Yes, yes, again.

So elections are around the corner again.

Day one will be on September 24th, elections will end and the new council will take office on October 8th.

Perhaps we will have a new council before f2p launches...but let's hope not.

Tonight's TWA raid cleared Durchest and the Twins in HM in 2 hours, 45 minutes, with just a single wipe in zone 2, at the bugged last warg. More importantly, the raid felt in complete control of both the boss fights from beginning to end; I think it's fair to say we effectively have both of them on farm. We'll go after the Lieutenant on Monday; I'll post a guide to the fight by the weekend - please read it through and comment if you're coming along.

Based on Monday’s council meeting and last night’s kinship meeting, these are the kinship raiding plans for the next few weeks. First of all, it looks as though the core BG raiding group is determined to carry on until we complete the entire raid at least once. So BG raids will continue for the foreseeable future. At the same time, there is considerable interest in the new four-part Helegrod instance, even though we won’t know how popular it’s likely to be till we try it. So, subject to change as we go along, I am currently proposing that the first week after FTP comes in be devoted entirely to Helegrod. After that, and once we can gauge the popularity of the revised Helegrod, we will most likely alternate the two raids, devoting one full week to BG and the next to Helegrod.

A point to keep in mind is that Helegrod is technically an instance, not a raid (though without soldiers), and hence will not have locks. This means that once a player has defeated the bosses in parts one, two and three, he or she can go straight on to Thorog, or else repeat the first instances whenever desired (probably with a 24-hour cooldown). In practice, and since each will likely last less than an hour, this means that after a while we may be able to relegate instances 1-3 of Helegrod to a third day in the week.

In any case, raiding plans will remain flexible and subject to change according to customer demand.

EDIT: For some reason, last night we repeatedly talked about Helegrod as though it consisted of three parts; in fact it's four: Spiders, Giants & Drakes (all 12-man), and Thorog (24-man).

Crucio having stepped down from his post as kinship officer, according to the Constitution a by-election is automatically triggered for the post.
The voting timetable will be as follows:
    * Day 1: Applications opened. Day 1 is tomorrow, Sunday 1 August.
    * Day 5: Applications close and voting begins (Thursday 5 August).
    * Day 8: Voting Ends (Sunday 8 August).

If you wish to stand, please post on http://www.thewesternalliance.org/index....cseen#new.

Last night's BG raid killed Durchest in Easy Mode, then took down the Twins in Hard Mode on the third try. Congratulations to the TWA raiding group - this was effectively the fourth of six hurdles in the Barad Guldur raiding sequence. Next, the Lieutenant.

I really shouldn't have to spell this out: if you have signed up for a raid or quest on the event scheduler, whether as TWA member or FTWA, you have an obligation to your fellow players to show up. If you can't show up, or will be late, you should make every effort to let your team mates or the raid leader know - even doing so at the last minute is better than nothing. Anything else is simply discourteous, and can result in an event being canceled when it might have gone ahead with a standby player. This also applies to those on standby; if you signed on as standby, please make yourself available at the time specified, if only for 10 minutes or so. Everybody please take note.

After a very exciting 3rd round TWA has once again completed its tri-annual elections for the Inner Council that governs this kinship.

As leader, in an uncontested race, Thoronthor was re-elected as kinship Leader

As deputy leader, also uncontested, Kairos was re-elected to the position.

The 5 officers will be:
Ingaras
Beriel
Palliric
Crucio
Maurvaethil

Grats to all the new officers and many thanks for those leaving the council and their work over the last months.
The retiring officers are:
Teolwyn
Maconabo
Eowren

Thanks to all candidates and members who took part.

Thoronthor Arandan
Returning Leader of the Western Alliance

Some of our members who signed up for the Raiding Group have not yet had a chance at a Barad Guldur run. As we now have the first boss, Durchest, on farm in hard mode, I am happy to make room for at least one or two people new to the raid each time we go after him, even if their class is oversubscribed. So please sign up anyway, and perhaps also post on the thread. Keep in mind that you may be asked to stand down after Durchest if we are going after the Twins on the same evening.

1. Uniform cloaks: I have distributed a number of these, and will have a few more to hand out this afternoon. Otherwise, you can always equip cosmetically. There is a green cloak for this purpose in the chest on the ground floor of the kin house - remember to replace it!

2. I will need some/all (depending on turnout) officers to help with the Treasure Hunt. Essentially this means that anyone wanting to take part should join an officer-led raid. It would be a good idea for all raids to recruit a kinship member first, and make them a raid assistant, so that in the event the raid leader disconnects, leadership will pass to a kin member who can then hand it back. I will lead the first treasure hunt group; when that one is full, the next officer will start a raid and so forth. I shall have posted the full list of hunt items on one or more sites (address to follow), and at the start of the hunt, hunt leaders can release the information to their raid members. Any officer not leading a hunt raid can of course participate himself. At the end of the hour allowed, hunt leaders should ask participants how many items they have gathered, and pass the highest number on to me. We need only check the winner's items one by one.

3. After the prizegiving, kinship members (and particular friends) should gather back at the kin house, where Marnir is organising some RP.

4. Have fun!

Here is the breakdown of events for the TWA Third Birthday Celebrations on Friday, 21 May. All times are UK. Please be on time, and remember to tell all your friends. Special invitations will go out to the leaders of all friendly kinships and/or will be posted on other kins’ forums. The first half of the events (to 8.00 pm) are kinship-only; the rest are open to all on the server.

06.45 pm Gather at Kin House. Remember to wear your uniform cloak over your chosen outfit - green for members, red for officers.

07.00 Hunters will port everyone to Rivendell. Walk as far as the far end of the Bridge of Rivendell, then saddle up. We ride to the Fords of Bruinen, the Last Bridge and Ost Cyrn, which we shall attack (at least one l.30 member must be with each raid so as to trigger mob attacks). This is partly to provide footage for a TWA video, so please take it easy with the low-level mobs – don’t one-shot them!.

07.30 (aprx.) Start of kinship horse-race from Ost Cyrn to the Kin House gates; first person through the gates wins! (prize, 3G).

07.45 (aprx.) Ride to Bree South Gate. At South Gate, form up in double ranks, officers in front, and walk horses in procession as far as the Pony.

08.00 Party, open to all. (Can we have some kinship music?)

08.15 (aprx.) Begin preparations for Treasure Hunt. To take part, people must approach one of the TWA officers, recognisable by their plain red cloaks, and ask to join the raid. Once everybody is signed up, players will be given access to the list of items which must be collected (by giving them a web address which they can consult), after which they have exactly one hour in which to gather up as many of them as possible. At the end of that period they must return in person to the Pony and tell their raid “leader” how many items they have managed to gather; the winner’s items (only) will be checked. TWA members may of course take part.

09.20 (aprx.) Prize-giving.