Dorrick has landed a new assignment from the University of Kex on Centorin. They are assisting the Kassikan in locating the last of Feanor's crystals using a ground penetrating imager. The crystal is believed to lie somewhere in the ruins of the Dark Lord's black tower in the has-been tourist trap called Mordor.
Just getting there was an adventure in itself, it was a year's flight from Knidola over lands filled with Orcs and other mutants from early genetic science. They have to rescue the stranded instrument from floods in the Korst, and try to calm the fears of two bewildered Centorins who were completely unprepared for an expedition into the interior of Kassidor. They have to face denizens of the deep passages to rescue the crystal, and the wrath of the villagers who fear returning that crystal to light will bring back the horrors of the Wars of Magic.
But it is not til the crystal is returned that they face the real danger. While the wizard from the Kassikan is much more careful in his dealings with that haunted crystal today, others are not.
For all fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings,' here's a look at what happens in that spot almost six thousand years later.