Master of Raven-lore & Happy Anniversary

Since days seldom remembered, the Dwarves of Erebor have shared a special friendship with an ancient, wise, and unique breed of ravens. These ravens resided at the aptly named guardhouse of Ravenhill, built upon the Lonely Mountain's southwestern ridge, approximately five hours journey from the Mountain's gate. They also had the ability to speak Westron, the common language of Middle-earth. In chapter fifteen of The Hobbit, it's vaguely inferred by Balin that the dwarves also have the ability to understand raven-speech. However, it's never explicitly stated if they've retained that ability, lost it, or if the dwarves have been away for so long that they're simply out of practice. The only named person to have remained in proximity of Ravenhill was Dís, Thorin's younger sister and Tolkien's only female-identified dwarf, who functioned as caretaker.

Not much is specifically known about the ravens of Ravenhill. During the days of King Thrór, here resided the well-known raven Carc and his unnamed wife, a brief tale recounted by Thorin after Smaug's death. Having been away from The Lonely Mountain for nearly 170 years, he learns that Carc has died and the ravens are now lead by his son, Roäc. Roäc, as his father before him, functioned as a messenger. To Thorin and his company, he delivered glad tidings and portents of death. And at Thorin's behest, he spread word to Dáin II of the Iron Hills. And after that, as far as I've been able to tell, the ravens remain unmentioned in the lore.

Halberd Skins Collection, Part 2

Halberds, weapons exclusive to the Captain class, were never a major priority for me. Only one of my Captains used them, and that alt of mine was retired after the trait trees released. As such, the first part of this collection wasn't very extensive. Now that I've had time since last year, I've tracked down multiple skins through recipes. This should make this weapon category feel fuller.

Unfortunately, I've decided to no longer ask for alternative ways to obtain skins listed here. I've grown tired of repeating that this was my personal collection and not a complete collection. Thank you to those that have helped list alternative names. Those contributions have been greatly appreciated! However, a handful of players haven't been so helpful and ignored the request to not list skins that I haven't included here, stated on the main CWP page. I've been very tolerant of comments, replies, and private messages that have no so politely informed me or argued with me over what I've missed. In the almost seven years Material Middle-earth has been around, I've never had to moderate comments to this degree. Without going into specific examples, I've decided to close comments on all of the CWP entries for the forseeable future. I may enable them again once I've completed my work.

Defender's Halberd - Crafted from the recipe of the same name

Barbed Executioner

The Barbed Executioner is one of my more interesting outfits. I figured I'd try pairing two distinctly different sets of armor skins and see what I could create. The "Mordor's Bane" and "Mordor's Vanguard" gear from the High-enchanter seldom gets used outside their own sets. Most of those pieces were darkly colored, covered in scales, rivets, shingled plates, and spikes, creating a unique aesthetic. And then there's the dwarven-themed cosmetics from U23, covered in celtic knot-like patterns and intricately weaved leather interlaced with detailed and highly decorated steel. It was a challenge attempting to mesh these styles together and, even though it's not the most realistic appearance, I was satisfied with the result.

Bow-master of the Dark Wood

Here's a blast from the past. I haven't seen this outfit since early 2012. While cleaning out my portable hard drive's picture folders, I stumbled upon this. I would have loved to upload the picture, but it's so small, grainy, and had such poor lighting that it wasn't worth it. Back then, I played LOTRO on a non-gaming college laptop, which seldom handled more than very low graphics. As a special treat, I've recreated it for this "vintage" entry with a period-appropriate Mirkwood background! It took a few days to determine what pieces and colors I'd actually used. And I've even enhanced it with cosmetic weapons.

Bare-chested Bard

It all started in September of 2016 when Gamutdorok, of Crickhollow's amazing Second Breakfast kinship, started the LOTRO hashtag #NakeDwarfGo on Twitter. (Of course, it's safe. I wouldn't intentionally link questionable content on this family-friendly blog!) What was a completely innocuous joke then has transformed into a cheerful, hilarious, and addictive subculture showcasing any and every dwarf encountered using the Bare-chested cosmetic. It's filled with dwarves parading in hot pants, dwarven bands singing and strumming shirtless, dwarves proudly displaying carefully sculpted beards, dwarves that...well, the list is endless. Frankly, I'm surprised nobody started the racy "Dwarves of Middle-earth" calendar, which would have better funded the expedition into Ered Mithrin! (If anyone asks, you didn't hear that from me!)

I couldn't resist and joined the fun, adding my own to the Twitter collection!