Editing 760: Moria

This is [[Randall]]'s take on the story of {{w|Moria (Middle-Earth)|Moria}} in the fantasy story {{w|Lord of the Rings}}. In the original the dwarves, hunting for the precious metal mithril dug so deep that they awoke a {{w|balrog}} — {{w|Maiar}} corrupted by {{w|Morgoth}}. Gandalf is telling about the story to four hobbits standing next to him. One of the hobbits has apparently read Lord of the Rings, because he asks "awoke a terror of shadow  and flame" but then Gandalf says that they were trapped in their hole and couldn't get out.

However, Gandalf's final line may be a hint that the comic's version is closer to the original than it appears — in the story, the adventuring party discovers a journal of the last dwarves to occupy Moria. The last page starts ominously: "We cannot get out. We cannot get out." That memorable sentence is used again near the end of the page as the impending final orcish attack is described by the now-dead dwarves, and repeated by Gimli as they reflect on the terrible news, lending a much darker tone to the comic's punchline.

The title text suggests a mundane solution to their problem — a long ladder. The Endless stair was a very long staircase from the lowest dungeon up to the top of the mountain above Moria.