You are playing campaign mode.
Setup: Each player may change hero cards without incurring the +1 threat penalty. Each player adds 1 copy of Determination to their starting hand. Add each of those events to the Campaign Pool. Shuffle the Fend Off Despair side quest into the encounter deck.
"We cannot tarry. The wolves here are evil and vicious, and the darkness of night is their hunting ground. I fear our hunt has just become theirs..."
–Amarthiúl
Resolution: Add Fend Off Despair to the Campaign Pool.
The Goblins emerged under the cover darkness, clad in white fur that blended with the snow. The sentries that kept watch were taken from behind, pulled to the ground and gagged. One spotted the approaching Goblins and called out, but was immediately struck by Goblin–arrows. The sentry's shouts woke the rest of the company, but taken by surprise and outnumbered nearly ten to one, the odds were grim. TYhe largest of the Goblins stepped forward and grinned wickedly. "Surround them! Don't let any escape!" if bellowed, "Gornákh wants them alive!"
The heroes were forced to submit, disarmed of their weapons, and bound. They looked amongst themselves for a moment before they realized that Amarthiúl was no longer standing among them. They weren't sure if his body was among the slaim.
"Come alonmg now, lads," the larger Goblin growled, pulling one of the heroes to his feet and forcing him to march at spear–point. "Mount Gram awaits."
The loss of Iârion at the hands of the wraith weighs upon you and your companions, sapping your resolve and making you question every decision you make in your pursuit. Yet if you give in, there will surely be no rescue for him from the foul sorcery of Angmar...
Each event card gains doomed 1.
Forced: When Fend Off Despair is defeated, mark in the Campaign Log that each player's starting threat by 2. (This reduction is cumulative.)