Moria is deceptively big... no wonder Dwarves are

Since getting to Moria, I've not left. I think I got in around level 54 and now I'm 56. One big worry is about leveling too quickly and making all my remaining out of Moria quests go grey.

I walk questing in the Water Works and looking around. Man, it's huge. I wondered - can Moria really be an expansion of its own? Well, I suppose yes. Not as large as SoA, but getting from one location to another is pretty much equivalent to many cross territory SoA travels.

On top of that... man, thinking about it... it's in a MOUNTAIN! Most of that has to be carved or dug or dragged in from other carving and digging. No duh dwarves are grumpy!!

I don't recall the books really talking about how truly large this place is, but Turbine's designers sure did an amazing job building it... bravo. I take lots of screen shots, but on another computer and I'm too  - I don't know - to remember to put them on the file server for later uploading somewhere... and frankly, the image inclusion process for this blogging tool stinks. Anyway... maybe next time.

Falling Follies in Moria

Be very careful, as always when tired, when at the Crossroads in Moria. One fall into the well and you fall.. not to your death... no, much worse. You fall into the Waterworks, a place that during my first stay was pointless and gave me hours of wandering to try to find my way out - then out of that out to get back into Moria proper. I'm sure I'll have plenty of reason to get back down there eventually... but when I accidentally found it, it was NOT what I wanted.

The real lesson? Stop trying to play when I'm dead tired. Running to my death off cliffs is bad enough, but Moria is a dark dark place... getting lost in the dark is well, it worked well for Bilbo and finding preciousssssss, but the rest of us have normal hobbit luck.

Moria, Here i Come

It was many moons ago that a fellow kinsmate coerced convinced me to go to the Walls of Moria and get a move on to Volume 2. I believe I was level 45 or so. I knew the risks were a bit high, but been sneaking in crazier places. He might have forgotten that once inside, he couldn't help, since he'd finished teh area. So I pittered around with some quests and attempted the expeditiojn quests in Filgogan. Bad idea. Way not doable for a lower 40-something burglar. So I left. My mission? Not sure, only to not get killed here. Of course, I COULD have just entered Moria, but seeing that warning about cancelling expedition quests and weighing against my quest OCD (needing to finish nearly everything in an area before leaving - or until I just cannot do it solo... hello Garth Agarwen).

Well, I finally finished Volume 1 and made my way back. Knocked out a bunch of Eregion quests and just killed off all the expedition quests at Walls of Moria. The ultimate procrastination? Writing a stupid blog entry before taking the plunge.

Um, yeah... time to talk to Bosi and get this show on the road... err... mines.

[edit] Grrr... forgot about the fall of moria session.. which I failed. Stupid Balrog.. didn't know what I was supposed to do.. now waiting for th timer to be up to do again. Such is my life.