Lore(hound)book

Turbine popped the cork on the Lorebook so that individuals can go in and edit it. While I am certain that individual character pages are a waste of time -- since the developers have dedicated character pages and character journals in the works -- I did spent a few days getting my userpage (which does have plenty of character info on it) and the Red Arrows page in order.

And, before all you vandals hit it, yes: I have it archives so I can fix all your virtual spray-paint.

Casting Call

I don't always have strokes of genius, but one that I did have was casting the legendary Kim Basinger as Gail Windsor, my character on Crucible City MUX. Basinger has so much class she sells the spillover at the Auction House, but the best part about picking her was that I was able to -- in one swoop -- net two decades of pictures which I could use to spin out dozens of stories about Gail's past. A shot of Basinger in cowboy garb turned into Gail's summer with the Texas Rangers, and so on.

Imraheth has been very hard to cast. I have resolved never to get a coup as sweet as Gail's. However, I think I have settled. Monica Bellucci's Mediterranean face is the modern equivalent of Numenorean ancestry, she has the straight dark hair that was key, and she isn't built like a twig.

Heresies

My latest column is up over at the LotRO RP Haven. There are some very exciting projects in the works over there and the site continues to grow.

This is my antidote to last month's column, which some took as a bit authoritative.

Brown is the New Black

So having a horse is cool, but of course what everyone wants is black horses. Except me. I want a white one. To those who know me, this will come as no surprise.

White and black horses will come, surely, but they're clearly being saved for later, probably as another cool thing which high level people can use to set them apart. Perhaps they will even be as fast or faster than the express pony system.

Now, if I were a developer, this is what I would do for black horses. We actually know, from the Riders of Rohan, that orcs raid the horse lords and they always steal the black horses.

So you can see the quest here, right? Maybe you have to protect a black horse from orcs. Or you need to go into an orc camp, rescue a black horse that has been stolen, and lead it back.

While we're on the subject, we also know that in order to ride Shadowfax, Gandalf had to follow the horse across Rohan for a few days. How he kept up with the stallion is beyond my ken, but it's best not to get too nosy when you're dealing with a grouchy wizard. In any case, following the horse around until you wear it out enough to approach also sounds like an interesting quest, if less combat intensive than the Black Horse Rescue.

That's what I would do. If I were a dev.

Birthday Present

That would have been the proper title for this sonnet, except that the words "Birthday Present" have a particular connotation in Middle-earth which I would avoid.

Bronzed

Bronze are the hammers Longbeards use, lest sparks
Of iron fire the deep cavernous air,
And when Tarannon built his hundred barks
Bronze were their nails, immune to ocean's wear.

Nine lustrous copper, one part gentle tin,
Yet imperfections only strengthen it
And age can touch bronze not. It hides the sin
'Neath veils; antiquity not age there writ.

Why beat this brassy ore in forges cold
With mallets? Breath well placed
Will melt it hot and liquid, filling mould
Of mortal clay, immortal flame embraced.

No elf-mail mine, which links of mithril join
About the breast. For my heart, bronze is coin.