Eldham Ridge
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Contents
Overview
Eldham Ridge was founded when wizarding refugees traversed a mountain to escape their poor treatment in the Unmagical world. Halfway up the mountain, they became enveloped by a vicious blizzard. They set up camp for the night, hoping the snowstorm would die down the next day. Unfortunately for the travellers, the storm kept going for four more days. After the storm subsided, they went out to explore the nearby terrain and surroundings. Soon after, they fell in love with the very mountain they were trapped upon and founded a town —Eldham Ridge.
As these settlers got more familiar with the new settlement, they began to look for resources. Charlie Wellington, the founding group leader, came across some colourful stones lodged in rocks and gravel. He hollered to the rest of the group and they quickly excavated areas across the mountain, discovering multiple ores of precious gems and jewels. The town quickly became a trading hub and wizards and witches came from all over to trade for the stones. It was his discovery of magical gems that formed the basis of the town’s early economy.
Charlie himself was an avid collector and a fantastic negotiator. He turned the town’s first building, the lighthouse, into his personal storage space where he stashed his valuables. People came from all over to view his expansive collection, which in turn increased tourism. Eventually, he was consumed by greed and hoarded everything he could get his hands on. In his downfall, he locked himself away in the lighthouse and died there. Local legends persist about his ghost, and the occasional traveller will stay the night in hopes of finding his long lost gems, which are rumoured to be cursed since Charlie was so possessive of them. Most will avoid the lighthouse; however, some children dare each other to go into the lighthouse as part of a game. The children who enter are rarely ever seen again.
Eldham Ridge lies on Wrekin mountain. Local Salopian legend claims that the mountain was created when two Giants built themselves a place to settle, piling rock upon rock. These two Giants would eventually fight over possession of the hill of rocks. One Giant was pecked in the eye by a Raven, causing his tears to spill and form a small spring at the top of the hill known as the Raven’s bowl. Surprisingly, this origin story is quite accurate. How Unmagicals learned of this story has never been proven, though, it is possible that a wandering wizard “spilt the tea”. Nowadays, the mountain range nearby is climbed regularly by thrill-seeking magicals and Unmagicals alike. One of these neighbouring mountains is Ercall Hill, which is said to be the remains of one of the petrified Giants.
The famous Mother Shipton ominously foretold that the bridge upon the short river formed by the magical spring was cursed. If it were to collapse, the entire town would follow suit, being buried in an earthquake or landslide. Regular repairs are carried out by young witches and wizards as part of a civic celebration of this legend. While no resident will admit to believing in the curse, the volunteer group is always full… The town of Eldham Ridge is certainly a centre of wizarding superstition, and it may be difficult to ascertain fact from fiction. One thing is certain though – on a lonely night you may hear a deep voice howling in the wind, and the bridge will begin to sway, and sway, and sway.
Many of Eldham Ridge’s residents are travellers or traders, drawn in by the town's precious jewels. There are also a lot of tourists who come to visit Eldham Ridge’s quite beautiful mountains. Because of this, small markets have been created to appeal to tourists and also for the trading and selling of resources. People may also find jobs as miners to harvest rare gems and other resources from the mountains.
These gems are the main natural resource of the town and the mountains as a whole. Despite many of these resources lacking magical properties, such as gold and silver, they can still sell for large amounts. However, the ones that do have magic properties are said to bring luck and prosperity and are kept in pockets. Others are said to increase magical abilities or to protect them from the magic of others. Necklaces and jewellery made with these jewels are also created and sold for people to carry around to take advantage of their magic.
On Potterworld’s world map, Eldham Ridge can be found on a mountain range towards the southwestern side of Great Britain. As a Level 40 town, players are meant to visit and unlock its location in their Year 5 quests by flying with a broom or walking from a nearby town, most often London. From Eldham Ridge, these surrounding towns include Squalus Cove to the west, Griffin's Hollow to the east, Wightwaye to the south, and London to the southeast. There also resides the Mysterious Manor nearby, lying south of the town, and a small plot of crops to the east. To view the map, run the /map command in-game to get a link to it.
At Eldham Ridge, visiting players can expect to find a Shady Dealer, Vendor, Crafting Centre, Fire Dust Network and Marketplace. Unfortunately, there are no Bank or Minigames locations here. The Eldham Ridge Reputation taskboard is found on the east side of town near the Fire Dust Network location.
Geography & Environment
Built upon Wrekin mountain, Eldham Ridge has a predominantly cold climate due to the increased altitude, making it windy and susceptible to snow. This rocky mountain range is sparse in vegetation with spruce and oak trees being the dominant plant life. Despite the lack of plants, the ground below is rich in ores and gems. Along the mountainside lies a small spring, called the Raven’s bowl, whose water runs through town and accumulates at the bottom in a small lake. Local legend speaks of rumours that the water at the bottom has healing properties, however, this may simply be a myth. Scattered around the small lake is more grassy vegetation.
Notable Locations
Lighthouse
At Eldham Ridge, one of the most distinguishable structures is the Lighthouse. Developed by Charlie Wellington of the original founding group, the Lighthouse was the very first building. It mainly served to store Charlie’s valuables. Over time, he became increasingly greedy and isolated himself in the Lighthouse with his belongings. Charlie passed away in the Lighthouse, and it is said by the locals that his ghost still haunts the place to this day.
Shops
The table below displays shop(s) located in Eldham Ridge.
| Shop Name | Shop Type | Items Sold |
|---|---|---|
| Harlan’s Bakery | General Store | In the Year 5 Lost and Found quest, the player can purchase baking ingredients from Harlan the baker. |
Quests
The table below displays quest(s) located in Eldham Ridge at their specified level. To get started with these quests, head to the starting NPC’s coordinates.
| Quest Names | Level | Starting NPC & Coords |
|---|---|---|
| Lost and Found | 41 | Yasmine, 3319 132 8710 |
| Memory Lane | 41 | Wanda, 3445 70 8729 |
| The Demons Inside | 44 | Larry, 3318 128 8689 |
| Secrets in the Tower | 45 | Yasmine, 3319 132 8710 |
Creatures & Plants
The rocky mountain ranges of Eldham Ridge serve as a habitat for several mobs. Among these are the troublesome Level 43 Demoxie living in their little huts amongst the trees, the rare Level 45 Occamers and their nests, and the magnificent, fiery Level 48 Phoenixes in their half burnt-up terrain. At the foot of the mountainside to the north resides a group of Level 47 Trolls in their “camp” of caverns. Additionally, to the east of the mountains are ever-peaceful Level 40 Lunarcalves lumbering around the wheatfields near their underground burrows. All of these mobs will drop Year 5 materials, along with Level 41-50 gear recipes and broom recipes.
Alongside having a variety of mobs, there are a variety of profession plant nodes to be found around Eldham Ridge. These include Nightshade Lvl. 40, Asphodel Lvl. 40, Wormwood Lvl. 40, and Wrinklefig Lvl. 40. All can be used to craft Year 5 profession items.
Hidden Chests
Throughout Eldham Ridge, there is a variety of hidden chests scattered about. To find them, one may need to look closely within houses and at nooks and crannies. A utility spell or two can help you access certain hidden chests. These hidden chests possess items from Level 41-50 mobs, Level 41-50 gear recipes, and broom recipes on even rarer occasions. They can range from Tier 1 to Tier 3 type chests, with the higher the tier being harder to find and with rarer loot. Upon finding a hidden chest, the player will also be rewarded with Gold.
Trivia
- There is only one bread shop in this town, Harlan’s Bakery, which boasts having the best bread.
- The Lunarcalf wheatfields to the east of Eldham Ridge have peculiar crop circles and markings.
- Some modern archaeologists believe that the magical gems of Eldham Ridge come from the stashes of the Giants, while others think this is nonsense. It is an odd coincidence that the founder of the wizarding town built upon the Wreckin succumbed to the same greed that befell the Giants – or is it?
