User blog:Glflegolas/Region Spotlight -- Issue 27 -- March 2, 2018

Ahh, spring! Are you as happy about spring as I am? The best part about spring is that I'll be doing another region spotlight. This time I'll be featuring a region on which I have travelled in real life, but which is probably under-rated by most players of the Lord of the Rings Mod. That region is Belagaer, the Great Sea.

Where is it?
The Elves of Mirkwood might've had some trouble finding the sea, but with the GPS-like capabilities of your map in Middle-Earth, you shouldn't have any problem finding it. If you walk in any one direction (don't go around in circles) for long enough, you'll come to the sea. Maybe you even live right on the coastline, as I do in Gondor on Isildur's Bane server.

What do you like about this region?
Well, for starters, I live right on the coastline in real life, so I get to look out over the ocean (technically, it's a sheltered inlet, but who cares?) every day, and frequently go sailing on it during the summer, occasionally I'll go for a swim if it's hot enough.

In the game, what I like best about The Sea is that I can see for miles and miles, and it's a rather convenient way to travel around Middle-Earth, especially if the region is rather rugged and forested, making mounted travel more difficult. However, I'd enjoy it even more if there were large ships in the mod (or even small sailboats), as if that were the case, I'd go sailing rather frequently. Also, there's lots of rock salt located under the ocean, which can sell pretty well to traders.

Any advice for travellers?
While in real life, it's important to bring along lots of freshwater before going for a sailing trip (water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink...), dehydration doesn't exist in the mod, so you don't need to bring along any water if you don't want to, though a barrel of ale will make the trip more enjoyable.

Bring a fishing rod! If you're on the ocean, you're surrounded by food, so as long as you can go fishing you won't go hungry. Also, this should be self-evident, but make sure to use a boat or barrel when travelling long distances over water, as swimming for long distances will take forever, and it'll make you very cold and wet. You might also want to go hunting for gulls on the beaches, and animals on the various islands scattered throughout the sea.