Mysterious Door in Jarnfast

[Rolinto]

There was a locked door under the throne room in Jarnfast, which reportedly unlocked yesterday ... only to lead to the next locked door. However, this second (well, actually third) door has a unique design with several clues:
- it's called "To Rukhûsh-Minam"
- the tooltip says "A door bearing Grár's seal." (Does someone remember this name? The gear dropping in Thikil-gundu is called "... of Grárik's Armouries")
- there is a large pickaxe symbol on the door (maybe grar's seal?)
- something is written in cirth, the transcription should be something like "MA IKRIFE FA MABAKH BUHUH", but I probably made some mistakes there

Well, anyone any clues what this is about? A new secret quest, stuff for upcoming contend or simply remnants of a removed or never finished quest?

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

There was a locked door under the throne room in Jarnfast, which reportedly unlocked yesterday ... only to lead to the next locked door. However, this second (well, actually third) door has a unique design with several clues:
- it's called "To Rukhûsh-Minam"
- the tooltip says "A door bearing Grár's seal." (Does someone remember this name? The gear dropping in Thikil-gundu is called "... of Grárik's Armouries")
- there is a large pickaxe symbol on the door (maybe grar's seal?)
- something is written in cirth, the transcription should be something like "MA IKRIFE FA MABAKH BUHUH", but I probably made some mistakes there

Well, anyone any clues what this is about? A new secret quest, stuff for upcoming contend or simply remnants of a removed or never finished quest?

I saw this today too - I then scoured Jarnfast and Erebor to try and find any quests or anything different which would help me unlock it. The scholar's abode in Erebor had no clues, although I did notice that a guard called Glothin has appeared outside Nori's house in Erebor (pretty sure he wasn't there before), and there was a new NPC at the south gate of Bree that appeared too.

Strange things are happening, and I'm not sure if they are teasers for stuff to come, or whether the quests are actually out there yet...

I know that some people were decoding the runes in Khil's room, but don't know if they've solved them yet.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

One of the pieces of lost lore sheds a little light:

6 20.4N, 14.5W (on the road east of Skald's Drop)
"Alas, the peril had not passed
Morgoth's moaning host amassed
In cracks and cleavings under hill
Nameless beasts, with yearnings ill
Fell things moved ’neath seams of Iron
Iron hard and iron cold"

7 Jarnfast interior, behind Nain's throne
"The Fast's foundation stones were rent
The throng spilled forth without relent
Till Grár descended, stern and swift
And broke the roof above the rift
Grár the Grim-brow died for Iron
Iron hard and iron cold"

8 28.8N, 15.6W (on the road to the north-west)
"The cleft collapsed; Grár was no more
His mattock fell upon the floor
Morgoth's monsters shrieked and spit
Imprisoned in the Howling Pit
The horde remains entombed in Iron
Iron hard and iron cold"

9 21.0N, 15.6W (just out of Skald's Drop)
"Lord Frár took up his liege's maul
He called his council, wise dwarves all
To bid them bar his father's grave
So no fiend could escape the cave
The crack was bound with bonds of Iron
Iron hard and iron cold"

10 Jarnfast interior, 2 levels below Nain's throne
"Above the Pit, three gates of steel
Upon the last, a mithril seal
Graven rune-spells guard that curtain
Break them not, or doom is certain
Thus is writ the Rede of Iron
Iron hard and iron cold"

[zipfile]

This is actually pretty cool, maybe we'll get a new quest chain in a coming update!

[Altair6]

Maybe it's tied in to the upcoming Raid?

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Maybe it's tied in to the upcoming Raid?

Potentially, but the raid is going to be to do with the Anvil of Winterstith and the Karazagar story, and these caves seem unrelated - although the content might be released at the same time (as I imagine another chapter of the epic will, given the link to Karazagar there).

[Hallandil]

Theory Time:

The raid will have a quest-arc just like the instances.

So far the game has told us several lore drops:
- Grar is considered the founder of the Dwarven Holds in the Grey Mountains, due to its named lineage (Grarik).
- The Iron Hills was when Grar died, assumedly to do with the events in the Lost Lore of the Ironfold. Which is all-but confirmed to take place beyond this door.
- The Raid is in the Anvil of Winterstith, where dwarves had established a mining colony at some point in search for Thafar-Gathol.

Since Grar was the leader of the Grey Mountains, he probably contained some requirement to enter the mines around Winterstith. We will probably need to exhume is remains to recover this means of entering the ruins, likely a key or some sort of McGuffin.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Theory Time:

The raid will have a quest-arc just like the instances.

So far the game has told us several lore drops:
- Grar is considered the founder of the Dwarven Holds in the Grey Mountains, due to its named lineage (Grarik).
- The Iron Hills was when Grar died, assumedly to do with the events in the Lost Lore of the Ironfold. Which is all-but confirmed to take place beyond this door.
- The Raid is in the Anvil of Winterstith, where dwarves had established a mining colony at some point in search for Thafar-Gathol.

Since Grar was the leader of the Grey Mountains, he probably contained some requirement to enter the mines around Winterstith. We will probably need to exhume is remains to recover this means of entering the ruins, likely a key or some sort of McGuffin.

Love this theory - it would be very cool if the Anvil wasn’t just on top of the glacier, but also led inside Winterstith to Thafar-Gathol. It would explain why the Zhelruka never found it - the Anvil and all the frost drakes and dragons had blocked all the entrances!

I’d like a solo version of the raid where we could experience this story (alongside the ending of Karazgar), which then leads to Thafat-Gathol which becomes an open-world location once discovered. Perhaps this could even function like Hytbold, with us rebuilding it? (I know lots hated Hytbold, but it would be a nice alternative end game!)

[Hallandil]

Love this theory - it would be very cool if the Anvil wasn’t just on top of the glacier, but also led inside Winterstith to Thafar-Gathol. It would explain why the Zhelruka never found it - the Anvil and all the frost drakes and dragons had blocked all the entrances!

I’d like a solo version of the raid where we could experience this story (alongside the ending of Karazgar), which then leads to Thafat-Gathol which becomes an open-world location once discovered. Perhaps this could even function like Hytbold, with us rebuilding it? (I know lots hated Hytbold, but it would be a nice alternative end game!)

With Legendary Servers and the raid I can't see that happening *for now* in regards to a Hytbold.

There's actually an entrance into the mountain atop the glacier itself. It's hard to find but it can only *just* be seen in the crafting instance, where you get to climb onto the Anvil. There's a cut path where the anvil was "forcibly melted" and later refroze.

[scorrp10]

Ok, it definitely is the door mentioned in the lore. And clicking it says: you don't have corresponding quest.
I strongly suspect this is going to be related to next installment of the Epic.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

With Legendary Servers and the raid I can't see that happening *for now* in regards to a Hytbold.

There's actually an entrance into the mountain atop the glacier itself. It's hard to find but it can only *just* be seen in the crafting instance, where you get to climb onto the Anvil. There's a cut path where the anvil was "forcibly melted" and later refroze.

True, it might be a bit of a stretch for their resources - but it would satisfy the demand for more solo landscape dailies (quests in the Grey Mountains to rebuild Thafar-Gathol). Rebuilding/some sort of quests in Thafar-Gathol would ensure that we interacted with the space a little more, although as long as there’s a cool storyline associated with it and it becomes an open world location, I’d be happy.

Excellent spot regarding the doorway - I need to take a look today! I’m imagining that this door is the entrance to Thafar-Gathol and Hrimil’s lair, so once Hrimil has been defeated, Thafar-Gathol will be accessible once again.

[cbfan14]

It's rather odd that the doors should suddenly unlock when they've been locked for several weeks since u23's launch; this makes me think some kind of event is coming. It could either be an episodic quest series coming soon or a new community event, like what happened with the riddle quest in Erebor.

Regarding Thafar-Gadol, the lore bits we've found in the grey mountains through the lore pages and the quests refer to it as being an underground dwarf city. The implication seems to be that Thafar-Gadol was the ancient city of the Zhelruka. With Winterstith, if you look up the etymology of "stith" you'll find that this word can possibly refer to either an anvil or a smithy; it's a possibility that Thafar-Gadol could be hidden beneath Winterstith. What likely happened is that Hrimil Frost-Heart raided the city and formed the glacier to conceal the entrance in order to guard her newfound treasure trove. I found it strange that Hrimil didn't go to Thikil-Gundu or Stormwall after she escaped the Mordath, since dragons like to dwell in treasure troves, but I started to read about Thafar-Gadol and how it was a underground city, I realized she may have gone into Thafar-Gadol where she'll no doubt be waiting for our challenge.

[Goonbag]

There was a locked door under the throne room in Jarnfast, which reportedly unlocked yesterday ... only to lead to the next locked door. However, this second (well, actually third) door has a unique design with several clues:
- it's called "To Rukhûsh-Minam"
- the tooltip says "A door bearing Grár's seal." (Does someone remember this name? The gear dropping in Thikil-gundu is called "... of Grárik's Armouries")
- there is a large pickaxe symbol on the door (maybe grar's seal?)
- something is written in cirth, the transcription should be something like "MA IKRIFE FA MABAKH BUHUH", but I probably made some mistakes there

Well, anyone any clues what this is about? A new secret quest, stuff for upcoming contend or simply remnants of a removed or never finished quest?

I just discovered this and typed everything in to google and got this thread.

I translated it to

MAIK NIFE FA // MABAKH BUHUH
OR (rune for rune)
MA YKNYFE FA // MABAKH BUHUH (No ideas yet but, Buhuh is awful similar to 'GUHUH' which means Forest or Wood)

The I/Y interchangeable for old/new dialects

I am intrigued!!!! I still haven't finished with the Rosetta Stone transcription of Cirth into the Zhelruka Runes because they are so similar, it's such a brain melt.

But this is such fantastic work by MoL! Kudos

EDIT: I understand that Translating Cirth and Khuzdul in to English it becomes more Phonetic; BEWAR on the Sign entering Jarnfast..so with this in mind..maybe it is;

MAKE KNIFE FOR MABAKH BUHUH?

[Goonbag]

Following the instructions from the Wiki How : read cirth I used the newest Erebor writing system with English transcribing runes and got this

:MA IKRIFEE FA / MABAKH BUHUH:

[Goonbag]

I also found that the doors weren't locked during BETA as stated in this thread

http://www.lotro.com/forums/showthre...rs!)&p=7876010

So the OP stats that it opens up in to a Cavern with some stones in a Circle that reminded them of Dark Delvings in Moria.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

I also found that the doors weren't locked during BETA as stated in this thread

http://www.lotro.com/forums/showthre...rs!)&p=7876010

So the OP stats that it opens up in to a Cavern with some stones in a Circle that reminded them of Dark Delvings in Moria.

Yeah, that was me - and I can't wait to see the story associated with it! Hoping that it also links into Thafar-Gathol somehow!

[scorrp10]

Highly doubt this has anything to do with Thafar-Gathol. Its legend associates mithril flakes in the river with it, and you find one such panning in Ered Mithrin, and nothing like that in Iron Hills. I would expect it to be in the vicinity of the Anvil glacier.

[Phantion]

Well, Iron Hills are supposed to be south by southeast from the Withered Heath (we just have to round Erebor and Dale-lands to get there and vice versa). So, underground passages between this and Thafar-Gathol? Plausible- because of all the zany-crazy things they did connecting farther parts of Moria to each other--- also underground (e.g. in Book 8 of Volume II through the garden, or the Way of Smiths, etc.).

But even so- its clear from the Lost Lore quests that there's an army of Foundations of Stone-style Nameless beneath Jarnfast that Grar, digging too deep for iron, got trapped and slain-by, and Grar's folk sealed this Howling Pit shut with the doors of Mithril. So, its basically a Foundations of Stone type of nightmare brooding beneath the Iron Hills, a left-over from the Iron Mountains, the breaking of Thangorodrim far to the north-by-northwest, etc. Now will they be the SAME sort of Nameless, or more akin to the sort we ran-into near the quarry in Druadan Forest? We don't know yet. We know only what the Lost Lore tells us: Here we go again........... We better not find a third Balrog down there, hehehehehe And they better not go too crazy on the Regmyl this time- or they better have something to do with Borangos the Horror and whatever's happening beneath Mount Doom somehow

And for the love of Durin: Dev's, please... PLEASE... bring Bosi, Bori, and Broin back!!! It's high time the Iron Garrison remnants started redeeming themselves for their King!!! They have a bit of expertise encountering Nameless horrors as well

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

It’s true, they are geographically separate - perhaps one is going to be episodic content, while the other is linked to the raid? Thafar-Gathol for the raid, and exploring the caverns below Jarnfast for episodic content?

I also very much agreed on Bosi, Bori and Broin - a return is long overdue! As the descendants of Bifur and Bofur, they should be key individuals in the Lonely Mountain, who get involved in its major storylines.

[scorrp10]

Broin is dead. Did you not do dwarf allegiance line?

[OldMadeOfLions]

Did you not do dwarf allegiance line?

You've got the right idea but the wrong dwarf.

MoL

[Hallandil]

You've got the right idea but the wrong dwarf.

MoL

"The cleft collapsed; Grár was no more, His mattock fell upon the floor.
Morgoth's monsters shrieked and spit, Imprisoned in the Howling Pit.

The horde remains entombed in Iron,
Iron hard and iron cold'

'Lord Frár took up his liege's maul, He called his council, wise dwarves all
To bid them bar his father's grave, So no fiend could escape the cave

The crack was bound with bonds of Iron,
Iron hard and iron cold'

Above the Pit, three gates of steel, Upon the last, a mithril seal
Graven rune-spells guard that curtain, Break them not, or doom is certain

Thus is writ the Rede of Iron,
Iron hard and iron cold."


I'm gonna go with that Grar is buried in here. The same dwarf that the Grey Mountain kingdom of "Grarik" is apty named after.
Grar probably has some McGuffin on him when he died, that gives access to a special part of the Grey Mountains.

EDIT: Props to MoL for seeding the Ered Mithren storyline as far back as the lost lore in Erebor. There's a small one-off snipper describing how Grar's direct descendants fell to Vethug Wintermind.

[auximenes]

One of the pieces of lost lore sheds a little light:

Cool.

Props to MoL for seeding the Ered Mithren storyline as far back as the lost lore in Erebor.

As always, MoL for the win.

[scorrp10]

You've got the right idea but the wrong dwarf.

MoL

Indeed, it was Brogur, not Broin. My bad.

[Laurelinarien]

I can't be sure of what it says, can't make a direct or literal translation at this point.
BUT I do think, based on the meanings of some of the words / roots (MA IKRIFÊ MABAKH BUHUH) I can suggest that it's a warning, along the lines of: DO NOT BREAK [the seal?] NOTHING FRIENDLY.

Also, the place to where it leads says "Rukhush-minam". Rukhûs and Rakhâs are the same word root in Khuzdul and they mean Orc.