Chapter 33: Farmers Faire

There is a quest during Farmers Faire to scold drunk hobbits rambling. What the hobbits are supposed to say when they’re sober is “The Farmers Faire is my favourite festival of all! I like when the farmers judge the local pigs,” but after a few pints the judge becomes the judged, and that has always been one of my favourite twist along with ‘toes in your hair growing thick and curly.’ XD

Words of the Stripper:
You knew I was going to make a comic strip about this one day. It was too good to pass! Toes on hair isn’t as pleasant to draw, so that is a pass. 😛

The Farmers Faire & Summer Festival are still going until September 14, so go play with your drunken hobbits!

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Chapter 32: How to Prepare for a Tinki Encounter

How does Tinki carry all that goodies and not get tempted to just consume them all by themselves, you ask? Well…… 😉

Words of the Stripper:
Tinki vendors offer various selection of ale, wine, pies, foodstuffs, pipeweed and hope tokens during Weatherstock, Winterstock and Ales & Tales, all for free courtesy of the Lonely Mountain Band.

The iconic yellow uniform was first made fashionable by the late Tinki himself. We are proud to continue his legacy as the piemeisters of the events.

I will also be handing out goodies as a Tinki vendor during Weatherstock, so come say hi and get a pie or five!
And really, leave plenty of room in your inventory because they will fill up fast!

Please be aware that it has been postponed due to server instability. The new date is now September 12, 2020!
Happy Weatherstock!

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Chapter 31: Far Apart, Never Alone.

…Unfortunately, Carica is also one of that lot. 😀
That rose-garbed lot is of course, none other than the infamous Bards, Beers and Longbeards. It is recommended that you keep at least 40 feet distance away from BBB at all times. BBB is not responsible for any accidental spread of whatever it is they might carry if you do not adhere.
Please remember to sign the waiver form when you attend their show!

Words of the Stripper:
4 months… it has been 4 months since I last posted a comic!!!
You have my deepest apology for such a delay! 😦
This comic has been in the works for at least 3 months, albeit being worked on veeeeerrrrrrrrrryyyyyy slowly. I promise the next comic will be uploaded sooner than that! (crosses finger)

“Far Apart, Never Alone” is the motto of The Lonely Mountain Band kinship, and it has never been truer. Even when you are quarantined and are unable to spend time with others or even be near them in real world in these trying times, you can always come together and attend music concerts in-game! The weekly shows are still continuing without a hitch, and the Weatherstock is all set to go in July!
Come and relieve your stress by bashing orcs and spiders, and feel free to hug and cheer each other in LOTRO. And yes, I couldn’t resist but to add a bear hug to the group hug scene. 😀

But! In real life, please practice social distancing, wear a mask when you’re around other people, and wash your hands frequently, remembering to wipe whatever you may have already touched, for the sake of both you and the others.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone! One day, this too shall be just one of those ‘back in my days…’ stories. *virtual hugs*

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LOTRO News: /follow Command Now Applies 6ft Distance Between Players

Times are hard and everyone is trying to keep away from everything and everyone amid COVID-19 breakout.
In order to encourage the players to keep to the social distancing rule, Lord of the Rings Online has now changed /follow command to automatically leave a 6ft gap between each player in the latest update.

This is before the change, with players hurdled dangerously close to each other:

This is after the change, with safe distance between each player:

Now you can relax and auto follow someone comfortably without constantly being anxious about actively keeping a safe distance.

Stay Safe, and Happy April Fools! 😛

Chapter 30: Squirrel Quarrel

SQUIRRELS ARE SCARY!!!

I would like to make it clear that I did not make this up at all. It’s actually all in game!

That little scoundrel’s ambition for world conquest is part of Chicken Instance: Flying the Coop – Bree-land quest. The grey squirrel found in Nen Harn says that line exactly, word for word.

The not-so-helpless red squirrel village also really exists in West Rohan, at 68.9S, 61.4W in Eastfold. I’ve counted at least 40 red squirrels concentrated in that area, completely taken over the dilapidated ruins of a Rohirric house and the surrounding area. I slowly walked away before they found out that I had been talking to the grey squirrel.

Words of the Stripper:
This was the first time properly drawing a squirrel, and I had to draw a dozen of them! I think I’m learning to draw animals more than anything while drawing this comic series. LOL So far I’ve drawn chicken (duh), shrew, bear, sheep, wolf, pig, spider, horse, goat, squirrel… Geez that’s a lot of animals! This was not my intention when I first started, but such is inevitable in an adventure of a chickeny hobbit, I guess!

Also, I’ve always wanted to draw a magical chicken transformation sequence. Maybe I’ll animate it one day. XD

Oh, and here’s the obligatory Dramatic Squirrel.

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Chapter 29: My Little Pony

Welcome to Horsing Around!
One Two of these are not like the other…
I’ve always said that hobbits should be able to ride the enormous shrew. It’s just the right size!
(Also, bonus point for anyone that recognized the pig mount from Minecraft! You actually make it walk by holding a carrot on a stick in front of it. XD)

Yes, Carica actually names ALL her steeds after food. I got Cupcake, Muffin, Pumpkin, Millefille, Buffet…
My favourite steed is actually the hobby horse because it just looks so cute & silly when a hobbit rides it, but as it has zone restrictions, my second favourite is the Inn League Pony that gives you the drunken effect while you ride. ;D

Words of the Stripper:
Horses are hard to draw! This was the first time properly drawing a horse, and I focused on it so much that I forgot to make Carica’s steed look like a pony. I think I did well enough to make it recognizable as a horse, but really need to practice more if I’m going to draw more riders in the future.

Fortunately, I won’t be drawing Rohan any time soon… but eventually… >_<

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Chapter 28: What is the Harvest Festival?

Did you know that the Fall Festival is called differently by each race of Middle-earth?

• Elves call it Iavasmereth, where Iavas = autumn, mereth = festival in Sindarin.
  It most likely originated from Yavanna, as her name is also known as Ivann, with September being Ivanneth.
• Men call it Harvestmath which is actually the ninth month in Bree calendar (though it seems the Hobbits of Bree use it more than men). Math stands for month and not the other kind of math as mentioned in the comic.
• Dwarves simply call it Autumnfest, which makes sense since they aren’t really known for farming crops. I wondered what they actually grow and eat in the caves and mines, and ended up with mushrooms.
• Hobbits are the ones that call it Harvest Festival, but really all the harvest & food related events are taken care of during the earlier Farmer’s Faire and the Harvest Festival is all about Halloweeny spooky haunted pranks, so there we have it!

Words of the Stripper:
I must say this was probably the most effort I’ve spent painting the background, and it was really fun drawing all the different parts of the Middle-earth in one comic.
Elvish carvings are tricky though!

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Chapter 27: Patches for Eyes

ARRRGH, SHIVER ME TIMBERS!
ME POOR INNOCENT PIRATE EYES!!!

Words of the Stripper:
I start’d on a different comic, but whence I saw th’ poor naked dwarf Thrasili at Pirate’s Ales & Tales I just had ta draw this.

I tried my best to upload this before the Talk Like A Pirate Day was over, but it really cut close. Welp, them scallywags must’v not had Daylight Savings Time back in th’ days, so it technically still counts, aye? AYE??

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Chapter 26: Fly, You Fowls!

See, they want to fly! It’s not animal abuse! 😛
(Nobody tell them they just end up in the graveyard right down the hill…)

Words of the Stripper:
I originally planned to upload this in time for Hobnanigans, but ended up being stuck for two weeks… much apologies!
At least it’s still the Month of the Chicken, so bok bok bakawk!

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Chapter 25: Pipe-weed Smoke-off

What is your favourite pipe-weed?
Gotta love fancy ones like Sweet Galenas (sailing ship that Gandalf floated in the movie), but my usual go-to pipe-weed is Old Toby! ♡

Featured pipe-weed in the order of appearance:

• Longbottom Leaf (single ring)
• Old Toby (heart ring)
• Roper’s Twist (spiraling line)
• Shire Sweet-leaf (butterflies)
• Dragon’s Breath (flying dragon breathing fire)

If anybody needs any pipe-weed, please let Carica know and she’ll grab you a barrel or two from Saruman’s stash! 😉

Words of the Stripper:
I accidentally deleted part of the comic & overwrote, so had to redraw a lot of it! >_<
Gotta remember to save often!

Also, excessive smoking can be bad for your health in real life.
Please be nice to your and your loved ones’ lungs!

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