The Eerie Elf (with Sintuilë of Gladden)

Another outfit submission by Sintuilë and I am loving this one! I was actually planning on using that head piece for my hunter Eadyth but it just had not found a place just yet, so I'm really glad to see it in use here on Sintuilë, especially in conjunction with Halloween (note that I'm writing this post in November of 2017).

So what I like about this outfit is that it achieved exactly what I could not years ago when I created my own elf-maid champion: an outfit both elegantly dress-like as well as intimidating. My inspiration was of course the elves of the Hidden Guard during the Mirkwood expansion., but the dress-like pieces never flared outwards as much as I needed them to. Whilst this piece does contract in certain poses, I think it does the job very well, and really big congratulations to Sintuilë for being able to pull this off!

One thing I never noticed before I started writing this is that the leaf at the base of the shoulderpiece really matches the leaf-like patterns that flow down the robe, which I find absolutely fascinating as they aren't from the same set, but share this oddly similar motif. True, it's not that hard to find similar motifs, but even the chainmail in the game have so many variations to the point that they really don't go together sometimes, so this is a wondrous discovery!

I also really like the choice of location - I think, since it IS Halloween after all, this is the perfect place in game to take pictures, though it might just simply have been Sintuilë not wanting to move too far away from the Haunted Burrow where she does her dailies - I've bumped into her a few times already!

Head: Expeditionary Cap (red);

Shoulders: Lore-keeper's Shoulders (white);

Chest: Rune-maker's Robe (red);

Hands: Ceremonial Gauntlets of the Iron Arm (burgundy);

Feet: Ceremonial Wandering Bard's Shoes (burgundy).

Crimson Kin (with Jularr & Halygr of Gladden)

I'm pretty stoked to present to you two community submissions in one entry because they coordinated their outfits to match one another with a similar colour scheme. When I received the files I was so excited to post this, and at the time I'm writing this up, we are 10 months early, so you can guess how impatient I am for this to finally be published!

Here is Jularr, a Dwarven hunter, albeit a pretty heavy duty one. What I like quite a bit is that he doesn't wear a helmet, or cover his head, which shows how sure he is that he won't need it. I think it's pretty badass, and hey, it shows off his cool hairstyle too.

The intricate gold details on the shoulder guards are something that helps the outfit stand out as they contrast brilliantly with the black dyeable area. Another thing about it is that both the shoulder piece and the chest have a wing motif going, which I did not realise before, and that's pretty cool that Jularr managed to put the two together into one outfit.

Shoulders: Shoulder Guards of the Reclaimed City (black);

Chest: Lesser Blade of the West Breastplate (red);

Hands: Gloves of Might (navy);

Legs: Leggings of the Coastal Bulwark (black);

Feet: Pelennor Boots of Wrath (rust).

Jularr's counterpart, Halygr the champion, equips a more aggressive armour with more spikes to it, mirroring the sharpness of his blade. As he needs to engage in close combat, he protects his head with a helmet reminiscent of Dwarven design so his enemies know with whom they mess. Also worth noting is that Halygr's outfit here requires only pieces from skirmish camp barterers, so it's much easier to replicate.

Although I do love the outfit, the problem is quite obvious here: there is a lot of clipping. The armour clips through each other, the beard clips through the helm, and while I can't blame Halygr's player for putting it together, one can wonder why this is still a problem in LOTRO, especially with an outfitting fanbase that is as big as it is. Just a few days ago I saw Nathrien of Material Middle Earth tweet to the official LOTRO twitter page regarding the Harvest Festival cosmetic rewards clipping and stretching very badly. Let's hope this gets fixed soon!

Head: Ceremonial Helm of the Brazen Call (red);

Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the Gloom-bane (gold);

Chest: Ceremonial Town-saver's Jacket (crimson);

Back: Cloak of Many Worlds (gold);

Hands: Ceremonial Dragon-scale Gloves (grey);

Legs: Ceremonial Pathfinder's Leggings (red);

Feet: Ceremonial Boots of the Graven Word (gold).

Celebrating the My Middle-earth Mode family!

After a year and a half, I'd like to celebrate the ever-growing My Middle-earth Family, as well as (finally!) an actual logo for the blog!

Just a huge thank you to:

1) my inspirations, the other LOTRO fashion websites, and especially Nathrien of Material Middle-earth whose comments bring a smile to my face and motivates me to keep doing this;

2) the friends I've made on Gladden who contribute to the blog by sending me screenshots of their toons in costumes they made: Kyix, Sintuilë & Halygr;

3) my audiences from all across the globe, who make it worth actually documenting these outfits and publishing them online.

Elf From Korea? (with Sintuilë of Gladden)

Inspired by their own culture, Sintuilë's player decided to dress her champion first in a traditional Korean Hanbok-inspired outfit. Although it's a simple outfit that needs not much explaining, I think she got pretty close with the pieces available to her.

I've personally tried on that outfit, and found that a lavender dyed dress looked more like the picture of the real life hanbok. Now of course the hanbok has many variations in terms of colour, but I do like lavender more than the rose. Unfortunately, the dye costs 20+G in the Auction House so I don't Sintuilë is willing to spend that money on one dye. 

Nonetheless, if you'd like to use this outfit, all you need are the same pieces, and you can almost mix and match any colour combination you like (though I think the hairstyle plays an integral part as well!) - just search "korean traditional dress" on Google and you'll get a vast selection of choices to follow that could suit any situation!

ps. I've been reminded to remind that despite it being Sintuile in game, it should be spelled Sintuilë, with the accent. It translates to "new spring" in Quenya which I can only guess is the player's real name :p

Shoulder: The Beast-keeper's Shoulder Pads (white);

Chest: Festive Azure Party Dress (rose).

Savage Strikes

As his final battle, his last stand, Eadhan charges into the goblin-overrun desolation of Minas Eriol to serve his fellow free peoples one last time.

A sorry sight to see a once great land taken by vile creatures. Eadhan dresses in a savage's garb adorned by one sturdy and intimidating helm before charging against the White Hand's pawns.

Without mercy, he cuts them down one by one with the blades of the east, pinning evil against evil in a sadistic irony. After each kill he taunts the rest of the horde by shaking his fist at them, growling for a challenge to feed his bloodlust.

"Come at me!" he beckons at the White Hand Lobbers as they sneer and hiss at him, lighting their flames to consume him with. But Eadhan knows no fear in the eyes of fire, as goblin fire is nothing compared to the dragon breath he has faced in yesteryears.

After finally defeating much of the horde, they call for reinforcements from Weathertop. Eadhan knows he cannot alone defy them, and he lays down his swords, knowing he has done much to hinder them and thin their numbers - he has served Middle-earth well, and it is now time for him to take his final breaths and meet his fallen brothers in the afterlife. He takes one more look to the sky, then...

Head: Heroic Noble's Vibrant Helm (indigo);

Back: Supple Eastement Cloak of Will (turquoise);

Chest: Langhár’s Tunic and Waistcoat (turqoise);

Feet: (indigo).

P.s. I deleted this toon before I rememebr I needed to get the components listed down, so I'll update it whenever I find out what the pieces are, but if you have any idea do feel free to comment them down. Also, I am quite (80%) certain that either the cloak or the chestpiece is of dark green dye instead of turquoise, so feel free to try that out.


Do check out Warlock of Erech by The Starrymantle, as that's where most of the inspiration for this outfit came from!

Blue-Mountain Berserker (with Halygr of Gladden)

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the famous Halygr who has been graciously helping me take pictures of outfits on my own characters. A tough fighter, he is, with an unquenchable determination to grow (in might, as he can't really grow in height anymore) as he defends his kin living in Ered Luin. 

Seeking Dourhand threats in the mountains, Halygr sacrifices some heavy-armour to match the maneuverability and agility of hunters, but keeps a handy horned helm to both protect himself as well as to intimidate his foes, especially in the dark. But all can agree that nothing is more intimidating than seeing this fierce dwarf charge at you, screaming Khazâd ai-mênu!

Armed with a slim long-sword, Halygr may be a whirlwind with a blade despite his stout figure. Unfortunately, my computer isn't the best one for taking screenshots so the images aren't as sharp as his blade. 

What outfit post of a defender of peoples is complete without a picture of said defender /look[ing] into the distance for threats. Funny enough, you'll see that the Dourhand infestation Halygr is seeking was behind him all along.

Below, you can see Eadyth's first reaction to seeing Halygr suddenly appear with both an amazing outfit and a request to be a guest feature. I want to thank him for all the time he spent taking pictures of my outfits, and welcome him to the My Middle-earth Mode page as a (hopefully returning) feature! 

Head: Ceremonial Helm of the Aurochs (evendim blue); 

Shoulders: Rune-maker's Shoulders (evendim blue); 

Chest: Ceremonial Jacket of the Shield-wall (evendim blue); 

Back: Dusty Seafarer's Cloak (evendim blue);

Hands: Ceremonial Gloves of the Gloom-bane (evendim blue); 

Legs: Ceremonial War-captain's Leggings (evendim blue); 

Feet: Far-arrow's Boots (evendim blue).