Setup: Reveal 1 card per player from the encounter deck, and add it to the staging area.
Gandalf has requested your assistance in the search for the elusive creature known as Gollum. Your search begins in the Anduin Valley between Mirkwood Forest and the Misty Mountains
Forced: After the players quest successfully, the first player looks at the top 3 card fo the encounter deck. Reveal and add 1 of those cards to the staging area, and discard the other 2 cards.
You make your way along the banks of the Anduin River, a likely place for Gollum to find food.
The wood was full of the rumor of him, dreadful tales even among beasts and birds. The Woodmen said that there was some new terror abroad, a ghost that drank blood. –The Fellowship of the Ring
Forced: At the beginning of the quest phase, the first player looks at the top 2 cards of the encounter deck. Reveal and add 1 of those cards to the staging area, and discard the other.
Rumors have led you to the eaves of Mirkwood Forest, where the Woodmen whisper of a new terror in the night...
"But at the western edge of Mirkwood the trail turned away. It wandered off southwards and passed out of the Wood–elves' ken, and was lost." –Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
Any player who does not control a hero with at least 1 Clue objective attached cannot commit characters to this quest. If there are ever no heroes with Clue objectives attached in play, reset the quest deck to stage 2B.
If the players defeat this stage, the players have once again found a true sign of Gollum's passing, and have won the game.
Response: After the players quest successfully, the players may claim Signs of Gollum if it has no attached encounters. When claimed, attach Signs of Gollum to any hero committed to the quest. Counts as a Condition attachment with:
Forced: After attached hero is damaged or leaves play, return this card to the top of the encounter deck.
While The Eaves of Mirkwood is the active location, encounter card effects cannot be canceled.
By the afternoon they had reached the eaves of Mirkwood, and were resting almost beneath the great overhanging boughs of its outer trees. –The Hobbit
While River Ninglor is the active location, remove 1 progress token from it and from the current quest at the end of each round.
Shadow: Remove 1 progress token from the current quest. (2 progress tokens instead if this attack is undefended.)
While The West Bank is the active location, attachment and event cards cost 1 additional matching resource to play from hand.
Shadow: If you do not control at least 1 hero with a Clue card attached, double this enemy's base for this attack.
When Revealed: Discard the top card of each player's deck. Until the end of the phase, increase Goblintown Scavenger's by the total printed cost of all cards discarded in this way.
When Revealed: Discard 1 resource from each hero's resource pool, if able. Exhaust any hero that could not discard a resource from its pool.