The Ambassador's Son Discussion Thread

[Durelin]

Nurunar - That's right! I forgot...She does know Calnan. But Callath...? Not sure. What do you say, O Mighty Game Owner Maika?

And I now know how to start with Adeline. Somehow I missed the fact that she's captured... I told you, I'm just supernaturally observant.

Anyways, I want to warn you, Maika, that I might be gone for a week, maybe two, because we're planning to switch internet providers. (We're getting cable!! No more dial up! YAY!!) Hopefully I'll be able to let you know when I have a more exact time frame, but...I really haven't a clue. My dad's in charge of this operation (God help us...)

-Durelin smilies/biggrin.gif

[maikafanawen]

I am going crazy but after tomorrow I should be tres bien and it'll be okay. But if anyone wants to post, you know go right ahead and I'll fight bloodily for the computer tomorrow and get it thursday.

SOOOO Sorry guys.

Durelin: Don't worry about it and check your Pms and we'll take care of Adeline during your absence.

Sorry again,
Maikafanawen smilies/rolleyes.gif Some game owner I am, lol

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 9:13 PM January 27, 2004: Message edited by: maikafanawen ]

[Durelin]

Thanks Maika!

Okay, I have a date: February 3rd, this coming Tuesday, I will lose my old internet. I expect that I will get back online, with cable now, soon after. Perhaps I will be without internet for a few days, as I believe we are signing up long before we lose internet. So, I should only be waiting a few days to get it all working...should, as we'll have the software by then. We should. But, if I disappear for a week or so after the 3rd, that is why, and I am very sorry!

Thanks again!

-Durelin

[maikafanawen]

All right I've got a post up. It was sort of rushed but I mentioned everyting. Master Pearlle is going to be the navigationalist obviously but just to clear that up since I didn't in the post. Any questions, please ask. But I've got to go.

Ta!
Maikafanawen

[Amanaduial the archer]

Callath knows Adeline through Devon mainly (unless she maybe has a horse in livery at the stables - your call), but he is friends with her of his own accord as well. Read some of Callath's first posts - one of Callath's from when they are returning from the Snifter and Song, on the first page I think; there is some interaction between them there that shows how well they know each other, to some extent.

[Himaran]

Let's get moving! No one has posted in either thread for two days!

The corsairs say: "Cut the formalities; find your captain and hit the high seas!"

smilies/wink.gif Himaran smilies/wink.gif

[Arvedui III]

And the amused Gondorian answers: Patience is a virtue. We're waiting for our fearless leader to make known to us what the plan is.

Maika?

If no one post by tomorrow, then I'll get us underway.

[maikafanawen]

I'm here and not going to waste time with apologies or explanations. It is time to MOVE! I just wanted to post this little thing first before I started pulling out the outline and figuring out where to go next. I am so fbehind. Anyways-- thanks to those who are still here.

And, Earendil, you might want to get Doran on the move. Email me, or PM me, or IM me or Call me with questions. *yawns*

-A Rain Soaked Kelly

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 11:22 PM February 06, 2004: Message edited by: maikafanawen ]

[Himaran]

Maikafanawen:

Check your pms.

Himaran

[Earendil Halfelven]

ok, new post is up. Doran's raiding coastal villages while waiting for Devon to show up. Acacia, Jurex, and Hessa-you guys can be whatever ship you choose and can participate in the raiding until the opposition shows.

[Himaran]

Jurex will be on the Rapscallion.

Himaran

[piosenniel]

Note to All Players

The move to the new board restored all your signatures to previous game posts.

Don’t bother fixing them!

Just remove signatures from the new posts you place on the game.

~*~ Pio, Shire Mod

[Arien]

Acacia will also be on the Rapscallion.

Maika, I realise I should have told you this in advance but, I will be absent from Saturday 14th until Friday 20th due to the fact I will be snowboarding in Austria. And so will not have computer access. Sorry about that......

[maikafanawen]

Wow... the forum ... it's very ... new!

Yes, anyways, I'm going to re-get this stuff up here for reference and to allow us to move on. *big smile* This is gonna be super duper.

Doran's Ships:

(I have no idea what the ships in those days were like. Most likely they were more often rowed than sailed. It would be much easier to go with what I've listed below. I have replaced the guns per ship to deck catapults. It seems reasonable pour moi).

8 Lesser Ships (somewhat like brigantines) and 2 Large Ships (somewhat like frigates, one of which will be The Rapscallion, Doran's trusty ship)

The Lesser Ships are mostly all 100 ton, 60 foot vessels carrying up to 85 souls mounting 10 catapults. The two-mast ships are rigged with many combinations of square or fore and aft sails which make them quite versatile, more so than the larger, bulkier ships. This was the clear choice for battle or combat rather than quick, hit and run type warfare. The bows of these eight ships are inlaid selectively with iron to use as battering/crushing purposes for smaller ships or as a last, suicide result for overrun pirates.

Pora Diy - Captain Delf Pora
Regal Dawn - Captain Troy Feray
Might of Realge - Captain Orna Drovig
Adorra's Pride -
River Tread - Captained by Honrei Kamir
Squall Rider - Captained ultimately by Orna Drovig
Laak's Command - Captain Ignestka Laak
Majestic Dusk - Captain Pilf Feray

The two Large Ships weigh 300 tons and measure in at 90 feet. These ships carry close to 140 men for a crew to man the three masts of sails and the 26 catapults. The Large Ships are the largest and most intimidating of ships. They have very thick and sturdy hulls that are nearly impossible to permeate with the scalding shards, rocks, and splinters launched from opposing ships' catapults.
The Rapscallion - Captain Jythralo Doran (Squadron Leader)
The Yonder Bound - Captain Yash Stalkin

And the Outline:

Oh, and I also want to appologize to Doran & Co. for the fact that Avershire wins most of the time (even if he does get slammed a lot in the process) but if he didn't, we wouldn't have much of a game you see... Anyways, you'll have it in the end until the Gondorian Fleet arrives. We'll make it work...

- The first attack is quick and sharp. Avershire will maneuver The North Wind quickly and come right up along one of Doran's unsuspecting Lesser Ships, (the Pora Diy). The North Wind's port-side catapults will do great damage. It will become necessary to board Pora Diy. Though Avershire's years at sea and obedience to the codes of sea warfare and crewmanship are still true in him, he finds that the corsairs do not follow such things of Gondor and it will be necessary for him to lock them in their own ship as Pora Diy is burned and sinks. This sets Avershire in a grim mood for the next few weeks.
- Repairs are done to The North Wind which is now hanging together as if by threads.


- The next battle, Avershire takes on two Lesser Ships at the same time. Most of Avershire's crew boards the Regal Dawn to escape their ship (which is sort of attached to the Regal Dawn by grapnels) as the Might of Realge sinks The North Wind. The grapnels are cut just in time and the Regal Dawn rights herself. The majority of Avershire's crew takes over the Regal Dawn and sends it after the Might of Realge to rescue the other members of Avershire's crew (who are overtaken by the corsairs of that ship). It is a hard fight, but the Regal Dawn eventually wins and the crewmembers who have survived the battles board her (both corsairs and Avershire's men).

(A life boat is launched at the last moment from the Might of Realge and speeds away without the know of Avershire to warn the Yonder Bound of the Regal Dawn's fate)

- Avershire takes a role call and finds that he now only has 30 souls to man an 85 crew ship. So he forces some of his corsair prisoners to join in the working of the sails and things of the sort while his men stand as guards or overseers.

That will do for now. It would be too much to put everything up at once, you see.

Feel free to voice any questions, comments, concerns, or improving ideas!

-Maikafanawen

[Durelin]

I'm back, and rearing to go!

[maikafanawen]

If Nuranar or Arvedui, either of you want to post before we set loose the first wittle battle, try to by tomorrow [friday]. By then I'll just post a SAVE and move on.

-Maikafanawen

[Nuranar]

I will post later today...I had my first computer science test yesterday. (We need a gagging smiley...is there such a thing?) Not that I studied that much, but my conscience kept me from doing anything else productive. :rolleyes: Carry on!

[Arvedui III]

I'll try to get something up too before I drop dead of math-test-fatigue.

[Nuranar]

Alrighty, I've got it up. It's not much; that is, it doesn't say much but uses a fair number of words. Oh well; at least I've asserted my continued presence on this - thing. :p I intended to post in the afternoon, before I left town. But we're facing the possibility of some "wintery weather" - sleet, ice, freezing rain, snow, etc - everything that Texas drivers do not know how to deal with. So we left earlier than expected to beat the storm and I'm posting from my roommate's home in San Antonio.

By the way, Earendil, I just noticed this: The sound of the sails in flapping in the breeze was comforting to Doran. There's nothing like the sound of the wind and the surf in the morning, he thought. For some reason, the word "napalm" came to mind when I saw that. Is there any reason, or have I really gone off my rocker? :eek:

[Arvedui III]

Got it up. *heaves sigh* Algebra should die.

For some reason, the word "napalm" came to mind when I saw that.
Heheh, yeah. I can see a little bit of a 'Nam vet in Doran. Or maybe I'm just crazy too. :rolleyes:

[Earendil Halfelven]

I just think you guys must be crazy because I have no clue what your talking about with napalm. I don't know what you guys are smokin' :smokin: (sorry, I just had to say that so I could use the new smiley!)

[maikafanawen]

New post is UP. So let's get ready for battle!!!

Earendil... *shakes head* haven't you ever seen Apocalypse Now? What kind of an American are you?

OH, Licorice root is for the queasy stomach and I'll post what all the watches means an who's on 'em and stuff. So ta! But it's about 1:30 in the morning (3 bells after midwatch) right now. Okay lata!

-Maikafanawen

[Earendil Halfelven]

So is the Pora Diy all by itself when Avershire attacks it because if it ain't then reinforcements will come up and defeat Avershire. So, since Avershire is supposed to win, then the only way would be to have the Pora Diy be all by its lonesome when its attacked. And why are my men going to be locked in the ship and then burned? Avershire sure is askin' for it!:D

Nuranar, is that Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice under your name?

[maikafanawen]

Yes the Pora Diy is by itself. All ten ships are separated, raiding coastal towns etc. stuff like that.

And a new post is up, just in case ya'll forgot...

-Maikafanawen

[Nuranar]

I'll be out of town, from midday Friday to later on Sunday. I'm sorry for the short notice - please don't kill Calnan in the meantime. :p Maika, I saw the new post but didn't want to be the one to set up the battle - is that all right?

Earendil - Yes, Elizabeth Bennett is my new avatar. I have yet to figure out how to scale down pixels. (I don't think I have the software; I'd have to go to the labs, which means transferring my files, which is too big of a pain. Yes, I am lazy. :rolleyes: ) But I think I like having Lizzie there anyway.

Carry on,
Nuranar

[Himaran]

Just so I can talk like Maika: ;)

So, you dare to burn our comrades alive, eh! Well, in that case -

"Ahem. After the battle, it will become necessary from Jurex to stICK HIS KNIFE IN AVERSHIRE'S BLOODY NECK!!!!!"

[piosenniel]

A number of Gamers have had problems with their PM’s filling up. Here is the reason:

For everyone’s information about PM’s

The new PM system has 3 folders in it:

Inbox
Save A Copy (Sent Messages are saved in this folder)
Request Read Receipt (Tracks Your Messages and Replies)

You are only allowed a total of 10 messages in the 3 folders. (Not 10 in each folder, but 10 PM’s for all 3 folders)

So, you can have ‘0’ messages showing in your Inbox, but have ‘5’ in your Sent Messages and ‘5’ in your Tracked Messages.

One of the big problems with PM’s filling up is that when you send a PM or reply to one, you need to look at those little OPTIONS below the box where you are writing the message.

You need to uncheck the last 2 OPTIONS – unless you absolutely want to use them. If you don’t uncheck them, then when you press SEND, a copy of the PM will be put in the SENT folder and another will be put in the TRACK MESSAGE folder. That’s how the PM total adds up, even though you think you are only dealing with one message.

It’s like rabbits – they multiply like crazy! :D

[Arvedui III]

Will do, Pio.

Maika, is any particular way you want the battle to be set up, save what's on the outline? Elsewise, I'm of a mind to post something.

And Himaran, if you stick your knife into Avershire's neck- and I fully understand, despicable navy type that he is- then, Telson will be obliged to stick my swords into Jurex's. You don't want that, do you? :p

EDIT: Hullo?...Somebody?...Anybody? Am I all alone?!? I'll just post something then...right.

[maikafanawen]

I've never had this much schoolwork in my life! I hate it!

Anyways, Arvedui, I'm here. Glad to see a post!

come right up along one of Doran's unsuspecting Lesser Ships, (the Pora Diy). The North Wind's port-side catapults will do great damage. It will become necessary to board Pora Diy.

Let's just execute this part of the plot now. I was hoping for there to be more posts.... oh well we're moving on.

-Maikafanawen

PS Let's see some more noise from Doran and his group! Acacia, Jurex? Hessa?

[maikafanawen]

Here's some stuff:

Secondary Characters:
Frenchy - Second Mate. age 40+ Lean, tall man with a rather sinewy frame. Has short red hair and a beard; dark brown eyes. Is quiet mostly but is almost as ship savvy as Avershire.

Talon - Third (and last *wink*) Mate old and balding but fiery and rude sometimes. probably the most superstitious, believes in the silliest of magics.

Marx - age 38 one of the more important among the crew. A dark haired, dark skinned, bright green eyed man. Very tall, and buff. Popular among the crew for his bravery and strength. V loyal to Avershire.

Portie - age 80+ in charge of repairs as far as sails, rebraiding of stays/lines etc., the weaving of ladders, expert in all sea knots, and even mends the clothes of sailors. An old, thin man about 5' high with a lens to help him sew by that hangs around his neck on a cord.

Sedal - age 34 Ship surgeon. soft brown hair, a long nose, handsome features, and relatively light skin. he looks intelligent and wears lenses framed, resting on his nose to help with his work
Orda - age 13 is Sedal's assitant

Random:
Rilgari - shy, flaxen-haired boy of about 18 or 19.
Yulman - age unknown, looks anywhere between 40 & 70 loud boisterous sailor, who gets drunk most of the time, has the stamina of any sailor
Borger - poetic man of about 25 who has a good singing voice, is disliked by none
Packs - a theological man, smart, but somewhat sickly
Blake - the helmsman

...more to be added...


And by the way, great post Arvedui, I read it before I put mine up (obviously). I played against Telson's assuritiveness with Meri because that's her character, but I thought you did a perfect job! Love it! I added in the name of the second mate along with some emotions I wanted Avershire and Meri to ground as well.

Anyone else feel free to add the names of some random sailors to help with your character's posts or whatever you want I've got a few up there that I used. Feel free to use them if you like. I wrote a sentence fragment or two to describe them.

And .... if Arien, Himaran, Earendil, or GaladrielOTOlden want to, feel free to take on secondary characters on the Pora Diy or any other corsair ship if you get bored with whatever activity you've got your main character doing with Doran. These will be good to be killed off if you want to do that or maybe one of your secondary characters could be taken by Avershire and made to work the Regal Dawn when it is acquired. Whatever you want to do to keep the RPG fun!

I know some of you are out of town, like three or four people I think. Just read over what's happened (which probably isn't much) and post as soon as you get back.

For those of you aboard the North Wind that remain, you can either board the Pora Diy to fight, stay aboard the North Wind to fight. Wrestle a catapult free to fire at the last standing mast or whatever you want! Let's just get going!

All right that's all from me for tonight. Any questions, comments, concerns, ideas? Glad to hear 'em!

Ta! Maikafanawen

[Himaran]

Hey,

I just started a new character on the Pora Diy and had him knocked over board. Before he fell, Graring saw that the corsairs were losing the battle. Could he be picked up by another corsair ship, and relate the outcome of the fight?

Just a thought,

Himaran

[maikafanawen]

Himaran: Even though the odds of Graring getting picked up is tres unlikely, if you get him to sort of reboard the Pora Diy after Avershire's finished with it and try unsuccessfully to rescue some of the men Avershire locks inside, abandoning ship just before the blow we may be able to make it work (mostly because they're going to notice a man floating around in the water). He'll have to grab hold of some decent wreckage after the fire though to survive.

Then, have the Might of Realge get to him. They'll come across the wreckage of the Pora Diy. Don't write about Graring spending days in the ocean, have it be in the span of just one day at most and let's have him be the only Pora Diy survivor though. Once aboard the Might of Realge, he can tell them what happened. This is good because this will also inspire them to be quick with getting a lifeboat out and to the Yonder Bound. Okay, have fun (but try to be as realistic as possible with it).

Another tres important thing, this is what I don't want: Evil Pirates. I want to see pirates with a decent amount of fear, sadness, guilt, etc. Not a lot of bloodlust. Enjoyment of the adrenaline, not the kill. They are human too! I am so serious about this. If I'd wanted evil characters I'd have opened one with orcs etc. Usually in my RPGs I don't cast the parts of evil characters just because they're abused so much so PLEASE try to avoid such behavior from the ANTAGONISTIC characters. Thank you!

-Maikafanawen

[Nuranar]

I just put up a SAVE - I'll post around about lunch tomorrow, after most of my classes. Calnan will be contributing, first with his longbow, then possibly with his sword.

A question: Why are the archers to aim for the sails? Do you mean to cut the rigging, so the sails won't be of use? How about trying to eliminate officers from the quarterdeck, especially when they're not really close - I would think the longbow has a greater range than probably most other bows on board ship.

[Arvedui III]

Nuranar: As to the archers: I dunno for sure, but methinks that if archers disabled a ships' ability to manuver by shreading sails and disabling ropes and such, then since we have catapults, they could take out anyone or anything on deck with more ease and acuracy. An officer drowns just like any other man. :D (Ack! Where has the evil smilie gone?!? I have to settle for just looking pleased? Not fair!)

Anyways, Maika: About when should we end the battle and set the Dry ablaze?

[Himaran]

AHA! So its Calnan who I have to thank for that untimely bath, eh Nuranor?

Is anyone going to post? Jythralo has many more ships than just the Diy, and their crews are all waiting to be mercilessly slaughtered as well...

Himaran :D

[maikafanawen]

Aman, we're not using cannons we're using catapults so you may need to go back and edit this:

chained cannon-balls

and this:

another cannon ricocheted

This also is mildly erroneous since there was no Davey Jones in Middle Earth to name the depths after:

Davey Jones's locker

But as long as the character didn't 'say' the words I guess it's okay however we should be mindful about sailor slang that may not be precise as far as Middle Earth is concerned. I hope Yulman will survive his wounds because I was hoping to keep him around for a while. I don’t want to loose any of the secondary characters I've listed yet.

And I really don't mean to be fastidious, however in the middle of war, when a surgeon or another sailor is frantically going about his business to fight for his life and that of the ship and crew I have great doubts that it would be time for any sort of introductions or conversations. Sailors helping sailors would be second nature without time for any smiles of gratitude or verbal thanks. We need to remember what's about the characters and save lots of talk for after the battles.

Is everyone making sure to read the posts above theirs completely before they post? This way we'll avoid any major inaccuracies.

Great job everyone! This is getting back up and going. Aman your two posts were very nicely done. And yours was an exciting read, Nuranar! Tres bien fait!

And if I can find time before going to see The Passion and the Academy Awards, I'll finish the battle up tomorrow. I'll also save you a post, Arvedui, if you don't get a chance to do one but I may not even have time so... yah...

-Maikafanawen

PS I think I'm getting jealous about Sedal too so let's keep him very much alive too. I liked how you developed him, Aman, tis exactly what I was thinking!

[Amanaduial the archer]

Glad you liked it, Maika - I tried to send you a PM yesterday to check you were alright with it, but it was about the time when the barrowdowns then went down. Thanks anyway :) The description you gave seemed to lean towards the doctor from Master and Commander, so I may have expanded on that a wee bit...;)

If you so wish it, my dear, I shall not lay even a further finger on Mister Yulman - he shall remain strictly in Sedal's care and you may do whatever you wish with him, as soon as Callath gets onto the deck I fear he may be a wee bit held up with Devon and the corsairs (that sound like an Enid Blyton book to anyone else?!) etc. As for conversation, I was merely trying to have something to work with, but I will cut down dialogue if you really want, and edit the bits you asked :)

[Arvedui III]

The description you gave seemed to lean towards the doctor from Master and Commander
Hurrah! Someone else thinks so too. I thought I was the only person who went to see that movie. Anyways, I put up a save. Should be able to write Telson's prospective on the battle at the commercials during the Oscars or something. It'll be filled by morning, though.

[Nuranar]

WHEE!! I'm so glad my post went over well. I'll let you all in on a secret: It's not done. :eek: Honestly, what's up right now is emphatically a rough draft, albeit some parts smoother than others. I was getting thoughts down as I could, going on when I got stuck, and working hard on particular bits to get the vision I had in my head down right before I forgot it.

I unexpectedly had to go home for a funeral, so that's why it's still not done. Unless anyone's got a serious problem with that, I'm going to continue to hone it.

Hold it, Himaran, you are the one who sent what's-his-name into the brine. I was merely trying to make this battle a little more integrated with each other. But hold a grudge if you wish, by all means! :p

Maika, thank you very much for the commendation! I enjoy writing action/combat, but I find it takes a lot of thought: (1) To imagine the scene in my head (which isn't as easy for me as it is for others I know), and (2) To convey the scene in words. I love this challenge, because I'm trying to communicate a very complicated thought, which usually takes lots of specific words, but I also have to write simply - the language can't get in the way of what is happening. And for an example of this struggle, just re-read this paragraph.
Oh, do you have any preferences about what I do with Devon? I mean, about getting him back to the North Wind? I'd hate for him to bleed to death on the Pora Diy's deck, which is what is happening at the moment.

I finally saw Master and Commander Thursday night. I love that movie! Wow, so good. And incidentally, Thursday night was after everything that's in my post to date - meaning I had no help in thinking these things out. Thank goodness for Horatio Hornblower - it is possible to write clearly about sea battles! That's another thing about writing action - I knew it'd take a while to write this post, but I hadn't counted on the complication of describing ship manuevers! There's so many things to keep track of when you're dependent upon the wind...

[maikafanawen]

Yes, Stephen was definitely my favorite character from that fantastic movie I simply couldn't pass up a chance to figure someone of my own. I will personalize him though, I'm not that cheap.

Yes, lol, not as cheap as Nuranar! (just kidding) I wonder how well that would go over if I claimed that all my posts were, *adopts mock humble voice* "oh that? oh, well," *waves hand* "tosh, it's just a rough draft!" ;) Haha, just kidding Nuranar!

Well then I'll hold off on finishing the battle? I'll just slip in another post for Avershire (he needs to get his hands a little bloody) and we'll see how it goes? Jolly.

Ta!
Maikafanawen

[Arvedui III]

Post is up. Took me a good bit longer than I thought it would, (Curse you, physics project!) sorry about that.

Yes, Stephen was definitely my favorite character from that fantastic movie
Mine too. He was the best part of the books as well. :)

[Earendil Halfelven]

Hello everyone!
I plan on posting but not tonight because I didn't get any sleep last night-and I mean no sleep. I kind of fell asleep driving today and went off the road so I'm going to bed but I wanted to let you guys know that Doran is going to get some posts in when I'm not falling asleep at red lights and going off the roads. It is kind of funny falling asleep at a redlight because then its the people behind you honking that wake ya up...:smokin: (I love this smiley!)

[Nuranar]

Dear me, I didn't mean to sound in any way falsely modest there. I totally know you're joking, Maika, but I'm still sorry if I sounded fake about that. It had been four days and in my mind what I had up was a rough draft. But to me "rough draft" means that I haven't completely revised it! I spend a lot of time as a write it...editing as I go, you might say.

All that to say my post is not as perfect as I'd like, but on the whole I'm satisfied, I've done very little further to it, and I'm FINISHED with it. :)

Earendil, I'm glad you're still with us!

Now...When is the next battle? Fighting is fun! Carry on!

[Himaran]

Ah! Now that BD is no longer blocked by my psycotic (sp?) filter (for ALCOHOL, of all things), I can post again. Should have more up about Graring or Jurex within a day or two.

Hold it, Himaran, you are the one who sent what's-his-name into the brine. I was merely trying to make this battle a little more integrated with each other. But hold a grudge if you wish, by all means!

Ahem. I see that my classic, artistic and strangely pathetic attempt at clever satire is lost on some people.

Just kidding! Nuranor: Perhaps that grudge can be played out later, eh?

Himaran :smokin:

P.S. Earendil, I love that little avatar, too...

[Durelin]

Maika! Check your PMs!

Did my message not reach you?

Sorry, but that's the reason I haven't been posting: I was awaiting your reply! I needed your approval and consent on something.

Thanks!

And sorry again!

-Durelin

[maikafanawen]

Hey!

Sorry I've been out of it this week. All the auditions for the spring musicals and talent shows are starting up and I swear I've had my share of tap-heels! Anyways I'm going to write something this very minute before I got to my billionth audition at er, 7:00.

Durelin: Ok I got your PM, check your box

-Maikafanawen
*hums* '...and all that jazz! dah nuh nuh dah.....'

[maikafanawen]

Okay, but the battle is done. The Pora Diy's crew and captain will be given the chance to submit to Avershire but refuse. So we'll have to sink 'em with the ship. This along with Meri's bad behavior will really make Avershire moody.

Meri's indifference to Devon will be played out more you know with Avershire yelling at her about the difference between themselves and the pirates having to do with their looking out for one another etc.... so we'll get to that.

Nuranar, if you wouldn't mind having Calnan getting Devon to safety. Avershire would be more than willing to help. Or actually, a better idea would be to have Marx help get him over there. He seems like a good personality to get along well with them, yes?

I really probably have to do more on this I just ran out of time. Just end the battle for your character and get it to the point where we have to lock them in the Pora Diy and sink them. Does that part make sense?

Okay I've got to go.

Ta!
-Maikafanawen

[Nuranar]

Devon is safely back on the right ship (thanks to Marx - nice guy, that) and in Mr. Sedal's capable hands. (That last part is implied - I spoke only through Calnan and he's still on the Pora Diy.)

I hope my interpretation of both Meri and Avershire is passably on the mark, Maika. I didn't do much with Meri, but I did want to take the action a little further than your last post. If you want to replace anything - like Avershire's call for surrender, because I'm unsure about it - just let me know.

I want to work out Calnan's thoughts in another post after the battle and corsair-sinking, so I hope there'll be an opportunity before the next fight. Especially I want to express his thoughts about the Meri situation (I know what he'll be thinking right now) but I want to work in whatever happens later with her and Avershire.

Avershire yelling at her about the difference between themselves and the pirates having to do with their looking out for one another

I take it Avershire's going to find out about what she did about Devon? If so, please don't have Calnan tell him - at least not as a tattletale. I think he's a bit more gentlemanly than that. :)

Hey now, Himaran, you're not the only one capable of using satire. ;) I knew that you were teasing, so I responded in kind. And I'd love to play out that grudge. Looks like Calnan may be making personal enemies on both sides!

[Earendil Halfelven]

Bad news people. I'm on the computer at school but unfortunately, my computer at home bit the dust friday night and is now dead and buried. It says I need to reinstall Windows but I can't do that if the computer keeps shutting off by itself after 5 minutes. So, if you don't hear from me soon (I'll let you guys decide how "soon") then Doran will need to be played by somebody else. Sorry. :(

[maikafanawen]

Earendil - We need to see what Himaran, Arien, and Galadriel of the Olden think. If they want to keep things rolling then I could play a little Doran for a while as you fix your technological problems. Do you think you could offer an estimate of how long it will take you to either fix your computer or get a new one?

Nuranar - *stands*applauds* Let me guess, another one of your rough drafts? ;) Truly admirable! Avershire's little 'surrender!' was okie dokie! You'll definitely get time for more Calnan between fights.

Oh! I JUST GOT THE MOST BRILLIANTIST OF IDEAS! Well perhaps not, it's sort of predictable, but get this: I was just thinking about what you said. How would Avershire find out about what Meri did? It's most likely that he wouldn't so Calnan and Meri build up this sort of amnosity between them that no one can explain and Calnan doesn't (he wouldn't) tell anyone about what she did, not even Devon. So later on, during a battle Devon saves Meri's life by risking his own and when they're sort of recouperating Meri says something along the lines of, you know, 'Why did you do that?' and he sort of looks at her incredulously and says, 'Because I know that you'd do the same for me,' and boom total breakdown for her, right? Anyways that's my thought. Any ideas on your part, Nuranar?

*rubs hands* I hope I'm not the only one enjoying this; carry on!

-Maikafanawen

[Nuranar]

Yay! Glad you like it. Na, no rough draft this time - but it *only* took me 3 or 4 hours! Long time, but it seemed to go so fast...

Oh, way cool idea! Especially since it just kinda happened - I mean not planning the antagonism there at all. Terrific! Meri's cool, but she does need taken down a little bit. And it sounds like a lot of fun to write. Except I don't know he'd say because that's what she'd do - her behavior kinda illustrated the opposite to him - but because that's what allies (or something like that) do. And that'd fit in with your earlier comment, if I understand it right. the difference between themselves and the pirates having to do with their looking out for one another Allies look out for each other - a common goal, themes of holding something together, have to start with each other, et cetera. All told, sounds terrific!

Oh, I see that you've wrapped up the Pora Diy. Very good - I don't think I could've envisioned come up with that depth to the scene. Good show! Shall I wait for another poster before I resume with Calnan? Any hints on the direction to take (literally with the ship, or figuratively with the mood on board), or shall I just focus on him?

[maikafanawen]

We need a week between battles (RPG-wise) for repairs to the North Wind. During that time we can develop the 'mood' of our characters and their position etc...

When the dagger cut into Devon's LEFT shoulder it severed some muscle and some of the nerves that send signals to his left arm. He was left-handed so that was his sword arm. He will not be able to do much of anything wit his left hand/arm for about a month and even though it will most likely heal (Says Mr. Sedal).... he won't be able to fence as fast and as sure as he used to or even at all with that arm. We'll have to think of something.... ;)

But just so no one talks about Devon recovering well etc and using his left arm.

Post away!

-Maikafanawen

[Himaran]

Maika: Which ship is closest to the wreck? I need someone to pick up poor Graring.

Himaran

[maikafanawen]

Here is some useful information concerning Ship's Time. Taken from the Appendix to 'The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle'


Ship's Time

On sailing ships crews were divided into teams so as to share all work. These teams were called watches. On the North Wind, Meri Loliway has the command of one watch, Frenchy--now Marx, as residing second mate--takes charge of the second.

The day was broken up into time periods--also called watches--as follows:

Midwatch ran from midnight to 4:00 AM;
morning watch ran from 4:00 AM to 8:00 AM;
forenoon watch ran from 8:00 AM to 12:00 noon;
afternoon watch ran from 12:00 noon to 4:00 PM;
first dog watch ran from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM;
second dog watch ran from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM;
night watch ran from 8:00 PM to midnight.

A typical day would have a sailor working alternate watches, a system called "watch and watch," in this fashion:

off during midwatch; work morning watch;
off forenoon watch; work afternoon watch;
off first dog watch; work second dog watch;
off night watch.

This meant that on the following day the sailor's schedule would be:

Work during midwatch; off morning watch;
work forenoon watch; off afternoon watch;
work first dog watch; off second dog watch;
work night watch.

And so on....

This pattern of watch and watch meant that no sailor ever had more than four hours sleep at a time. Of course, if there was a need, such as general reseting or overhaul of the sails--or a storm--all hands could be called, and they would report even if it was not their watch. (Or if it was a battle!)

To keep track of time, the mates ran the ship's bell every half hour. They did it this way:

1 bell meant the first half hour after the watch began;
2 bells meant the second half hour;
3 bells meant the third half hour;
4 bells meant the fourth half hour;
5 bells meant the fifth half hour;
6 bells meant the sixth half hour;
7 bells meant the seventh half hour;
8 bells mean the eighth half hour and the end of the watch.

For example, if two bells ran out during the first dog watch, it would be, by land reckoning, 5:00 PM.


That should help.

I think a good idea would be to use the place where it says "Past subject:" to type in the watch, which mate's in charge and maybe which half hour if its relevant. If its too confusing, one doesn't have to worry about it. We may need to figure out who is on whose watch.

Callath is on Marx's; Calnan is on Loliway's -- that's for the antagonism etc.; Devon will be on Marx's when he heals.; Telson can be on Loliway's. if that's all okay with everyone.

More later

-Maikafanawen

Oh, and Himaran, we can have The Might of Realge be closest. Sound good? We can get into this more later.

[Durelin]

I took too long to get a post up for Adeline during the battle.

But, I still posted it. So, if you would like it moved to a place where it fits better in the 'RPG time', then just let me know.

And I hope the post itself is alright. As Arvedui has been focusing on Telson, it is hard for me to describe what's going on on the Rapscallion, especially from the point of view of a young woman. I did my best...

And sorry about it taking me so long to get a post up, I'm just slow on the uptake... ;)

Thanks!

-Durelin

[Earendil Halfelven]

Hello everyone. I am back with a vengeance! My hardrive needed to be reformatted but alas, it was too damaged and couldn't be reformatted (don't know how that happened) but now I have a new cpu so can anyone give me the short, catch-up version with whats going on because I don't have time to read all the posts I've missed if I'm going to start posting for Doran anytime soon. :D

[maikafanawen]

Earendil, there's not too much to read. If you start now you'll be able to get through it. It's not like you were absolutely on top of everything that was going on before your computer died so I think you can catch up on your own. :p

Good post Aman!

Since this week is St. Patrick's Day, and I live in a place where that's a bigger deal than Christmas, I doubt I'll have much time at all to do anything until Sunday when I'm sober again. So y'all have got time to do stuff before the next battle. The minute I get back though I'm going to jump strait into the fighting, sound good?

All right, Ta!
Maikafanawen

[Earendil Halfelven]

It's not like you were absolutely on top of everything that was going on before your computer died so I think you can catch up on your own.
geez, thats nice...

Do you realize that in the time it took you to type that, you could have told me whats happening in the story?;)

Well, I'll start reading, but with AP tests, essays, and a bunch of other crap to do after school, I'm pretty pressed for time, so remembering where I left off and then catching up will just hinder me in posting something. Oh well, better get reading...

[Nuranar]

Howdy all,

Apologies for the delay in posting. It looks like Maika's St. Patrick's Day celebrations and my Spring Break at home (and camping) will coincide. I'll try to get Calnan's 'tween-battle post up before Thursday, when I leave.


Durelin, I'm confused - Adeline is on the Rapscallion, right? Then who was it fighting? The North Wind was attacking the Pora Diy, another corsair ship.

Earendil, glad to see you're back, and you have my full sympathies about your computer! As Maika said, though, there's really not much to catch up on. Sum total: you've lost a ship.

Carry on!
Nuranar

[maikafanawen]

Well I've got a few moments before I'm supposed to leave to go downtown and set up in the hotel room so I'll say a few things.

Earendil, there were a total of 7 posts that were added during your absence. I can't believe that that is too much for you to read. However, my responsibility remains and I will summarize it for you if necessary. However, I do suggest that you go back and read everything such as second character bios, and watch assignments from the discussion thread.

Do you realize that in the time it took you to type that, you could have told me whats happening in the story?

Do you realize that in the time it took you to type that, that you could have gotten a good start on reading the posts on the RPG thread you've missed? It's not that offering a summary would impinge upon my time, it's that as a player who has not posted on the RPG thread since February 8th probably has missed more than just the 7 posts written during his absence. Hmm.... Unless you have been studiously following along, then, my apologies.

Nuranar, Durelin and I spoke via PM and I think that we discussed something along the lines of coastal villages sending out defensive ships to Doran's Rapscallion. It wasn't very clear in the post but I'm almost sure that this is what she meant, just to help a little with the clarity.

-Maikafanawen, a ready-for-the-holiday Game Owner ;)

[Amanaduial the archer]

Thanks Maika :)

Happy St Patricks day, everyone!

[Nuranar]

Ah, Maika, now I remember something on the discussion thread some time ago about Doran attacking coastal villages while waiting for Devon & Co. I suppose I've just been fixated on our own battle to the point of exclusion. :p

Anyway, Calnan's 'tween-battles post is up. I won't presume to comment on the quality of it, after what happened last time I did. :D

Well, I'll be back Sunday! I'm off to spend the next four days in the 1860s.

Carry on!
Nuranar, the Civil War reenactress :cool:

[Arvedui III]

I've got a track meet, so I'm going to be lazy and put up a Save for my in-between post. Should be up in full in the morning.

Nuranar, the Civil War reenactress
Really? Most awesome. What battle's have you been in? I've only done little things like the Battle of Port Hudson, was amazingly fun though. If only I lived in Virginia... :)

[Earendil Halfelven]

Port Hudson? You are talking about the one in Louisiana? I was there last year at the 2003 reenactment. I was in the zouave regiment-the 105th NY.

[maikafanawen]

Earendil, obviously you have some new ideas about what you want to happen in the RPG that contrast with the original outline. It was mentioned that The Might of Realge would pick Graring up and we have the individual battles laid out all ready. Why don't you send me a PM and we'll work this out. For the time being, though, we'll have to pass by your most recent post and continue with the original plan. It was a nice post though.

Have fun on your trip Nuranar and good post!

And the save is fine Arvedui.

I'm going to move this along faster as soon as I can think clearly enough to write a good post leading us into the next battle. Sound good? Right

Ta!
Maikafanawen

[Earendil Halfelven]

Well, I'm sorry that I couldn't remember every single, little detail. I guess since it was "mentioned," I especially should've remembered that the Might of Realge was going to pick up Graring. Woops. Let me correct my mistake and discard my "new ideas" about what I want to happen. Silly me.:rolleyes:

[Himaran]

Graring was picked up by the Realge. All is good in the world.

Himaran

[Arvedui III]

I filled in the save as well. Though if all his truly right in the world now, I cannot guess. :)

Port Hudson? You are talking about the one in Louisiana? I was there last year at the 2003 reenactment. I was in the zouave regiment-the 105th NY.
Dude! Awesome! I didn't go last year, but I was there a couple of years ago. But given the fact that I can't acutally own any of the equipment I use, I was just taking pictures. Mostly, I get to actually do stuff at the Battle of New Orleans and for school and stuff. *sighs*

[maikafanawen]

*waves hands* Whoa! If they keep changing the format of the Downs, One is about to get confused tres rapido! (That was definitely a tri-lingual attempt!)

I am tres sorry about the delay on the next post I am frantically trying to find time for all my dooties. TOmorrow looks like a possibility but I want to get you guys to get into this RPG too. So how about someone else begin the next section of our outline if at all possible:

- The next battle, Avershire takes on two Lesser Ships at the same time. Most of Avershire's crew boards the Regal Dawn to escape their ship (which is sort of attached to the Regal Dawn by grapnels) as the Might of Realge sinks The North Wind :( bye bye. The grapnels are cut just in time and the Regal Dawn rights herself. The majority of Avershire's crew takes over the Regal Dawn and sends it after the Might of Realge to rescue the other members of Avershire's crew (who are overtaken by the corsairs of that ship). It is a hard fight, but the Regal Dawn eventually wins and the crewmembers who have survived the battles board her (both corsairs and Avershire's men).

(A life boat -maybe with Graring in it, Himaran? you decide- is launched at the last moment from the Might of Realge and speeds away without the know of Avershire to warn the Yonder Bound of the Regal Dawn's fate)

for later:- Avershire takes a role call and finds that he now only has 30 souls to man an 100 man ship. So he forces some of his corsair prisoners to join in the working of the sails and things of the sort while his men stand as guards or overseers.

We all ready know how the catapults work and I'm sure most of you now a wee bit about ship battle tactics from watching Pirates of the Caribbean (how about that anchor trick?) and Master and Commander and maybe some of us have seen Horatio Hornblower with Gregory Peck? or Cutthroat Island with Gena Davis? or any of those good ocean adventure movies I'm forgetting about. Lots of us have probably read some books too like The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle? Captain Blood? Billy Budd? Pyrate? even Moby Dick! There are plenty of them out there anyways. But even if y'all haven't there's plenty to get y'all going. So hopefully I'll be able to do something tomorrow--even if it's a short one-- but let's still have y'all do something too.

Thanks, I know you guys can do it!

-Maikafanawen

[maikafanawen]

Here is the status on when everyone's last post was on each the Discussion Thread and the RPG Thread. I've put in bold what needs to be checked up on:

Discussion Thread:-----------------------RPG Thread:

Maikafanawen----Today----------------3/13/04
Earendil -----------3/18/04--------------2/08/04
Aman---------------3/17/04--------------3/14/04
Nuranar------------3/18/04--------------3/18/04
Himaran------------3/19/04--------------3/19/04
*Arien-------------2/10/04--------------2/13/04
Arvedui-------------3/19/04---------------3/19/04
**GaladrielOTO-----1/15/04-----------==no idea==
Durelin--------------3/12/04---------------3/12/04

* She said she was going to be absent from February 14 to February 20 on a snowboarding trip to Austria. She has not checked back since February 20th.... so it's been about a month.... HOPEFULLY she's fine and just hasn't gotten around to getting back to us.... I haven't a problem with waiting, Acacia's not really involved in the RPG at the moment. Is that okay for everyone?

** I believe we've lost her. As far as her character's gone though I think there might have been 1 to 2 posts regarding her so.... we can just leave it.

I promise to keep more on top of things. I don't see any barriers as far as my time is concerned in the immediate future so all should be and go well.

I've also got my post up. I posted for three or four characters too so that's they only reason why it’s a little long. Otherwise I kept to my word and kept it short.... per character.... *weak smile* lol

So hopefully someone else will get a chance to launch the attack on the Might of Realge and the Regal Dawn, yes? ;) We'll see how it goes!

-Maikafanawen, Your Friendly Neighborhood Game Owner :D

P.S. I was opening the discussion thread just now and looking over the names of the last people who had posted in the other RPGs (And taking note how Ambassador's Son always seems to be at the bottom of the list ) and I saw the name Fordim Hedgethistle and I just thought: "What an AWESOME name!" Don't y'all think so? Anyways--I just had to say something about that. Ta!

[Nuranar]

I'm here. :smokin:

Seriously, though, thanks for your post. I didn't want to be too high-handed about the atmosphere on the ship, but now I can take my cue from you. And I'm glad you've got more time. I have two tests tomorrow and a large, not-yet-begun project due on Tuesday, so I'm not sure if I can take us into the battle. If no one's done anything by Thursday afternoon, though, I'll try to give it a shot.

Oh, and as for Meri & Calnan - I'll leave it to you to set up Meri's sticky situation. I'd rather you handled getting her into trouble, and then I'll write Calnan's part. Just so the whole thing isn't told entirely from Calnan's (or a narrator's) point of view. Is that ok?

What battle's have you been in? I've only done little things like the Battle of Port Hudson, was amazingly fun though.

Well, now. Last weekend marked my 7th year of doing this. And let me say that I am female, so I play a civilian - no fighting for me, sorry guys. :p Most of the ones I do are "little things," pretty much a necessity when you don't get out of Texas much. I've done the 135th Shiloh, Gettysburg, and Chickamauga events, though. This last weekend was an event at Beaumont Ranch (45 minutes south of Fort Worth on I-35) - very good, although very windy, but at least not freezing cold like last year! (Btw, Earendil, Saturday's battle had the Confederates outnumbered 4 to 1; Tom Stuart said that's the only time he knows of that that's happened in Texas.) I've never been to Port Hudson; as a matter of fact, I've never done any Lousiana events at all. Hmm. What unit do you usually fall in with?

See you on the game thread,
Nuranar

[Amanaduial the archer]

Fordim Hedgethistle - nice chap as well :)

Maika, my fellow sailors and detestable but still admirable corsairs:
Due to the dire weather last weekend, I haven't been on for a few days for any length of time greater than about three minutes. Unfortunately, this weather is set to continue and my already half-toppled telephone pole may completely fall - argh! I therefore will probably not be able to get on for that long, although I shall try my best. Also, tomorrow night I have a concert, and on Sunday-Monday I have hell-in-a-pair-of-walking-boots, otherwise know as Duke of Edinburough practise expedition. I will try to post on Friday night, probably quite late, or on Sunday.

Apologies and thanks for your patience.

[Durelin]

I am terribly sorry I have not been posting often at all. The first reason is because I have been busy with softball, as it started up just a couple weeks ago. Luckily, it is a very short season. But, we have practice everyday, and games 2-3-4 times a week. On weekends I will post, and I might be able to on the occasional weekday (such as Fridays, Wednesdays). I am very sorry, but I did not plan on the sport taking up this much of my time.

The second reason I have not been posting is because I find that Adeline lacks a real part. She is a young noblewoman on a ship, and one that is armed for war. She is also a prisoner. I find I have little to work with. But, I must say it is completely my fault that I have not posted, as I did leave Adeline unconcious...

One more thing I'd like to point out:

** I believe we've lost her. As far as her character's gone though I think there might have been 1 to 2 posts regarding her so.... we can just leave it.

We have lost Galadriel of the Olden, yes, but she did not chose to leave this roleplaying game, nor any others. Her account has not been working: the reply button will not work. I believe she contacted you about this Maika. I'm not saying you shouldn't make it clear that Galadriel of the Olden's character is bascically out of the game, and I do not mean to be rude or nasty, but I believe it was an unfair statement to say that 'we lost her'. It sounds like you are accusing her of abandoning the game, which she did not.

Thank you! And I promise to get a post up by Saturday. (I know that's late...let me see if I can maybe get one going today...)

Sorry again!

-Durelin

[Himaran]

Just stopping by to say that I'm still here. Been very busy with Ruhn.

Himaran

[maikafanawen]

I believe she contacted you about this Maika .... but I believe it was an unfair statement to say that 'we lost her'. It sounds like you are accusing her of abandoning the game, which she did not.

I didn't mean it like that and on the contrary I was not contacted so I had no idea what had happened. But now I know.

Thank you, everyone who did so, for checking in. Most of you have been very involved and I thank you for your dedication!

Corsairs and Durelin: I was hoping that Earendil would have figured out some sort of side-plot for your characters to be involved in while the Gondorians are on the sea. But school and work demands much of us all and it's just not been possible for him (I assume). So if you, Himaran, Durelin and Arien, have anything in mind that you want to do with Jurex, Adeline and Acacia and or if you want me to come up with something tell me and we'll get started on it asap. I didn't intend for them to be left out of the RPG and I apologize.

Nuranar, I am not sure how you want Calnan to act towards Meri. Do you want him to be open about what happened, or do you want him to just sort of ignore her? How mad is he? From your post I gathered that he wasn't fuming about it but that he definitely was feeling no more than just 'frosty' towards her? I sort of took it as far as I dared with my last post.... anything you want to specify? or should we just take it and go with it?

Earendil, please contact me soon!

-Maikafanawen

[Nuranar]

Nuranar, I am not sure how you want Calnan to act towards Meri. Do you want him to be open about what happened, or do you want him to just sort of ignore her? How mad is he? From your post I gathered that he wasn't fuming about it but that he definitely was feeling no more than just 'frosty' towards her? I sort of took it as far as I dared with my last post.... anything you want to specify? or should we just take it and go with it?

Maika, are you referring to my last post on the discussion thread? In that, I was just preemptively trying to set up the battle wherein Meri is in a spot and Calnan helps her out. I think I may have jumped the gun a bit; sorry for the confusion.

Now, if you're just asking because of my last post on the RPG thread: You've pretty well summed up how he's feeling. He resents her behavior and is a little angry, but tries not to be so. He's showing his displeasure as clearly as he can without being rude or insubordinant: Very, Almost overly respectful, completely expressionless, showing no opinion when having to speak to her. I'm seeing not ignoring her, but...just looking at her, when he passes by. The look very subtly saying, "I know what you've done, and you know you shouldn't have." Like the subtlest form of finger-pointing. She looks up, and his eyes are on her, for a full second, then he looks away. Just not letting her forget. A form of revenge, in a way.

How's that? Confusing enough? :D Let me know and I'll try to convey it better, maybe in a PM so I don't weary everyone on the thread.

Carry on,
Nuranar

[Earendil Halfelven]

Sorry I've been AWL for a little bit. Bunch of crap to deal with here at home, and I was distracted.

Nuranar, you talked to the 9th? Good ol' Tom Stuart. Ahhh, the 9th's an awesome unit. I loved it when I was outnumbered. It was more fun that way. But everytime I went confederate, we outnumbered the Union. But at least when we went yank, we were outnumbered.

By the way, I put up another post. Its kind of like the one I deleted.

[maikafanawen]

Earendil, check your PMs please, and very nice post. ;)

Determined to head it off, I would like to make sure that if you post on the discussion thread, please have the purpose of your post be directed to our RPG; don't let the name, 'Discussion Thread' mislead you. ;) Very interesting how three of our players are civil war reenactors. Have any of you by chance been to Gettysburg? I used to live there for about five years and am currently in Savannah. Big Civil War villages to be sure. ;)

Now, Here is the next goal to our game:

- The next battle, Avershire takes on two Lesser Ships at the same time. Most of Avershire's crew boards the Regal Dawn to escape their ship (which is sort of attached to the Regal Dawn by grapnels) as the Might of Realge sinks The North Wind. The grapnels are cut just in time and the Regal Dawn rights herself. The majority of Avershire's crew takes over the Regal Dawn and sends it after the Might of Realge to rescue the other members of Avershire's crew (who are overtaken by the corsairs of that ship). It is a hard fight, but the Regal Dawn eventually wins and the crewmembers who have survived the battles board her (both corsairs and Avershire's men).

(A life boat is launched at the last moment from the Might of Realge and speeds away without the know of Avershire to warn the Yonder Bound of the Regal Dawn's fate)

- Avershire takes a role call and finds that he now only has 30 souls to man an 85 crew ship. So he forces some of his corsair prisoners to join in the working of the sails and things of the sort while his men stand as guards or overseers.


I think we should rush through this rather quick with maybe a few short posts to cover it, because I would like to complete this RPG rather soon, Pio has been overly gracious to us for not giving us the boot swift and sure all ready! And the next little parts will certainly be more interesting anyways.

An honest question: Should I post what I had in mind for the rest of game now or would you rather me reveal it to you as we came upon it? I'm just wondering if it would be better to tie the game all together at once so we all have a good idea of what is to come and what we can do with our characters.

Bon, c'est tout.

-Maikafanawen

[Nuranar]

I'm sorry for the reenacting thing - I made sure not to post unless I had something RPG-related to say, too. But honestly, I couldn't resist talking about it anyway. :D So you were in Gettysburg? Mayhap you were there summer of '98 for the 135th reenactment. That still remains the best event I've ever been to.

Yes, let's get the next part over with quickly. And as for me, I'd like it if you posted the rest of what's to happen. I think it would help to get us geared up for how we want our characters to finish, plus giving us a finish line and something to look to. But that's just my two cents. ;)

Carry on!
Nuranar

[Durelin]

I posted, and its Saturday, so I kept my promise! :D

Earendil - I went ahead and said that Doran would wish to see Adeline once she gained consciousness. If I was wrong in figuring that he would wish to chew Adeline out (or such), just let me know.

[Earendil Halfelven]

Maika, I would reply to your pm via pm but I can't figure out how to pm on this new format. Can somebody please show me where the pm button is? I can't seem to find it... :confused:

Anyways, Duralin, all's well.

[piosenniel]

Earendil

If you are looking at a PM from maika and want to reply to it - look in the bottom right hand corner.

There are 2 choices: Forward and Quote.

Click on "Quote" and it opens the reply box for you.

~*~ Pio

[Amanaduial the archer]

Maika, sailors and corsairs all,

From tomorrow (Saturday 3rd April), I will be away for eight days until Sunday 11th April, and will probably not have any internet access. Apologies :(

-Aman

[Nuranar]

But I might as well ask that of myself. I just wanted to announce that I'm starting work on a post to bring us to battle with the two Lesser Ships. It'll take some writing and a lot of thought to plan a three-way battle that's dependent on the wind. So it'll be in progress for the next 24 hours (I've got a couple other things going on too). Any ideas for setting up the action would be appreciated! ;)

Oh, and I'm not sure on where I'll have to leave off. I'll try to keep it short, per Maika's "few short posts" plea above. I don't plan on completely finishing the battle in one post, but I'll be using other Gondorian characters. If any of you have ideas / guidelines for what your person will be doing, just let me know.

Carry on!
Nuranar

P.S. I forgot that some of the Gondorians are going to be captured. Any volunteers? Maika, we can throw some more wrenches into the Meri/Calnan thing (a.k.a. Calnan's captured because he helped her), or that might be just too much subplot. And I won't get to that part in this post anyway. Just thinking ahead.

[Arvedui III]

*Yawns* I'm still here, just kinda waiting around for Maika or someone to bring us to the pre-battle stage afore I post. Whatever needs doing, though, lemme know and I'll stop being lazy and write something.

Arvedui

P.S. Must...resist...reenacting...off-topicness. Gah! Sorry. This is it, then I'm done. No, I have not had the privilage of going to Gettysburg, though I would like to. There's not much in Louisiana save the Battle of New Orleans, which is always tons of fun, but not civil war. *Sighs*

[Nuranar]

Real fast - I've got a good bit of the battle up, and it's not too long.

Problem: How is the Might of Realge (sp?) going to take prisoners from the North Wind? From the water after it sinks? That doesn't work. I don't understand - any ideas?

[Durelin]

Hey everyone!

I am afraid I will be absent from this Wednesday April 7th till the following Monday, April 11th. I will have internet access, but not very often, and I most likely will not be able to post anything of substance...visiting grandparents, you see.

Just wanted to let you know.

Thanks!

-Durelin

[Nuranar]

The Regal Dawn has been boarded and the North Wind has begun to sink. Might of Realge is about to come alongside and be boarded by Talon's group, who will be subdued and captured (those who aren't killed) when the North Wind sinks and they're cut off from everyone else.

I anticipate that when the crew of Regal Dawn has surrendered, or at least been shut up below decks, the wounded and everyone else will be transferred from the North Wind. Aman - when you get back - I've indicated that Callath is assisting Sedal. I can change that if you like.

Arvedui, Telson is free to join either party; just write in as you like. He might be our best "voice" for those captured, actually.

Maika, Devon has boarded Regal Dawn. If you want him doing something else, let me know and I'll edit in corrections. I couldn't see him sitting this one out, at least. I hope Telson actually gave him that sword . . .

And everyone, look for two movie quotes that just about wrote themselves in. It's either sad or scary (I haven't decided which yet) when you know dialogue so well that it's your instinctive wording. :D

[maikafanawen]

I am running out the door this very moment but I just wanted to account for myself and say that I will find time this evening if it means my death to write a post and catch up. Very sorry!

-Maikafanawen

[maikafanawen]

Before I do anything with Devon, I was going to see if Telson would have given him his short-sword. I though he was fighting with it .... It's okay, if not, he'll of had an extra from the armory or something--the North Wind replenished with the take of the Pora Diy.

Anyways, my post is up and Sedal has sort of erected a very uneasy infirmary in the Regal Dawn's forecastle. It's not safe at all. Corsairs will come at them while they work of course and Sedal is going to probably ahve to abandon his job and fight at some points so it's not like they're invincible. But the North Wind will be gone in a matter of minutes: they had no choice. :D

So Avershire will lead the takeover of the Regal Dawn which will immediately defend itself against the Might of Realge. Then we'll go from there sound peachy-keen?

Any questions/concerns?

Ta!
Maikafanawen

[Arvedui III]

Just to clear things up: Telson really did give Devon one of his swords. He'll probably pick up a cutlass from a corsair to replace it, shifty Gondorian that he is. :)

I'll get a post up soon, just gotta work around Passover a little.

[Amanaduial the archer]

I'm back, and will post as soon as Maika has finished her post - you indicated that you hadn't finished, so I won't post in case it crosses with or disrupts yours.

Enjoy Easter and Pesach everyone!

[Himaran]

Still here - Graring is on the Might of Realge so he will take place in the ensuing battle. I'll probably have him survive it - not sure how I want to end my story with him yet. However, it would be redundant to have him get knocked overboard again. Perhaps he will get captured... or hide out on the ship without them knowing it?

Himaran

[maikafanawen]

I completely got distracted for the last week with performance and fencing and psh everything! Spring break started and the beach wow--I'm totaly burnt up--but ANYWAYS. We need to wrap up this lil RPG. Earendil and I have come up with the rest of the outline, here it is:

- The next battle, Avershire takes on two Lesser Ships at the same time. Most of Avershire's crew boards the Regal Dawn to escape their ship (which is sort of attached to the Regal Dawn by grapnels) as the Might of Realge sinks The North Wind. The grapnels are cut just in time and the Regal Dawn rights herself. The majority of Avershire's crew takes over the Regal Dawn and prepares it to fight the Might of Realge.

- The Might of Realge takes on the Regal Dawn and it's a hard fight BUT the Might of Realge wins and takes control of the Regal Dawn and Avershire and his crew. They are held in the brig and taken to the Yonder Bound (since it's closer than the Rapscallion to wait Doran's arrival. It looks as though the corsairs have won. Finally the larger ship comes into view and the prisoners are taken aboard.

- Avershire and his men are stowed in the Yonder Bound's brig. That night there is a wicked storm that sweeps lots of men overboard, and lightening splits the mast, and lights fire to the Yonder Bound. Refusing to go down with a corsair ship, Avershire, Meri, Telson and the others--with great difficulty--free themselves from the brig. As they rush out on the deck, the other corsairs see them. With no weapons, the Gondorian crew has to fight with their bare hands, or with scraps of burning wood that lies all around the deck. Meri immediately goes to try to salvage a lifeboat and lower it into the water. But another bolt of lightening strikes the Yonder Bound and she jolts, splinters, and breaks in two as she begins to sink faster. Everyone abandons ship.

- On the beach of The Bay from which Doran has sailed lay the remains of the Yonder Bound. They had been nearly two leagues from there when the storm came upon them. In the jungles beyond the sand gathers what's left of Avershire's men. Among them are Avershire, Meri, Devon, Calnan, Callath, and Telson (unless one of the main characters resigns) plus a dozen other crewmembers. They scavenge for food and erect some decent shelter (one of the surviving crewmembers is the North Wind's carpenter. They're also hiding from the few corsairs that have survived.

- A day and a half later Doran lands on the beach with about 300 men and there is some land fighting between what's left of Avershire and Doran's mighty corsairs. When Avershire is v v close to being defeated, Gondor arrives and storms the beach capturing/killing all the corsairs.

- Doran will be captured (?)

- And we'll decide the final ending when the time comes.

A lot has been abridged lol. but y'all probably want to get on to new RPGs and stuff so thar it is! Don't worry about waiting for me to finish my post. Y'all go on ahead and I'll get Devon up soon.

-Maikafanawen, ah ah, a tan Maikafanawen. ;) Ta!

[Nuranar]

Maika, it's great to see you back. Thanks for the extra details - I'm excited to really get on this. Oh, and please check your PMs. :)

[maikafanawen]

Nuranar, PMs checked! And I was reading over the RPG thread to get into the mood before I wrote my next post and I just had to say that your writing is absolutely fantastic. That's all. :D Mais, tres bien fait!

"Come on then! Lets see whether you'd survive the bar brawls of Gondor!"

Good! ;) Ah very good.

Ok well I've gotten Devon up. It's all I have time for right now (SORRY) but we'll see what I can do later this evening after fencing or tomorrow.

Press on y'all!

-Maika

[Amanaduial the archer]

"Come on then! Lets see whether you'd survive the bar brawls of Gondor!" Good :) Ah very good.

Thankyou :) I wasn'y sure you would like that, so excellent.

[Nuranar]

Aman, great to see Callath back in action.

I just had to say that your writing is absolutely fantastic.

Thank you for those kind words - now I feel special. :) I'm waiting to post until I know your wishes about Meri.

I was thinking yesterday about the scenario - wondering how I'd approach it, if I end up moving the action along - and something occurred to me. We're going to have roughly half our crew captured right off, when they board the Might of Realge. Also, you say the Regal Dawn will be captured as well, after a hard fight. How realistic is it for all of our characters to remain (relatively) unscathed? No, I'm not calling for a volunteer to kill his character; I've grown rather fond of Calnan, myself, and would like to hang onto him for a bit. :D I was just wondering if you had any thoughts or guidelines about how "useable" you want each of us, for the struggles that will be coming up. For example, Devon is already somewhat hors de combat, and I doubt if what he's doing right now, although perfectly understandable, will do his arm any good. Additionally, how many "expendable crewmen" will we dispose of? Our list of allies is rapidly growing thin. ;)

Just some thoughts -
Nuranar

[maikafanawen]

Well I want to keep Avershire, Meri, Devon and Sedal (a few of those are going to die on land--probably). All the players are in charge of their own characters and their fate. If Marx dies it must be heroic like he's fighting off lots o' big corsairs with tons of arrows etc. in him and he's still going--very similar to Boromir's death. ;) Anyone else: whatever. Lots of Avershire's people will die of course. I need the carpenter too though... I dun remember his name ...

Let's nix boarding the Might of Realge. Just everyone get on the Regal Dawn. Ca va?

Ah, I'm goin out right now but I'll be back and try to get on tonight.

Ta,
Maikafanawen

[Nuranar]

Let's nix boarding the Might of Realge

I think I set up that boarding in my post - would you like me to rework that, then? It'd be no problem, but I'd like to make sure.

Awaiting orders,
Nuranar ;)

[maikafanawen]

would you like me to rework that

Yes, that would be great. And should I post then the taking of the Regal Dawn and intro to the assault by the Might of Realge? Is it time? lol

-Maikafanawen

[Nuranar]

Ok, it's fixed. Man, that was a hard one - it took all of five minutes, reworking Avershire's one-sentence order to Talon. :rolleyes: Yes, I am a perfectionist. But at least now Talon's party will be following Meri onto the Regal Dawn. I've implied that Avershire is staying on the North Wind, at least for now.
Is it time? lol
Ya think? :D By all means - I'm getting tired of seeing the poor Ambassador's Son stuck down at the bottom of the Shire page. :p

[Earendil Halfelven]

When would you guys say it would be a good time for Doran and the rest of his ships to show up and get into the battle? I'm just waiting on the word.

[maikafanawen]

Okay, I've posted and we're ready to begin the battle with The Might of Realge.

I hope my post wasn't too lame. I sort of rushed through the end so I could get to the beach today! :D

Earendil, After The Might of Realge takes Avershire aboard, they're going to go to the Yonder Bound which is not really that far off. You'll be on your way to theYonder Bound when the storm hits. The Yonder Bound will be hit by lightening and sunk. Survivors (pirates and Gondorians) will make it to the coast of Southern Middle earth -- into some jungle regions. They will last there for a couple days erecting fortification and booby traps etc. before The Rapscallion and Doran's other ships (which were tossed about during the storm) will land and do some land-battles which will wrap up the RPG. Savvy? So you could probably move out now looking for Avershire, maybe sending the Yonder Bound ahead of you or on another course and she will eventually intercept The Might of Realge. Does that all make some sense?

D'accord -- je vais aller a la plage!!!!!!

Ta!
Maikafanawen

[Himaran]

Maika: Thanks for clearing up the plot. I've been waiting to find out what happens!

Ok, Jurex is standing by. I'll try to get a post in for Graring, too. Perhaps he will die in the ensuing battle.

Himaran

[maikafanawen]

All right, I am NOT going to write this RPG myself. If someone doesn't post on the thread soon by Friday at the latest and people don't start showing some interest in it we'll just close it prematurely. My last post was a while ago--we really should have ended this last month but I thought that the end might be exciting enough to get everyone fired back up about it. I do not intend to keep this in the Shire forever.

-Maikafanawen

[Nuranar]

As soon as I get a couple of meetings over with this morning, I'll write a post to move us along. I'll take us as far as I can without making a ridiculously long post. So hang on - I'll be on there as soon as I can. And I'm sorry. :(

[Earendil Halfelven]

Sorry that I haven't posted. I'm at school posting because my internet is down AGAIN and has been for the past few days! I thought the server was just down but it turns out that I got hit by that Sasser worm. Everytime I try to start up the internet, this little box pops up and says that I have one minute until the computer restarts. It even comes equipped with a complimentary timer counting down from one minute! I have downloaded the program to get rid of it today so I should be able to either post today or tomorrow if it works out. Sorry

[Durelin]

I also ask for your forgiveness.

I have posted, and am hoping that it is alright. I got an idea (with a bit of inspiration from one of my favorite sea-faring movies). Finally, I am trying to bring about some subplot on the Rapscallion. A bit late, and without any former consent from yourself, so, of course, I am ready to rework the post if it is not to your liking. The good thing about this sort of subplot is that it is something that can be worked with and expanded, or it can be left as is. I do believe, though, that the restlessness of the crew is inevitable, and will at the least be a factor in the final battle.

Sorry again, Maika!

-Durelin

[Nuranar]

My post is finished; the Gondorians have just been captured. Some quick notes:

* Pearlle and Packs are dead.
* Devon is not mentioned - I didn't presume to guess how he was doing after the last battle.
* I did not mention specific survivors because I don't know in what state of repair you'd like your characters to be in. After two such hard-fought fights, Calnan himself isn't doing just terrific.
* If anyone cares to write a vignette of Marx's Boromir-like death scene, feel free and I'll incorporate it. Otherwise, I guess he'll still be alive. My invention of horrors is running a little short.

As usual, any comments/complaints/corrections invited. I've done my best, and I must say - I'm exhausted! I hope it's good. :)

Carrying on,
Nuranar

[Earendil Halfelven]

Ok, both sasser worms are dead and purged from my pc and a post is up. Doran is on the way and he saw some action too. I ended my post when his ships got hit from the storm, in case you couldn't tell.

[Arvedui III]

I'm here, I'm here! Won't even begin to appologize for my absence, that would take too long. But I am sorry for being remiss.

I'll post the Marx/Boromir death thingy and give Telson some stuff to brood over. Will have it up by tonight. Really. I promise.

[Himaran]

Maika: My apologies for not checking in; my computers filter was down and the password wasn't working, and then the BD was blocked again... too many problems!

I am assuming that the Gondorians are captured, on the Might of Realge? I never saw the name anywhere, and thus didn't want to assume.... if so, I will get another post in for Graring.

Himaran

[Nuranar]

The Gondorians are on the Might of Realge. As I understand it, it'll rendezvous with the Yonder Bound some time later and transfer the prisoners. (I assume this is because Yonder Bound is a Large Ship - more room, more strength.) So please post for Graring. He's on the Might, isn't he? I checked the RPG just now and that's what it looked like.

[Nuranar]

I will be moving home from school tomorrow, so I won't be able to write anything until Wednesday. But unless someone else posts in the meantime, I'd like to move the story along, probably Wednesday afternoon or evening. (Unless unexpected family stuff happens. :)) So if Himaran's post doesn't transfer the prisoners to the Yonder Bound I'll do that, and then the storm and see how far I go. Unless you'd rather I didn't, Maika, or someone else's just dying to write it themselves. ;)

Is that ok with you, then? If so, it'd help if I could have a status report on Devon. I'm really unsure about how his injury would logically effect him, and I don't know how unscathed you want him after the capture. He seems a little moody, too, so I was wondering about that.

I don't want to offend or upset anyone, so please tell me if there are any problems. I'd like to keep this from stagnating again.

Carrying on,
Nuranar

[Amanaduial the archer]

No, that's fine by me - thanks if you'd do that, Nuranar :)

[Himaran]

Everyone:

My post is up: Prisoners have been transfered to the Younder Bound/ I'm contemplating ways to get Graring moved with them... any ideas?

Himaran

[Arvedui III]

Himaran: Herm...maybe you could put Garing on guard duty? The prisoners certainly need watching.

Nuranar: It's cool by me, too.

[Nuranar]

Thanks for the postive feedback, people. It's very encouraging!

I've just posted; the Yonder Bound just sank and what's left of crew and company are in the water. This post ended up being told almost exclusively from Calnan's viewpoint with a little bit of omniscient narration. That's where I have to say something that Calnan, as a landlubber, wouldn't know. Of course, being a landlubber myself, I found it a bit difficult to adequately describe a tropical storm and the breakup of a ship. Apologies for all inaccuracies and improbabilities, and as always, I'll edit in corrections.

Himaran, guard duty for Graring is probably good, but you could also have him sent to Doran; after all, he is the only survivor of . . . whatever that first ship was. I can't remember the name. Doran would probably want to hear a corsair viewpoint on it. Also, if you want I can put in a reference to Calnan seeing him, especially if Graring has a grudge and you'd like to play that out in the future.

Now, who wants to handle the confusion of how widely scattered we're going to be on the random shore we all wash up on? :p

[Himaran]

Glad to see this game finally moving along. :D

Nuranur:

Graring was on the Bound and washed ashore. He has just noticed a small group of Gondorians on the shore. The others, I am assuming, are still scattered. Maybe small groups could form on different parts of the shore, with Graring tracking one of them. Even now, stranded on an island out in the middle of nowhere, and considered dead on three possible ships, all he can think of is reward! How... corsair like :rolleyes:

Himaran

[piosenniel]

Hi

I had planned for this game to be done by the end of May.

How is the storyline coming along with regard to this deadline?

~*~ Pio, Game Moderator

[Durelin]

Well, I'm not too sure what Maika had in mind. I think it would be possible for us to end it by the end of May, if we rush it just a bit. But it's in Maika's hands, who seems to be very busy again, poor thing. I know how that feels... :rolleyes:

Anyway, I was wondering if it would be alright if I picked up a little secondary-type character until Adeline gets into the action a bit more. I know it is kind of a bit late for that, but I was wondering if I could pick up the role of one of the Gondorian prisoners now stranded on the island. I already have a post written up for this (I guess I got a little carried away...), so I will post it and wait for feedback to know whether or not it needs to be deleted, or just modified in any way.

Thanks!

-Durelin :D

[Nuranar]

Himaran - I was going to say I'm "glad" for Graring to be still with us, but I guess Calnan wouldn't think so. But for the game, I'm glad he's washed up on shore!

End of May, Pio? I think it would happen - provided someone moves to the story along at least every few days. We're pretty close to the end, it looks like. One more fight - and a land fight at that. No more ships!

Durelin, I enjoyed your post - very well written. I don't have a problem with your new character.

No Maika? Sadness. :( But please, let's keep this going so that she can jump in when she has a chance, instead of spending her time in lighting a fire under us again. Arvedui or Aman, would one of you be able to start the next part of the plan?

On the beach of The Bay from which Doran has sailed lay the remains of the Yonder Bound. They had been nearly two leagues from there when the storm came upon them. In the jungles beyond the sand gathers what's left of Avershire's men. Among them are Avershire, Meri, Devon, Calnan, Callath, and Telson (unless one of the main characters resigns) plus a dozen other crewmembers. They scavenge for food and erect some decent shelter (one of the surviving crewmembers is the North Wind's carpenter. They're also hiding from the few corsairs that have survived.

One last note - in finding the above plan, I discovered that I hadn't followed it in particulars for the storm and shipwreck. I'm so sorry! I'm at home now, I had to write the post on another computer, and I either forgot or couldn't find that outline. If it's a problem, tell me.

Carrying on,
Nuranar

[Himaran]

Nuranur:

Since I have Jurex on Doran's flagship, is it fine If I post about Doran finding the remains of the 2 destroyed ships North Wind and ....? and then turn towards the island, finding the Younder Bound's wreckage and landing on the shore?

Or should I wait until the poor widdle Gondorians have enough time to deal with their booboos? :D

Still the happiest BarrowDowner,

Himaran

[Nuranar]

Hmm. Here's my recommendation: I would have Doran finding a survivor from the Dawn or the Might. That way he can find out the North Wind is sunk and the Gondorians captured. Then he can maybe find wreckage from the Yonder Bound, and maybe sail for the island, knowing it's the logical place to look for survivors. My reasoning is below. It's long because we're actually dealing with four ships, not counting Doran's!

~*~
The North Wind sank fast during the fight. (Remember abandoning ship during the battle, moving the wounded and all?) What wreckage left would be just bits of wood, rope, maybe personal effects, etc. - nothing substantial, just floatable things that came loose. Most of the ship's on the bottom of the sea.

The Regal Dawn (I looked up the name!) was the ship that the Gondorians captured and took over when the North Wind sank. They were able to capture it partly because they did such a good job of battering it with the North Wind's catapults. Unfortunately, that's why they hadn't a chance as the Might of Realge came up; the Regal Dawn was crippled. I find that no one said what happened to it after the Gondorians boarded the Might of Realge and were captured. I think the Might's captain would've sent men to repair it, presumably with the help of whatever remained of the Dawn's crew. (I assume they were imprisoned below, although we never said.)

Cripple and/or under repair, the Regal Dawn wouldn't have been able to accompany the Might of Realge to the rendezvous with the Yonder Bound. So we just don't know what happened to it, if it was far from the storm and rode it out better, or if it sank as well. If it somehow survived, I would think it would've been blown a very long way off course; it was in no shape to fight against the wind.

I'd think the Might of Realge, after transferring the prisoners, either went off on orders, or stayed to accompany the Yonder Bound. I didn't mention it being nearby in the storm post, but that means nothing because I doubt they'd have been able to stay together in the storm.

The way the Yonder Bound sinks, more by breaking up than by capsizing, there would probably be quite a bit of floating wreckage, both at sea and on shore.

Now, as far as Doran coming across wreckage:

The fight between the North Wind, Regal Dawn, and Might of Realge takes place far out at sea; I doubt if Doran would run across the site by accident. Also, this would be taking place a minimum of 24 hours later and after a storm, so the wreckage would have been scattered far and wide and not be a very significant indication of any battle. Not to mention that a storm had just been through. If you saw a wrecked house just after a hurricane, wouldn't you think the storm had did it, instead of jumping to the conclusion that it had been bombed? Maybe not the best analogy, but I hope you get the idea; Doran would have to be paranoid to assume a battle.

As far as the Regal Dawn and the Might of Realge, it's a lot more open with what happens. You could write that one or both sink, break up or whatever, and Doran could find wreckage or even a forlorn survivor. That'd be even better for finding out what happened. Keep in mind, the storm would still have sent any wreckage a long way.

All that said, I must admit I don't know what Doran (in the Rapscallion?) is even doing and where he's supposed to be. If you know more you can work out something else, maybe.

I hope I haven't confused you - so sorry for the length! :eek: One last thing: For story continuity, it might be best if you waited until the Gondorian storyline starts, just to establish their presence on the island. Other than that, please go ahead - happiest BarrowDowner! ;)

[Earendil Halfelven]

Hi everyone!

I was thinking of a good time when Doran could come across the survivors and we can have our last battle. I figured that it would be good for me to wait until you Gondorians get settled on the island and get things going there before I show up, just like you recommended Nuranar. Hmmm, if Maika doesn't show up by the time we get to the end, should we actually end it?

[Durelin]

Hmmmm, since we should be drawing near the end, I was considering some ideas, as well...mainly about Doran's position, because he is the main concern of my character. So, if anything I suggest goes against what has already been planned, I did not mean it to, as I am thoroughly confused on where everyone is going to be, and when.

I believe Doran should have received word through some means about the taking of Gondorian prisoners. Could they use birds...? (Hmmmm...messenger seagulls... :rolleyes: ) After the ship is taken in the storm, he stops receiving 'updates' from them. Or, the fact that they have taken prisoners draws him to them, wishing to question them himself, make sure none of them are anybody important, etc. Most likely he doesn't trust any of his men to do any of this on their own. This could eliminate Doran's having to come upon the wreckage site by chance. Also, even with small signs of wreckage and know sign of any ships, if Doran could somehow know the ships' last location, he could assume the worst, easily. Landing on the island to investigate, hopefully, seems like a good idea.

What if I had Rakein almost as a scout: Doran lands on the beach near where Rakein has 'camped out', and Rakein observes them. When he sees a woman among them, he knows she is a prisoner and perhaps even that she is Adeline, friend and Devon. So he decides that he must find the others, as he cannot get his revenge on his own, and thinking of the safety of the woman.

How does that sound to get things going toward a final battle? Unless it is just easier to assume that the Gondorians are given plenty of time to rally together, as well as plenty of motivation to. Also, my idea would need a reason for Doran to wait on the island before immediately hunting down any Gondorians, or even any corsair, perhaps. His searching for his shipwrecked men could give the Gondorians time to find each other, but his searching most likely would also find the Gondorians... Am I making any sense?

What does everyone think? Hopefully I at least started some thought about stuff, even if I was unable to coherently establish any plot possibilities...

-Durelin :D

[piosenniel]

I would like this game to close on May 31st, Midnight, Pacific Time U.S.

Since Maika has not posted since 04/25 on either the Game or the Discussion Thread, the other gamers will need to carry her character along and bring this game to conclusion by then.

Please do discuss the options presented by Nuranar and Durelin and bring this game to a succesful end.

~*~ Pio, Game Moderator.

[Earendil Halfelven]

No problem, Pio. This game will be over by then. I guess we can't worry about Maika anymore not posting. We'll end it when we get there.

Durelin, so your suggesting that Doran come across some floating Gondorian's after the storm who are adrift in the sea and question them, then go to the island to investigate? Thats the idea that I got from your post, and if thats the case, I like it. Thats what you said also, Nuranar.

So, here's the plan-
Devon and the Gondorians and Corsairs get to the island and start fighting eachother.
Meanwhile, Doran comes across some survivors floating in the ocean and goes to the island to investigate and finish off Devon if Devon is there.
As they battle on the island, which I say should go on for a few days because they'll be chasing eachother, a seperate Gondorian force shows up and enters the battle. That turns the battle against Doran and the Corsairs lose and Doran, Jurex, and Acacia are taken back to Umbar for trial, and a possible execution? Here, you can kill off all secondary characters, if you want. Some major characters can die too if you guys would like. Would it be interesting if Devon died in a fight with Doran? I think that would be cool. :D
So, the last posts will be back in Umbar with the trial of the Corsairs and executions, if we have any. Or we can have some escape?

You guys like?

[Nuranar]

Earendil, thanks for putting things together coherently. You summed up what Durelin and I said very neatly, I think. Himaran, how's that with you?

About how to finish it up with the corsair protagonists, I'm not sure; I kinda figured that was your area, with Doran being your character and all. About other major characters . . . yeah, it'd be cool if some of them died. I'm a bit attached to Calnan, though, and I might use him in later stories, so I'd rather not kill him. So much for my team spirit! :p With that in mind, though, I'd just caution not to kill Devon without making every effort to contact Maika. I think that'd be some serious Forum Rule Violations. No point in testing Pio's patience any further. ;)

It appears that the corsair contingent is well represented. What about the Gondorians? Aman, Arvedui? With the storm and the wreck, I did the last post that concerned the Gondorians, so would one of you move us along? That's what's holding us up, although Doran could go ahead and find his survivors at sea.

[Amanaduial the archer]

I'm here. Unseen maybe, but I have been checking in regularly, honest! :) Nuranar, could you check your PMs please?

[Earendil Halfelven]

Ok, good idea about killing characters, Nuranar, even though I don't know how we'd actually contact Maika. But I guess that if she doesn't check in by the time we get to the battling and stuff that we can do with her character what we like. I think thats in the rules, if I remember correctly. Anyways, everyone can just do what you want with your character's fate, which is what normally happens anyways. But with characters that have no players, we'll be democratic and vote on what happens to them, so...

Who all votes for Devon to bite the dust? Vote either "yea" or "nay."

"Yea"= a vote in the affirmative for death

"Nay"= a vote in the negative for death

My reasoning for voting NOW is that if we get to the battling at the end, we'll already have our plan on what we're going to do and we won't have to waste anymore time deciding that. If Maika does show up, then all's well. But at least we'll be prepared.

Ok, you Gondorians get posting and get the island scenario set up so that Doran, Jurex, and Acacia can show up and start the battling. We'll set a deadline so that we don't run out of time for this whole RPG.

Doran, Jurex, and Acacia will arrive on the island and start battling on Thursday May 20th. All players wishing to get in pre-island posts need to do so NOW.

That leaves us 10 days for the trials and wrapping it up.

Let's Go!!!

[Amanaduial the archer]

Yea!

But hey, we're talking major drama of the duel-ish persuasion, I assume? ;)

[piosenniel]

Shire rules state:

Any character that goes missing for a two week period of time can be "killed off" or "lost" and will be out of the game.

The character, Devon, may be carried along now and disposed of in any manner the other gamers see fit.

~*~ Pio

[Himaran]

The plan sounds good. I'm standing by for posts.

YEA for Devon (or.... against Devon, I should say) - its about time the little rip got what he deserved. :smokin:

I would like Graring to be left on the island. You know, the hermit thing. Jurex will not be captured. He will die, a tragic end to a miserable and desolate life. Poetic, actually.

Anyway, its about time this game rested in Elvenhome. Give it your all this last week or so, troops!

Himaran

[Durelin]

Sounds excellent. You reached the point I was trying to get to, Earendil, though, after all that, I was unable to reach it... :D

I will get up a post for Rakein, having him spot Doran landing on the island before or after you post the landing, Earendil, and have him report this to Devon. If that's okay with everyone...? If you have a preference as to when (before or after, or anything more precise...), Earendil, then just let me know and I will do my best to get the post in when you want it.

Thanks!

-Durelin

[Earendil Halfelven]

Ok-
3 yea's (me, Aman, Himaran)
0 nay's so far...

its about time the little rip got what he deserved.
Yeah, thats the spirit! I like that kinda talk, Himaran!

Durelin I figure it will be better if you posted about Rakein after I posted Doran's landing. I plan on going no further than the landing, so then you can take any details you want and add to your post, if you like. I'll post the landing sometime Thursday evening and we'll fight to Sunday evening. Oh, btw, what was your vote?

Any more votes?

[piosenniel]

My vote is for the posting on the game to begin . . . ;)

~*~ Pio

[Himaran]

Always one for the wise, sentimental statements, aye Pio? ;)

IMPORTANT!\

Graring made contact with the corsairs. They are going to raid the Gondorian shore area. Since Callath and the other Gondorian saw them, perhaps they can run back and alert the Gondorians to the coming fight. Just so the corsairs won't humiliate them too badly.... :D

If this is to be played out, it must be done today! Tomorrow, Papa Doran arrives.

Himaran

[Nuranar]

This is so terrific, having everyone back on board! Pardon the pun - it was NOT deliberate. :rolleyes:

I'll be posting later today about the raid on the Gondorians by Graring's pals.

Sure, let's rub out Devon. Someone's got to go! But I'm also wondering about the others. As Earendil said, we really need to get this sorted out before the last battle. Mainly I'm curious about Avershire, Meri and Sedal.

Also keep in mind that in my post in the brig I specified there were barely a dozen prisoners. That means that, including Devon, Callath, Calnan, Telson, and Rakekin, there are 5 survivors already - and not mentioning who didn't survive the wreck. I'm nervous about killing all of Maika's characters, but ... it's not realistic for everyone to survive a wreck, much less wash up on shore within a hundred yards of each other. And neither is it realistic to have all our characters survive and lose only the "expendable crewmen." Any thoughts?

Carry on!
Nuranar

[Amanaduial the archer]

I know what you mean, Nuranar, but...well, no one too drastic. Certainly at least one NPC who has been more frequently mentioned should die...well, I think so, what do you think?

Nuranar - do you know whether Maika will be coming back before the end of the game at all? I know we have sort of said the game will finish without her, but if there is a chance, it isn't really fair to kill off her favourites, like Avershire. After all, as he has a bio, he is, technically, a played character.

Marx is obviously already dead.

Avershire - to kill him off would be quite a large step actually. Do you know if she had any plans for him? Possibly it would be better for him to go down fighting, but then, it would be a massive blow to moral if he was found dead. The arguements for and againsts seem to even up there.

Lolliway - the silent conflict between Meri and Calnan was quite interesting, I thought. Possibly Avershire could be dead and she alive? Maybe she and Calnan could fight together or something, she covers his back and the debt kinda gets sorted that way? Or, alternatively, she could die and behold the waves of guilt upon Calnan...(unintentional pun, I never realised how much the sea comes up like that! ;))

Sedal - I don't suggest that the surgeon dies, actually. I would quite like it if Sedal lived. But maybe....well, maybe I am being morbid, but he could have sustained some serious damage in the fight - maybe a mast fell, hitting one arm? Anyway, maybe I am just being harsh, but maybe he lost an arm...*evil*

Luc - Now, pity for the boy, but I think Luc would actually be perfect to get rid off. He has been mentioned frequently in my posts, in several references in Maika's and in a few of yours, Nuranar, so he is quite a well known NPC, without too much of his mind being known. For him to have been killed would be a big blow to Callath - they were getting quite close having worked together. One condition, if I may - if he does go, Callath gets to find him? Chop, I say.

Yulman - mentioned a few times in posts by myself (and Maika?) at one point - he's the drunk, rather ripe older sailor who was being treated at Callath and Sedal's meeting, if you remember? Maybe not. Here is the description from Maika: age unknown, looks anywhere between 40 & 70 loud boisterous sailor, who gets drunk most of the time, has the stamina of any sailor Bearing in mind the sparseness of the description, I doubt there were any real plans for him. I reckon the fiery old bugger would have gone down fighting, too stubborn to give in. Chop, I say.

Packs - barely mentioned. Maika has mentioned him in the speech of Sedal and Avershire say...once? Another 'random' character with a rather sparse description. a theological man, smart, but somewhat sickly This didn't really come across at all. *shrugs* Chop, almost certainly.

Blake - this would be the helmsman. That's all he's described as. Bearing in mind the barrage that was raining down upon them in the attacks, I think it's actually a little unrealistic if he isn't dead. Like Packs, quite a definite chop.

Frenchy - I think Maika probably had plans for him. A loyal follower of Avershire, quite close it seems as well - he was the second mate. Quiet, lean, tall, red hair - rarely mentioned, but probably would take over in Avershire's stead if the Captain was dead or missing. This could either cause a clash with Devon which would be interesting...or shall we just get rid of him to save the problems?

Portie - Never mentioned, as far as I can tell. In charge of reparations, pretty ancient in Middle Earth terms - average age of death is, what, sixty, seventy? This guy is put down as '80+'. Seriously, never mentioned. Chop, chop, chop...

Rilgari - Man, I think I mentioned him...once? Twice? Anyway, he barely featured in any posts and was another of the 'random' characters who Maika created - like a secondary secondary ;) shy, flaxen-haired boy of about 18 or 19. However, similar as he is to Callath and sparse though his character may be, I would rather like him to stay alive. Please? If you want him to go though, that's fine.

Borger - I quote from our fearless leader once more:
poetic man of about 25 who has a good singing voice, is disliked by none Sounds like an interesting, if useless, guy. However, I can't really recall him being mentioned - Nuranar, did you mention him once or twice? Anyway, featured once more twice maybe but pretty much nonexistant. Shall we chop?

Orda - Oh, everyone knows little Orda. You can't seriously kill him off....right?

If anyone else wants to have a closer look at the descriptions as Maika first has them written, they're on page seven in the Discussion thread - quite near the bottom, post #280.

Hope this is helpful,

-Ax

[Nuranar]

Thanks for the list, Aman! I love lists. One thing before I dive in: What under heaven is an "NPC"?

I know no more than you about whether Maika will return. I am half expecting her to at least check in before we're done, though. She's dropped out for a while before, but each time she's come back.

Avershire: He's a good, interesting character. She's created a lot of background with his corsair "roots," if you will. If we were to end him, I think there would have to be some sort of resolution. Re-instatement in Gondor's navy, for example, would be particularly appropriate. So let's keep him.

Loliway: I, too, enjoyed her conflict with Calnan very much; it was a lot of fun to write for. Maika had suggested that Calnan come to her rescue when she gets in a spot, thereby putting the guilt on her, since she'd effectively left him and Devon in the lurch. But I like your suggestion that she saves him, demonstrating her attitude change instead of leading to it. Then we wouldn't have to deal with her emotional turmoil after the fact, either. If she were to die: First, that'd be pretty tough on Avershire, and we'd have to deal with his reaction (and for such a multi-faceted character that'd be difficult, I think). Second, Calnan really wouldn't be the one with the guilt; I'd indicated that he'd pretty much forgiven her already. She was the one who couldn't stop thinking about it. So then, let's keep her too, and I can put the saving bit into the raid (that I'm in the middle of writing right now).

Sedal: By all means, injure the surgeon. :p I don't think losing an arm is the best way to do it, though. If it's actually torn off in the wreck, he'd inevitably bleed to death in a few minutes. My medical knowledge is sketchy, but I'm sure that to have any chance at all he'd need an immediate tourniquet. That requires both someone to apply it and the opportunity to do so properly. In a combined storm and fight, that's not real likely. Plus there's the effect of hypothermia on a man weakened by severe blood loss. I just don't think he'd survive such a wound. Now, after all that, I'm at a bit of a loss about what other injury he could actually sustain. He could certainly break something, I think, so long as it's not compound (def: bone breaking the skin). We could even deal with a broken leg if we need to, and that's a pretty severe injury. Sorry for the long-winded explanations; any thoughts?

Luc: I could never find a bio for him, although he appeared quite a bit in your posts, so I used him only a little. Your reasoning for axing him is very good, so let's do it. Please post Callath's gruesome discovery at your pleasure.

Yulman: Actually, I think he would've died even before the capture. I looked up your post, and in it he lost his right eye and broke his left leg. Broken legs, especially in the, um, period at which we're setting this, are pretty serious, and I don't think there's any way he could have lasted through the two fights we had after that, even if he could've struggled upright. So I think he's already dead.

Packs: For the surrender post I wrote, I chose him as the seaman who bandaged up Calnan's head. Later in that post he gets spitted by a corsair. So he's already dead too.

Blake: I remember him being mentioned, but that's about it. And since the helm is so exposed, it's most likely he's already gone too. Wow, a real killing spree we seem to be on, ain't it!

Frenchy: Maika indirectly killed Frenchy in the first battle. See her post on March 13, in Devon's conversation with Callath. Marx becomes third mate since Frenchy was killed.

Portie: Yup, never mentioned. Bye-bye!

Rilgari: Sure, let's keep him. And technically, it's more likely that someone young and strong like him would survive being shipwrecked. Keep him, by all means, and especially since I've scratched off, let's see, 6 characters in a row!

Borger: He's working the catapults with Rilgari in the first battle, and it doesn't look like I mentioned him. (Thank heaven for the "Find" button on my toolbar!) I don't see any need for him, and if he was a mate of Rilgari's, that might faciliate a new friendship between he and Callath. They'll both have lost a friend.

Orda: I'd hate to lose Orda, too. Maybe he can be the one who sticks by Sedal when he's hurt? Like Ben-Hur and Quintus Arrius - keeping the injured guy above the water.

For one you didn't mention: Talon: old and balding, fiery and rude, very superstitious. He, as second mate, led a boarding party onto the Regal Dawn (second battle), but he's not mentioned after that. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have another seasoned fighter on our side. Tentative keeper? I'll check when I total things up below.

Okay, this is 13 characters. Add Devon, Callath, Calnan, and Telson; that's 17. Take away Frenchy, who died early; that's 16. We can have only about 12 who survived to be captured.

For survivors: Devon, Callath, Calnan, Telson, Avershire, Loliway, Sedal, Rilgari, and Orda = 9. Add Talon, and that's 10. That's a phenomenal survival ratio for a group of wounded prisoners shipwrecked at sea and cast ashore! If it's all right, then, let's keep just the 9 and I'll change my post to say that we had about 20 Gondorians imprisoned. How will that do? I'll make a list for reference, and if there are more suggestions I'll edit them in:

Gondorian Survivors
Devon
Callath
Calnan
Telson
Avershire
Loliway
Sedal - seriously wounded
Rilgari
Orda
Rakein

Gondorians Lost at Sea or Previously Dead
Marx
Luc
Yulman
Packs
Blake
Frenchy
Portie
Borger
Talon

One last thing before I get back to my post - writing it, that is (ah! these nautical/military metaphors!): Now that the North Wind is gone, and especially since we're no longer at sea, Avershire is not the Gondorian leader. Technically he's only a volunteer, he and all the crew, including Loliway. We could very easily have some conflict with that, since I think it's perfectly in character for him to assume command. Aman, you hinted at that very well in your post, indicating how Callath realizes the difference between being at sea and being on the land.

The logical thing is for Devon to reassert his leadership. But I'm having difficulty with this: First, he's only 17. Not to run down 17-year-olds, but he definitely lacks experience in leading a desperate campaign like this. Also, I'm not sure the rest, at least those of the ship's company, would feel a lot of confidence in his leadership. On the other hand, it was his enthusiasm and determination to oppose Doran that got this resistance movement going in the first place. Second, he's been wounded, not terribly, but seriously enough, and in a way that has handicapped his fighting ability. It seems that he's recovered a bit, as Maika's post of April 19 indicates, but he was feeling pretty emotionally upset at partially losing the use of his arm. How unnerving would that be for a teenager? Could he pull himself together in time to lead an effective last-ditch defense against the corsairs on the island? Third, Devon's creator is not writing for him! How hard would it be to not merely carry his character, but all of us in concert consistently write him as a leader?

Avershire may instinctively assume command, but he's a seaman, first and last. May I venture to say that Calnan, growing up in Ithilien, as the son of a Ranger, probably knows the most about skirmishing on land? I know Telson has seen military service, but not guerrilla type. From his bio, it seems that although he's a fighter, he's not voluntarily a leader of men. Not that Calnan does that either, I think, but he's good at seeing the best course and stepping up to take charge if no one else is.

So, IF it's ok with all of you, I think I'm going to write how Calnan ends up taking charge. It'll be unobtrusive, I think, although he'll need to at least show Avershire where his authority ends. I'm not going to wait for feedback, because time is now of the essence - I don't want to get run over by "Papa Doran." (Himaran, where did THAT come from?!) But I promise to heed all comments and make any necessary changes. :)

Here are the issues that I'd appreciate any feedback on:
* How Loliway and Calnan are reconciled
* Devon's attitude / state of mind / physical condition
* Nature of Sedal's wound
* Calnan taking charge

Profuse apologies for the length of this post. I guess I had a lot to say, although I didn't know it when I started! Carry on!
~ Nuranar

[Arvedui III]

Ack! So much in so little time! Sorry for my absence, all. I really wish life didn't have to keep making me apologize for the same thing. I've read what's been thrown out and everything looks fine to me.

As to nature of Sedal's wounds, I don't mean to be sadistic, but broken ribs are quiet painful. Brake a lot of ribs and it's also quite hampering. Perhaps he took a heavy blow from something during the storm and Orda got him up onto driff wood to ride it out. It wouldn't be too hard to recover from, but might handicape him sufficently. I don't pretend to know anything about ribs or bones, though, so that might be completly bogus.

Maybe I should just embrace my sadism, because one of the best ways I see the Calnan and Meri thing coming to a forfilling end is with Lolliway's death, perhaps sacrificing herself for Devon or something. It would be a nice arc for her character and give Avershire and Calnan plenty to deal with.

And as to Calnan taking charge, it seems logical enough to me. Telson would probably want command if it were only him and Callath, Calnan and Devon, but wouldn't feel comfortable leading a group anyone older or possibly more experienced than himself. He most likely would back up Calnan and try to act as a sort of executive offier to make sure he was a part of whatever happens.

I have no idea about Devon. I think he'd probably become much more determined during the battle, but anything short of that and I think he'd be far too shellshocked to do much.

I'll try to get a post working soon. And, oh yeah, if it still matters, I vote Yea. *evil* :)

[Nuranar]

Glad you're back, Arvedui. I've just posted, and incorporated your suggestion about broken ribs for Sedal. Excellent idea! Very inhibiting, not overly serious (unless a lung is punctured :(), and extremely likely to happen, under the circumstances.

About Calnan and Meri - maybe I moved too fast, but I've already wrapped it up. And maybe I'm a coward, but the thought of sorting out the angst of any characters, whether Meri, Calnan, Avershire, or a combination thereof, is really intimidating. Meri's back on board, and kinda supports Calnan & Co. against Avershire taking charge. Is that ok?

One more note: As I've been writing, I've had the assumption that Telson helped Devon survive the wreck, and also keep a dirk. (Midshipman's weapon, if that helps. ;) ) I figured with a bum arm Devon'd have a tough time keeping hold of any wreckage without help. I never actually came out and said so in the post, though.

Everyone: If I've used your character too much, I'm very sorry! This post ended up like that, and I especially wanted to make sure not to leave anyone out.

We're into the next day, after Graring has found his buds. One corsair took off after the fight; I headed him toward the interior, Himaran, so if you want him to be Graring setting off on a life of hermitry, please do so. Otherwise, maybe he'd be last in line and slipped away when he saw the Gondorians attack? Your choice.

The Gondorians are established in a semi-defensable position near the coast; I hope the description is clear. If any Gondorians want to post, please do so before Earendil writes Doran's D-Day Thursday evening.

Oh, and in my summing up of survivors I forgot to mention Rakein. Sorry, Durelin! I've corrected that in my list above.

Anything else? My requests for feedback still stand.

Carrying on,
Nuranar

[Earendil Halfelven]

Lookin' good everybody! I don't have anything to add because I think things are going just fine. Oh, if any other characters sustain any disabling injuries, a broken or fractured ankle would be a good one, just for future reference. I've fractured my ankle before. Mine swelled up about a minute after the initial fracture and it was extremely painful to walk on. I could barely put my foot down on it anyways. Of course, I could hop and limp until I got it braced. So, if any characters sustain injuries from the storm or fighting, an ankle injury could be a good and logical one. :D

Also, don't worry about the Gondorians being outnumbered until Doran arrives. Wasn't one of the two corsair ships taken out during the battle? And then the storm hit. So, I think it would be logical if the corsairs had about the same amount, maybe more or less, because they would have sustained heavy casualties from the last naval battle and then the storm would have taken out more of them. I think the Gondorians only have to worry about numbers playing a huge part when Doran arrives tomorrow.

Other than that, great job hopping back on the ball everybody. Too bad Maika is not here anymore.

[Durelin]

Rakein has been taken care of by Nurunar, so I will just post for Adeline. And I want to thank you, Nurunar, for doing that, actually, because I am short for time the next few days, and you carried out the whole thing so well in your post. I wasn't even sure how exactly it would all be worked out, and since you have what is going on down to clearly in your mind, I'm very glad Rakein was useful in your post. :)

And my vote was: yea. Sorry about the delay on that....

-Durelin

[Nuranar]

Anytime, Durelin. Thanks for letting me use Rakein - he did come in useful - and I'm glad you liked the post.

Wherefore art thou, Earendil? And where is Papa Doran? We're waiting on you for the action to commence.

In the meantime, anyone can write a pre-invasion post. Just make sure you beat Earendil to the punch, or we'll have a cockeyed story line! :p

~ Nuranar

[Earendil Halfelven]

Sorry. I was denied internet access yesterday but it will not happen again! I guess the Gondorians get an extra day but have no fear!-My post will be up as soon as I get home today! Watch out, Papa D is on the way! :p

[Earendil Halfelven]

Ok-it may be a day late but the post is up. The hunt is on! Let's get this going, people. We're almost near the end. :cool:

[Amanaduial the archer]

I'm sorry for not filling my save - I spent a ridiculous amount of time at church yesterday (doing a concert) and had guests today, so have left it a wee bit late to fill that save adequately. Really sorry :( But I promise I will post tomorrow night (unless my computer dies or...the apocalypse comes or something...;))

[Himaran]

I will post for Graring and Jurex tomorrow.

Very busy today, but had to let you know.

Himaran.

[Earendil Halfelven]

ALL BATTLING NEEDS TO BE OVER BY THURSDAY MAY 27, SO DO NOT PROCRASTINATE IF YOU CAN HELP IT!!!!!!

Voting has confirmed that Devon is going to die in the fighting, so do I have any volunteers to post for Maika until Devon gets it? He'll die in a desperate fight with Doran, so I'll post the death scene. Of course, if Maika happens to show up, then he'll more than possibly survive. Any volunteers to include Devon in their character's posts?


DON'T FORGET-ALL BATTLING ENDS THIS THURDAY. THAT GIVES US FOUR DAYS TO FINISH IT UP. HURRY!!!!!!!!

[Nuranar]

Well, I was all ready to post a nice housekeeping discussion entry, but my brain short-circuited and I managed to lose it. Never mind how.

Earendil, as far as posting for Devon goes, we're all supposed to be carrying his character along. Do you mean specifically to write from his point of view, leading into the duel? Or do you just want to make sure that he's included in the battle posts before you finish him off? If so, I'll make sure to at least do that; depending on what develops and when I get in on the battle I can have him trying to find Doran during the fight.

Two things that came up:

The Gondorians come in on the end of the battle and save the day, right? Well, I had a nice line of reasoning written out for how they're going to be at the right place at the right time, but I lost it. Here's what I remember:

* Telson sent a message to Faramir, way back on 12-21-03; in response, a Gondorian fleet, complete with troops, has arrived at and subdued Umbar.
* They figure out pretty quick where Doran has gone, and most of the fleet sets out and finishes off the corsairs.
* From prisoners, etc., they hear about the North Wind. Adding together pointers I'm not going to list, they figure out where to go and arrive on the island in the nick of time.

This is only a proposal. Any thoughts?

The other thing is, once more, the question of Who's Going To Last The Night. I assume you corsair players will handle your particular characters, as will Aman, Arvedui, and myself. We've already decided Devon's going to buy it, so here's the rest:

Avershire
Loliway
Sedal
Rilgari
Orda
Rakein

We must assume Avershire and Loliway are up for grabs, too, unless Maika comes back and says otherwise. Now, how serious is this battle, and what corresponding casualties should be inflict? Remember, the corsairs have real weapons and the Gondorians have few. I say, out of 10 Gondorians, we ought to have minimum 2 or 3 die; that means 1 or 2 out of that list (unless Aman, Arvedui, or myself volunteer for annihilation). Anyone have some ideas?

My only thoughts concern Sedal: With a couple broken ribs, he can either be immobilized and probably be unnoticed until the end, or he can insist on fighting when he sees what they're up against. I assume that, as a surgeon, he knows what he can handle - or that he can't handle it and has decided to be heroic.

Oh, and Orda has been pretty protective of him, so that may work into an out for the youngster. Poignant death scene, anyone? Or maybe it'll get too heavy with Devon going out in a blaze of glory.

And as far as my character goes, I'd really prefer it if he survived the game. I'm rather fond of him and may use him again; also, he's my first successfully played character. I'm not averse to him being wounded again, though. Anything short of the seriously crippling - like losing a leg or something - and I'm taking suggestions.

Not trying to slow the game down - anything but that, believe me! - but I would like to have a few things sorted out first. This is the last battle, and as such ought to be a little more scripted, to ensure that it makes sense and we don't lose our continuity. Please keep up the good work - I'd appreciate some feedback here. :)

Carrying on,
Nuranar

[Himaran]

Important:

Corsairs spotted the sentry
Sentry ran
Corsairs followed the sentry

Whoever posts next needs to bring the corsairs to the campsite for the final battle.

Then the gondorian army arrives....... in the middle? I will post again tomorrow, or later today if others do so.

Himaran

[Amanaduial the archer]

*Itching to start the battle*

I actually would very much like to keep Sedal and Orda - please?! I thought maybe at some point Callath could spot them and, thinking them dead (maybe unconcious etc?), he would feel even more jazzed off and attack all the more fervently :rolleyes: But...if he must go, take...Orda? Also, I would still suggest chopping off Avershire - I think it would make a rather poignant scene...

Wait - would this change plans too much?: Say Avershire faces Doran in single combat, and Doran, playing dirty, manages to defeat Avershire, giving him a fatal blow. Devon leaps forward, spending Avershire's last moments with him, before he rises and fights Doran in Avershire's place...killing Doran? Would that be too drastically changed? I just think it would make quite a nice peak...

[Nuranar]

Thanks for your clear instructions, Himaran! It's nice to know where to pick up the story as all the threads come together.

Aman, I don't have a problem with keeping Sedal and Orda. I like 'em too! I especially like the idea about Avershire. It'd be a nice touch, especially after his defeat of - what was the corsair captain's name? - emphasizing just how deadly a enemy Doran really is. He's kinda had a small part in this later bit. How's that with you, Earendil?

Assuming there are no objections, would you be able to handle Avershire's death, Aman? Then Earendil can pick it up and finish off Doran and Devon. Assuming Arvedui won't post in the next few hours, then, I'll go ahead and take us into action sometime tonight, setting it up for you.

But we still need to ax at least one other character. Let's leave Maika Loliway; no point in killing all her people. So will it be Rilgari, or Rakein? I like both, but I'd hate for Callath to lose another friend. So, Durelin, can Rakein go down in a blaze of glory, a lá Marx?

~ Nuranar

[Nuranar]

My post is up. I'm sorry for the delay; the time that I was going to use to write kind of evaporated, and I had to go to work earlier today. It's not the best, but we're well into the battle. The end is either lame or conventional, but I've run out of ideas and I wanted to give you an opening, Aman. You can handle the duel(s) however you like.

I haven't specified much else, though, so if you want to play your character please go ahead. Remember, the light is dim and you won't be able to see at a glance everything that's going on in the fight. There's also a lot of people in a fairly small clear space. The area is surrounded by sand dunes, lots of brush, trees, and broken, rocky ground - you pretty much have your pick if you want to mention the situation.

A bit of explanation: Himaran, I must confess that I - or Calnan - have just killed Jurex. :eek: I was trying to integrate the story, to avoid having lots of isolated posts. You had said that Jurex was going to die, so I thought "Great! Then I'll have Calnan kill him!" So I did. Only just now I realized that I had killed another player's character without getting that player's permission. I didn't even think about how you wanted Jurex to end. I am so sorry for doing that. I've left it up, though, because I want you too see. If you prefer it, I'll change him immediately to a random corsair; or if you have other ideas, just let me know. I want to assure you I didn't intend to be high-handed about this; I was thinking about the story as a whole. I'm very sorry!
One day more!

Carrying on,
Nuranar

[Durelin]

So, Durelin, can Rakein go down in a blaze of glory

I was planning on that. I have not had a chance to read your post yet, but I wished to post for Rakein in the battle, having him killed so that we get some Gondorian deaths (and also because a good death is always nice... ;) ), but I just haven't had the time. I will tomorrow, though. I will do a post wrapping up Adeline's situation (mostly), and killing Rakein.

Does that sound all right? With or without word or direction, I will post tomorrow, and make changes later. We're keeping things moving! :D I think everyone deserves a pat on the back...

-Durelin

[Earendil Halfelven]

Ok, well, I killed Avershire and now Doran is going to have at it with Devon. Don't forget everyone-the corsairs win this fight but are beaten by the Gondorian forces that show up.

THE GONDORIANS SHOW UP WHEN DORAN IS PREPARING TO TAKE HIS PRISONERS TO HIS SHIPS FROM THE BEACH. THE CORSAIRS WIN TOMORROW.

For me, it doesn't matter who posts the scene stated above.

All battle posts need to be up and finished by tomorrow night. I want Doran and corsairs to be captured and on their way to Umbar for trial by tomorrow night at midnight. That should give us enough time to get everyone killed who is going to die. I'll control when Devon dies but I'm not sure when that will happen.

But here is what's going on after my post-
Avershire is dead or mortally wounded. I left that part open so that way you Gondorians can post some closure scene with, say Avershire and Loliway, if you get my meaning. You know, like some sad farewell scene. Doran is now facing Devon. Doran will win but I don't know when Devon bites it.

The corsairs are winning it. Let's say that its almost dawn and the Gondorians need to fall back and regroup or they'll lose totally.

SO thats where we are. Come on folks! We're almost done!

[Nuranar]

Very... violent, Earendil. :p Good post, and thanks! A couple things:

You have Avershire killing the corsair who teams up with Doran against him. In my post, that corsair is Jurex, and I have Calnan killing him. If you read my discussion post above, there's more about that, and I may change his identity when Himaran checks in, but as it stands we still have one corsair being killed two different ways! :eek:

Oh, and I wasn't aware that Doran was once more going to take the Gondorians prisoner. Looking back over the discussion, I don't see it stated anyway; but I had assumed that the forces of Gondor are going to arrive mid-fight. First, why would Doran go to all the trouble of taking them prisoner - again? He's done it before, and they've certainly caused him a lot of trouble. I would think he'd be all too eager to get rid of them. Second, he hasn't told his corsairs not to be killing, which I think is their default "Fight" setting. Third, he's about to kill Devon, and if anyone would be taken prisoner, it would be Devon. The others are only incidental, and prisoners are a heck of a lot of trouble. Fourth, I was hoping the Gondorians would arrive so we could minimize our casualties; as it stands, we're already losing 3 dead out of 10, and who knows how many wounded.

So if you could explain a little of your reasoning I'd appreciate it. I'm a bit confused at the moment! :D

[Durelin]

I just posted, and I hope it's alright. I think I took perhaps too much creative freedom in moving the the situation between Doran and Devon near the shore, but...it is a small island, right?

Well, I am prepared to change anything. Just let me know.

[piosenniel]

* Heads up on a new game starting soon - with Durelin as owner *

Discussion Thread (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=10735) opens on June 5th.

~*~ Pio

[Himaran]

Important - Game could end here!!

Yes, Jurex can die Nuranor. Now I am saved the trouble of posting about him.

Graring just saw the Gondorian fleet arriving - is that ok? They could come in Just as Devon is mortally wounded - and he could die... in his father's arms?

Anyway, Graring ran off into the forest. His is gone. Forever. :D

The game could be over in a few posts...... !!!

Himaran

[Earendil Halfelven]

GAME ENDS THE EVENING OF SATURDAY MAY 30.

Ok, Devon is dead and the corsairs are captured. You guys who still have characters can post after-battle posts. Tomorrow I'll post of the fleet returning to Umbar to try Doran and the surviving corsairs for treason, murder, etc.
We can end on this saturday.

This is the last stretch, guys. Only two days left.

Nuranar, I've always been under the impression that the corsairs capture everyone before being beaten by the arriving gondorians. But oh well, I've posted that the Gondorians capture Doran while the battle is finishing up. I'll fix my post where Jurex dies in two different ways. :D

Pio-I'll pm you when we're finished.

[piosenniel]

Thanks, Earendil!

I'll close the game then and leave the Discussion Thread open for a few days to catch any farewells.

~*~ Pio :)

[Nuranar]

Wow, I go away for the day and see what happens! I've really enjoyed writing this story, but frankly, it'll be quite a relief when it's done.

Himaran, I'm so glad the death of Jurex is fine with you. And thanks for sighting the Gondorians; it helps to tie the story together.

Earendil, terrific work! Thanks for moving it along so swiftly. And I'm glad that the confusion has sort of... resolved itself. :D Your posts are great.

Durelin and Aman, marvelous job! I haven't read many death scenes from the protagonist's side. And both of you, your writing is incredibly vivid and graphic (in a good way, of course ;) ). I enjoyed your posts very much.

I'll get up at least one more post for Calnan. One thing, though: How many loose ends do we tie up? We've got Meri without Avershire, of course; I'd hate to just leave the girl on the beach like that. Then there's Devon himself; do we drag Ambassador Thrann back in? Or can he just stay fallen out of the story?

Then there's our "fellowship," if you will. I suppose Telson (if Arvedui can post for him one last time) will get back to his duties. He seems the loner type. Adeline has a family in Umbar; I'm fuzzy on the details now, but she does have a life she can get back to. As for Callath and Calnan, they were pretty close to Devon and it'll hit them hard. Aman, you've shown pretty well how this is for Callath, even for the "new" friends he's made and lost. Calnan was rethinking his political career earlier in the story anyway, so he'll be returning to Gondor, at least en route to someplace else. If he asks Callath to go with him, would Callath be interested?

Finally, our secondary characters. After taking such good care of Sedal and Orda (way to go, Callath! er, Aman), I wouldn't like them to have to fend for themselves in the struggles of restoring Umbar to tranquility. Plus there's Callath's friend Rilgari, a seaman without a captain. I know in real life things don't just end neatly, but also in real life people are forced to make decisions and do something with the rest of their lives, even after a major crisis of these proportions.

Do you think I'm going into too much detail here? I plead guilty by reason of perfectionism. :p

The end is in sight!
~ Nuranar

[Earendil Halfelven]

Nuranar , you bring up good points that probably should be resolved, either in a negative or positive way so that we just don't leave any loose ends hanging. Calnan, Callath, and Adeline can take out everything at Doran's trial where I plan on having him executed by hanging. They can testify against him and be present at his execution. That would be the most realistic end, IMHO. :D

As for Acacia, I don't think that it would be likely that she would be executed. She wasn't seen by any Gondorians while in Umbar. The only person to really have anything against her would be Adeline. Acacia was mostly working behind the scenes. But we'll let Acacia decide her fate! ;)

Jurex is dead and so is Devon. I think Ambassador Thrann should only be mentioned in like a post about Devon's funeral, which Calnan, Callath, and Adeline would probably have for him. I think, realisticly, that Ambassador Thrann would have been removed for being so blind and naive with Doran and letting him take so much control.

Secondary characters-everyone just tie up whoever they control. I don't know all the personal stories for each one because of the length of this game. Sound good, Nuranar?

Earendil, terrific work!
Thanks, Nuranar, and right back at ya! ;)

[Himaran]

Ok - I will put in a final post for Graring this afternoon.

Himaran

[Earendil Halfelven]

I just noticed that I posted that the game ends on Saturday May 30th. Well, today is Saturday but its the 29th. Tomorrow is the 30th. So, if we can end today, GREAT! If you guys need to post end posts tomorrow, than GREAT! But I'm going to post Doran's end today and let the Gondorians play off of the execution scene.

EDIT: I guess I should wait for others to post after me until I post, so that way I don't post after me.

[Himaran]

Professional:

Ok, I will post about Graring coming to the shore the next day and finding the Gondorian fleet gone.

Nuranor/Durelin/Piosenniel:

I think that Nuranor's post should be moved in front of Durelin's preceding post; it is slightly off chronologically.

Personal:

Guys, this has been a great RPG. It had a great backstory and was well directed. I am extremely sad that Maikafanawen has disappeared; she was probably the most enthusiastic Barrowdowner I know.

However, I am extremely happy that we followed her last request. We pulled it together, started posting, and finished the game on schedule in an professional fashion. Thanks for being great co-writers and overall, a fun group.

Umbar, Umbar, Umbar!

The happiest Barrowdowner,
Himaran

[Nuranar]

I started working on my post before Durelin posted; that's why it's out of sequence. I had to leave immediately, too, so that's why I didn't have anything up here (I hadn't even finished revising the post). If you don't mind, Durelin or Earnedil, would one of you cut and paste mine into the beginning / end of your post? Then I'll delete mine. Sorry for the cross-posting! And Durelin, I liked your post a lot. Terrific lead-in for Calnan; I'll try to post again this evening to keep things together.

Himaran, it's been great writing with you, too. Thanks so much for keeping it going, and especially for creating Graring like that on the spur of the moment. That last post for him was great!

Carrying on,
Nuranar

[Durelin]

I have moved your post, Nuranar, to the beginning of mine. If you don't like how it works there, I can always edit.

And I'm glad my post was alright. I meant to ask to make sure that it was alright that I jumped to the trial, but I had to leave immediately after posting, as well.

-Durelin :D

[Nuranar]

Thanks so much, Durelin! I've written a follow-up to your post, so instead of deleting my post I've just replaced it. That way Himaran's isn't between ours; they go pretty well one after the other. Oh, and I hope mine's all right; it was a pretty emotionally charged atmosphere but wasn't too hard to write. Go figure.

Oh, and I'm not sure exactly what Earendil had in mind for us Gondorians to post; looking back, it sounds more as if he wanted us to use the execution. Oh well; he can move us along to that, and Aman and whoever else can write from there, if they like.

We're so close! Carry on,

Nuranar

[Durelin]

Of course it's alright! Very nice indeed! Adeline would not have had anything to say, and all that Calnan said was perfect. Yes, very nicely done! :D And yes, I think leaving that as my last post might be best. Anymore would be overdoing it, I think. Adeline would of course go to the execution, but I think this time she would do no more than watch, and not as happily as she thought.

-Durelin

[Nuranar]

Good, I'm glad that went over well. I'm a little surprised no one has posted in the meantime. Aren't we trying for this to be the last day? Or do will still have Monday?

Regardless, I won't be able to post for the rest of the day. We have a Memorial Day picnic in a few hours, and it will last until late. (I don't know what we're doing tomorrow, either - usually we visit relatives.) So Aman, if it works out, please feel free to include Calnan in your post. He'll be going back to Gondor, as I said somewhere above, and he wouldn't mind it if Callath wanted to join him ... but that's totally up to you, of course. Just please don't be afraid to use Calnan - that goes for everyone who's going to post - because logistics may make it very difficult to get anything up before the thread closes.

Carrying on,
Nuranar

[piosenniel]

Monday is still available - I'd like to see this wrapped up by Monday the 31st, midnight, Pacific Time . . . if possible . . .

~*~ Pio

[Amanaduial the archer]

I've posted - Nuranar, if you want me to edit anything, just PM me, I'm easy with changes :) Hope it's alright.

[Earendil Halfelven]

Well, I'm done with Doran's last post. Sorry that its up late but it is memorial day after all... :D

Anyways, I've finished up posting in the game. I don't know if anyone else is done but for the gondorians, you can go ahead and post what your characters felt at doran's execution, if you'd like.

IF YOU ARE COMPLETELY DONE POSTING IN THE GAME THREAD, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PM ME OR POST IN HERE AND TELL ME SO I CAN PM PIO.

[Nuranar]

Excellent, Aman! Exactly what I had in mind. Very, very good! That takes care of Calnan for me, and I assume you're done, too. With Durelin finished as well, I guess that's it for the Gondorians, unless Arvedui returns beyond hope. As for the corsairs, Earendil and Himaran are done, and Arien has been missing for a long time, unfortunately.

So then, Pio, I'd say we're done. If possible, though, would you wait until the last moment to close the thread? Just in case one of our missing members tries to make an eleventh-hour appearance. :)

Carrying on,
Nuranar

[piosenniel]

I won't close the thread until I return from work tonight - a little after midnight, Pacific time, U.S.

So - there's plenty of time for those last posts.

~*~ Pio

[Amanaduial the archer]

Yes, I'm done now. The last few posts, like so many which have graced this thread, have been excellent - Earendil, that last post was especially excellent. Is everyone done now? If not, can I suggest that the last few posts are placed before Earendil's last one - it seems an excellent ending point, an excellent last line to the whole game. What do you think? Pio, would this be possible?

Thank you so much for this game, all of you. Maybe we stopped and started a few times, and sure there were breaks, but that doesn't stop the writing collectively here from being immensely enjoyable. Callath was one of my favourite creations when I first 'wrote' him, ("who wrote this character? Did you write these characters? Ah, well, you found a proper character writer to do yours..." ;)), but you allowed me to play him to an even fuller potential than I could have guessed. As for me, well, several of you have helped me learn a few more things about role-playing, so cheers. You have been a joy and a delight to work with, all of you.

Thanks.

- Amanaduial, a.k.a. Callath Harres.

[piosenniel]

That would be fine . . . if anyone else posts - Earendil can move his post after theirs or I will move posts as needed when I get home from work tonight.

~*~ Pio

[piosenniel]

I have closed the game to further posting - Arvedui's post seemed a good conclusion.

Well done game, everyone!

~*~ Pio

[Durelin]

I think everyone deserves a pat on the back, and a round of applause! :D

Excellent game, everyone! It was lots of fun, for the time I was a part of it. And I'm very glad I was able to be a part of it.

-Durelin

[Arvedui III]

Indeed. Twas an honor, and I really hope to see all of you in future games.
Arvedui :D

[Earendil Halfelven]

Well, everyone, it was a long road, but we finally finished it, despite losing a few people along the way. :(
Good game though. I enjoyed gaming with you all and killing people and then being executed. My character's always seem to die...oh well. :D
This will probably be my last game though, for a long while. I don't know if I have the time to join a new one, but we'll see.

And a big thank you to Pio. You've shown us the nearly infinite depth of your patience. Thank you! *bows in humble adoration*

Anyways, good job everyone! Time to just sit back and relax.
:smokin:

[piosenniel]

~*~ To Elvenhome ~*~