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).

Bree-town Burglar

Another day, another dollar! or at least that's how it is for Brina. Unfortunately, a burglar is only as rich as the people she burgles from. This mischievous young thief roams Bree-town as she normally does looking for her next victims.

Ooh! Looks like she's found two unsuspecting men. "Well, they should be on the lookout since I've been at it for such a long time," she thinks. With her long coat ready to store all the new loot she'll be picking out of people's pockets, she puts on her hat and begins the hunt.

Slowly, carefully, hoping her soft green boots will keep her footsteps quiet, she sneaks behind the unwilling victim of her next rob. But, always looking to cause more a bit more trouble and have a lot more fun, she runs around pouncing on anyone she comes across.

I honestly forgot what made me give Brina a colour scheme such as this, although I know the brown and burgundy came from one of my Lore-master's outfits. The green however seemed like I cool idea, I guess, and I'm pleased with the way it fits. Her shoulder-piece is one of my favourites as it is versatile and fits most combinations of armour or cloth. They also can be used to simply add colour as they aren't big and bulky as other shoulder-pieces that cover that amount of surface area.

Thankfully for the inhabitants, Second Watcher Heathstraw is always around to tell Brina off. But what is a Bree-land burglar who stops burgling? At least, that's Brina's philosophy. That's why until this day, no matter how many times she gets caught, you will still see her making mischief, robbing the rich of their money and giving to who she thinks is poor - herself - despite carrying a pouch of gold whenever her coat can't hold any more loot.

A shout out to my friend Halygr who helped me take these pictures! Without his help, I wouldn't have been able to capture the entirety of Brina without sacrificing clarity and detail as zooming in would only distort the image on my laptop.

Head: Adventurer's Hat (burgundy);

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

Chest: Tattered Robe of the Dunland Sage (umber);

Back: Treasure Hunter's Satchel (burgundy);

Feet: Ceremonial Boots of the Learned (olive).

Singer of the Sutcrofts

Isenbran, friend to and song-singer of the Rohirrim, travels the land of the Horse-lords in search of battle, but more importantly, in search of heroes of whom he writes epics and lays about. Armed with a hammer and shield of Rohan, along his trusty theorbo, he roams the vast green lands.

My apologies, I didn't initially want to post a Rohan-themed outfit next, but I thought that my Hobbit deserved some attention. The base of this outfit was the breastplate (yes, this is the heavy-armoured Hobbit minstrel I mentioned in my previous post) that I got a long time ago when Isenbran just reached level 75, I believe, from one of the quests I completed in my desperate rush to get my first war-steed. Also, notice how I've been using alliteration in titles so far; have a guess/personal bet how long I can keep this up!

At the time I was creating this outfit, I particularly enjoyed putting light armour on heavy-armoured classes, and vice versa. I wondered what it would look like having a fully armoured minstrel charge into the middle of the battlefield, especially during epic battles at Helm's Deep, since minstrels are such hard hitters anyway. I was satisfied with how it looked - it was different - and decided to keep the breastplate on.

The Map-maker's Travel Pack was intended for another minstrel character I made to play with a friend, but since she stopped playing I had stopped playing that minstrel as well, so I thought maybe Isenbran could use that back piece in an outfit. I was surfing through my wardrobe when I accidentally clicked on it, then suddenly I saw a battle-ready minstrel. All I needed was a helm, and thankfully I had one in the wardrobe at the time as well that fit the Rohirric theme of the breastplate. With that, my outfit was completed. I keep hands and feet exposed as to not forget his roots as a humble hobbit, but just look at how well he fits in among the big folk of Rohan!

Head: Enduring Great River Helmet of Agility (olive);

Chest: Utred's Decorated Breastplate (red);

Back: Map-maker's Travel Pack (dark green).

Roving Rohirrim

Eadyth has always dreamed of leaving her father's farm and exploring the lands of Rohan. Finally given her own horse, she takes only her trusty bow, a quiver of arrows, and her father's old helm with her on her much unexpected journey.

When the Surcoat of Nárië was released, I just had to get my hands on it. Not necessarily for outfitting at that time, but just because it looked cool and I was sure to be able to use it some time in the future. A few months passed and I had finally got into Rohan. Wandering around the beautiful greenery throughout the lands, I was still wearing the same old grey-ish lightweight outfit I used throughout the Great River. I looked through my vault and here sat a chest piece with the perfect colours when dyed crimson.

The helm, of course, was one of the many quest rewards you get in Rohan, designed specifically for the region. To be quite honest, I don't particularly love the look of some of those pieces, but I still manage to find good uses for them, such as the heavy armour chest piece on my Hobbit minstrel (yes, you read that right). Nonetheless, I think the helm compliments the outfit beautifully, not only cosmetic-wise, but to tell a story: Eadyth's story.

Green, particularly olive in LOTRO, has always been the colour that comes to mind when thinking of Rohan, but I always wanted to challenge that, just as Turbine has done; you see Rohirrim wearing all sorts of colours: blue, white, orange, red, yellow. I wanted to create an outfit that said "Rohan" without having green as the base colour. I think the subtle hints such as the horse-designed bow and the Rohirric helm helped me achieve that, and now I firmly and honestly believe that somehow we can all make those other work well in a Rohan-themed outfit.

Head: Cysthelm (red);

Shoulders: Potent Skirmish Shoulders of the Mark (sienna);

Chest: Surcoat of Nárië (crimson);

Back: Sturdy Quiver (olive);

Hands: Padded Gloves of Kingstead (olive);

Feet: Arrow of the West Boots (umber);

Bow: Legendary Hunter's Bow of the Third Age.

Woodland Wanderer

Sent from the Vales of Anduin to seek Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Eafrith gears up in her travel garments as well as a sturdy helm she bought when she arrived at the Bree Auction House. 

While browsing through the Auction House (what I've spent my last week doing) I found a chest piece I immediately thought was beautiful. It had been a long time since I created a medium-armoured outfit such as this (my last being on my dwarf champion I no longer play). I've always liked how the armour, especially medium armour, had such interesting colour combinations, and I made it a point to utilise as many of the natural undyeable colours as possible.

I initially wanted to keep Eafrith's head visible as much as possible because of the tattoo around her right eye and her hairstyle which I thought is cool, although probably not very lore-abiding. Unfortunately, there are just so many head pieces that aren't crowns or circlets that show off the hair, and I wanted to use some metal in the outfit (similarly on my dwarf as well). 

Head: Steadfast Westfold Assult Helm (olive);

Shoulders: Grimbeorn's Shoulders (umber);

Chest: Short-sleeved Shirt of Vigour (gold);

Hands: Gleaming Westernesse Leather Gauntlets (olive);

Legs: Garthraw (navy);

Feet: Ceremonial Pathfinder's Boots (olive).