Every MMO has a progression, a series of areas where your adventures take place. If properly laid out you will slowly graduate from one area to the next as your character is ready.
In Lord of the Rings Online, once through the “newbie zones,” each of the player races starts off in their own area, the Elves in Celondim, the Dwarves in Thorin’s Hall, Hobbits in the Shire, and Men in Combe. From these points, all roads eventually lead to Bree.
It is hard for me to picture Bree as the center of trade and industry for the region (I always pictured it as a much smaller place) but at a certain point your adventuring will focus on the regions around Bree, and primarily in the strip of land that runs between Bree and the Branydwine River, an area that includes the Old Forest and the Barrow-downs. (That strip of land is 75 miles wide in Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.)
As things go, eventually quests around Bree will begin to wind down. But if follow the right quest paths you will find yourself on your way to the Forsaken Inn.
Out where the Midgwater Marshes meet the Weather Hills (which I am told is not the home of the Weather Underground), in an area known as the Lone Lands you will find the Forsaken Inn. It isn’t much to behold, but you cannot afford to look too flashy when you live in the shadow of Weathertop.
Shame about the hole in the roof.
Like any place, the Forsaken Inn has its regulars. I mentioned The Whittler in a previous post. Then there are the three vagabonds who sit around out in front of the place.
Each one of them has their own bits of advice for any passer by. Here the one they refer to as “Cord” opines on the fare served inside.
They are pretty vague about why they do not seem to do much besides sit around. Inside they will tell you that the three of them got caught up in some sort of big event in Bree and the local constables thought it would be best for all if they left town.
Here is a shot of the Bree constables taking the three in for questioning
Aside from colorful patrons and scenery reminiscent of the California inland hills in summer, the Forsaken Inn is also a gold mine of quests for the aspiring mid to late teens adventurer. There are a large number of quests available at the inn and a number of them have objectives that overlap, so make sure you collect them all before you start off.
You can see from this list over at The Brasse that there are quite a few quests in the Lone Lands that start at the Forsaken Inn, so make sure you stop by!
But avoid the special. I mean it.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 