Guest: Drico of Gilrain

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{[["☆","★"]]}

Drico is a sneaky burglar, who doesn't hesitate to stealthily approach and pickpocket anyone. His skills are well known all over the Middle-earth. As he spent a lot time in Staddle as a young lad, the Bree-land guards know him well and sometimes even catch him in the act. Feel free to enjoy his face! :)

Chest: Arrow-fletcher's Jacket, orange dye (Mirkwood hunter purple set)
Legs: Arrow-fletcher's Leggings, orange dye (Mirkwood hunter purple set)
Head: Helm of the Swift Arrow, orange dye (Mirkwood hunter DG set)
Shoulders: Radiant Westernesse Shoulder Guards, orange dye (T5 crafted)
Hands: Arrow-fletcher's Gauntlets, orange dye (Mirkwood hunter purple set)
Feet: Boots of the Great Bow, orange dye (Moria hunter epic set)

Guest: Dakorandir of Eldar

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{[["☆","★"]]}

Like most hailing from Gondor, Dakorandir prefers a chainmail armor, with extra metal protection. The colder climate of the north has influenced his choice of helmet and leg armor though. The fur-lined helmet is more suitable compared to plain steel, and a short chainmail battle kilt would be too cold for long nights and travels. Instead, he had an armorsmith add metal reinforcements to a cloth battle-skirt to go on top of the thigh-length chainmail.

Chest: Elven Steel Breastplate of Vigour, black dye (world drop)
Legs: Stone-reader's Trousers, grey dye (Moria lore-master epic set)
Head: Warg Hide Helm, default dye (Quest: Coat of Shadow)
Shoulders: Thick Dwarf-make Steel Shoulder Guards, washed (T3 crafted)
Hands: Gauntlets of the Dwarrowdelf, default dye (Quest: Vol. II, Book 8, Chapter 4: A Relic in Nalâ-dûm)
Feet: Leather Boots, grey dye (Outfitter vendor)
Back: Twisttongue's Cloak, black dye (Quest: Riddles in the Stone)

Wish: Battle-ready dwarven guardian

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{[["☆","★"]]}

Dedicated reader and guest submitter (1, 2) of this blog contacted me based on this article wishing for a battle-ready outfit for his dwarven guardian Dwalfor. He mentioned Dwalfor could use some woman touch, so I tried to give him some (metaphorically speaking, of course ;).

He had following requirements:

• distinctive dwarven look (no elven pieces etc.)
• battle-ready look, so chainmail/plate stuff over robes and fancy hats
• pieces can come from all sources except BG, OD and Rift raid drops

Dwalfor also sent me a picture of his character at that moment, wearing Lossoth set dyed blue. As he didn't specify preferred colour in his requirements, I chose blue (navy in particular) as the dominant colour for the new outfit, because I knew he liked it on the previous outfit he's been wearing. I sent him the first design to check if I took the right direction:

He liked the chest piece and gloves, but wasn't sure about the rest. He thought the leggings made Dwalfor look fat, wanted to see more cloaks and asked about any helmet resembling Gimli's helm from the LoTR movies (not round on the top):

This was a very interesting challenge for me, as I always struggled with choosing a good helmet :) But I found something I really liked. This was my second design:

Dwalfor was very happy about this version. He liked the leggings, shoulders, cloak and helm and praised avoiding of Wood-Wanderer's Cloak which I also attempted to use (I sent him pictures of a few different pieces tried out and the composition above as my preferred one). The only thing left were the boots - they didn't match the colour of the rest of the outfit really well. So I changed them and sent the final design to Dwalfor:

As he was very satisfied with the result, we met ingame (we both play on EU-Snowbourn server) and I lent him all pieces except for the reputation cloak, to save some time crafting, and a while after he sent me pictures of him proudly posing in the new outfit.

I am very happy he liked my initial idea and he taught me a lot about dwarven outfitting (and I mean it)!

Please let us both know how do you like Dwalfor's final armour composition in the comments :)

Final result:
Chest: Chainmail Chestpiece of Fleetness, navy dye (world drop)
Legs: Steel Leggings, navy dye (T3 crafted)
Head: Gleaming Dwarf Mask, navy dye (world drop)
Shoulders: Mirrored Dwarf-Make Knight's Shoulder Guards, navy dye (T5 crafted)
Hands: Defender's Gloves, navy dye (T3 crafted)
Feet: Defender's Boots, navy dye (T3 crafted)
Back: Warden's Wrap, navy dye (Annuminas reputation barter)

Guest: Retarius of Gilrain

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{[["☆","★"]]}

Retarius is a captain who's been in many battles, but even in the most difficult times, he has to stay noble and stylish. As he leads his army into a war riding a horse which only kindred with the Elves can ride, he truly looks like an inspiration to all his soldiers.

Chest: Breastplate of Orod-na-Thôn, ered luin blue dye (world drop)
Legs: Arrow-fletcher's Leggings, ered luin blue dye (Mirkwood hunter purple set)
Head: Helm of Orod-na-Thôn, default dye (world drop)
Shoulders: Pauldrons of the Bulwark, ered luin blue dye (Ettenmoors warden rank 3 set)
Hands: High Officer's Gloves, ered luin blue dye (T6 crafted)
Feet: Boots of the Swift Arrow, ered luin blue dye (Mirkwood hunter BG set)

Guest: Dakorandir of Eldar

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{[["☆","★"]]}

Growing up as the oldest child of a Gondorian trading house, Dakorandir was raised to become a scribe but, like many young men, did basic military training with the army before joining the business of his family. Through contacts and bribes, he was offered to become the clerk to a Gondorian envoy. As such, he came to travel much in the northern Middle-Earth in his early twenties.

However, his master – the envoy – was a corrupted man who did little to help Gondor but the more to gain personal gains. In time Dakorandir's loyalties towards Gondor also diminished, influenced by his master. Ten years later when the envoy died, Dakorandir did not return to the White City but started a vagabond life making a living both as bodyguard and, at times, a scribe. Eventually he found himself involved in the struggles that Bree-land are facing, and old loyalties and tales of heroic deeds once more begun to remind themselves.

Chest: Chestplate of the Northern Star, burgundy dye (Wardens of Annuminas reputation)
Legs: Leggings of the Northern Star, burgundy dye (Wardens of Annuminas reputation)
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Northlands, burgundy dye (world drop)
Hands: Kelkka-maker's Gauntlets, burgundy dye (Quest: Building the Snow-sled)
Feet: Boots of Fém, burgundy dye (Quest: Present Yourself to the Chieftain)
Back: Ceremonial Cloak of the Leijona, burgundy dye (T5 crafted)

Guest: Dueq of Snowbourn

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{[["☆","★"]]}

Dueq believes the strength of a captain lies in both great skill and charisma. Even in the toughest of battles, he has to appeal to his allies as the strongest element of their group, its linking bond. Elves are famous for their crafting skill, capable of making armours which make warriors almost invulnerable. Dueq put his trust in them, and he did well.

Chest: Elven Soldier's Armour, default dye (T5 crafted)
Legs: Elven Soldier's Leggings, default dye (T5 crafted)
Head: Himhar, default dye (Quest: Vol. I, Book 4, Chapter 8: The Unmarked Trail)
Shoulders: Elven Soldier's Shoulder Guards, default dye (T5 crafted)
Hands: Elven Soldier's Gloves, default dye (T5 crafted)
Feet: Elven Soldier's Boots, default dye (T5 crafted)
Back: Cloak of the Gallant Heart, default dye (drop from Garth Agarwen)

Inspiration: Strider

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"Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits." 

 J.R.R. Tolkien: The Fellowship Of The Ring - Chapter 9 - At the Sign of The Prancing Pony

For this inspiration, I borrowed Frodo's description of Aragorn, yet only known as Strider, as he first met him in the Prancing Pony. This outfit was truly a challenge, despite my character Maney cooperating very well (he even grew his beard for the matter's sake). Finding a leathery shirt looking well in dark colours and ragged at the same time was an endless struggle. In the end I settled for Crafted Armour, which has terrible texture (looks like low detailed no matter how high graphics quality you set). I thought I could use it as an advantage, as it truly looks like covered in grimy mud (along with Salamander Stomper). I'm very curious for opinions on this post, as I think I got pretty far from the original. If you have any ideas how to make it better, please comment.

Chest: Crafted Armour, black dye (T2 crafted)
Legs: Sturdy Westernesse Leather Leggings, black dye (T5 crafted)
Head: Traveller's Hood, black dye (Store)
Shoulders: Shining Chainmail Shoulder Guards, black dye (world drop)
Hands: Fingerless Gloves, black dye (Winter festival)
Feet: Salamander Stomper, black dye (Quest: Tooth and Scale)
Back: Plain Cloak, black dye (Outfitter shop)