Gondor Renewed
Gondor Renewed
Return of the King: Aragorn is crowned king and ready to take a trip across Gondor. Unfortunately, not a lot of people are mentally prepared for this. So your friend tells you that it would be wise to scout on ahead and see if there are things that they can do for the people right after the war. Hopefully the people can recognize you after the content released 10 years ago. Your first stop is at the southern border district of Harlond. At the time, this entire port was overwhelmed with trolls and orcs. They had essentially blocked off the road to Minas Tirith causing you to reroute through South Ithilien. Any Gondor ships were sunk to the bottom and the army was busy making repairs to the southern gate. The people will task you in replacing the tattered banners flying high up the wall and gathering salvageable materials from the sunken vessels. I bet you remember "crossing that bridge when we get to it" from Eastern Gondor into Bar Hurin. Too bad the model ship designer isn't able to provide you one of his little creations. You'll still need to visit Throne of the Dread Terror for a chance of obtaining them for your house. Of course, one of the dwarves has fancied Lokhu-achi, the stray Mumak you helped feed in North Ithilien and will ask you to get something for the oliphaunt.
"Sure, ask the hobbit to take down the banners" - Hatric
Foundational Problems: You soon find out that not all the material being used is of high quality. One of the poor dwarves can barely stand after what fell on top of his head. While the scaffolding might be holding up well, there are some shoddy bricks being rerouted through Arnach. Sure enough, a group led by Maengar have been sabotaging the stone bricks in one of the warehouses in Imloth Melui. They were so soft, their men were sleeping on them! In other areas, you'll come across quite a bit of individuals needing some assistance. I see Brunil's mood hasn't changed since during the war. There seems to be a few people concerned about a girl who gets lost in her books... or is it she gets lost with her books? You'll find her completely unharmed by the hundreds of spiders in and out of the cave she holed herself up in. You'll listen in to a daughter's request in making her father's loss a little better. You'll find An old friend you found in Ost Lontir helping his drunk friend back to Umbar. You coordinate with a captain to help one of his men. I'm not going to go into detail of the other quests that have you chopping wood, collecting pigs, or carrying crates. What I will mention is a very cute Corgi I found sitting at the edge of the docks in Pelargir.
Epic:
In the early days, the Epic was always provided for free. There were a
few exceptions like the Epic Battles in Helm's Deep expansion and the
Black Book of Mordor required either purchase of Mordor or Minas Morgul
expansions. What's interesting about this story is that it is offered to
anyone who buys Gondor Renewed quest pack or Corsairs of Umbar
expansion. This means that the whole story is available to subscribers
as well. While only the first chapter was made available at the time,
the second chapter revisits some of those same areas of the quest pack.
The third and fourth chapter visits Outer Gondor when the fifth chapter
does something unique by having you gather crew members for the voyage
south into Umbar. Some of the people are completely optional and can be done after you move out. For now, we will only cover the sections of the Epic within the level 140 regions.
"Minstrels get all the fun" - Fanrel
Chapter 1.1 - 1.4: It is nice to be with my pals again. I see Gimli is still wearing the fellowship leaf on his outfit. While making efforts in the repairs south of Minas Tirith, Gimli and Legolas overhear someone talking about Balakhor as if he is still alive! I'm pretty sure we killed the guy a long time ago. What in the world are the Heirs of Castamir still doing around? We checked out the supposed campsite he was at and made sure Castamir's armor didn't come back like how the mad river-maiden made happen last time.
"Why do the deer always go to Legolas?" - Resolina
Chapter 1.5 - 1.6: Meanwhile, the people think it's time their Lord of Lebennin should retire but don't want to hurt the guy's feelings. Gimli didn't quite understand the concept as no dwarf would simply retire from their position. As you enter the manor, you can hear subtle whispering as a man occasionally coughs in the distance (seriously listen to the ambient sound effects). Sirgon has been diving into his books and reminiscing his old days of being a captain. He asks you to take a look around his place of all the various artifacts and relics he obtained on his voyage. He talks about the armor of his first slain orc and what a Uruk wore when boarding his ship off the Shield Isles. There are a bunch of other keepsakes like stuffed birds as a wedding gift from an old friend that drowned at sea, a gem he traded in a seaside market, a number of tapestries, and a songbird he found off the Langstrand a few years ago. He also mocks about how he now keeps an eye on a dead man's remains that set his ship alight with evil sorcery. Sirgon agrees to pass the responsibility of restoring the fleet and leading the people to his son Faltharan.
Plaque reads "Best Manor"
Chapter 1.7 - 1.10: In the distance, we saw one of Gondor beacons oddly enough still lit. It seems the guards were having a hard time keeping a group of Heir of Castamir followers from causing a bit of havoc at Amon Anglebed. Legolas decides to take the opportunity to try out his dreamed acting career by yelling at you in the hopes that someone from the group will overhear. The plan works and a member of the club asks you to perform a series of tasks like passing out flyers (that you can optionally throw in the brazier and call done) and get some weapons (your choice of fine weapons or pitchforks). The tension rises when Castamir supporters stand quiet when you come close (by stop animating their arms). What happens next surprises everyone. Nakási Wave-reaper and Tumúldo Fierce-water come in like they own the place, tell the followers that their leader was killed by you, their presence in Umbar was overthrown by the Kindred of the Coins, and they should all surrender. Well, they didn't exactly say it in so many words but they might as well said, "What are you going to do, stab me?" Sure enough, Tumúldo gets stabbed and Nakási asks for your assistance. I'm not really sure why I should be helping out someone who made such boastful claims how Gondor is essentially an enemy but I don't really have anything better to do at that moment. In his dying breath, Tumúldo says Gondor must die and Nakási takes off. The only thing left to do is report and get ready for King Elessar.
"Do not think overlong. The Sea Shadow grants mercy but rarely." - Nakási Wave-reaper
Chapter 2.1 - 2.4: The people of Gondor might have expected some assistance from the King, but they were not expecting him to personally attend to their needs. Some thought they had done something wrong while others were hesitant in letting him know of their problems. A little boy thought the King only lived in his tower. Arwen personally went on the hunt for some meat while one of her brothers was busy picking berries. Elessar made sure Sirgon's wishes were respected and wanted to negotiate a deal with the dwarves in Furukzahar. They hired a scribe by the name of Caebar to record the events of their journey.
"Beware of snakes in the grass" - Hámisar