Haradrim Hunter

After I'd finished my Watcher West of the White City outfit and outgrew it, I felt Eadyth needed a new look as she progressed further into the Epic storyline. 

I really enjoyed putting this outfit together, as I was given the chance to combine colours I never would have originally: burgundy, indigo, and navy, + the gold-ish metal undyeable bits. It was really amazing how well it turned out (in my opinion, pat myself on the back) but I thought it captured the feel of some of those armoured Haradrim you see within Cair Andros and the likes. 

I hope you like the picture above because I spent 500-600 LOTRO Points JUST to buy that cosmetic pet that I don't see myself letting loose all that often. I think I saw an outfit post with a little mumak as well, but with a redder hue, but I couldn't find it in the store or online wiki pages, so I just went with this little guy. I would have used the one without the armour, but there's no way I'm gonna have the opportunity to do Throne of the Dread Terror T2Cs enough times for a random drop to come my way.

Head: Potent Valourous Helm of Fate (indigo);

Shoulders: Ceremonial Spear-shaker's Shoulders (navy);

Back: Fancy Quiver (indigo);

Chest: Breastplate of the Five Rivers (burgundy);

Hands: Padded Gloves of the Dunland Soothsayer (navy);

Feet: Brushed Leather Boots (navy).

Samurai Settler (with Kyix of Gladden)

I'm really glad to see more outfit submissions - thanks once again to Kyix for the pictures!

Very obviously this outfit was inspired by the costumes of the Japanese samurai. Now I don't know much about history, but the samurai were regarded as highly skillful warriors, and Kyix is no exception on the battle-field. She settled in Middle-earth after some strange, headcanon, universe crossover between the real world and Arda and has helped the Elves of Eregion maintain order, and repel against the evil forces there.

Now, there are a few differences between the inspiration and the end product, but that I found came down simply to the availability of armour skins - there aren't any slipper-like foot pieces in game, and the colour scheme of chest pieces don't really match the ones you'd find on samurai. That being said, I think Kyix has done a wonderful job at capturing the essence of samurai. The helm pretty much says it all, and what's really great is that Kyix's weapon is a pole-based one, just like the Naginata that female samurai used. Way to pay attention to detail!

Head: Scowling Helm (red);

Shoulders: Fine Mathom-hunter's Mantle (steel blue); 

Chest: Strong Eastemnet Combat Armour (red);

Hands: Gloves of the Unflagging Dragon (crimson);

Feet: Boots of the Anorien Fields (red).

Fan of Frostbluff (with Halenna of Gladden)

For those who don't know, Halenna and I are actually really close friends in real life, and so when the Yulefest came about again this year, I knew of the perfect Christmas gift for her, since she is such a huge fan of the festival.

This outfit was actually one of the first proper outfits I had Eadyth wear for a lot of her initial journey through Middle-earth, probably the first as I had her wear this not after The Great River. Back then, I didn't have the variety of pieces nor the creativity to make outfits, so this was the one I stuck with. Essentially three pieces, with a simple choice of quiver. 

Also, because Halenna's a relatively new player, she too was in that same circumstance I was in when Eadyth first started off, so I thought what better time and situation to give her the pieces I had. Granted, it's not hard to get those pieces, but I just felt like doing something for a friend, especially a friend like Halenna.

Halenna's been having a hard time finding outfits, and I've tried looking with her for pieces, though there are some pieces that she picked out that I don't think work very well with anything else she really has at her disposal right now, unless she just wears a complete set from the skirmish camps, which I don't think she wants. So we're still working on it, but I hope that during the holidays, we'll find time to look.

Sometimes it's nice to have all colours in the outfit match one another, this is one of those times when that isn't necessarily the case. The brown on the quiver stand out so much against the blues and whites and greys, but I felt it gives the outfit a more genuine look, like it would actually be a plausible thing to see, because in all reality nothing matches perfectly. 

Merry Christmas, everyone, and Merry Christmas, Halenna!

Head: Westemnet Assault Hood of Fate (navy);

Shoulders: Mathom-hunter's Mantle (white);

Chest: Snowy Tunic and Trousers (white);

Back: Fine Quiver (navy).

Guardian of Gondor

In his last days, Gildomir gave his all protecting the lands of Gondor. Knowing his time was nearly up, he lead a small command of soldiers on a suicide mission to reclaim Pelargir against the entire corsair host, buying as much time as they could for Aragorn and his host to arrive.

I can't really say which was the main piece of the set, but if I had to make a guess as to which piece I built the outfit around, I think it was the cloak, because when it was released in game, it really struck me as Turbine hadn't made a beautiful cloak like that before as a festival reward. Inspired, I paired it with the Nadhin heavy armour chestpiece and we had our basis of the outfit.

I knew I wanted to buff his shoulders up, and I thought what better way to do that than with the fluff of something, just like the fur shoulders on Celebindil's The Master over Lore and Life outfit. However, the colour just didn't work, and I was ready to give in to using just another piece of metal when I stumbled upon this beautiful shoulderpiece in Lalia's Market. I bought it instantly, and the rest just fell into place.

The helm was one I'd been hoarding for literally years, sending from alt to alt as I deleted them off slowly, until I finally found a use for them. I think I remember them from an outfit on Lotro Fashion and I told myself I just had to use it in a future outfit - about 4-5 years down the road I finally get there! 

Gildomir clutches his trusty spear and shield, weary of the battle he has faced so far, takes a breath, before charging his final charge into the fray...

Head: Strong Westfold Battle Helmet (black);

Ceremonial Stone-reader's Shoulders (steel blue); 

Back: Reveller's Cloak of the Odogil (steel blue);

Chest: Heavy Nadhin Jacket (steel blue);

Hands: Dwarf-make Iron Gloves (white);

Feet: Lesser Cry of the West Boots (walnut brown).

Sinister Silhouettes

Sorry not sorry about the inability to see much colour in the pictures for this outfit, because this time I tried something different: an outfit based almost solely around the overall silhouette.

Calonice would be my third (I think) toon to run through Mirkwood, and though I enjoyed the story the first time, the experience got pretty old. It also didn't help that I hate the gloom of the place, and it would have been a nice break from such gloom after spending 10 levels with it in Moria. My inability to see much colour in such an environment really annoyed me for a long time, but I thought I should make the most out of it by trying this new idea. 

I looked at the trees a lot in Mirkwood trying to find any light to brighten up my day, but instead I saw sinister silhouettes towering over me, just like the dark towers of Dol Guldur. Then it hit me: what if I tried mimicking the environment with what I wore? I threw a few pieces of armour together, ones mainly with accentuated points, stuck to a very basic and darker colour scheme (you could have it completely in black or grey, or really any other dark colour you wanted), and I was very pleased with the result.

Head: Helm of the Gentle Nudge (crimson);

Shoulders: Shoulders of the Deathstorm (crimson);

Back: Cloak of the Unwelcome Guest (black);

Chest: Jacket of the Shadow-walker (crimson);

Hands: Gauntlets of the Indomitable Protector (crimson);

Legs: Spellweaver's Leggings (red);

Feet: The Huntsman's Boots (black).