“Far, far down the balrog fell.
While to him bound, I did as well.
His whip swung hissing at my throat
As with my blade constant I smote.
He roared with agony and pain
And as I smote his limbs again
He struck at me with naked claw.
My wounds and hurts were aching sore
As both we fell an endless time
Into the earth. There was no clime –
Except darkness. No light, no sun:
Just stone foundations, built by none,
Existent before Sauron came.
They are no place, they have no name.
We fell. I burned. Then with a shock
Cold waters lapping stony rock
Cover us both and quench his fire.
Yet still the balrog in his ire
Like some hydra, or biting snake
Our test of strength would not forsake.
So we continued. On we fought
In utter dark. I hewed and caught
Him with my blade. He clawed at me.
Yet I prevailed! He turned to flee
While I gave chase grasping his heel
As it pursued its way by feel
Through primordial caverns far below
Where deepest, dwarven tunnels go:
Through ancient rock where bestial maw
Of primal creatues chew and gnaw
Upon the roots of earth. The way
The balrog sought the light of day
Was by climbing the Endless Stair –
Most think it lost – ascending where
Mountain soar above dungeons low
As up to Silvertine we go.
From Durin’s Tower did it leap
Upon the snowy slopes so steep
Only the birds can make nests there.
I vault into the open air
Out the stone window. Into flame
The balrog once more bursts and came
To battle me on Celbdil.
I can recall our battle still.
What shall I say? The lightning falls
As thunder answered wizard calls.
Black fire burned and smoke arose
In clouds of steam as eager foes
Struck hard with all their desperate strength.
But the balrog I slew at length
And cast down never more to rise!
His blackened corpse still up there lies
Upon the broken mountain-side
Where Durin’s Tower did abide –
Now buried under broken stone.
I was sore wounded and alone.
Collapsing, oblivion then took me.
I travelled roads no eye can see
To places which I shall not tell:
Far beyond thought and time as well.
I journeyed far, to be returned
Back for a time – as you have learned
But now – to finish my set task.
How did I find you here? You ask.
From mountaintop, Gwaihir Windlord
Fetched me, and through the air we soared
To land within Lothlórien
Where I was brought to health again.
There I spoke with Galadriel
With whom I gave and took counsel
While resting there for many-a-day
Where time brings healing, not decay.
Then by strange roads to you I came.
Now must I counsel you the same:
Journey with me! For it is well
You hear further what I would tell.”
His hearers answered they would bide
With him. They depart by his side
And listen closely to each word
Remembered for long afterward.
“You cannot pass!” A myriad orcs stood still.
A silence fell and no-one spoke until
Gandalf next raised his voice. “I serve the flame
Of Anor, and the Secret Fire the same.
Dark fire avails you not, flame of Udûn!
Return back to the Shadow!” Yet that one
No answer made but stepped onto the bridge
Of Khazad-Dûm. Upon its topmost ridge
Spanning the gulf, Gandalf stood fast as stone.
The balrog’s darkness like two wings had grown
And in its hand a red sword leaping sprung.
Then lunging forwards the foul hellspawn swung
And Glamdring answered, glittering deadly white
As blade met blade. The balrog’s shattered quite
Into red, molten fragments. Like an oak
Firm rooted, standing there, the wizard spoke
And said again, “You cannot pass!” A bound,
The balrog leaped! Then with a hissing sound
Its whip snaked out to strike as with a cry
Gandalf raised up his staff to burn on high.
He smote the bridge. A sheet of blinding flame
Rose up, as with a roar the balrog came
And Gandalf’s wizard-staff fell from his hand
Broken in two. Still there did Gandalf stand
Upon the bridge as it broke into two
Dragging the balrog down, which screaming, threw
Whip-thongs around about the wizard’s knees.
As Gandalf felt the balrog’s weapon seize
Himself, dragging him back up to the brink
Of the abyss, before pulled down to sink
Into oblivion, he raised his head,
Cried, “Fly – you fools!” The last words he said
Before he fell. The fiendish flames went out.
Dread darkness falls as Gandalf’s final shout
Hung on the air. Faster than words might tell
What bridge remained collapsed to fall as well,
Becoming swallowed in the deep abyss
Whose depths unmeasured were thought bottomless.
When Aragorn called, the rest put aside tears,
Shook off disquiet and all anxious fears
That shackled them to watch. That scene they fled
Still grieving, as onwards Aragorn led.
We can’t get out! We can’t get out!
I hear the never-ending shout
Of orcs and trolls and goblins bay
For our hearts’ blood. We die today!
For five long years we dwarves have braved
Moria. Our hard labour saved
All that we could. Awhile it seems
That Balin’s highest, fondest dreams
Would be accomplished. Under stone
A dwarf-king reigns again! Unknown
To us foes send the word around
And rally their force underground
To retake all they stole before.
King Balin to the windy shore
Of Mirrormere went to commune.
Orc-arrows slew him. What a boon
To die so quickly! Then did we
A sortie make and hurriedly
Cut our way through to Balin’s side
And carry him away. He died
Within our arms. We buried him
In Mazarbul’s stone chamber. Grim
Was our state: the orcs advance
In overwhelming numbers. Chance
We took: to Doors of Durin sped
Before our enemies we fled.
Too late! Too late! The doors were blocked
By a warden of evil! Flocked
Black orcs from Mordor. We retreat
Pursued by tramp of many feet
Of hostile forces. We did fight
Our way to where survivors might
Make our last stand – by Balin’s tomb.
We are surrounded. Certain doom
Awaits us. In Moria still
No dwarf-king yet can reign until
Durin’s Bane is destroyed.
I write
This final entry. Constant fight
And repulse for the past few days.
We’ve slain many, but no ways
Remain for our escape. We die –
But make the death-price heavy! Nigh
Troll-captains come, their war-cries hail
The next assault. Our strength must fail
At last. I, Ori, indite this
Upon this journal page. Amiss
Have all the Longbeard efforts been!
Yet with the eyes of death I’ve seen –
Moria will rise strong again
One day. Let other, younger men
See that day! And now I am done.
The final fight is now begun.
Ori leaves pen and raises sword
Against the foul, advancing horde
Of orcs that smash open the door
And through the breach rush in to pour
Upon the dwarf survivors. They
Fought back to back, and kill and slay
So many orcs, their corpses rise
To form a wall. Their battle-cries
Baruk Khazâd! sound to the end
While every warrior might fend
Himself from death, an orc to slay.
For every dwarf their foes must pay
Two dozen orcs to slay each one –
For bold is every Durin’s son!
And Ori, too, he falls at last
Atop a troll-captain. So passed
King Balin’s attempt to reclaim
Moria from the Durin’s Bane!
The dead dwarves lie each as they fell.
All Longbeards bold, and all died well.
Moria was a few months old and the different story lines in Moria were coming to a close.You got the chance to see the sun again as you entered the dimril dale. First you had to prove yourself to the elfs and Haldir only to be send back into the depths to look what started to corrupt the orcs in the shadowed refuge. The balrog and orcs wernt the only forces making waves upon the dwarven halls.
First of the mirrors, but not the last
Puzzle time with mirrors As you find strange forces in the Refuge you make your way across the mirror halls and Lumul nar. Both 3-mans are part of the epic story and related to the Nameless and globsnaga. Both are normal instances with a heavy puzzle element. To advance in the mirror halls you have to offset the corruptions growing by reflecting the moria lights into the depths. Where the waterworks are taken over by natural enemies and awoken caerogs.
The mirrors are a puzzle that goes from easy with only 2 options to puzzles on multiple levels. Making your way past all the morrovails and wargs to find a strange challenge at the end that asks you to control a fight that makes it as hard as possible. Leaving mobs alive as you try to fight the main boss.
Splitting the load for plants Lumul-nar is easier to make your way through, but it ups the ante for the deeders. You’l have to split up to get across the paths and find all the levers and levies to pull to get down to the first level. Deeders how ever have to find their way up and down, down and up. Your group finds a lever and pull it. Nothing happens near you, but you hear gears turning far away. East and west, up and down you go and finally after a few years you find a handy guide. Our cap group were a few kilos lighter after all the running.
Flowers were picked, caerogs were duoed and levers were cursed. But memories were made. Both 3-man are excelent instances you wont run that often.
Even goblins craft
Halls full of loot or how to craft a speed run Where the The grand stairs were the most run instance of Moria. The halls of crafting was it for Lothlorien. The instance consisted of 3 parts. Part 1 has 3 rooms with one type of mobs that require a different approach with melee, ran
ged and tactical each bringing the difficulty depending on your group setup. Part 2 is there to make it a bit more lengthy, but even as im writing im not sure on the difficulty of it. The part 2 boss is interesting with its tic tac toe of fire eruptions trying to kill if you stand still.
Part 3 is the fun part where your group can shine. Finding the trick to engage all 4 waves at once and surviving it save you that much time. Opening the door to the last boss where the goblins cant make it to the center. Excellent group? Kill the boss and goblins quick enough and the loot is other. Under geared or strange gear choices and you will find yourself wasting a lot of dps on the goblins.
History and future – Closing and setting up new story lines In the moria expansion there are 3 main story lines. Where as the leveling and first epic books are about retaking Moria (and finding a special axe) and finishes during the expansion. The later epic books and lothlorien quest pack sets up the board pieces for the next expansion into Mirkwood. The Sixteenth hall and Dark delving show you the corruption taking place in the depths of Moria. These will play a major role in the post launch update of Lothlorien and the upcoming update and raid.
The mordor expansion follows a quite similar set up with Udun and Linghris closing their ranks during the expansion itself. Dor amarth and Gimli going into the Abyss of mordath. Agairnaith and Talath erui leading into the instances and setting up for a future update. The black book and allegiances giving us access to a post-expansion update and raid.
Dar narbagud – a small line with a great setup The nameless were a small line in the appendix, but Turbine turned it into a major part of the update. What i remember the most is not knowing what would be the final boss in the raid. The first few bosses would be variations of Globsnaga trolls, nemesis orcs and some nameless thrown in.
The blind strider and rune rocks in Shadowed refuge would lead us to ancient dwarven enemies, but none knew what it truly would be. A mastermind behind it all would be revealed, but you didn’t expect it would your beautiful Mistress.
*insert great paragraph about nostalgia, bosses and memories. Would be lying if i would put those here. Won’t have them for you this time. Moria was a great expansion that plenty of people played till they fell asleep at their desks, but the raid felt a bit lackluster at launch. There wasn’t that much a connection with it for me and the kin i was in. A lot of peoples subscriptions ran out and minds were set on Mirkwood or other games and expansion that came around at that time.
Our kins cap group for Moria has started up again and is making its way towards the same raid. A server wide 50’s group will go underground by the time this article has gone live. Might be the second time i will actually do the instance on level. But this time with the excitement that wasn’t there back then. But that is for another moment
Many of lotro’s biggest villians are from a time where ancient evil was still just evil. Villians from the books cant be defeated. Isuldur cut off the finger from Sauron, not hobbit #34. And the balrog was banished by Gandalf at the cost of his own life, not legowlassie. And lotro came in a time where players time became more limited.
Instances became a balance of time and difficulty. Making a raid with 6 hours of thrash mobs befween bosses wasn’t going to entertain and keep your players playing. Lotro gave us our first two raids that had no thrash mobs and only one boss.
History – Lotro and iconic moments
Lotro has always take the sidetrack in the story of the War of the ring. The home runs are reserved for the epic story line. Having an iconic moment is not as iconic if you can do it repeatably. The fight against the Balrog or Sauron is not made for mere mortals. And Bard defeated Smaug, not us.
Single or final boss raids, epic story or skirmishes are the way we get to meet these moments. Sometimes we get to partake as evil itself through a session play. Treasure these moments or relive them through a reflecting pool near you.
Vile maw (watcher) Before entering Moria the fellowship found themself some tentacles in a deep pool. These same tentacles you find at the start of your journey into Moria. As you help the dwarves retake moria you will find them again near Zigilburk. While you won;t be able to kill the watcher himself due to the books. You get the chance to fight him finally in the depths of the Waterworks.
Dont disturb the water
The watcher would be the most intense and multi-stage fight since Mordrith in Carn dum of Thaurlach in the rift. Fighting your way through small arms up to the his larger tentacles and freeing your raid members their clutches.Trying to keep your head above water and not being crushed by falling support beams or the dread and aura that this creature of forgotten times was just the middle part.
Your group had the gear, tactics and legendary items to make it that far. The watcher has had enough of it. Power depleted on everyone he upped the ante and dash up the damage when he gets enraged. Many a raid were calculating their DKP or loot rules only to be stomped in the last bit of the fight. The watcher gave his business card as a engaging, short single boss fight that still proved a real challenge (as long as you wern’t overleveled or geared)
Is daddy home?
Filikul (turtle) Bigger then a balrog and a fraction of the evil. You get to fight a giant turtle. Not the first big turtles, but still a massive turtle. The turtle was a boss introduced later in the expansion. A new thing to kill, catered to give you second age or even a first age weapon. It was a juicy carrot, but you had to really get geared. Prove yourself worthy of this kind of weaponry and power.
Filikul was purely a fight against time that you couldn’t overcome with tactics. A stacking aura that over time would just strip your healers to their underwear. More healing would just give you a minute extra, your tanks splitting the chomps he did on your armour or having your damage group stack extra poison mitigation to lower the dots he dealt was one way to deal with it. Eventually you had to find better gear and run Moria and lothlorien instances to get enough radiance and mitigation to tackle him.
Draigoch We’re going from the big cave of Moria to a smaller cave that a dragon resides. The first time a live dragon would appear in lotro. Enedwaith gave us Draigoch. The most flavorful and different of boss fights still in lotro. The journey down into its lair is devoid of bosses or mobs, but sits on top of killing list of any raid boss. Dragons breath will remind you what a piece of toast feels like in your toaster.
Every single part of the fight is a testament to communication, dedication and your burglar player that finally gets its moment to shine. Your tank that has to pay attention to where he will head next and warn your crew. Taking stabs at his legs while running through the tunnels where he cant reach you. Up, down and back as you learn the place. You have hurt the dragon enough and he falls down on the ground.
How does he get in and out?
Getting fellowship maneuvers and actually having the whole fellowship finishing the red and yellow puzzle. Grabbing the little bonuses that each finished maneuver provides as the extra incoming damage will start to make a dent in the humongous morale the little wum has.
Continuing this into stage 3 where he fights back and swipes his tail and crushed any hope you had if you found yourself in the wrong place. Retreating like rats into the tunnels as he spews fire and the gold coins start to hurt your feet. Your fellowship better stayed together and close to your healers.
The dragon is down an out or he bugged again. As challenging and fun the fight was. With all these lotro first mechanics it bugged out so many times that turbine spent as more time fixing this boss as they wouldn’t have to do until their next lotro first that would be the epic battles.
The next single boss fight? Single boss fights or raids are a mixed blessing. It gives you the chance to create a hyper complex, rich and engaging fight. But these fights are balanced around a point in time. A level bump or next tier in gear can make all the hard work you done easy peasy. We have only seen a few of these fights in lotro at all. Over time we’ve gotten landscape versions in Rohan, with warbands and roving threats. But they reached the complexity or longterm rading stories of these 3.
Shelob is the next iconic enemy we expect to encounter. He wasn’t in Mordor, but Minas morgul was the 2nd option. Update 22.2 was supposed to be his place. But new instances has pushed him back along with Minas Morgul. A new raid is in the plans and wont be a massive one. Perhaps even 1 or 2 short/single boss ones. Will we get a giant squirrel or will it be a new complex Cold-dragon fight in the grey mountains? Only the developers and palantirs will know.
![[CC] 99 instances – Moria post launch puzzles and raids](https://lotroplayers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Critter-casual.jpg)
