Bree. A muddy town filled with squalid people... Farmers, filthy street urchins, boil-covered wretches, pitiful-looking beggars, singing-happy drunks coming out of the taverns... and even dwarves. No, not dwarves... they have no beards and look more like children. People here call them halflings, but they prefer to be called hobbits. Strange folks...

Haldor checks the town's shops. Most of them have items of mediocre quality, but the shopkeepers provide correct prices for all the items he found on his way to Bree. Finally, Haldor finds the gem store.

"Aye." says the shopkeeper, talking about Aerimas. "The strange guy was here earlier, looking for some gems and selling the ones he found during his travels. If you're looking for him, he's probably hunting for some more gems in the Old Forest."

"You mean the forest of Ossiriand?" asks Haldor.

"Nobody calls this land Ossiriand for thousands of years, sir." replies the shopkeeper. "The forest west of Bree is called the Old Forest, and further west is the land of Eriador, where the Little Folk lives. Curious little people, but they make the best pipeweed in Middle-Earth!"

Haldor buys an agate before leaving and uses his new power to imbue his body armor to increase his stats. The old Forest seems to be a good place to gather more treasures, so he decides to go and check the place.

Rain. The cold rain chills Haldor's bones. The Old Forest is dark, thick, and filled with wild animals. Snakes, wolves and ants seem to have made the forest their homes. Haldor has to kill many of those to progress through the forest... but this helps improving his spells further. Now he's able to launch a powerful fire blast, burning many foes at the same time.

Aerimas cannot be found in the forest... and nobody else either. Haldor wonders why people told him to come here to find treasures... he cannot seem to find any. But deep in the forest, he meets an old willow tree... who strangely seems to be able to walk! Old Man Willow... some people told Haldor that it was the guardian of the Old Forest, and that he didn't like intruders much. Fortunately for Haldor, he doesn't like fire much either...

The only thing that remains from the now burnt Old Man Willow is his shield, Old Man Willow's Barkwood... and Haldor cannot even use it. What a disappointing place... Haldor leaves the forest without regret.