2003 News Archives
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News added by month, more or less.
Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept
Oct Nov Dec
Dec. 31, 2003
Happy New Year's Eve!
D2X Ladder banks:
We have quite a few bank ladder characters
that are about to be deleted by B.net for lack of use. Any volunteers
to put in some time would be welcome! Thanks to the folks who've given
warnings and those who have been rebuilding deleted banks, as well as
the ones putting in time.
Dec. 28, 2003
New idea from Ulfang-(V)!:
There are quite a number of things that are going on, all of which
I'd love to be more interested in (if it weren't for my job; I
work for
an investment bank in New York so my hours have been horrible, plus,
I'm now engaged so wedding plans take a front seat to Tolkien).
It's
hard for me to add anything to the list....
Although here's an idea...
My fiance and I both enjoy Tolkien, and we were actually thinking
of
having our wedding bands inscripted with tengwar writing. (The
running
joke is that while my ring will say 'I love you' and so on, hers will
say 'One Ring to rule them all') We've seen a couple of places on
the
web where one can get this, but if anyone else knows where to get
customized Tolkien jewelry, i think that would be nice.
Thanks once again,
Ulfang
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST, 22:00
GMT AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting Transcript, by Arathorn-V. Summary below:
Attending: report by Thror-(V) and Varda
AIM group (14): Akhoril, Arathorn,
Ar-Pharazon, Caranthir, Elatan, Galdor, Gil-galad, Gwaihir, Huan,
Orodreth, Osse, Thorondor, Thror, Varda (presiding)
Change of meeting format:
Discussion of changing meeting format. News page
does not need to be repeated, have folk check News before the meeting
gets rolling, then tell any new business. Then switch to Tolkien chat
right away.
Reason to change format: News repeat is a repeat.
Many are not in the same games, so much of the gaming details will be
irrelevant to many, and may be handled better on the Message Board aka
Forum. Europe has short time to be in chat.
Reason to change to AIM: Guild now is across many
games, quite a few don't game at all, and we need a way to meet live.
Membership:
Eonwe went to see RotK during meeting time.
The movies are very helpful to those who test, besides being fun.
Elatan made two longbows plus arrows and a
quiver, in real life.
Arathorn's Java problem: The .toUppercase
property of an object won't work with an array. He needs a workaround
for the problem and none of us could help. Please email Arathorn.
Tolkien: (details in transcript)
Many were coming and going from the Return of
the King movie, two during the meeting, and a few had not seen it
so we tried to keep talk to the books.
Chat topic by Varda: Friendship in the books.
Chat topic by Thror: Spiders and Dark Lords
Suggested topic for another time: Orodreth fishing
for WoS help: Did elves use money of any sort? Did they barter?
Dec. 26, 2003
D2X Ladder:
New banks made, will need to be
played up. Gems, Rares, Runes, Uniques. Help needed!
Dec. 25, 2003
Merry Christmas!!
Dec. 24, 2003
New page: Quick AIM -
lists AIM screen names of full and Tolkien-only members, plus
information on how to get and use AIM for meetings. Found on the guild
index under Members and on the Activity page.
Half-Life/CounterStrike:
Half-Life and especially HF's CounterStrike players,
please note that you can get together on the Message Board Forum. You
also need to list that you like to play with Eonwe's Games page. Also,
please send Varda your CounterStrike Valar guild name for the Activity
page and so that you can find each other.
Dec. 22, 2003
Paladin Took-V, Welcome to the Valar Guild!
Paladin found us from the web site, doing a search for Tolkien and
Blizzard. He stayed around our channel a while trying to join, until
some of our kindly members suggested he email Varda. His outside
character is Berolsar, account SWRPG. He's 20, from Nevada, USA in the
PST. He's online nightly, preferring SC/BW, but also playing D2X, WC2,
and WC3. He's read the H and LotR. His favorite LotR character is
Aragorn. His email is Protoss72000@hotmail.com, his AIM is
MyLifeforAuir72.
D2X Ladder:
Thorondor just set the bar high
for all of us D2X Ladder players. He went Hardcore! His paladin is 67
and still alive! More info such as account name for it etc on the D2X
Ladder page. Still, that means we have a lot of new player slots for
hardcore with no record, so a level one has a chance!
Arathorn's javazon
still has the highest overall standing.
Dec. 21, 2003
Sunday Meeting 5:00pm EST, 22:00 GMT
Meetings are held on AIM (AOL Instant
Messenger) in chat room Valar Guild Meetingplace.
We have helpers in channel Clan Vala, and you can still receive credit
for showing up if you are listed by a roll taker on Bnet. According to
Eonwe, today's meeting was held in Bnet due to the lack of people
showing up in AIM who weren't also on Bnet.
You can enter the chat room in a couple of ways. You
can invite yourself or make the chat room, much like making a channel
in B.net, by sending a chat invitation to your screen name (not display
name), typing in Valar Guild Meetingplace as the chat room name. The
chat room will come up. Then choose "no" when the box asks if you wish
to accept the invitation, or it will make another chat room of the same
name and wind up nowhere.
To invite another member to the chat, use the menu
from the chat room (not the buddy list) to automatically give the
correct chat room name. Invite the person's screen name, not the
display name.
AIM can be downloaded free from www.aim.com
. Please make a screen name using your guild name so we can recognize
you for the roll to give you proper credit. If you already have a
screen name, you can use that, but you can also add a "new" screen
name. This is done as if you never had a screen name before, but when
it comes back up, you'll see a drop down list of your old screen names
and your new one.
Please email Varda your AIM screen name for the
meeting. Please also mention the screen name for general use if you use
another one normally but would like it to be contacted by guild
members. If you want the outsider screen name kept private for helping
attempts to find you during inactivity sweeps, tell Varda so it won't
be listed on the Activity page.
Any AIM names Varda is aware of will be listed on
the Activity page, unless told differently.
Attending: roll taken by Thorondor-(Valar)
Gwaihir-Valar@Azeroth
Fionwe-Valar@Azeroth
(Eonwe)
Daeron-V
(also has been playing during the week)
Orodeth-V
Beleg-V
Thorondor.Valar
Dior: Seen before meeting (by Eonwë)
Also on AIM:
Orodreth,
Eonwë
Membership News:
Varda (I) was going to apologize for missing
today's meeting,
but no, I'll say Woot! instead. I'm going to see Return of the King
with Eowyn-(V) and a
friend, so you guys have fun talking Tolkien without me. :) I'll
try to drop in late or after-meeting. Someone please email meeting
notes!
Erestor sends greetings, having to work
during the meeting.
Dropped for
inactivity, group 2: You can reapply before January
without a test, or rejoin after January with a test. Please email Varda.
Elenwe (left, nice
letter, not gaming or following Tolkien now)
Finrod Felagund (email
undeliverable, no contact since July 2002)
Folca (email
undeliverable, no contact since July 2002)
Fuinur (email
undeliverable, no contact since January)
Girion (email
undeliverable <bedwards321@hotmail.com>. No
contact since 2002)
Dec. 20, 2003
WC3/TFT meeting 1pm EST channel Clan Vala.
Gwaihir had to be at work.
Emailed tip:
any clan member who has registered an e-mail address with
WC3 can be contacted through 'clanmail'... allowing you to contact at
least me (I registered mine) over bnet when I'm not online.
Dec. 17, 2003
Tolkien Encyclopedia:
Poetry:
"Rohirrim
Battle Hymn", by Turgon-(V)
"Trollish
ode to themselves", by Turgon-(V)
Elatan, Happy 40th Birthday! He's
heading out for Christmas vacation and should be back around the 22nd.
Dec. 14, 2003
Saddam was captured Saturday. Photos, DNA tests
prove identity.
Tolkien Encyclopedia:
Poetry:
"Brave
Heart", by Laurelin Caline, Tolkien member. The words of those
who went into battle against Sauron, supporting Elendil and Gil-galad.
Sunday Meeting: 5:00pm EST, 22:00 GMT, on
AIM, Valar Guild Meetingplace, with helpers in the Battlenet channels.
Meeting
transcript in AIM, sent in by Arathorn-V from the time he entered
the chat room. Great idea, Arathorn!
Attending:
AIM: member name: AIM name for your list
Arathorn-V: ArathornValar
Earendil-V: gelondil2
FarmerMaggot: Musics4Me2
Gil-galad-V: Xseanzee
disco
Grimbold-V: hearnoevil80
Gwaihir-Valar: HeraldTantras
Orodreth-V: OrodrethV
Thror-V: chuginchub
Varda-Valar: VardaValar1
Clan Vala channel only: Beleg-V. He said his AIM is
off.
Membership:
Eonwe and Erestor are at work.
Members dropped so far, activity sweep still in
progress:
Amroth, Beorn, Beorn, Bolg, Celebrimbor.
Web:
Tolkien Encyclopedia/ Poetry page: "Brave Heart" by
Laurelin Caline, Tolkien member.
Message Board: New trivia section started.
Gaming:
D2X Ladder:
Arathorn is leading the guild with an
82 javazon.
WC3:
Osse promoted to shaman!
Christmas tourney proposed. May also
have all game gaming during the holidays.
Lord of the Rings:
Co-op LotR Board game. Hobbits
try to reach Mt. Doom before corruption points reach 10.
By Hasbro.
Created by Reiner Knizia. Co-op, so no competitive issues.
Tolkien:
Upcoming Return of the King movie discussion.
Rumored cuts.
Earendil: How were Ents involved in the history of
Middle-earth?
Varda: Helm's Deep, Orthanc
Earendil: Helped Beren vs dwarves.
Gwaihir: Doriath. And Entwives
taught Men to farm.
Thror suggests as a future topic: House of Play.
Dec. 13, 2003
Promotion! Osse became a shaman in
the
WC3/TFT branch today at the meeting. He will be able to handle the
gavel at WC3/TFT meetings, full guild meetings in Battlenet, and Vala
flag incoming branch members. Osse is already a Maia honor, so he can
test entry. He joins Gwaihir and Draugluin in the Maiar shaman list. A
person doesn't have to be a Maia to be a shaman, but he does need to be
able to communicate with Chieftain Eonwe and play the game.
The meeting was at 1pm, channel Clan Valar, Eonwe
presiding. Osse accepted the shaman job. Sauron got his Vala flag.
Varda was also present. Thror came by just as the meeting closed.
Ancalagon, although in WC3, seemed to be afk in the other channel, as
was Orodreth's Halmundo.
WC3/TFT Christmas Gaming: from Eonwe:
We would like to try a Christmas Tournament, not on
Christmas of course :} but on the Sunday before Christmas, next Sunday
the 21st. If you would like there to be a tournament you need to
repond to me or Gwaihir immediately. At least 8 people excluding
judges must be willing to meet for this or its no go. This was
announced at the end of November on the Valar Guild Message Board (find
the link on the Main Page. You remember where that is, right?
:}). If you haven't signed up yet, it's a good idea to. The
sooner you guys get talking on it the sooner it'll become a bustling
hub of Valarness :} We've got about 27 of us (total Valar Guild
members) already, and at least most of the new members are
already on board.
Hellos:
Aragorn says hello. He's been out due to
internet connection difficulties. Lately he's been playing in D2:LoD
Europe. He hopes to make tomorrow's meeting.
Erestor will be at work during tomorrow's
meeting. He hopes to be on earlier that day burning in more D2X Ladder
banks.
Hello letter from Bain and Cirdan:
Sorry we have dropped off the map. The two of us were relying on a satellite broadband connection for gaming that
was extremely dibilitating due to a huge latency. Quickly dying in every game we played, we opted to retire to the
green hills of Southfarthing. Recently I ditched the satellite connection (because DSL became available in our
area). BTW, if you are ever faced with the choice between a Hughes Direcway Satellite and stepping outside to send
smoke signals, choose the tried and true blanket and fire method! We would love to get back into to loop after the
winter solstice.
Dropped for inactivity:
You can reapply before January without a test, or rejoin after January
with a test. Please email Varda.
Amroth: email
disabled, no contact all year.
Beor: email
undeliverable, no contact all year.
Beorn: all people who say
they are a Beorn will have to rejoin under another name and will not be
considered members until then. None replied to the Eonwe email in Sept
and none have shown any activity since. All the emails I sent Dec12
came back undeliverable.
Bolg: email undeliverable, no
contact all year.
Celebrimbor: email
undeliverable, no contact all year. Gwaihir had contact, says
Celebrimbor's no longer interested.
Dec. 12, 2003
Letter from Eonwe:
Hail!
Just thought I'd let you know I won't be able to make the meeting
Sunday. One of our shift managers quit (this place seems to be
rough on management, hehe), leaving just me and my main manager (like
it was most of the semester during school), and so she could attend a
family Christmas thing I went ahead and said I'd close for her.
Hope you have fun. I assure you I'll be wishing I was there :}
Take care.
Eonwë
Activity Sweep: Those who didn't
respond to Eonwe's games email in September and have
no recent activity mentioned need to contact me to keep from being
dropped for January. Those
who have nothing listed after Eonwe's games email are questionable as
being active. If you see a question mark by your name's active status
on the Activity
2003 page or just to make sure, then please email Varda.
Please sign with your guild name!
I will be sending out emails to help you get
in contact, but emails are
not always updated properly (a dropped "n" on verizon in the address
book
recently prevented an email from going through) or have weirdnesses
preventing them from going
through, and some of you don't have emails. Beor has no email.
Some ways of showing documentable activity:
Email Varda.
Come to a meeting for at
least a few minutes to have your name on the Attending rolls on the
News.
WC3 players in the Clan Vala branch
will show up on the clan profile showing when they were last in
the Clan Vala channel.
Anything that puts you on the News
page: emails, articles for the Tolkien Encyclopedia or the Gaming
pages, meetings.
D2X ladder page participant with a
dated update.
Web page for the guild.
The new Activity page for 2004 will show who
is still in the guild in January. If you seem to have been dropped for
inactivity, email Varda if you want to rejoin, then try to make some
form of monthly contact afterwards.
Dec. 10, 2003
AIM tip
Letter from Gwaihir:
you CAN invite yourself into a chat. if you know the name
of the chatroom, that is.
All you have to do is type your name in stead of someone else's into
the section where it asks you to type who you want to invite... and
type the name of the room into the appropriate spot and then push
invite. It'll open up the chatroom and you'll be in it 
Namarie,
Gwaihir
In another letter from Gwaihir:
You can invite yourself into an AIM chatroom. You just type
your name in stead of someone else's into the "Screen names to invite"
section and the chatroom you wish to go to into the "Buddy Chat Room"
spot. Then push invite and the chatroom will pop up and miraculously
enough, you'll be in it
Dec. 9, 2003
Links page:
By the Sword
- medieval and fantasy swords, clothing, collectibles. Second URL
Squelch button exercise again.
Woohooimback@Azeroth says he's the old Calvin, leafieslover, back in
the Valar channel being nasty saying the same old same old. Another
account being used for ugly remarks, probably shared by Calvin and a
guild member, is
Mr.Aznpanda@Azeroth. He plays with Buntcake@Azeroth,
Someonewhocares@Azeroth, and Quickbeam-V@Azeroth. The first two are
outside names for guild folk.
Dec. 7, 2003
Sunday Meeting Battlenet East, channel Clan Valar,
5:00pm EST, 22:00 GMT
Attending: report from Thror and Varda
Members: Arathorn, Bombur, Caranthir,
Earendil, Eonwe/Fionwe, Erestor, Galdor, Gil-galad, Gwaihir, Orodreth,
Thorondor/Sorontar, Thror, Tilion, Varda (presiding)
Guest: Virtuous (joined guild after meeting
as Grimbold-V)
Member Report:
Welcome to the Valar Guild, Grimbold-V! Grimbold
is 23, from Illinois in the US, CST. He plays D2:LoD and WC3/TFT. He is
on bnet daily. He's read the H and LotR. He's learning about being a
veterinarian. Galdor scouted, Earendil and Varda tested for a 5/5.
AIM experiment:
After the main meeting, we tried an experiment to
see if we could meet in AIM. This was more successful than any other
non-Bnet chat we've done especially with so little preparation time.
This could really be a way to go, and let non-Bnet gamers and
Tolkien-only members join in much better. Several of us added our guild
names to our AIM accounts. AIM seems to be safer for us than ICQ or
IRC, and most found it available.
Tolkien fonts may be found at
www.barrowdowns.com/fonts/Quenya.ttf. Put them in
c:/windows/fonts and that's it.
The main problem seems to be that we seem to need
someone to do an invitation. Ask someone already in AIM chat for an
invitation, or someone at Bnet. Although afk, we tend to check back on
Bnet and scroll. Also, we can add a shortcut in some versions, to
Valar Guild Meetingplace.
Varda will be adding AIM names to the Activity page.
Please send yours in or correct what I have up.
Gwaihir: Herald Tantrus
Arathorn: ArathornValar
Bombur: BomburV
Caranthir: Good_Times695
Earendil: Gelondil2
Galdor: GaldorV
Gil-galad: Xseanzeedisco
Grimbold: hearnoevil80
Thror: chuginchub
Tilion: tilionvalar
Varda: VardaValar1
Web Report:
Message Board:
Middle-earth Online section
added by Eonwe, with a discussion section for suggestions on how to set
up the guild branch when it comes out late 2004. We have to be
positioned to jump in fast with a guild branch and go for it. :)
Sierra has a message board for Middle-earth online,
but it doesn't accept free email account registrations. To handle this,
we might try using Yahoo email, as it is hard to tell if it is paid or
not. This could help some of us who are not in possession of large
amounts of gold.
Gaming:
D2X Ladder:
Top score is now 78 for
Gwaihir's paladin!
Ladder bank: Due to the
incredible work of such members as Erestor, Galdor, Fangorn, and Varda,
the Ladder banks are being burned in despite the time requirements.
Great work, all! So, more are being added. *Collective groan from
stabilizers.*
Tolkien:
Thror, for a report he has to give tomorrow,
asked how long Gollum was in the cave.
Gwaihir was fastest at finding the reference:
Appendix B: The Tale of Years. Gollum entered the Misty Mountains in
2470, then left to search for the "thief" 2944. That makes it 474
years. Stretched life indeed!
As a side comment, twins Elrohir and Elladan were
111 years older than sister Arwen. Interesting number, eh Bilbo?
Dec. 1, 2003
D2X Ladder Bank:
We have some accounts up with
storage characters, but many will need to be run a bit to stay up.
After enough of these look secure, we can start others.
top
Nov. 30, 2003
Sunday Meeting Battlenet East, channel Clan
Vala, 5:00pm EST, 22:00 GMT
Attending:
Arathorn, Beleg, Caranthir, Eonwe, Erestor,
Orodreth, Thorondor, Varda (presiding)
Members:
Caranthir is reading the Iliad for homework. We
should all be so lucky!
Web:
Games page:
Eonwe has re-done most of it in HTML,
taking up less space and for fun. Beats using Word!
Ladder page:
The page may have to go defunct due to
low info input from guild.
Ladder Bank page up.
Gaming:
D2X guild ladder:
Legolas is ahead with 74!
D2X regular:
We had 5 people in the same game
today. Felt like old times!
D2X Middle-earth mod: (bless
Elrohir and Fingolfin!) report from Eonwe, after playing it
Old charcters are ok.
Inventory is about 3 rows bigger!
Can overwrite old mod files.
Easier to get running. Use .bat file,
no file switching.
WoS:
Orodreth's unofficial Valar server is
back up and running! Same pass.
F'nok is an old friend of Orodreth's
from WoS, also has a good guild. His comments are on the Message Board
under WoS. You have registered for the Message Board, right?
Middle-earth Online:
Arathorn and Erestor as well as Varda
said they'd like to get into this MORPG after it comes out, probably
late next year.
It will be a memory hog and need a good
video card. We hope to have improved comps by then.
It begins just after the Fellowship
leave Moria, having stirred up Barrow-Wights and Moria baddies in their
wake. If there is to be a home for them to return to, we'd better take
care of the mess! Later installments will have the Fellowship
moving farther along the Quest, causing more ruckus for us to handle.
We will continue to have our primary
names from Tolkien characters, but will have to doctor them for this
game. We can't have our Aragorn actually play Aragorn and then bump
into the one in the online game, etc. So we can add on words, perhaps
elven or other Tolkien languages, perhaps appropriate to the class. For
instance in Dark Age of Camelot, one character is GafferSong. Our guild
will have the back story that we are a group that believes the Valar
exist, bringing a higher (or lower, in Morgoth's case) octave to our
play. We will continue to adhere to the philosophy of fair play,
courtesy, and honesty as Tolkien would have preferred from those who
honor his ideals. We intend to have a presence on the Middle-Earth
Online forum. In the Message Board, we already have a thread started
under Other Games, and could set up a separate section for handling
such sticky problems as naming and types of compware needed.
Tolkien:
Varda's topic: Loyalty as shown in
Tolkien's writings
Erestor: Loyal to what? Ideas? Person? Thing?
Varda: all
Eonwe: Boromir was loyal to the Fellowship although
he fell to the Ring. He gave his life for Merry and Pippin.
Thorondor: Were Melkor's creatures truly loyal to
him? His Maiar were.
Erestor: continued trying to define "loyalty"
Eonwe: Loyalty and faithfulness
Varda: Sam was like loyalty personified, as Aragorn
was hope.
Erestor: Legolas and Gimli: sense of loyalty
Erestor: Gimli loyal to Galadriel
Orodreth: Merry and Pippin: loyal to their
respective kingdoms
Erestor: Shadowfax loyal to Gandalf
Tangents: Free will, choice, can good and evil exist
without each other? Nature of light and dark and color. Black holes,
spectra. Computers we first met. Why some people consider our games
bad, and where they have a point. Computer addiction. What parents can
do. Moderation needed in all things. We will continue gaming.
:) Wootz is a real word, for Damascus steel, which people have
only recently re-learned the technique for making. For more detailed
info, try a Google search for wootz, or http://www.brisa.fi/wootz3.html
After meeting: D2X tip from Galdor, seen on
D2.net, Griswold in nightmare can give stuff as good or nearly as good
as any boss up to Baal.
Nov. 25, 2003
Games page:
Eonwe re-made the whole page,
this time using HTML. Take a look (use Explorer) and be sure to update
your info. Congrats, Eonwe!
Nov. 23, 2003
Sunday Meeting 5:00pm
EST, 22:00 GMT: Battlenet East Realm, channel Clan Vala
Attending:
In channel:
ArathornL-V, Ar-Pharazon-V@Azeroth, Earendil-Valar@Azeroth,
Eonwe-(Valar), Faramir-V@Azeroth, Gwaihir-Valar, Orodreth-V,
Thorondor-Valar, Varda-(Valar) (presiding)
On AIM:
FarmerMaggot -V
Over the shoulder
hello: Fangorn-(V)
Members:
Farmer Maggot's CD is broken, so he came to the
meeting by AIM and spoke with Arathorn for relay.
Gil-galad hopes to be in the channel in the coming
week between family get-togethers.
Web:
"You know you're in Valar when..." joke from Galdor.
Gaming:
WC3/ TFT:
Thanksgiving Tourney! This
coming Thursday at 4:30pm EST. 1 on 1 pvp planned. If enough people
show up, teams can play. A Tourney thread is available on the Message
Board. You can add to the post with whether or not you plan to show or
if you will be 5 minutes late. You can also get together for practice
gaming.
Meetings
every Saturday 1pm EST in channel Clan Vala for planning and gaming.
Maps:
The guild needs your WC3/ TFT Tolkien-based maps. WC3 art tools are
available for download.
D2X guild Ladder:
Our ladder gaming is more like regular
friendly gaming, but we use the ladder characters and special traits
provided by Blizzard.
Ladder
page:
Legolas currently has the highest standing at 73. He stopped leveling
waiting for a guild team in Hell difficulty, and started other ladder
characters. (Only in Valar "competition"...) We have a Ladder
page listing our standings. It's main use is to see who we can play
with, but it's also slightly competitive. We have a highest overall
standing and highest class standing. It's updated when Varda meets you
and remembers to jot down your name and level and doesn't lose the
note. A better update system is to email Varda regularly as a habit
with updates. This can be after making a particular goal level, or on a
particular day. You can also mention the name and level of fellow
ladder guild folk to give them credit too. Without guild input, this
page cannot work.
Ladder bank: We had a request for
a ladder bank. When Blizzard changes the ladder accounts to regular,
the ladder mathoms can be unloaded into the regular banks. The old
ladder banks would then be deleted and new ones started for the new
ladder. Those few present thought a Ladder bank was a good idea.
We've had one dissenting voice saying it didn't seem
to fit the idea of a ladder. True, but we are not really competing. We
have too many ways of gaining levels. Some of us play in public games
and others wouldn't touch a public game with the tip of even the
longest halbard. We have varying amounts of time we can play, some much
less than others. Some play mostly solo, often due to time of day, and
others have buddies they tend to play with. Many of us play with
whomever happens to be around, as we're all good company. So we have
some thoughts on doing an actual competing ladder, but sufficient guild
interest didn't seem to be present.
Tolkien:
The Two Towers Extended DVD is available. Some
members reported that they were glad they bought it for the extra
scenes put back in . Faramir-Valar reports that the Faramir character
now seems more like a good guy.
The Collector's Set includes a Gollum statue and
book, so it depends on whether you want them or not as to whether you
should pay the high price for that set.
Topics developing as tangents of the DVD discussion:
Did
the Valar set up Bilbo's finding of the Ring?
Valar
influence is shown subtly in the Lord of the Rings, occasionally
obvious. It is much more noticeable after reading the Silmarillion and
the Histories.
Arathorn-V's topic:
Was
Feanor a good guy, bad guy, grey, or something else?
This took a great deal of thought to answer,
but we had some thinkers available. :) A few of the
comments, abbreviated:
Eonwe -
Feanor was a good guy brought low by Morgoth's malice. Feanor was proud.
Pharazon -
Something appeared bad in him with the death of his mother and
remarriage of his father. Thought of himself as the only true Noldor
prince, instead of Fingolfin and Finarfin, the "half-bloods".
Eonwe
- Feanor buried himself in his work, began to care only about
that and his father. He was his father's favorite in many ways.
Earendil-
On the whole, he's a bad guy, but he has many attributes appropriate
for an elf of his stature.
Pharazon -
Feanor refused to give up the silmarilis before he heard they were
stolen.
Eonwe -
Feanor truly was heir to the kingship of the Noldor.
Pharazon -
Feanor didn't seem to consider his half-brothers as true princes. The
strongest sin of all, pride.
Some discussion on semantics: pride can be good when
it's reasonable confidence. Arrogance is overbearing pride, even if it
has a basis. Hubris. General agreement that excessive pride was a major
problem.
Earendil
started a list of characters whose pride caused them to use their power
for evil and who were at the tops of their types. Others in the
channel, after understanding the qualifications, agreed and added to
it, with comments on why these characters fit. Melkor, Feanor,
Pharazon. Additions suggested were Saruman, Sauron and Turin. Boromir
was considered not to fit the list, although proud, as his main desire
was for Gondor rather than himself, although he expected to inherit the
Stewardship of Gondor. Sauron was iffy for the list as well, as Eonwe
might have been the top of the Maiar, and he, although proud, mainly
worked for Morgoth rather than himself.
Gollum did not fit. There was some discussion on
whether he started out evil or not. He was certainly no Frodo!
Another tangent was about those opposite to the
arrogant people. Faramir (brought up because of the movies and DVD's)
was the nearest human in Middle-earth to being like Aragorn.
Eonwe
mentioned another parallel of quite a few people who were just below
the
top person. Unfortunately this was not jotted down, and it would be
great if Eonwe adds this to the Message Board under Tolkien!
Nov. 22, 2003
EverQuest:
Congrats to Oropher-(V), for reaching the top
level in EverQuest of 65. Good luck with your Alternate Advancements
and flags!
WC3/ TFT:
WC3/TFT gamers
meeting in Clan Vala 1pm East. Planning and gaming. It's a
get-together to game even when no formal meeting is held.
Nov. 20, 2003
New Links for Links page:
Aragorn and Legolas
- The Mellon Chronicles -
fan-fic, intended to be clean as in no smut/ slash. Articles. Maps.
Name generator. Shop. .
War of the Ring
- Tolkien fan site, books and movies. Includes a list of Tolkien sites.
Letter from
Gil-galad:
I'll most likely see you in the channnel next week - that actually
depends on what time my family get togethers are. I am
sorry I havent
been to any meetings in a while, busy schedule like Eonwe said.
-Gil-galad
Nov. 19, 2003
WarCraft3/The Frozen Throne: Thanksgiving Tourney
Letter from
Chieftain Eonwe excerpt:
Remember that we have a
weekly gathering scheduled at 1 pm Eastern Time
(Valar Standard Time) every Saturday for WC3/TFT.
Even if no formal
meeting is held, this is prime time to be getting together
for games.
The WC3 art tools are now available for anyone to
download. Check them
out if you're an interested mapmaker.
I also want to remind everyone we still need Tolkien-Themed
tourney
maps. Doesn't necessarily have to have quests.
If you just wanted to
make a WC3 version of one of our Starcraft Tourney maps
(like Bridges of
Osgiliath for example) that's perfectly fine. The
Tourney Guidelines
page linked from the Games Page has more suggestions and
two different
styles for tourney maps. These maps will typically be
Player vs
computer, competing for best time, but that doesn't rule
out a creative
mind who wants to make, say, collectiing part of the map
either :}
Last, but not least, we are scheduling a fun one on one
person vs person
tournament to be
held on Thanksgiving (next Thursday).
Battle is
expected to be honorable as always. Replays of each
battle may be
requested. I and Gwaihir for sure will be outside the
tourney (I.e not
participating in it) as judges. More info to come, so
expect some of it
to be given when you get there :} It's appreciated if
we could know who
would like to participate (so we know if we have enough for
a
tournament), but anyone who shows up in Clan Vala with
their WC3/TFT
suit next Thursday will not be turned away.
Time? 4:30 Valar Standard Time.
Prizes? Well, we'll have to see,... :}
Nov. 17, 2003
"You know you're
in Valar when..." page: new joke by Galdor-V!
Nov. 16, 2003
Sunday Meeting Battlenet
East, 5:00 pm EST, 22:00 GMT, channel Clan Vala:
Attending:
Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Elrond, Eonwe,
Erestor, Galdor, Haldir, Legolas, Theoden, Thror, Varda (presiding)
Member News:
Galdor's
birthday is Nov 29, when he'll be 28. Congrats!
Turgon:
comp and economic problems. Expects to return so please keep his name.
Web:
Guild-wide
story: Eonwe doesn't have time to work on it now. Perhaps we
could run a non-official one on the Message Board.
New page: D2X
Ladder for guild, helping us get together and see how we're
doing. Bnet can't show us as we're mostly too low.
Gaming:
D2X:
Gaming tip from Galdor:
To keep the game from
dropping your character when you need to be afk (transfer aid, mom
called you for a chore, etc) type /fps to keep the character active.
This can also be used during a game to track your ping. It means frames
per second. The same thing with more detail may be accomplished by
typing /framerate
D2X Ladder:
Updates may be emailed to Varda on all
your D2X ladder players, even level one. Top characters may be sent to
Eonwe for a mention in the new Games page with the same email.
D2X Middle-earth
mod:
Varaya and Khan (aka Elrohir and
Fingolfin in the guild) have already made a Tolkien mod (1.9) for the
new Battlenet patch (1.10), incorporating some of the changes they had
intended before the patch. Expect another patch shortly, but it
shouldn't tear up your character.
Tolkien chat:
Varda's topic: How
did Tolkien show the idea of hope in the LotR and other writings?
Some comments:
Eonwe: Aragorn and Arwen share a hope.
Elrond: Giving up hope conceded defeat.
Eonwe: Council of Elrond met with hope.
Pharazon: Small hope in the form of a hobbit.
Galdor: with odds stacked against him.
Erestor: Gandalf spoke of a "fool's hope".
Elrond: Defeat of Sauron was hope of elves, showing
Middle-earth would be alright without them.
Eonwe: Frodo had to destroy the Ring, Aragorn had to
call out Sauron's armies so Frodo could make it. They each had hope in
the other's efforts.
The hope after the Last Battle of Arda re-made as
Eru intended.
(Much more, hard to jot down and participate. Great
job, all!)
(Tangent: Melkor, Eru, the Flame Imperishable)
Nov. 14, 2003
The Valar
Guild Ladder for D2X page is up.
If we can keep it reasonably updated with once a week emails and visual
sightings, we will keep the page. Our guild ladder characters will
mostly not show on Battlenet's ladder, so we need a separate one. It
can help us locate each other by account names for friend lists and
suggest which ones are of a level to play with our own characters. The
Ladder page can be reached from the main guild page under Gaming/
Diablos/ Ladder
Nov. 11, 2003
Letter from Turgon:
Aiya!
I have very bad news for everyone. I went to a
friend last weekend who knows a tad bit more about comps than I do, and
it seems both my processor and my motherboard are fried. That means
I've got a huge bill on my counter if I want to replace them. At this
moment I cannot do that, so it will most probably take til early next
year to get back online. I am trying everything I can to be back on
earlier, but the best I can do (hopefully) is getting a small comp on
which I can install and play WC II B.net edition and at least have
access to b.net.
Namarie
Elen sila lumenn omentielmo,
Turgon
Nov. 9, 2003
Sunday Meeting 5:00pm
EST, 22:00 GMT: Battlenet East Realm, channel Clan Vala
Attending: report by Thror
Members:
Ar-Pharazon, Beleg, Earendil, Erestor,
Gwaihir (presiding), Mahtan, Orodreth, Thror
Guest: Sinecare
Rest of meeting report by Gwaihir:
Members:
E-mail from Galdor:
Thingol is doing well in
Germany, hoping you have wireless access on laptop soon
E-mail from Legolas:
He’s alive and well
Earendil is
able to be on bnet weekends now and should be most weekends
Eonwe away
from the meeting, work
Varda away
from the meeting, with family and friends for her birthday get-together
Web news:
Poem “Valar” by Orodreth
New site by Merry: Central
Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (CTVOAD)
Gaming News:
Trivial Pursuit for LotR on sale now
Blizzard has released art tools for WC3/TFT – Appear
to be plugins for a 3d rendering program known as “Discreet 3Ds Max
4.0(4.26 is recommended)
Nov. 8, 2003
Letter from Tom Bombadil:
I want to begin this letter by expressing my sincerest
apologies! My life has been really hectic as of late,
because I have moved to Paris. I have not had a
computer until just yesterday, when it finally arrived
by mail!
During this time, I have had no mail and no contact
from my server, so I assume that it went off-line due
to non-payment! I want to apologies as well for this,
but I have had no idea until today when I was surfing
and noticed that everything is gone!
I truthfully miss the old times at the guild, but I do
not have enough time to drop by regularly. I do not
exactly want to hand in the badge, so to say, but
realistically I am unable to fulfill my duties as a
member!
Perhaps in a little while, my prospects will look up
and I will once again be able to smash some goonies
with you all! Send my wishes to the guild for me,
until the day when I will be able to send them myself!
Yours,
Tom
jbgentry4@yahoo.co.uk
Nov. 6, 2003
Letter from Galdor:
I was on the d2.net forums yesterday & ran into
Thingol of our guild there. He wanted me to let the
guild know that he is doing fine in Germany and wants
to say Aiya to everyone and he also hopes he can soon
patch in to the the wireless internet there with his
laptop.
Namarie,
Galdor
New members site up by Meriadoc-(V), on Guild
index:
Central Texas Voluntary Organizations
Active in Disaster (CTVOAD) - a new page just started by
Meriadoc-(V)
Merry is also
the group's VP and has been nominated for another term. Now if it only
paid!
Nov. 5, 2003
Tolkien Encyclopedia:
Poetry:
"Valar", by Orodreth-(V)
Nov. 3, 2003
Letter
from Legolas: Nov 3
this is
Legolas... just droppin ya a note to let ya know i'm still alive an'
kicking and such... finally got going again on d2x with the new ladder
and all that... not able to make the meetings, since i work every
sunday so i havent been able to drop by there and say aiya to y'all
Nov. 2, 2003
Sunday Meeting Battlenet
East, 5pm EST, 22:00 GMT. channel Clan Vala
Attending:
Alatar, Ar-Pharazon, Beleg,
Caranthir/Morifinwe-V, Eonwe, Erestor, Mahtan, Orodreth, Varda
(presiding)
Seen after the meeting:
Faramir-V@Azeroth, Eomer-(V),
Gwaihir-Valar, Thror_V, Turin(V) , ex-Maglor-(V) as Teki-San
considering rejoining us in WoW when it comes out to have someone to
play with.
Members:
Dior
is back, senior in high school, new email. His sister Earwen, BW player, has gone to
University and can also be expected to have a new email once settled.
Finwe hopes
to be on more now that mid-terms are over.
Gwaihir
and Legolas working at meeting
time.
Orodreth:
new email:
Orodreth_V@yahoo.com
MSN: Orodreth_V@yahoo.com,
Orodreth_V
AIM: OrodrethV
Blizzforums: Orodreth
Turgon and Tulkas are having computer troubles.
Web:
D2X-Middle-earth
mod: report by Eonwe
The V&K page will be moving back to
Planet Diablo. The forum is still in its old place, Phrozen Keep.
V&K had just come out with a new
patch when the 1.10 patch came out. They are now working on a mod that
uses the new Blizzsard patch and intend to incorporate the new things
they had been working out. It may come out in a two-step: first one
useable, second one with all the bells and whistles added by Blizzard.
StarCraft/BroodWar:
Alatar asks Dior to send him an email
so he can set a space up for him on the valarguild.org server.
Games page:
Still under re-construction
Message Board:
Now handled by Eonwe until Turgon's
computer is repaired. Turgon can still do a few things.
Gaming:
D2X:
1.10 patch is out. Hell has frozen over.
D2X Ladder:
Game name format: Arda#-L
Quite a few of us are playing
ladder characters as well as regular. Some of these are:
alatar_valar,
Arathorn-V, Erestor2-V, Fangorn-(V), Galdor, Gwahir-Valar, Legolas,
Mahtan-V, Sauron-(V), Varda (using account Elentari-Valar)
LotR RPG: email and live report by Orodreth-V
Tolkien:
Varda's topic: How did JRRT handle the
subject of death in his writings?
top
Oct. 29, 2003
Letter from Turgon:
I have to regret to
announce that I still have troubles with my comp and will not be able
to come online for perhaps several months, depending on what part of my
comp I need to replace.
I will miss all of you while I'm gone and I hope I
will be back asap.
I will still handle the Message Boards through
Internet at my job, but I would like to give full command of the Board
to Eonwe as he is the one most regularly checking it, in case my job or
internet there is cut short. I will write a short how-to on the MB
asap.
Elen sila lumenn omentielmo,
Turgon
Letter from Finwe:
Sorry I've been away for so long, my
last
semester at school has been rather hectic. As such,
I've only just noticed that there were apparently some
problems with getting a hold of me through e-mail.
I'm not sure why, as the address on the member
activity page seems to be correct. Anyhow, not that
my last midterms are over, I should be on more often
(I hope, it's been too long since I last had a chance
to relax on b.net).
Thanks
Finwe
yakintosh_98@yahoo.com
Oct. 28, 2003
Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction - The 1.10 patch is
out!!
Details on Blizzard,
Battlenet, Arreat Summit
(recommended), Diabloii.net.
Ladder gamers (for fun and friend list): Arda-L
Elentari-Valar of new account *Elentari-Valar
aka Varda
ArathornL-V is still *Arathorn-V
Fangorn_V is still *Fangorn-(V)
(After Oct 28, Galdor, Gwaihir-Valar, Legolas, Alatar, and Mahtan-V
also laddering. Others as well, but these I know about.)
Oct. 26, 2003
Daylight savings time ends for US and Canada.
Sunday Meeting 5:00pm EST, 22:00 GMT Battlenet East,
channel Clan Vala
Attending: (8)
Arathorn-V, Ar-Pharazon-V@Azeroth,
astaldo-valar,
Beleg-V, Eonwe-(Valar)/Fionwe-Valar@Azeroth, Orodreth-V, Theoden-V,
Varda-(Valar)/Varda-Valar@Azeroth
(presiding)
Members:
Tulkas is having computer problems, kept him
from staying for the rest of the meeting.
Web:
Games page is still under re-construction, quite a
bit
of progress. Eonwe is struggling to do it in his tiny bit of time
available.
Tolkien Languages page can use input.
Gaming:
We can gather together for games after the
Sunday
meeting. WC3 and TFT players can also gather to game Saturdays 1pm.
D2X:
Beta 1.10 gaming is closed. That
should mean it is close to coming out for public use.
WC3/TFT:
Gamers can get together in Clan
Vala to play, Saturdays at 1pm EST. A leader is not required for clan
members to join up for gaming.
Eonwe came in
and
made sure the clan stays in one piece. Be sure to bring in your WC3/TFT
account
to the Clan Channel, as it needs at least one visit from you every 28
days,
although it has a grace period.
WoS:
Orodreth still takes in folk who enjoy playing WoS
on his server.
Tolkien:
Ar-Pharazon: Discussion of Amroth and
Nimrodel.
Tangents:
Ulmo and his waters, the waters having the greatest
amount of Eru's theme present
Tom Bombadil possibly being a Maia remaining in
Middle-earth
to be with Goldberry who was either a Maia of Aule or daughter of a
Maia
of Aule called the River-woman. We know of no children.
Ainur didn't generally marry each other to have
children
as they were immortal. The life of Elves is attached to Middle-earth,
not
like the immortality of Ainur that didn't depend on Arda's existence. A
Maia
is known to have married an Elf and had children, however, as in the
case
of Melian and Thingol. Thus Tom Bombadil might have stayed in
Middle-earth
with a non-Maia if Goldberry was a half-Maia. If both were Maiar, they
could
also have stayed together, as the Valar Manwe and Varda did.
Oct. 22, 2003
D2X News from Eonwe:
News just off the
presses:
Blizzard has
closed the beta for 1.10. It's coming.... :}
Oct. 21, 2003
D2:LoD Middle-earth mod 1.8 patch was out last year.
Please pardon my not paying closer attention to the number on my own
mod.
V&K's page for the mod,
which is temporarily down, is also listed on the guild index under
gaming:
http://d2mods.xfernet.com/~vkmods/
Unfortunately, xfernet server for
V&K
mod page and other D2 mods is down. Repairs underway and temporary new
hosting.
More Main Forum
Phrozen
Keep Forum V&K tells some of the bugs in the mod and how to
overcome or live with them, plus tips.
Middle/Earth on Open is one way to play with
fellow modders outside guild.
Oct. 19, 2003
Sunday Meeting Battlenet East, channel Clan
Vala, 5:00 pm ESDT, 22:00 GMT. Report from Eonwe:
Attendance:
Battlenet:
Gwaihir, Ar-Pharazon,
Eonwë(Presiding), Arathorn, Orodreth, Galdor, Turgon
Yahoo Chatroom:
Orodreth, Arathorn,
Ar-Pharazon(?)
Membership:
Varda and family went to Renn Faire, so were unable
to make it to the meeting.
Boromir went out hunting, so was unable to
make it.
Turgon is having computer troubles, having lost his
hard drive. He may not be able to make it for anywhere from a few
days to a few weeks(attended this meeting via a friend's comp).
Gelmir sent in a letter, letting us know he's still
with us.
Web:
Tolkien Encyclopedia:
Events Page Added to
Encyclopedia. Suggested by Ron Smith, a Tolkien member.
Article by Varda
:"Creation" found on the Events Page.
Gaming:
Orodreth:
Public Tourney for UMS
map Trees of the Valar.
LotR RPG FO (Fourth Age)
175 after death of Elessar.
Arathorn: CS Helm's Deep mod review, not yet
set up on Games Page, which is not yet in it's new format.
Tolkien Chat:
Sort of Free Format, began with comment by (pardon,
didn't grab name, either Arathorn or Pharazon) on a scientific
discovery that there are tiny strings vibrating to musical intervals
that make up quarks, once thought to be the smallest particle.
Did Tolkien know about this when he wrote about his Ainur and the
Music?
Oct 19 Letter from Boromir:
Aiya,
I can't make the sunday meeting
because im goign out to hunt.
Namarie,
Boromir
Oct. 17, 2003
I (that's Varda) will probably be absent from
the
upcoming Sunday meeting. I'm going with family and friends to the Texas
Renaissance
Festival all day Sunday, and may be back late that night, which is very
late
for many of you or even morning. Others have been notified so someone
can handle the
meeting. If none of them can make it, please feel free to enjoy
chatting
and gaming anyway! It's faintly possible we may have some people show
up
in the Yahoo chat, so someone needs to pop in there for them.
Oct. 16, 2003
Tolkien Encyclopedia:
New page: "Events".
This page is for events in the books, such as battles or a meeting or
wedding,
rather than individual characters. Suggested by ~Gandalf, aka Ron
Smith,
Tolkien member.
New article,
"Creation", by Varda
Oct. 15, 2003
GOBI DESERT,
China (AP) - Against a clear blue sky, China fired
its first astronaut into orbit without any visible hitches
Wednesday, becoming only the third nation capable of manned
spaceflight. The government said the mission was going smoothly and
its ``taikonaut'' radioed back: ``I feel good.''
More
Letter from Irmo:
DaoC meetings have lately been scarcely attanded, and last very short
anyway. Since we have organized pretty much everything which need organizing
(crafts/house/alliance) the need for business meetings has indeed lessened.
Most members are not too fond of organizationale discussions and want to
hunt as soon as possible, and I grant them that if possible, hehe:).
So not much to make reports about, really.
Cheers,
Irmo.
Letter from Orodreth-(V):
Orodreth-V here, and I have a few things
to report.
Namarie,
Orodreth AKA Ondollo, Halmundo, and Alan
Oct. 13, 2003
Letter from Gelmir:
Aiya Valar!
While
I regret the fact that I was unable to attend the meeting Sunday, or be
present
for games and chat, in celebration of our 6th anniversary, I would like
to
congratulate everyone on keeping the guild going thus far. While I
joined
a few years after the “bleak period” I myself have run into a few
occurrences
that are akin to that in one sense or another. Namely the
Ex-communication,
if you will, of Grimbold. While he made some mistakes, and said some
things
that weren’t quite pleasant, the vault of the misunderstanding should
have
fallen largely upon his brother. This situation wasn’t too different
from
incident that befell Aule. But I didn’t write this to defend a comrade.
I
wrote this to both congratulate us all, and to announce that I have now
been
a member of this glorious guild, and taken haven in its channel, when
it
was a haven, for a little over three years now. I know that I’ve upset
a
few members, and that I said some things that were quite immature. I
say
this because I’ve changed a lot in the past three years, I’ve seen a
lot
of friends come and go, both in the guild and in real life. That makes
me
appreachiate what we have here, and I hope to rekindle or spark anew
friendships
with a lot of you. This group has been a constant in my life when I had
nothing
else. For that I will be forever grateful. <sighs> real life
beckons
me once again. Perhaps I shall write a brief history, it would be nice
to
see some more on that page. <pokes and Prods>.
Once more,
congratulations! May we endure for years to come! I take my leave.
Namarie Melinde,
Gelmir
(Historical addendum from Varda: Grimbold returned to the guild as
Oropher
and celebrates his one year return anniversary Oct. 11. He now mainly
plays
EverQuest. Aule also returned to the guild with full honors reinstated
and
plays mostly EverQuest and some WarCraft3.) Oh, and I agree with
Gelmir.
Send in your Histories and feel free to update them over time.
Oct. 12, 2003
Sunday Meeting Battlenet East 5:00pm ESDT, 22:00 GMT,
channel Clan Vala
Attending:
Amrod, Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Beleg,
Gil-galad (late), Haldir, Thror, Turgon, Varda (presiding)
Membership:
Sweep underway to remove inactive and
presumably
disinterested members. Help needed from all members. If you are listed
as
being in danger, please email Varda
promptly to keep your name. If you are removed when you wished to
remain,
please return and rejoin as soon as possible before your name is given
to
a new member. If you know how to contact someone on the list, please
let
him know to email me. If the person is currently unable to make contact
but
wishes to remain, please make the contact for him. Ways to make contact
besides
email are: come to a meeting and be shown on the "Attending" list in
the
News, post to the Discussion Board,
post to the Message Board.
The Member
Activity page is useful to check status, question marks meaning
sweep endangerment; email Varda to update that page. Also, see Oct
9 sweep status for the list by Eonwe.
Arathorn, starting Tuesday, will be working
towards
certifications and will have much less play time for a few months, but
expects
to have more time afterwards.
Turgon ably handled a short part of the
meeting when Varda had to be afk. Thanks, Turgon!
Web:
Joining:
Revamped page to make it
more user-friendly
Tolkien
Encyc:
Mankind:
"Thengel", by Ron Smith
"Fengel", by Ron Smith
Acknowledgements:
John Howe's new page with art,
sketches before some of his famous works, and text info.
Lord of the
Rings - Downloads:
Page by Arathorn (see guild
index).
Contains FotR original movie trailer, LotR maps,
Half-Life/Counter-Strike/Helm's
Deep mod.
Message
Board:
Half-Life/Counter-Strike area
added
(by Turgon the Swift) under "Games" after Well of Souls, due to
requests
at meeting.
WC3: Eonwe and Osse's tale,
"Beating Fate", told from the viewpoint of the Ainu.
DAoC: Dusksinger tales by Elatan
fka Amillo.
Turgon reports only 19 members
had
signed up, but had posted over a hundred messages already. Thror signed
up
during the meeting.
Tolkien-Only
Members:
New page by Varda, starting a
list
with those showing recent activity. All they need is interest in
Tolkien
and email or board contact.
Page reached from Member Activity.
Game Maps page:
Ar-Pharazon suggests we make a
new
map download page for all games. This sounds good, but we need
volunteers.
Dior had collected a map page for
StarCraft/Broodwar,
but it was on the now defunct Tom Bombadil server, and Dior has not yet
answered
emails. We could use another such collection project for each game and
tie
them together on the Games page. Any members interested in doing such a
project,
please contact Varda or Eonwe. Space might be available free with no
ads
on Alatar's valarguild.org server, but we should check with him first.
Geocities/Yahoo
is an option also.
Gaming:
TFT (The Frozen Throne):
New LotR map found
by Ar-Pharazon called LotR: The Ring Wars, by Lord Allout. Official site . Found under File
Updates with a Beta 13 version, 710.93 KB. Maps/trigger maps/modified
melee.
Half-Life/Counter-Strike:
Helm's Deep mod. Arathorn located
it and put on his Lord of the
Rings - Downloads page. It's the arm/disarm bomb, where terrorists
try to blow up the Keep
door and counter-terrorists try to stop them. You're going to need that
light,
because it's dark down there. After the Tolkien chat, a group went
together
to try it out, of Arathorn, his brother, Gil-galad, and Turgon.
Tolkien:
Ar-Pharazon's topic: There was a question
about whether Arwen lost her elven immortality.
Pharazon found the answer in the Return of
the
King's Appendix A, Section I "The Numenorean Kings" (i), "Numenor" and
quoted
it for us. Others enjoyed reading along. It is after the list of the
unions
of elf and man, telling the choices of the Half-elven.
"At the end of the First Age the Valar gave to the
Half-elven
an irrevocable choice to which kindred they would belong. Elrond chose
to
be of Elven-kind, and became a master of wisdom. To him therefore was
granted
the same grace as to those of the High Elves that still lingered in
Middle-earth:
that when weary at last of the mortal lands they could take ship from
the
Grey Havens and pass into the Uttermost West; and this grace continued
after
the change of the world.
But to the children of Elrond a choice was also appointed: to pass with
him
from the circles of the word; or if they remained to become mortal and
die
in Middle-earth. For Elrond, therefore, all chances of the War of the
Ring
were fraught with sorrow.
"Elros chose to be of Man-kind and remain with the
Edain;
but a great life-span was granted to him many times that of lesser
men."
"His (Elros') descendents were long-lived but
mortal."
(v)
"...she (Arwen) laid herself to rest upon Cerin
Amroth; and there is her green grave..."
Then we brought up the question, what about her
brothers, Elladan and Elrohir?
Another question that came up was about the warrior
Valar
who were later written out of the story, but show up in the earliest
writings
in BoLT1, Makar and Meassa. Were they on Morgoth's side? Not
intentionally,
was the answer, not as in going over to be with him. Their warrior
nature
went along with the discords that Melkor made in the Song. They,
however,
remained in Valinor, not going to Angband.
Oct. 10, 2003
Joining:
Revamped the page "Joining". I hope it better
answers
the questions potential recruiters have asked. Suggestions welcome.
Oct. 9, 2003
Tolkien
Encyclopedia:
Men:
"Fengel", by
Ron Smith.
Current
status of sweep: the removal
of inactive members. Currently Eonwe is working on locating people by
email,
in conjunction with his Gaming page update. Here is part of the report
by Eonwe:
We started this process with 142 members listed on the
Members and Member Activity Pages.
56 of our members were informed they have not been seen since May 2003
at the earliest and were warned they were in danger of being swept. Of
these, I recieved responses or viewed activity in some manner from the
following:
Akhoril (responded, Amlaith (responded), Earendil (responded), Eomer
(responded), Gorbag (spotted on the new MB), Mablung (e-mailed Varda),
Menelvagor (responded), Olwë (responded), Peregrin (responded),
Rumil (responded), Scatha (responded), Ulfang (responded)
The following have resigned : Amandil, Azaghal, Bandobras (aka
Bullroarer)
(Note from Varda: all said they didn't have enough time)
The following I recieved a delivery failure:
Bolg, Celebrimbor, Daeron, Falathar, Finrod, Fuinur, Gloin, Gorgenhad,
Rog, Smaug, Smeagol, Thranduil, Beorn (badiccico)
Beor had no e-mail through which to contact him.
These following gave no delivery failure, and did not respond to the
e-mail:
Aldor, Amroth, Bain, Balin, Beorn(all other forms), Beruthiel, Bilbo,
Celeborn, Celegorm, Cirdan, Curufin, Denethor, Dior, Durin, Earwen,
Edrahil, Elendil, Elenwë, Elros, Fladrif, Gimli, Girion, Imrahil,
Ingwë, Isildur, Oin, Ori, Saruman, Shagrat, Thorin
Unless someone has seen or heard from the people in the last two
groups, or there is some condition I am unaware of that they have
informed others as to remaining in the Guild, those are our sweep
lists. 42 members total.
Oct. 8, 2003
Letter from Arathorn:
Sorry... been involved in
getting a loan for my MCSA certification ... been a long couple of
weeks.. finally went thru and will be WAY busy trying to pass my 4
major certification tests in the next few months ... I apologies for
being so brief last meet but my sleep habits have been very tiring and
non-existent... I hope to have more to offer the group in a few weeks..
don't expect to hear from me for a bit... but please keep me on your
thoughts.
Namárië,
~Arathorn~
Oct. 6, 2003
Tolkien
Encyclopedia:
Mankind:
"Thengel" by
~Gandalf, aka Ron Smith, Tolkien member
The Encyclopedia Acknowledgements
page
now has a link to the page of the artist, John Howe.
Oct. 5, 2003
DAoC meeting 3:30pm EST, I think.
Yahoo chat
4pm EST. Ar-Pharazon and Varda showed up, discussed the ancient
Egyptian
aspects of his name and the Numenorean culture, with its emphasis on
death
and the attempt to escape it, and that running from death led them to
it.
Pharazon sounds suspiciously like pharoah, and making it Ar-Pharazon
the
Golden could be no coincidence. Tombs were made greater than the
buildings
of the living. Another discussion touched briefly on a Histories #11
passage
in which Finrod and human woman discussed the mortality of Man and the
possibilty
that them might become Valar with Eru.
Bnet meeting approximately 5pm EST East
Realm, channel Clan Vala.
Hope you can make it to one or more of these! Happy
6th Anniversary, Valar Guild!
Sunday Meeting 5:00pm EST, 22:00 GMT.
Battlenet, East Realm, channel Clan Vala
Attending: report by Draugluin
(17) Aragorn, Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Amras,
Amrod,
Caranthir, Draugluin (gavel), Elwing, Eomer, Eonwe (co-chair), Erestor,
Galadriel,
Gwaihir (gavel), Maedhros, Osse, Turgon, Varda (presiding)
Over-the-shoulder: Sauron
Orodreth was afk in the play channel.
Membership:
Ar-Pharazon said his few words of
introduction.
He's from the Netherlands and hopes to clear the bad taste from the
guild
name he took, as a challenge. He is very well-read in Tolkien and plays
many
games.
Gaming:
Saturday's Anniversary gaming included Osse and
Eonwe beating fate on WarCraft 3/TFT; Eowyn, Faramir, Orodreth,
Sauron in BW; and a continuing stream of D2X players
across the day, mostly morning and evening. Taglos and Sauron were in EverQuest.
We reminded the group that we try to default all
guild gaming to East , including Azeroth on WC3/TFT and D2X,
so we can find each other. We have members scattered all over wondering
where everyone else is.
Half-Life: Arathorn reports Half-Life has a
new world called Helm's Deep
Tolkien:
We intentionally devoted most of the meeting to
Tolkien with a bit of reminiscing.
Draugluin's topic: What was the role of the
Palantiri in the LotR storyline?
Discussion was lively. Ar-Pharazon started us off
with
the Orthanc-stone. A boiled down version is below, made by many
contributors.
The Orthanc stone was thrown out of the tower window
by
Grima Wormtongue, apparently in a confusion of mind about whether he
wanted
to hit Gandalf or Saruman. When Pippin rescued it before it went into
the
water, he came to Sauron's notice as the hobbit who potentially had the
Ring
and believed to be a captive held by Saruman. Gandalf passed the
Orthanc-stone
to its rightful owner, the heir of Isildur, Aragorn. Aragorn showed
himself
for who he was to Sauron and wrested the stone from the grasp of the
Eye,
almost breaking Aragorn. This act made Sauron believe Aragorn had the
hobbit
with the Ring and would challenge him for Middle-earth. So Sauron
struck
before he was ready, removing his vast armies from Frodo's path.
Frodo's
mission was the only real danger to Sauron, from which he was
distracted.
The Ithilstone was used by Sauron to deceive
Denethor,
showing him only what facts Sauron wanted him to see. Thus he could see
a
huge fleet of Corsairs moving against Minas Tirith but not that it was
taken
over by Aragorn and his forces, so he was driven the final step to
despair
attempting a suicide/murder.
The stone at the Grey Havens held by Cirdan had been
set
by Elendil to look with "straight sight" towards Tol Eressea.
The palantir controlling all others was lost in the
destruction of Osgilath.
Weathertop (Amon Sul) stone caused infighting o fthe
Arnorian
sub-kingdoms of Cardolan, Rudhaer, and Arthedain, affecting how the
world
was set up at the time of the War of the Ring.
The inevitable tangent discussion involved spirits
in
Aman doing what sounded like physical things, as well as Frodo's mortal
self
going there still alive in Arwen's place.
Oct. 4, 2003
Happy Anniversary to the Valar Guild!
Today marks our 6th year of trying to make some kind of online haven
worldwide
available in all games while being a Tolkien fan club.
Ar-Pharazon,
Welcome to the Valar Guild!
He was Minotaurofchaos@Azeroth in TFT. He started a test with Eonwe one
day
and finished with Varda today for a 5/5. He's 18, from the Netherlands.
His favorite
game is TFT. He also plays WC3, SC, BW, Dungeon Siege, Empire Earth +
expansion,
Diablo 1. He plans to get Diablo 2. He's read H, LotR,
Sil, UT, and all 12 Histories.
People I've seen on the Anniversary in Bnet today
include: Arathorn, Ancalagon, Ar-Pharazon, Beleg, Boromir, Elrond,
Eomer, Eowyn,
Erestor, Faramir, Fingon, Thror, Turin, Orodreth, SamWise, Sauron, and
Varda.
Two Letters from Orome:
Yay Congrats to all! Orome
I work week-ends too 
Orome
Letter from Elatan:
Hail,
I do not have B.net access anymore so not able to join the 6th Anniversary
there. Gave my Cd`s away. I will try get on Yahoo though.
With some luck the 7th in MEO ? http://www.lordoftherings.com/meo/
Happy Anniversary to everyone
Elatan
Letter from Eonwe:
Haill all!
I regret to inform all I will be working all day Saturday and thus will
have no time to attend any festivities that day. I wish you all a
Happy 6th Anniversary and hope you will all have fun. Hopefully
I'll see you Sunday.
Take care all and Happy 6th Anniversary mellyn.
Eonwë
Letter from Gwaihir:
Unfortunately, I'm in the same situation as Eonwe
Saturday... between work and my school situation, I won't be able to
make more than a token appearance at best on Saturday... I know not yet
whether I work Sunday, but I hope I do not, so that I can attend the
meeting at least... but I'll have to wait and see... Happy 6th
anniversary to you all from me as well! I hope to see you all tomorrow
and Sunday...
Namarie,
Gwaiihr
Letter from Lungorthin:
Hail all,
I wish I could attend.. college is robbing me of my time! fell behind in classes and hoping to catch up.
sorry and hope to see you all soon,
Lungorthin / Rauko
Oct. 3, 2003
Guild Anniversary tomorrow! Come online if
you can: play, reminesce, talk Tolkien!
Thror! Happy Birthday!
D2X: Varda's hoping to take Eowyn's
suggestion
of cramming as many level one characters as we can into one D2X game in
a
Quest for As Many as Possible. Those games tend to be plagued by bnet
drop-outs,
so we may have to play again. hehe.
SC/BW: We dare you and two team mates to
survive
or make a record on Bridges of Osgiliath! Orodreth has a new version of
Bridges
to check out, also.
Meetings: We'll have our regular meeting
Sunday,
skipping the usual business part (except for any records we may have
made
Saturday, bragging rights, you know) and going directly to Tolkien.
Bring
topics!
There's some talk of having a Yahoo Tolkien chat,
(maybe
early for the DAoC and Europe guys?), so we can bring in people from
all
games and those with destroyed or lost CD's.
Galdor,
Welcome to the Valar Guild! Galdor
met Varda in a public cow game a few days ago, checked out our web
site,
then took the test with Varda passing with a perfect 5/5. Galdor is 27
from
Chicago, Illinois in the USA, CST. He plays D2X. He's read the LotR and
some
of the Sil and UT. His AOL is CC2005ST, Yahoo is steve2401a, the Yahoo
being
more used. He can be found on D2net forums 5 days a week between 8:30
and
4:15 central (9:30 and 5:15 EST). He visited as *st74656 and
*Aragorn_Elessar.
He plays odd days during the week, M, F, sometimes Tu, W, Thur, weekend
evenings.
For the Valar Guild, since Aragorn was taken, he chose the name of the
Grey
Havens Elf Galdor (not the Man), Cirdan's messenger and representative
to
the Council of Elrond. He had multiple favorite LotR characters
including
Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin. Hey, Galdor! I forgot
to jot down your email. Please email me.
Oct. 2, 2003
Faramir,
Welcome to the Valar Guild!
Faramir used to be in the guild a long time ago as Fingolfin, a
recruit
of Aule's, then went inactive, then waited for the Fingolfin name to
come
clear again, which it didn't, then decided he's been a loner long
enough
and is back with us. He made 5/5 in a test with Draugluin and Varda.
Faramir
is 41 from Delaware, USA, in the EST. He plays on Bnet about 5 days a
week:
WC3 very little, TFT a lot, some SC and BW. He has the Diablo patch so
he's
not allowed in regular play yet. He tried Ultima Online, but didn't
like
it. He hopes to get into WoW when it comes out. He
generally doesn't use any instant messenger-type services. He's
read the H, LotR, Sil, Lost Tales 1&2, Farmer Giles of Ham. His
favorite
LotR character is Faramir, who represents the best in men. Noble
without
being ambitious or pretentious. Strong presence. Instinctively trusted
Frodo.
It was as if he could search Frodo's soul in the books. Didn't like
movie
portrayal, but caused more thought about the original character.
Oct. 1, 2003
Aiya from Varda! I'm back. Email and
therefore News is being caught up today from the last entry on Sept 23,
listed under its date.
Correction to Amrod's email address: joey_1014@hotmail.com
D2X Banks
have been receiving a great deal of attention with additional banks and
items. Great job, guys!
Links Page:
Numenore - Tolkien fan
page, including articles. Has links to our Tolkien Encyclopedia as
article reference credit.
Melmoth - MUD. Text-based
online
game. Join in a Medieval Fantasy setting by our own Rumil-(V) as
Maglor.
Other worlds include science fiction, Star Wars. Site sent in by
Rumil-(V).
The Tolkien Meta-FAQ -
index to several major lists of
Frequently Asked Questions about J.R.R. Tolkien and Middle-earth:
by Steuard Jensen.
Letter from Rumil-(V):
I'll try to drop by either this weekend or
next.
And to let the people know who seem interested, my
character names on Melmoth are: Maglor, Tirion
(obviously another Tolkien ref.), Myrddraal, Locklear,
and Krys. The clan I lead is Vendetta, and my best
friend plays the character Attarno.
So if anyone is interested you might want to let them
know about that so they have someone to talk to and
hang with when they first join the mud.
Alright, thanks again, I'll see you at the next
meeting (hopefully... this is homecomming weekend,
so... lol)
Namarie,
- Rumil
Letter from Mablung-(V)
hey
its been forever since i sent a msg to any of you ive been soo busy
lately
but i do hope to start coming to meetings. Im getting my car soon
so i might
be on and off but i finally retreived my starcraft disk from a friend
and
might be able to start attending meetings... i was trying to check up
on
all the news ive missed but theres alot. Tell all the members i
say hello
and im definately still active and boy i cant wait for the third movie
to
come out.
Namarie
Mablung
top
Sept 28, 2003
Sunday Meeting: Battlenet East Realm, channel Clan
Vala. 5:00 pm ESDT, 22:00 GMT. Report by Eonwe-(Valar)
Attendence:
Members:
Fionwë/Eonwë(chairing),Gwaihir, Huan(Via Valarguild),
Arathorn, Beleg, Turgon, Theoden, Erestor, Thror, Amrod, Amras
Guest: MinotaurofChaos (began test, didn't
get to finish)
Membership:
Varda was unable to be at the meetng tonight
as she had some rl stuff to do. She will be back Monday or
Tuesday, so if you e-mailed her, she won't be able to respond until
then. If it's an urgent question, I (Eonwë) might be able to
help :}
Lenwë emailed. He's going back to
college and working hard, so he hasn't had much time to stop in.
New Members Amrod and Amras joined after last
week's meeting. They gave their few words as a team-effort (as
Turgon commented, "sounds like twins to me :)" )
Amras - Hullo, my name is Amras. And that is my
friend Amrod and twin
Amrod - Amras found the clan and he led me to it.
Amras - Ok. Orodreth got me to join. I had
been to a meeting and liked the people.
Amras - Everyone is real nice, unlike other people
on bnet.
Amrod - Yes, I agree.
Amras - And I only play Starcraft. 
Amrod - Yeah me too
Amrod - I'm from Canada
Amras - I'm also working on a 4th Age map, and
request any help, taking place during the Aftermath of LotR year after
Elessar dies.
Web:
Encyclopedia:
Several new pics, none
named at the meeting :} For a complete list, check the News page
:}
Articles - "Brief History
of Arathorn II", by Arathorn-(V)
Poems - "Arathorn's
Sonnet" found by Arathorn-(V), placed on our page with permission
from the author
D2X Tolkien mod router page:
Arathorn - sent in link to
web page he made himself, describing setting up a router for open bnet
http://members.fortunecity.com/mikenowo/lotr/open_bnet.htm
Message Board:
Turgon - Remember to
register at the new Message Board
Major update - put each game in its own section, as well as added
Marketplace sections for
D2, EQ,and DAoC
Turgon
also asked if anyone had experienced any pop-up ads. Those who
responded
said no,
and felt the banner ads that were at the top were not too distracting
(they're
related
to our games or Tolkien anyway,.. almost like they're targeted for us
:})
I also reminded
everyone present they should use their Guild name when signing up.
They can
either register using their Guild name, or use the method described by
Turgon in the Announcements section of the board.
Games Page Update:
Last call for everyone to send in
their info. I need it by September 30th. Thanks :}
Arathorn informed me his ISP was
knocked out for a while, and others might've been too.
Dead Aim:
Arathorn - Addition to AIM,
called DeadAim, allows saving/archiving of IMs (Instant Messages)
Letter from Arathorn: AIM users
DeadAim: add-on
to AIM (AOL instant messenger):
***
Description:
An unobtrusive
free add-on that works within AIM, DeadAIM can tweak transparency, keep
all conversations in a single tabbed interface, log sessions and events
(such as log-on and log-off) separately for each buddy, and hide
elements of the main AIM window. In addition, DeadAIM can pop up a
notification when buddies sign on, sign off, set "away" messages, or
come back.
***
Anything before v4 is free
(particularly v3.2.8). Works with AIM v5.2.3292 and before.
Link to
download:
Namárië,
~Arathorn~
Gaming:
Well of Souls:
Orodreth once again asks for help
with his Tolkien mod for Well of Souls. Any ideas, thoughts,
suggestions can be sent to him or posted on the Message Board.
Tolkien:
I went with MinotaurofChaos to begin his test
(Turgon observing) and left Orodreth with the chat since he had a
topic. If anyone has any notes from the Tolkien chat please send
it in :}
Sept. 25, 2003
Letter from Eonwe: for the whole guild
Heya all! :}
Just thought I'd give a reminder (to go on the News page as well
if possible) that I need everyone's current gaming info. That's
for you and any family/members of honor who have not yet responded
themselves. Out of the ~140 members in this guild only 33 have
responded so far. I need the info by September 30th if at all
possible.
For some of you Council guys, it may be painfully obvious
:} but then you also might be playing online games I don't know
about :} Humour me please :}
Please encourage people you see in your games to send in their
gaming info and include their guild name (Earendil e-mailed me, didn't
include his name, can only guess it's him by his e-mail address.
I don't know everyone's e-mail that well :}).
Any full member who hasn't recieved a letter requesting this
info is hereby requested :}
Thanks and take care :}
Eonwë
Letter from Arathorn: for Open B.netters (such
as D2X Tolkien mod) having trouble joining each other's games:
I wrote up a web page that outlines how I setup my router that may help
others. You might want to take a gander to see if you can figure out yours
based on this example as reference. If anyone wants help testing 'Open Bnet'
with their router, they can email me and we can set up a mutually convenient
time (maybe you can jot down a short note in the News or we can bring it up
at the next meeting).
Here's the URL for the new page at its current location (will let you know
if that changes):
http://members.fortunecity.com/mikenowo/lotr/open_bnet.htm
l8r,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Namárië,
~Arathorn~
Letter from Rumil: MUD
For the last 4-5 years I've been playing on a MUD
(Multiple User Dimension). I don't know if you've
ever played one or even know what it is... but I
thought I'd let you know about it so you can let the
rest of the guild know (if you think it's a good
idea).
Basically a mud (if you don't know) is an online,
text-based rpg. I can explain it more in more detail
if you want. But basically this one has a fairly
small, centralized player base (average of 20-30
people on during average hours). I run a clan on that
mud and also help build new areas for it. It is a
fantasy/mideval times based mud (as opposed to sci-fi
or star wars based... there are a lot out there) so i
thought some of the tolkien people might be
interested. However, I already use the name Maglor
there (I made the character over 4 years ago, long
before i joined the guild) so the guy who has Maglor
in the guild might not appreciate not being able to
play his char (of which you can have many). Anyway,
just thought I'd let you know. Let me know if you are
more interested, I can give you the address and all.
It's called Melmoth, the website is www.melmoth.org,
though it isn't fantastic or anything (the mud is far
better than the website).
Anyway, give it some thought & I'll see you later.
Namarie,
- Rumil
Sept. 23, 2004
Excerpt from letter from Lenwe:
I havent come on recently for a variety of reasons, but I
still maintain an Interest in being a part of our community. Near
the time when the 1.10 beta was released I purchased my very first
hub. I setup a LAN with my gf and her sister's computers and I
didnt even get on the internet till literally 3 weeks after that.
But I couldnt come on to play much because I had to work a lot before
school. Finally, I returned to college after an entire year of
absence. I'd be interested in learning about that Port thing you
said Arathorn discovered. After we complete d2x beta i was hoping
to introduce my girlfriend and her sister to the mod. They have
both not yet completed the game on hell yet.
Well its nice to be back in school. I'm taking easier classes to
take it slow at first but its coming back and I'm really enjoying
it. I have to go back to studying so this is all I can write for
now but I wanted to let you know that I missed playing with you.
Peaceful be your journeys,
Lenwe
Encyc
pics:
It's come to my attention that
when
new images are added to the Tolkien Encyc, it should be mentioned here.
Most
of the pictures come from Ryan Lovett's incredible Rolozo Tolkien page for
the Encyc, with his permission. Browse and enjoy! (And now you can ask
me to never do this to you again!)
Animals:
Image:
"Warg Rider". Artist Felix Sotomayor. Rolozo (Also under Orc
images)
Elves:
Image:
B&W "Eol attacks Maeglin". Eol attacks his son, but Eol's wife
jumps in the way. Artist Luis F. Bejarano. Rolozo
Image:
B&W "Feanor and Gothmog". Artist Maciek Wygnanski. Rolozo
(also Maiar)
Image:
"Feanor". In anger. Artist Luis Bejarano. Rolozo
Image:
"Fingolfin". Includes device, sword Ringil. Artist Felix Sotomayor.
Rolozo
Image:
"Morgoth and Fingolfin". Artist Felix Sotomayor. Rolozo (Also on
Powers page, Melkor)
Image:
"Haldir". Artist Maria Lombide Ezpeleta. Rolozo Tolkien page
Image:
"Bloom as Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood". Legolas with bow. Artist Sharon
'Lynx' Tanhueco. Rolozo
Image:
"Legolas". Movie Legolas learning about mortality. Artist Marina
Zhukova. Rolozo
Image:
"Legolas". Angry, with bow in forest. Artist Jason Zilian. Rolozo
Image:
"Luthien". Artist Felix Sotomayor. Rolozo
Image:
B&W "Kelegorm and Luthien". (K was the early spelling.) Celegorm,
Luthien,
and Huan. Artist Maciek Wygnanski. Rolozo
Image:
"Elu Thingol". Artist Felix SotoMayor. Rolozo
Mankind:
Image:
"King". movie. Artist Marina Zhukova. Rolozo
Image:
"Aragorn". movie Strider. Artist Marina Zhukova. Rolozo
Image:
"Aragorn". movie Aragorn as in Rivendell. Artist Marina Zhukova. Rolozo
Image:
"Boromir's Fate". Boromir, remorseful. Artist Sharon 'Lynx' Tanhueco.
Rolozo
Image:
"Eowyn as a Shieldmaiden, protecting Minas Tirith" armed, in front of
Meduseld.
Artist Sharon 'Lynx' Tanhueco. Rolozo Tolkien
Image:
"Faramir". Faramir using bow, back to a building. Artist Mirela
Orozovic. Rolozo
Image:
B&W "Faramir". Artist Alexandra Kitlickova. Rolozo
Image:
B&W "Mouth of Sauron". Artist Maciek Wygnanski. Rolozo
Dwarves:
Image:
"Thorin Oakenshield". Artist Jason Zilian. Rolozo
Ents:
Image:
"Fangorn Forest". The forest with the river running through it. Artist
Alan Lee. Rolozo
Image:
Merry and Pippin walking through Fangorn Forest. Artist Ted Nasmith.
Rolozo
Image:
"Welling". One of Fangorn's homes, Welling Hall, where he brought the
hobbits. Artist Ted Nasmith. Rolozo
Image:
Treebeard feeding and speaking with Merry and Pippin at Welling Hall.
Picture
for ICE (Iron Crown Enterprises') MERP. Artist Angus McBride.
Rolozo
Image:
"Searching Fangorn Forest". Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli search for
Merry and Pippin. Artist Peter Xavier Price. Rolozo
Image:
Entmoot, Fangorn speaking while holding the hobbits. Artist Ted Nasmith
for Danbury Mint Plates. Rolozo
Image:
"Entmoot". The hobbits watch the entmoot, up close. Artist Darrell
Sweet. Rolozo
Places:
Angband: Image:
"Siege of Angband". Artist Felix Sotomayor. Rolozo
Barad-dur: Image:
"The Dark Tower". Artist Felix Sotomayor. Rolozo
Hobbit Places:
The Shire: Image:
"Last Sight of the Shire". Artist Felix Sotomayor. Rolozo
Image:
"Minas Tirith". Artist Felix Sotomayor. Rolozo
Morannon: Image:
"The Dark Gate is Closed". Artist Felix Sotomayor. Rolozo
Image:
"Vinyamar". Artist Felix Sotomayor. Rolozo (Turgon's first home
in
M-e, before Gondolin, where Ulmo had him leave arms for Tuor)
Powers:
Image:
"Morgoth". Morgoth armored, with Grond. Artist Luis Bejarano.
Rolozo
Image:
"Fingolfin and Morgoth". Artist Luis Bejarano. Rolozo (also
Elves, Fingolfin)
Image:
B&W. "Morgoth and Ungoliant" attacking the Two Trees. Artist Luis
Bejarano. Rolozo
Maiar:
Image:
" Gandalf vs Balrog". Artist Maciek Wygnanski. Rolozo
Sept. 22, 2003
Tolkien
Encyclopedia:
Men:
"The Brief History of Arathorn
II,
Father of Aragorn II, in Chronological Order" by Arathorn-(V)
Poetry:
"Arathorn's
Sonnet",
by Alawa, submitted with the author's permission by Arathorn-(V)
Sept. 21, 2003
Sunday Meeting Battlenet East Realm, channel
Clan Vala, 5:00pm ESDT, 22:00 GMT
Attending:
Members: Arathorn, Beleg, Elwing,
Eol, Gwaihir, Orodreth, Thror, Turgon, ValarGuild bot (Huan presumed
scrolling), Varda (presiding)
Over the shoulder hellos from Sauron, Eowyn
Visitors: Told@Azeroth, GoME-Amras
Membership:
Eonwe
sent regards. He had to work during the meeting, but played with us
last night until the wee hours.
Amras-V,
Welcome to the Valar Guild!
Orodreth scouted, meeting GoME-Amras while BroodWar gaming. Varda and
Gwaihir
tested. Amras takes AP English and it shows in his speech and unusually
good
spelling! Amras started the GoME guild for BW-only last week with seven
friends.
ME means Middle-earth. He created a web page for it, Guardians of Middle-earth.
He is building a Tolkien-flavored BW map and is requesting help: beta
testers
as well as those who are good with map-making. Amras is 17, from
Memphis,
Tennessee in the US, CST. He plays BW and games from
www.geocities.com/illcarn,
for about two hours a day. They play from op GoME. He's read the LotR
and
Sil, but not the H. His favorite character from the LotR is Eomer, for
his
loyalty to his country when he could have succumbed to evil or left.
His
men love him and follow him against overwhelming odds.
Amrod-V, Welcome to the Valar
Guild!
Amras-V scouted, bringing GoME-Manwe to see us, as one of his folk,
bot-runner,
who would fit into the Valar as well. Double memberships are okay for
both
groups, so no problem. Amrod tested with Varda for a whopping 5/5
score!
He does indeed fit in well and we are glad to have him too. He's 15
from
Ontario, Canada; CST. He plays about once a day for 2-3 hours on
weekdays,
weekends an irregular amount. He plays BW, regular D2 and is
considering
buying the expansion, and mislaid his WC3 CD for now. He
has
MSN as joey1014@hotmail.com He's read the H, LotR, and is
currently
reading the Sil. His favorite LotR character is Aragorn who is a good
fighter
and leader. He led the Fellowship after Gandalf's death and tries to
make
good decisions.
Web:
Members forum:
Be sure to register! While
you're
there, Arathorn says to check out the picture of him. It's under
Main/General.
Hey, nice sunglasses!
Gaming:
Well of Souls: Orodreth reporting
Orodreth asking for help.
Arathorn reports a lot of crashes.
DAoC: Turgon reporting
Turgon didn't make it to the
meeting, no report.
AD&D: Turgon reporting
&nbs