Sunday, June 30, 2024
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending (7): Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Falco, Leod, Sandalf, Varda (presiding)
Topic 1: quick mention: "The Hunt for Gollum"
Topic 2 by Sandalf: "Tolkien spent a lot of time on his various genealogies, and they are so complex and interrelated. What came first? His genealogies, or his writing?"
June 28, 2024
[4:38 AM]Eönwë Valar: Looks like I've broken 8 million hp.
[5:06 AM]Eönwë Valar: Ok, I can comfortably beat the third boss in Terrace of Endless Spring (Heroic).
[5:10 AM]Eönwë Valar: Sha of Fear's Auto-kill still gets me. Otherwise I'd have him.
June 30, 2024
[3:54 PM]Varda: Sooo, does he have a small figure of you?
[3:55 PM]Varda: ./duck
[4:00 PM]Varda: Aiya!
[4:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:00 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend Valar Guild meeting time! Yay!
[4:00 PM]Varda: Aiya Phar
[4:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Arien poked
[4:01 PM]Varda: Thanks!
[4:01 PM]Falco: Aiya
[4:01 PM]Varda: Falco! Aiya
[4:01 PM]Varda: Keeping Crickhollow warm?
[4:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Arien on the way
[4:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya.
[4:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya Falco and Eonwe!
[4:02 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya
[4:02 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And Arien!
[4:03 PM]Varda: Aiya Eonwe and Arien!
[4:03 PM]Varda: *tosses gavel in the air to watch the shiny lights play as it spins*
[4:03 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:04 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:04 PM]Varda: Treebeard and Eowyn are now gaming together in Starcraft 2. Yay for duos. : )
[4:04 PM]Arien Valar: yeah i see that ^^
[4:05 PM]Varda: Ok, now if they would just say hi...
[4:05 PM]Arien Valar: aiya to them!
[4:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya too!
[4:05 PM]Varda: Fangorn and I are home after a long visit to no-computer-land, visiting his family. Great fun, multi-birthday party.
[4:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yay!
[4:06 PM]Varda: Thank you all for taking care of things while I was goofing off... away on important business.
[4:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: All the cake?
[4:06 PM]Varda: Amazing icing roses on that cake!
[4:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Nice!
[4:07 PM]Varda: Lots of them. Think everyone got a rose or piece of one. Two shades. I'm still trying to figure how they did that, heh.
[4:07 PM]Varda: Any other news we'd like to pass along?
[4:07 PM]Varda: (I'll be away midweek next week but should be back for the meeting.)
[4:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: (same for me in a week or two!)
[4:08 PM]Varda: May we all have good times, not interesting times. : )
[4:08 PM]Varda: Any needs from the gaming crowd that a few handy officers might help with? Sing out as needed.
[4:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: Two shades: was each petal a different shade or was a single petal two different shades?
[4:09 PM]Arien Valar: Poked Eowyn and Fangorn ^^ maybe they take the nudge
[4:09 PM]Varda: A single petal with at least two shades! Beautiful.
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: hmm
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: tricky getting the icing colored like that.
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: My guess: a scoop of icing of each shade mashed into the tube.
[4:11 PM]Varda: The edges of each petal were different, so maybe two tubes. And yes, that's a neato way too!
[4:11 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The edges? That takes some precision.
[4:12 PM]Varda: Aye.
[4:12 PM]Varda: Maybe what Eonwe said done very carefully.
[4:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: Oh, interesting then.
[4:12 PM]Varda: On to
[4:12 PM]Varda: Web:
[4:13 PM]Varda: Stories: "No End To Toil" by Eonwe-(Valar) for his Narn I Auros series.
[4:13 PM]Varda: Posted June 25, 2024.
[4:13 PM]Varda: Thank you, Eonwe.
[4:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: bow
[4:14 PM]Varda: Takes a lot of thought to keep up a long series consistently like that. Well done.
[4:14 PM]Varda: Next up:
[4:14 PM]Varda: Gaming!
[4:15 PM]Varda: Because that's a lot of what we do. Yay gaming!
[4:15 PM]Varda: If family gives us a hard time, maybe we can say it keeps us out of the bars.
[4:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sometimes I think my parents would prefer me to go to bars
[4:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: "When are you going to meet someone and settled down!" lol.
[4:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: "Offline friends don't count!" pfah!
[4:16 PM]Varda: heh
[4:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: *online
[4:17 PM]Varda: Actually I know a few couples that met online in LotRO, had both a LotRO wedding and later a real life wedding!
[4:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Problem solved!
[4:17 PM]Varda: Xaviervonhoot and Kelliwyn in the last few months. : )
[4:17 PM]Varda: Yep, come to LotRO... /duck
[4:17 PM]Léod: 'Allo!
[4:17 PM]Varda: Leod! Aiya : )
[4:17 PM]Léod: Aiya! Sorry I'm late!
[4:18 PM]Varda: Glad you could make it, Leod-king. : )
[4:18 PM]Varda: No worries. Making it at all beats a lot of folks!
[4:18 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: I'm not sure "Come to LotRO and find a spouse" is the tagline most people expect to be sold on.
[4:18 PM]Varda: (like me last week, sorry about the unexpectedly long gone)
[4:18 PM]Léod: Aiya Ar-Pharazon-V!
[4:18 PM]Varda: hehe - Eonwe, agreed.
[4:19 PM]Varda: Pallando seems to be away so this gavel slides to
[4:19 PM]Varda: Eonwe! While it mumbles but I was gaming!
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar:
[4:20 PM]Varda: yay!
[4:20 PM]Varda: Nice catch.
[4:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[4:20 PM]Varda: That gavel still has a star on it from that last whack.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: hehe, yep.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: That's how you make sure your target sees stars.
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: This week's bonus event: Mists of Pandaria Timewalking.
This week's PvP Brawl: Cooking Impossible.
[4:21 PM]Varda: *
[4:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: See July's Trading Post.
[4:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out This Week in WoW.
[4:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: baby naga, dududu dudu ♪
[4:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: Season of Discovery Phase 4 will be live July 11th.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo Immortal: 4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: A new crossover event involving Warcraft lore will be running July 4th through Jul 26th: Shadow of the Frozen Throne.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Also starting July 4th will be Season 28: Tidelost Glory.
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Overwatch 2:
[4:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: A new Director's Take is out: Talking Tanks and Upcoming Hero Balance Changes.
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hearthstone:
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Patch 29.6.2 came out this week.
[4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo 3: 4:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: Season 32: Ethereal Memory begins July 12th.
[4:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube: DELETED SCENE: Daddy Shark (DragonBall Z Abridged)
[4:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: And that's it from me for gaming.
[4:27 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya All! Just got back from a 6 mile hike in the mountains...beautiful day.
[4:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya!
[4:28 PM]Varda: Welcome back, Sandalf : )
[4:28 PM]Varda: Sounds really wonderful!
[4:28 PM]Sandalf13: Thank you! I am sorry I am late...really heavy weekend travel returning from the mountains.
[4:28 PM]Varda: Your topic will be up in a bit, not quite yet. Glad you'll be here for it.
[4:28 PM]Varda: No worries. Glad you could make it.
[4:29 PM]Sandalf13: Thanks! I am glad it merited some disccussion.
[4:29 PM]Varda: Anything the gang wants to discuss is fair game!
[4:29 PM]Varda: We may derail it in ten seconds, but it gets to come up. ; )
[4:30 PM]Varda: Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:30 PM]Varda: I don't think I mentioned:
[4:30 PM]Varda: May 29: Treebeard server cap Raised to 100 w/Gondor/Old Anorien areas added.
[4:30 PM]Varda: Here's newer news:
[4:30 PM]Varda: June 26 News from the Launcher:
[4:30 PM]Varda: Tales of the Kindred: Week 5 is now available. The story of the Kindred of the Coins continues with new quests unlocking every Wednesday for two months! Speak to Rothog located in Dar Laja, the Meeting-hall to continue the story of "Tales of the Kindred!"
[4:31 PM]Varda: I ran this on Fainan, but it was only accessible after finishing the story for the Golden Queen Harmelek.
[4:31 PM]Varda: The Tales give some nifty little rewards like Housing paintings and furniture including a poisoned spear.
[4:31 PM]Varda: (just the thing behind the door of your house)
[4:31 PM]Varda: The Tales are not mentioned on LotRO's Events calendar so watch the Launcher.
[4:31 PM]Varda: June 28 News from the Launcher:
[4:32 PM]Varda: Mordor Server Preview: Monday July 1st w/Special Preview on Tuesday July 2nd. July 1 through July 3. Enter the Bullroarer test server first to access the Mordor server for a stress test and ringwraith spawning event. This is testing for the intended Mordor server (EU) and Angmar server (US).
[4:32 PM]Varda: Release notes
[4:32 PM]Varda: Yes, when these new servers comes out, I'll make a kinship on the US Angmar server just for the guild's convenience (rather as we have on Treebeard server).
[4:32 PM]Varda: It's VIP only so it sounds like another temporary legendary server. If there's any reason to get excited about it, we'll know later.
[4:33 PM]Varda: Suggestions from any members coming to the server will be taken for where to set up a kin house.
[4:33 PM]Léod: I'm planning on giving it a shot.
[4:33 PM]Varda: Landroval server remains our main in any case, since it can take any of our members whether ftp or VIP or from any country.
[4:33 PM]Varda: Cool! I will of course take a try at it to see what the deal is.
[4:33 PM]Varda: But not Bullroarer because they timed it while I'm out of town, hah.
[4:34 PM]Varda: The Mordor server is located in the EU this time, first time since Codebreakers broke with the rest on how to code and closed their EU servers.
[4:34 PM]Léod: I don't mess with Bullroarer. I like to be surprised.
[4:34 PM]Léod: It's pretty exciting about the EU server.
[4:34 PM]Varda: I used to do Bullroarer every time. Lagggg
[4:35 PM]Varda: Then was disappointed when they had some great story on Bullroarer and truncated it to death on live.
[4:35 PM]Varda: and what you said.
[4:36 PM]Varda: We have enough trouble being scattered everywhere. Makes it hard to be excited. Hope it helps though.
[4:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Is Bullroarer the test realm?
[4:36 PM]Varda: Right, Phar.
[4:36 PM]Léod: It is.
[4:36 PM]Léod:
[4:36 PM]Sandalf13: And is that named for Bullroarer Took?
[4:36 PM]Varda: To reach the Mordor test, go to Bullroarer, and then to Mordor server.
[4:36 PM]Varda: Yes. : )
[4:36 PM]Léod: Yes, of course!
[4:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Named for the yoyo, since you go in and get yanked back out!
[4:37 PM]Léod: The inventor of golf!
[4:37 PM]Varda: hehe
[4:37 PM]Varda: And yes! The head of Golfimbul remains famous even after being knocked into a hole. Is this a kid's book? ermm
[4:37 PM]Varda: LotRO players in our kin branches this past week:
Landroval branch
Crickhollow branch:
Treebeard branch:
[4:38 PM]Varda: Additions for players back to the 16th since I missed being here to make those reports, going back 13 days:
Landroval branch
Crickhollow branch:
Treebeard branch:
[4:38 PM]Varda: There you go. You're all famous.
[4:38 PM]Sandalf13: Yay!! Famous!!!
[4:38 PM]Varda: Any other news? Membership, Web, Gaming, requests?
[4:39 PM]Sandalf13: Horsetooth Falls, dropped down into the hole on the way back...
[4:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: On purpose?
[4:39 PM]Varda: Very large golfing.
[4:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: hehe
[4:40 PM]Sandalf13: No..the bottom of the falls is called a "hole" due to the fact that the water tends to collect there, before moving on downstream once again...a common term in the Rockies...
[4:40 PM]Varda: Aye, it is, but you brought it up after our golfing comments. ; )
[4:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ah, an original watering hole
[4:41 PM]Sandalf13: i.e. "Jackson Hole, in Wyoming....same thing, but this is just a small hole.
[4:41 PM]Sandalf13: Indeed...a watering hole.
[4:41 PM]Varda: Thanks for the nifty pic!
[4:41 PM]Varda: Any more news before we switch subjects?
[4:41 PM]Sandalf13: It is certainly refreshing on a hot summer day.
[4:43 PM]Varda: It looks brown. It is water though?
[4:43 PM]Sandalf13: Our next bike trip will be to the Badlands just north of Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska...that is the mountain in the background, the badlands are in front. And yes...it is just water.
[4:44 PM]Sandalf13:
[4:44 PM]Varda: And since the images look like we are in Middle-earth...
[4:44 PM]Varda: on to
[4:44 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:45 PM]Varda: A quick bit before we get deep in:
[4:45 PM]Varda: You've probably all heard about a movie in progress:
[4:45 PM]Varda: "The Hunt for Gollum"
[4:45 PM]Varda: It is looking at a title change partly because in 2009 this fan movie came out:
[4:45 PM]Varda: YouTube: Independent Online Cinema - The Hunt For Gollum - The Fan Film (2009)
[4:46 PM]Varda: But we can also take a quick look at a video that tried to sum up the subject in the books:
[4:46 PM]Varda: YouTube: Nerd of the Rings - The Hunt For Gollum (Book Version) | Tolkien Explained
[4:46 PM]Varda: But all that can be done later. : )
[4:46 PM]Varda: As Eonwe promised last meeting,
[4:47 PM]Sandalf13: If they give Aragorn a beard once again, I think I will puke.
[4:47 PM]Varda: we will be taking up Sandalf's topic this time.
[4:47 PM]Varda: hehe - beardless guy with scruffy beard. Trying to make him look scruffier. Like a nerf herder.
[4:47 PM]Varda: The topic is:
[4:47 PM]Varda: "Tolkien spent a lot of time on his various genealogies, and they are so complex and interrelated. What came first? His genealogies, or his writing?"
[4:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Tough one. Even from his earliest pieces, genealogies were present, in the Book of Lost Tales.
[4:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I think it started with the languages though.
[4:48 PM]Léod: It seems likely that it was the geneologies.
[4:48 PM]Léod: But I don't know for sure.
[4:49 PM]Sandalf13: Some of the characters in the Legendarium still have uncertain genealogic affinities...take Celeborn, for example. We still do not know where he comes from, excatlh, and the same for Orodreth, I believe.
[4:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I am recording the Tolkien biopic tonight, so maybe I'll know by next meeting
[4:49 PM]Varda: : )
[4:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That doesn't always mean the geneaologies came after. I think those are examples of when he changed his mind about the genealogies.
[4:50 PM]Varda: The documentary of JRRT's life? It's not exactly accurate. cough
[4:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Let's see how many ways we can spell genealogie tonight.
[4:50 PM]Varda: and in how many languages?
[4:50 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: hehe
[4:50 PM]Sandalf13: Ar's comment suggests that the genealogies changed as the book(s) were written.
[4:51 PM]Varda: They did.
[4:51 PM]Sandalf13: So it may just be a chicken and egg type question, yes?
[4:52 PM]Varda: Anyone else want to weigh in before my fingers start running? ; )
[4:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: (egg came first, plenty of generations before the chicken)
[4:53 PM]Sandalf13: But still... I was always impressed with how one of Tolkien's earliest characters was Earendel, based on the Old English poem about the character of the same name...something like, "Hail Earendel, brightest of mariners..."
[4:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: (of course you can specify for a chicken egg, but is a chicken egg named for its parent or for what it hatches into?)
[4:53 PM]Eönwë Valar: How would you know it's a chicken if it's the first chicken to ever exist?
[4:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, gotta draw the speciation line somewhere.
[4:54 PM]Eönwë Valar: But as for Celeborn, I know I've come across some commentary in Tolkien's work on his geneology and relation to Elwë/Olwë.
[4:54 PM]Léod: That makes sense, as didn't he want to make a mythological framework for Britain?
[4:54 PM]Varda: Yes, Leod.
[4:55 PM]Sandalf13: BTW, from a geologic perspective, we DO know that the develpment of the amniotic egg was one of the great stepping stones on the evolutionary ladder...it enabled amphibians to completely leave the water and live on land. What a breakthrough, maybe? I think the plants may think otherwise.
[4:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: He did. The original Book of Lost Tales was a British mythology, though I do believe it was actually Tol Eressea that would turn into England.
[4:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, in one version at least.
[4:56 PM]Sandalf13: I think that Eonwe's insight is correct. but the original Celeborn had a different origin...or maybe it was later?
[4:58 PM]Eönwë Valar: Celeborn's location in relation to when he met Galadriel did change.
[4:58 PM]Eönwë Valar: Some versions they met in Aman, in some they met in Doriath.
[5:00 PM]Sandalf13: From the Unfinished Tales: "On the other hand, the making of Celeborn into a Telerin ELf of Aman contradicts not only statements in the Silmarillion, but also those cited already fro The Road Goes Ever On, and Appendix B to the LOTR, where Celeborn is a Sindarian Elf of Beleriand." C. Tolkien goes on to state that this required an alteration in the history of the First Age was made...
[5:01 PM]Léod: I'm afraid I have to go. It's 6pm, and I have something I have to do.
[5:01 PM]Varda: Namarie
[5:01 PM]Sandalf13: Take care and sei gesund! Namarie
[5:01 PM]Léod: Namarie!
[5:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[5:01 PM]Varda: Between the Geneologies and the Writing, as to which came first:
[5:02 PM]Varda: His first line of the story was
[5:02 PM]Varda: "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit" on the back of a School Certificate paper in the late 1920's.
[5:02 PM]Varda: (That date may be wrong)
[5:02 PM]Varda: He had been writing stories for his children and intended to use this for another one.
[5:02 PM]Varda: He made Thror's map for the geography of the tale.
[5:03 PM]Varda: He started the actual story (The Hobbit) in the 1930's.
[5:03 PM]Varda: Geneology not first. Story germ first.
[5:04 PM]Sandalf13: I think you have the right of it, Varda, but once the stories began, the genealogies also had to start, and they modified the stories, to some extent, as they became more complicated, and vice versa.
[5:04 PM]Varda: Aye, the geneologies were an important tool!
[5:04 PM]Sandalf13: They sort of "co-evolved."
[5:04 PM]Varda: But thought you might be tickled how fast the map came up. : )
[5:05 PM]Varda: JRRT also kept close track of things like the phases of the moon to keep it right for all parts of the story and all PoV's.
[5:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: To be fair, that's not the first story in the... franchise, shall we say.
[5:05 PM]Eönwë Valar: The larger backdrop of Arda came earlier than that, he just decided to work it into a story about his Hobbits.
[5:05 PM]Varda: Ok, back to Book of Lost Tales then?
[5:06 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: His earliest Lost Tales did have rather some genealogy in them, with the first elves in the Cottage being descendants from his main players.
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: He'd been working on the Valar, Eriol, and the cosmological mythos around World War 1.
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: I want to say 1915-1917
[5:06 PM]Varda: Going far back as I know how:
[5:06 PM]Varda:
Letter #163.
pg. 212
"To turn, if I may, to the 'human touches' and the matter of when I started. That is rather like asking of Man when language started. It was an inevitable, though conditionable, evolvement of the birth-given. It has always been with me: the sensibility to linguistic pattern which affects me emotionally like colour or music; and the passionate love of growing things; and the deep response to legends..."
[5:06 PM]Sandalf13: I suspect that Tolkien always had his genealogies in the back of his mind, even as he was writing the earliest portions of the Legendarium,
[5:07 PM]Sandalf13: What is the date for Letter #163?
[5:08 PM]Varda: Includes a letter dated 7 June 1955
[5:09 PM]Varda: Most have a date by the title, this one doesn't. But does have that included letter inside.
[5:10 PM]Varda: Here's another in 1955:
[5:10 PM]Varda:
Letter 165.
pg. 219
"...what is a I think a primary 'fact' about my work, that it is all of a piece, and fundamentally linguistic in inspiration. The authorities of the university might well...call it a 'hobby'... But it is not a 'hobby', in the sense of something quite different from one's work, taken up as a relief-outlet. The invention of languages is the foundation. The 'stories' were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. To me a name comes first and the story follows."
[5:10 PM]Arien Valar: i think from what i rememb er vaguely from the Tokien exhibition a few years back it started indeed with the genealoies
[5:10 PM]Varda: (yes I typed these up earlier. )
[5:11 PM]Arien Valar: genologies ...
[5:11 PM]Varda: Them gens.
[5:11 PM]Sandalf13: Wow, Arien! Can you remember any more about this?
[5:11 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: A name comes first and the story follows. I like that.
[5:11 PM]Sandalf13: Starting with Earendel the Mariner?
[5:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: So language came first :} "Name first then story follows" :}
[5:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: And just because: Definition of GENEALOGY "an account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms; regular descent of a person, family, or group of organisms from a progenitor or older form : pedigree; the study of family ancestral lines… See the full definition"
[5:14 PM]Arien Valar: if i could find the book from the exhibition i could check but it must be upstairs or buried on the shelf somewhere
[5:14 PM]Varda: Think it might have the comment online?
[5:14 PM]Sandalf13: Oy Weh. Maybe later you can find it?
[5:15 PM]Varda: And you can type it in here another day? I understand it's your bedtime.
[5:15 PM]Arien Valar: i ll have a look until next meeting aye
[5:15 PM]Varda: Thank you. : )
[5:16 PM]Arien Valar: yeah i have to go very soon ... old lwoman has to go to bed early
[5:16 PM]Sandalf13: Genuine genealogies garner great generational gradation.
[5:16 PM]Sandalf13: Say that quickly three times....
[5:16 PM]Varda: Then you can stay up late. But a person with a job needs sleep!
[5:17 PM]Varda: copy paste? : )
[5:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Amazing alliterations are always awesome!
[5:17 PM]Sandalf13: Fantastic. No alliteration required.
[5:17 PM]Varda: the gavel scribbles down a geneology. rock ore fire nail
[5:18 PM]Sandalf13: What about some flux, like fluorite, for example?
[5:18 PM]Varda: <--- swings startled gavel
[5:18 PM]Varda: Thwak!
[5:18 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:18 PM]Sandalf13: Oh no! You Broke muy cubic fluorite into a thousand tiny octahedrons!
[5:18 PM]Varda: Free chat, even continuing alliteratively if you please. : )
[5:19 PM]Varda: but they're sparkly! makes them into stars
[5:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Four firey fluorites in flux.
[5:20 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Fascinating.
[5:20 PM]Varda: Anyway. So JRRT writes one sentence for The Hobbit start, then draws a big map.
[5:21 PM]Varda: I found that amusing. And right.
[5:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Especially since they're so disconnected as story elements.
[5:22 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Unless Erebor was once meant to be a hobbit hole!
[5:22 PM]Sandalf13: The cubic, purple crystal is the fluorite, embedded in a mass of sphalerite (ZnS). Cubic fluorite cleaves into octahedrons:
[5:22 PM]Varda: Get an idea, then where it should take place and journey, then fill in the gaps. Kind of an outline starter.
[5:22 PM]Sandalf13:
[5:22 PM]Varda: Purty purple pieces.
@Ar-Pharazon-V[5:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: Making a mountain out of a Hobbit-hill?
[5:22 PM]Varda: makes purty purple constellation
[5:23 PM]Sandalf13: Fluorite can also be pink, green, blue, and brown.
[5:24 PM]Varda: Oh, got to join in the Tolkien book chat in LotRO last night. Some of them seemed interested in perhaps adding to our Tolkien Site. : ) We'll see. Would be cool.
[5:24 PM]Varda: They know original references are required and have all read the H, LotR, and Sil and discussed in the group.
[5:25 PM]Varda: We went chapter by chapter in appropriate Middle-earth places inside LotRO.
[5:25 PM]Eönwë Valar: Cool.
[5:25 PM]Varda: Last night was the chapter for The Grey Havens, so we went to the docks in Celondim. Elf country.
[5:26 PM]Varda: Anyway, one can hope for fresh articles and stuff. : )
[5:26 PM]Arien Valar: Nice
[5:26 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sounds great!
[5:26 PM]Arien Valar: but they grey havens were north of the Shire i believe ? beyond Anuminas
[5:27 PM]Sandalf13: More due west.
[5:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Into the West ♪
[5:27 PM]Varda: Wellll, it was a dock. With elves. And ships. We used it.
[5:27 PM]Sandalf13: Yup. You start your westward trek in The Shire, and keep going through the Grey Havens to the Great Beyond.
[5:27 PM]Arien Valar: aye very appropriate
[5:28 PM]Arien Valar: so well i go .. into the clouds . dream clouds to bext
[5:28 PM]Sandalf13: Otis Redding wrote "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" while he was in the Grey Havens, right? Or did he name it after Richie Havens?
[5:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie Arien!
[5:28 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie!
[5:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Sleep softly sunshine!
[5:28 PM]Varda: Namarie, Sunshine!
[5:28 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie Sa all
[5:32 PM]Sandalf13: I have been in touch with the Moderator of the Worlds Explored Tolkien site, and have recommended that he take a look at our site. Maybe he will reference it in his site's blog. [Note: looked for the Worlds Explored site and found this.]
[5:33 PM]Varda: Nice.
[5:42 PM]Sandalf13: OK...I have to finish up the things I didn't do today. Now I must catch up...see you all later, meine Kameradan! Will be back for Ar's report...
[5:42 PM]Varda: Namarie, Sandalf : )
[5:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie
[7:32 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya!
[7:32 PM]Sandalf13: I am back.
[7:32 PM]Sandalf13: For what it is worth.
[7:32 PM]Varda: Heh, I was just leaving but will return. Phar will be back in a bit. And hi!
[7:32 PM]Varda: Aloha
[7:32 PM]Sandalf13: Did you already have your dinner?
[7:32 PM]Varda: Yes
[7:33 PM]Varda: Did some webwork, taking a break from the comp.
[7:33 PM]Sandalf13: Just got back from Costco, and am staring down aq tastly Mediterranean Crucn salad, with lots of fresh red peppers, spome parmesan cheese (for protein), and a little tuna on the side...Can't wait to dig in.
[7:33 PM]Varda: Dig in! Sounds great.
[7:34 PM]Sandalf13: Tasty, too!
[7:35 PM]Sandalf13: Oh..I forgot: lots of Krinos Greek Kalamata olives (pitted) in the salad...yum. Brings back memories of buying fresh Kalamats out of the barrel when I was in Greece in 1972 and 1974...
[8:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming report:
[8:20 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming, this week I present DUMO on Kongregate.
[8:20 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: A puzzle platformer where each level consists of 2 rooms, each with a controllable character.
[8:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Switch between the rooms to move each character, with which to perform actions that affect the other room, like stepping on buttons or grabbing keys to unlock doors.
[8:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Get all the diamonds in each level!
[8:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: If that sounds complicated, it's easier when you see it
[8:21 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also not very long, and has nice music!
[8:23 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[8:23 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Ar!
[8:24 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Diablo 4: One more quest done on the seasonal character, getting to rank 1 with the Iron Wolves, which unlocked the mission to track a caravan and find out what happened to the Iron Wolf bodyguards. Seems there's some whispers and a cult involved that make em crazy!
[8:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Next quests will require ranks 5 and 9, that could take a bit longer.
[8:25 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya
[8:25 PM]Sandalf13:
[8:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: 148 on the reward track now. I wonder how far I'll get before the next expansion rolls around in a few weeks!
[8:28 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Midsummer Fire Festival questline is ongoing, with some generalized quests in the series, and an apparently unrelated hero skin at the end. Still, not everything needs to be thematic.
[8:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Almost done with the questlines, and that should leave me with a couple of daily quests to finish getting the final reward.
[8:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also got Death Knight class to 45 along the way, unlocking some golden versions of cards I do use in my deck, so that's nice
[8:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Brawl is The Void Singularity: At the end of your turn, all your minions on the board get crushed into one entity that has the total stats of all of them.
[8:31 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: A bit tricky, since hard removal spells can really set you back since you only have 1 minion at the end/start of each turn, but personally I went with a deck full of minions with deathrattles that have good effects when they have crushed. Can swing the board in your favor!
[8:33 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: New collection level, 36! Halfway to the next one as well, since I've gotten a good number of quality upgrades going.
[8:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the beast dungeon week, got Hogger through level 17 after some trouble. Lucking into the talent that summons raptors with each beast mini you play, my swarmy beast cycle deck made good use of it.
[8:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: New dungeon is alliance, where Tirion is trying to get through level 20, though not with much luck.
[8:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got through the first fight a few times, but I think he just needs a few more levels.
[8:36 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the heroic sigil campaign, completed Mukla with all 5 families. Next fight is King Bangalash, the white tiger, with thankfully easier mechanics than the last few. Got 3 families done with it.
[8:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Our little guild is making good progress now that we're with 3 active people, as we got 20000 guild chest points, reaching that milestone for the first time since season 1, and unlocking a new emote. I hope this activity keeps up!
[8:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Had some luck with mini deals in the grid, getting a few uncommon deals, a rare deal, and a few commons getting their last star as well, though that requires manual upgrading.
[8:40 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got the Worgen, Bat Rider, Holy Nova spell, and Plague Farmer to uncommon, and the Ogre Mage from uncommon to rare.
[8:42 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also got the talents for the Defias Bandit, Bat Rider, Plague Farmer and the second talent for the Ogre Mage. Two uncommons are still missing their talents but I'm sure they won't be long.
[8:43 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That took a bit out of the gold fund, but hey, that's what it's there for
[8:43 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Most of those minis I actively use as well, so I'm looking forward to seeing their upgrades in action.
[8:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[8:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: With the summer coming on and our heroic achievements got, we've started a raid break until September, when the first raid of the new expansion comes out. (spiders!)
[8:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Weekly quest is timewalking, still fun, but not really getting any useful upgrades from the final reward anymore.
[8:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For the Midsummer Festival, between visiting bonfires and fighting Ahune, I've now gotten over 700 blossoms, enough to buy the 2 new items. Will probably do that tomorrow.
[8:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Ahune himself isn't giving me the dragon customization armor yet, all we can do is keep trying every day!
[8:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: With the bonfires done and no raiding, that just gives more alting time!
[8:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Calkin, my horde main, has continued his quest to unlock the Vulpera allied race, helping out the Zandalari with a naga invasion, with Nisha, the vulpera rogue at my side. Naga threat has been neutralized, and he's gotten 2 levels, up to 42, along the way. Next up he'll be heading to Suramar to help with wine-making! Quite a varied life he leads.
[8:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And Calvirona, my pandaria remix character, continued questing in Krasarang, helping out an alliance expedition a bit more, before moving to the south to aid a pandaren fishing settlement against a crocolisk invasion, while also helping set right to the ecosystem by fighting some hozen pirates who have been overfishing the area.
[8:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: She's also finished the other Krasarang achievements, for exploration and rare mob fighting, getting Chen Stormstout's Keg as a cloak appearance. I still prefer the chicken cloak though
[8:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: After that she completed the dual Valley/Krasarang story by bringing all her new allies together against a Mantid invasion, led by a giant bug breaking through the Wall, before being catapulted into the bug's mouth and punching it to death from inside.
[8:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And after that she travelled to the next zone Kun-lai Summit, after navigating some large stairs, passing by the Tavern in the Mists (where she said hello to everyone's favorite black dragon, Wrathion), and rafting to the town of Binan.
[8:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: There she fought off a yaungol invasion, who, like the mantid, are also being pushed by a Sha's influence. Them Sha seem to be behind everything! She also helped reclaim the town of Westwind Rest, fought off some more yaungol and mogu, and among the many questlines she unlocked after that she's now headed to aid the secretive ninja organization the Shado-Pan, which is trying to push the yaungol back beyond the wall.
[8:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: She's also gained 4 more levels, up to 68. Next week I'm sure she'll get to 70!
[9:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Leveling has slowed down, but on the other hand the stat increases on new gear for each level are getting bigger. So maybe that balances out?
[9:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, speaking of leveling, during that quest in Diablo 4, my rogue Calvorgius doubled his level to 14. Still getting the hang of melee rogueing, but we're getting there.
[9:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And that's my report for the week!
[9:04 PM]Sandalf13: Thank you, Ar! I hope you have a good week ahead. I just caught up on your last writings...NAmarie!
[9:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie
[9:45 PM]Varda: Namarie
Thus ends this week's meeting. Come back and see us next week!