Setup: Set Ghulat aside, out of play. Put Lord Alcaron into play. Make Burning Farmhouse the active location. Add the Rescued Villagers and Dead Villagers objectives to the staging area. Then, shuffle the encounter deck and reveal 1 encounter card per player and add it to the staging area.
Emerging from the Druadan Forest with news of the conspirators' demise, you begin your journey to Minas Tirith. As you wake the following day, you see dark plumes of smoke rising across the lands of Anórien.
When progress would be placed on Savagery of the Orcs, move an equal number of villager tokens from this quest onto Rescued Villagers instead.
If there are no villager tokens on Savagery of the Orcs, advance to the next stage.
In a smoldering village near Amon Dîn, you find none other than a tired Lord Alcaron. Pleased to see you, he requests your assistance in protecting the village.
When Revealed: Add Ghulat to the staging area.
The orcs pillaging Anórien are remnants of the army defeated at Cair Andros. Stranded on the western bank of the Anduin, They are now punishing the local population. One of the roving bands is led by a cunning orc captain by the name of Ghulat. You must stop Ghulat and his orcs, or many innocents will die...
If an attack goes undefended, discard X villager tokens from Rescued Villagers instead of damaging a hero. X is the amount of damage that would have been dealt.
When the players defeat this stage, end the game. Compare the number of tokens on Rescued Villagers to the number of tokens on Dead Villagers.
If a location leaves play as an explored location, move any villager tokens from that location to Rescued Villagers.
At the end of the game, if there are more villager tokens here than damage tokens on Dead Vilagers, the players have won.
If a villager token is discarded from a location, objective or quest stage, place a damage token on Dead Villagers.
At the end of the game, if there are more damage tokens here than villager tokens on Rescued Villagers, the players have lost.
The first player gains control of Lord Alcaron.
Response: After a villager token is discarded, exhaust Lord Alcaron to place that villager token on a location instead.
If Lord Alcaron leaves play, the players have lost the game.
X is the number of damage tokens on Dead Villagers.
Forced: When Ghulat attacks, place 1 damage token on Dead Villagers.
While Ghulat is in play, the game cannot end.
Forced: After Marauding Orc attacks and destroys a character, place 1 damage token on Dead Villagers.
Shadow: If this attack destroys a character, discard 1 villager token from Rescued Villagers.
When Revealed: Discard 1 villager token from the active location. If no villager token is discarded by this effect, Orc Ravager gains Surge.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 (+2 instead if undefended.)
When Revealed: Discard the character with the fewest remaining hit points. That character's controller may discard 3 cards at random from his hand to prevent this effect.
Eagles are not kindly birds. Some are cowardly and cruel. –The Hobbit
Forced: At the end of the round, discard 1 villager token from Burning Farmhouse.
Houses and barns were burning. –The Return of the King
While Gondorian Hamlet is in the staging area it gains:
Forced: After a treachery card is revealed from the encounter deck, discard 1 villager token from Gondorian Hamlet.
The townlands were rich, with wide tilth and many orchards... –The Return of the King
Travel: Reveal the top card of the encounter deck and add it to the staging area to travel here.
"...the herdsmen and husbandmen that dwelt there were not many..." –The Return of the King
When Revealed: Raise each player's threat by the number of damage tokens on Dead Villagers.
Shadow: Defending player raises his threat by 1 for each damage token on Dead Villagers.
When Revealed: Discard 1 villager token from the active location for each player in the game. If no villager tokens were removed by this effect, Trapped Inside gains Surge.
Shadow: If this attack destroys a character, discard 1 villager token from Rescued Villagers.
When Revealed: Each player must take a villager token from Rescued Villagers and place it on a location in the staging area, if able. If no villager tokens were placed on a location by this effect, Panicked! gains Surge.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 for each damage token on Dead Villagers.