LOTRO: Heading into the valley of death…

Greem Stonebiter
White Mountains
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Hello Gramps, I hope this letter finds you hale and hearty and that your back is on the mend. You really should think twice before offering to lift Grandma’s goblin head collection so she can sweep under it! You’re asking for trouble gramps, really you are.

Speaking of asking for trouble, I think I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew over here. Don’t get me wrong, Gonadmon is fine and I’m doing well, but part of the reason I came here was to find the blessed third gear for Bavor back in Thorin’s Hall and I’ve discovered it’s lost in the old burial grounds out in the wilderness hereabouts. In and of itself that’s not worrying me. No, what is worrying me is that whatever shadow is spreading across our land, I have heard rumour it has given life to the dead and they even now wander the hills and halls of their broken rest ever hungering to snuff out the life and warmth of life. My life, for instance.

Now look gramps, I’m no coward you know that. Show me some goblins or a few orcs and I’m right in there burrying arrows into skulls and axes into bellies, but these foes are already dead gramps! By the Hall of Durin how am I supposed to kill what is already dead?

I’m off to post this now and then heading out. Hold me in your thoughts to Aulë and hopefully I’ll be mailing you another letter soon. Whatever you do gramps, don’t tell grandma about this, you know how she breaks things when she worries.

Yours on the hoof,
Gorfrik,
Gondmon, Erid Luin.
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LOTRO: Weekly Update (27-06-11)

Another busy week!

Ranhold (Level 31 Man Champion Historian)
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• Passed through level 30 and dinged 31 – the Isengard XP booster is proving pretty bloody useful
• In last week’s update I talked about heading into the North Downs, but after a day in the fields south of Fornost I realised I would end up levelling too fast and, to my mind at least, ruin my much-anticipated time in Evendim by being overpowered when I got there. So I set my mind leaving the dark shadows of Angmar behind me for the time being and journeying to Everdim. Except I never got to the the shimmering lake or anywhere near the ruined city Annúminas.

• No, instead I found myself at Weathertop in the Lone Lands after deciding to re-join the Epic Story line and complete my last part in Bree-Land by visiting Seardan. The grumpy old Ranger sent me to meet one of his brethren outside Weathertop and since then I’ve been bobbing between The Forsaken Inn and either the Bree or Michel Delving auction houses and vaults as my ruddy bags keep filling up so ruddy fast!

• Still, having a collection of bad guys I can actually fight is nice! Over the in The Shire, the Old Forest and even the Barrow-Downs everything has been ‘white’ for ages meaning that they are not a threat to me so combat is not automatically engaged and I have to hit them to start a fight. It also means my combat based deeds can not be progressed by fighting them, but out in the Lone Lands the denizens of that place are ‘green’ and above which is far more fun. The biggie I burned through was “Deep Strikes” in which I needed to hit an enemy 1,000 times with “Brutal Strikes“. Ye gods that was a long slog! It helped that just north of the Forsaken Inn is the ruined city of Minas Eriol whose roots are infested with (more) huge spiders, the largest of which allowed, if timed perfectly, me to hit them with two rounds of Brutal Strikes per kill – this, let me tell you, speeded this deed up, especially seeing as I’ve had to kill well over 400 of the buggers!

• I decided to use a deed accelerator (they count one kill as two in order to speed up loooooong bad guy grinds) to help me get the following Enmity of the Wargs 1 & 2 and Spider Slayer Advanced - the former was for around 150 wargs and gave me a very handy “Return to Bree” skill, the latter was for 300 long, long, loooooooong kills (not the 120 the links shows – that is way out of date). I actually quite like these mob grind quests as the rewards are usually quite useful and it gives me a chance to practice new combat skill pattens and rotations in a way I just would never do in a raid or out on a quest.
• I’ve been hitting the AH pretty hard with all the spoils of my recent burst of grinding, farming & metalsmithing activities and although I’ve made a good few hundred silver coins at that, the real money I’ve made is has been from selling the stuff I’ve collected from my slain enemies to the various vendors scattered about. Doing this I made enough gold to buy a house and upgrade storage, which was nice.
• Speaking of storage, I’ve made use of the LOTRO Store sale on storage and upgraded to near the top – and still it is not enough! DAMN!
• During a trip into the Barrow-Downs to gather Scholar supplies so I could create a scroll for my kin-mate Enthallion (see next point) I decided to pay my old enemy Brishzel a visit in Haudh Nogbenn. This boss barghest has killed me at least twice if not three time and I was determined to carve me a big fat wolf steak out of this bastard’s behind. Long story short, it was a close fight (I’m sure this boss is bugged and over-powered!) but I laid this particular ghost to rest. Thank fek for that!!
• As I hit level 31, my kin-mate & fellow historian Enthallion offered to make me a very nice sword that has proved very useful against some of the larger White Hand Orcs of the Lone Lands not to mention the dead wandering about the Red Marshes east of Ost Guruth.
• Over at the Forsaken Inn, I tried my hand at the Inn of The Forsaken instance, a 3-man raid into a Goonies-like cave system searching out pirate gold! As I was on my own, I got creamed at the second room but what little I saw I loved! Beautifully realised and great fun, I especially love the doors that won’t open until you solve a riddle and guess (then use) the emote animation that matches the answer – a really neat little riddle system Turbine came up with there See the CTSM video of their kin run through it here (obviously there will be spoilers!): http://www.justin.tv/strolltomordor/b/284791306

• After a long time no see spell, I met my first mate in LOTRO, Lirwen! We didn’t get long together but it was great to see her again
• As part of my journey up the ladder of crafting experience, I joined the Scholar’s Guild in the Shire – there I was told to report to Elrond’s house in Rivendell where I could use the excellent library and meet the Guild Masters. This was the week I answered this invitation and now I have to expend a great deal of in-world coin in order to advance and gain skill and reputation. Bloody Guilds, they’ve got it all sown up! On a serious note, although I LOVED Rivendell (and the looooong journey) there I wasn’t happy about having to go because I didn’t feel Ranhold’s story arc was ready, so I was in & out as soon as I could be and I’ll move Ranhold there in what feels to me a more natural way – after all, he *is* moving east so he’ll get there soon

• Got Ran’s fishing up to proficiency level 26 (of 200) but still haven’t caught anything cool
• Summer Festival! My first festival in LOTRO – I’ll write a separate post about this, but suffice to say it’s great fun but I don’t always have the time to complete all the quests needed so I doubt I’ll come away with much from it bar a warm feeling of developer love

Gorfrik (Level 12 Dwarf Hunter Armourer)

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I managed to grab some time online with the much-neglected dwarf, but all I really did was grind some slayer deeds and collection tasks for reputation. Poor Gorfrik…

 

SL: It’s not you, it’s me…

Somewhere, god alone knows where or when, I once described my feelings towards SL as a relationship in its final stages where, instead of a clean break, there was a repeating pattern of arguments, splits & reconciliations in which both parties knew the relationship was doomed but didn’t know what to do about it but both damn sure that when the next big argument came along they’d be off. Well that time has come.. except the final argument never happened, rather there was an entirely surprising turn of events that led to the relationship falling apart.

Like a good soap opera storyline, the end for me and SL didn’t come in one of my regular explosions of bad temper and swearing (often caused by lag or crashes or chat channels not working, or photos not going to flickr). No, the end snuck up on me suddenly. It was the equivalent of meeting someone new at work and going home and blurting out to your missus that you were leaving right there and then.

The new woman was LOTRO but she was not the reason I left SL. To be honest, if not her it would have been someone else. I’m sure SL felt the same way about me.

The sad truth is I had not been happy in SL since the end of TSMGO. I looked everywhere for a creative community and found only cliques and barriers. The few chinks of light I did find were too elusive to follow for long and when you throw in someone who really didn’t want you in his house, well lets just say I’m not surprised my eye went a-wandering. After all, how long do you keep head-butting a brick wall before your much admired perseverance becomes your much mocked stupidity?

So I spent a night with my new woman and fell in love. Sure she’s not as flexible as the old one and she doesn’t know my ways yet (or I hers) but in truth there are many similarities… it’s just that this new one is better in bed. Much.

Sorry SL. I didn’t mean this to happen. It’s not you… it’s me.

 

LOTRO: Relaxing in the fields…

Extract from Ranhold’s Journal.
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After the horrors of Haudh Iarchith it has been a blessing to return to the Shire, despite my earlier grumbles and gripes. My soul was greatly affected by the terrors I & my friend Enthallion faced and I have slept poorly ever since. It was as I wandered the hills south of Michel Delving in an effort to keep my promise to my mother and stay out of the local taverns that I found myself watching the industrious locals of that town toiling in the fields and I was taken back to my youth helping my grandfather on his small holding.

Before I knew it, and almost without a conscious decision, I found myself asking if I could help. The halflings, whilst surprised, were most generous in their acceptance of a tall stranger treading their fields and soon I found myself dressed in a hastily stitched smock working the land with them. After all the death and killing, it felt good to be working on giving something back to the land, something clean and alive and uncorrupted.

I worked in all weathers to sow the sow the seeds of many a crop, from simple vegetables to the halfing’s most prized breeds of pipe-weed…

I showed such an aptitude (my Grandfather had tought me well and would be proud) that farmer Proudfoot sent me over to Hobbiton to seek out one of his relatives, Olo Proudfoot, and I have spent many a happy day working on his farm learning new skills and helping to grow much improved crops.

Master Olo is a wise and kind teacher and grows some of the best pipe-weed in the district (although I would be careful how loudly I say that and who may be in earshot – these Hobbits can be mighty fearsome in their loyalty to one type of pipe-weed and it is a brave man indeed who would challenge them on their choice!). Form my part I have a particular, and to my kinsmen from Dale a no doubt perverse, liking for the Dragon’s Breath weed…

Still, whilst it has done my heart and soul good to step back from the fire and fury of combat, I know this lull is but temporary and I have many roads yet to travel. But for now I am going to remain in the Shire, especially as these wee folk are all a-flutter in the planning of a great Summer Festival due any day. After that… well then I shall see… I think I shall make my way either to the east as I have an invitation from the Scholar’s Guild to honour in Rivendell, or north towards my heart’s desire of Annúminas on fair Evendim.

 

Dr Beck needs tea!

The morning after a heavy night in the smoke…

 

LOTRO: Weekly Update (20-06-11)

A busy week for one character this week – the +25% XP bonus item that came with with the Rise to Isengard pre-order is more than proving itself as I managed to move Ranhold out of the 20s and into the dizzy heights of the early 30s at last!

Ranhold (Level 29 Man Champion Historian)
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• Completed a ‘hidden’ task in the Shire – helped five landlords get ingredients for their beers and was rewarded with five beers, a severe case of drunkenness, a doozy of a hangover, a new title (Shire Brewmaster) and 5TPs. hic.
• Worked on my weaponsmith crafting and got up to Expert at last – had a marathon session to get there and am now trying to sell swords, axes and blades in the Auction house in the manner of a master criminal running some kind of country-toppling gold-devaluing scheme!
• Completed all the available tasks in The Shire, Bree & The Old Forest and began to move on to Book 2 of the Epic Storyline.
• Got my arse kicked by the giant Svalfang before recuperating enough to try again and managing to kill the bugger – bloody close fight though – one more stomp of his boots and one more rock to the noggin & Ran would have wiped again!
• Dinged up to level 30 during a huge Siege of Gondamon skirmish – it was a proper brawl and I think I handled myself pretty well. Ranhold really can’t hold aggro which is both a good and bad thing – good because I can get behind the bad guys and start laying into them like billyo yet bad as I often have to run to keep up with the bad guy if he’s after the main threat. I seemed to have no problem generating fervour as my *sching sching* moves were in full flow – more so, or so it seemed to me, than in my solo action of late.
• Getting to 30 gave Ranhold a couple of cool new skills: Glory & Dire Need – both look awesome!
• Getting to 30 also opened up a hat full of quests pointing me all over the compass towards the Lone Lands, the North Downs, and Evendim. With deeds leading me to Erid Luin and a crafting guild order to report to Elrond in Rivendell poor Ranhold doesn’t know which way to turn!
• Given my recent grinding of Shire/Bree-land quests and deeds I decided to pay the Bard in the Prancy Pony a visit to reslot – and I must have done something right because Ranhold is fighting better than he has ever fought! He is producing long runs of unbroken DPS & AOE heavy hits and the bad guys are falling before like nine pins! In fact the only time it nearly came unstuck was in the North Downs (Kingsfell to be exact) when I took on a fekking huge orc and only just beat him in time – Ran was down to 1%, around 160, and in a bad way. I *should* have used Dire Need but like a dope I forgot about it and just went into “SHHHHHIIIIIIIITTTT! – HITHIMHITHIMHITHIM!” mode. I, or rather Ranhold, was very bloody lucky to live, let alone win. Lesson learnt.
• From the fact I mentioned my fight in the North Downs in the last point you shoudl have guessed where I headed after the Shire but after a full day wandering around the fields south of Fornost I decided I was in the wrong zone for my level and have started to head back west to Evendim where I aim to join the Rangers and fight for the honour & freedom of fair Annúminas
• Got Ran’s fishing up to proficiency level 25 (of 200) but still haven’t caught anything cool

Gorfrik (Level 12 Dwarf Hunter Armourer)

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Unfortunately I haven’t done much with poor Gorfrik this week – I intend to boost up his meatlsmithing profession and crank out more ingots for Ran to progress in his weaponsmithing though.

• Nowt. Poor the dwarf

Other Stuffs…
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About the only other thing I did this week was some house decoration with a mixture of deed rewards, bought items and gifts from the Kin. The kin leader, Vhaladris, has been very kind and sent me several fish trophies for my wall – Kin FTW!

 

LOTRO: The Course of True Love…

Extract from the journal of Ranhold, Champion from Dale.
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Whilst I’ve been running hither and yon all across The Shire (mainly delivering pies or post!) I’ve seen many a wonderful sight in this beautiful part of Middle Earth, but none has warmed the heart of this old warrior as much the following exchange I witnessed in Overhill recently…

 

LOTRO: Once more unto the Barrows dear friends, once more…

Extracts from Ranhold’s Journal
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A letter arrived today, the newly re-instated Shire quick post finding me as I delivered my last pie to Miss Hornblower in Hobbiton. It bore the waxen seal of Bree’s Mayor and was addressed to not just me, but also to all Free People of the West who had recently aided Bree in their fight against the corruption inhabiting the dread Barrow-downs. I broke the seal and read the short missive and a cold hand gripped me as I realised being Kindred with Bree bore a price far beyond that which I have already paid. Travellers had been attacked, merchants killed and vital supplies left to rot in the fields along the Great East Road and the unquiet dead of the Downs were to blame. The Mayor all but begged any true friend of Bree to return immediately to aid them in their struggle to push back the darkness. For us, the town’s most loyal defenders, he had a special task: he beseeched us to enter the dire tomb of Haudh Iarchith in the southern fields of the dead and with hearts free of mercy slaughter any and all walking dead we found.

Suddenly I find my recent task delivering pies a very agreeable one indeed, but I owe Bree my fealty and I will answer her call. Who knows, maybe one day I and others like me will be able to reclaim the Barrows once more the honour of my ancestors and I will be able to wander their halls in safety as I study and record their history.

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The horse from Hobbiton was as fast and true as I hoped, but he was not as hardy as my brave Felan and refused to cross the border into the Northern-most Downs, but no matter as I am waiting here myself to see who else answers the call for I don’t believe Haudh Iarchith is a task I can tackle alone.

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Surely it is a grim sign of the times when only one other soul was able to come to the aid of Bree! Still, I count my blessings that the one soul, a hunter by the name of Enthallion, to answer is a warrior of such prowess that for the first time since the letter arrived I have allowed myself to hope I shall see daylight again after I plunge into the darkness of that accursed pit. Yes, I rather think that with Enthallion by my side, or rather I by his for his skills with bow and blade are far greater than my own, this is a fight we can win.

We have gathered our gear and are setting off on foot very shortly. If nothing else I hope my endeavours in this foul place helps the dead reclaim some of the peace so cruelly stolen from them.

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Forgive my haste. This place is worse than we thought. So many. They appear behind us. Too many. Everyw

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I had to run. Nowhere is safe. I owe Enthallion my life many times over. Resting in the darkness. Must go again soon. We are winning, but only just.

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The foul air of the Barrow-downs had never smelt so sweet. We emerged from Haudh Iarchith two long hours after we entered, both of us exhausted by the almost constant battle we had fought deep underground. Wave after wave of walking corpse warriors threw themselves at us roaring a spitting with a fearsome hatred! The spirits that flitted and floated throughout the tomb swooped and dove at us but we fought on. Enthallion was as a man possessed! His bow sang and his blades danced. I did what I could to keep up but I know all too well that I am only alive to write these words because of his great skill and brave heart. I know I did not disgrace myself or shame my father, yet I know that I yet have much to learn in the ways of combat if I am to prove myself and reclaim my family’s heritage.

An hour after we parted in Bree, and with the thanks of the Mayor still ringing in my ears, I found myself back in Michel Delving once more surrounded by the inane chattering of the little folk, only now, after the horrors of Haudh Iarchith, it had never sounded so welcoming. Yes, I have much to think about.

 

Running from Orcs…

Over on my.lotro.com I gone and got me a blog – yeehaw! To be fair, it came with the membership of the site which in turn is free for anyone playing LOTRO so it’s more accurate to say I have been given a(nother) blog and intend to ruddy well use it

Visit Running from Orcs…here and check out the comments and my friends on there to find some great photos and fiction from Middle Earth. Baruk Khazad!

 

LOTRO: A Hat Full of Hobbits…

Extract from the journal of Ranhold, Champion from Dale.
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Gods… The Shire… If anywhere makes me wish I were back in the Old Forest being chased by rancid bears, screeching bats, howling wolves and murderous trees it surely is The Shire. Oh there’s nothing wrong with the Shire itself. Lovely rolling hills, babbling brooks, shaded glades; the whole landscape is the very antithesis of the dead Barrows or the wild Forest, but its residents are infinitely more maddening!

From the moment I arrived in Brandybuck I have been assailed by half-pint Hobbits seemingly intent on driving me to the brink of madness with their incessant wittering about food and drink or their endless empty-headed gossip about the wrong-doings of other Hobbits or failings of various family members. And if they’re not chundering on and gossiping then they are dipping into what seems to be a bottomless well of errands they require doing and appointing me their odd-job man and all-round run-around! And they only seem to pay in food!

In the Downs I was asked to rescue a lost child afore she was eaten by wolves. In The Shire I have had to rescue a pig called Sally from nibbling shrews!

Outside Bree I had to rescue a farmer’s daughter kidnapped by Brigands. In The Shire I had to rescue a sheep from some mangy old goblins!

In The Old Forest I had to do battle with a spider queen the size of a cart horse. In The Shire I had to scare a big toad back into her cage!

By all that is holy, I’m a warrior! My line can be traced back to Arnor and the nobility of Annúminas and yet these halflings ask me to deliver their mail (avoiding the ever-eager eyes of their kind’s nosiest gossip-mongers, of course) or collect spoiled fruit pies (all the while staying away from the ever-twitching noses of their kind’s perpetually hungry, naturally)!

And what do I have to show for all my efforts? Why, a feathered cap from the Bounders. A feathered bloody cap.

Is it any bloody wonder I’ve turned to drink?