Chapter Summaries

Li Wei and Falrodan traveled to the Easterlings’ Royal Capital, where an Orc army led by powerful Uruks had gathered outside the city. After paying a driver to smuggle them in, they arrived safely and prepared to continue their investigation.

• Li Wei and Falrodan compared reports about the Orc army, its Uruks and giant beasts, and the mysterious traitor it had come to support.
• Li Wei decided they would go to the Royal Capital, and the two hired a wagon to carry them there in secret.
• The wagon passed the Orc encampment, where an Uruk stopped Orcs and Trolls from attacking the convoy.
• Li Wei and Falrodan slipped out of the wagon inside the Royal Capital, and the driver warned them about danger after dark.
• Falrodan remarked that the journey had gone unusually smoothly, and Li Wei said their future plans would go just as well.

Li Wei and Falrodan met Alatar, the Blue-robed Wizard, in the Royal Capital and learned that he was working to resist Sauron’s growing power in the East. Alatar left to confront the king and try to free him from the Enemy’s corruption, while Li Wei and Falrodan waited behind.

• Falrodan approached an old man in the Royal Capital, but the man recognized that Li Wei was not from the region and warned that nobles might expose him.
• The old man revealed himself as Alatar, the Blue-robed Wizard, and recognized Falrodan as the Ranger of the Western Lands.
• Alatar told Li Wei that the Enemy’s mark was corrupting his mind and that he had only decades, or perhaps a century, before he might cease to be himself.
• Li Wei said he and Falrodan had come to assess Sauron’s power and suppress his forces, and Alatar described a threatened resistance stronghold east of Mordor.
• Alatar explained that he planned to visit the palace and free the king from the Enemy’s corruption, then left Li Wei and Falrodan behind to avoid exposing them to the nobles.

Li Wei, Falrodan, and Alatar escaped imperial guards pursuing the Blue Wizard, and Alatar explained the Great Enemy’s influence on the land. The group then encountered a pair of enormous eyes looming over them.

• Alatar returned from the palace with a golden army in pursuit, and Li Wei and Falrodan fled with him.
• Alatar used magic to teleport the three away from the guards, and they reappeared near the city wall.
• Alatar explained that the king remained hostile despite becoming clearer-headed and that opposing the Great Enemy meant facing the Easterlings.
• Li Wei dug a hole through the city wall with block magic, then sealed it again after the group went outside.
• Alatar began recounting the Great Enemy’s rule and the lingering darkness, but stumbled when a pair of huge eyes appeared above him.

Li Wei, Alatar, and the blue-robed wizard escaped an Uruk pursuit after Li Wei killed a giant beast and used Ender Pearls to teleport past the encirclement. The Olog-hai and Orcs were left behind as the three fled, while the wizard asked Li Wei for a Golden Apple.

• A giant beast mistook Alatar, Li Wei, and the blue-robed wizard for parasites before the Uruk squad leader recognized the blue-robed wizard and ordered a pursuit.
• The blue-robed wizard stunned a charging giant beast, Alatar shot it in the eye, and Li Wei killed it with his sword while protected by the Rune Ring.
• The Uruk captain halted the Orcs and ordered them to wait for Olog-hai while surrounding the three from behind.
• Li Wei gave Falrodan and Alatar Ender Pearls and gave Falrodan a Golden Apple to protect him from teleport damage.
• The three threw their pearls beyond the encirclement and teleported away, then immediately ran as the wizard asked Li Wei for an apple.

Li Wei, Alatar, and Falrodan escaped their pursuers, discussed Alatar’s corruption, and robbed a royal carriage to uncover a deployment order. They decided to pursue one of three groups headed toward regions that could join forces with the Royal Capital, leaving Falrodan wary of the others’ intentions.

• Li Wei reassured Alatar that his two rings were self-forged wards, and Alatar demonstrated his corruption before explaining that its source had to be resolved.
• A royal carriage passed, and Li Wei, Alatar, and Falrodan disguised themselves as bandits and defeated its royal guards.
• The trio looted the carriage, and Alatar found a deployment order describing forces headed toward Winding Harbor, Pass City, and the Armed Town Cluster.
• Alatar revealed that three other groups were already traveling to those regions, and Li Wei argued they could still intercept them.
• Li Wei and Alatar turned their attention to Falrodan as they considered splitting up to pursue the groups.

Falrodan entered an Easterling port city and posed as a wilderness hunter to gather information about the Imperial Guards and their plans. Meanwhile, Alatar arrived too late to stop a carriage from entering an eastern town and followed it inside disguised as an old vagrant.

• Falrodan released the stolen horse outside the port city, disguised himself, and entered without drawing suspicion that he was a foreigner.
• Falrodan challenged tavern patrons’ confidence in the Imperial Guards and drew out details about their commander, their Fire Bombs, and troops leaving through the southern gate.
• Falrodan left the tavern and wrote down the information, planning to use the gold coins they had looted to learn more in the city.
• Alatar watched a carriage enter a town on the eastern side of the Easterlings, then entered himself disguised as an old vagrant.

Alatar incited a revolt in an Easterling town and stole letters that would delay the enemy’s advance. In Pass City, a shaken courier wrote about being attacked by a black-armored warrior and became convinced the figure was still pursuing him.

• Alatar knocked out a guard at a construction site and urged the laborers to rise against their treatment.
• Alatar used magic to provoke the workers and seize control of the guards, leading them to attack the town lord and his party in the central garden.
• Alatar took letters from a carriage and searched an unconscious noble before leaving as the town’s forces suppressed the revolt.
• A historian later recorded the uprising as a riot that the city lord quickly put down, while the envoy discovered the carriage was empty.
• In Pass City, a courier wrote that a black-armored man had destroyed his guards on the road and that the experience continued to torment him.
• The courier heard or imagined someone outside his room and cried out for help at the window.

Li Wei’s failed attempt to capture an Easterling messenger left the city terrified by rumors of a monster, and Khamûl investigated without discovering the truth. Meanwhile, Li Wei, Falrodan, and Alatar compared the intelligence they had gathered, with Li Wei revealing he had taken military records from the messenger’s desk.

• A lord fled his hall after a messenger disappeared, and a missionary burned the bloodstained notes found in the room before reporting the incident to Mordor.
• Khamûl questioned the missionary, investigated the hall, and dismissed the monster reports as fear-driven rumors.
• Khamûl reassured the lord that the Magic Eye would protect the territory, and the lord strengthened its defenses.
• Falrodan gave Alatar intelligence about the Easterlings’ hidden strength and said Alatar had slowed their army’s assembly.
• Li Wei admitted he had failed to capture the messenger but had taken letters and records listing troop numbers from the desk.

Li Wei, Falrodan, and Alatar uncovered the Easterlings’ military movements and traveled to Khand, where Alatar explained the land’s history and his long struggle against the Dark Lord’s influence. The chapter ended with Alatar revealing that Saruman had taught him a spell capable of freeing people from the Dark Lord’s control.

• Li Wei reviewed Falrodan’s intelligence and learned that the army was tied to a faction in Khand.
• Falrodan reported rumors in Pass City about a monster that had attacked a messenger from the Royal Capital.
• Li Wei, Falrodan, and Alatar crossed the region and reached Khand, south of the Easterlings.
• Alatar explained Khand’s history, its conflicts with the War Chariot people and Harad, and its forced supply burdens under Mordor.
• Alatar told Li Wei that Saruman had taught him a spell to free people from the Dark Lord’s control.

Li Wei and his companions reached the Royal Capital of the Khand, where Alatar was treated as a lord and revealed his influence over the King. Li Wei challenged Alatar’s claim that he had freed the King from Sauron, and Alatar defended his use of power as the chapter ended in darkness.

• Li Wei entered the Royal Capital of the Khand with Alatar and Falrodan and found cactus and sugarcane among the local goods.
• Li Wei bought a piece of Almond Candy from a Harad merchant and obtained a viable section of sugarcane to standardize.
• Falrodan told Li Wei about the distant grasslands and jungles south of Harad, while Alatar openly crossed the city as its lord.
• Alatar led Li Wei and Falrodan to the King’s hall, where the guards recognized him and the King asked for his advice about Sauron’s threat.
• Li Wei accused Alatar of replacing Sauron’s control of the King with his own, and Alatar insisted that he was merely using power properly.

Li Wei defeated Alatar and broke the influence clouding the King of Khand, but the king remained unstable and Khand’s people still favored the Enemy. With Mordor and the Easterling armies approaching, Li Wei chose to face the hostile nation rather than retreat.

• Li Wei confronted Alatar in the throne hall and fought him with swords, magic, and swarms of Nine Hells Flame Bats.
• Li Wei’s sword strike ended Alatar’s struggle with the darkness, and the King of Khand awoke as the spell over him lifted.
• The King of Khand declared that he would become a powerful ruler, so Li Wei knocked him down and Alatar put him back on the throne to recover.
• Alatar warned Li Wei and Falrodan that Khand’s people might attack them and that Mordor and the Easterlings would arrive within days.
• Li Wei rejected the idea that they had no way out and vowed to face everyone if the people of Khand became their enemies.

Li Wei prepared an explosive defense around Khand and devastated the armies of Mordor and the Easterlings, defeating Khamûl and later three more Ringwraiths. As Harad’s army attacked, Li Wei fought its forces alone, and the chapter ended with all the gathered armies retreating while his fate and whereabouts remained unknown.

• Li Wei collected Sulfur and Saltpeter from a mine, crafted TNT, and secretly planted explosives and lava around the flatland outside Khand.
• When Mordor’s and the Easterlings’ army attacked, Li Wei’s traps tore through their ranks, and he defeated Khamûl with Alatar’s help.
• The King of Khand stabbed Alatar in revenge, but Li Wei revived him and stopped the king from attacking him again.
• A Haradrim army arrived from the south, and Li Wei, Alatar, and Falrodan fought off three Ringwraiths before Li Wei charged into the enemy ranks.
• Li Wei fought Harad’s forces, killing their general and a war elephant, and the gathered armies eventually withdrew without anyone learning where he went.

After the war in Khand, Li Wei parted ways with Alatar, who set out east to investigate the disappearance of Palando. Li Wei and Falrodan traveled secretly to Dovonian, where Orolóir asked Li Wei to examine the horses left in his care.

• Li Wei gave Alatar a Mallorn staff, and Alatar said he would travel east to visit the Dwarves and Elves beyond the Easterlings.
• Alatar told Li Wei that contact with Palando had been lost and refused Li Wei’s offer to search for him.
• Falrodan and Li Wei said farewell to Alatar, who stomped on his shadow when darkness stirred within him.
• Li Wei and Falrodan secretly boarded a ferry because soldiers at the crossing had reacted fearfully to Li Wei.
• At a winery in eastern Dovonian, Orolóir welcomed Li Wei and asked him to look at the two horses entrusted to his care.

After returning to Lake-town, Li Wei learned that road builders had uncovered Goblin-town near the Misty Mountains. Bard won his approval for the Territory’s trained citizens to attack the goblins, with Li Wei serving as commander, and excitement over the campaign spread through the town.

• Li Wei returned to Lake-town after seeing Falrodan off, and Bard soon came to discuss the road project near the Misty Mountains.
• Bard told Li Wei that workers had broken into Goblin-town, where goblins had nearly caused casualties.
• Li Wei offered to clear out the goblins himself, but Bard argued that the Territory’s residents should handle the threat.
• Bard explained that, following Li Wei’s earlier instructions, healthy citizens had trained in combat and could form an army; he asked for approval to attack Goblin-town.
• Li Wei approved the expedition and agreed to serve as commander-in-chief, with Bard as deputy commander.
• News that Li Wei would lead the campaign stirred the town, and Bard issued a decree limiting how many people could join.

Li Wei reluctantly agreed to let Thorin and the Dwarves accompany his campaign against Goblin-town after Thorin warned him about the caves’ dangers. Before the army departed, Li Wei addressed the citizens who had volunteered, ending with an order to advance.

• Three thousand five hundred citizens from the Dale Region assembled in top-quality armor, and the Dwarves realized the army was heading toward Goblin-town.
• Thorin and the Dwarves decided to join the campaign, and Thorin persuaded Li Wei that Dwarven guides could help navigate the caves.
• Li Wei allowed the Dwarves to accompany the army as guides, while Thorin, the royal family, and other Dwarves came to witness the campaign.
• Bard told Li Wei how many citizens had answered the call and urged him to speak to the assembled soldiers.
• Li Wei praised the citizens for building their prosperity together and ordered them to advance.

Li Wei led the Dale Region army to Goblin-town and launched a surprise attack, charging into the goblins before Bard could stop him. The battle began with the soldiers fighting under Li Wei’s name, while the goblins’ commander remained unseen.

• Dwarves in the Lonely Mountain discussed the army’s departure, while Balin told an industrial district official that he was temporarily handling the king’s affairs.
• Li Wei and the dwarves prepared to attack Goblin-town, and Gloin introduced his son Gimli, who had joined the expedition.
• Li Wei used Sky Road to bring the army rapidly to Goblin-town, where he opened a breach into the mountain and surprised the goblins.
• Li Wei charged ahead into the goblin horde, and Bard shot the goblin commander after the figure’s voice stopped directing the attack.
• The Dale Region army clashed with the goblins, and a surrounded soldier rallied by shouting Li Wei’s name.

After the army defeated the Goblins at the entrance to Goblin-town, Thorin’s Dwarves prepared to lead the fight through its tunnels while Li Wei scouted the caves. Gollum hid from the intruders, then decided to leave the Misty Mountains and search for Bilbo Baggins and the One Ring.

• Elrond told Aragorn to use Ecthelion’s name as a battle cry, and Aragorn said he would rather shout Li Wei’s name.
• Bard reached Li Wei after the charge and urged him to discuss such reckless plans first, while Li Wei said he had been watching the battlefield.
• Bard’s army wiped out the Goblins outside the cave, and Thorin and Dwalin prepared to lead the Dwarves into Goblin-town’s tunnels.
• Gollum heard the invading soldiers and hid behind a rock as Li Wei entered the natural cave and shot down a bat.
• Gollum decided the cave was no longer safe and left the Misty Mountains to seek Bilbo Baggins and the One Ring.

After the Dale Region's army destroyed Goblin-town, Li Wei let Thorin take Rivendell-marked treasures to return to the elves. The victory celebrations spread through the towns, while the Witch-king worried about the new road and Gandalf spotted an unfamiliar creature near Dol Guldur.

• Li Wei explained how he knew Goblin-town's passages and allowed Thorin to take the Rivendell-marked goods from the spoils.
• Thorin sent the dwarves to find the elven items and advised Gimli to be honest about what belonged to others.
• The victorious army returned to town with its spoils and was welcomed by cheering residents, while Balin angrily realized no one had told him they were back.
• The Witch-king saw that the human army had destroyed Goblin-town and considered attacking the road, but another Ringwraith warned him to stay hidden.
• Gandalf noticed a strange, thin creature in the wilderness near Dol Guldur, then dismissed it as no threat.

Gandalf visited Dale, where he caught up with Li Wei and learned that Mordor’s forces had turned away from Gondor because they were campaigning in the east. The chapter left Gandalf curious about Li Wei’s involvement in the conflict.

• Gandalf arrived in Dale and Fili invited him to the evening feast Li Wei planned to cook.
• Li Wei and Bard agreed to expand Dale by building more houses, and Gandalf joined them after their meeting.
• Gandalf asked Li Wei about his campaign against Goblin-town, and Li Wei said the goblins had blocked his road.
• Gandalf described a strange creature he had seen near the Misty Mountains, and Li Wei suggested it might have been Gollum.
• Gandalf reported that Mordor’s forces had eased pressure on Gondor, and Li Wei explained that they were fighting alongside the Easterlings and Haradrim in a campaign against Khand.
• Gandalf asked how Li Wei knew about the eastern campaign, and Li Wei replied that he had just returned from there.

Li Wei told Gandalf, Bard, and Fili about his war in the Far East, where he helped free Alatar from corruption and defeated the forces that gathered against Khand. He said he wanted to return to Roadside Fortress and plant the unusual seeds he had brought back.

• Li Wei recounted how Alatar had controlled Khand’s king, fought Sauron, and later regained his senses and escaped Sauron’s influence.
• Gandalf said wizards could lose their way and expressed respect for those resisting darkness in the Far East.
• Li Wei explained that he had fought the forces of Mordor, the Easterlings, Khand, and Harad, while Falrodan killed one of the Ringwraiths.
• Bard and Fili realized how formidable the Far Eastern armies had been and reconsidered the dangers facing Dale and the Lonely Mountain.
• Gandalf asked where Li Wei planned to go next, and Li Wei said he wanted to return to Roadside Fortress to plant seeds from the East and South.