Valar Guild

October 20, 2019 Sunday Meeting

5:00 P.M. Eastern time (-4 GMT aka 9 P.M. aka 21:00)
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place

Back to News
Transcript work by
Varda.
[times are Central Time from Varda's Discord. Add one hour for Eastern.]

Attending (and spoke): (4)
    Discord: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Varda (presiding)

Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news
Web:
    Tolkien Site / Stories: "The Vault of Annúminas" by Shirebound, posted on our site today
Gaming:
    General reports by Eonwe, Varda, Ar-Pharazon:
        World of WarCraft, World of WarCraft Classic, Diablo 3, Heroes of the Storm, Lord of the Rings Online, WarCraft 3
Tolkien:
    Topic: Troll origin
After-meeting:
    Gaming together before and after the flashgaming report.
    Flashgaming Reviews by Ar-Pharazon.
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Before-meeting

VardaYesterday at 3:52 PM
Aiya. We have 8 minutes by my clock. : )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 3:52 PM
Aiya!
 
VardaYesterday at 3:53 PM
Phar! : )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 3:53 PM
It is I!
 
VardaYesterday at 3:53 PM
Yay!
 
VardaYesterday at 4:02 PM
Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!

Membership:
Feel free to say hi anytime during the meeting, let us know you're there!
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:02 PM
Hi!
 
VardaYesterday at 4:02 PM
Hi!
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:03 PM
Heya all.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:03 PM
Aiya Eonwe : )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:03 PM
Aiya!
 
VardaYesterday at 4:04 PM
Think I'm not messaging correctly. oops
So hi to all the lurkers on the side, some gaming. : )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:04 PM
Just got to level 4 on my undead mage in Classic. According to my list he's still only on his fifth quest. At this rate he should only need about 60 quests!
 
VardaYesterday at 4:05 PM
Yay mage : )
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:05 PM
lol
If only it were that easy :}
 
VardaYesterday at 4:05 PM
Then we'd be bored?
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:06 PM
The rest of the quests would still be there, you just wouldn't need them to get to 60 :}
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:06 PM
Very true, can just do them at 60 :slight_smile:
Not boring at all to kill a few level 20 murlocs at level 60.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:07 PM
Good luck to Arien vs overgrown ants!
On to
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Web News:
After the last meeting, a story went up by Shirebound (may have reported):
"When the King Comes Back"
http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/fiction/authors/Shirebound/WhenTheKingComesBack01.htm
    When the King Comes Back ch. 1 "Welcome Guests"
    fanfiction pre-LotR, AU. Frodo and
    Aragorn are injured in an explosion, leaving Bilbo, Halbarad, and
    the Gamgees with some unexpected challenges and decisions. Minor
    angst, fluff, puppies... the usual! Approximate ages: Bilbo is
    104, Frodo is 26, Sam i...
Another was put up today:
"The Vault of Annúminas" by Shirebound
http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/fiction/authors/Shirebound/Vault01.htm
    The Vault of Annúminas ch. 1 "An Elven Encounter"
    fanfiction pre-LotR, AU. Was it
    only a dream, or has Frodo glimpsed an ancient secret? Frodo,
    Aragorn, and Elladan go on a journey to the ruins of Annúminas, to
    uncover the truth. 16 chapters.
Good sense of wonder in this one. Enjoy!
16 chapters.
Any other web news? Cool Tolkien links you want to share can go here too.
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Gaming:
Eonwe, will you be able to give the general gaming report?
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:12 PM
Yes.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:12 PM
Yay!
 
ArienValarYesterday at 4:13 PM
Aiya all :slight_smile:
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:13 PM
Aiya!
Found your safe spot? :slight_smile:
 
VardaYesterday at 4:13 PM
Aiya Arien : )
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:13 PM

World of Warcraft:
 
ArienValarYesterday at 4:13 PM
i made it back to the road :slight_smile:
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:13 PM
This week's bonus event: Pet Battles.
The PvP Brawl: Deepwind Dunk runs this week through the 22nd.
Next week's bonus event: Burning Crusade Timewalking.
Hallow's End began Friday and runs through Friday, November 1st.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:15 PM
Back to the timewarped badge collecting. What for? Who knows? Maybe next expansion's TW will be more expensive...

Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:15 PM

In WoW Classic news, Dire Maul is now available.

Diablo 3:
Patch 2.6.7 is on the PTR. --- https://us.diablo3.com/en/blog/23179288/patch-267-ptr-begins-1017-10-14-2019
    Diablo III
    Patch 2.6.7 PTR Begins 10/17
    The one-week PTR testing period for 2.6.7 begins October 17 and we need your help to make Season 19 better than ever!

Heroes of the Storm:
A new balance patch came out this week with a new piece of flair to spend your gold on: Mastery Rings.  --- https://heroesofthestorm.com/en-us/blog/23181746/heroes-of-the-storm-balance-patch-notes-october-15-2019-2019-10-15/
    Heroes of the Storm
    Legendary heroes and villains from Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo are summoned to the Nexus. Choose your hero and prepare to fight in Heroes of the Storm!

https://heroesofthestorm.com/en-us/blog/23185580/new-feature-mastery-rings-2019-10-16/
    Heroes of the Storm
    Legendary heroes and villains from Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo are summoned to the Nexus. Choose your hero and prepare to fight in Heroes of the Storm!

That does it for my report.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:17 PM
(for the curious, those are the hero selection circles in-game)
(but with flair)
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:20 PM
(Insert Office Space joke here)
 
VardaYesterday at 4:20 PM
^^
Thank you, Eonwe
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:21 PM
MP :}
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:21 PM
Don't think I get that reference :wink:
 
VardaYesterday at 4:21 PM
For LotRO, the Harvestmath Festival is still running. Haunted House, spooky stories. And as for any festival, the chance for Anfalas crystals.
Landroval:
Arien
Bregalad
Eonwe
Fangorn
Mirabella
Nar
Thranduil
Varda

Ithil:
Arien
Dis
Falco
Fangorn
Varda

Anor:
Fangorn
Varda
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:22 PM
Short version: movie about people disgruntled with their jobs. One person works at a restaraunt that requires there to wear "at least 5 pieces of 'flair'" but keeps getting hounded by her boss about wearing only the exact amount required.
*restaurant
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:23 PM
Aha :slight_smile:
 
VardaYesterday at 4:25 PM
Any other gaming news? Eve Online? Whispers of Time? Cold Steel 3? Other?
Our people play lots of games. : )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:26 PM
Warcraft 3:
Reforged has been receiving some development updates, with lots of screens and models being datamined. Looks pretty good! Also hyper-realistic.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:27 PM
Realism as in artwork? Movements? Textures?
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:28 PM
The artstyle and details.
Compared to the old style (and WoW style).
 
VardaYesterday at 4:28 PM
Can we still poke characters and get comments? : )
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:28 PM
https://www.wowhead.com/news=295740 for examples :slight_smile:
    Wowhead
    Warcraft III: Reforged Human Models - Arthas with Frostmourne, Uth...
    We're having tons of fun covering Warcraft III: Reforged, and as you may have noticed, we've been improving the quality of our models in the past few days.
    We now have high-definition models of Human characters for you, including Arthas with Frostmourne, Uther, Jaina, and Medivh.

Probably!

VardaYesterday at 4:28 PM
ahhh, thanks
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:29 PM
Lots of links at the bottom of the post for more models and animations.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:29 PM
Big ol' pauldrons there.
Cool models
Any other news, comments, suggestions, invite requests, jokes, or howdys? : )
Don't want anyone left out.
Cinematic on the right upper corner of that page Phar showed us. Just have to wade through some ads.
Onwards to
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Tolkien!
Trolls didn't get a lot of attention from JRRT, so we may have to do some fill-in for ourselves.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:34 PM
Well, that's not relevant to the post. As far as I know, Wowhead just randomly plays BfA cutscenes there for people to check out.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:34 PM
It caught my attention, heh.
A website gave a little info on a possible place that the troll idea came from outside the obvious of mythology and folklore in which JRRT was expert, in history:
Historically speaking, Rome invaded the island in 55BC, ruling until 380ishAD. Then, in 449AD, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded. They were led by Germanic brothers Hengest and Horsa. In Tolkien’s early mythology, Hengest and Horsa’s father was Eriol the Mariner. The Battle of Ros was their invasion, and the Trolls (along with the Orcs, Gongs, etc.) came right after.
Source:
https://sweatingtomordor.wordpress.com/2014/03/22/the-ancient-origins-of-tolkiens-trolls/
    It's a Dangerous Business, Frodo
    The Ancient Origins of Tolkien’s Trolls
    As our heroes make their way to the East Road after stumbling upon the Stone-trolls, let’s take a look at the first time Tolkien used trolls in his stories. Thoughts on the Passage – Book I, …

JRRT does tell us of a number of different types of trolls.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:37 PM
Isn't that taken from the Lost Tales? It does sound familiar.
I mean, I didn't remember about the trolls, but about that invasion and the origin of Eriol, yes.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:37 PM
Probably
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:38 PM
checks link yep, it mentions the BoLT :slight_smile:
Even Frozen has trolls, camouflaged as rocks at will, though they're quite a bit smaller :wink:
 
VardaYesterday at 4:40 PM
We know trolls show up in folklore and mythology, and he was well-versed in those.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:41 PM
But in my experience, the smaller trolls are often interchangeable with goblins and kobolds.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:41 PM
Very early trolls may have been fae, suppposed to have been beautiful, according to another source.
That sure got dropped.
Trolls under bridges, waylaying travelers. Bert, Tom, and William were of that type. Closer to human, talked a good bit, working for themselves?
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:43 PM
Just don't offer them billy goats.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:43 PM
So trolls could have been developed using human stock, crossed with unknown something that may have caused the vulnerability to light.
They become gruff?
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:44 PM
:slight_smile:
 
VardaYesterday at 4:44 PM
Maybe even magical tinkering with their genes. Evil things tend to have sensitivity to light.
So they had to be worked on further, and we don't hear much anymore about their talking or being on their own.
They were in mockery of the ents, so they needed to be tall, strong,
but ugly.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:46 PM
Were ents all that handsome, though?
 
VardaYesterday at 4:46 PM
They had to lose the turning to stone in light, so they could travel.
Ents had a treeish look. Could be mistaken for them.
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:47 PM
After the fashion of trees, sure. No ugly trees out there :}
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:47 PM
And perhaps to other trolls, trolls looked quite beautiful :wink:
 
VardaYesterday at 4:47 PM
Ok, so it may not have been a big stretch to imagine trolls from them.
They had to be strong to do heavy work like helping haul siege equipment and fight. Tanks?
Orcs could be considered infantry, trolls as tanks, nazgul as air cover?
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:48 PM
That works.
Certainly how it worked in Battle for Middle-earth.
And wargriders for cavalry :slight_smile:
 
VardaYesterday at 4:49 PM
Good one there. And oliphaunts.
The trolls were bred to handle multiple terrains.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:50 PM
They were so big, sometimes at the same time!
 
VardaYesterday at 4:50 PM
We know stone giants existed, apparently unconcerned with all the other things going on. Perhaps some of them were mixed into early trolls?

Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:50 PM
That did cross my mind.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:51 PM
We also know there were "nameless" horrors in the deeps. No telling what they were mixed with, or even if it could be done.
Leftovers from Melkor's time.
But the trolls were humanoid enough that one might expect that to be a base stock.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:52 PM
Tentacled creatures that came from crossbreeding with noodles.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:52 PM
You ate some bad noodles?
Cthuloid noodles.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:52 PM
Well, stony nature... is it possible they were bred from dwarves?
 
VardaYesterday at 4:52 PM
Interesting thought.
Dwarves were very hard to corrupt, other than pushing their love of gold. Not sure it was possible.
Humans are very adaptable, not that hard to corrupt in too many cases.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:54 PM
Well, trolls weren't very bright, perhaps some brain damage was involved...
 
VardaYesterday at 4:54 PM
hah
So that's a suggestion that they were crossed with something of low intelligence.
Very large.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:55 PM
Those stone giants come to mind, but where did they come from?
 
VardaYesterday at 4:55 PM
Morgoth and Sauron did  a lot with their monster-making. Part involved what they fed the things. That's mentioned with fell beasts for instance.
Stone giant origin, goooood question.
Hmm, ent means "giant" in Old English.
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:56 PM
Entish origins?
How to breed a dwarf with a tree...
 
VardaYesterday at 4:56 PM
The word was used in Beowulf, which JRRT taught for years.
 
ArienValarYesterday at 4:57 PM
i remember Treebeard mentioned something like trolls are a mockery of ents just like the orcs are a mockery of the elves
 
VardaYesterday at 4:57 PM
Right, Arien
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 4:57 PM
Yes, but does that imply they were used in the breeding?
...Probably.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:59 PM
Giants and Jotun of Norse mythology, likely source. But where do they come from in Middle-earth myth?
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 4:59 PM
Since Melkor/Morgoth could not create sentient life of his own accord, something with sentient life would have to have been used.
 
VardaYesterday at 4:59 PM
Aye, Eonwe
We know that Sauron, working for Morgoth and for himself, took living beings and corrupted them with torture, weird sustenance, and crossing with other creatures.
Doesn't actually say that he used sorcery, evil gul magic.
Might make it possible to do the impossible crossings though.
Anyway, we've reached the hour.
If you have any other thoughts or references, please feel free to go ahead with them in the After-meeting.

double-headed hammer bounces to the hammerpad
the hammerpad makes a second of itself hurriedly
thump thump
the hammer and hammerpad put the mirrors to one side and chuckle at us
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After-meeting!
Arien requests aid on the Landroval server vs a baddie. I'll jump over there to help. Anyone else who would like to come bash on a monster level 102 is welcome to join!
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:04 PM
Good luck :slight_smile:
 
VardaYesterday at 5:04 PM
Thanks : )

ArienValarYesterday at 5:04 PM
thanks :slight_smile:
just logging in
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:08 PM
Well, I'll do some Storm matches then. Plenty of time for gaming report after :slight_smile:
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:18 PM
That's it for me. Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
 
VardaYesterday at 5:18 PM
Namarie!
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 5:18 PM
Namarie!
 
VardaYesterday at 5:18 PM
We took down Chuckles. : )
 
Eonwe ValarYesterday at 5:18 PM
Congrats :}
 
VardaYesterday at 5:18 PM
Hantal and have a great night!
 
ArienValarYesterday at 5:22 PM
congrats :slight_smile:
 
VardaYesterday at 6:15 PM
Thanks for the fun Fellowship, Arien. : )
Namarie for now
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:16 PM
namarie!
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:19 PM
Personal gaming report time!

Flashgaming: Of the 3 games, one is new, but if you can't tell which are old, it doesn't matter :wink:
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:28 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/HeroInteractive/dead-metal is the first game! A space shooter that's a bit like Bubble Tanks, in that a fight takes place in the confines of a bubble/circle where you circle around and shoot enemies that spawn in the center of the circle.
    Kongregate
    Dead Metal
    Dead Metal is a top down shooter set in space, built off our powerful BT3 game engine. In fact, summing it up as Bubble Tanks in space with Star Forge art wou...
So basically a circular arena :wink:
Get metal from kills, use it to buy better ships, and make your way through the campaign!
Comes with a nice storyline as well.
 
ArienValarYesterday at 6:36 PM
sounds good and Namarie from me :slight_smile:
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:36 PM
Namarie!
https://www.kongregate.com/games/doogog/zunderfury is the second game! Choose either the Zunder or the Fury as ships, and fight your way through incoming enemies, upgrading as you go along. See how far you get, and collect achievements!
    Kongregate
    ZunderFury
    Fast-paced arena shooter with tons of different enemy types.
    You can play as one of two ships each with its own unique weapon to battle against vast amounts of...

Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 6:47 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/whiteboardwar/creeper-world-user-space for the third game! Smaller part in the Creeper World series, with 12 levels to play. Build your base, defend from the creeper fluid flooding the map, and reclaim enough territory to activate the totems to make your escape.
    Kongregate
    Creeper World: User Space
    Twelve awesome and highly original missions come your way in this latest episode of Creeper World. Boil away the blue menace yet again in these exotic and car...
There's also several full games in the series, which I highly recommend :slight_smile:

Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 7:19 PM

Blizzard gaming:
Starcraft II:
Tier 4 of the third phase of the war chest complete. Only 2 more matches should be required to complete the entire chest :slight_smile: After that I guess I'll ignore the game again!
Hearthstone:
Pretty much all classes are around halfway now. One is about three quarters in, and...
the paladin is level 60!
My first level 60 of the nine classes, getting me the last golden stormwind champion, and stopping at max level. No more experience for him.
Reason for this is the week's brawl: Second part of the 3-part story, this time with the League of Explorers in the same tomb as last week, but with different enemy bosses, but the same final boss: the Headless Horseman.
I thought I'd go in with Finley, who was my lowest class of the 4 available ones at the time. Got a really good, synergetic run, with powerful treasures and a lot of murloc "bucket" choices that really empowered each other, but I failed on the 7th boss due to underestimating his win condition.
..and him having a card in his hand that complimented said condition.
Boss 6 was a struggle also, which I barely survived, so I thought the next run wouldn't go much better, especially as the treasures and card buckets were a bit worse at the start.
Luckily, I was wrong; managed to get some more powerful treasures later on, and though I had to change up my deck strategy a bit from the first run, I cleared out boss 6 rather more easily, as well as 7 and 8, which was the Horseman.
I ended up getting the entire run done under 40 minutes, getting me both golden reward cards :slight_smile:
...But, due to 14 wins out of 15 fights, Finley's paladin class skyrocketed, and indeed I hit level 60 by the end of it!
So, 8 classes to go :wink:
Those will take a while though.. depending on what brawl we get next week, I suppose!
Heroes of the Storm:
Indeed I finished up the last quest for the event on monday, and thought I was done with it. But when the patch came out, a new element was added after this questline: The choice to choose a daily quest matching one of the 3 characters, for hero damage, siege damage or healing done, with a loot reward chest at the end.
Since I only play 2 matches a day generally, those can be annoying to get, and I don't want to really play more games a day than I already do for every day until the event ends. But luckily, uncompleted quests stay until the next day, so getting a loot chest every 2 or 3 days is a good bet. And still a nice frequent reward :slight_smile:
One new level got, to 373, this one by getting Morales to level 12.
Brawl went well, all familiar heroes open to me, which meant the games were smooth but no levels were gained :slight_smile:
I took a look at those mastery rings, but since I retire my active heroes at level 15 and the first ring is accessible at level 15, I didn't see much point.
Maybe if I really have the gold to spare at some point, I guess it might be nice if I get to choose one of them in a brawl.
WoW Classic:
Poked my mage a bit again tonight, got him to level 4 :slight_smile: He's only about 5 quests in, and still in the opening area of the starting zone, but did manage to scrape the silver together by vendoring junkloot to buy frostbolt and conjure water when he hit level 4.
Since I aim to level him as frost, both will already make his rotation a lot smoother, and get me used to his playing style :slight_smile:
WoW:
Raiding going better and better! Killed Azshara tonight for the third time, after only a few attempts, giving us next tuesday off once again. I also got a headpiece from the boss before her, Zaqul, which completes my guardian spec gear up to heroic level. So yay!
Weekly is petfights, with a quest to win 5 pvp pet battle fights; I used it to complete my Critter family pvp pet battle achievement, which is the 7th family out of 10 which I got complete. 3 to go!
And speaking of pets, I found the time to continue hunting the B'aal pet, at the end of a long line of secret pebbles to be found around Kul Tiras and Zandalar. You'll need a guide for those, since they are at very random locations, and two of them are even far out at sea. Good luck if you're going for it!
Found the pet yesterday, hiding in a volcano in Draenor. Very ominous! And quite cute. But it's not the end of the search; a line he says when you summon starts off the next chapter of the secret, which will take even more time, even more travel, and end up in a rather unique belt.
I hope to start that search next week :slight_smile:
But since we've got tuesday off it'll be a good start!
And finally, some Warcraft books have arrived!
The Ashbringer comic, which is the last of the episodic comics I was missing, and the first of 3 class manga: Death Knight, with the story of Thassarian, the death knight npc you might remember from Borean Tundra in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.
And tomorrow, the popup book should arrive, with 3d structures of major cities found in Azeroth :smile: Will be fun!
And that's my report for the week!
 
Ar-Pharazon-VYesterday at 8:29 PM
namarie!

[Note: in other news for that night, in Lord of the Rings Online: Fangorn and Varda made their pair of Stout-axe dwarves on the Ithil server running together, enjoyed the new starting area, and just kept going! Those two dwarves plan to join the Valar kinship there Monday; Falco already has his Stout-axe in the kin there.]

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