Return of the Shieldmaiden

Happy Holidays!

Shoulders: Gwir-Palvais (White, Isen 3-man drop)        Chest: Wintry-Yule Robe (Forest Green, Yule Fest 2012)     Feet: Delduin (Forest Green, BG 85 remote caster drop)

This has been an absolutely wonderful holiday season on LOTRO. So wonderful, in fact, that I have a special story to share with you.

Traveler of the East Wall

Winter Series - A Light Dusting

Slayer of the Sword-Halls

Winter Series - Keeping Warm

Order of the Silver-Voice

Yule Tidings - Winter Series

Barad Guldur Armor Sets - New and Old

Courtesy of Bullroarer, I have screenshots of the new level 85 Barad Guldur armor sets available at your local skirmish camp. I found it surprising that the new end-game gear is available without any special prerequisites, such as Dark Emblems from the actual raid. They'll be sitting here alongside the 65 6-piece sets at the Classic skirmish vendor. Make sure to click each picture for an enlarged version.  With the number of pictures here, I didn't want to make this post too long. Two sections here -- the 85 and 65 armor.

Level 85 Sets

(Heavy, Medium, Light from left to right)

The latest BG armor doesn't quite feature new skins. In fact, only the coloration appears to be different. If you notice closely, provided you are already familiar with the 65 BG armor, each set is a mish-mash of the original pieces from its respective classes. A helmet from one set here, leggings from another, and so on. The heavy set is for Champ, Guards, and Cappies. The medium set is for Hunters, Wardens, and Burglars. The light set is for Minstrels, Lore-masters, and Rune-keepers. Each class does have its own statted gear though! As for the dyable portions of this armor, only the silver-grey areas can be recolored.

Each piece costs 1554 Marks and 538 Medallions

   

Cosmetic News!

This hasn't been set in stone yet, but here's some hopeful news for all you cosmetic hounds out there! Update 9, should the notes not change in the near future, will bring us a very very very special surprise:

Winter Hope - Morghann of Gladden

My, my, how long it's been since my last post. Life has kept me busy between looking for a full-time job, working part-time at 4 AM several days a week, and leveling my characters with the fantastic Rohan content. I've also been working hard at designing events for the holiday season, like a kinship Secret Santa, a horse race followed by a mounted fashion show, and kinship colors with a possible uniform to follow. It's been tough finding time to design an outfit, however I managed to find some to set aside! With Winter just around the corner and the upcoming Yule Festival (Dec 17 to Jan 2, tentatively), I thought I'd bring some holiday elegance and a short a short tale from a character of mine. Though there isn't a Christmas, Hanukkah, or Boxing Day in Middle-Earth, the upcoming season is still a reminder to come together, show kindness, and be merry :)

Autumn Series - Spirit of Lasse-lanta

Musical Series - Joyous Bagpiper

Autumn Series - Earthen Elegance

Autumn Series - Apple Harvesting

Rohan Cosmetics - The Ups and Downs

Twilight Sentinel - Aldebaraan of Gladden

Autumn Series - Harvest Spirit

Halloween Costume Collection - Triple Feature

It's that wonderful time of year again. Black cats, bubbling cauldrons, sticky cobwebs...and all sorts of little tricks among the treats. I am actually holding a kinship Halloween Costume Contest this season for Turning of the Tide. I've given them the task of creating either something scary or finding an ingenious way to dress like a character from LOTR lore. The submission deadline will be October 26, after which the players will be able to vote for the top 3 outfits until November 2. I'll be revealing the winners on November 3, each receiving a prize for their efforts. I'll be posting all the outfits submitted on my blog : ) If I knew I was going to judge a server event sooner, I might have opened this up to everybody!

In an attempt to inspire kinnies to create the best outfits they can create, I'll post some of my ideas here. I've opted to move towards the scary and away from the lore for now. I might post a few lore-based outfits in a couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Black Pyromancer

Gladden Server Fashion Event

Greetings, readers, fashionistas, and cosmetic bloggers! I've come here today to tell you of the upcoming server event Rippling Manes and Tailfeathers, hosted by Rangers of the West, in honor of the upcoming expansion release. Ely of Pony Lovers Anonymous and myself have been given the honor of being the judges for the fabulous fashion contest. Join us on the Gladden server if you can for an afternoon of fun!

The War-forged Defender - Aerthain of Gladden

Meluinen Defender - Emeridir of Gladden

Nature's Solitude - Lanael of Gladden

Harvestmath Festival 2012

Talk about out of the blue, the Harvestmath Festival started today!I love festivals with new clothing, but there was no advance notice, no warning for this one...except for a random mailing around 9 AM this morning announcing its start. I was honestly expecting a break between festival-like events, after all the Treasure Hunt and International Talk Like A Pirate Week only ended this morning at 3 AM EST. Anyway, many of the goodies have returned from previous years, plus some new additions for clothing, cloaks, hats, and handheld items. I'll have the cost and name of each fantastic item listed below for your convenience from left to right for each picture set. Enjoy!

Also, if you are interested in seeing how some of these dye, check out Hymne's latest post on Cosmetic LOTRO!

Clothing and Cloaks 

Inspiration - The Valkyrie

Tundra Wanderer - Aerthain of Gladden

A Midnight Snack - Asphodella of Gladden

"'I know,' said Frodo. 'But all the same,' he added with a shamefaced laugh, 'I am terrified of him and his dogs. I have avoided his farm for years and years. He caught me several times trespassing after mushrooms, when I was a youngster at Brandy Hall. On the last occasion he beat me, and then took me and showed me to his dogs. "See, lads," he said, "next time this young varmint sets foot on my land, you can eat him. Now see him off!" They chased me all the way to the Ferry. I have never got over the fright – though I daresay the beasts knew their business and would not really have touched me.'"

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, "A Shortcut to Mushrooms"

Nenuial Knight - Aerthain of Gladden

Scholar of the Isen - Faewynn of Gladden

I'm back today, with a bit of lore and a brand new blog design! It took a while making that banner, as I'm still not quite used to using Paint Shop Pro (though I have experience with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop) and all the little funky things you can do with the program. Two to three hours later, I had something that I was satisfied with, and given the upcoming expansion, I moved towards a Rohan theme of golds, whites, and greens. I hope you enjoy it! And without further ado, here's my next cosmetic entry : )

Elegant Farmer - Asphodella of Gladden

I must admit, it's been wonderful taking a break from the game, for the most part. All I've really been doing is running Inn League dailies to stockpile Summer Festival Tokens for cosmetics and mounts. There's not much more to do on LOTRO right now other than work on costumes since the Rohan Expansion got pushed back to October 15th, I believe. Even then, I've been feeling pretty burned out playing the game. I'm strongly considering taking a break from grinding and questing until the expansion's release. Instead, I'll use that time to create and line up some new outfits for the blogging community to view! Speaking of new outfits, I hope you enjoy this simple one : )

Reviving an Old Frock - Nathrien on Bullroarer

Now that the NDA has been revoked, I can post this amazing War-steed and old school Annuminas-based outfit combination. Gotta love the perks from Beta, especially when it comes to daily allowance for skirm marks and medallions...I would never be able to afford this on the live servers, as I never seem to have them in abundance. So I went to town on retro-gear I normally couldn't get my greedy little hands on! Even though the outfit you'll see isn't entirely original, I feel I should spotlight it.

This will probably be my only mount-centric post, as I'm focusing on player cosmetics. If you love horses, especially these, I'd suggest keeping an eye on my friend Ely's site Pony Lovers Anonymous. You'll see some astonishing mounts with matching outfits!

Lithe Festival 2012

The Summer Festival is BACK! I wasn't around last year for this festival, so all these cosmetics are new to me. However, I've done some poking around to see what's actually new. Basically, it's all the green pieces in the following pictures. To start collect these fabulous pieces, use the festival horse at the Michel Delving stable and then talk to the race master, Dodder Twofoot. Unfortunately, the festival tickets are bound on acquire again, which means no stacking all of them on one toon. It sure made it easier to collect the needed tokens for the Farmer's Faire...anyway, enjoy these cosmetics!

From left to right, we have the following:

1) Summerdays Tunic and Trousers (18 tokens)

2) Summerdays Dress (18 tokens)

3) Summerdays Hooded Cloak (15 tokens)

4) Summerdays Cloak (15 tokens)

If you love several shades of green, then you'll have to don these during your adventures across Middle-Earth! I can't believe how beautiful the tunic and dress look. The designers did a wonderful job keeping the pieces steamlined and ever so subtly detailed. Even the cloaks look wonderful :) If you dye these pieces, only the white portions will change. And I must say almost all the colors work with these pieces! Personally, I love what burgundy and rust do to these.

Riders of Rohan - Cosmetic Preview

Yes! *does a happy dance* The NDA has been lifted from the Riders of Rohan Beta! Which means...

It's time to unveil a sampling of the cosmetics (some shields included) from the RoR Expansion to whet your appetites! I spent a few dedicated days collecting the recipes for these sets. They do look lovely for the most part, though it seems some of the pieces have a black base for their color, which will make for some creative mixing and matching. Some pieces are also undyable, most likely due to missing codes. If it changes, that'll be when the expansion goes live. I hope you enjoy what's featured here! There will be no more chitchat from me...just an onslaught of pictures :D

Bear in mind that the names of the armor may not be set in stone just yet! I'll make notes if they do change...and I'll add more screenies if I have the chance to spend more time in the Beta :)

If you're interested in seeing some beautiful pics and outfits for the War-steeds, please check out Hymne's post on Cosmetic LOTRO!

Crafted Light Armor

Early Cosmetic Adventure - Cirilyn of Gladden

Defender of the Greenwood - Aldebaraan of Gladden

Grace of the Golden Wood - Nathrien of Gladden

For those of you that don't know, the Perseid Meteor Shower is at its peak this weekend, which means I won't be around to make new costumes or barter for new cosmetics like I do every weekend. I'll be venturing out into the boonies of Connecticut for a crystal clear night sky. I had this post scheduled for Sunday, but since I'll be away, I'll post this early for all of you! Enjoy : )

Blog Layout Changes?

I wish it dawned on me that not all monitors can view this blog like mine can. I was on two different computers this afternoon and each one had to scroll left and right to view the entirety of a blog post.  Therefore, I will be slightly altering the layout of Material Middle-Earth to make viewing easier.

I'm thinking of doing the following:

• Smaller pictures, but keeping to 3-4 seperated images per post in a vertical fashion
• Going back and either breaking down the pics in previous posts to accomodate the previous idea OR just shrinking the display size on the blog. I believe you can click the smaller photos to see the original size one in a powerpoint-like style. (EDIT: And yes, this does work...yay!)
• Arranging the gadgets to be on boths sides of the posts that way one side of the screen isn't overwhelmed with everything. Trying to make this more navigation friendly.
• New color scheme and possibly a new banner for the blog. The pictures here seem to be brighter than expected, so a brighter theme may be in order.

For those of you who view this, feel free to chime in with suggestions or comments : ) I'll start working on this sometime next week!

Thank you for the feedback so far!

Fleetfooted Defender - Cirilyn of Gladden

Roaming Captain - Morghann of Gladden

(Retro Twitter feature on 11/25/14)

Keeper of Precepts - Faewynn of Gladden

Farmers Faire 2012

As some of you have noticed logging in today, you received a new invitation notice. Guess what that means? It's festival time!!! That's right, LOTRO is having its first, and hopefully annual, Farmers Faire. Get yourself ready to eat, drink, and be merry like a Hobbit! Pies and produce gallore, running errands all over the Shire...and all for some nifty looking cosmetics! To make it easier to sort out the new goodies, I'll be breaking this down by category for you:

Headwear:

Like the Harvest Festival every passing autumn, the Farmers Faire features a selection of masks. This time around, we've got some wonderful animal themed pieces. Also, this festival is featuring a new hat and circlet for you...and I must say that I thought the Simbelmyne Circlet from the Spring Festival was bright and colorful! I may have just found a new favorite cosmetic piece <3

1) Farmer's Fancy Wide-brimmed Hat (45 Tokens)

2) Chicken Mask (55 Tokens)

3) Donkey Mask (55 Tokens)

4) Duckling Mask (55 Tokens)

5) Pig Mask (55 Tokens)

6) Sheep Mask (55 Tokens)

7) Circlet of Fresh Picked Flowers (35 Tokens)

Infiltrator of Angmar - Lanael of Gladden

House of Ladvarian

Yay! The first player home to be featured here! I'm not exactly sure how to devise a story or narration for a house, so I'll walk you through the impressions I had while poking around the rooms.

I was strolling around the Bree-land Homesteads when I came upon this house. It's open to the public for viewing and the decorations all have public permissions for use. For those of you who'd like to visit it, the address is 6 Long Street, Wethwall, Bree-land Homesteads. I was enticed by the atmosphere of this house. The moment you walk in, you are exposed to some powerful yet foreboding music. I believe the tune is the Snowy Peaks theme from the Lothlorien branch vendors.

Apparel Dummies - Good Idea or Bad Idea?

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, but life and leveling my hunter to 75 has temporarily prevented me from working on this blog. With some upcoming downtime, which will last until Rohan is released, I can spend more time posting here. I promise to bring some homesteads pictures in the near future! : D

Anyway, I logged on today only to notice these apparel dummies sitting in Michel Delving. Naturally, I though that each town might have different cosmetic sets to offer. I ported to at least seven or eight different areas to discover that the same four dummies at every location. I don't know if this is only a taste of what's to come from the LOTRO Store or if this is all they'll ever offer. But is it worth investing in these cosmetic bundles?

Sword Maiden of the Folde - Satella of Gladden

Woodland Spirit - Emeridir of Gladden

Moonlight Mage - Faewynn of Gladden

Riders of Rohan - Eastemnet Pre-Order Items

For a while, I've known that I was going to purchase the Riders of Rohan pre-order package. I assumed there would be special mounts and/or cosmetic items, like every previous expansion. What kind of items and how'd they look, I had no idea...until now. To recieve all the cosmetics, you need to buy the Legendary Edition. The Heroic Edition only contains the Hauberk and steed:

Everything cosmetic related:

The Steed of the Eastemnet

An exclusive Rohirrim Mount available immediately with matching War-steed appearance available when Riders of Rohan launches

Armour of the Eastemnet

An exclusive full set of Rohirrim cosmetic armour

6th Inventory Bag

An inventory bag that grants 15 additional storage slots (More space to hold cosmetics!)

For those of you interested in seeing what each package has in terms of the non-cosmetic features and a comparison breakdown, please visit Riders of Rohan pre-order site for details. Make sure to click the Compare Editions button!

 The Steed of the Eastemnet

For a while, I've wanted an armoured mount. Honestly, I've been too lazy to grind out those Orthanc sigils for the Isengard War-Steed. I'd have to say that this mount looks awesome. Riding into combat on the war-steed version when Rohan is active will going to provide an epicness no other mount has been able to deliver! Congrats to the person that designed the barding for this exclusive steed! Sadly, there's only one skin for this steed...unlike Rise of Isengard, you don't have three skins to choose from.

Maybe we can petition Turbine to add weapons to the mount as well!

Springtime Balladeer - Nathrien of Gladden

It's been a while since I've posted here. Life has gotten hectic the past month...between looking for a new job and spending time with family, I haven't had much time to spend on LOTRO with cosmetics. Luckily, the start of the Spring Festival coincided with the revival of my cosmetic ventures. It's not very often you see floral designs in a game like this. Usually, I see players running around Middle-Earth in armor, leathers, and various arrangements of end game gear. When I saw the new festival cosmetics, I could only imagine how perfect my mini, Nathrien, would look displaying them.