Winter's Wings

Another year has come and gone in LOTRO. The Yule Festival's here (running from December 12, 2019 to Janurary 8, 2020) and it's a time of year marked by mirth and warmth, celebration, charitable acts, and the comfort of friends and family. Keep an eye on global channels, the forums, and social media for special seasonal events! Secret Santas and kinship parties are very popular through New Years. This is when I temporarily slow down with Material Middle-earth, as there are a variety of events to enjoy!

With the start of Yule Festival, I also break out the cold weather outfits. This latest appearance uses two of the Ice Flower skins, available at Frostbluff for the first time. They're a delightful reskin, and a more universal one in my opinion, of the Fall Festival's Autumn Traveller cosmetics. With a larger variety of color, they boast a greater flexibility and are easier to mix with other sets. And this year, I made another warm and feathered appearance suited to adventuring in inclement and often snowy regions, drawing on skins from various regions of Middle-earth.

Bundled Expeditionary

Thankfully, having drafted several blog entries is a blessing in disguise. LOTRO's move to the new data center on Monday, January 11th, has made it near impossible for me to play the game. I've experienced, along with friends, long stretches of lag, with latency as high as 1200 ms and loss reaching an upwards of 15% nearly every night this week. Until something gets done, particularly the hotfix Frelorn casually mentioned on the forums late Monday night, I won't be able to play. I'll stop in and try again sometime next week, when I have my next chance to play. If anything good came of this week, it was being able to snag the new Yule Festival cosmetics before my client crashed.

Northern Lights - Faewynn of Gladden

This week's cold weather outfit was inspired by a bit of lore and a casual nighttime stroll through Forochel for some Lossoth recipes. Did you know that Forochel (or properly known as the Ice Bay of Forochel) is only the southernmost fragment of the land once known as Forodwaith? This region was once the great frozen expanse north of the Iron Mountains in the First Age. The land itself was unnaturally frigid, due to its closeness to the Gap of Ilmen, where the moon disappeared as it traveled around the world, the Helcaraxë, the icy waste connecting Aman and Middle-earth, and the evil cold generated by Melkor himself. At the end of the First Age, the War of Wrath occurred (the final battle between the Valar and Melkor) and the world shattered. Beleriand sunk into the sea along with most of the Iron Mountains and Forodwaith. However, Melkor's cold lingered well after the war.

Sometimes it's nice to learn about the history of a region!

Midnight Chill - Nathrien of Gladden

Today kicks off the first outfit featured in this year's Winter Series. Versus doing something in a traditional blue and white theme, I've decided to try something new and experiment with skins that have gone unused in the two to three years they've been in storage. The first being the Battered Dunlending Chestguard (or any the Dunland pieces sharing this skin), which features a chain mail undergarment covered with a fur-lined coat, topped off with a strap-laden leather jerkin. Until this post, I've never been able to match it very well with anything else. The second piece, the Yule Hoodless Cloak, displaying a blizzard-like pattern and a highly unique white trim with a difficult to match silvery sheen. This sheen is only found in this cloak and often stands out in any outfit, even at a distance. If it were a pure white, I'd have used it a very long time ago.

Here's winter for you...in a sleek, efficient, combat-oriented style!

Simple Fashion - Robe Ideas

The latest installment of my "Simple Fashion" series focuses on three robes. Robes, unlike some tunics, won't use up your hands and feet slots, which allows for better outfit customization. You'll find styles ranging from the simple to the elaborate as well as the seasonal to the year-round. When working with robes, it's always a good idea to keep your race and gender in mind, as these will most likely dominate your outfit. Certain areas look broader or even somewhat stretched. Specific skins, the pre-Moria styled ones and a couple of recent additions, will look significantly different on one gender. These effects can range from having a closed or open lower hem and varying lengths (i.e. floor length robes on males could be knee high on females). It can be challenging at times, but this category of fashion can be rewarding!

Before I get to the outfits themselves, a few weeks ago Ellishul of The Elven Tailor migrated to The Elven Adventurer on Tumblr. If you have an account with that networking site, drop by and show her some wonderful support! Even if you're not with Tumblr, she's making some fantastic posts that you don't want to miss. The move seems to be working very well for her.

Head: Circlet of Adamant (Sea Blue, LOTRO Store)**
Shoulders: Shield-master's Shoulders (Umber, classic skirm camp vendor,  level 65 heavy BG armor)
Chest: Lore-keeper's Robe (Turquoise, classic skirm camp vendor, level 65 light BG armor)
Feet: Glossy Leather Boots (Walnut brown, Bree-town outfitter)

**I have actually purchased a second copy of this piece on the AH. It either dropped from a lootbox or it was a leftover from an old my.lotro.com lottery. I haven't been able to confirm this yet.

Simple Fashion - Tunic Ideas Pt. 2

Over the past few weeks I've discovered more tunics across several characters that haven't seen the light of day or received a good dusting off. These are many specialty tunics in the game, ones that either don't merit year-round wearing due to their seasonal nature or are overlooked because they come from a zone skipped during the race to level cap. Today, I'll shed some light on cosmetic gear falling into those categories.

If you missed the first "Simple Fashion - Tunic Ideas," you can follow the link provided.

Shoulders: Strong Eastemnet Skirmish Pauldrons (Rivendell Green, T8 tailor recipe)
Chest: Rohirrim Tunic and Trousers (Rivendell Green, Riders of Stangard token barter reward, kindred standing)
Hands: Gloves of the Eorlingas (Default, Rise of Isengard pre-order cosmetics)
Feet: Treiglur-lhopan (Walnut brown, Rise of Isengard instance cluster drop)

Snowbound - Pennycandy of Gladden

It's been a while since I've dressed up a hobbit, especially this little darling. I don't know what it is about them, but no matter what I put on a female hobbit, I feel all warm and giggly and melty on the inside. It's like a cuteness overload! (D'awww!!!) And speaking of warm and fuzzy, I felt compelled to create a winter-friendly outfit for one. Versus using evendim blue, which I abuse to no end, I opted for the darker ered luin blue to make a bolder contrast between the lighter and darker colors, and to make the fur stand out. Have a character heading towards the Misty Mountains or Forochel? Look no further!

Despite the fact that summer is in full swing, sweltering heat and disgusting muggy days included, a little bit of winter apparel makes the weather seem cooler. Any more 90°F days (32°C), and I'll be praying for the snow! Gloredh of Wandering Around Arda used the same location and temperature-related reasons in a recent outfit, Ambassador to the Elves.

Walker of the Wilds - Faewynn of Gladden

This outfit is my tribute to the days when the level cap was 65. There was such a variety of end-game gear to wear at the time. There were sets from Helegrod, the Moria instance cluster, Barad Guldur, Ost Dunhoth, and Dâr Narbugud, each with a distinct and awesome looking experience. So far, three of those sets have been made easily available through skirmish-earned medallions and marks. The teal Moria sets still need Moria Medallions and the Watcher Tokens. The full teal DN sets are only available through the special elfstones earned in the raid. You can get some cosmetically similar gear from the class vendors in Mirkwood, but only the head, shoulders, and boots. I say we petition Turbine to make the DN sets available in the skirmish camps since they're obsolete stat-wise!

Winter Series - A Light Dusting

Winter Series - Keeping Warm