click through for larger
If you're not familiar with LotRO, what makes a Runekeeper notable is that, well, they totally don't belong in the game. They are a classic D&D-style blasting wizard, something that has no business at all being a playable class in a game that's at least theoretically based on Lord of the Rings. (See also, "Gandalf: Why He Never Cast Any Spells" and "There Are Only Five Wizards in Middle-Earth and They're All Kinda Weaksauce By Wizardly Standards?")
When the Runekeeper class was first introduced, the lore-monkeys all howled to heaven, and I was one of them. And I stand by my assertion that the Runekeeper should not have been added to the game. However, as the class is not gonna go away, and as I say, I've been wanting to do something very different, I decided, "What the heck?" Besides, I had a character and a personality in mind from the start, and of the LotRO classes, the Runekeeper is the only one who comes close. Lachwen is flashy, explosive, and wants to get in there and tear shit up. Her name, in Elvish, means "fire maiden," and yes, it is also a play on the MST3K episode, because I'm that big of a nerd. Shut up.
But, lore-breaker or not, I'm having a lot of fun with her, and I splurged on a lot of cosmetic items such to get her just right. I was sorely tempted by the Steed of Bright Days, as the only in-game mount garish enough to really suit her, but honestly, I can't bring myself to spend $20 on a fictional horse for my digital elf wizard to ride around on. I just can't do it. She'll just have to grind out the elf rep horse the hard way.
And also, lore-breaker or not, she's got me interested in playing again, which was really the point of the whole thing. Lachwen is a thrill-seeking, kickass girl (no "Undying" title for her -- she barely got past 7th level before biting off way more than she could chew in Dol Ringwest), and she's certainly a lot cooler than my previous attempt at a new alt, a Captain who got into his 30s and just sorta stuck there. How much cooler is she, you ask?
click through for larger
Eh ... I'd say about 20% cooler.
-The Gneech