In which Cynfleda finds a light in the darkness that is Mirkwood

Cynfleda just can't catch a break.

All she wants to do is study, dang it!

Too many major settlements with their so-called "craft halls" and "craft areas" do not have a study with which scholars can do their crafting (*cough* Esteldin *cough* Ost Guruth *cough* Suri Kyla *cough*). Those desks are a necessity for the scholarly arts beyond expert level.

Furthermore, even among the craft areas that DO have a study, there is often something else missing. In Bree, the relic- and forge-masters are on the OTHER SIDE of town. In Rivendell, the vault is a whole floor below the study, meaning you have to leave, go down a floor, find the vault keeper, and go back upstairs to study. Don't get me started on the mailbox location. Just... don't try heavy crafting in Rivendell. Period. It's ugh. Too much having to run across Rivendell proper. Lothlorien is doable, but is too much of a maze to be worth it. Crafting in Moria is a hefty improvement. There is a vault, mailbox, auction hall, and relic- and forge-master all in fairly close proximity to each other. And as topping on the cake, they are all close to the hunter port.

When Cynfleda leaves Moria and passes through Lothlorien (because, frankly, Lothlorien is just kind of a pretty, scenic bridge between Moria and Mirkwood), her epic quest takes her to Mirkwood. She has quite the love-hate relationship with Mirkwood. The scenery is both haunting and pretty at the same time. There are orcs and wargs everywhere, mostly due to the fact that Mirkwood is on the doorstep of Dol Goldur. There are also plenty of merrevail and shades and spiders to go around. In other words, this place is RANK with evil beings, brought up by the Necromancer to take over Mirkwood (which, fun fact, used to be called "Greenwood" before it became....less green and more dreadful).

This is just a sampling of Mirkwood. 

Which is what makes the zone fun! There is no shortage of heavy, dark forests; haunting, gassy swamps; and fortresses and ghost towns, all overrun by enemies. The possibilities are endless! It's like the Barrow-downs and Fornost had a baby.

Now, you may be thinking, "Cyn, what in the Middle-Earth does this have to do with crafting?" 

One day (yesterday, in fact), Cynfleda was wandering around Mirkwood, doing random quests east of the Drownholt. She's searching for sage bushes for Bingo Boffin, and she stumbles upon a mighty fortress outpost held by the Malledrim and Galadhrim. She soon discovers that this place is called Ost Galadh, and it is EXACTLY WHAT SHE'S BEEN MISSING IN HER LIFE. There is a vault. There are 4 (FOUR!) mailboxes. There is a skirmish camp. There are relic- and forge-masters. There is a large craft hall with TWO studies. There is a second vault-keeper IN the craft hall. Hooray!

Like, oh my goodness, Cynfleda could live there forever. Forget purging Mirkwood of the Necromancer. It's study time.

The only downfalls, which are fairly forgivable, are that there's no auction hall, and the hunter port isn't very close. But other than that, Cynfleda finds that Ost Galadh is quite the light in the darkness that is Mirkwood.

Current level: 68