ANGOLWEN

"Ahh, now this is more like it!"

The secret city of Angolwen spread before Eden. The plaza he stood before was filled with mages walking to and fro; talking about new spellcasting techniques, comparing spectacles, enjoying chilled glasses of restore mana at one of the many roadside potion stands. Eden grinned – these spellweavers were so easy to steal from! They always had prime equipment, and it was child’s play to pickpocket from somebody who carried all their things using feather wind…

"May I help you?"

Eden halted as a guard clanked towards him. He noticed that on the tip of his spear there wasn’t a spearhead, but a wand. He guessed that it wasn’t of sense. "What are you doing here, rogue?" The guard asked sternly.

"Me? Didn’t you get the message from that novice mage? I’m to be welcomed here! I’m Eden!"

"Novice mage?" The guard thought to himself. With sudden realisation, he slapped his face with frustration, "This again…"

"Excuse me?"

"Some thieves who know the location of Angolwen disguise themselves as mages. They trick saps into giving them all their magical equipment, promising that they can grant them access here. Didn’t you ever ask yourself why an apprentice would have such authority?" Eden had asked himself, but it didn’t make him feel any less stupid now.

"Oh, by Ulmo’s anklet," Eden grumbled, "What do I do now?"

"You turn around, and go home."

"What?!" Eden exclaimed, "But I have no home!" This was a lie – Eden did have a home, but he didn’t plan on returning to it, what with it being in the middle of that town that hates his guts. Grim had asked if she could use it to store bodies for her necromantic experiments. Eden agreed; on the off-chance that Grim was a necromancer, the smell would drive the townspeople crazy.

The guard, seeing that Eden would not leave quietly, gave a huge sigh. “Fine, I suppose I can tell you about the standard test mages give so others can access Angolwen. I’m going to warn you though, they give out this test simply so that the people taking it get killed and stop bothering them. If you succeed however, they’ll be legally bound to allow you access. Are you interested?”

WILDERNESS

“Either the heart of the Sandworm Queen… or the head of Rantha… hmm…”

Worms or dragons? Massive, fire-breathing reptilian monsters from his darkest nightmares, or worms? It almost didn’t seem like a choice at all!

It felt more like a choice, however, as Eden approached the sandworm lair. By chance, Eden found himself walking alongside a group of fellow adventurers also interested in gaining access to Angolwen.

“Awful lot of scrolls you’ve got there…” Eden commented, noticing the reams of parchment that bulged out of the adventurers’ satchels, “Thinking of starting a library for the sandworms?”

“What, are you simple?” Snapped an elven archer at Eden, “These are magic mapping scrolls! Phase door scrolls! You’d have to be insane to enter the lair of the sandworms without these. If anything, I think we’re underequipped…”

“Really?” Eden looked at the paltry selection of moth-eaten scrolls in his pack.

“Aye. Your biggest enemy down that hole isn’t the sandworms…” A gruff-looking dwarf (is there any other type?) stooped to pick up a handful of sand, “It’s this.”

“Sand? I don’t understand what you’re – Pfagh! Plegh!” The dwarf had dashed the sand he held at Eden’s eyes.

“That, times a million.” The dwarf laughed, “Aye, the only good thing about going into the sandworm lair underequipped is that your corpse is already buried for you! How’s that for convenience, lad? … Lad?”

Eden was already a distance from the group, shouting over his shoulder, “I’m just going to go and get a thick jacket! I think I’ll need it where I’m going…”

CARN DÛM 1

Eden shivered. The lands surrounding Bree could hardly be called balmy, but they weren’t nearly as cold as Carn Dûm. Eden almost found himself wishing for intense combat, believing it would warm him up somewhat. Unfortunately, his primary opponents on the mountains were cold drake hatchlings and snow giants. Each battle was becoming a trial; the wounds he received from his enemies were quite trivial compared to the bitter cold he experienced each time he faced them.

CARN DÛM 2

“I swear, if those mages have sent me on a wild goose chase like those slimeballs in Bree did, I’ll… I’ll…” What would he do? They were mages. “I’ll… stamp my feet, have a temper tantrum and storm off…?”

Eden was rather shocked – literally – to find that some of the snow giants possessed the power of lightning, hurling great bolts of electricity at him in battle. He guessed they must’ve eaten a few tempest mages.

  Level 17!
 +2 Strength
 +1 Dexterity
 +1 Weapon Combat
 +1 Lethality

CARN DÛM 3

Regardless of his recent victories over the snow giants, Eden found himself feeling worn and downtrodden. While he couldn’t fault the speed boost his eponymous boots gave him, he could fault them when it came to keeping frost and slush out from his socks.

It was the chill that got him. It was a very strange experience while fighting, dreading your own blows rather than the enemies’ – each strike at the cold dragons and snow giants brought on a bout of frostbite. To someone like Eden, who employs rather a “death by a thousand cuts” fighting strategy, this wasn’t a good thing. Eden’s mind drifted, filling with images of roaring fires, his warm bed back in Bree, mittens…

It was because of this that he almost missed the remarkable clouds of steam that were emanating from around the corner of the mountain pass he trod on. “Steam…” Gasped Eden quietly, “A hot spring! I found a hot spring! Bliss! Haha, looks like my luck's turning around; the other Valar must have heard about Arenji messing around with my dreams and had him clapped in tilkal!”

Unfortunately for Eden, in truth Arenji was at his diabolic best.

“Hot spring…” Eden chirped happily, “Hot spring… maybe there’s a bath house too! And a high school! And a -- FIRE DRAKE!”

The steam he had saw was the snow hissing and melting beneath the mammoth reptile’s bulk as it waddled around being generally unfriendly and avaricious, as dragons are wont to be. On spying Eden, the dragon gave a colossal roar. Not a roar of anger, as Eden thought, but a roar of joy, for it could now indulge in its favourite hobby – burning things!

“YOW!” Eden wildly weaved out of the way of a huge gout of flame, “I… I don’t know if that felt bad or good!” He stammered. It was delightfully warm…

The second burst of flame, which did hit Eden, he was less ambivalent about. Ducking around a corner, Eden heard as the dragon roared again. This roar was a roar of summoning; it was calling its brood. Unfortunately, this would be the fire drake’s undoing: Just as fighting cold drake hatchlings chilled Eden’s knives, fighting fire drake hatchlings heated them. By the time he faced the fire drake, his knives were hot enough to cut through the dragon’s thick scales like a battleaxe through an elf neck.

With one final death cry, the fire drake collapsed with a great thud, gold spilling out from beneath its body, the snow around it melting to water. Eden happily collected the gold – happily and carefully, it was still rather hot – wondering why dragons were greedy as he did. He’d never seen one in a shop before. Then again, he wasn't going in any shops soon either. "Me, you, magpies... we're of a kind, dragon."

CARN DÛM 4

Did extreme cold give people hallucinations? Eden hadn’t heard about anything like that, but it would be the only reason he was seeing what he was seeing: An alchemist sat on a small boulder, smoking a pipe ruminatively. While his clothes were as worn and weathered as Eden’s were from the climate and wildlife, he appeared rather unruffled. “Hello…?” Eden addressed his hallucination, “What’s your name?”

The alchemist looked up at Eden, taking the time to extinguish his pipe, empty it and place it into his shirt pocket before replying placidly, “Gunadek, my friend. But don’t concern yourself with the name of a corpse, my boy.”

“A corpse…?” Eden pulled a face in confusion, “You’re looking pretty good on it. I suppose it’s the cold, it preserves bodies well, I hear…”

“Few percent short of immunity, aren’t you?” Gunadek sighed, “There’s a beast out there, a cold drake, and it has me cornered. This long path affords no protection from its frost, and I find myself unable to travel back the way I came to boot. Fortunately, I appear to have lost it momentarily, but I fear it will find me again soon…”

“Why? What attracts a cold drake?”

“The sound of some young turk bellowing about what attracts cold drakes, for one!”

Gunadek and Eden looked up the mountain path, one languidly and the other in sheer horror, as the cold drake appeared. It was markedly different to the fire drake Eden had fought previously, terrifying in an entirely different sense: The gore of its previous meals was frozen around its snapping jaws, the frost it exhaled was so dense as to form shards of ice and hail which fell to the ground and shattered. And of course, just its presence drove Eden’s body temperature down past ‘absolute zero’ to ‘no, for real, absolute zero’.

“So, you’re an alchemist, eh?” Eden shivered, “Erm… is your golem around, perchance?”

“Eaten,” Gunadek simply replied.

“Ah… got any gems? Throw a couple of technicolour bombs its way!”

Gunadek gave a hollow chuckle, “The only gem I have left is the one on my wedding band, and I’m not sure what good that would be in a bomb… a little hate-based damage, maybe…”

The cold drake roared, expelling a massive plume of frost at the pair.

“Gaaakakakak!” Eden’s body temperature dropped past ‘no, for real, absolute zero’ to ‘haahagaaagaa cold heheeha cold cold’ as the frost engulfed him. Eden's mind was so mangled and half-frozen by the assault he found himself thinking in ways he never would have thought if he was lucid:

“Cold, cold, cold. Make cold go away. Drake long way away. Can’t get to it in time. What to do? Disengage? No, disengage means to run away from, I want to run away to. What to do? Gunadek? Wounded, useless. Useless? No. Frightening. Pretend he’s frightening! Run from him! Disengage!”

In an instant, Eden found himself stood before the drake, having just ran screaming from the confused alchemist. In a way, Eden was glad as he revealed his daggers: He didn’t need his mind for what he was about to do now. The drake roared, lifting one of its own hatchlings to shield itself, but it was useless.

“FLURRYFLURRYFLURRY… aah… achoo! FLURRYFLURRY”

---

“Did you see how that thing used one of its babies as a human shield? Ah… draconic shield?” Eden muttered as trudged back to Gunadek, “Despicable. Can I borrow your pipe?”

“I suppose,” Murmured Gunadek as he slowly held it out, “I have no more pipeweed, however…”

“Doesn’t matter, it just needs to be warm,” Eden held the pipe to his forehead, and sighed with relief, “Aah, that’s better.”

---

“Here we are…” Gunadek’s eyes fell upon his recall portal, half-covered by snow, “I must admit, that was quite a feat you accomplished, and I thank you. … Any reason why you let yourself get hit by that snow giant thunderer on the way here?”

Eden shrugged, shaking off his electrocution and attempting to smooth out his frazzled hair, “It keeps you warm.”

“Super. Still!” Gunadek nimbly span his staff as he walked towards his recall portal, “Shall I reimburse you for your troubles? I could teach you how to petrify with a touch, to imbue your equipment with the power gemstones possess, even to channel raw magical energy through --”

“Wow! How did you do that?”

“This?” Gunadek twirled his staff again, “Just a trick I picked up during my studies.”

“Teach me that! Teach me that!”

“Are you sure…?” Gunadek asked uncertainly, “It’s only got to be worth, like, one point of dexterity…”

“Teach me!”

“… Very well…”

 Level 18!
 +2 Dexterity
 +1 Cunning
 +1 Knife Mastery
 +1 Lethality

---

“An escort quest and a level! Quite an adventure this area of Carn Dûm was. Still, I suppose nothing else interesting could hap--”

“KILL!”

The pack of bandits leapt upon Eden without warning, but then Eden spun his daggers around without warning as well. Seeing three of their number immediately fall, the remaining brigands fled, leaving Eden to look over those he defeated. He recognised one of them: Melna.

“Ha… haha…” She croaked, still attempting to heave herself up to stab Eden regardless of the mortal wound she had received, “Gonna get ya, Eden… gonna… why am I so cold?”

“Honestly,” Tutted Eden, looking down at his deranged assailant, “When you’re a psychopath, stabbing things like a maniac is the only thing you can do well! How hopeless must you be to be out-stabbed by a lucid fellow like me?”

“Cut ya… kill ya…”

“Charming. Ooh, hello…” Stooping down, Eden tugged the heavy gloves from Melna’s twitching hands. One identify spell later, and he said, “I should’ve known! How could a madwoman like you hold onto anything without the Gloves of the Firm Hand?”

“Mel… Melna’s Guile.” Melna coughed, then she died. For this last statement, Eden decided to give Melna a proper burial. “She’s stabbing Maiar now,” He said solemnly to the cairn he constructed, then walked into the snow.

---

Still, it appeared his old gang was still operating, regardless of their leader’s death, and they were now outfitting his assassin’s with artefacts? Maybe they were getting outside help…

CARN DÛM 5

“♪ Twirly-twirly-twirl… ♫ Getting these Gloves of the Firm… M-Melna’s Guile just after learning this staff-twirling trick was really quite fortuitous!”

CARN DÛM 6

“Ho! Friend, some assistance!”

Eden groaned. Do all warriors begin their conversations with that? Sure enough, on turning he spied a man in plate armour approaching him. While most of the adventurers he met were injured or troubled in some way, this man had been put through the ringer quite extensively indeed. His shield was little more than a dented piece of tin, and the blade of his axe had been broken clean off, leaving a rough haft in his hand.

“Hathyrath, my friend,” The warrior shook Eden’s hand firmly, “I require your assistance --”

“Another recall portal job?” Sighed Eden, “Where are you all getting these portals anyway?”

“Recall? Ha!” Hathyrath laughed, “It is true that I shall be using a recall portal to leave eventually, but first I have enemies to slay! I was just going to ask if you would assist me, rogue.”

Eden was surprised, but not necessarily annoyed, “Okay… I guess the exercise will keep me warm. What enemies are you planning on slaying, anyway?”

“Those ones!” Hathyrath pointed over Eden’s shoulder. Eden turned, and his jaw hit the ground with a resounding thump.

Four cold drakes. Three snow giant chieftains. Both dragon and giant had brought hordes of underlings. The forces arrayed before Eden would have been enough to siege Minas Tirith, let alone turn a lost warrior and his rogue escort to goo.

“Ah, if only my brother was here!” Hissed Hathyrath.

“Brother?” Eden knew the answer to his question before it even escaped his lips, “Was your brother’s name… Grinymnir?”

“Why, yes! You’ve met him? Ah, he is a peerless warrior – without equal! Would that I had the skill and raw might that he possessed! How did you come to meet him? I assume he is still travelling the wilds on his adventures?”

Eden didn’t know what expression he was wearing as Hathyrath was simultaneously frozen, crushed and torn asunder by the horde. He could only hope it wasn’t silly. But now, he had to turn to the matter of his survival, which was very much up in the air. The horde remained, and was continuing to swell as the drakes screamed for their broods.

 Level 19!
 +1 Dexterity
 +2 Constitution
 +1 Massive Armour Training
 +1 Dirty Fighting

No more fooling around, thought Eden. If I’m going to be fighting stuff like this I’m taking no chances: Wear enough armour to survive an apocalypse and cheat, cheat, cheat.

He hurriedly unfurled a scroll of phase door and read it. It deposited him two feet to the right. Cursing angrily, he read a second. This one deposited him into a snow giant warcamp. The third, a dragon’s nest. The fourth, another dragon’s nest…

---

The last of Eden’s healing potions fell the to the ground, empty. His scrolls of phase door and teleport were consumed. He had found a momentary respite, a tiny alcove hidden from the baying hordes that waited for him. Arenji’s frenzied laughter rang in his ears. Eventually, he would have to make a run for it…

Haldor appears in a large room with four portals in the corners. The two istaris stand before him, shining like the sun.

"Welcome, Haldor. I hope you found the High Peak entertaining..."

"Eldorin, why are you doing this? You were supposed to help people!"

"Yes... I was used to be called Eldorin in my youth, but my name is Alatar now. Eldorin died ages ago when mankind decided to forsake their beliefs in Numenor. And despite what you are thinking, all we want is to help people. We have come to the self-evident conclusion that people are just unfit to govern themselves. Since the fall of Sauron there is no threat to unite them and they have become lazy."

"So you have decided to become the threat yourselves?"

"Us? Ah no, we are merely instruments for the Master. We have planned for His return."

"The Master? And who would that be?"

"Isn't it obvious? The greatest of the Valar, the black foe of the world. Melkor the great, whom you may know as Morgoth! The staff will allow us to drain enough energy from this world to open the portal to the Void and summon him through! We will bring forth the Last Battle, Dagor Dagorath, as it was prophetized to happen when the world was made.
You cannot stop us now!"

"I will stop you... I will not let Morgoth come back!

The air whirls around Haldor and suddenly High Sun Paladin Aeryn appears.

"Then you shall not fight alone! Together we shall stop them, or die trying!"

"I am glad to have you by my side, my Lady. Let's save the world!"

Haldor quickly examines the situation. The four portals are doors to four different dimensions: Destruction, Dragons, Undeath and Elements. These portals will perpetually summon beings through them if they are not closed at once. To close these portals, he will have to neutralize the two istaris first. Haldor casts Time Prison on Alatar and Stone Wall on Pallando, then promptly teleports to each portal. First, he tries to use the four Orbs of Command on the portals... no effect. Then he tries the Orb of Many Ways, hoping that he won't be sucked in the portals instead... but no, activating the Orb of Many Ways disables each portal one by one.

With the help of Aeryn, Haldor now tries to eliminate the blue wizards. With Alatar removed from time, they aim at Pallando first. Disperse Magic to remove his protections, then bolt spells while Aeryn is using the power of the Sun to weaken him further. After an epic fight, Pallando goes down... Haldor has just the time to pick up a shining pearl, the Pearl of Life and Death, and Alatar is freed from his Time Prison spell...

"I see you managed to vanquish Pallando..." says Alatar. "You have become extremely powerful, Haldor. But it still won't be enough against my power! I know what you have become, and I will be mercyful. Let me end your undead life. The halls of Mandos are waiting for you..."

Mandos can wait... Haldor remembers the time when mankind was living in constant terror of Morgoth, Lord of Darkness. This time will never come again! Haldor aims his Disperse Magic spell at Alatar... and the wizard finds himself moving and casting more slowly! Aeryn rushes out, and instantly attacks Alatar.

The magical duel has attained high levels of skillfulness. Round after round, devastating spells are cast. Many times, Haldor needs to make a pause to regenerate life and mana energies. Aeryn uses her melee skills, magical skills and healing skills very effectively. And soon, they seem to have the advantage over the blue wizard... Finally, after a final mana bolt, Alatar falls on his knees. And the once powerful Maia seems to regain a spark of goodness again...

"Forgive me, Haldor. You and your friend proved me that I was wrong. Now I can go back to Valinor in peace... I know that you dislike your current condition. Take my last sparkle of life essence as a gift..."

And with these words, the Maia Haldor once knew as Eldorin dies. A glowing halo rises from his body and quickly surrounds Haldor with bright light. When the halo clears, the two istaris lay dead on the floor. Suddenly, their bodies vanish in some immaterial mist.

"Aeryn, are you well?" asks Haldor.

"I cannot believe we succeeded. I was prepared to die and yet I live. I might have underestimated you. You did more than we could have hoped for!"

"We both did, my Lady."

Aeryn suddenly looks at Haldor more closely.

"Haldor, what happened to you? Your face... It looks brighter and more colorful!"

Haldor doesn't understand at first... then he looks at his reflection in a polished surface. Aeryn's right! Something has definitely changed... Haldor looks under his Cloak of Deception, and can't believe what he sees... Instead of a pile of bones, he sees flesh and blood! He touches his chest... and feels a heart beating again!

"It's nothing..." responds Haldor. "It's just... the feeling of a mission accomplished."

But maybe it's a little more than that... Haldor grabs Aeryn's hand.

"Come. A portal to the Gates of Morning has opened in the other side of the room. Let's go home..."

As soon as Haldor enters the High Peak, he knows that something is wrong. The entrance should be visible... but there is no trace of an entrance anymore. Haldor is trapped inside the High Peak, with no turning back!

The High Peak looks like any other dungeon... with its monsters, and its vaults. In one of them, Haldor finds a strange wooden staff covered with an icy glow, showing the craftmanship of the elves. An icy elven-wood staff of wizardry. The Staff of Saruman he is using is nice... but this staff is nicer.

Haldor looks more closely at the creatures in the tunnels. The orcs he meets don't have the usual weapons and armor of the Orc Pride. Probably deserters or mercenaries... The demons must have been summoned from the infernal planes by powerful mages. The undead cratures must have been raised from the dead by powerful necromancers. The dragons must have inhabited these tunnels long before any other monsters were brought here...

Seven times Haldor takes a portal to the next floor, seven times the entrance behind him disappears. On the eighth floor, he is welcomed by many powerful undead. Many dreads, banshees and dreadmasters come through the walls and surround him. More than once he is close to be annihilated by the hexes... not counting the many times the uncorporeal undead manage to silence him and disperse his magical protections, rending him totally powerless. After a long fight, Haldor destroys the last of the undead... and sense that his own power has come to a cap.

There's another vault on the level... Haldor hesitates. He doesn't need to raise his experience level anymore, and he doesn't think of any item that could help him more than his current equipment. But something tells him to clear the vault. Inside, he finds a well-crafted staff made of dragon bones... a dragonbone staff of wizardry! He also finds a suit of gleaming plate mail, the Plate Armor of the Returned King.

Now it has been ten floors since Haldor entered the High Peak. And still no trace of the Blue Wizards... But on the fifteenth floor, he finds a strange portal. The portal seems to be connected to the Sanctum, the den of the Blue Wizards. Now there's definitely no turning back. Haldor steps on the portal and activates it...

Haldor enters the swilrling portal and in the blink of an eye is transported back in sight of the Gates of Morning. Before going to the slime tunnels, he needs to pay a visit to Limmir in the Valley of the Moon. He has found many rings and gems in his travels, and now is the best time to put them in good use.

On his way, Haldor finds a massive, stained girdle. The Mighty Girdle of Bombur. Limmir is still standing in the middle of the lake in the Valley of the Moon.

"Limmir... I found this mithril ring, a diamond and a pearl. Can you make a magical ring out of them?"

"Of course... look..."

The Master Jeweler creates Limmir's Ring of the Moon. A powerful artifact ring with resistances to all elements and boosts to innate capacities.

"Thank you. Now I'm prepared for the final journey..."

Haldor leaves the Valley of the Moon and heads to Grushnak's Pride bastion. Now the remaining orcs in the bastion don't pose any threat... most of them flea as he approaches, the others die quickly. On the bottom floor, he finds the entrance to the slime tunnels. Using his glowing key, he opens the magical door...

Lots of jellies welcome him in the tunnels. Not far from the entrance, Haldor finds an orb pedestal carved with the elements. He uses the Elemental Orb of Command on the pedestal, leading to a distant 'clonk' sound. Deeper in the tunnel, he finds three more pedestals. He uses the three remaining orbs on the pedestals, the Dragon Orb, the Orb of Destruction and the Orb of Undeath. Suddenly, there is a loud crack in the distance. The shield covering the High Peak has been deactivated!

Haldor makes his way through the slime tunnels. The jellies slow him down greatly, and he has to use all his cunningness to avoid them multiplying out of control. Finally, he reaches the exit of the slime tunnels... and enters the High Peak.

As Haldor approaches the tower of Orthanc, he notices that the tower lies in ruins, with only the basement remaining. Many undead still roam the rooms and passages of the tower. On the bottom floor of the basement, Haldor finds a corrupted spirit, the Shade of Saruman.

The powerful undead knows how to cast nasty spells, from acid blasts to virulent diseases. But Haldor is now powerful enough to handle the fight, and to destroy the remaining spiritual essence of Saruman. As the shade dissipates, Haldor sees no sign of a text entitled "Inverted and Reverted Probabilistic Fields". He just finds a staff broken in two pieces and a few wands. Strangely, he is able to wield both parts of the broken Staff of Saruman in each hand.

Haldor leaves Orthanc. Before he returns to Minas Tirith, he wants to check the ancient elven ruins nearby. It's not really a dungeon, but it's the last place in Middle-Earth he didn't check. Last time, he had to flee the dangerous place because he was not prepared. Now, the monsters he finds are no match anymore.

Deep in the ruins, he finds a powerful undead, the Great Mummy Lord. This undead loves to cloak himself in a fog of invisibility. But Haldor can track his movement with a fire blast... and mummies don't like fire at all! Quickly the Mummy Lord is turned into a pile of ash. Among his remains, Haldor finds a glittering sword. He recognizes the blade immediately... Ringil, the sword of Filgolfin! What is this sword doing in this place? He cannot imagine that someone desecrated the tomb of the elven hero...

On his way out, Haldor stumbles upon a strange fungal growth. It looks like a mold... but how did a mold become a skeleton? Are these the bones of hapless adventurers? Z'quikzshl is very weak, but it's a master summoner. Haldor digs a hole in the walls and approaches the skeletal mold safely. With a single mana bolt, he destroys the undead mold...

But what is this strange glowing object among the scattered bones? Haldor comes closer and finds... a glowing key. This can't be... The Orc Pride could not choose a mold to keep the key that could open a path to the High Peak?! Maybe they thought nobody would be clever enough to think it would be kept by such an insignificant monster... But it's not Haldor's problem. Now he is ready to go back to the Far East and complete his mission.

Haldor enters Minas Tirith again and goes straight to Tannen's tower.

"Did you finish your research? Are you ready to create the portal?" asks Haldor.

"I am ready." replies Tannen. "But you are not..."

Haldor suddenly notices that he is standing on an etched portal. He tries to move away, but too late... The portal activates itself and transports Haldor to what seems to be a cell in the basement of the tower.

Haldor leaves the cell and explores the basement of the tower. In other cells, he finds demons, wyrms, greater elementals, bone giants... This floor seems like a giant prison!

The second floor is totally flooded. Water creatures inhabit the tunnels. Too bad for them, Haldor doesn't need to breathe anymore, and his spells still are very effective underwater.

The third floor is the realm of undead creatures. In a room, Haldor finds some heavy gloves, the Gloves of the Firm Hand.

As soon as Haldor sets foot on the last floor of the tower's basement, he is welcomed by a huge golem roughly shaped in the form of a dragon.

"Do you like my drolem? Isn't it nice?" says a voice behind the huge golem.

Tannen! The traitor has been revealed, and he does not intend to let Haldor escape to tell the tale. Haldor lays down a fire blast and retreats, while casting spells at both the drolem and the foul mage. The construct falls first, and his master follows him shortly after. Among the items scattered on the floor, Haldor finds the Orb of Many Ways, as well as the Blood-Runed Athame and the Resonating Diamond he found earlier.

In a corner of the room, Haldor finds a portal. Not what he was looking for... but the portal seems connected to Minas Tirith. He could use it to go back to the city...

As Haldor steps out of the portal, he notices a human standing there, wearing the robe of the mages of Angolwen.

"Well met Haldor! I am Meranas, Herald of Angolwen. I have come here at the request of King Eldarion who got worried about not seeing you coming back. We were watching Tannen for some time now, and you revealed his true nature and stopped him. For this we are grateful, and I think we can pay you back. We have studied his portal research and if you give me the components, I will create the portal for you, here and now."

"I thank you for your help." replies Haldor. "Here are the components..."

And Meranas builds the portal... Haldor is now ready to finish his mission in the Far East...

"Welcome back to Minas Tirith!" says the Elder. "How did the hunt for the staff go?"

"The hunt for the staff took me to a remote continent, accessible only through a magical portal." responds Haldor. "I've recently returned through a similar portal, but unfortunately, the portal set deep in the Mines of Moria is not functionning anymore. I am looking for someone to help me create another portal, because my mission in the Far East is not finished yet."

"In this case, let's proceed as quickly as possible. I know one man in Gondor that could help you, a wise man that recently arrived in Minas Tirith. His name is Tannen, and he's living in a tower just north of here. I believe he is your best hope."

Haldor leaves the Elder and goes to Tannen's tower.

"How may I help you?" asks Tannen.

"I need to create a portal between Middle-Earth and a remote continent known as the Far East. The Elder told me you could help me build such a portal."

"To open a portal, you need the Orb of Many Ways. I suppose you don't have that item?"

"In fact, I do have the Orb..."

"Astonishing! I have heard tales of this Orb in ancient texts and legends. May I see it?"

Haldor pulls out the Orb of Many Ways from his backpack.

"Truly, it is the work of a great master. Perhaps Gandalf himself had a hand in its making. And you say you come with instructions of its usage?"

"I do..."

Haldor shows him Zemekkys's scribbled notes. Tannen spends a few minutes reading...

"Ah! I see. I did not at first understand the method used by this elven chronomancer, but I see now that is it correct. We can manage to reproduce his work here, but, as he says, we will need a Blood-Runed Athame and a Resonating Diamond."

"This will pose no problem. I already have these two items in my possession." explains Haldor. "While investigating the Moria, I fought and killed a balrog which had a Blood-Runed Athame and a Resonating Diamond on him."

"One last thing. I will need to study the Orb of Many Ways for a few days. I lack the expertise this Zemekkys possesses, and I have much to learn on the subject if I want to follow his method."

"Here it is. Guard it carefully. I'll be back in a few days... I still have business to do in the area anyway."

Good news... And this will leave Haldor time to find the key to the slime tunnels that is still slipping away from him.

"Oh... I almost forgot." Tannen hands Haldor a key. "This key opens the ruins of Orthanc, which the Mystics of Gondor sealed many years ago. If you happen to find a text in the ruins entitled "Inverted and Reverted Probabilistic Fields", return with it and your odds of surviving our portal attempt will go up drastically."

Tannen points the location of Orthanc on a map. Haldor leaves Minas Tirith and heads to Orthanc.

Since the Master's demise, a malevolent skeleton archmage has taken control of Tol Falas. Pale Drake is his name. He's immune to fire, so Haldor needs to use mana and lightning against him. And like the Master, he won't die easily... as he is able to resurrect once. But the trick still won't help him... As his bones are scattered by Haldor's final spell, he drops his belongings on the floor. A well-made sling, the Gift to the Shire, and a human skull, the Runed Skull. But still no key...

Haldor should have thought more carefully. The first time he fought numerous orcs in Middle-Earth, it happened in the Moria. What better place would it be to hide a magical key that could open the door to the High Peak? Haldor travels quickly and enters the mines for the second time.

Orcs are still plenty in the mines, ignoring the demise of all their masters in the Far East. Haldor leaves a second trail of orc corpses behind him and reaches the deepest cavern in the mines. When he last saw it, the cavern was full of corpses, all fried by his fire blast spells. Now many more corpses litter the floor, all charred and reeking of sulphur. An orange glow dimly illuminates the far east of the cavern...

The glow intensifies as Haldor advances in the cavern. Suddenly, a huge demon appears. A balrog drawn to this place by the energy of the portal! Haldor needs to rely on his spells again... but Lithfengel the Balrog doesn't reveal to be a tough opponent...

A careful examination of the balrog's corpse reveals a Blood-Runed Athame and a Resonating Diamond. Among the balrog's items, Haldor also finds a pestilent waraxe, the Malediction.

Haldor is confused... This was not the ally of the Orc Pride he was looking for... he didn't carry the key to the slime tunnels. But what was he doing with a Blood-Runed Athame and a Resonating Diamond? These are the items required to build a portal...

Haldor feels something terrible has happened here. He runs to the easternmost part of the cavern, where the portal to the Far East was standing... and his fears are instantly confirmed. The typical glow has disappeared, gone at the same time as all the energies contained in the portal. It will never activate again...

Haldor is trapped in Middle-Earth, unless he finds someone able to establish a link back to the Far East. Maybe the Elder in Minas Tirith would know such a person...

Cale is my current character. He's coming along quite well (Level 6 is nothing to write home about, but not too shabby, given that he shows no tendency towards dying.

His attributes are horribly unbalanced, but he has enough health to take a blow or two, and does decent (40+) damage with almost every shot (without ammo!)

STR:9
DEX:29
MAG:12
WIL:14
CUN:17
CON:14

He's been finding decent stuff (the +5 luck from being a Halfling may help this), but mostly he's been doing everything to avoid hard fights (read anything with more than one foe twice his level).

I've given him two health regeneration infusions, one of which is the standard, and he has the standard wild infusion.

Haldor examines the situation... He has to find the key to the slime tunnels somewhere in a dungeon. But which one? He will have to explore each and every one again...

Haldor enters the Trollshaws. The trolls should pose no threat to him, now that he is much more powerful than he used to be when he entered the forest for the first time. However, the first creature he found the first time... was not the storm wyrm he faces now.

Deeper in the Trollshaws, Haldor meets a sun paladin, Aluin the Fallen. His once shining armour is now dull and stained with blood. He is surrounded by a gloomy aura and despair fills his eyes. He attacks Haldor at once. Haldor responds with spells, and kills the cursed paladin. From his corpse, Haldor picks up a bloody shield, the Sanguine Shield, and a dull black ring, the Ring of Mandos. But nothing looking like a magical key...

The Tower of Amon Sul still looks the same... undead everywhere. Haldor clears a vault he missed the first time, and ventures deeper. On the deepest level, where the Shade of Angmar loomed, he finds a strange spirit, Angmar's Fury. It seems to be the reincarnation of the Shade, looking for vengeance! The fight is intense, as the frightening ghost seems to resist magical damage, but he finally is destroyed, leaving nothing but a ringing amulet behind, the Vox.

The Old Forest seems peaceful once again. There are still wild animals, but nothing that can't be found in a wild forest. Until Haldor finds this huge corrupted Ent, Snaproot. Looking like an old scorched tree, he doesn't like the fire blast that erupts from Haldor's hands at all... The Ent has a lot of life energies, but he burns quite well... Unfortunately, he was not holding anything of value. On his way out, Haldor finds a strange potion, which appears to be the Ever-Refilling Potion of Mana! A really useful find...

The Maze is still the same confusing place. But Haldor has learned how to travel quickly in dungeons now, and he knows where the exits to the tunnels are. Around a corner, he finds a pack of ants leaded by their mother, the Queen Ant. Haldor quickly dispatches the ants... but of course they didn't own anything of value.

Haldor doesn't feel like going inside the Sandworm Lair again. He doesn't sense anything in that place that could hold a magical key... But who knows? As soon as he enters, he feels that something is terribly wrong. The sandworms have all disappeared... Haldor quickly finds the reason... A huge sand wyrm appears, shrieking as it notices what seems to be its next meal. Haldor casts a few spell and kills the ugly Corrupted Sand Wyrm. Like Breagh, this sand wyrm was holding a nice collection of gems. And a putrescent potion, the Wyrm Bile. But still no magical key... Haldor drinks the Wyrm Bile, and feels transformed... but also more talented.

Carn Dum... The icy dragon cave is still bleak and full of snow giants and frost dragons. During his exploration of the dungeon, he finds a shining dagger, Sting, the small sword once wielded by Bilbo Baggins. At the bottom of the cave, Haldor meets a huge and heavily scarred orc, his sword covered in dragon blood. A master of the Orc Pride... Finally Haldor has found someone related to his mission. No doubt he's holding the key he's looking for...

"You!" shouts Haldor. "The Orc Pride has been destroyed. There's no need to fight anymore. Give me the key you're holding and I'll let you go."

"A key?" responds Massok the Dragonslayer. "I don't know what you're talking about... I am here to slay dragons and collect treasures. But your skull will be a nice addition to my collection..."

And Massok rushes out... The hit he scores throws Haldor against the closest wall, his life energies almost all gone. He wouldn't be able to stand another hit, so he teleports to safety and regenerates. Now he has to use all his cunning and talents to avoid being hit again, while throwing his spells at the berserking orc. When Massok finally falls down, Haldor searches his dead body... He finds a skull helm, the artifact Dragonskull Helm, but no key. The orc master was telling the truth after all...

Haldor recalls which dungeons he didn't explore yet. Tol Falas... then Moria. That's about it. He heads south, hoping that his quest will not be in vain...