Monday, September 22, 2014

A Tolkien Lover's Guide to LOTRO, Part 3
by Jonathan and Michael Starkey



The Departure of Boromir
A short Chapter to start The Two Towers, but no less sad for its brevity. Aragorn runs up the hill to Amon Hen. He crosses a stream near the top, then hears Boromir's horn. He races back down to find Boromir mortally wounded lying against a tree surrounded by dead orcs. Turbine are spot on here. There are several "role plays" where you can participate in the action. Otherwise, the glade is at 56.7S, 49.7W where you can see the bloodstained tree and lots of dead orcs. They are supposed to have a white hand insignia on their shields and an S on their helms but there isn't a shield or helm to be seen anywhere. It's a bit of a shame because this is how Aragorn works out that these Orcs are doing Saruman's bidding. The only other remnant of this scene is the hobbit footprints down by Tol Brandir.

The Riders of Rohan, The Uruk-Hai and The White Rider
Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli's chase across the Wold and Entwash Vale is something of a puzzle that we have to piece together from Merry and Pippin's account in The Uruk-Hai and Aragorn's account in the Riders of Rohan and The White Rider. It isn't Turbine's finest hour. 

Tolkien says that the Emyn Muil is two north-south ridges with a dale in between. Turbine have interpreted this to mean a north ridge and a south ridge with a pass in between. They clearly think that the orcs and chasers went through the pass, past Mansig's encampment in the game. Speaking as a geologist, Tolkien was trying to say that Emyn Muil is two parallel north-south escarpments, each with a dip slope to the east and a scarp slope to the west, and a north-south valley in between. The westernmost of the two scarp slopes forms the East Wall of Rohan. Thus, they should be crossing the first escarpment and heading north up the dale, where Legolas finds five orc bodies, two beheaded. We couldn't find them but didn't particularly expect to since there is no dale in the game. In the book they climb the western escarpment and head north along the ridge. In the game, they head north past Mansig's encampment. Synchronised again, they go down onto the plain. In the game the path down comes out by the Ancient Norcroft Tomb. 

Down on the plain, quarry and chasers head northwest until they reach the southern end of a north-south line of downs. Again, Turbine haven't really got this right. There are dales but they are northwest to southeast and extend  much too far south. In the book, just to the west of the southernmost slope, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli find a well-trodden circle of ground where the orcs rested. We couldn't find it, but then again, the southernmost slope in the game is down in the Sutcrofts so they wouldn't go anywhere near it. 

On the second night after Boromir's death, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli camp where the Entwash comes towards them from Fangorn. In the game this must be near Eaworth. In the morning they head north and soon meet Eomer and his men. They continue north and intersect the road from the Wold, which is there. Then they head northwest, towards Fangorn. From this point on, the orcs realise that Eomer and his men are on their tails, and pelt towards Fangorn. The chasing Riders shoot them from behind with gray feathered arrows. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli see dead orcs littering the trail, but we couldn't find any. Eventually they reach the battle site where the Riders surround the orcs and kill them all. In the game this is at Eomer's Revenge, 41.7S, 69.5W.

Tolkien describes the site as a place of great burning, a hillock near to the eaves of the forest. Turbine have got this bit right, but then lose the plot. The site is supposed to have an adjacent pile of helms, mail, shields, swords and other gear of war. Nowhere to be seen. In the middle there is supposed to be a stake with a goblin head still wearing a helm with the white badge of Saruman. Missing. Not far away there should be a burial mound for the 15 Riders lost in combat, surrounded by 15 spears. Not there. And the whole thing should be beside the Entwash as it emerges from the forest and it isn't. During the night Saruman - who you see in one quest - comes and scares away their horses. They join Shadowfax and a herd of wild Mearas horses nearby. In the game there is a fun quest with them. This whole scenario is played out in the Epic quest line. 

Treebeard
Merry and Pippin follow the Entwash towards its source, leaving a trail of crumbs and footprints that Aragorn later uses to track them. They see a glint of sunlight, which is there in the game, and decide to investigate. It takes them to a rock wall with a natural looking stairway made of weathered and split rocks at the top of which, level with the tops of the trees, is a natural rock shelf where they encounter Treebeard. In the game, all of this looks spot on to us. There is a quest chain to follow the same path. Treebeard, Merry and Pippin have moved on, of course. Gandalf (now The White) is there to explain what's been going on. If you click on the horse it takes you to Ashlimb.

Treebeard takes Merry and Pippin to Wellinghall. He says it's 70000 Ent-strides. I don't know how big an Ent-stride is but it's a blimin' long way in  the game, as far west as it's possible to go in Entwood. Tolkien describes the scene. The approach to Wellinghall is between two aisles of trees, leading to an arch fronted by a waterfall. Inside there is a great stone table but no chairs. There are two vessels that generate light for the bay and the trees outside. To the right of the chamber there is a great bed on low legs covered with dried grass and bracken. Turbine have got the whole thing just about perfect. Perhaps it's our imagination but even the trees outside seem to glow, exactly as they should. 

In the morning Treebeard takes Merry and Pippin to Derndingle for Entmoot. Derndingle is described as a bowl shaped dingle (i.e. a wooded dell) surrounded by a thick crown of dark evergreen trees that branch out from the roots. Three paths lead into the dingle from the north, west and east. Inside is smooth and grassy. At the center of the dingle are three beautiful silver birch trees. The Entmoot is all played out to perfection in the Book 14 Interlude, "The Moot". Actually, Turbine have got this whole sections just about perfect.

The King of the Golden Hall

Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli race to Edoras. Their first view is from afar. Legolas, with the wonderful eyesight of elves, describes what he sees. "... a white stream that comes down from the snows. Where is issues from the shadow of the vale a green hill rises upon the east. A dike and mighty wall and thorny fence encircle it. Within there rise the roofs of houses; and in the midst, set on a green terrace, there stands aloft a great hall of men.And it seems to my eyes that it is thatched in gold." This whole scene is laid out almost perfectly in the game on the route from Fangorn to Edoras at roughly 57.4S, 75.5W. The only things missing are the dike and fence, but we can forgive those minor omissions.

They ford the stream, roughly due south of Middlemead in the game, and come upon a rutted path. The path passes many tall green mounds and takes them to the barrows of the Kings of Rohan. On their western sides the mounds and barrows are covered in a white flower known as Simbelmyne. The game version is light on barrows, but perfect otherwise. As Aragorn says, there are seven mounds on the left and nine on the right. 

Guards escort Gandalf and party from the gates to the Golden Hall. They walk on a broad path paved with hewn stones, passing lots of wooden houses with dark doors. Beside them is a stream running in a stone channel. In time they come to a high platform above a stone terrace where water gushes out of a statue of a horse's head. This water drains into a basin which overflows into the stone channel. Broad stone steps climb the terrace. At the top on either side are two stone guard seats and the doors to the Golden Hall. Another wonderful job by Turbine here. They haven't quite got the stream right. It seems to disappear into a drainage sluice, whereas it should stay in the stone channel almost to the gates. But this minor gripe is more than compensated by the lovely horse statues at the basin: One of the best bits of artwork in the entire game. 

Wonderful detail on the outside of the Golden Hall too. We just love the horse heads springing out everywhere and the carving on the door. The inside is no less impressive. Shafts of light come in through the eastern windows. Mighty carved pillars hold up the roof. The walls are covered with tapestries depicting scenes from Rohan's history. Light shines on one in particular that, as Aragorn says, shows Eorl the Young on a white horse coming to the Battle on Celebrant Field. The middle of the hall has a long open wood-fire. At the end is the ornate throne, sitting on a dais approached by three steps. Another excellent job by Turbine. The game is exactly as we imagined Meduseld, with the minor exception of the floor, which is supposed to be covered in runes and other strange devices. Theoden isn't there of course. He has gone off to fight Saruman. But the dialogue, deception and intrigue are played out in the Epic story line. Don't miss it. 

Helm's Deep
The Rohirrim led by Theoden, together with Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, head out from Edoras towards Isengard. They meet Ceorl coming back from the battle at the Fords of Isen who explains that Erkenbrand is retreating to Helm's Deep after being defeated. Gandalf tells the Theoden to make for Helm's Deep while he goes off on an errand. 

This encounter must have happened near Marton in the game because it is ony a short way to the Deeping Coomb. Tolkien describes the Deeping Coomb as a gorge cutting into the mountains the contains the Deeping stream. He says that a heel of rock thrusts out of the northern cliff, upon which stands a high wall surrounding a lofty tower known as the Hornburg. The approach is up a causeway over the stream and ramp to Helm's Gate. The 20 feet high Deeping Wall stretches from the Hornburg to the southern cliff. It has clefts through which to shoot and hung over as if the sea had eroded it underneath. The Deeping stream passes under the Deeping Wall in a wide culvert, then through the middle of Helm's Dike and out into the Westfold Vale. The entire fortification is known as Helm's Deep. Once again, Turbine have done a masterful job. It all looks perfect in the game. Well, apart from that the coomb should be east-west but in the game is north-south, so the Hornburg comes out of the west face of the gorge instead of the north face. 

All of the battles at Helms Deep are faithfully reproduced as Big Battles in the Epic quest line and optionally afterwards. One is the battle for the Glittering Caves. Gimli describes the Glittering Caves to Legolas as they ride to Isengard. The walls are covered in gems,crystals and veins of precious ore. Light glows through folded translucent marble. There are columns of white and saffron and dawn-rose, fluted and twisted into dream-like shapes. They spring up from many-colored floors to meet glistening pendants hanging from the roof which take the form of wings, ropes, curtains, spears, banners and pinnacles. And it's very large with many chambers. It has to the said that the LOTRO Glittering Caves are a little disappointing in comparison with the description, but it would have been an awful lot of work to reproduce accurately. 

The Road to Isengard
Theoden, Gandalf and company first arrive at the Fords of Isen. One clever device Turbine have provided is that when you approach Isengard from Rohan it is after being sacked, when you approach it from the Dunland it is before being sacked. Each side has a teleport to allow you to switch to the other. The ford is supposed to have three lines of stepping stones with fords for horses in between, and an eyot in the middle. After the battle, the dead Rohirrim are in a mound in the middle of the eyot being picked upon by carrion birds, and the ground is scattered with dead orcs being eaten by wolves. It looks pretty good in the game, although some of the most gruesome bits have been edited out, and the stepping stones don't look very safe or very helpful. Of course, the Isen was temporarily blocked when the book was written, but it had returned to normal before any LOTRO player might get there. 

The company camp beside the Isen, then set off up Nan Curunir. The valley has become a wilderness of weeds and thorns. No trees grew there but stumps could still be seen. The path to Isengard was a wide street paved with big flat stones. Deep gutters filled with trickling water ran down both sides of the street. At the end of the road was a statue of a long white hand set upon a tall black pillar. Gandalf knocks it down as he passes, leaving the broken hand covered in blood. The scene in the game is pretty much perfect. The road even has grate covered gutters. 

Isengard is a great ring of stone a mile in diameter, like towering cliffs. It has just one entrance; an arched tunnel hewn out of the southern rock wall, with iron gates at both ends. Inside are paved road and long lines of pillars joined by heavy chains. Houses, chambers, halls and passages had been hewn out of the inner wall, so that the circle was overlooked by countless windows and doors. The inner plain was bored to give access to underground treasuries, store-houses, armories, smithies and furnaces. Iron wheels revolved their endlessly and hammers thudded. Yet again Turbine have done a tremendous job of a very complicated and difficult location. The game is just as we imagined it. 

All the roads run to the center where stands the tower of Orthanc. Tolkien describes Orthanc as five hundred feet high, made of black polished rock. The design was four multi-sided pillars, opening at the top into gaping horns. Between the horns are a platform of polished stone inscribed with strange signs. This is where Gandalf gets trapped early in proceedings. One final time for The Two Tower we have to say, "Bravo, Turbine". Orthanc looks exactly as we imagined it.

Flotsam and Jetsam, The Voice of Saruman and The Palantir


Three short Chapters about the sacking of Isengard to end Book 3. All three are heavy on dialogue and light on scenery. Not that we mind. The guys have a lot to catch up on.

Merry and Pippin, sitting on a pile of rocks outside the gate to Isengard and true to their nature, offer Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli some of Saruman's man-food for lunch in the guard house. Exactly as it should be, the guard house is under the tunnel, on the left at the top of some stairs. It is described as an open chamber hewn out of solid rock with a hearth on one side and small doors at the far end. We couldn't find much in the way of doors but the hearth is there. You can even stand underneath and look up into the chimney to check whether Pippin is right to say that it has a great draught. Someone has done a pointlessly spotless job of clearing the ashes since they had ate and the table looks a little on the short side to us.

Merry and Pippin prepare the meal from goods in the storeroom. It is through the back passage (ahem, if you'll excuse the term). As Pippin says, luckily some of the stores remained above the water level, athough it seems a little odd that there are boxes of apples and lettuce when Pippin claims that there is no green stuff - Pippin probably wants to keep them for himself. After lunch hobbits and dwarf relax by poisoning themselves with a smoke. There are three barrels of pipeweed in the storeroom. They are supposed to be be clearly marked with the Hornblower brandmark but we couldn't find it. During the flood, Merry and Pippin save themselves by climbing some winding stairs at the back the of the storeroom that take them to the top of the arch. Hmm, we couldn't find them either.

Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry and Pippin sit on a pile of rocks outside the gate while Merry and Pippin recount their tale. The sacking of Isengard is all beautifully played out in the "Last march of the Ents" role play. 

Gandalf decides he must speak with Saruman. The waters have receded by now. Tolkien explains that only gloomy pools remained, covered with scum and wreckage, dotted around with wonky posts and pillars. The water is a foot deeper than it should be but otherwise the scene looks right. The Ents divert the River Isen through a breach in the northern wall, thereby flooding Isengard. If there is a breach in the game it must be too small to see.

Team Theoden approach Orthanc from the south. The Ents have spent a fruitless few hours here trying to break into the tower. Apart from hurting themselves, they only managed to leave some scorings and make a few splinters. Perhaps they are be too small to see. The main gate of Orthanc is set into the angle of two piers, high above the ground on the east side of the tower. The approach to the door is up 27 broad stairs. And there they are! Count them. Sometimes Turbine's attention to details is really impressive. Not so good with the door. It is supposed to be huge, whereas the door in the game is barely wide enough to admit a hobbit. Over the door is supposed to be a shuttered window opening onto a balcony hedged with iron bars, but they are no where to be seen. It's a shame because this is where Wormtongue and Saruman speak to Gandalf and Theoden.

Fellowship and Theodon leave Isengard through Nan Curunir, following the west bank of the River Isen. The mountains are to their right, sloping down to bare hills. So far so good in the game. They strike west off the highway. This can only be outside what is now Grimbold's camp. They go west a mile or so until they come to a south-opening fern-covered dale that leads up to Dol Baran, heather covered last hill of the northern ranges. Here they camp under the protection of some thorn bushes. Dol Baran looks good but the closest we could find to a dale is something more akin to a mud-slide at 87.3S, 6.5W. It has no remnants of a camp although it does have a few ferns and bushes. We feel it's a shame that Turbine have not paid more attention to this area considering that it is where Pippin looks into the Palantir, one of the pivotal events in the entire story. 


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