ADVENTURE OUTLINE — THE BATS ARE MISSING
investigate the problem, using maps of known trails and
— The bats —
are missing
• When: The best season for this adventure is summer
before the full harvest is ripe.
• Where: The adventure begins in Lake-town, then moves
south to the Mountains of Mirkwood for an expedition
into the bat caves, and finally back to Esgaroth.
• What: The bat population is mysteriously dying off in
northeast Rhovanion, and as a result, the insect population
is increasing, causing the crops, fruits, vegetables, and a
large variety of wild plants to suffer. In turn, the Men of
the Lake and other inhabitants of the region are
experiencing a shortage of food.
• Why: If no adventurers are brave enough to explore the
Mountains of Mirkwood, the bats may never return,
allowing plagues of insects to devastate the food sources
and spread disease among the population.
• Who: In this adventure, the companions are the explorers
who must solve the problem of the bats, but they are
visited by Gandalf the Grey, who holds vital information
to help them in their quest.
ADVENTURING PHASE
This adventure is played in three parts, but can be easily
expanded. For example, it might include visiting a village on
the way to the Mountains of Mirkwood to pick up a guide, or
the return journey to Esgaroth to report the company’s
findings.
PART ONE — EMPTY GRANARIES
The companions visit the granaries in the Merchant's District
of Lake-town to witness the sudden shortfall of grain. The
harvesters on the shores of the Long Lake are reporting that
most of their crops have been destroyed by insects, normally
eaten by the great cloud of bats that make seasonal visits
from the Mountains of Mirkwood; but for some unknown
reason, the bats have not come this year. It is suspected that
a greater evil is at work in the Mountains, working to
overrun the crops with pests and starve the people of
Esgaroth. This weighs heavily on the entire population and
even the companions are affected by it (the starting
Fellowship pool rating is lowered by 1 point).
Into the Mountains of Mirkwood
The player-heroes travel into Mirkwood, to the upper caves
of the northern mountains where several prominent bat
colonies are known to have been established. They must
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routes given to them by the grain farmers. Perhaps one
farmer joins them as a guide: a Man of the Lake possessing
high Travel and Explore skills, as well as the Mirkwood-
lore trait. He should be a philosopher of sorts, interested in
the study of nature. Due to the presence of such a person, the
company is swifter and the journey is easier on their bodies
than expected.
PART TWO: THE CAVES OF DISEASE
It may take several days to explore and search for the bat
colonies before finding the right network of caves. This is
not an easy task and difficult hazards should be presented to
the company related to the Explore and Athletics skills.
Upon entering the first bat cave, they expect to find roosting
colonies of bats hanging from the ceiling, but instead, they
are surprised to find that the floors are covered with
thousands of dead ones. The bats appear to have died of
disease during hibernation. Close inspection reveals a
strange yellow fungus covering the eyes and wing
membranes of the tiny creatures. The stench in the cave is
horrendous and the player-heroes may have trouble
breathing long enough to explore properly.
Going from cave to cave, they discover the same scene, but
eventually they find a colony that is diseased and weakened,
but not yet dead. In that chamber, they also discover a
gruesome new horror: the half-eaten body of a tall Orc who's
eyes and skin are infected with the same yellow fungus. It
looks like his rump and legs were butchered with a cruel
knife and large pieces of meat were taken off. Immediately
after the discovery, drums can be heard coming up the
mountainside toward the caves. Boom, boom, thump, boom!
Night has fallen...
Hateful Hobgoblins
The company is raided by a band of weakened hobgoblins,
ravaged by disease. The player-heroes must make their stand
in the cave, or try to outrun their adversaries, but these are
the Dark Mountains after all and at night they are likely to
meet Wolves, Great Bats, or even Secret Shadows!
If they decide to flee, it is a treacherous climb downward
and many dangers can befall them (see The Heart of the Wild
pages 85-89 for more information about the area). The
hobgoblins have nothing to live for and are filled with hatred
(give each +1 Hate point). A careful search of their pouches
reveals a strange sticky substance, almost like a pollen. It
may be the source of the disease they are suffering from and
have passed on to the bats.
PART THREE: A WIZARD’S CURE
The companions receive a joyous surprise, for they are
visited by the Wizard Gandalf! This can be to rescue them
from the hobgoblins if they find themselves near death, or it
can possibly be in the morning after surviving through the
 ADVENTURE OUTLINE — THE BATS ARE MISSING
night. No matter when he appears, Gandalf has come to tell
them the cure for the yellow fungus: a special garlic grown
in the Shire. He happens to have several bags filled with it in
his pouch. But, this encounter will also determine whether
— credits —
he participates with them in establishing a healthy colony of Written by James R. Brown
bats that can leave the mountains to forage once again.
The One Ring designed by
Encounter Evaluation Francesco Nepitello and Marco Maggi
This encounter is based on Wisdom.

0-2: Gandalf gives them the bags of garlic and tells them he
has other business to attend to. He then disappears. The
player-heroes must figure out on their own how to
administer the garlic to the bats effectively.
The One Ring, Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the characters,
3-5: Gandalf offers to stay and grind the garlic with them items, events and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of The Saul
and helps to spread it across the floors of the bat caves Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises and are used under license by
Sophisticated Games Ltd and their respective licensees.
before departing. Each player-hero gains an extra Experience
point for the time spent with the Grey Wizard. This work was not authorised by Sophisticated Games nor Cubicle 7 Entertainment nor
The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises and makes no challenge to
their intellectual property. All terms in this document are the property of their
6+: As above, and Gandalf escorts them back to the fields of respective owners and are used without permission.
the Long Lake to magically bolster some of the crops that
This work is offered free of charge to all interested parties and is not to be sold in any
have failed. During the journey, they are safe from all harm. form. This document may be printed and/or reproduced for personal use only, and this
In the end, each companion also regains an extra point of copyright notice must be left intact.
Hope.
If you have any questions or comments please contact James R. Brown at
pastorjamesrbrown@gmail.com.
Recipe for a Cure
The garlic must be ground into a powder and spread on the
floor of the caves where the living bats dwell. They will lick
up the medicine and it will cure them. If the player-heroes do
this, the bats return to the fields of the Long Lake in time to
save the remaining crops before harvest. Feeding the bats
directly will not work and may even result in bites to the
player-heroes who can catch the yellow fungus disease. If
the garlic is left whole or in pieces, the bats can still be
cured, but they will not forage as far as Esgaroth. It will take
an additional year for their population to increase enough to
range as far as the Long Lake.

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