This article is about the biome. For the faction, see here.
| “ | ... but Dwarves dwelt, and still dwell, in the east side of the Blue Mountains, especially in those parts south of the Gulf of Lune, where they have mines that are still in use. | ” |
–The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A | ||
The once-great Blue Mountains (Ered Luin in Sindarin) are a mountain range far in the west, near the High Elven realm of Lindon. Besides the Iron Hills, it is one of the few remaining lands where dwarves live freely. The Mountains are made of Luigon, which has a light blue colour. As with many other mountain regions, the Blue Mountains are covered in snow. The snow starts at around layer 100 while the thick snow (snow blocks) starts around layer 110. Under layer 100 there is only the Luigon ground, while under level 90 grass can come through the Luigon, creating small valleys in which trees and other plants can grow.
Along with the Iron Hills and Misty Mountains, this biome is one of the few biomes to contain Glowstone Ore.
The Blue Mountains are one of Arda's original mountain ranges, along with the Red Mountains, the Harad Mountains, and the Yellow Mountains (the latter's remains are located on the Dark Land continent, which is not included in the mod), when the Valar created Arda in a symmetrical fashion. They were connected to the Iron Mountains and the Red Mountains, forming a great mountain range. They originally separated Eriador from Beleriand.
During the First Age, when the Valar fought Melkor, most of Beleriand was flooded (with the exception of Lindon). The Great Sea broke through the mountain range, separating them in two and creating the Gulf of Lune. This same war separated the once-continuous mountain ranges of Middle-Earth. The temperature of this biome is -0.6, and the grass color is #69CFDB, which is light blue.
The Blue Mountains are home to the Firebeard and Broadbeam dwarf tribes. Of old they built the great cities of Nogrod and Belegost. As such there are many structures of the Dwarves here. Belegost was known as the "Great Fortress" while Nogrod was famous for their great forges and smithies. Many great armours and weapons come from Nogrod, namely the Dragon Helm of Dor-Lómin and Narsil, both forged by Telchar. However, at the end of the First Age, after the War of Wrath, the glory of these two cities was destroyed as both cities fell into ruin and flooded along with the sinking of Beleriand. It is possible that both Belegost and Nogrod were rebuilt.
Upon entering the Blue Mountains, the player earns the achievement "Firebeards and Broadbeams"
Sub-biomes[]
Blue Mountains Foothills[]
The Blue Mountains Foothills are one of the sub-biomes of the Blue Mountains. They are the foothills that surround the Blue Mountains biome. It is still a hilly region, but these hills can't be compared with the mountains themselves. Snow cannot be found in the foothills, but patches of Luigon spawn underground and occasional on the surface. Sometimes, Blue Dwarven structures still spawn in this region. The Blue Mountains Foothills also contains a forest biome variant.
Variants[]
- Standard - The normal Blue Mountains biome.
- Forest - The same as the normal variant but with a significantly higher coverage of trees.
- Light Forest - This has all of the features of the standard Blue Mountains biome. However, it contains more trees that are almost evenly spread apart. The trees in this biome are not very dense, so it is much easier to travel through than a normal forest.
A forested valley of the Blue Mountains.
The following forest variants, dominated by a particular species of tree, also occur throughout the Blue Mountains:
- Aspen Forest - A forest dominated with Aspen trees.
- Birch Forest - A forest dominated with Birch trees.
- Beech Forest - A forest dominated with Beech trees.
- Larch Forest - A forest dominated with Larch trees.
- Pine Forest - A forest dominated with Pine trees.
Structures[]
Four Dwarven structures spawn in the Blue Mountains.
- Blue Mountains Stronghold - These great strongholds are the command bases of the Blue Mountains. They contain barracks, Blue Mountains Warriors, ore storage rooms, Dwarven Forges, crafting tables, a balcony, and a great hall at the top. They contain a Blue Dwarf Commander at the top.
- Blue Mountains House - A Blue Mountains version of the normal Dwarf Houses. The only difference between the two are that the Blue Mountains version contains Luigon stone bricks and Blue Dwarves. Blue Mountains crafting tables, Dwarven Beds, cauldrons, chests, furnaces, and barrels of dwarven ale, and dwarven tonic.
- Dwarven Mine - Large and complex mineshafts, accessed by ladder from the surface. Their entrance-shafts contain three Dwarven forgeseach. The rambling mineshafts contain ores, as well as chests of items and vanilla crafting tables. Dwarves, Dwarf Warriors, and Dwarven Miners can all be found here; these structures are the best places to find the latter.
- Blue Dwarven Smithy - Small structures that contain anvils, dwarven forges, blue dwarven and vanilla crafting tables, chests of loot, and unsmelteries. They are home to Blue Mountains Smith.
Mobs[]
The Blue Mountains are home to the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains. Well watched by the dwarf armies, orcs only wander in the foothills, watching an occasion to attack.
- Blue Mountains Dwarves - Dwarves that make their home in the the Blue Mountains. They can be married or single, adult or child, male or female.
- Blue Mountains Dwarf Warrior - These Dwarves are warriors that fight with swords, axes, hammers, or other weapons.
- Blue Mountains Dwarf axe-thrower - Dwarves equipped with infinite amounts of powerful throwing axes to use as ranged weapons.
- Blue Mountains Dwarf Commander - NPCs who will sell you the forces of the Blue Mountains for a fee of silver coins. They spawn in blue dwarven strongholds.
- Blue Mountains Miner - Miners in Dwarven Mines that will sell you ores and buy food and ale. They spawn underground in the Blue Mountains.
- Blue Mountains Smith - Blacksmiths who will sell dwarven gear and buy materials. They spawn in Blue Dwarven Smithies.
Foothills only:
- Gundabad Orc - The orcs from Misty Mountains, coveting dwarven halls and the wealth of the dwarves. They run in the foothills at night.
- Gundabad Orc Archer - An orc of Gundabad equipped with a bow or a crossbow.
- Gundabad Warg - Wargs allied to orcs of Gundabad who mount them sometimes.
Conquest[]
Ered Luin can be conquered by Blue Mountains, Gundabad and Angmar. The conquest rate is 1.0.
Mining[]
The Blue Mountains get their name from a layer of Luigon that covers their peaks, and also generates in pockets underground. This stone can be made into all sorts of building materials, and is also required for the creation of Blue Dwarven Steel, making it quite valuable for Blue Dwarven players. This biome is also good for mining, as it has double the gemstone generation rate of most biomes, along with all the standard ores. Additionally, coal and iron are both much more common here, with coal being present at increased rates and iron being both more common and available up to Y=96, as opposed to Y=64. In addition, this biome is one of only a few biomes where glowstone ore can be found, generating fairly frequently up to Y=48 in small veins.
The Blue Mountains Foothills generate coal, iron, and glowstone at the same rates as the mountains, but generate gemstones at a slightly lower rate.
Vegetation[]
The upper levels of the Blue Mountains are covered in snow and so no plants can grow there, as it is above the tree line, although there are some valleys between the peaks and Luigon layers where some trees grow in dry, grassy areas. Some vanilla flowers also grow here, while blue orchids seem to dominate. Vegetation here is montane, with the presence of both conifers and birch trees.
The foothills have similar vegetation, with the exception that the trees can grow in larger groups, as they are not limited by the valley size and high cliffs. Pine, fir, and spruce trees are common in the forested parts of this biome, but birch also grows occasionally.
|
The One Wiki to Rule Them All has an article on:
|
|
The Tolkien Gateway has an article on:
|