Encounters IICharacter Only EncountersAmon Hen and Amon Lhaw A large stone chair located upon a hilltop at 2620 and 2720 (or thereabouts).
Will sometimes work for a character, sometimes it won't. *The think of an enemy dying is interesting. I have heard that doing this sometimes works. I was told that this can be the same as casting weakness/curse on an enemy player. One player told me that he tried this and an DS opponent who reported he had a curse spell cast on him that turn. Whether this is just a co-incidence (another Free character cast curse at the same time?) is unknown (they weren't in contact with every player on the two teams, but perhaps someone can try this and get back to me)? Ancient Barrow An ancient barrow inscribed with runes, can be found anywhere.
*Evidence suggests that the choice REMOVE the runes will defeat the guardian and give the character gold and access to a lost list spell. However, I can tell you that it doesn't work always (my 54 Emis can - well, could have - witnessed that! So a challenge rank of 27 isn't enough. The encounter stated, that: "Try as she might, the enchantments on the door seemed beyond her skill to break." This could suggest that a stronger character could have done it, or maybe just a character with Mage skill... Could someone try digging and tell me what the response is? Encounter for Hos Harf (Mage rank 68 - Easterling DS) Though the mage who placed the runes was powerful, his skill did not surpass his. As the enchantments upon the door faded, a soul-chilling shriek split the air and slowly faded into the gathering gloom. The door fell to dust and he was free to enter and claim any prize that lay within. The Barrow Wight moved quickly and its sword hacked with a solid precision at his body. He moved as quickly as possible and brought his weapons to bear as fast as he could. The Wight was elusive and it was hard to concentrate on spells, but it seemed to have little difficulty in hitting him. Suddenly, he looked directly into those glowing eyes and the will to fight seemed to flee from his body. With a shriek, the Wight drove toward him for the kill. He went down under a flurry of blows as he tried to take cover beneath some of the overhanging rock in the area. The trick worked and the Wight's sword clanged harmlessly on the rock above. Taking full advantage of the Wight's confusion, he cast his spell at the Wight from beneath the protecting rock and it worked! The Wight emitted a soulful cry and vanished into the air. After the battle, a small chest was found. Inside was a scroll which burst into flames. As it burned, he found a new spell in his memory! Gems and jewels were also found. They valued about 20000 gold pieces and were sent to the capital! From Matt Lincoln I tried to flee (ignore) the Barrow as the DS (with my e68). The result was that the barrow wight ambushed me and took me down to 1 health.
Balrogs (Durin's Bane) Found in the Misty Mountains. The character encounters a burning tower (if you are a dwarf you WILL get this encounter eventually)! Description: Small ruined tower topping scorched hillock. Flames still lick at the sides of the charred tower, but the unbearably hot fire is clearly diminishing and promises to soon die..."
*If you go toe-to-toe with a Balrog don't expect to come out alive! However, I have heard of one player (a DS) fighting a Balrog and surviving (once). Most common locations: Misty Mountains mostly, but also Southern Mirkwood area including the plains, southern Dunland near the White Mountains, Gap of Rohan. Balrogs randomly affect the loyalty of neutrals; they don't automatically decrease it, as they do with Free Peoples. I also have an unconfirmed rumour that if the character WAITs, the Balrog will exit the tower and attack the character. Note that the description may vary slightly (ruined tower/hut/house/etc.). If you get this as a character encounter, you CANNOT recruit the Balrog. If you get this as an army encounter, he'll join a Dark Servant army automatically (for a Free/Neutral army, he'll attack and slaughter troops left and right). Balrogs will indeed attack a Free or Neutral army by themselves, killing many troops in the process. Unlike dragons, they don't have to be attached to a DS army to initiate combat. Carry artefacts 165 and 166 so it's a good way to track them. Daeron Mad Elf who plays a harp or is practising with a rapier.
Daeron isn't associated with any allegiance and will randomly
raise or lower the loyalty of any pop centre he happens to be at during the turn. He has a
high challenge rank but if beaten usually gives up some gold and access to a lost list
spell. He does not hold any artefacts. Attacked by a challenge 197 DS character - and killed (sob..). Netted 2000 gold pieces, and a Teleport Spell (68%). Demon of Aglarond You see a smoking being eating a cave troll.
Defeating the demon brings gold and a lost list spell. The Demon is NOT a balrog, but ranges the same area as 'a balrog' (White Mountains/Gap of Rohan) and affects loyalty at pop centres. The Demon has a guesstimated challenge rank of 50. The demon appears in the encounter to look much like a balrog, and both creatures often track around Aglarond (as my Dunnish armies found out to their dismay). Because of this, a number of players have run in to the Demon in the same place, and assumed it was the nasty that slew 1,000 of their troops just a few turns ago. Turns out this isn't the case. The Demon is just a demon, with a challenge rank of between 50-75. It isn't a Balrog. There are still two balrogs (Durin's bane and one other), but they're no relation to the Demon. This one had quite a few people going. Dimrill Dale Mirrormere, a magical pool of great power. Seems to be filled
with reflected stars. Notes: It seems this encounter can only be had by dwarves, also there is a rumour that this encounter is repeatable (every 4 - 5 turns). There are no options.The dwarven character automatically receives 10,000 - 30,000 gold. (I received 11,000). In the past few days he has camped on the shore of a
large lake known as Mirrormere. Some nights is seemed as if there were strange lights and
movements beneath the calm waters. It was during the third night that strange things began
to occur. Suddenly the hair on his body suddenly stood erect as ghostly Spirits and vague
and nebulous shapes entered his camp. He began to ready himself for battle, but something
soothing calmed his nerves. Now that he thought about it, the Spirits were beckoning more
than threatening. He cautiously began to follow until a quagmire stopped him. As the
Spirits continued to prompt him, he fought down his fear and began to dig. Soon he
uncovered a small box which held precious jewel and gems. As he retrieved the treasure,
the Spirits seemed to smile and to fade away. Later, the jewels and gems were appraised at
15000 gold pieces. It was sent to the capital. Druedain in a Cave An oblong stone immersed in blue light. An object rests on the stone. (Otherwise known as the Pukel Guardian encounter). Character was hastening to take cover from a sudden and unseasonal storm when he came across an overgrown (or perhaps hidden!) path. Daring the unexpected opportunity as a welcome respite from the foul weather, he followed the path, finding it to be both narrow and broken. After a brief but difficult trek, he was relieved to enter the small, hidden cave found at the path's end. To his surprise, the cave provided not only shelter from the weather but also an interesting discovery. In the centre of the cave was an oblong block of dark stone, engulfed in a faint transparent blue light that covered the entire surface. Upon the stone lay something that did not shine, but attracted his attention nonetheless. The cave seamed almost to be calling him. He couldn't tell what it was, and certainly the item there was a powerful artefact, he thought, but how might one breach the possible protections?
*Word was Colbran The outcome was combat, (i.e. wrong answer). In the presence of the intimidating magical power, Character stood forth and proclaimed, "Colbran." Suddenly the chamber trembled, and the light went out, and he felt that he was ill- equipped to carry out his original plan of action. He stumbled, indecisively, and then slowly he became aware that the light was returning and he found himself a mere handswidth from the stone block. As he was just about to reach the valuable artifact and hail the lack of any apparent guardian, Character suddenly realised that where the stone block used to be, standing between himself and the artifact, was a towering Pukel-creature, originally the creation of the Druedain and the Daen Coentis. Only his lightning-like reflexes, reflected in a backward leap, saved him from the first swift and deadly attack - a ball of lightning aimed at his head! If that had landed, the fight would already be over. He reviewed his tactics quickly, circling the enchanted creature and casting spell after spell that seemed to have no effect. But it seemed that the creature was likewise unable to injure him. Finally, he realised that the glow of the creature was beginning to dim. Suddenly, he cast an inspired spell which surrounded the weakened manlike being. He watched in awe as the dim glow finally extinguished - the sign of its final death. I got a whopping ONE point to mage rank, no artifact!!! I have unconfirmed reports that a FP emmie announced his/her ALLEGIANCE and got the artifact, and that a DS emmie WAITED and was attacked and reduced to 1 health by Druidain (??!!). Update from Mathias Bergolte Eagle/Fist Banners What follows is the ghostly army encounter I've been trying to hunt down (not even sure if this exists or not). Encountered once as Harad. *Character* lay in his camp in the depths of the night, with a dark, cloud-filled sky overhead. He tried to rest. The chill night winds seemed to taunt him by blowing hardest when he nearly captured sleep. Suddenly awakened by another freezing blast, he heard the sound of tramping feet rise over the moan of the wind. He leapt up, looking for the source of the sound. Moments passed before he finally saw them, a ghostly contingent of fighting men, marching behind an eagle banner. War cries erupted behind him and he spun around to see another spectral war party charging forward. At the head of the charging party, a man bore a clenched-fist banner on the tip of the spear. Answering cries came from the first group of warriors and battle seemed imminent.
Need LOTS more info on this! Neutral mediate a truce perhaps "While I was playing a 1650 game with the Duns I made the Eagle/Fist Banner encounter. ** Thanks to Roberto for this info. ** Enchanted Pool Description:a magical pool wherein the character sees many
scenes from the past, present, and future. Can be found anywhere.
Popular opinion is that this encounter can be ignored. I think this should be investigated more, I've heard rumours that we all might be missing something! ***Update from Matthew Prescott*** I noticed on your Middle Earth web page that you
still don't have a response to the Enchanted Pool Encounter. I came across the Enchanted
Pool Encounter as a DS (Quiet Avenger) in 2950. ***Update from Matt Lincoln*** Also, I recently had the magic pool encounter in the same game (106). My character was an a70 with 53 health. I drank from the pool and was healed for 20 points of damage! (So my total health next turn was 87.) Elven Feast Description:stumble upon a wild party
thrown by a bunch of Silvan Elves. One calls out a challenge to the
From Brad Brunet: Giants
Notes: giants can be encountered by armies. When this happens, the giants begin to play games by throwing around large rocks, which has the end result of killing hundreds of troops. In one game however, the size of my army scared away the Giants. They only attack smaller armies (wimps)! They can try and speak to your character in an
unknown language. I'm convinced that one word is the key. Anyone know what it
is? Gladden Fields Description:a wizened old man or woman offers to
show the character a scroll which contains the secret of the golden band. He/she offers to
take the character back to his/her hut to view the scroll.
The Harper Description:the character follows music to a grove, and finds a mysterious figure playing the harp. Bolvag neared the end of a week's travels and came to a large hill encircled by smaller ones. Near the top of the center hill, he saw a dark opening from which spilled a slow, hauntingly beautiful music. Briefly, the melody held him entranced. "Surely the Song of Creation," he thought, "could have been no sweeter." Working his way between the lower hills and up the large hill, he came to what was, upon closer examination, obviously a shallow cave. Barely visible in the cave's shadowy recess, a dark figure bent over a softly glimmering harp. Still pulling at the harp strings, the figure looked up and its eyes flickered with the same light that came from the harp. A sibilant whisper insinuated itself in the music, "Who disturbs my solitude?"
Notes:this is a wight in disguise. Defeating the wight in combat will probably get the character gold and a lost list spell, but this encounter is rare enough that I haven't heard of anyone actually winning a fight. Even if combat ensues, the character has a good chance of escaping with his life. Lake/Swamp Surrounded by Cattails You arrive at a lake or swamp and hear a child crying in the distance.
If the character is at a lake and investigates the
cry, he'll be ambushed by a monster. I'm told the monster is mewlips. The Mewlips are a species of creature allegedly inhabiting wet areas and comes from the poem "The Mewlips" in JRRT's collection of Hobbit poetry "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil." The Lonely Mountain Description:character encounters a cave and stream
while climbing the Lonely Mountain. Human bones can be seen outside the cave.
Trolls live in the cave and will attack a character
who gives an inappropriate response. While the trolls are difficult to defeat, a character
will generally escape any combat with them. There's probably something interesting in the cave, but I've never heard of anyone having this encounter with a powerful enough character to defeat the trolls. The guy who finished Daeron promtly moved to the Lonely Mountain at 3107, and had the famous Troll encounter. He tried to EXPLORE the caves, and was forced down the mountain by dozens of wild Trolls. He took 12 damage. I can't really figure this one out - maybe you have to have a High challenge as well as making the right response?? 199 (he went up 2, after Daeron) should be enough for almost anything (IMHO). This has got to be a response item and not a challenge item. I don't know of anyone who's beaten it yet. What word could it be? Mirror in Cave Description: the character finds a large dark mirror guarded
by the skeleton of a giant humanoid near a door in a cave.
<Character> had just bedded down for a good nights rest when his eyes were arrested by a soft glow emanating from over the next hill. Deciding that he had better discover the source of this glow, he picked up his belongings and made his way cautiously over the rise. As he drew closer, he noticed that the glow seemed to be coming from a small cave set back into the hill. He entered the cave ready for anything but halted in amazement when he entered the central chamber. Inside was a large dark mirror with constantly shifting images of people, places, and ancient artifacts. It was from the mirror that the glow was emanating. Across from the mirror stood a skeleton of a giant humanoid decked out in an assortment of intricately carved armor an holding a giant sword in readiness. Finally, between the mirror and the skeleton was a stout door set into the wall and fastened with a stout metal lock formed by an ancient craft. If you have this encounter let me know how you got on? Update: If you ATTACK and defeat the skeleton, the creature
breaks into a skattering of bones seemingly never to rise again. Then the bones come
together and say... "Long has it been since I have been bested. My respect goes to
you, whoever you are. But the fight was a good one and I am sure that you gained from the
experience. One more thing. I have been guarding this for a long time. Perhaps it's
time You will then be given an artefact and an increase in skill rank. In this case, Galadriel of the Noldo received 10 Mage points. Galadriel had a challenge rank of 203. The player who provided this information believes a rank of 120 - 130 would be sufficient. Update from Mathias Bergolte Update from Blchezluis
Orcs Attacking Village Description: the character comes upon a party of
Orcs and Wolves attacking a village. Women are being held hostage while the farmers are
being attacked.
The encounter goes... <Character>came over a small ridge line only to hear screams and cries for help in the valley below. Moving cautiously forward, he peered from behind some bushes to see a small farming village had been raided by some ten to twenty mounted Orcs and Wolves. The women have already been taken hostage and the few remaining men are being hard pressed by the Orcs. The captives are to one side with only a few guards. It is obvious to <character> he will be seen if he leaves his place of concealment. FREE (ing) the captives (FP) Carefully moving toward the captives, Lothiriel took advantage of every rock and blade of grass to keep his advance unnoticed. Her caution was well advised. As she moved closer, she noticed the guards which were hidden from casual view. Unfortunately, they also noticed her. Grunting battle cries, they charged. Knowing that she no longer had a choice, Lothiriel leapt to the battle, but she was just not prepared to deal with so many. Although she gave a good account of herself, she was overwhelmed and killed. JOIN (ing) the Orcs (DS) Zwarfa leapt to the battle with a loud battlecry ringing from his lips, and the Orcs turned to him with their own cries and gutteral snarls. Suddenly they realized that Zwarfa was indeed helping them to kill the farmers. Their cries of anger slowly turned into murmurs of confusion. As Zwarfa struggled with one of the farmers and narrowly missed getting stabbed himself, the Orcs began to shout at him in anger. Moving out of the thick of battle, he suddenly noticed that a group of Orcs was actually moving to attack him! With cries of "intruder" and "thief" they moved upon him and began an attack. Zwarfa was so amazed at this turn of events that he turned and fled from the scene, suffering several small wounds as he did so. The Orcs did not follow but returned to their slaughter of the farmers. Paths of the Dead Description: character encounters a cave cut into
the mountainside near a row of old statues.
If combat ensues, the character will be driven out
of the cave by ghosts and spirits. It doesn't seem to matter how powerful the character
is, which indicates that perhaps the encounter can't be won by sheer force. |