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Tom
Bombadil-(Valar)'s poem answering the Activity Sweep.
Dec. 31, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EST
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Eonwe-(Valar) and Varda-(Valar)
Attending (10):
Members:
Aerandir-(V)/mordacil, Ancalagon-(V)/Sarujil, Eonwe Valar,
FinduilasV, Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet,
Meneldil-(V)/Bookie032785, VardaValar1 (presiding)
Visitors:
Amarie-ex/mecoons/staind32185, Srekal86
Membership
Be sure to contact Varda to renew your membership
for 2007. If you have 2007 listed on the right column of the Members
page, you're already in.
Web
New article coming from Barahir, not quite ready to
go online yet.
Search engine for the Encyc is doing well.
Gaming
BFME2 and expansion
Heroes of Might and Magic
SC: Bridges of Osgiliath map may now be downloaded
from our pages. Put up during the meeting.
WoW: our folk on the servers:
Lothar
Uldaman
Euro: Argent Dawn
Tolkien
What might we list for Middle-earth as its Seven
Structural Wonders and Seven Natural Wonders?
Tolkien trivia going on our Forum for LotR (memory)
and for Sil (books allowed)
Dec. 25, 2006
Merry Christmas!
Eonwe's Christmas present to the guild and all
Tolkien fans is a
new Search engine used while online in the Valar Guild Tolkien
Encyclopedia. It is now available on the main site pages and in the
frame menus. Enjoy!
Dec. 24, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EST
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Eonwe-(Valar) has a Christmas present good for the whole guild! It will
be announced at the meeting tonight.
Meeting
Transcript by
Ar-Pharazon-(V) and Varda-(Valar)
Attending (18):
Members:
Aerandir-(V)/mordacil, ArPharazonV, Caranthir-(V)/El Capitan Chobo,
Elladan-(V)/Bior the Ythling, Eonwe Valar, FinduilasV, FladrifV,
Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet, GwaihirValar,
Farmer Maggot-(V)/thesirg3, Meneldil-(V)/Bookie032785 (rejoined during
meeting), Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V, Thranduil-(V)/Gamatzgamatz,
VardaValar1 (presiding)
Visitors:
oladys 123, Srekal86
Membership:
Meneldil-(V)
rejoined the Valar Guild! He passed his
test with Varda at the meeting today. He's now 21 (22 in March), from
Nevada, USA. He likes to play StarCraft and Well of Souls. His BW and
WC3 CD's have left the Circles of the World unfortunately. He is
usually working as a librarian during the meetings. His favorite LotR
character is Gandalf, as he was the mythological factor in LotR and
showed the link between past and present. Without him, Middle-earth
wouldn't have stood a chance.
All members attending today are automatically signed
up for 2007.
Web:
Eonwe built a Search engine for the Valar Guild
Tolkien Encyclopedia from scratch in php. We tested it out and were
thrilled. Suggestions made.
Gaming:
Battle for Middle-earth 2: Rise of the Witchking
review
WoS (Well of Souls)
ISketch
WoW
LotRO
Tolkien:
We all went quiet reading Eonwe-(Valar)'s story
explaining how Santa-style Christmas really came about in Middle-earth.
After-meeting:
AIM - older version generally preferred
Meneldil finishes his re-join test.
Dec. 17, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EST
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by
Ar-Pharazon-(V) and Varda-(Valar)
Attending (11):
Members:
ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar (presiding), FinduilasV, Gelmir-(V)/Shaggyjoe,
Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet, Haleth V,
Farmer Maggot/thesirg3, Menelvagor Valar, VardaValar1
Visitor:
Herumor-ex/Nemoeverlonely
Membership
Haleth-(V)'s mom's birthday is today.
Yes, we will have a meeting next Sunday for whomever
would like to come.
Web:
Nothing new, but new stuff
is intended for the coming week
Gaming:
WoW:
WoW
General: Quoth Eonwe-(Valar): "Winterveil Quests out. Do them :}
Easy rep :}"
WoW
Lothar server Friday get-together: Group of Eonwe, Merry,
Sauron, Eonwe's brother, Varda. After lag problems, switched to Uldaman
instance.
WoW
Argent Dawn: Finduilas and Valandil plus members of Finduilas'
old guild went to Zul Farrak.
BFMe2
request for help for Eonwe in announcing patches for Gaming News
Tolkien:
Finduilas-(V)'s topic: Battle of the Last Alliance.
Tangent: Endings of Ages.
Dec. 10, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EST
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
To enter the AIM room, put your name in your Buddy
List, click your name, invite yourself to a chat room, and be sure to
type in the name of our chat room over the random numbers in the chat
room name.
Meeting
Transcript by
Ar-Pharazon-(V) and Varda-(Valar)
Attending (12):
ArathornValar, Ar-Pharazon, Arwen V1,
Bombur-(V)/MrMonkey2002Blah, Eonwe Valar
(presiding), FinduilasV, FladrifV, Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco,
Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet, GwaihirValar, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V,
Valandil Valar
Members:
New Full Member:
Feanor-(V) of WoW Argent Dawn.
WoW branch in
Europe was formed last weekend and is active.
Finduilas' fiance
was in a car accident in which he was injured, but will recover.
Varda and Fangorn
will be out of town Sunday but should be back Friday. Eonwe and
Menelvagor will be handling meetings and business for you during that
time. Feel free to continue emailing Varda who will read it after
returning and help as she can.
Old Forum:
Question for the membership: Would you like to use the old Yahoo
Forum, which can be delivered as email at your discretion, as a way to
read the News sent to your email or that you can add to without having
to go through an admin? It an also be a way to upload your poetry,
stories, articles, gaming remarks, and comments without having to go
through Varda, for things that don't go well on our current ProBoards.
Please let your feelings be known either at the meeting or by emailing
Varda.
Web:
New Stories:
New chapter up for "Ten Thousand
Years Will Not Suffice" by Alcardilme-(TV): TA 2943 aka chapter 5.
Mellon Chronicles Series:
"Priceless Treasure" by Cassia-(TV) and Siobhan-(TV) is now edited and
linked in.
Story up: Mellon Chronicles
Series' "The Stars of Harad" by Cassia-(TV) and Siobhan-(TV) is up.
Gaming:
Eve Online: improved early game
Battle for Middle-earth 2: new expansion for the
Witch-king
LotRO new spot shown to the general public: Green
Dragon
WoW: huge new patch getting ready for the Burning
Crusades expansion and more emphasis on pvp.
Tolkien:
Topic 1: Languages in role-play naming and phrases
Topic 2: What can we learn about the characters in
Tolkien's works from their names? Tangent: Lobelia
After-meeting:
More Tolkien topic 2, then gaming chat
Dec. 9, 2006
Welcome to the Valar Guild, Feanor-(V)!
Feanor came to us on Dec. 3 from WoW Europe's Argent Dawn server. He
joined the newly formed Valar branch there by testing with
Menelvagor-(Valar), who is also his guildmate in The Sacred Blade. He's
from the UK and has read the H, LotR, Sil, and UT.
His favorite LotR character is Sam "because he has
respect for things that are good, i.e. friendship and loyalty, he
follows Frodo no questions asked. He was there to the very end. In many
ways I thought he was more of a main character. As in more than Frodo.
Frodo just happened to carry the Ring, but Sam carried Frodo. In the
end, it is all about Sam."
WoW Lothar:
That giant patch had everyone
re-speccing their characters and added areas.
Fangoern and Varda started the
Scholomance key quest to catch up to MerryV for the group run against
Araj in Andorhal next time. While in Chillwind Camp, one of the Dranei
showed up as an NPC quest-giver. We took the quest, but then a
short-time patch came up and the big blue fellow had disappeared, yet
left the quest in our quest log. The two Valar members also made runs
in Silithus knocking off some quests and discovering a few broken ones.
Arathorn appeared for a while to re-spec but did not respond when we
asked him about doing the Scholo key run, probably deep in re-speccing.
Dec. 6, 2006
Story up: Mellon
Chronicles Series' "The
Stars of Harad" by
Cassia-(TV)
and Siobhan-(TV) is up.
"When Aragorn falls in love with Arwen, it seems
that he has done the one thing that could ever divide he and his elven
family. Certain that his home is his no longer, Aragorn leaves with the
rangers, attempting to forget the heartache of all he has lost... What
he did not count on was losing his memory and forgetting everything.
"Now, to find him, Legolas must join the very men
who have captured and enslaved his friend, he must be one of them...
and he must pay the dreadful penalty when their confidence is broken.
"But if Aragorn cannot remember, cannot trust the
elf he no longer knows... will it all have been in vain?"
Aragorn, Arwen, Elladan, Elrohir, Elrond,
Legolas.
Dec. 5, 2006
WoW gamers:
Major patch!
Burning Crusade's street date is
expected to be January 15, 2007. Beta testing for it will still be
continuing. Expansion
features.
Tolkien Stories:
Mellon
Chronicles Series: "Priceless Treasure" by
Cassia-(TV) and Siobhan-(TV) is now edited and linked in.
Dec. 4, 2006
Tolkien Stories:
New chapter up for "Ten
Thousand Years Will Not Suffice" by Alcardilme-(TV): TA
2943 aka chapter 5.
Dec. 3, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EST
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon,
Gilraen, and Varda
Attending: (16):
Members:
Aerandir-(V)/mordacil, Ancalagon-(V)/Sarujil, ArPharazonV, Arwen V1,
FinduilasV, Finrod-(V)/TH0R0NGIL, FladrifV, Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet,
Glorfindel VG, Menelvagor Valar, Olwe-(V)/FallenGlory, Valandil Valar,
VardaValar1 (presiding)
Visitors:
Amarie-(ex)/mecoons, Herumor-(ex)/Nemoeverlonely (connection had
problems keeping up with scrolling, moved to chat in side window),
Srekal86
Membership:
New Tolkien-only! Alcardilme-(TV)
2007 Member Roster now in progress. Make sure Varda
knows to include you!
WoW Europe gamers came together during this meeting
and created their first full Valar Guild branch. It's on Argent Dawn
server with Menelvagor-(Valar) as branch-master. Charter members
mentioned are: Ar-Pharazon, Finduilas, Fladrif, Menelvagor, Valandil.
Tabard description.
Web:
Tolkien Site: new section to more simply navigate
our many Tolkien projects, instead of using the Tolkien Encyclopedia as
that overall name.
New Stories, both by Alcardilme
Gaming: (Mainly covered
under Membership)
WoW: See Membership for WoW Europe as the biggest
news!
LotRO an official Valar Guild branch is definitely
set for when the game comes out. Varda is currently the branch master.
Tolkien:
Topic
1: suggested by Ancalagon-(V) in-game: How did the dragons
contribute to Tolkien's story line? besides dying?
Topic
2: suggested by the brother of Aerandir-(V): Why didn't the eagles
carry Frodo directly to Mount Doom with the One Ring?
After-meeting:
Note: A member feared that creating the Argent Dawn
branch destroyed the meeting. In Varda's opinion at least, it met one
of the major purposes of having a meeting! Thank you, all of our
European WoW folk, for going to this effort especially in the wee hours
of your day.
Feanor-(V) joined the Valar Guild in WoW Europe!
Reported later and on the News Dec. 9 above.
Dec. 2, 2006
Corrections made to the links for the story,
"Letters From Faramir". My apologies and happy reading!
Dec. 1, 2006
Welcome to the Valar Guild, Alcardilme-(TV)!
We are happy to say that she has joined the Valar Guild as of
Nov. 26 with two new stories:
Letters From Faramir by Alcardilme-(TV)
"Grief knows no boundaries, nor
age, nor time. Letters from Faramir to
Boromir - in hopes that he is still alive and will return. Angst."
LotR
13 chapters
Complete
Posted here
Dec. 1, 2006. Also posted on Henneth Annûn where she is
site manager.
Ten
Thousand Years Will Not Suffice by Alcardilme-(TV)
"Denethor - from birth onward...
How he became the Twenty-sixth Ruling
Steward of Gondor and through to his untimely death (NOT movie based)."
Third Age, includes LotR.
Denethor II and all who came in
contact with him.
In progress. She is currently
proofreading and reposting, so we are seeing her latest work. We are
now at TA 2942 aka Chapter 4.
Posted here Dec. 1, 2006.
Also posting on Henneth Annûn.
Nov.
27, 2006
Starting now, we will be checking to see who
would like to continue to be listed as a member for 2007. This
confirmation will be shown on the last column of the 2006 Members page
with a "2007".
Full
Members may confirm by showing up to any meeting in December,
December forum post, by email or AIM with Varda, by being listed on
Eonwe's Games page update (email Eonwe), by contributing a review for
the Games site (email Eonwe), by contributing to the Tolkien site
(email Varda), by doing anything that puts them on the News page in
December (not in a bad way ;), or by pure luck if Varda sees you
in-game as a guild-named gamer. Continued space and program donations
count, but we'd really like to hear from you in person.
Tolkien-only
members need to send in any item for the Tolkien site or let
Varda know what project they are working on (email the first, email or
AIM the second). Email gives a better record in this case.
Nov. 26, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EST
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon
and Varda
Attending: (14)
Members:
Ancalagon-(V)/Sarujil, ArPharazonV, Arwen V1, CaranthirV,
Dis-(V)/Disvandl, Eonwe
Valar, FinduilasV, FladrifV, Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet, Glorfindel VG,
Lungorthin-(Valar)/sauronjag, Orodreth V/Oessala, VardaValar1
(presiding).
Caranthir V came in during After-meeting, wasn't on
the
AIM list earlier to be invited, now corrected.
Visitor:
Russ82275 (said nothing, just popped in and lurked peacefully, no
problem)
Membership:
Some people have said that they would
like to send in something to become Tolkien-onlies.
Web:
Tolkien Article this week: "Ar-Pharazôn:
from Armenelos to Aman"
in
English by Theoden-(TV).
Gaming:
WoW
WoW Argent Dawn: Fladrif's Skjold hit
60! No
charter set up yet, might not happen.
WoW Lothar: Friday run got Molten Core
Attunement for all who stayed.
Tolkien:
1.
Ancalagon's movie topic: article concerning the
upcoming movies for the Hobbit and LotR prequel: http://www.theonering.net/staticnews/1163993546.html
Apparently PJ and crew were told they weren't wanted. No one knows
about the cast.
2.
Sil topic: The latest of the articles submitted to
us said in the first line: "Aman, the blessed kingdom, where the Valar
live lazing around in Valinor, is the Tolkienan Olympus if we can say
that.". So, can he say that?
Nov. 25, 2006
Now linked into the Encyclopedia: "Ar-Pharazôn: from Armenelos to Aman"
in
English, "Ar-Pharazôn:
da Armenelos ad Aman" in the original Italian,
and "De
Armenelos en Aman"
in French, by Emanuele "Theoden" Scalzo-(TV). The English translation
was emailed Nov. 22, 2006. Opinions expressed, as always, belong to the
author and may or may not be the official position of the Valar Guild.
The Ar-Pharazon
index is now set up to take care of
accumulated articles.
Nov. 24, 2006
WoW Lothar had the Friday run for upper level players.
Considered BRD and/or Strat and or "downtown Andorhal", as the gang
expected to be up quite late. Don't have a 60? Come in with your
lowbies, chat
with us, and work together on your lowbies! The name of the game is fun
and enjoying each other, so come on in!
Final report, info
from Sauron-(Valar):
Place: BRD. Gamers: Arathorn, Arwen, Eonwe, Merry
(on Varda's comp for Thanksgiving), and Sauron. Elwing came in for some
gaming, howdying, and cheering on the BRD group, gaining her level
forty meanwhile. Arathorn had to leave part of the way through BRD, but
the rest kept going. They jumped down the hole below Incendius and
managed to gain Molten Core Attunement. They also gained the ability to
smelt dark iron ore. Then they formed into The Raid Group of Four to go
in for a look. They found 62 elites who looked larger than they did.
Being the Valar They Are, the four charged valiantly at them for a
final glorious end.
Nov. 23, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving, America!
Nov. 19, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EST
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon
and Varda
Attending (11):
ArPharazonV, Arwen V1, AuSteinM-(TV)/AuSteinM,
Elladan-(V)/Bior the
Ythling, Eonwe Valar, FinduilasV, Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet, Glorfindel
VG, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V/Oessala, VardaValar1
Membership:
Guild-friends:
we have two new ones coming into WoW Lothar. Remember that any member
of the Valar Guild can invite any polite, nice gamer (non-ninja or
other annoying type) to game with the guild by having them type /join
Valar to enter the friend channel. Check the friend channel with
/chatwho valar and talk using /valar message. The sometimes changing
number of the channel may be substituted for the word Valar for ease.
Thanksgiving
and Finals will be affecting
member availability for a little while.
Menelvagor-(Valar)
spent most of today demonstrating various board games on a games
convention in the northern Netherlands.
Web:
Article: "Beleg"
by Theoden-(TV)
Gaming:
Archlord review by Elladan-(V)
Ventrilo
may also be used by European WoW members, especially for their new
Valar branch, and other branches. See Forum under WoW for set-up
details.
Tolkien:
Eonwe's topic: the physical differences among Elves.
What, if any, are they?
Nov. 14, 2006
Tolkien Site:
Articles:
"Beleg"
in English and the original
Italian, by Emanuele
"Theoden" Scalzo-(TV)
Nov. 12, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EST
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon
and Varda
Attending (13):
Members: Aerandir-(V)/mordacil, ArPharazonV, Arwen
V1, Bombur-(V)/MrMonkey2002Blah, Eonwe Valar, FinduilasV, FladrifV,
Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet, Gimli-(V)/jetwest2000, Glorfindel VG,
Menelvagor Valar, VardaValar1
Visitor: oladys 123 (would like to join)
Membership:
Edrahil-(V):
new Full
Member
Galadriel-(V): Full Member now coming into European
WoW
Web:
Tolkien Site:
Stories:
"How
to Dim a Too-Bright Elf" by Elwing-(V)
"To
See a World" ch 44 now up. by Nightwing; mentioned in a later
section.
Gaming:
Pokemon
WoW:
WoW street date announced. Discussion
was in the After-meeting.
Lothar server (Alliance). The
Friday run.
Uldaman server (Horde)
Argent Dawn (Alliance): European
members decided to go ahead and put the Valar branch on this server
instead of Lightbringer.
Tolkien:
Topic: Did the glow of elves cause problems in
warfare?
Topic: Faramir was chosen first for the Fellowship,
Boromir was his replacement. How did this change what happened?
Topic: Gollum, insanity, Frodo, Denethor
Topic: Elves who died could eventually be reborn in
their own children.
After-meeting:
WoW street date announced
Anime discussion
Nov. 9, 2006
Tolkien site:
Articles:
"Ar-Pharazôn:
da Armenelos ad Aman" in Italian, "De
Armenelos en Aman"
translated from Italian to French. This is an article by Emanuele
"Theoden" Scalzo-(TV). He intends to send an English translation after
he finds a translator and the work is done.
Stories:
Lessons of Life Series: "How
to Dim a Too-Bright Elf" by Elwing-(V). G-PG, Humor, 1
chapter. Set in the LotR, Two Towers. The Fellowship sends Aragorn to
confront a problem they are having with Legolas.
Elwing has named her story series "Lessons
of Life", and it is now chronologically listed on her Author's Page.
Nov. 5, 2006
Welcome to the Valar Guild, Edrahil-(V)!
Edrahil
games in WoW and intends to game in LotRO when it comes out. He's read
the H and LotR, plus about the first quarter of the Sil. His favorite
two characters from LotR are Legolas and Boromir. He likes Legolas for
his being very sure of himself, ability to be a serious scout yet
having a light-hearted nature in the face of dire circumstance, and his
gaming with the dwarf at Helm's Deep. Edrahil likes Boromir for his
struggle inside himself with honor winning. The Ring augments his
desire to lead his troops in glorious battle and bring on a golden age,
but he fights the temptation and defends the hobbits, although he is
greatly outnumbered, to the death.
Tolkien Stories:
Ch.
44 "A Brief Quiet". Update on the continuing story "To See a World"
by Nightwing.
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EST
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon
and Varda
Attending ()
Membership
New Tolkien-only member: Emanuele "Theoden" Scalzo
Web
Tolkien site: new articles, stories, art
Gaming
WC3: Finduilas, Haleth
WoW
Euro:Argent Dawn and Lightbringer
servers
Americas: Lothar and Uldaman
servers
General:
new
free content patch upcoming, most of which was not expected until the
Expansion.
new
WarCraft Encyclopedia by Blizzard
LotRO
Tolkien
Finduilas, the elf-maiden from the tale "Of Turin
Turambar".
Nov. 3, 2006
Tolkien Art:
Cave
of Turgon-(V):
"Book
of Lore" A book that may have been found in either Minas Tirith or
Imladris.
"Elwe
Singollo"
"Green
Dragon" A mug from the Green Dragon.
"Gates
of Nargothrond"
"Ring
of the Nine" One of the nine rings.
"Morgoth
and Manwe" Morgoth is brought before Manwe.
Nov. 2, 2006
Tolkien articles:
"The
Mirror of Galadriel" by
Varda-(Valar)
"The
Phial of Galadriel" by
Varda-(Valar)
The Objects
page now has an alphabetical listing
Nov. 1, 2006
Welcome to the Valar Guild, Emanuele "Theoden"
Scalzo-(TV)! Theoden-(TV) of Italy joined us officially as a
Tolkien-only member on Oct. 29, 2006 by emailing his article "Sharp
Glance" in both the original Italian and the English version,
translated by one of his kind friends. He writes for the Italian
Tolkien site: la voce
di Edoras "The Voice of Edoras", which is now on our Links page.
In the Valar Guild's Tolkien
Encyclopedia, read his article, "Sharp
Glance", about Maeglin! This is the direct, unframed link, or take
a look under "Maeglin" the next time you're in the framed version.
Pictures!
If you enjoy seeing people and settings
in fantasy and medieval garb, Merry-(V) took a set of photos you'll
enjoy while we were together at the Texas Renaissance Festival Sunday.
He's a professional photographer, so you're in for a treat. Click on
the link to the RenFaire from his page: With a Wing and a Lens.
No, he's not in any of the pictures. Mostly it's of some of the sights
at the Fair. Elwing-(V) is present and even labeled in one of the
photos. The rarely photographed Fangorn-(Valar) is caught a couple of
times, tall and wearing green and brown with a green cowl and a sword.
Varda-(Valar) is present a few times in Scot garb, also not labeled and
unwilling to give more hint than that.
Oct.
30, 2006
Tolkien Site news:
Articles:
Elves/ Elf
Types: updated this article with a new and separate section on
Moriquendi, and rearranged the types.
Separated the article on Maeglin
by Alatar-(Valar)-ex onto it's own page, moved the Maeglin
Index into a folder.
Stories:
"Betrayal"
by Cassia and Siobhan. R for graphic violence. 8 chapters. Editing
completed.
After a long absence, Legolas is finally
returning home to Mirkwood, with his friend, Aragorn. But they walk
straight into a treacherous power struggle, one which the two's earlier
actions have precipitated unknowingly.
Oct. 29, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EST
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon,
Eonwe,
and Varda
Attending (8.5):
Members:
ArathornValar,
ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar (presiding), Glorfindel VG,
Lungorthin-(Valar)/sauronjag, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V.
Members way way
after-meeting: Arwen V1, Orodreth V, VardaValar1
Guests:
PokerStar1971 (found us, had a question), Submersed1990 (for about as
long as it took to leave again)
Membership:
Finduilas is on vacation
Varda, Fangorn, Elwing, and Merry are at the Texas
Renaisance Festival today.
Varda and family's major gaming computer is supposed
to go into the shop Monday after dying Friday when it was called on for
the WoW Lothar Friday run.
Web:
Updates made to the Lothar and Uldaman pages
Gaming:
WoW:
Expansion moved to January
Patch coming up with many
additions not expected until the Expansion
Beta underway
Lothar Friday
Lord of the Rings
Online:
LotRO was featured in ImagineFX magazine
New information on some places of
interest
Beta Journals from LotRO are posted
every Wednesday, other info every Tuesday and Thursday.
Eve Online:
A review/debate by Orodreth and
Menelvagor
Tolkien:
Eonwe Valar: Origins of Morgoth's servants.
Created, twisted? If created, from what? How does this mesh with the
idea espoused in the Sil and LotR that evil cannot create anything of
its own? Anything we know from beyond these two books?
Oct. 24, 2006
WoW Lothar:
Congratulations to Arwen!
Her warrior, Undomiel, reached level 60!
Oct. 22, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon
and Varda
Attending (15):
Members:
Ancalagon-(V)/Sarujil, ArathornValar, ArPharazonV, Arwen V1,
AuSteinM-(TV)/AuSteinM, Eonwe Valar, FladrifV, Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee
disco, Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet, Lungorthin-(Valar)/sauronjag,
Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V/Oessala, VardaValar1 (presiding)
Visitor:
crasyboy45, Srekal86
Membership
New Full Member: Dis-(V)
Names for using in games
Web
Gaming
WoW
LotRO
Tolkien
The Hobbit
Oct. 17, 2006
Welcome to the Valar Guild, Dis-(V)!
Dis is
from Colorodo in the USA, on MDT. She's one year younger than Varda,
getting around mentioning the age of ladies. ;) Dis enjoys art
and may do some for the guild. She is a very active gamer and a
delightful chatter. She plays DAoC in Gaheris and intends to play LotRO
when it comes out. She's read H and LotR. Her favorite character is
Bilbo for "his imperfections and resilience". She plans to download AIM
in the future.
Oct. 16, 2006
Watch your email!
If you aren't signed up for the beta yet, get thee
to http://lwww.lotro.com and
mention in
your application that
you are in the Valar Guild.
Oct. 15, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon
and Varda
Attending (11):
Members:
Ancalagon-(V)/Sarujil, ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar, FinduilasV,
Finrod-(V)/TH0R0NGIL, FladrifV, Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet, Glorfindel
VG, Menelvagor Valar, VardaValar1 (presiding)
Visitor:
Srekal86
Membership:
Finduilas will
be on vacation Oct 22 - Nov
3, back about the first Sunday of Nov., so missing the next two Sundays
but back after.
Web:
Tolkien site:
links (Oct 8), art (Oct 12)
Gaming:
WoS:
Finduilas
WoW:
Americas: WoW Lothar (Alliance,
Normal), WoW Uldaman (Horde, Normal)
Euro: WoW Argent Dawn (Alliance,
RP), WoW Lightbringer (Alliance, Normal)
Tolkien:
Menelvagor Valar: We all know that Elves have a
different rhythm than mortals do, but how exactly, and when do they
sleep?
Oct. 12, 2006
Cave
of Turgon-(V): original sent in Sept. 3, 2006, re-done
and posted Oct. 12.
"Beleriand" An elf of Beleriand
looks out at the dawn.
Oct. 8, 2006
World of WarCraft South Park show watchable
from this link,
suggested by Ar-Pharazon. Tested, no virus hit from it. The rating is
for Mature, although it is on public television.
Children of Hurin - Tolkien Estate
tells about it. Link suggested by Arwen-(V).
Sunday Ninth Anniversary
Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon
and Varda
Attending (19):
Members:
ArPharazonV, Arwen V1, Bombur-(V)/MrMonkey2002Blah, Caranthir-(V)/El
Capitan Chobo, Eonwe Valar, FinduilasV, Finrod-(V)/TH0R0NGIL, FladrifV,
Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet, Glorfindel VG, GwaihirValar, Farmer
Maggot-(V)/thesirg3, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V/Oessala,
Scatha-(V)/STEvilaim, VardaValar1 (presiding)
Visitor:
crasyboy45, Srekal86, StlFan2k4
Membership
Anniversary discussion, including about how the
group held open the chat room all week.
Web
Anniversary webwork:
Book List and Reviews: 5 new books with
comments by Lungorthin-(Valar)
Articles: Thorin's Company project
Gaming
Uldaman WoW: folk created new characters on the
Anniversary so they could start playing together at level 1, which they
did happily.
Lothar WoW: characters shot fireworks and called out
"Happy Ninth Anniversary to the Valar Guild!" at the temple steps of
each major city. And quested. : )
Lightbringer WoW: Finduilas is trying to start a new
Euro guild on Lightbringer as a Normal, non-rp, non-gank server. She
had received complaints when trying to start a Tolkien guild on the
currently used rp server for Euro of Argent Dawn.
Argent Dawn WoW: Raiding as usual, nothing done for
anniversary.
Eve Online: the great snowballs in space throwing
for the anniversary
Battle.net:
WC3 by Ar-Pharazon. Others had problems
needing to re-install and update, taking up their entire gaming time.
D2X by Varda
Tolkien
Trivia game, lively and well-attended
October 7, 2006
The one week marathon continues, of holding
the chat room open for the entire Anniversary week. Guild-friend
crasyboy45 added his aid during the week as well.
Tolkien site:
Thorin's Company project for the
Anniversary continued:
"Bifur
of Thorin's Company", "Bofur
of Thorin's Company".
Filled in links for the earlier part of
the project.
October 4, 2006
Happy Ninth Anniversary to the Valar
Guild!
The AIM chat room
is available: Valar Guild Meetingplace. If the current holder has
crashed, please re-make the room. Say hi and you can try to buddy up
for the game of your choice. Participants so far this morning (morning
for EST folk):
ArwenV1, ArPharazonV, Caranthir-(V)/ElCapitanChobo,
Dior-(V)/MyCantalopeH8tsU, Elladan-(V)/Bior the Ythling, Eonwe Valar,
FinduilasV, Finrod-(V)/TH0R0NGIL, FladrifV, Gelmir-(V)/Shaggyjoe,
Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet, Glorfindel-(V)/GlorfindelVG/VegetableMann,
GwaihirValar, Lokiey1054 (guild-friend), Lungorthin-(Valar)/sauronjag,
OrodrethV/Oessala, VardaValar1
Five new Tolkien
books posted by Lungorthin-(Valar), most with comments! See them
here!
They are at the top of the Book List labeled New. Lungorthin says to
look for the ones that have been recommended as they're likely to be
fun to read. He asks for members to please send in info about new books
and/or your comments on ones you've read.
Battle.net.
We've always used East Realm as a way to get together, in channel
Valar. Drop in if even for a minute if you can, as a salute to where
the guild began.
WC3:
Menelvagor is planning to play in
WarCraft 3.
Ar-Pharazon dropped by in WC3, but
will be unavailable the rest of the day.
D2X:
Varda's been on most of the morning so
far in D2X as Varda-Valar.
Also try StarCraft/BroodWar or Diablo or WarCraft 2.
We also have members who will want to play WoW
(servers have been down), Well of Souls, and Eve Online.
WoW Uldaman
had a starter party of Gilraen, Sauron and Varda. Merry came in and we
played Tolkien trivia, where the one who answers correctly first asks
the next question.
Lungorthin suggests DAoC. :) He plays on Lamorak as
Gwyraan. Irmo plays on Percival as Yrma and Maigan
Feel free to send an email to say happy anniversary
to add to the News page.
The Forum is available for posting.
Fangorn-(Valar) says "Hoom-hom" from where he's
working the rest of this week, for a service company drilling for oil.
Oct. 3
Third day of Orodreth-(V)'s
marathon of
holding the Valar AIM chat room open for the week of our 9th
Anniversary.
Thorin's Company
project continued: "Gloin",
"Ori
in Thorin's Company", "Oin
in
Thorin's Company", "Bombur
of Thorin's Company". Additions to the previous members.
WoW Lothar:
Arwen, Sauron, and Varda tackled Stratholme together, with various
pick-up gamers to fill the other two slots.
Oct. 2
Second day of Orodreth-(V)'s marathon of
holding the Valar AIM chat room open for the week of our 9th
Anniversary. Help with this is welcome!
Also in honor of
the 9th, is the beginning of the Tolkien site article project: "Thorin's
Company". Help with articles for these characters and the related
places and objects is welcome. More details are on the "What's
New" page for the articles.
Oct. 1, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon,
Eonwe, and Varda
Discuss what you would like to do with the guild for the Valar Guild's
9th Anniversary! Some possibilities could be:
Gaming get-togethers (discuss which games and times
and days).
Keeping the meeting chat room open the whole day
Send in game reviews to Eonwe for the Games page
Send in goodies for the Tolkien site (the one you've
been meaning to get to, or a fresh one) to Varda, and label it that
it's part of the 9th Anniversary celebration. These might be humor,
art, poetry, fiction, articles, book review (cc Lungorthin), or a
memoir telling how you got into the guild and what happened to you
there, and what plans or hopes you have for your guild.
Attending (10):
ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar (presiding), FinduilasV,
FladrifV,
Glorfindel-(V)/Glorfindel VG, Haleth V, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V,
Scatha-(V)/STEvilaim, VardaValar1 (after-meeting)
Members:
New Tolkien-Only member, Fingolfin-(TV)
Help requested for school by Menelvagor: please
check his site at http://www.geocities.com/turgon_nhl/files/school_system.doc
Guild Anniversary
Number Nine plans:
Members will hold the AIM chat room
open all day for Oct. 4. Orodreth is trying to keep it open all week,
and started during this meeting!
Meet in our AIM chat on that day and
move to the game of your choice, and maybe find more people to drag
into the gaming.
Battle.net:
WarCraft 3 (not TFT,
as quite a few didn't get the
expansion) gaming. Time uncertain, but the regular meeting time is one
possibility.
Show up in Valar
channel in East Realm, the place where it
all began, in any Blizzard game that allows it: StarCraft/Broodwar,
Diablo series (except, sadly the one we originated in, Diablo 1),
WarCraft 2, and/or WarCraft 3. If you're there for even one minute,
you're celebrating our history!
World of WarCraft: fireworks and
gaming. If your character
(including alt) doesn't have a tabard, WoWmail the guildmaster for your
anniversary tabard. For Lothar, WoWmail (or email) Auros (Eonwe-Valar).
For Uldaman, same to Gilbrennil (Varda-Valar). Gilbrennil is not
terribly rich, so several of us are working the AH and gaming to raise
tabard money. You might also help us with this clothing project. Let no
one be without a tabard!
Well of Souls: Orodreth plans to be
there for you.
Eve Online: snowball throwing
According to Scatha-(V): "game until we
run out of caffienated beverages!"
Gaming page: Email your gaming review,
and tag it that you did it for the 9th anniversary.
Tolkien site: Email anything for the
Tolkien site, tagging it
that it's for the 9th anniversary. You can also type up your own
anniversary comment and ask that it be included.
Members pages: Send in your memoir or
update it, telling how you joined and what happened and why you're
still here.
News page: Send in an email to be
included on the Anniversary
date. If there are a lot of them, they will be on an auxiliary page
linked to the News.
Forum: Weigh in on the Forum to say
Happy Anniversary and/or add to any of the Tolkien topics.
Web
Tolkien site:
New article: "Finwe" by
Fingolfin-(TV)
Story: "Setting Forth" by Jay of
Lasgalen
Gaming done this last week
WoW
LotRO
Eve Online
WarCraft 3
Tolkien:
Language in Middle-Earth. Tolkien created the
languages then built the
world around them. So, what can we glean about the races from their
languages?
Sept.
29, 2006 Fri.
WoW:
Lothar party gaming with
your highest levels and/or a group of lowbies, and howdys. May continue
in BRD if we have enough players.
Sept. 28, 2006 Thurs.
Member news:
Varda and Fangorn will be
out of town from today until late Sunday, to visit his parents and a
terminally ill family friend.
Eonwe
will be available to help you and will be chairing this Sunday's
meeting.
Sept. 27, 2006 Wed.
Member news:
Sauron-(V)'s
26th birthday.
Sept. 26, 2006
Tolkien Site:
Articles:
"Finwe"
by Fingolfin-(TV)
of Greece. This is the article with which he gained his
Tolkien-only
Honor, using a Greek version of the Silmarillion. Quite a feat!
Members:
Welcome to the Valar Guild, to Fingolfin-(TV)! After a long
email correspondence since April 24 of this year, we are very happy to
see you attain your Tolkien-only Honor and join us. May you have a long
and happy time in the guild.
Sept. 24, 2006
Tolkien Site:
Stories:
"Setting
Forth" by Jay of Lasgalen. Drabble, exactly 100
words long! "Legolas makes his final preparations before the Fellowship
leaves Imladris." Posted on Stories of Arda before us, Sept. 13, 2006.
Webwork: Elwing and Finduilas'
new story files and links should all be in good shape.
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by
Ar-Pharazon-(V) and Varda-(Valar)
Attending (18):
Members:
Arathorn-(Valar), Arwen-(V), Ancalagon-(V)/Sarujil, ArPharazonV,
CaranthirV,
Elladan-(V)Bior the Ythling, Eonwe Valar (presiding), FinduilasV,
FladrifV, Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet,
Glorfindel-(V)/Glorfindel VG, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth-(V)/Oessala,
Scatha-(V)/STEvilaim, VardaValar1
Guests:
Lokiey1054 (wants to join), Srekal86
(We may not have all the members as some came before the transcripters
and did not speak. Lurking about.)
Membership:
Bilbo - birthday. Book
Bilbo's birthday (and Frodo's) was Sept 22 Shire Reckoning, Sept
23 Gregorian calendar. Member Bilbo-(V)'s birthday is today, Sept 24,
and he's 24 years old..
Finduilas - completed move and back in WoW
Scatha - ordered a new notebook computer, hopes to
be gaming again. Dial-up
Gwaihr - still not well, playing WoW
Makar-ex - says hi through Scatha-(V)
Lokiey will be sent for more military training for 9
days starting during this week and will not be near a comp.
Web:
Games page news updated weekly.
New book by Christopher Tolkien coming out "Children
of Hurin"
Tolkien site:
Stories page:
"Shadow Search" by
Finduilas-(V)
"Setting Forth" by Jay of
Lasgalen
Webwork revamping files
Art page:
Cave of Turgon-(V): 4 new
drawings, with more in the email.
Gaming:
BZFlag: Ar-Pharazon
Civ 3: Finduilas
BfMe: Finduilas
BfMe2 Expansion is in the programming stage.
WoW: reports from branches in Lothar, Uldaman.
Reports from Argent Dawn gamers.
Tolkien:
Makar and Measse
Valar siblings and spouses in general
The Vala of Time
More on the upcoming "Children of Hurin"
The upcoming film "The Hobbit"
Sept. 22, 2006
Gaming:
WoW:
Lothar Friday night run.
Bring your high level or a character to chat with us!
Last time we
ran Black Rock Depths and we continued on from there. Arathorn, Eonwe, Merry, Turin, and Varda
were on the run. Elwing's 34 gamed at the same time and chatted.
Uldaman Valar Guild branch:
Ancalagon did not leave the Uldaman server Valar Guild branch for the
Lothar run as he had no high character on Lothar. Turin made a new
character for the Uldaman server branch. Small discussion of a special
Uldaman run day or night, no decision. Ancalagon says he can play with
the Uldaman branch any night.
Tolkien
Site:
Art:
Cave
of Turgon-(V): new art sent in and copyrighted Sept. 20,
2006, posted Sept 22
"Winged Beast" Fell beast,
the mount of a Nazgul
"Feanor"
"Gorthaur the Abhorred" Sauron
on the Battlefield
"Sauron" Inspired by the Silmarillion's line:
"Sauron stood in his upmost tower, wrapped in his dark thoughts."
Stories:
"Shadow
Search"
by Finduilas-(V) is up, one chapter long. We thank her for answering
the meeting request for a story with Gimli, and enjoyed seeing her rp
character make an appearance as well! Tolkien characters involved are
Gimli and Halbarad. The time is fifteen years before the Council of
Elrond.
Webwork warning for the stories
page: Started on a rebuild to organize the files better. Elwing
and Finduilas
have been affected so far.
Sept. 19, 2006
New book coming out by Christopher Tolkien?
An article on the"The Children of Hurin", located by guild-friend
Bradox, may be read here.
Sept. 17, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting Transcript by Ar-Pharazon-(V) and Varda-(Valar)
Attending (14):
Members:
Ancalagon-(V)/Sarujil, ArPharazonV, Arwen V1,
Bombur-(V)/MrMonkey2002Blah, Eonwe Valar, FladrifV,
Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen-(V)/Star of Phaet,
Glorfindel-(V)/Glorfindel VG, Menelvagor Valar, VardaValar1 (presiding).
Visitors:
Bradox guild-friend/Lokiey1054, oladys 123, Srekal86
Membership
Glorfindel (after-meeting): Back. "About 2 months
ago,
someone got a virus into my computer and hijacked our server to send
his spam all over the world. Millions a day. and my isp shut us down.
thats why i havnt been on in quite a while."
Web
Nothing new this week. Send in your articles,
stories, humor, poetry, and game reviews!
Gaming
Eve Online: free trials available. Ask Orodreth
Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO): Please post to our
Valar
Guild thread on the LotRO forum
to let them know we are still active. No one's posted there since July.
We are not supposed to discuss beta publicly.
Well of Souls (WoS): Orodreth requests help from
story-tellers for his Elvondel mod.
WoW:
Euro: Finduilas is not online,
apparently still involved in the move to the new house. Good luck with
that!
Lothar: Guild-questing report in
BRD
Tolkien
Orodreth-(V)'s topic: Dwarves in the fourth age: do
we have any more info on how Khazad-Dum went? Was it successful in the
long term? Also, what do we know about the eastern dwarven settlements?
Quote found by Ar-Pharazon covering Moria's future.
Tangented into fun silliness role-playing for those
who know the Silmarillion too well.
Sept. 11, 2006
LotRO:
Check
your email for a Beta invitation. They seem to be coming out over
several days' time. We are not allowed to say if we are in the Beta in
a public forum, making it more difficult to get together, but you can
privately email Varda, general contact person for the guild, and
remember the Valar channel.
Sept. 10, 2006
LotRO Beta emails are going out!
Yes, we have members making it
in, but aren't allowed to tell who or anything about the game on a
public forum.
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting Transcript by Ar-Pharazon-(V), Eonwe-(Valar), and
Varda-(Valar)
Attending
Membership
Announcement
by Gwaihir and Gilraen for the whole guild! :)
Web
Stories "To See a World" has 43 chapters up. In
progress.
Art: "Ancalagon" by Turgon-(V)
Gaming
LotRO Beta: Thranduil has been accepted! Check your
email!
Tolkien
Fall of Gondolin and Balrogs
Sept. 7, 2006
Stories:
"To
See a World" by Nightwing. Chs. 32 - 43 are up.
Sept. 6, 2006
WoW:
Grimbold, welcome back after the
move to college! Grimbold is back in WoW not only in our Lothar server
branch but also in Uldaman!
Stories:
"To
See a World" by Nightwing. Chs. 16 - 31 are up.
Sept. 5, 2006
Art:
Cave
of Turgon-(V): new drawing
of the dragon "Ancalagon".
Stories:
"To
See a World" by Nightwing. Chs. 9 - 15 are up.
Sept. 4, 2006
Stories:
"To
See a World" by Nightwing. Chs. 7 and 8 are up.
Sept. 3, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting Transcript by Ar-Pharazon-(V), Eonwe-(Valar), and
Varda-(Valar)
Attending (8):
ArPharazonV, Bombur-(V)/MrMonkey2002Blah, Eonwe
Valar (presiding), FinduilasV, GilraenV, GwaihirValar, Menelvagor
Valar, Orodreth V
Fladrif sends hi.
Membership:
Varda's away for the day
Ar-Pharazon's back from vacation. Article considered.
Eonwe's back in college
Menelvagor's back in school (as are many members)
Gilraen and Gwaihir are married and had a two-week
honeymoon!
Finduilas is moving. Article planned.
Ancalagon from D1 days rejoined the guild
Web:
Encyc linked straight in from all the main guild
pages
Members Page numbers corrected
Novel "To See a World" by Nightwing is going up on
the guild's Stories: 6 of 43 chapters now up, another year probably
before she finishes, has been 3 years so far.
Humor link found by Pharazon, a short version of the
LotR: http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/060830.html
Gaming:
WoW
Argent Dawn: Valar Guild branch in
Europe has a charter and five signatures. Tabard design still under
discussion.
General: new information on the
expansion's new talents and spells
LotRO: new
area
WarCraft3: The
Frozen Throne: Ar-Pharazon is gaming again
BZ Flag
Kult Heretic
Kingdoms: review by Menelvagor. Single player
Eve Online:
played by Orodreth and by Finduilas' fiancee
Tolkien:
Finduilas-(V)'s topic: Grima Wormtongue: what
inclined him to come under the spell of Saruman?
Aug.
31, 2006
WoW Argent Dawn:
Finduilas
has started the Valar Guild branch charter signing on Argent Dawn.
Any of you in Europe who would like to help her collect the necessary
ten signatures, please contact her. You can start an alternate with
your guild name using your favorite type of character. She is Failivrin
on WoW, Finduilasv on AIM, and her email is calmacinnes(AT)gmail.com,
plus she can be messaged on the Forum. She is already collecting
guild-friends and potential Full and Tolkien-only Members.
The tabard, chosen by the team of Finduilas and
Menelvagor, with funds from Menelvagor, is "a dead tree on a dark green
background with a stark white slightly fluffy border." It cannot be
finalized until the charter members have all signed up.
Finduilas says:
"I intend the guild to be light rp, Tolkien or
azeroth what people
prefer, with chances for raids later on, but not as a main aim of the
guild. The guild in my eyes should be there for supporting each other
in quests, helping out with skills, gear and information as well as fun
with rping."
Member News:
Finduilas:
"My fiance came out with the little tidbit that he
actually owns
the Sil, which absolutely chuffs me - and .. jhehe ye never believe
this. The place we are going to move into is an old church - built
1829. Its absolutely fantastic .. giant, stone building so looks great.
I ll take some pictures and put them on the web once everythings done."
Aug. 29, 2006
Guild pages:
Tolkien link: As per promise at
last Sunday's meeting, all guild pages were checked to make sure the
Tolkien link goes to our Tolkien site rather than a list of what we
have on the Tolkien site. All unframed pages that mention the
Tolkien site already appear to be pointed to the unframed version of
the Tolkien site. The framed page, however, needed the change and it
has been done. If you see any pages that are not corrected even after
Reload/Refresh, please email Varda with the specific page.
Aug. 28, 2006
Members
page:
Corrected numbers of members on
the Members
page. Thanks for catching the problem, Eonwe. Reload/Refresh to see the
correction.
Tolkien site:
Stories:
Nightwing's
novel: "To
See a World". Nightwing
gave the Valar Guild permission to publish her novel, which is still in
progress and will probably be finished in about a year, started in
August 2003. She has written forty-three chapters. The first six are
now online
here. It deals with blindness, coping with both the physical and mental
type. Nightwing has been around the blind and has done a great deal of
research, as you can tell when you read. She summarizes the novel:
"Injured and
alone, Legolas and Aragorn are forced
to seek refuge in a wintry foreign land. But when darkness encroaches
from within and without, they learn that refuge can become a deadly
trap."
Aug. 27, 2006
Wecome back to the Valar Guild, Ancalagon-(V)! He
was in the guild previously in Diablo 1 days. Since then he has entered
a university and attended a Tolkien seminar, and is 24 years old. He
may be sending some of his college Tolkien-related papers for the Valar
Guild Encyclopedia.
Ancalagon is from Michigan, USA, EST. He is in Mist
guild with his
brother in WoW Lothar, where he stumbled across Merry and Varda with
their Valar Guild nametags, and greeted them. He attended a complete
meeting in
AIM as Sarujil, where he finished the test he started in Lothar on
Friday. He allowed his test to be used to help train a Maia and Maia
candidate, much appreciated, and passed his test with bragging rights
of 5/5! The testers and observers present were Earendil-(Valar),
Eonwe-(Valar), Finduilas-(V), and Varda-(Valar). His favorite
LotR character is Sam, because he's a simple guy, humble. Being a
servant allowed him to be of greater help to Frodo than the rest of the
Fellowship's folk of authority, who had obligations to other people as
well.
Aug. 27, 2006 Sunday (continued)
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Varda
Attending (11):
Members:
Bombur-(V)/MrMonkey2002Blah,
Caranthir-(V)/
MoriFinwe, Earendil-(Valar)gelondil2, Eonwe Valar, FinduilasV,
Gil-galad-(V)/
Xseanzee disco, Menelvagor Valar,
Orodreth V/
Oessala, VardaValar1 (presiding)
Visitors:
Sarujil (rejoined in the After-meeting as
Ancalagon-(V), Srekal86. Oladys123 dropped by after the meeting, friend
of Finduilas, read LotR several times.
Membership
Many members are now back in college registering and
buying books. Good luck!
Ancalagon/Sarujil found and rejoined us.
Earendil is now available on Sundays due to shift in
work schedule.
Web
Tolkien site:
Articles:
Project: Numenorean Kings. A reader may now go straight through the
Numenorean kings, starting with Elros, and watch history unfold. More
articles to improve the history are requested. The rest of the human
kings are in line for the same treatment and could also use your
article help.
"What's New in the Articles" page is now visible on the menus.
Poetry:
New:
"In the Chamber of Mazarbul" by He that Walks Unseen-(TV)
Poetry project started by He that Walks Unseen-(TV). Poets requested.
Stories:
New
author: Nightwing
"Scouting
Ahead" rp in the Forum for the Valar Guild. New posts made this
week.
Finduilas' new
Middle-earth forum of her own, but to which we are welcome to
come, and the forum that she's dropped.
Gaming:
Vanguard game report by Earendil
WoW:
Lothar report by Eonwe
Uldaman report by Varda
Battle for Middle-earth 2 (BFMe2) report by Eonwe
Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO) report by Eonwe
Well of Souls (WoS) report by Orodreth
Tolkien:
Sam's role. Topic from Sarujil
After-meeting:
Ancalagon-(V) rejoined with a 5/5 test!
Orodreth-(V) made his WoS report
Ancalagon and Caranthir's new characters were
invited into the guild branches on Lothar and Uldaman.
Aug. 26, 2006
Tolkien:
Poetry:
In the Chamber of Mazarbul by He
That Walks Unseen-(TV). "The Fellowship of the Ring is
trapped in the Chamber of Mazarbul.
Mithrandir and his eight companions face the shadows and the flames
once faced by Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria."
Aug. 25, 2006
WoW Lothar Friday questing:
A group of five high levels did
a large part of the Fallen Hero quest in the Blasted Lands.
Gamers were Dracxil/Beline, Eonwe/Auros 60, Merryv 60, Sauronv 60, and
Varda 58. During the mayhem, priest Varda leveled to 59.
Meanwhile, a party of two low levels worked against
the Frostmane trolls. Gamers were Thror/Throrv aided by paladin
Elwing/Starspray.
Ancalagon from
Diablo 1 days spotted us just before those games started, while
Merry and Varda were doing a Felwood quest, and said hi. His name was
Tuesday, and his character was in Mist guild of Lothar. He's interested
in rejoining the overall guild and did part of the test already, which
we hope to complete this Sunday. Ancalagon's recently participated in a
Tolkien seminar and has done some papers that may be turning up in the
Encyclopedia later.
Aug. 21, 2006
Tolkien Encyclopedia:
Articles:
Numenorean
Kings: The line of Numenorean kings may now be run through
from article to article in chronological order starting with the first
king, Elros. This allows the history of Numenor to unfold. New articles
added to allow this were:
Tar-Calmacil, Tar-Ciryatan, Tar-Elendil,
Tar-Meneldur, Tar-Minastir, Tar-Telemmaite, Tar-Surion,
Tar-Telperion, Tar-Vanimelde, Vardamir. An
additional article has also been made for Ar-Adunakhor.
If you find a problem first try Refresh or Reload,
then let Varda know for repair. The articles have not yet been added to
the A-Z menu.
Aug. 20, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon,
Eonwe, and Varda
Attending (7):
Members:
Bombur-(V)/MrMonkey2002Blah, Eonwe Valar, FinduilasV, FladrifV,
Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V
Visitors:
Srekal86
Members:
Varda, Fangorn, and Eowyn went to see Elwing for her
birthday and missed the meeting.
Ar-Pharazon is on vacation for two weeks and missed
the meeting.
Finduilas will probably be moving again around the
beginning of September..
Web:
Encyc: Articles: Numenorean Kings section is
updating to be able to jump from one king to the next, work still in
progress but the start is visible.
Games Page:
lots of fun dynamic new stuff is going on with the php.
The Games page may be toggled between
the plain version and the pretty version by clicking on the title.
WoW Members pages for Lothar and
Uldaman are now sortable by any column.
Also, the WoW members pages are now
being kept more up to date there by Eonwe's efforts. The old WoW page
still can't be reached by Menelvagor, and the table updating by Varda
is not as high a priority as Tolkien and Members pages, since others
are handling Games work
Gaming:
"Well of Souls":
Orodreth is trying to revive the Elvondel world he was creating. For
more news, check out our Forum's Well of Souls section.
"World of
WarCraft":
Expansion news:
Lots of write-ups on the
WoW expansion linked from the WoW community site, including:
Expansion
area raids may be limited to 25 people.
Paladins may
be getting a taunt.
Thror-(V)
has a new laptop computer and has joined us in both WoW Lothar and WoW
Uldaman with three characters in each server. Go Thror!
Lothar
(Alliance): Guild questing worked on the BlackRock Depth quest
for Love Potion parts and finished it for all present. Priest Kalasul
(Eonwe) got a quick Flight Path Tour during this, as he is good at
locating and picking the Gromsblood needed. Afterwards, Varda was
escorted to the Master Enchanter in Uldaman and now has all offerered,
thanking the helpers by making Enchanted Leather and doing weapons
enchants.
Uldaman
(Horde): We're picking up guild-friends, some of whom may become
Full Members in the future. A group of members finished off the
RageFire Chasm instanced dungeon quests.
Argent
Dawn (Alliance): A new Valar Guild branch is starting up, not
just the cross-guilded members in raid groups. This is an all-level
group. Valar can come in with alts or mains, but should try to use some
version of their guild names. For more news, email or AIM chat with
Finduilas and Fladrif.
Tolkien:
topic suggested for another meeting
We've been through themes in LotR. What themes are
prevalent in the Silmarillion?
Since everyone had gone afk by this time, the topic
may be picked up again next week.
Aug. 18, 2006
WoW Lothar's Friday: Grab your high level
characters and let's jump in an instance! If your highest is low, maybe
we can get together enough to do some low instances or questing for
them.
Aug. 13, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon,
Menelvagor, and Varda
Attending (12):
Members:
ArPharazonV, AuSteinM-(TV)/AuSteinM, Bombur-(V)/MrMonkey2002Blah, Eonwe
Valar (presiding), FinduilasV, GilraenV, Gwaihir-(Valar),
FarmerMaggot-(V)/thesirg3, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V, VardaValar1
Visitor:
Srekal86
Membership
Ar-Pharazon will be on vacation for the next two
weeks.
Web
WoW Lothar players updated
Games page now has a sortable WoW Lothar players
table made by Eonwe in php and tested during the meeting. More updates
were made after the meeting.
Forum: rp addition
Gaming
WoW Lothar
LotRO news
WoW Europe
New Valar branch? see After-meeting
Tolkien: lively
discussion
What happened with the Fellowship in Rivendell
during the wait for the return of the scouts?
Relationship of the One Ring with the other rings
and the Nazgul.
After-meeting
New Valar branch?:
Discussion of starting an actual Valar branch in Europe on Argent Dawn,
and certainly as a friend channel by typing /join Valar . We have
nearly enough people to start it right now and have potential recruits,
at least as alternates. Please contact Menelvagor-(Valar) by email,
AIM, or on Argent Dawn, and use the friend channel for contact with
everyone.
New name version for Finduilas
Beren and Luthien
screenplay online unfinished but good as far as it went. Link included. Located by Orodreth-(V).
Varda highly recommends this one.
Gaming in WoW Lothar and WoW Uldaman afterwards.
Aug. 11, 2006 Friday
Varda, Fangorn, Eowyn, and Sauron along with buddy
Elwing are back from canoeing, Sea World, the River Walk and
visiting Merry. To our pleased
surprise, Arwen arrived in
town ahead of us in the afternoon and is staying only three blocks from
Varda's family. We dropped in to see what was happening on WoW Lothar a bit later than our
usual time, but we made it for the Friday gaming. What's your
excuse? ;) We expect the rest of our vacation to be closer
to home or at least to computers.
Aug. 6, 2006
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Varda will be away on vacation until next week. See the What's
New on the Stories Page for more of Cassia and Siobhan's Mellon
Chronicles stories that are readable now, although the editing is not
yet finished. Also check Eonwe's Games page for Gaming news and game
reviews.
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon and Varda
Attending (12):
Members:
ArPharazonV, Arwen V1, AuSteinM-(TV), Elros-(V)/LouieKisKowsKi, Eonwe
Valar (presiding), FinduilasV, Finrod-(V)/TH0R0NGIL, FladrifV,
Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, Orodreth V/Oessala, VardaValar1
Visitor:
Srekal86
Before-meeting
Forum RP discussion
Membership
Varda and family and Elwing will be out of town this
week for vacation. Bilbo is house-sitting.
Thror is now playing WoW.
Web
Art by Cassia
News page for each Tolkien site section
Gaming
World of WarCraft
Lord of the Rings Online
Well of Souls
Eve Online
Battle for Middle-earth 2
Tolkien
Finduilas would like to know as much as she can
about her namesake (Finduilas the Elf) so that she can better roleplay
the part.
Aug. 5, 2006
Gamers/Members:
WoW:
Thror-(V) is now
playing WoW! His dwarf paladin hit level 8 before he could manage to
email the good news. ;) Thror says hi to everyone, and that
he can't make meetings since he works during that time.
Art:
Cave of Cassia-(TV): not yet
thumb-nailed but still fun art for the Mellon Chronicles stories series
added today:
"Betrayal", "Priceless Treasure",
"The Stars of Harad", "Dark Visions", "Traitor", "Escape from Mordor",
"Curse of Angmar", "Siege of Dread", "Between Darkness & Dawn",
"Never Cold in Your Shadow", "Trouble Follows", "Cave Story 1: It Had
to Be Caves", "Cave Story 2" It Had to Be Stairs", "Cave Story 3: Down
and Up Again: The Elves and Ranger's Holiday" story by Katie, "Cell
Number Eight", "And So the End", "Remember How to Smile".
Aug. 4, 2006
Gamers:
WoW Lothar:
Friday
gaming was in Blackrock Depths, knocking off four quests. Lower level
members or alternates who couldn't fit in right away, came to play and
say aiya. Elwing mowed down quests in the 30 levels. When one person
had to leave the BRD instance (guild-friend Keeferjann), MerryV stepped
in with his level 60 mage to fireball the enemy. Auros (Eonwe's level
60 paladin) tanked and did a few rezzes. Arathorn did the first part of
the instance with a mage and the last part with a warlock.
Treabeard (Fangorn's level 60 hunter) leveled his Winterspring owl to
60 as a side joy. Varda's 58 Holy priest came within two bubbles of the
next level.
Aug. 3, 2006
Gamers:
WoW
Lothar:
Treabeard aka Fangorn-(V) hit
level 60 with his hunter in the Lothar guild branch. That makes his
third 60.
LotRO:
Lord
of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar goes
Alpha! Over 125,000 people have signed up for the upcoming beta.
For those Valar Guild members who haven't yet signed up for the free
beta play, here's the sign-up
link. We will have a branch in LotRO and Varda aka Fainan is the
one to check with as the branch leader. Content is licensed from the
books instead of the movies, allowing a more in-depth storyline.
Here's the quote from the LotRO site for Aug. 3,
2006:
TRO Alpha Officially Begins!
We're pleased to
announce that The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™
(LOTRO) has entered Alpha! This means for the first time, a limited
number of people outside of Turbine are invited to play the game --
creating characters, fighting Orcs, meeting famous characters, and
exploring the vast lands of Middle-earth™.
Over
100,000 fans have signed up for the Beta Program, which includes the
Alpha and Beta phases of development. We'll be inviting tens of
thousands of additional people into the Beta Program over the coming
months.
Aug. 1, 2006
Happy Birthday, Orome!
Guild pages: made an attempt to simplify the
navigation menu and top bars to suit each page. Now I have a sudden
urge to play on Uldaman as Horde!
July
31, 2006
Art:
Cave of Ulmo-(Valar): Must see! Photos of
the ship that Ulmo refit in about eight-hundred hours, named the Hirilondë. Take a look not
only at the beauty of this sailing ship so fitting for the Lord of the
Sea, but at the Tengwar runes that spell Hirilondë. He had the joy
of taking her out sailing this last weekend.
Cave
of Cassia-(TV): "To
the Ends of Middle-earth". Art by Cassia for the story of that name by
Jay of Lasgalen.
Stories by Jay of Lasgalen (finishes
the backlog for now):
Burying
the Hatchet G. 1 chapter. T.A. 3019, Jan. "A
short interlude on the road between
Moria and Lórien. Frodo plays peacemaker."
A Few Leaves In The Forest
G. 4 chapters. T.A. 3019 March. "This is mostly movie-based
(unusually
for me), but there are elements of the books. It covers the time
between the warg attack and the aftermath of the battle of Helm's
Deep." Mainly Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Haldir. Includes Eowyn, Eomer,
Gandalf, Theoden.
Letter From Elladan. G. 2
chapters. T.A. 3019, post-LotR. "Letter mailed to Elrond in error,
written just
before the
Battle of the Morannon, the Black Gate of Mordor." Elladan, Elrohir,
Elrond, Faramir
Till Death Us Do
Part
(AU) PG-13. 2 ch. Post-LotR. "After the One Ring was destroyed, there
was no more
evil and death ... was there?" Aragorn, Arwen,
Elladan and Elrohir (as Lords of Rivendell), Glorfindel, Legolas.
Mainly twins.
To the Ends of Middle-earth
Illustrated by Cassia-(TV).
Post-LotR, Aragorn already has children. Two endings, one canon and one
AU (alternate universe) for the Appendices. "When sudden tragedy
strikes one of the Fellowship
in Minas Tirith, how do those left behind remember?" What would be a
proper burial for one of his kind?
July 30, 2006
Stories:
By Jay of Lasgalen:
Going
on a Bear Hunt G 1 ch. "Elrohir,
Aragorn and Legolas go on a
hunting
expedition in the mountains - but things do not go to plan."
"Written for
the Teitho challenge 'Friends In Small Places'." Aragorn,
Elladan, Elrohir, Elrond, Glorfindel, Legolas
A Lesser Treason 3 chs. Elladan,
Elrohir, Elrond, Frodo, Sam. When Frodo brought the One Ring into
Rivendell, it did not stay quiescent.
T.A. Dec. 3018 'The last
temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong
reason' December, 3018. Elrohir, restless and uneasy, wanders
the hills above Imladris."
Sunday Meeting
5pm
EDT
(GMT-5), GMT 22:00
AIM room: Valar Guild Meetingplace
To enter: Take the invitation sent out at the
beginning of meetings if we spot you. Or invite yourself to chat, then
replace the automatic chat room name with our room name. Otherwise,
instant message VardaValar1 or Eonwe Valar or others for an invitation
into the chat room.
Meeting
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon and Varda
Attending (11):
ArPharazonV, Arwen (AIM connection problems, so she
mostly side window-talked to group), Elwing V, Eonwe Valar (presiding),
FinduilasV, FladrifV, Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, LuthienV,
Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V (AIM connection problems), VardaValar1
Membership
Varda, Fangorn, Elwing, maybe Sauron will be on
vacation during the week of Aug. 7-13, and may not be available much
during that time (although they might get to drop by Merry's wired
hobbit hole!). The following week, Fangorn's vacation continues but
probably in much shorter jaunts.
Web
Membership
pages are now all combined. We hope the new one is more convenient.
Games page
font colors have changed to improve visibility.
Tolkien Stories:
catching up on the backlog for Jay of Lasgalen's stories.
Gaming
WoW Lothar
had a good Friday run in Dire Maul East and West.
WoW Argent Dawn:
Pharazon got his epic mount!
WoW Uldaman:
lowbie funness in questing
D2X: Varda
is still there
Tolkien
Varda's topic: What might tempt the characters in
LotR to use the One Ring? Long discussion.
After-meeting:
WoW:
Pharazon tells the biography backstory for one of his WoW characters.
RP: Our
forum Tolkien role-play "Scouting Ahead" discussion is a bit scattered
at first as we catch up on the most recent posts, then solid discussion
a long time as we post a record number of times.
July 29, 2006
Stories:
A Crown of Woodland Flowers
G 1 ch.. The origin of Thranduil's crown. "Thranduil faces a bleak
round of council meetings and diplomacy on his
begetting day - but someone has other ideas. Set in the first year of
the Third Age.
July 28, 2006
Gaming:
WoW Lothar: Friday gaming. Come on in and
say hi! Let's kill some orc... or whatever evil raises its ugly head.
We did the Dire Maul West part of the Paladin mount quest, then the
Dire Maul East quest for the Dire Maul key for those who did not yet
have it, with a final trip to do the Dire Maul East Lathendris quest.
All quests were successful, and a good time was had by all.
Participants for the first quest were Arathorn, Arwen, Eonwe, Ulmo, and
Varda. Ulmo then had to leave for much-needed sleep before his weekend
sailing trip on the ship he rebuilt, named Hirilonde. More about that
in later news! The second run was with Arathorn, Arwen, Eonwe, and
Varda. Arwen's finger did get stuck in a root beer bottle, for she
managed to remove the bottle with a bit of help and carry on. The last
was completed by Arathorn, Eonwe, and Varda. Much fun was had by all.
Stories:
Cassia and Siobhan's Mellon Chronicles:
"Legolas'
No Good Rotten Day" by Siobhan with
inspiration from Cassia.
G. (Not illustrated.) "Humorous vignette. Legolas has a very bad
morning and drags his friend
Aragorn into it."
Jay of Lasgalen's stories: new stories
(non-drabbles) uploaded are:
"Flet
Building". 1 chapter. Elladan and Elrohir want to make a
Lorien-style flet and Celebrian helps. Uploaded July 27.
"Star Gazing". 1 chapter. Elrohir
and young Estel spend an evening star gazing and discussing legends.
"A Short Rest". 1 chapter. "When
Bilbo and the dwarves arrived in Imladris in The Hobbit, Estel was ten
years old. They must have
met. This short story is about that meeting. The title is taken from
the relevant chapter of The
Hobbit. Set in June, 2941."
"High Flight". 1 chapter. "An
eagle remembers the Battle of Five Armies."
"Shadows Over Lasgalen". 9
chapters. PG-13: Author's warnings for grief, torture, death. Aragorn
and Legolas first meet, briefly. "Sauron sends three of
the Nazgul to
reoccupy Dol Guldur. A
darkness begins to grow again in Lasgalen and Legolas takes a patrol to
investigate." Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas,
Thranduil.
"Interlude in Imladris". 10
chapters, sequel to "Shadows Over Lasgalen". "Trolls
reappear to disturb the peace
of Imladris. Legolas, on a visit
there, is invited to assist in the hunt." Aragorn, Arwen, Elladan,
Elrohir, Elrond,
Glorfindel,
Legolas, Thranduil.
July 27, 2006
Stories:
All seventy of Jay of Lasgalen's
drabbles are now uploaded and incorporated into her story series list.
This may most easily be found in chronological order on Jay's
Quick List . All of these stories with more information for picking
and choosing for your taste are available on Jay's Author's
Page. The main stories not currently uploaded will be in black
type, one is still in progress but the rest are complete. "Nine Lives" is the most recently
added regular story, uploaded to our site July 26 along with many
drabbles. Progress may be tracked on our "What's
New on the Stories Page?"
July 25, 2006
Stories page:
"Thranduil's
Heir": Version 1, Version
2 by Jay of Lasgalen. Drabble.
The second was made to add a more
elven feel.
"The Dead Marshes" by Jay of
Lasgalen. Drabble.
Legolas sees the corpse of his
grandfather, Oropher.
"Jay's
Quick List" for Jay of Lasgalen's series added, according to the
order in which they happened rather than the date written.
July 24, 2006
Members:
The combined Membership page
is now completed (I hope). Please check your information to make sure
it wasn't confused.
Stories:
"In the Pits of Utumno" by Jay of
Lasgalen. G. 1 chapter