pineleaf

Executive Producer’s Letter for November 2017

Executive Producer Severlin posted the latest producer’s letter looking forward to what’s ahead for next year. The full text of the letter is at the LOTRO forums.

Much of the letter discusses what is coming in Update 22:

The continuation of the Black Book of Mordor.
Lands featured in The Hobbit: Northern Mirkwood, Laketown, Dale, and Erebor.
A new musical instrument: the fiddle.

Why are legions of refugees fleeing from Rhûn, with tales of death and horror on their lips? And why are spiders missing from the forest, and where have they gone? We’ll answer these questions and more.

As for later in 2018, we have this little teaser for Update 23:

Looking beyond Update 22, we know you have been asking to see even more classic moments from the trilogy. We have a way to go before we see Aragorn and Arwen’s wedding, but we intend to bring you other well-known parts of the book. In Update 23, we intend to visit Minas Morgul, and say a fearful hello to Shelob herself.

Sans, it’s for you.

Pineleaf Needles

Poems of the Pine: The Ring of Power

Can we possibility survive this encounter?

Book 9 – The Ring of Power

At the point of despair
The pressure was eased
As the eagles arrived
To reverse the tide.
The Nazgûl fled south
To Sauron’s aid,
Till the gate groaned
With a ghastly crash.

Then Landroval carried us
To the ledge of Doom
To find our friends
Frodo and Sam.
They were tired, hungry,
hurt but alive
So they were carried to a place
Of peace and rest.

Frodo remained quiet
On how the quest was won
For pain and peril
Pressed in his mind.
We asked for the tale
Of the terrible day
When Frodo arrived
To the Fires of Doom.

When at the Forges of Doom
Frodo claimed the ring
Gollum grasped the gold.
He then danced with his prize
In a dangerous place
Till he stepped too close to the chasm.

Does this mean we can finally rest?

Pineleaf Needles

Poems of the Pine: Interlude in the Old Forest

As we wait for Mordor, let’s take a walk in the Old Forest.

Interlude – The Old Forest

Deep in the dark
And dangerous wood
A hatred hampered
Four hobbits on a quest
Their path did twist
To push them south
To the Withywindle
Where willows slept

By the foulest tree
Frodo was snared
As his friends were trapped
In a frightful grip.
As Frodo’s hope faded
He fervently called
Till Tom answered
As the tamer of the wood.

Perhaps I won’t take that walk in the woods.

Pineleaf Needles

Poems of the Pine: The Black Gate

What will we find at the Black Gate?

Book 8 – The Black Gate

At the edge of the Waste
Our wandering mind
Drifted to Frodo
And the fateful ring.
Our march was small
Next to Mordor’s horde
But perhaps the hobbits
Would be helped by our show.

We marched to the gate
And gathered our strength
Then demanded that Sauron
Surrender at once.
In response, the Mouth
Of Mordor revealed
Tokens of our friends
Frodo and Sam.

Having seen the signs
That Sam and Frodo
Were taken and lost
In the land of our foe.
We chose to fight
As the fell gate loosed
A host of orcs
With hateful bent.

We defended the hills
As our foes advanced
To crush the cause of the west.
No aid will come
To rekindle our hope.
Unless our friends could fly.

We’re in a spot of trouble now.

Pineleaf Needles

Poems of the Pine: March of the King

It is time to March towards Mordor.

Book 7 – March of the King

Our rest was brief
When the battle was done
As the hale must heal
The hurts of the wounded.
The captains took council
On the course to take
And chose to march
And challenge our foe.

We sounded the trumpets
As our troops set forth
Into Gondor’s glorious
Garden – Ithilien.
There we marched to the north
Towards the menacing gates
Till Cirith Negen
Came within sight.

There our scouts espied
Some scurrying foes
Who set an ambush
Along the sides of the pass.
We snuck behind
With a silent cry
To break the ambush
That blocked our way.

At the edge of the Waste
Our worries did grow,
So we sent a scout to survey.
Sauron wants us to arrive
To his Sable Gate
For he’s prepared a plan for us.

Next, we start the final stage of our march.

Pineleaf Needles