Bingo Boffin in the Lone Lands

Recovered from his drunken ‘illness’ at the Prancing Pony in Bree-land, Bingo Boffin finds himself at the Forsaken Inn on the edge of the Lone Lands. He can’t quiet believe the difference between the festival feeling at the Pony compared to the ‘dark and dreary’ feel of the Forsaken Inn! However there are some very interesting people that catch Bingo’s eye and that begins a journey seeking after treasure!

This post will give you an overview of the story but also help you with the solutions to various puzzles that this quest line presents you with!

Meeting the Treasure Seekers

Nearby are two folks – the very colourful Theodore Gorse and his rather downcast-looking adventuring partner Haley Meadowsweet (see the title image above!). Theodore is a self-proclaimed “Master Treasure Seeker” and loves to regail anyone willing to listen with stories of his treasure-seeking adventures! Sometimes he’ll even tell the unwilling – and it seems likely that Haley is one of these people! Theodore is so convinced he’s found everything he thinks retirement is the next thing for him to do.

Haley on the other hand appears singularly unimpressed with her new “friend”

“Anyone can claim to be a great seeker of treasure. In point of fact, anyone can do the seeking! It is the finding that separates those with actual accomplishments from the pretenders!”

All this excites our Bingo Boffin that he decides he wants to learn to be a Treasure-Seeker himself! To that end, Theodore admits that a recent clue to treasure has eluded him so tasks you with finding it!

Quest: The Last Treasure – Location and Solution

Solution: The location of this treasure box is part way up Weathertop. You’re looking for a structure like the screenshot below. Take the fallen tree trunk down to it and slowly walk along the edge to see the Treasure Box.

And here is a quick 1½minute video to help you find the Strongbox for The Last Treasure:

Story: Theodore can’t really believe that you found the treasure box. Though it is puzzling that there was nothing more than a cryptic message inside! So that leads onto the next puzzle to solve!

Quest: Goose and Gander – Location and Solution

This one is really straightforward, so Theodore must be having an off-day! The last line says “Look to the spell for the answer”. The location of the Strongbox is given when you look at the letters which are capitalised in the cryptic clue:

Thankfully the THE LORNSPAN is easy to find, and actually forms part of the Lone Lands Explorer Deed, so you can hit two crabbain with one stone!

If you start from the Eglain Camp (34.4S,36.9W) and head East up the hill, you’ll reach The Lornspan and the next Strongbox!

That Strongbox too has a cryptic clue: “The End Now”. Theodore mistakenly thinks that’s the end of the trail, but he is to be disappointed!

Quest: The End Now

While Theodore seems to feel he has his victory, Bingo Boffin is not so sure. In the meantime he says we should help out the Barman at the Forsaken Inn with anything he needs.

So in the spirit of community you are asked to fetch some supplies from outside and bring them in.

Once you’ve retrieved a box and a basket of eggs, the Tavern Keeper remarks that he was expecting Lemons but you didn’t find any. Haley also seems to have disappeared somewhere!

This reminds Bingo that back in the Shire they used to make hidden messages on parchments that were written in lemon juice and revealed by holding the paper to the fire! The treasure-hider obviously did their home work in using the Tavern Keeper to help solve this clue.

It’s only when the paper that reads “The End Now” is held up to the fire that the full message is revealed, this time with the lower case letters holding the answer!

So it’s time to head to Ost Guruth in the Lone Lands!

The Real Master Treasure Seeker

Once you catch up with Bingo and Theodore at Ost Guruth, the latter is super-excited to see who the Master Treasure-Seeker actually is. Presuming that person to be a man (Theodore uses ‘He’ to describe who is about to meet them) he is shocked to learn that it is none other than Haley Meadowsweet!

It had been Haley finding the treasure and leaving clues to test Theodore, tests he systematically failed at! Maybe the real treasure was making Theodore realise he didn’t know it all, and needed to learn from people rather than spin tales to impress others! And importantly, Bingo finds this conclusion to the Treasure Seeking very satisfactory!

Bingo Boffin Lone-Lands Quest Rewards

• Titles: Tavern-Goer, Linguist
• Bingo Badges: 20 (I think! Possibly 25, I’ll check on my next run)

Bert Bartleby Vendor Rewards

There are a lot of rewards available from Bert Bartleby in the Lone Lands. A full list is in the screenshots below, but here are some highlights!

• Decoration: Bingo’s Hatrack Bree-land – Note: you will need your Bingo’s Hat-Rock The Shire as well as 5 Bingo Badges to upgrade this housing decoration!
• Pet: Sleek Fox
• Decoration: Marigold Property Guard: The Hobbit Marigold, comes as an outdoor decoration to stop any intruders from stealing your things from your homestead!
• Jewellery: The “Ruin-Walking” rings are pretty powerful if you’re on-level in the Lone Lands. Note these are “unique items” so you can only own one of each.

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Deeding in the Lone-Lands?

If you’re running Bingo Boffin here, you may also be deeding. Have a look at my LOTRO Slayer of the Lone-Lands Deed Map!

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TL;DR Bingo Boffin in the Lone Lands

Adventuring isn’t enough for our Bingo! He wants to seek treasure – and interestingly he seems to have found wisdom instead. We should always keep learning, even from people we think are unlikely teachers. We’ve never “made it” in life, there’s always more to learn. His Lone Lands adventure concluded, Bingo moves on towards the Last Bridge on the edge of the region ready to step into the Trollshaws, which we will cover next time!