Sunday, March 16, 2025
5:00pm Eastern Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
Attending: Arien, Ar-Pharazon, Eonwe, Sandalf, Varda (presiding). Pallando side chat report.
Topic 1: Rohirric music
Topic 2: What did folk do for fun?
Landroval branch: kin transferred to Peregrin
Crickhollow branch: kin transferred to Glamdring
Peregrin branch:
Glamdring branch: US
Treebeard branch: US
Angmar branch: US
Mordor branch: EU
Characters can transfer from Treebeard and Angmar to the Peregrin or Glamdring branch. Please let us know where you went and if you would also like kinned!
Mordor branch is 64-bit EU VIP-only, but those characters can transfer to Meriadoc or Orcrist servers. However, we are not putting branches there at this time. Fainan is present, very low level, but has no reason to make branches at this time.
[March 16, 2025
[3:30 PM]Varda: Morwe did show up in our Peregrin kin on March 15. Yay!
[3:30 PM]Varda: Also, emails lag behind the actual transfer and some have not been mailed at all during the extreme times due to some sort of problem.
[3:32 PM]Eönwë Valar: TIme to hit that transfer button and get my chars going over there then :}
[3:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: Good thing for escrow. I apparently missed a floor and wall hook somewhere.
[3:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: They haven't cried "Havoc!" and let slip the houses of LotRO yet, have they?
[3:41 PM]Eönwë Valar: YouTube - "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!"
[3:41 PM]Varda: Houses won't be showing up until the transfer monster has been tamed, to give everyone a chance to nab their favored housing, old house.
[3:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: Thought as much.
[3:42 PM]Varda: At that time, expect an insane land rush!
[3:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: hehe
[3:42 PM]Varda: And cry havoc. : )
[3:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: I don't remember my old neighborhood, so it's just off to whatever one gives me my old plot.
[3:42 PM]Varda: Good enough for most of us. : )
[3:56 PM]Varda: Five minutes!
[3:56 PM]Varda: and 4 by the time the typing was done.
[4:00 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend Valar Guild meeting time. Yay! Come say hi. : )
[4:00 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:00 PM]Varda: A star shines on the hour of our meeting.
[4:00 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya all!
[4:01 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:01 PM]Varda: Aiya Eonwe and Sandalf
[4:01 PM]Varda: Sandalf, among many things, Honored Gardener. : )
[4:01 PM]Varda: Eonwe, Gamer and Coder : )
[4:02 PM]Sandalf13: Thank you.
[4:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya./
[4:02 PM]Varda: Web:
[4:02 PM]Varda: We've been sweating out setting up coding for all of the new happenings.
[4:03 PM]Varda: Doesn't help to be suddenly unable to look at the place the info is sitting (as in a game during a transfer).
[4:03 PM]Varda: But we'll get there!
[4:04 PM]Varda: Gaming:
[4:04 PM]Varda: Asking Pallando and Eonwe. : )
[4:05 PM]Varda: Eonwe will be taking the gavel.
[4:06 PM]Varda: As soon as it leaves Sandalf's garden. Come on, gavel! Table to hop on, right here!
[4:06 PM]Varda: Sandalf, give a tug to that gavel, please? : )
[4:07 PM]Varda: Is that it? The gavel, under all that hair...topsoil?
[4:07 PM]Varda: wipes off gavel
[4:07 PM]Varda: Go, go gavel!
[4:07 PM]Eönwë Valar: *video*
[4:07 PM]Sandalf13: y;020
[4:08 PM]Varda: gavel hops to Eonwe
[4:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[4:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: This week's bonus events: Mists of Pandaria Timewalking.
[This week's PvP Brawl: Temple of Hotmogu.
[LFR wing 2 and Story Mode of the Liberation of Undermine raid is available this week.
[4:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: If you'd like to hear WoW music outside of WoW, you can listen to the Undermine(d) soundtrack on Youtube.
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: We got another look at housing this week.
[4:10 PM]Varda: Cheerily lit. : )
[4:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out WoW Weekly for anything not mentioned above.
[4:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out this week's hotfixes.
[4:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hearthstone:
[Blizzard released a blog discussing community events and patch notes. Into the Emerald Dream Community Events and Balance Patch Preview
[4:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: Warcraft Rumble Check out the Season 13 patch notes.
[4:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo 4:
[4:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Mother's Blessing event goes March 18th through March 25th. (Note: age restricted page.) "Earn Gold and Experience at increased rates, plus earn bonus Gifts of the Tree caches during Mother's Blessing Week."
[4:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out the patch notes for what's coming on Tuesday. (Note: age verification)
[4:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo Immortal:
[4:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Blizzard put up a roadmap for 2025. (Note: age verification)
[4:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: The next major update, The Writhing Wilds, comes March 20th. (Note: age verification)
[Brave The Fey In The Writhing Wilds
[Preview the Writhing Wilds major update, featuring a new Battlegrounds Map, the Writhing Wilds Main Quest, and more.
[4:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out the recent bug fixes. (Note: age verification)
[4:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: Overwatch 2:
[A previous collab is coming back: Le SSerafim.
[4:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: Last but not least
[4:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: Lord of the Rings Online:
[4:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: Update 43.1: Secrets of Utug-bûr, Patch 1 is out this week, March 13, 2025.
[4:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: There's also a new dev diary out on the Combe Forester Event.
[4:16 PM]Varda: Helpful. And made me want to try it. : )
[4:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: And best news I'll let Varda mention since she's the LotRO branch leader and so it gets an official mention at the meeting :}
[4:18 PM]Varda: Thank you, Eonwe : )
[4:18 PM]Varda: Both our Peregrin and Glamdring server kin branches are now up and running. Come on in!
[4:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: *video*
[4:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: *video*
[4:19 PM]Varda: Transfers are doing better now, after all the improvements. Except that sometimes the transfer email doesn't make it to the mailbox.
[4:20 PM]Varda: Anyway, charge on in! Have fun!
[4:21 PM]Varda: I can't give out howdy and welcome LotRO mails right now, since a mass of my characters are in transfer, but it should be Soon ™
[4:22 PM]Varda: Some characters will need re-invites to the kin. (At least one of mine, heh.)
[4:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: I set up the transfer from Crickhollow to Glamdring, and it said my account would be unavailable (while it gets ready or something like that) but then it let me into Peregrin just fine.
[4:22 PM]Varda: Re-invites are needed for those swapping out servers differently than that kin's server jump. Just let us know.
[4:23 PM]Varda: What Eonwe said is right. The server you're headed into is ok to open. : ) Helps check to see if you made it, as well. Also, that the other server jump is separate.
[4:24 PM]Varda: I happened to be jumping two servers at the same time.
[4:24 PM]Varda: Found out we could do that thanks to Falco! Yay Falco!
[4:24 PM]Varda: Also, the Spring Festival is underway.
[4:24 PM]Varda: So much partying. : )
[4:25 PM]Varda: Starcraft 2:
[4:25 PM]Varda: Eowyn, Fangorn, Faramir, Floppa, and Varda are known to me as playing this past week.
[4:25 PM]Varda: Any other gaming or memberhip news? Questions? Suggestions?
[4:26 PM]Varda: Oh wait.
[4:26 PM]Varda: EVE Online
[4:26 PM]Varda: News from Pallando:
[4:26 PM]Varda:
[4:14 PM]Debes: Drifter event is escalating. Separately, my team lost in the tournament feeders that were today
[4:14 PM]Debes: I'm out and about so no links I'm afraid
[4:27 PM]Varda: Huzzah! He's gaming in a crazy new event. : )
[4:27 PM]Varda: Ok, any other news? Comments? : )
[4:27 PM]Sandalf13: Lots of comments, but not applicable to gaming.
[4:28 PM]Varda: Then on to
[4:28 PM]Varda: Tolkien!
[4:28 PM]Varda: Sandalf, any of your comments relate to Tolkien? : )
[4:28 PM]Sandalf13: Sort of.
[4:28 PM]Varda: I'll let you go first before my topic of the day. : )
[4:32 PM]Sandalf13: Well...I hope I do not bore anyone. Tolkien envisioned the Rohirrim as a primitive sort of English people, back in the days of the Anglo-Saxons, no doubt. Howard Shore took that idiom musically, and employed it in the LoTR Return of the King, as the Rohirrim gather together for their charge on the fields of Pelennor. Very brassy music associated with the Rohirrim. So: before almost every Valar Guild meeting I play the famous "Sinfonietta" by Leos Janacek, that he wrote in the early 20th Century in honor of the Czechoslovak military. Very brassy, and he used natural horns for the introduction, so it sounds a bit off-key to modern ears, as he intended. Next time you are playing a LoTR game or need some pumping up, listen to this one...it is bound to bring out the fighting spirit within you! BTW - this music also served as the inspiration for the well-known book "IQ84" by Hiruto Murakami.YouTube - Leoš Janáček: Sinfonietta - Jukka-Pekka Saraste & WDR Symphony Orch...
[4:33 PM]Sandalf13: That is it.
[4:33 PM]Varda: Intriguing! Thank you. : )
[4:34 PM]Varda: Any other Tolkien topics? Questions?
[4:34 PM]Sandalf13: sorry..I spelled the author's name incorrectly. Here it is:
[Image
[4:36 PM]Varda: Thank you. Haruki Murakami
[4:36 PM]Varda: For our next topic:
[4:36 PM]Varda: What did the folk do for fun?
[4:36 PM]Sandalf13: Drink beer....lots and lots and lots of beer.
[4:36 PM]Varda: This is H, LotR, and Sil.
[4:36 PM]Varda: They did, aye! Many pubs about.
[4:36 PM]Sandalf13: Wine for the Elves.
[4:37 PM]Varda: Dorwinion wine, quite strong, reserved mainly for the King's table in Mirkwood.
[4:37 PM]Sandalf13: Do you think that they distilled the wine slightly to get a stronger alcohol content?
[4:38 PM]Varda: The elves got it from the humans, who probably did do just that.
[4:39 PM]Varda: So when those who should have been watching out for the kegs got into the Dorwinion, they, um, fell asleep, so Bilbo and the dwarves passed right by them.
[4:39 PM]Varda: They weren't used to that strength.
[4:40 PM]Eönwë Valar: Singing, playing instruments, dancing, "rastling".
[4:41 PM]Varda: : )
[4:41 PM]Varda: Tulkas enjoyed wrestling as a sport. The laughing warrior.
[4:41 PM]Arien Valar: oops i did it again ...
[4:42 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Arien!
[4:42 PM]Varda: Singing, musical instruments for learning, playing solo, then in pairs, and at last for Creation!
[4:42 PM]Arien Valar: aiya all
[4:42 PM]Varda: The Sun came up! Yay!
[4:42 PM]Varda: Time zones haven't matched up yet, have they?
[4:42 PM]Sandalf13: Dancing under the stars, to be specific...at least for the Elves.
[@Arien Valar
[oops i did it again ...
[4:42 PM]Eönwë Valar: Speaking of singing? (Or maybe I'm showing my age)
[4:42 PM]Varda: The special time when Valacirca rose, to start the singing.
[4:44 PM]Varda: Singing and poetry and stories by the Elves in the Hall of Fire. And by Bilbo. Probably other guests too.
[4:45 PM]Varda: Luthien could really dance. I'm sure she had to learn from the others, at least the beginning.
[4:45 PM]Eönwë Valar: (Reference to a Britney Spears song from the 90s, probably the one most people who recognize the name are going to know. Name of the Song and the first few lyrics are "Oops, I did it again.")
[4:46 PM]Sandalf13: Aragorn could sing quite well also, for a human...after all, he was trained by Elrond.
[4:46 PM]Sandalf13: Remember the scene in the movie when Frodo asks Aragorn..."Who was she?"
[4:46 PM]Varda: Aye, and not entirely human, at that. Even a smidgen of Maia.
[4:46 PM]Varda: Aye
[4:47 PM]Varda: "What happened to her?""
[4:47 PM]Varda: "She died.""
[4:47 PM]Varda: Succinct.
[4:47 PM]Sandalf13: Yes. Pithy, like most of what Aragron had to say in the movies.
[4:48 PM]Varda: Hobbits in a pub (and humans generally): tell stories to each other, drink, sing, eat, smoke.
[4:48 PM]Varda: Dance on tables
[4:48 PM]Varda: Party: the yearly birthday party for Bilbo and Frodo, as well as the more normal birthday parties.
[4:48 PM]Eönwë Valar: Talk about events in far away lands, or near away lands.
[4:48 PM]Varda: Rosie dancing with ribbons in her hair.
[4:48 PM]Varda: heh, near away lands. : )
[4:49 PM]Varda: Sneaking into Farmer Maggot's mushroom garden.
[4:49 PM]Varda: I remember reading somewhere (not fan fic) about Mirkwood elves going outside the forest to run horses fast for the free feeling of it.
[4:49 PM]Sandalf13: Fishing
[4:49 PM]Varda: Aye. And hunting.
[4:50 PM]Varda: Gardening.
[4:50 PM]Varda: Some of that comes under plain ol' work. : )
[4:50 PM]Sandalf13: The Hobbits loved hiking through the countryside, as evinced in many of Bilbo's songs, as did Tolkien himself.
[4:50 PM]Varda: True! Even had the Walking Song to go with it, changing as where they were changed.
[4:51 PM]Varda: Bears danced outside Beorn's house at night, and perhaps with Beorn.
[4:51 PM]Sandalf13: Dancing Bears.
[4:51 PM]Varda: Some argue whether they were other Beornings or plain bears.
[4:51 PM]Eönwë Valar: There were dancing bears in Numenor, as I recall. Phar would likely remember that one.
[4:53 PM]Eönwë Valar: According to Nature of Middle-Earth, Numenoreans held horsemanship contests involving getting their horses to obey without verbal commands.
[4:53 PM]Varda: I'll bet the Rohirrim picked that up fast. : )
[4:53 PM]Sandalf13: "Bear break-dancing"
[4:53 PM]Eönwë Valar: I want to say by thought, but I don't have the book in front of me, of course, heh.
[4:54 PM]Eönwë Valar: I take that back, I do have it in front of me :} One sec :}
[4:54 PM]Varda: (I received a server error. Will try again later. (Note: Still true days later.)
[4:55 PM]Varda: Yay books!
[4:58 PM]Sandalf13: I assume that the Numenoreans also rode Elf-style, that is, without tack...since they learned so much from the Elves. I wonder...that leads to another question: did the earliest Men learn to ride horses from the Elves, or did they already know that by the shores of Cuivenen?
[4:59 PM]Varda: Orome rode, so the Elves knew of it very early on.
[5:00 PM]Varda: Tack is better if the rider needs to fight.
[5:00 PM]Sandalf13: For sure.
[5:00 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ok, going to give some short quotes here, only in relation to what we're discussing. All comes from Lives of the Numenoreans until otherwise stated.
[5:00 PM]Varda: Thank you.
[5:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: "Boys and young men loved especially to live, when they could, freely in the open and to journey on foot in the wilder parts of the land. Many exercised themselves in climbing."
[5:01 PM]Sandalf13: But for horse riding contests, and getting your mount to do what you want without verbal commands, Elf-style is probably better.
[5:02 PM]Eönwë Valar: "The cliffs (my note: on north, northwest, and southwest of the island) were the chief places of climbing for the daring."
[5:03 PM]Eönwë Valar: "In the Sea the strong men took their greatest delightL in swimming or in diving; or in small craft for the contests of speed in rowing and sailing."
[5:03 PM]Eönwë Valar: Fishing mentioned.
[5:04 PM]Sandalf13: Ah those Numenoreans....they had almost everything, except eternal life. I wonder what would have happened to Middle-earth if the Numenoreans under Ar-Pharazon (and others) did not fall to the wiles of Sauron...
[5:05 PM]Eönwë Valar: Once the Numenoreans started their own shipcraft and achieved a voyage to Middle-Earth and back, "Sea-faring became the chief outlet or daring and hardihood among the men of Numenor."
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: Mention of a "Guild of Venturers" to which all the tried mariners belonged and all the young men wanted to join.
[5:06 PM]Sandalf13: Tale of Aldarion and Erendis, again.
[5:07 PM]Eönwë Valar: "The women took little part in these things, though they were generally nearer to men than is the case with most races in stature and strength, and were agile and fleet of foot in youth. Their great delight was in dancing (in which many men also took part)
[my note: gee, I can't imagine why] at feasts or in leisure time."
[5:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: "Many women achieved great fame as dancers, and people would go on long journeys to see displays of their art."
[5:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: "But nearly all women could ride horses, treating them honourably, and housing them more nobly than any other of their domestic animals."
[5:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: "Both men and women rode horses for pleasure."
[5:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: Inland road moslty "horse-roads" - unpaved and intended for riding.
[5:10 PM]Sandalf13: I wonder what Gil-Galad and the other Elves remaining in Middle-earth thought of those first Numenoreans who returned to Middle-earth. Iluvatar had given them great size (wasn't Elendil supposed to be alomst 8 feet tall?) and they must have seemed huge to the Elves and other Men who dwelt in Eriador.
[5:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: Coaches and carriages little used in earlier centuries.
[5:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: Here we go.
[5:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: "...they had little interest in racing them as a test of speed.
[5:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: In country sports displays of agility, both of horse and rider, were to be seen; but more esteemed were the exhibitions of understanding between master and beast. The Numenoreans trained their horses to hear and understand their calls (by voice or whistling) from great distances; and also, where there was great love between men or women and their favorite steeds, they could (or so it is said in ancient tales) summon them at need by their thoughts alone."
[5:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: That sounds like what I was remembering.
[5:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: "So it was also with their dogs."
[5:13 PM]Sandalf13: Sounds very Elvish, as well.
[5:13 PM]Varda: Dogs too. Interesting.
[5:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: There were regions where they needed watch-dogs for sheep.
[5:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: Dogs trained to ward off or track down predatory beast and birds. Seldom seen in towns.
[5:14 PM]Varda: We know the Great Eagles commented on the herds of sheep (and grabbing one now and then.)
[5:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: On farms never chained or tethered. Didn't dwell inside the houses, but were often welcomed into the central hall.
[5:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: "It was men rather than women who had a liking to keep dogs as 'friends'."
[5:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: "Women loved more the wild (or 'unowned') birds and beasts, and they were especially fond of squirrels...."
[5:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya! Right. Thought I was just 17 minutes late.
[5:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Silly DST.
[5:17 PM]Varda: (I wonder about Falconry.)
[5:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Reading up!
[5:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: Quick mention from Of the Lands and Beasts of Numenor:
[5:18 PM]Varda: Aye, DST is annoying. Glad you came!
[5:18 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Ar!
[5:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: "The most famous was the Great Bear-dance of Tompollë in the Forostar, to which many would come... since it occurred not long after the Eruhantalë."
[5:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: Women tamed squirrels: red, dark brown and black could be found.
[5:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: Badgers, black swing in the woods, white and black herds of kine.
[5:20 PM]Eönwë Valar: red, fallow, roe-deer.
[5:21 PM]Varda: (Image of fallow deer)
[5:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: beavers, seals,, mice, voles, weasels, hares, uncertain kinds that lived in trees but were like squirrels., or small fat kinds that were neither rats nor rabbits.
[5:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: Deer smaller than in ME.
[5:22 PM]Varda: (fallow deer above)
[5:22 PM]Sandalf13: Probably some Pikas and prairie dogs, as well...
[5:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: land-tortoises of no great size, fresh-water creatures of turtle-kind.
[5:22 PM]Eönwë Valar: urchins or hedgehogs of large size with long black quills.
[5:23 PM]Varda: rous (Note: Princess Bride acronym: "rodents of unusual size".)
[5:23 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hares mentioned.
[5:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: whale,s narwals, dolphins, porpoises. Shark only seen on their voyages because they didn't come near Numenor.
[5:24 PM]Eönwë Valar: salmon
[5:25 PM]Eönwë Valar: hawks and falcons of many kinds.
[5:25 PM]Eönwë Valar: (*there you go Varda)
[5:25 PM]Varda: Thanks : )
[5:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: Ravens, daws, crows. Nightingales, but not in abundance.
[5:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: Plants that might be of interest:
[5:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: walnuts
[5:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: maple
[5:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: chestnuts
[5:26 PM]Sandalf13: Native Prairie Dogs of the Great Plains doing their thing... (Images of praire dogs)
[5:27 PM]Eönwë Valar: wild apple ,cherry, pear.
[5:28 PM]Eönwë Valar: Those three that they grew in their orchards were gifts from the Eldar, so Eldar had those things too.
[5:29 PM]Eönwë Valar: ducks, geese, doves pigeons. Looks like they found chickens on their voyage and brought them back.
[5:29 PM]Eönwë Valar: foxes
[5:29 PM]Eönwë Valar: Numenoreans devised crossbows
[5:30 PM]Eönwë Valar: Archery a passtime of both men and women.
[5:30 PM]Eönwë Valar: And that's all the fun stuff I have time to read out today :}
[5:31 PM]Varda: Thank you!
[5:32 PM]Arien Valar: what a bout stuff like painting. pottery making or masonry as art or hobby?
[5:32 PM]Arien Valar: or carving
[5:33 PM]Eönwë Valar: Didn't catch any mention in my skimming.
[5:33 PM]Varda: I figure they did a lot of that as their normal day's work, but could also be a hobby.
[5:33 PM]Sandalf13: Stamp collecting in the Shire? After all, they had Post Offices...
[5:34 PM]Varda: Glass-blowing
[5:34 PM]Arien Valar: yeah that probably
[5:34 PM]Varda: gavel hops onto the hammerpad abruptly
[5:34 PM]Varda: stwonk!
Thus ends this week's meeting. Come back and see us next week!
[5:34 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:34 PM]Varda: Feel free to continue.
[5:35 PM]Varda: We did kind of slide on that last part into things that are both work and play, but that is also the case in our lives now!
[5:35 PM]Sandalf13: And of so much else, as well...
[5:38 PM]Eönwë Valar: Some things are as much art as they are practicality.
[5:38 PM]Varda: Let's try this thing over here, or over here, or how about here...
[5:39 PM]Eönwë Valar: Gondolin did have fountains. Would be an awful shame if they weren't ornate.
[5:39 PM]Varda: Those just had to be ornate. No way they weren't.
[5:43 PM]Sandalf13: Ecthelion would be glad to discuss the efficacy of the fountains in Gondolin, at least as regards Balrogs...
[5:43 PM]Varda: : )
[5:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Caught up1
[5:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: !
[5:51 PM]Varda: Yay!
[5:51 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And yes, I do remember the dancing bears of Numenor
[5:51 PM]Varda:
[5:52 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: As for the question what would have happened to Middle-Earth if we hadn't fallen to Sauron's influence... remember there was already some darkness present in the generations before me, before confronting and capturing Sauron. There are stories about cults and colonies and dark temples in Middle-earth that were our doing rather than Sauron's.
[5:52 PM]Varda: So, did Beorn have a few hanging out, or were his dancing bears related to him?
[5:53 PM]Varda: Le oops.
[5:53 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I like to think that he got along well with normal bears, so maybe a mix
[5:53 PM]Varda: So Sauron was exploiting a tendency that was building, that might have been quashed in time otherwise?
[5:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Perhaps even like ents and huorns, where they grew more akin to each other; some shapeshifters might have changed to a state where they lived as normal bears completely and never went back to human form.
[5:54 PM]Varda: Interesting.
[5:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, certainly. It must have been Morgoth's influence to start with. The seed of evil remained, after all; men had been influenced by him from the early days to mistrust death.
[5:55 PM]Varda: It was in the earth itself, in Morgoth's "Ring".
[5:58 PM]Eönwë Valar: No, they were regular bears of the black and brown variety. They were usually friendly unless they had ahem other concerns on their mind, or if they had young cubs with them.
[5:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Was Beorn the last of his kind, then?
[5:58 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Well, the last with the ability, at least.
[5:59 PM]Eönwë Valar: It isn't mentioned either way for Grimbeorn whether he shared that ability or not.
[5:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Because if there were multiple shapeshifters around, certainly a few could have joined the dance.
[6:00 PM]Eönwë Valar: No skinchangers are mentioned among the inhabitants of Numenor.
[6:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Some even indistinguishable from the black and brown mentioned for reasons I mentioned
[6:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, no, I thought we were talking about the dancing at Beorn's.
[6:00 PM]Eönwë Valar: Pardon, I assumed we were talking about the one in Numenor.
[6:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Actually, I think we were, as Varda asked the question
[6:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: at Beorn's, that is.
[6:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: My apologies, I misread.
[6:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: I need to be off anyway.
[6:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie :) 6:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
[6:01 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Looks like it's still 2 more weeks before we go DST, btw.
[6:01 PM]Varda: It was confusing. I also wondered if some of the dancing bears of Numenor were hanging out with the Beornings.
[6:02 PM]Varda: I have decided that Texas should remove the state's DST. Maybe we should start a petition. : )
[6:02 PM]Varda: Namarie, Eonwe!
[6:02 PM]Varda: A girl can dream. : )
[6:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Then you'd be starting late to me all summer But I can live with that!
[6:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Better late than early in my case.
[6:03 PM]Varda: Valar goes by Eastern, not Central and Mountain which is Texas.
[6:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: ah, true
[6:03 PM]Varda: (We have two time zones.)
[6:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hwell, you're a big state.
[6:04 PM]Varda: We all need a single time to work with or we'd never get together!
[6:04 PM]Varda: I mean Valar needs a single time, because the group crosses so many times zones. And yes. ; )
[6:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Honestly, having all of central europe dumped into one timezone is convenient enough, but it's probably too wide to really match up with the hours of the sun.
[6:05 PM]Varda: Aye. Reason the US has trouble deciding on DST or not. Our size.
[6:06 PM]Varda: Soo, Valar settles the whole thing in our group with Eastern. : )
[6:07 PM]Varda: Happens to conveniently be /servertime on LotRO.
[6:07 PM]Varda: I think also on WoW?
[6:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I think Russia's the winner with like 7 timezones in one country
[6:07 PM]Varda: Ouch. : )
[6:07 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Yeah, WoW is central europe, since it's based in France. Works out great for me!
[6:08 PM]Varda: Ahh, right. European servers.
[6:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And any players in the Benelux, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia... though I think Finland and maybe Poland might be one ahead.
[6:09 PM]Varda: At least only one hour of difference. Not terrible.
[6:10 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie for now...got to get some more things ready for the week ahead...will check back later.
[6:11 PM]Varda: Namarie, Sandalf : )
[6:11 PM]Varda: We are in After-meeting anyway.
[6:13 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie Sandalf!
[6:15 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Alright, things seem to have slowed down significantly enough... time for dinner!
[6:19 PM]Varda: Hobbit-approved activity. : )
[6:31 PM]Arien Valar: i always get confused with server time , uk time and Valar time :
[6:32 PM]Arien Valar: any ways i know what time it is for me now ... bed time
[6:32 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie
[6:32 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie
[7:04 PM]Varda: Valar time is Eastern time, shown on LotRO as /servertime. If that's any help. : )
[7:05 PM]Varda: And the sun sets in the West. ♪ ☼
[7:32 PM]Varda: LotRO: Dye: Purple Coupon Code: REGALDYE Now through March 20th
[7:33 PM]Sandalf13: OK...I shall hang on a while longer, then head off. The first day of the change is always hard. I was gauging the time automatically by watchiung the sun set, and then I realized that it was an hour later than usual...oh well...I have to hurry to get everything done to wrap up the weekend.
[7:36 PM]Varda: Sun time is true time. We operate on artificial time. Good luck!
[7:37 PM]Sandalf13: I sent that message one week ago...for some reason, it just popped up on my screen moments ago, so I hit "enter," and it sent it a SECOND time. Oh well. The intricacies of Discord.
[7:37 PM]Varda: hehe
[7:37 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V:
[7:38 PM]Sandalf13: Maybe it read the conversation between you and Arien!
[7:38 PM]Varda: Maybe so
[7:38 PM]Varda: Anyway, for LotRO kin report:
[7:38 PM]Varda:
[7:38 PM]Varda: I need help for Glamdring and Peregrin though.
[7:38 PM]Sandalf13: I am finally getting used to the longer hours of daylight, and adjusting my schedule accordingly.
[7:39 PM]Varda: O good : )
[8:59 PM]Sandalf13: Oy Weh. Time to abandon Discord without reading Ar's report as it is given...I needs clean up my desk and get ready for tomorrow...a busy week lies ahead, with the addition of working on my garden...it is already that time of year once again. Sei gesund and Namarie! Will check the report tomorrow. Please excuse my absence to Ar!
[8:59 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Alright, good luck and namarie! I'll launch into it after completing my Rumble session for the day.
[9:00 PM]Sandalf13: Namarie Ar!!!
[9:55 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming report:
[10:17 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: for (non)flashgaming, here's Kongregate - Code Red.
[Avoid playing in Internet explorer/Edge due to WebGL compability and laggy issues]
[10:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: A platformer wherein you play an experimental monster, making your way through the facility you've woken up in, fighting guards, turrets and scientists. Various actions are possible, including slashing which is area of effect, eating which is a bit slower but restores your health - recommended for scientists - and a scream which kills an entire room but reduces your health.
[10:19 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The goal is to find a specific room, with a relatable twist which I shall not mention here. But feel free to take your revenge on your captors along the way!
[10:27 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[10:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone: Level 169 on the reward track now.
[10:29 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Enough gold to buy a new skin, and got Sea Dryad Lunara. Hard to resist any Lunara skins!
[10:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For the druid class, that is.
[10:30 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Event quest still going well, got the second weekly quest using druid spells that summon things, mostly; quest was to play either spells or summons and druid counts double. So that's a lot of progress with such a deck!
[10:31 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: One more weekly to go, which seems fast enough, since it only requires 6 brawls. And then only 2 dailies away from completing the event.
[10:33 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Speaking of, brawl is Half & Half. Create a deck of 15 cards, get your opponent's 15 cards as well to complete your deck. With that, I've gone to the trusted if somewhat mean rogue deck that uses a lot of weapon buffs, since rogue is the only class that has a weapon as its class skill. Something that I found helpful as well this time is the Nozdormu legendary: If both players have it, turn times are drastically reduced, and in this brawl, both players automatically have it if one does
[10:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble: as expected, collection level 57 now. Bit more gold, wooh
[10:34 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Priestess event is done now, and I got a bunch of priestess stars, Tirion stars and some gold for it. Though I never did get far in heroic and mythic versions of the maps for it, normal as well as the grid and daily offers got me what I needed.
[10:35 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Next week we're expecting the new season with a lot of balance changes and the new Arthas event. Hopefully that's a bit more doable!
[10:38 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: More dungeon progress! In the beast week, I completed level 22 with Charlga, and got started on Murk-Eye, up to level 14. And in the alliance week, had a bit of trouble with Jaina at level 22, but managed it after a few days. I think Maiev's up next, though I don't really have a dedicated army composition for her yet. It seems she gets buffs from unbound minis in your army, so I might as well start with spamming some of those!
[10:39 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In the heroic sigil campaign, cleared Blazerunner and the Crystal Shaper with all families, putting me at 139 sigils. The final boss of Un'goro Crater is a level higher, though, so that could be tricky. Haven't had any success so far.
[10:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For quality upgrades, I got the flamewaker to rare, and when an epic deal for the Defias Bandits showed up in the grid, I spent most of the week saving up gold for that, so now I've got those to epic quality.
[10:41 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I also got talents for the dryad, the flamewaker and the final talent for the defias bandits, so talents are caught up again.
[10:43 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW: More raiding! Another venture into the new Undermine raid, and while I couldn't join them today, on thursday we got 7 out of 8 bosses down, with bosses 6 and 7 being new for me.
[10:43 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also got my first setbonus from the new tier, as well as some other upgrades through raid, delves and even the weekly quest.
[10:43 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That's always nice about the start of a season, upgrades can still come quickly
[10:44 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Weekly is timewalking, which indeed I've been doing, and getting that gear upgrade from the reward box.
[10:45 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Finally, more delves. I'm keeping at tier 7 so far, though my gear is almost up to recommended for 8. I know Eonwe has been punching over his gearlevel when it comes to delves, but I'm not in a hurry. Though I did have to change Brann from dps spec to healing spec to keep me alive in catform.
[10:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got the stories for one of the new delves completed, the other still lacks one.
[10:47 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Brann got from level 52 to 54, and I got a bunch more curios from the delves for him, I now have 6 utility and 6 combat. Not sure how many there are this season, but it seems to be progressing well.
[10:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And I hit level 2 on the delve journey, allowing me to get my first customization for the Delver's Globe-Trotter, an added flamethrower
[10:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Is it safe to put a flamethrower on an airplane? I don't know, but that's goblin mounts for you.
[10:48 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And that's my report for the week!
[10:49 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: namarie
[March 17, 2025
[@Varda
[I think also on WoW?
[12:21 AM]Eönwë Valar: Guild's server Lothar in World of Warcraft is US Eastern time zone, yes.
[12:23 AM]Eönwë Valar: I just have two more slots to upgrade to Season 2 gear on my main in WoW: weapon and belt.k