Visions Unseen

"And here in Rivendell there live still some of his chief foes: the Elven-wise, lords of the Eldar from beyond the furthest seas. They do not fear the Ringwraiths, for those who have dwelt in the Blessed Realm live at once in both worlds, and against both the Seen and the Unseen they have great power."

          ― The Fellowship of the Ring, "Many Meetings"

I've been reading the LOTR books again and this passage spoken by Gandalf caught my attention. It speaks of two worlds, the Seen (the one in which corporeal beings exist) and the Unseen (the one in which non-corporeal beings exist). Very few beings had the ability to cross between the realms--namely the Valar, Wizards (the Maiar), and the Elves who once lived in Valinor. The Ring-wraiths could also exist in both worlds simultaneously, though I'm not quite sure if the wraith-world they exist in qualifies as the Unseen. The One Ring also had the ability to draw the wearer into the wraith-world. At the very least, these realms were similar. And within the Unseen realms, the beings that freely walked them appeared differently. The spectral man-like forms of the Nazgul would be one example. The brilliant white aura manifesting itself around certain Elves like Glorfindel, which Frodo saw as he was succumbing to the Morgul-steel's curse, would be another. In Jackson's film interpretations, this aura also manifested itself around Arwen and Elrond. As interesting as this was, not much else is mentioned by Tolkien regarding the Unseen realm and it remains a largely speculative subject.

Although this outfit doesn't quite fit into the lore itself, I drew upon snippets here and there, using them as inspiration for an otherwordly appearance. After that followed pale colors. Glowing effects. Large swaths of ethereal white. All in an attempt to fuse the spectral with the corporeal...and use it as an excuse for something Halloween appropriate in Middle-earth. With the Fall Festival arriving soon, I couldn't help being in the mood!

It's obvious that I purchased the Ultimate bundle for the upcoming Minas Morgul expansion. Cosmetics have always been my weakness in LOTRO and, as I've done with every expansion, I purchased the top tier to acquire them all. And I must say the Dead City and Great Alliance sets were gorgeous, possibly the best expansion bonus clothing ever created. The Dead City cosmetics were unique in that they came with particle effects that resembled the atmopshere of Minas Morgul, which can been seen from the eastern edge of East Gondor. And as much as I love them, I don't want LOTRO to become a game filled with brightly glowing armor. These auras should be used sparingly, much like the Draigoch cloaks and the Cloak of Many Worlds were.

The same goes for the weapon auras--at least we've been given the option to disable those. Depending on how they're rolled out or what future ones look like, I may upload more here. My outfits won't be reliant on auras.

Head: Circlet of Osgiliath's Fury (Belegaer blue, reward from the Osgiliath Dome Armour box opened by a light armoured class)
Shoulders: Pauldrons of the Dead City (Belegaer blue, Minas Morgul Ultimate Bundle item)
Back: Trenarngol (Belegaer blue, drops from any non-Saruman chest in T1 Orthanc )
Chest: Chestplate of the Dead City (White, Minas Morgul Ultimate Bundle item)
Hands: Quick Gages of Mordor's Bane (Belegaer blue, bartered from the High-enchanter vendor)
Feet: Nimble Boots of Mordor's Bane (White, bartered from the High-enchanter vendor)

Weapons: Sword of the Steady Mind (Riders of Stangard reputation item) with Weapons Aura of the Dead City applied (Minas Morgul Ultimate Bundle item)