“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.

Even in the day, there is much to contemplate, and records to make of the evening before.

Thank you as always for your patience with my absences; I’m still getting over my OMG LUNG ICK of this past month, and work in high-end retail in November.  Fun times!  But I am continuing to update sporadically, and still care a whole lot about this blog and all of you.

*cough*

Back to cosmetics!  I’ve finally fallen for a piece of Rohan armour:  the crafted Eastemnet War Armour.  Unfortunately, a lot of the armour released so far with the expansion looks just a little odd on female toons (methinks).  Top-heavy, bulky.  But the War Armour has a grace to it, and an elegance that suits my female warriors well.  I grabbed the restrained Rohan quest reward Cillan’s Thanks as shoulders, as well as typical Rohirrim quest rewards Wardglofas as gauntlets and the Muddy Rohirric Boots.

The weather in-game this morning matches what’s outside my window:  thin sunlight, drizzly rain.  I love fall days like this.  Enjoy!

NB: The mead-hall at Eaworth is significantly darker than what I’ve shown here, because it is an emo place.

The little story this screenshot tells me is “Ealwiga said to the Rohirrim, ‘Hey, look over there! Is that an orc?’ He swiveled his head to look, and Ealwiga stole his lunch.”

That said…omg, I love mounted combat and racing over the plains and the music and the epic and and and… *breathes into paper bag*  The landscapes are stunning.  The sound effect of the wind moving across the grasses is just fantastic.  The sky!  Have you looked up at the sky?

I do have a couple of questions that maybe my readership is puzzling over as well.  Or, you’ll know the answers and look at me funny, either way.  First, has anyone seen a mechanic outside questing (at this time) to raise the various Rohan reputations?  I haven’t.  That said, has anyone seen any reputation reward vendors?  I haven’t.  Perhaps that’s coming into the game later; I’m just curious (and still only 80, so there you go).

I am still putting together cosmetics ideas — things are pretty limited right now, and after trying three pairs of low shoes and still having clipping issues with the Tactical Eastemnet Campaign Robe, I am going back to destroying things on horseback and listening to cinematic music.

My Tolkien journey is a very easy one to describe.  I discovered the books when I was young, and then I wanted to be Éowyn.

‘Look!’ [Gandalf] cried, and they lifted their tired eyes.  Before them stood the mountains of the South:  white-tipped and streaked with black.  The grass-lands rolled against the hills that clustered at their feet, and flowed  up into many valleys still dim and dark, untouched by the light of dawn, winding their way into the heart of the great mountains.  Immediately before the travellers the widest of these glens opened like a long gulf among the hills.  Far inward they glimpsed a tumbled mountain-mass with one tall peak; at the mouth of the vale there stood like a sentinel a lonely height.  About its feet there flowed, as a thread of silver, the stream that issued from the dale; upon its brow they caught, still far away, a glint in the rising sun, a glimmer of gold.

I was never very good at the demands made on little girls (and this was in the 70s and 80s) to be good, pure angels, compliant and pretty and sweet.  Not that I was a little hellion, far from it.  I tried very hard to make everyone like me, and to be what my teachers and parents and parish priests and all the rest wanted.

And in the meantime, in my imagination, I slayed the Witch-king.  Faramir loved me.  And even though I refused a cage, I finally accepted a garden.  I tip my cap to Miranda Otto for her characterization in the movies; I think she really captured Éowyn’s pride and longing.  Her desperation was palpable.  It hurt.

…Grave and thoughtful was her glance, as she looked on the king with cool pity in her eyes.  Very fair was her face, and her long hair was like a river of gold.  Slender and tall she was in her white robe gilt with silver; but strong she seemed and stern as steel, a daughter of kings.  Thus Aragorn for the first time in the full light of day beheld Éowyn, lady of Rohan, and thought her fair, fair and cold, like a morning of pale spring that is not yet come to womanhood.

I was a girl who wanted more than to be decorative, not that my looks were up to the task.  I was a girl who wanted to achieve as much as I could, not just as much as was expected.  I was a girl who wanted to be free.  Just like Éowyn.  And I know we don’t have Meduseld in the game yet, but when I crossed the bridge south from Great River into Rohan, the music swelled and I burst into tears.  And I don’t have any problem admitting that.

Maybe I’m just obsessed with autumn (this is true), and therefore, the Cloak of the Autumn Wood pops into my consciousness over and over.  This sounds so whiny-pants, but I’m getting very tired of this perfect California weather every single day.  I want autumn’s wind and bluster.  I want rain.  So forgive my outfit redux, but I just want a little bit of changing leaves and Halloween and dismal morning rain already.

*deep breath*

The majority of this outfit is the Ceremonial Spear-shaker’s set.  Add to that the gorgeous Harvest-brew Circlet (which thankfully isn’t just a chain of pretzels), and to my autumn-addled brain, you get an outfit of brown leathers and olive accents, of an autumn spirit that wanders the colorful woods like a Goldberry keeps to her rivers.

I had a moment of “ah crap, ARE those pretzels?” But they aren’t.

Wandering the woods with his familiar, a stag of great strength.

The traveling merchant owns a wagon of delights, from bolts of dyed cloth to wrought tools and exotic goods from lands most Bree-men will never visit.  With a grin and a wink, he sells and haggles.  His Craftsman’s Robe has a dozen pockets, all containing some small delight for matron or child, whether a hair-ribbon, a bone button, or a little dragon carved from wood.  He passes through remote hamlets maybe once a year.  Maybe every two years, if weather and the roads have been hard.  Whenever his painted wagon begins to rumble up the rutted road, townsfolk gather to see what tales the traveling man might bring.

Aren’t these shoulders fantastic? I love how they brought some flash and polish to an otherwise plain robe.

One of the challenges with the Craftsman’s Robe is the slight purplish tinge to the shirt that shows from elbow to wrist. I decided to embrace that rather than fight it, and dyed the Cloak of the Grey Company burgundy to enhance the robe’s cooler tones.

And the merchant makes a sale! Adso is obviously low on materials.

SO.

Autumn is more than crackling fires and bright foliage and turkey and brilliant blue skies.  The season carries along a sort of melancholy when rains begin, when flowers fade.  At some point late in October, early in November, you realize that all those bright leaves are gone, and you’re left with sticks and contemplation and Christmas shopping for a while.

That said, I went with a rainy, melancholy sort of feel today, the sort that has you standing on the porch on clothes a bit too summery for the season and sighing at the rain.  The stars of this very simple show are the reputation-earned Long-sleeved Elven Dress and the Embroidered Mantle of the Dunland Healer, both in navy, along with the Dunland Caretaker’s Cloak in grey.  The Fine Elven Circlet decorates her brow, but summer’s revels are over, and Yulemath is months away.

A dreary day awaits, and Suleth is not yet ready to say farewell to summer.

Running for shelter, in a gown and shoes that are unsuitable for the job.

Waiting for a break in the storm.

Shaking off the rain, dog-style.

The dark skies outside and the merry fire inside create an odd play of shadows over those who take refuge from the storm.

Is it letting up a little bit, in the east? Just a little?

So here are a few of the gauntlets that I default to, time and time again.  How about you?

The Gloves of the Eorlingas and its identical items in the other Rise of Isengard pre-order armour sets are fantastic items for Rohirrim characters, and given that I am ALL ABOUT ROHAN, I use them a lot.  I love how the one gauntlet is fingerless and has its white-horse motif.  They’re fantastic gauntlets that can be used with a lot more than just the outfit of which they’re a part.

The Fingerless Gloves are a Yule reward for if you help out the poor.  They’re awesome.  They dye very dark, so keep that in mind, but they’re great for simple laborer or craftsman characters, and I use them all the time.

The Fine Grey Company Gauntlets please me for their …Numenoreanness (that’s a new word for sure), just as much as the Eorlingas ones please me for their …Rohanness.  I adore the small star motif, and how battle-roughened this piece looks.

Dreng-folme, man.  I love the Dreng-folme gauntlets.  I’ve shown the outfit below before (in my mind, it’s called “The Hauberk with the Oliphaunt on It”), and I still love it.  The gauntlets have a unique banded effect, and again look like they’ve been used and weathered over time.

So how do you Yule-fest-goers feel about those rich?  If you’re a fan, you’ll end up with the Extravagant Festival Gloves.  They dye in a deep, saturated way, they have a red gem-like detail and a small gold band at the wrist; they’re just great.  I tend to use them for higher-style outfits that still allow gloves.

Finally for now, I really like the crafted Vibrant Calenard Battle Gauntlets.  The circle and sunburst sort of motif really pleases me, and the gauntlets have the heft of plate.

First up is the Robe of Viisaus, though I have to make a caveat here:  I think it looks so much better undyed.  When it’s dyed, it takes on a nearly monochromatic appearance, and that doesn’t do much for me.  I like high contrast.  Also, happy (belated) Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday!  Alerac, our model, is simultaneously fascinated by the infamous Baggins’ adventures and rather glad to be a home-loving, well-rooted sort of fellow.

Try to ignore that he’s surrounded by tools and/or torture devices.

I’ve recently highlighted the Great Hoary Aurochs Robe; rest assured, I love it.  No pic here, but click the link.

The Lawgiver’s Robe (available in the LOTRO Store) pleases me somehow:  it has such a stern, upright look to it, and I’ve used it several times for characters who are on the solemn, formal side.

Formality is also well-served by the lovely Yule-fest deed reward, the Frostbluff Robe of Thanks.  Rich colors suit it well.  It’s less Victorian than some of the other Yule rewards, which pleases me.  I am not a fan of Dickens in my Tolkien.

One of my favorite robes in the game, in front of my hands-down, absolute favorite wallpaper in the game.

I adore the (Ceremonial) Robe of the Learned.  The details are stunning, the dyes rich.  It’s just gorgeous.

Isn’t the knotwork on the back of the robe gorgeous?

And finally, at least for this post, I’d love to highlight the Ferrier’s Robe (available in the LOTRO store).  It’s a great, medieval-looking item that suits my Rohirrim characters well.  I also like that it looks good (for shapeless big robe definitions of “good”) on both male and female toons.

Did I leave the hearth on?

So what are your favorite robes?

May I note, as a cosmetics blogger, that whenever I have a super-awesome idea and log in to show it off, the game is invariably in nighttime mode.

First up is the Jacket of the Shade-finder, a chest-piece with fantastic detail and gorgeous use of dye.

Awww, yeah.

The Traveller’s Hood (purchased from the LOTRO Store) is a headpiece that adds a lot of utility to hoodless cloaks, and offers a lurk-in-the-corners sort of sensibility without looking like a Dire Smurf or leveling straight through much of Volume III of the Epic Story.

The Tattered Robe of the Dunland Sage and its variants just thrill me.  It’s a long, duster-style coat over a shirt and long trousers.  It dyes well, your shoes are visible, and it has a modest, practical appeal.  NB:  on male toons, the sleeves suddenly shrink to being elbow-length, and that can be a bit strange-looking.

My next choice is a two-fer, one of my favorite cloaks (the Hooded Cloak of the Dove) over the lovely and subtle Exquisite Elven Dress.  Not only do I think the two look fantastic together; they also have an ethereal “fantasy” sort of quality that I just adore.

Next time, the Robes Edition, to make up for leaving them out of last week’s poll.  WHOOPS.