Guide to Fortress and Towers

This guide written and published by p(Baca/Endo)

“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”

Faramir, JRRT, The Two Towers

This guide is about how to capture, conquer, and control fortresses and towers for your side of the war.

Many parts of this guild reference to the MUME help pages which can be found at: https://mume.org/help/help_index

Bold words can be looked up in the games help files. Like help fortress.

Fortresses

These are specific, strategic locations in MUME that you can assault, attack, conquer, and capture for your side of the War. Different factions can be in control of any fortress at any given time. It could already be on your side of the war, or had been taken and controlled by your enemies.

Types of Fortress

Some fortresses are tiny, 2 rooms, others can cover a large area of 12 rooms. Some are very heavily defended bastions of war, others have just a few guards.

Tower - some of the fortresses are towers, and have rooms up and down vertically. They tend to be 3 or 4 rooms up and down. These are the most common type of fortress.

Camp - some are small camps, or large sprawling camps of many rooms

Fort - some seem more like a fort, or actually are one

Not a fortress - some areas seem like they would make a good fortress, but really are not one

These locations cannot be controlled, and always pop or reset with the same mobs, no capture allowed. They function like any other zones in the game. Not every strategic bastion can be controlled by all the factions.

examples: Ohurk chief, Brolg's tower, Elf Scout Hideout near Brolg, Caravanserai s of Warrens

Well defended - some fortresses are very heavily guarded, and seem more like a supermob, and usually require a group

Barely defended - some fortresses have a very small garrison of troops, and can be soloed more easily

How to use a Fortress

Fortresses can be entered by anyone of the faction that controls it. So if the Fortress is garrisoned by elves, any of the Free Peoples can use it. To get in, all you need to do is call at the gate. They will open and let you in, and say open if you want back out. Just like city gates. While inside you never need to worry about casting or wielding weapons. There are no jails or justice system while inside a fortress. You can cast any spells you need or whet your weapons. But don't attack the mobs if they are on your side, they will all attack you. Fortresses do not use citizenships, the only requirement being a member of the faction that currently controls it.

You can use the watchtower, eat and drink, and take any mounts you need. If it is your faction you can use all the services that fortress has to offer.

If you are trying to get in, and the fortress is NOT controlled by your faction, they will refuse to open the gate for you. In some of the fortresses, you can still try to enter the backdoor, several of them have one. Or you can break down the gate to get it, say with bash or break door spell. Another option is pick the gate open... but that one can be risky. If you enter the fortress, they can close and lock the gate behind you. And now you are stuck inside with mobs aggressive to you.

The gateguards of fortresses load keys that do work to unlock the gates. If you have the key, you can quickly get in or out of a fortress. The key always work no matter which faction currently has control of the fortress. Fortress keys are no-rent.

Why Capture a Fortress

There are several reasons to capture a fortress in MUME. Here is a summarized list of them:

credit toward earning your position on the view Conquerors list
gives that area of the map a small amount of more safety for your side of the war
less places for other factions of the war to hide
a somewhat safer place to rest, regen, and (risky) go afk
services that are now safely offered to your side of the war
honestly, many of towers or camps are simply decent selling loot and xp
several have unique commanders (good for trophy and xp)

Some of the services fortresses can offer are:

food and drink
mounts, like a pony, pack horse, or hungry warg
a place to rest, cook, or sleep, some even have fireplaces
a gate to call at to enter safely, that shuts and locks behind you, with gateguards
a key so you can potentially control the front gate
rare fortresses even offer mending or an inn or stable to rent at
access to a mailbox in some
access to a watchtower
some have simple gear, like torches, knife, water skin, spear, barrels, etc...

List of Fortresses

This is a compiled list of fortresses that can be captured and controlled. It will include some of the services offered at that fortress, a rough description of where it is located, a back way in if it has one (several do), name and common abbreviations, and who can gain control of that fortress. If it says defaults to, that is which faction the fortress is controlled by after a reboot, crash, or if it has sat unclaimed for a period of time. Fortresses never sit empty for long.

Last Bridge Fort (LBF)

a few rooms north of Last Bridge on Old East Road, E of Brush area, W of East Priest, W of Rivendell

Services: watchtower, called gate

Backdoor: kind of 2, one from East Priest (risky, difficult), and another near Scaly Beast supermob

Factions: defaults to orcs, Free Peoples, Sauron's Forces

Warrens Tower (WT)

on trail that leads NE towards Troll Warrens, SW of Troll Warrens, N of Bill, Bert, and Tom

Services: watchtower, called gate, some gear, fireplace

Backdoor: must have very good climb, can still fall down to escape

Factions: defaults to smugglers, Free Peoples, Sauron's Forces

Hidden Camp (HC)

Often scouted to check control. A frequent location of battles, PvP is common in the area. One of the easiest towers to take control of.

S of Rivendell, S of Ohurk Chief, on Narrow Trail W of tipsy thief, NW of Brolg

Services: watchtower, called gate, beer barrel, meat

Backdoor: no back door, pretty much too small to have one

Factions: defaults to smugglers, Free Peoples, Sauron's Forces, Zaugurz Orcs

Ancient Broken Road Camp (ABR Camp)

If you control this fortress, your faction also gains some mobs that patrol some sections of ABR as well, near this fortress. This fortress comes with the largest area of control of any of them and the largest number of mobs helping your side. Includes a small tower on south side of the camp.

near halfway point on Ancient Broken Road, W of the road, S of Brolg, N of Khuzur

Services: food, drink, some gear, bed, mounts, called gate at tower ruins in the south of camp

Backdoor: no back door, but doesn't really need one, no lockable gate, one lockable door in tower

Factions: defaults to goblins, Free Peoples, Sauron's Forces, Zaugurz Orcs

Dunland Tower (Rohir Tower)

NE of Wulfston the Broghha Dunlend village, SW of Dunlend Orc Caves, W of Rohan Fort

Services: watchtower, called gate, fireplace, mounts

Backdoor: secret door in basement that needs picked, one of the easier backdoors to access

Factions: defaults to Dunlendings, Free Peoples, Sauron's Forces

Dark Tower (DT)

One of the most challenging fortresses to capture, and maintain control of. It is almost like a secondary town for some of Sauron's minions most of the time. It has many mobs inside of it, making it one of the most difficult to capture and hold. A frequent location of battles, PvP is common in the area.

NE of Rivendell, W of Goblin Town (NOC), SW of Zorc caves, along a trail in the Mountains
N of Angurboda, grandma troll rent spot (often called filthy)

Services: watchtower, called gate, food, drink, mailbox, some gear, stables, campfire, mending shop

Backdoor: only a oneway exit to get out, straight to the front gate outside

Factions: defaults to orcs, Free Peoples, Sauron's Forces, Zaugurz Orcs

Vale Tower (VT)

Often scouted to check control. A frequent location of battles, PvP is common in the area.

E of Goblin Town (NOC), W of Vale Ford, NW of Ingrove, SE of Zorc Caves

Services: watchtower, called gate, food, drink, some gear, mailbox, campfire

Backdoor: some underwater swimming and secret doors to get in

Factions: defaults to orcs, Factions: Free Peoplesn (Beornings), Sauron's Forces, Zaugurz Orcs

CA tower, Dol Guldor Outpost, Grotbrug village

E side of Anduin River, ruined village on the trail that leads toward Dol Guldur
far N of Lorien Ferry, far S of Ingrove, NW of Dol Guldur

Services: watchtower, called gate, food, drink, mounts, some gear

Backdoor: no backdoor

Factions: defaults to neutral mobs like dogs, vines, and spiders (cloud of mist under the well, bash only unbreakable), Free Peoples, Sauron's Forces, Zaugurz Orcs

Lorien Tower (Ferry Tower)

a few rooms north of Lorien Ferry, east side of the Anduin river

Services: watchtower, called gate, mounts, access to Lorien Ferry

Backdoor: possibly to get in from the Anduin river, but not very easy to do because of river currents

Factions: defaults to neutral mobs like vines, Free Peoples, Sauron's Forces

Lorien Ferry

You can use the ferry if no mobs are alive on it yourself.

Very likely does not count for the Conqueror list.

south of Lorien on the Anduin river

Services: passage across the river, call ferry from other side if mobs, mobs will operate the ferry if alive, if you enter the ferry from a pier you can operate it as well if mobs are dead

Backdoor: you can jump into the river from either pier if the ferry is not there (not really a back door needed)

Factions: defaults to elves (free peoples can use it), Easterling men (Sauron's forces can use it)

Conquerors

If you successfully conquer or capture a fortress, you start being ranked on how good you are at it. It is very similar to the PK war points system in the game. If you capture one fortress, that's nice but not very accomplished. However, if you capture 5 or 6 in a short time, you will likely be categorized as a Conqueror.

Other then earning a place on the top 10 list, the only real benefit is cheaper rent at a captured fortress. You also gain a special label of Conqueror on the who list <C>. But you also made the game map over all safer for your side of the war as well!

Type view conqueror in game to see who's currently on the list for both sides of the war.

See help conquerors for more information.

How to Claim a Fortress

Controlling a fortress involves a violent battle! You must kill all of the enemies within, including things like hungry wargs or any corpse guardian shadows that might show up. If any enemies are left alive within you will not gain control of the fortress. If even one target is left alive the tower will re-pop to the faction most recently in control of it.

Then you must occupy the tower for at least 8 minutes or so (varies some, can be longer). If no one from any opposing factions is also in the area, vying for control for the tower, it will repop with your faction in control.

If a tower is cleared of enemies, but you do not wait for the requisite time occupying it, the tower normally reverts to it's default garrison. That might be goblins, smugglers, Dunlend warriors, or orcs, depending on which fortress you were trying to conquer. This can often take over 20 minutes.

Fortresses and the War

Fortresses are not the focus of Player Killing (PK) or Player vs Player (PvP), but they are certainly a feature of it. Many a wounded or lower level player has found short rest by seeking the slight safety of a fortress. And many PKers have gathered keys, controlled fortresses, and gained some map control by keeping fortresses on their side of the war. It leaves less places for players of the opposing side to retreat too.

Also, some players on any faction of the war often:

narrate if they have recently claimed a fortress
narrate if they have left a fortress empty and unoccupied
track at the gates for a fortress to hunt other players
narrate about which faction currently controls a fortress

Guide to Fortress and Towers

Contents