The east side of the Southern Ered Luin (Blue Mountains) marks the south-western border of Eriador. The mountains themselves stretch north to south in a one hundred fifty mile crescent from near the Gulf of Lune nearly to the mouth of the Baranduin (Brandywine River). The southern slopes are thickly forested, as are those on the western side in Harlindon. A line of hills extends for approximately one hundred twenty miles eastwards from roughly the center of the range. These hills, the Emyn Romen (Hills of the Sunrise) form a low ridge near the Blue Mountains proper but rise gradually to culminate in a domed height called Mount Baldy, known as Amon Rûdh in the days of the kingdom of Arnor. Several Dwarf-settlements are spread through the range, the largest of which is Hargrod, south of the Emyn Romen. The ruins of a watchtower lie at the top of Baldy, abandoned early in the Third Age. Dwarves live in the Southern Blue Mountains, mining for copper, tin and iron. There are few roads or tracks in the region; the Dwarves maintain a road that begins at Hargrod and passes through a cut in the Emyn Romen and continues on to the Tower Hills.
Beyond the Baranduin is the region of Minhiriath that made of the southernmost portion of the kingdom of Cardolan. The Far Downs to the east mark the western border of the Shire, the land of the Hobbits. The empty lands in between are dotted with the overgrown ruins of long-abandoned towns and farmsteads.
WILDLIFE
Goats and sheep gambol in the mountains and foothills. Wild pigs root for food in the forests. Otters swim and play in the delta of the Baranduin. Oxen graze in the dells bordered by the peaks, the river and Hobbit-country. Black bears roam the forests and hills; foxes and wildcats hunt for rabbits, birds and other small animals. Larger cats lair in the mountains. Wolves are uncommon, as they were nearly eradicated by the Men of Arnor and Arthedain, but their numbers have been recovering since the fall of the North-kingdoms. Many raptors nest in the region, including sea-eagles and vultures in the mountains, and hawks, kestrels and owls in the hills and woods. The fens of the river teem with long-legged wading birds and other waterfowl, as well as snakes, turtles, frogs and salamanders.
INHABITANTS
Men abandoned the lands near the Southern Blue Mountains in the wake of invasion, plague and floods. Eriadorian farmsteads can still be found along the course of the Baranduin, but they are scattered and few. Elves wander for a bit through the hills and valleys before taking ship at the Grey Havens, bound for the Undying Lands. Settlements of Dwarves dwell in the mountains as they have for ages their numbers dwindling and swelling with the tides of history. The Dwarves of the Blue Mountains trade their goods for the wares of Men and Halflings and sometimes Elves.
NOTABLE CHARACTERS
Draupnir, Lord of Hargrod
Draupnir son of Dolgthrasir, also called Draupnir Forkbeard, is the current Lord of the Dwarf-city of Hargrod. Draupnir sees himself as a wise ruler; however, he remembers with bitterness the treatment his folk received long ago at the hands of the Elf-king Thingol. King Draupnir and his closest advisors are distrustful of all High Elves. He also worries about the security of his realm and might be susceptible to overtures from agents of the Enemy if he feels that they might strengthen his position.
NOTABLE LOCATIONS
Hargrod
In T.A. 1982, after the Dwarves were driven from Moria by Durin's Bane, a group of Dwarves who were descended from the Blue Mountains resettled in Hargrod (South Delving), one of the oldest and largest surviving Dwarf-cities in the Southern Ered Luin. Located where the ridge of the Emyn Romen extends eastwards from the southern range, the road from Hargrod to the Grey Havens stretches for one hundred sixty miles, following the base of the mountains past the complex of the Mines of the Dwarves about fifty miles to the north. The mines of Hargrod are rich in iron ore and other metals: copper, tin and even modest veins of gold, as well as silver extracted from lead deposits. The Dwarves of Hargrod trade their metalcrafts with Elves of the Grey Havens, the Hobbits of the Shire and the few Men of Eriador who still dwell in the region, principally the folk of Bree-land.
Mines of the Dwarves
A typical mining settlement of the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains is located on the east side of the Southern Ered Luin about one hundred ten miles from the Grey Havens. Active since the First Age, these mines furnish raw materials and produce metal tools and implements that are sold throughout Eriador.
The Tower Hills
The Emyn Beraid (Tower Hills) lie at the western edge of Eriador, about fifty miles from the border of the Shire. The hills were named for the three White Towers built, it is said, by the High Elves for Elendil at the time of the founding of Arnor. A palantír is kept at Elostirion, the tallest of the towers. This Seeing-stone looks back upon the Undying Lands and the High Elves sometimes visit the tower to look upon the lands of the Uttermost West.
New Fellowship Phase Undertaking: Pilgrimage to the Tower Hills
(High Elves only)
Any High Elves spending a Fellowship phase in the Grey Havens or anywhere else in western Eriador may use it to visit the White Towers at Emyn Beraid and gaze into the palantír kept at Elostirion to look upon the Undying Lands. Any High Elf who does this recovers one point of Hope.
Note to Loremasters: Within Tolkien's canon the Seeing-stone of Elostirion is placed aboard the White Ship of the Last Riding of the Keepers of the Ring in TA 3012 and returned to Eldamar.
