Ultrafractal 3.02 - Apophysis2 beta21 - Photoshop7 for sig and reassembly since the orb has one flame and couldn't be rendered with the rest of the layers - Paintshop Pro7 for sharpening and conversion to .jpeg In the age preceeding the wars of the Third Age in Middle Earth, the Silmarils were objects of grave strife and contention that even darkened the blissful lives of the Valar and Teleri in the West in fair Valinor ere its becoming hidden from the sight of men. These were the days of Elves before the coming of the race of Men and the Moon and the Sun. When only the light of the Two Trees grown by Yavanna lit Ea. The Silmarils were crafted by Feanor and contained the essence of the golden light of the day tree, Telperion and the silver light of the evening tree, Laurellin - which lit day and night ere their light was extinguished by Melkor - also named Morgoth Bauglir - with the aid of the spider, Ungoliant. The history of the Second Age is wrapped around the wars and treachery spawned by the desire to possess these gems. Here we see the last in its sconce inscribed with the Elvish runes for the Two Trees, Telperion and Laurellin, in the fortress of the mighty warrior, Huorin, ere its walls were cast down by the dragon, Glamdring and the last Silmaril eaten and never seen again. Another attempt at 3d within UF, the orb alone took 30 layers to shade and mask - whew! lol The "sconce" is made with Mark Townsend's "Gnarl" formula and Damien Jones' "Curvature Average" ucl. I was fortunate to stumble across the shape while trying to make something for a recent "challenge" on the UF Mailing List. Thanks for stopping by, y'all! Rick