Happy Hobbit Day 2014

Today is Hobbit Day.  It is the day chosen by the fan community to celebrate the works of Professor Tolkien's Middle-earth cycle.  In the books, September 22nd* (of The Shire Reckoning) is the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.  It is also the date Bilbo "disappeared" from his 111th birthday party to leave The Shire forever and the date that Frodo left Bag End seventeen years later to begin his quest to destroy the One Ring of Sauron.

My original from 1984.  The cover is almost detached.  This may be the last year I read this copy.

September 22nd also happens to mark the day on which I begin my yearly rereading of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Every year since I first read the books back in 1984 (I was 13 at the time) I have opened The Fellowship of the Ring and accompanied Frodo and his companions on their long journey through Middle-earth.  I don't always complete all three books and I'm sure I have missed a year here and there.  But there can be no doubt that I have read the books at least 25 times over the years...and counting.  I'm so very thankful that I discovered Tolkien's works so very long ago.  For it was Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli, and the others that directly lead to my love of roleplaying, wargaming, and miniatures.

So happy Hobbit Day to you all.  Now it's time for me to open my well-read copy of The Fellowship of the Ring and start my journey anew.

* Note: I am well aware of the differences between our calendar and that of The Shire.  September 22nd has been chosen by consensus as the date to celebrate Bilbo and Frodo's birthday rather than the converted date.  I'd rather not debate the merits of September 13th-ish vs. September 22nd.  To me, it's just not that important.  So have a pint, raise your mug, and drink one with me!

Thanks for reading!

The Desolation of Smaug - My Spoiler Free Review

I watched The Desolation of Smaug today and I must say I was pleased with the movie.  As long as one remembers some of the first words that pop up on the screen after the movie concludes - "BASED [my emphasis] on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien", then the artistic differences introduced by Peter Jackson can be forgiven and even applauded.  The filler material from the LotR appendices along with Jackson's own creations actually make the movie much more enjoyable than the book.  His additions drive the plot more vigorously than just the children's story hooks that Tolkien employs and brings the movie in line more with the adult feel of the previous trilogy. 

Those differences actually had me on the edge of my seat a few times.  Of course we all know how the story goes and how it ends, but not knowing the direction Jackson was taking with the individual elements created excitement that would not have existed had he simply followed the novel point by point.  The destination and the outcome will still be the same but the journey, the part that really counts, is refreshingly new.

Without spoiling the details, what did I like most?  For one, I very much enjoyed Jackson's version of Bard.  In the book he is very one dimensional and quite frankly, rather boring.  Now we not only get an interesting back story but a plot twist that is quite unexpected.  I also enjoyed Tauriel.  Despite some initial misgivings, I found myself not only approving of her inclusion but heavily focused on, and involved  with her story.  I do not know what Sir Peter has in store for her but I can't wait to find out.  Well played Mr. Jackson.  Well played indeed.  You have me hooked. 

And how could I forget Smaug?  I was worried about how the "chiefest calamity" of the time would be portrayed.  After all, the quest and essentially the entire story revolves around his overwhelming presence.  Ruin Smaug and the entire trilogy falls as well.  Well, I can say that my fears were unfounded.  With a few minor exceptions (which I can easily overlook), Smaug was everything I had hoped for. 

Not everything was perfect though.  DoS suffers from a serious case of "power creep."  The martial and acrobatic abilities of Legolas and the elves are over the top and borderline silly.  And the orcs are repetitive and predictable as are the evil bosses.  Azog and Bolg utter the same commands, "kill them" and "it is over" ad nauseam. 

Overall the movie was worth the wait.  The story is familiar yet new, the plot moves along much more quickly than the first movie, and the characters draw you in and make you care about them.  In addition, Smaug was truly stupendous!  Sure the movie is not exactly like the book.  But the book as written would not translate into a good movie.  I think Jackson made the movie that Tolkien wishes he could have written after the success of The Lord of the Rings novels and the (further) creation of his mythology/legendarium (yes, Tolkien did want to rewrite The Hobbit to make it more consistent with his later creations). Despite what some (self-proclaimed) Tolkien purists spew about Peter Jackson, it should be obvious that he truly cares about the story and the legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien.  With The Desolation of Smaug, I think Jackson has paid great respect and homage to the Professor and his story.  Go see it!

If you have watched the movie, what did you think?

Bilbo Baggins

After several non-hobby related posts and a lot of down time, it's time to get the ball rolling again....or perhaps the paint flowing would have been a better phrase.  This update deals with a certain gentlehobbit that will be getting an awful lot of attention over the next two and a half years - Mr. Bilbo Baggins.

I painted Bilbo, or most of him, back in September before I caught the flu.  My plan was to make a diorama in honor of Hobbit Day (September 22nd).  I was working on the scene out of the books (Chapter V  A Conspiracy Unmasked) when the Hobbits, temporarily safe in Crickhollow, tell Frodo they know all about his plans to escape The Shire with the ring.  Frodo wonders how they could have known many of his inner secrets so Merry explains a portion of his "detective" work:

"It was the Sackville-Bagginses that were his downfall, as you might expect.  One day, a year before the Party, I happened to be walking along the road, when I saw Bilbo ahead.  Suddenly in the distance the S.-B.s appeared, coming toward us.  Bilbo slowed down, and then hey presto! he vanished.  I was so startled that I hardly had the wits to hide myself in a more ordinary fashion; but I got through the hedge and walked along the field inside.  I was peeping through into the road, after the S.-B.s had passed, and was looking straight at Bilbo when he suddenly reappeared.  I caught a glint of gold as he put something back in his trouser-pocket."

My plan included the Lobelia miniature, umbrella and all, striding down a hill with Bilbo standing by the edge of the road looking at the ring that had just saved him from dealing with his unpleasant relative.  Merry, in the form of the Merry and Pippin vs. Grishnakh version, would be just across the road near a hedgerow, watching what had just transpired. 

Although all three miniatures were mostly painted, I was quickly running out of time so I adjusted my plans and concentrated on Bilbo.  I finished him late on the evening of the twenty-first but I felt he needed some additional highlighting so I refrained from posting him on his birthday.  Then came the flu and other delays causing me to hold on to Mr. Baggins for over a month.  Better late than never however. 

I have not given up on the project though.  For next year during the Hobbit Day celebration, I think I'll finish up the diorama so that my previous work will not be wasted.

As far as the painting goes, I deviated a bit from the movie version.  His dinner jacked, while certainly eccentric and expensive looking, gave me fits during the painting process.  I felt that the burgandy/purple of the color of the jacket was too close in hue to the waistcoat.  The entire top half of the mini, at least from my eyes, seemed awash in nearly the same color.  My solution was to go with a complimentary color and create a stark contrast between the two garments.  While maybe not 100% true to the movie, and thus the GW version, I like Bilbo much better in this form.  Plus, the color choice was more appropriate for the diorama anyhow.  I have two extra unpainted Bilbo miniatures.  Perhaps I'll paint another at some point in the future to represent the version from the movie.

As a final note, this is my first attempt at a Hobbit....ever.  Well, maybe not truly ever.  I may have painted one way back in the 1980s when I first started in the hobby, though I do not remember doing so.  But since picking the miniature hobby back up about ten years ago, this is my first time.  To those that know me, and my love of all things Tolkien, that admission may come as quite a surprise.  But to be honest, Hobbits have never been my favorite part of Middle-earth.  Yes, as an avid reader I can appreciate the achievement of simple ordinary men/Hobbits rising above the commons and performing heroic deeds.  It's the stuff fantasy is made of.  However, my eyes have always turned to the Professor's other creations -- the majestic elves, the grim Dunedain, the mysterious Istari, and especially the tragic figures of Feanor, Turin, and even Boromir.  Oh well, now that I've painted my first Hobbit, it wasn't so bad.  I guess I'll have to finish up the others now.  That will be no small task though.  Counting all the different versions of Hobbits, I have twenty-seven more to complete.  I better get to work...

Happy Birthday Professor Tolkien

Today is the birthday of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.  It is also the day when fans from around the world honor the date with a toast to the master of Middle-earth.  According to the Tolkien Society, the proper way to toast Tolkien is to "stand, raise a glass of your choice of drink (not necessarily alcoholic), and say the words ‘The Professor’ before taking a sip (or swig, if that’s more appropriate for your drink). Sit and enjoy the rest of your drink". It has become almost a holiday for his legions of loyal fans and admirers. 

Every year, I too make it a point to take time from my busy schedule to pause and remember my favorite author (and dare I say, "historian") and the man who introduced me to fantasy literature and by extension, gaming in general. This year was no exception.  In fact, it turned out to be one of the most memorable in many years.  The reason for the significance?  Cold weather.  Winter is a relative term in the Florida Keys since temperatures rarely fall below seventy degrees.  It's rare to get highs in the sixty's and downright unusual for anything less.  Well, a very strong cold front made it all the way down and dropped our temps into the fifty's for a high.  Standing outside next to a palm tree, bundled up with a glass of wine in my hand, was rather surreal.  But having the "cold" weather surround me as I made a toast to Professor Tolkien somehow seemed more appropriate than eighty and sunny. 

So once again, let me raise another glass of wine and toast the man that quite literally, changed my life.  Feel free to join me.....

"To The Professor!"

History of the Waywatchers of Cardolan - part 1

Though it has been an important part of my life since late 2006 when I was invited to the closed beta, I have not given much love or attention to The Lord of the Rings Online.  An even more distressing fact is that except in passing, I have not even mentioned the kinship I founded...the Waywatchers of Cardolan.

Back in 2006 during the closed beta, I started thinking about what kind of kinship (the LotRO name for guilds) I wanted to join.  As a huge fan of the books and the Professor, I knew I wanted it to be tied as closely as possible to the lore.  Though I have many issues with player-created back stories that integrate too closely with the written word, I still wanted a kinship that fit with the theme and could have easily been part of the story.  It was also important that the group be comprised of mature players who did NOT spend hours upon hours glued to the keyboard and had no real lives to speak of.  That is a warning signal to me and I have had poor luck with those types of individuals in the past.  Finally, I wanted a kinship that I did not have to lead.  Having run a roleplaying guild in Everquest II, I was more than ready to be a "player" and not the "DM" for once.

I searched and searched for such a group of folks both in-game during beta play testing and on the official LotRO forums, which were quite active at the time with other fans eagerly awaiting a beta invite or the game to go live.  Unfortunately, my quest to find a appropriate fit to the guidelines I set out above proved fruitless.  A few possibilities came close but there was always something lacking.  I began to despair that I would play the game without like-minded individuals in which to share my love of the setting.

Fortunately, another frequent visitor to the forums noticed my many posts in which I touted my love of Middle-earth and my desire to live a "virtual life" there.  He sent me a message basically stating the same, and voiced many of the same concerns about finding a kinship.  After several more conversations, we decided to form a partnership and create our own kinship based on the guidelines I mentioned above.  With my extensive knowledge (and love) of the setting, the plan was that I would create the kinship, furnish it with appropriate background and lore, and guide the direction of the roleplayers in the group.  Since he worked from home, he would help run the day to day activities and be the online presence when I was unavailable.  Though I still had reservations about running another guild and the feasibility of two people trying to lead a group in tandem, I decided to give the project a chance.

I immediately went to work on the background.  Much of my inspiration came while hiking through the woods in the afternoons after work.  It was during these jaunts that I formed the building blocks of the kinship:  1) The kinship must operate under the philosophy that real life (RL) comes first.  2)  Our background should tie into the novels and the game without affecting the written story or Turbine's mechanics.  3)  The theme of the kinship should fit the books.  4)  We should strive to create an immersive atmosphere so that member RPers, and those that associated with us, would get a sense of a persistent world.  5)  And finally, we should provide a vehicle and resource to mentor players of the game who wanted to learn about the world of Middle-earth.

 It was also while walking through the woods that I developed the theme and actual history of the Waywatchers.  Perhaps it was due to the environment and the beautiful pine forests in which I did much of my thinking, but I knew I wanted a secretive military-type group that was more at home in the wilds than in civilized lands and loosely based along the lines of the iconic rangers in the books.  As I walked along the tree-lined trails, a vision of a shadowy company of a once noble lineage began to emerge.  In my mind, the Waywatchers were part of stories told in hushed voices to children or memories of long forgotten realms that a chance meeting in the wilds would prove to be real.  We would be known to the wise and those that often traveled the roads of Eriador but nothing more than a whisper or ghost story to the average man or hobbit.  In short, the Waywatchers were to be legends from the past come to life.

It was important to me to avoid emulating the rangers too closely however.  For one, I was sure the rangers would be an important aspect of the game and I did not want player activities to interfere with Turbine's story.  Also, there was bound to be numerous ranger-type kinships around and thousands of Aragorns, Araagorns, Elllezars or some other derivative of Tolkien's favorite hero.  Most importantly, the rangers were fairly well documented by Tolkien and much of their story during the years in which the game takes place is set in stone.  I needed something different and room to be creative without deviating from the Professor's themes.


It was then that I started thinking about the land of Cardolan.  Tolkien wrote very little about it except a few tales of sadness and loss.  It was once part of the lands of the Dunedain but it was written that the people dwindled and passed into legend.  This gave me an entire region that was mostly unknown in the lore and sparsely populated in which to build my background.  It also allowed me to tie into the history of the rangers without tainting the tale as written by Tolkien.  Now that I had a home and a theme, the rest of the story fell into place.

Cardolan after the division of Arnor.

When the background was unveiled, the story was an immediate hit.  I posted a recruitment announcement in early March 2007 and even though the game had not gone live, the response was incredible.  It turned out that there were indeed others who wanted many of the same components that I considered important in a kinship.  Though only a few of us had access to beta, our membership soared because of the forums and on launch day, the kinship entered Middle-earth with a virtual legion in the ranks.

Of the Founding of the Waywatchers of Cardolan.

Things went well for the first few months.  Membership was high and everyone enjoyed our kinship roleplay, story arcs, questing and social gatherings.  At one point, the Waywatchers neared the fifty member mark and it was decided to halt recruiting for a while to keep our numbers in check.  Some of the more prominent players of this period include:  Whaylen Blackwarden (that's me!), Periago Took, Dorin Oathkeeper, Kennit, Linnuial, Marawen, Annagil Stargift (still a member), Aralt, Branwald, Drachmar, Gamlet, Hagall, Jaiden, Kedlandir, Kimiel, Paskal, Peregrim, and Ciraran.

The Waywatchers gather at Weathertop.

The first kinship story arcs appeared during this period.  These were basically RP events where one, or several of the members created a story and acted as the "dungeon master" for the remained of the kinship, guiding them through the events that usually culminated in some large battle or confrontation.  The story arcs were an important attraction but it was soon apparent that two particular types of events were the most popular with the Waywatchers and would become the hallmark of our kinship:  patrols and campfires.

One of the first marches of the Waywatchers.  This one originated in Archet and concluded in Bree.

Our patrols consisted of an organized march along the roads and wilds the Waywatchers were oathbound to patrol.  At times we would encounter brigands and other ne'er-do-wells that we quickly dispatched or we ended our march at some quest location that members needed to complete.  But mostly our marches were a show of force and an opportunity for the entire kinship to "strut their stuff".  I can still recall seeing other players clear the road as we passed and feel the pride when many would emote a salute or other appropriate gesture.  Frequently, by the end of our march, we would have several tag-a-longs who just wanted to be part of the spectacle or find out more about us.  The campfire events were similar except that we would choose a tactical location to camp and observe the activity on the roads for signs of trouble.  While at these "waystations", we would exchange stories, music, and news with one another as well as plan sorties on unsuspecting bad guys.

The Waywatchers gather to exchange news from our travels and patrols.

All was not well, though, and I knew the halcyon days were coming to an end.  Over several months it became apparent that some of our members were less interested in roleplaying than leveling.  I became alarmed when those players rapidly outdistanced others and cliques and factions began to develop.  The Waywatchers were founded as an immersive RP group and it was made clear in the charter that leveling was secondary to RP.  Unfortunately, some players became unsatisfied with this arrangement and began to drift away.  To my regret, and perhaps relief due to the deteriorating relationship, my co-founder was one of them.  I sensed his slide from roleplayer to end-gamer early on but hoped for the best.

Then it happened.  One day in late July of 2007, the Great RP Split occurred.  About half of the membership defected and decided to found their own kinship.  Some left with honor and good grace while others chose the opportunity to burn bridges with great fanfare.  Of those who remained, morale was severely shaken and what was left of the High Council held several emergency meetings over the next week to discuss our options and chances of survival. The odds were against the now struggling Waywatchers and a fateful decision was finally made.

But that is another story....

(To be continued)