Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-35329248-20190114061406/@comment-32705314-20190119074033

GrandpaMunster wrote: It opens the role of a lore master, and in my opinion can make sense. The elves made rings of power.Tolkien didn't really describe in what way this was done, be it through a point of the elves' nature, or some natural material that they learned; however, the idea of gems having powers in Middle Earth is cannon, the simarils, the arken stone, the palantir, so it doesn't seem too far of a stretch,to me, to suggest that the elves learned how to harness some of these powers, even if it was years ago i.e the rings of power, and if that is the case, it makes sense that only lore masters would have the knowledge. Given both Gulduril, and Edhelmir glow, we can assume that some power lies there. Glowstone also glows, but nobody assumes power lies there. The fact that something glows probably means little unless it glows with something important (the light of the two trees, for instance). Assuming that Edhelmir and Gulduril have power because they glow is an unstable assumption, and also they are rocks found in the ground, whereas the Silmarils are exquisitely crafted jewels made by the greatest Elven smith of all time.

The power of a lore master comes from mastering lore, not some person wielding a metal pole with a shiny gem on top. Similarly, the greatest power of Elrond was knowledge and wisdom more than it was anything else (regardless of Hobbit movie action sequences). The power of Sauruman and Gandalf came from their species own properties, but also from the knowledge and understanding of how to wield those talents of theirs. Their staff gives form to their talents the same way their aged bodies gave form to their spirit.

“The idea of Gems having powers in Middle Earth is canon,” you said. The arkenstone is a mysterious and shiny rock dug out of the ground. It has little power besides its beauty. The Palatirí are artificially crafted stones made by Feanor, but they are only called stones because they resemble stones. Nobody knows what the Palantirí are made of, only Feanor does, and he is lost to time. The Palantirí are not gems. As for the Silmarils, they are only powerful because of the light entombed in them and the prophecy given to them by Mandos. Take away the light and the prophecy and you have three very high quality, artificially crafted crystals made by Feanor, and again, their properties are lost time. They are likely not really gems either, or if they are, they are crafted into some higher form. Certainly, none of these “gems” are anything like the lumps of Gulduril and Edhelmir you mine out of the ground. There is nothing to give them power unless the crafter gives them power somehow, through alteration of their properties, which by the point of time in Middle-Earth the mod is set in, a skill that next to none have.

 @Pumpkinator