Into the Dungeons

“I alone of you have ever been in the dungeons of the Dark Lord, and only in his older and lesser dwelling in Dol Guldur.”
   –Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring

Your journeys across Harad have led you far. From the port city of Umbar, across the sandy wastes of Near Harad, and into the deepest jungles of Far Harad, you and some other of Middle-earth’s greatest heroes have been tasked to your limits. Over the course of the Haradrim cycle, you’ve slowly made your way northwards, crossing the sands with your Haradrim allies. Kahliel and his people have proven their worth time and again—so when they propose a plan to free the prisoners from the citadel of Cirith Gurat, you agree without hesitation…

The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat, the fifth Adventure Pack in the Haradrim cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, is now available at your local retailer and online through our website! Here, you’ll find the next chapter of your unfolding adventures as you and your fellow heroes struggle to slip past the Dark Lord’s forces. Though the forces of Mordor are strong in the garrison at Cirith Gurat, you cannot in good faith slip past the tower and leave those imprisoned within to torment and death.

Pick up your copy of The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat today, and read on to find a piece of what you may encounter within!

Rescue the Captives

The dungeons of Cirith Gurat are filled with prisoners, who spend their days in hard labor, enduring the injustices and depravities heaped upon them by the Orcs who hold the tower. With your arrival, the prisoners’ time of suffering has finally come to an end. To successfully escape from Cirith Gurat, you must first overpower the guards in the prison cells, sneak your way past as many defenses as you can, and finally cut your way out past any who still stand in your way. Even with your plan in place, freeing the captives from their prison cells will be no easy task—and the enemies arrayed against you will seek to stop you at every turn.

This encounter is loaded with cards that bring new captives into play: most commonly taking your own allies and holding them as prisoners until you can defeat their guards. The Jailer of Cirith Gurat (The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat, 121) takes one of your allies immediately when he engages with you, while the vast assortment of Dungeon Cells (The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat, 125) are prone to capturing any ally that would be destroyed and imprisoning that ally instead. Of course, as heroes of Middle-earth, you cannot leave your friends to imprisonment. Your valor may be all that carries you through to victory.

Fortunately, as your peril draws near and your threat creeps higher and higher, you’ll find three new player cards within this expansion that drastically increase in power once you pass the Valour threshold at forty threat. We’ve already seen the first of these cards, Open the Armory (The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat, 118), in our announcement article. When your need is truly dire, you can use Open the Armory to find a new Weapon or piece of Armor that can give you the edge in your struggles against Sauron.

There are two other cards in this Adventure Pack that also have Valour effects, becoming more powerful as your quest to free the prisoners of Cirith Gurat grows more dangerous. You may find yourself fighting alongside a Knight of Dale (The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat, 110). Though far from home, this doughty warrior boasts a solid array of stats, but more importantly, you can send him into battle multiple times each round. As a Valour Action, you can simply ready the Knight of Dale, allowing you to quest and defend, or guard against an attack and then counterattack. No matter how you choose to use him, the Knight of Dale is a valiant ally in your journeys through Harad.

Of course, the very nature of Valour triggers is that you’re already close to losing the game. You’ll need every edge you can muster, including mounting a Fierce Defense (The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat, 113) wherever possible. This Tactics-sphere event can deal three damage to any non-unique enemy engaged with you—but when you are truly pushed to the edge of what you can master, Fierce Defense has a Valour Action that lets you simply discard a non-unique enemy engaged with you. Even if you’re hard-pressed by powerful Uruks or Trolls, a Fierce Defense may be all you need to survive.

Escape from Cirith Gurat

The servants of the Dark Lord are many—and many are the prisoners of Cirith Gurat. What kind of hero would you be if you left these men and women to suffer and die alone?

Take up arms and venture into the dungeons! The Dungeons of Cirith Gurat (MEC60) is now available at your local retailer and online through our website.