Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – The Lost Realm

“You know little of the lands beyond your bounds. Peace and freedom, do you say? The North would have known them little but for us. Fear would have destroyed them. But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us. What roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the Dúnedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?”
–Aragorn, The Fellowship of the Ring

Orc warbands march across the North, and fouler things stir throughout the tainted lands near Angmar. For ages, the Dúnedain have held a secret vigil against these evils, standing between them and the simple folk of Bree, the Shire, and the neighboring lands. Now, however, there are signs that the Dark Lord’s servants may be massing in greater numbers than the region has seen for centuries. As noble and skilled as they are, the Rangers of the North may not be able to deal with this new, greater threat. They need new strength. They need you.

The enemy’s forces are in motion. The Lost Realm deluxe expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is now available. Lend your aid to the Rangers of the North. Pick up your copy today!

Orc Warbands and Foul Sorcery

With three new scenarios, two new heroes, and a host of Dúnedain-themed player cards for all four spheres of influence, The Lost Realm explores the dangers and intrigues the tainted lands of the North.

While the North is now home to the quiet towns of Bree, the Shire, and their neighbors, it was at one point a realm terrorized by the Witch-king of Angmar, whose armies of evil men, Orcs, and other foul creatures struck down most of the region’s free kingdoms. Indeed, the Witch-king pressed the region to war for more than six-hundred fifty years, until his armies were eventually defeated and driven from the North by the combined might of the Elves of Lindon, the region’s Dúnedain, and the armies led by Prince Eärnur of Gondor.

In Middle-earth, such prolongued exposure to evil can scar a land, and the North is now but a shadow of its former self. Whereas it once housed numerous kingdoms, it now lies mostly empty. Its thriving cities are gone, replaced by a handful of modest towns. No longer do its armies offer any real threat to the Dark Lord and his forces; instead, the region is kept safe only by a handful of Dúnedain rangers and their secret vigil.

While the first scenario from The Lost Realm challenges you and your Dúnedain allies to hunt down and destroy an Orc War Party (The Lost Realm, 17) marching against Chetwood, the expansion’s darker secrets lie within its second and third scenarios, as well as the story that continues forward into the Angmar Awakened cycle of Adventure Packs. Who sent the Orcs? Why were they sent?

Your search for answers will lead you across the North, from the Borders of Bree-land (The Lost Realm, 19) to Concealed Orc-camps (The Lost Realm, 30) and even to the ruins of Fornost where you’ll need to explore ancient tombs and Haunted Keeps (The Lost Realm, 39). There, you’ll have to confront evils far darker and far more terrifying than Orcs.

Many of the evil men who swore themselves to the Witch-king’s service still haunt the land, as does the Sorcery that binds them. Accordingly, The Lost Realm doesn’t just give you the opportunity to explore new locations and Dúnedain-themed decks; it darkens your table with Undead enemies, Dark Sorcery (The Lost Realm, 65), and Heavy Curses (The Lost Realm, 66) that present all-new, richly thematic challenges within The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.

When you travel through the North with its Dúnedain protectors, you’ll peel back the curtains on the evils that the Rangers kept at bay. What did Aragorn mean when he said the North would have known little of peace and freedom but for the Rangers and their vigil? In The Lost Realm and its scenarios, you’ll find out, and though we’ve seen evils and mysteries before in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, we’ve never seen them framed in quite the same way. More than ever before, we find the expansion’s scenarios allow you to choose your own path through the wilds and discover the evils that lie within them.