Whimsical Autumn

I apologize for the unexpectedly lengthy absence. Unfortunately, there's only so much I can control between two jobs. I'm often exhausted when I get home. I seldom have the time or energy for gaming, let alone LOTRO. Despite that, my desire to continue making new outfits is still going strong. I'm on vacation in the upcoming weeks and I plan to upload as much as I can for scheduled content.

If you've been lucky and are on the LOTRO Official Discord server, you may have noticed I'm periodically dropping screenshots of new outfits either in progress or completed.

An Autumn Fashion Show

Autumn is my favorite time of year. On one hand, there's the cool crisp air, freshly picked apples, and the symphony of colors as the leaves fall from the trees. All images of peace and relaxation. On the other hand, there's the tricking and treating, conjuring spooky images and atmospheres, and wearing costumes ranging from the lighthearted and adorable to the gloomy and ghastly. And then there's my favorite event--LOTRO's Fall Festival and all of the wonderful rewards that come with it. Each of the outfits below features a barter reward from the festival.

As some of you may know from Twitter or the Issue #132 of the Beacon, Rangers of the West, is hosting the server-wide fashion contest, Frights of Fancy, on Sunday, October 27th. Both Makaia of Style of Middle-earth and myself will be presiding as judges. There are two main categories--"Scariest Outfit" and "Autumn-themed Outfit." We also had a third theme planned, the "Look-a-Like," but after much debate, it was dropped from the program. This part would have had players dressing up like major characters from the lore, specifically from the time period between The Hobbit and Return of the King. Seeing as Gladden's not the busiest server, we didn't want to risk having too few people for too many categories. (This could be brought back if we have enough interest on the forums! *cough cough*)

Even though I can't enter the contest, I plan on dressing the part on my Minstrel and changing outfits with each theme. The first outfit, featuring an elegant red dress, falls into the Autumn one. The second outfit, featuring a black dress embroidered with barren branches, fits in the Scariest one. (This is a modified version of an old outfit.)  And the third outfit? This is my interpretation of Eowyn, for the scrapped Look-a-Like, before she secretly joins the ranks of the Gondor-bound Rohirrim.

Enjoy the festivities! I hope to see many fellow Gladdenites at next weekend's fashion show!

Head: Circlet of Fresh-picked Flowers (Sunset Orange, Farmers Faire barter reward)
Shoulders: Songmaster's Shoulders (Orange, bartered from the Minstrel class trainer in Ost Galadh)**
Back: Cloak of the Autumn Sun (White, Fall Festival barter reward)
Chest: Long-sleeved Summer Dress (Red, Summer Festival barter reward)***

**Shares same skin as the Shoulder of the Lady's Grace, bartered from the Minstrel class trainer in Lothlórien for an elf-stone from Dâr Narbugud.
***Sunset Orange is a wonderful alternative to red. The dress looks slightly, but noticeably brighter.

Anórien Herald

It felt so surreal writing this outfit entry. My last set of them was posted in November. Before then, July. I'll admit that outfitting in LOTRO isn't what it used to be. Material Middle-earth has been around since 2012 and it's become progressively more difficult to find original combinations of attire and color. However, it's certainly not been an impossible task. I've spent some time pouring through other cosmetic blogs for LOTRO, looking at what others have used (or not used) that way I could create something unique. And this, at least to me, qualified as such. I've never seen anyone use a particular reward from the Volume 4 epic line, the Robe of Anórien Mercy. Thus, it became my central piece.

Autumn Attire

It's certainly been some time since my last entry. I've been playing LOTRO quite a bit lately, taking time to work on my characters' gear and catching up on both the new zones and completing the epic story. I found myself falling farther and farther behind my friends and kinmates the more time I spent getting cosmetically creative. Believe it or not, most of my characters have been muddling through with the old statted level 95 gear since Western Gondor was released. I found myself unable to do group content at 105. I obstinately resisted the essence gear from its initial release until Update 19, which was a major mistake. I've come to realize that the essence grind is real. Same goes for stocking scrolls of empowerment. It's a much larger commitment than any level cap gear grind I've ever put myself through and the amount of time I've had to dedicate has been astonishing.

Now that I feel comfortable where I am in terms of character progression, I thought I should post a little something. In fact, since it's been so long, I have THREE autumn-themed outfits to present. Hopefully, I'll be back with more before the winter holiday season!

And I have a ton of outfits on my Beorning to post too! But that's if I ever find time to get out of Moria and get her to level 65. I have specific places in mind for screenshots...and I won't settle for anything less!

In the meantime, here are three autumn-inspired creations!

Head: Ceremonial Circlet of the Graven Word (Bullroarer's green, cosmetic skirmish camp vendor -- Light Rift set)
Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the Seven Stars (Sunset orange, cosmetic skirmish camp vendor -- Light Annuminas set)
Back: Pack of the Yield (Sunset orange, Farmer's Faire barter reward)
Chest: Tunic and Trousers of the New Bloom (Sunset orange, Spring Festival barter reward)
Hands: Pelennor Bracers of Wrath (Sunset orange, Vol 4 Epic quest reward)**
Feet: Ceremonial Nenuial's Boots (Walnut brown, cosmetic skirmish camp vendor -- Medium Annuminas set)

**Shares skin with any of the medium gloves from the Eastemnet Armor Quartermatser found in Rohan

Harvestmath Festival 2014 - Cosmetic Rewards and Steed

The Harvestmath Festival, which has started a day early, will be running until November 2, 2014. I'm pleased to say, despite the reskinned robe and "tablecloth" steed, these patterns are fantastic! For the first time since the 2013 Yule Festival I can say I want these new rewards. But I still hope that someday we'll return to dresses and tunics. Honestly, these would have made wonderful patterns for them.

To the right of each cosmetic is a dyed version to give you an idea of what areas apply the color change. Also, if you are new to LOTRO this year and are wondering what was added for rewards in previous years, follow these links to the 2013 Harvestmath Festival and the 2012 Harvestmath Festival.

Also, I have an event to advertise at the bottom of this post. After you're done looking at the cosmetics, take a look at the information provided and learn about one of Crickhollow's annual events!

Robe of the Autumn Sun (24 Fall Festival Tokens)

Harvestmath Series - Harvest Reveller

The theme from the 2012 Harvestmath Festival revolved around beer and pretzels. Other than the pretzel embroidery on the tunics and dresses, there were handheld items that fit in your weapon slots like silver been steins and giant pretzels (which is great for the RP community). I never knew why, so I did a little research using the two images in unison. Initially, all I could find was some obscure reference to board games called "Beer & Pretzels" and "Wiz-war" because the two items were traditionally consumed while playing them and then a Three Stooges 1933 short film called "Beer and Pretzels." Believe me, I sat there for ten minutes scratching my head and making faces at my monitor while thinking there's got to be more to this. It couldn't be more than a random choice, could it?

Harvestmath Series - Stylish Drake-slayer

Combining a love of the lore, my anticipation for the second Hobbit film, and a current obsession with the Harvestmath season cosmetics, I found myself making this outfit. It started with the Gown of Autumn Nights, but it wasn't exactly about the color at first. The pattern on the hem and at the waist of dress is what grabbed my attention in the most unusual way. If you look closely (even at the set matching Cloak of Autumn Nights) this is supposed to be some sort of intertwining leafless tree montage. Instead, I saw a forest burning brightly, and after a chain of freely associative thoughts, I found myself thinking of a dragon's fiery breath.

Harvestmath Festival 2013 Cosmetics and Steed

Today at 10 AM EST, the 2013 Harvestmath Festival began. It will continue to run through November 4th. I was logged into LOTRO about 10 minutes after the festival started to grab some screenshots of the new cosmetics. As much as I love the designs, we have another rehashed skin of the old robe. I'm not going to lie, I was looking to something a little more innovative this festival. Anyway, I'm working my way towards getting all of these! Below each screenshot is the name and cost of each new piece.

And for your comprehensive convenience, here's a link to the rest of the obtainable cosmetics from previous years.

Spooky Robe of the Bat (24 Fall Tokens)

Harvestmath Series - Scarlet Witch

It's mid-October and Halloween (some of us refer to it as All Hallow's Eve) is fast approaching. Last year, I had a triple feature post with ideas for outfits and costumes related to the season. This year, I'm expanding the costume theme to a general Harvestmath theme, using gear and colors appropriate to the festival or the spirit of the season. I'll be occasionally posting outfits of this nature until mid-November. If I'm feeling creative, I might even attempt to reclaim some of the lesser-used Harvestmath cosmetics.

Autumn Series - Earthen Elegance

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

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 

Defender of the Greenwood - Aldebaraan of Gladden