August 30, 2026
5:00pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time
Discord: Valar Guild/meeting_place
[3:54 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya All!!! And that means YOU!!!
[4:03 PM]Treebeard: Hello 🙂
[4:03 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Treebeard! Hope all is well.4
[4:04 PM]Treebeard: Definitely !
[4:04 PM]Varda: Aiya Sandalf and Fangorn : )
[4:05 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Varda!
[4:05 PM]Varda: I was wrestling images for the website and had not yet finished before the meeting, pardon.
[4:05 PM]Varda: Aiya Earendil : )
[4:05 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Earendil!!
[4:05 PM]Earendil: Aiya Sandalf!
[4:05 PM]Treebeard: Hi Varda 😍 sun glasses needed?
[4:05 PM]Earendil: Aiya everyone!
[4:05 PM]Treebeard: Hey
[4:05 PM]Varda: : )
[4:05 PM]Earendil: Hey hey!
[4:06 PM]Sandalf13: 😉
[4:06 PM]Varda: Glad to see folks here. : )
[4:06 PM]Varda: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
[4:06 PM]Varda: @Bounder @Guild-friend @Maia @Vala Yay! It's time for the Valar Guild meeting! Chat gaming, Tolkien, and just say hi!
[4:06 PM]Varda: Membership news:
[4:07 PM]Varda: We have folks gaming as we speak. : )
[4:08 PM]Sandalf13: I am here at my favorite seat in the Eiseley Branch Library of the Lincoln Library System...same seatI used when I first joined the Valar Guild before I moved to Colorado. OI am back for a brief visit for family and friends, and will have to leave the meeting early today to make a dinner appointment.
[4:08 PM]Arien Valar: ello
[4:08 PM]Arien Valar: aiya
[4:08 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Aruien!
[4:08 PM]Varda: Aiya Arien : )
[4:08 PM]Treebeard: Unlike Dwarves, I believe that the various types of diet favored Hobbits to visit Elves often, but did the Elves favor their voratious appetites?
[4:08 PM]Varda: Sandalf, very cool!
[4:08 PM]Earendil: Aiya!
[4:09 PM]Arien Valar: 🙂
[4:09 PM]Treebeard: Hi Arien
[4:09 PM]Earendil: Good topic...
[4:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: Heya.
[4:09 PM]Varda: Aiya Eonwe : )
[4:09 PM]Arien Valar: enjoy , Sandalf 🙂
[4:10 PM]Earendil: Yeah, enjoy.
[4:10 PM]Varda: Dinner is always good. Ask any hobbit!
[4:10 PM]Earendil: 😆
[4:11 PM]Sandalf13: Especially when we get to eat at one of my favorite, LOCAL joints...Taco Inn, founded in 1976. I was a grad student at UNL when they opened their first store. Been here a long time. Only in Lincoln...
[4:11 PM]Treebeard: ...breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, etc
[4:11 PM]Treebeard: Is that different from Taco Bell?
[4:12 PM]Sandalf13: Absolutely. There are four or five Taco Inns, all in Lincoln.
[4:12 PM]Varda: I suspect that they might have had different favorite type meals for each of those. Maybe something light, something we might consider an appetizer, or a later dessert?
[4:12 PM]Varda: They meaning hobbits, pardon. : )
[4:13 PM]Varda: Six scoops of ice cream approaches a meal! 4:13 PM]Arien Valar: mushroom pie, mushroom sauce , mushroom pudding , mushroom paste ^]
[4:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Mushroom crusted baked mushrooms.
[4:14 PM]Sandalf13: Do you think mushroom paste would make a good substrate for a cheese pizza?
[4:15 PM]Varda: If the mushrooms last long enough to go into proper cooking, they could be versatile.
[4:15 PM]Varda: We seem to have gone into the Tolkien chat early. Yay us!
[4:15 PM]Treebeard: slices of mushroom would add a meaty aroma for a meat pie with a mix of other vegetables...pizza modified
[4:16 PM]Varda: There you go!
[4:16 PM]Varda: Elves may have been so willing to go through Hobbit country on the way to the Grey Havens to enjoy the food!
[4:16 PM]Treebeard: definitely
[4:17 PM]Treebeard: It is best to travel through areas where food and proper lodging is available
[4:17 PM]Sandalf13: Mushroom may lack the "tang" of tomato paste, however.
[4:17 PM]Earendil: Controversial opinion but we may be hungry Tolkien fans.
[4:18 PM]Treebeard: but mushrooms on tomato paste may make a bisquet a meal.
[4:18 PM]Varda: snacks appear on the giant table at our meeting
[4:18 PM]Treebeard: Yum!
[4:19 PM]Varda: The snacks appear to be mushroom-heavy.
[4:19 PM]Varda: Thoughts cause the music to lean their way!
[4:19 PM]Sandalf13: Breaded mushrooms with dipping sauce...maybe tomato-based. Delicious!!
[4:20 PM]Varda: Just to move along with this meeting... ; )
[4:20 PM]Varda: Web:
[4:21 PM]Varda: The afore-mentioned images for the gang are in progress, but some are able to be shared right now. : )
[4:21 PM]Varda: Remember that anniversary of ours coming up?
[4:21 PM]Varda: Theme Adventure.
[4:21 PM]Varda: So I made a screenshot that will be going on our anniversary page. You might be amused. : )
[4:22 PM]Varda: Image
[4:22 PM]Sandalf13: I would love to see someone write a "Choose your own Adventure" based on the LoTR!!
[4:22 PM]Varda: Hah, another project for Sandalf!
[4:22 PM]Sandalf13: Fantastic picture!
[4:22 PM]Varda: Just a screenshot from Lord of the Rings Online, at Budgeford.
[4:23 PM]Sandalf13: Oooops....I see Tacos in my future. Got to go. Will check in later. Namarie all and have a lovely day and a wonderful seek!! Namarie.
[4:24 PM]Varda: Elwing-(V) assembled and painted a model, then DeepGroover-(T) photographed it. They used a special background and made it even more special to look at.
[4:24 PM]Earendil: Namarie, and enjoy the tacos and company of friends!
[4:24 PM]Varda: Namarie Sandalf : )
[4:24 PM]Varda: Image
[4:24 PM]Arien Valar: ((garlic breaded mushrooms so yummie :D))
[4:24 PM]Varda: So we have Gandalf the White in Fangorn Forest. : )
[4:25 PM]Treebeard: He was not immediately recognizable there, how so?
[4:25 PM]Varda: They are trying out various ways to put nifty backgrounds behind the models.
[4:25 PM]Varda: True, Treebeard.
[4:26 PM]Earendil: Beautiful modeling...
[4:26 PM]Varda: I'll let others go for the answer, then put in two cents.
[4:26 PM]Varda: (Hey Elwing and DeepGroover! You have a review here!)
[4:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: Because he wanted a big reveal.
[4:26 PM]Eönwë Valar: A flair for the dramatic.
[4:26 PM]Varda: hahaha I like that. : )
[4:27 PM]Varda: It was a big reveal, but didn't seem quite intentional. Still good!
[4:29 PM]Earendil: I always thought maybe, being Gandalf after being his purest self again briefly, he forgot how others observe each other (again briefly), hence "that was my name". Big reveal sounds better though.
[4:30 PM]Treebeard: Yes, his old friends would most quickly become acclimatized so to speak to his new personae
[4:31 PM]Varda: Hah, Eonwe came up with a fix. This is the same Gandalf model with a red velvet background:
[4:31 PM]Varda: Image
[4:31 PM]Varda: Aye, Eonwe.
[4:31 PM]Treebeard: I like the red background
[4:32 PM]Earendil: Oohh yeah.
[4:32 PM]Varda: Gandalf had been reformed to go from the Grey to the promotion of the White. He was as Saruman should have been, kind of mixed in a way.
[4:32 PM]Varda: Then his friends help settle him into his memories, so he was again more comfortable with Gandalf.
[4:33 PM]Earendil: Love the red velvet...I bet that figuratively killed saruman.
[4:33 PM]Varda: heh. He had to be upset!
[4:34 PM]Varda: And then Gandalf had the ability to overpower him and broke Saruman's staff.
[4:34 PM]Varda: That is not something a mere Witch-king could do. : )
[4:35 PM]Eönwë Valar: Butbut the movie!
[4:35 PM]Varda: Here's Saruman in the edge of Fangorn Forest. A rework of a model background:
[4:35 PM]Varda: Image
[4:35 PM]Varda: And we shall not go into the catastrophe that is RoP. ; )
[4:35 PM]Arien Valar: the witch king after all was a mere servant and in this position because someone else put him there
[4:35 PM]Varda: Aye Arien
[4:36 PM]Varda: A Second-born brought to his position by the Necromancer aka Sauron.
[4:37 PM]Varda: Clicking on the images lets you see the enlarged version.
[4:37 PM]Eönwë Valar: Witch-King? More like Wish-King! rimshot
[4:37 PM]Varda: The ones in here are shrunk to fit by Discord.
[4:37 PM]Varda: Nice rimshot! ; )
[4:38 PM]Varda: That should be all four images still being worked on for your preview!
[4:39 PM]Varda: One will be on the Anniversary page, the others on Elwing's art cave in the Glittering Caves of Aglarond.
[4:40 PM]Varda: We could probably use some niftier names for other pages like that. Feel free to suggest! Would have to be under the current names due to being linked in other places on the internet, but would be nice.
[4:41 PM]Varda: And maybe someday I'll learn to work on the pages right. If Eonwe doesn't give up on me. ; )
[4:41 PM]Eönwë Valar: I don't know if niftier names are "needed" per se. Sounds nice but it all still needs to feel integrated into our site.
[4:41 PM]Varda: Exactly right.
[4:42 PM]Varda: Not needed. Just the ones I put up were originally very plain place-holders, heh.
[4:42 PM]Varda: Don't need to change, agreed.
[4:42 PM]Varda: Who knew what I meant by the caves anyway? : )
[4:42 PM]Varda: https://valarguild.org/tolkien/encyc/art/text/GlitteringCaves.htm
[4:43 PM]Varda: Any other Tolkien comments?
[4:43 PM]Varda: We should probably allow the gaming news to be given too. : )
[4:45 PM]Varda: On to
[4:45 PM]Varda: Gaming News!
[4:46 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Aiya, reading up!
[4:46 PM]Treebeard: Hello 🙂
[4:46 PM]Varda: Aiya Phar!
[4:47 PM]Varda: Cool to see you this time of day!
[4:47 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hello there.
[4:47 PM]Varda: hehe
[4:47 PM]Arien Valar: aiya Cala 🙂 you are early today
[4:48 PM]Varda: Pallando replied about EVE Online. : )
[4:48 PM]Varda: He was kind enough to say something while this was happening!:
[4:48 PM]Varda: 4:46 PM]Debes: tournament on 🙂
[4:48 PM]Varda: tosses the shiny gavel to Eonwe
[4:49 PM]Varda: Pallando may be doing commenting for the tournament. : )
[4:49 PM]Eönwë Valar: Kirby hammer!
[4:49 PM]Varda: Nice entry!
[4:49 PM]Eönwë Valar: World of Warcraft:
[4:49 PM]Varda: Flaming gavel!
[4:50 PM]Eönwë Valar: This week's bonus event: Pet Battles and Wrath of the Lich King Timewalking.
[This week's PvP Brawl: Cooking Impossible.
[4:50 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Northrend Cup is going through September 8th. ---
[4:50 PM]Eönwë Valar: Story Mode and LFR Wing 2 are available for The Venomous Abyss raid.
[4:50 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out September's Trading Post.
[4:51 PM]Eönwë Valar: The Black Temple is live in Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary Edition.
[4:51 PM]Eönwë Valar: See WoW Weekly for anything not mentioned above.
[4:51 PM]Eönwë Valar: Check out this week's hotfixes.
[4:51 PM]Eönwë Valar: Diablo Immortal:
[The Cross-Server Bout of Realms is in the registration phase, with preliminaries beginning tomorrow. Check it out if that's your thing.
[4:52 PM]Eönwë Valar: Hearthstone:
[Patch 36.4 is out.
[4:52 PM]Eönwë Valar: Lord of the Rings Online:
[The Curator is back through September 7th.
[4:52 PM]Eönwë Valar: And that is the sum total of my gaming news.
[4:52 PM]Eönwë Valar:
[4:53 PM]Varda: Thank you : )
[4:54 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: (caught up)
[4:54 PM]Varda: A little additional for StarCraft 2 on who played this past week that I know of. : )
[4:54 PM]Varda: StarCraft 2: Eowyn, Fangorn, Faramir, Varda.
[4:54 PM]Varda: And more LotRO!
[4:55 PM]Varda: Actually a lot happening.
[4:55 PM]Varda: Farmers' Faire and Summer Faire are going on at the same time.
[4:55 PM]Varda: You can barter those tokens for the dearly wanted Essence Removal Scroll, for like 180 tokens.
[4:56 PM]Varda: Enhanced Exp thru Sept 3 LotrO code: RESTWELL
[4:56 PM]Eönwë Valar: "We've had one Faire. What about Second Faire?"
[4:56 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: All the faires!
[4:56 PM]Varda: hehehe exactly!
[4:56 PM]Varda: I of course had to get the new goat. : )
[4:56 PM]Varda: Oh, and watch out for grabbing your Reward Track goodies!
[4:57 PM]Varda: I think there are two days left.
[4:57 PM]Varda: A lot of folks showed up this past week. Take a look!
[4:57 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: A new goat? Surely you kid.
[4:57 PM]Varda: hahaha. I have some of those as pets. Too small to ride!
[4:57 PM]Varda: LotRO gamers this past week that showed up in at least one of our kin branches:
Peregrin server branch:
Glamdring server branch:
Meriadoc server branch EU:
Angmar server branch:
Mordor server branch EU:
[4:58 PM]Varda: Peregrin even had Irmo and Sauron and Meriadoc! Others too that we don't see terribly often.
[4:58 PM]Varda: So nifty. : )
[4:59 PM]Varda: That's all my news.
[4:59 PM]Varda: Anyone have any more comments, suggestions, requests?
[4:59 PM]Varda: One minute to the gavel! It's hopping up and down on the shelf.
[5:00 PM]Eönwë Valar: One real quick.
[5:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: If anyone checks the screenshots channel, you'll remember I was playing around a bit a couple of months ago with putting my LotRO chars in WoW and vice versa.
[5:01 PM]Eönwë Valar: When the background was relatively simple and clean, it worked out pretty well.
[5:03 PM]Varda: Oh fun images! Thanks for the reminder!
[5:03 PM]Varda: Crossovers!
[5:03 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: gasp no shadow
[5:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: So I was considering something that's been batted around years ago: For the Anniversary, grabbing a screenshot of the LotRO kinhouse, then copy/pasting in our mains in from across our games that allow it.
[5:04 PM]Eönwë Valar: So it's not perfect, lol :}
[5:04 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: It's fun, so doesn't have to be!
[5:05 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Reminds me of when a WoW friend of mine photoshopped all my characters in one image.
[5:05 PM]Varda: That's a cool idea, Eonwe. Might have to stuff some in odd locations, looking out of a window maybe.
[5:05 PM]Varda: You saw how many we had in Peregrin just this week.
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: Anyway, if anyone would like to give that a try, get a good screenshot of your character from an appropriate distance, against a simple background, and we can give it a try. Later tonight I'll try to grab a base screenshot with Auros so you can try to judge a good distance from there if you need.
[5:06 PM]Eönwë Valar: Mains only, no alts, so pick your one favorite char.
[5:07 PM]Varda: We could see how many of us can show up at the kin house so you don't have to do so much photoshopping.
[5:07 PM]Varda: That was just the player list, aye. : )
[5:07 PM]Varda: Ok, folks! You have to pick a "main"!
[5:07 PM]Arien Valar: right Valarites .... getting yawny as usual
[5:08 PM]Varda: across all your accounts, just one main. : )
[5:08 PM]Varda: O pardon.
[5:08 PM]Varda: gavel falls asleep across the hammerpad
[5:08 PM]Varda: clonk!
See above. Two topics. One for crossover foods between races and one for trying to tell Gandalf apart from Saruman in Fangorn Forest.
[5:08 PM]Eönwë Valar: Across all games, all accounts, the one you want representing you in a "group photo".
[5:08 PM]Treebeard: Nice to see you all, Namarie 🤠
[5:08 PM]Varda: Easy for me. Fainan. 5:08 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Across all games, hmm!
[5:09 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Here's my main, then 😄 Image
[5:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: And preferrably in 4k.
[5:09 PM]Varda: Picking a favorite child, heh.
[5:09 PM]Arien Valar: Arriehn i guess the guardian will have to do as mainalt ^^
[5:09 PM]Eönwë Valar: I say preferrably because I don't know how well it'll hold up in lower res.
[5:10 PM]Eönwë Valar: I'll be working with 4k.
[5:10 PM]Arien Valar: Namarie! I ll do what i can
[5:10 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: That's from the armory, I can see about getting an in-game shot if you want an emptier background.
[5:10 PM]Varda: Elrond and Celebrian have some real beauty shots in the screenshot channel. : )
[5:11 PM]Varda: I assume tight cutting will be happening. Making them clean enough or with the right lighting, background may be a bit much!
[5:11 PM]Eönwë Valar: And to keep this easy, you can just post your main's screenshot in the screenshot channel. Just make sure you label it and then send me a message so I don't miss it.
[5:11 PM]Varda: Thank you. : )
[5:12 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well, one of the default image programs on my computer does pretty good pulling out the background if it's a simple one. Hence the warning to go with a simple background.
[5:12 PM]Varda: Ahh, nice.
[5:13 PM]Varda: And just the screenies in the side channel will be cool too.
[5:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Oh, be aware of lighting and all that too.
[5:13 PM]Eönwë Valar: Another reason I'll get a base screenshot for you tonight.
[5:14 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Greenscreening won't work on mine, I think... 😉
[5:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: Not so much a problem for LotR, but lighting is going to be different across games so trying to get something that doesn't look too off will help it blend in.
[5:14 PM]Eönwë Valar: lol.
[5:15 PM]Eönwë Valar: Any questions? If not I return the floor to Varda.
[5:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I'll await your screenshot and then see if I need a different one for me.
[5:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: Sounds fair.
[5:16 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I'm sure I can do something against an empty sky or something.
[5:16 PM]Eönwë Valar: We have two months to hammer the details into a fine paste.
[5:17 PM]Eönwë Valar: Well, one full month I suppose.
[5:17 PM]Eönwë Valar: I must afk.
[5:30 PM]Varda: This is After-meeting so the floor is big enough for us all. : )
[5:30 PM]Varda: Just went through all the screenshots in the screenshot channel! Some incredibly good stuff in there! And dear friends. : )
[5:31 PM]Varda: fine paste
[5:32 PM]Varda: Oh, there's that image of the three LotRO Valarites on the Games Site background! Frali (Arien), Auros (Eonwe), Fainan (Varda). yay!
[5:33 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: "fine paste"
[""The Grinder was a Yuri structure that could recycle any ground unit under the Yuri player's control (including mind controlled units) converting them into funds.
[6:00 PM]Eönwë Valar: Oh, one last thing before I'm off for the night: The plan right now is for GSMU e-mails to go out by next weekend.
[6:00 PM]Eönwë Valar: Take care all, good night, sleep well, and have fun.
[6:00 PM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie!
[6:29 PM]Sandalf13: Aiya Ar! Are you still here?
[6:37 PM]Varda: He shows to have his computer on, but is away. That's the yellow moon sign.
[August 31, 2026
[1:50 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Myes. Early in meeting means I could take early sleep before giving my report.
[2:59 AM]Eönwë Valar: He, just realized in LotRO I have one house at 2 Twinfall Path, and the other at 2 Torrent Path.
[3:06 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I was thinking a few days ago about the many meanings of "TP" to us gamers. You've just added two more.
[3:06 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Anyway, after spending a while playing the Newgrounds sequel of the kongregate game I'm about to link...
[3:07 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: here's my personal gaming report:
[3:07 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: For (non)flashgaming, here's Just Passing
[3:08 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: An adventure rpg game where you have to go around town and complete quests for the ghosts, usually by retrieving items from elsewhere in the town.
[3:09 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Cute graphics, nice music, and a relaxing vibe!
[3:12 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The goal is to help 7 ghosts move on, but it's not too complicated.
[3:13 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And if you want more, there's a sequel on Newgrounds to find!
[3:18 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Blizzard gaming:
[3:19 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Hearthstone:
[Level 83 on the reward track. A few more weeks should do it.
[3:21 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The new class sets are out, bought the normal versions for 2500 gold, and they're apparently focused on villains for each of the 4 classes featured, telling their story post-breakout.
[3:22 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warrior has a bunch of pirates, focused on summoning cannoneers and putting them to work doing damage all around, so I shifted those into the warrior pirate deck I already had. Kinda fun!
[3:22 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: The others seem more generic, or with themes not too much to my liking. So I'll probably not change up a lot there.
[3:25 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: New quest event is up, Rulebreaker Revelry, where our band of bandits under Vanessa VanCleef apparently escaped from Violet Hold offscreen during last event's... events, using a rather questionable zeppelin, and now they're sharing stories in the tavern. But one of their number seems missing, and we still don't know where Maiev is either... what will happen next?
[3:26 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: In any case, the quests for this event are about matches, cards, and spells, focusing on each of the 4 classes that got their sets this time around. They take a bit more time than last week's, but seem to be more versatile.
[3:28 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And for this week's brawl, something I don't remember seeing before! "Who's the Boss Now?" is about building your own deck, but you get random boss powers for hero power, and a new one every time you use it. Some weird stuff in there, and you have to be lucky to get powerful ones 🙂
[3:29 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I first tried to make a mage deck that boosts hero power, but those boosts don't actually interact that much with the boss powers we get, so I figured I'd just test out the new pirate deck and use the powers as extras. Which works fine 🙂
[3:35 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Warcraft Rumble:
[No new leveling right now. 3:36 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: I did get 2 new legendary cores, one from the offers and one from the Molten Core raid that's up again, so that's 58 to go.
[3:37 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also enough valor to complete the army slots for Maiev, so time to move on down the line with that. All just grind 🙂
[3:37 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: New login track about to start though! I think the skins you already have are replaced with gold, and I'm curious to see how much.
[3:44 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: WoW:
[3:45 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: More raiding, though not really getting gear myself yet. Did get something from the vault, though.
[3:45 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Also the weekly quest being timewalks, I did those, and got another upgrade! So at least I'm getting something.
[3:46 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Other weekly quest being pet battles, that's always fun. Still doing them from my garrison in Draenor for the meta achievement there 🙂
[3:47 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Haven't progressed much towards unlocking the Coiled Isle, though. Maybe next week!
[3:47 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: And that's my (small-ish) report for the week!
[3:48 AM]Ar-Pharazon-V: Namarie 🙂
