Eriador

"Eriador was of old the name of all the lands between the Misty Mountains and the Blue; in the South it was bounded by the Greyflood and the Glanduin that flows into it above Tharbad."

- The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A

Eriador (Sindarin for Lonely Land/Wilderness) is a huge land of rolling grass plains. It is similar to the vanilla plains biome, other than the fact that it is even flatter and has the occasional oak, birch, spruce, or beech tree. Tall grass and flowers are widespread here, and Rangers of the North protect it against Gundabad Orcs. Eriador used to be mostly part of the North Kingdom of Arnor before this realm was destroyed by Angmar.

Upon entering the region of Eriador, you will get the achievement "The Kindly West".

Eriador Downs
The Eriador Downs are similar to the Eriador Biome, except they contain rock boulders and are hillier than the normal Eriador biome. Eriador Downs bear a resemblance to the Lone-Lands. Eriador Downs spawn in four areas: To the North of the Shire near Lake Evendim, representing the Hills of Evendim, in an area to the west of the Shire, representing the White and Far Downs, in the northeast of the Eriador biome, representing the North Downs, and bordering the Lone-Lands south of the Midgewater Marshes, representing the South Downs.

Eriador Woodlands
A forest biome with many more trees than the normal Eriador. The ground sometimes consists of fields of Podzol or dirt (devoid of grass) to mimic the appearance of forest ground. Eriador Woodlands are shown in the upper right of the above picture. Eriador Woodlands spawn randomly inside the Eriador biome and also in a southwestern peninsula to the south of Minhiriath, where they represent the Eryn Vorn.

Variants

 * Eriador Hills - A hilly variant of Eriador. Not as high as the mountains.
 * Eriador Forested Hills - Similar to Eriador Hills, but with a greater density of trees.
 * Eriador Dense Woodlands - Similar to Eriador Woodlands, but the forest here is so dense that it is even difficult to simply pass through. Eriador Dense Woodlands spawn randomly inside the Eriador Woodlands sub-biome
 * Eriador Dead Oak Forest - Similar to the Ithilien wasteland, as there are lots of dead oak trees. Live oaks also spawn here. Rangers and Gundabad Orcs spawn consistently here.
 * Eriador Shrubland - A sub-biome that spawns in Eriador, which contains many short oak trees.
 * Eriador Mountain - A biome that spawns at random in Eriador. The mountain can go up to level 112.
 * Eriador Steppe - A high elevation sub-biome that, once you get to the top, is almost completely flat.
 * Dense Birch Forest - A forest of densely clustered birch trees.

Structures
The Eriador Biome contains five structures total.
 * Gundabad Orc Camp - Camps for Gundabad Orcs that spawn randomly in Eriador. As with most camps, they contain tents, forge tents, crafting tables, skulls, orc torches, chests, small farms, and Gundabad Orc Chieftains.


 * Ranger Camp - Camps for Rangers of the North that randomly spawn in Eriador. They contain 2-4 tents, a Ranger crafting table, Rangers, a wheat farm, and a Ranger Captain of the North.


 * Ranger Watchtower - Guard towers that spawn randomly in Eriador. They contain a Ranger crafting table, a chest, Rangers of the North and Ranger Banners.


 * Ruined House - Burnt down houses that contain chests, furnaces, and crafting tables.


 * Ruined Dúnedain Tower - Ruined stone brick towers that contain one chest with very valuable loot at the top.

Mobs
Eriador is a barren land, but farm animals, boars, and a few other mobs spawn.
 * Gundabad Orc - Orcs from Mount Gundabad in the Misty Mountains allied only with themselves.


 * Gundabad Orc Archer - Deadly Gundabad Orcs with bows or crossbows.


 * Gundabad Orc Chieftain - NPCs from which the forces of Gundabad can be hired - for a price.


 * Ranger of the North - Rangers that protect Eriador and the surrounding lands. Rangers can use Gondor Bows at range, iron daggers in close combat, and, when needed, can use their ability to vanish from sight.


 * Ranger Captain of the North - NPCs from which Rangers of the North can be bought. They spawn in Ranger camps.

Vegetation
Eriador was once covered in great forests, but the lumber-hungry Numenorians cut most of them down. Eriador is mostly a plains biome, with occasional oak, beech, birch, or spruce trees. The Eriador Woodlands sub-biome contains denser forests. Occasionally, one can find patches of Athelas.