Valar Guild

March 3, 2019 Sunday Meeting

5:00 P.M. Eastern time (-5 GMT)

Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place

Back to News
Transcript work by Varda.

Attending (and spoke): (7)
    Discord: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Marigold, Menelvagor, Varda (presiding)
    LotRO: Dis, Varda

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news
Web
    News and News Archive pages
Gaming:
    General reports
    Tolkien started, jumping off of a gaming anecdote.
Tolkien:
    Topic: Started spontaneously during gaming, concerning the first part of the Silmarillion.
After-meeting:
    Flashgaming Reviews by Ar-Pharazon.
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Before-meeting
(times are in Central from Varda's Discord, so add one hour for Eastern. Example: 4pm Central in the transcript is 5pm Eastern)

Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 3:40 PM
Aiya to all here, will be afk a bit, should be back shortly within the meeting.
VardaToday at 3:40 PM
Aiya Phar : )
MarigoldToday at 3:45 PM
Aiya, I'll be present, but lurking today :smiley:
VardaToday at 3:46 PM
Good to see you!
Lurkers welcome. Feel free to say something when you like. : )
MenelvagorToday at 3:56 PM
Hi :smiley:
VardaToday at 3:56 PM
Menel! Aiya!
MenelvagorToday at 3:57 PM
Been a while again :stuck_out_tongue:
VardaToday at 3:57 PM
Any time you can come is a good time.
I see you over there on the right side sometimes. Maybe I should say howdy more.
MenelvagorToday at 3:58 PM
I hardly ever check Discord tbh :frowning: Tis that lately it stopped functioning that I was looking into it :stuck_out_tongue:
VardaToday at 3:59 PM
Seems ok now?
MenelvagorToday at 3:59 PM
Plus I am home rather early today.
VardaToday at 3:59 PM
Welcome home. : )
MenelvagorToday at 3:59 PM
Yeah, just needed to shut down the process in task manager and restart.
Discord hadn't fully shut down when exited, and that was interfering with being opened again.
VardaToday at 3:59 PM
Amazing how much restarts of various kinds help so many things unsnarl.
That could move into philosophy, hah.
MenelvagorToday at 4:00 PM
"Have you tried turning it off and on again?" :smile:
VardaToday at 4:00 PM
Just make that a macro.
MenelvagorToday at 4:00 PM
Although this time I had to dig a little deeper than just turn it off and on again.
VardaToday at 4:00 PM
Sounds like.
MenelvagorToday at 4:02 PM
But regardless, it works again, so yay.
I will head off to bed just as early though, so I'll be here for the start of the meeting only I;m afraid.
VardaToday at 4:02 PM
Hey, that's great! Puts you ahead of lots of us!
MenelvagorToday at 4:02 PM
True that :smiley:
That is, if meetings still start at 23:00 GMT+1? :stuck_out_tongue:
VardaToday at 4:03 PM
Should be starting now, aye.
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Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
Membership:
Anyone here feel free to say Irmo.
Irmo
MenelvagorToday at 4:04 PM
Eru? :smile:
VardaToday at 4:05 PM
That'll work too.
Phar will be back shortly, Marigold is sort of lurking. : )
MenelvagorToday at 4:05 PM
Arien just logged in I think...
or I am seeing ghosts.
VardaToday at 4:06 PM
Lots of folks just keeping quiet on the side. : )
I see her too, so we 're both seeing ghosts!
Dis is in LotRO, can't use Discord, so hello from there.
ArienVToday at 4:07 PM
aiyha you aren t but am I :D?
VardaToday at 4:07 PM
Only if you see yourself?
ArienVToday at 4:08 PM
there is a face i havent seen for a long time *aiya a milliion times Menel :smiley:
VardaToday at 4:08 PM
[Kinship] Frejah: tell all hiya
(that was Dis)
Menel has his Discord working again, yay!
MenelvagorToday at 4:09 PM
Aiya Arien! :smiley:
Happy to see you're still around :smiley:
ArienVToday at 4:09 PM
oh aye :smiley: definitely
VardaToday at 4:10 PM
She's here regularly, in good news. Feel free to check our website for transcripts when Discord lets you down.
http://www.valarguild.org/
Valar Guild
Any other membership news? Like how Menel's doing or other?
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:12 PM
Heya all.
VardaToday at 4:12 PM
Eonwe! Aiya!
A good night we're having. : )
Any other membership news?
ArienVToday at 4:14 PM
Aiya Eonwe :smiley: I ve got a week holiday :smiley:
VardaToday at 4:14 PM
Wow!
Hope you get to do some gaming in there. : )
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:16 PM
Congrats :}
VardaToday at 4:16 PM

Web news:
The News page has been given spring cleaning for March, so all posts earlier than March are now in the News Archives.
That seems to mess with such links as "top" for top of the page, which should now be good again back to 2017.
Eonwe has been keeping up the Games Site despite a hectic schedule. Thank you!
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Gaming:
Eonwe, will you be able to give the general Gaming report today?
Eonwe ValarToday at 4:20 PM
Sure.

Lord of the Rings Online:
Game servers will be down Monday, March 4th from 8:00am to 12:00pm Eastern for Update 23.3.3.
[Tuesday: Update 23.3.2.]
Game and web servers will be down Wednesday, March 6th from 2:00am to 12:00pm Eastern for maintenance.

World of Warcraft:
Now available: Battle for Dazar'alor LFR wing 3.
Check out the Inside the Art of WoW VoD.
See the recent hotfixes.
For the Art VoD: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/22882887/inside-the-art-of-wow-watch-the-vod
    World of Warcraft
    Inside the Art of WoW: Watch the VoD - WoW

Heroes of the Storm:
A balance patch came out this week.
Hearthstone:
Blizzard invites you to Light It Up in the Year of the Dragon.
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/blog/22912682/light-it-up-in-the-year-of-the-dragon
    Light It Up in the Year of the Dragon

That's it for Gaming News on my end.

Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:24 PM
Aiya Menel, Arien, Marigold, Eonwe, Dis.. anyone else?
VardaToday at 4:24 PM
Thank you, Eonwe : )
Phar is here too. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:24 PM

For WoW, 8.1.5 has been announced for march 12 :smiley:
VardaToday at 4:25 PM
Thanks for the addition. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:25 PM
(it includes the new allied races)
VardaToday at 4:26 PM
There are new ones?
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:26 PM
Kul Tiran and Zandalari.
Me, I'm so far behind on the war campaign that I don't even have the dark iron dwarves yet... but lots of people have been waiting for these.
But feel free to continue :smiley:
VardaToday at 4:28 PM
As hard as you play, a lot of others are probably behind too. Something to look forward to.

In LotRO, we also have Hobnangians this weekend for those that enjoy the mini-game.
Folks playing in LotRO this past week, in kin:

Landroval:
Bregalad
Fangorn
Gil-galad
Lenwe
Mirabella
Nar
Varda

Ithil:
Arien
Dis
Falco
Fangorn
Varda

Anor:
Arien
Fangorn
Varda

In StarCraft 2:

Eowyn
Faramir
Fangorn

Probably some of you. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:29 PM
Yep. Finished the war chest :smiley:
VardaToday at 4:29 PM
Grats!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:29 PM
Thanks :smiley:
VardaToday at 4:30 PM
WoW players for the week: my guess is Arien ,Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe?
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:30 PM
Yep.
Well. For my part anyway.
VardaToday at 4:31 PM
Thanks : )
Any other gaming news? Eve? Other?
Ioreth is playing WoW right now.
MenelvagorToday at 4:31 PM
Star Wars :smiley:
VardaToday at 4:31 PM
Nice
MenelvagorToday at 4:32 PM
I've been somewhat active again past week or so on Darth Malgus.
ArienVToday at 4:32 PM
and for mine :smiley:
MenelvagorToday at 4:32 PM
Which, I believe, is mostly European.
ArienVToday at 4:32 PM
thats SWoTR?
cool :smiley:
MenelvagorToday at 4:32 PM
SWToR, aye.
VardaToday at 4:33 PM
Plenty of Europeans in this channel. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:33 PM
...Yeah, I tried to decipher that acronym and felt something was off :wink:

MenelvagorToday at 4:33 PM
I'm currently mainly on Anca'la'gon, a Dark Side Jedi Sage grin
VardaToday at 4:34 PM
Now there's a name!
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:34 PM
You can't fool us with those apostrophes.
MenelvagorToday at 4:34 PM
Was meant to be obvious. :smile:
VardaToday at 4:35 PM
Much amusement. : )
MenelvagorToday at 4:35 PM
I am sure the significance was not lost on my Tolkienite guildie :smile:
Her legacy name is Noldor... and I tried striking up a conversation about the Silmarillion, only to find I had gone completely rusty.
So, rereading that one :smile:
VardaToday at 4:36 PM
Another reason to hang out here! Polish time.
What point have you reached in your re-read?
(not exact, just around)
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:36 PM
What was the last word you read? :wink:
MenelvagorToday at 4:37 PM
Chapter 2, Of Aulë and Yavanna.
Well, that, Pharzie.
VardaToday at 4:37 PM
A good one. : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:37 PM
Trees and dwarves, always fun.
VardaToday at 4:37 PM
Lots of stuff coming back to you?
MenelvagorToday at 4:38 PM
Was good to read the valaquenta again. Had completely forgotten Mandos' true name is Namó
VardaToday at 4:40 PM
Have to wonder about the etymology on that one. Something like JRRT pulled for Shelob maybe? I should look that up sometime.
(she-spider). He said that was not one of his greatest names.
MenelvagorToday at 4:40 PM
haha.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:40 PM
Well at least it's obvious :smiley:
MenelvagorToday at 4:41 PM
Namo is kinda obvious as well though.
VardaToday at 4:41 PM
Guess it's easy to remember when one of your good friends had the name. Helped a lot remembering those names from the Silmarillion to have this guild.
I should probably say we've shifted to Tolkien retroactively. : )
so, officially:
Tolkien:
Dis suggested "travel", which might be the entire Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.
And we have Menel with the early Sil and names.
MenelvagorToday at 4:42 PM
And half the Silmarillion :smiley:
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:42 PM
"And look, more lembas bread."
VardaToday at 4:42 PM
hah
MenelvagorToday at 4:43 PM
I mean, the Noldor traveled a pretty neat end as well.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:43 PM
A lot of elves did, as I recall.
VardaToday at 4:43 PM
Tough walking sometimes, such as crossing the Helcaraxe ice.
MenelvagorToday at 4:43 PM
Especially if you count the trek over the Helcaraxë after Feanor burned the remaining Teleri ships.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:43 PM
The Noldor, though, went "there and back again"
MenelvagorToday at 4:44 PM
Turin got around.
VardaToday at 4:44 PM
Some of them went to the Teleri and back again. Probably a good move.
MenelvagorToday at 4:44 PM
As did Tuor.
VardaToday at 4:44 PM
and Beleg
Just chasing after Turin could wear an elf down.
MenelvagorToday at 4:44 PM
Refresh my memory, wasn't Beleg an elf though?
VardaToday at 4:45 PM
Beleg was an elf, yes.
MenelvagorToday at 4:45 PM
Befriended Turin at some point or another?
VardaToday at 4:45 PM
Early on, yes.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:45 PM
Earendil did some traveling.
VardaToday at 4:45 PM
Got killed by him while rescuing him.
Accident, but ouch.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:45 PM
With friends like Turin, who needs enemies?
MenelvagorToday at 4:45 PM
And one of the chief hunters of darnit, whatshisname, grey cloak, married Meliàn the Maia.
VardaToday at 4:46 PM
Angered the sword! The only talking sword I can think of in JRRT's work.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:46 PM
Thrandu- no, wait...
VardaToday at 4:46 PM
hehehe
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:46 PM
Thingol, that's it.
VardaToday at 4:46 PM
Thingol
MenelvagorToday at 4:46 PM
Turin Turambar a turun ambartanen though,
And all who traveled with Turin got caught up in his doom.
VardaToday at 4:47 PM
That would be Morgoth's fault, really. But Turin added his own hubris in there to make it worse.
and rushing in when he should not.
Without Morgoth, it would not have turned out so badly, though.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:47 PM
Did Morgoth have an effect on his personality, or merely mold it a bit through his experiences?
Or was it outside his work but he made use of it?
MenelvagorToday at 4:48 PM
Morgoth cursed his father if I recall correctly.
VardaToday at 4:48 PM
Changing his life experience was part of it. The curse was on all of Hurin's children too.
MenelvagorToday at 4:48 PM
Because he greatly feared those human "princes"
VardaToday at 4:48 PM
So how much was curse, how much was not? Hard to tell.
He was trying to break Hurin by having him watch.
MenelvagorToday at 4:49 PM
Well, part of it was Morgoth's general corruptive influence on Eru's gifts for mankind.
VardaToday at 4:49 PM
His influence was even in the soil, "Morgoth's Ring".
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:50 PM
Morgoth, the gift that keeps on giving.
VardaToday at 4:50 PM
Since humanity started out under Morgoth in the east, they had a rough beginning.
heh
MenelvagorToday at 4:52 PM
Men traveled far as a race too... from beyond Cuivienen in the east, to the shores of Valinor (and very few beyond, such as Earendil the blessed, and back to Mordor.
VardaToday at 4:52 PM
And Earendil is still up there, driving the morning star.
MenelvagorToday at 4:52 PM
And while mankind has been flawed at many points during its travels through the ages, there were always those who kept true to the early teachings of the Elves.
VardaToday at 4:53 PM
They are the ones not tied to Arda, with freedom of choice.
The elves as they became ancient began to see the freedom the humans had.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:53 PM
Some of the humans didn't want to see it...
MenelvagorToday at 4:54 PM
Aye, and even though their lifespans were greatly reduced after the akallabeth, they still lived far longer than lesser men.
VardaToday at 4:54 PM
Numenoreans, aye.
MenelvagorToday at 4:54 PM
Like a certain person who shall remain unnamed, Ar-Pharazon-V? :smile:
VardaToday at 4:54 PM
That's unnamed? : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:55 PM
Hmm, it does sound familiar...
VardaToday at 4:55 PM
Sauron was talking in his ear an awful lot. He seemed to know so much and be right quite often. Surely he meant well, right?
Try not to cough too hard.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:56 PM
Wasn't that kinda similar to Gandalf's job too? :wink:
VardaToday at 4:56 PM
It was!
MenelvagorToday at 4:57 PM
Yeah, a good thing is to trust someone who was once called Gorthaur the Cruel. :smile:
VardaToday at 4:57 PM
Giver of Gifts
Annatar
Not all gifts are good.
MenelvagorToday at 4:57 PM
Let's not forget that Olorin was the wisest of all Maia though.
Some gifts are poisonous.
VardaToday at 4:58 PM
He served Pity/Compassion as one of his Vala.
Sauron never did.
Intelligence without compassion misses out on wisdom.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 4:59 PM
That should've given it away, really.
VardaToday at 4:59 PM
A good clue. : )
MenelvagorToday at 4:59 PM
There's one who traveled the width of Middle Earth many times over...
Mithrandir.
VardaToday at 5:00 PM
I wonder how far East he went?
Did he ever go to Far Harad? Rhun? At least in human form?
MenelvagorToday at 5:00 PM
I think he never went past Mordor though...
Maybe to the dwarven halls in the east...
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:01 PM
Saruman and the two blues went east, as I recall, but no mention of Gandalf going with them.
VardaToday at 5:02 PM
Aye
MenelvagorToday at 5:03 PM
And what became of the Ithrin Luin after they past into the east, none can say.
VardaToday at 5:03 PM
The best clue we have says they formed cults in the East.
Were those cults vs Sauron? Did they argue with each other on their methods?
MenelvagorToday at 5:04 PM
Or were they corrupted by Sauron, and was one or more of them behind the attacks against Erebor and the Greenwood by the Eastern Men.
VardaToday at 5:05 PM
Ouch.
Already influenced by Saruman, maybe given wrong info by Sauron?
MenelvagorToday at 5:05 PM
Little is told of those battles, but it is certain that even that far north the battle for the final domination of MIddle Earth raged.
ArienVToday at 5:05 PM
possible i think .. it depends on how much they were able to resist the corruption and whether Morgoth had a hand in that or no]
I d say it would be harder to resist a Valar then a Maia
MenelvagorToday at 5:06 PM
I don't believe they were influenced by Saruman at that point, as he was still Fair and the leader of their order.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:06 PM
I'd like to think the blues formed cults against Sauron and prevented his easterling armies from being much larger.
ArienVToday at 5:06 PM
and whether they actually got support for a vala - friendly case :)]
VardaToday at 5:06 PM
The Ithryn Luin had a good part of their power and memory removed. Sauron had his full memory, even with part of his power trapped in the One Ring.
MenelvagorToday at 5:07 PM
And it was only after Sauron's return that Saruman was corrupted.
VardaToday at 5:07 PM
Saruman neatly moved Alatar and Pallando from the area of the One Ring. Here, have another mission far away!
MenelvagorToday at 5:08 PM
Plus, Morgoth is trapped beyond the doors of midnight, beyond Eä. He cannot influence events there.
VardaToday at 5:08 PM
Saruman wanted to make his own rings, as master of Ring-lore, and wanted the One Ring for a long time. He worked hard to find it.
MenelvagorToday at 5:08 PM
But we must not forget that Sauron was Morgoth's chief ally, from the beginning.
VardaToday at 5:08 PM
His right hand Maia.
MenelvagorToday at 5:09 PM
Not even Shelob's mother (whatshername) was an older ally.
Not that that alliance lasted. :stuck_out_tongue:
VardaToday at 5:09 PM
Ungoliant. (Trivia is Us)
She wanted all the jewels, greedy gal. Even the Silmarils.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:09 PM
You'll read about her soon enough :wink:
MenelvagorToday at 5:10 PM
I know, she wreathed Morgoth in shadows so he could stab Telperion and darnit, forgot again, helped him escape, and then after Morgoth's Balrogs saved him from her, after some time devoured herself in her hunger.
VardaToday at 5:11 PM
Unfortunately she left offspring first.
MenelvagorToday at 5:11 PM
Laurelin.
But it is indicated she had offspring long before she met Melkor.
And it is also indicated that Shelob was already one of them.
VardaToday at 5:12 PM
We know Shelob was one. Stated in the books.
And she apparently crossed with Mirkwood spiders, which explains their intelligence.

We have reached the hour, run past it a quarter hour, and so it's time to give our folk their freedom.
the hammer makes an attempt to crawl
this does not work well
the hammerpad rolls along on its side and lands on the gavel
whoppity
MenelvagorToday at 5:15 PM
Done :smiley:
VardaToday at 5:15 PM
the gavel crawls back to the shelf
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After-meeting!
MenelvagorToday at 5:15 PM
It's great to bring back old memories of long forgotten knowledge :smiley:
VardaToday at 5:15 PM
Free chat, even about our Tolkien topic!
True!
Thank you for the topic!
MenelvagorToday at 5:16 PM
But I fear that I must depart.
Thanks Dis :smiley:
VardaToday at 5:16 PM
And I need to prepare supper for the masses at Taniquetil.
MenelvagorToday at 5:16 PM
Bon Appetit Elbereth.
VardaToday at 5:16 PM
Hantal : )
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:16 PM
Namarie, then!
MenelvagorToday at 5:16 PM
Sleep well everyone, and havre a good night before that for those who it may apply to.
VardaToday at 5:17 PM
: )
ArienVToday at 5:19 PM
sleep well :smiley:
Namarie and so good seeing you :smiley:
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:20 PM
yep, been a long time :smiley:
Eonwe ValarToday at 5:21 PM
I must be off. Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:22 PM
Namarie!
ArienVToday at 5:22 PM
Namarie Eonwe :smiley:
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 5:56 PM
Personal gaming report!

Starting with flashgames:
https://www.kongregate.com/games/bontegames/black is the first! Sequel to Yellow and Red, the aim is to make the screen black in each level. The way to do so is different each time, so good luck finding it out!
    Kongregate
    black

http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/echo_chamber is the second game. Control 2 colored balls with opposite sides of the keyboard, use the shifts to display the path for the opposite ball. Get both to the center! Not too long, but fun.
    Echo Chamber - OneMoreLevel.com

http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/investigator for the last game, a short, weird, investigation game where you play an alligator trying to solve a crime.
    Investigator - OneMoreLevel.com

Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:20 PM
Blizzard gaming:
Diablo 3:
Level 69 now, only got to do one rift since last week. One more and I should be level 70, the maximum! Completed the 500 champions/rares achievement, so all that's left for the big necromancer achievement is level 70 and a couple of achievements during the Diablo fight which should be easy when I complete chapter 2. So, soon.
Starcraft II:
War chest complete! Got all the new base building skins. Now I can leave the game alone again for a while.
Heroes of the Storm:
...still level 334, leveling not going so well apparently. Brawl was the Industrial District single lane fight. I'm not a big fan of single lane brawls, but this one's kinda fun with all the conveyor belts.
ArienVToday at 6:29 PM
Grats to all :smiley:
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:31 PM
Hearthstone:
As always, crawling along to the next few levels. I've decided not to buy new packs for a while, because they announced an upcoming expansion pack including new single-player wings for 700 gold a piece starting in may, like the old Naxxramas, Karazhan and other adventures... so gotta save up gold once again!
Year of the dragon is certainly going to get interesting.
Brawl this week is the third of the 3 Rastakhan brawls, with even stronger shrines and decks. Rather fun, though things tend to snowball out of control :wink:
WoW:
Further progress raiding, with the second boss down on heroic difficulty. Also still farming normal, though Mekkatorque's given us some trouble tonight. It's no pushover yet :smiley:
Weekly this week is arena skirmishes. Always kinda annoying, but at least they're fast. I still need to win 2 out of the 10 required, will surely finish it tomorrow.
Did more expeditions, and get a new pet out of it: the Coldlight Surfrunner, a very nice looking murloc pet of the "deep sea" model variety, with large glowing eyes and a lantern growing from its forehead. Pretty cute!
Also still doing world quests, but I did my last few pet battle quests to get 100% on all the achievements this week. Now I just need to worry about the ones giving pet charms. Also getting more pet charms from missions, and speaking of missions, 3 out of my 4 followers have now reached legendary level, with the fourth almost there. There are actually 5 followers but until I clear the initial war campaign, I'm stuck with 4 :wink:
*champions, that is
And with the pet charms I got, I bought a new pet! A Freshwater Pincher, a pink crab. Looks a bit weird, but hey, it got me to 900 unique pets :wink:
100 to go for another achievement.
And that's my report for the week! Not a lot to report, but I am making progress and crossing some things off of my list. I suspect that if a few more pet charms show up, I'll even be able to buy 2 more pets during next week! But we'll see.
ArienVToday at 6:47 PM
its a fun fight against Mekka ^^
i ve done the raidfinder today
the others are not too bad either ... we had one wipe against Jaina
the group was decent
right Bedtime for me here now :smiley:
Namarie for now :smiley:
Ar-Pharazon-VToday at 6:53 PM
namarie!
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