From the garden, Campbell then decided to take me back in time to the heyday of Moria in one of the new Session Play encounters. From its earliest beginnings as Monster Play, the idea of Session Play - putting players in the shoes of NPCs and other characters - is becoming one of the core storytelling techniques for the LotRO team, giving players the chance to experience the rich lore of Tolkien in ways that would otherwise be impossible.
This particular instance was set during the time of Durin VI, and while I was just along for the ride, Campbell controlled one of the Dwarf-Lord's chief lieutenants and close friends. Durin's Throne Room alone was one of the most impressive places I'd yet seen in Moria, tremendously huge and grand with a marvelous sense of atmosphere. In this instance's story, a delegation of Elves had arrived to speak with the king, concerned that the supply of mithril was running low. Durin assured them that it was nonsense, and that they'd just found a brand-new vein that very day, asking them to accompany him to survey it.
Naturally, while the Dwarves might have discovered a new vein of mithril, they'd also discovered the Balrog, whose release is displayed in a neat little cutscene. Durin begs his friend to flee and seal the tunnels, staying to fight the fiend to delay it. Players aren't supposed to take on the Balrog themselves, of course - not only is it a level 64 Arch-Nemesis, but killing the Balrog here might mess with the history of Middle-Earth let alone the story of the books.
Campbell was kind enough to show me a raid encounter that players are intended to kill, however - a Watcher. This isn't the smaller Watcher found outside Moria's gates, though; this thing is full-sized, has found a home deep in the underground waters of the mountain, and is cranky at being woken up from its nap. Even with admin powers, the fight against the Watcher was clearly meant for a raid of more than just two people, so we gave up - though not before a nifty little phase transition where the Watcher destroys a stone bridge above him, sending it crashing into the lake where it resides.
After the Watcher, we checked out more of the Foundations of Stone, including some very stubborn - or unlucky - Orcs and Dwarves alike who were now covered in fungus. Quite pleasant. The two of us got lost quickly in the twisting, very vertical space, so Campbell decided to show me something less labyrinthine, taking me to the garden of a certain Elfish Queen - Galadriel (who acts as the narrator for the Moria expansion). Players will encounter Galadriel as part of the epic quest storyline; While Campbell's character was, mine wasn't, so sadly there was to be no mirror-gazing for me this time around.
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