Springtime Symphony

Another year has come and go in LOTRO. Not only does the Spring Festival herald the return of warm weather and fragrant flowers, it also heralds the coming of both LOTRO's fourteenth and Material Middle-earth's ninth anniversaries. It's hard to believe both this game and blog has been running for that long. Time is incredibly short this month, and odds are I won't have my usual anniversary post. In lieu of that, I've put together three outfits, each of which use at least one bartered piece obtained from the Spring Festival. Some of the pieces seen here, like the Naruhel cosmetics, are new while others, like the Simbelmynë cosmetics, are nearly a decade old.

This first outfit used the newest addition to the Spring Festival vendors. Not only does it use the aforementioned Naruhel cosmetics, specifically the vines covering the arms and shoulders, it also uses a dress worn by Goldberry and the various River-maidens encountered throughout the story. Though not the most original skins in the game, in a sense because they're pre-existing assets, it's amazing that we've been seeing NPC clothing converted into player clothing (my fingers are crossed for Glathlírel's armor)! I hope the trend continues. Anyway, between the dress and vines, it was possible to create a nature-centric outfit combining the essences of earth and water. And the Groom's Myrtle Circlet was thrown in for good measure.

Head: Groom's Myrtle Circlet (Autumn leaf, Midsummer Festival barter reward)

Shoulders: Naruhel's Shawl (Default, Spring Festival Festivity Token barter reward)

Back: Cloak of the Autumn Traveler (Rohan green, Fall Festival barter reward)

Chest: Short-sleeved Dress of the Spring Maid (Rohan green, Spring Festival barter reward)

Hands: Vines of Naruhel (Default, Spring Festival Festivity Token barter reward)

Springtime Merrymaker

Although the Spring Festival finished about a month ago, I've only just gotten to this outfit. I've had so much content scheduled since the beginning of March that it's overwhelming. Between my latest  project and the backlog of outfits, I've had to reorganize all of my scheduled posts. This is why you've been seeing new outfits approximately every other week and other content squeezed in between those outfits. I promised myself in September of 2015 that I wouldn't be publishing content weekly anymore to avoid burnout. Looks like I've broken that promise! (Broken promises/oaths tend not to end well in Tolkien's world. Oh dear...) However, I will admit that I've bitten off more than I can chew. I'll continue to work with what I've already added and go from there. Once I've finished posting my weapons collections, everything should go back to normal.

Of Anniversaries and the Ithilien Spring

Seldom do I get overly excited about my character's attire. I've been in cosmetic overdrive since I returned to LOTRO. In such overdrive that, in fact, I've had dreams about what my characters could wear. Moments I've been at my job mentally piecing various skins together and dyeing them. I guess that having worked with the cosmetics from LOTRO for so long that I don't even need to be logged in anymore to do this. Once I envisioned this, I wrote each of the pieces down, and sat down at my PC the first chance I had. I've been waiting for an opportunity to use those North Ithilien cosmetics!

When was the last time I devoted an entire entry to a dress? And when was the last time I jumped into a Spring theme? I wanted greens, whites, yellows, pinks, flowers...anything that captured the heart and soul of the warming, sunny weather and the flowers beginning to bloom.

Spring Series - Lord of the Dragonflies

It's been a crazy two weeks for me and I wasn't able to make a special post this past Monday, April 21st, but I would like to take a moment and wish Material Middle-earth a Happy Second Anniversary!

Anyway, I'm more than certain there's no such thing as the Lord of the Dragonflies in the lore. It's just that I've been so hellbent on using that Cloak of the Dragonfly, I had to name this outfit after it. That cloak is probably the most unique-looking one in the game due to the crazy assortment of colors found in it. I've literally spent the past two months focusing on it, making it the central piece to an outfit. That seems to be the only way to work with it, otherwise it looks shoehorned when added to a nearly finished outfit. Kudos to those of you have successfully integrated the Cloak of the Dragonfly into your creations!

Spring Series - Floral Queen

Here's the next installment in this year's Spring Series. You've probably noticed, or you will now that I've told you, these season-themed outfits are brightly colored and very casual. For the most part, I've been on this lengthy stretch of outfits geared towards combat and adventuring. This week, and perhaps next week as well, I'm showcasing a social outfit. I've caught wind that some RPers from Landroval and Laurelin follow this blog and I'd hate to leave them feeling excluded. I've attended various events myself, such as the weekly Ales & Tales and the Eriador Music Society's concerts. Many players come well dressed and sometimes in large groups wearing the same outfit!

Spring Series - Greenfields Party-goer

If all goes well, the Spring Festival should be coming up soon...by that I mean sometime in late April or early May. Anyway, I've been thinking about the Feast of the Greenfields, which was added literally as a tribute to St. Patrick's Day back in 2009. The handheld Bullroarer's Tankard, the Greenfields Clover Hat, and clover patch are all that comes to mind. St. Patty's Day is on the 17th, and in lieu of the festival that gets pushed back later each year, this outfit is a tribute to the "Eat, drink, and be merry!" March holiday. Except that this tribute is being done Hobbit style! On the 17th, log into the game with a few friends and kinnies, take the group down to the Shire and celebrate with a pint!

Elven Blossom - Nathrien of Gladden

It was by chance that I had found the Lissuin cosmetic pieces on the AH this month. Normally, I would have spent a portion of my time gathering tokens during the Spring Festival this year, but it was nearly impossible at the time. You see, my PC hadn't been repaired yet and my laptop could barely handle LOTRO. I had to cash in half of my Badges of Taste from previous festivals to grab the war-steed pieces, as those are bound on acquire and can't be purchased elsewhere. The rest of the new cosmetics would have to wait, and with some patience, I hoped to find them on the AH...and I did. For thirty gold, I purchased the Lissuin Robe, Lissuin Dress, and the Lissuin Cloak. The hooded version of the cloak still eludes me.

Springtime Balladeer - Nathrien of Gladden

It's been a while since I've posted here. Life has gotten hectic the past month...between looking for a new job and spending time with family, I haven't had much time to spend on LOTRO with cosmetics. Luckily, the start of the Spring Festival coincided with the revival of my cosmetic ventures. It's not very often you see floral designs in a game like this. Usually, I see players running around Middle-Earth in armor, leathers, and various arrangements of end game gear. When I saw the new festival cosmetics, I could only imagine how perfect my mini, Nathrien, would look displaying them.