Finally, after what seems like an eternity, you have reached the saddle of the hills. Your legs are burning from the hike up the steep path, but it feels good to be standing on level ground once more. You check your map to make sure that you are at the right place, and then look around curiously. Yes, over there, just as you were told, stands a thick clump of bushes off to the side of the path.

Curious, and yet apprehensive, you approach the bushes and slowly force your way through them. The going is much easier than you had expected, as if many people had made their way through these very bushes before you - as of course they have. After all, if your map is right, these bushes form the entrance to the legendary base of the former Army of Angmar, the guild of fanatical servants of the evil necromancer Sauron - the Dark Lord - who spread terror throughout the realms of Middle Earth and Genesis.

As you finally push your way through the bushes, you gasp in astonishment. Before you lies a path that is stained a dark black. You think back to the legends that you have heard, and you realise that this stain is the blood of the many men, elves and dwarves who tried to force their way into the citadel of the Army, in an attempt to break the stranglehold that Angmar held upon the free people of the West.

Trodden into the stained ground of the path you can see shattered bones, broken swords and rusted fragments of armour, testimony to the great battle fought at the entrance to the Army of Angmar’s strong hold. Tiny flowers lie scattered here and there, and a frail rose has poked its way through the eye sockets of the grinning skull of a long-dead hobbit.

Threading your way through this grim reminder of the not-so distant past, you follow the path to its end, outside the massive gates of stone, built into the very rock of the Misty Mountains. Before you lies a bitter history - all you need do is push the gates to enter the halls of the former Army of Angmar.

As you approach the gates, you can make out the letters of a sign carved into the mighty stone of the gates. If you wish, you can read the sign before you enter.

On the other side of the entrance, your eyes can barely pick out the ghostly shape of a hobbit wearing clothing reminiscent of that worn by the Rangers of the west. You can clearly see the rock of the mountains through the spectral body of this hobbit. The spectre's mouth is moving, and if you listen carefully, you can hear what he has to say.

Next to the gates is a large stone statue of a powerful Angmarian soldier, with an engraved epitaph -

In honour of Raffe - you may be gone, but you are not forgotten. You were a true warrior, and a true friend.

Alternatively, if you know where you wish to head within the halls, you may consult your site map to take you straight there.

You may also head directly to the Army's shop, where you can buy a range of fantasy books from the Amazon associate there.