2004 News Archives

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

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:
 

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:

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:

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

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:

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

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

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.
    WoW: report 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:

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>

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 :)  )

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:

    WC3/TFT: Letter from 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:

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:

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.

Heya,

Just informing you that I'm off for the weekend. Going today to the
summer cottage. Ah, midsummer fest in Finland, midnight sun, aka
nightless night. Traditionally we burn huge bonfires near the lake and
grill sausages and other meat. I just love that day!

I'm coming back on Saturday or Sunday, prolly Sunday.

Cheers,
Thorondor

Hello everyone!
I got great news! If I am correct, I should regain full connection in a week, maybe 2. I will rejoice upon my return.
Namarie, elen sila lumenn omentielmo!
Turgon

5 week reports got home, and I'm good and grounded. So, unfortunately I
won't be around anymore . I'll try to check the forums and read the news
as much as possible from school.

FarmerMaggot

HA! Erestor, Gwaihir and I fought Uber D...!! I got a few snapshots and will set up a page.. I'll send you the link when I'm done..

 Heh... Gwaihir was in one game and Erestor and I were in another, so Gwaihir got to fight U-D twice in 10 minutes... lucky birdie!

 ...and here Erestor and I were only going to play for 20 minutes then quit for the night... one last run <chuckle>... what are the odds... 3 guild members bring down the Evil One!

 ...

 <yipeee...>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Namárië,
    ~Arathorn~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aiya Varda!!

     Just a quick note:

 my paladin is now lvl 81

 ah... and btw... WindLord, Arathorn and I fought Big D reborn in the den just a bit ago... soooooo exciting..

 hope to see you some time...

 Erestor

 ps.. look for screen shots from Arathorn...  :)

The Clone Slaying Fellowship:

Arathorn
Erestor
Galdor
Gwaihir (three times)
Thorondor

Aiya!

I am glad to report I have regained partial access to the net.
Due to the "partial" part, it is still very slow and limited to AIM and may
yet fall out at times.
I hope I will be able to make it to the sunday meetings again.
If this partial access won't hold up, I am in good hope that I will regain
full access in a matter of months.

To my friends and family in which I call home, the Valar Guild,

Turgon.

Aiya Varda! I have defeated the clone and gotten an
anni charm. Thanks to Thorondor and guild friends
*uncleanspirit and *warloff3 for the assist in the
battle. Further details and screen shots at Sunday
meeting! Namarie, Galdor

Parting Ways
Elrond and Elros make the Choice of the Half-Elven
596 words. May 3, 2004

Beyond Regrets
The Witch-King goes to make an unpleasant report to Sauron concerning Frodo, and encounters the Mouth of Sauron.
787 words. May 3, 2004

That should probably be my name these days.  I do have a good excuse...
several in fact.  I changed jobs... started a home business... and got
MARRIED!  

The good news is that things have started to settle down now... and I hope
to be visible again in the coming weeks.  My new email is mfloyd@kjrh.com.
Best wishes to all!

Namarie!
Eol

The URL to the page for Eol's new business as a Commercial Producer is under construction, viewable here and listed on the Guild's Index page under Member Pages. His wife's name is Karen!

That should probably be my name these days.  I do have a good excuse...
several in fact.  I changed jobs... started a home business... and got
MARRIED!  

The good news is that things have started to settle down now... and I hope
to be visible again in the coming weeks.  My new email is mfloyd@kjrh.com.
Best wishes to all!

Namarie!
Eol

Also, in response to Eonwe's letter about the patch beta/competition, I
have some news. It seems (so I have read on forums, haven't got the patch
beta myself, yet) there are some problems many users have, about the game
crashing when they log in or do other activities while having the patch
beta downloaded. I have also found a solution of it, but am of course not
sure if it really works, some way down on the same page
(http://war3forum.worldofwar.net/showthread.php?t=21284):
 
" To make the patch work simply go to the properties of your warcraft 3
 shortcut, the shortcut only, and type in -opengl in the target box after
everything else inlcuding the ". "

Warcraft III Beta Patch Competition
A beta version of the upcoming Warcraft III patch is now available on Westfall, our new Beta Patch server. This patch adds several new features including clan ladders, the highly anticipated Goblin Tinker, and many balance adjustments. A complete list of additions, fixes, and changes can be found here.

In order to participate, you must own a copy of the English version of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos or Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and be patched up to version 1.14b. Next, you simply need to connect to the Lordaeron (U.S. West) gateway, and your gateway list will be updated to include Westfall (Beta Test Server). Then, simply choose Westfall as your gateway, and you will be patched up to the English-ONLY beta version of the patch. Once you have patched up you will be required to create a new account. Please make sure you register a valid email address. The Beta Patch server is located in the U.S. on the West Coast, but players from anywhere in the world are invited to participate, provided they are using an English version of Warcraft III. You will be able to revert back to 1.14b at any time by reconnecting to any of the other public servers. We expect this beta test to run for the next couple of weeks, with our primary focus being the new clan ladder functionality.

As additional participation incentive, we will be running a clan ladder, Random Team, and FFA based competition where winners will be awarded spots in the World of Warcraft Beta. The competition will officially start on Tuesday, April 20 at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST) and end Tuesday, April 27 at 6:00 PM PST. The competition will work such that the ten (10) highest experience contributors of each victorious clan will be awarded spots in the World of Warcraft Beta. Clans can compete in all four of the different ladders (1 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2, 3 vs. 3, and 4 vs. 4). However, clans and individuals can only win once. We will also award the top five (5) Free-For-All and top five (5) Random Team players a spot in the World of Warcraft Beta. Winners will be chosen at Blizzard Entertainment's sole discretion. Any griefing or perceived cheating by individuals or clans will be cause for disqualification. Additionally, we reserve the right to reset the beta ladders as required. Full tournament rules can be found here.

The competition will start Tuesday evening, so take some time this weekend to learn the clan ladders and prepare a plan of attack to win a spot in the World of Warcraft Beta. We are excited to see the new clan ladder and updated Automated Matchmaking systems in action, as well as listen to feedback regarding the new Goblin Tinker. Thanks for your interest and participation.

- Blizzard Entertainment

Since I'll be out of school for the summer (and working-- fun fun co-op!), I'll probably be able to show up more often on battle-net and to meetings!
Just thought I'd let you know.

Eomer

Have some pics up temporarily for you to take a look at (I played the 'Seraphim' character).

  Here are 2 pics of her wearing different "wings":

On horse:

http://valarguild.org/arathorn/temp1/seraphim1.jpg

Off horse:

http://valarguild.org/arathorn/temp1/seraphim2.jpg

  And this pic... YOWZA! .. we thought the spiders were big in D2X!?

  http://valarguild.org/arathorn/temp1/spider.jpg

  <chuckle>

Aiya,
    I finally got a chance to find a computer w/ Internet where I'm at.  I am currently doing an internship in MO and I do not have Internet access where I live at nor do I have any place where I can play online while I am here.  I will be here til approx. mid-April.  I would like to still be considered part of the guild if I am still eligible to be in it.  I just wanted to let you know so I don't get swept off if it isn't too late.  Hope things are well within the guild and on your end.  Give my Greetings and regards to the rest of the Guild, I miss playing and chatting w/ you all.  Take care and may you always find rest, food, and joyful company at the end of your journey.

Grimbold
(Note from Varda: Grimbold's name is in absolutely no danger. He's good about emailing when he has to be gone for a while.)

The Half-Life mod has a new release out "Counter-Strike: Condition Zero". Came out yesterday as a single (and new multiplayer) mode. Used to be just a multiplayer mod.

 Anyway, here's the link if you want to post it:

http://www.cs-conditionzero.com/overview.html

Have some pics up temporarily for you to take a look at (I played the 'Seraphim' character).

 Here are 2 pics of her wearing different "wings":

On horse:

http://valarguild.org/arathorn/temp1/seraphim1.jpg

Off horse:

http://valarguild.org/arathorn/temp1/seraphim2.jpg

  And this pic... YOWZA! .. we thought the spiders were big in D2X!?

 http://valarguild.org/arathorn/temp1/spider.jpg

 <chuckle>

heh... been trying out a demo that's very Diablo like. You can even buy a horse and ride and fight from it. Interesting. Here's the link in case anyone wants to try it:

 http://sacred-game.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Namárië,
    ~Arathorn~
~~~~~~~~~~~

I saw this hosted on d2.net, and only works with
single player (non-realm, non Me-mod) chars.

http://atma.diabloii.net/

Nmaarie,
Galdor

I've updated the Games Page, so hopefully it's all looking good.  I used the javascript command since it meant fewer filler pages.  Links to the Sets and Unique Pages are up, as well as to the ladder page and bank pages.

Let me know if you see any problems.

Take care.
Eonwë

Aiya!

 On my way home from work last night, I spotted a
billboard in a downtown video store.

ROTK comes out on DVD/VHS on 5/25/04 !

Namarie!
Galdor

Here is the info for the device I mentioned in the meeting to allow you to send IMs to people when they're offline (right now you can't in AIM). They'll get the message when they sign on. Can be useful. All you do is add 'DoorManBot2' to your buddy list, then send a message to that screenname (DoorManBot2) using your friend's screenname in the message separated by a ":"(colon). Their server acts as a 'secretary' of sorts (or answering machine if you like) that relays the message to you when you sign on.

 EX:

AIMBuddyscreenname:Call me when you get this

 More info at their website:

 http://www.doorman.info/index.php?page=info

Aiya!

     I thought I should let you all know that due to personal affairs (of which I made an inidication before), I will not be able to come online for possibly a very long time. I hope I can stay in contact by emailing once in a while. I'm gonna miss you all and hope I will be back sooner rather than later.

     For the WoW-site, I'll leave things to Maglor, who has handled it quite superbly until now.

     For the Message Board, things will continue as usual, with Eonwe at the helm.

     For WoS / Elvondel sorry I can't be around any longer to help build the world, only thing I can promise is to try and log into the board once in a while and put in some ideas.

Namarie

Elen sila anwa lumenn omentielmo.

A star truly shines on the hour of our meeting.

Hail Varda. I have lost my grandmother. I may not be
active for a few days. Namarie. Galdor.

Aiya Varda & Happy New Year!

I am back at work BAH! 

Anyway, GaldorII-V is now level 70 and in act 3 hell. 

Incase anyone has noticed that the runes in the rune
bank have vanished, I am the guilty one !  I have
begun a project where I am trying to upgrade them as
far as I can get them to. I am trying for a Lem at the
moment & a Cham later. I have pooled all of my runes
togther as well as those from the bank. I'll dump them
back to the bank when I get a chance.

I am eventually going to not use my old public
accounts as all my time is spent in guild. (things are
so much better than plain old public nonsense games.

I may not be at many meetings in the near future and
will only be on at random times as my grandmother has
gotten worse and may not be with us in the very near
future. 

Namarie for now,
Galdor.

Aiya!

 

I wanted to let you know that I will not be able to attend tonight's meeting as I am working...and I looks like I am going to be married to a Sunday pm schedule...

(heavy sigh)..

 Please give my regards to all.

 

thanks and bows from:

Erestor.