Under the Banner

My latest travels took me into the North Downs and through the ruins of Minas Vrûn. Having spent the last few days in the Lone-lands, I felt the desire to leave those desolate lands and head north to the low hills of the North Downs.

While I was in Trestlebridge meeting with locals and doing some odd jobs here and there, I came to know a man known as Kemp the Wheelwright. He had told me about the ruins of Minas Vrûn and asked me to go there to pick up a stash of coin he had buried there. Mention of ancient texts piqued my interest and so I thought, why not.

Minas Vrûn is a short trek northeast of Trestlebridge. While there is a road that passes nearby, I chose to go overland. While I did run across the usual wolves, boars (many boars), and the annoying birds the trip overall wasn’t dangerous. There is an orc camp further to the east you may want to avoid as the smells that drifted with the breeze were rather repugnant.

Upon arriving at Minas Vrûn, I found it to be somewhat different from past ruins I’ve encountered in that it was sprawled out over a fairly large area. It was rather pleasant how open it was. Plenty of fresh air this time opposed to the musty smells that linger in some areas.

While surveying the area, I came across an interesting statue. I’m not quite sure what or who this stature represents. These lands were once part of the great Kingdom of Arnor. Later when the lands of Arnor were divided, it came under the rule of the Kingdom of Arthedain. So based upon the history, I would guess it’s that of either a King of Arnor or a King of Arthedain. I hope that as I study the texts uncovered from the ruins will reveal the identity of this statue.

Speaking of texts and ancient relics, these ruins were an absolute treasure trove. I found numerous broken urns in the area filled with ancient lore.

As for Kemp’s Stash? While I think the choice of locations was perfect due to it’s remote nature, I do believe he could have been a bit less conspicuous in marking it’s location within. Fortunately for him, the orcs that wandered through these ruins, they weren’t very bright and missed the obvious marker as it was still there.

All in all, Minas Vrûn is a nice place to visit. Aside from the many boars that have taken up residence within the ruins, there’s a lot of things one can find within. In addition to the many urns scattered about, there were plenty of wild raspberries, blueberries and even taters to be found. I have to warn you though, those boars are pretty aggressive when it comes to people digging up their taters.

More pictures of Minas Vrûn

Additional references:
Encyclopedia of Arda: North Downs
Middle-Earth Headquarters / Locations Database: Minas Vrûn
LOTRO Lorebook: Landmark:Minas Vrûn
LotRO scholar tips, tier 2