Faire hobbits don’t get drunk

Yay for Farmer’s Faire! I have been really enjoying myself in the new Farmer’s Faire and have been racking up the goodies. If you want a good festival guide, let me direct you over to CSTM (http://cstm.mymiddleearth.com/2012/07/lotro-farmers-faire-guide-2012/).

For me though, I noticed that I pulled in enough tokens in the first 3 days to buy everything there is at the Faire. So, this post is “things I learned at the Faire”, aka Faire on Easy-Mode. If you want to swim in tokens like Scrooge McDuck, here are some pro-tips.

Deeds: There are several deeds; just do the quests in and around Bywater and you will get most of them started. The hardest ones will be the egg collecting. I’ll go there in a moment. Daweirdo and I compare egg notes and discuss deed strategy. The Shire reputation pony watches the festivities in the background.

The quests for feeding the Fat Mayor, Restocking the Faire, and Helping the Overworked vendor are so simple that I won’t bother to explain it here. For the restocking the faire, good to know info, DO use the “speed boost pie” you were given as often as the Cooldown expires. You will be on foot for the quest and the item gives you a +68% speed, so you are moving as fast as the fastest horse. Here I am flying across the Shire at Supergirl speed (because flying trumps running fast).

Proof that I cook. Sometimes. When a quest is on the line.

Tickets: UPDATE 08/06/12: Update 7.3 released today. "Festival Tickets are also now barter wallet items." Well, lovely. That is one way to support ticket sales in the Store; kill your competition. I'm not a big fan of that change. The tickets are NOT Bound. Gather all your alts and mail the tickets to whomever you want to be flooded with tickets. Gather the 3 daily tickets per alt, and walk over to the mailbox there in Bywater. This event is the first time in history that I have had all lildanas in one area… get tickets, mail them, repeat. Here, Danaarodel takes time out of her busy schedule of “sitting around Thorin’s Hall sorting extra clothes that don’t fit in the wardrobe” to go camp in Bywater for two weeks. She enjoys the atmosphere, working down her Anniversary firework supply.

Fishing: For these two quests: “Big fish, little fish”, and “Fishy, very fishy”, if you don’t move after the quest ends, win or lose, you can stay there and fish for barter fish, seemingly indefinitely. Those extra fish, especially Big fish, can barter all the tokens you might want. Note 2 Big fish barter for 3 tokens; gather several dozen of those Big fish and you will start rolling in tokens. (Two ways I have broken out of barter fish mode: walk away from water, and drop Fellowship.)

Note that “Fishy, very fishy” is on a 24 hour timer where every other daily festival quest is on a daily timer resetting at lotro midnight. There is some discrepancy about the CD timers if pass versus fail so I wouldn’t be shocked if the “Big fish, little fish” has a wonky timer also. “Fishy, very fishy” quest is one of the two hardest things to accomplish at the Faire (finding a golden egg being the other one), because you have to be very lucky and pull out dozens of fish before you pull out a bad one. On the bright side, all those fish barter for tokens, so it is still a win for you. Brettawyn looks on, preparing to pull a large net of fish. 

Mushrooms… shrooms: This event is super easy; it is almost a guaranteed win. You just have to get into the right frame of mind. Firstly, Priority #1 is to avoid the dogs. I play it like I play Pacman. No matter what, avoid the dogs.

How to avoid the dogs? Use the minimap. The dogs show up as “eyes”. Don’t even watch where you are walking, just use the minimap.

But Dana, I need to find Mushrooms. The DEL key and /follow are your friends. Hit DEL, then /follow, and you will walk to the nearest targeted mushroom. Keep your eyes on the dogs on the minimap, click on the mushroom at your feet. Take control of walking and change course if the /follow takes you in the path of a dog. Repeat.

The contest always lasts 3 minutes. I average 18 mushrooms per contest and it only took 8 to win. With the bonus 10 tokens for winning, this contest nets about 38 tokens per run, and is nearly an instant win every time. Of course, if anyone else is playing in the field; I take my 8 mushrooms and leave, wishing them luck. I don't know if the mushroom spawn rate is dependent on the number of players; there always seems to be shrooms-aplenty, but I want everyone to win.

The mushrooms have lots of fun effects. Beware the Nazgul! (Not really, he has no power here, the dogs are in charge.) Here I am tiny, and looking up at a Nazgul (stacked shroomy effects).

The Tiny effect actually works really well to help you; Green-spotted mushrooms make you little. You are harder to spot when you are little. Still, don’t taunt the dogs, you are not invisible. Here I am looking up at my hobbit friend Dazy… nothing quite like being knee-high to a hobbit to give you a different perspective to the world. (Dazy is riding the Symbelmyn Spring horse of 2012.)

On the flip side, the Giant effect makes for a more challenging run; Red-spotted mushrooms make you giant. The effect lasts a minute, so you can shake it off. The game is still the same; avoid the pacman ghosts (dogs). Reaching down to get mushrooms is a bit tougher for a giant. Change your angle to see the mushrooms at your feet. Friend Sparowen gapes at me as I storm out of the field, giant-size and full of mushroomy goodness. Sparowen rides the Farmer's Faire steed of 2012.

Chickens and eggs: Some good things to know.

Again, the DEL key and /follow are your friends. Hit the DEL key to target eggs, then /follow (shortcut button) to go directly to the egg. Even if you can’t see the eggs through the chickens, you can hunt eggs and win just fine. Use your horse if you feel too slow; it takes some persistence to mount up and down, but it might work well for you if you feel slow.

Colored eggs are fairly common. Spotted eggs are less common. Striped eggs are rare. If you find a striped egg, it might be worth a lot on AH. I have never seen a golden egg, after running the event well over a hundred times and spectating nearly as many (though friend Morthin says he has in fact seen one golden egg). "

Pictures or it didn't happen." ... on the lotro forum (http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?471024-Farmer-s-Faire-Egg-Scramble), Koonmaster posted a picture of the Golden egg. It is BOUND, awards 50 tokens plus 10 additional tokens for completing the deed "collect the golden egg". There do not seem to be any locks for it (no requirements to find other eggs first); it seems to be just random with a very low drop rate. Koonmaster credited for posting this Golden egg picture at the previous link.

It is an educated guess that the more people entered, the better the odds for a good egg selection. Update 08/03 - Wrong: It is a hunch that it might take a packed game to have a chance at a golden egg, but that is just my guess. It might be just completely random with a really really low drop rate. This Spectator next to me hasn’t seen a golden egg this year, and he has been there almost as long as I have. J To date, I can confirm two winners of Golden Eggs in Arkenstone. On interviewing them, there seems to be no correlation; it is random location, random group size, random everything. I have entered or watched enough egg hunts that, at this time, I have seen approximately 7000 eggs and none of them Golden. I can only guess that the drop rate is 1:10,000 or worse (mebbe 1:300 - 1:600 egg hunts).

Note: I can neither confirm nor deny that I in fact stepped on a chicken. Ate a rotten egg? Yeah, I did that a bunch to help clear the board so others could target good eggs and win (and hopefully help with the respawn rate by weeding out the bad eggs), but I try not to step on the chickens. If you are having trouble finding enough white eggs, team up with someone. I am certain more eggs spawn for greater numbers of participants, so if you need to, just trade off who will get the 5 white eggs and win the round. Float like a butterfly, peck like a chicken!

Bounder Rounds- Drunk hobbits: What I have learned, is that Faire hobbits do not get drunk… at least not in Arkenstone. I am told that if anyone accuses a sober hobbit of being drunk, the “drunkenness” gets reset. What I have actually seen though is not one single hobbit drunk, ever. And making it easier to tell if it gets "reset", if they are falsely accused, they say something, like “How Rude”. After collecting dialog over several hour periods, 7pm, 12am, 4am, 10am… I conclude that the quest is broken (there were not that many people in Bywater to screw it up at 4am). Hobbits just don’t get drunk. (Feel free to prove me wrong with a screenshot taken in Arkenstone, because hopefully, it will get fixed eventually.) Oh sure, they are more lively than this picture, but drunk?... not so much. UPDATE 08/06/12: Update 7.3 came into effect today. "Drunken Hobbits should no longer slink home to sleep it off and should be easier to locate and admonish for not going home to sleep it off". I'm glad to see the powers acknowledge the problem and have issued a hotfixed!

HOWEVER, I talked to my fellow Lorien elves about the plight of non-alcoholic hobbits, and the elves were more than happy to fill in as drunkards for the Faire, but you still have to get to them at the Vineyard of Lorien and they only agreed to drink at night. They do give credit toward the quest and deed. (Here I ride the Reveller's steed; how fitting.)

Farmer’s Faire Steed: When I saw the Farmer’s Faire steed across the away, and he looked at me with those big brown eyes, I knew he would be taking me home tonight. Ooh, baby. (That might be the mushrooms talking… who said that?)

Yes, Mr. Hengstacer horse guy, I’ll take him. 120 faire tokens, 2 race tokens, some silver coins. Not a problem. I hit a jackpot of mushrooms earlier and tokens are no longer relevant.

To buy the steed and one of everything offered in the festival, it only takes 1190 tokens. Trust me, it is easier than you think to rack up more tokens than you can use in a very short time, and as I write this column, we still have two weeks! Undoubtedly, I will take time out from egg hunting to let the lildanas all get their steeds. 

Deeds, Deeds, Deeds!

In preparation for Rohan, I have been working to complete all of the deeds in my deed log. I will undoubtedly fall short as some are excessively difficult raids, and some are impossible due to being off-season. Working against me is the fact that Farmer's Faire starts TODAY (07/26), and Summer Festival will follow shortly thereafter! Meaning, there are probably less than 10 days of non-festival time until Rohan! Here are a few of the lower-lying deed fruit that I have been working…

Fishing!

Fishing is simple to do; all you need is a pole and some water. I am already “Lady of Streams” (my fishing skill is maxed out), but I had never caught a Green Sturgeon (8/9 sturgeon) or a Redband Trout (8/9 trout). The darters, trout, and sturgeon are found in certain areas: the darters in low level areas (like the Shire), the trout in mid-low level areas (like Evendim), and the sturgeon in slightly higher areas (like Moria and beyond).

Here were my results for fish hunting in North-downs one afternoon. I stopped once I finally got the Redband Trout. For 375 catches,

17% trout

13% trophy fish (including one 50-lb salmon)

14% cook fish (only Catfish and Perch at low-mid water holes)

56% trash fish (mostly barbel, rudd, smelt)

For the sturgeon, it was as easy as standing around. I dropped the line in the pond in Galtrev. Presumably, there is an underground river flowing through the area to support so many fish. For 206 catches,

14% sturgeon

13% trophy fish (including three 50-lb salmon)

31% cook fish (only Carp, Largemouth Bass, Golden Mullet, and Flounder)

42% trash (mostly pike, dirty skulls)

The Angels kinhouse is overrun with 50-lb salmon now. Undoubtedly, we will need to take some stuffed fish down to hang some maps, or art, or something that didn't come from the taxidermist.

Skirmishing!

I had to wrap my head around that one, just how many skirmishes needed to be accomplished. Because of my skirmish time data project a while back (fastest-skirmishes-marks-per-minute), I was fairly close to finishing all of the skirmish encounters, so I tore the last ones apart and found the remaining encounters. Easy peasy. Now I am quite intimidating with the new emote “bringiton”. (Finish all encounters in the 18 skirmishes, not the Survival, and you get the emote and the special title).

If ever you get lost on how to figure out an encounter, go to http://cstm.mymiddleearth.com/ and type pineleaf primer in the search bar. My friend Pineleaf wrote brilliant guides to the skirmish encounters. When guides are that good, there need only be one version.

Here was one encounter, of the last handful of encounters, that came to be checked off my deed list. Welcome Fikluk! He is in the Strike against Dannenglor, one of my favorite skirmishes because it is one of the fastest. I think DrQuinn looks a bit caught off-guard... like she didn't notice the large troll stomping toward us.

Naladum and Lumulnar

These level 60 3-person instances are not hard to do as a stout level 75 RK. However, Naladum cannot be completed solo; its mechanism is setup to where you have to be in two places at once so it is literally impossible. (Edit 07/30: I stand corrected... Daweirdo tells me that he, as a Guardian using sprint, was able to get through the 2-person gate, effectively being in two places at once. For us slower people, it is still not an option.) There are 17 or 18 lizards before the 2-person gate so the lizard-slaying deed is very doable. Lumulnar is also ok and has merravals, but I’ve never progressed it to the last boss while solo; I usually get bored turning mirrors in the final area. I actually used GLFF last night for the first time to "globally find a fellowship"; cheers to Tinyelvis and Des who I met last night to whack Lumulnar, again.

However, if you are solo AND want to do these instances but cannot bulldoze over the 3-person aspect, there is a way to launch it “solo”. Visit Broin in The Peaceful Path, in top level (north Moria map, west of Jazargund); he has repeatable quests for the solo version.

Moors!

Oh my. Moors would need a separate post. Lol. Whenever I run out of things to do or just need to blow something apart or just seek something different, I go to the Moors. I have progressed to Rank 8 recently and this past week I got my 6th piece of armor to be at maximum Audacity of 7. There is a noticeable difference, and I will go into that another post.

Isengard

Oh, Isengard is also worthy of more ink time, but I went with friends and knocked off Saruman... so, pictures shall follow, though I was preoccupied with not dying and didn't get that many. My schedule doesn’t lend itself to match the raid timing of those around me, so I take great pride in completing raids. I make a point to be on top of my game and "bring-it" every time I go out.

For grins, we also knocked off the T2 lightning wing. The rest of the T2 Isengard wings will remain on my deed list. It might take years, but someday, someday…

Eldgang

What a strange reputation to try to acquire. The Eldgang do not offer a steed. As far as I can tell, there is no benefit at all to being kindred with the Eldgang. But, there it is in my deed list, so it must be done. The only two ways to gain standing with the Eldgang is by running the Rift instance (level 50 Raid) and by running the Rescue in Nurz Ghashu skirmish. I have finished Rift raid probably 6-10 times, and fortunately, Nurz is one of my favorite skirmishes. Only another few dozen skirmishes will get me to kindred, where I can get… satisfaction of having the box checked, since apparently, that is all there is.

Methedras
And I updated the skirmish speed/marks data table with Methedras. (fastest-skirmishes-marks-per-minute).  Joy. :) 

Horsing Around part 2

I was on vacation last week, which means (1) I did lots of stuff, and (2) I have not written nor scoped anything for a topic (though I have about 12 topics in my head). What I want though is to re-copy my Bio Break guest post here on this site. That would make me happy… so that’s what I will do. Lol. I’ll post something else later in the week, then get back on schedule. In the meantime, my friend Ravanel (http://ravalation.blogspot.com/) tried to teach me how to put buttons on my blog. We shall see if I learned…

Here is the post as seen on Bio Break (http://biobreak.wordpress.com/), July 15.

Hello! Welcome to Bio Break: Supergirl Edition!

I am Danania, Supergirl of Lorien and today you get to listen to me jabber about Rohan’s “horsing around” and see me model some clothes… no peaking.

Mmmm… I totally enjoy living in Middle Earth LOTRO and am goose bumpy about heading into Rohan on September 5th. LOTRO currently has a pre-order for the Riders of Rohan Expansion to avoid the rush at the ticket booth opening day.

To summarize… for 75$ for the Legendary version of the expansion (the most stuff) you get a lovely steed, a 6th inventory bag, “horse session quests”, access to RoR expansion in September, 2000 TP for the Lotro store, legendary item (weapon) booster, skirmish soldier (assistant) appearance modifier, an in-game title, cosmetic set, level 75 cloaks, and the outrider’s token (a 25% XP boost for your characters).

For most players, many of those things seem self-explanatory except for the “horse session quests” and their related bonuses so I will focus on that here. To see a breakdown of the rest of the stuff and fluff, I wrote “Horsing Around, part 1” here (http://www.danania.net/2012/06/riders-of-rohan-pre-order-horsing.html).

I won’t give any story points away concerning the “horse session quests”, but the mere mention of them with pictures tends to give some surprise away… So, disclaimer warning: Spoiler potential below for those who like to be 100% surprised.

“Horse session quests”: Ok, here is the description of what we are told via pre-order… “Exclusive Rohan Content that allows you to earn a Mounted Combat deed that grants an exclusive skill for your Warsteed”. Peachy. But what does THAT mean?

Once RoR is pre-ordered, a series of horse related quests in initiated by a letter in your mailbox and the quest called “New Arrival in Combe”. After starting the quest, you follow the chain down the path toward being allowed to do 2 repeated daily quests from Hengstacer Farm.

Two related deeds have also begun, “Horsing Around” and “Discovering the Descendant”.

Horse Skills:

While in session quest, your horse knows 4 skills. Those skills are simple and are basically: front kick, back kick, run fast, and escape. (note: When you are in a fight, utilize the auto-attack also since your kicks are on cooldown.)

What fun those skills are! The run fast skill is really really fast! I’ve chased down commuter horses travelling between stables. Fast.

And, the back kick? Needless to say, the troll on the receiving end of this back kick did not get back up.

Story point: I won’t go into the story, but I will say that the session quests take place on the open landscape, and you can interact with other players who are questing in the same locations as you. The horse session quests occur in the Lonelands, the Trollshaws, North Downs, and Hengstacer Farm, with non-horse questing taking place in Bree, Combe, and Hengstacer.

The conclusion was “Epic”, though I suspect the conclusion is not the end. J

Rewards – “Discovering the Descendant”: For completing the Descendant (completing each of the 9 randomly selected quests at least once), you earn the title “Destined for Rohan” and the “exclusive skill for your Warsteed”, called Favour of the Mearas.

Hmm… Well, it doesn't say what it does, yet. It is special. It is for combat. If the cooldown means anything, which it might not, it is usable once per day. End speculation. It will be something; that much is known. J

Rewards – “Horsing Around”: For completing Horsing Around, you earn the title Studier of the Equine” and get the cloak “Cloak of the Equine”. The deed comment reads, “You have formed a strong bond with a descendent on the Mearas. When you make your way into Rohan, this will surely be of benefit.”

Will it surely be of benefit? I hope so. Regardless, I got a neat cloak! Let’s see it…(this is the part you were waiting for me to model clothes. Ok, it is just a cloak, but I don’t get out of the Supergirl outfit often. Baby steps.)

It comes in a drab color, so I livened it up a bit with dye!

What looks best? White? Greens? Browns?

Black is a nice natural color, and works well with the Prized Isengard Steed.

I tend to be a bit more bold though… Here is the cloak again in a nice blue hue, which complements the Steed of Bright Days.

But suited to me… it has gotta be Red!

…and best complementary horse might be the Reveller’s Steed.

Why are you looking at me like that, Mister Algraig Steed? Of course, Imma horse! Horsey ears. Horsey tail. Let’s go horse play!

As seen on Bio Break, horsing around

Woohoo! I have been branching out, and here is the opportunity I was telling you about last week! For my guest post at Bio Break, follow the jump to http://biobreak.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/guest-post-welcome-to-bio-break-supergirl-edition/ .

Bio Break is a blog written by Syp, new friend and senior contributing editor at Massively.
He is a huge Supergirl of Lorien fan (at least in my imagination).

Yay! I hope you enjoy it!

Steam steed - Noble Grey Steed, again

No lengthy post today... just enjoying steeds.
Friend Draculetta points out that the Steam starter pack is back on sale for 50% off, down to 15$.

See my write up at steam-steed-noble-grey-steed.

Get your steam steed and other goodies at http://store.steampowered.com/app/213174.
(UPDATE 07/13: SUMMER SALE! 15$ Offer ends July 23rd)

Steed of the Winged Herald

What a lovely summer! It seems that people are on vacation or will be away, and that means an interesting opportunity has presented itself. I don’t want to give away the punch line even though I’m chomping at the bit to do so…. :D

To shift focus away at the moment, I will introduce to you, the Steed of the Winged Herald (aka Winged Steed).

This horse was surprisingly easy to obtain. It is part of lotro’s “Referral Program”. Do these very simple things:

(1) When signed into my.lotro.com, go to the header tab “Signup Rewards” (see picture above).

(2) Enter email addresses of friends that will help you out (it would be nice to discuss it beforehand with your friends to understand what needs to happen). Finish reading this post before you freak out about having to enter friends’ addresses.

(3) These 5 friends with email addresses will need to receive the automated lotro email saying that you referred them, click on the link to go to lotro signup, then enter newly created usernames for themselves.

I have been told by friends that the friend signup is super easy and takes just a moment. Once the friend has a username, the referral is considered a “success” for you and counts toward one of your five. The friend does not have to continue to download lotro or install anything… yeah, why wouldn’t they? None of my business… all I needed was the less than five minute assistance and I am on my merry way.

It is a +62% speed, +200 morale steed in a very interesting green feathered look. (Added note: The steed is account wide so all of your characters will be proud new owners of Winged Steeds.)

I also saw this steed recently on another blog, The Elven Tailor (http://theelventailor.blogspot.com/2012/06/call-to-war.html) in which Cat designed a gorgeous matching outfit! She has a way of making characters look like superheroes (at least in my eyes), which obviously rates well with me. :D Check her out!

A Dream of Ingolemo & Weatherstock Forever

As I meditate atop the statue at High King’s Crossing in Evendim, I reminisce about my dreamscape of Weatherstock (dream-of-weatherstock).

From the lotro forum, I found a great read by redpoisonapple @ Countdown-to-Weatherstock-A-Closer-Look-at-the-Bands.

Harperella: I wanted to give a quick shoutout to Harperella of http://lonelymountainband.guildlaunch.com/. I previously thanked her for her role as emcee and of course I directed her toward her picture on danania.net. … and she said she had already seen it before I sent the message. Flattery will get you almost anywhere Harperella. /bow  J

RKO: From Khalawyn (aka Khaladreth, Ambrywen), RKO hails from the world of Brandywine, where they are known as Runic Knights. Their song selection was all instrumental. To learn more about Runic Knights, visit www.rklotro.com!

Andúnië: From Phedeline, turns out, I got the name of their group wrong; it is actually Andúnië. My apologies. (I totally copy/pasted the name here as umlauts and accents aren’t readily on my tongue.) You can find more about them @ http://s13.zetaboards.com/Andunie/index/. Andúnië has ties to both Laurelin and Landroval. The group leader is Makalaure, and some of the members you might have seen in dream were

Fionnuala (LAN)/ Fionulea (LAU),

Kalluin (LAN)/ Miste (LAU),

Tameren (LAN)/ Tamaren (LAU),

Manadhlaer (LAN/LAU),

Aururion (LAN/LAU),

Celessa (LAN)/ Fernith (LAU),

Phedelene (LAU/LAN).

Their current selection of pieces has lots of fun names like

“Music from the ballet "Troll Wedding"” (juxtaposing trollish and folksy themes)

“Witches' Dance” (music for dancing naked around bonfires at midsummer!)

“Riding with the Rohirrim” (allegro, gallop-y)

“Frogmorton Stomp” (hobbity jig)

…and many more.

Ingolemo: Brace yourselves ladies; Ingolemo has come to danania.net. I’ve been told his “sensual, smoldering glance is known to unleash a passionate fury” (source cited: Ingolemo). I added a few pictures as interlude, while Ingolemo’s words canvass danania.net in his signature purple. The songs below are the Weatherstock song set from Mar Vanwa Tylalieva (The Travelling Ingolemos).

“Stridin' Man”,

First, Stridin' Man, based on the Allman Brother's "Ramblin' Man", and sung from the perspective and history of Aragorn:

Lord, I was born a Stridin' man
Tryin' to help a hobbit and doin' the best I can
By life or death I'll save you,
By any means I can.
For I was born a Stridin' man

My father was a Chieftain of the Rangers.
He wound up on the wrong end of a bow
I was raised in the safety of the Homely House
Though now it's far afield I go.

Lord, I was born a Stridin' man
Tryin' to save a kingdom and doin' the best I can
The last heir of Isildur,
Nine Walkers in my band.
See, I was born a Stridin' man.

I'm on my way to Morannon this mornin'
I'm leavin' out of fair Minas Tirith.
There once again I will let burn the Flame of the West.
Reforged anew by craft of elven-smith.

Lord, I was born a Stridin' man
Fighting 'gainst the Shadow and doin' the best I can
And when the Ships are leavin'
When on far shores you stand...
But I was born a Stridin' man

Lord, I was born a Stridin' man,

Lord, I was born a Stridin' man,

Lord, I was born a Stridin' man.

(Dananote: Ok, so I cheated with the picture... I haven't met Earendil, I know of him only from legend. However, I do know one of his sons, Elrond... he doesn't look a day over 5000 years old.)

"Tales of Brave Eärendil",

Next came "Tales of Brave Eärendil" based off Cream's "Tales of Brave Ulysses", and recounting the voyage of Eärendil the Mariner:

You thought the wicked Melkor

would bring naught but death and war,
So you rode upon Foam-flower

to the land where rests the sun.
And the Shadows of the sea

bind your eyes with deep enchantments,
And you touch the diamond beaches

with tales of the Two Kindreds,
How their bravery was thwarted

by the malice of the Bauglir
For the roaring waves are calling you to sail to meet your Doom.

And you see a bird's white body

falling in a pale flame
And you clasp her close unto you

as she swoons in urgency.
And when you wake you find her,

her hair cascades around you,
Your wife who flew to find you,

bearing a Silmaril.

The mighty flaming dragons

fly screaming through the heavens,
And you cannot take her with you

where the cold is endless winter.

His name is Ancalagon

and his scales are black as sin,
But you hurl him to the towers,

and they sing on diamond sands
With tales of brave Eärendil,

how his kin were slain and tortured
For the keeping of the cursed Oath.

The flocking, wheeling seabirds

fly singing to her tower,
And, rose tinged, she flies to meet you

at the verge of endless winter.

(How about a lil kiss for the Scourge of the North!)

“Ramble On”,

Our triumphant conclusion, "Ramble On", based on, well, Ramble On by Led Zeppelin, and summarizing the plot of the Volume I epic quests, very quickly, in song.

Flames are falling all around,

Archet, I am on my way.
To Bombadil, I'm much obliged

for such a pleasant stay. 

But now it's time for Radagast.

The Red Maid's gone astray.
But now I smell the smoke,

I helped three Folk,

and chased a Wraith away.

When I'm Greatly Inspired,

I've got to beat Skorgrim and a zombie drake...

Ramble On,

And now's the time, for a stone heart,

I sing my song. 

I'm goin' 'round the world, I got to help that girl,

We strike Carn Dum.
A light in the gloom, but it becomes her tomb,

Ramble On,
Reforged the sword, the palantir ignored.

Got no time to for Gúlaran,

The knights are now dead and gone.
And now the Rangers helped kill Morguldur,

it's time to Ramble On.

Ramble On,

Annuminas, the King's City,

the fight is long.
We capture Mordrambor, the danger we ignore,

Oh, Laerdan!
Didn't heed the plan,he couldn't wait a span,

Ramble On,
Goin' to Trollshaws, cause that is what she saw.

Mine's the task to find Laerdan,

his freedom I hold dear.
I get the ring,

from some dead king,

when ice was in the air.
T'was in the forges of Eregion

I met a girl so foul.
But Laerdan,

and Mordirith

they fought and wiped away her scowl,

scowl, scowl....yeah.

Ain't nothing I can do but

I guess I'll keep on

GETTING THINGS!

I'm gonna

Kill the False King!

Gotta find my horsie

Gonna Ramble On, gonna sing my song
Gonna ride my way, round the world.

Ramble On.

(Dana-horse gives a good horse laugh at the next song while munching on a pile of Blueberries.)

"Swift Horse-Steed",

Our Encore Song, "Swift Horse-Steed", based on Queen's "Bicycle Race", and poking a little light-hearted fun at coming mounted combat.

Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed!
I want to ride my

Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed!
I want to ride my Swift War-steed!
I want to ride my mount!
I want to ride my Swift War-steed!
I want to rack up a head count!

You say black, I say white!
You say neigh, I say flight!
You say walk, I say hey man
Shoes were never my thing
And I don't like Insert! 

I mount up, I rejoice
You say please, give me a choice.
You ask why? I say boy,
see, mounted combat is the thing
They asked, so big bucks it'll bring!

All I wanna do is
Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed!
I want to ride my

Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed!
I want to ride my Swift War-steed!
I want to ride my mount
I want to ride my Swift War-steed!
I want to ride my

Forced mounted combat is coming your way
So forget all your class skills, oh yeah!
Hobbits on ponies are riding today
So look out for Underhills, oh yeah!

On your marks,

get set,

GO!

Swift War-steed, yay! Swift War-steed, yay! Swift War-steed, yay!
Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed!

I want to ride my

Swift War-steed!
Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed!
War-steed, AWAY! 

(Makes clip-clop noises with a hollow coconut shell.)

You say hills I say plains!
You say tails, I say manes!
Scepter? I say cool it man
I don't wanna be the king of the lost realm of Arnor!
You say legs, I say knees.

Wanna raid? I say please
Half-elven? I say Manwe!
I don't wanna be a candidate
For interspecies lore-break mate!

Cos all I want to do is

Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed!
I want to ride my Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed! Swift War-steed!
I want to ride my Swift War-steed!
I want to ride my horse!
I want to ride my Swift War-steed!
I want to ride it in great force!

(Ah, do it your way! Riding along, wind in my face, rainbow at my back, enjoying festival with good friends. Good times.)

"End of the Line",
And, not that it was particularly interesting for parodic purposes, as I didn't change much, but here was our Battle of the Bands lyrics, "End of the Line" by the Traveling Ingo...er...the Traveling Wilburys:

Well it's all right, riding around in the breeze
Well it's all right, if you play the game you please
Well it's all right, doing the best you can
Well it's all right, as long as you lend a hand
You can sit around and wait for XP to ding.

At the end of the line
Waiting for someone to help you clear the thing,

At the end of the line
Sit around and wonder what the chest will bring,

At the end of the line
Maybe a magic ring.

Well it's all right, even if they say you're wrong
Well it's all right, sometimes you gotta be strong
Well it's all right, as long as you got somewhere to lay
Well it's all right, everyday is update day.

Maybe somewhere down the road aways

At the end of the line
You'll think of me, and wonder where I am these days

At the end of the line
Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays

At the end of the line
Purple Haze.

Well it's all right, even when push comes to shove
Well it's all right, if you got someone to love
Well it's all right, everything'll work out fine
Well it's all right, were going to the end of the line.

Don't have to be ashamed of the horse I ride

At the end of the line
I'm just glad to be here, happy my robe is dyed

At the end of the line
It don't matter if you're by my side

At the end of the line
I'm satisfied.

Well it's all right, even if you're old and grey
Well it's all right, you still got something to say
Well it's all right, remember to live and let live
Well it's all right, the best you can do is forgive.

Well it's all right, riding around in the breeze
Well it's all right, if you live the life you please
Well it's all right, even if the sun don't shine
Well it's all right, we're going to the end of the line.

Weatherstock is a beacon of hope; may it be cherished in future years.

Weatherstock Forever:

I know you can’t get enough; but I want to leave you with the lyrics to “Weatherstock Forever” from the Lonely Mountain Band (http://lonelymountainband.guildlaunch.com/).

It is again that time

Come together

At Weathertop

This is the place to be

It's Weatherstock forever

Hear people singing in rhyme

The beautiful music

Will never stop

Here you can feel free

Here at Weatherstock forever

Come along and you will see

Come and sing so merrily

Come along and dance with me

At Weatherstock, forever

Come along, my lady fair

Come with ribbons in your hair

Come, for I'll be waiting there

At Weatherstock, forever

Free people of Middle-Earth

You are invited

Come everyone

Bring along all your friends

To Weatherstock forever

All efforts it will be worth

You'll be delighted

It's such a great fun

You'll hope it never ends

That's Weatherstock forever

Come along and you will see

Come and sing so merrily

Come along and dance with me

At Weatherstock, forever

Come along, my lady fair

Come with ribbons in your hair

Come, for I'll be waiting there

At Weatherstock, forever

We'll having band after band

Many songs playing

You'll never forget

This is the big event

It's Weatherstock forever

Notes fly all over the land

To the sound swaying

'till the sunset

It is a time well spent

At Weatherstock forever

Come along and you will see

Come and sing so merrily

Come along and dance with me

At Weatherstock, forever

Come along, my lady fair

Come with ribbons in your hair

Come, for I'll be waiting there

At Weatherstock, forever.