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Dec. 31, 2004
    Enjoy your fireworks tonight! Duck the one that looks like a dragon!

    Beginning list for full members for 2005. If you're not on here in green, email Varda (see top of page for email link). Black means I'm not sure you're active and may have to drop the listing. If you're not listed at all, email fast before the list is finalized and you lose your current name to a new recruit. All you need to be included is to email and tell me you're still interested in sticking with us. I may not have your current email or it may not be going through for some obscure reason.

Dec. 28, 2004
    WarCraft3/ The Frozen Throne/ Clan Vala branch
      Letter from Eonwe, the Chieftain of the WC3/TFT Clan Vala branch of the Valar Guild:

Let it be known that on this day, December 28, 2004, the Warcraft 3 Branch
of the Valar Guild came to an end, after 1 year and 5 months of existence, due to inactivity.
The will of the membership has spoken.

If at any time we have 10 members with unique Warcraft 3 accounts such that
these individuals wish to play Warcraft 3 together and have a desire to
reform the Branch, then at such time we may reform.  Until such a time, my
duty as Branch Leader is complete, though I will gladly take up the mantle
again should it be necessary.

In losing the Warcraft 3 Branch, we do not lose our ability to play together
in Warcraft 3.  We still have the Warcraft 3 section of our Forum, and I, as
Webmaster for our Games Pages, still desire knowledge of who plays this
game, so that those who do may find a friend at times.

    Welcome to Maeglin-(TV)! He is joining the Tolkien-only members of the Valar Guild with an article on "Roverandom" for the Books and Reviews page of the Encyclopedia, handled by Lungorthin-(Valar). Maeglin is ten years old, from England, and has read much.

    Belated Welcome to Indis-(TV)! She is joining the Tolkien-only members with her poem, "Melkor".

    From Varda: My apologies for late News posts and other web page delays. My web working computer is in the shop and this is being done by sneakernet, that is, carry a floppy between various computers with the correct programs, some of which are so slow that it takes me five minutes to type this line.  We persevere against adversities and win! The comp went out on Christmas Eve, and the shop may get around to it on Wednesday.

Dec. 26, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST, AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript: team Arathorn and Varda
Attending:
    Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Gelmir/Shaggyjoe, Gwaihir, Menelvagor, Meriadoc, Orodreth, Varda (presiding) 
Membership :
    Sweep will be starting: meaning the removal of disinterested members. We will be starting the list of members for 2005. Please contact Varda and let her know if you would still like to be with the guild. Those who came to a meeting in December or are otherwise shown on the News in December are considered active for 2005. 
         Fladrif still interested.
         Grimbold out of town.
         Ardamire in WoW Lothar says is old member with unknown primary name; need to check that out.
         Faramir seen in WC3, but unresponsive.
         Boromir emailed, still interested.
         Tulkas back in D2X Valar games.
Web:
    Forum:
        Menelvagor updated the Fader at the top to show Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Check it out. :)
Gaming:
    WoW:
        Charter:
            MerryV signed the WoW guild charter today, bringing the list up to seven of ten. Eonwe/Auros still has the original charter.
        Valar Channel:
            Pre-guild channel: Type /join Valar. A number is assigned., usually "4", local to the character and not global to the server.
            To see who is there, type /chatwho Valar. to chat, type /4 with a space after. The 4 may be replaced by whatever number was assigned. When another person joins, your number may be changed. This channel may be given its own window, same as any other.
            /raid is created from the party. Can't do individual quests there.
        Incomplete areas:
            Blizzard has not completed certain areas. If you see npc's called "Guardians of Blizzard", keep out of that area. Let them code in peace and get the game set up. Some non-guild folk think it's cute to try to go in those places. It can also be done by accident, so let's try to keep the accidents down. If they kill you, take the durability hit and rez at the graveyard to avoid the 72-hour ban.
    WC3/TFT:
        New racing map out.
        Please bring your character into the guild channel for this month, even if just a minute or two, to keep the Clan Vala channel usable and the branch alive.
        Faramir has been seen but does not answer Eonwe's hails.
        Boromir emailed, still with us but very busy with "real" life, including school and wrestling. Sometimes in TFT, considering WoW in a  few months, funds permitting.
        Caranthir/Morifinwe has been playing in WC3 as "Add". This does not count as guild activity nor help the guild branch survive. There is nothing wrong with it, but for folks doing that please also jump in monthly as your guild character in the clan channel.
        Ar-Pharazon plays.

Dec. 25, 2004
    Merry Christmas to all!

Dec. 21, 2004
    WoW:
       Grimbold will probably still be out of town during next Sunday's meeting.
       Good luck to everyone hoping for World of Warcraft under the Christmas tree!

Dec. 19, 2004
Sunday Meeting: 5pm AIM Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript:This week's team: Ar-Pharazon and Varda
Attending:
    Arathorn, Ar-pharazon, Ecthelion (after-meeting), Eonwe, Eowyn (WoW), Finarfin, Fladrif (before-meeting), Galdor (after-meeting), Gil-galad (after-meeting), Gilraen, Grimbold, Lungorthin, Farmer Maggot, Menelvagor, Scatha (after-meeting), Thorondor, Varda
    Over the shoulder: Elwing-(V)
 
Membership:
    Fladrif sends greetings.
    Farmer Maggot is grounded again.
Web:
    Tolkien-related Books and Reviews page:
       Lungorthin requests help with finding books to list and for reviews, as he is drowning in real life commitments. Please check to see what the page already has, then email him the new books you find. A cc to Varda would not hurt. :)
Tolkien:
    We started out by chatting Tolkien:
    Flame of Udun
    Udun
    Orc-names
    The balrog in Moria was much more powerful than balrogs in the very early BoLT stories.
    How did Gollum escape Moria, or for that matter how did the Orcs chase the Fellowship? The only bridge out, the Bridge of Khazad-dum, was destroyed. And if Gollum was following the Fellowship, how did he pass Balin's tomb? Gollum was working with the orcs. The orcs put small bridges over the fire according to FotR.
Gaming:
  WC3 - told about a game. Fun being saved by Eowyn.
  D2X  - 23 new runewords. List on Arreat Summit
    After the meeting, one group of us went to play D2X (including Finarfin and Thorondor) and six others went to WoW.
 World of WarCraft (aka WoW):
    Today WoW folk tried to buy the guild charter.
    We plan to show up for the regular AIM meeting 5pm EST, then break into the branch creation on WoW. The AIM can help us coordinate, as well as set precedent for gaming after meetings. AIM can be up the same time as WoW, going back and forth by alt + tab.
    In WoW, we plan to meet on Lothar server at Cathedral Square in front of the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind. Escorts will be provided for those who need it. Gryphons make fast safe transport.
    The guild charter is (10 silver) and requires 10 accounts to sign it to form our Valar Guild branch. A tabard with the guild symbol is one gold apiece. The plan is for each signing member to pass one silver to Auros (aka Eonwe-(Valar) aka branch leader) to pay for the charter as a group, although several members can pay the whole thing on their own. A number of members will have difficulty paying for the tabard, if you want to help them.
  Report:
    Only six accounts showed up. We need at least four more to start the guild. The accounts that came belonged to: Arathorn, Eonwe, Grimbold, Gwaihir, Maglor, Varda. So we had six accounts with eleven members. Some of our European members would like to join us, but have to wait until that is supported by Blizzard.
    We also found we needed more gold for tabards. 10 to unlock the tabard, and one for each character. We spent the 10 silver to try to buy a charter, and are now down to five silver. Let's start collecting now. Eonwe is holding the money for the branch.
    After the guild is started, new members can be added by the leader (Eonwe/Auros) or officers.
    More folk are now able to come to the main meeting area by the fast gryphon route, and to act as escorts next time.
     Using a Raid channel for getting together for the charter helped a lot, but can't do individual quests meanwhile. Type /raid or click on the raid channel

Dec. 12, 2004
Sunday Meeting: AIM Valar Guild Meetingplace 5pm EST
Transcript: This week's team: Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Varda
Membership:
    Members have been scouting for new potentials on WoW. We've already found a few worth sending to our web-site.
Attending:
    Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Finarfin, Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, Gwaihir, Maglor, Menelvagor, Olwe/Fallen Glory, Theoden (Theoden Valar as new AIM name), Thranduil (gamatzgamatz), Varda
    Beregond tried to enter the meeting but his sn was blocked. Attempt made to figure out what the difficulty was.
    Over Gwaihir's shoulder: Gilraen
Web:
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Poetry: "Melkor" by Georgia Stone
    Links:
       Mellonath Daeron - Tolkien linguistics
       Card game Nazgul
Gaming:
    WoW: (World of WarCraft MMORPG)
       Official guild server: Lothar
        Eonwe is branch leader with the last word in case of confusion, and to organize. All of us are expected to pitch in of course!
        Maglor is operating the WoW branch page. Once again, he should be receiving help from us all, such as letting him know our WoW names for the page so we can add each other to Friends list.
        Guild branch creation:
        Guild charter: Next weekend, we will get together in WoW around meeting time and sign our guild charter. We need  a minimum of ten people altogether. Stormwind, Cathedral Square just in front of the Cathedral of Light is the chosen meeting place. It shows on the map (press M for map). Escort help is being provided.
           Ten silver for guild charter. One gold for tabard. It was agreed that each character at the charter signing would try to toss in one silver to the pot at least, although some are rich enough to do the whole amount.
       Tabard symbol:
            Tabard list: click for example of its being worn, which looks a little different.
            Tabard viewer
             Update: currently considering: Icon 40 with color 3, Background 34, Border 2 with color 3
        Icon: At this meeting, we tentatively chose the flaming sword 40 as it looks like the Secret Fire of Eru, plus it's a reminder of such items as Gandalf's sword. We also considered the mountain (doesn't look like a mountain when worn), book 9, white tree with leaves 11, eagles 31, "athelas" 13.
            Colors were not settled, but here are tentative suggestions, with updates:
        Background color: Probable sky blue background to show allegience to Manwe, such as 34 (less clashing) or 36 (more definitely sky blue while less clashing than 33), probably 36. Blue of some sort.
        Icon color: possibly yellow 3. Blue has been suggested, but would not work well on a blue background.
        Border color. If we use blue background: probably Yellow 3. If we don't use blue background, possibles: Darkest purple 15. Light blue 13. Dark blue 14.
        Border style: possibly 2, 4, or 5. Number 6 is skull and bones on closer look. 1 is very plain. 3 is perhaps overblown.
    Guild name may be the full title of Valar Guild rather than just Valar, after a sporadic discussion going through the meeting and on into many hours of gaming. Not decided, might still be just Valar. The position of the name already shows it is a guild or clan or something and could be redundant, but adding the word "Guild" leaves no doubt of what we call ourselves, a problem we have seen in other games where others called themselves a version such as Valar Clan.
           For practice, we tried getting together in Stormwind after today's AIM meeting and had enough characters and silver to make the guild then, but decided to wait as we said we would at the meeting to give the maximum number of people the chance to make history by being founding members. We even had several night elves come in all the way from Teldrassil, escorted by GrimboldV and Kanafinwe (Maglor), via hippogryph (south end of Teldrassil) and gryphons, with only two deaths on the entire road. Eonwe and Arathorn pulled out of gaming to show the night elf tourists around. Guests were Fosco (potential member later on) and Wymor (Eonwe's brother).  Gaming happened.  :)
    Game Battle for Middle-earth is out. If you try it, please email review to Eonwe for the Games page!
Tolkien:
    Did Frodo ever slay anything? by Ar-Pharazon-(V)
    Elf-healers usually abstained from killing. by Eonwe-(Valar)
    Colors for the Istari, by Thranduil-(V)

Dec. 8, 2004
    Links
      Languages, Names, Runes, Dictionaries:
       The Nine, The Terrible, The Nazguls of Mordor - Names and biographies of the Nazgul, a little from Tolkien but mostly from the game by Iron Crown Enterprises, well-done and appearing real. The card game names and histories are often used online where needed since Tolkien did not fill this in much. Caveat: some of the information is incorrect, as saying that Gollum escaped on his own. Adunaphel as a female is not suggested in any way in Tolkien, who said all nine had been kings of Men. This site is very helpful in understanding the heavily used non-Tolkien ringwraiths. by Jonas Astrand et aliud. Link suggested by Elatan-(Valar)
        Mellonath Daeron - the language guild of Forodrim. They study the elvish languages Quenya and Sindarin, and the writing systems Tenwar and Cirth
 

Dec. 7, 2004
Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Poetry:
          Melkor by Georgia Stone

Dec. 5, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST. AIM Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript:by Varda 
Attending
     Eonwe, Gilraen, Lungorthin/sauronjag, Maglor, Menelvagor, Olwe/FallenGlory, Varda
Membership:
    Ar-Pharazon - visiting grandmother
Webwork:
    Tolkien Encyclopedia: new article "Halls of Thranduil"
    Games page. Updates will be made after last final Wednesday. Be sure yours was sent to Eonwe.
    World of WarCraft page, aka WoW page. Updating player names.
Gaming:
    WoW: Eastern Lothar is official server.
    D2X: Gilraen and Arathorn
Tolkien:
    Death as a theme
    English Myth
    Silvan elves as they would be now, in Tolkien's mythology
    Beorn in the myth
    Trolls in books vs movie
    Weapons in Tolkien
top

Nov. 30, 2004
    Tolkien Encyclopedia
        Places, Thranduil, Thorin:
            "Halls of Thranduil" by Varda-(Valar)

Nov. 28, 2004
Sunday Meeting: AIM Valar Guild Meetingplace. 5:00 pm EST
Transcript: Team Ar-Pharazon, Varda
Membership:
    Tulkas-(Valar) is back, playing D2X ladder as account AstaldoV.
Attending (20 of 127):
    Aerandir/mordacil, Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Arwen, Bombur, Ecthelion/suilenroc01, Elros, Eonwe, Finarfin, Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen, Grimbold (after-meeting), Gwaihir, Huan/LiberalHound, Farmer Maggot, Menelvagor, Orodreth, Oropher/MJKeenan123, Tulkas/WrestlTulkas, Varda (presiding)
Web:
Gaming:
    WoW:
       Game is out, guild members are coming online.
        Lothar server is the official guild server.
       Coordinate on the guild's main Forum, WoW section.
       Maglor needs names for buddy lists for the Valar Guild WoW website. Please email him.
    D2X:
       We still have people gaming in D2X and four then five of us went into games at the end of the meeting.
    WC3/TFT:
       Fangorn, Eowyn, and Sauron were re-tagged.
    EverQuest:
       Ulmo and Bilbo teamed up last night
    Console games:
        A large number were mentioned during the Before-meeting.
Tolkien:
    Discussion of the Vala Tulkas.

Nov. 25, 2004
    Letter from Arathorn:
 

This seemed to help Ar-Pharazon so I've added this section to the QuickAim page to help any newcomers or people wanting to clean up their AIM Buddy lists for the Guild. There's a new link at the top of the page that goes to the section called "Download Buddy lists for Valar Guild: Can load lists right into your AIM! ":
 
QuickAim Page:
http://valarguild.org/arathorn/quickaim/quickaim.htm


Nov. 24, 2004
    Tulkas-(Valar) is back! He is playing D2X on a brand new computer: 2.8 Gig Pentium 4. Look for him! Previously vying for the Lord of Lag title, he is now zipping along quite nicely.

Nov. 22, 2004
D2X Ladder:
       Arathorn's Hardcore Barbarian just shattered the previous top Hardcore score with a 60!
Names page
       New link on Guild index for updated Names page

Nov. 21, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST in AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript: team of Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, Varda
Membership:
    Turgon-(V) passed his Maia test and is henceforth known as Menelvagor-(Valar)! He tested with Elatan, Eonwe, and Varda during the meeting. New AIM name: Menelvagor Valar
Attending (17):
    Aerandir/mordacil, Arathorn-Valar, Ar-Pharazon-V, Arwen-V, Celebrimbor-V, Elatan-Valar, Eonwe-Valar, Finarfin-V, Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen-V, Grimbold-V/HearNoEvil80, Gwaihir-Valar, FarmerMaggot-V/Musics4Me2, Orodreth-V, Thror-V/Chugin Chub,Turgon-V/Menelvagor-Valar, Varda-Valar (presiding)
Gaming:
    WoW about to come out. Valar Guild is focusing on Alliance first. When we know our server etc we will post to the Forum's WoW section and News; current plan is not to use a server that forces us into anything such as PvP or RP for the most freedom of action, allowing us to do anything. We need to get together on the same server to create the guild branch there, and to try to use names as close to our guild names as possible for recognition. Eonwe is branch leader for WoW, coordinating efforts.
Tolkien:
    Elatan's topic: What forces caused the young White Tree to appear just when Aragorn needed it?

Nov. 14, 2004
    Forum: Thanks to Eonwe: Trivia Round 2, LotR Thread has begun :}  See Community/ Tolkien Discussion and jump in!
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST in AIM Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript: team of Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, and Varda. Pieces quilted together by Varda Nov 22.
Eonwe presided.
Membership:
    Elros-(V) - new full member! For details, see Nov 10. Unable to enter meetings apparently due to some setting
    Fladrif andGrimbold sent greetings. Grimbold had to work. Fladrif hoped to come late.
    Varda and Fangorn will be on vacation for a week starting Monday, far far from computers.
Attending (17):
    Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Arwen, Ecthelion/suilenroc01, Eonwe (presiding), Galdor, Gelmir/Shaggyjoe, Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, Grimbold/HearNoEvil80, Mablung/DemonicHorde69, Maglor, FarmerMaggot/Musics4Me2, Olwe/FallenGlory, Orodreth, Thranduil/Gamatzgamatz, Turgon, Varda
Web:
    Forum: New Tolkien Trivia thread for H & LotR started by Eonwe!
    Names page turned back over to Varda from Irmo, updated, but is not yet linked into the other pages. Linking will have to be done next week.
    Tolkien Encyc: Elves page now has all subjects listed on separate pages linked to Elves page.
    Games page still being worked on. Be sure to send in your info to Eonwe for the big update!
Gaming:
    WC3/TFT:
       13 members under the 28 day limit, 2 just right outside, so we're ok currently.
       Thranduil-(V) joined into this branch during the meeting.
    WoW:
         Open Beta started this week. Some members are in it.
    D2X:
         Please be sure to send in your Ladder character scores to Varda to be added to the Guild's ladder web page, separate from Blizzard's.
    Half-Life:
         Sven Coop working with Steam
Tolkien:
    What kind of relationship do the Beornings and Mirkwood have?
    Specific discussions on Beorn and Legolas.
    Beornings and Rivendell.
    Legolas' age  
    More Tolkien discussion, including Fatty Bolger disguised as Frodo and the attack on the house at Crickhollow.
    Some Middle-earth Online rp discussion.

Nov. 10, 2004
    Welcome to the Valar Guild, Elros-(V)! He contacted us by email and met Varda by AIM. He passed his entry test with Varda 5/5! He is 24 and just had a birthday Nov 1. He's from Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and recently graduated from Towson University with a degree in Business Administration and Political Science. He now works at a bank. He was born in Ft. Hood, as an "army brat". He's been a sailor: charter teacher and a six-pack captain, meaning he taught sailing to rich folk.  AIM: DJMcFlessan (10-5 EST), Louiekiskowski (most of the rest of the time). He's read the H, LotR, Sil, UT, BoLT 1&2, Lays of Beleriand, (not the entire Histories, yet), Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wooten, and probably some others we didn't get around to. His favorite character from LotR was Gandalf, who was like a Don of a family as he led by caring.

Nov. 9, 2004
    World of WarCraft: Forum post by Maglor:

As of 9:43 AM I am officially Kanafinwe in the WoW Open Beta!!
I downloaded the installer last night so I could be playing as soon as it is installed. The only problem is I have classes at 11:00am.
Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait until I get home.

Maglor

Nov. 7, 2004
Sunday Meeting: 5pm EST, AIM Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript not made this time: team Ar-Pharazon, Varda. We have the complete transcripts preserved, despite difficulties, but not enough new business came up (and the chat was short) to warrant using the server space. The summary should be enough.
Attending:
    Members (17): Aerandir, Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Arwen, Bombur, Eonwe, Finarfin (after), Gil-galad, Gilraen, Gwaihir, Huan, Lungorthin, Farmer Maggot, Olwe/Fallen Glory, Orodreth, Turgon, Varda (presiding)
    Guest: Maximus FOTL (contacted Lungorthin, interested in joining, looking for a gaming "family". That's a good description of us.)
Most important part of the meeting was to make the monthly contact with the guild. All in the above list have it in the Activity page now.
Games chat in after-meeting:
    LotR Risk game, tried by Ar-Pharazon gaming with Fladrif and Fladrif's lady, and Maximus FOTL. Pharazon said the expansions of Gondor made it better, but concentrated the game into the south, especially Minas Tirith. Link from Pharazon.
    Halo: Report by Aerandir
        Aerandir V: there is a game on microsofts xbox called halo, there is a program for playing it online called xbox connect: we get together in a place like blizzards battle.net to play together.
        Eonwe added that it is an fps game.
AIM Training:
    After the business meeting, we ran training for the group on inviting others to an AIM chat room. Some accidentally invited their "bad" list, so we had some real learning on how to invite correctly.
Tolkien:
    Transcript of Tolkien chat with non-Tolkien threads edited out. LiberalHound is Huan-Valar:
VardaValar1: Why would the Valar only allow Huan to speak three times?
Bomburv: Three strikes?
LiberalHound: I wish I knew, it's quite a hinderance
VardaValar1: lol
GwaihirValar: to ensure that he had to be very careful with what he said...
VardaValar1: Made him speak only important things
Eonwe Valar: well, that's 2 down Huan :}
VardaValar1: Maybe he was chatty in Valinor : )
GwaihirValar: lol
VardaValar1: They may have wanted him to appear to be a normal hound, better hiding
GilraenV: or he spread some gossip the Valar didn't want known
ArPharazonV: lol
VardaValar1: Hmm, wonder what that would be. no no.
VardaValar1: Won't waste his last words
Eonwe Valar: Maybe it was to encourage Huan not to talk too much,.. he was allowed 3 times before he died, so once he got done with the third, he knew the end was near :}
ArPharazonV: exactly how long were those times supposed to last?
ArPharazonV: the times he talked, I mean?
ArPharazonV: basically, he could have talked for days on end, and it could still count as 1 time...
VardaValar1: But he would have been tuned out for too much talk : )
Eonwe Valar: eventually Huan would've run out of things to say, and thus would end one time for speaking :}
VardaValar1: Huan, the Filibuster Hound
Eonwe Valar: aye :}

Nov. 4, 2004
    WoW: Blizzard announcement:

November 4, 2004 - Blizzard Entertainment® today announced that its eagerly awaited massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft® will be in stores in North America on November 23, 2004. World of Warcraft will launch simultaneously in Australia and New Zealand, and is planned for release in Korea, Europe, and other countries throughout Asia shortly following. With a monthly subscription, players in these regions will soon be able to experience the epic adventure of the Warcraft® series in an immersive and continually evolving online environment.


Nov. 3, 2004
    Forum: Letter from Turgon-(V) (admin):

As per request on last meeting, I asked on the Proboards support board how many PM's someone could have on the Message Board. I have already posted the reply under MB Announcements. There is no maximum, however, the more the slower the page will load.

Namarie,
Turgon

top

Oct. 31, 2004
    Happy Halloween!
    Valar Standard Time (Eastern Standard Time) changed last night at midnight. The meeting is now one hour later. Sorry, Europe. We will continue to try to have "Before-meetings". Scariest thing for this Halloween!
    Atomic Clock

Sunday Meeting 5pm EST in AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace. You can invite yourself by Inviting person, type in your name, and type in the room name. If it's a version that asks if you accept the invitation, just say no.
Transcript: team of Ar-Pharazon, Turgon, and Varda
Before-meeting
    Letter to Tolkien Encyc showing some problems. Worked on and solved some.
    Hobbit: map confusion and solved it
Membership News:
    Arathorn - active again, but not making it to meetings
    Embla-(TV) - reports on New Zealand's LotR filming sites
    Fladrif - in contact
    Luthien - playing now as Tindomeral-V in TFT
Web News:
    Beren's Lore Book: down
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Articles:
          Fellowship. New general section. Could use input
          Dwarves:
              Ori
       Help locating bad links needed while Encyc is undergoing re-build, all articles and authors getting their own pages. Gilraen and Eonwe have been helping.
Gaming News:
    State of Valar Gaming Report
    Azure Dreams. In After-meeting
    BroodWar: Orodreth. In After-meeting
    Gilraen's Role-playing game. New characters can now enter.
    Guild Wars Beta finishes today.
    Interplay: included LotR games. In After-meeting
    Middle-earth Online Role-playing game on our Forum. Good spot now for Mirkwood Elf characters to join our party.
    WarCraft/The Frozen Throne: new map
Tolkien:
    In Before-meeting: Hobbit: Map confusion and solved it
    In Tolkien section: Gondolin's betrayal
After-meeting:
    Forum: number of pm's we can store is quite high, a hundred or better known
    Forum Middle-earth Online rp discussion
    Computer talk

    Tolkien Encyclopedia
       Dwarves:
          Ori

Oct. 30, 2004
    Letter from Embla, ending travels in New Zealand:

I have always wanted to work on a ship. But I'm not very big or strong, so
can't really see what use they would have of me:) Maybe I could work in the
kitchen or something...

I have made it to the south Island now. Almost more beautiful then the
north, but you can't really compare. Yesterday, we drove from Christchurch
to a small town called Springfield... On the way we turned of the main road
and followed a smaller one between beautiful mountains and hills, and there,
in the middle of a valley, was Mount Sunday/Edoras. It was beautiful.
Although none of the buildings were there it was still worth the look of it.
Maybe I can scan some of the photos later when I get back so I can send you
some.

And today we drove by the big fields where the last battle was held in ROTK.
I don't rellay remember the name. And we drove by the part where they filmed
Arwens ride to Rivendell with Frodo. You couldn't see the exact film
location because it is on private property, but It was in there somewhere:)
And In the in the backround I could see the mountains used for the Misty
Mountains.

There are so many places I want to see, but they are all so scattered on the
Islands, that I won't have time to see them all. And many of them you can't
get to by car. But I'm happy with the few I have seen.
...
I'm sotired now. I haven't slept in the same place for two weeks now. Since we
don't have much time we want to see the most we can. Today, Queenstown,
tomorrow somewhere else...but I'm happy. I can rest in Thailand.

Namarie


Oct. 29, 2004
State of Valar Gaming, Report by Eonwe-(Valar):
Hail all Valar of the Valar Guild!

I've finished putting together the results from the Games Page Mass Update.
Here they are.
At the beginning of the GPMU, there were 104 members listed on the Games
Page.  Of those,
SC/BW -12 = 11%
D2/Lod- 20 =19%
Wc3/TFT-26 = 25%
ME mod- 5 = 4%
EQ- 4 = 4%
DAoC- 10 = 10%
WC2- 2 = 2%
D1- 3 = 3%
NWN- 2 = 2%
HL- 5 = 4%
Other- 17%
Nothing Listed- 48 = 46%

After the e-mails were sent out, I adjusted the membership numbers based on
the Activity page.  By my count, we have 116 members  Of those, I recieve
gaming info for only 34.
SC/BW- 8= 7%
D2/Lod- 17= 15%
Wc3/TFT- 12= 10%
ME mod-  1= 1%
EQ-  3= 3%
DAoC- 5 = 4 %
WC2-  1= 1%
D1- 2 = 2%
Other- 17 =15%
No response- 82 = 71%

HalfLife and NWN no longer have a following large enough to put up a
separate page.  WC2 and D1 may have their separate pages taken off as well,
as they have not had alot of support since before last update.

Oct. 28, 2004
    Guild Wars: Letter from Arathorn:

Aiya!
 
Grimbold and I are going to try out the 'Guild Wars' beta this weekend since my internet is back. I'm just wondering who else is going to? I know Ar-pharazon brought it up a few times from the meeting transcripts I read, so I imagine he will, but who else is interested?
 
Thx!
 
 Namárië,
    ~Arathorn~


Oct. 25, 2004
    Traveling in New Zealand, continued: Letter from Embla-(TV) of Sweden:

You know, today, I went to see the locations of rivendell. It is located in
a park outside Wellington. (where I'm staying at the moment.) You couldn't
see very much except for a sign where it stood that this was the place. It
is so sad they have removed all the bulidings. It had been bulid down by a
river and I almost broke my ancle jumping down just to get a closer look:) I
had a really hard time climbing back again. My friends, who are not sharing
my interests, just looked at me with a you-should-know better look. But I
don't expect them to understand.

And after alot of searching, I find the locations of the fampus tree, where
The Hobbits hide from the Nazgul. The tree had been removed, so it wasn't
much to see there either, but it felt good just standing there.

Tomorrow we are travelling to the south island with a cargoship. We are
staying at one of my dads friends house tonight, and he knew the captain of
the ship for tomorrow so we can travel really cheap. How are things with
you??


Oct. 24, 2004
    New Tolkien Encyclopedia section for everyone to add to: Fellowship

Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT
Transcript Team: Ar-Pharazon, Varda
Member News:
    Embla-(TV) is in New Zealand touring movie sites.
    Eonwe-(Valar)'s comp's memory went bad, but he will be repairing it. Using another comp meanwhile.
    Farmer Maggot-(V) will be 15 tomorrow
    Orodreth-(V) working on Latin homework, passed his hello through Gilraen-(V)
Web:
    WoW :
       Maglor updated page. Turgon helping.
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
        Poetry: 2 new poems from He that Walks Unseen-(TV).
          The Muse and the Boy of the Blue Fountainby He that Walks Unseen-(TV). Tribute to JRRT.
          Laden Trees in the Circle of Fire by He that Walks Unseen-(TV)
        Maps: Shire Post
    Links:
       Shire Post
       Blizzard Fan Art
Gaming:
    Guildwars:
       World preview event 29-31 this month.
    WoWreport by Eonwe
       Servers may split up guild guys. Europe and N. America on different servers.
Tolkien:
    How far-reaching were the results of the cry of the gull heard by the Fellowship as they approached the Corsairs of Umbar?

Oct. 22, 2004
    WoW:
       Maglor-(V) has updated the Valar Guild's WoW website.

    Letter excerpt from Embla-(TV) of Sweden, now traveling in New Zealand, communicating by internet cafes:

I have visited three LOTR locations so far. The place where the Weathertop
was, and River Anduin and where gollums swims in the river and catches a
fish with Sam and Frodo, it amazing!! New Zealand is a must go. If you ever
got money this is the place to go.
Skip Europe, I have never seen any country so beatiful. Not even the films
can show all the beautiful things here.

The landscape changes all the time. Like yesterday, we were driving aaround
a big beuatiful lake callaed Tapou, a couple of kilomteres away it turns in
to grren hills with sheeps, just like Scotland, and minutes after its a
djungel, and after that snowy mountians. We drove up one of the volcanic
mountians and I went out of the car just to feel the snow. It was so strange
to see the changes in nature.

It sounds like a fun meeting:) Maybe I come and join you someday...

To day, I think we gonna se the location where they shot parts of Osgiliath.

namarie


Oct. 21, 2004
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Poetry:

          Laden Trees in the Circle of Fire by He that Walks Unseen-(TV)

Oct. 19, 2004
    Links page:
       Shire Post - coins and stamps inspired by fantasy and science fiction, includes Tolkien. Includes maps of the Shire and areas nearby. Message board including role-play style stories. Link emailed by D. Johnson   (Shire Post is also listed under Maps in our Encyc.)

Oct. 18, 2004
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Poetry:
          The Muse and the Boy of the Blue Fountainby He that Walks Unseen-(TV). Tribute to JRRT.

Oct. 17, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcriptfrom Ar-Pharazon, Farmer Maggot, Varda
Attending:
        Ar-Pharazon, Arwen, Caranthir/MoriFinwe, Celebrimbor, Elwing, Eonwe (presiding), Finarfin, Fladrif, Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen, Grimbold, Gwaihir, Huan/LiberalHound, Mablung/DemonicHorde69, Farmer Maggot, Orodreth, Oropher/MJKeenan123, Turgon, Varda

Oct. 15, 2004
    Letter from Arathorn: <mikenowo(AT)yahoo.ca>

Well, just bought a hard drive last week to backup my stuff and go
figure, now my other one is dying. Unfortunately I can`t ghost it
because of bad sectors so looks like my Linux is lost. I`m reinstalling
Linux on the second drive I bought and hope to restore some stuff from
a previous backup (have to be IN linux to restore of course *sigh*.

Going to buy another new drive next month to re-install windows on and
restore whatever I can from the failing one (again can`t ghost windows
off of it either so will have to restore what I can later). Internet
should be up by then so will be checking in periodically until my
system is back to snuff.
 


Oct. 13, 2004
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Poetry:
          The Shadows Within by He that Walks Unseen-(TV). Frodo's thoughts in Mordor.

    Farmer Maggot is grounded from comps for not doing homework most of September, so we've just lost two major guild programmers for the month of October at least.. Guild folk, please don't get yourselves grounded! Here's Farmer's blog aka journal:
    http://www.wonderwarp.com/SirG3/wordpress/archives/2004/10/02/70/
 

Oct. 12, 2004
    Alatar-(Valar) has kindly increased the space available for the guild web pages, as we were approaching the limit.
    He is playing in not one, but two, betas! World of WarCraft (accepted into) and EverQuesters II (now gaming as Alatar on the Beta 2 server)! Way to go, Blue Wizard!
    We know he must be a wizard to manage all his interests. Other games are DAoC in two guilds, and City of Heroes. He still drops in with his D2X characters just enough to prevent them from expiring.

Oct. 12, 2004
    Letter from Arathorn: (and yes we were wondering :)  )

In case you’ve been wondering, I’m without internet this month because
of financial reasons. I hope to be back next month. Just sending this
message to inform you. No point in answering since I won’t be checking
email again until then (my other email is temporarily suspended).

Arathorn.


Oct. 10, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT in AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript : team of Ar-Pharazon and Varda 
Attending:
    Aerandir, Ar-Pharazon, Caranthir/Morifinwe, Celebrimbor, Eonwe, Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen, Gwaihir, Orodreth, Oropher/MJKeenan123, Thorondor, Thranduil/gamatzgamatz, Turgon, Varda (presiding)
Gaming:
    Diplomacy:
    Orodreth is setting up a Diplomacy MUD game. Check it out at this site.

Oct. 8, 2004

    WC3/TFT:
       Our group uses Battle.net channel Clan Vala in USA, East.

    WC3/TFT: Letter from Eonwe:

Hail all Warcrafters!

For the second time in two months, our Warcraft 3 Branch is in danger of
deletion due to too few members logging in. We can only keep this WC3 clan
set up as long as we have members willing to log on at least once every 28
days. If we want to keep the WC3 bnet clan, as well as the channel, each of
us needs to try and follow through with this. We need each of you to try
and log in sometime soon. We can only keep this feature so long as we have
members who want it.

Take care and hope to catch you sometime on bnet or in AIM at a meeting.
Eonwë


    WC3/TFT: Letter from Gwaihir:

Our WC3 branch is, again, in danger of expiring... we've only got 7 members
under the 10-day mark. If you'd put an alert on the news page, it'd be
appreciated! And if you'd put in an appearance on wc3 yourself... that'd
help ;)

Thanks!

-Gwaihir


Oct. 5, 2004
    Fladrif tested DOSBox on Lemmings for the PC while we were holding the chat open, and was very pleased. It's a DOS emulator to help games run on later Operating Systems such as XP.

Oct. 4, 2004
Happy Seventh Anniversary, Valar Guild!!!
    Miruvor served at the Isle of Balar.
    AIM chat: We will attempt to keep the meeting chat room open for the Fourth, with help from any members around the world who are willing.
    Among those who helped with the Chat Challenge, holding it open from the time Arien went from one side of the world to the other for all of the Oct 4's, were:
everyone at the meeting Sunday (when Oct 4 began in Europe):
    Aerandir, Ar-Pharazon, Beregond, Elatan, Elwing, Eonwe, Fladrif, Gil-galad, Mablung, Orodreth, Theoden, Thorondor, Thror, Turgon, Varda
    and afterwards helping with the long haul:
    Ar-Pharazon, Arwen, Celebrimbor, Eonwe, Finarfin, Gelmir, Gil-galad, Gilraen, Gwaihir, Lungorthin, Olwe, Oropher, Turgon, and Varda.
    Tourney games: listed on the Tourney page on the Games page, may be played all week, results emailed to Eonwe with a cc to Varda.
    Encyclopedia: If you send in an Encyclopedia entry this week, please mention whether it will be in honor of the Anniversary. This is for articles, poems, stories, translations, humor, art, or anything else you wish to add.

    SpaceShipOne won for the prize with its second flight this morning! Flight coverage on http://www.space.com . This is also the 47th anniversary of Russia's Sputnik 1 launch that started the "space race".

     Forum letters for the Anniversary! :)  Read and put in your two cents!

Letter from Finarfin:

Happy Seventh Anniversary of the Valar Guild !!
 
    I cannot believe that soooo much time has gone by so fast.  I have enjoyed the company of so many guild members over the years. I just feel the need to say thanks.
 
By the grace of the Vala:
Finarfin.
 
PS.  Glad to see disscussions on "Letters" in the meetings.  such a wealth of knolwedge and insite there..


Oct. 3, 2004
Sunday Meeting: 5pm ESDT (GMT-5). AIM Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript: Team: Ar-Pharazon, Varda
Attending: (15)
    Aerandir/mordacil, Ar-Pharazon, Beregond, Elatan, Elwing, Eonwe, Fladrif, Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, Mablung/DemonicHorde69, Orodreth, Theoden, Thorondor, Thror/Chugin Chub, Turgon, Varda (presiding)
Members:
Finarfin: working during this meeting. Letter is on Oct. 2
Gil-galad's birthday was last Friday. Happy 17th!
Mablung made a second AIM screen name for the guild: MablungV
Thror turns 18 today!
Web:
     Games page:
       Eonwe is collecting info for the great Games page update.
Gaming:
    Guild Wars:
        Fladrif and Ar-Pharazon report that the game, Guild Wars, will be free to download and play the last three days of October.
    WoW:
        Eonwe-Valar: "Last week's meetings notes said the US beta was over.  I wanted to clarify that the US closed Beta is not over, just the 7-day stress test beta. Also, they've let in some more guys from the initial closed beta signups."
        Ar-Pharazon: European beta starting this coming week.
Tolkien:
    Biography game, short character bios when tagged: Fladrif and Beregond.
    Letters of Tolkien: JRRT's discussion of the Ring, Gollum, and Frodo. Partial quote of Letter 246, p. 330.
After-meeting:
    Arwen, Eowyn, Gelmir/Shaggyjoe came by.

Oct. 2, 2004
    Letter from Finarfin:

Aiya Varda!. (et all)
         just a short note to infrom you that i will not be able to join you in the meeting this sunday.  worked 72 hrs this week and looks like another long week next week. (lots of functions).  Please give my warmest regards to all and sundry at the meeting.  I hope to be gaming again within the next two weeks or so.
  By the grace of the Vala
 Finarfin.
top

Sept. 29, 2004
    SpaceShipOne! Go to Space.com for breaking news on the flight of SpaceShipOne and its carrier, the White Knight, private spaceplane from the US team headed by Burt Rutan,  going for the first flight by a private group for the Ansari X ten million dollar prize for suborbital spaceflight.  Live webcasts!

    SpaceShipOne goes faster than Mach 3, with Mach 1 being the speed of sound. The pilot is Mike Melvill, test pilot and vice president and general manager of the company that built the ship, Scaled Composites, LLC.
    The prize is set up by Peter Diamandis. To win, they have to reach the required altitude of 62 miles/ 100 km, with a three man crew, then repeat a successful flight within two weeks. This is the first flight actually intended for the competition.
    SpaceShipOne made it to the required altitude!
    Tip to watch came from Meriadoc-(V).

    The Canadian da Vinci team is preparing for its own flight.

    A new contest is being set up for an orbital vehicle that can carry up to seven astronauts to an orbital outpost by the end of the decade. The America's Space Prize is 50 million dollars. The winner also gets options to service inflatable space habitats under development by Bigelow Aerospace, which is putting up half the prize money.

    Return of the King Extended DVD due out Dec. 14.

Sept. 26, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5). AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace. You can invite yourself to the room or request an invitation. List of AIM names on Quick AIM.
Transcript
Transcript team for Sept 26:
    Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Farmer Maggot, Varda
Attending (21): roll from Arathorn, Eonwe, and Varda
    Members: Aerandir/mordacil, Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Arwen, Caranthir/MoriFinwe, Elatan, Eonwe, Eowyn, Galdor, Gilraen, Grimbold/HearNoEvil80,  Gwaihir, FarmerMaggot/Musics4Me2, Olwe/FallenGlory, Orodreth, Oropher/MJKeenan123, Thorondor, Thror, Turgon (after-meeting), Varda (presiding)
Before-meeting
    Includes translating "Belthronding"
Membership
    Arathorn's Maia promotion announced
    Discussion of use of V or Valar as a guild tag
    Turgon: laptop problems one and two
    Orodreth: now on 56k connection, less access to internet
    Tolkien-only: membership requirement 
Web
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Poem: "Revenge Lives in the House of Ransom" by He that Walks Unseen-(TV). Mim the Petty Dwarf's point of view.
       Upgrades started. Articles and individuals have separate pages for sections: Animals, Dwarves.
    D2X Middle-earth mod: Arathorn's pages updated with items
Gaming
    BZ Flag: Fladrif's server up again
    EverQuest: Sighted Earendil as Gelondil
    Rubies of Eventide: Good for those suffering WoW beta withdrawal or to get a taste of the game.
    WoW Beta USA: over
    WoW Beta Europe: will be starting
Tolkien
    Translation: Belthronding. "Strong bow".
    Game: tell a little about the Tolkien character whose name you bear, then tap another person to tell about his or hers. Descriptions made by:
       Varda, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Arathorn, Farmer Maggot, Arwen, Eowyn, Grimbold, Olwe, Oropher
After-meeting:
    Continued with more about Oropher and his kin in the books
    Programming talk
    Turgon showed up late, laptop buggy.

Sept. 21, 2004
    Fladrif says his BZ Flag server is up again.
    Turgon said his friend needed the laptop during the last meeting.

Sept. 20, 2004
    Letter from Orodreth-(V):
Hello all,

As most of you know, on on August 24, my grandmother was walking on a
hill near her house and fell. This caused a skull fracture, her brain
to swell, and a blood vessel to burst, bleeding on the brain. This in
turn caused her to have a stroke. She was taken to the hospital, and
the doctors were not optimistic. However, she made it through the
night, and was moved into hospice, as per her wishes for no life
support.

On September 5th she slipped into a coma, and again, she was not
expected to survive the night. On September 7th, she passed away.

However, on August 27th, my uncles and aunts on my mother's side got
into it all. Betweent he four of them there has been much chaos and
discord. words have been thrown, and no one came out happy.

As of today, my grandmother's house, which has a total sq footage of
1710 ont he lakefront is going for nearly $400,000.

Now as to my situation:

Currently, I have computer access through my mother's computer on her
56K. While I still have my laptop and everything on it, I have no
internet connection. I can use AIM through my mother's computer and
account, which is DuckWithMuscles every so often, as well as access my
e-mail once a day or so. I am currently in school 5 days a week
8:10-2:50.

If you all could pass this on, it would be greatly appreciated. I'd
mostly appreciate an announcement in the Valar Guild and at Syn-Real
in the world dev section. I don't know if anyone from TfG remembers
me, but perhaps a few are wondering. If someone who knows these
communties could get the word out, that would be one of the best
things you could do.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Poetry:
          "Revenge Lives in the House of Ransom" by He that Walks Unseen-(TV). Mim the Petty Dwarf's point of view.

Sept. 19, 2004

    Congratulations to the Maia, Arathorn-(Valar)! He passed his Maia test from Elatan-(Valar), Eonwe-(Valar), and Varda-(Valar) during the meeting, thanks to chairing by Thorondor-(Valar). Arathorn elected not to take the name change, as he has a great many programs and accounts listed under his current name.

Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5). AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace. You can invite yourself to that room or request an invitation from anyone there. AIM name list on QuickAIM.
Transcript Transcript team this week:
Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Farmer Maggot, Varda
Attending:
  Members
  Arathorn-Valar, Ar-Pharazon-V, Arwen-V, Beregond-V/VBeregond, Celebrimbor-V, Elatan-Valar, Eonwe-Valar, Eowyn-V/DaeTPringl, Gelmir-V/Shaggyjoe, Gil-galad-V/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen-V, Grimbold-V/HearnoEvil80, Gwaihir-Valar, FarmerMaggot-V/Musics4Me2,
Paladin Took-V/MyLifeforAuir/ThainPaladin/Took, Theoden-V, Thorondor-Valar (presiding), Varda-Valar
  Visitor:
  Folco-V-ex/AgentPuma21 Email needed.
Web
  Tolkien Encyclopedia:
    Poetry: by Turgon-V and He that Walks Unseen-TV
    Humor: new link in Hobbits Live . Suggestion: check out the many other parts on the site such as Elvish language and the beautiful fan art with a lesson in how one brilliant artist does it.
Gaming
    WoW beta over.
    www.rubiesofeventide.com Game similar to WoW. Free but accepts donations.
Tolkien
  Discussion about Eru Iluvatar, badly tangented out of Tolkien in many places, but veering back on topic here and there thanks to Thorondor's powerful efforts. Suggested by Ar-Pharazon and Thorondor.

Sept. 17, 2004
    Tolkien Encyclopedia
       Poetry:
            Down the Tunnel in Erebor by He that Walks Unseen-(TV). Bilbo seeks out the dragon, Smaug.
            Gorthaur the Cruel by He that Walks Unseen-(TV)
       Humor:
            
Hobbits Live - Comics section. Plenty of other goodies here too.

Sept 16, 2004
    D2X Ladder:
Arathorn's assassin hit 87, new top guild score!

Sept. 14, 2004
    Welcome to the Valar Guild, He that Walks Unseen-(TV)! He's from Nicaragua, now going to Princeton in New Jersey for his PhD in Population Studies. He currently holds a BS in Computer Science and an MS in Population Studies. He joined us with four poems, listed on the News Sept 13. His name refers to a riddle used by Bilbo when talking to Smaug.

    Letter from Arathorn-(V): Farewell to World of WarCraft Beta, link includes news on next Beta. Post is also on Forum:
On Sunday (Sept 14, 2004) Grimbold and I said farewell to the WoW Beta Stress Test and all the fun we had playing it over the past week and a half. Here's a site I put up with a review and snaphots of our escapades:

http://valarguild.org/arathorn/wow/wow.htm

 Namárië,
    ~Arathorn~

    Letter from Arathorn-(V): new free game!:
Found this WoW type game that's actually free (they run through donations):
www.rubiesofeventide.com

It's not as elaborate as WoW but has the same aspects. I just registered an account at their site (again free) and went into a couple of the worlds. Mouse moving doesn't apply except in battle (you can adjust view using the middle mouse/wheel though) but it has the same look and feel as WOW, even some of the same commands (from what I saw). You can set guild teams like in WoW too. Looks like they're trying to emulate the WoW world and are just starting out, but HEY for free it's worth a shot!
 
I created an Elf and Dwarf char in each of the 2 worlds that are up more often (QUITE a lot of options/skills to choose from!):
 
Server: Pegasus
Char: Haran Baradun
(Axe)

Server: Phoenix
Char: ArathornV (no last name)
(Bow)

 
ONE big drawback is that the game will close itself when you try to go back to windows. They have doene this BY DESIGN so that the game doesn't crash (memory leaaking) and to stop hacking, etc. (they have no intention of allowing swap to windows).
 
 
In any event, Grimbold and I will be trying it out to see how it fairs up (we have WoW withdrawal since the close of the WoW beta stress test on Sunday :-P). Let me know if anyone else will want to try it. I'll post something on the Forum once I know a bit more about the game.
 
  Namárië,
    ~Arathorn~


Sept. 13, 2004
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Poetry:
         
Of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad by Turgon-(V). The Battle of Unnumbered Tears. 
          Galadriel by HethatWalksUnseen-(TV) fka Danilo
          Mithrandir by HethatWalksUnseen-(TV)
          Morgoth by HethatWalksUnseen-(TV)
          Tinuviel by HethatWalksUnseen-(TV) 
    Links:
       Medieval Times - restaurant around an arena giving a show with knights using live steel and Andalusian horses.
New requirement:
    To become a Tolkien-only member, an applicant now needs to email at least one small contribution to the Tolkien Encyclopedia to show interest. Let Varda know what guild name you would like to have for your credit and other recognition

Sept. 12, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5) AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript from Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Turgon, Varda. We got it covered this time! Yay us!
Attending: roll from Thror
    Aerandir, Ar-Pharazon, Celebrimbor, Eonwe, Lungorthin, FarmerMaggot, Finarfin, Fladrif, Gilraen, Thorondor, Thror, Turgon, Varda (presiding)
Web: 
    Games page
       Eonwe is sending out emails tonight for update. This is one way we check for activity, so please respond. He is running into a lot of "undeliverable" emails, so if you don't receive one, please email Eonwe with which games you play.
    Tolkien Encyclopedia/ Poetry:
       "The Green Lady in the White Dress" by Elatan-(Valar).
In praise of Yavanna for the forest in winter.

    MacMerc page  Free gaming. URL from Farmer Maggot-V
Gaming
   
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
       Celebrimbor is playing this, would like to see a guild branch there.
Tolkien:
    Why did Legolas and Boromir travel to Imladris alone, considering their stations?

Sept. 8, 2004
    Embla-TV says Hi from Sydney, Australia! She's using internet cafes to keep in touch by email, even though suffering from jetlag and missing most of her sleep the last three "nights". Let's hope Irmo sends her quality dream time! Next stop by bus: Cairns.

Sept. 7, 2004
    Tolkien Encyclopedia/ Poetry:
       "The Green Lady in the White Dress" by Elatan-(Valar).
In praise of Yavanna for the forest in winter.

Sept 5, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5) in AIM Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript. I was out of town and missed the meeting, so I don't have a transcript or even notes. No one sent in a transcript, apparently agreeing with Ar-Pharazon that it was pointless since someone else would send one in. Guys, I make a patchwork quilt out of what is sent in to cover the whole thing. It is a big help. Also, we never know when someone who is saving will accidentally crash, or we come in at different times. This seems to be an object lesson to prove how important our transcript savers really are!
  Continuation of the missing Transcript saga: Turgon tried to email a transcript, although missing the first fifteen minutes. The attachment didn't attach, and his mainboard fried again. He is trying to stay in contact with us anyway, thanks to a very kind friend loaning him a laptop, but it doesn't have the transcript. Does anyone else have it?
  Arathorn's new AIM program crashed so much that he couldn't make a transcript. Anyone have one?

Sept. 2, 2004
    Letter from Eonwe:
HEAR YE! HEAR YE!

This applies for FULL MEMBERS of the Valar Guild only. No one else need worry about it (For information about joining the Valar Guild as a full member, follow the link).

The Games Page Mass Update is in process. I will be sending e-mails shortly. Anyone by chance not recieving a mail will still need to contact me.

I ask that you respond by September 30th so that I may have the page (and the State of Gaming report that I give after the update) ready shortly after.

I've also decided that these will be added to the Forum Calendar so you can look up there as well in the off-chance you don't want to read :}

Take care :}
Eonwë

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Aug. 30, 2004
    Welcome to the Tolkien-only Members of the Valar Guild, Franco Manni-TV! Franco is a teacher from Italy and a member of the Tolkien Society. He has been emailing for quite some time, and has already contributed his
review of The Uncharted Realms of Tolkien and of The History of Middle Earth, translated from the Italian by a kindly Australian visiting teacher.

Aug. 29, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST, AIM Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript from Arathorn, webwork (as usual) by Varda (AIM lag crashes means it is a good thing we had several trying to save!)
Membership: full members: 126 listed. Tolkien-only members: 24 (adding Franco-TV who is name-choosing)
    Attending: (18)(5 ladies, a record!)
     Aerandir-V/mordacil, Arathorn-V, Ar-Pharazon-V, Arwen-V, Celebrimbor-V, Elwing-V, Eonwe-Valar, Eowyn-V/DaeTPringl, Fladrif-V, Gilraen-V, Grimbold-V, Gwaihir-V,  Mablung-V/DemonicHorde69, Oropher-V/MJKeenan123, Thorondor-Valar, Thror-V/Chugin Chub, Turgon-V, Varda-Valar (presiding)
    Elrond-V says hi from the Forum, his only way to contact currrently.
    Embla-TV: back in Sweden from Finland, about to go to Australia and may not be able to reach us for a while again. Could not reach internet this summer in Finland, grandmother died, uncle and aunt have cancer.
    Gwaihir-Valar now in Toronto, Canada with  Eomer-V and Luthien-V.
    Orodreth-V: moving in with parents while grandmother is in the nursing home. Will then be on Dial-up.
Web:
    See News between meetings, as it was accidentally left out of this meeting.
Gaming: (see transcript for details)
    AoH: report by Oropher
    EQ: report by Oropher
    Fellowship of Middle-earth: report by Ar-Pharazon-V
    LotR: The Third Age: report by Celebrimbor
        Turn-based RPG from EA Games. Link to trailer 
    Magic the Gathering Online: report by Fladrif-V
    Middle-earth Online rp in our forum: discussion by rp'ers
    WC3/TFT: report by Turgon, Eonwe, Pharazon
       All members with accounts in WC3 or TFT need to drop into channel Clan Vala this week. Clan is in danger of expiring from member inactivity.
    WoW: report by Eonwe
Tolkien:
    Topic by Elwing-V: communication with animals in Middle-earth.

Aug. 26, 2004
    Orodreth-V will be back on dial-up so his internet connection will not be quite as fast. His grandmother is very ill, and had to go to a nursing home, so he had to move back in with his parents. Good luck, buddy!
    Embla-TV emailed that she lost her grandmother over the summer, and her uncle and aunt have cancer. She's from Sweden and has been spending time without the Internet while in Finland. She's back home for a short while, where summer is already disappearing, then off to Australia.

Aug. 25, 2004
    Letter from Boromir-V:  Rome: Total War Demo
Hey just emailing to tell poeple they should go download the Rome: Total War Demo, off of fileplanet or another site. It gives you a tutorial battle and the battle of Trebia, where its Hannibal vs the Roman Army, It's really fun and it shows how good they game is going to be in terms of the battles. It's made me even more excited for the release of of the game. Its going to have a 3d map where you can station your armys between mountains and stuff. And the battles are in real time with only troops, and you take turns building up your citys and towns with improvments and new buildings and then recruiting welli could keep typing a bunch but poeple should check out this game
 
Namarie,
Boromir-V

Aug. 23, 2004
  Links page:
    Simplicity: For those who would like to make their own medieval and/or LotR costumes, Simplicity catalog has a nice batch of patterns to order. If nothing else, the pictures with live and drawn models are nifty. Thanks to Arwen-V for the link. Now on Links page under Live Gaming.
    Tolkien Music List 
   
Thain's Book - Hobbit and LotR encyclopedia, Third Age.

Aug. 22, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST in AIM's Valar Guild Meetingplace
Send yourself a chat invitation to the chat named above to enter. If you have difficulty, ask someone to invite you. See QuickAIM for AIM names for your Valare buddy list.

Transcript from Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Varda
Attending: 18
    Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Arwen, Celebrimbor, Eonwe (presiding), Eowyn/DaeTPringl, Finarfin (after-meeting), Fladrif, Gilraen, Grimbold/HearnoEvil80, Gwaihir, Lungorthin/sauronjag, Mablung/DemonicHorde69, Olwe/FallenGlory, Orodreth, Thror/ChuginChub (after-meeting), Turgon, Varda
Membership:
    Ar-Pharazon-V's comp is now able to handle the bigger games again.
    Arwen-V just arrived at the University in Lubbock - meeting us online from there

    Celebrimbor-V was off from working at the movie house for this Sunday and is hoping this will continue.
    Dreamlord-TV is now in the United States at the University of Wisconsin studying English. He has a new email:
abrahamsen(AT)wisc.edu
    Elwing-V's birthday was Aug. 19!
    Eonwe-Valar is back after repairing his modems blown out by lightning. He had to leave just before the Tolkien chat due to another storm coming.
    Turgon-V has been accepted into college, studying to be an English teacher.
Web:
    Games page:
       Eonwe is updating the page, so expect an email in September asking what games you currently use. If you don't receive an email, be sure to send him one, as it means he does not have your correct email. You have a month after the email to respond. This counts as a contact versus the activity sweep.
    Tolkien Books and Reviews page:
       Lungorthin has added the review for all twelve Histories of Middle-earth written by Franco Manni, translated from Italian by a kind person visiting at his school from Australia. The review may also be found under Special Papers in the Tolkien Encyclopedia.
    Fellowship Festival 2004:
       This live event will be held Aug 28 in London, at Alexandra Palace. The two main event partners are the Tolkien Society with Tolkien workshops and a quiz, and New Line Cinema with much from the movie, along with many folk from the cast and crew including artists Alan Lee and John Howe! Gaming folk will be giving presentations as well. 
       Guild members who may be present in England that weekend are Eru-Valar, Finrod-V, and Gilraen-V.
       Aug 17 Festival link now repaired. Please email Varda when you find a bad link!
Gaming:
    Magic the Gathering, online: report by Fladrif-V
       Online gaming, card-making.
    WC3/TFTreport by Eonwe-Valar , Ar-Pharazon, Fladrif
       New map for TFT: "Excavation Site"
       Ar-Pharazon and Fladrif tried the map. Pretty nice. Small fast map. Tavern in the center.
Tolkien:
    Eonwe's topic: Matrix Reloaded quote from the Oracle: "You're not here to make the choice. You've already made it. You're here to understand why you made it."  Does that apply also to the Valar? Have they already made all their choices?
After-meeting:
    Chat, late arrivals, many LotR-related links
   
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth  Orodreth recommends as a movie site
    http://www.theargonath.cc/  "Uruviel's Argonath". Ar-Pharazon recommends as a movie site
    www.figwitlives.net "Figwit Lives". Located by Gwaihir.
     http://www.dino-rama.com/sharku.html  Ar-Pharazon located this collection of LotR dioramas.
    http://www.patriotresource.com/lotr/characters/sharku.html Ar-Pharazon located this LotR site while looking for Sharku. The movie Sharku is the Orc who knocked Aragorn over the cliff, not Saruman in the "Scouring of the Shire" as the book had.
     http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008YSI7/102-9032258-3374502?v=glance&s=toys&me=A3UN6WX5RR O2AG&vi=pictures&img=14#more-pictures  Ar-Pharazon also ran across this one hunting Sharku.
      
Aug. 19, 2004
    Letter from Dreamlord-(TV):
I came in via Chicago's O'Hare Airport, then by bus to Madison. Still plenty of time till school starts, so right now I'm just getting settled in my little apartment, checking in at the various university offices, doing orientation days and city tours. It's a lovely place and I'm
full of optimism. I'm still in English/American studies and rhetoric, but music/singing is a passion I hope to continue developing while here.

By the way, it's close to Milwaulkee where (as you know) Marquette University boasts one of the largest Tolkien collections in the world... In October, I'm attending a conference on Tolkien studies in honour of the 50th anniversary of the publication of LotR. All the published, well-known JRRT experts will be there, so stay tuned for some breaking news on that...

Take care,
Dreamy

Aug. 17, 2004
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Special Papers:
          "J.R.R. Tolkien, The History of Middle-earth, 12 volumes" by Franco Manni (editor of the Tolkien fanzine, Endore. Teaches ). Translation from his original Italian to English by a kindly Australian, a visiting Fellow at the school.
            Can anyone in the Valar Guild translate Italian? We could really use your help. Contact Varda.

    The Fellowhip Festival 2004
       Three day event held Aug. 28 (Sat.) through Aug. 30 (Mon.) at Alexandra Palace in London. (see Travel for how to get there.)
       Event set up by All Areas Event, Ltd.
         New Line Cinema and The Tolkien Society are their two main event partners. Others listed with their site links including Games Workshop.
       The Tolkien Society will be holding workshops and seminars over the books, also a Team Quiz. - see the Talan.
       New Line Cinema will have some of the cast and characters. The two hosting are
Craig Parker (Haldir) and Mark Ferguson (Gil-galad).  Many more are planning to guest, including Karl Urban (Eomer), Bernard Hill (Theoden), John Noble (Denethor), Sarah MaLeod (Rosie), and Lawrence MacKoare (Lurtz, Witch-king, Gothmog).  Crew includes artists Alan Lee and John Howe, and senior prosthetics advisor Gino Acevado.  Large list keeps being updated, see site.
       EA Games will preview their upcoming LotR games: "Battle for Middle-earth" and "The Third Age".


Aug. 16, 2004
    Letter from Dreamlord-TV (first Irmo-Valar) excerpt:
Since I'll be loose in the halls of the University of Wisconsin at Madison for the coming academic year, here is the new address that's been assigned to me: abrahamsen(AT)wisc.edu

(note from Varda: please insert @ for (AT) used to confuse bots crawling the web in search of emails)

Aug. 15, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST (GMT-5) AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript from Ar-Pharazon and Varda
Attending: (13)
    Aerandir-V, Arathorn-V/mikenowo, Ar-Pharazon (way after-meeting), Arwen-V, Ecthelion-V/suilenroc01, Eru-Valar/Eru68 (after-meeting), Finarfin-V (after-meeting), Gilraen-V, Grimbold-V/hearnoevil80, Gwaihir-Valar, Farmer Maggot-V, Turgon-V, Varda-Valar (presiding)
Members:
    Eru is having problems with the fan on his graphics card, came anyway. He GM's and the game tends to run through the first part of our meeting: Rolemaster/Spacemaster.
    Gilraen-V and Gwaihir-Valar became engaged Monday!
    Grimbold has internet again and is back! He was at the meeting and plays D2X. (see letter below)