August 16, 2026
5:00pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
[2:19 PM]Varda: In case anyone wants to do a quick book check, a Tolkien topic I'm considering is: the relationships between the Aratar Kings of the Valar.
[4:00 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend @Maia @Vala Yay! It's time for the Valar Guild meeting! Chat gaming, Tolkien, and just say hi!
[4:00 PM]Arien Valar: aiya varrda 🙂
[4:00 PM]Celebrian
[LOTR], : Aiya!
[4:00 PM]Varda: Aiya Arien!
[4:01 PM]Varda: Aiya Celebrian!
[4:01 PM]Arien Valar: Aiya Celebrian 🙂
[4:01 PM]Varda: Spotted Celebrian in LotRO Peregrin a bit ago. : )
[4:01 PM]Arien Valar: verry good 🙂
[4:02 PM]Celebrian
[LOTR], : Yep, we are back playing a bit. Moving some characters around.
[4:02 PM]Arien Valar: cool
[4:02 PM]Varda: Moving?
[4:03 PM]Celebrian
[LOTR], : Just shuffling them around. We moved a couple to another server and left some on Peregrin.
[4:05 PM]Varda: Did you need any invites on our other branches? I'm available.
[4:05 PM]Varda: Not required, just if you would like.
[4:07 PM]Celebrian
[LOTR], : We might actually, right now we just put them in our own kinship with just me and Elrond cause we don't really do group content.
[4:11 PM]Varda: We don't do a lot of group content right now unless someone wants to. Fun to share stuff with the kin house and sometimes chat.
[4:11 PM]Varda: Swap stuff around to help out.
[4:11 PM]Varda: When you like, I'd be happy to help. Meetings are the easiest way to catch an officer. : )
[4:14 PM]Celebrian
[LOTR], : Will do. I will need invites at some point on a few alts.
[4:14 PM]Celebrian
[LOTR], : Thanks!
[4:14 PM]Varda: Yay!
[4:15 PM]Varda: On Glamdring, mostly played Tintalli, cook hunter, with Fangorn's Huornherder. Also have Fainan to handle business.
[4:15 PM]Varda: I just pulled up Fainan on Glamdring for fun and if you want her.
[4:16 PM]Varda: Ok, back in meeting_place where I'm supposed to be!
[4:16 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:16 PM]Varda: Membership:
[4:16 PM]Varda: We just did a bit of that, heh.
[4:17 PM]Varda: Also, Meriadoc-V is doing much better after his double heart bypass with complications. He's back to driving, work, uses a cane.
[4:17 PM]Varda: Any other membership news?
[4:18 PM]Celebrian
[LOTR], : You know ours 🙂
[4:19 PM]Varda: On to
[Note: Nothing new this week for the Tolkien Site.
[4:19 PM]Varda: Gaming!
[4:19 PM]Varda: Eonwe seems to be stuck at work for now but left his gaming news available for us.
[4:19 PM]Varda: We just heard a little LotRO news. : )
[4:20 PM]Varda: Here's some more Lord of the Rings Online since we are there already:
[4:20 PM]Varda: Update 49.3 is out this week.
[4:20 PM]Varda: Update 49.3: In Good Company, Patch 3 released on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.
[4:20 PM]Varda: A promotion is going on with Magic Online through August 31st.
[4:25 PM]Varda: The Farmer's Faire is going through September 7th.
[4:27 PM]Varda: There was an issue with some titles being granted with the Patron's Coffer of the Noldor that weren't intended. They're making adjustments.
[4:31 PM]Varda: Check out the current timeframe for the remaining updates to the Angmar and Mordor worlds.
[4:33 PM]Varda: Ok, I'll try to be faster with the rest of the gaming news. : )
4:33 PM]Varda: World of Warcraft:
[4:33 PM]Varda: This week's bonus event: World Quests.
[4:33 PM]Varda: This week's PvP Brawl: Shado-Pan Showdown.
[4:34 PM]Varda: Blogs out for the new content update:
[4:34 PM]Varda: (I'm just going to list the urls to those blogs)
[4:34 PM]Varda: Curse of Ula’tek Now live! Journey to the Coiled Isle. Continue the Midnight campaign.
[4:34 PM]Varda: Midnight: Curse of Ula'tek Pre-Season Details
[4:35 PM]Varda: Curse of Ula'tek Housing Updates
[4:35 PM]Varda: Undertake Four New Endeavors in Your Neighborhood!
[4:36 PM]Varda: See WoW Weekly for anything not mentioned above.
[4:37 PM]Varda: Check out this week's hotfixes.
[4:38 PM]Varda: End WoW news
[4:38 PM]Varda: Here's some more LotRO news:
[4:38 PM]Varda: Speed boost code thru Aug 20: SWIFTSUMMER
[4:39 PM]Varda: Any LotRO officer should be able to operate the kin message of the day.
[4:39 PM]Varda: Lord of the Rings Online Valarites that came into the kin branches this past week:
Peregrin branch RP:
Glamdring branch:
Meriadoc branch RP-EU:
Angmar temporary branch:
Mordor temporary branch:
[4:39 PM]Varda: Diablo Immortal:
[4:40 PM]Varda: A new limited-time event is going: Darkening Decades.
[4:40 PM]Varda: Overwatch:
[4:40 PM]Varda: A new Director's Take is out: Battle Pass Revamp.
[4:41 PM]Varda: Also another blog: Reign of Talon - Season 4: Heroes of Busan Brings Out The Best.
[4:42 PM]Varda: Trying to reach Pallando.
[4:43 PM]Varda: Next up will be Tolkien. Anyone available for the Tolkien chat please type Towers
[4:43 PM]Varda: Towers
[4:43 PM]Arien Valar: towers
[4:44 PM]Varda: Thank you, Arien. : )
[(Note: Addendum to the transcript, as SC2 was accidentally left out of the meeting.)
[StarCraft 2 gamers this past week: Eowyn, Fangorn, Faramir
[4:44 PM]Varda: Tolkien:
[4:45 PM]Arien Valar: sorry was just caught up in that nice littole mini dungeon in Teldrassil and was cooperating with an even younger fellow druid hehe
[4:45 PM]Arien Valar: not grouped but we worked togethewr if you know what i mean 🙂
[4:45 PM]Varda: Go right ahead. And yes. 🙂
[4:46 PM]Varda: Go on ahead.
[4:46 PM]Varda: I'll present the info that I have available.
[4:46 PM]Varda: People can comment when they have time, even in After-meeting as Ar-Pharazon does. : )
[4:46 PM]Arien Valar: uhu]
[4:46 PM]Varda: Tolkien topic:
[4:47 PM]Varda: The relationships between the Aratar Kings of the Valar.
[4:47 PM]Varda: I'll just get long-winded. ; )
[4:47 PM]Varda: Sil, "Ainulindale"
[4:47 PM]Varda: Melkor had a poor relationship with all of the other Aratar. Melkor was the mightiest but wanted even more
[4:47 PM]Varda: At the beginning he was given the "greatest gifts of power and knowledge, and he had a share in all the gifts of his brethren."
[4:48 PM]Varda: It seemed to him that Eru Iluvatar took no thought for the Void, and wanted to fill it.
[4:48 PM]Varda: But Melkor did not have the Imperishable Flame needed to bring into being things of his own and could not find it because it was with Eru.
[4:48 PM]Varda: The beginning of the great song, however, overflowed the places of the dwellings of Illuvatar and the music overflowed into the Void.
[4:48 PM]Varda: By then, Melkor's was no longer seeking just care of the Void but wanted to increase his own power and glory by attempting to take over the song.
[4:48 PM]Varda: (Hey, Melkor! Have some patience!)
[4:49 PM]Varda: However, the freezing discordance that Melkor set against the water of Ulmo allowed it to be greater, adding frost, snow, clouds, and rain.
[4:49 PM]Arien Valar: (how do you spell patience?)
[4:49 PM]Varda: The clouds drew Ulmo nearer to Manwe, and the two made new melodies together to Eru's delight.
[4:49 PM]Varda: From that beginning onward, Ulmo and Manwe have been allied and faithfully served the purpose of Iluvatar.
[4:50 PM]Varda: So there is a special relationship unintentionally formed by Melkor.
[4:50 PM]Varda: The chief part of the work to make the plan of the Song into reality was done by Manwe, Aule, and Ulmo, although Melkor was also present meddling in all that was done to try to turn it to his own purposes and he wanted it all.
[4:50 PM]Varda: But Manwe was the brother of Melkor in the mind of Iluvatar, and chief instrument of the second theme: the first one that Eru raised against Melkor.
[4:50 PM]Varda: He called to himself greater and lesser spirits and they came to aid so that Melkor could not wither Arda before it had even flowered.
[4:51 PM]Varda: (Power in numbers! Relationships.)
[4:51 PM]Varda: The strife drove out Melkor to other regions for a time.
[4:51 PM]Varda: After that, forms were used drawn from their love of the coming Children of Iluvatar and of the world they were making.
[4:51 PM]Arien Valar: YouTube - Queen - I Want It All (Official Video Remastered)"
[4:51 PM]Varda: There you go! He wanted it all. : )
[4:51 PM]Varda: They then called in spirits lesser and nearly as great as themselves to help with their work.
[4:52 PM]Varda: Melkor saw and became envious and re-entered Arda.
[4:52 PM]Varda: Due to his mood, the form that he manifested was terrible.
[4:52 PM]Varda: He fought the others for dominion of Arda.
[4:52 PM]Varda: Despite this war, the Valar continued to prepare the Earth for the coming of the Firstborn.
[4:53 PM]Varda: The habitation was established.
[4:54 PM]Varda: So that shows how the relationships operated, according to the Ainulindale.
[4:54 PM]Varda: More detail is given in the Sil, "Valaquenta".
[4:54 PM]Varda: The names of the seven Lords of the Valar in descending order are:
[4:54 PM]Varda: Manwe, Ulmo, Aule, Orome, Mandos/Namo, Lorien/Irmo, and Tulkas.
[4:55 PM]Varda: "Melkor is no longer counted among the Valar, and his name is not spoken of on Earth."
[4:55 PM]Varda: (so there!)
[4:55 PM]Varda: He was renamed to Morgoth by Feanor.
[4:55 PM]Varda: "Manwe and Melkor were brothers in the thought of Iluvatar.""
[4:55 PM]Varda: Melkor was in his beginning, first in might.
[4:56 PM]Varda: But Manwe understands the purposes of Eru most clearly and eventually became the first of all Kings.
[4:56 PM]Varda: Ulmo has no spouse but "dwells nowhere long".
[4:56 PM]Varda: He was closest to Manwe in friendship especially in the great early making.
[4:56 PM]Varda: His waters let him hear what would otherwise be hidden from Manwe.
[4:56 PM]Varda: Aule in the beginning made much in fellowship with Manwe and Ulmo.
[4:56 PM]Varda: (That is a very important relationship!)
[4:57 PM]Varda: Melkor was jealous of Aule as they were most alike in thought and powers.
[4:57 PM]Varda: (So who needs Melkor?)
[4:57 PM]Varda: But Melkor made things for his own glory, while Aule made things for the love of the making.
[4:57 PM]Varda: Melkor's spirit was spent in envy and hate until he could only make things that were mockeries of what others made.
[4:58 PM]Varda: Mandos/Namo and Lorien/Irmo are brothers, called the Feanturi which means the masters of spirits.
[4:58 PM]Varda: Namo received the spirits of the dead. Irmo worked with them in dreams.
[4:59 PM]Varda: Tulkas is greatest in strength and deeds of prowess. He came last in order to aid the Valar in their battle with Melkor. He is a hardy friend.
[4:59 PM]Varda: (So there's another relationship. Tulkas helping those that created against he who destroyed.)
[4:59 PM]Varda: Orome loved the lands of Arda and came unwillingly out of it to Valinor. He often returned with his hosts.
[5:00 PM]Varda: So the Valar Aratar were a band that worked together to create Arda together despite massive obstacles.
[5:00 PM]Varda: Some were close enough to be considered brothers: Manwe and Melkor in power, Namo and Irmo in working with spirits
[5:00 PM]Varda: And we have reached the hour.
[5:00 PM]Arien Valar: yeah thats how true friendship and siblingship works 🙂
[5:00 PM]Varda: Aye!
[5:01 PM]Varda: JRRT had real knowledge of friendships, and of brotherhood under fire.
[5:01 PM]Arien Valar: kind of reminds me of my previous activity in the Ba n ethil barrow .. alone none of us would have survived for long ^
[5:02 PM]Varda: Gaming is a form of mini-life, aye! Learn a lot there without having to take physical injury from it.
[5:03 PM]Varda: Comment from our own friend, Pallando:
[5:03 PM]Varda: [5:02 PM]Debes: Was driving, but no news anyway. 🙂
[5:05 PM]Varda: *bangs gavel*
[August 17, 2026
[5:05 PM]Varda: After-meeting!
[5:11 PM]Varda: Think I might spend a little time on Glamdring. : )
[12:09 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya, reading up.
[12:12 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Tintalli hunts cooks?
[12:20 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And Melkor's name not being spoken on Earth is obviously wrong, as we do it right here!
[12:23 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also noticing that while the Valar no longer have true familial relations like in the early versions, in "Eru's mind" they still carry them. Somehow feels like it's Eru slightly changing his mind, rather than Tolkien himself, while still being nostalgic for the old version 🙂
[12:24 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Perhaps Tolkien is Eru?
[8:50 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Personal gaming report:
[8:50 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming, another small puzzle platformer, Aurie.
[8:51 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The idea is simple: Collect the little diamonds to unlock the door, then reach the door.
[8:53 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The mechanic is that when you hit shift or q, the platforms rotate, except for any platforms you're touching at the time.
[8:54 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Since these platforms can also press buttons and shift from side to side, and the buttons control other barriers, there's some planning and puzzling involved 🙂
[8:57 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[9:10 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone:
[Level 72 on the reward track now.
[9:11 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Some gold gotten, almost enough for a new skin.
[9:11 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Zuramat's Rampage event is on the second week, getting me a new legendary as reward, Watfin, as well as the golden version!
[9:12 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Brawl is another heroic arena, so I went for battlegrounds for my 5 weekly wins instead. Painfully slow as always, but it's an interesting change.
[9:14 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also a new Darkmoon Faire up, featuring Qixi Turalyon and Qixi Alleria as hero skins, apparently based around Chinese valentine's day.
[9:14 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: With their magic types reversed, Alleria's still a hunter, but Turalyon's for the warlock.
[9:15 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Makes sense I guess!
[9:15 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, my free reward from this DMF was a new coin version, the Chained Coin.
[9:16 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble:
[No new collection level, no leveling progress.
[9:17 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: August login reward is hitting the good stuff now, and the pvp season's progress isn't bad either! Got enough gold for one and a half legendary core now when it next shows up.
[9:19 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: With the Siege of Stormwind up, I've been considering trying for the heroic gold cosmetics, but there really is no rush. I should probably see about getting some aid from people in my WoW group who've done it before, maybe even co-op it if possible.
[9:19 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: So for now, more grind!
[9:20 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Oh, and a new countdown has started, with about 2 months towards the Hallow's End event. Probably no new unique stuff to get from there this time, but gold/tomes/energy is always useful to get.
[9:20 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[9:21 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: No raiding this week, with the new patch out. Probably won't have unlocked access to the island yet before we go in, but I'm sure summons are possible until I get it.
[9:22 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Worked hard at the end of last reset to complete my goals for delves and prey, and it was a success!
[9:23 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Got the hard and nightmare prey target achievements done, which got me a new mount, the Preyseeker's Nightmare. Third form of the Preyseeker mount, it's all gold 🙂
[9:23 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And I managed to get all the undercoins I was lacking, getting the last appearance from the vendor and the 2 decors.
[9:25 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And then I decided to switch up my bear and catforms for this patch 🙂 For the big venomous snake temple I chose a glowing green nightmare version for bear, and a thorny green and purple version for cat. I feel it hits the right vibe 🙂
[9:26 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Then this reset I went back to some relaxed questing, finally completing the minimal quests to unlock the Void Assaults, so I could complete the Omnium Folio for the fifth ability.
[9:27 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Next up it's the one and a half chapter needed to unlock the island! Might get that before next meeting. Maybe!
[9:27 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And that's my report for the week!
[9:27 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie 🙂
[August 18, 2026]
[10:18 PM]Eönwë Valar: Auros has a Premium Deluxe House in Rivendell now. 2 Torrent Path, Brondobel.
[10:19 PM]Eönwë Valar: And apparently there's a separate housing storage for a premium house, and shared housing storage.
[10:21 PM]Eönwë Valar: Need to buy me a new holly tree and holly bush for this place.
[2:46 AM]Eönwë Valar: Hmm, it kicks me out of my Premium House when I log out, because I keep showing up in the driveway.