Snow Sentinel

In his final moments serving the land of Gondor, as he draws his final breaths, Gildomir remembers the time when he was but a lowly sentinel in the snow, facing no great threat more than a wild cat or two every week.

'Twas a much simpler time, when he could socialise all he wanted with his fellow guards. No enemy would show up before the gates, and so no guard really required any thick armour more than the mandatory uniform for some - Gildomir was a volunteer, and he felt very cold in the winter, so they permitted thick wraps for him.

No real requirement for hiding either, Gildomir could afford to adorn himself in a beautiful sea blue dyed hauberk that stunningly contrasted the sienna. Most of his armour, let's be real honest, was for the sake of fashion more than protection, which he got all from simply exposing his right shoulder, clad with the shiny shoulderpiece handed down to him from his father, and his father before him: an heirloom of a family of wardens. 

As Gildomir closes his eyes one last time, he relives the warmth of the smoke he puffed on his first night as a snow sentinel.

Head: Medium Nadhin Mask (sienna);

Shoulders: Westemnet Assault Shoulderpads of Balance (sea blue);

Chest: Patched Hauberk (sea blue);

Feet: Vrushed Leather Boots (sienna).

Mace and Mistress

You can tell it was hard to construct a name using alliteration when I refer to Eafrith's weapon as a mace instead of a Guardian's Great Club of the Second Age. Anyway, that's what this outfit was modeled after, and I tried to imitate the colour scheme and even shape of the weapon as much as possible. 

Now, I know that this outfit is very similar to Nathrien's Captain's Arm outfit, and that we both created our outfits based on the look of the weapon. In my defense, I hadn't yet seen her outfit by the time I finished making this. It's no surprise that we would do this though as cosmetic weapons are a fairly new addition to the cosmetic system in LOTRO, and I guess we're just outfit-holics trying to make use of the system as much as possible. But as I've told all my friends (in real life, anyway) Nathrien is a huge inspiration to me in the fashion of LOTRO and I have the utmost respect for her and her work. So please, if for some strange reason you know of my blog but not hers, go on and follow her, keep yourself updated, because her outfits are extraordinary! 

I love the detail on the different pieces of armour, especially how there is chainmail in almost every piece, and how it all matches in design and colour despite being from completely different sets (we all know how chainmail can differ from each other). I especially find it amazing how well the foot-piece fits with the entirety of the outfit, despite coming from an armour set that I wouldn't normally associate with the rest of the pieces. I remember trying out countless numbers of boots with more interesting designs, but in the end I realised that perhaps what I needed was something simple to fill the gaps, and that's when I turned to the 'heavy armour' filter in the Auction House. 

As you can see, I tried to recreate the star-like shape of the weapon using the shoulder and head pieces. I also deliberately used red on the gloves to imitate the small red gem-like ornaments on the handle of the club. Also, to compliment the star-like design, I used a leg piece that included an insignia of a sun also in gold. 

The location is Duillond as I love how the blue and gold stand out from the beautiful purple and green of the scenery. Aside from that, the outfit is what I thought a really high-ranked elf warrior would wear. The spiked edges are reminiscent of the sharp edges that the elves wear in Jackson's Middle-earth adaptations, but overall this outfit is more fantastical than the more realistic Lord of the Rings trilogy (well, I thought it was pretty realistic for a fantasy). Even in the darkness of the night does this outfit look beautiful against the purple sky. 

Again, let me thank my good friend Halygr for helping me take these amazing shots. I admit, this outfit has some of my favourite screenshots ever, and those could not be achieved without help from another player.

Head: Ceremonial Dragon-scale Helm (sea blue);

Shoulders: Ceremonial High-protector's Shoulders (sea blue);

Chest: Ceremonial War-captain's Breastplate (sea blue);

Hands: Sermaib (red);

Legs: Ceremonial Thunderstruck Trousers (sea blue);

Feet: Enduring Scale Shoes of Fleetness (walnut brown).