Moria: The Waterworks

Moria is a big place. It’s hard to know where to start with presenting it. By rights, I should start with the entrance – the lake, the door, and the halls close to it. Possibly something about showing off the main features, a ride through the most beautiful halls, or a story of the first steps of explorations into the Goblin-infested tunnels.
But I’ve had this series of pictures lying around for a while now, and I’m itching to show them. So here they are – a series of impressions from one of the lower levels of Moria, the Waterworks.

Teasers:

A pillar distributing water to several aquifers in the Waterworks.

A great door inside a reservoir in the Waterworks.

The Hall of Flowing Water in Moria.

When you first see it, you wouldn’t believe there is any water in Moria. But of course, even Dwarves need both drinking and hygiene – how else are they going to keep their beards clean and shiny?
Going deeper into the mines and coming closer to the waterworks you start to see hints of the system:

The Hall of Flowing Water in Moria.	A high staircase leading up in Moria.
A high staircase leading up in Moria.	A hall lit by crystal lamps in Moria.
Looking down a long staircase in Moria.	An entrance to a walkway on top of a stair in Moria.

I will not spoil your surprises on how to best get into the area. But let it be said that you will not be disappointed!
The new dwarf expedition has not managed to get the pumps going again. There is a lot of foul water that will have to be pumped out before anything can be washed again! And I will spare you a description of the smell down there. But it is still quite pretty to look at the Dwarf craftsmanship.

A walkway at the entrance to the Waterworks in Moria.	Waterwheels and the pump area now known as the Rotting Cellar.
A view towards the pumphouse from atop the Great Wheel in the Waterworks.	A view towards the pumphouse from atop the Great Wheel in the Waterworks.
A series of aquifers in the Waterworks.	A pillar distributing water to several aquifers in the Waterworks.
Inside the Great Wheel pumphouse.	Inside a reservoir in the Waterworks.
Inside a reservoir in the Waterworks.	A giant water wheel in the Waterworks.
Stalagmites and rubble reflect in the standing pools of the Waterworks. The Great Wheel in the background.	An unfinished or broken aquifer is missing a middle pillar in the Waterworks.
Water falling from various broken water lines in the Waterworks.	A pillar and aquifers in the Waterworks.
A bridge in the Waterworks.

Advertisement