Feathered Fury

Approximately two weeks ago, LOTRO Family of Twitter hosted another delightful themed screenshot contest. This particular one revolved around cosmetic pets--not to be confused with Lore-master combat pets--earned from various festivals, deeds, and side quests. Luckily, I had a screenshot on hand that fit the criteria and submitted it, which you can either see here or before the outfit breakdown below. I've always loved the various vistas in LOTRO, taking screenshots at every opportunity. Although most of my landscape screenshots are just that, I've occasionally used my character and an emote to enhance the atmosphere. In this case, it included a raven earned from the Anniversary Festivals's Tome of the Raven, which was a royal pain to position properly.

When I took that Twitter screenshot, I hadn't quite completed this outfit. I'd actually been caught in the moment while riding my Warden across the yellowed wilderness of the Lone-lands. It was the combination of outfit colors against the landscape as sunset rapidly approached that had me stop what I'd been doing and find a suitable location. Since then, I've moved the entire finalized outfit--hair color, hair style, and skin tone too--to my lowbie Lore-master and huffed it to Ost Guruth to take the full picture set. And it's paired well with many LM pets, the Mottled-raven and Snowcrest-eagle in particular!

Even though I'm a bit late to the party, I've finally put the Shoulderguard of the Northern Skies to good use. It's been one of my cosmetic goals since the Yule Festival. In fact, I get a lot of use out of them. They're simple, they dye well, they match with a good portion of LOTRO's cosmetics, they rarely clip, and they seem to display well on every race. I've been experimenting with them so much that I've found myself exploring bird imagery by association. I haven't done that since my string of swan-themed outfits in November 2014.

I've actually retrieved some of the Dol Amroth cosmetics from storage, hoping to find new inspiration. I've collected the white-feathered Cloak of the Wise Wanderer from the Traveller's Quartermaster. I've even added the black-feathered Cloak of the Autumn Wanderer to my wardrobe. Even the Cloak of Roäc, which I currently can't afford, had me thinking of lore-based outfits! I haven't put too much thought into this yet, but there could be some wonderful possibilities coming!

Head: Fine Elven Circlet (Default, Anniversary Festival)
Shoulders: Shoulderguards of the Northern Sky (Shire peach, Yule Festival barter reward)
Back: Swan-cloak (Walnut brown, LOTRO Store)**
Chest: Soothing Waistcoat of Stonehelm (White, drops from the Grey Mountains instance cluster)***
Hands: Strong Gauntlets of the Towers (Default, bartered from the High-enchanter or Allegiance Quartermasters)
Feet: Thick Sabatons of the Towers (Default, bartered from the High-enchanter or Allegiance Quartermasters)

Main-hand: Golden Host Staff of Striking (T6 Woodworker recipe)

**Although rarely seen on the auction house, the Dwarf-steebound Lootbox has a chance to drop these. However, the obsolete Sturdy Steel Key is needed to open this.
***Also shares the same skin as the Tailor-crafted Waistcoat of Stonehelm.