Setup: Set Uruk Chieftain aside, out of play. Add The Captives of Cirith Gurat and 1 copy of Dungeon Cell to the staging area. Attach Abaan to Dungeon Cell. Each player searches the encounter deck for a different Orc enemy and adds it to the staging area. Shuffle the encounter deck. Starting with the first player, each player discards cards from the top of his deck until an ally that is not in play is discarded and attaches that ally to an unattached enemy in the staging area.

Posing as The Black Serpent's men, you have infiltrated the Orc stronghold of Cirith Gurat in order to rescue the prisoners there.

Each enemy and location in the staging area that is guarding an objective is immune to player card effects.

Forced: After any number of characters are rescued, reveal an encounter card.

This stage cannot be defeated while a guarded objective is in play.