrm, and all his summons, he crosses the room and finds another door. Feeling an intense heat behind the door, Haldor decides to use his Dig spell from afar. A very good idea... The room is filled with lava... and a legion of highly experienced greater multihued wyrms. One of these could fry him in no time... and there are many in the room. Haldor hides behind the door and throws his fire blast in the room. Strangely, the wyrms don't seem to react to the spell and, even if they are highly resistant to the heat, they aren't immune and they finally all die.

Haldor inspects the room. The floor is made of lava, which burns him on every step. Some items are scattered on solid spots: an ancient tome, a huge shield, and some common weapons and armor parts. The tome seems to talk about the power of gems... maybe the jeweler in the Gates of Morning could tell more about it. The huge shield happens to be an artifact, the Titanic.

Haldor has searched the whole Vor Armoury... no trace of a Resonating Diamond anywhere. He will have to talk to Zemekkys about that...

Haldor activates the portal and finds himself back to the Far East. Traveling with great haste, he attains the Gates of Morning in a short time. Aeryn is waiting for him.

"I heard about what happened in Mount Doom. Good men lost their lives, so I hope it was worth it."

"Yes, my lady." replies Haldor. "They managed to contain the orcs so I could reach the heart of the volcano. I found two blue wizards there, and interrupted their dark ritual. However they escaped before I could stop them."

"Blue wizards? I have never heard of them... So it seems that the Orc Pride has two new masters, and they are probably hiding inside the High Peak now. You should continue your investigation in the last bastion of the Orc Pride. Maybe Grushnak is keeping useful information."

And so Haldor heads to the eastern slope of the High Peak. The Grushnak Pride bastion is really different from the other bastions. Vegetation is growing loosely in the underground tunnels. The first thing Haldor sees after entering is a huge vault filled with lava... and fire wyrms. Not very different from Mount Doom... The wyrms were guarding a deep black amulet, the Echo of Melkor.

Another lava vault awaits on the second floor of the Grushnak Pride bastion... and another one on the third floor... and another one on the fourth floor. Haldor finds such a vault on every floor...

On the next floor stands Grushnak, Battlemaster of the Pride. An old orc covered with scars, armed with two massive clubs... and moving very quickly for such a heavy armored fighter. Haldor has to dodge his devastating rushing attacks, while hitting him with bolt spells. However, having no real ranged attack, the berserking orc falls quickly...

Grushnak was holding a fourth Orb of Command, the Orb of Destruction, as well as a deep black ring, the Glory of the Pride.

Now all Pride bastions lie in ruin and their masters are destroyed. Grushnak didn't have any useful information... Haldor hopes that High Sun Paladin Aeryn has learned more in the meantime. He leaves the last Pride bastion and returns to the Gates of Morning.

After entering the land of Eruan, Haldor immediately spots a young elven woman resting in the palm trees. She looks tired and wounded.

"I am Vorylaith, Seer of the Gates of Morning. I was sent here with a group of sun paladins to investigate about the orc menace. We were attacked and separated. I know there's a recall portal somewhere, could you help me find it?"

But before Haldor could respond, many giant insects with sharp claws and venomous fangs pop out of the sand. Ritches! Before Haldor can do any move, some of the insects start injecting corrupting diseases in the already wounded body of Vorylaith. In an instant, she dies. Haldor buries the poor seer and continues his exploration of Eruan.

A moment later, Haldor meets one of the sun paladins from the group of Vorylaith. She's lost and wounded. She introduces herself as Ce'Nille, and gratefully accepts Haldor's help to reach her recall portal. When she's finally in safety, she improves Haldor's Chant of Fortitude as a reward.

In the same area, Haldor finds a strange loose rock. Moving it reveals the entrance to a small cavern. The den of a greater multihued wyrm and its children... Experience and treasures...

Deep in the desert of Eruan, Haldor meets another one of the sun paladins from the group of Vorylaith. He is waiting near a small oasis surrounding a strange portal.

"Haldor, my name is Guren, and I am one of the sun paladins sent by Aeryn. We have hunted the orcs who were guarding the staff up to this place. Unfortunately, they escaped through that portal with the staff, and we learned that they plan to use it to absorb the power of a remote place for a dark ritual. Some of my friends followed them. You must take this portal and stop the orcs!"

"I will not deceive you." replies Haldor.

Using the Orb of Many Ways, Haldor enters the swirling portal and, in the blink of an eye, finds himself in the heart of a volcano! Five sun paladins stand in line, fighting a large group of orcs.

"Sir Rodmour, the archmage has arrived!" shouts a human sun paladin.

"Haldor," replies High Sun Paladin Rodmour, "the orcs already started their dark ritual. I can sense the power of the staff absorbing the surrounding magical energies. You must go in the heart of Mount Doom and stop that ritual! We will try to contain the orc flow here as long as we can, but we won't be able to hold for long. So go now, do not let the orcs finish their work!"

"Farewell, my friends. Your sacrifice won't be in vain..."

Haldor progresses with great difficulty in the searing heat. The lava floor saps his life energies, and all fire creatures which he has to face are really hard to kill without his fire spells. But using mana, lightning and ice bolts, he manages to reach the heart of Mount Doom.

Haldor was expecting orcs to wait for him, but not at all. Before him stand two wizards, clothed in blue robes. One of them is holding the Staff of Absorption, the other...

"Damn you!" shouts the blue wizard. "You only postpone your death! We must depart now, but we'll leave you with a little surprise... Fyrk!"

Suddenly, a huge fire elemental appears. Flames swirl all around him. Haldor retreats behind a lava wall and waits for Fyrk, the Faeros High Guard, to appear. The fight is hard, no fire or ice spell can harm the tough elemental, and Haldor has to stay in short range to cast his mana and lightning spells. But finally, the fire elemental is destroyed, leaving behind his powerful amulet, the Fiery Choker.

Haldor turns around, but the blue wizards have left through a portal, which seems to go back to the Far East. Haldor must follow them to find out what their true purpose is. Maybe Aeryn will be able to tell more...

But Haldor is troubled, because he cannot believe what he just saw. During his recent travels, he learned the stories about the Istari, powerful Maiar who took a human form during the Third Age to help the nations of Arda in their fight against Sauron. He learned the story of Gandalf the Grey, who was known as Olorin when Haldor was still alive during the First Age, and his role during the War of the Ring. He learned about Saruman, who betrayed Gandalf in favor of Sauron. The two blue wizards he just saw were undoubtedly two of the Istari. Haldor has no idea who the first blue wizard is, but he recognized the second one. Although the past six thousand years have turned his human form into the shape of a very old man, it's still the same powerful Maia.

The second blue wizard was his mentor, Eldorin...

From the Gorbat Pride bastion, Haldor heads south along the Great Sea. Suddenly, he finds what seems to be the entrance to an underwater cavern, right on the shore of the Great Sea. Being undead now, Haldor doesn't feel the need to breathe, so swimming underwater doesn't pose him any problem.

Haldor needs to fight aquatic monsters on the first level of the Flooded Cave. On the second level, though, all aquatic monsters don't seems to care about him. A huge water dragon stands in the middle of the cave. Ukllmswwik the Wise's deep voice booms:

"I am the ruler here. What is your purpose?"

"I didn't mean to intrude," responds Haldor, "I was just curious to see who would inhabit this strange cave. Sorry if I angered you, I'll leave now."

"Wait... You seem to be worthy, so let me tell you a story. A very long time ago, at the end of the First Age of this world, the Silmarils were recovered from the hands of Morgoth during the War of Wrath. Soon afterwards, they were stolen from the elves that were guarding them by the last two sons of Feanor, Maedhros and Maglor. They were still bound to their oath, and despite their aversion for violence, they had to kill many of their kin to retrieve the Silmarils. But the remaining jewels would burn them for their sins, so Maedhros jumped into a big fiery chasm and Maglor threw his Silmaril into the ocean. After a while, he regretted his act and tried to retrieve the lost Silmaril... and with the help of Osse, he managed to do it. Now he lives in the ocean, as a creature of the sea, and guards the last Silmaril. But recently, Maglor has gone mad and started to threaten all water life, and that includes myself. Pehaps you could help me?"

"Let me see what I can do. How do I find him?"

"I can open a portal to his lair. You will have to find him, kill him and make your way back. Are you ready?"

Haldor steps into the portal... and is immediately surrounded by dozens of nagas! Myrmidons rushing at him, psyrens trying to silence him... Haldor knows he won't survive more than a few seconds, so he immediately vanishes from sight and teleports in a somewhat safe spot. Fire blast, freeze, mana bolts... and he manages to offer himself a moment of relief.

Haldor needs to progress very slowly. Those myrmidons hurt a lot, and they can spot him anywhere in the cave! Many times he has to use invisibility to get away.

On the second floor of the Caverns of Osse, Haldor is again surrounded by naga myrmidons. He teleports right away... just to find himself head to head with Walrog, the Lord of Water! If Haldor's fire spells are not very effective underwater, his ice spells are devastating. Walrog is frozen to death, and shatters as Haldor swings his staff at him...

On the third floor, Haldor finds Maglor's den. Strangely, Maglor doesn't seems to show any bit of madness... he's not even hostile.

"What is this? Why have you entered my sanctuary and slain its guardians?" asks Maglor.

"I was sent by Ukllmswwik to stop you!" replies Haldor.

"So the dragon sent you... He told you I'm insane I suppose... But who's the insane one? Me protecting the last Silmaril or you killing every living creature in this sanctuary?"

"I see... you have a point. Can you tell me more?"

"Let me tell you MY story... As I was drowning, Osse came to me and saved me. He told me I should become the guardian of the last Silmaril, as it was holding the last bit of shining light from the First Age. So now I will stand here at the bottom of the sea for all eternity, and the Silmaril shall never leave this sanctuary. But recently, the water dragon started sending mercenaries to retrieve the jewel... I can easily imagine what his goals are, and they are surely not peaceful. Now you should go back and ask him the truth."

Maglor makes quick gestures and opens a portal. But by doing this, he reveals the Silmaril for a short moment. Haldor is totally fascinated by the glowing light... Suddenly, he feels the urge to get the jewel for himself! Instead of using the portal, Haldor teleports in a short range, fires an ice bolt at Maglor and starts to vaporize the water with a fire blast. With madness in his eyes, Haldor launches all his spells at Maglor until he goes down...

As he sees the dead body of Maglor, last son of Feanor, Haldors slowly regains his lucidity.

"What have I done? Is that the price to pay for the Silmaril? Then I should not pay this price alone! Ukllmswwik, you will pay for your treachery!"

Haldor takes the portal left behind by Maglor and goes back to the water dragon cave. Without useless talk, he immediately attacks Ukllmswwik, freezing him to death. Strangely, the water dragon was not guarding lots of treasures, as someone would expect from a water dragon (Haldor even remembers one with a very strange name, Shyssiriux or something approaching, living in a remote cave during the First Age, guarding a huge room full of treasures... but nobody was brave enough at that time to claim the treasures for themselves). Haldor found nonetheless a strange trident, the Trident of the Tides.

After leaving the underwater cave, Haldor goes directly to Eruan. He has delayed his mission for too long...

If the Vor Pride bastion was the home of elemental mages, the Rak'Shor Pride bastion is the home of undead. Haldor feels at home... somewhat.

While killing orcs, undead and... orcs summoning undead, Haldor is wondering what this strange Orb of Command he found on Vor's body is supposed to activate... and if the other Pride masters also have such an orb.

Maybe it would be good to ask Rak'Shor himself... because the master of the Pride is just in front of Haldor. Grand Necromancer of the Pride. An old orc, surrounded by a dark aura, master of death and undeath. Fortunately, Haldor is hidden behind a wall and Rak'Shor is not yet aware of his presence. And like all other orcs, he seems to burn very well... Haldor waits for the orc master to show up, freezes him and finishes him with the usual bolt spells.

And yes, Rak'Shor was guarding another Orb of Command, the Orb of Undeath. Haldor also finds a powerful magic robe, the Black Robe.

Some building in the southern part of the Rak'Shor Pride bastion seems intriguing. Haldor opens its door... and is welcomed by many orc war cries. Rak'Shor's personal treasure room! And it's well guarded... Elite uruk-hai, master archers...

Unfortunately, Rak'Shor seemed to like weapons a lot, so his personal treasure room really looks like a weapon storage room. With all the weapons he found, including the Gondor-Tree Longbow, Haldor could open a shop now...

Haldor leaves Rak'Shor Pride bastion and heads to Gorbat Pride bastion. Even with the large areas between the buildings, Haldor feels like being in confined space. The reason... dragons everywhere! And not small ones, but mighty drakes and wyrms. Ice and storm wyrms are tough... but with his ineffective fire blast against them, fire wyrms are more fearsome opponents.

After many killings, the soil of the bastion seems to be completely covered with gold! Haldor feels much more experienced... killing those wyrms and all their summons surely is a good way to train his magical spells and increase his abilities. Haldor has now maximized his life energies and all the magic schools of arcane, fire, water, air, conveyance and phantasm. He has even learned a new school of magic: temporal magic.

And now it's Gorbat's turn to show up. The Supreme Wyrmic of the Pride. An ugly orc with a pair of small wings on his back. Haldor lays down his fire blast from afar and starts hitting Gorbat with his bolt spells. After more dragon killing, Haldor manages to finish the Pride master off...

Gorbat was keeping a third Orb of Command with him, the Dragon Orb, a golden helm which appears to be the Dragon-Helm of Dor-Lomin, and a multihued leather armor, the Chromatic Harness.

With all his treasures and accumulated experience, Haldor leaves Gorbat Pride bastion. Time to go check Eruan and retrieve the Staff of Absorption from the orcs...

As soon as Haldor steps into the Vor Pride bastion, he is surrounded by orcs. A lot of orcs. Warriors, archers, mages... especially mages specialized in fire and ice magic, the pyromancers and cryomancers. Haldor is quite strong against cold attacks, but he is not very armed against fire attacks. Usually, he is the one who fries monsters... but now he's the one who is on fire.

Surviving in these open areas is really hard, but the reward is really worth it. Haldor didn't go very far in Vor Pride bastion, but he has already found many artifacts. The Blood of Life, a strange potion that is able to resurrect the dead (unfortunately, it doesn't work on undead). The Star and the Moon, twin daggers that he could probably sell for a good price. The Robe of the Archmage, radiating great power. The Dragon Shield of Smaug, made from the scales of a golden dragon. Haldor also found nice items: a great elven-wood staff, granting him a good boost to his spellpower and mana energies; a pair of gauntlets of criticals, granting him a boost to his spell criticals.

On the second block of the Vor Pride bastion, Haldor meets a group of orc pyromancers. Totally on fire, he barely manages to escape. What could be worse than a group of those pyromancers? The response comes quickly in the form of orc *high* pyromancers. Fireflash, fire blast... and not a single drop of water to extinguish the fire. At least, they are susceptible to ice and lightning...

And then he finds him, the master of this bastion. Vor, Grand Geomancer of the Pride. An old orc, surrounded by a multicolored aura, master of the natural elements. Haldor needs to stay away from his devastating spells. Using the environment at his advantage, Haldor manages to freeze Vor, hurting him with mana and lightning, and retreating behind a wall to rest. After repeating the process a few times, Vor falls on the floor...

Haldor searches Vor's belongings and finds a jeweled crown, the Crown of the Elements, and a strange orb, the Elemental Orb of Command.

Suddenly, a voice in Haldor's head booms:

"Haldor, this is High Sun Paladin Aeryn. I am communicating with you through a telepathic link set by the Anorithils. I have some important news for you. The staff you were looking for has been located."

"Where?" asks Haldor.

"Our patrols spotted a group of orcs that were heading to the desert of Eruan, in the south. They were guarding something that looked like the staff you described. You should go there and investigate."

"Thank you, my lady. I will go there immediately."

Haldor leaves the Vor Pride bastion and heads south. On his way, he spots the entrance of two other Orc pride bastions... Rak'shor and Gorbat. Maybe he'll have time to clear those bastions before going to Eruan...

"Thank you for your help against Ungolië!" says Aeryn, High Sun Paladin of the Gates of Morning. "You are now welcome in our city."

"I'm honored to be a friend of the sun paladins", replies Haldor. "But I still need to get clues about how to stop the orcs... Could you tell me more about the Orc Pride?"

"We believe that the heart of their power is the High Peak, but it is currently covered by a magical shield which renders it inaccessible. To get information about the High Peak, you should investigate the four bastions of the Orc Pride."

"And where are these bastions located?" asks Haldor.

Aeryn points the location of the orc bastions on a map. The Vor Pride bastion seems to be the closest, and in order to avoid orc patrols, Haldor decides to investigate that place first.

On his way, Haldor discovers the entrance to an unremarkable cave. The cave itself doesn't seem to be interesting, but Haldor feels some power in the distance. Deep in the cave, Haldor finds a long corridor, with a door at the end. Haldor opens the door...

"You! Help me defeat this monster!" shouts a beautiful woman wearing a golden robe decorated with the symbols of the sun and the moon.

"Nah, kill her instead and I'll reward you..." replies an orc wearing mail armour.

Haldor doesn't hesitate and casts an ice bolt at the ugly orc. With the help of the strange woman, they manage to kill him quickly.

"Thanks for your help, Haldor." says the woman.

"At your service, my lady." replies Haldor. "But may I ask you what you were doing in this dark place?"

"I am an Anorithil, a mage of the sun and the moon. I was with a group of sun paladins from the Gates of Morning, trying to eliminate the orc menace in this area, but all my companions were all killed by the orcs and I almost died myself. Thanks again for your help."

Haldor leaves Fillarel the Anorithil and continues his jouney. After dispatching another orc ambush, he enters the Vor Pride bastion...

In the blink of an eye, Haldor is transported to an unknown land with no trace of the portal left... The Far East? Haldor has no clue what to do next, so he decides to explore the unfamiliar continent.

During his travel, Haldor is ambushed by a patrol of orcs. Not very powerful opponents, but an unpleasant surprise nonetheless. Finally reaching the far east... of the Far East, Haldor finds a massive hole in the mountains near the great sea. Inside the hole stands a strange town, its path guarded by a beautiful woman wearing plate armor. Judging from his past experience, Haldor recognizes one of the sun paladins.

"Stop right there, stranger!" orders the woman. "Who are you and where do you come from? The Gates of Morning are the last bastion of freedom in this land, and we don't greet spies with open arms..."

"My lady", replies Haldor, "I am indeed a stranger. My name is Haldor, and I come from the west, from Middle-Earth."

"Middle-Earth? We have not heard from Middle-Earth for thousands of years now... What is exactly your purpose here?"

"I followed a group of orcs through a portal. They stole a powerful artifact from our people, and I fear they are going to use its power for evil purposes."

"Orcs? This whole continent is swarming with orcs. They have united as the Orc Pride, and according to the rumours, their masters are powerful. And if what you tell is the truth, then they must be stopped at all cost. Haldor, you are welcomed in the Gates of Morning, should you prove your valor in a quest. There is a cavern full of spiders to the north. We cannot stand against both these abominations and the Orc Price. Please go there are destroy them."

"I will, my lady."

Haldor leaves and heads north to the caverns of Ardhungol. He enters the caves... and stumbles into huge spider webs. The spiders who produced those webs cannot be small spiders for sure! Fortunately, even the biggest spider is renowed to burn like paper when exposed to high heats. And Haldor knows how to draw his fire spells...

Deep in the caverns, Haldor finds a huge spider covered in darkness, with red glowing eyes looking hungrily at him. She probably has found her next meal! Haldor cannot fight her with all her children, so he tries to teleport away. After a few tries, he manages to find a small cavern in which the fight would be easier. Haldor waits... and the huge spider appears. Fire, ice, lightning... Haldor casts his spells and the spider goes down. Among the items dropped by the spider, Haldor finds a strange rod. Zapping it produces a venomous bolt... another tools to Haldor's arsenal.

Haldor teleports out of the spider lair... Without their leader, the spiders should not pose a threat to the paladins of the Sun Wall anymore.

"A mysterious staff? Can you tell me more?"

The Elder in Minas Tirith seems to be very interested by Haldor's story. Describing the Staff of Absorption in details seems to make him even more interested.

"Indeed you were right to come here. The staff you describe reminds me of an artifact of great power from ancient times. May I see it?"

"Here it is..." replies Haldor. "You should keep it, it would be safer if guarded by the armies of the kingdom. I fear there will be more orcs looking for that staff. I don't know why they want it, but they will try to get it by any means."

The Elder looks troubled for a moment.

"This is very intriguing. We have not seen any orcs for eighty years... could they have come from the far east? We have heard rumours from the dwarves that there still was an orc presence deep in the mines of Moria, but we thought it was just some unfounded paranoia from the old days... Maybe you should investigate and try to see if there's any connection with the staff."

"I will do, my lord."

The Elder points the location of the Moria on a map, north on the western side of the Misty Mountains. When Haldor enters the old dwarven caves, he's astonished at the size of the halls. Sure the dwarves know how to dig!

Deep in the mines, he finds a strange room filled with orcs... and their pet fire drake. The orcs are quickly dispatched with fire blast, but the fire dragon and his summoned friends take longer to kill.

In the back of the room, Haldor finds a door. Behind the door, he is welcomed by orcish screams.

"Stranger, you should never have come. The Orc Pride now have their precious, and there is nothing you can do... except of course dying!"

Their precious? What are they talking about? Golbug, the huge orc covered in fire and ice that just spoke, doesn't let Haldor think longer and prepares for attack. Haldor uses his now well practice recipe... teleport and fry them from afar.

As soon as Golbug dies, a man clothed like a watchman from Minas Tirith enters the room.

"Well met, Haldor. I am Harno, Herald of Minas Tirith, and I am here to deliver you a message from King Eldarion.

Harno gives Haldor a sealed scroll and disappears...

"What could be the news from Minas Tirith..." thinks Haldor, while breaking the seal. And when he starts to read the message, everything becomes clear...

"Haldor, this message is of utmost importance. The staff you left at Minas Tirith has been stolen, a raid of orcs ambushed the guards that were transporting it to a secret vault. The guards managed to capture one of the orcs, but he didn't know much. He spoke about Golbug, and a portal to send the staff to their masters in the far east. If you find that portal, please investigate."

Haldor starts to think he should have kept the staff... but maybe he would be dead by now. And of course the orcs' "precious" cannot be anything else than the staff. Masters in the east? Haldor is eager to find what all of this is about...

Among the burned remains of Golbug, Haldor finds a swirling orb. The Orb of Many Ways... If there's a portal around, this should activate it. Casting Vision also reveals a treasure vault, guarded by a dozen of uruk-hai. Haldor digs a hole in the wall to the chamber... and fry all the orcs at once.

Haldor opens the last door in the main room. There's another room behind, and what seems to be a portal in the middle. By activating the Orb of Many Ways, Haldor could probably go to the Far East, a continent of Arda of which only rumours are known. But this could probably be a one-way trip... Well there's only one way to know it... Haldor stands on the portal and activates the orb...

The fight with the Master is not going well... the bastard knows how to obliterate enemies. Mana bolt, ice bolt, rush and knockback strike... not even mentioning summoning. Direct assault is not an option, and Haldor needs to use cunning to avoid being blasted to death. After many attempts with fire blasts and retreat, the Master seems softened enough and Haldor feels confident enough to face him.

"Time to finally rest in peace, ignominous Master!" shouts Haldor, as he prepares his final mana bolt. The bolt hits the Master and slices him in half... but the two halves seem to quickly rejoin again and the Master is back to life! A resurrection spell!

"Stupid fool! I am immortal! But that's not your case... and you have pestered me for too long! Now it's your turn to suffer!"

The bolt cast from all the Master's anger hits Haldor with full effect, almost destroying him at once. He just has time to teleport away and use his last healing potion, and the Master is back in front of him... Haldor checks his supplies. Only one potion to regenerate his magical energies, and the Master seems to have regained his full life energies again...

Fortunately, Haldor had teleported to what seems to be a circular corridor around the tower. With fire blast and short range teleportation, he can stay away from the powerful spells and deal damage to his opponent.

"You fool! Did you think your stupid tricks can stop me from annihilating you?"

Haldor is petrified. The Master just anticipated his last teleport effort by running in the opposite direction in the corridor and now he stands behind him... Haldor sees the elder vampire prepare a new spell, and he knows he won't survive the damage. Quickly he inspects the Master... his fire spells seem to have soften him again enough to try a mana bolt himself. His last chance... Haldor hopes that the Master cannot resurrect another time...

The bolt hits the Master, but this time he falls on the ground. It seems that his resurrection spell could only work once. Haldor knows he must leave this place quickly... what will happen to all undead roaming the tower once they feel their master is dead? Haldor grabs the treasures left behind by the Master... in particular a dark amulet and a dark staff. The staff seems to be the now long lost Staff of Absorption, a tremendously powerful artifact. The amulet reveals to be the Choker of Dread, and now that Haldor is an undead himself, it will be very useful to him. Haldor stuffs the staff in his pack... as he knows, this staff could annihilate his wielder if he's not powerful enough... and Haldor doesn't want to try his luck.

To leave the place, Haldor tries to teleport to Angolwen... and fails. Maybe some anti-teleportation spell covers the tower? Trying to teleport from floor to floor works though, so he finds himself at the entrance of the tower very quickly.

As he comes out of Tol Falas, Haldor is ambushed by a patrol of orcs...

"You!" shouts a large orc, "give us the staff and we may be merciful!"

"Why would a band of orcs want a magical staff?" replies Haldor.

"This is none of your business... and I see you won't give us that staff easily. KILL!"

"Yes, master Ukruk!" shout the orcs, as they draw their swords and prepare their bows.

Haldor has only one thing to do... use the potion of invisibility he just found and teleport out of the orcs' reach. Haldor watch the orcs searching for him... and cast a flame blast at them. Covered by his invisibility cloak, he watches the orcs getting fried on the spot...

After a short while, only Ukruk, the orc leader remains. Wondering what the hell is happening, he doesn't see the mana bolts coming from behind and ending his miserable life.

"Sorry, Ukruk... but I'll keep that staff."

Being close to Minas Tirith, Haldor decides to go to the city and ask the Elder about the staff. Maybe he'll know more about the intentions of those orcs...