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).

Winter Warmers

I never thought greens and reds would be the main colours in a cold outfit...

I based the outfit around the chest-piece which I found during an Featured Instance run. What happened is that I tried it on to see how it looked and I loved the combination with the leg piece that I had equipped. After that I knew I wanted those to be the bases of the outfit and I started from that.

Now, I had no clue how this outfit would turn out, and I didn't have a destination in mind either. It just happened, and before I knew it, I was using the Cloak of Mammutti, which most people use for winter/snow outfits. However, the colour scheme here did not mirror that at all, I didn't think, so it sat in the dark from this blog for a long time, and only really was in use for FI runs, as that's where it came from. 

Back: Cloak of Mammutti (olive);

Chest: Potent Dextrous Jacket of Prowess (olive);

Hands: Ceremonial Gloves of the Aurochs (rust);

Legs: Ancient Doom-hunter's Leggings (crimson);

Feet: Defensive Eastemnet Skirmish Boots of Might (olive).

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).

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).

Guy Like Gaston

No one's strong like Gaston,
fights bad orcs like Gaston,
stands and ponders his long life in pubs like Gaston.

I wanted to use Gaston as an inspiration for an outfit simply because we had this beautiful rustic looking town called Bree and it would be a shame not to make use of that. Since Gildomir was mainly a crafting alt, he wouldn't have gone far away, so to give him a nice costume to match his surroundings seemed like the thing to do. I didn't take pictures outside but I felt the Prancing Pony seemed like a great place to stage the pub scene from the movies/musical. All we need is a hobbit playing Le Fou!

The cape was added because I loved the way the crimson mixed with the steel blue just like it did in the cartoon movie, right at the end, as he leads the villagers to the Beast's castle. It kinda pops on out of nowhere but it was a very nice design choice that accentuated Gaston's turn to evil, as he was only ever a douche when the movie began - the deep blue finally cloaks the bright pride of red and consumes him in this darkness.

Back: Cloak of the Unwelcome Guest (steel blue);

Chest: Boar Clansman Sentry's Jacket (crimson);

Feet: Fine Westernesse Protctor's Boots (walnut brown).

You could find gloves dyed gold or ranger green to get it more similar to Gaston, but I felt it would stand out too much, thus why I omitted the gloves altogether.

Worm Wrangler (with Kyix of Gladden)

Wearing the hide and scale of her foes, this fearless captain charges into the lairs of drakes on her trusty dragon-clad steed. Together, their might keeps the worms at bay and keeps Middle-earth safe.

I have to say I am loving the new cosmetic armour rewards for this Anniversary Festival; they just look amazing. Well done to the new design team who brought such freshness to the table - it's paid off, as I've already received an outfit submission based around the new helm. Granted it's not the most versatile piece, but it does look amazing.

It definitely looks great in combat stance too, as the points on the helm and the shoulders create this intimidatingly beautiful outline. I use the same shoulders on my Rune Keeper and I can testify to the silhouette of her riding down the dark forests of Mirkwood looking absolutely stunning.

Head: Helm of the Unflagging Dragon (red);

Shoulders: Shoulders of the Deathstorm (ranger green);

Back: Cloak of the Boar Warrior (ranger green);

Chest: Scaled Hauberk (red);

Hands: Ceremonial Dragon-scale Gloves (gold);

Feet: Boots of the Unflagging Dragon (crimson).

Athenian in Anguish

LORE-BREAKING! But then again, I created Eafrith for this particular outfit (I had it equipped on Eadyth before). Anyway, she stands ready to face whatever may threaten the acropolis of her Goddess Athena. Nothing will show such disrespect for the sacred temple while she still draws breath defending it.

Upon coming back from the war, Eafrith discovers that her home has been destroyed, with only a few pillars standing and a lot of rubble. She ventures into the desolation that once was familiar to her, only to find sorrow and the stench of death.

I drew inspiration for the outfit from the collective costume design of Lampito (of course, Lampito is Spartan, but whatever right?) by my classmates for our A Level drama course, as we are exploring Lysistrata, a comedy from Ancient Greece. It features the only pair of 'skirts' in the entire game that mimic the skirt-like armour that we agreed Greek warriors wore. 

Up at the acropolis, she removes the cruel beaks that prey on the bodies of her friends. Fending them off one by one, she treats them as mercilessly as they have treated the carcasses within the broken temple. I chose to expose her head and face, not using a helmet as soldiers of Athens would normally, mainly because it was hard finding a helm that was reminiscent of Athenian warriors (one that I felt looked good was the Helm of the Eastment, but it is green and undyeable), and also I wanted the show the face and marks of her face, which I felt emphasised a sense of anguish.

Thank you again, Halygr, for helping me take the pictures. Once again, I couldn't have achieved the angles I ended up using for this post without your help.

Head: Arrows of the West Helmet (umber);

Shoulders: Lesser Blade of the West Shoulder Guards (steel blue);

Chest: Isengard Prisoner Shirt (sienna);

Back: Worn Cloak of the Ranger (red);

Hands: Leather Bracers of the Learned Stag (crimson);

Legs: Threadbare Leggings of the Dunland Healer (walnut brown);

Feet: Anorien Battle Boots (steel blue).

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.