There's a thread talking about the game
here that has more information too.
Seems like I'm just slowing everybody down at this point.

In that case, I'll just answer specific questions you guys have, and assume that the online character sheet gives you enough info to make your character otherwise. (I'll be verbose about how the rules work once we start actually playing, thouhg.)
Still haven't heard anything from [MENTION=84680]treex[/MENTION] - if he doesn't at least post an "I'm here" by Saturday, [MENTION=51930]fireinthedust[/MENTION] can take his place.
Can we pick whatever mundane gear we want and what do the various armors do?
This is a point where I think the online character sheet gets things wrong, so check your gear and Fatigue carefully:
You start with a loosely-defined collection of gear called your "travelling gear", which contains whatever mundane items (not armour and weapons) you think are reasonable. Summer travelling gear has an encumbrance of 1; winter travelling gear has an encumbrance of 2.
If you have any points in the Song skill, then yes your travelling gear can contain a musical instrument. It can also contain anything reasonable for your profession. (Which is just something you make up - if you say "I worked as a smith before adventuring", you are probably not carting an anvil around, but you probably have tongs and a small hammer and whatever else you need to shoe a horse.)
If you want to be carrying anything out of the ordinary, just ask and I'll decide that it's reasonable.
You also start with one weapon for each weapon skill you have (if it's a cultural weapon skill, you get one specific weapon from that group), armour, a shield, and a helm. (You can skip any of these items that you don't want.) Each of these has their own encumbrance.
I'll go through the items listed in the characters you posted so far in the next set of posts.
The other thread has general combat rules but leaves a few things out - are you "Weary" when your Endurance drops below your encumbrance?
Close. You are "Weary" when your Endurance is
equal to or less than your Fatigue. Your Fatigue
starts equal to the total encumbrance you're carrying, but it can rise as you encounter hardships. (So you could become Weary as you lose encumbrance in combat, or as your Fatigue rises while travelling.) While you're Weary you get a substantial penalty to all rolls - I'll explain the exact penalty when it happens.
When your Endurance reaches 0, you fall unconscious.
Also, Voda Vosa was asking about Virtues and Rewards:
As well as the three Attributes (Body, Heart, Wits) and eighteen common skills, you have Valour and Wisdom. These are rolled as if they're skills for certain important tests (generally to resist things) - for instance, Valour is rolled to resist fear, and Wisdom is rolled to resist the corrupting influence of the Shadow.
You start with 1 point in each of them, and can choose to raise one of them to 2. Later, you will spend experience points to raise them.
Each time Valour is raised by a point (including at character creation!) you gain a Reward. This is a physical item of exceptional craftsmanship (or an improvement to one of your items) that's bestowed on you in recognition of your valour. There's a set of general items that anyone can take (for example, a "fell weapon" that does extra damage, or a "close-fitting helm" that has extra protection), and each culture has their own set of signature items you can choose from (for example, the Dwarves can take an "Axe of the Azanulbizar", a weapon used in a famous battle, while Elves can take a "Bitter Spear" made with wood from the barren hill that is now Dol Guldur. Hobbits can borrow museum pieces from the mathom-house at Michel Delving.)
Each time Wisdom is raised by a point (again including at character creation) you gain a Virtue. This is a special technique you are taught to reflect your knowledge. Again there are some general ones (you can choose to be Dour-handed or Fell-handed to gain different combat bonuses) and culture-specific ones (among other things, Dwarves can learn the "Spell of Opening and Shutting", befriend "Ravens of the Mountain", or embrace their "Old Hatred" of orcs and goblins; Elves can learn "Deadly Archery" or "Wood-elf Magic"; Hobbits can learn the "Art of Disappearing" or become "Brave at a Pinch").