“Feanor’s only descendants were his seven sons, six of whom reached Beleriand. So far nothing has been said of their wives and children. It seems probable that Celebrinbaur (silverfisted, > Celebrimbor) was son of Curufin, but though inheriting his skills he was an Elf of wholly different temper (his mother had refused to take part in the rebellion of Feanor and remained in Aman with the people of Finarphin). During their dwelling in Nargothrond as refugees he had grown to love Finrod and his wife, and was aghast at the behaviour of his father and would not go with him. He later became a great friend of Celeborn and Galadriel.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien,The History of Middle-Earth XII: The Peoples of Middle Earth
Mossward is a quiet little town, though apparently orcs have been making it slightly less quiet as of late. The villagers are near in a panic, though to Celebrimbor a handful of orcs is nothing to write home about. Last time he was in and around these parts, it was crawling with Sauron’s armies. And even then, a single patrol of orcs is nothing compared to the balrogs he and his uncles faced at the Dagor-nuin-Giliath.
His travel clothes are far too elven for these regions – continuing to wear it would only serve to make him stand out from the crowd even more conspicuously than his pointed ears and bright eyes already do. The spare jacket Meneldir found for him will make a suitable replacement. It is slightly baggy around the middle, the rough fabric rubbing against his skin with every step. His calluses are gone, he has noticed, the once forge-worn skin now soft and pale like a newborn’s. Which, he supposes, he is. In a way.
A part of him wants to laugh. Never would he have thought to find himself in man’s wear, though much of his forge gear wasn’t all too dissimilar. Still, it is a nice change. His Noldor heritage did him little service in his first life – he sees no point in drawing attention to it now in his second.He is no elven lord, no ruler of grand halls or patron of craftsmen. He is not Celebrimbor, Lord of Eregion. Here he is simply Telperinquar, or Telperin to the men and hobbits who struggle to pronounce the old Quenya, a seemingly aimless traveller who sticks to corners and observes more than he speaks. Just a few moments ago a happy drunkard called out a slurred farewell as he stumbled back to his home. He had called him, “Telpe.” Silver. It is nice, Celebrimbor thinks. Simple. Short. A description, not a doom.
A local villager was asking for boar meat. Celebrimbor has nothing to do, and his fingers itch to wield something again, even if it be a bow and not a hammer. Perhaps a bow will be better. Sometimes even the thought of crafting is enough to make him wince.
He’s here for boar, not pheasant, but this particular fool might as well be asking to be hunted.
“Now Celebrimbor was not corrupted in heart or faith, but had accepted Sauron as what he posed to be; and when at length he discovered the existence of the One Ring he revolted against Sauron.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle Earth
It has been literal ages since he’s held a bow. But some things are hard forgotten, and though his passions always led toward the forge, his youth was filled with martial training. It had had to be, particularly after the swearing of the Oath and the trek to Middle Earth, and while Celebrimbor had not personally participated in the Kinslaying at Alqualondë (nor the two that thereafter followed), his hands were nothing if not stained.
Outfit: Shoulders: Rare Mathom-Hunter's Mantle (black) Back: Cloak of the Grey Company (black) Chest: Robe of Anorien Mercy (steel blue) Hands: Leather Gauntlets of the Leaping Stag (steel blue) Feet: Tough Boots of the Anorien Tree (black) Bow: Archer's Ally Mainhand: Defender of Gwingris Offhand: Maethigil
Steed: Head: Shimmering Breeze Head-Piece Body: Caparison of the Yield (black) Legs: Leg-Guards of the Gundabad Reclaimer Saddle: Hunter's Saddle Gear: Champion's Gear
Two things about the warsteed – 1) I will never be able to express enough how much it sucks that we don’t get all the same dye colors. Like where is steel blue for warsteed stuff, huh??? and 2) rolling a new toon and realizing all the fesival gear and warsteed cosmetics you have on other toons are missing and you have to wait a whole 6 months for the festivals to come around again. Sigh.
“Sauron had never reached [Melkor’s] stage of nihilistic madness. He did not object to the existence of the world, so long as he could do what he liked with it. He still had the relics of positive purposes, that descended from the good of the nature in which he began: it had been his virtue (and therefore also the cause of his fall, and of his relapse) that he loved order and coordination, and disliked all confusion and wasteful friction. (It was the apparent will and power of Melkor to effect his designs quickly and masterfully that had first attracted Sauron to him.)”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-Earth X: Morgoth’s Ring
It was inevitable, really. He tried to avoid it for as long as he could, but his orders from Eru are clear: help destroy the ring he so desperately longs for, the well of gold into which he poured the better part of his spirit – or lose the fragile fana he’s currently inhabiting – the one fragment of spirit he still has left. And so Mairon has come to Bree, a crumbling city with festering sewers that reek of excrement and decay, all in search of a ranger called Strider.
He knows little of this man, but already he despises him.
The surge of life around him is nearly overwhelming. The streets are bustling with trade, children running to and fro as dogs and pigs and sheep wander unchecked. It is loud, vibrant, chaotic. Above all else, Mairon abhors chaos.
A ruddy-faced dwarf offers him a mug of ale. The very air thrums around him, insistant. Perhaps the alcohol will dim his senses enough to dull the cacophony of noise and light assaulting his senses. He doubts it. Even in this elven fana, his fea is far stronger than any of the Eldar. He takes the drink, anyway.
The alcohol burns on its way down. The sensation is there, though he senses no change to his awareness. He wonders how long it will take – if at all. He has never been drunk before. Mortal men are weaker of spirit than the Eldar. Unlike the elves, whose immortal fëa will remain in Arda until the world itself comes to an end, mortal men will inevitably die. Even the long lived Numenoreans eventually faced death. By their very nature men are crippled, bound intrinsically to their hroa, easily swayed by the pleasures of the flesh and even more easily threatened by the loss of it. For this reason Mairon disdained them, but he also found them more useful as pawns. Their weaker spirits left them more malleable, more easily corruptible. He knows his disdain is likely driven in part by his master’s own dislike for the Secondborn. Weaker in spirit even than the elves, yet somehow held in just as much esteem (if not more) by their Creator. But Mairon is not Melkor, and as he watches the inhabitants of Bree rush too and fro with joyful urgency, he is reminded of this fact.
“When Melkor was confronted by the existence of other inhabitants of Arda, with other wills and intelligences, he was enraged by the mere fact of their existence, and his only notion of dealing with them was by physical force, or the fear of it. His sole ultimate object was their destruction. Elves, and still more Men, he despised because of their ‘weakness’: that is their lack of physical force, or power over ‘matter’; but he was also afraid of them.”
Their spirits are weaker, their command over matter and flesh more precarious and inconsistent. Yet somehow they are brilliant. The very mortality that dims their spirit increases the fervor of their days, and while perhaps of duller substance than their Eldar brethren, the passion with which they live seems to burn with an intensity so brilliant it almost makes up for the lack of brightness. Life here is quicker than that amongst the elves, more hurried, more purposeful. Like a candle burning, swift to melt but all the brighter as it dies. And when they end, their end will be final, though as to their ultimate fate even Mairon does not know. For that is the Gift of Men, the Gift of Illuvitar, the ability to pass beyond the walls of Arda and be truly liberated from the confines of the world. It is a gift even Mairon cannot possess, and for that very reason he is here now, submitting to Eru’s plan rather than exist as an angry but impotent spirit, doomed to stew in his hatred and resentment as the seasons change and the ages pass, able only to watch and seethe and suffer until the end of days and the Dagor Dagorath. Because he too, is bound to this world. And while his powers have been diminished (mostly, though he hates to admit it, by his own actions), his fëa cannot be destroyed.
He removes his hood. He has no need for it, he realizes. Not here. These brightly dying mortal men do not know him. He is not sure, should he look into a mirror, that he would even recognize himself. This is the first time he’s donned a fana not of his own choosing.
The air is filled with the scent of roasted pork and baking bread. Mairon does not need food to survive. Moreover he knows that eating or drinking will only increase his fea’s dependence on this fana. As one of the ainur, particularly the lesser maiar, Mairon knows that the more he engages with bodily faculties, the more difficult he will find to go without them. But the aroma of freshly baked bread is mouthwatering, and Mairon is curious. Mairon has always been curious. Curious of the Music he and his brethren sang, curious of the wonders the forge master Aule showed him when they descended to Valinor, more curious still of the potential order Melkor promised if he forsook his master and came to his side. Curiosity is dangerous, Mairon has learned. But surely curiosity about bread will not be his downfall.
“Though in origin a ‘self-arraying’, it may tend to approach the state of ‘incarnation’, especially with the lesser members of that order (the Maiar). ‘It is said that the longer and the more the same hröa is used, the greater is the bond of habit, and the less do the ‘self arrayed’ desire to leave it.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, Osanwe Kenta“The ‘spirit’ (that is, one of those not embodied by creation) uses a hröa for the furtherance of its personal purposes, or (still more) for the enjoyment of bodily faculties, it finds it increasingly difficult to operate without the hröa. The things that are most binding are those that in the Incarnate have to do with the life of the hröa itself, its substance and its propagation. Thus eating and drinking are binding, but not the delight in beauty in sound or form. Most binding is begetting or conceiving.”– J.R.R. Tolkien, Osanwe Kenta
He is bound to this fana, anyway. More than a “habit” or a “customary garb,” it is his shackle. He may as well enjoy it.
There is a quiet charm about the place. It’s certainly no Ost-in-Edhil, but neither is it an abandoned shell. There is purpose amidst the chaos, even if he can’t quite see the order. But there is warmth. And there are cats.
So. Many. Cats.
Mairon doesn’t know whose house this is or why they have left it unlocked. Nor does he know why the entire dwelling is covered nearly floor to ceiling with felines, sleeping and playing, purring their content and hissing their annoyance. Yet somehow it is quiet. Somehow, things are still.
Yavanna had tried (and failed) repeatedly to impress upon him the importance of living creatures. A waste, perhaps, but being favored by her husband Aule, she had sought to foster a bond with him. Yet despite her efforts, Mairon had always vastly preferred the rigid, predictable nature of metal to the free-spirited Children of Illuvitar. It could be molded and shaped, but always according to a preordained pattern or rule of motion. The Children, however, were infinitely more difficult to persuade. Even if it was for the purpose of the greater good. Even if it would lead to a neater, tidier, better world.
“[Sauron’s] capability of corrupting other minds, and even engaging their service, was a residue from the fact that his original desire for ‘order’ had really envisaged the good estate (especially physical well-being) of his ‘subjects’.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-Earth X: Morgoth’s Ring
At any rate…these cats aren’t so bad. They’re actually kind of…calming. Even if they won’t obey his commands to sit or stay.
At least Draugluin Jr. is obedient.
He ventures out into the streets once more. He can feel it before he can see it. From a couple streets away the heat of the forge calls to him, flame drawn to flame. He is first and foremost a spirit of fire, and it has been long since he last held a hammer in his hands.
Outfit: Head: Lesser Secret of the West Helmet (crimson) Shoulders: Rare Mathom-Hunter's Mantle (crimson) Back: Cloak of the Raven (crimson) Chest: Anorian Campaign Robe (steel blue) Hands: Leather Gauntlets of the Leaping Stag (crimson) Feet: Lesser Memory of the West Shoes (sienna)
“Even then [Melkor] had secret friends and spies among the Maiar whom he had converted to his cause, and of these the chief, as after became known, was Sauron, a great craftsman of the household of Aule.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-Earth X: Morgoth’s Ring“Though of immensely smaller native power than his Master, [Sauron] remained less corrupt, cooler and more capable of calculation. At least in the Elder Days, and before he was bereft of his lord and fell into the folly of imitating him, and endeavouring to become himself supreme Lord of Middle-earth. While Morgoth still stood, Sauron did not seek his own supremacy, but worked and schemed for another, desiring the triumph of Melkor, whom in the beginning he had adored. He thus was often able to achieve things, first conceived by Melkor, which his master did not or could not complete in the furious haste of his malice.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-Earth X: Morgoth’s Ring
Aulë was good to him. Melkor had been brilliant, but Aulë was warm, soothing, like sunlight after rain or the feeling in a smile. Melkor’s flames had shown brighter, but in his presence Mairon ever felt the tinge of frost. Fire, ice, Melkor cared not for the means of destruction. Only that it was achieved, that he might at last be at peace.
Here, now, in the craft hall of Bree, surrounded by the heat of a forge, Mairon feels something akin to a peace of his own. The quartermaster nearby asked him to make a simple buckler shield. Easy. Trivial, even. But there is comfort in the clang of the anvil, the familiar way his hands curl around the hammer, the way soot and ash pepper his skin without burning the way they should a mortal. Order, process, purpose. This is beauty, even if the metal is cheap and the coals are nearly spent.
“Morgoth had no ‘plan’: unless destruction and reduction to nil of a world in which he had only a share can be called a ‘plan’. But this is, of course, a simplification of the situation. Sauron had not served Morgoth, even in his last stages, without becoming infected by his lust for destruction, and his hatred of God (which must end in nihilism). Sauron could not, of course, be a ‘sincere’ atheist. Though one of the minor spirits created before the world, he knew Eru, according to his measure. He probably deluded himself with the notion that the Valar (including Melkor) having failed, Eru had simply abandoned Ea, or at any rate Arda, and would not concern himself with it any more.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-Earth X: Morgoth’s Ring
He had thought Arda abandoned by the Powers. But he is here of Eru’s accord, and in this chaotic mess of a city he has seen the finger prints of Aule and Yavanna in equal measure.
“Sauron was not a ‘sincere’ atheist, but he preached atheism, because it weakened resistance to himself (and he had ceased to fear God’s action in Arda). As was seen in the case of Ar-Pharazon. But there was seen the effect of Melkor upon Sauron: he spoke of Melkor in Melkor’s own terms: as a god, or even as God. This may have been the residue of a state which was in a sense a shadow of good: the ability once in Sauron at least to admire or admit the superiority of a being other than himself.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-Earth X: Morgoth’s Ring
Perhaps it is time to go see this Strider. He has a mission to fulfill, after all, even if it is not his own.
“When Sauron learned of the repentance and revolt of Celebrimbor his disguise fell and his wrath was revealed; and gathering a great force he moved over Calenardhon (Rohan) to the invasion of Eriador in the year 1695. When news of this reached Gil-galad he sent out a force under Elrond Half-elven; but Elrond had far to go, and Sauron turned north and made at once for Eregion. The scouts and vanguard of Sauron’s host were already approaching when Celeborn made a sortie and drove them back; but though he was able to join his force to that of Elrond they could not return to Eregion, for Sauron’s host was far greater than theirs, great enough both to hold them off and closely to invest Eregion. At last the attackers broke into Eregion with ruin and devastation, and captured the chief object of Sauron’s assault, the House of the Mirdain, where were their smithies and their treasures. Celebrimbor, desperate, himself with stood Sauron on the steps of the great door of the Mirdain; but he was grappled and taken captive, and the House was ransacked. There Sauron took the Nine Rings and other lesser works of the Mirdain; but the Seven and the Three he could not find. Then Celebrimbor was put to torment, and Sauron learned from him where the Seven were bestowed. This Celebrimbor revealed, because neither the Seven nor the Nine did he value as he valued the Three; the Seven and the Nine were made with Sauron’s aid, whereas the Three were made by Celebrimbor alone, with a different power and purpose.“
– J.R.R. Tolkien, Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle Earth
Celebrimbor did not give up the Three. In this, at least, he can hold some comfort, can retain some semblance of pride. He may have been deceived, but he did not succumb. Not in the end, at least. But there is no escaping his shame. Not even the Halls of Rest could heal the ache of that wound, self-inflicted despite his steadfast attempts not to repeat the mistakes of his forebearers. Then again, he was one of the Noldor, the last scion of Feanor. Perhaps he was doomed from the start. Perhaps after his death he should have lingered, condemenned himself to an eternity of drifting guilt. But Celebrimbor did not. In what he still cannot decide was a moment of cowardice or bravery, he heeded the Call.
“Each fea was imperishable within the life of Arda, and that its fate was to inhabit Arda to its end. Those fea, therefore, that in the marring of Arda suffered unnaturally a divorce from their hrondor [> hroar] remained still in Arda and in Time. But in this state they were open to the direct instruction and command of the Valar. As soon as they were disbodied they were summoned to leave the places of their life and death and go to the ‘Halls of Waiting’: Mandos, in the realm of the Valar. If they obeyed this summons different opportunities lay before them.(32) The length of time that they dwelt in Waiting was partly at the will of Namo the Judge, lord of Mandos, partly at their own will. The happiest fortune, they deemed, was after the Waiting to be re-born, for so the evil and grief that they had suffered in the curtailment of their natural course might be redressed.”
— J.R.R. Tolkien, Morgoth’s Ring
Celebrimbor was a proud elf, once. Now he carries shame. No amount of rest would ever restore that, No amount of strolling through the cavernous halls of Mandos, formless eyes roving across the tapestries of Varie, searching for meaning. No, likely he would have to walk straight into the Void to find his pride once more, and even then, Sauron would walk with him. At least in thought.
“For there was, for all the fea of the Dead, a time of Waiting, in which, howsoever they had died, they were corrected, instructed, strengthened, or comforted, according to their needs or deserts. If they would consent to this. But the fea in its nakedness is obdurate, and remains long in the bondage of its memory and old purposes (especially if these were evil). Those who were healed could be re-born, if they desired it: none are re-born or sent back into life unwilling. The others remained, by desire or command, fear unbodied, and they could only observe the unfolding of the Tale of Arda from afar, having no effect therein. For it was a doom of Mandos that only those who took up life again might operate in Arda, or commune with the fear of the Living, even with those that had once been dear to them.”
— J.R.R. Tolkien, Morgoth’s Ring
Celebrimbor has been returned to life. He is not his grandfather, doomed to reside within Namo’s halls until the Dagor Dagorath shakes the earth and the world is remade through the Second Music. Upon his death he heeded the call of Mandos, and now according to his kind, he has been re-embodied, through the grace of the Valar even allowed to return to the shores of Middle Earth. Perhaps he can refind himself here, even if a part of him still wishes that Celebrimbor, son of Curifin, son of Feanor, had died back in the wreckage of his city, along with the Gwaith-i-Mirdain, along with his hopes and dreams, forever to stay buried under the rubble he may as well have brought down himself.
Okay, normally I kind of resign myself to LOTRO toons looking kind of…uh…not great, shall we say, but dang. Celebrimbor turned out nice.
He arrives at the Grey Havens, passing swiftly through to Celondim. The elves of Middle Earth have continued to diminish, but there is something about seeing the once-familiar landscape rise around him in stoic collums and craggly rock-faces, something that twists his heart and wrenches his spirit, almost as if his fea was once again trying to separate from his hroa.
Celebrimbor does not want to be remembered. So he forgoes his Sindarin name, insisting instead on the Quenya, “Telperinquar.” The older elves will see through it in an instant – if they don’t recognize him by face first, that is – but that is no matter. The older elves are precisely the ones he wishes to avoid, and few men in Middle Earth will have knowledge enough of the elven tongues to parse through the barely concealed riddle.
His braids and clasps he chooses to forgoe as well, allowing his hair to fall loose at his side. Anything to distnce himself from the elf he once was.
A new hroa. A new start.
One last hail towards Aman. One last bow. Then he is off.
He leaves Celdonim at sunset, headed for Cardolan. His work on Middle Earth is nowhere near from finished, but if he is to start anew, he must first visit where things ended.
Outfit: Shoulders: Medium Nadhin Shoulders (steel blue) Back: Swift Wool Cloak of the Dwarf-Holds (steel blue) -- I know. I've been using this one for EVERYTHING. I just really like it. Chest: Alliance of the Third Age Hauberk (steel blue) Hands: The Bowmaster's Gloves (steel blue) Feet: Threadbare Boots of the Dunland Healer (steel blue)
Yay! Second lore-inspired character. And yes, he I know he’s usiing the same hairstyle as Mairon, but I really like it and lets be honest hair choices in this game for male characters are um…lacking. I do like the braided one I used in the earlier screenshots though, and that one will probably be making a reappearance at some point. I’m also kind of peeved that the outfit he’s waring in the Doom of Caras Gelebren skirmish isn’t available in game. It’s REALLY nice armor.
So it took a long time picking a class. Race and background were fairly straightforward – High elf from Nargothrond, as that was where he dwelled for a long while before coming to Eregion and establishing the Gwaith-i-Mirdain. But class gave me pause. I know in the character creater it says the class of runekeeper was inspired by Celebrimbor, and when it comes to knowledge of ancient lore and the workings of the world, I buy that. But when it comes to fighting style? Not so much. Part of that comes down to runekeeper being a “magic” class, and speaking lorewise, there are VERY few users of magic in LOTR. I definitely have other RKs that I love to play, and it made sense to me when making my Sauron-inspired character to give him the use of magic, but as for the elves, I just don’t see them lore-wise fighting without weapons. Elves have greater spiritual power than men, hobbits, and dwarves, and some of the older elves have even more inherent power, like Elrond and Galadriel and Glorfindel. But still, these elves don’t simply weild magic to fight like the Istari or the Ainur do. Plus, Celebrimbor is a descendent of Feanor, one of the Noldor, who fought in battles throughout the First and Second Ages. Even the in-game instance with him shows him fighting with a shield and a hammer. So I just couldn’t justify giving him a class that didn’t use a melee weapon. Nor did I think that Loremaster would be a good fit, as the main weapon is a staff. Honestly I would love LOTRO to consider adding some kind of class that mixes blades with magic, but magic is already such a weird topic when it comes to LOTR that I do appreciate them trying to keep those classes more minimal.
In the end (and with the help of World Chat — thank you in this instance for being constructive!) I decided on champion. I’ve played a bunch of champs before, so I wasn’t super thrilled at not being able to explore new class dynamics, but I thought it was the best fit. This way he can wield a bow (like any good elf lol), a sword, and an offhand weapon – like a hammer. This choice was definitely somewhat inspired by Celebrimbor’s portrayal in the Shadow of Mordor franchise, which, although straying substantially from plot points in lore, does actually do a lot to honor the legendarium.
Also I’ve been sleeping on this hauberk. I’ve had it for literal years, but since I didn’t have a male elf toon that was a heavy armor class, I just never thought to use it. Big miss on my part.
This one’s just a fun, casual outfit I made once I realized that the Lesser Claw of the West set, the Isengard Dispeller set, and the Great Alliance set all share a similar default color. That’s literally all it took. I got excited that I wouldn’t have to dye much, and I made this outfit.
I also realized I’d never used these leggings for anything. So…yeah. That’s about it.
I think this outfit is going to become one of my faves for my elf huntress.
Outfit:
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Isengard Dispeller
Back: Quiver of the Waking Wood
Chest: Lesser Claw of the West Breastplate (default)
Hands: Gauntlets of the Hidden Blade (evendim blue)
Legs: Greaves of the Great Alliance (default)
Feet: Threadbare Boots of the Dunland Healer (walnut brown)
Bow: Sealed Hunter’s Bow of the First Age
Sword: Sealed Reshaped Champion’s Sword of the First Age
Dagger: Invader’s Stiletto
Warsteed:
Head: Head-Piece of the Northern Herald (navy)
Body: Caparison of the Great Alliance (default)
Feet: Starlight Leg-Guards
Saddle: Saddle of Blackroot
Gear: Snow-Beast Accessory
So, I had no intention of making this outfit. Basically, I saw the Raven Mask while randomly browsing the Auction House out of boredom, and uh…approximately 30 seconds after seeing it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for an outfit.
Honestly, I’m a little surprised I never made this outfit before. It would not be shocking either to find out if someone else has done this exact combination cause it just makes so much sense. Also, I apologize if the pictures are a little weird – my in game personal lantern has completely stopped working, and I wanted to take these pictures at night, so I’ve had to do some brightness correction after the fact
Also, turns out Raven LM pets are not super great to take pictures with. Considering they like to stand INSIDE OF YOU.
Exhibit A. What are you doing sweetie? WHAT are you doing??
That being said, I remember when I first started playing my LM and I got my first Raven pet, I was ecstatic. I didn’t have any cosmetic pets yet, so LM pets were all I knew about, and I LOVE birds. My Frost Raven went with me EVERYWHERE.
Also funny anecdote – I spent about 30 minutes going through all my toons trying to figure out who had the Cloak of the Raven – because I know I’ve had multiple copies of it over the years. Couldn’t find it anywhere, so apparently I’ve deleted them all or sold them, but after all that time looking, turns out I DID have it saved in my wardrobe. So…that was a lot of wasted time.
I also did not realize that summoning your Raven LM pet causes blue/purple mist and feathers to materialize everywhere. It might be because I haven’t used my Raven for a while, like since before I got a computer that could run the game at high res.
Outfit:
Head: Raven Festival Mask (white)
Shoulders: Light Nadhin Shoulders (black)
Back: Cloak of the Raven (grey)
Chest: Light Nadhin Robe (black)
Gloves: Light Nadhin Gauntlets (black)
Feet: Medium Nadhin Boots (default) – don’t really matter as you can’t really see them
Staff: Lainis
I don’t often make use of “reward” cosmetics granted for buying an expansion or as a reward for being VIP. Maybe because they seem too easy? Or because I know they aren’t accessible for a lot of players? But I finally decided to try and make an outfit based around one – specifically the Isengard Dispeller set. What can I say, I’m a sucker for blue things.
I actually ended up being quite a big fan of this outfit. It’s not my RK’s normal style at all, but I kind of put myself into roleplaying mode for a bit, and was like, “okay, my elf is in Rohan, her armor is all worn out, so she gets some stuff from the locals and makes do.” Which…normally I honestly don’t make up stories to go with outfits, but this one ended up happening organically. Maybe that’s why I’m such a big fan of the outfit now?
I also wanted to showcase one of the light caparisons that you can get just from questing in Rohan, as that also fit the narrative. So I went with the light caparison of the Norcrofts (which is a favorite of mine anyways, if I’m being honest).
If you’ve followed my warsteed outfits at all, you’ve also probably noticed that I tend to use the same bridle for EVERYTHING. Which, yes. I do. It’s the head-piece of the northern herald, and is (in my opinion) the best basic bridle in game, because it is so far the only regular looking bridle I’ve found that doesn’t change the horse’s default mane at all (if you ever play around with your warsteed’s appearance, you’ll notice that it has a differently shaped mane when it has no saddle or caparison on, versus once you put the saddle on. I’ll let this lovely wild horse model what a “naked” mane looks like:
Now compare that to the more “blocky” mane that the warsteed adopts once you put most saddles/caparisons on it:
See the difference? Anyways, that’s why I almost always use that bridle. I like the look of the first mane better, it seems much more natural. Anyways – back to my elf –
Outfit:
Head: Rune-Maker’s Hat (navy)
Shoulders: Rare Mathom-Hunter’s Mantle (evendim blue)
Back: Woven Heavy Cloak of the Abyss (evendim blue)
Chest: Hauberk of the Isengard Dispeller
Hands: Gloves of the Isengard Dispeller
Feet: Threadbare Boots of the Dunland Healer (walnut brown)
Warsteed:
Head: Head-Piece of the Northern Herald (evendim blue)
Body: Light Caparison of the Norcrofts (evendim blue)
Saddle: Saddle of Lebennin
Okay, I think this is my last winter outfit for a while. Especially since today is the last day of Yule Festival! And since I’ve done a Yule Princess and Snowflake post, I figured this time I’d go straight for Ice.
I actually have a couple color variations for this outfit, but this one is probably my favorite. I say probably because I’m really not sure. I just like all of them.
So anyways, this outfit started because I really wanted to use the snowflake gown, but didn’t think it actually went well enough with the cloak of flurries. Mainly because the cloak is extremely iridescent, whereas the dress is only slightly so. Then I remembered the bridal veil from midsummer festival, and thought to myself, “huh…”
Now, to preface some of the night photos, I’ve been having trouble with my in-game personal lantern. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. It worked fine for my ice-flower light blue outfit, but for some reason it didn’t work for this one, even though I took photos at the same place in game at the same time in game.
Luckily the Northern Lights were out in Forochel, so that helped.
Okay, so that’s the first variation. The second one is an all white outfit:
I like this one a lot too. Also, this one pairs really well with a warsteed, so that’s a bonus:
Just ignore how the dress clips through the horse’s belly. Lord knows that’s what I do.
Like it’s just so elegant and beautiful.
No I don’t see any clipping issues. I have no idea what you’re talking about.
I also experimented a bit with different halters/saddles, and found that it was really flexible.
Using head-piece of the Northern Herald
And, whereas the blue version of this outfit looked really good at night with the Northern Lights, I found the golden tint to the white version makes it go really well with sunsets:
It’s so magical…
Then the last color variation is a black one, mostly because I really wanted to see how the bridal veil would look dyed black. It looks really cool by the way, though this is probably my least favorite outfit of the three:
Actually, I don’t know. This outfit is pretty cool too…
Warsteed:
Head: Head-Piece of the Ice Flower (white, white, black) – head-piece of the Northern Herald is also a good substitute (I used it in some pictures)
Saddle: Yule Gala Saddle, Saddle of the Northern Herald, Yule Gala Saddle
Caparison: Yule Gala Caparison (default, white, black)
So I have been STRUGGLING to put together an outfit around the Cloak of Flurries. Like, REALLY struggling. This is…what I have come up with?
I have mixed feelings about it, tbh. From some angles, it looks amazing. From other angles, I feel kind of…meh.
And then some things about it are simultaneously great and awful. Like the shoulders I ended up using have this star-like metallic design on them, which is amazing. And in the center there’s a gem which can be dyed blue. Again, amazing. But they also have this flap of fabric that’s an undyable yellow color. Not so amazing.
The yellowish actually does sort of match the yellow tint to the tunic when dyed white, and I think thematically it works in that snow sometimes gets stained with dirt or whatever. But personally? I wish it was pure white. But I also LOVE the tunic, because it has these iridescent(ish) blue designs that really resemble the design of the cloak.
Also, I generally don’t like outfits with a lot of harsh lines, and this outfit is chalk-full of them. BUT, snowflakes are also frozen water crystals. If you’ve ever googled a snowflake up close, you know they’re not these smooth, curved things. They’re angular and full of lines and shapes. You can even see this on the Cloak of Flurries. So again, that works, it’s just a personal thing.
The shoulder designs also do really go with the tunic.
So yeah, in some ways I LOVE the outfit, and in others it’s just not QUITE right. It really comes down to the fact that I think the shoulders and the tunic are the perfect design, they just have some issues with dye. I did try dying the tunic belegaer blue to see if that would fix it, but it didn’t look quite right in my opinion.
Although, I don’t know…maybe it definitely looks cool…just maybe less like a snowflake?
It also doesn’t fix the problem of the yellow on the shoulders…I don’t know. Which do you prefer?
blue or white?
Anyways, I ended up choosing the boots because (whether dyed blue or white) there’s a leaf design on them that kind of shines, and looks a bit like a snowflake. Also the flurry cloak has leaves on it as well as snowflakes so it seemed to work.
bluewhite
Outfit:
Head: Mask of the Golden Forest Defender (white)
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Lady’s Foresight (belegaer blue)
Back: Cloak of Flurries
Chest: Heavy Hauberk of the Doomfold (white/belegaer blue)
Gloves: Shield-Master’s Gauntlets (white/belegaer blue)
Feet: Boots of the Shadow-Walker (white/belegaer)
So I did this outfit in two colors – one in steel blue to match the original color of the cloak, and the other in dark red. Funny enough, the red outfit formed first, and adding the cloak was a last minute decision. Once I decided to add it though, I decided I also had to do another color scheme that matched the cloak’s original version. I honestly don’t know which I prefer. I love them both.
I really like the way the white/silver of the shoulders matches the white designs on the arms of the tunic. It goes well with the snowflake design on the cloak.
Additionally, I decided to pick the medium Nadhin gauntlets and boots, since they have a sort of quilt-like texture that matches the tunic. It’s kind of amazing that they’re from different sets, actually (Although I guess both armor sets that they come from are from Gondor?)
So yeah, that’s it! I just really like this outfit 🙂
Red Outfit:
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Precise Bowmaster (default)
Chest: Lesser-Coat of the Fury Wielder (crimson)
Hands: Medium Nadhin Gauntlets (burgundy)
Back: Wintertide Cloak (crimson)
Feet: Medium Nadhin Boots (burgundy)
Blue Outfit:
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Precise Bowmaster (steel blue)
Chest: Lesser-Coat of the Fury Wielder (steel blue)
Hands: Medium Nadhin Gauntlets (steel blue)
Back: Wintertide Cloak (default)
Feet: Medium Nadhin Boots (steel blue)
This outfit takes advantage of a couple different yule fest outfit sets, as well as the belegaer blue dye that’s only available during the festival! Belegaer blue happens to be a favorite of mine, but its hard to come by, so I decided to stock up this time around.
This outfit also served as a great opportunity to showcase last year’s yule gala warsteed set. It’s really detailed – it’s probably one of my favorites actually.
I mean it’s SOOO pretty. Anyways, this outfit has actually really grown on me. Probably cause of the color, but also just the way all the leaf and flower imagery fits together.
This write up is basically just a bunch of pictures cause I love this outfit. That’s it.
Prepare yourself for way too many dancing photos:
This post is really self-indulgent. I don’t care. Happy new year everyone!!!
Also I just love the leaf design on the back of this robe. It’s so detailed.
LOTRO Adventurer 