Once rich and bountiful, the land of Ossiriand welcomed the Dead that Live to their second and final mortality. Beren and Luthien raised their son Dior, then grew old together and passed away. The joy of their lives, the presence of the Silmaril, and the power of their beings left a lasting legacy that affects all who come to stand on the Tor Galen. Tol Galen and Tol Morwen are all that remained above the waters at the sinking of Ossiriand.
Isles of the Dead that Live : METW : Site : R
Ruins & Lairs in Eriadoran Coast
Site path from Grey Havens: Free-domain, Coastal Sea, Coastal Sea
Player draws 1, opponent draws 2
Nearest Haven: Grey Havens
Playable: Items (minor, major, gold ring)
Automatic-attacks: Undead - 2 strikes with 8 prowess; each character wounded must make a corruption check.
"Tinuviel was dancing there / To music of a pipe unseen"
-LotRI
Isles of the Dead that Live :: MEAS :: u2
R&L, Eriadoran Coast
Site path (Geann-a-Lisch): w c
Draw: 2,1
Playable: Items (minor, major, gold ring)
Automatic-attacks: Undead - 2 strikes with 8 prowess, each character wounded must make a corruption check modified by -2.
Special: A covert company must tap an untapped character (if available) if this site is revealed as its new site.
This site is the only coastal sea site whereat a gold ring may be played. This alone becomes a big advantage.
When we look at the site path, it does not seem particularly dangerous, especially when compared to such aberrations as Cirith Gorgor. The worst thing that happens in Free-domains are Ambusher attacks and the seas do not seem too dangerous.
Everyone will cry that there are safer sites, like the Gladden Fields for Gold Rings and the Barrow-downs for Major Items. Yes, you are right, but the Isles seem to fulfil a completely different role in the location deck.
A coastal sea deck is usually focused on roadblock, most often Snowstorm or Fell Winter maintained with the help of The Will of Sauron. The Isles are completely resistant to roadblock (except for the Storms of Osse, which can be cancelled by Great Ship.)
The automatic-attack is not dangerous (an untapped character with a prowess of 4 has a 92% chance of getting through, Aragorn or Wizard deciding not to tap will defeat the attack in 83% of cases). Two strikes may be a problem for a lone character, but such companies are very rare nowadays.
Another big asset is its accessibility. The Isles can be reached from Grey Havens, but also from Edhellond (Wi, Cs, Cs, Cs) and Rivendell (Wi, Wi, Cs). The paths are relatively safe, although a Cave-drake might lurk somewhere on the way. If you cannot do without that Torque of Hues or similar "bauble," just take a quick trip to the Isles.
I observed an interesting phenomenon: Each expansion set lessened the value of a Coastal Sea strategy, which was _the_ winning strategy at first. This card is one of the best examples of the above rule.
The site is very vulnerable to undead enhancers, like Plague of Wights (with DoN the attack becomes 4@9, which is enough to make almost all companies consider another place), The Moon is Dead (6@9) and the most dangerous of all, both of them combined (10@10). Then the attack becomes nearly invincible, at least when compared with the reward. It is one of the dangers involved in going coastal. Star-glass and Phial of Galadriel, as well as evasion means a lot of work for a company for a mere Gold Ring, Major Item, Minor Item site.
Earcaraxe the Dragon is the next reason to leave the Dead alone. Both her basic and her Ahunt manifestation cover the Eriadoran Coast. Her ability to choose defending characters may decimate a team of weak sages, diplomats and scouts even when protected by warriors. Winds of Wrath may send you to Earcaraxe's home at the Isle of the Ulond, where she will feast on the fallen.
To counteract the dangers you will need Marvels Told / Voices of Malice, Sated Beast and a Great Ship or two, perhaps even Cirdan to help you out. All together, it does not seem worthhwile.
This review would not be complete without a very short review of the minion version of the Isles. They seem even more unusable, as minion coastal sea strategies are very weak - they do not have a Great Ship and are vulnerable to Lord of the Haven. The only advantage minions have over heroes is the possibility to rouse Earcaraxe.
They have to tap a character when journeying by sea (we orkz doesn't like water!), which can make them lose a turn. Geann-a-Lisch is the worst Darkhaven possible. Sauron, steer clear of the remains of Ossiriand!
[Ohtar interjects: In a NetMECCG game, two lieutenants and their allies kept beating up my characters, and even slew Pallando! Basing your overt company in Carn Dum means you can threaten those sites without even travelling there, after the first lesson. A painful thanks to Joshua Grace for teaching me that.]
To sum up: Isles of the Dead that Live are rare / uncommon and as such belong to collectors. Because it is a site, there is no reason why it should not be included in the location deck.
Using it is a completely different story.
Feanor
Reader Comments
Sly Southerner: Note that only *covert* minion companies have to tap an untapped character when going to this site! This is a bit weird, since the minion versions of Himring, Isle of the Ulond, and Tolfalas (other ruins & lairs sites in coastal sea regions) all read "an *overt* company must tap an untapped character etc." I personally think it was just a typo, but ICE has never bothered to issue an erratum, so overt companies have an easier time going to the Isles than covert companies. It isn't logical, but there's little we can do about it. Oh well, nobody ever goes to the Isles anyway...
Fram Frumgarson: ICE did in fact respond to this issue. according to them, the 'covert' is not a typo. As the Isles are the place where Beren and Luthien dwell, it is Men and Elves and their kind that fear to tread there, especially if their conscience is already burdened. We'll never know if this line of reasoning was deviced before or after the typo (grin), but it is acceptable, imho 
Sly Southerner: But what about the orcs? It seems to me the status of Isle of the Ulond (a site with a dragon auto-attack) as one of the "overt companies have to tap a character" sites implies orcs have trouble going to *any* site in a coastal seas region, not just coastal seas sites with undead attacks; i.e. Orcs are afraid of water or are bad with boats or something. Then why can they go to the Isles of the Dead that Live without any trouble?
Original card review taken from : http://fan.theonering.net/morgulrats/
With the authorization of the webmaster.
The reviewing team consisted of Gwaihir (Chris Farrell), Gimli (Nathan Bruinooge), Ohtar (Charles E. Bouldin, Esq.), Radagast (James Kight), Joshua B. Grace (Beorn), Martijn Steultjens (Fram Frumgarson), Jason Klank (Saruman) and Jeffery Dobberpuhl (Wormtongue)
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