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).

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.

Adventures in Angmar

As an outsider, Calonice had to earn the trust of the Trév Gállorg when adventuring into Angmar and helping stop the shadow in the North. To do this, she both had to perform a Fém as well as dress up as one of them.

Any player in LOTRO knows how underused yellow is, simply because it looks horrible on most pieces. However, this outfit emerged when I jokingly dyed the leggings yellow just to see how the colours contrasted. I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw, and soon enough, I had dyed other pieces yellow as well. 

Honestly, I didn't have Angmar in mind when I created this outfit. The colours of the leggings were the basis of the entire piece. However, I was beginning questing in Angmar and noticed the similarities between the shades on Calonice's garments and theirs, and decided that this was the perfect outfit to wear throughout my adventures there.

I'm quite thankful I used quite a decent amount of yellow. As Angmar is such a gloomy place, much like Moria or Mirkwood, the yellow gave me brightness in the darkness; that would ultimately be the reason I managed Angmar, as I easily get discouraged and bored in dull environments, just like Calonice evidently does.

I was also - and am still - amazed by how well the Steed of Rivendell goes with this outfit, despite it being from a completely different faction and a colour scheme for a completely different purpose. Still, it's good that the mount uses a lot of yellow, which almost justifies my use of yellow in my outfit. 

Head: The Beast-keeper's Hat (gold);

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

Chest: Isengard Prisoner Shirt (yellow);

Hands: Elven Steel Gauntlets of Courage (burgundy);

Legs: Ceremonial Trousers of the Stone-student (yellow);

Feet: Ceremonial Boots of the Brazen Call (yellow).

Royal Rune-keeper

The Royal Rune-keeper, Calonice Aristophaniell, overlooking the city of Annúminas. Clad in shining silver armour adorned with touches of gold, this elf-maid is cosmetically worthy of basking in the glory of the old capital city of Arnor.

I threw this outfit together beginning with the Ceremonial Wandering Bard's Shoulders that I purchased intended to be used in another outfit. It didn't work as well as I had hoped, so it sat in my vault for a long time. One day I decided to take it out and go cosmetic hunting. I realised how much brighter it looked with the gold lining and thought maybe it would work better with a metallic silver scheme.

Turquoise in the game has had me in love with it for some time as it is one of the colours not often used in LOTRO outfitting (that I have seen so far). It's somewhat bright and stands out, as well as going very nicely with the gold and silver. This outfit has touches of brown from the undyeable parts of the leg piece and boots, which at first bothered me but seemed to go quite nicely with the rest of the outfit.

I would like to thank my friend Endoviel for helping me take these wonderful screenshots. I have never been able to take nice screenshots of my own character due to my lack of practice in this area, so having a camera-man helped a lot.

Head: Ceremonial Hat of the Written Word (turquoise);

Shoulders: Ceremonial Wandering Bard's Shoulders (gold);

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

Back: Golden Tree Summer Cloak (white);

Hands: Ceremonial Thrill-seeker's Gloves (gold);

Legs: Blademaster's Leggings (turquoise);

Feet: Ceremonial Boots of the Aurochs (turquoise).