Tempered and Sagacious

Material Middle-earth returns this week with another PvMP-centric appearance. Unlike December's Garrison Commander outfit, this one can be acquired, in full, without entering the Moors, but requires mithril coins to purchase. Normally, I don't post outfits that rely so heavily on real money (or ungodly luck from Hobbit Presents), but this something I love sporting on my Lore-master. And it feeds my shameless and often unsatiated love for the color purple.

Believe or not, but this is an entirely accidental outfit. Every so often, I like to reorganize and purge my character inventories, ridding my bags of duplicate or easily obtainable items. I have several alts dedicated to cosmetic storage. Two for festival cosmetics (ever since the account-bound fiasco), one for crafted items, and one for skirmish camp gear. Every now and then, I stare at the Thunder-struck Trousers, which I've had for ages, without a clue how to work them into an outfit. What I didn't realize until a couple of weeks ago, when I performed my last maintenance, was that I had the accompanying Thunder-struck Shirt. However, it was hidden on an often ignored alt, buried in bags weighed down by assorted junk. Surprise! And here I think I always know what and where my cosmetics are! And as the pictures here illustrate, they make a delightful central pairing.

Now that I've regaled everyone with this lavish battle outfit's backstory, I can make an announcement! Back in November, I posted my first outfit using a dwarven model. Dwarves will be returning two weeks from today in a large rush of outfits mostly focusing upon U23's Grey Mountains cosmetics. Not every week will feature a dwarf. I'll be alternating with my other models, that way my published content feels more balanced. I look forward to sharing them...and look forward to reading the comments!

Head: Circlet of Restoration (Purple, Ettenmoors Lore-master class vendor)**
Shoulders: Expeditionary Mantle (Purple, Mordor landscape quest reward)***
Back: Linen Cloak (Purple, T2 Tailor recipe)
Chest: Thunder-struck Shirt (Purple, Ettenmoors Rune-keeper class vendor)**
Legs: Thunder-struck Trousers (Purple, Ettenmoors Rune-keeper class vendor)**
Hands: Dunland Caretaker's Patched Bracers (Purple, Dunland quest reward)****
Feet: Westemnet Campaign Shoes of Fate (Purple, T9 Tailor recipe)

Staff: Sage's Staff (Council of the North reputation barter item)
Sword: Tollang (Bartered from the Classic skirm camp vendor under Annuminas - Treasures)

**Obtainable from Lalia's Market at the time of this entry's posting.
***Many of the Mordor quest rewards share this appearance. Skin also has a chance to drop inside the Mordor daily instances.
****Obtainable from Lalia's Market at the time of this entry's posting. Skin can also be obtained from multiple Dunland quests. Check out this RoI Cosmetic Guide from LOTRO Stylist for Dunland rewards.