A minstrel's tale

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul

Now I understand what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now 

Don McLean - Vincent

It was a chilling, serene autumn night when a bard entered the Prancing Pony. He asked old fella' Barliman for a pint, drank it quickly as always and started playing for his small steady audience. "Strange that we don't even know the guy's name," murmured elderly and slightly drunk lady. Just as herself, the minstrel has been spending time at the Pony since anybody could remember. Old Barliman even claims he knew him as a child, when he was just a little boy accompanying his rich, but ever-drunk father.

Anyway, nobody's ever seemed interested enough in knowing him better, and he returned the favor. Never talking to anyone except for a drunken remark from time to time, he kept coming every evening and played the lute. For an unknown reason, after many years, the elderly lady decided to ask him about his name that particular night - perhaps he seemed a little more sad than usually. His answer was bitter: "It doesn't matter. Not anymore."

Then he walked out of the Pony, saluted goodbye towards his second home (or maybe first) and disappeared. Since then, nobody's ever seen the lonely grumpy minstrel again. People started asking about him, Barliman even offered a free pint for information about the bard's whereabouts, because they all missed the atmosphere his lute created. Who knows, maybe one day our unknown fellow will return - or not?

This outfit originally started as jolly white-and-gold female rune-keeper's one. I'm not exactly sure when it suddenly started to be "a sad unrecognized artist's" outfit - I blame it on Don McLean's song dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh that came to my mind when I started making the night screenshots :) However, I tried to experiment with quite strange white-gold-subtle green combination and finally found a purpose for the mystery cloak I got some time ago. I promise the next outfit and its story will be more optimistic :)

Please let me know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simply rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Radiant Westernesse Armour, white dye (T5 crafted)
Legs: Radiant Westernesse Leggings, white dye (T5 crafted)
Head: Songmaster's Hat, gold dye (Mirkwood minstrel level 65 set)
Shoulders: Songmaster's Shoulders, olive dye (Mirkwood minstrel level 65 set)
Hands: Gauntlets of Fleetness, white dye (world drop)
Feet: Ceremonial Boots of the Seven Stars, gold dye (Skirmish cosmetics barter)
Back: Padded Cloak of Mystery, gold dye (Skirmish cosmetics barter - the back pattern is random reward from Padded Cloak of Mystery Box)

Guest: Daerundros of Laurelin

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Daerundros said about her outfit: "Gold and white are a color combination that often fits together in harmony, like two sides of the same coin. A mixed blend of items, this outfit is designed to provide comfort while still retaining grace and elegance. After a few months of not coming up with any suitable outfits, I got bored of an old outfit I did for Daerundros and decided to create a new one in more brighter, cheerier colours. I like to think this is the type of outfit one would wear outdoors on a sunny day in Rivendell or Lothlórien. The shoulder pads are perhaps the most attention-attracting element for the outfit, as they are arguably the most striking feature. I intended that from this point on the rest of the outfit would come to the viewer's attention, as one looks down at the chest piece, then the gauntlets, then the leggings, and finally, the boots, all of them heavily accented with stylized elven features. It is heavily inspired by the Golden Mallorn trees of Lothlórien, but also pays tribute to the white city of Gondolin."

Daerundros is a very stylish elven lady, who has submitted some very elegant outfits in the past. Now she's back with very noble attire for her huntress.

Please let us know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Fine Elven Campaigner's Armour, white dye (T5 crafted)
Legs: Resplendent Steadfast Leggings of Lothlórien, white dye (T6 crafted)
Head: Balladeer's Hat, default dye (Moria minstrel level 60 set)
Shoulders: Songmaster's Shoulders, white dye (Mirkwood minstrel level 65 set)
Hands: Footman's Gloves, gold dye (T6 crafted)
Feet: Songmaster's Shoes, white dye (Mirkwood minstrel level 65 set)
Back: Cloak of the Boar-clan Warrior, white dye (Dunland quest)

Guest: Grimthold of Estel

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Let me introduce Grimthold, a great champion and fierce defender of Bree. Wherever battle calls he will be there. No matter the cost he will stand and fight to protect what he cherishes. He is a champion, a deadly machine, a well trained warrior that fights against Sauron's hordes with merciless ferocity. Always in the front row of the melee he is the first to jump in and slice everything around. He lives by the sword and surely will die by it. His motto is: "Kill them before they kill you!"

Grimthold said about his outfit: "I wanted my champion to have a real plate armor, something totally crazy with a lot a metal plate. I found some nice stuff for the shoulders, the helmet, the gauntlets and the boots (that I LOVE!!) but couldn't find anything for the chest and leggings... so I decided to go with the Ost Dunnoth pieces for chest, legs and boots that went not bad all together. The first version of my "battle ready" champion was with no cloak and the helmet. He now wears a cloak and withdraws his helm when he is not in the middle of a battle. This way he has a more civil outfit that doesn't scare children:) Later I decided to keep the cloak always on. So here is the final version of my super heavy champ, at least the most heavy I could have made him. I switch helm/no helm whenever I feel the need for role-playing purposes or just because I prefer a look over another."

I saw this outfit on forums a few days before Grimthold sent it to me and it stunned me. Such a perfect heavy warrior's gear! The combination of silver and gold is amazingly well balanced and Grimthold definitely knows how to make astonishing screenshots :) I hope you'll enjoy this outfit as much as I did!

Please let us know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Lesser Blade of the West Breastplate, gold dye (Ost Dunnoth champion level 65 set)
Legs: Lesser Blade of the West leggings, gold dye (Ost Dunnoth champion level 65 set)
Helm: Gongarab, white dye (The Tower of Orthanc, T1 Saruman chest drop)
Shoulders: Hyrde-Axle, default dye (Dunland quest)
Hands: Ceremonial Dragon-scale Gloves, white dye (Skirmish barter)
Feet: Lesser Boots of Dundirith, white dye (Ost Dunnoth guardian level 65 set)
Back: Cloak of the Westfold, default dye (RoI pre-order)

Mount: White-clad Horse of the Gap (RoI pre-order)

Guest: Eodread of Nimrodel

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

This mysterious traveler hails from Gondor, specifically Pelargir. He has traversed the borders of Gondor and Harad, and feeling the heat, found an armour to protect himself, but to keep cool in the harsh heat. With his favourite horse Jade they roam the lands of Middle-earth, helping those in need and punishing the allies of evil.

This outfit might be less original than the previous creation of Eodread, but I love it because of the chosen dye. I've never noticed how awesome and nomadic does the OD burglar set look in white. The little details such as dagger on gauntlets or little daggers hanging around the waist make it one of the most valuable sets for cosmetic purposes and each and every part of it can be nicely matched.

Please let us know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Lesser Secret of the West Breastplate, white dye (Ost Dunhoth burglar level 65 set)
Legs: Lesser Secret of the West Leggings, white dye (Ost Dunhoth burglar level 65 set)
Head: Lesser Secret of the West Helmet, white dye (Ost Dunhoth burglar level 65 set)
Hands: Secret of the West Gauntlets, white dye (Ost Dunhoth burglar level 65 set)
Feet: Cry of the West Boots, white dye (Ost Dunhoth captain level 65 set)

Mount: Prized Algraig Horse (Algraig reputation)

Guest: Keeper of the Forgotten Fortress by Thoargile

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Somewhere in the cold Misty Mountains, to the north of Rivendell, stands an ancient fortress. It has been standing there for many human lifetimes, covered by ice and snow. Some say that elves built it in the time of constant wars with goblins, but after that it has been left and forgotten. The only inhabitants here are two dwarfs and an elf-scout. From fortress' tall walls he oversees surrounding icy fields, looking for any sign of Enemy's presence. And if he'll find one... he'll send a message to Rivendell with a dove, and will carry out his duty - to the end. Because he is the Keeper of the Forgotten Fortress.

Thoargile has already created two amazing lore-inspired outfits, and now I proudly present you third one. It's my fault it hasn't been published earlier, because it took me a very long time to sort out my e-mails after the big blogging break and I'm just slowly discovering precious guest submissions in my mailbox. Enjoy it, as I have! :)

Please let us know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Golden Host Coat, white dye (T6 crafted)
Legs: Leggings of the Brazen Call, white dye (Moria level 60 captain teal set; also available as champion and guardian set parts with very small differences in looks) 
Shoulders: Vibrant Assault Pauldrons of Théodred, white dye (T7 crafted)
Hands: Tawarwaith Gloves of Power, white dye (T6 crafted)
Feet: August Vibrant Boots of the Golden Wood, white dye (T6 crafted)
Back: Cloak of the Dreamflower, white dye (Quest: Vol. II, Book 7, Chapter 9: The Worries of Lord Celeborn)

Guest: Fazlee of Landroval

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Do you know the feeling when you catch a glimpse of motion above your head or behind you, but when you look around, there's nothing? I'd say it was just an illusion... if I didn't know Fazlee. He is always vicious, concealed, almost stealthy. But this guy is not a burglar - he's a champion of Middle-Earth, watching over your safety and a chance to beat up some enemies. So fear not - there's always someone guarding your safe passages.

Another unique and exotic outfit by Fazlee - I'm impressed by the combinations nobody except him has tried before. He's combining very different styles into a matching and role-play fitting outfits. Well done!

Chest: Disused Robe of the Dunland Soothsayer, white dye (Dunland quest)
Legs: Lesser Secret of the West Leggings, white dye (Ost Dunhoth burglar level 65 set)
Head: Lesser Arrow of the West Helmet, umber dye (Ost Dunhoth hunter level 65 set)
Shoulders: Noriel's Folly, umber dye (Great River quest)
Hands: Vibrant Calenard Battle Gauntlets, umber dye (T7 crafted)
Feet: Rusted Boots of the Dunland Berserker, grey dye (Dunland quest)
Back: Fancy Quiver, umber dye (Trestlebridge outfitter)

Emotes:
./kneel
./cheer
./look

Captain of the Greenway Garrison

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

In the days of Elendil and his descendents, the North Road ran from Fornost down through Andrath until it became the South Road at Tharbad. From there it continued all the way to Minas Tirith in Gondor as the primary trade-route between the North and South Kingdoms. The wars with Angmar and Rhudaur that brought the North-kingdom to an end also caused trade between north and south to fail. 

Disused for a thousand years, particularly north of Bree, the Greenway is overgrown with grass and is little travelled except by refugees from the war-torn south. Brigands and ruffians lie in wait alongside the ancient highway waiting to prey on the weak and unguarded. Few now dare the treacherous wilds through which the Road runs.

It's been no secret that criminality has been rising over centuries along the Greenway. With recent years' increase of traffic, caused by warriors and merchants passing north-east towards Rhovanion, the situation has become even worse. The veterans of old battles, seeking to find their purpose when they no longer had strength to fight the armies of Sauron, came up with an initiative very well accepted by Bree-land and North-downs authorities.

They will guard the Greenway, riding along and searching for ruffians, thieves and murderers, protecting everyone trying to pass along the lands the Greenway runs through. It will no longer be dangerous to roam the beautiful fields, because brigands will run or hide on simple sight of the dangerously looking guards. So was the Greenway Garrison formed, with Maney as its captain, to protect the innocent and unleash their rage on all thugs causing trouble.

Since today's Update 7 release, we are able to purchase Rift cosmetic armour in the skirmish camp. After about 4 years since Rift offered the top gear, these armour sets are still some of the most beautiful items available ingame. Of course, I ran to the first skirmish camp to spend my last medallions on what I consider the best plated armour available ingame - the pieces of North Star set.

Playing around with the combinations, I realized I could make it a mount matching outfit. I wanted to make both Rift based outfit and matching outfit for the Reveller's Gilded steed, but in both cases I wanted to avoid superficial combinations of pieces which obviously go together well, but everybody would use them the same way.

So I ended up with combination of silver plate to match white parts of horse's harness, gold dye to match golden gilding and a shade of reddish pink on the cloak to match pink parts of mount's blanket. I think it lets both the horse and the armour shine in their own way.

Check also other outfits I made & guest submissions using Rift cosmetics!
Guest: Lookdyss of Snowbourn (dwarf guardian)
Guarding home (hobbit guardian)
Doom Hunter (dwarf hunter)
Guest: Vindrayeth of Snowbourn (elf hunter)
Guest: Dwalfor of Snowbourn (dwarf guardian)

Please let me know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Carn Dûm Breastplate, gold dye (Drop from Carn Dûm)
Legs: Ceremonial Leggings of the North Star, gold/default dye (Skirmish cosmetic barter - Rift heavy)
Head: Strong Westfold War Helmet, white dye (T7 crafted)
Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the North Star, gold/default dye (Skirmish cosmetic barter - Rift heavy)
Hands: Ceremonial Gloves of the North Star, gold/default dye (Skirmish cosmetic barter - Rift heavy)
Feet: Boots of the Brazen Call, gold dye (Moria level 60 captain teal set)
Back: Pendevig-clog, red dye (Drop from Skûmfil)Mount: Reveller's Gilded Steed (Store exclusive, limited offer until May 24th)

Emotes:
./lookaround
./shakefist
./mountrearup (Store exclusive)

Dawn

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

There are times of peace, and there are times of war. It wasn't long ago when young elf Sidgrid thought she would never see the faces of her loves ones again. In the battle of Orthanc, she was badly injured just before delivering a killing blow to Kalbak, slowly passing out while her fellowship was rejoicing. Right after they found out, they rushed with Sidgrid to Rivendell, for this was the only place where she stood a chance in hands of elven healers.

Luckily, they were as fast as wind, driven by will to save their friend, and managed to hand her over to healers very fast. A few weeks have passed since then and Sidgrid is now enjoying her peaceful recovering in the Last Homely House. After a long time, she can smell flowers, feel the sun on her cheeks and watch sunrise. Dawn has always been her favourite part of the day. After a new dawn of her life, she feels it that way even more.

I've always been in love with this cloak - even when there was only hooded version available. Velvet texture and great depth of any dye used on it made it one of my favourite cosmetic pieces. With the Great River, hoodless version became available and I rejoiced :) I knew I must create an outfit featuring it soon.

I also wanted to create a gentle, feminine outfit for my elf. Pink has never been my favourite colour (although they say it's the new black :), but it fits the sunrise scenery of Rivendell and let the velvet textures stand out.

Please let me know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Elven Cloth Jacket of Vigour, white dye (world drop)
Legs: Tattered Leggings of the Dunland Sage, rose dye (Dunland quest)
Head: Hat of the Concerned Elf, rose dye (Great River quest)
Shoulders: Padded Mantle of the Dunland Soothsayer, rose dye (Dunland quest)
Hands: Scout's Gloves, rust dye (T6 crafted)
Feet: Rhydhid-lhopan, sienna dye (Great River quest)
Back: Cloak of the Unwelcome Guest, rose dye (Great River quest)

Emotes:
./lookaround
./think

Joy of wisdom (and jewels)

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Ladriell is a knowledge seeker. She is a scholar and a lore-master, always trying to broaden her horizons. She is still a girl though, and if she manages to buy some nice clothes and jewellery on her journeys to distant forgotten places, she is twice as happy. This is her scholarly outfit she uses when battle is far away, and she is alone in peace to study artifacts and ancient parchments.

This is the last of my submissions for the Fashion Week 2012 screenshot contest. I submitted it into Professionally Minded category, as a lore-master outfit. It's certainly not very original (I've seen many very similar outfits and even created some in the recent past), but it's something I see my lore-master Ladriell really wearing as it fits her personality. I also adore the cloak, which has amazing plastic textures in the correct light, and the dress shares this feature. The infamous red neckline of the shoulder piece matches the jewellery on the Anniversary dress, and I also tried to match Ladriell's hairstyle to the attire. I hope the result will please some of you as it did myself when I put it on Ladriell :)

Do you like this outfit? Please let me know in the comments! :) And I promise the next outfit made by me will be something heavier - too many dresses recently :D

Chest: Ceremonial Dress, default dye (Summer festival, white variant - watch out, there are 3 different undyable variations)
Head: Baladeer's Hat, white dye (Moria level 60 minstrel purple set; shares appearance with lore-master's and rune-keeper's Moria pieces)
Shoulders: Gwir-palvais, white dye (Drop from Isengard instance cluster)
Back: Anniversary Cloak, white dye (Anniversary event)

Guest: Brrokk of Snowbourn

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Brrokk often goes prospecting in the Ice-Bay of Forochel or the Misty Mountains. While in those cold places, he sometimes sees other people acting very strangely. Running about in the snow in thin, insubstantial garments! They invite hypothermia and they won't be so merry when the pointed tips of their ears freeze! Brrokk believes in keeping warm, and here is how he does it.

Chest: Snow-dusted Travelling Robe, umber dye (Yule festival)
Shoulders: Snow-dusted Travelling Shoulders, umber dye (Yule festival)
Hands: Scaled Gloves of Fate, white dye (World drop; many vendor sold gloves are good replacement)
Feet: Boots of the Seven Fathers, default dye (World drop; Brrokk says: "Other boots would do, as long as they grip well on ice.")
Back: Ceremonial Cloak of Ajokoira, default dye (T5 crafted)
Beard: black

Revel among Arnorian ruins

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Recently everybody's been talking about a gorgeous lady who had visited the Rangers encamped in Tinnudír. She came just before dusk and seemed to be in a hurry at first - it was clear that dark thoughts burdened her mind. While they were talking, a local treasure hunter heard fragments of her speech like "shadow", "threat to the King", "our support", as well as part of Calenglad's answer: "We stand ready."

This must have reassured the mysterious lady, because a smile suddenly appeared on her face. She stayed with the Rangers until the late watches, contemplating with goblets of wine and dancing. Then she set off for a journey, heading further to the east of Eriador. As she was riding away on the Men Erain (Road of the Kings), the local people could have seen more horse riders joining her. "Who are these people?", they asked. It may take long before they find out the answer.

This is third of Rhûnen ladies we've met in the Middle-earth, bringing mysterious news to the warriors of Eriador. So far they've visited Elves of Falathorn, Lossoth of Forochel and Rangers of Tinnudír. Based on the news we have learned so far they arrived to Ered Luin harbour and are journeying further east into the Eriador. Are there more of them? If so, where will we meet them next time?

It's funny how differently some outfit designs develop. It might seem I wanted to create a matching outfit for the Anniversary steed here, but it's not true. I was tidying up my outfit pieces and ran into Elf-queen's Dress, which is one of not-too-many dresses I really like. I've also recently bartered the beautiful Moria helm and found out it looks beautiful in pastel colours, such as sea blue. I built the outfit around these two pieces and it wasn't until I started taking screenshots for the blog when I realized it matches the Anniversary horse. I'm quite happy how it turned out, because I never really used the horse and didn't have any matching outfit for it (as I didn't like the matching Anniversary cosmetics very much).

Do you like the outfit? Please let me know in the comments! :)

Chest: Elf-queen's Dress, white dye (Store)
Head: Hat of the Stone-student, sea blue dye (Moria level 60 lore-master purple set; shares appearance with minstrel's and rune-keeper's Moria pieces)
Shoulders: Gwir-palvais, sea blue dye (Drop from Isengard instance cluster)
Back: Cloak of the Ibis, sea blue dye (Store)

Wish: Matching outfit for the Steed of the Rune-keeper

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

I was very honoured when Ketani, a Casual Stroll to Mordor's contributor asked me for an advice with outfitting. I know that she is a person with very good fashion taste herself (one of her Yule outfits also placed high in our Yule Outfit Contest 2011). She won a Steed of the Rune-keeper for her lovely elven lady Prolixity. Although she usually has outfits which match her mounts very well, this time she was struggling to find the right combination. She sent me her temporary horse-matching outfit, where she went for complimentary white (which can never spoil anything :).

This was already a decent outfit in my opinion, but Ketani was far from satisfied with coordination of the outfit with the horse. She also sent me a few pictures of other horse-matching outfits she wore, and I realized they were really much more superior to this one. She was also looking for the outfit to be usable in battle situations (not only while showing off the pretty mount :) and wanted the back of the outfit to be interesting. Well, character's back is what we generally see the most ingame :) However, cloak wouldn't work because of heavy luggage the horse is carrying. Ketani also mentioned she's not looking for an exact match to the mount's colour scheme, because that would be most probably impossible, so we were considering complimentary shades most of the time. I sent her first two designs:

    

I used the Sage's Pack because it was fitting for a rune-keeper, interesting and not "too long" as a cloak would be. With the robe, I was hoping to reach a complimentary shade to the horse, but as I don't have this steed myself, I could compare only to screenshots. Ketani tried these two out and unfortunately, the colours were quite far from matching. However, Ketani liked the idea of using a robe and found the wonderful Great Hoary Aurochs Robe:

We discussed the colour scheme a bit in e-mails and Ketani mentioned she is willing to try out any colour except for yellow and turquoise. Despite avoiding turquoise, she mentioned she likes sea blue. As she mentioned it, it clicked to me, tried this dye on the robe and thought it really worked well! So I sent Ket a modification of her design and also different robe stylized in a similar way (but this was more colourful and striking):

    

Ketani tried the third design (aurochs robe in sea blue) and found out the colours worked really well with the horse! From this design, she changed bracers I used for fingerless gloves and the final version of the outfit was born :)

This outfit consists of:
Chest: Great Hoary Aurochs Robe, sea blue dye (T5 crafted)
Head: (Lesser) Arrow of the West Helmet, umber dye (Ost Dunhoth hunter level 65 set)
Shoulders: Fated Westfold Campaign Shoulders Pads, umber dye (T7 crafted)
Hands: Fingerless Gloves, umber dye (Yule festival)
Feet: Strong Westfold Battle Boots, sea blue dye (T7 crafted)
Back: Sage's Pack, white dye (Store)

Ketani also built a version of this outfit to wear in town when she feels like wearing a cloak. In this modification, it becomes a beautiful feminine winter outfit.

In this version, Ket used circlet Hat of the Ancient Tongue (part of Mirkwood rune-keeper set), Warm Winter Cloak (Yule festival reward) and dyed the items purple.


And now, a final view of the outfit on the beautiful, yet unmatchable horse :))

Please let us know what do you think of the result! :)

Experience counts

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Maney has already seen many battles. Some call him Champion from the Lonely Mountain, because he has toughness, endurance and hard hit of a dwarf. He only smiles after hearing such remarks, because he is indeed a friend of dwarves and often visits Thorin's Hall for a few lagers with old friends. But however merry, he is never caught off guard and never lets go of his sharp blade and good old plated armour.

It's been quite a few weeks since I wanted to create an outfit for "The Borg Helm", a.k.a. Jeweller's Helm obtained during Treasure Hunt event sneak peek. First, I wanted to create an inspiration of the Borg from Star Trek, as this helm so much resembles their implants, but I've been unsuccessful so far. I wanted my first outfit in this year to be at least decent :), so no Borgs for today, I'm sorry. I experimented a bit anyway, because I've never tried mixing plated chest piece with cloth leggings so far - please let me know if you like the result in comments :)

Chest: Carn Dum Breastplate, black dye (Drop from Carn Dum)
Legs: Tattered Leggings of the Dunland Sage, black dye (Dunland quest)
Head: Jeweller's Helm, black dye (Treasure Hunt event)
Shoulders: Dwarf Leather Shoulder Guards of Might, black dye (world drop)
Hands: Hyrde-folme, black dye (Dunland quest)
Feet: Rusted Boots of the Dunland Berserkers, black dye (Dunland quest)
Back: Warden's Wrap, black dye (Warden's of Annuminas reputation barter)