Recaps

Allen returned to Fisslet from Moria, divided the recovered mithril and heirlooms with the Dwarves, and began arranging the Skin-changers’ migration while helping Ymira with state affairs. The chapter ended with loggers clearing part of Mirkwood to prepare a manor for the migrating Skin-changers.

• Allen’s company traveled home through Eowya’s Village and the Old Ford, where they saw prosperous farms and guarded smithies.
• Allen settled the spoils with Dáin, Óin, and Ori, dividing the mithril, returning Dwarven heirlooms, and keeping the remaining armor.
• Allen rested in Fisslet and helped Ymira with state affairs while Jeremus took on some of the Prime Minister’s duties.
• Allen planned to have Beorn’s people cultivate the ingredients for Miruvor and Lembas, and he continued preparations for the Skin-changers’ migration.
• In Mirkwood, loggers guarded by soldiers began clearing trees and roots to make a suitable site for the Skin-changers’ manor.

Allen and Beorn arranged for the Skin-changers to settle in Mirkwood in exchange for guarding the border, and visited the early construction sites for their homes. Allen left Noldor Rangers to watch for nearby enemies as he returned home.

• Beorn told Allen that Grim and Klethi could marry once their home was built, and Allen agreed to bless them and provide a dowry.
• The Skin-changers unanimously accepted Allen’s offer of land in Mirkwood in exchange for border service, and Beorn and Ymira organized the migration plans.
• Allen and Beorn inspected the construction sites for Grim and Klethi’s home and Wulf’s family home, while work on the other two homes was scheduled for winter.
• Half-orcs, wargs, and Great Spiders watched the lumberjacks but fled deeper into the forest when Allen arrived with his Personal Guards.
• After Hollimion reported that enemies were nearby, Allen left the Noldor Rangers to scout and guard the construction sites before setting off for home.

Allen worried that Sauron might discover Gollum in Mordor, so he focused on strengthening Rhovanion and protecting the Shire while arranging to settle herders near the Grey Mountains. Thorin reluctantly agreed to rebuild Fram's Fortress, but insisted that its name be changed.

• Allen considered rescuing Gollum from Mordor but abandoned the plan, fearing that an expedition would draw Sauron's attention.
• Allen urged Aragorn to establish a kingdom in the north and planned to strengthen Rhovanion while keeping the Ring's existence secret.
• Allen prepared five hundred young men from Horse-herding Village to settle near the Langwell and Greylin after Dwarves restored Fram's Fortress.
• Thorin grew angry when he read Allen's request because Fram's Fortress recalled an ancient feud over the dragon Scatha's treasure.
• Thorin sent Dori and a party of Dwarves to the Langwell and dispatched Kili to Fisslet, while demanding that Fram's Fortress be given a new name.

Allen arranged support for the Dwarves rebuilding Fram's Fortress and developed Mountain-Pattern Armor for his cavalry, then set out through Fisslet to recruit retired Mettenheim Death Swordfighters to train armor smiths. His walk brought him to a gathering where Marnid approached with information about the Durin Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain.

• Allen sent Baren north with infantry and archers to secure Fram's Fortress and transport supplies, while Alice led nearly a hundred female Mounted Scouts to provide reconnaissance.
• Allen and five Dwarves completed a suit of Mountain-Pattern Armor, but the slow pace of production threatened his goal of equipping five hundred Khergits.
• Allen decided to ask the ten retired Mettenheim Death Swordfighters to train smiths, and planned to visit them in person while walking around town.
• Allen left Winterry Castle and greeted the people and protected bees gathered in the square, where the bees formed a gesture of thanks to him.
• Marnid approached Allen and sought a chance to discuss information about the Durin Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain.

While walking through Fisslet at night, Allen learned that Thar’s Dwarven shop had been selling cheap jewelry that was unusually popular. Allen discovered that one brass ring carried powerful magic, then ordered Marnid to secretly investigate how many residents had bought it.

• Marnid told Allen that Thar had begun selling cheap copper jewelry six months earlier, and each new batch sold out without a price increase.
• Marnid showed Allen a brass ring set with a black gemstone, and Allen felt an overwhelming urge to put it on and keep it.
• Allen broke free of the ring’s influence with the help of his qi, memories of Gollum, and his willpower, then concealed his reaction from Marnid.
• Allen ordered Marnid to find Klethi and secretly determine how many subjects had bought the jewelry.
• Allen went to a tavern with several Personal Guards to meet veterans and continue arranging the armor forging.

Allen recruited the Mettenheim Death Swordfighters to train smiths in making armor and discovered that a Black Gem necklace had been intended for Ymira, though the plot had failed. He suspected Sauron was spreading greed through enchanted jewelry and set countermeasures in motion, including training cavalry and baiting Thar to reveal his supplier.

• Allen met the ten Mettenheim Death Swordfighters at the Spear and Lance Tavern, and they agreed to teach smiths to make metal armor plates and rivet Mountain-Pattern Armor within six months.
• Allen examined Thar’s necklace and concluded that its Black Gem could spread greed, but Ymira had avoided the plot because she wore the necklace Allen had given her instead.
• Allen suspected Sauron was using the jewelry to prepare a larger scheme and arranged for Marnid and Klethi to monitor affected residents without alerting the enemy.
• Messengers rode to Horse-herding Village to gather five hundred herders, whom Allen intended to train with the twenty Gryphon Knights.
• A caravan leader posing as a member of the Buttercup family bought Thar’s jewelry and requested a large order, serving as bait in Marnid’s sting operation to uncover the supplier.

Allen investigated Thar’s suspicious jewelry business and discovered that Black Gem ornaments had helped Sauron’s followers establish more than a dozen secret societies in Fisslet. After Thar left for a hidden cave near Mirkwood, Allen found a possible way to address the crisis, while the Dwarf entered the cave and met several unkempt Dwarves.

• Thar sent a raven to the Lonely Mountain, then spent several days keeping his shop clean while Allen’s people watched him.
• Allen received a report that over a thousand residents wore Black Gem jewelry and that Sauron’s followers had formed more than a dozen secret societies in Fisslet.
• Allen worried that a mass arrest could provoke bloodshed and alienate his soldiers, but after speaking with Ymira and holding Andrea, he thought of a possible approach.
• At dusk, Thar drove two ponies toward Mirkwood, and Allen suspected he was going to meet the person behind the scheme.
• Thar reached a concealed cave in a hillside near Mirkwood, used an unusual key to open its hidden door, and went inside, where several Dwarves lived.

Thar returned from a secret cave carrying valuable cargo and learned about Allen’s invitation-only birthday celebration for Princess Andrea. Allen used the celebration to gather residents affected by the Black Gem’s magic, while testing that Tranquil Rain could free Bunduk from its influence.

• Thar emerged from the cave with cargo, and his hidden observer marked the concealed entrance before reporting back toward Fisslet.
• Thar heard that residents might be invited to Winterhold for Princess Andrea’s birthday, but learned that only people living inside the city qualified.
• Asudan delivered Allen’s invitation to Thar, who gladly accepted the chance to attend the celebration in three days.
• Allen gave Bunduk the Black Gem necklace to test its influence, and Bunduk found himself unable to obey the order to remove it.
• Allen used Tranquil Rain to purge the Black Gem’s influence from Bunduk, confirming that the magic could be overcome.
• Allen planned to invite affected residents to Winterhold by using the birthday celebration to identify them across the city.

Allen used a banquet invitation to gather residents bewitched into worshipping Morgoth while his forces hunted down the Númenórean Loyalists responsible for spreading the faith. After the guests arrived at the Castle, Allen appeared armed beneath a darkening, lightning-filled cloud and announced that the city faced a disaster.

• The banquet list named more than a thousand seemingly random guests, most of whom were unaware they had been bewitched.
• Allen's Twilight Knights and female Rangers tracked the black-clad Loyalist preachers and killed or captured them before they could mobilize their followers or ignite fires.
• Hollimion led the Twilight Knights toward Thar's secret base to investigate and destroy it, while the invited guests headed to Winterhold.
• Allen prepared the brightly lit Castle for the banquet, and the bewitched guests arrived without suspecting anything was wrong.
• Allen appeared armed on the tower balcony, announced that the city faced a disaster, and a storm cloud filled with lightning gathered over the Castle.

Allen denounced Morgoth and tried to free the people of Fisslet from the magic in their jewelry, but a mass of black smoke gathered and defied his lightning. Meanwhile, Hollimion’s Twilight Knights broke into Thar’s secret base and fought its Dark Dwarf defenders, leaving Hollimion facing their crowned leader.

• Allen condemned Morgoth, warned the people that their jewelry controlled their minds, and urged them to remove it.
• Black smoke gathered above the crowd, mocked Allen, and re-formed after lightning struck it; Allen suspected an unknown trick was behind its strength.
• Hollimion and his men used a siege ram to smash open the concealed stone door at Thar’s secret base.
• Hollimion led the Twilight Knights down the cave tunnel and repelled an ambush by Dark Dwarves serving Sauron.
• Hollimion killed three Dwarves and exchanged blows with their crowned leader, who wore a ruby-set gold ring.

Allen fought to stop Sauron’s enchantment from consuming Winterhold, exhausting himself as soldiers struggled to subdue the bewitched residents. Gandalf arrived to confront Sauron’s projection, which suddenly disintegrated, and Allen called for Jeremus to treat the injured as the skies cleared.

• Allen ordered Asudan to sound the horn, while Bunduk sealed the castle gates and summoned troops to keep the anxious crowd under control.
• Gael and Baren led imperial guards in an effort to knock out the enchanted residents, but Sauron’s black-smoke claws overwhelmed many soldiers.
• Allen used his shield and healing rain to keep fighting, then prepared to risk another session in the Simulator as the smoke weakened.
• The Eagle King brought Gandalf to Winterhold, where Gandalf’s holy light put the enchanted residents to sleep and he confronted Sauron’s fiery projection.
• Allen rallied the surviving guards to rescue the residents, but Sauron’s projection disintegrated before Jeremus arrived with his students to treat the injured.
• The dark clouds dispersed and the night sky cleared, leaving Allen relieved as the battle ended.

After Sauron’s attack on Winterhold, Allen treated the critically wounded and learned that hundreds of citizens had rapidly lost their vitality. He gave Jeremus six bottles of the Elixir of Immortality to prepare a remedy, while Marnid brought the stunned Thar to him.

• Hollimion destroyed the black crystal orb, and its red-tinged smoke fled through the passage as he and the Twilight Knights recovered.
• Gandalf reproached Allen for confronting Sauron without seeking help, while Allen continued treating citizens injured in the chaos.
• Jeremus reported that 635 citizens appeared to have aged suddenly after losing their vitality, and Allen suspected Sauron had drained their life force through the bronze ornaments.
• Jeremus asked Allen for Elixir of Immortality to make medicine for the affected citizens, and Allen supplied him with six bottles.
• Marnid approached Allen with Thar, who realized that the ornaments he had agreed to sell had brought disaster to Winterhold.

After Sauron’s scheme in Fisslet was stopped, Allen contained the fallout and learned that Jeremus’s new potion could help save the afflicted citizens. The chapter left Allen refusing Gandalf’s demand to surrender a powerful Dwarf-ring, which he wanted to study for his Rune Magic.

• Allen confined Thar to Fisslet, allowed him to write to Thorin, and planned to seek compensation from the King under the Mountain.
• Allen prepared proclamations to explain the crisis and orders to recover and destroy the Black Gem jewelry across Rhovanion.
• Jeremus told Allen that a potion combining the Elixir of Immortality and Miruvor had improved a patient’s condition and could help the afflicted recover.
• Allen inspected the spoils from Hollimion’s cave, including a ruby-set ring identified by Gandalf as one of the Seven Dwarf-rings.
• Gandalf urged Allen to surrender the ring, but Allen refused because he wanted to use it to overcome difficulties in his Rune Magic research.

Allen fought Swadia’s war against the Vaegirs to earn enough renown to upgrade the herders into Khergit Lancers, then received Thorin’s offer to place Thar and his kin under Allen’s command. The chapter ended with Allen asking Thar whether he would accept help rescuing relatives captured in Rhûn.

• Allen used Swadia’s cavalry to defeat the Vaegirs around Rivacheg, and Yaroglek eventually surrendered and agreed to peace.
• Allen accepted a castle, Rivacheg, and Denars in exchange for peace, distributed the new holdings, and returned to Praven.
• Allen spent his renown upgrading the herders into Khergit Lancers.
• Thorin wrote to Allen, proposing that Thar and his kin serve under Allen as compensation for Thar’s role in the attack on Fisslet.
• Allen summoned Thar and offered to help rescue his relatives captured by a tribe in Rhûn.

Thar read Thorin’s letter and learned that Allen would spare him and help rescue the Blackhair Dwarves captured by the Rhûn Cavalry. Allen planned to ask Bal for help, while considering a mountain home for Thar’s people and hearing how the Darkness was spreading in the East.

• Thar read Thorin’s letter, accepted responsibility for his wrongdoing, and realized that Thorin had tried to save him and his tribespeople.
• Allen offered to help recover the Dwarves captured by the Rhûn Cavalry, and Thar described their black banner bearing a silver wingless dragon.
• Thar explained the Blackhair clan’s dispersed tribal life and the hardships Dwarves faced in the East as Mordor’s influence grew.
• Thar told Allen that two blue-robed wizards had preached against the Enemy, but black knights and the growing power of Mordor had driven his people from their homeland.
• Allen considered Steel Mine Town as a possible home for Thar’s Dwarves and planned to have Firentis approach Bal about rescuing the captives.

Bal received a proposal from Firentis to help obtain more than two hundred dwarf slaves for a secret gold mine, in exchange for increased trade and enchanted armor. Bal demanded a higher price, while Brendan left with orders for Bal to gather information and with personal hatred for the warlord who had killed his father.

• Bal interrupted a hunt and rode back to his territory after hearing that a western envoy had arrived with a lucrative order.
• Bal met Brendan, who delivered Firentis's letter asking him to arrange over two hundred dwarf slaves or identify tribes that held them.
• Bal reasoned that the request likely came from the human king and agreed to help, but demanded ten times the goods and ten suits of armor.
• Brendan refused to promise the increased payment, told Bal to begin gathering information, and left to report his demands to Firentis.
• Brendan concealed his hatred for Bal, who had once had Brendan's father dragged to death for asking that exhausted slaves be allowed to rest.

Allen watched Bal begin gathering Dwarves for a trade, then caught and interrogated Raval, a messenger carrying Ashur’s threats and demands. Allen let Raval go with his hand intact, hoping Ashur would remain unaware of him as he continued his plans against the Easterling chief.

• Bal sent riders north to gather Dwarves for the lucrative trade, while Allen secretly watched his camp.
• Allen and his companions found Raval trying to steal their Elves Horses, and the horses had pinned him down.
• Allen discovered Ashur’s message on Raval and threatened him until he read its demands for a map, information about warships, and enemy troop numbers.
• Allen spared Raval’s hand and ordered him to pretend he had never seen Allen, then rode away.
• Raval restored the message cloth to its original folds and left, regretting his attempt to steal the horses.

Allen approved Firentis’s mobilization against the Easterlings after learning that the raiders across the Redwater River were a relatively small, divided group rather than the full strength of Rhûn. Knights and cavalry gathered at Lurens, leaving Allen satisfied with the force assembled as preparations for war advanced.

• Brendan reported Bal’s proposed terms to Allen and Firentis, and Allen thanked him before sending him to rest.
• Firentis urged Allen to reject ransom negotiations and lead an attack across the river, citing years of Easterling raids against Lurens.
• Allen explained that he wanted Bal to reveal the raiders’ direction and told Firentis he could issue the mobilization order.
• Allen described how prisoners had taught him that the Easterlings invading Rhovanion were a small, impoverished group, distinct from the powerful tribes deeper in Rhûn.
• Firentis summoned his knights, who arrived in Lurens with cavalry and auxiliaries as the weather grew colder.
• Allen inspected the assembled force and decided not to assess the knights’ manor administration on the eve of war.

Allen identified the Easterling tribe holding Thar’s captured Dwarves and scouted its settlement to plan an attack. When he learned the tribe was moving Dwarven slaves under guard, he rode out with the Twilight Knights to intercept them, beginning the battle.

• Allen matched reports of a silver Cold-drake to the tribe that had captured Thar’s people and chose it as the first target of the war.
• Allen and Hollimion reconnoitered the settlement, noting its defenses, water source, livestock pens, and slave quarters before escaping detection by the guards.
• A bird reported that Easterlings were escorting about forty Dwarven slaves, so Allen sent Hollimion to summon Firentis and cavalry reinforcements.
• Allen charged after the Easterlings with the Twilight Knights and killed their commander and mounted soldiers with his bow, starting the battle.

Allen and the Twilight Knights freed Dayev and his fellow Dwarves from an Easterling escort, and Dayev pledged his people’s service after reading Thar’s letter. Allen led the rescued Dwarves and captured Easterlings west toward the Redwater River, where Firentis arrived with far more cavalry than Allen had requested.

• Allen and eleven Twilight Knights ambushed the Easterlings, killed most of the escort, and forced the survivors to flee or surrender.
• Allen gave Dayev Thar’s letter and the keys to the Dwarves’ shackles, and Dayev pledged his people’s allegiance to Allen.
• Allen supplied the freed Dwarves with food and beer, ordered Dayev to care for them, and gathered the loose warhorses and chariot.
• Allen bound the surrendered Easterlings together and led the Dwarves and prisoners west toward the Redwater River under the Twilight Knights’ guard.
• Firentis arrived with seven or eight hundred knights and squires, far more than Allen had expected, and Allen decided they should do something before leaving.

Easterling tribes fled east after Allen’s cavalry defeated their allied army, and Bal begged Allen for mercy when Rhovanion’s forces reached his camp. Allen intimidated Bal into surrendering his Dwarven captives and intended to use fear to stop raids across the Redwater River.

• Easterling scouts heard a survivor describe how a few hundred Rhovanion cavalry had routed an army of nearly ten thousand, prompting the tribes to send out mounted scouts.
• Bal begged Allen to let his tribe leave, explaining that he had stayed out of the war but was trapped after the Easterling chiefs fled the defeat.
• Allen threatened Bal and rejected his offer of the Dwarves as sufficient compensation, reminding him that the captives would belong to Allen either way.
• Allen revealed that he wanted Bal as a merchant and had staged rumors about the bloodshed to make the Easterlings fear Rhovanion and stop their raids.

Allen returned from his campaign against the Easterlings after dividing the captured people and resources with Bal, while planning to pursue Ashur and recover his depleted finances. He had obtained the Fire Stone and its combat abilities, and on the road to Zendar he encountered a familiar young man wearing a golden emblem.

• A rumor spread across Rhûn claiming that a deity punished Easterlings who shed blood near the Redwater River and the Running River, prompting a tavern brawl when a captain mocked it.
• Allen left Bal control of most of the captured Easterlings and grain, brought more than five thousand people back to Rhovanion, and warned Bal to keep his followers away from the rivers.
• Allen considered how to prevent conflict between Easterlings and Rhovanion’s people, then resolved to monitor Ashur and eventually settle his grudge against the commander.
• Allen revealed that the Fire Stone granted Flame Manipulation and Blazing Ascension, which could summon fire and spend denars to greatly strengthen his troops.
• Allen set out for Zendar to consult Earl Alaesis about the Star Horn’s hint, but encountered a familiar young man wearing a golden emblem.

Allen encountered Duntis and his warriors preparing to burn captured outlaws alive as a sacrifice to the Dark Lord. After resisting Gayev’s mind control, Allen attacked the high priest and stopped his followers, but Gayev escaped, leaving Allen to wonder who the true protagonist was.

• Allen watched Duntis’s warriors prepare to burn their prisoners alive, while Duntis said the captives’ souls needed purification.
• Allen confronted Duntis and recognized that Gayev, the gray-haired high priest, was behind the ritual.
• Gayev used a spell to command Allen to worship the Dark Lord, but the Star Horn’s call freed Allen from its influence.
• Allen attacked Gayev, cut off three of his fingers, and struck down the Dark Order warriors with lightning before Gayev escaped in black smoke.
• Allen gave the Star Horn to Duntis and picked up the Fire Stone Gayev had left behind, questioning who the true protagonist was.

Allen returned the Hero's Emblem to Duntis and invited him to join his cause of uniting the divided continent. The next morning, Duntis followed Allen's instructions at an ancient bridge, where a mysterious woman appeared and asked him to identify a shield.

• Duntis told Allen that Gayev had deceived him while seeking the treasure at the Sharpshade ruins, then offered Allen the Hero's Emblem.
• Allen fastened the emblem back onto Duntis and invited him to help establish a peaceful country; Duntis agreed to follow him.
• Allen told Duntis to ride back and forth across a bridge west of Zendar the next day and to answer any questions by following his heart.
• After Duntis's iron shield fell into the You River, a whirlpool of gold and silver light formed, and a blond woman appeared holding two shields.
• The woman asked Duntis whether the shield he had dropped was golden or silver.

Allen secured the Shield of Destiny on the Fantasy Continent, then returned to Fisslet and prepared defenses against the Easterlings while arranging a northern settlement at Grey Keep. The chapter ended with Allen seeing the herders depart and planning to lead troops north to meet Thorin.

• Allen obtained the Shield of Destiny after a mysterious blonde woman appeared, while Earl Alaesis continued researching the Star Horn clue.
• Allen returned to Winterry Castle and gave his young daughter Andrea a carved Araluan Bison figure that Firentis had prepared for her.
• Allen ordered Firentis to build two harbors on the Redwater River and strengthen defenses against possible Easterling retaliation.
• Allen approved the migration of five hundred trained cavalrymen and their families to Grey Keep, appointing Tuoju to manage the settlement.
• Allen saw the herders depart from Horse-herding Village and planned to lead a force north to meet Thorin.