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LORD OF THE RINGS VOLUME 1 is the first game in a planned trilogy from Interplay. For those of you familiar with the J. R. R. Tolkien books, the Lord of the Rings was compromised of three different volumes: "The Lord of the Rings," "The Two Towers," and "The Return of the King." The plot of the series is for poor Frodo Baggins to destroy the Ring that his Uncle Bilbo won from the vile creature Gollum in "The Hobbit." During the lengthy introduction to the game, we find out that Bilbo's ring is the One Ring that can rule Middle Earth. Its power can be destructive; therefore, Gandalf has asked you to destroy it since he may be overcome with its power. The game introduction explains everything that has gone on in the past; however, it does not give a good explanation of what your quest is. Your quest in LORD OF THE RINGS VOLUME 1 (hereinafter called LOTR), is to transport the Ring to Dol Guldur and destroy the Witch King, who is an evil creation of the wizard Sauron. Once you have done this, the game is over, and it will be picked up in Volume 2. LOTR is a huge game, with many plot twists and side quests to accomplish. Above all, you must hurry to Rivendell for the Council of Elrond because the Black Riders are on your tail! As I said, there are many subquests to accomplish in LOTR before you can finish the game. I am sure that I did not find or complete all the quests that are available in LOTR, so you may find something that is not mentioned in this walkthru. If you get stuck, post a message, and someone will help you out! I will take you through the route I found, which covers a lot of ground, and hits most of the quests. LOTR is a very nonlinear game; you can be almost at the end of the game, and still go back to the beginning of the game to get or do something you may have missed! Also, I don't think there is any one object that is necessary to complete LOTR, except for, perhaps, the Golden Wheel and Durin's Axe. So, don't worry if you don't have an item that I mention: you should be fine without it! One last thing before I start. LOTR version 1.0 is extremely buggy! Make sure you look at your README.DOC file to check which version you have. As of this writing, the latest version is 1.3. If you have anything less, call Interplay to exchange your disks. There are enough bugs in the earlier versions to make the game unplayable, including the infamous "Bree Wall" bug that will destroy your characters one by one for no reason. This was fixed in version 1.1; still, get the latest version if you can. From what I've heard, Interplay has been very good about exchanging disks. THE SHIRE When you start LOTR, you are at your home at Bag End which has just been sold to your relative Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, so it is time for you to move out. Your loyal friends Sam Gamgee and Pippen Took are by your side. RECRUIT both of them, and go into Bag End. Find the chest located at the eastern end in one of the southern rooms. Use the PICKLOCK skill to get some silver pennies. Us- ing the map located in the center of the manual, leave Bag End and head west along the path. Stop in any hole to TALK to your neighbors. In LOTR, most questions are one or two words, and when the characters talk back to you, try to pick up on the keywords they say. You can usually pick up keywords since most are capital- ized. So if the character says, "I think I saw some Wolves today," try asking about "Wolves" next. Follow the path until it turns south, and meet your lovely relative Lobelia. She doesn't have much to say, so just TRADE her the key to Bag End, and be on your way. Talk to Gaffer Gamgee who will be standing outside his hole. He will mention something about some missing kids. Hm, sounds like a quest! When the path intersects with a path to the east, go east and find Anson Goodbody in the house. He wants his dog back. Head back west until you hit a row of bushes. Walk a little north, use the CHARISMA skill, and the dog will follow you. Take him back to Anson, where he will offer you a shovel for the dog. GET the shovel. Head south to the Mill. There are three humans guarding the entrance. Wait until night falls, and use the SNEAK skill. Find the device and push some buttons. The thing explodes into smithereens. I don't what good this does, but doesn't it just make you feel warm all over that you brought a halt to the industrial revolution in Middle Earth? Next stop is the Hobbiton Inn. Talking to the bartender reveals nothing new, so talk to Daisy. Her sister Taffy and Taffy's friend Freddi are missing, and she wants you to find them. Sounds good, but you need some weapons before you head for the East Woods ruins. Go to Great Roads Goods, and buy 3 torches and 3 rations from Jolly. TRADE a torch and a ration to Sam and Pippen, and EQUIP each character with a torch -- makes a good weapon. RESCUING TAFFY AND FREDDI Head off to the East Woods Ruins. Try not to go there at night since there may be more wolves to handle. If you hear a howl, you might want to head back south quick: you aren't ready for a wolf yet. Before you get to the Ruins you will hit a stone wall. Walk along the wall until you find a hole. Use the CLIMB skill and walk into the hole. Head north until you see Freddi in a spider web to the east. Walk towards the web, and before you hit it, a spider will appear. After killing the spider, Freddi will join you. Get the star key, the axe, and use the READ skill to read the scroll. Walk south and take the west path. When you hit the chasm, use the JUMP skill to get across. When you get to the door, USE the star key, and find the ghost king inside. Again, USE the star key, answer "Y" to the question, and get the Ruby and the Silver Pennies. Exit this cave, by JUMPing the chasm; you will automatically exit by walking south. You will find Taffy to the north of the Ruins; she will join you im- mediately. You will probably have to fight a wolf to leave the ruins, but you should be able to defeat it. Walk to the Grange in town, and go to the barn. Farmer Grubb will thank you for rescuing Freddi, and he will give you a horse in return. The horse is a so-so fighter, but he is great for carrying a lot of equipment. In fact, you will probably keep this horse with you for the majority of your journey. Go back to Jolly, and CHOOSE Taffy. Have her buy a torch and as many rations as she can carry. When she is full, TRADE all to the horse, and have her buy more rations. When she is full again, divvy the rations between you three. USE a ration to increase your stamina if it was lowered by the spider or a wolf. Go back to Daisy and DISMISS Taffy. GREEN HILL COUNTRY Exit the Inn and follow the path to the Green Hill Country. On your map you will see two shaded areas in the Green Hill Country. First stop is the eastern area. Search the area a bit until you find a hole. Walk into the hole and go south to a spider's web. There will be a bird caught in the web. Before you can free the bird you will have to defeat a spider. Once the spider is dead, the bird tells you about some elves, and then it flies away. Exit the pit by using the CLIMB skill, and head due west. You will meet up with a human named Hawkeye. Allow him to join your party and keep going west. You will soon be confronted by an orc, but with Hawkeye in your group, the orc presents no major challenge. After you defeat the orc, Hawkeye will take you to his cave. Once there, Hawkeye hears some Black Riders coming, and stays to fight them. Take his sword and bow, and go northwest. You will find a locked chest. Use the PICKLOCK skill to open it and take the rations, pennies, bladepart, and signet ring. Exit this cave by going east. Go back to the path you used to get into the Green Hill Country and follow it back out. You will hear some Black Riders coming, but an elf shows up to save you. He takes you back to a clearing, and says he will answer your questions. TALK to him and ask him about Elbereth. He will give a word of power, !ELBERETH. Leave the elf, and head towards Farmer Maggot's (great name) farm. FARMER MAGGOT, MERRY AND ATHELWYN, BRANDY HALL When you are at the farm, go into the house, and Farmer Maggot will ask you to fetch the healer for his son. Since you are such a nice hobbit, agree to do so. Backtrack on the path you took to get to the farm, and once you have crossed the bridge, immediately go west. There is a house a bit to the north where the healer lives. Approach the healer and he will follow you. Go back to Maggot's and go into the bedroom where the healer will leave and cure the kid. In appreciation, Maggot will give you two mushrooms. Take them both. Exit the house, and go to the Buckland Ferry. There you will find Merry Brandybuck. RECRUIT Merry, and cross the river in the ferry. Go to Cotton's Farm and meet with Rose in the house. She will be glad to see Sam, and she will offer you a Token. Have Sam take it. Head to the Bucklebury Tavern where you find a lady named Athelwyn standing in the corner. TALK to her a bit, and RECRUIT her. TRADE her some rations and the sword (make sure you have her EQUIP the sword). Next stop is Brandy Hall. Standing at the door of Brandy Hall is Esmerelda, but she won't let you pass because there is a ghost in the library. Use the SNEAK skill to get past her, and go downstairs. TALK to Fatty, who is all excited about the ghost. Find Saradoc standing next to his bed and TALK to him; ask about the ghost and the key. He will mention that he lost both his pipe and the key. Using the PERCEPTION skill, you will find a pipe and some pipeweed under his bed. Get both items and go west to the bathroom, and, again, use PERCEPTION to find the gate key in the bathtub. Get the key, go to the southern rooms to find some more silver pennies, and head back upstairs. The ghost is hanging out in the library, and he wants a pipe. TRADE him the pipe, and he will disappear. Using the READ skill to read the books in the library, you pick up on a lot of useful information, most importantly, the path through the Old Forest. Leave Brandy Hall, and head east to the Hedge Gate. USE the gate key to open the Gate and leave the Shire. THE OLD FOREST After leaving the Shire, you will see a short cartoon depicting what is going on in the Shire. Those Black Riders sure sound like some evil dudes! You have escaped them for the time being, but now you have to get through the Old Forest which is quite large. Remember that you read about the path through the forest in one of the books in Brandy Hall. It said to find the ruins at the northwest corner of the forest, to proceed south and east, then follow the southern path which winds, but you are also to avoid the eastern paths. In essence, this is the true path out of the forest, but I didn't think it was since I went east a lot. After about 20 minutes of wandering, I thought I was totally lost, but suddenly I was out. When I thought about the directions that the book gave again, I found that they were, in fact, correct. What the book tells you to do is to go south from the ruins, go east for awhile, then when you find the first path south, take it. If you have a choice between paths, always take the south or west path. If you have no choice, then just keep following the path. The reason I was confused is that I went east and north a lot, when the book said not to go in those directions, but I had no choice: the path just wound that way. If you follow the directions, you should get out of the forest in about 10 minutes. When you get to a large hill, you are out of the forest; save your game here! TOM BOMBADIL AND THE WITHYWINDE From the hill, go east until you hit a river. Follow the river bank north, and soon you will come to a bridge that leads to Tom Bombadil's house. If you want to, head west from the bridge and wander in the forest a bit until you come across a large tree. This tree turns out to be Old Man Willow, and he is not friendly. He will capture a few of your party members. Answer "N" to the question about fighting the willow, instead use the PERCEPTION skill to find an opening into the willow. Answer "Y" to the question about entering, and inside the willow you will find the rest of your party. You will also see something shining near the middle of the tree. Going there, you will find some pennies, a bow, and Smith's Ring. In this order, get the pennies and the bow. When you pick up Smith's Ring, the tree will start to flood. Use the PERCEP- TION skill to find an opening in the tree. Use the CLIMB skill to get out. Go back to the bridge and cross it to get to Tom Bombadil's house. Alongside the house is Tom's garden; use PERCEPTION to get some useful items. Inside the house you will find Tom. He asks you to let him handle the Ring. Let him do so, and you will get another word of power, !BOMBADIL, which will come in handy later. I couldn't get anything out of Tom by talking to him, so head upstairs to Tom's wife, Goldberry. She tells you that she needs some lilies, and she offers you a Gold Token to find some for her. Take the token, go to the room directly south of Goldberry's, and sleep. While sleeping, you will regain full stamina, and you will have a dream during which you will learn the !ANGMAR word of power. Leave Tom's house, and to the southeast; you will find a small pool. Use the PERCEPTION skill, and you will find that all the lilies are dead. Proceed south until you hit the river, then go east. At the mouth of the river, you will find a cave. In the cave walk along the north part of the small pool, and you will find a Spider Sword. EQUIP one of your party with it, for it's a good weapon. This a small cave, and there is only one path through it. Take the path, and you will see an ice wall. Cast Athelwyn's Countermagic spell, go to the southern part of the cave, and use PERCEPTION. Get the ice staff. Exit this small cave, and go a bit more south to find the Withywinde sitting on her throne. Ask her for lilies, and she will ask you to show her a token. USE the Gold Token Goldberry gave you, but the Withywinde needs the springstone to break some magic spell. She tells you to find the Ruddy Oak and give him an acorn. Exit this cave, and walk above the wall where you will find an oak tree. Be PERCEPTIVE, and get the red acorn. Go back to the small pool where the dead lilies were, and go west. You will see the Ruddy Oak standing amongst some trees. TALK to him, and ask about the springstone. He says you can have it. TRADE him the red acorn, and he will join your party. If you didn't do this and tried to get the springstone, Ruddy Oak would have attacked you, and he is a formidable opponent. Go directly south to the top of a hill, USE the shovel, and get the springstone. Go back to the Withywinde (Ruddy Oak will leave your party along the way) and TRADE her the springstone. Get the lilies and take them back to Goldberry. She thanks you and says you are now better prepared for your journey. THE BARROW DOWNS After Tom's house we want to get the city of Bree, but the only way to do that is to go through the Barrow Downs first. The Barrow Downs is a nasty place full of Barrow Wights (humans who thirst for blood) and, perhaps worst of all, fog. Fog will fall at any time and leave you without knowing where you are going. It will lift after a period of time. In the Barrow Downs you will find Burial Pits and Circles of Stone. There are a lot of items to be found in the Barrow Downs, but none are required to finish the game. So, if you don't feel up to fighting, just head northwest as fast as you can. If you are feeling adventuresome, walk into any of the Burial Pits. In most of the pits, you will find a single tomb that contains a dead body, and the treasure that was buried with that body. But before you can get to the trea- sure, you will in all likelihood have to fight a Barrow Wight. These creatures are not too hard to kill, but they will take your stamina down in good sized chunks when they hit you. If you manage to defeat the Wight, you will have access to the treasure. GET all you want. Go into as many pits as you like (I think there are about 5 or 6). If you come across a pit with a sealed en- trance, you won't be able to get in, so just bypass it. Also found in the Barrow Downs are Circles of Stone. In each of these, USE your shovel at the grassy area in the center of the circle. You may or may not find some loot. While wandering in the Downs, you may come across a pit into which you'll tumble. Once you are down, the game will say you are doomed if you don't do something quick. Time to use your !BOMBADIL word of power. He'll arrive and take care of the situation. Find the stairs in this pit which lead to a locked chest. Use the PICKLOCK skill, and inside you will find 4 Barrow Daggers and some silver pennies. EQUIP anyone who is carrying a dagger or a torch with a Barrow Dagger. Leave your pony equipped with a torch so you will be able to see inside the pits. That is about all there is to the Downs; on to Sharkey's Shipping. SHARKEY'S SHIPPING The first building you will find once you are out of the Barrow Downs, is a barracks building with three sleeping humans in it. Turn on your SNEAK skill, and go the table located by the entrance. READ the document and write down the message. Leave the barracks and head due north to Sharkey's Shipping. Here you will find a bartender who doesn't have much to say. Walk to the stairs leading to the basement. The bartender will tell you to stop, but ignore him, and walk on down. The first thing you will encounter in the basement is a locked chest. PICKLOCK it, and get the loot. From here, you have one of three ways to go. Take the north path, and then go east to find a sleeping Uruk. Approach the table that the Uruk is sleeping next to from the right side. If you wake the Uruk, you will have to fight him. Once next to the table, be PERCEPTIVE to find a rusty key. Go back to the chest, and this time take the south path. You will encounter three humans who want the password. TALK to one of them and tell them "nan curunir." Once past, go to the southeast to find a prisoner in jail. USE the rusty key to get him out, and he will join you party. Head due west, and you will find some stairs going down. In this small sub-basement you will find the nasty Uruk Grimrod. But wait! Your loyal friend Athelwyn is a traitor! She goes to Grimrod's side and demands you hand over the Ring. Answer "N," and you will have to fight both of them. After they are taken care of, open the locked chest using PICKLOCK, and read the note inside. Backtrack out of this area and head back to the treasure chest. This time back, however, the humans aren't so friendly, and you will have to kill all three of them. After they are dead, take the last path from the chest which leads further downstairs. Again, you will have to fight three more humans; when they are dead explore a little to the east to find Athelwyn's room and an evil book to the south. You can read the book three times to get some clues to some of the secrets you will find in Moria. If you try and read it a fourth time, you will be overcome by evil and attack your traveling com- panions. Leave this room and take the north path. This leads into a small cave. You need to get to the northwest part; you will know you are there when you see three exhausted Uruks. When you are near the rubble, USE the shovel. An evil spirit will be let loose, but it disappears. GET the Golden Wheel. We are done here at Sharkey's Shipping, so backtrack out, and head due north from the building until you get to the Great Road. Proceed west a bit until you get to watch another short cartoon. You have finished this section of the game. So, it's on to Bree! BREE Follow the Great Road west and you will cross a bridge that leads into the city of Bree. There are many things to accomplish in Bree, and it will be difficult for me to tell you exactly where the houses or holes are, so I will give the general area that they are in; you may have to enter a few to find the specific one to which I am referring. Anyway, walk west until you hit a crossroad, and take the north route. Stop into the first building you see to the east, and buy a prybar from Oakwright. Get back on the path, go north, and it will eventually wind to the east, and end at a house. Find the entrance to this house, and enter. This turns out to be Nob Appledor's house. He thanks you for getting him home and offers you something in return. GET Durin's Pick. Exit Nob's house and go south. The path passes many houses: you can stop into any of them and talk to the owners. Some will be angry that you entered their house, but others will give you some useful information if you ask about "NEWS." This path ends at an east-west path, but keep walking south, and you will see a library to the west. Enter the library and go the northern part. Talk to the librarian a bit, then enter each cubicle, and use the READ skill. In one of the cubicles you will read a passage about Weathertop. This holds some useful information. Does the referral to the Witch-king of Angmar ring a bell? Exit the library, go west, and enter the next building you see. There is a healer inside who will heal your wounds. Walk in and out of his bedroom a few times until your whole party is back to maximum stamina. Exit this house, again walking west until you hit a path going south. This path will diagonal off to the west. The first shoppe you get to is Willa Bloome's Charme Shoppe. She has some interesting things for sale. I bought the spiritcharme, although I don't think it did me much good. Buy it if you want to and exit this shoppe. There is one more shoppe to the west, but there isn't much to buy there that you don't already have. From the Charme Shoppe, head directly north, and you will run into the Prancing Pony Tavern. Go into the bar room, and talk to Strider who is sitting in the northwest corner. He will tell you to meet him later in the parlor. Walk to the middle of the room, and Pippen will begin to tell some stories. Answer "No" to the question, and Strider and another character will leave. Leave the bar, and go to the parlor to meet Strider. Get all the hot food you can, and RECRUIT Strider (now known as Aragorn, his real name). He is a great fighter (I put him in the lead of my party). Exit the Prancing Pony, walk south until you hit the path, and go west. When the path turns north, you will see the blacksmith to the east. Enter the shop, and buy chain mail and a shield for everyone except the pony. If you are running out of space to carry things, get rid of things like torches, (keep one equipped on your pony), the gate key, ale, the rusty key, and other things you don't need. EQUIP everyone with the chain mail, give Aragorn's cloth mail to the pony. One size fits all, I guess. The blacksmith was the last person I visited in Bree; however, there are other quests to solve in Bree that I didn't do. You can talk to Rayf Brogan and try to get some information out of him (I couldn't); there is an item called the Torc of Maladin to be found somewhere; and there is a hobbit (I can't remember his name) who will join your party if you PICKLOCK the door to his hole. If you want to do these things, go for it; otherwise, exit Bree us- ing the east entrance. ARCHET AND STADDLE After leaving Bree, you will come to a crossroad. The path north leads to Archet, the path south to Staddle, and the Forsaken Inn is located at the crossroads. I found nothing of use in Archet, except for a healer who will heal your wounds if you ask him "HEAL." There is also an Inn, but again, I found nothing of use there. Of more interest is the town of Staddle. The first house you will come to is that of Ann Lilypool. She is glad to see you, and if you ask her about Luthien, she will give you the word of power, !LUTHIEN, and tell you it will be of use when you are under Weathertop. Also in this town is the Curio Shop, where you need to buy a Green Skull (believe me, you will need it). The shop- keeper also has a gold ring for sale, but it sounds like just a piece of jewelry to me. That's about it for Staddle; next stop is the Forsaken Inn. THE FORSAKEN INN The owner of the Forsaken Inn is a dwarf named Orin. He has a few interesting things to say about Moria if you ask him the right keywords. Go to the south- west bedroom and walk to the foot of the bed. There is a set of secret stairs that lead to the cellar. The cellar will be the first true test of your mapping abilities. It is not too large, but it will give you a good idea of what you are going to see in Moria. You are on your own when it comes to mapping the cellar and the mines of Moria, but once you get the hang of it, it really isn't that bad. The way that I am going to help you when you are here or in Moria is to tell you about the key places within the cellar or the mines, and when or if you get there, you can refer to the walkthru for help as to what to do. In the cellar, you will find many dead ends, two cairns (burial places), one set of stairs leading down to a room, and some spiders to kill. The first thing to find is the stairs. They lead to a small room where a ghost is standing next to a table with 3 green skulls on it, and a place for a fourth. USE the green skull you bought in the Curio Shop, and the ghost will tell you some directions to follow from Buri's cairn. Next, find Buri's cairn which is located in the southern area of the cellar. You will know when you have found it because the game will tell you. Follow the directions given to you by the ghost, which are: west, south, east, south, east, north, and west. You will hit a dead end. USE your shovel, and pick up Galadriel's Token. That's it for the cellar: exit and leave the Forsaken Inn. WEATHERTOP After the Inn, head back to the Great Road, and when it diagonals off to the northwest, go due north through some grasslands and some swampy area. You will run across a stone wall, and after that, some ruins. At the north end of the ruins, you will be referred to a paragraph in the manual, saying that Gandalf was here. Use the PERCEPTION skill to find some holes leading down. Use the CLIMB skill, and go to the south wall where you will all be given the !LUTHIEN word of power again, and a hint about where to use it. Use the rope to get out of this cave. When you exit this cave, if it is nighttime, you may be confronted with two or more Black Riders. If you do, you're dead meat (unless you are lucky). You can't flee the Black Riders (you have to fight them) and they are the toughest foes you will come across in the game. I suggest you save your game while you are in the cave, just in case. If you don't get attacked or you manage to kill the Black Riders, proceed north until you hit a small stream. Follow the stream to its source at the east, and use the CLIMB skill here to get to the caves under Weathertop. Follow the underground stream a bit until you get to a bridge guarded by two trolls. Trolls take a lot of hits to kill, but they are slow and you should get at least two hits on them for every hit they can get on you. After the trolls are defeated, enter the cave. This is also a good place to tune your mapping skills for Moria. There is only one item of use that I found in the cave. Go south in the cave, until you get to a pool where the stream comes from. Go south around the pool. You will enter a cave and will be attacked by 6 orcs. Kill the orcs, and take the east path until you hit another larger cave. Go on the north path which winds its way back to the other side of the stream. Cross a bridge, and you will come to a raft. Use the BOAT skill to cross the pond, and at the end of the cavern use the CLIMB skill. At the web, you will be attacked by five spiders. Kill the spiders, use the PICKLOCK skill on the chest, and get the Broken Wing. This is all I could find in this cave. Backtrack out of the cave, and head south to get back to the Great Road. THE TROLL SHAWS Head east on the Great Road until you come to the Last Bridge. If you talked to some of the folk in Bree, you learned that there is a passage under the bridge into the Troll Shaws caves. If you'd like, you can use this passage, but I didn't; instead, I explored the Troll Shaws before going underground. If you take this passage, you will still end up in the same place that I will be talking about later, so don't worry. Cross the bridge, pick up the beryl on the bridge, and walk on the Great Road until you get to a smaller path going north. Take this path, and walk until you see some ruins to the east. Go to the center of the ruins and USE the shovel. You have found the Troll Slayer, which is a great weapon. EQUIP Aragorn with it. From the ruins, walk north until you see three troll statues. From there walk west, crossing one stone wall, until you get to a second stone wall. Walk a little north along this wall until you see an opening into it. USE your prybar to get into this small cave. Use the PERCEPTION skill to get a hint for later in the game. Exit this cave, walk west, bypassing some ruins, until you get to a larger stone wall. Walk west along this wall until you get to another opening in the rock. Use the CLIMB skill to enter the main caves. The main caves under the Troll Shaws are where you meet a few trolls, and get two words of power. When you first enter, you will need to walk a bit along the cave path until you are attacked by two trolls. Kill the trolls, and walk west to the pool. Walk around the pool to the north, and enter a small cave where you will get the !BEREN word of power. To the east of the pool, enter this cave, where again, you will be given the !LUTHIEN word of power. The paths leading south from the pool lead to the passage under the Last Bridge, but I wouldn't take that path out since you'll probably meet up with some Black Riders. Instead, backtrack out of this cave, and go east to the small path to get back to the Great Road. Continue your trek eastward. You will soon meet up with Glorfindel who will give Frodo his horse to escape the Black Riders. Once Frodo is across the ford, use either the !ELBERETH or !LUTHIEN word of power to get rid of the Black Riders once and for all. You will notice that their cloaks are along the river banks, but ignore them for now; you will come back to get them. Glorfindel has joined your party: let's go to Rivendell! RIVENDELL Enter this large house (castle) and find Elrond who is in the conference room. He tells you to go get Gandalf so the Great Council can begin. Exit Rivendell, and immediately go east until you hit the Misty Mountains. Go a little north and Gandalf will be hanging out by a rock (God knows what he is doing there). He will disappear (must be nice to be a wizard). Go back to Elrond, and the Great Council will begin. A lot will be said during the Great Council, most of it refers to paragraphs in the manual. Finally, you are asked if you want to destroy the Ring. Answer "Yes," of course! Elrond will then say he needs proof that the Black Riders are gone. It's time to go back to the river to get the cloaks. But first, exit Rivendell, and immediately go west until you run into the blacksmith's hut. Go in, TRADE him the bladepart and the Broken Wing, and he will reforge the sword, Anduril. EQUIP Aragorn with it. TRADE the Trollslayer to Glorfindel, and EQUIP him with it. Go back to Rivendell, go south across the bridge and then west along the river until you see Legolas. RECRUIT him, and go back to the main river where you crossed the ford. Frodo should be in the lead of your group. Use his PERCEPTION skill and walk south along the river. It is important that you walk on the river bank and not the path next to the river! You will never find the cloaks if you do. You will find 4 cloaks on the east side of the river. One is protected by a band of wargs, but with your powerful party, they are no match. Go back to the ford, cross it, and walk south on the west bank of the river until you find the other 4 cloaks. Go back to Elrond, and he will give you the !MELLON word of power, and some sort of potion to keep you warm. GET the potion and some athelas. DISCARD all 8 cloaks; you don't need them anymore. There are a few more things to do in Rivendell before you leave. North of the conference room is Hawkeye's betrothed. Answer "Yes" to her question, and she will tell you to put a ring on his tomb. Exit this room and go upstairs. Go north, and TRADE Arwen the beryl that you found on Last Bridge. She will give you her token in return. Go back downstairs and find Erestor in his room. Ask him about "Moria" to get some information. You can also GET some skills, although I found none of them useful. Elrond's son will also offer you some skills. Go downstairs, now, and head west. When you get to the tombs, USE the signet ring you got from Hawkeye. His spirit is now at rest. (If you don't do this, you will meet Hawkeye's ghost in Moria.) Go back east until you get to a wine rack. Use the PERCEPTION skill and GET the wine bottle to reveal a passage north. Gimli will be standing here. I heavily recommend recruiting Gimli -- he is invaluable in Moria. My party was full at this point, however, so I DISMISSed my pony (after TRADEing his equipment to my other characters) and RECRUITed Gimli. You will also find Gloin in this cavern. Talk to him and he will tell you very useful information about Moria. Go back upstairs, head east, and GET any equipment you need from the Elf standing there. Make sure your party has one torch and one rope. You should have enough in your inventory to give everyone a sword, bow, axe, or dagger, as well as some sort of armor. Go back towards the entrance to Rivendell, go east, and you will find Bilbo sitting in one of the south bedrooms. Answer "Yes" to his question about the Ring, and he will leave Sting and some mithril mail for you. I equipped Frodo with Sting, and gave the mithril mail to Gimli (who I also put in the lead of my party). Exit Rivendell, now, and take the south path. You will come to a crossroads where the south path goes to Moria, and the east path goes across Redhorn Pass. Unfortunately, Redhorn Pass is blocked by a snowdrift at the summit (as you will find if you try to cross it), so the only other way across the Misty Mountains is to go through Moria. The south path will eventually end at the entrance to Moria. Gandalf tries to open the door but fails. Take over the situation, and use the !MELLON word of power to open the gate. When you do so, however, you will be attacked by two Tentacles. After the Tentacles are dead, walk north a bit to enter Moria. MORIA You have persevered through about half of this game so far. Now, comes the most enjoyable part of the game (in my opinion): Moria. Once you enter, the entrance caves in behind you leaving you no other way out but to go through the caverns and caves. The major quest to complete in Moria is to find Durin's Axe which is buried somewhere within the mines. With this axe, your passage to Dol Guldur will be assured. It is going to be a bit difficult for me to explain Moria in detail since you must make maps for every level in Moria, and I can't explain exactly where the stairs are, where the treasure is, etc. What I will do is to first give a basic outline of Moria, followed by a level-by-level description, which will help you to find the important pieces of treasure, and to help you find your way out. If you were able to find Gloin in Rivendell, he told you what you will find on some levels of Moria. This information will help you to find out exactly on which level you are. There are a total of 13 levels in Moria. When you start, you are on the first Level, which is also first Deep, and there are 6 Levels above you, and 6 Deeps below you. There are two ways to go up or down in Moria: you can take stairs, or you will come to the end of a passage and be transported up or down. Unfortunately, you have no way to tell whether you are going up or down, but this is where Gimli will help you. If you come to the end of a passage, Gimli may say "I feel we are ascending," or "I feel we are descending." Take his word for it; you have either just gone up or down a level. And except for one case, you have either gone up or down only one level. This is in contrast to the stairs in Moria, which may lead several levels up or down. I don't recommend taking the stairs right off: you may find yourself getting very lost very quick. Rather, explore the levels, avoiding the stairs for the time being. Once you have got the hang of Moria, take the stairs to get up or down quickly. Mapping is essential in Moria, but luckily, it really isn't too hard! The hardest level to map is the 1st Level/1st Deep and 6th Deep since they are the largest. Some of the levels in Moria are rather small and very easy to map. Also, Moria is rather logical in layout, and since you have an aboveground view, it makes it that much simpler to map. Since you have already had some practice in mapping, I don't think you will have any problems. One last bit of advice before we start, if you missed Gimli in Rivendell, I strongly recommend restoring a saved game (if you have one), and getting him. Without his help and advice in Moria, you may find yourself spending twice the amount of time there. That said, let's get started! FIRST LEVEL/FIRST DEEP There is not much to be found on this level. I felt like it was really just a test of your mapping abilities. There are multiple stairs up and down, along with several other passages that will lead to other levels. The most important thing about this level is that it contains the exit from Moria. If you have no interest in Moria, you can exit quickly, and get on with the game, although I don't know how far you would get without Durin's Axe. WARNING: If you choose to find the Axe, don't read the "Exiting Moria" paragraph until you are ready to exit Moria: it may spoil a bit of the game for you. SECOND LEVEL This relatively small level holds nothing of interest. On it you will find the Mining Hall and several orcs to kill. During certain sections of the game, you will be told that you hear orc drums. You might as well get geared up for a fight now, because if you keep traveling in the same direction, you will more than likely run into orcs. With your party, however, you will have no problem in killing any orcs that you come across. THIRD LEVEL I found nothing of use on this level. The corridors twist and turn making mapping a bit more difficult, but other than that, there is nothing that I found. FOURTH LEVEL On this level you will find three ghost statues who are blocking a corridor that leads out of the chamber of Gabilgathol. TALK to them, and they want the subject of Balin's note. Answer "khazad-dum." They will then tell you what you need to get Durin's Axe: a Lady's Token, the Golden Wheel, a golden chisel, anvil, and hammer, and a sign of the dwarven fathers. You have the token and the wheel, you just got the word of power !SIGN OF SEVEN, and you will find the other three in Moria. They also tell you some directions to follow from Buri's tomb. Pass the ghosts, and when you find a set of tombs, use PERCEPTION to see if you are at the right set. Follow the directions now (west, south, east, south, east, north, west), and USE Durin's Pick at the end of the corridor. You will be told that with the sign of seven, Durin's Axe can be regained. Exit this side passage, and go north from the ghosts to exit this level. Note: You will be transported to the 6th Level from here, not the 5th. The only way to Level 5 is from Level 6. FIFTH LEVEL This is a simple level to map. Basically, it is a large hall surrounded by a belt of passages, all of which lead into the hall. On the west side of the hall you will find two things of note. First is Oin and Ori. They want you to free them. Use the !KHAZAD word of power that the bird on 4 Deep gave to you. They will tell you two helpful hints: "Use Durin's Pick to break the seal in the Hall of the First Fathers," and "Durin's Bane hates the Golden Wheel." North of Oin and Ori, you will find Drisnak, and he wants a ring. If you have Smith's Ring, give it to him; otherwise, you will have to kill him. No big loss. Go to the fireplace, use PERCEPTION, and you will find a black key. When you get it, everyone in the party will be affected by a poison cloud. Time to visit the healing pools on level 6. SIXTH LEVEL This is an interesting level with many things to find and do. There are three healing pools here. You can walk through one them as many times as needed until you party is completely healed. Also found on this level is the Hall of the First Fathers. Before entering the hall, turn on your PERCEPTION skill. Walk around the hall a bit until Gimli tells you that Durin's tool will show the way. USE Durin's Pick to find a secret cave. On the west side you will be confronted by the spirit that you let loose when you got the Golden Wheel. Four trolls will then attack you, and after they are dead, you are told that Durin's curse has been lifted. I suppose that if you didn't do this, you would find more trouble when you went to get Durin's Axe, I am not sure. Anyway, exit by going back the way you came, and you will be back on the 4th level. Go back to 6, this time going west of the Hall, and then head south and east to find the stairs to the 5th Level. SEVENTH LEVEL This is the smallest level in Moria and there is only one way out. Follow the passage until you get to the book. Use the READ skill to read it. After a few READs, you will be attacked by two orcs. Kill them, and then quickly exit east: any hesitation will result in your death. The stairs here will lead to the 3rd Level. TWO DEEP The Deep levels are where you will get to the good stuff in Moria. On 2 Deep, you will find an altar that will lead you back to the 4th Level if you decide to clean it. Otherwise, find a small pit blocking the passage, and use the JUMP skill to get across. In the far northeast part of this cave you will find Kiri. If you can, RECRUIT him; in you can't, just leave him. South of Kiri, you will come across two Snagas -- really wimpy orcs. Kill them and go west. Here you can kill two Uruks to get Smith's Ring back if you gave it to Drisnak. THREE DEEP When you descend to this level, Gimli will say that you are getting into some heavy orc territory. He is correct (as usual) because you will soon run into two of them. When they are dead, find the stone troll that is guarding a passage. Kill the troll and head to the tombs. Use PERCEPTION and you will notice that a stone slab can be moved. USE the prybar to reveal a passage down. If you have a rope, USE it now; otherwise, use the CLIMB skill to get down. Without a rope it is very difficult to get back up since you need to move in very small increments at the end of the passage; keep trying the CLIMB skill until you can get out. Now that you are down, just where are you? This level (which I will call Durin's Level) leads to Durin's Axe, the main goal of Moria. If you have the gold anvil, chisel, and hammer, continue. If you don't, exit back up out of Durin's Level because you will need these three items. Durin's Level is explained near the end of this section. FOUR DEEP This is a fairly large level and you will be fighting many foes, so be sure your stamina is up. To the north of this level is a pool with two bridges leading from the mainland to a small island. Cross either one of them, and find the stairs up. You will have to kill an Olog-Hai before you can continue. After the Olog-Hai is dead, go to the southeast corner, and use the PERCEPTION skill. You will see a small passage leading up. USE the prybar, and then CLIMB up. Go north a bit and you will have to defeat yet another Olog-Hai. After it is dead, the bird will give you the !KHAZAD word of power which is used to free Oin and Ori on Level 5. Exit back out, and cross either bridge again. This time across, however, you will have to fight 3 sets of 2 tentacles each, and they are not easy. The exit down is found in the southern region of this level. FIVE DEEP This is one of the smaller levels in Moria, and it holds two things of in- terest. First, you will notice a set of several staircases leading down. Don't take them. You will have to fight two trolls to get to a set of tombs. When you get to the tombs, you can use the prybar to release yet another troll. It seems like it was just a false passage to help decrease your stamina. Second thing on this level, if you enter one of the side rooms, you will be attacked by two Uruks. Kill them, and GET the magic mail and the axe. Walk the center of the room to the hole and use PERCEPTION to find some mithril mail. SIX DEEP After descending to 6 Deep, you will immediately enter a large hall. In the center of the northern part of the hall is a gold throne, but when you ap- proach, you will be attacked by some trolls and orcs. After killing them, I found nothing to gain from the throne, so I suggest hugging the south wall of the hall, and avoiding it altogether. Along the south wall you will notice two small rooms. In the western room you can get back up to level 1 by walking into the west wall. But you can only get back down if you have the star key! The exit from this hall is to the west, cross the bridge, JUMP the chasm, and from here you can north or south. On the north passage you will find a pit. Get close to the pit, and use the CLIMB skill to get down to 7 Deep. After a bit of walking, the south passage will lead to a large cavern. Take the first north passage from the passage you are on, and keep heading north until you are attacked by six Uruks. Kill them, and go west to the Dragon's Chamber. Here you will be notified that you will be toast if you don't leave now. Ignore the comments, and keep walking west until you are told that you have found something. GET the White Wings. Next thing to do is find the large pool in this cavern. When you are told that you see a bird in the middle of the pool, USE the White Wings, and then TRADE the White Wings to the eagle. He will give you the !THORONDOR word of power. If you head west from the main passage, you will cross a bridge where you will see a vision of the Witch King, whom you'll meet later in the game. Also in this cavern is an exit to Lorien if you have Galadriel's Key, which you don't. You may want to keep this in mind to use this entrance to reenter Moria later. SEVEN DEEP You will be in a small cave when you first enter 7 Deep which contains vast amounts of mithril. USE the shovel to get some if you want, but I found no use for it. For a laugh, save your game here, and keep digging for mithril. In this cave is a pit where you find out that Durin's Bane was let loose. Walk into the pit, and use the PERCEPTION skill to find a crawlspace. Use the CLIMB skill to get the second section of 7 Deep. After climbing, follow the only passage you can to the east, JUMP the two lava pits, and you will find a large hall to the north. On the north wall you will find another throne, but this one is guarded by a Balrog! You have no chance if you fight him, so USE the Golden Wheel to get rid of him for now. Go to the throne, and use PERCEPTION to find a locked chest. Use the PICKLOCK skill, and GET the lady's token, the golden anvil, chisel, and hammer. Just a note here: I found that after I got these four items, I still didn't have them, so I had to go through the whole process again. I don't know if this is a bug or not; just make sure you have the four items before you leave. Going back for them is a real drag. DURIN'S LEVEL Now that you have the necessary items to regain Durin's Axe, go back to the third level tombs, and climb back down to Durin's Level. Go up the stairs, and you will see three doors. I found this area to be confusing, so I recommend not trying to map it; rather just walk until you get somewhere, and don't take any stairs. Take the left door, and head north until you find a pit. Walk into the pit, and use PERCEPTION to find a hole in the ceiling. CLIMB up and you will be in a small room. Walk due north. USE Durin's pick when you are told to use a tool, and a dwarf will appear asking you two questions. TALK to him, and tell him "seven" first, then "mahal" to answer his questions. You will be told you can pass, walk north to yet another small room, and walk straight into the north wall. You will be transported to the area where Durin's Axe is kept. Basically, this is a central area, looped by a passage. Walk along the outside passage, TRADEing to each of the ghosts you meet the item that it wants. When you have doled out the three golden items, walk to the center and use the !SIGN OF SEVEN word of power. Something will fall to the floor: pick it up, and you have regained Durin's Axe! EXITING MORIA To exit Moria, you need to find a long bridge on the far east side of the first Level. When you've crossed the bridge, Durin's Bane, the dreaded Balrog, will appear on the other side. You will be referred to many paragraphs in the book about your doom which is what will happen if you don't do the proper thing right now. Don't even think of fighting the Balrog -- he will waste you. Instead, USE Gandalf's Wizard Staff. You will be treated to a fun sequence in which Gandalf destroys the Balrog. Once the Balrog is gone, you will notice that Gandalf has also disappeared. I guess he expended himself. You can now exit Moria by taking the east passage. At the end of the passage, you will be attacked by three Uruks (and you thought you were through), kill them and save your game. You have exited Moria, and are now in the forests of Lorien. LORIEN After exiting Moria, you will be standing near some ruins. Walk east a bit, and suddenly the Ringbearer and another of your party (I lost Sam Gamgee) dis- appear! They have been taken prisoner by the Witch King, and spirited to Dol Guldur. This sets up your final quest of the game: rescue Frodo and defeat the Witch King. But there is a lot to be done before you can do this, and the first thing is to meet with Galadriel, the Queen of Lorien. Head northeast from here until you get to a river. Find the bridge that crosses this river and keep going east. You will cross another bridge, and this time an elf, Haldir, will ask you for a password. TALK to him, and say "Elrond." He will take you to the Golden Wood, the home of Galadriel. Walk north from Haldir, and you will see a gate to the east when you hit a row of trees. This gate is one of two entrances to Caras Galadon, a city of elves. Walk through the gate, and go west to cross a bridge. Now, walk north and follow this stream around until you are told that Galadriel's home is nearby. Walk directly west and you will see a large tree guarded by an elf. This is a flet, and this one is Galadriel's home. Walk up the ladder, and you will see Galadriel and Celeborn. Galadriel will greet you, and tell you she will help you out. She also states that if you find 5 objects for her, she will give you something. These items are: the Crown of Elanor, a scabbard, a silver horn, an elfstone, and the light of Earendil's star. When you talk to Galadriel, she won't say much except to meet her at the mirror. You can RECRUIT Celeborn, and I recommend doing so. Exit this flet, and head south until you get to the stream. Walk south along this stream until you see the mirror (which looks like a bird bath, if you ask me). Galadriel will appear and she will tell you the fate of Frodo and his com- panion. Doesn't sound like he is doing too good. After a lot of information, you can pick up Galadriel's key which opens a door back into Moria. From here, there are many things you can do. You can exit Lorien, and go to Dol Guldur; you can walk around the city and talk to various elves for help; you can attempt to retrieve the five objects Galadriel spoke of; and/or you can back into Moria. The route I chose was to attempt to find the five ob- jects. I saw no reason to go back into Moria, but if you missed something there, this is a good time to go back. If you don't feel like finding the five objects, skip to the last section: "Leaving Lorien." THE FIVE OBJECTS The city is really quite large, and the only thing I can tell you in your attempt to find the five objects is to just wander around and talk to the elves, asking them about "elfstone," "crown," "scabbard," "earendil," and "horn" for help. Enter all of the flets you come across: some you can enter, and some you can't. In some, you will receive various useful items from the elves within. Since you lost two party members, you can try to RECRUIT another elf; you should be able to find several who will join your party. The order in which I found the five objects is: elfstone, horn, scabbard, crown, starlight. From where you are standing at the mirror, exit the city by the same gate you through which you entered, and walk south until you see Haldir again. A bit to the east of Haldir is a large mound known as the "Mound of Mourning." Walk around the outside of the mound using PERCEPTION until you find the elfstone. From the mound walk west, crossing the bridge on which you first met Haldir, until you come to the first bridge you crossed after exiting Moria. From here, you can do two things. If you talked to some of the elves in Caras Galadon, you might have learned that the reason that Redhorn Pass is blocked is because of an evil spirit, Caradhas. He is holding the bird of spring pri- soner, and freeing the bird will free Redhorn Pass. If you want to attempt this quest, skip to the next section, "Redhorn Pass and Caradhas," then return here; otherwise, continue. Stay on the east side of the bridge, and go north. You will see many ruins to the west. When you can go north no more, and must go east or west, head a little bit southwest until you see some ruins. Walk around the ruins using PERCEPTION to find the silver horn. Go back northeast, and go east this time. You will walk for a while, until suddenly, you are attacked by an orc. You have stumbled across their camp, and they're a bit steamed. After the orc is dead, an Uruk will attack. After it is dead, you will face an Olog-Hai and another Uruk. After this victory, the rest of the camp will run away. From the battle scene, walk southeast to a swamp. Walk around the outside of the swamp to the east until you see a small clearing to the south. Walk to the clearing, and you will find out that it is a sinkhole. Use the CLIMB skill and GET the Eagle Eye. I was hoping that by using the eagle eye, I would get an aboveground view, but it wasn't so. Walk south along the river, and the forest to the west will end. When it does, head west, getting as close the tree borderline as possible. When you see a little brown patch to the south, go to it and use PERCEPTION to find the scabbard. Keep walking west, and you will get to the second gate into Caras Galadon. Go back to the mirror, and from it walk west-southwest. In one of the flets here you will find a female elf who is in love with Legolas, and because of that she gives you a Crown of Elanor (don't ask me why). Go back to mirror and wait until night falls. When it does USE, a bottle or wine bottle to cap- ture the light of Earendil's star. If you don't have a bottle, I think you might be out of luck: I couldn't find any other way to get the light. You now have the five objects of which Galadriel spoke. Now comes a part that got me a bit frustrated. Galadriel told you that when you found the five ob- jects, you will get something in return. Well, I tried to TRADE all the ob- jects to her, but that did no good. I DISCARDed the objects, but again, nothing happened. I also tried to USE the objects, but that didn't help. I tried TALKing to Galadriel to see what she would say, but it was the same old thing about meeting her at the mirror. I went back to her flet, but was told by the guard that I was ready for my final quest. I finally said, "enough." I don't know how to get the object Galadriel promised. Perhaps I misread the in- formation she gave me; maybe you will have more luck. But I did complete the game without it, so who knows what the object might have been? REDHORN PASS AND CARADHAS At the first bridge you crossed, go north from it on the west side of the river. When the river curves off to the west, go west until you get to the Misty Mountains. Walk along the foot of the mountains until you see the entrance to Redhorn Pass. Follow the pass until you get to an impassable snow- drift. Walk about 3 paces east, and use PERCEPTION. You may have to try it in a couple different spots until you see a cave above you. Use the CLIMB skill to get into Caradhas's cave. This is a very small cave. In one of the two rooms of this cave you will see a bunch of bones, and you can GET the malach-key. The second room contains a ladder and some ice ponds. Don't walk on the ponds since you may fall in and lose some stamina. Go up the ladder and you will find Caradhas. Surprisingly, he is not happy to see you, and attacks! When you finish off Caradhas, walk south to find a bird encased in ice. Have one of your party USE a torch to free the bird. He is very grateful, and tells you that Redhorn Pass is free. Exit this cave the way you came into it. To tell the truth, I didn't try to go west to see if the snowdrift was still there. According to the bird it shouldn't be, and you should be able to get back to Rivendell. LEAVING LORIEN When you are ready to leave Lorien, take the east gate, and walk east to the river. Along the river, you will see a dock, and Galadriel will appear asking you if you are ready to go. Answer "Y," and she will tell you some information about Dol Guldur, and she will give you two words of power and some lembas. The first word, !OROME, will help you to capture something or someone that is hard to get. The second !MELIAN will help you to counter any deception you might find along the way. Also, Galadriel tells you that a wizard, Radagast, may help you if you can find him. You are then taken across the river to make your final assault upon Dol Guldur. RADAGAST Travel west on the road you are on, and you will soon come to a north-south intersection. Take the north road to Radagast's house. This is a long and twisting road, and when it ends, walk a bit more north until you see Radagast's house. Walk inside; there is nothing of interest on the first floor, so take the stairs up. On the second floor, you will find three cages. If you go near the cages and use PERCEPTION, you will find a lot of animals locked up. Use PICKLOCK to free them. I don't know what good this does, but it makes you feel good, right? (When I freed the animals, it said that the wolves on the far wall growled, but for the life of me, I couldn't find any wolves anywhere.) Take the stairs up to the third floor. On the third floor you will see Radagast, and a bird that is locked up in a cage. If you ask Radagast about "bird" he will tell you that it is a spy of Sauron. I tried to free the bird just for the heck of it, but didn't succeed. You won't get anymore out of Radagast, so RECRUIT him. If you have a full party of 10, get rid of an elf that you may have picked up in Lorien: Radagast is a good fighter with lots of stamina, and his spells may help you out along the way. Leave Radagast's house now. When you leave, you will be told that the animals in the forest run from Radagast. I found this to be strange, and from other players of LOTR, they said that Radagast turned into a werewolf on them at one point in the game. It seems that this Radagast is a fake, and the real Radagast is hiding out somewhere. Radagast didn't turn into a werewolf on me, so if he does on you, you found a part of the game that I didn't get to play. Follow the road back to the crossroads. GOLLUM AND THE FOREST MAZE Take the south path now, and soon Celeborn will tell you he's leaving. At about the same time, you will run into the vile creature Gollum. You can either USE a rope, or the !OROME word of power to capture him. He agrees to help you since in the back of his mind he wants to get his "precious" back. He (or it) will tell you that you can't approach Dol Guldur via the main road, and says he will show you a secret entrance. Walk east on the road until Gollum tells you to get off. Do so immediately! Following the road any longer will result in a winged creature capturing all of you. You will enter another forest maze, but unlike the Old Forest maze that you already went through, this maze is much easier. There is only one path through it. You will have to fight a few spiders here and there, but soon you will come to an intersection where one path goes north, and the other goes east. If you take the north path, you will find a statuary where you will be at- tacked by five lifelike statues. They are not too easy to kill, and after they are dead, you'll find nothing of use. And when I tried to exit, I was again attacked. So, I think this path is just a red herring. Instead, take the east path, and you will come to section where the hedges are rather small. Walk right through the hedge, and Gollum tells you to go east to a big stone. The stone is actually more north than east, but anyway, when you see a stone pillar, walk around it until you find the secret entrance to Dol Guldur. DOL GULDUR Dol Guldur is a fortress that is composed of ten levels. Inside, you will fight a lot to get to Frodo and Sam. Mapping Dol Guldur's levels isn't really necessary: each level is actually quite small. Your ultimate goal is to get to the top level where you will meet up with the Witch King. As in Moria, I will give a level by level description of Dol Guldur, in the order that I explored them. I am using level 1 as the lowest level, up to level 10 as the highest. You may want to skip some of the levels that I didn't find anything on, but of course, I may have missed something. The level descriptions are only what I found: you may find more. LEVEL FIVE When you first enter Dol Guldur, you arrive on Level 5. Here you will find two prisoners of Sauron: a dwarf who doesn't want much to do with you, and a human who will join you if you free him (which I couldn't figure out how to do). You will need to kill the Uruk and the two spiders and then use PERCEP- TION to pick up the red key. This key doesn't open the cells on the level; however, it will be of use later. LEVEL FOUR Taking the stairs down you will immediately be attacked by three Olog-Hai's. They are not easy to kill, but after you have finished them, head southwest and go in the entrance. Follow the passage around (after being blinded twice) and take the stairs down. LEVEL THREE When you enter here, you are warned that not all is at it seems. Use the !MELIAN word of power to put everything back in its proper place. I couldn't find anything on this level; there is a staircase down in the northwest corner. LEVEL TWO This is a maze level. Find your way to the area where you cannot cross be- cause you are blocked by a red pit. If you try and cross the pit, your leader will turn to stone. I found no way to get across other than losing at least one character. I put one of my lesser characters in the lead, saved my game, and kept trying to cross until I lost only that one character. When you are finally able to cross, follow the path around until you see a staircase down. Walk through the wall east of the staircase (I know it sounds stupid) and you will be attacked by three sorcerers. Kill them to take the staircase down. When you come back up to this level, walk south to the evil eye that is sur- rounded by walls. When you walk into it you will be transported to another area on this level, but this way you won't have to recross the pit. LEVEL ONE This is the lowest level of Dol Guldur. From the stairs, walk west between the fire pits. If you have Aragorn in your party, he will think that you are trying to kill him, and he will abandon the party. Walk a bit more west and you will see a cell to the north. Before you can get there, you are attacked by a Nazgul. After he dies, you can GET another malach-key. Walk to the cell, and USE the malach-key to free Sam Gamgee. He tells you that Frodo is being held on the highest level of the tower. Time to head back up. LEVEL SIX From level 6, you can exit Dol Guldur if you wish. There is a small box located near the southwest stairs. Use the DEVICES skill to open the draw- bridge. Before you can exit, though, you must get through some orcs. You are then shot twice with some arrows which further lowers your stamina. When you exit Dol Guldur, you are informed that a Nazgul is going to finish you off, but none attacked me. If you go west from the entrance, and then north following the outside wall of Dol Guldur, you will soon see a keep off to the west. The entrance to the keep is to the south. I found nothing of interest on the first floor, take the stairs to the basement. There you will find two Troll statues, and one of them is mumbling something about needing some power. I searched the basement for any kind of a switch or something, but I didn't find a thing to bring the Trolls to life. I also tried some spells and words of power without luck. They probably would have just attacked me, anyway. So, the keep was a dead end. Back on level 6 of the tower, in one of the rooms is a slave orc, Juithrech. If you ask about "prisoner," he will tell you where they are being held, but you already knew that. I searched some of the other rooms, but after meeting six Uruks in about every one, I finally gave up and took the staircase up to level 7. LEVEL SEVEN This level contains a large center section surrounded by a several smaller rooms. In the center area, you will see a red carpet that leads to a throne to the north. Before you get there, you are attacked by a sorcerer and three Uruks. After dispatching them, I searched the throne but found nothing. LEVEL EIGHT We are reaching the top of Dol Guldur, which is evident since you are walking around at the top of the castle. Walk east from the stairs and kill the four orcs that attack you. You will find the entrance to the center section on the east side. When you enter, I recommend taking the southern hallway, since in the northern one you will be attacked by five humans. Taking the south hall, you will be confronted by a single human. Answer "Y" to his question, and defeat him. He will tell you that he hopes you fail (big surprise there). The stairs to level 9 are to the west. LEVEL NINE This is also a level with a main center section surrounded by two hallways. If you attempt to go north on the red carpet, get ready for a hairy battle with an Olog-Hai, a sorcerer, and a Nazgul. After this battle is over, you can approach the throne, but, again, I found nothing! The stairs up are at the northeast corner, but you can't get up them because of an invisible lock. Time to USE the red key you found. Take the stairs up to level 10. LEVEL TEN AND ENDGAME You will finally come into confrontation with the evil Witch King himself. He is attempting to fly off with Frodo. Use the !THORONDOR word of power, and a group of eagles will attack the Witch King. He can't fly away now, but he is ready to fight. After a lengthy battle, you have finally completed the game! You will be treated to a fun endgame sequence telling you what is going on in the world since you got the ring back. Also, we are told that the game will be picked up in the second volume of LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS. Now, that's something to look forward to!