See also: Rhúdel (Faction)
Rhúdel (derived from the Sindarin components Rhûn, which signifies 'East,' and del, which translates as 'horror') is a biome situated upon the Eastern shore of the Sea of Rhûn, north-east of the Ash Mountains. It is home to the fierce Easterlings of Rhúdel, who are ruled from the City of Rhúnost by their powerful king.
Likewise to Dorwinion, Rhúdel is a mild and fertile land owing to its close proximity to the Sea of Rhûn. The landscape here is also rather typical, with highlands and sparse to dense woodlands found in places.
Upon entering Rhúdel, the player will get the achievement "Land of the Golden".
Sub-Biomes[]
Rhúdel Hills[]
A very hilly variant of the main Rhúdel biome. This biome is defined as a riverless 'mountains' biome variant, which holds 3 variants in itself: standard terrain, lightly forested terrain and forested terrain. The hills have an abundance of gold ore. The occurrence of gold ore here is the same as in the Iron Hills, which is approximately 75% higher as in most other biomes. Gold ore veins can occur up to level 48. The Rhúdel hills are more temperate and forested than the rest of Rhúdel, but have no Easterlings or their structures. Despite their underground riches, the hills are both uninhabited and unguarded.
The Hills of Rhúdel
Rhúdel Steppe[]
The Rhúdel steppe is similar to the rest of Rhúdel, but it is more flat and arid, and features a greater occurrence of scrublands. Patches of stone and sandstone on the surface are common here. Unlike elsewhere in Rhúdel, but like the vast bordering lands of Rhûn, the steppe supports the growth of pine shrubs. Remarkably, the steppe has larger landmark ruins of non-Rhúdel origin. The steppe is not fertile enough to support permanent habitation. Although the steppe has frequent patrols from Easterling warriors and archers, other Easterlings avoid the area. Despite the absence of nearby enemy activity the regular Rhúdel troops come in greater numbers here.
Biome Variants[]
Rhúdel is a fairly friendly biome to its inhabitants. The region is defined 'normal oak' biome. This implies the following variants can be found there:
- Standard - Normal Rhúdel biome.
- Dense Oak Forest - Dense forests with many large oak trees. Also huge oaks, measuring 3 m in diameter and reaching up to 30 m, are common here. Patches of podzol cover the forest floor.
- Dead Oak Forest - Lands covered in forests whose glory is passing away. The forest density is comparable to the light forest variant, but there are many stems of dead, leafless trees. This variant is very helpful for acquiring large quantities of wood, as the dead trees provide a lot of easy accessible lumber.
- Oak Shrublands - Forest covered lands with a lower tree density than regular forests, but with a very thick undergrowth of shrubs.
Next to these basic biomes, the following can also be found in the fruitful and cultivated environment of the Rhúdel:
- Beech Forest - A forest dominated with beech trees.
- Birch Forest - A forest dominated with birch trees.
- Maple Forest - A forest dominated with maple trees.
- Olive Orchard - An orchard containing olive trees.
- Date Orchard - An orchard containing date trees.
- Pomegranate Orchard - An orchard containing pomegranate trees.
- Apple-Pear Orchard - An orchard containing apple and pear trees.
- Almond Orchard - An orchard containing almond trees.
- Plum Orchard - An orchard containing plum trees.
Note that the pomegranate orchard is unique to Rhúdel, and both hills and steppe are unsuitable for orchards.
The Rhúdel hills and steppe sub-biomes offer the following additional variants. In the hills:
- Mountain - Mountainous rolling hills.
- Forested Mountains - Forest covered mountainous rolling hills.
- Lightly Forested Mountains - Lightly forested mountainous rolling hills.
In the steppe:
- Scrubland - Scrublands are typically areas with very poor, sandy and/or rocky soil. This results in very little tree growth and the vegetation is dominated by low growing scrubs (stunted trees / shrubs) and bushes.
- Scrubland Hills - The scrubland hills are a hilly type of scrubland.
Structures[]
Various sized settlements are generated in Rhúdel, all home to the fierce Easterlings and their military force.
- Easterling settlements - Villages, fort-villages and towns feature a lot of different buildings, traders, and loot. For more details, follow the link.
Besides the inhabited structures mentioned, the area also has various smaller and larger landmark ruins. Most of them bear witness of lost glory of local tribesmen.
Mobs[]
A number of NPCs spawn in Rhúdel, alongside the common animals present in most biomes.
- Easterling - Men of Rhúdel. They can be male or female and spawn across the land, as well as in most Easterling structures.
- Easterling Clansman - Levies of Rhúdel. They spawn more commonly than soldiers and have a variety of basic gear.
- Easterling Warrior - The soldiers of Rhúdel. They are equipped with full Rhûnic armour and wield swords, daggers, pikes, spears, or bardiches.
- Easterling Archer - Soldiers of Rhúdel armed with Rhûnic bows and arrows. They can spawn mounted on horses.
- Easterling Fire-thrower - Soldiers of Rhúdel armed with deadly fire-pots and daggers. They throw their fire-pots at hordes of enemies, doing splash damage and setting them on fire before attacking at close range with daggers.
- Golden Easterling - The best of the soldiers of Rhúdel. Equipped with gilded armour, these soldiers are the most loyal and the fiercest warriors of the King of the East. Golden Easterlings are rarer than their regular counterparts, and can spawn mounted on horses.
- Wicked Dwarf - Mordor traders that can be found wandering around Mordor, Rhúdel, and Angmar in groups. They are rouges exiled from the eastern kingdoms who have since come into the service of the dark powers. They sell various dwarven items and can repair mithril gear. They sometimes wear dwarven armour and wield a dwarven weapon. They also hold a silver coin in their hand to show that they are traders.
The abovementioned NPCs can spawn anywhere in the main Rhúdel biome. The following NPCs can only be found in structures.
- Easterling warlord - Leaders of the armies of Rhúdel that allow you to hire all of the above (as well as banner-bearers). They spawn in the fortresses at the centre of fortress-villages.
- Easterling blacksmith - Easterling traders that spawn in Easterling smithies in any settlement type or in market stalls in towns. They sell Rhûnic equipment and will buy materials.
- Easterling bartender - Easterling traders that spawn in the taverns in any settlement type or in market stalls in towns. They sell drinks and will buy ingredients.
- Easterling market trader - A variety of traders spawn in market stalls. They can be blacksmiths, lumbermen, stonemasons, butchers, brewers, fishmongers, bakers, huntsmen, farmers, or goldsmiths.
Conquest[]
Rhúdel can be conquered by Rhúdel, Mordor, Dorwinion, Dale, Durin's Folk and Gondor. The conquest rate is 0.75.
Mining[]
All the standard ores can be found in Rhúdel at the usual rates, but the Rhúdel Hills have more gold than most biomes, similar to the Iron Hills. Gold in the Rhúdel Hills can generate up to Y=48 as opposed to Y=32, though gold veins above Y=32 will be smaller and are less common. In addition, pockets of sandstone can sometimes be found underground in Rhúdel, which can prove to be a useful building material.
Vegetation[]
Rhúdel is fairly fertile due to proximity to the Sea of Rhûn. The vegetation is similar to Dorwinion, with oak shrubs, cypress, and a number of flowers being fairly common.
In addition, pomegranate trees can be found here. These trees are unique to this biome and their cultivation is unique to the people living here.