2005 News Archives

Merry Christmas!

J.R.R. Tolkien and friend
Picture from Rolozo Tolkien

July 2, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       New article under Dwarves/Gimli: "Gimli, after the War of the Ring" by Varda-(Valar)

July 1, 2005
    WoW USA Lothar Friday Guild night:
       (Lost my notes, but here's what I've got:)
        Ulmo/Niequi, and Varda/Fainan were present, with Eonwe/Auros able to come in for a little while. 
        In Tanaris, Niequi and Fainan tried to escort the robot chicken to Steamwheedle, but the quest seems to have become bugged after the last patch. Niequi turned in a bug report. All was not bad, as in the process of reaching the chicken, Niequi leveled.  :)
       Then Niequi and Fainan went to take a photograph of the turtle, Gammerita, who was not the least pleased with our presence, and we had to kill him.
       Auros joined Niequi and Fainan in Feralas. We killed yetis underground to finish one quest for at least two of us, and the skinner collected a pristine yeti hide needed in Feathermoon for a leatherworker's quest with Pratt.
        The three remained in Feralas in the area of the Twin Colossals to successfully collect the stave, find the four flames, and activate the tower. Auros then had to leave.
        Continuing in Feralas, Niequi and Fainan helped the goblin trying to set up shop by the pier that leads to Feathermoon. For him we did what turned out to be the quests: Zapping Giants, and Fuel for the Zapping. We used his raygun (which had a time limit) to shrink Feralas giants to manageable size and collect miniaturization residue. As we went, we also killed water elementals for Fuel for the Zapping. Niequi had to leave. Fainan remained and finished the quest solo (carefully) and discovered that the goblin then became a vendor, that the two quests were repeatable, and that they give a lot of good reputation (faction) with the goblins.

    Farmer Maggot-(V) is traveling, but is still with us. Pictures of his trip are up on his homesite to share with us (he is the one asleep in the boat). He also sent more directions on handling the Bridge, so we spoiled folk won't have to do without it. Thanks, Farmer!

June 26, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
         Sigma Chat special program by Farmer Maggot-(V) bypassing Java slowdown some of us were having. Small download  
    The Bridge was not available on any section. The meeting went on in AIM as usual. Varda was present to help on Bnet and Sigma Chat, as well as chairing on AIM, although no one showed up using only those alternate meeting areas. Ar-Pharazon also came to help on Sigma Chat.
Meeting Transcript: by the glorious team of Ar-Pharazon and Varda 
Attending: (18)
    ArathornValar, ArPharazonV, Caranthir-(V)/MoriFinwe, Eonwe Valar, Finwe-(V)/aranfinwe, FladrifV, Gelmir-(V)/Shaggyjoe, Gil-Galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, GilraenV, Grimbold-(V)/HearNoEvil80, Haleth V, Lungorthin-(Valar)/sauronjag, Menelvagor Valar, Olwe-(V)/FallenGlory, Orodreth V, Ulmo-(Valar)/HeruRasa, Valandil Valar, VardaValar1 (presiding)
Membership:
    Haleth-(V): summer vacaton coming up, will probably miss the next few meetings
    Farmer Maggot-(V): seven weeks of camping in the SouthWest starting today. That means the Bridge is no longer live, but he will try to check in about every four days.
    Visit in real life between Ar-Pharazon-(V) and Caranthir-(V)
    Menelvagor-(Valar) changed internet connection and therefore email
    Grimbold-(V) started back up on WoW USA Lothar Valar Guild branch after the meeting ended, as Eldagrim (Elf Grimbold), a night elf druid. He will be missing after he heads back to school as he will be living off-campus, probably have some connection in August.
Andre Norton
Webwork:
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       New articles: Elrond by Haleth-(V); Importance of Thorin in Middle-earth and Dwarf-women by Varda-(Valar)
       Updated article: Types of Elves by Varda-(Valar)
Gaming:
    D2X: Gilraen is again able to play D2X and is back!
    BroodWar
    WC3/TFT
    BfMe: Ar-Pharazon is back on it.
    DAoC: Gelmir says it continues as it has been
    WoW:
       USA: Friday gaming report
       Europe: leveling: Ar-Pharazon, Caranthir, Fladrif, Menelvagor, Valandil
       USA/Europe connecting server news. Blizzard said in an interview that it is considering a special set of intercontinental servers for Europe and US to play together. This means once it comes up, ideally we should all try to come in the same day as level ones and play together, and should easily make a guild. We should know what we are doing by then. :)
Tolkien:
    Varda's topic: Can you think of any places in LotR, the Hobbit, or anywhere else that showed the idea of Fellowship? Lively discussion ensued.

June 25, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia
       Articles/ Elves
           Elrond by Haleth-(V)

June 23, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia
       Articles/ Dwarves/ Thorin
          new: Importance of Thorin in Middle-earth by Varda-(Valar)
       Articles/ Dwarves/ Dwarf-women
          new: Dwarf-women by Varda-(Valar)
       Articles/ Elves
          updated: Types of Elves by Varda-(Valar)

June 20, 2005
    Andre Norton, science-fiction and fantasy writer, passed away at the age of 93, on March 17, 2005. This is her website.

June 19, 2005
Happy Father's Day!!
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
         Sigma Chat special program by Farmer Maggot-(V) bypassing Java slowdown some of us were having. Small download
Transcript by the great Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, and Varda
Attending: (14)
    Members: ArathornValar, ArPharazonV, Caranthir-(V)/MoriFinwe, Eonwe Valar (presiding), Finwe-(V)/aranfinwe, FladrifV, GilraenV, Mablung-(V)/DemonicHorde69, FarmerMaggot-(V)/bnetValar, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V, Valandil Valar, VardaValar1
    Guest: AuSteinM
Membership: 
    AuSteinM came to let us know that DoormanBot2 is no longer shown on AIM as it is over-used. It is no longer good for leaving AIM messages offline.
    Caranthir and Ar-Pharazon are setting up to meet each other in real life for about half an hour Wednesday, during a train stop while Caranthir is in the Netherlands!
    Farmer Maggot set up the Bridge from his uncle's computer while at their family reunion! 
    Orodreth may be out of town the next two or three weeks. Caution, he is also getting his driver's learner permit!
    Varda and Fangorn went for the weekend to see Fangorn's parents, as Fangorn's mother had had a bad fall. They returned after an eleven hour drive, late for the meeting.
Web: 
    Links page: 2 new ones: 
       Dragons in Art and on the Web
       Illustrated Tolkien Book Bibliography  
    WoW: our Trainers page by professions updated. Menelvagor rigged the links so a mouseover shows the links even if the page is misbehaving.
    Blizzard: WoW Desktop theme, Media player skin, 2005 E3 trailer for WoW is out    
    LotRO fka MeO:  new screenshots
Gaming: 
    WoW:  
        Battlegrounds is out
        New patch for memory problem
        Bliz Insider is out
Tolkien:
    Eonwe-(Valar)'s topics:    
        Women in LotR are important to the story. There are enough of them, having varied types with reason for each.
        Problems in dwarves and ents' male/female relationships and how they may have come by infusion from their creators' relationships. Eagles did not have this problem and were created by a Vala in an excellent relationship with his Valie.

June 16, 2005
    Valandil-(V) joined the Valar Guild June 13. Please see that day's entry.
    Varda-(Valar) will be gone tonight and return very late Sunday. Fangorn-(Valar)'s mother fell and we need to go visit her on the other side of Texas.

June 15, 2005
    Links page/ Tolkien Images:
       Dragons in Art and on the Web - includes Tolkien's dragons. A section from the huge IOS - Ancient History, Angels, Dragons, Mermaids and more . by Timothy Spalding (link sent in by Timothy Spalding)

June 13, 2005
    Welcome to the Valar Guild, Valandil-(V)! Valandil is from Belgium, which is in the time zone GMT +1, so he will have trouble coming to meetings. He's 42. He found us through the website, emailed Varda-(Valar), and tested in AIM with Menelvagor-(Valar). He's read Hobbit, LotR, Sil, UT, BoLT (in Dutch) 1 + 2. He joined the WoW Europe group on the Argent Dawn server.
    Links page:
       Illustrated Tolkien Book Bibliography, An - . project to list all the British editions of the published writings of JRRT, with their illustrations and how they changed. Eyeing a project to do the American editions also. Of especial interest to collectors.  by Neil.  (Link sent in by that site's webmaster)

June 12, 2005  
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
         Sigma Chat special program by Farmer Maggot-(V) bypassing Java slowdown some of us were having. Small download 
Transcript: by the magnificent team of Ar-Pharazon-(V), Eonwe-(Valar), Farmer Maggot-(V), and Menelvagor-(Valar)
Attending (8):
    ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar (presiding), FladrifV, GilraenV, GwaihirValar, FarmerMaggot-(V)/bnetValar/Bridge, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V
Membership
    Varda, Eowyn, Sauron, Meriadoc, Elwing, and Arwen went to the LotR Exhibit in Houston. (No we are not all family!)
Web  
    Article on the LotR Exhibit
    Games Page
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
        Humor Page
Gaming
    LotRO: New concept art: Crebain
    Forum RP: new post
    WoW: Battlegrounds is now out. Info on the two areas.
Tolkien:
    Eonwe-(Valar)'s topic: Women in LotR: too many, not enough, just right? important, unimportant? why? 

June 10, 2005
    World of WarCraft USA
       Friday night get-together. Hello's from Alatar's Ithrynluin (11), Ulmo's Niequi (39), Eonwe's Auros (47?), Elatan's Dusksinger (49), ArathornV (52), Varda's Fainan (50), and Eonwe's guild-friend brother (Beline, Fellene).
       We found three of us in Tanaris and thought we'd try Zul Farrak for the Carrot on a Stick reward. Auros came to Gadgetzan and gave us the quest, but was called away by real life just as he started heading towards us. That not being enough people for Zul Farrak, ArathornV, Dusksinger, and Fainan went to nearby UnGoro Crater as a mounted party. The three of us picked up the flight path at Silithus for Dusksinger, then proceeded to slaughter low 50 elites with some fine teamwork, while doing quests. Both ArathornV and Fainan leveled thanks to this. The threesome killed apes in the cave despite fast re-pops, to complete red-lettered "Apes of Ungoro". We also did "Roll the Bones" and "A-Me 01". It being the wee hours of the morning for Dusksinger, he had to go. He was sorely missed, but ArathornV and Fainan continued on and finished "Beware of Pterrordaxx" before stopping. When they say a place is called "Terror Run", they mean it!
      

June 8, 2005
    LotR Exhibit: Elwing-(V) sent this link to an article from the Galveston Daily News, a newspaper in Texas. It's from the viewpoint of a member of the Society for Creative Anachonisms, which is doing live demonstrations of medieval activities for the exhibit. This is much larger and better organized than the small demos done outside some movies, such as a Knight's Tale and Kingdom of Heaven. The article includes a list of some of the displayed items from the movies, and some of the enormous efforts the movie went to for detail.

    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Humor page:
        The image holder servers that the humor page (and some other Encyc areas) has been using were turned over to other companies. Menelvagor has moved the humor pics to GeoCities so all is now well there. You may need to reload/refresh to see correct pictures.Thanks, Menel! He has also fixed the links for the Catapult jokes, as they moved. He had some of them on his hard drive, and Haleth found some in other places on the internet.

June 4, 2005
    Welcome to the new Tolkien-only member of the Valar Guild, Tristin-(TV). He is from Ohio in the USA. No AIM. He has read H, LotR, and the Sil. His article is now up for the Tolkien Encyclopedia: Radagast, the Brown Wizard.

Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
         Sigma Chat special program by Farmer Maggot-(V) bypassing Java slowdown some of us were having. Small download 
Transcript: by the fabulous team of Ar-Pharazon-(V), Farmer Maggot-(V), Menelvagor-(Valar), and Varda-(Valar)
Attending: (15)
    ArathornValar, ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar, Finwe-(V)/aranfinwe, FladrifV, Gelmir-(V)/Shaggyjoe, Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, GilraenV, GwaihirValar, FarmerMaggot-(V)/Bridge/bnetValar/TheSirG3, Menelvagor Valar, Olwe-(V)/FallenGlory, Orodreth V, Ulmo-(Valar)/HeruRasa, VardaValar1 (presiding)
Membership:
    Tristin-(TV) (new)
    Grimbold-(V) (moving)
Web:
    Tolkien Encyc: new articles
       Radagast, the Brown Wizard by Tristin-(TV)
       Lobelia Sackville-Baggins by Haleth-(V)
    MeO/LotRO Forum Role-play started again
    PHP
    WoW page: new Trainers secton under Extras
    Free software list for Windows compiled by Farmer Maggot-(V) finished during the After-meeting
Gaming:
    Runescape
    World of WarCraft:
       US  Friday gaming report
       Europe Another guild merged with Menelvagor-(Valar)'s
       Fladrif figured out the number of faces available on WoW
Tolkien:
    Those with power, bad or good.

May 31, 2005
    The Forum role-play for Lord of the Rings Online, fka Middle-earth Online has started up again with new posts.  We are now in "Scouting Ahead Part 4: Erebor".

May 30, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia: under Hobbits  (frames)
       "Lobelia Sackville-Baggins" by Haleth-(V) (no frames)

May 29, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
         Sigma Chat special program by Farmer Maggot-(V) bypassing Java slowdown some of us were having. Small download.
Transcript by the magnificent team of Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, and Varda
Attending (11):
    ArathornValar, ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar, FladrifV, Finarfin-V/FINARFIN010, Finwe-V/aranfinwe, GilraenV, Haleth-V/Druidfalconwolf, Menelvagor, Olwe/FallenGlory, Orodreth V, VardaValar1 (presiding)
Membership
    Celebrian-(TV): new Tolkieen member
    Fangorn's Birthday 52nd
    Haleth's Birthday 15th
    Menelvagor - asleep but collecting the transcript
Web
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Poetry - In the Land of Lorien by He that Walks Unseen-(TV) (no frames)
       Article - The Palantir of Amon Sul by Celebrian-(TV) (no frames)
    Forum - updated
    Games page - updated
Gaming
    WoW USA
        Friday: Stranglethorn group
       Shrine Event planning. Date set for next Friday get-together. We can bring courteous friends, everyone needs to bring flowers, maybe spare for last minute arrivals. The Shrine is in the Barrens, on a mountain near the cross-roads and south-east of it, a little north of the Wailing Caverns. We intend to honor the WoW designer who died making the game, no pvp action. Carry flower in the off-hand; it will show if no weapon is in the main hand. We can easily punch out the small animal monsters in the area of teens to twenty, and higher level characters can protect lower levels. Europe can do it at the same time, coordinating on AIM, or at a time of their own choosing.
    Monkey Island - humorous Caribbean pirate game by Lucas Arts
Tolkien
    Would JRRT have approved of books written after his death in his universe for money?
    Discussion of the current free fan fiction
    We outline our own fan fiction:
          Example of how not to write one. Do not try this at home! Please!
          Actual outline made up on the spot: "What-if" Boromir had not gone as far in his temptation by the Ring? 

May 28, 2005
    Welcome to the Valar Guild's Tolkien Members, Celebrian-(TV)! Celebrian is a Tolkien-only member from the USA who joined with her article listed below.
        Tolkien Encyclopedia: (frames)
           Objects:
              The Palantir of Amon Sul by Celebrian-(TV) (no frames)

May 27, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Poetry (frames)
          In the Land of Lorien by He that Walks Unseen-(TV) (no frames)

    World of WarCraft:
       Friday get-together: In Stranglethorn Vale, we killed trolls to handle several quests on our way to the main event. We went to Stranglethorn's Ogre Mound and after much excitement managed to kill the boss. The quest comes from the Rebel Camp, after killing Col. Kurzen.
            Linqil, Fangorn, and Orome said hi! Guild members participating in the Stranglethorn group were Auros (Eonwe), Fainan (Varda), Harana/Haranwen (Haran Arathorn), Merryv (Meriadoc). Guild-friend Fellene, (Eonwe's brother) joined us. Guild-friend Larolan (Night Elf Hunter) joined in. She has not only read LotR, but taught the Hobbit! When she had to leave, her husband Keikeil helped us, and could become a guild-friend. He is a Human Warlock who has also read the LotR. This was the first run for Fainan's mount, a striped nightsaber.
            Fun was had just before we finished for the night, trying to put player heads in the yawning nightsaber's mouth like a lion-tamer. Merry's gnome did the best! Merry ported us to Darnassus where everyone cleaned up in the fountain before going into the main town. This prevented any potential insults such as "filthy human".
          We hope to collect at least five or more people for a future pilgrimage to the memorial shrine of the WoW designer in the Barrens. The creatures in the area are in the teens to low twenties. Bring flowers. They can be bought in Stormwind, and can be made visible by equipping them in the off-hand with the main-hand empty. We have high level characters to aid as escorts. Once enough people sign up for the trip, we will do it. We will probably go through the broken fence and then on to the mountain with the shrine.

    Forum:
       The Forum "upgrade" is finished and we are back online. Yay!
            The bad news is that any word with an attached link now shows the whole link address. It's also asking us to re-activate our accounts, sending a note to the email we last gave. Copy/paste works for the monster-long activation code.

May 26, 2005
    Lord of the Rings Exhibit in Houston, Texas, more news.  Info from Elwing-(V).
       The Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA) is doing demos of all aspects of medieval life at the request of the Natural Sciences museum in Houston for the June-August showing. In emails sent around the local groups, the positions for horseriders have been filled with horses referred to as "bombproof", able to handle crowds and the whole situation, including wearing the full set of gear ("fully barded"). They will have to stand on hay over tarp over cobblestones for two hours. They come in pairs, one with a knight or other fighter, and one with a Lady. Heavy fighters and fencers, medieval dancers, and possibly bards for singing and tales will be working, probably along with tables showing a sampling of the medieval clothing and gear they make. We'll see if room allows for what is almost a full Event, although no mention has been made of holding Court, which might be too much.

    Forum still in "upgrading" status.

May 25, 2005
    The Forum is now upgrading to the next version and may be down 12-18 hours.

    Happy 52nd Birthday, Fangorn-(Valar)!

May 22, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
         Sigma Chat special program by Farmer Maggot-(V) bypassing Java slowdown some of us were having. Small download.
Transcript: team Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, and Varda
Attending (13):
    ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar (presiding), Finwe-(V)/aranfinwe, FladrifV (in WoW), Gelmir-(V)/Shaggyjoe, GilraenV, GwaihirValar (afk went to see Star Wars movie), Haleth-(V)/druidfalconwolf,  FarmerMaggot-(V)/TheSirG3/bnetValar, Menelvagor Valar (afk asleep), Orodreth V, Ulmo-(Valar)/HeruRasa, VardaValar1
Before-meeting
    Star Wars chat
Membership
    Orome-(Valar) has gone to Russia
    Dreamlord-(TV) telephoned a group of 8 Valar Guild members at Varda's house in Texas. He's returning to Denmark after finishing up at the University of Wisconsin in the US.
    Orodreth-(V) now has WoW
Web
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       New articles by Haleth: "Haleth", "Bullroarer"
    Games pages: Eonwe is beginning to free up from classes and will be working on gaming pages again.
    Forum: the new version has not yet come out, despite messages daily for a week saying it will be in the next 24 hours.
Gaming
    MeO/LotRO: name and site place changed after Turbine took over MeO
    WoW: Planning a Flower Run to the Shrine in the Barrens that honors a WoW designer who died during the making of the game. Intended for both US and WoW on the same day.
Tolkien
    Chat about article writing, reading books, rp

May 20, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia
       New article: under "Hobbits":
          "Bullroarer" by Haleth-(V)

May 18, 2005
    MeO news, Forum posts by Eonwe:

May 17, 2005
    Orome went to St. Petersburg, Russia.

May 16, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:  (frames)
       Mankind:
        "Haleth" article by Haleth-(V) (no frames)

May 15, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
         Sigma Chat special program by Farmer Maggot-(V) bypassing Java slowdown some of us were having. Small download.
Transcript: team Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, and Varda
Attending (11):
    ArathornValar, ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar, [Fangorn-Valar contributed to the Tolkien chat by phone], Gil-galad-V/Xseanzee disco, GilraenV, Irime, FarmerMaggot-V/bnetValar/TheSirG3/Bridge/SigmaChatApp, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V, VardaValar1
Membership: nothing new
Web
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       New contributions by Haleth-(V): Article "Nienna". Poem: "Nienna". Novel: "Haleth's Song".
    Guild Index updated
    Bridge improvement by Farmer Maggot-(V) for !list
    Program for users to connect directly to our Sigma Chat without going through the Java slowdown. By Farmer Maggot-(V). Small Download.
       Valar Chat ID: 90005. This program was created during the meeting by Farmer to handle a problem some had with the usual connection.
Gaming:
    WoW: USA Friday gaming report: Uldaman guild group: Auros, Fainan, Linqil
Tolkien:
    Eonwe-(Valar)'s topic: Sentience in animals and plants in Tolkien.
       The discussion focused mainly on Ent sentience. Ent relatonship with animals.
       Tangent on Saruman and his relationship with the forest.
       Tangent on other Maiar in Middle-earth.
       Discussion of Elves teaching Ents to talk.
           Tangent on the English word "dumb" for both mute and stupid, and the similar Dutch word "stom".
           Tangents on other words and ancient history and mythology, oh my.
               Weirdly, the discussion of ancients wanting to claim descent from the gods tangented into Tolkien:
                  Were the Stewards descended from Elros and therefore from a Maia? No, Mardil seems to be from a different line.
                      Sleepy confusion over more than one Hurin, as Mardil comes from the line of Hurin of Emyn Arnen.
                      Elvish blood in the Stewards and others.

May 13, 2005
    Friday: World of WarCraft guild grouping on Lothar, 4pm ESDT to sometime tomorrow.
       Uldaman group with Auros, Fainan, and Linqil. We had bigger groups together during the week. C'mon guys!

    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Stories:

May 10, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Articles/Powers:
          Nienna by Haleth-(V)
       Poetry:
          Nienna by Haleth-(V)

May 9, 2005
    Guild index updated:
       WoW branch page has a different site, under new management by Menelvagor, as Maglor ceased communicating.
       DAoC info changed to reflect current state.
       Azaghal's Tolkien page dropped, as the address we have no longer goes anywhere.

May 8, 2005
Happy Mother's Day!

Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
Transcript: team Ar-Pharazon and Varda
Attending (13):
         Aerandir V, ArathornValar, ArPharazonV, FladrifV, Gil-galad-V/Xseanzee disco, GilraenV, Haleth-(V)/Druidfalconwolf, Huan-Valar/LiberalHound, Irime-(V)/Irime, FarmerMaggot-V/TheSirG3/bnetValar, Menelvagor Valar, Thorondor-(Valar)/ThorondorV, VardaValar1
Membership:
    Irime-(V), our newest member, said her "few words".  :)
    Eonwe was absent to take his mother out for Mother's Day, but sent an email shared with the group. 
    Gwaihir-(Valar)'s hello via Gilraen
    Ar-Pharazon-(V) turned 20 years old last Friday
Web:
    Tolkien Encyc: New article by Elatan-(Valar) "Irime".
    LotR Exhibit now touring countries.
    Suggested repairs to main web site
Gaming:
    WoW:
       USA Lothar Uldaman quest report. More complete one on the News May 6.
       Europe: 3 grouping almost daily
    D2
    D2X Ladder
    StarCraft
    Battle for Middle-earth
    Guild Wars
    Forum role-playing game "Scouting Ahead"
Tolkien:
    Irime-(V)'s topic: What do you imagine elven fealty to have been like? Or if you are aware that Tolkien talks about it somewhere, what did he say about it?

May 7, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Articles/Elves/Lalwende:
         Írimë by Elatan-(Valar)

May 6, 2005
    WoW USA Lothar branch Friday Questing:
       Uldaman questing: We had a group of five guild-folk and did a batch of quests shared between us. We started early, at about 4pm ESDT, and added members (and quests) as they came online. Auros (41 human paladin male), Dusksinger (45 night elf hunter female), Ereinion (44 night elf warrior male), Linqil (60 gnome mage male), and Fainan (45 night elf hunter female) participated. Dusksinger and Fainan were the first there and had never been inside Uldaman to any distance before. Curious, we went in and explored. It was quite dangerous, so we were cautious and stayed alive. A little way in, our two night elves met two orcs. Although we could not speak or group, the four of us found ways to communicate and operated as a party. We took turns tagging the monsters and took care of each other as best we could. It was challenging and great fun! Then Linqil, 60 gnome mage, joined in with us. The orcs waved and were willing to have him along too, but by then we were collecting more Valar for a full group of questers. I waved goodbye to the orcs, who continued on cautiously, while we went deep. As our finale, the five of us took out the top boss of Uldaman and then found the intriguing room she guarded and met.... I won't spoil it for you if you haven't been there. But he's big.  ;)

May 5, 2005
    Lord of the Rings Movie Exhibition
      Info from Elwing and Meriadoc: Official website
       The exhibit is made possible by the New Zealand government, licensed by New Line Cinema and is currently on tour. Check to see if you can go to one of the showings.
       Some of us are hoping to see the exhibit in Houston together this summer, where costumes are encouraged: Bilbo, Elwing, Eowyn, Fangorn, Meriadoc, Sauron, and Varda.
       If anyone else is planning on seeing one, let me know by email for the News and maybe you can meet up with fellow Valar!

May 4, 2005
    Welcome to the Valar Guild, Irimë-(V)! Irime came to us from AIM with the name "Irime", scouted and tested by Thorondor-(Valar) with a brag-worthy 5/5! She is 21, from Michigan, US (EST). She is studying anthropology and linguistics. She is online about twice a week, and may start playing some game - she has
played D2 offline. She has read LOTR, Silmarillion, Tree and Leaf, and parts of Unfinished Tales. Her favorite LotR character is Gandalf because he is wise but has quirks such as anger, fireworks, and pipeweed. He is a leader without requiring those he leads to follow him and he cares deeply about those he loves.

April 30, 2005
    Forum news - letter from Eonwe-(Valar):

April 29, 2005
    World of WarCraft: Lothar guild grouping for quest helping for anyone.
        Starting officially at 5pm ESDT, we have members showing up an hour earlier due to time probems. This has been working well.
        We tend to continue having people come in and play until the sun comes up the next day, so don't feel you can't join in if you have to come late! We have mains and alternates of many sizes.

April 24, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name  Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT
Transcript: team of Ar-Pharazon and Varda
Attending (13):
    Aerandir V, ArPharazonV, Arwen V1, Caranthir/MoriFinwe, Eonwe Valar, FladrifV, Gil-galad-V/Xseanzee disco, GilraenV, Lungorthin/sauronjag, FarmerMaggot-V/bnetValar/TheSirG3/Bridge, Orodreth V, Ulmo-Valar/HeruRasa, VardaValar1
Member News
    Anardil-(V) joined as a full member from World of WarCraft, USA, Lothar. Scouted and recruited by Ulmo-(Valar)
Web
    Tolkien Encyclopedia - navigation work on Powers page, updates and new articles
Gaming
    WoW: Europe using server Argent Dawn.
    D2X: remember to run your characters through!
Tolkien
    Ar-Pharazon: Which Nazgul names circulating on the net and in games are actually from Tolkien?
    Conclusion: Only Khamul.
After-meeting
    Chatted about several different games. 

    Tolkien Encyclopedia: (numerous updates on the Powers page, putting article and authors on their own pages)
       Articles:
          The Aratar
          The Valar

April 23, 2005
  Tolkien Encyclopedia:
    Poetry
        Ideas by Irmo-(Valar). We haven't seen the light as intended yet.
            This poem was lost during the transition between the old and new pages. We are glad to have it included once more!

April 20, 2005
    Welcome to the Valar Guild, Anardil-(V)! Anardil came to us from World of WarCraft, the first to have that distinction. Ulmo, as Linqil, scouted and tested. Anardil brought in his "Earendil" level 44 character under the new rule for one outsider character for those who join on a MMORPG, not to be confused with Earendil-(V). Any other guild character names he brings in should have to do with the Anardil name to cause less confusion. Anardil is 20, a physics major from Boston College, New York state, EST. AIM is probably jsnuff1. He's read the LotR, Sil, and some HoMe. His favorite LotR character is Gandalf, for his wisdom and love of the people of Middle-earth.

April 18, 2005
    Report from Elwing-(V):

April 17, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name 
Transcript: team Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, Varda
Attending (17):
    Members: Arwen V1, Ecthelion/suilenroc01, Eonwe Valar, Fili/patente666gosse, Finwe/aranfinwe, GaldorV, Gelmir/Shaggyjoe, GilraenV, Haleth/Druidfalconwolf, Lungorthin/sauronjag, FarmerMaggot/TheSirG3, Menelvagor Valar, Olwe/FallenGlory, Orodreth V, Thror/Chugin Chub, VardaValar1
    Visitor: Nemoeverlonely/ex-Herumor-V
Members
    Galdor - had to leave early and came back late. Came into our WoW Alliance guild branch on Lothar.
    Several members were having computer problems, including Farmer Maggot's Bridge, unfortunately.
Web
    Forum:
        Tolkien threads may be added to at any time, even if the first post was a long time ago. That is a major reason we left the Yahoo Discussion Board, besided the advertisements. This board allows us to see and comment on previously brought up topics.
        The Tolkien Trivia thread needs Gwaihir's answer and a new question. The group seems stumped without a book.
    Games Page - more webwork will be done after Eonwe's Finals are over in about three weeks
    World of WarCraft : team Menelvagor, Gilraen, Varda
        Menelvagor is rebuilding a usable page since Maglor became difficult to reach.
            We can't update Maglor's old page as none of the current team knows Flash.
        Gilraen volunteered to help make the buttons.
        Members link now goes to a page made by Varda since she's on Lothar
Gaming
    MeO rp in the Valar Guild's Forum. 
       Chapter 4 is now rolling.
        Fili plans to come in as a dwarf.
        Most of the discussion came during the After-meeting
    WoW:
       WoW USA:
             Ulmo hit the top level of 60 first. Others are coming up behind him.
             Eonwe hit 40 and got his paladin horse. Story on the News and Forum.
             Galdor came into the branch, also plays Llane server.
       WoW Europe:
            Menelvagor's playing and about to, Pharazon is waiting for the arrival of his CD.
            How to enter US servers from Europe: use an international credit card and order a US CD.
    Dark Age of Camelot:
             Gelmir - plays Hibernia/Percival with Irmo
             Lungorthin - Plays with two other guilds on Lancelot Midgard and Merlin Albion
    Guild Wars - several have shown interest
    Battle for Middle-earth - Pharazon wants to finish it before WoW Europe
Tolkien
    Haleth-V's questions, to help with her story:
        I was wondering if the Haladin had a specific standard/banner they used.
                Much searchiing, but no one found a banner mentioned even in the Histories.
        The Haladin were almost extinct around the time of Hurin... was this true in the Silmarillion as well?
    Side-track discussion on heights: Noldor and Numenoreans were 7'. Hobbit males 3'6", females 3'.
    Pharazon's question:
       Seven stars: What were the seven stars brought over from Numenor in the poem with "seven stars, seven stones, and one white tree"?
           Eonwe found it in "The Steward and the King" RotK: The crown of the High King of the Realms in Exile has seven gems set in it
After-meeting:
    MeO rp plotting discussion continued

April 15, 2005
    WoW: Friday guild run. A goodly number showed up, but most just spoke in guild chat rather than questing together. However, some did group with Eonwe.
      Eonwe's paladin, Auros, earns his warhorse! In his own words:

April 10, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name 
Transcript by Ar-Pharazon and Varda 
Attending (14):
    ArPharazonV, ElatanValar, Eonwe Valar, Finwe/aranfinwe, FladrifV, Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, GilraenV, GwaihirValar, FarmerMaggot/bnetValar/TheSirG3, Menelvagor Valar, Olwe/FallenGlory, Orodreth V, Ulmo/HeruRasa, VardaValar1
Membership
    Orodreth: now using his new computer. Details in the transcript
    Gwaihir: working evenings during meetings and WoW get-togethers, but still with us.
    Gil-galad: Does anyone know if my reformatting my computer will delete the characters on WoW? No. They are stored on Blizzard's servers.
    New recruiting policy for MMORPG's: a new recruit can bring one outsider-named character into the guild, if he can't bear to start over with his personal guild name. Any others must be his name or a variant of it. The new recruit does not have to bring in his outside character.
    Game programming major offered at RPI next year. Details in the transcript.
Web:
    Encyc: navigation work continues. We can always use more contributions.
Gaming:
    Battle for Middle-earth: in the Before-meeting
    WoW: Europeans can play on our guild's Lothar server by using an International creditcard and a US WOW. rest is easy. This worked for Elatan.
    MeO: New Developer's Diary up
    MeO rp: we've started Section 4
    LARP convention
Tolkien:
    Pharazon: The size of the Palantiri. UT
    Pharazon: Legolas contributed the least to the Fellowship according to the UT chapter about the Istari
    Pharazon: Ford of Isen LotR
    Eonwe: JRRT sold the movie license and spent the money

April 8, 2005
    WoW:
       Friday guild gaming on Lothar: 5pm EST officially. We need some people to come in earlier to join in with Elatan and Orome who have a time problem. Some of us tend to stay on for many hours once we start, so don't feel you can't join in just because you're late. Even if you can't play or stay long, at least try to toss in a hello and good luck.
       From my memory like a steel sieve, here is the Friday report:

April 4, 2005
    News page: all meeting transcript links for March 2005 should now be working.

April 3, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm ESDT, GMT-5 TIME CHANGE!!
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name 
Transcript: by the team of Ar-Pharazon and Varda
Attending (14):
    Members: ArPharazonV, Elwing V, Eonwe Valar (presided over Tolkien chat), Finwe-V/aranfinwe, FladrifV, Gil-galad-V/Xseanzee disco, Haleth/Druidfalconwolf, FarmerMaggot-V/bnetValar/TheSirG3, Menelvagor Valar, Olwe-V/FallenGlory, Orodreth V, Ulmo-Valar/HeruRasa, VardaValar1 (presided over business)
    Visitor: Bloody Requim
Membership
    Orome - in WoW only, dropped DAoC. Plays Lothar server with our guild branch
    Melkor - back where he can reach a comp
    Orodreth - new comp
Web
    News Page
    Tolkien Encyclopedia
       Navigation continues in progress, slow. Subject nav is fine, but now on alphabetical, dividing all entries into separate pages. Author pages still in progress.
       Humor: new joke section for tombstones
Gaming
    World of WarCraft (WoW): Frida gaming - report shown on Friday
    Morrowind
    Battle for Middle-earth
Tolkien
    Menelvagor's topic: Dagor Dagorlad: what happens to Turin there?
    Ar-Pharazon's topic: Whatever happened to the spirits of Sauron and Saruman?
    Elwing's topic: I'd like opinions of how the Rangers were viewed by general populace.
After-meeting - kept up Tolkien chat to the very last gasp  :) so we had no "After"

April 1, 2005
    Happy April Fools' Day!
World of WarCraft:
    Friday guild playing.  If we can't group, we can still chat!

      Orome's Report:

Hail Valar!

It was my pleasure on 4/1/05 to venture into the Stockades beneath Stormwind with Eonwe, Gil-Galad, and Varda. Quests were completed, and items of power were taken from the fallen foes. I had a good time and look forward to joining in future hunts! Orome

PS I KNOW it is brief, but what did you expect from me ;)

Sunday Meeting 5pm EST Eastern Standard Time (Check your computer clock for your equivalent time, and no I'm not on EST either.)
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
Transcript: team of  Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, and Varda
Attending: (10):
    ArPharazonV, Elros-V/LouieKisKowsKi, Eonwe Valar, Fili-V/patente666gosse, GilraenV, GwaihirValar, Haleth-V/Druidfalconwolf, FarmerMaggot-V/TheSirG3/bnetValar, Menelvagor Valar, VardaValar1
Membership:
    Time changed in Europe and it is Easter Sunday for the Western hemisphere. Surprisingly, we still had enough people for a good meeting.
    Fili joined last meeting
    Gwaihir is having his birthday celebration today.
    Orome's two children now play WoW, albeit casually right now.
Web:
    Tolkien Encyclopedia
       Progress on the Powers page, Article Authors pages
Gaming:
    MeO:
       Taken over by Turbine, date moved back to 2006.
    WoW
       Friday guild gaming in WoW, at the same time as meetings, on Lothar, Alliance. Report of last Friday's.
    MeO rp  new players seem to be coming onboard . About to start new chapter going to Erebor from Mirkwood.
Tolkien Chat:
    4 topics suggested. Since Menelvagor was the only topic-giver left by chat time, we went with his:
    Menelvagor-(Valar)'s topic: Maeglin's treachery. Discussion included BoLTs, UT, Sil
    The other three for other meetings were:
        Fili-(V)'s topic: Where did Beorn get his ability?
        Haleth-(V)'s two topics:
           Are the Eldar reborn?
           In the Silmarillion, were there children of the Valar?
After-meeting:
    Eonwe improvises a dungeon-crawler game on the spot: "The Lord of Ferrets".

March 25, 2005
    World of WarCraft:
       Friday guild get-together on Lothar. Report by Varda
          People who came:
            Arathorn/Haran (23) and other characters, Eonwe/Auros (35), Gwaihir/Vaiwalcin, Meriadoc/Merryv (39), Orome/Aldaronvala, Ulmo/Linqil (53), Varda/Fainan (35). Fangornv was present earlier, but let Fainan use the computer.
            Guild friends Fellene/Beline/brother of Auros and Fosco said hi.
         Stranglethorn quests from the Nesingwary Expedition camp: "Pages", "Raptor Mastery":
            Linqil, Auros, and Fainan grouped. For the pages we headed north to the goblins and then into the cave of the Kurzen humans. The cave was the best place for pages.
            Linqil, Auros, and Fainan went to StormWind (thanks to Linqil's port) and then to Booty Bay for the flight path for Auros.
            Auros and Fainan then did the Raptor Mastery quest until finishing the Lashtail Raptors.
            Linqil went to Un'goro for experience.
            Auros and Fainan both leveled up to 36.

March 22, 2005
    Middle-earth Online MMORPG news:
    (Sent in by Eonwe-Valar March 23)

          Game no longer scheduled to come out this summer, but in 2006. Longer version.

March 20, 2005
     Fili-(V), Welcome to the Valar Guild! After finding us on the website, Fili emailed, then came to AIM (while playing D2) before today's meeting and passed his test with Varda. His AIM name is patente666gosse. He is 13, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada and is in the time zone of EST. He speaks French, English being a second language. On weekends, he plays D1, D2 (not D2X), some WC3, and EQ when it works. He has read the H, LotR, Sil, BoLT 1, and is currently reading BoLT 2. His favorite LotR character is Sam, as the most important character in LotR.

Sunday Meeting 5pm EST, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
Transcript: by the team of Ar-Pharazon, Varda 
Attending: (16):
    Members: ArathornValar, ArPharazonV, Eonwe Valar, Fili-V/patente666gosse, Finwe-V/aranfinwe, FladrifV, Gil-Galad-V/Xseanzee disco, GilraenV, GwaihirValar, FarmerMaggotV/Musics4Me2/bnetValar, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V, ThorondorV, Ulmo-(Valar)/HeruRasa, VardaValar1 (presiding)
    Visitor: Bloody Requim
Membership News:
    Fili-(V) joined the guild and said his few words!
    Arathorn-(Valar) explained his absence problem.
    Ar-Pharazon-(V)'s computer upgraded with help from Fladrif-(V)
Web News:
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Story Page:
          "Ondollo - After the Watchful Peace" by Orodreth-(V)
       Powers Page: began navigation work of separating articles into pages
       World of WarCraft page - screenshots
Gaming News:
    World of WarCraft:
       Friday Gaming
       WoW Europe
    Diablo 1: guild group last Sunday after meeting
    Morrowind - single-player but can exchange tips
    WarCraft 2
    Tribunal
Tolkien Chat:
    Topic started by Bloody Requim: Where did Gandalf Stormcrow come from, and why is he with the Hobbits? Tangents and jokes.

March 18, 2005
    World of WarCraft:
       Friday guild gaming:
          Alatar, Arathorn, Elatan, Gil-galad, Orome, Ulmo, and Varda came. Arathorn and Varda quested in RedRidge.

March 17, 2005
    New Story!:
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Stories:
          "Ondollo - After the Watchful Peace" by Orodreth-(V). Complete.

March 13, 2004
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
Transcript: by the team of Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, Varda 
Attending: (14)
    aranfinwe, ArPharazonV, Arwen V1, Eonwe Valar, FINARFIN010, Gelmir-V/Shaggyjoe (after-meeting), GilraenV, GwaihirValar, Huan-Valar/LiberalHound, FarmerMaggot-V/The SirG3/Musics4Me2, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V, Ulmo-Valar/HeruRasa, VardaValar1 (presiding)
Membership:
    Ar-Pharazon's progress on his re-read of all his Tolkien books.
    Gwaihir: "I have a new job... next few weeks I'm gone from 2PM to 12-1AM from Monday to Friday.... after that, I dunno what my schedule'll be like "
    Menelvagor's birthday is next week, March 22, will be 24.
    How long will the Valar Guild last? Question was put outside by outsider, group commented, might last past our lifetimes.
Web:
    Sigma Chat: more discussion on possibly moving the chat there. Fewer viruses, ban available, easier for the admin. Discussion ran across the Before meeitng into the beginning of the meeting.
    Forum:
       Ulmo located a Horde group called Lords of Akallabeth and is trying to make contact with his Atalante character. Wondering if more than the leader know any Tolkien.
Gaming:
    WoW:
       Gwaihir's tip/reminder how to find all members of any guild online while you are.
        Last Friday's guild group gaming
    Diablo 1:
       Ironman - how to play, earlier gaming
       Quest
       V&K Middle-earth mods
    Hellfire (D1 expansion)
    WarCraft 2
    Middle-earth Online
    Forum role-play
    Gaming get-togethers. After Tolkien, we broke into Diablo 1 and WoW. List of things that happened, as we had different experiences.
Tolkien:
   Eonwe Valar: Did Morgoth have ulterior motives for his targetting of Fëanor and his family?
   Tangents:  Why Eru made the Ainur. Nature of time.

March 11, 2005
    Congratulations to Grimbold! He has completed his training and is now a certified Veterinarian Technician!
    World of Warcraft: Friday Guild Questing (5pm EST)
        The Friday guild questing completed numerous quests, starting with our lowbie characters, moving to mid-level characters, then broke into mid and low level groups. The report is on the Forum.
        Participants were Arathorn, Eonwe, Grimbold, Merry, Ulmo, and Varda.
        Some of the completed quests were "Killing Fields", "Yowling in the Hills", "Blackrock Bounty", "What Comes Around", "Missing in Action", "Tharil'zun", "Wanted Lt. Fangore", and "Solomon's Law". Some quests had to be done more than once to get quest participants through them, but we did it!

March 6, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST, GMT-5
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
Transcript: by the team of Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, Varda
Attending: (17)
    ArPharazonV, Arwen V1, Caranthir-V/MoriFinwe, ElladanV, Eonwe Valar (presiding), FINARFIN010, Finwe-V/aranfinwe, FladrifV, Gil-galad-V/Xseanzee disco, GilraenV, GwaihirValar, Huan-Valar/LiberalHound, FarmerMaggot/Musics4Me2/The SirG3/Bridge, Menelvagor Valar, Orodreth V, Ulmo-Valar/HeruRasa, VardaValar1
Membership: 
    Arathorn - comp problems. Connection issues, lag.
    Gwaihir - his dad's birthday is today :). Gwaihir will be gone weekdays from about 2PM 'til 1 AM CST due to work and travel times, 3pm - 2am EST.
Web: 
    Links Page
       Italian fan site
    Forum
       WoW section: new board for Questing.
       Discussion topic: should we have passwords anywhere on the Forum?
    WoW Page
       Under new management by Menelvagor-(Valar)
    Farmer Maggot's Page
        New personal page
Gaming: 
      WoW
        WoW Weekly Questing took us to the Deadmines on Friday. Check out the Report now up in the Hunts Section on the Forum
            If you don't remember the password, e-mail Varda.
            The Weekly Guild Questing reports will be posted in the Hunts Board, and Eonwe will try to have a thread to which all can be posted set up before the Questing time every Friday. Just put your report in a reply to the thread. If you have comments or such, use another thread or PM the reporter.
Tolkien:
    Eonwe-(Valar)'s topic: Do the descendants of the Caliquendi Noldor, for example Elrond, count as Calaquendi, or are they by default Dark Elves?

Feb. 28, 2005
    Links:
       Fan Sites:
          Il Signore degli aneli Edoras - Italian fan site. Images, articles on the Lord of the Rings and Silmarillion, chat. by Thengel

Feb. 27, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST(VST) GMT-5.
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name
Transcript : team Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, Varda 
Attending: (20 full members, 0 Tolkien-onlies, 0 guests)
    Aerandir/mordacil, Alatar (Sigma), Ar-Pharazon (AIM and Sigma), Arwen, Ecthelion/suilenroc01, Elros/Louiskiskowski, Eonwe, Finarfin, Finwe/aranfinwe, Fladrif, Gelmir/shaggyjoe (AIM and Sigma), Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, Gilraen, Gwaihir, Lungorthin/sauronjag,  FarmerMaggot/Bridge/Musics4Me, The SirG3, Menelvagor, Orodreth, Ulmo/HeruRasa, Varda (AIM and Sigma) (presiding) 
Member News:
    Isildur-V - reinstated after accidental drop
    Arwen-V - an hour or two before the meeting, went into the Emergency Room with an infected tooth, dropped by the meeting anyway.
Web News:
    Meeting Notes - last two sets now updated.by Menelvagor
    Humor Page - new Tough Guide jokes added. Links repaired. by Menelvagor
    WoW Page - new member names added. by Menelvagor, convert screenshots to usable jpgs with the converter
    Forum - new section added for World of WarCraft questing by Menelvagor
Gaming News:
    WC3 map - Cherryville
    WoW:
      USA:
       Every Friday guild grouping at 5pm EST (which is VST), changed from 4pm after talking with some members. No others had comments for or against.
       Last Friday we had guild members grouping together for the pre-planned meeting. Much fun was had in the Wetlands. Longbraid and Motley gave quests and we did them for a number of members. Participants: Alatar/Morinehtar, Beline (guild-friend, brother of Eonwe), Elatan/Dusksinger, Eonwe/Auros, Eowyn/Mairowen, Gil-galad/Ereinion, Meriadoc/Merryv, Varda/Fainan
       "Under development" page on Blizzard has lists of many updates planned
Tolkien:
    The Watchful Peace
    Appendices
    Noldorin hair and eye color
After-meeting:
    Forum rp. Much of the discussion took place in private messages but some can be seen in the chat

February 25, 2005
    World of WarCraft:
     Guild group/raid questing every Friday 5pm EST (VST).
       Suggested areas so far: Deadmines, Blackfathom Deeps, any area members request as needed. May run groups in several areas. We usually come on at various times, more coming in as people get off work.
       VST is Valar Standard Time, a term from the earliest days of the guild.

Feb. 23, 2005
    Caught up on Meeting summary and transcript for Feb 13. Learned while quilting transcripts that Dior and Isildur came earlier than my transcript showed. Isildur said he wished to remain in the guild, and this was before the Feb 15 deadline. Caught up on the Feb 20 meeting summary and transcript.
    Isildur-(V) reinstated as a member, as he should not have been dropped. Need a way to contact. 
    Letter from Menelvagor for those WoW screenshots that need converted to jpg before sending in:

Feb. 20, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST(VST) GMT-5.
    AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace (or message VardaValar1, expect pause)
    IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    Battle.net: Public Chat Valar
    Sigma Chat: click on http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005  Type in your guild name

Transcript: team of Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, and Varda
Attending: (16)
    Alatar-(Valar)/Alatar, ArPharazonV, Arwen V1, Caranthir-(V)/MoriFinwe, Eonwe Valar (presiding), Gelmir/Shaggyjoe, Gil-galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, GilraenV, GwaihirValar, Finarfin-V/FINARFIN010, FladrifV, Lungorthin-Valar/sauronjag, FarmerMaggotV/Musics4Me2, Menelvagor Valar, Ulmo-(Valar)/HeruRasa, VardaValar1
Membership:
    New Full Member: Haleth-(V)
    Sweep completed.
    Keeping track of meeting members. Please say a greeting when you enter, preferably Aiya for the page search. Using !list to the bridge, and trying to be in several places at once.
    Varda having virus problems on her computer, came to the meeting using a different barely functional computer.
 Web:
    Forum: removed inactives from the Forum. If they want to become active, they can show up.
    WoW Page:
       New Screenshots 
       Converter for screenshots from tga to jpg so they can be sent in for the Screenshot page. Sent in on Feb 23 by Menelvagor.
Gaming:
    WoW:
       USA: Lothar server, Valar Guild WoW branch
         Gryphon Run in raid groups after tonight's meeting, so we can get together for future questing and "raid" groups. The Run starts one hour after the start pf tje meeting.
         Weekly "raid" quests on Fridays afterwards. A "raid" is a gathering of groups for the same purpose. Potential raids suggested.
Tolkien:
    Eonwe's topic: What would Tolkien think of Leet speak?
    Ar-Pharazon's topic: Udun, as when Gandalf called the Balrog of Moria a flame of Udun.
    Varda's topic: Middle-earth language use significance
After-meeting
    Includes much of the above Tolkien and a lot of WoW talk, mostly Europe WoW since US players went to the Gryphon Run.

Feb. 15, 2005
    WoW page:
       Screenshots:
          Report from Arathorn-(Valar):
            I added some new WoW pics to my web page. Some snaps of my new horse there too :-D

      A WoW channel tip. /leave channelname will let you leave an unwanted channel. /join channelname puts you in one.
      We type /join Valar for our non-guild, unofficial channel. That gives a number to type instead of retyping the channel name every time. Thus type, /4 message.

    Membership news:  Inactivity Sweep - removal of members
       The inactivity sweep list is complete for full members. If you've been listed as inactive, call on a Maia or Vala honor member for joining again. They can be located at a meeting or game. A time convenient for you can be chosen by email with Varda. Please take care of this before someone else takes your name, as this can be a hassle for active gamers' character names and recognition, and requires changes in the Encyc.
       The inactivity sweep list is complete for Tolkien-only members. If you've been listed as inactive, please email Varda if you wish to rejoin. You will need to turn in at least a small contribution to the Tolkien Encyclopedia to show interest and be added to the 2005 roll. These can be articles (as in notes on the books or more), poems, stories, jokes, book reviews, translations, or whatever else you think would make a good addition.
 
Feb. 14, 2005
    Welcome to the Valar Guild, Haleth-(V)! Haleth is 14, from Arizona, USA, in MST. She found emailed and tested on AIM with Varda. She plays WC3/TFT about once a week, sometimes more. She is currently working on a fanfic and, after completing, plans to send it to our Encyc. AIM is Druidfalconwolf. She tried to make an AIM name for Haleth but it didn't work. She is on AIM most evenings. She is currently most interested in the Sil and is re-reading it. She has read: H, LotR, Sil, UT, Lays of Beleriand, Shaping of Middle-earth, The Lost Roads and Other Writings, and Morgoth's Ring. Her favorite LotR character is Gandalf: wise, courageous, compassionate, and humble; he showed the way.

Feb. 13, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST. Bridge allows meeting interaction from AIM, Sigma Chat, IRC, and Battle.net.
    For AIM, come to chat room Valar Guild Meetingplace
    For Battle.net, come to East, Public Chat Valar
    For IRC,  irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
    For Sigma Chat, click this link:  http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005 and enter your primary guild name as your user name.

Transcript: team of Ar-Pharazon, Menelvagor, Varda
Attending:
    Aerandir V, AlatarValar2, ArPharazonV, Arwen V1, Dior-(V)/MyCantalopeH8tsU, Eonwe Valar (presiding), Gil-Galad-(V)/Xseanzee disco, GilraenV, Gwaihir,  isildur-V (in Bnet), FarmerMaggotV/Musics4Me2/The SirG3/bnetValar, Menelvagor Valar, Olwe-(V)/FallenGlory, Orodreth V, Ulmo-(Valar)/HeruRasa, VardaValar1  
(Type !list to the bridge for list of all those on all bridged areas)
Membership: 
    Dior - showed up for the before-meeting but did not say if he wished to remain in the guild, left before it started.
    Isildur - showed up from Bnet and said he wanted to remain in the guild, but had to go afk before the meeting got far. Reinstate, as this was before the Feb 15 deadline.
    Varda - slightly late for meeting and apologizes, missed seeing Dior and Isildur in my own transcript, therefore. Had to finish painting a walk-in closet.

Web:
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
      Humor Page:
       New link:
         http://valarguild.org/menelvagor/humortext.html#toughguide 
    Chat Bridge:
       Good for linking the meeting from Battlenet, IRC, SigmaChat. But Farmer Maggot says he can't bridge to MSN. Anyone else out there able to help him with the programming?

Gaming:
    WoW:
       USA: Lothar server, Valar Guild branch:  
          Next Sunday's Event, scheduled after the regular guild meeting: The Gryphon Run. We are gathering in StormWind, Cathedral of Light. Escort provided for those needing it. For the Gryphon Run, we will be guiding and escorting each other to increase everyone's number of gryphon flight paths so we can get together more easily for groups. Higher levels will help lower levels find and survive these runs, or at least reach them eventually. The travel alone adds experience to those who have not been in those areas before.
          Afterwards, we will have weekly guild "raids" Fridays at 4pm EST. Our raids are not PvP. Suggestions are instanced dungeons such as: The Redridge Quests, the Blackfathom Deeps quests. From StormWind, we can break into groups of five or more and go into Raid or Parties.
          Group leaders will be chosen randomly, although those who were leaders last time don't lead the next time. The leader types up a report. The minimum on the report is: Name/Class/StartingLevel of his group's members, Where Quested, Short Summary. If the writer is creative, he/she can type it up in Tolkien-style and put it on the Forum under WoW's RP section. Strategy and Tactics would be nice.
          Gil-galad came into WoW, intending Lothar server as Ereinion.
       Europe:
           Europe now has WoW, but cannot yet reach USA.
           Server Argent Dawn (role-playing) being used by Menelvagor.
           Server Thunderhorn being used by Elatan, a Hunter wth the Alliance. If he can get on USA, he expects to drop Europe.
           Ar-Pharazon's CD for WoW is on order. He says buying it in a store (Europe) would have been faster. 
Tolkien:
    Varda's topic: How did each of the Fellowship members "go the extra mile"?
       Fellowship members discussed: Gimli, the Conspiracy (including Sam, Merry, and Pippin), Gandalf (discussion skewed off into when "death" is death and for whom), Sam, (Tolkien talk continued after the meeting was adjourned).
    Orodreth's Random Fact: A river in Bulgaria is named Arda.

Feb. 12, 2005
Inactivity drop status (broom sweep):
Let Varda know if you have seen any of these folk in guild activities this year, or let them know to contact Varda or make a Forum post. Perhaps you can contact some of them on an instant messenger or game. They can rejoin, but someone else may have taken the name meanwhile.
Dropping for inactivity occurred early morning Feb. 15.
 
Full members (16 + MoH) in danger of dropping for inactivity are:

Akhoril  (Dropped. No response. AIM: PhoenixLord264)
Ancalagon (Dropped. No response. Usually played WC3/TFT)
Bain (Dropped. No email response, no AIM)
Beleg (Dropped. No email response, no AIM)
Bregalad/Quickbeam (Dropped. Little time now for online gaming)
Celegorm (AIM: CelegormV, MaritimeMan5 )
Cirdan (Dropped. No email response, no AIM)
Daeron (Dropped. No working emails listed, no AIM)
Dior ? (Feb 22 note: Dior came to the Feb 13, 2005 before-meeting very briefly in AIM as MyCantalopeH8tsU, said it had been a long time, did not say if he wanted to be in the guild and did not stay for the meeting. )(Dropped but could return without test because of the Feb 13 visit.)( No email response. AIM: ajmfalcon -old. Visited as MyCantalopeH8tsU)
Eol (Left. Emailed that rl too hectic to allow gaming: just married, looking for better home and job. May rejoin in future. His business page no longer on guild index Members' Personal Pages, but the link is still on 2004 Member Activity. No AIM)  
Finduilas with Nimrodel (Dropped. No response. Usually played EQ on non-guild server. No AIM.)
Idril (Dropped. No response. AIM: narthais, VIdrilV)
Isildur - Not dropped, although accidentally removed and being returned to the lists. (Feb 22 note: Isildur came to the meeting from Bnet on Feb 13, said he would like to remain. Put him back on the lists since this was before Feb 15.) (no email response, no AIM).
Khamul (Dropped again. No email response. AIM: KhamulV) 
Legolas (Dropped. No email response. No AIM)
Mahtan (Left. Emailed that rl too hectic to allow gaming. His business page no longer on guild index Members' Personal Pages, but the link is still on 2004 Member Activity.)
Ugluk (Dropped. Unreachable. No known activity in 2004)

Tolkien-only members (18) in danger of dropping for inactivity are:

Amanlathwen
Anarion (AIM: AnarionTV) .
Arien ( AIM: Idril1970  ArienTV) .
Bill Ferny .
Durin .
Elenna
Falco/Naz
Feanor
Finwe
Gandalf
Khaira .
LaurelinCaline ( AIM: shoutin utter)
Lynganell
Luinwen ( AIM: Mircrenarchangel)
Maglor
Shiremaiden
Tar-Palantir
TJ (found another email on Feb 15 and re-sent activity letter) 

Feb. 9, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Events:
            Time Changes Between the Third and Fourth Ages new
       Trolls:
          Updated Trolls article

Feb. 8, 2005
    Links page:
       Images: Three Tolkien artist pages:
          Roger Garland's
          John Howe's
          Ted Nasmith's
       Encyclopedias, Tolkien FAQ, Article Collections:
          Chronology of the Silmarillion
    Tolkien Encyc:
       Elves:
          Types of Elves - new article
       Events:
         Finally made the Events page workable and showed link in the Encyc. List of major ages with links to the already made articles pertaining to events of the time, leaving individuals to the rest of the Encyc. New articles of Events type should also be linked here.
         Under Events: started new pages for notables of the War of the Ring's Marriages, Births, Deaths.

Feb. 6, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace; IRC: irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild; Battle.net: Public Chat Valar; Sigma Chat: http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005
Transcript - team Ar-Pharazon, Varda
Transcript No frills, by Farmer Maggot-(V)
Before-meeting:
    Worked on setting up the bridge so we could hear each other in all four programs. MSN still under construction.
Members: 
    Sweep: removal of apparently disinterested members will be finishing up by the end of this week. They can return with a new test and info update. It's easiest and with a better chance of keeping your name if you email Varda this week while you are still an official member.
    Gwaihir came to the meeting but felt too ill to sit up at the computer.
    Menelvagor cancelled DAoC so he could afford WoW.
    Orodreth's laptop is dying. He's having a new computer made, hopes it will be running in March.
Web:
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
        Story section:
          Midnight Musings by Elwing-(V)
        Humor section:
          Menelvagor now has taken over the Humor pages, has them operating, and built a splash page for the main link. He also included the "You know you're in Valar when..." page on it.
          New link for the next part after Mordor and Catapult suggestion, found by Ar-Pharazon. Caution, bad language.
        Links?: Music: Far over the Misty Mountains
    Name Page:
        Helpers requested for research. Email Varda.
    Images
       Guild web weavers are checking out other sites to store images, as we were about to wipe out our valarguild.org server's space with them.
Gaming:
    MeO: Middle-earth Online:
       MeO official site revamped. 
       This summer is the current target date for MeO to start.
       Guild's MeO rp discussed. Still a good place to join if you want to be a Mirkwood Elf. We are soon heading for Erebor, a good place to join as a Dwarf. You can meet us on the road outside Erebor also.
    WoW: World of WarCraft:
       Valar Guild branch is on the Lothar server in full operation, with members of many levels. One or more are on almost any time of day or night. We can group and mail help.
       Tabard in use. Looks good, Eonwe! Buying a tabard requires one gold per character, unless bought in an area where your character has Honored status and gets a discount. Ask a guard for the guildmaster npc's location. The tabard npc stands next to the guildmaster npc.
       Type /who valar to see who is on in the Valar Guild if you are not in it yet. If you are already a Valar Guild Full Member, request an invitation. You might have to prove you're a guild member with an email from your known email address. If you can't find anyone who can help, come to a meeting and an officer will enter and help you.
       Type /join Valar to join our side channel. This is a good way to talk to our guild-friends and those members who keep a presence there. 
       Patch:
            Paladin's attack hit expected to be nerfed tomorrow. Repairs of some messed up parts.
       WoW Valar Guild page:
          Organization is now:
            Maglor (originator) handles Flash.
            Menelvagor helps with text updates.
            Arathorn handles screen shots for now.

Feb. 2, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia updates:
       Stories:
          Midnight Musings, by Elwing-(V)
       Humor:
          Menelvagor-(Valar) is now handling the pages for Tolkien humor both text and illustrated, including humor links currently on the text page.
    "You know you're in Valar when... joke page is also now being handled by Menelvagor. Varda (me), who made and maintained the pages before, thank him deeply for taking these off my hands. Feel free to email items for those pages to Menelvagor, or to your all-around contact person for everything, Varda, to have them included.

Jan. 30, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST. AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace. Battle.net: Public Chat Valar. IRC: connect to irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild
Transcript : team Ar-Pharazon and Varda
Attending: 17/128 full members, 0/25 Tolkien-onlies, 1 guest
    Members: Alatar, Ar-Pharazon, Arwen, Caranthir/Morifinwe, Eonwe, Fladrif, Gil-galad/Xseanzeedisco, Gilraen, Grimbold, Lungorthin/sauronjag, FarmerMaggot/BnetValar/TheSirG3, Menelvagor, Orodreth, Scatha/STEvilaim, Thror/Chuginchub, Ulmo/HeruRasa, Varda (presiding)
    Guest: DwarfKing20 (Thror's friend, wants to join)
Members:
    Orodreth is hoping to get cable, as DSL did not work out.
Web:
    Alatar suggested trying this image hosting site:
http://www.imagezilla.com/
    Alatar also plans to let us try out a new chat program for the next meeting. We can meet in AIM and work our way over there.
Here's the free version we are trying out before the guild decides whether or not to go for the paid version. Alatar has offered to pay it. Some of us tried it at today's meeting:
http://client0.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=90005
http://www.sigmachat.com/login.html
Gaming:
    WoW event: Unlocking of the Tabard!
        The tabard is now unlocked and ready for any of the guild. A tabard is less than the usual 1 gold price if you go to a city where you have honored status.
Tolkien:
    Balrogs.

Jan. 29, 2005
    World of WarCraft Charter - draft posted. Members have one week to comment before it is made our official document.

Jan. 26, 2005
    Corrected bad News links to transcripts
    Summary for very active Jan 16 meeting now up, links now on transcript.
    Transcript for Jan 23 now has more links.
    Activity 2005 page should show as updated from meetings, emails.

Jan. 25, 2005
    World of WarCraft:
       Arathorn-(Valar) set up a cool page for Valar Guild WoW Screenshots. This page should connect to Maglor's WoW page for the guild in the future when Maglor is back in contact.

Jan. 23, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST. AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace. Battle.net: Public Chat Valar. IRC: connect to irc.freenode.net, join channel #valarguild 
Transcript: team Ar-Pharazon-(V), Menelvagor-(Valar), Varda-(Valar)
Real time Log by Farmer Maggot's AIM Bridge
    AIM Bridge:
    Farmer Maggot tested his new AIM Bridge with Ar-Pharazon's help. The bridge allows a person to hear and speak to the main group in AIM as if he were present, printing everything said both ways in all parts of the bridge.  It worked for Ar-Pharazon's WarCraft3 character and Farmer's IRC sig. Farmer is now working on a bridge for MSN, which is more complicated. More testers would be welcomed for each section. 
    From Battle.net it looks like: bnetValar: Ar-Pharazon-V@Azeroth (Bnet): well?
    From IRC it looks like: bnetValar: SirG3 (IRC): hey you guys :-)
Membership:
  Attending: (18 of 128)
    AIM: Aerandir/mordacil, Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon/Ar-Pharazon-V@Azeroth, Arwen, Elros/LouieKisKowsKi, Eonwe, Finarfin, Gil-galad/Xseanzeedisco, Gilraen, Grimbold, Gwaihir, Lungorthin/sauronjag, FarmerMaggot/TheSirG3/SirG3/bnetValar, Menelvagor, Olwe/FallenGlory, Thror/ChuginChub, Ulmo/HeruRasa, Varda (presiding)
    Battle.net Public Chat Valar: Ar-Pharazon-V@Azeroth. Farmer Maggot's bnetValar.
    IRC: Farmer Maggot as SirG3.
Web:
    Transcript: Menelvagor added times in EST.
    WoW screenshots. Arathorn rigged a place for members to upload WoW screenshots. Maglor can link to them from there for the WoW page.
    WoW Christmas screenshots by Arathorn.
    WoW Beta screenshots by Arathorn
Gaming:   
    Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction:
        D2X Ladder 2 continues. Please email your character's information to Varda to show participation and so others know how to look for you. 
    World of WarCraft MMORPG: 
       Guild branch officially formed. Members are being invited and given their usual guild ranks. 
       Leader: Eonwe-(Valar) is guild branch leader. In WoW, he is Auros, a human paladin. He also operates Kalasul, the guild money bank. Send contributions for the guild to Kalasul. The bank has so far been used to buy the guild charter signing-sheet and to unlock the guild tabard. If enough funds are available, they may be used to help buy guild tabards for individuals.
       Charter: Eonwe wrote up the charter but it was lost. He is re-writing it.
       Tabard: We have enough gold to unlock the tabard design for the guild.
        Some argument came up about the design, but it appears we will go with the original using the Flame Imperishable in gold in the center, darkish sky-blue for Manwe as the background, and a gold border probably the one with multiple open circles.
        One gold is needed for each individual tabard and is generally available from a tabard vendor next to the guild-master npc in major cities.
        The tabard is suggested to be for your primary character and might be given aid from our small guild treasury if needed. (If you have more than the guild treasury does, such as Annatar, consider donating a silver or more as if it were a hobbit birthday! Friends may contribute in behalf of the tabard recipient.) Alts might get tabards after the main is equipped, but probably not from guild funds. A ceremony for the presentation of the primary character's guild tabard may be conducted by Auros (Eonwe). Other members may come to cheer the member on and show him/her honor. Such ceremonies are most likely just after guild meetings when most of us are together, but can be set for another time.
        Guild character names. Make your guild characters of some variant of your primary guild name for recognition and education of other members. If you need help, email Varda. Name plus race or profession is sometimes used, as is adding a v at the end (although it will be a small letter against the last letter of the name).
       Guild channel: We have a guild channel. Type /guild to join it the first time, and it will be automatic thereafter.
       Valar channel: We continue to have Valar channel. This is helpful for members who haven't had their characters added to the guild yet and are trying to find others. It is also good for alts that aren't in the guild. Certain very good guild-friends join as well, who haven't finished the LotR, such as Eonwe's brother, Fellene/Beline, known as Dracxil in D2X, who often groups with members and is polite as well as funny.
Tolkien:
     
After-meeting:
    Group broke into D2X and WoW.

Jan. 22, 2005
    I'm back. :)  Now wading through the mass of email.
        Very good news, that Embla-(TV) is alive and well. An excerpt from her email is listed for the day sent, Jan 20.
        Farmer Maggot has coded a new AIM Bridge to help people attend meetings from AIM, IRC, and Bnet's Valar and hear each other. See Jan 17.

Jan. 20, 2005
    Letter from Embla-(TV), excerpt:

Jan. 17, 2005
    New AIM Bridge program: Letter from Farmer Maggot-(V):

Jan. 16, 2005 Sunday
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST, AIM Valar Guild Meetingplace
Transcript team Ar-Pharazon and Varda
Members:  
    Gilraen and Gwaihir set their wedding date: August 19th, 2006!
    Finarfin, Happy Birthday!
    Varda will be out of town from tomorrow through possibly next Monday. Backlog will be taken care of after returning, so it's ok to send email. If spam fills my three email boxes (how dare it!), re-send again after I'm home. Forum is also good.
    The sweep (as in a broom removing dust-bunnies) will continue to the end of January, so please email Varda soon. Anyone not known to be interested in remaining will be dropped and need to re-test. Such names will be up for grabs by new recruits.
Attending: (21)
    Members: Aerandir, Alatar, Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Arwen, Eonwe, Finarfin, Fladrif, Galdor, Gilraen, Gwaihir, FarmerMaggot/FarmerMaggotV/TheSirG3, Menelvagor, Finarfin, Olwe/FallenGlory, Orodreth, Thorondor, Thranduil, Thror/ChuginChub, Ulmo/HeruRasa, Varda (presiding) 
    Guest: the loser emu (Aerandir's friend, observing)
Web:  
    Chat program for the guild. Generous offer by Alatar-(Valar) 
    Spyware discussion, suggestions, warning about Internet Explorer
    Tolkien Encyclopedia: 
      New section made just for Sauron.
      Two new articles by Thorondor-(Valar)! :
       Heights of the Taller Numenoreans and Elves
       Sauron's Ability to Re-form
Gaming: 
    WoW:
    The Valar Guild on World of WarCraft is now formed! Lothar server. The charter has been signed and turned in. We have enough gold to unlock the tabard, so it will soon be available to members. Check the Forum for more news.
    Welcome, Thranduil, to the WoW bunch.  :)  He bought the game the same day the guild formed. Nice timing!
Tolkien: 
    Death of Humphrey Carpenter at 58. Writer of fine books concerning Tolkien and his world, excellent references.
    Aerandir-(V)'s topic: Ring of Barahir

Jan. 15, 2005
    Tolkien Encyclopedia:
       Special Papers, Elves, Men:
          Heights of the Taller Numenoreans and Elves by Thorondor-(Valar)
       Maiar: 
          "Sauron's Ability to Re-form", by Thorondor-(Valar)
       Slight changes to the starting pages for the Encyc. Dropped non-working Search Engine link for now. Started in on the Maiar page.

Jan. 13, 2005
    Letter from Dreamlord-(TV) excerpt: Humphrey Carter:

    Letter from Alatar-(Valar): WoW:

Jan. 9, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST, AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace. Invite yourself or ask VardaValar1 or Eonwe Valar for an invitation.
Transcript  Transcript team: Ar-Pharazon, FarmerMaggot, Menelvagor, Varda
Attending  (14 of 128)
    Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, CaranthirV/Morifinwe/ElCapitan Chobo, Eonwe, ElladanV, Elros/louiekiskowski, Fladrif, Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, Grimbold, Lungorthin/sauronjag, Farmer Maggot/TheSirG3, Menelvagor, Ulmo/HeruRasa, Varda (presiding) mirkwood hunter
    Members had difficulty entering, possible netsplit. The chat would show a member leaving but not entering, and the member would only see an error message. They could speak in a single window, so some relay was done. Some could come in with one name, but not other names.
Membership:
    Letters sent today those who may be about to be dropped due to apparent lack of interest, called a "sweep". Details at the bottom of page for full member Activity 2005. Results so far:

Full Members:
Letters sent to:  (green: replied remaining in guild;  black: went through awaiting reply;  red: non-working email)
Akhoril
Ancalagon
Angrod
Aragorn
Bain
Beleg
Bregalad aka Quickbeam
Celegorm
Cirdan 
Daeron (no Forum, no AIM available)
Dior
Eol
Eru
Faramir
Feanor
Finduilas
Frodo
Gerontius
Gildor  (tried Forum pm Jan 10, email to ex-Elros. No AIM available)
Gimli
Glorfindel
Gorhendad (no Forum, no AIM available)
Halbarad
Haldir
Idril
Isildur
Khamul
Legolas
Lenwe
Luthien
Maedhros (no Forum)
Mahtan (no Forum or AIM available)
Meneldil
Orome  (tried Forum pm Jan 6, 10. No AIM available)
SamWise
Saruman
Shagrat
Thingol
Thorin
TomBombadil (no Forum or AIM available)
Ulfang

No direct email available, no known AIM, not on Forum:
Rog
Ugluk

Replies from the still-interested:
Eomer-(V) Jan 10 email
Eru-(Valar) Jan 9  email
Faramir-(V) Jan 9 email
Halbarad-(V) Jan 9 email
Luthien-(V) Jan 10 email
Thingol-(V) Jan 9 email
Ulfang-(V) Jan 9 email

Gildor - was sent Jan 10, 2005
Orome - was sent Jan 6, 10, 2005

AIM:
LuthienV

Tolkien-only Valar Members:
Emailed all Jan 2005 around noon EST, wanting updates as well as whether or not they are still with us.
Results so far:
Email not working:
Amanlathwen-(TV) "User unknown"
Gandalf-(TV) "disabled or discontinued"
Khaira-(TV) "Failed permanently"
Manik-(TV) "mailbox unavailable"
TJ-(TV) "Over quota"
Responded as still interested: 
He that Walks Unseen-(TV)  Jan 9, 2005
Kanidhil-(TV) Jan 9, 2005
Indis-(TV) Jan 10, 2005

Posted to Forum and Discussion Board for Full and Tolkien-only members.

Web:
    Tolkien Encyclopedia;
      This year the Encyc article section is under rebuild so that each item has its own page locatable by subject and eventually by letter. A good part of this has already started. Individual Credit pages are barely begun.
       The story and poetry pages were rebuilt in 2004, but need illustrations, preferably original art by members, which can include photo manips where we don't intrude on copyrights. Credit pages are completed; email Varda to make corrections or additions. Much of this was done under the influence of midnight oil fumes.
      Even if the subject already has ten good entries, if you want to make a new one, go ahead. Sometimes it makes better sense to a reader from a different perspective.
      The Art page will also be rebuilt and has been passed from Amillo/Elatan to Varda (me). If any of you like working with such pages, please let me know as I am already snowed under with many pages and have trouble giving it proper attention.

Gaming:
    WoW:
       Eonwe is branch leader. His WoW player name is Auros, his guild bank name is Kalasul.
       Lothar is the server name.
       If you're in World of WarCraft, Lothar server, type /join Valar to give yourself the Valar channel. Good even if you are not yet signed up for the guild, for which we get a guild channel. Use /chatwho Valar to see who else is in the channel.

Jan. 4, 2004
    Rest of Palantiri discussion added to Transcript for Jan 2 meeting. Thanks, Ar-Pharazon! It also included Grimbold's arrival for the meeting.

Jan. 2, 2005
Sunday Meeting 5pm EST AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace 
Transcript: team this week is Ar-Pharazon and Varda.
    Showing up for the AIM meeting long enough to be on the attendance list assures your listing on the Year 2005 Members roll. A  Member can still email until the end of January to keep his name active for 2005, after which re-testing is needed and your name is in jeopardy if a new recruit requests it. Also, feel free to update your information that we have on our web pages by email.
    AIM also helps find friends to play with in our favorite games for after the meeting, and/or chat Tolkien. We have members playing nearly everything, even if they haven't mentioned it on the Games page. Most of us play several games and can find out which to jump into from AIM. 

Before-meeting:
    Collected Tolkien topics 
Membership (128 current members)
    New full member: Imrahil-(V). Rejoined. He was the Amras previous to the current one. Not present at meeting.
    New Tolkien members: Maeglin-(TV) and Indis-(TV). Not present at meeting.
    Farmer Maggot's new computer finally lets him play D2X again. Starting new accounts. FarmerMaggot-V (ladder).
    Ulmo is coming over from EQ to WoW, with his son, Gothmog.
    Earendil has moved from EQ to WoW to the Lothar guild server. Using names Ardamire, Gelina. Not present at meeting.
  Attending: (15 of 128 full members)
    Aerandir, Arathorn, Ar-Pharazon, Caranthir/Morifinwe, Elladan/wolverinepcrew, Eonwe, Finarfin, Gil-galad/Xseanzee disco, Grimbold/HearNoEvil80, Lungorthin/sauronjag, FarmerMaggot/TheSirG3, Menelvagor, Olwe/FallenGlory, Ulmo/HeruRasa, Varda (presiding)
Web:
    Domain opening page re-done for ease of most-used topics.
    Forum: New section for WoW trading, use guild password to enter.
    Games page: problem was with database. Switched back to using tables.
Gaming:
    WC3/TFT:
     Considering re-start of Clan Vala branch of Valar Guild. Elladan offers hope.
    WoW:
       Guild funds: Eonwe's Kalasul is the money bank for guild on WoW/Lothar. Night Elf priest. Use WoW mail to make donations. If sent to Eonwe's Auros, label that it is for the guild treasury.
          Treasury report: 2 gold, 40 silver, 0 copper.
          Uses of guild funds:
             1: Bought charter for 10 silver. Yay us!
             2: Collecting gold to open tabard. 10 total needed
             3. Collecting gold to help characters buy a tabard. Each needs 1 gold.
             4. If a guild house is offered in the future, we can use the bank to help buy it.
             5. Decided not to subsidize professions. We will help in the usual friendly Valar manner and use the new Forum WoW trading post.
Tolkien:
    Army of the Dead. Ar-Pharazon's topic: In the books, Aragorn dismissed the Army of the Dead after they took the Corsair ships at Pelargir. Why didn't he keep them in his service as he did in the movie, to r-take Minas Tirith or even go after Barad-dur?
    Palantiri. Menelvagor's topic: Which of the palantiri Aragorn did, or nearly did, have access to.