Moria

Moria (Sindarin for Black Abyss/Chasm/Pit) was the name given by the Eldar to the Dwarven kingdom which was properly called Khazad-dûm (Khuzdul for Dwarves' Delvings/Mansions). The Sindar adapted the Dwarvish name as Hadhodrond, and the Noldor as Cassarondo. Men called it the Dwarrowdelf (Archaic Westron for Dwarf-delving).

It is an enormous underground complex in north-western Middle-earth, comprising a vast network of tunnels, chambers, mines and huge halls or 'mansions', that ran under and ultimately through the Misty Mountains. There, for many thousands of years, lived the Dwarf clan known as the Longbeards in this city and one-time centre of dwarven industry. For over a thousand years of the Third Age it was widely known by the name Moria. It is located in Rhovanion, between Eregion and Lothlórien.

• Level: 50-60
• Factions: Iron Garrison Guards and Iron Garrison Miners
• Crafting: Supreme (T6)
• Introduced: The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria, November 18th, 2008
• Area Restrictions: Horse and elk mounts cannot be summoned in this area. Only specially trained goat or boar mounts can be used.

Moria Locations

Locations found within the region of Moria are listed below.

Areas

Moria Areas

Zelem-melek

Settlements

Moria Settlements

The Orc-watch

Landmarks

Moria Landmarks

The Endless Stair

Interiors

Moria Interiors

The Peaceful Path

Dungeons

Moria Dungeons

Nud-heden

Instances

Moria Instances

The Vile Maw

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Quests For more detail, see Moria Quests Moria Quests‎ (5 C, 57 P)

Deeds For more detail, see Moria Deeds Moria Deeds‎ (7 C, 1 P)

Titles For more detail, see Moria Titles Moria Titles‎ (5 C, 10 P)

Moria Reputation

Moria Reputation Factions‎ (2 C)

• 

  The Twenty-first Hall - Main base of the Iron Garrison Guards

• 

  The Dolven-view - Main base of the Iron Garrison Miners

Connected to

• Eregion
• Lothlórien

Creatures

Moria Creatures

Named Creatures Flake Collectors List

Each of these creatures is the rare, signature, tougher, named version and all have a high change to drop a rare shard used in crafting.

Lore

The Dwarrowdelf was founded by Durin 'the Deathless' in the far distant past, long before the creation of the Sun and Moon. Durin had awoken at Mount Gundabad not long after the Elves first awoke, and as eldest amongst the Fathers of the Dwarves was acknowledged as preeminent amongst them, a status subsequently inherited by his descendants, the kings of the Longbeards.

From Gundabad, Durin's growing clan spread southward down the vales of the Anduin, all the while under attack from the Orcs of Morgoth. According to legend, Durin ultimately found "a glen of shadows between two great arms of the mountains, above which three white peaks were shining". Within this heavily wooded valley, a long series of short water falls led down to a long, oval lake, which appeared to have a magical quality: "There, like jewels sunk in the deep shone glinting stars, though sunlight was in the sky above". Perceiving these stars as a crown glittering above his head, Durin took this as an auspicious sign, and named the lake Kheled-zâram, the Mirrormere.

The three peaks overshadowing the lake he named Barazinbar 'the Redhorn', Zirakzigil 'the Silvertine' and Bundushathûr, 'Cloudyhead'. The icy cold springs feeding it he called 'Kibil-Nâla', of unknown meaning, although to the valley itself he gave the name 'Azanulbizar', The Dimrill Dale. Durin chose the caves above Kheled-zâram as the earliest beginnings of his stronghold: Khazad-dûm, 'the Dwarrowdelf'.

All of these places became revered amongst Durin's people in later days. His descendants erected a rune-carved stone monolith at the site whereupon he had first looked into the Mirrormere, and although it had become indecipherably weatherworn by the end of the Third Age — broken, cracked and faded — the influence of Durin I, the founding king of Khazad-dûm, was never forgotten. Khazad-dûm waxed continuously in size and population in Durin's long lifetime, until it became the "greatest of all the mansions of the Dwarves", even before the return of the Noldor to Middle-earth. By that time, Khazad-dûm was already "a name and a rumour from the words of the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains" to all the Eldar of Beleriand.

After his death, the reputation of Durin's realm continued to grow, not merely due to his spiritual ascendancy over the other Fathers of the Dwarves as the eldest amongst them, or the Dwarrowdelf's growing size, but to its great wealth, which was founded upon the uniquely precious metal mithril, which was universally prized yet found nowhere else in Middle-earth.

Maps

Directions

From: Moria Directions

From	To	Directions
Durin's Threshold	The Dolven-view	East up the stairs and down the hallway past Tubi and turn right. Note the Chamber of Thought will be straight ahead of you after you turn right and before you head down the path. East then south down the ramp. Near where Jarmarr is standing, continue northeast, do not turn left toward the fortress. Just past that, turn slightly left (north) and head down. At the bottom of the hill turn left (northwest) and head up a hill toward Wegil. Turn left (west) where Wegil is standing. At the top of the hill turn right (east) and go over the bridge and downward. At the bottom of the hill turn right (east). You should be in Lamab-Dum. Turn right (south). You should pass vendors and a campfire. Turn left (east) just past the campfire, then turn right (south) and go up a ramp. Head diagonally southeast up a hill and you should arrive at Dolven View.
The Dolven-view	21st Hall	East across the bridge, bear right when you get to the Cooling Chamber, down a small ramp and continue east. Turn left (north) when you get past the Cooling Chamber building, then head diagonally northeast down a hill. At the bottom of the hill, turn right (east) and go up the large stairs. This takes you across the Lonely Span and turns into the Wide Halls. Follow Wide Halls until you get into the Great Halls of Durin, and take your first left (north) up some stairs. You will turn right (east) again as you go up the stairs, then you need to do a U-turn and go up another small flight. Turn right (north) and go up another set of stairs on your right (east). There will be two wider sets and then one narrow set. After you go up the narrow set of stairs, go through the opening to your left (north). Turn left (west), go to the end of the passage, and up the stairs on your right (north). The stairs will turn left (west) partway up. At the top, turn right (north), then right again (east). Turn left (north) at the first small set of stairs you come to and you are in the 21st Hall.
21st Hall	Chamber of the Crossroads	Head west through the winding tunnel. when you get to the end turn left (south).
Deep Descent	Rotting Cellar	Down the ramp and turn right (west) At the crossroads near the camp with the campfire, continue straight (south) Continue southeast past the doorway to the Old Silvertine City and turn to the right (south) up a path. The path will basically only take you to the Rotting Cellar. You will come to a T at one point; turn left (east). Turning right instead will take you to the Water Wheels dungeon / instance.
The Dolven-view	Chamber of the Crossroads	Down the hill just to the right of the ramp that leads to the Cooling Chamber. Head generally north across the platform. Turn left (west) down the first set of stairs, then right (north) over the bridge. You should pass the Chamber of Knowledge on your left. Go up the stairs and turn left (west) up some more stairs. Turn right (north) and go over a bridge. At the end of the bridge, turn left (west). Turn right (north) at the Iron Garrison Guide. Turn right (west) down the stairs at the torch. Turn left (north) and you will arrive at the Chamber of The Crossroads.
21st Hall	The Orc Watch	Head south out of town, down a flight of stairs and turn right (west). Go to the end of the hallway, do a uturn and go down four flights of stairs (last one turns right (south)). At the bottom of the stairs continue heading east down the hallway to the end and turn right (south). You should pass Mezer-serej on your right. Turn at the first right(west). You should be in the Great Halls of Durin. Down one set of stairs and turn right(north) just past the hallway. Go down one set of stairs, then left again (west). Down three more flights of stairs, through the Wide Halls, up one set of stairs, and turn left (south) when you reach the Broadways. Turn right(west) at the end of the hallway, down one flight of stairs, then turn left(south). At the end of the hallway, turn left (east) and go down one set of stairs. Turn right (south) and go down two more flights of stairs. You should be at the Hall of Flowing Water. Go to the end of the hallway and turn right. (west) Go up one flight of stairs then back down another, and turn left (south) just before the broken bridge. Go down two flights of stairs and turn right (west).(Note: if you go too far and fall, skip the next two steps; head south down a flight of stairs and pick back up where it says you should be in Uzban-bakad). Turn left (south) and down one flight of stairs. Head southeast down one flight of stairs. You should be in Uzban-bakad. Down one flight of stairs south then turn right (west). Down two flights of stairs to the end of the hallway and turn left (south). Down four flights of stairs and turn left (east) at the end of the hall. Down one flight of stairs and turn right (south). Go to the end of the hall and turn left (east). You should enter Budkhul-tharakh. Go over the bridge, to the end of the hall, and turn left(north). Turn right (east) before the next bridge, then first left (north). If you go too far and fall, I cannot help you. Straight across a bridge and you should be at the Orc Watch.
The Orc Watch	Shadowed Refuge	From the stable master, head down the stairs to the east. The path will lead down some more stairs and across some bridges, and you will eventually end up going down some steps and facing east. Look for some stairs on your right (south) and a path leading north. Take the path north to the zone wall and turn right (northeast). After a short time you will come to some tracks; follow the tracks generally east to some stairs. Continue east up three flights of stairs, then down two, across a platform, and up two more flights of stairs straight across one platform, then right (south)up a ramp. You should be at Knakk's camp / goat to Orc Watch. Turn left (east) and follow the ramps east then south until they end. At the bottom of the ramp, turn left (east) through the spider area. After you make a slight turn southeast, look for an opening on your left (east). This will take you into zabad-fakak. Continuing generally east / southeast should take you to the Foundations of Stone. Follow the path to the end and turn right (south). Head south up a hill and bear right, and you should arrive at the Shadowed Refuge.
Shadowed Refuge	The Orc Watch	Head east out of the Shadowed Refuge to the zone wall, turn left (north) down the hill. Follow the path generally west / northwest through Zabad-fakak. Turn right (north) when you can no longer go west. Continue north up a small rise (do not take the path west). You should come to a ramp. Up the ramp north, across a bridge, and it will turn left (west). You should be at Knakk / goat to the Orc Watch. Turn right (north) down the ramp. At the 4-way intersection turn left (west). Continue west down two flights of stairs, then up two more, then down three. Follow tracks generally west / northwest. When the tracks go up a ramp, do not go up; bear to the right of the ramp and continue southwest. Turn left (south) when you can no longer go west. Keep the wall on your right; you will curve up a hill to the northwest and should see some steps. If you come to a ramp heading south you've gone too far, but do not take the right at the very bottom of the ramp; head back north just a bit and look up to your left (northwest). At this point there is only one way to go (unless you fall), and the path should bring you to the Orc Watch.
The Orc Watch	Anazarmekhem	Head south out of Orc Watch. Turn right (west) after you cross a bridge, and follow hallway west again across another small bridge. Turn left (south) and follow hallway under archway. Make the second right (west), then quick left (south) again down stairs. Follow stairs south then east across a bridge. Stairs will continue down to the south / southwest, and you should reach Anazarmekhem
Anazarmekhem	The Orc Watch	North east up stairs, then west up stairs and across bridge, then north up more stairs. Turn right (east) at the top of the stairs, then quick left again (north). Head north up hallway. Turn right (east) across a bridge as soon as the hallway opens up. East to end of hallway, left (north) across a bridge and you should be at the Orc Watch.

Category Overview

List of everything in region:

Moria

Moria Creatures

Moria Deeds

Moria Location Images

Moria Locations

Moria Maps

Moria Reputation Factions

Moria NPCs

Moria Quest Chains

Mines of Moria Quests

Moria Titles

Moria

• See also Moria Quests.
• See also Crafting Instances - For some Info about the Moria Crafting Instances.

Trivia

• Snowlock: Berephon once said that the dwarven expedition to Moria in LOTRO was a temporary endeavor that would one day be resolved... Still true?

A post by MadeOfLions on 15 January 2015 explains:

I don't think you should expect the Iron Garrison to get wiped out, if that's what you mean. Rather, I'd say that the excursion into Moria is a pretty tenuous one, and they can't rightly be said to have reclaimed it yet -- and won't for many, many years. They'll have successes and they'll have failures, but I wouldn't expect a version of Moria free of dwarves.

MoL

• https://forums-old.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?&postid=7301445#post7301445

• Snowlock: Bummer. Understandable, but I always wanted to see how Berephon was going to pull off that trick. Iirc, and maybe I don't, but I seem to remember him being fairly specific, that the expedition would fail and it was a story they'd tell.

MoL

I'm of two minds about this subject.

Here's the first: 'in the Professor's Middle-earth, of course the Iron Garrison didn't exist. Moria remained closed-off after the passage of the Fellowship, and the dwarves didn't try to go back until well after the War of the Ring.' In this world, if we *do* allow players into Moria with the Iron Garrison, it only makes sense for the dwarves to fail utterly, because that's how we restore the status quo. This story is likely quite depressing, but it does let us hit the Undo button on sending players into Moria. This is the Strict Constructionist approach.

Here's the second: 'A Middle-earth game that doesn't let you into Moria is leaving out not just one of the most iconic locations in all of literature, but also one of the most crucial parts of the narrative. Of course we need to find a way to allow players to experience it.' The creation of the Iron Garrison allows us a fairly reasonable way to see inside Moria without stepping all over the Fellowship on their way through. Since dwarves will eventually reclaim Moria, it makes a certain amount of sense to say that the Iron Garrison will serve as the baby-steps foundation of this effort. This is the Loose Constructionist approach.

As you might expect, our team was divided on which approach was best, which I think is healthy -- it means we really had to debate the finer points of each in order to come up with a solution. Nothing goes into the game without thought.

• https://forums-old.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?&postid=7301543#post7301543