Rivendell   -   (Imladris)

Rivendell, or Imladris, was an Elven outpost in the Misty Mountains on the eastern edge of Eriador. Due to its location, it was called the Last Homely House from the point of view of a traveller going to the Misty Mountains and Wilderland; and also the First Homely House from the point of view of someone coming from these lands to the civilised lands of Eriador to the west.

       First Build

The first iteration of the ‘Last Homely House’ was built primarily by HomieNo and Aracnel with the use of cobblestone, stone slabs and wooden fence. Keep in mind that the world was still in survival 
at this point in the servers history so everything was built by hand, including the terrain. The player Carlosbear planned to design the area according to the description of Imladris in Fonstad’s: ‘Atlas of Middle Earth’. The terrain of cliffs and waterfalls was the first of its kind for MCME compared to the hills and dells that had been built previously for Bag End and Bree .The build was completed on the 10th of December 2010, as the team began work on Moria. This version of Rivendell was later showcased on Youtube in July 2011, being one of the only sources of information regarding how the
build and the map looked at that time on the server. 

       Current Build and Revamps

A few years later, in 2013, two Artists by the names SMtg and BevsForBros, were tasked with revamping Rivendell for the new map that was updated in late 2013. Progress of which continued for a short time until SMtg resigned, leaving Bevs to work on the project alone. This revamp would become the basis for the current Rivendell we see on the server today.On the 23rd of August 2014, the version of Rivendell that Bevs had been working on was copied onto the main map so Artists, MuddyDirt, Kisos (kisk_/K1sk1bbab35), and_Luk (KlemensPlusLukus) could finalise the project for the server. A Forum post was made on the 25th announcing the intentions of the team and the additions to the build.

New parts of the build included the White Council gazebo, Moon Stone which had both recently been displayed in the new Hobbit films, as well as the path that the Dwarves take to get to Rivendell; once again referencing the ‘Atlas of Middle Earth’. The Council of Elrond and Forge had also been upgraded considerably in an effort to increase the building standard with the new blocks introduced to Minecraft. Finally the Elven architectural style was solidified, from Bevs original revamp and the surrounding area of Imladris, the High Moors and the Ford of Bruinen had considerable changes made to them.

These newer updates kicked up a lot of discussion about the direction of the server towards how ‘lore accurate’ a build has to be with the team taking reference from both Jackson trilogies. With additions of Hobbit locations being the focus of many an argument.The project was completed by the 1st of October 2014, with assistance from Commoners with jobs held in Freebuild and the Artists that helped oversee the entire project; ISMiTHz, MaDReD (MaDIIReD), lizzy_ (SugarKoala), and Credoo. Edits and final tweaks were made until the build was officially finished on the 3rd of October 2014, and considered a successful experiment by the team, into how well community led projects could work in the future.

       Recent Events

In recent years Rivendell has been a mainstay on the server with not many changes to the build since the team put their tools down. The question of lore accuracy has been brought up a couple times, with a Forum post being made in March of 2018, by BWOT to no permanent results.

Small updates to vegetation and textures have kept the build fresh after 8 years of being used within the community for Lore Hours, Guide Tours, Theme Builds, Screenshot Competitions and many other events, including memorial services and birthday parties. The creation of the more recent Rivendell Theme for the MCME Soundtrack, and the updated Cinematic Showcase for the location has kept it an iconic place on the map.