Known as Dúrin's Bane this mighty creature was perhaps the last of his kind. Certainly no Balrog had been seen in Arda since the Great Battle that ended the First Age, and only the Elves and the Wise (including the Istari) knew of them beyond the oldest tales and dimmest rumors. The Dwarves that reentered Moria near the end of the Third Age had dug deep, perhaps more deeply than had any mortal creature before, and uncovered this menace from its self-induced coma in hiding in the roots of Moria. Aroused and rested, the Balrog once again felt its power and pride; perhaps, too, it felt the Power of its Lord's lieutenant, Sauron of Mordor, reaching into the world. It killed two of the Dwarf-kings and gathered to itself a mighty army of Orcs and Trolls from the surrounding area by the force of