Council of Elrond

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"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the Ring, Frodo."
—Fellowship of the Ring

Lord Elrond called a council and summoned representatives of each race to discuss the fate of the One Ring. The night before the council, the representatives gathered in the Hall of Fire - a chamber filled with merriment and tales of old. Frodo is encouraged by Gandalf to speak to the many heroes gathered in the hall and to learn their stories.

The Council of Elrond is the fifth mission of the Lord of the Rings Campaign, the player primarily controls Frodo in the Hall of Fire and can speak to the various heroes present. Speaking to some of these heroes will trigger a vignette in which the player controls different heroes.

## Guide

**New Objective - Speak to heroes in the Hall of Fire**

**New Objective - Speak to Bilbo to hear a tale of riddles**

**New Objective - Speak to Elrond to hear the fate of Isildur**

**New Objective: Speak to Boromir to learn of the struggles of Gondor**

The mission starts in the Hall of Fire, Frodo can approach the different characters present in the Hall of Fire to speak to them. Heroes present in the Hall of Fire whom Frodo can converse with include Sam, Merry, Pippin, Elladan, Elrohir, Glorfindel, Legolas, Arwen, Lindir, Gimli, Glóin and Aragorn. Bilbo, Elrond and Boromir are also present and speaking to each of them will trigger a playable vignette. The player can choose to leave the Hall of Fire early after completing two of the three vignettes. Once all three vignettes are complete, Frodo is prompted to leave the Hall of Fire - completing the mission.

### Riddles in the Dark

**New Objective - Explore the cave**

Bilbo tells Frodo the full story of how he discovered the One Ring in the caverns of the Misty Mountains during the Quest for Erebor. The player controls Bilbo after he wakes up in the cave, they quickly discover the One Ring on the floor before proceeding through the cave at which point they hear Gollum singing. Gollum approaches Bilbo and the two agree to a game of riddles: if Bilbo wins, Gollum will escort him to the cave's exit; if Gollum wins, he will kill and devour Bilbo.

**New Objective - Answer Gollum's riddles**

Gollum asks three riddles - for each riddle, three icons will appear on the ground and the player must stand Bilbo on the correct icon within the 10 second time limit or the mission is failed. The riddles and answers are as follows:

* What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than trees - up, up, up it goes, and yet never grows? **Answer: Mountain**.
* Voiceless it cries, wingless flutters, toothless bites, mouthless mutters. **Answer: Wind**.
* All things it devours. Birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal. **Answer: Time.**

After successfully answering Gollum's riddles, Bilbo asks one of his own: "What have I got in my pocket?"; speaking aloud as he ponders the Ring that he has found. Gollum fails to answer but refuses to accept that he has lost the game, preparing to attack Bilbo before suddenly realising his 'Precious' is lost. It becomes clear that Gollum's Precious is the Ring that Bilbo discovered - Gollum charges Bilbo and the player must use the One Ring ability to hide from Gollum.

**New Objective - Escape from Gollum's cave**

Bilbo is then able to make his way through the tunnels where he finds his Dwarven companions and Gandalf making their escape from Goblin-town; he runs after them whilst Gollum professes his hatred for Baggins - ending the vignette.

### Disaster of the Gladden Fields

**New Objective - Defeat the orc ambush**

Elrond warns Frodo of the Ring's treachery, telling him of Isildur's fate once he claimed the One Ring for himself after defeating Sauron. The vignette starts in the midst of the orc ambush on Isildur and his son Elendur at the Gladden Fields. The player has control of only a small number of Dúnedain Soldiers and Dúnedain Archers and there is no option to recruit more units and so they must be cautious not to lose too many of the units they have in this early stage. Once the initial waves of orcs are defeated, the player is prompted to rally at the edge of the forest - Isildur puts on the One Ring and goes into hiding, leaving Elendur in command of the troops.

**New Objective: Stop orcs advancing into the forest and finding Isildur**

The Dúnedain must hold their ground at the edge of the forest against hordes of Orc Warriors. Elendur is critical for dealing with the orcs' overwhelming numbers as his attacks deal splash damage - allowing him to kill multiple orcs per attack. Once the waves of orcs are held off, Elendur commands his men to fall back into the forest whilst Elendur searches for his father.

**New Objective - Search for Isildur before the orcs find him**

There is a time limit of 3 minutes to find Isildur, there are several possible hiding spots that the player can search. Sound cues are very important during this section: a sound effect of the Ring will grow louder as Elendur gets closer to where Isildur is hiding; there are individual orcs patrolling the forest and these must be killed before Isildur will reveal himself. Elendur warns his father of the approaching danger and tells him to retreat further into the forest. Elendur is then prompted to return to the troops waiting along the forest path.

Elendur and the Dúnedain defend the forest path against a vast number of orcs; once the orcs are fended off, the troops fall back deeper into the forest - Elendur must search for Isildur in the 3 minute time limit again. After finding his father, Elendur returns to his men and holds off even more hordes of orcs. The Dúnedain are driven to the banks of the Anduin whilst Elendur finds his father for a third time to prepare for a final stand. Isildur once again becomes controllable.

**New Objective - Defend Isildur**

At the banks of the Anduin, the player is swarmed by innumerable hordes of level 5 Orc Warriors - all of the player's troops are inevitably killed. Once Isildur reaches low health, he puts the Ring on to escape whilst Elendur is ultimately slain. A cutscene plays depicting the Ring abandoning Isildur, which reveals him to Orc Archers - resulting in his death. The vignette has been completed.

### Defence of Osgiliath

**New Objective - Reclaim all the buildings on Western bank before it is overrun**

Boromir, the Captain of Gondor, recounts his retaking of Osgiliath from the armies of Mordor along with his brother Faramir. The vignette starts with Boromir sending Faramir to gather Ithilien reinforcements whilst Boromir clears out the enemy from the Western bank. There is a 7 minute time limit to reclaim all of the buildings being attacked: there are 12 structures under attack. Once discovered, the buildings can be used to produce resources and recruit additional Gondor units; if a structure is destroyed by the enemy the player can choose which structure is rebuilt on that build plot. Once all of the buildings have been reclaimed, the player has 1 minute 30 seconds to prepare their defence of the Western bank - it is advised to garrison archers in the ruined towers at each bridge and to station an equal number of troops by each bridge so that there is no gap in their defences.

**New Objective - Defend the bridges from enemy attacks**

Mordor will send a variety of troops including Black Uruks, Variags of Khand and Mountain Trolls across the bridges in an attempt to storm the Western bank. The defences must hold for just over 3 minutes until reinforcements from Ithilien arrive. Heavy armour and forged blades can be researched from the Blacksmith to upgrade Anórien units.

**New Objective - Clear the bridges of enemy forces**

Reinforcements arrive in the form of Faramir, Madril, several Ithilien Rangers and an upgraded Trebuchet. The player must now send their forces onto the bridges and ensure that no enemies remain on them - achieving this results in victory and the forces of Mordor retreat. A cutscene plays depicting Boromir and his men celebrating; the vignette is then complete.