Guess who? It’s lizzy_ (who?) attacking the format of The MCME Times in order to condense this down into a fun sized overview of all the progress so far into a manageable snack. Let’s get on with it then shall we?
~~~
I am always open for suggestions like this here from @lizzy_ (formerly known as SugarKoala), along with it this edition comes a quick poll where I ask you to tell me whether the more extensive layout from before or this revised version by lizzy appeals you more!
(the idea with the image gallery is from @Eriol_Eandur)
And sorry if it is a bit confusing this time which sections were written by me and which by lizzy ;-)
- Finrod
~~~
I am always open for suggestions like this here from @lizzy_ (formerly known as SugarKoala), along with it this edition comes a quick poll where I ask you to tell me whether the more extensive layout from before or this revised version by lizzy appeals you more!
(the idea with the image gallery is from @Eriol_Eandur)
And sorry if it is a bit confusing this time which sections were written by me and which by lizzy ;-)
- Finrod
BREAKING NEWS
@kisos has just announced that the long-lasting and massive project that he started once as small Public Project has been finished!
Read up on all the credits in his celebration post >>here<<, and tell him once more how much better the Shire does look now!
Project Progress
Moria (In Progress) - Lead: @Despot666 & @Finrod_Amandil
Moria - going slowly, making empty halls with 1 block precision is kinda boring and I have less time due to IRL stuff.
- Despot666
- Despot666
Together with the #1 fish @Credoo we're working on the final shape of the chasm below the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. Now the downside of the massive scales hits us in the face, but it'll be so worth it
- Finrod_Amandil
- Finrod_Amandil
Annúminas (In Progress) - Lead: @Fireinferno13
More houses are needed for the rich district! However, ruining is progressing quite well! Artists are welcome to ruin buildings on site. Adventurers can either participate in one of the block ruining freebuilds on plotworld (upon getting permission) or in jobs which will hopefully be up and running this week.
- Fireinferno13
- Fireinferno13
Dol Amroth (In Progress) - Lead: @Demonataz
The palace has been pasted in and its surroundings have been worked on and details have been added. What does that mean? Yes, exactly: Dol Amroth is basically done! All that is needed now though is the final check by Demonataz which is supposed to happen in the coming week.
- Finrod_Amandil
- Finrod_Amandil
Lothlórien Vegetation (In Progress) - Lead: @Eriol_Eandur
Nice progress in Lothlórien. We finished four sections of region 6 this week. Workers of the week are @Ryiw and @Stef1309 who joined nearly every job and placed bushes leaves and flowers for hours and hours. Also thanks a lot to all others who helped making Lóthlorien the most beautiful forest of Middle Earth.
But... Lothlórien is huge and we need more workers joining the jobs to finish Lothlórien in reasonable time.
Adventurer, Lothlórien needs your help!
Get teamspeak and stay tuned for jobs (almost) every day around GMT 20:00. (Teamspeak installation guide:http://www.mcmiddleearth.com/resources/teamspeak-guide.44/ You don't need a microphone, teamspeak is needed to listen to the instructions.)
- Eriol_Eandur
But... Lothlórien is huge and we need more workers joining the jobs to finish Lothlórien in reasonable time.
Adventurer, Lothlórien needs your help!
Get teamspeak and stay tuned for jobs (almost) every day around GMT 20:00. (Teamspeak installation guide:http://www.mcmiddleearth.com/resources/teamspeak-guide.44/ You don't need a microphone, teamspeak is needed to listen to the instructions.)
- Eriol_Eandur
Pelargir (In Progress) - Lead: @Credoo - Reporter: @toeyoman
The rich district in the southwestern corner has been gutted, and will be re-done in the coming weeks. More small jobs have been run by @kisos and the cannals design has gotten a minor upgrade. Also some new warehouses have been built near the heart of the city. There are still two open plots on the freebuild so have at it!
- toeyoman
- toeyoman
Shire Trees (In Progress) - Lead: @kisos
The last few vanilla trees have just been removed from the Shire! Not long and those nasty old trees will be forgotten...
Terraforming:
These projects have some amazing progress with terraforming but stay tuned to hear about any more potential jobs from these unique-looking locations or sit back and wait till they’re done!
Andrast (In Progress) - Lead: @Tyranystrasz
Anfalas (In Progress) - Lead: @DSESGH
Ethir Anduin (In Progress) - Lead: @_Luk
Lebennin (In Progress) - Lead: @otho
Misty Mountains (In Progress) - Lead: @Emilio_
Anfalas (In Progress) - Lead: @DSESGH
Ethir Anduin (In Progress) - Lead: @_Luk
Lebennin (In Progress) - Lead: @otho
Misty Mountains (In Progress) - Lead: @Emilio_
Public Projects:
Ethring (In Progress) - Lead: @AWOL777
- no progress this week -
Current Plotworld Jobs and Projects:
- Finished
[Freebuild]Lothlórien Bushes - [Freebuild] Annúminas Rich Houses
- [Freebuild] Pelargir House Build
Status Updates
None to report this week, but never be afraid to apply for a rank. Next week this could be you!
@mattlego has released another video in his MCME series, covering new Moria. I highly recommend everyone to watch it as he does very nicely point out many of the new blocks that appear in the new resource pack.
Project Build (Like the Themed Build but better)
Rivendell
Duration: 3 weeks (2 weeks left)
Plot size: 100 x 100 (given terrain)
>>Themed Build post<<
Duration: 3 weeks (2 weeks left)
Plot size: 100 x 100 (given terrain)
>>Themed Build post<<
Short Story Contest
No way back
A short story by Finrod_Amandil
A short story by Finrod_Amandil
No one spoke, but that was not necessary anyway. Even though Elladan only had spoken a
few words, his mind told the others the important things: That now they could not give up
and undoubtedly doom Celebrían to a terrific death. They felt that Elladan was absolutely
confident about his conclusion. And they also knew that he was well aware of how much he
was asking for.
"We should ask Galadriel and the Galadhrim to help us conquer the orcs of Moria", Elrohir
suggested.
decide the fate of entire Middle-Earth, we can’t risk to lose so many lives. We need to rely on
the hope that the orcs did not yet fortify Moria and we still can sneak in mostly unperceived,
and then get out again before they can gather a larger number of orcs. Faint is the chance of
success my friends, and you all know that. And still I feel no movement of any of you to
surrender."
So they moved on. The barren valley did not provide anything the elves could have used to
journey unseen, and to both sides of the valley steep cliffs rose, not allowing them to take
another route than the pass road. But only one more host of orcs did remark them, but they
stayed in their camp, which was much further away of the road than the first one. As it
seemed, not to many orc tribes did already cross the mountains and settled on the western
banks of it, but they were worried of what would await them beyond the Pass of Caradhras.
After a fairly large meltwater lake at the end of a steep glacier the eternal snow started, no
more orcs would dwell up here. The weather was mild and they could reach the highest point
of the pass without problems.
There they paused and studied the course of the road down the Dimrill Dale. It did cross a
wide glacier and then run for a long time on the southern trough shoulder above the wide
glacier valley. The elves thus did not cross the glacier, but rather stayed on the left side of the
valley to have a great distance to the road. Quite some dangerous climbing on the steep slopes
of Caradhras was necessary to accomplish that, but once they reached again flat ground they
saw many orcs on the other side of the valley, to which they now were inaccessible.
They did not rest until they reached Mirrormere below the sinisterly looming gate of the once
prosperous dwarven kingdom of Moria. Nighttime it was by now and cold winds from the
mountain peaks made the elves shiver.
cautiously walked up the broad road to the gate. On the gate frame was an inscription, held in
Khuzdul, Quenya, Sindarin and even more languages, dooming everyone who enters against
the will of the Lord of Moria. With squinted eyes they peered into the darkness. Everything
was abandoned and quiet.
though their step was as light and soft as no other creature’s, the sound of their feet echoed in
multiplied volume through the empty hall. In the silence they got used to in the last hours, the
noise was ear-deafening.
They crossed the first hall and entered a corridor, level at first, and then leading down with a
long stair of many wide steps. The stress was driving them mad, no living thing they
encountered, heard or noticed in any other way. The corridor ended into a both stunning and
frightening scene: A vast cave stretching to the left and right of the entrance, and as deep that
the ground was not recognizable, only crossed by a narrow bridge. Attached to it was a
tremendously huge hall, the ceiling supported by two rows of pillars, carved into the shape of
trees. And there they were. Sitting around a couple campfires the orcs were dispersed in the
big hall, completely unwound and no one observing the entrance.
Over the joking and chattering orcs they did not remark it at first, but after a few seconds they
heard screams of pain, coming from an entrance at the other end of the hall. Though distorted
from the pain, the voice clearly was not the one of an orc. So many emotions overcame the elves in
that moment, relief, fear, pain, wrath.
ere his beloved mother was in safety or he died. And again everyone felt what he felt and
again they looked straight into each other's eyes, silently showing their mutual esteem and
trust.
They run onto the bridge, and once the first orcs noticed the approaching enemy, the elves
were already off the bridge again, in safe distance from the bottomless chasm. Their elven
blades sharply flashed up in the light of the flames. The clumsy orcs needed far too long to get
onto their feet, and with one single powerful stroke Elladan struck three orcs down while they
were still sitting. Every second another head left its neck and lakes of dark blood covered the
way the elves had taken through the hall.
But not for long the orcs were surprised, and the further into the hall they got, the better
prepared their opponents were. Just halfway through the hall they were, when an arrow hit
one of the elves straight into the head. He collapsed and didn’t move anymore. With a wild
scream Elrohir split the head of the orc in front of him into two parts and threw a last dolorous
glance at his fallen friend.
The rage of the elves increased to a level where they would have feared their bodies to break
asunder under the emotional weight, but there was no way they could have felt anything else
at that moment. Fear was what did overcome more and more the orcs now. To both sides the
remaining five elves saw many of them running into the various corridors and they could
proceed again faster.
Celebríans screaming stopped when they were only few steps away from the gate, and a
rough, commanding voice shouted:
they saw Celebrían, her hands tied together over her head and attached to a giant statue of a
dwarf. Next to her stood a large orc and pressed a long, frightening knife at her throat.
synchronously they grabbed their short bows from their backs and pierced the orc with two
arrows right through the neck.
The orcs watched as the dead body slowly sank to the ground and unable to move they
stoodaround the gate as if turned to stone. While Elrohir and the other elves turned again
towards the orcs to retain them from restarting the fight, Elladan run into the other room to
Celebrían. Her head now sunk onto her breast, her eyes closed and, beside a faint shivering,
motionless. He cut the rope and supported her as she was about to sink to the ground. Her
clothes were ripped apart, under the gaps were countless welts and bloody bruises, some still
fresh, some already dried. Tears sprang to Elladan’s eyes as he saw her tormented body.
Elladan saw there extincted all his courage. From the side, orcs streamed into the hall, an
endless thick, black river of bodies. Quickly they aligned themselves to an impenetrable wall
of enemies.
Elladan’s head sank onto Celebríans shoulder. He closed his eyes and waited for it all to end..
Glossary for chapter 3:
Galadhrim - "Tree-folk" . The elves of Lothlórien.
lembas - "way-bread" .
miruvor - "mead, a special wine or cordial" .
Shul! - "Stop!".
Shul! Az goryad! - "Stop! I will kill her!".
nana - "Mother" .
few words, his mind told the others the important things: That now they could not give up
and undoubtedly doom Celebrían to a terrific death. They felt that Elladan was absolutely
confident about his conclusion. And they also knew that he was well aware of how much he
was asking for.
"We should ask Galadriel and the Galadhrim to help us conquer the orcs of Moria", Elrohir
suggested.
"No", Elladan returned. "We don’t want to conquer Moria, even with the entirety of Lóriens
troops the result may well be fatal. The time will come where every single warrior is needed todecide the fate of entire Middle-Earth, we can’t risk to lose so many lives. We need to rely on
the hope that the orcs did not yet fortify Moria and we still can sneak in mostly unperceived,
and then get out again before they can gather a larger number of orcs. Faint is the chance of
success my friends, and you all know that. And still I feel no movement of any of you to
surrender."
So they moved on. The barren valley did not provide anything the elves could have used to
journey unseen, and to both sides of the valley steep cliffs rose, not allowing them to take
another route than the pass road. But only one more host of orcs did remark them, but they
stayed in their camp, which was much further away of the road than the first one. As it
seemed, not to many orc tribes did already cross the mountains and settled on the western
banks of it, but they were worried of what would await them beyond the Pass of Caradhras.
After a fairly large meltwater lake at the end of a steep glacier the eternal snow started, no
more orcs would dwell up here. The weather was mild and they could reach the highest point
of the pass without problems.
There they paused and studied the course of the road down the Dimrill Dale. It did cross a
wide glacier and then run for a long time on the southern trough shoulder above the wide
glacier valley. The elves thus did not cross the glacier, but rather stayed on the left side of the
valley to have a great distance to the road. Quite some dangerous climbing on the steep slopes
of Caradhras was necessary to accomplish that, but once they reached again flat ground they
saw many orcs on the other side of the valley, to which they now were inaccessible.
They did not rest until they reached Mirrormere below the sinisterly looming gate of the once
prosperous dwarven kingdom of Moria. Nighttime it was by now and cold winds from the
mountain peaks made the elves shiver.
"What do you think, Elladan, do orcs sleep at night or daytime?" Elrohir whispered.
"The evil does not sleep. Every minute could be the one our mother finds her death in that
realm of eternal darkness. We can’t wait, let us do what needs to be done.""The evil does not sleep. Every minute could be the one our mother finds her death in that
"I can’t see any orcs here though."
"No worries, at the end of the day you will have seen enough of them."
They ate a few bites of lembas, followed by a large gulp of miruvor. Strengthened they"No worries, at the end of the day you will have seen enough of them."
cautiously walked up the broad road to the gate. On the gate frame was an inscription, held in
Khuzdul, Quenya, Sindarin and even more languages, dooming everyone who enters against
the will of the Lord of Moria. With squinted eyes they peered into the darkness. Everything
was abandoned and quiet.
"You think the orcs that saw us from the other side of the valley brought message of us to
Moria?", Elladan asked, every second expecting to be ambushed."Possible. But we won’t retreat now", his brother answered.
Elladan nodded and stepped through the intact but open gates into the hall behind. Eventhough their step was as light and soft as no other creature’s, the sound of their feet echoed in
multiplied volume through the empty hall. In the silence they got used to in the last hours, the
noise was ear-deafening.
They crossed the first hall and entered a corridor, level at first, and then leading down with a
long stair of many wide steps. The stress was driving them mad, no living thing they
encountered, heard or noticed in any other way. The corridor ended into a both stunning and
frightening scene: A vast cave stretching to the left and right of the entrance, and as deep that
the ground was not recognizable, only crossed by a narrow bridge. Attached to it was a
tremendously huge hall, the ceiling supported by two rows of pillars, carved into the shape of
trees. And there they were. Sitting around a couple campfires the orcs were dispersed in the
big hall, completely unwound and no one observing the entrance.
Over the joking and chattering orcs they did not remark it at first, but after a few seconds they
heard screams of pain, coming from an entrance at the other end of the hall. Though distorted
from the pain, the voice clearly was not the one of an orc. So many emotions overcame the elves in
that moment, relief, fear, pain, wrath.
"She’s alive", Elladan whispered with a scratchy voice.
"Theres no way to get to her, there are too many orcs. And they seem better equipped and
skilled than the other ones on the pass road." wailed Elrohir."Theres no way to get to her, there are too many orcs. And they seem better equipped and
"Where a will is, there is a path.", Elladan now said more firmly and made a move towards the
bridge. Wrath had won the battle of emotions and he was ready to fight and he would not stopere his beloved mother was in safety or he died. And again everyone felt what he felt and
again they looked straight into each other's eyes, silently showing their mutual esteem and
trust.
They run onto the bridge, and once the first orcs noticed the approaching enemy, the elves
were already off the bridge again, in safe distance from the bottomless chasm. Their elven
blades sharply flashed up in the light of the flames. The clumsy orcs needed far too long to get
onto their feet, and with one single powerful stroke Elladan struck three orcs down while they
were still sitting. Every second another head left its neck and lakes of dark blood covered the
way the elves had taken through the hall.
But not for long the orcs were surprised, and the further into the hall they got, the better
prepared their opponents were. Just halfway through the hall they were, when an arrow hit
one of the elves straight into the head. He collapsed and didn’t move anymore. With a wild
scream Elrohir split the head of the orc in front of him into two parts and threw a last dolorous
glance at his fallen friend.
The rage of the elves increased to a level where they would have feared their bodies to break
asunder under the emotional weight, but there was no way they could have felt anything else
at that moment. Fear was what did overcome more and more the orcs now. To both sides the
remaining five elves saw many of them running into the various corridors and they could
proceed again faster.
Celebríans screaming stopped when they were only few steps away from the gate, and a
rough, commanding voice shouted:
"Shul!"
Immediately the orcs halted and turned towards the gate. Same did the elves. Behind the gatethey saw Celebrían, her hands tied together over her head and attached to a giant statue of a
dwarf. Next to her stood a large orc and pressed a long, frightening knife at her throat.
"Shul! Az goryad!"
Even for twins that were able to speak with their minds it was surreal how fast andsynchronously they grabbed their short bows from their backs and pierced the orc with two
arrows right through the neck.
The orcs watched as the dead body slowly sank to the ground and unable to move they
stoodaround the gate as if turned to stone. While Elrohir and the other elves turned again
towards the orcs to retain them from restarting the fight, Elladan run into the other room to
Celebrían. Her head now sunk onto her breast, her eyes closed and, beside a faint shivering,
motionless. He cut the rope and supported her as she was about to sink to the ground. Her
clothes were ripped apart, under the gaps were countless welts and bloody bruises, some still
fresh, some already dried. Tears sprang to Elladan’s eyes as he saw her tormented body.
"Nana...", he began to speak but he was interrupted by a shout of Elrohir from outside the gate:
"Elladan! We have to leave, now!"
Elrohir ran to Elladan and together they carried Celebrían into the great hall. And what"Elladan! We have to leave, now!"
Elladan saw there extincted all his courage. From the side, orcs streamed into the hall, an
endless thick, black river of bodies. Quickly they aligned themselves to an impenetrable wall
of enemies.
Elladan’s head sank onto Celebríans shoulder. He closed his eyes and waited for it all to end..
.
Galadhrim - "Tree-folk" . The elves of Lothlórien.
lembas - "way-bread" .
miruvor - "mead, a special wine or cordial" .
Shul! - "Stop!".
Shul! Az goryad! - "Stop! I will kill her!".
nana - "Mother" .
New Resource: Modding Minecraft
Are you keen on too making those nice Shader screenshots, but never have either dared or managed to actually mod your minecraft version? Just for that I made a detailed tutorial on how to install Optifine, Shaders Mod and VoxelMap for minecraft 1.8. Find the guide >>here<<.
Quick Build Challenge
@PINT00 is still running his Quick Build Challenge, an exciting competition where four builders try to build a voted topic in only 15 minutes! Find out more here.
Scheduled Tours
If you look out for a tour and never manage to catch a guide to give you one, join us on Saturday at 9pm GMT to follow the weekly tour run by all available guides.
Don’t forget to like our Planetminecraft page daily! Click the picture above!
Closing Statement
Well, that’s all from me this time until I can get free from some dreaded exams but I’ll be sure to see you all again in the Summer. Thanks Fin!
~lizzy
Last edited: