Valar Guild

October 31, 2021 Sunday Meeting

5:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Savings Time
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 typed): (4)
    Discord: Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Eowyn/Cenedra, Varda (presiding)
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership news:
    Halloween today!
    Yesterday was the wedding anniversary of Eowyn and Faramir.
Web:
    Tolkien Site/Stories: "Morchaint" by Eonwe, for Halloween.
    Anniversary page (continues taking your contributions to the Tolkien Site as Anniversary-marked through the end of October.)  
Tolkien:
    Topic from Norvat Gorlimsson: I know that Galadriel has one of the three elven rings of power. But why is she considered in such high esteem and considered to hold so much power compared to others within Tolkien's works?
Gaming:
   
World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Lord of the Rings Online
After-meeting:
    (non)Flashgaming Reviews (plus) by Ar-Pharazon. Includes Blizzard games.

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Before-meeting
@Bounder Happy Halloween! Time for a quick meeting with buddies to talk gaming and Tolkien!
[4:02 PM]
Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:02 PM
Heya.

Varda — Today at 4:02 PM
Membership:
[4:02 PM]
Aiya Eonwe : )
It's Halloween!
All sorts of events going on in games and in real life!

cenedra — Today at 4:03 PM
Heya!   <— Eowyn

Varda — Today at 4:03 PM
Aiya Eowyn!
Neato! Your pic shows up surprisingly well in that teeny icon. : )
[4:04 PM]
Clicking on it does a nice enlarge.
Eowyn and Faramir just had their Wedding Anniversary yesterday! Congrats!

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:04 PM
Congratulations :}

cenedra — Today at 4:05 PM
Thanks!
[4:05 PM]
11 yrs

Varda — Today at 4:06 PM
That's amazing. Hard to believe it's been that long.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:06 PM
Indeed.

Varda — Today at 4:06 PM
But you two have been doing fabulously well, taking care of each other and doing cool stuff. : )
[4:07 PM]
But then yesterday starts feeling like  a long time ago and 30 years ago like last week. ; )
[4:07 PM]

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Web:
[4:07 PM]
Great news from the Story page!
[4:07 PM]
Eonwe has given us a scary story for Halloween, not to be shown until today!
[4:08 PM]
Set very long ago...
[4:09 PM]
and I'm in the wrong channel...
[4:09 PM]
./facepalm
[4:09 PM]
ok, moving to meeting_place, embarrassed.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:09 PM
"Harboring" a grudge against the Meetingplace? ;}

Varda — Today at 4:09 PM
Just been in a hurry and may-be?
[4:12 PM]
Ok, moved over to meeting_place directly under harbor, so sorry for the confusion. returns

[Now in meeting_place]

Varda — Today at 4:09 PM
Aiya!
[4:10 PM]
Now holding the meeting in (I hope) the correct channel.
[4:10 PM]
Eonwe's scary Halloween story, intended to be shown today on Halloween!
[4:10 PM]
http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/fiction/authors/Eonwe/stories/Morchaint.htm
    Morchaint by Eonwë-(Valar)
    A couple lost in the fog, a horseman rides.

[4:10 PM]
(Did anyone else make it through the fog over here too?

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:10 PM
Wrong meeting channel = trick, new story = treat? ;}

Varda — Today at 4:11 PM
That's it! Must have been on purpose. Yep yep yep
[4:11 PM]
Anyway, Eonwe, did you want to make a comment or two?

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:13 PM
I suppose there's not too much to say other than I hope you all enjoy the story. The time the story's set in will hopefully be familiar to most, and certainly any who's read their Silmarillion. And Happy Halloween :}

Varda — Today at 4:15 PM
Thank you for the fun story. : )
[4:16 PM]
Eonwe has another story for us as well, sent for the Anniversary.
[My apologies at not having it up yet, but watch for it!
And hello to Norvat!
aka Jverne
[4:17 PM]
He gave us a Tolkien question that we hope to be presenting shortly while he's working on his paper for grad school with a deadline as scary as Halloween. : )

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Gaming!
[4:18 PM]
Eonwe, would you like to take this finely crafted gavel for Gaming?

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:18 PM
Sure

Varda — Today at 4:18 PM
toss

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:19 PM
Under the light of a full gavel, transforms into a were-chairman

Varda — Today at 4:20 PM
Egad!

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:20 PM
World of Warcraft:
[4:20 PM]
The Darkmoon Faire begins today and runs through Saturday, November 6th.
[4:21 PM]
This week's Bonus Event: Arena Skirmishes.
The PvP Brawl: Gravity Lapse runs through Tuesday, November 2nd.
[4:22 PM]
Next Week's Bonus Event is World Quests.
Next week's PvP Brawl should be Comp Stomp if it sticks to what it said when I took those notes. (edited)

Varda — Today at 4:23 PM
places gum under the notes

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:23 PM
Day of the Dead begins tomorrow and runs through Wednesday, November 3rd.
[4:23 PM]
Several blogs are out or updated:
[4:24 PM]
[UPDATED OCTOBER 28] 9.1.5 Content Update Notes --- https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23731242/updated-october-28-915-content-update-notes
    World of Warcraft
    [UPDATED OCTOBER 28] 9.1.5 Content Update Notes - WoW
    The 9.1.5 content update arrives to World of Warcraft on November 2!

[4:24 PM]
WoW Classic Season of Mastery Name Reservations and Release Date --- https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23738002/wow-classic-season-of-mastery-name-reservations-and-release-date
    World of Warcraft
    WoW Classic Season of Mastery Name Reservations and Release Date - WoW
    Take your first step toward preparing for WoW Classic Season of Mastery by reserving your name before the game goes live in North America on November 16 at 3pm PST!

[4:24 PM]
Shadowlands: An Inside Look at the Character Creation UI Redesign --- https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23737992/shadowlands-an-inside-look-at-the-character-creation-ui-redesign
    World of Warcraft
    Shadowlands: An Inside Look at the Character Creation UI Redesign -...
    The release of Shadowlands provided a new opportunity to streamline and redesign the character creation process. Go behind-the-scenes with Senior UI Designer Jeff Liu to learn more about the thought processes behind it.

[4:24 PM]
9.1.5 Character Customizations: New and Improved You --- https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/23737989/915-character-customizations-new-and-improved-you
    World of Warcraft
    9.1.5 Character Customizations: New and Improved You - WoW
    With the release of the 9.1.5 content update, players will have access to new character customizations for select races allowing you to create a new version of your hero to take on the dangers of Azeroth.

[4:25 PM]
Hearthstone:
[4:25 PM]
Patch 21.6 is out. --- https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/news/23739023/21-6-patch-notes
    21.6 Patch Notes
    Patch 21.6 brings updates to all game modes, including special events, new Mercenaries, and the United in Stormwind Mini-Set!

[4:28 PM]
Thus ends my gaming news, and I return the gavel to Varda.
As he turns over the gavel, Eonwë returns to a normal leader of the armies of the Valar and greatest in might of arms in Arda

Varda — Today at 4:28 PM
and our Lost Vala, Fionwe
[4:28 PM]
Thank you for the gavel, still in good or better condition!

Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:29 PM]
We had a hotfix Wednesday:
https://www.lotro.com/en/content/update-3032-release-notes
    The Lord of the Rings Online
    Update 30.3.2 Release Notes
Also,
[4:30 PM]
the Harvestmath Festival with the Haunted House and costumes and tricks and treat-door-rugs continues through this weekend.
going through Nov 2.
[4:31 PM]
The Curator is also available through Nov 2. An easy find spot is by the boar fountain in Bree.
[4:31 PM]
https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/lotro-beacon-issue-224
    The Lord of the Rings Online
    The LOTRO Beacon: Issue 224
[4:32 PM]
I hope to have the list of players in the kin  branches this past week later. Sorry that it's not collected yet. Haven't even been on the computer until just now for the meeting but it will happen!

Any other gaming news, suggestions, requests, comments?

Varda — Today at 4:33 PM
Welcome to Norvat when he is able to hang out in the channel with us instead of having to work away at stuff!
[4:33 PM]
On to

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Tolkien!
[4:34 PM]
Having mentioned Norvat Gorlimsson, here's his topic for us:
[4:34 PM]
I know that Galadriel has one of the three elven rings of power. But why is she considered in such high esteem and considered to hold so much power compared to others within Tolkien's works?
[4:35 PM]
Fire when ready!

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:35 PM
She's one of the oldest Elves still in Middle-Earth for one, lived in/was born in Aman.

Varda — Today at 4:36 PM
Aye. The last remaining leader of the Noldorin elves by the time of the War of the Ring. Not allowed at that time to return to Aman, until she passes Frodo's test.
[4:38 PM]
While living in Doriath, she learned a lot from the Maia Melian, one source of her amazing wisdom.
[4:39 PM]
She also had the good sense to marry Celeborn. Although we don't get to hear a lot about him, he was one of the greatest war leaders. I don't know if that was mostly advisory so we don't hear that much about him?
[4:40 PM]
Galadriel and Celeborn with magic and their army finally took down Dol Guldur, while Thranduil's army fought as well.
[4:42 PM]
Galadriel, through her Ring and her previous acquaintance with Sauron, knew much of his mind, aiding in the defense of Lorien.
Her own mind was closed to his, since she knew where he was coming from.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:43 PM
Don't remember the part about Celeborn being "one of the greatest war leaders". Not saying it's not true, just struggling to recall the reference.

Varda — Today at 4:43 PM
She gave useful gifts to the Fellowship, aiding the most important of the fight against Sauron.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:43 PM
And don't let the elves hear you call it "magic" :}

Varda — Today at 4:44 PM
I'll have to dig that out. Could be a messed up memory but he was a great warrior, enough to impress Galadriel.
[4:44 PM]
heh, aye. Galadriel would want to turn me into a frog for that.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:44 PM
Galadriel was apparently the last person in Middle-Earth that still had the special crop from which lembas was made.

Varda — Today at 4:45 PM
Apparently Faramir called her the Mistress of Magic. Don't let her know.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:45 PM
hehe

Varda — Today at 4:46 PM
She refused to be called a Queen, although she really was, and had folks call her Lady instead.
[4:47 PM]
Now I really want to dig and find out what Celeborn's attraction was for Galadriel.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:47 PM
Rulership of the Noldor was, in the Third Age, between her and Elrond, so certainly either one could've claimed it if they had a mind to.

Varda — Today at 4:47 PM
He was Sindarin, not Noldorin.
[4:48 PM]
Guess it's a good thing we didn't have to see a fight between Elrond and Galadriel!

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:48 PM
Hehe.

Varda — Today at 4:48 PM
Elrond married Galadriel's daughter, Celebrian.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:49 PM
More than just a political alliance, I'm sure :}

Varda — Today at 4:49 PM
Another thing unusual about Galadriel was her looks, such as being very tall with incredibly beautiful hair.
[4:49 PM]
This was due to her ancestry.
The hair was a mix of silver and gold making it unusual.
[4:50 PM]
Ok, I'm going to let folks add to or comment on where my hurried remarks are inaccurate. I have to get ready to leave. : )
[4:51 PM]
shiny silver and gold gavels run up to the hammerpad

cenedra — Today at 4:51 PM
And what was her ancestry

Varda — Today at 4:51 PM
they pull out polish rags and goo
the hammerpad is now shiny!
Rub Rub

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After-meeting!

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:51 PM
Noldorin/Telerin/Vanyarin

cenedra — Today at 4:51 PM
Thanks

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:53 PM
Her father Finarfin was Noldorin/Vanyarin, being the son of Finwë of the Noldor and Indis of the Vanyar. He then married Earwen, the daughter of Olwë king of the Teleri.
[4:55 PM]
So she has the lineage of all three royal houses of the Calaquendi.

cenedra — Today at 4:55 PM
Namarie!

Eonwë Valar — Today at 4:55 PM
Her brothers do too, of course, but we're not told how beautiful their hair is :}
[4:55 PM]
Take care :}

cenedra — Today at 4:55 PM
:)

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 5:38 PM
Aiya, catching up  I'm actually earlier than the last 2 weeks, but we lost DST early, so I imagine I'm still over an hour and a half late.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 5:39 PM
A whole 8 minutes over an hour and a half. How dare you :}
[5:39 PM]
And heya :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 5:41 PM
And yet, for me it should be only about 40 minutes

Eonwë Valar — Today at 5:41 PM
:}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 5:45 PM
Not sure if I have anything to add for Galadriel. Seems mostly covered.
[5:45 PM]
Not sure if she wasn't allowed to return until passing the test, or if she didn't allow herself to return.
[5:47 PM]
Kinda like she needed to get it out of her system. Get the chance to be powerful in order to find out she didn't want to be.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 5:48 PM
Part of it as I recall is that she did refuse returning to Aman out of pride.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 5:49 PM
Proud, but not to the point of blindness, at least

Eonwë Valar — Today at 5:50 PM
And aye, basically she had everything she had wanted, but knew she would soon lose it whether Sauron won or lost. The Ring gave her the opportunity to keep it "forever", and she realized what the Ring would do to her and through her. Gandalf knew the way to corrupt him was through pity.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 5:51 PM
And through refusing, she accepted what was to come and was ready to leave.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 5:51 PM
The desire to do good would turn into deciding they know better than others how they should live their lives, and so restrict their freedoms, deny the Free Will of others, all in the name of the "greater good".
[5:54 PM]
They would become tyrants, just like Sauron, who would brook no dissension from his Will.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 5:54 PM
Tch. Politicians, eh?

Eonwë Valar — Today at 5:58 PM
A Monty Python line comes to mind, about wielding supreme executive authority, but I shan't repeat it here :}

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 5:59 PM
Well I didn't vote for Galadriel.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 6:01 PM
Funny enough, the Elves did seem to choose their leaders. If they didn't like where one was going, they broke off, formed a new group and followed one they did.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 6:01 PM
That works, to a degree.
[6:01 PM]
Until you run out of land.

Eonwë Valar — Today at 6:03 PM
Aye, and at that point you start looking for forms of government that back off and let you live your life, hehehe. Take the Hobbits once they settle in the Shire :} The choose a mayor, who's mostly ceremonial, they acknowledge (in theory) some king way far away who doesn't bother their everyday affairs, and mostly keep to themselves.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 6:04 PM
Yeah, hobbits seem to have less of a tendency to exploit lawlessness than humans

Eonwë Valar — Today at 6:06 PM
Then in comes Sharkey and his men, and Sharkey's got a rule for everything, and a supposed reason to ration everything, and he and his men are well fed while the average Hobbit is lucky if they can scrape by on a meager ration for a day.

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 6:07 PM
Ask not what you can do for your country...

Eonwë Valar — Today at 6:07 PM
But what your country can do for Sharkey?

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 6:08 PM
Ask not what you can do for Sharkey, but what Sharkey can do for you. That's supposed to be what government is like!
[6:08 PM]
And Sharkey's like "Yeah, as if!"

Eonwë Valar — Today at 6:09 PM
"Ask not what you can do for Sharkey. Sharkey will tell you what you can do for Sharkey. And you can start by rubbing Sharkey's feet and feeding Sharkey grapes."
[6:11 PM]
"All for your own good, of course. As in, if you know what's good for you you'll do as Sharkey says, or you'll be thrown in the Lockholes."

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 6:11 PM
Better than "off with their heads" at least
[6:12 PM]
Then again, when Wormtongue's hungry...

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Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 8:17 PM
Personal gaming report!
[8:18 PM]
For (non)flashgaming, one new badge this week (though I'd gotten the easier badge in that game earlier) and two old ones.
[8:21 PM]
https://www.kongregate.com/games/Carsonal/apocashop is the first one! A short medieval time management game where you have a stand where people can buy stuff from you. They'll start at a low offer, up to you to take it or hope they'll give a higher one when they refuse. Try not to be bankrupt by the end of the day. You can stock up on items at the start of the day, but there's also a magical anvil that will produce items you're short on at a slightly higher price. Also a storyline where you have to supply heroes that follow certain descriptions, witness a rebellion, and ultimately prove yourself to the king.
    Kongregate
    Apocashop
    Make a profit and save your village. Inspired by quotPapers, Pleasequot and quotLemonade Standquot.
    Have you ever wondered why shopkeepers in RPG worlds will never give y...

[8:22 PM]
https://www.kongregate.com/games/taccommandeur/hat-wizard-christmas for the second game. A puzzle platformer where you toss your magical hat and can then switch places with the enemy or statue it lands on.
    Kongregate
    Hat Wizard Christmas
    Santa put Faust#39s goons on the naughty list, but then they stole all the presents from his storage. Now you have to use your hat to get back the presents and s...

[8:24 PM]
As a christmas version of the original, your job this time is to find all the presents rather than the exit in each level

Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 8:37 PM
https://www.kongregate.com/games/KaMiZoTo_Creator/there-is-no-game for the last one! A point and click puzzle game... or is it? Game claims there is no game, so prove it wrong
    Kongregate
    There is no game
    *NEWS : If you liked this non-game, go check out the steam page of quotThere is no game : wrong dimensionquot. (coming soon this summer)
    You can support us and add...


Ar-Pharazon-V — Today at 8:49 PM
Blizzard gaming:
[8:50 PM]
Hearthstone:
118 on the reward track, getting some more gold. Miniset's arriving in a few days, for which I'm less than 500 gold short, so it's not too bad.
[8:52 PM]
Brawl is another Halloween brawl, the Haunted Caroussel, that starts with a bunch of dreadsteeds (the minion that spawns itself on deathrattle) and every turn all minions rotate around. So play carefully and try not to give your opponent your own best minions
[8:54 PM]
As part of the event I also nabbed a free Battleground  hero portrait for Guff. And for an achievement of getting so many total reward track levels, I got the choice between tier 2 hero skins, and chose the demon hunter one, Felravager Illidan.
[8:58 PM]
In Mercenaries, I completed the barrens dailies, unlocking the Fighting Pit for if I want to do pvp mercenary fights.
[9:00 PM]
Questing and receiving packs along the way, I've also unlocked 3 new mercenaries, Guff (quite a coincidence!), King Mukla and a demon hunter called Kurtrus Ashfallen. As well as an alternative portrait for Tyrande, displaying her as the Night Warrior.
[9:01 PM]
In the meantime, doing tasks and dailies and leveling my mercs. Some tasks up require their specific merc at level 30 now, so that's my current goal. So far my highest mercs are level 28.
[9:02 PM]
Oh, and after Barrens, it's into Felwood, where I've completed a bounty as well. Pushing onward!
[9:02 PM]
WoW:
[9:04 PM]
Still not much raiding. Things are really slowing down, and we've had to dial back the amount of raid-days until things pick up.
[9:04 PM]
Weekly is arena skirmishes, which is going well, almost up to the next honor level
[9:06 PM]
Renown to 75 as expected. Just one level this week as I've still got 5 Korthia chapters open. Starting in the next patch coming up, you no longer need the campaign for it, but I'd like to. So I'm thinking of quitting the weekly quests and worldbosses you can get em from, for now. Should free up even more time, even if it's a bit less anima.
[9:07 PM]
Torghast going better and better, I was 1 knowledge short of the 250-knowledge empowered aoe, but bought some other useful things instead. Maybe next week  I'll run out of other things to buy eventually anyway.
[9:08 PM]
Poked the Hallow's End quest in Val'sharah a bunch of times, as well, trying to get my last missing witch's hat. Didn't get any, even with the help of my paladin alt who I realized at the last moment, is the right level for it. I'm not totally lost with her rotations after some time not playing her, so that bodes well when I start leveling her again
[9:09 PM]
And I do think that's my report for the week!
[9:10 PM]
Namarie!

Varda — Today at 10:18 PM
Namarie Phar

Belated Lord of the Rings Online kin branch player report for the past week:
Landroval server branch:
Eonwe
Fangorn
Nar
Varda

Anor server branch:
Eonwe
Fangorn
Varda

Shadowfax server branch:
Varda

Treebeard server branch:
Varda

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