Guest: Borokk of Snowbourn

Little seems to be known of the lost Blue Wizards, who passed into the East of Middle Earth with Curunir but did not return. It is generally assumed that they were, like the other wizards, of man-stature. But maybe their purposes were different and so their appearance would also differ. Perhaps, when Manwe planned to send forth the Istari, he consulted with Aule. Perhaps, together, they conceived of purposes in the deep places as well as among the sunlight peoples of Middle Earth. If they did so, the blue wizards may have looked something like this.

Chest: Seaton's Robes, grey dye (Quest: Goblins in the Hollow)
Head: Weatherbeaten Hat, grey dye (Outfitter vendor)
Hands: Tindr's Gloves, navy dye (Quest: A Patch in Time)
Feet: Tattered Dwarf-make Cloth Shoes, default dye (Quest: Intro: Where Skorgrím Sleeps)
Back: Plain Cloak, grey dye (Outfitter vendor)

Tip: Visit Brrokk's blog!

Bearer of Light

Soon, Middle-Earth will need all its brave warriors to come to arms. In these difficult times, Accornia decided to offer her guardian skills for defence of the strongholds of highest importance. Her shining armour will be scratched by many swords, but she doesn't mind - she strongly believes the Free People will be victorious. For the upcoming fiercest battles she even decided to make an exception and wear boots, which is a sign of how much important it is to her.

Chest: Breastplate of Orod-na-Thôn, white dye (world drop)
Legs: Leggings of Orod-na-Thôn, white dye (world drop)
Head: Elven Light Helm, default dye (Light Armoursmith vendor)
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Westfold, default dye (Isengard pre-order)
Hands: Gauntlets of Heightening, white dye (Quest: unknown - can anyone help with this?)
Feet: Elven Leather Boots of Fleetness, white dye (world drop)
Back: Warden's Wrap, white dye (Annuminas reputation barter)

Avo acheno, Ennorath!

"There is an air about you that hints at your experience. From your attire, I must assume that you are a Rune-keeper much like myself," Márus of Shadowed Refuge said to Manequithir, immediately recognizing his own kind. This powerful wizard seeks the greatest secrets of the calling he chose to use his powerful words in upcoming difficult battles. His robes have seen a lot of danger, and yet will see. Avo acheno, Ennorath(1)! For fierceful times are approaching.

Chest: Carpenter's Robe, black dye (Store)
Head: Traveller's Hood, black dye (Store)
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Eorlingas, default dye (Isengard pre-order)
Gloves: Tattered Dwarf-make Cloth Gloves, black dye (Quest: Intro: Elrond's Dream; any cloth gloves will do)
Feet: Boots of the Eorlingas, default dye (Isengard pre-order)
Back: Cloak of the Eorlingas, default dye (Isengard pre-order)

(1) Avo acheno, Ennorath - Don't look back, Middle-Earth

Captain of Helm's Deep

Long awaited battle for Helm's Deep is yet to come. One of the Rohirrim captains, Amarilwen, is getting ready in advance. Between smashing some Uruk-hai and other diversions, she gathers her best men to prepare for holding the defences when the time comes. She has been given dragon scale armour and boots by her dwarven friends who had joined her, hoping they would make her famed invulnerability seen in front of enemies' faces. She will be an inspiration to all Helmingas, leading them to victory.

Chest: Breastplate of the North-Drake, crimson dye (drop from the Rift)
Legs: Leggings of Orod-na-Thôn, crimson dye (world drop)
Head: Circlet of the Helmingas, default dye (Isengard pre-order)
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Helmingas, default dye (Isengard pre-order)
Hands: Defender's Gloves, crimson dye (T3 crafted)
Feet: Engdail, crimson dye (drop from Garth Agarwen)
Back: Cloak of the Autumn Wood, crimson dye (Store)

Sunshine stroller

I've wanted a cute shiny yellow outfit for my minstrel, Brewbelly, for a long time. After trying many chest & legs pieces I realized that beauty lies in simplicity, when I tried out the basic shirt & pants outfit from Bree vendor. It's very easily acquirable, shines beautifully in yellow and in combination with elven cloak even makes an elegant garb.

 
Chest: Fine Shirt and Pants, yellow dye (Outfitter vendor in Bree)
Back: Cloak of the Galadhrim, sea blue dye (Quest: Vol. II, Book 7, Chapter 9: The Worries of Lord Celeborn)

Guest Inspiration: Thor

Today I would like to present you a very interesting outfit inspired by one of the most significant gods of Norse mythology, Thor. Player Thaur of Vilya dressed to pay tribute to this deity of thunder with outfit inspired by Marvel's depiction of Thor in comic books. Enjoy!

 © Marvel Comics

Chest: Footman's Armour, evendim blue dye (T6 crafted)
Legs: Quilted Leggings, ered luin blue dye (T2 crafted)
Head: Survivor Of The Watcher, white dye (drop from The Watcher)
Hands: Westernesse Steel Gauntlets of Fleetness, crimson dye (world drop)
Feet: Boots of the Gloom Bane, gold dye (Rift champion epic set)
Back: Plain Cloak, crimson dye (Outfitter vendor)

Guest: Dakohro of Eldar

Dakohro values tradition - a captain, no matter if man or woman, should always be ready to protect allies, and therefore he or she should be equipped accordingly. She prefers good old fashioned ringmail over fancy elven stuff one can now buy on the market. She values the message of her ancestors, who have won many battles in traditional armour ready to face many enemies. Meet her in the battle, and you'll know she's right.

Chest: Westland Armour of Vibrance, black dye (world drop)
Legs: Leggings of Mirath, umber dye (world drop)
Head: Helm of the Brazen Call, sienna dye (Moria barter)
Shoulders: Shoulder of the Brazen Call, sienna dye (Moria barter)
Hands: Hidden Guard Guantlets, gold dye (Quest: Book 9, Chapter 8: Mazog in the Web)
Feet: Steel Boots, umber dye (T3 crafted)
Back: Thaliongol, sienna dye (Mirkwood barter)

Wish: Influential dwarf outfit

More than two weeks ago, I received a lovely e-mail from a reader, giving a lot of praise about the blog (thank you, you made my day then! :)). Based on this article, he also wished for a non-armour outfit to wear at Kin meetings and similar occasions for his dwarven guardian Rangrim. We completed the final design right during that week, but unfortunately I didn't have time to publish posts until today, so here it comes!

Rangrim gave me following clues:

• outfit reflecting Rangrim's status of a wealthy, respected and influential dwarf 
• no specific colour requirements
• pieces can come from store, but he would like to avoid raiding pieces and festival stuff (except for the Yule festival, which he has items from)

I created two initial designs - one was aiming for a really noble dwarf dressed for festivities, the other one was rather well fed merchant :) I chose red as the dominant colour, because it's a symbol of wealth in China and looks good combined with gold. Click on the thumbnails to see the designs:

    

Rangrim loved the first design, especially the vibrant darker shade of red. He loved the cloak from the second design, so I tried out to combine the first design and the second cloak. Unfortunate news was he didn't have the Robe of Thanks (which was the basic component of the first design), nor Extravagant Festival Gloves. I tried to compose something inspired by the first outfit to compensate that:

This attempt was much worse than the first design, but luckily we learned great news - Rangrim found the Robe of Thanks on one of his characters, so we could get back to the initial concept. I just replaced Extravagant Festival Gloves with gloves from the third attempt, and tried out the second design's cloak dyed red and crimson to see which shade better compliments the outfit:

Rangrim loved this version with cloak dyed crimson, he said it was exactly what he wanted - which is the biggest praise for me when it comes to fulfilling readers' wishes :) And you can see the final result on the top of this article.

Please let us know you opinions on the outfit :)

Final result:
Chest: Frostbluff Robe of Thanks, red dye (Winter festival)
Hands: Cotton Gloves, crimson dye (Light armourer, Bree)
Feet: West-land Boots of Vibrance, umber dye (T4 crafted)
Back: Cloak of the Autumn Wood, crimson dye (Store)

Guest: Urphor of Gilrain

Urphor is a warden by nature. Sympathizing with the Wardens of Annúminas, he decided to journey from Ettenmoors to North Downs and Evendim, to finally reach the far Annuminas ruins and help his allies in need. However, he prefers to stay disguised - he wishes to fight instead of bathing in fame. His armour shows the clear signs of many battles he has been in, but still covers Urphor in secrecy.

Chest: Breastplate of the Chieftain, default dye (Ettenmoors captain rank 1 set)
Head: Traveller’s Hood, purple dye (Store)
Hands: Gauntlets of the Chieftain, default dye (Ettenmoors captain rank 5 set)
Feet: Boots of the Chieftain, default dye (Ettenmoors captain rank 4 set)
Legs: Leggings of the Chieftain, default dye (Ettenmoors captain rank 2 set)
Shoulders: Pauldrons of the Bulwark, default dye (Ettenmoors warden rank 3 set)

What's your favourite outfit colour?

The poll for past few weeks has ended and I'm happy to present you the results:

It's a fact that most of you like vibrant dominant colours, such as red, black and blue. These are usually the most distinguishing - for instance, you always notice someone fully dressed in red. It takes a good eye for a detail to be somehow different from all people thinking alike when it comes to colour choice, and not become a fashion disaster at the same time :)

When I finally get to creating new outfits, I will try to focus on these three colours to celebrate our poll's results. Meanwhile, you can find some examples of outfits which are already present on my blog:

• red, crimson and orange outfits
• black outfits
• ered luin blue, navy, evendim blue and sea blue outfits

Tip: You can filter outfits on this blog based on colours or other attributes (light/medium/heavy, plated/ringmail armour etc.) -  check Tags cloud on the left side :)

Also, please don't forget to vote in the new poll - will you pre-order Isengard to get new outfits? :)

Eva's AFK

Dear readers,

I'd like to apologize for abandoning you like that (no new posts for almost two weeks). I've moved to another country and I have to sort out many real life issues, so I don't have much time for this blog and ingame activities.

I will however do my best to bring you new posts this week - I have some very nice guest submissions and wishes for new outfits I'd like to work on :) So please stay tuned and have patience with me.

Cheers,
Eva