Dunbog – the zoo of Dunland
Don’t you love swamps? Well I can’t I say I’d particularly like them but they seem to be the least used biome which I think makes me glad to see them once in a while. Last one we had was Drownholt in Mirkwood and that was after a rather long drought, there isn’t one in Enedwaith and obviously neither in Lothlórien or Moria (though the Black Pool in front of the Western Gate might count).
Dunbog is one such swamp, located in the southwestern corner of Dunland and somewhat isolated from the rest. The scenery isn’t that interesting (it is a bog after all) but the area is home to very diverse animals some of which we haven’t seen for a while. There are frogs – those small ones that come in groups not those elefant-sized LSD-infused Moria creatures, there are blinding swarms of flies – well, blinding clouds of swamp gas that can move – and there are gredbyg. And that’s just the “small” animals, after those there are turtles, slugs (I think we haven’t seen those since Carn Dûm) and our new favourite – avanc (and these do Acid damage instead of Shadow). Interestingly there are no evil Dunlendings though given the environment one has to wonder how the good ones prevent being eaten. And also there are no Neekerbreekers.
We arrive here searching for the lost boy Mabon but the story-line completely vanishes once we start speaking to people. (Don’t worry though the story of Mabon and even his father Andras will get resolved). We also came here looking for Nona but she doesn’t find swamps all that interesting and leaves us behind while she travels further east into Carreglyn. The isolated area of Dunbog is home to even more isolated Avanc-lûth, clan of the Avanc and as I said before they are the good guys despite worshiping a good-for-nothing reptile with massive jaws. They live in a village called Lhan Rhos (Moor Village) built upon piers in the middle of the bog. The first quests deal with killing all the various animals and fetching various herbs and body parts from the aforementioned animals. From the interesting quests I’d pick one that introduces a somewhat new mechanic you might see further down the road.
On your way through the area you might encounter one particular Dunlending named Gwin. You’ll find him sitting resting in the middle of a pile of about a dozen dead avanc which he keeps casually slaying (by turning his ordinary fighting skill into extraordinary fighting skills, it’s that simple!). Unfortunately he broke his sword and we need to get him a new one. The blacksmith in the village is however aware of his avanc-slaying habit and doesn’t really want to make him a new sword since he broke quite a few already. Gwin being left with his two bare hands accepts the challenge. Later on were tasked to slay Bloodmaw the mother of all avanc in the area (who resides in some old ruins nearby). Since Gwin is in kind of your debt you may summon him to aid you in this quest. Now to the new-ish mechanic, Gwin emanates an aura that increases your in-combat regeneration (and that’s it but the aura is stackable and you will see many similar auras especially on enemies near Isengard).
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- Entrance to Dunbog
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- Overlook of Dunbog
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- Huts of Lhan Rhos
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- A tree at Lhan Rhos
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- A boar totem
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- That tower again
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- A Dunlending abomination
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- The Tree in the Glade
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- Me and my buddies at Wulf’s Cleft
There is also another set of quests where you are helping the Turch-lûth, the Boar clan. Technically the Boar clan has been eradicated some time ago but those of the Dunlendings who openly resist Saruman have decided to take their colors as a sign of their revolt and renew the clan. Anyway, there is one enemy in the Dunbog I haven’t mentioned yet – rats. Okay, two enemies. There are Abominations. These are Orcs and Trolls (and Dunlendings) that have been experimented upon by Saruman – presumably as he was trying to find the Uruk-hai “gene” or something. The Abominations live in Lhan Colvarn (Village of the Condemned) in the north of Dunbog where there even some trees. Lhan Colvarn used to be Lhan Rhos but then Saruman came returning the Abominations to the village he took people from and the Avanc-lûth were forced to relocate. After killing and investigating inside the village you will find yourself in an instance with three of the Turch-lûth (each giving a different aura) with the intent of Ending the Nightmare. At the end of the instance you can actually choose the ending – you can either slay the leader (a troll named Knotfist) or leave the Abominations alone since they are/were people too. And you will either get a nice cloak depicting you and an abomination or the same but bloody and torn (I went for the clean one but my Warden sure won’t show any mercy to those creatures).
After that you are to gather people outside of Lhan Rhos to an assembly. You need to find scouts and hunters whom you’ve probably already met and also protectors of the Glade. You see there is place called the Pristine Glade which is similar to Imlad Gelair or Gwindethrond (the Blue lady’s cave in Evendim), a nice shiny hidden place. In the middle of it there is a huge tree and around are smaller tress, waterfalls and maybe even rainbows (my graphics don’t run that high for me to know), things don’t go that well though since Saruman’s half-orcs have found a way in and are attacking scouts at the borders (I think the scouts are at least Defenders and they take down any enemy in a few blows, which makes me think the Glade isn’t in much danger). During the Assembly it is mentioned what you did or didn’t do with the Abominations but the final result is that the Avanc-lûth will go to war.
There is one last thing to do and that is a trip to Durgors, a fishing village of the Boar clan near a river – the same river that flows from Thrór’s Coomb in Enedwaith along the northern border of Nan Laeglin and then turns south through Gloomglens into Dunland and the same river that flows near the Wulf’s Cleft encampment. Seeing the village one might think the newfound members of the Boar-clan movement are taking things a little too far, one lady in particular is seen giving bath to a boar but who am I to judge. You’ll need to gather some driftwood to make oars but then you’re ready to undertake the famous raid at Wulf’s Cleft – The Tusks of the Boar (unfortunately the boat-travel is still done through a loading screen).
The instance is quite fun though for the most part quite easy. At the start you will select four soldiers to accompany you (again, auras) and then you’ll go through a burning camp burning stuff that isn’t on fire yet while other parties battle their own way through. The enemies you encounter are I think even Swarm so they go down rather quickly. I was quite impressed by the feel of combat being all around though. At the end however the raid and the Avanc-lûth are destined to fall and you will bravely retreat on a horse. The horse will actually take you almost through the entire camp while they are fights still going on. Once outside you will meet with Gwin who will thank you for seeing them through it and thus ends your questing in Dunbog (I was level 69 and a half at the end).
Well, almost ends. Once you’re level 75 (or a few levels below) you can partake in a repeatable instance that takes part in Dunbog (currently it just gives reputation but with Update 5 it will reward you with some nice looking legendary scrolls). This is a fishing instance and introduces even more animals into the area. You are accompanied by Franis who is an excellent guide but no warrior so he won’t help you kill a thing. The quests consist of simply killing everything around a particular pool then fishing in it (which is supposed to make you find some old relic) and then fighting a bigger version of the animals you just killed (which will drop the relic, apparently they are delicious). There are avanc, slugs, turtles and then elhudan and bog-guardians. It wasn’t bad although of course you must know how to fish, which even if you forgot to do on your way here isn’t such a problem since there is a hobby master in pretty much every village in Dunland. I have to say I really liked Dunbog, the area is swampy, the quests are simple and all but the story flows nice and the last quest makes a really good ending. The Dunlending are even trying to raise environmental awareness: “To hunt turtles we must protect turtles. Fetch me some turtle eggs!”
Next stop: Carreglyn
Tags: dunland, region overview