Editor's Note by Mapthor
Howdy howdy gamers! Welcome back to the MCME Times! As of the day I’m writing this, the Easter Events have finally concluded and all’s good in the world. We had an outstanding Easter Egg Hunt, some very interesting Lore Hours, and I think the longest parkour event ever held on the server. Thank you all for coming out this year and supporting MCME Events. It means the world to the people who make these events for you to take time out of your day and screw around with us. With that all said and done, building will be back in full swing and events will take the backseat until this Summer. And you best be ready for the Summer Events because oh boy it’s gonna be good. But until then, let’s get Lond Daer done, ask Xmine for terrain plots, and texture away!

Happy Sailing,
Mapthor


Anorien - Lead: @draonic_slayer | In Progress
Report by draonic_slayer

Massive progress for Anorien over the past couple of weeks. With the pasting in of the Pelennor Field concept, work has begun on revamping that entire area of Anorien, upgrading the old farms to an up to date field system. Lots of terrain smoothing is required before planning and build can start so feel free to ask TheSweViking or draonic_slayer for plots. The 1st section out of 6 is completed so there is tonnes of work to go around. The old grassing for Anorien has been removed in preparation of the new veg concept along with the planning that Rwyland has done for the many ruined homes and field walls across the eastern side of the Anorien plains.



Lond Daer – Lead: @mattlego | In Progress
Report by mattlego

We recently had a build day as part of the Easter events and were able to almost entirely finish the outer walls of the city. All that is left to ruin on the walls is just the towers. House plots have continued to be worked on with very few remaining in the outer city. Also, some more work has been done on the palace which has a new gradient to make it a little more interesting to look at.



Moria – Lead: @barteldvn | In Progress
Report by Mershy

Not too much in the likes of Moria these past few weeks. The West Gate area has had a few storage additions, and Badger has been working hard giving lots of plots away in Movie Cave. Effie has also been running jobs and working on the large river system near Movie Cave.





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#NEWS
Report by ItsJustPeyton

Events
Spring Events, whew! We kicked off the fortnight with a classic easter egg hunt…...that had a spelling mistake and led people no where, thanks @givet10. After the little whoopsie, the hunt finished at the city of Rendul and everyone was brain dead from trying to figure out all the clues. The Great Lore Tour kicked off and has been quite the success, with many guides getting involved. Build day was a hit, and we managed to do two episodes of the Lore Hour special (thanks to Melkor being so gosh darn smart), @Visstick9 was the only person who managed to get a question right that Melkor was unable to answer!

Social Media Updates
Instagram: Instagram has been going well, ever since we hit 10k we’ve noticed a real jump in interactions from the outside community. Let’s keep it going (aka, invite your friends!!) and get to the next milestone!

Recently we did our third installment of Question Hour, this time having our Media Team Leader, Manager and MCME Youtube star Sevy! It went really well and we had heaps of questions, some of which we are still receiving now. We were able to get a bit of insight into the [hundreds] of things she does for the server, and we can’t wait till she’s officially back from break so she can do it all again!

Facebook: We’ve been looking into giving Facebook a little bit of a makeover, and it seems to be working! With a regular posting schedule, and new content coming out, the page is getting the revitalize it needs to reach that 3000 follower mark!

Twitter: Twitter is the place to be. Whether it be keeping up with events, sharing memes, or posting your screenshots, the MCME Twitter feed is filled with an array of different content for all to enjoy. I’d highly recommended following us if you want to keep up to date with anything the server has running, you’ll find out about things before people on the Discord do

YouTube: Coming back at you with another cinematic, this time from the mind of our resident Designer Luk! Join us as we explore Pelargir whilst listening to some epic music, and make sure you subscribe to our channel whilst you’re there so you can be kept in the loop when we post new videos!



MykelUmm: A new Artist promotion and this time it's MykelUmm! We all look forward into seeing more of your builds on the main world, congratulations!
Promotion

junoknight: And another Guide promotion! This week everyone's favourite American got promoted to Guide, congrats juno!
Promotion



Last few weeks have been particularly interesting for our screenshotters with brand new shader versions to test and tame, more skies to edit, new fields to showcase, and, for me, more shots to look through. Keep experimenting with shaders, guys! I for one am particularly interested in Wisdom, Ymir, and Continuum shaders at the moment. But seeing what you all can do with some mediocre shaders and a little editing is amazing. Just don't overdo it with crazy blur, absurd skies, and the like!

MEDIA Winners:


THEME-BUILD Winners

Easter came and there were good themes these 2 weeks. We have to start doing more joke themes!

(http://imgur.com/a/D5PA9bm)
(http://imgur.com/a/qXQ0kPG)


The Star of Eärendil

Eärendil was a mariner
that tarried in Arvernien;
he built a boat of timber felled
in Nimbrethil to journey in;
her sails he wove of silver fair,
of silver were her lanterns made,
her prow he fashioned like a swan,
and light upon her banners laid.

(Song of Eärendil)

Born in Gondolin just seven years before its fall, Eärendil was the son of Idril, daughter of King Turgon, and of Tuor son of Huor, the great hero of the First Age. When the forces of Morgoth descended upon the city, Maeglin - Idril’s cousin who desired her for himself, and eventually betrayed the location of Gondolin to the enemy - tried to kill Eärendil but was stopped by Tuor, who cast Maeglin off the walls of the city. Many Elves then managed to flee the destruction of Gondolin using Idril’s secret way, and Eärendil was among them.

The refugees settled at the Mouths of Sirion and in Arvernien, where they joined the refugees of Doriath who fled from its destruction at the hands of the Sons of Fëanor just four years earlier. There Eärendil met Elwing, daughter of Dior Eluchíl and granddaughter of Beren and Lúthien, and the two married. In FA 532 Elwing bore twin sons - Elrond and Elros.

Eärendil soon became the leader of the people who lived around the Havens of Sirion, and befriended Círdan the Shipwright; with Círdan’s help he built his ship, Vingilótë, the Foam-flower, the fairest vessel ever fashioned. Drawn to the sea, Eärendil sailed around the seas west of Middle-earth, leaving his wife and sons behind; but he could never reach the shores of Valinor, for he was “defeated by shadows and enchantment, driven by repelling winds, until in longing for Elwing he turned homeward towards the coast of Beleriand.” (The Silmarillion, “Of the Voyage of Eärendil and the War of Wrath”).

Elwing, still in possession of the Silmaril which Beren liberated from Morgoth’s Iron Crown (now fastened within the Nauglamír), awaited sorrowfully for her husband’s return; but eventually the Sons of Fëanor once again learnt of the Silmaril’s location and they attacked the Havens whilst Eärendil was still at sea. Many Elves were killed, and the sons of Eärendil and Elwing were taken as captives - but Elwing cast herself into the sea along with the coveted jewel, and thus the Sons of Fëanor could never have it.

Ulmo, the King of the Sea, “[…] bore up Elwing out of the waves, and he gave her the likeness of a great white bird, and upon her breast there shone as a star the Silmaril […]”, and so she flew like a bird in search of her husband.

There flying Elwing came to him,
and flame was in the darkness lit;
more bright than light of diamond
the fire upon her carcanet.*

* Carcanet - a necklace or ornamental collar, typically made of gold or set with jewels.

As Elwing told Eärendil of the tragedy that occurred in Arvernien, he resolved at last to seek the aid of the Valar to put an end to the suffering of the Elves. The two eventually found their way to Valinor and Eärendil stood before the Valar - and they answered his plea. They raised a mighty host and sailed east to Middle-earth and overthrew Morgoth in the catastrophic War of Wrath. Eärendil himself took part in the battle with the Silmaril shining bright upon his brow, sailing his ship Vingilótë (now blessed by the Valar) through the skies and slaying Ancalagon the Black, the greatest of all the dragons. And so at last Morgoth was defeated, chained anew and cast out beyond the Walls of the World into the Timeless Void, and to this day “Eärendil keeps watch upon the ramparts of the sky.”

But on him mighty doom was laid,
till Moon should fade, an orbéd star
to pass, and tarry never more
on Hither Shores where mortals are;
for ever still a herald on
an errand that should never rest
to bear his shining lamp afar,
the Flammifer of Westernesse.

Thus the Star of Eärendil came to be - the brightest star of all, Gil-Estel the Star of High Hope, which we now know as Venus.



This Week's Question:
What was the name of the servant that carried Eärendil on his shoulders during the Fall of Gondolin?


Last week’s winner is HoverKing!

Presented by: HoverKing


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It probably was the longest, map, considering you made it painfully difficult. I loved the pigs, though I'll confess that they weren't your pigs- we made them fly, and well...they disappeared in the sky. So Emeryld, Rogue, and I spawned new pigs...then made them fly again. And again. I'm sure you didn't notice, because we spent just as much time getting the pigs in order as we did sending them to the Sun. Anyway, congratulations to everyone involved in hosting the Easter Events! You all did excellent work, and I'm sure it's only going to get matched or outdone come Summer. This is where the building beg- err, continues, I guess.

Thanks and hope you enjoyed,
Shen