Ah - after some digging, I found the one that I was referring to.  It was published in the December 2003 issue, and was created by Joel Lovell.  It's quite an excel-lent piece of work.

http://www.guildcompanion.com/scrolls/2003/dec/merpcharactersheet.html

To answer your question, I think there are some character sheets in the archives here on TGC.  I vaguely recall at least one from some years back.  If you go to the main page, and go to the "scrolls," you can search for the word "sheet" and likely find it.

If not, there are several versions floating around on the internet, and a couple of them are actually very useful and well put-together.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliber

Large (13mm+) Cartridges:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_mm_caliber

Search for guns by caliber:  http://gunvgun.com/calibers

Precisely right, and this gets into the whole "which version" discussion that UT and HoMe bring up (which is why I don't consider them "secondary sources" any longer, but sort of "tertiary").

1.  The details of the "other Istari" exist only in that snippet in UT, which was apparently plucked from a version of a story the rest of which was completely unused elsewhere (except in some HoMe variants for reasons of studying the development of the broader mythos).

2.  Tolkien himself had several variations on "when" the Istari arrived (outlined in HoMe), and those sources are never really seriously considered definitive since they are contradictory (though it's entirely possible that I've missed the "latest" on the subject and am therefore behind the times).

I have, myself, become exceedingly frustrated with being able to utilize things like UT and HoMe for much other than my own deep curiosity as to how Tolkien's work came to be, how the man worked, and linguistic work.  At least in any "purist" sense.

Of course, I'm also more and more inclined to separate things into two bins: "purist" and "fun stuff."  I fight this urge, because in the end, I think it's a bad place for my M-e gaming experience to go.

I'm not sure what kind of answer you're looking for; there is no information in the primary or secondary material from Tolkien on 'Allatar' or 'Pallando.'  If you're looking for information from the MERP material, though, there is slightly more information available than "nothing."

Yes, Essence Companion is doing very well. If it can continue at current rates, it will go Silver in a few months.

Best wishes,
Nicholas 

How has C&R fared lately?  I guessed that we'd see a resurgence (even if a small one) in sales after EssCo went out.

Plasma bolts, maybe?

100 million is definitely too many - that was just before the Black Plague.

It's more likely, as was said above, that Middle-earth in the late Third Age was more analagous to Europe at the time of Charlemagne - so, more like 25 or 30 million.  Though I doubt Tolkien delved to heavily into demographics. 

Fine! Even if it doesn't quench my epic thirst, it might be a good start.

Do you plan something with HARP or RM stats?

I do plan on starting small.  I've got an "epic" project percolating (and have had for a while) based around Umbar.  The Cities and Strongholds stuff was just a taste of it, really.  I'll get around to it eventually.

I hadn't planned on doing HARP or RM stats, but should be able to with little trouble.  Though, to be honest, I'll probably stick with RMSS.  I haven't really looked at RM or RM2 for YEARS.

OK - I'm thinking of maybe an adventure model like the small ones that ICE used to do - something in Cardolan, probably, during the 1640s (so it will match all the other modules there).

How about something like a small freehold with some basic fortifications and a small village?

Some adventure ideas that pop into mind:

1.  It's a starter-adventure, and the PCs will be local villagers dealing with low-key sorts of stuff, with the arc ending in a place that they can kick off their travels.

2.  The freehold needs some kind of protection from some threat, and have "hired" the PCs to do the job (this one's a little long in the tooth, but it's a servicable arc).

3.  Something involving the war with the Troll Warlord dude from the Cardolan mini-sourcebook.

4.  Strong tie-ins to the Angle adventures published previously in TGC?

Any other ideas?

At the time of Charlemagne (arguably a model for the Return of the King), the population of Western Europe was around 25 to 30 million - with at least half of these being in Carolingian France (Gaul plus some).  By the 14th century, just before the Black Death, Europe was up to (some say) near 100 million.

What sort of content do you think would be most helpful to you?

In the coming months, I may have more time to do some actual creative work.

What I'm wondering is - what do people want to see in the way of M-e articles?

Adventures?  NPCs/Items?  Scholarly essays?

I'm not.

What?

Who?

Where's my captain's wafer?