Complete List of Lotro's Storylines & Loose Ends That Need to Be Tied Up... Eventually

[TesalionLortus]

There was also mysterious earth-shaking in Tal Methedras

I does sound very similar but this one was actually explained at some point in the story (or session play?). It was a giant cave claw Falcon Clan was using and their digging caused ramblings. Sounded way too big for what it was in the end but yeah, back then the main focus was on the books' "backyard" (follow in fellowship's footsteps with Grey Company, explore regions), not original events and new "unknown" threats which is the case now. So no doubt there is a better, satisfying explanation for the most recent reoccurring mountain tremors

[Gnagerwine]

You should also list the Vandassari. What happened to the others?

Also, what about the other Oathbreaker shades we've encountered, such as in Fornost and Parth Celebrant, and the Ruthless Dead?

[wrath247]

You should also list the Vandassari. What happened to the others?

Also, what about the other Oathbreaker shades we've encountered, such as in Fornost and Parth Celebrant, and the Ruthless Dead?

Actually good point on the Vandassari, not sure tho what you mean about the oathbreakers?

[seekingerin]

Amazing list, OP. I'm impressed with the work you put into compiling all this. There are things on this list I've been bookmarking in my head and speculating about for years (particularly everything to do with Rhun), and there are things (particularly the earthquakes) that I had not picked up on but that I'm glad you've pointed out.

I've been playing through the expansion slowly, so I'm not quite finished with it; in particular, I think there are things about the Angmarim and the Dourhands that I don't yet know. That will color my response.

I've wondered since Moria--specifically, since Gwathnor stepped out from the portal in volume 2, book 6, chapter 8--if the devs were building up to the return of Morgoth from the void. What if Sauron was NOT actually the biggest baddest bad of the game, and what if the War of the Rings was not, in fact, the greatest danger to Middle Earth at the turning of the age? What if it was all sideshow and prelude to the return of the greatest threat Middle Earth has ever known? It would be an amazing twist.

OP's list makes me think I may in fact have been right all along. Whether I'm right about Morgoth or not, though, it seems clear to me that there's some terrible threat lurking beneath the earth, a threat terrible enough to create earthquakes in locations hundreds or thousands of miles apart. I suspect items 6, A1, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 25, 27, 28, B1, B2, B3, B5, 33, and 34 all relate in some way to the Thing Beneath the Earth. B6 and B7 may also be related to it. There's also a book we read in volume 3, book 3, chapter 8 that hints at earthquakes and a mysterious threat beneath the earth in the White Mountains (one of many locations we've seen the Nameless); I've been waiting for seven years for us to meet the dwarves of the White Mountains and learn more about what happened to them.

Based on all available clues, the nameless appear to be the servants and heralds of some horror sleeping beneath the earth, and the earthquakes seem like signs that horror is waking up. The Angmarim may serve this horror as well. Gwathnor's portal and the mention of "the day of his return" make me think that Morgoth might be the horror in question, but there are certainly other options.

Thinking of all of this makes me think of the physical nature of Arda. When Arda was reshaped, could something have been trapped beneath the earth? Are there portals to the void beneath the earth? Is the void itself located beneath the earth? Arda is not like Earth, and I don't think we can assume that time and space and physics and geology work the same way as on Earth.

Actually, left-field possibility that just occurred to me. What if the thing beneath the earth is not Morgoth but another vala entirely? What if it's Aule? What if there's more to the story of the creation of the dwarves than we realize? What if he was bitter that the dwarves he created were not allowed to be the first-born? What if he was punished, chained beneath Gundabad, put to sleep? What if the Dourhands don't just want power, but want to raise their sleeping god? That could explain why the Longbeards are inexplicably losing their craft skill; maybe Aule has withdrawn it from them.

For that matter, maybe Aule wasn't imprisoned beneath Gundabad. Maybe he was imprisoned beneath Mount Doom, and that's why Mount Doom was such a powerful and crucial location. Maybe Sauron--who originally served Aule before he came to serve Morgoth--knew this. Maybe that's why Sauron chose to forge his ring there, drawing on Aule's power in some fashion. Maybe it was, in fact, a terrible, terrible mistake to cast the One Ring into Mount Doom...

Baccata says the devs are going to be dealing with a few lingering threads over the next year. We also know we're getting another endgame landscape addition before we enter Gundabad. Our way into Gundabad is blocked, thanks to the events of The Bloody Threshold. I suspect we'll travel to Car Bronach in search of another way in, perhaps via Thafar-Gathol, and likely encountering Hrimil Frost-Heart along the way; we'll probably learn more about the Dourhands and Angmarin as well. And then we'll plunge into Gundabad, where I imagine there may be major revelations that finally begin to give shape to the Thing Beneath the Earth. That could make Gundabad the pivotal moment in LOTRO's storyline; I can see it spinning us off toward a number of the locations we haven't yet visited. We could return to some of the unexplored locations in Eriador to learn more about the plans of the Dourhands and the Angmarin. We could travel to the western end of the White Mountains to talk to the dwarves who live there, exploring the far western portion of Gondor and the area around Andrast while we're there (and, perhaps, finding new loose ends that will lead us to follow the corsairs who recently attacked the coast of Gondor south through Harad toward Umbar). We could travel north into Forodwaith, near where Angband stood before the world was reshaped. And of course, we could go to Rhun to learn what happened there (and consequently getting caught in a war between a couple of wizards and their cults, who I've always understood to be at odds with each other).

I love the slowly-unfolding plots the devs have woven through LOTRO, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they continue to develop.

[TesalionLortus]

I've wondered since Moria--specifically, since Gwathnor stepped out from the portal in volume 2, book 6, chapter 8--if the devs were building up to the return of Morgoth from the void.

Actually, left-field possibility that just occurred to me. What if the thing beneath the earth is not Morgoth but another vala entirely? What if it's Aule? What if there's more to the story of the creation of the dwarves than we realize? What if he was bitter that the dwarves he created were not allowed to be the first-born? What if he was punished, chained beneath Gundabad, put to sleep?

For that matter, maybe Aule wasn't imprisoned beneath Gundabad. Maybe he was imprisoned beneath Mount Doom, and that's why Mount Doom was such a powerful and crucial location. Maybe Sauron--who originally served Aule before he came to serve Morgoth--knew this. Maybe that's why Sauron chose to forge his ring there, drawing on Aule's power in some fashion. Maybe it was, in fact, a terrible, terrible mistake to cast the One Ring into Mount Doom...

Very interesting post, yeah it's all very intriguing, so many possibilities but I doubt it has something to do with Morgoth or Aule. I'm all for the original storylines and expanding on the gaps and details Tolkien left unexplained but this would feel off. To mess with the story of Aule in such a terrific way... and the story of Frodo's quest and the ring. Morgoth, who knows, it IS viable there may be some other servants of Morgoth, other than Sauron, who actually strive for his return in dark corners of the world. But then again, Nameless have always struck me as something unfathomable and independent. Morgoth and other Valar are immensely powerful but they're not all-knowing. Ungoliant is the best example of this, even Morgoth feared her and couldn't understand. That's how I view Nameless and other terrors that may sleep beneath the Earth, unfathomable primordial entities - or otherworldly because key-word "world-eaters" and WHAT exactly is the Void in connection to Arda anyway? And what other planes of "reality" it may connect to, right?

Thinking of all of this makes me think of the physical nature of Arda. When Arda was reshaped, could something have been trapped beneath the earth? Are there portals to the void beneath the earth? Is the void itself located beneath the earth? Arda is not like Earth, and I don't think we can assume that time and space and physics and geology work the same way as on Earth.

And yeah, WHERE is the Void, another plane or physical location? All very interesting. A straightforward answer to all of these questions might be an overkill but to explore some of these questions, solve some mysteries... would be fascinating indeed. Who knows, maybe that's what they've planned for us.

There's also a book we read in volume 3, book 3, chapter 8 that hints at earthquakes and a mysterious threat beneath the earth in the White Mountains (one of many locations we've seen the Nameless); I've been waiting for seven years for us to meet the dwarves of the White Mountains and learn more about what happened to them.

Hmm, the right Volume and Book? I don't remember this and volume 3, book 3, chapter 8 on the wiki is just interrogation of Saruman's orc in Dunland and his gloating so... probably that's not what you mean. Maybe something in normal questline in Far Anorien, in the quarry with nameless?

Oh, and YES, I would love to travel to Forodwaith near where Angband was (or part of Angband rather?). Or... since it's most likely most of Angband is below water right now.. what about Utumno (Udûn), where balrogs and other demons were first created? It's unclear where Utumno was. Might be close to Gundabad, above Angmar, or further East. Would be interesting to find out. So many possibilities. There are of course copyrights issues and while they did use the name Angband I believe, not sure about Utumno. But then again... they're free to exploit Gandalf's line about the Flame of Udûn and use that as name so... anything is possible, I guess

[Elmagor]

Hmm, the right Volume and Book? I don't remember this and volume 3, book 3, chapter 8 on the wiki is just interrogation of Saruman's orc in Dunland and his gloating so... probably that's not what you mean. Maybe something in normal questline in Far Anorien, in the quarry with nameless?

Oh, and YES, I would love to travel to Forodwaith near where Angband was (or part of Angband rather?). Or... since it's most likely most of Angband is below water right now.. what about Utumno (Udûn), where balrogs and other demons were first created? It's unclear where Utumno was. Might be close to Gundabad, above Angmar, or further East. Would be interesting to find out. So many possibilities. There are of course copyrights issues and while they did use the name Angband I believe, not sure about Utumno. But then again... they're free to exploit Gandalf's line about the Flame of Udûn and use that as name so... anything is possible, I guess

From what I understand, Utumno was to the north of place where Ered Luin (Blue mountains) meet Ered Engrin (Iron Mountains). Angabad was in the middle of Ered Engrin. Utumno was to the north-east of Angabad.

[wrath247]

Oh, and YES, I would love to travel to Forodwaith near where Angband was (or part of Angband rather?).

I've been wondering if there's anything North of Forodwaith.

Tolkien wasn't much of a planner, he made alot of edits to the world and even characters consistently. Exploring areas further north, east and even south would be so nice especially since the borders of far harad, harad, and rhun aren't really laid out. I'd be so down with 2-3 expansions exploring an expanded rhun, and then another for harad and so forth.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

I'm continuing to find great joy in reading this thread! I think Throkhar is definitely the eventual Sauron-level big bad that we're heading towards and it will be cool to see that unfold.

On a different set of unfinished tales, although some of the answers in this thread have since been provided, there are a few other loose ends that remain to be tied up here too:

https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...-Quest-Series&

Thirdly, I'm not surprised that the dev team have many of these in mind already, and I can't wait for the MoL dev diary on this!

[Phantion]

From what I understand, Utumno was to the north of place where Ered Luin (Blue mountains) meet Ered Engrin (Iron Mountains). Angabad was in the middle of Ered Engrin. Utumno was to the north-east of Angabad.

There's always been some confusion about this because there's a mega-geography shift that happens in just the first small little section of "The Silmarillion," "Ainuindale."

1- There was a very big war with Melkor (Morgoth) and the Valar hurling whole mountain ranges at each other and playing a war with geography.

2- At the start, you had these two lamps at the North and South Poles, and you had this big inland lake with an island called Almaren in the middle where the Valar lived.

3- Morgoth drove them out of Almaren; the Valar built Aman / Valinor in response and eventually destroyed Utumno and took Melkor prisoner.

4- The geography changed so much that it's hard to pinpoint where any of that was; Fonstad's a good cartographer and artist, but that's her interpretation, not Tolkien's, and she's missing the part about the geography wars on her map.

5- We found out the Iron Mountains actually were much further north than Forodwaith and so beyond the map; Angband was far to the west of Utumno at the westernmost end of the Iron Mountains, far northwest of where Ered Luin is. Utumno itself was just somewhere in the North, location unknown, but very beyond the scope of the game map presently. Beleriand sank, taking Angband with it, and when Numenor was drowned, the world was made round. So my guess is that Utumno is either completely decimated but for frozen wasteland, buried under thousands of miles of mountains, or sunken deep beneath a frozen sea. It's beyond the scope of the game as it's "Silmarillion" material. The map you posted also puts it where the Ice Bay of Forochel is, so it's neither here nor there: Drowned is drowned, as we say in the Shire


More info can be found here:

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Iron_Mountains

http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Utumno

[seekingerin]

I'm very likely to have accidentally typed the wrong volume/book/chapter number, so I had to check, lol... but no, it's 3.3.8. This is the text in question:

"(You found a stack of loose papers, yellowed with age, which seem to have been placed back onto the shelf randomly, with no regard for keeping them in order.)

"... and in the last month, a great number of the supports have fallen, giving rise to much concern among the dwarves who have stalls in Zigil-jabâl. A dozen of our stonemasons were directed to repair the supports, and trade should resume shortly.

"With these stonemasons went several waggons of material, chiefly unearthed stone, but also a number of fine gems: a gift to the dwarves at Kechel. We will see how hotly burn their forges, and if they can work the gem-stones into their craft as well as we are able.

"(Judging from the state of the next page, it is even older, and only a few words can still be read.)

"... time we lost one of our own to the Forbidden Halls. They should seal it away and forget it was ever delved."

(Taken from the wiki: https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Que...urther_Secrets)

This passage, from the same quest, could be relevant too; I've thought of this particular text when we have caught occasional glimpses, in recent years, of enormous cave claws sleeping behind cracks in cave walls:

"(You found a book, of which the cover is missing, as are many of the pages, but it has been recently read and was clearly put back carelessly.)

"... but the beast returned that night, and the walls all around shook with the sound of its fury. The doors were barred, but the bars bent with each mighty crash of the creature's bulk, and cracks began to appear along their lengths. "We must return its youngling!" cried Selur over the din, and he leapt forward, knocking aside the warriors that braced the door with their bodies. The first bar gone, and then the second! "No, Selur!" they shouted, but it was too late; the third bar fell to the floor, and Selur threw open the door.

"Old Stonetooth was through the doorway in seconds. Selur was trampled underfoot, along with many good dwarves that spoke against the capture of Pebblewart; it availed them nothing in the end. Stonetooth thundered down the length of the hall braying for her young. And then, an answering bleat! It drew her down side passages and steep stairways, the flagstones cracking beneath her great weight.

"The dwarves freed Pebblewart from his cage, and many of them ran; those that witnessed the reunion of mother and child did not survive to tell of it. But the next day, when the dwarves ventured back to those broken halls, all was empty. Old Stonetooth and Pebblewart were never seen in those caves again, and none knew where they went. But it is still said today, when the earth shakes, that Pebblewart is running beneath the mountains, expressing joy at his freedom, carving great channels in the walls of the deepest caves with his golden horn."

I'm looking forward to learning more about Throkhar, or whatever the threat the devs are building up to is called. Whoever or whatever it turns out to be, I think there's the potential for a fascinating, far-reaching story here, and I'm eager to see it unfold.

[TesalionLortus]

On a different set of unfinished tales, although some of the answers in this thread have since been provided, there are a few other loose ends that remain to be tied up here too:

https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...-Quest-Series&

Yeah, to see how things are politically in Rohan and maybe some parts of Gondor now that so many characters are dead, would be nice. Also, I would love to see Eomer actually do *something* and *act like king* now........ all he's done since the Black Gate is stand next to stable master in Udun, with 1 irrelevant vector quest (I think?). Aragorn's errand boy perhaps? :P Also, I don't really remember but I have every confidence his absence at the wedding is book-accurate which is WHY it was done like this. Though it still felt weird and made his character seem so irrelevant now

As for rangers... I love the guys but they are always so confusing to me, and I forget their names and who is who! So I don't remember whether someone was missing but it seemed to me like most of them if not all were present at the wedding during "the joke" and all of them mentioned something about what they're going to do next - we can still meet them of course but it felt like a good ending, in case we don't run into some of them.

I'm very likely to have accidentally typed the wrong volume/book/chapter number, so I had to check, lol... but no, it's 3.3.8.

My bad, sorry. I was looking at the wrong title on the wiki page. LOL. Hmm, but since this particular story was done BEFORE Dunland and the Falcon Clan (where a single "giant" cave-claw was responsible for the tremors, though it wasn't giant at all, compared to the ones in the background in some caves you mentioned that we recently see more of), it's pretty much a given it was written without the current content in mind. At the time, they were probably meant to be what they are in that story - powerful cave-claws the dwarves have kidnapped and planned to use for mining perhaps. The badass mother or entire brood were pissed off and decimated them. Although the mention of the "Forbidden Halls" on a separate page IS ominous. Maybe it can be used to retcon it to the nameless. Perhaps there was something more behind the fall of the White Mountains dwarves? Then again... speaking of which, wasn't there a White Mountain dwarf somewhere in Dunland who has come from their dwellings in the White Mountains? Near the caves of White Hand orcs? If I'm not mistaken, not entirely sure. So perhaps they are not that extinct as it appears, maybe Far Western mountain range

So my guess is that Utumno is either completely decimated but for frozen wasteland, buried under thousands of miles of mountains, or sunken deep beneath a frozen sea.

You might be right. *Unless* the devs think differently or use the classic, good "this is only a small part of Angband/Utumno that survived." I mean, seriously, it was said Angband and Utumno were part of one big underground hellscape, definitely far larger than Moria and Gundabad combined, and we have Gundabad in the game now, which is the remnant of those days. We already know Durin fought the Nameless, even imprisoned some of them, at the time when Morgoth was still kicking, so I wonder how it relates to Utumno/Morgoth presence in the area, if at all. It depends entirely on the copyrights issues of course but if they can get away with it, it isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility that something gets referenced or even featured as a plot point regarding Angband/Utumno tunnels of old. Not something to get overly excited for - because probably not - but who knows.

[Morgahad]

And the intresting part of lore for me - the Nine Keeps, strongholds of nazgul. We heard in mordor that Seregost is one of nine keeps and belong to one of nazgul. But where are the rest of them ?

Probably Dol Guldur was the 2nd one 'cause it belongs to Khamul. The 3rd one may be Carn Dum/Minas Morgul and belonged to Witch King, that still 3 out of 9.

Where might be the rest of them? Nurn Lithad, Khand.... What about Rhun and Harad when that Lands not always belonged to Sauron.

----------------------------

Another plot for me unsolved is Anfalas - there was a corsair fleet sailing to them, and also Golasgil ask us to look for his people - it would be great if anfalas will be something like Hytbols- where we can rebuild that whole map.

[Elmagor]

And the intresting part of lore for me - the Nine Keeps, strongholds of nazgul. We heard in mordor that Seregost is one of nine keeps and belong to one of nazgul. But where are the rest of them ?

Probably Dol Guldur was the 2nd one 'cause it belongs to Khamul. The 3rd one may be Carn Dum/Minas Morgul and belonged to Witch King, that still 3 out of 9.

Where might be the rest of them? Nurn Lithad, Khand.... What about Rhun and Harad when that Lands not always belonged to Sauron.

----------------------------

Another plot for me unsolved is Anfalas - there was a corsair fleet sailing to them, and also Golasgil ask us to look for his people - it would be great if anfalas will be something like Hytbols- where we can rebuild that whole map.

Cirith Ungol tower? Isenmouthe and Durthang? Narchost and Carchost of Black Gates? Of course some of Nazguls was from east lands, and they probally have their own keeps here.

[Morgahad]

Cirith Ungol tower? Isenmouthe and Durthang? Narchost and Carchost of Black Gates? Of course some of Nazguls was from east lands, and they probally have their own keeps here.

nope, Durthrang was Ugrukhor and he's not an nazgul. It was many times mentioned that Seregost is one of nine keeps, and they dont say it about that other keeps

and i think they are all builded by sauron forces, not retaken from Gondor.

[Elmagor]

nope, Durthrang was Ugrukhor and he's not an nazgul. It was many times mentioned that Seregost is one of nine keeps, and they dont say it about that other keeps

and i think they are all builded by sauron forces, not retaken from Gondor.

Because Seregost is non-canonical

[Morgahad]

Because Seregost is non-canonical

it is canonical in game its part of it lore.
In the books were never mentionet nine keeps, we only know that Dol Guldur belonged to Khamul and Carn Dum/Minas Morgul to witch king

[TesalionLortus]

I've updated with the Seven Houses of the Dwarves revelations that we had. It find it quite confusing now but with potential for much world-building. Can't wait to see some of those questions answered/explored in Gundabad. With Brawler out... anyone figured out what's the new Class Prophecy yet?

Also, has there been any news about the mysterious "Books of Lost Tales" MoM has mentioned here?

[Deorwyn]

I was tempted to start a new thread, but this seems a better place for the reminder to the devs that Thuringwath and its storyline are still very much unfinished, it just... ends. Without any warning.

I recently ran an new toon through the Minas Morgul expansion and had entirely forgotten about this story ending where it does, so I was very surprised when it did. It seems to me that the quest designers ran out of time during the development of the Minas Morgul expansion? It would be strange to continue the questchain with Gandalf now, when the level cap is about to be raised to lv140. The story was, in my opinion, obviously leading towards and into the Bar Nírnaeth/Houses of Lamentation instance, so the best opportunity to release those missing quests would have been in the update where the corresponding instance was opened. But they weren't, and now I fear they never will be.

Of course it would be amazing to hear an official statement on the topic, something like "We will continue this storyline at some point" or "This storyline will not be updated" - so we'd know its status.

[OldMadeOfLions]

Of course it would be amazing to hear an official statement on the topic, something like "We will continue this storyline at some point" or "This storyline will not be updated" - so we'd know its status.

As a general principle, I'm not going to encourage any designer to say anything definitive about whether or not they plan to continue one of their storylines -- some of our most effective stories spring from the fertile soil of apparent loose ends, and shutting off something like that feels like paving over a garden. I suppose it's up to the individual designer, in the end, but if you ask me I'm against a statement like that.

Everyone thought the story of the Ring ended when Isildur took his fateful swim, after all, even the very Wise. But it turns out stories don't always end when you think they do.

MoL

[Kaeneth]

I've still not forgotten about Thelaron either. He's taken by the witch-king in the high elf prologue, then some elves that were at the battle search for him later in Mordor but we never found him or any sign of him I don't believe.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

I've still not forgotten about Thelaron either. He's taken by the witch-king in the high elf prologue, then some elves that were at the battle search for him later in Mordor but we never found him or any sign of him I don't believe.

Although I've not completed it, I believe the answer to this one awaits in the Abyss of Mordath raid.

[Joedangod]

With Brawler out... anyone figured out what's the new Class Prophecy yet?

The tower claws the sky, unhidden by the falling snow.
Hearts hardened by defeat burn there, white-hot with vengeance.
Beware the place of jungle, where rot festers in stately lines.
With friends you dared the climb, yet you are alone in the trap.

[Nubja]

I've still not forgotten about Thelaron either. He's taken by the witch-king in the high elf prologue, then some elves that were at the battle search for him later in Mordor but we never found him or any sign of him I don't believe.

https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Sagr%C3%B3g

[TesalionLortus]

The tower claws the sky, unhidden by the falling snow.
Hearts hardened by defeat burn there, white-hot with vengeance.
Beware the place of jungle, where rot festers in stately lines.
With friends you dared the climb, yet you are alone in the trap.

OMG, jungle? Is that... Rhun? FAR HARAD?

What MoL just said above is perfectly accurate... no confirmation there are plans but literally everything is an opportunity given the time. Lotro in a nutshell

[MourneBlade]

I've still not forgotten about Thelaron either. He's taken by the witch-king in the high elf prologue, then some elves that were at the battle search for him later in Mordor but we never found him or any sign of him I don't believe.

Spoiler Alert:










He's one of the boss fights in the Abyss of Mordath raid. Sagróg, the Bitter Warden.