The Astronomer

From Of the Coming of the Elves, in The Silmarillion:

“Then Varda went forth from the council, and she looked out from the height of Taniquetil, and beheld the darkness of Middle-earth beneath the innumerable stars, faint and far.  Then she began a great labour, greatest of all the works of the Valar since their coming into Arda.  She took the silver dews from the vats of Telperion, and therewith she made new stars and brighter against the coming of the Firstborn…”

This Elf is a watcher of the skies, a scholar of those stars made so long ago from Telperion’s immeasurable light and set in their patterns far above.  He wears the rich, dark brown of earth and the cool, dark blue of the night sky.  The Tactical Eastemnet Campaign Robe and the cloak Ceremonial Wig-feld are joined by the Pristine Elven Shoulder Guards, the Ceremonial Spear-shaker’s Gauntlets, and the Fine Elven Circlet.

Title Week: Eye in the Storm

For the last installment of Title Week, Ivy and I decided to change it up a little by choosing just ONE of the new class titles, unbeknownst to each other.  And for whatever reason, I decided to eschew all the titles earned by my 75s and choose instead one of the titles from my relatively wee Rune-keeper.

“Eye in the Storm” is the title earned after completing the level 15 Rune-keeper class quest, and should not be confused with the “Eye OF the Storm” Champion trait.   I thought a lot about how to portray this.  The obvious implication of “IN” the storm is that the Rune-keeper is right there, tossing weather to and fro.  And however you feel about RKs in the game vis-a-vis lore, that is sort of the visual shtick.

And then it got all wrapped up in storms and birds and flight and lightning, and that’s how I ended up with the rather strange combo of the Raven Festival Mask/Cloak of the Raven with the Shoulders of the Stone-student and the Gown of Autumn Nights.  The gown’s the wild card, but I can’t help but think of the motifs at waist and hem and cuffs to be lightning, rather than thorns.  The grey piping on the gown ties it back in with the metallic and grey elements on shoulders, mask, and cloak.

The Honor Guard

Okay, this is purely fanciful.

I like armour to look fairly realistic and ready for battle.  I don’t usually go for the armour sets in which it looks like your toon would impale her ear if she tilted her head sideways, or like your warrior Elf would have to watch out to not trip over his own boot-spikes.  I like realism.

But then I found a fantastic deal on a stack of rose dye on the Auction House and started fiddling, and…well.  Call this ceremonial armour in the truest sense, perhaps.  Call this the honor guard of a place or person of great importance to the Elves of Celondim, more like a living banner than a warrior about to cross swords with Orc or goblin.

The outfit is a very simple one: the Sellsword’s crafted armour set (which appears under other names as well), as well as the Symbelmynë circlet and cloak. The armour is all dyed rose; the Symbelmynë items are dyed gold for contrast. I’m especially pleased how adding gold dye to the circlet gives it such a different look.

Into the West

So what do you think of the new apparel dummies introduced in yesterday’s patch?

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The first character I made in LOTRO was an Elf.  And the first thing I did after she got out of the starter instance (okay, the VERY first thing I did was burst into tears because it was Middle! Earth!) was to jump off the docks in Celondim and swim for the white ship just out of player range.  Have you ever tried it?

Seen on the Streets: Vedrana Mistari

By the way, I am happy to take reader submissions!  If you have an outfit you’d like my small but choice readership to see, please click the “Say ‘Friend’ and Submit Something” tab above to get in touch with me.

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I saw Vedrana, a rune-keeper of the kinship The Hidden, standing at the vault.  I was struck by her use of the fairly ubiquitous Long-sleeved Elven Dress.  Remember when that was it for pretty dresses in game (unless you are super into yellow bows)?

She gave an old item new life in a vibrant color by adding the Shoulders of the Ancient Tongue and the Ceremonial Cloak of the West-tower.  I am not usually a fan of dresses paired with harder armour items, but this example fascinated me.  I think the blue is gorgeous with Vedrana’s pale skin, and I admire how she’s dyed her RK satchel to match.

She looks operatic in this one!

Somehow I managed to capture what I think an Elf would look like juuuuust before sneezing. If Elves sneeze. They’re durable sorts — I’m doubting hayfever would knock them flat.

Cloooooak.

If you have any questions or comments for Vedrana, please leave them below.  Thank you, Vedrana!

Seen on the Streets: Master Guardsman Kerdeth Alagos

So, I usually end up taking screenshots of roleplayers.  They’re my tribe, and I know many of them, and they tend to put obsessive amounts of creativity and effort into their outfits.

Well, color me chagrined, because after today, I’m going to start hanging out in the (safe) parts of the (no, really, the safe bits) Ettenmoors.  Not that roleplayers don’t also PvMP, don’t hurt me!  I’ve just never tried it beyond dying six times on a warg in as many minutes, so I have no real conception of it.  Anyone want to take a warden/minstrel/champ/hunter out into the ‘Moors to see how it all works?  *puppy eyes*

I saw Kerdeth racing through Bree-town and basically followed after like an Elf-groupie.  He was more than a little surprised that I wanted to turn him into a fashion post, instead of just die at his hands by fire or lightning.  But he graciously allowed me to take several screenshots, with only this fairly PvMPish sort of sentiment:  “Don’t copy my outfit or I’ll track you down!”

Sir, yes sir!

His outfit is based around the Breastplate of the Enforcer (and here’s another gorgeous example of the item’s use, by Cosmetic Lotro), supplemented by the Malledhrim Pauldrons and Boots of the Enlightened and the Elf-lord’s Cloak.  The combination of stark black, silver, and icy blue is a chilling one, and one that made me think of lightning cutting a jagged trail across a darkened sky.

Last screenshot! I promise! DON’T FRY ME!

If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in the comments!  Thank you, Kerdeth!

Seen on the Streets: Findolin the Shadow-hunter

Character:  Findolin
Class:  Warden

Findolin Daefaron is a Silvan elf of Eryn Galen, now called Mirkwood in its darkest years.  He has fought ceaselessly against the foul creatures that plague the forest, remaining when many of his kind have instead fled for their peaceful Western isle.  Findolin’s colors are those of Shadow Hunters like himself.

I saw Findolin standing in the AH and was struck by the elegant simplicity of the outfit, as well as the combination of a few blue hues and black.  Once he explained his in-character concept, I could see how the colors I admired fit well with the concept of fighting from the shadows of his murky home forests.

They make them dreamy in Mirkwood!

So! Many! Questions! from! the! blogger!

A Shadow Hunter of Mirkwood in his formal attire.

As always, if you have any questions or comments for Findolin, feel free to post them below!

Wedding Bells

This is a purely self-indulgent post:  I’m getting married in a couple of weeks, and I started thinking, “Ooh, LOTRO brides!”  None of these are wearing white, but hey.  Neither am I.

I’m a roleplayer, and many of my characters over time have gotten married (though not many in-game; that’s a wall of emotes that I usually can’t manage).  What did your characters wear, if they took the plunge on-screen?

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From The Return of the King (as are all quoted passages in italics in this post):

Then the King welcomed his guests, and they alighted; and Elrond surrendered his sceptre, and laid the hand of his daughter in the hand of the King, and together they went up into the High City, and all the stars flowered in the sky.  And Aragorn the King Elessar wedded Arwen Undómiel in the City of the Kings upon the day of Midsummer, and the tale of their long waiting and labours was come to fulfillment.

An Elf-maid awaits her chosen love, after a year’s betrothal and many decades of courting.

Looking toward the dawn, and her future.

…Sam Gamgee married Rose Cotton in the Spring of 1420 (which was also famous for its weddings), and they came and lived at Bag End.  And if Sam thought himself lucky, Frodo knew that he was more lucky himself; for there was not a hobbit in the Shire that was looked after with such care.

The pies go THERE. The cakes THERE. The roasts over THERE.

CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG.

At the last when the feast drew to an end Éomer arose and said:  ‘Now this is the funeral feast of Théoden the King; but I will speak ere we go of tidings of joy, for he would not grudge that I would do so, since he was ever a father to Éowyn my sister.  Hear then all my guests, fair folk of many realms, such have never before been gathered in this hall!  Faramir, Steward of Gondor, and Prince of Ithilien, asks that Éowyn Lady of Rohan should be his wife, and she grants it full willing.  Therefore they shall be trothplighted before you all.’

The Men return from their battles.

A lady of the tall grasses.

Leave a comment if you’d like to know any particular pieces.  And one additional comment:  mood_happy as an emote?  It’s half sweet (as an expression) and half OMG HIDE THE KNIVES.

Tomorrow:  a Woman of Angmar, as Seen on the Streets.

Troublesome Items I: Long Elven Robe

Some cosmetic items just make me scratch my head.  Every once in a while, I’ll post one of these conundrums and ask you what you would do with them, after providing a couple of examples of my own coping mechanisms.

First up is the Long Elven Robe, a brightly hued robe purchased (if you dare!) from the outfitter in Celondim.  In its undyed state, the robe is knee-length, white, with neon green flowers and an unfortunate wide band across the rear end, as well as a sea blue under-robe and a violet layer beneath that.  Plus a violet belt with a center detail.  It is, in brief, a whole lotta look.

To make matters more challenging, dye only changes the underlying white of the over-robe, meaning that you’re stuck with the neon green, the sea blue, and the violet no matter what.

First idea:  Embrace the madness.

You want color?  We’ll give you color!  Don’t make me turn this swan-boat around!  This isn’t really that colorful, but I liked the neckline where purple, red, green, and blue all collided.

Yeah, I'm wearing a gold day pack. What's your problem?

Just get it off me already. We like to blend with nature, not shout at it. SIGH.

Second idea:  Bring it down a notch.

Sea blue dye on the robe makes it far less garish, and a plain cloak and plain quilted shoulder pads of the same color bring down the visual chaos quite a bit.  Simple shoes dyed Rivendell green blend with the leggings to keep it sleek.  It isn’t a dramatically different look than the one above; I just can’t go full-out crazysauce.  This one does hide the strange horizontal butt-panel, though, and I think that’s a big improvement.

I get to wear a circlet here. I dig circlets.

I would like to change into some green flowing thing made out of leaves now, please.

Finally, lest you think Hithien always looks this way, here she is in her normal guise:

This is me when I'm not a rodeo clown.

Here’s another option with the robe, by the talented Starry Mantle:  Elven-wise.  Maybe everyone likes this thing, and the conundrum bit is just me!

That said, now it’s your turn!  What would you do?  Links to your blog, or links to flickr or photoshop are just fine.  Help all of us with this Troublesome Item!