Lonely Star: Fanfiction/RPG discussion

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

This is a great list. I need to think about it more. But didn't you forget something? What about that celebration that the happy couple never got? Are you going to repeat public vows or just have a big party? Remember, we have a present for you two.

sharon

[piosenniel]

Right!

*pats her pockets for the ring*

I know I put it here somewhere!

I'll just go back and put that after the Choosing. Sound ok?

[Child of the 7th Age]

More comments on that great list....

As soon as people finish posting their eulogies, I will have Ancalimon stand up and tell the hobbits about the choosing. Also, he will tell the hobbits to make sure all the orphans get adopted and taken into families. I'll write that sometime tomorrow. He'll give the hobbits a few days (game time) to decide.

I know Helen has some scenes which involve her characters struggling to decide which way to go.

Pio, do you want to do the scene where Daisy makes her decision to become a hobbrim? Maybe she would have come to you to discuss it?

Also, there's a scene or two between Gamba and Cami, including one where Cami compares Meneltarma with Middle-earth to give Gamba an idea of what his alternative is.

Can Mithadan be Ulmo? Also, what are those knives for in Mith's last post?

On the day of the party, Ancalimon will talk with Cami about where she and Rose will be going and what she must do. Then, he'll give her a surprise gift of a pony which he has had sent over from Valinor on one of the Elven ships. (Do you think my pony is immortal?)

Won't the Man and the Elf begin discussing where they're going after the quest? What about Bird? Is she going to begin thinking about searching for roots?

I wasn't thinking of another disaster, but with Mithadan and Piosenniel around, you never know what will happen.

Oh, yes, after the choosing, Angara should be appointed by Ulmo as 'guardian of Meneltarma.' She'll stay there and guard the island against any nasties, and also get to play with the children.

Bird could do that too, but somehow I doubt that is her cup of tea!

Kali and Daisy will reside on Meneltarma. Since they are definitely both under age by hobbit standards, they'll need to be 'adopted' by different hobbrim families. Maybe Andril should adopt one of them?

sharon

[piosenniel]

Is there a particular reason we are cramming the picnic, memorial and the talk on the choosing into one day?

It seems to make short shrift of the grief brought out in the memorial service, as if we're just ticking off items on a 'things to do list'.

It seems more natural to me if we put off the choosing talk til the following game day - make it early in the am and then we can spend the day talking about it. I can do the Daisy/Pio dialog. Other hobbits can talk this decision over with friends and family. it will be a frightfully big decision for most of them. If we dump it on them in the same day as the memorial, the poor dears won't get any sleep at all!

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

You have a good point. We can definitely wait in terms of game time. Do you want me to do the scene of Ancalimon's explanation real time tomorrow, or wait for the weekend, or even Monday? Let me know if you have a preference. sharon

[piosenniel]

Oh great! I just sent a PM to Helen thinking she had put that message on the board! smilies/biggrin.gif

When would you like to put the Choosing speech on the story?

I'll be gone all day tomorrow, and have to work the weekend and Monday. You can put the speech on any time, I'll save a space for the Daisy dilemma. As you said, Helen has some posts of her characters working through the decisions.

Is everyone done saying their piece about the fallen?

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat (and Helen),

Sorry about that mix-up. I added an earlier scene between Gamba and Cami way back on the ship. I had to put it into Helen's box, since that was the only space. Then I started to do that post, but realized I'd forgotten to shift back to Sharon. So I erased, shifted, and reposted.

I'd planned to be on today, but that's how it goes!. I'll reserve a space and try to get the choosing speech by Analimon up this weekend. Also I'll write up the other two. See just below.

I plan on doing at least three scenes before the actual choosing ceremony:

1. Ancalimon's explanations to the hobbits of what the choosing is.

2. Gamba comforts Cami; Cami offers to adopt Gamba if he chooses to be a hobbit.

3. At Gamba's request, Cami talks to him about what Middle-earth is like, how it compares to Meneltarma.

Helen, is there anything else immediate you can think of before the choosing itself?

BTW, Helen mentioned to me she's on travel Sat. night through Thursday, but will have limited web access on Sun and Monday only. She also intends to post on Sat.

I will block in my posts, plus save lots of spaces in Helen's name. We'll leapfrog if needed and do the best we can.

Pat, Mith--if you need us to change something, just let us know.

Helen--Can you give me some idea of what you'll be posting for Gamba and Phura at the choosing, especially since you'll be out of town? Are there others you'll be singling out? Cami may need to respond to some of those posts. Pio will speak for Daisy before and during the ceremony. I'll try to coordinate with Rose for Cami and Rose. I'll also do one general post.
describing the hobbits choosing.

When does Ulmo/Mith get to wave his magic wand, and make this happen?

Boy, Daisy is going to look strange after this! I wonder how Gamba will relate to Phura and Loremaster.

Do we go immediatly into the party, or is that the next day.

Good thing, Cami chooses to be a hobbit. Otherwise, Gandalf would have to get her a seahorse!

sharon

[ November 08, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[mark12_30]

Bird--

Going back to the night of the rescue-- I'm going to "take care" of the "extra" Study Guard before they go up the mountain for the sacrifice. More guilt for Gamba, and also then you can rescue both your guys from the Locks. Works better that way. --Helen

[Child of the 7th Age]

There was only a single high mountain on Númenor. The original island had a single, volcanic type peak(Meneltarma) as its center. The top of the peak was blown off and hollowed as vaolcanic peaks are wont to do. This caldera, the original place of worship at the top of the peak was huge, and it is where we all are now. It is like a meadow now and along its sides the trees have grown up and the vegetation.

Pat,

Geologically you're definitely right. But I imagined it differently.

Let me explain. I was envisioning the island in mystical or fantastic terms rather than 'real' ones. To me, Meneltarma is, like Valinor or Tol Eressea, a magical place still part of Arda, but very different than your average piece of real estate in Middle-earth. It is not subject to the normal laws of nature, any more than Tol Eressea would be (which used to cross back and forth across the waters, and of course, like Aman, could not be reached on the straight road). I almost envisioned the mount as a kind of junior Taniquetil which was why I had Idril say the isle reminded her a bit of Elvenhome.

Tolkien states that many mariners searched for Meneltarma but failed to find it. It was apparently hidden under some kind of protective cover. That goes beyond any geology we know or understand.

For the same reason, I felt that, when the isle was reconstructed, Eru's Mount would still have to be there as a mountain. The mountain could not be overcome or fundamentally changed, in the same way that evil could not overcome goodness. No matter what the people of Numenor did, no matter how Sauron tried, they could not destroy the holy place where the Faithful of Numenor came to worship. I saw Angara as its special guardian, appointed by Ulmo, the dragon sitting astride the mountaintop and glaring down on any intruders that might show their noses before the end of time.

The cone with grasslands and trees does conform to nature's laws, but is less visually compelling than the dragon on the mountaintop.

If we decide to go with the scooped out cone with meadows and some trees, I'll need to revise my earlier descriptions. In my original post when the hobbits get their first close look at things from the ships,

...the mountain was so close to the heavens that the hobbits could not even see where its top point lay.

Ancalimon also mentioned the memorial place was in a glade tucked beneath Eru's Mount:

. Ancalimon had found a grassy spot tucked away near the base of the mountain.

What do you think? Does anyone else see Meneltarma in a particular way?

For now, I'll leave the post, until we decide for sure what to do with the island. If we eliminate Mount Eru, I'll probably have Cami take a small skiff out to sea to be by herself and look over things from a distance (which was what I was trying to do with the mountain). As for the isle itself, without the mountain, I'd probably make it a bit more windswept and stark in its beauty, with just a few flowered meadows and shady groves.

sharon

[ November 10, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

I'm flexible as well. The revisions aren't so extensive that they would prove a problem. I can see an argument made either way.

Basically, we have windswept island of stark beauty with scattered grasslands and small forest groves versus island with mountain in the middle and fairly thick forests at the base. If we retain the mountain, you're right in saying the top of the mount should be similar to that in the Descripton of Numenor--a bowl shaped crater, not a point.

But the hobbits can't see the top in my post. I figure when you're that short, everything must look gigantic and far away. I could always put a sentence in like this the first time they see it, "If they had been able to crain their heads to see the top of Eru's Mount, they would have realized that the mount still retained its bowl shaped crater...."

Why don't we leave this thing open a day or two, and see if anyone else has opinions or preferences?

BTW, I really liked your Daisy post.

sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

I'll still hold a day or two and see if anyone else has other ideas.

Also, sometime before the actual choosing, could you do a post where Gandalf privately tells Angara that Ulmo would like to appoint him guardian of Meneltarma?

sharon

[piosenniel]

Sharon, I will get the Angara/Ancalimon scene on today.

Are we then proceeding on to the Choosing?
Have all who needed saved a requisite spot for posts before we proceed?

[ November 13, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

I know we are dragging, but our main problem is this--the absence of Helen, since she is the one with the characters who have to work out their angst in regard to the Choosing. I know she needs to set the backdrop for Gamba and Phura. I am hoping she will get the posts up over the weekend.

I have one more post between Gamba and Cami. It's hard to do when hers aren't up and I don't know what's gone on between him and his brother. I guess I'll try to do it today, and revise later as needed. I will continue to reserve spaces for Helen.

sharon

[Birdland]

Please let Sharon know if you have any preferences concerning the geography of Tol Meneltarma - Tolkienesque or fantastique!
Pio - Is there a specific map that you are looking at? My Fonstad does not have a detailed picture of Tol Meneltarma. I understand the concept of the "caldera"; are you saying the slopes of the mountain tip are too steep for use by the hobbrim, and that they could only "live" in the flat portion at the summit?

But since the Hobbrim are mostly ocean-dwelling, how important is this to their future success? I had almost pictured them living on the slopes under the waves, and just occasionally visiting the shoreline of the island.

The posts we've had on the island with the hobbit groups haven't been that detailed that errors in topography could be pinned down, at least not from my perspective. If it is necessary to refer to specific topography, can this be "worked in" later during editing? Without a proper map to refer to, I don't know how we might settle this. Did the "Lord of the Canon" actually supply us with Canon on this subject? smilies/smile.gif

I'm having trouble picturing this in order to offer an informed opinion, unless I use a picture of Oahu as a reference. Yes! Hobbrims, Hawaiian Style!

Oh, BTW - Congratulations to Helen for receiving her Personal Title! Hip-Hip-Hurray! (Birdie does a Tail Walk and a Leap in her honor.)

[Child of the 7th Age]

Bird,

I think the difference between Pat and I was whether or not a mountain still existed on the island. If you look back a few spaces, you can probably get to the original discussion Pio and I had.

I assumed that Mount Eru would still exist as a mountain in the center of the isle. I felt that the this was a poetic reflection of the fact that goodness had prevailed, and the sacred hill with its crater top would not have been destroyed even by Sauron. My picture is of Angara, the dragon guardian, sitting astride a mountain.

Pio viewed it in more realistic terms--what would happen, geologically, if a large wave overcame a mountain, with only the top crater being left. Hence she saw a much 'flatter' isle with only the crater part of Mount Eru peeping out above the waves.

I hope that's right! Pat, if I explained it wrong, please go ahead and do the honors.

sharon

[piosenniel]

Here's what I'm saying - let's go with sharon's view of how the island looks. I withdraw all objections to it, since really there is no map and no clear cut descriptions.

[piosenniel]

Can someone let me know what game-time day we are on.

Do we have one more game-time day before the Choosing.

Or will the next new day we speak of in the storyline be Choosing Day?

[Child of the 7th Age]

I went back over the posts. This is what I think. It is now the evening of the next day after Ancalimon's speech.

Ancalimon was midmorning Day l. Choosing will be in 2 days time. That means midmorning day 3. It is now evening of day 2. So the Choosing is game time the next morning.

sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

Do you want to go ahead and have Ulmo do the first Choosing post? In other words, he would set up the scene for the hobbits to answer...... I think I've reserved enough spaces for Gamba, Cami etc. Plus there's always Mith's magic pen.

Is there anything else people want to do first? I'll probably do some brief thing speaking with Angara plus some reflection on what the boy will do. But I have plenty of spaces reserved for that or I can tag on to my last post.

I could probably do a generic post showing how the hobbits respond to Ulmo, plus the first families choosing. Then we could have specific choice posts for Cami and Rose, Daisy, etc. I would reserve a bunch of spaces for Helen and some for Cami to respond back or reflect on what the boy does. We'd obviously have to wait for Helen to do Phura, Gamba, Azraph.

Also at what point would Ulmo (or Ancalimon?) address Angara's appointment? At the end or beginning of the Choosing?

What do you think?

sharon

[ November 13, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

I'll do Daisy's response if you'ld like.

As to the appointment of Angara - what will be the thrust of Ulmo's speech about the choosing? Will the changes start happening after we leave? Or will He dip them in the salt water and they'll arise a little finnier?

If Angara is announced at first as the Protector of Tol Meneltarma perhaps some of the ones still wavering will feel more comfortable in choosing to be Hobbrim.

[Mithadan]

Re: Ulmo, you guys tell me about the shape change (unless one of you has decided to play Ulmo which is also fine).

[piosenniel]

I'm a little unclear on this myself.

Sharon, Helen - what do you see happening here?

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pio,

That would be good if you did Daisy.

Mith,

I hope you will be Ulmo.

Concerning Angara....I think it's a good idea if she is named Protector at the beginning of the Choosing. Plus, this is one post we can definitely do even if Helen isn't back yet.

About the hobbrim changeover: (Cami goes into a corner and hides her head, as she has no idea how that will happen!)

I've thought about this and, like Cami, am not sure. I'd be happy to hear suggestions or comments. My gut feeling says that the physical change should occur immediately when Ulmo raises his sceptre at the end of the Choosing. Is that too corny? Maybe the hobbrim to be are led into the water, and it happens underwater so we don't have to describe the transformation, just the end result. Is it possible that Levanto and/or Bird as the Dolphin helps to lead them out to the depths where Ulmo will do his magic sceptre thing? All the hobbits stand on the shores looking out to the ocean, as they see their dear kin disappear. Poor Gamba!

Again, wouldn't they return to the isle and the beaches later that same day, towards evening? So there can be lots of finny/furry reunions, and the two kin can get used to each other.

Boy, am I lost here! I can do a description of the general choosing process near the beginning, but someone else better do this thing about leading the hobbits into the drink and transforming them. Maybe a set-up scene by Pio or Bird, and then have Mith do Ulmo again? I'll be happy to stay on the land and describe the hobbit reaction to all this strangeness! I assume Helen will want to get inside Gamba's head and describe what he's feeling.

Also, to be truthful, I have only a vague idea what a hobbrim looks like. Maybe we did this before and I forgot. Can someone describe one? I mean here in the discussion thread. I guess they must have a dual system of lungs and gills? Otherwise how could Kali have had dinner with Levanto in underwater Gondolin? Do they have webbed feet? What "color" are they?

Also, btw, do Levanto and his folk decide to hang around Meneltarma? Maybe not if you want Levanto to accompany part of the Shapechanging adventure?

Also, when do we get our party?

sharon

[piosenniel]

What a picture I have running in my head:

Ulmo as John the Baptist!

How about we not get too detailed - I think I recall the Hobbrim having webbed fingers & probably toes, curly hair like Hobbits, no obvious gill system alá the creature from the Black Lagoon.

If you want, I can have Angara gently herd her new charges toward the water where Ulmo awaits them. Mithadan can do the Ulmo speech and cause the waters to quickly rise over them - provoking much consternation among those friends and family left on the beach. Then the water recedes and Angara can lead them ashore? Something like that, eh?!

Party next week? How do you want to do this? A big general party with a brief interlude for exchange of rings or . . .? Will we leave soon after the party?

*humming along with the Talking Heads 'Take me to the River . . .'*

re: Levanto - he should probably go back to the Fourth Age. Though, won't we probably be in hot, arid climes for most of it?

[ November 13, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[piosenniel]

I will be gone most of the evening tonight, but when I come back, I would like to post for the day of the Choosing.

A general descriptive post that simply gets us to that day.

OK?! with y'all?

[Birdland]

OK, OK, I found you a picture of a Hobbrim: http://www.jumpindot.com/greg_hayden/archive/bookstore/babies.jpg
Nah! just pulling your leg. It's a Victorian Water Baby. smilies/biggrin.gif

BTW Pio - I agree, I don't think it would be fair to drag Levanto through the South Lands. He needs to return to the Fourth Age and his home, but I bet he will help to keep an eye on the Hobbrim from now on.

Awwwwwwww! Levanto has "grown"!

[Birdland]

When you hold them in your arms one day, don't forget to give them a kiss from Auntie Cami."
Wahhhhhh! Pio, you are going to name one of those twins "Cami", right?

[Child of the 7th Age]

That's the second person in less than eight hours to call Pio a "good mother"! Hope she's not getting a swelled head!

I love the water baby, Bird. Looks just like Kali---NOT!

Hey, no fair cheating! Levanto can't keep an eye on them, since the island is hidden from all.

sharon

[Birdland]

Hey, no fair cheating! Levanto can't keep an eye on them, since the island is hidden from all.
Yes, but in the Third Age, the Mer-People were vaguely aware of the existance of Hobbrim, rather like the Elves are vaguely aware of the existance of Hobbits, but really didn't pay much attention to them, thinking it "beneath them". (Remember what a snob Levanto was about Hobbrim in the beginning?)

Now I have a question: In the beginning of the story, Kali was all alone, right? This was Fourth Age???...riiigght??? Well, we settled the origin of Hobbrim, but we haven't really covered where the Hobbrim went in the Fourth Age, have we? And when we go back to the Fourth Age, are Hobbrim still "gone missing?" or have we changed history in some way that they aren't all scattered now? (Birdie is really going to have to go back and read over this again.)

[piosenniel]

I hate get all 'canon-y' on you, Sharon - but I don't believe Tol Meneltarma was hidden from all creatures. The Silmarillion say only that:

Thus it was that great mariners among them would still search the empty seas, hoping to come upon the Isle of Meneltarma . . . But they found it not.

I see no reason why the Mer-peole would not have come upon the Isle now and then.

As to Kali - I thought he and his family had been separated from the rest of the Hobbits back in post-Beleriand times and were not captured and taken back to Númenor (at least this was one of the premises we were working with at some point). His family had wandered to other places in the ocean and had contact with other sea creatures.

NOTE - ALL:

We are now at Choosing day, early morning.

I think Sharon said the Choosing itself would happen mid afternoonish.

Shall we wait for Helen to return before we proceed? Or, how do you want to handle this?

[ November 14, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Birdland]

Pio - I have asked you a question at the end of my last post in the story. Do you want to pick up the "conversation"?

[Child of the 7th Age]

First, regarding Kali.....It is hard to keep everything straight. I went back and checked the earlier story. Kali was the last of his kin to survive. His mother and grandmother and all the others died out. They were all living somewhere in the Bay of Belfalas when the tale began.

When Ulmo created the first hobbrim, there were two groups. One was kept on the coastline of Numenor; the other was given the time travel device and told to swim towards the east and wait for a ship that would bear the flag of the lonely star. The group sent east was about 35 in number. They established a community, had children, and their descenents waited there till the early Fourth Age when only Kali was left. Then we came. If Kali had died before the Star appeared, Ulmo would have entrusted the device to the hobbrim in Numenor and told them to swim east and wait for the ship. (This is in our story line itself.)

This does raise an interesting headache. Time travel is so hard to keep straight. In theory, Meneltarma should be in the Fourth Age, shouldn't it? Otherwise, you still have that splinter group loose in the Bay. I don't know if we want to deal with this, or just assume it's part of the whole mystery of the isle. Maybe Meneltarma is just a hidden, timeless place like Lorien which seems to run by a different clock.

Of course, we could always change something in the fanfiction if people preferred.
---------------------------------------------

As far as the Choosing, I thought we were definitely going ahead, and I was going to reserve a lot of spaces for Helen plus some for me to respond. I thouught the hold up was Mithadan because he's so deeply involved in the Chasm. I was waiting for him to do the beginning post. Wouldn't Ulmo need to arrive to begin the choosing?

Should we just reserve a space for him, since he can post under any name and he can fill in later? Or, Pat, do you want to go ahead and do Ulmo? (Please not me. I don't have the voice!)

Then we would do the responses by the different hobbits. I know Helen has to do the following: Gamba, Azraph, Phura. I don't know if there are others. I assumed you would do Daisy. I had originally thought to do a general description of the hobbits' response to Ulmo--probably the first post after Ulmo, and tag on the choice by Cami and Rose in the same post. I don't have it written, but I'd be glad to sit down and slap it out anytime today.

Our real problem is that we have two missing, both of whom were supposed to do a lot in the Choosing.

---------------------------------------------

Regarding the isle and Levanto. No problem. I was half-teasing. He's a welcome visitor anytime.

This is more out of curiosity than anything. Do you think that the isle was protected from the eyes of Men with some sort of veil, or not? Could Elves, mermen, etc. visit it then? Could Men, if they chanced upon it?

If Elves and mermen could visit, it would be a little less lonely than sticking the hobbrim off somewhere with no hope of visitors of any kind. I think I said somewhere in the description that "no one" could come or go, so I might need to modify that slightly. Just let me know.

sharon

[ November 14, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Mithadan]

I'm buried under both with The Chasm and real life. I can do the Ulmo post by midmorning tomorrow. If someone else wants to do it or you want to leapfrog, go ahead. I favor the idea of the Hobbits choosing the sea wading in and being covered by a wave. They disappear causing concern on shore. Then a head pops up, Phura, followed by another etc.

[piosenniel]

*Hauls the large green scaled Vala off Mith's back*

I'll post the Ulmo scene tomorrow - Saturday at the latest, unless I hear you are dying to do it! smilies/biggrin.gif

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat and Carol--

I will go ahead and do the beach scene later tonight. This is how I see the posts setting out:

1. Reserve space for Helen
2. Beach scene with hobbits (sharon); lead in to Ulmo's arrival; Ancalimon stands up and asks every hobbit/hobbrim to chose.

3. posts where the characters choose: first a general description and Cami and Rose (by sharon);

then Daisy;

spaces saved for Helen--Azraph, Gamba, Phura);

space saved for Cami to respond.

4. Bird does post where she and Levanto lead hobbits into the water.

5. Mith does post where he waves scepter.

6. Sharon does post where hobbits have heart attacks.

7. Somone does post when hobbrim come back to the shore.

How's this? I will be saving many spaces for Helen if she needs them.

sharon

[ November 14, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[mark12_30]

Heart attacks?????

[piosenniel]

Ta da! Ulmo has come and drowned the Chosen!

Time for a Hobbit reaction - then Ulmo can thee and thou a little more.

I'm getting the idea we better wrap this story up soon per the memo from the Chasm consensus.

[Child of the 7th Age]

This close to the end?.....Mith wouldn't dare shut us down! Mutiny on the Star!

sharon

[piosenniel]

Cami knelt down on the grassy knoll . . .

Was Lee Harvey Oswald kneeling next to her?

Sorry! LOL! The image of an Ulmo sniper suddenly sprung to mind!

[Child of the 7th Age]

Agh, rolling over laughing, I have to revise. That was one of the saddest days of my life! sharon

[mark12_30]

On a blander, more dismal note, I've filled in several posts on page ten. Plenty of Angst for all. Enjoy!

[Birdland]

OK, Birdie's crying. Sharon, Pam and Helen - those were all so beautiful! Well done!

[piosenniel]

Notice of time limit

We need to respond to Mithadan's "IMPORTANT RPG FORUM ANNOUNCEMENT -- PLEASE READ" post in the Freestyle RPG Room.

How long do we need to bring The Lonely Star to a conclusion?

Would three weeks do it? Do we need less or more time than that?

Shall we skip the party and make a short partings of the ways scene, load the Hobbits on the boats and sail off on a smooth journey to ?(where exactly was it we had decided to drop you off?)

Then a few remarks of how we all go settled and *Finis*

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

Skipping the party ......NOOOOO!

I would prefer not to alter the story line unless we felt that this was preferable in terms of the RPG itself. Does anyone feel it would be better not to have the party in terms of our story?

We have been at this for months and months, and have invested much time and effort.
Perhaps it would be best to communicate honestly with Mithadan. (Hi, Mith, are you out there somewhere?) Tell him we will do our very best to complete in three weeks, but if we are a week short, surely there could be some grace. Mith did not specify a time frame within his announcement, so it's difficult to judge.

The hard thing recently is that we've had folk away. Does anyone expect to be physically away from the computer in the next three weeks? If we knew someone had to be away, perhaps we could figure out ahead of time how to deal with that.

Another possibility.....worst case scenario, we could write the later summaries of what happened to our characters for the fanfiction and not the RPG.

I hate to lose the party, but if everyone feels this is necessary, I will go along.

sharon

[Mithadan]

Please reread my post. No one is being shut down. I Have asked how long it will take to conclude long running RPGs. If this crew has misunderstood what I said, then the rest of the site must be in a tizzy. smilies/eek.gif

FYI, I think that I can estimate the windup time for this one myself.

[mark12_30]

...hey, I just work here...

Seriously, I'll flex. I have one more post that I aboslutely HAVE to do, and after that, I'll go with whatever y'all (but especially Sharon) wants to do.

Having said that, this RPG seems to have an inexorable, unexplainable RYTHM of its own. Good luck putting a time limit on it; I'm not sure it's possible! smilies/biggrin.gif

[Birdland]

If this crew has misunderstood what I said, then the rest of the site must be in a tizzy.
That ain't the half of it, Mith. I think once people finish watching their DVDs and start reading the posts, you'll find that there are lots of players getting a little nervous.

I guess we're wondering if long stories like "The Star" will be a thing of the past from now on.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen,

Cami was both flattered and startled by that proposal of marriage, although he's definitely not her type. I have included a reflective response at the end of your post.

For any who would like to see this interchange, it is at 11/12, 5:24 p.m.

I also edited my post of 11/13, 2:35 to include an answer to Gamba's question as to whether hobbits on the Anduin live in caves.

I think that's all the earlier editing I will do unless you see the need for something else.

sharon

[ November 17, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

According to our list, the next major event is the exchange of rings and the party.

Wouldn't Pio be the one to tell us that the happy couple will exchange rings? Who would offer to "throw the party?" Perhaps Idril, and then delegate the actual preparations to Bird and Cami? (I assume you will be talking to Idril about this?) I assume we'd have a post or two about party preparations and then the exchange of vows and the party itself.

Will this work? Any other ideas? Pat, this is your wedding (the groom never really counts!), so let us know what you'd like.

sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

The wrong decision? Where is that dratted Elf? I'm going to kill her.

Your poor husband.....

sharon

[piosenniel]

Idril has sent an urgent note to Bird and to Cami - better come talk some sense into the Elf.

[piosenniel]

Part of Cami could not believe she was talking this way about an Elf. She'd always been taught to treat Elves with respect and courtesy.

Go get 'er, tigress! smilies/biggrin.gif

[Mithadan]

A little osanwe can be a dangerous thing...

[Birdland]

Don't worry Mith. We'll talk some sense into her.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Hey, who said that? If you don't watch out, I'll have Cami tell Pio to throw the Man into the Sea!

sharon

[piosenniel]

The amalgamated post is now up - on Sharon's post just before Mith's first early morning post.

Bird, Sharon let me know if it's ok with you.

Have to go to work - won't be back til midnight Pacific Time.

[mark12_30]

Speaking of amalgamated, I'll be jamming a **very** long postscript into my last post, after Sharon's recent addendum to that same post. I was going to do it a little later-- but Pio's controversy needs to keep its momentum I think. THis will work fine-- I think-- Sharon, does it work for you?

--Helen

[Child of the 7th Age]

Yes, the storyline took an unexpected direction when I was up late last night. I thought your Gamba post might fit in before Cami runs off the ship. That's why I made the reference to everyone finally being asleep.

Bird and I have spent the day chasing the Elf with bats and other weapons. Fortunately, she has taken up the various pieces and edited them very nicely together.

sharon

[mark12_30]

While you're mauling some sense into this schizo elf, how much longer will the Anduin hobbits be staying at Meneltarma? I should write something thoughtful between Gamba and Phura before (or for) the final goodbye. (sob...) Keep me posted.

[Child of the 7th Age]

We hope that the schizo Elf will pull herself together sometime tomorrow, although one never knows. Plus her husband has been very busy climbing mountains and going into chasms. Hopefully, they will get together in the next day or so.

Then we hopefully have an exchange of Rings and a party. Then it's bye, bye Meneltarma!

You better start writing soon.

sharon

[mark12_30]

...or saving spots... do you have any thoughts about the grand farewell that I should be aware of for integrating? Keep me posted about that too...

[piosenniel]

So, the amalgamated post was ok?

I'll hammer something out tonight I hope before I drop dead from exhaustion - long night at work. I'll at least get Pio to the mountain top and then Mith can start the dialog, I hope.

*trips over a bucket*

Are we stuck in a sort of broom closet at the moment? temporary storage?

[Child of the 7th Age]

The amalgamated post was a great deal more than 'ok'. It was very, very good. You did a great job weaving in the strands.

Please check your pms.

sharon

[Mithadan]

"Don't try to stop me." *Silence*

"I'm walking now." *Silence*

"Its gonna be too late in a minute." *Silence*

"Yup, gone forever." *Silence*

*Mithadan falls from the summit of Meneltarma with a long cry. Piosenniel counts the seconds, wondering if she will hear a "thud"*

.................... Nope. No "thud". *Whistles the theme from "The Merry Widow".

[Rimbaud]

Welcome to Gondor. Since all of you writing here are of such high quality, this thread belongs here. When the Inn is finished, etc., I'd appreciate you all checking in, especially those of you on the List.

Rimbaud

[Child of the 7th Age]

Rimbaud,

Turns and curtseys. Thank you for the welcome. I will be glad to pay a visit when your thread is open.

Pat,

First, please see my pm.

Second, Yeah! Mithadan and the Elf have resolved their differences for now. That means we get a party. How does the Elf want to do this? Do you want Idril to host and delegate the preparations to Pio's dearest friends who came roaring out in the middle of the night to talk sense into her? Or do you prefer some other arrangement?

Are you going to come visit us to tell us about the reconciliation, or shall we come banging on Pio's cabin door? Please advise.

Helen, will you be doing a post or two describing life among the Hobbrim? Or anything further between Phura and Gamba?

Finally, I sent out a memo last weekend taking another stab at a wizard character for "Shapechanger". Did people get this? Or should I do another? As a number of us have been busy with the changes on the Downs, this memo may have gotten lost, literally or figuratively, in the Chasm!

sharon

[Birdland]

*Mithadan falls from the summit of Meneltarma with a long cry. Piosenniel counts the seconds, wondering if she will hear a "thud"*
You think that's bad, Mith. You should have heard how she was doggin' you in the chat room when we were trying to write our "interactive" scene.

I have a copy, if you make it worth my while. Or maybe I'll save it for the day I need to hit the Elf up for a "loan". smilies/wink.gif

[ November 20, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]

[Birdland]

Thanks for the welcome, Rimbaud. Lovely place you got here. I'll be sure to stop by your establishment often...uh, by the way; when's "buck-an-ale" night?

[piosenniel]

Geez, Bird, must you always stir up trouble! Pio would never dog her beloved! (and certainly never with you in the room again!)

I'm buying the next round at the Seventh Star - Black and Tans.

[Mithadan]

Hmmm. Seems a copy of a certain copy of a chat log has appeared for auction on eBay. Description: "Blackmail your friends! Embarrass the Administrator! Chatlog from irc Barrow-Downs related chatroom. Autographed by Shapechanger! Read as the Elf threatens to dump the Man! Major putdowns of the Admin as the members of the site follow along in confusion! Hear Dwarin exclaim that he can't understand why anyone would love the foolish Man. Valuable bootleg!"

[piosenniel]

*logs into myEbay, MasterCard in hand*

Damnable Neekerbreeker! How many copies did you make?

*looks at the number of transcripts offered, and opens her calendar to calculate how many extra shifts this is going to cost her*

What's this! There are 2 copies supposedly signed, 'Pio, the Fair Elven Heartbreaker'

Bird! Give me that Sharpie!
******************************************
SHARON -

Didn't receive a new workup on the wizard - would like to see it.

[Child of the 7th Age]

I am working on growing a seedling into something that might actually take root. As soon as I finish that (by tomorrow afternoon, I hope), I will consider the wizard again. I wonder what happened to that e-mail? It never came back, but no one ever said they got it.

Maybe it went to our cyber-world twins.

Hey, I want a cut on those chat log profits! I just bought an Elven brooch from the Downs store, and I am too poor to pay for it.

sharon

sharon

[piosenniel]

Shall we try to get the Party sequence going - or are there some other posts that need to happen first?

Sharon and Bird and Helen - can you do most of the Party stuff, and throw me whatever you need to be written - I will be gone until late tonight and then most of tomorrow. Just tell me what you'ld like done. I would be happy to be Idril as one of the planners as well as Coral and Shell.

We can skip the public exchange of rings as that has already happened on the summit.

Once done with the Party - then where are we headed and how do we need to get that started?

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

I'll try, but I also have conflicts. I am supposed to plant the seedling tomorrow on the Long Winter. Plus I am committed to go to lunch with friends after work. And if I don' pick up my house, it will be called a disaster area! Will do the best I can. Please be Idril and the two hobbrim girls.

Bird, Helen,

How are you at party planning?

sharon

[ November 20, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[mark12_30]

Sharon,

Categorically terrible. Ask anyone who knows me well. You'd better have Bird do it.

(Party??? Isn't that a (gasp) five-letter word??? Excuse you??)

Eh, sorry, slipped into recluse mode for a moment... smilies/rolleyes.gif

[Birdland]

I have some ideas for the start of the party scene, but I'm dealing with a terrible day: two hours sleep, a bad hair cut, and a lost billfold.

Hopefully, I will not have to spend all of tomorrow on the phone replacing all my IDs and bank cards. If I haven't conked out and posted something tonight. I'll try to start it in the morning. (I do have a cute idea, but if I try to type it now, I may wind up on Rimbaud's list of chronic misspellers.)

Oh, nobody had met the minimum on e-Bay yet, but the bidding is fast and furious.

[piosenniel]

*Calls Key Bank to check on the limit for her Platinum Credit Card*

email to birdsd-1@conartist.com:

Just run an open tab through PayPal. I'll be wanting ALL those copies!

********************************************

Bird - try to start the Party stuff tomorrow - I'll help as Idril, Coral, Shell, Ancalimon, whoever you need.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Bird,

I will wait for you to post and then chime in as Cami. I will probably put something in about the memory quilt that we'll be giving Pio and Mith.

Sure wish I had graphic skills to do an actual picture of it. Otherwise, I'll just describe the various blocks that I got from everyone plus a few additional scenes from the rescue.

BTW, my cable still doesn't work. The 8th repairman is coming tomorrow. This is ridiculous! Bird, that's awful about you billfold. What a pain!

sharon

[ November 21, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Birdland]

Billfold found at restaurant. Hair will grow out again. I've slept for 10 hours. All is well now.

Anyone want to hunt for musical instruments? Or "pretty lights"? smilies/smile.gif

[piosenniel]

I have to go out for a while - will write a 'hunting post' later. (I just purchased tickets for the Two Towers and have to pick them up.)

Come visit Pio in the Star Inn in Gondor - she's hiding in a back booth. Has heard some interesting info on a lead for Shapechanger history.

[Rimbaud]

Where's the original Lonely Star thread? And the Party thread from whence it came? They should be moved here or to Elvenhome.

Rimbaud.

[mark12_30]

Good question! in a locked up archive, perhaps? Did they fall into the chasm? BW, you've still got them, don't you? Don't you???

[Mithadan]

We have the old threads. They will be moved to Elvenhome.

[piosenniel]

The party planning is mostly done now. Cami should meet with Idril soon.

We will try to get the party done next Monday and finished by Tuesday.(11/25 & 26)

We (Sharon and I) thought then we would adjourn for the holiday and meet back the following Monday, there to:

1. Send unneeded elves and Idril and Tuor back to the West

2. Get the hobbits and Ancalimon on board the ships and head for the Anduin (to Rauros) - I'm thinking this should be a smooth sailing trip! ***Are we dropping Ancalimon here also?

3. go back to the 4th age (with Levanto)

4. Can't recall what we decided to do about the blasted time crystal - does anyone remember - does Kali come with us and take it back to hide it among the Hobbrim on Tol Meneltarma?

5. Couple of wrap-up posts and the Lonely Star is docked!

How does this sound to everyone? Does anyone have somehting they need to get on the story before we head into the 4th age?

[mark12_30]

I was going to say Kali should stay in his own time, and Levanto could take it back to Meneltarma in the Fourth age. But then, if Kali has it he can get back to his own time and rejoin Daisy... right? We wouldn't separate them, would we?

[Child of the 7th Age]

I think Kali (and Daisy) should come to the Third Age when the hobbits get dropped off, then on to the Fourth Age with the Star. At this point Pio and Mith attach the time device to one of the skiffs. Kali and Daisy sail back to Meneltarma in their own time to be with the other hobbrim.

Helen, don't you think Phura (and Azraph?)should come along with Kali and Daisy on this final leg of the trip? Maybe Phura asks Loremaster and Ancalimon if he can see where his brother is going, so he'll worry less about him. And since he is a master of the Lore, that would be permitted. If we do that, all the saddest farewells of the major characters could be postponed to the one scene when Cami and crew leave the Star. Otherwise you'll have to do a teary farewell before.

After the party, there should be one general farewell post between the hobbits and the hobbrim. Who wants to do that? I plan to do one last farewell between Cami and Andril. Helen, could you do Loremaster with Gamba, and perhaps some involvement by Cami as well.

If we do the above, we also need a scene where Phura asks Ancalimon and Loremaster for permission to go on the final leg of the trip.

During the party itself, I will do one scene where Cami gets her pony from Ancalimon, and another scene where she and the hobbrim/hobbits give the quilt to Mith and Pio. The hobbits will be adding some scenes to the quilt.

sharon

[Mithadan]

Perhaps we put Ancalimon in a skiff when we get back to the 4th Age and he uses the crystal to return to 2nd Age Meneltarma. Or better yet, one Elven ship comes with us to make travel back to the island easier.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Mithadan,

We cross posted. To me, one of the nice things about having Kali and Daisy and Phura come on the final trip and then return together is that the major farewells are in one spot. Plus, the Star crew is still intact till that final scene when there's one big sob scene. We don't drag it on. It is true that you will skip forward to the 4th age, but Kali and Daisy and Phura immediately leave. It would only take a split second, a single post, to do that.

Whatever others think on this is fine. If Phura, Daisy, and Kali don't go on the Star, we'll need some kind of goodbyes right after the party.

sharon

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

I do have a general question about Ancalimon. Cami and the hobbits are going to the Anduin in 1000 of the Third Age, the same year when the Istari arrive.

Ancalimon has already promised Cami that he will still see her, and keep an eye on the hobbits now and again in the Anduin. There are two possible ways to do this:

1. Ancalimon actually sails with the Star and gets dropped off.

2. Ancalimon returns to Valinor with one of the Elven ships. Then, as the Star pulls up near the falls with the hobbits, Gandalf is waiting for them as they disembark. In this scenario, at the party, Ancalimon will promise the hobbits that he is leaving them now, but he may well see them again some day.

Leaving aside the whole delegation of duty by the Valar to the Istari which will happen later in history, it's clear from our story that G has some kind of special relation with the hobbits which seems to have been initiated by Nienna. So presumably he would occasionally drop in.

I kind of like #2. What do others think?

sharon

[ November 22, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[mark12_30]

I'll flex. It would be nicer for Gamba not to have to split with Phura so quickly. How will "we" hide the four hobbrim when we go on Shore Leave?

[mark12_30]

What's happening to Gondor? Stuff is disappearing, empty threads are appearing? --worried

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen,

Apparently, the whole forum is having problems. I hope this isn't what I think it is.

I don't think the hobbrim will be a problem. We intend to go to some deserted place for the drop off. We're not going near Minas Anor.

Also, unless any object, I am going with door #2 on Ancalimon. He will return with the Elven ships to Valinor, and will be waiting for us at the drop off point as Gandalf when the ships pull in near the falls.

Pat, I think we should make sure and get the Star printed off, either downloaded or printed on paper. This is what I presently have in paper: 6/6-6/7, 6/26-7/16, 7/27-7/30, 8/3-8/10. This weekend I will try and copy chapter 4 in paper. (the current thread).

Did you download some of it? What do you have?

sharon

[ November 23, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

Sharon - I am copying Chapter Four of LS to Floppy as a Word document.

Will work more on that, as I have been less attentive to doing that lately.

LATER NOTE: I have the first 5 pages copied to floppy.

May I ask - the copies you are making - are they text only. Have you put them on Word and then copied them off? The reason I'm asking is that it will be easier to manipulate them when I scan them to disc if they are in Word format.

[ November 23, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[piosenniel]

Cami

Idril's request for the quilt:

The faces of Holly and her young daughter within the circle of Holly's necklace - a silver chain with a holly leaf pendant.

[piosenniel]

Party day has arrived!

It is now the morning of the day of the party.

Last call - did anyone have any posts they wanted to make before we do this? If so, let me know I will move my 'the morning of the party' post.

Sharon, you can now begin with the gathering scene and the start to the celebration if you wish.

I am just going to start on a short and sweet exchange of vows, to post after you are done with the intro speeches.

Then the quilt, eh?! or are there speeches first and the quilt and Cami's thank-you speech are last.

Bird - did you want to stand up and say a few words?

Then - huzzah! Music, dancing, and good food!!!!

[ November 24, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

I would prefer to hold the quilt till later. I have not yet heard back from Helen regarding the pictures by Phura, Gamba, and Loremaster.

How about the vows first...then Loremaster and Andril's thanks....then Cami's thanks.

If necessary, I will save a space at that point for the quilt. Will try to post late tonight. If not then, tomorrow.

Pat, go save a space for exchange of vows. Then I'll save next.

sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

OK, introductions and thank yous are up. I refuse to give those two the quilt until they finally tie the knot in public. I mean, you never know!

So go ahead and say your vows. Pat, when you come over to get your food at the refreshment table, there will be a slew of children, hobbit and hobbrim, waiting to presnt you with the quilt. (Cami thought that would be a better way to do it.)

You can handle that post if you like. Then let me do a description of what's on the quilt. I'll have Pio look it over, and give a listing of the different blocks.

Everybody on the Star....If I goof and forget anything, let me know and I'll edit. But I carefully saved all the e-mails I got.

Can we eat and have Bird's fireworks and music then?

sharon

[piosenniel]

Ok - the pair is officially and thoroughly wedded!

I'll write our going over the food tables in a moment - I need something to eat myself!

[mark12_30]

Sorry I've been hard to locate lately; I fly back to Seattle Saturday, and right now Nothing Works... welcome to Kludgeland and Stressville.

Pio and Mith, congratulations. (You know hte Irish blessing: "Long life, long love, and a kid every year.")

[piosenniel]

Er . . . thanks, Helen. But I think two will be enough! smilies/biggrin.gif

[piosenniel]

Great quilt, Sharon!

Wish I really had it!

Can someone please carry the party forward - maybe get us to the fireworks. We'll wrap it up tomorrow.

[Mithadan]

Sorry about my absence today. Troll trouble and more trouble than its been worth. But I'm back I think.

[Birdland]

Wonderful quilt, Cami! I wish we could find an artist on the Downs who could make an actual "quilt".

Unfortunately, I can only do clip-art "art".

[Child of the 7th Age]

Bird,

That would be really nice, but I am a real computer 'dunce'. That type of thing is way beyond me! sharon

[mark12_30]

Bird, if I ever DO throw a party I'm hiring you to run it.

[Birdland]

(Birdie runs around passing out coasters, freshing drinks, and checking the canape' trays.)

Thank you Helen! But next year we're doing it at your place! Whoo!...Hey! Hobbits off the chandeliers - NOW!

[piosenniel]

Scene cut from the story by the redlining Editor:

Leaving the sleeping hubby on the Star, Pio makes her way back to the party which is still in full sway.

Grabbing a deliciously scented drink in some cleverly carved out fruit, she sticks the small paper umbrella behind one ear, and takes a long pull at the amber liquid within. A smile creases her mouth at the delicate fire now coursing its way through her veins.

'Mmmm . . . a few more of these, and I will have caught up!' she says, eyeing the passed out heaps of Hobbrim and Hobbits on the sand. the tiki torches blaze brightly as she picks her way through the sleeping masses.

Bird's band is laying down a fine beat as she wanders over to listen to the jam. Idril, a large white flower in her hair, sways in the arms of Tuor. 'Not bad!' she thinks to herself, 'For a stodgy First Age couple.'

Cami and Bird sit watching the band, discussing the finer points of cool jazz versus bebop. At a pause in the conversation, Bird's eyes are drawn back to that fine looking Telerin trumpet player, laying down some exquisite riffs. Pio notes him mentally as one she'll be sure to ask help sail the Hobbits back to the Anduin.

The song winds down, and Pio steps up to the band leader, whispering a request in his ear. A look of mild surprise crosses his features, then he shrugs and motions to the band. A few hurried murmurings among them, and the beat begins.

'Grab one of these! And gather round!' she shouts to the remaining party goers as she holds aloft the parasoled drink. Commandeering two tipsy Elves, Pio shows them the finer points of lightly holding the pole she borrowed from one of the party banners.

'Let's limbo!' she cries.

Hiking her skirt to her knees, she makes the first pass beneath the bar . . .

[Child of the 7th Age]

Piosenniel!

You are a married lady. Go back to your poor husband this instant. Anyone want to lay odds on whether the dear couple will make it to their first anniversary?

I dread to think!

Camelia Goodchild, guardian of the hearth

[Birdland]

"How low can you go!" screams Birdie, pumping her fist in the air. She leans boozily over to the fine Telerin musician and slurs, "Y'know, I knew her before she was Noldor."

The Hobbits, not being up on popular 4th Age culture, miss the whole point of the game and start jumping over the stick. But nobody was much concerned with the rules by now.

The Teleri started a slow, sad riff and Bird started to croon "Come To Me My Meneltarma Baby". Cami was starting to cry into her ale, and Gamba was muttering in his cups about the unfairness of Eru.

Pio knew these moods of Birdie, introspection might lead to a catfight with an Elven shieldmaiden if things didn't change fast. Grabbing Anacalion around the waist, she started kicking out her feet and screamed "Bunny Hop!"

The band struck up the familiar beat, and soon there was a long line of Bunny Hoppers snaking along the sand.

[ November 26, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]

[Mithadan]

As Piosenniel closed the cabin door behind her, Mithadan opened one eye. He waited ten minutes until he was sure she was gone, then dressed and proceeded up to the helm. Taking up the time crystal, he inserted it into its slot and the Lonely Star winked out. It returned less than a minute later...having been gone for six months on a Fourth Age journey to a small, little known tropical island off the coast of Harad.

[Child of the 7th Age]

And so we return to the final chapter of "As Middle-earth Turns."

Each of our characters is being true to their original goal and purpose:

Cami sits, morose and introspective.

Piosnniel has once again deserted her mate.

The good-natured Bird, giving no thought to the morrow, leads all in the Bunny Hop.

And Gamba groans under the misery of it all.

But most apt of all is Mithadan, who like all Men, has once again returned to his one true love, absconding with the Lonely Star, and leaving behind Bird and Pio, out of mind, out of sight..........

May one and all have a happy Thanksgiving!

---------------------------------------------

Pio,

Don't we need a scene where the Elven ships sail off?

I believe I will wait on Cami's pony until she reaches the Anduin. Gandalf will be waiting there with her beloved steed.

Sharon

[ November 26, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

Yes I will post later about the Telerin ships.

****************************************

Mithadan - Pio will speak to the ship's rats later - they are keeping an eye on you!

I'm only dancing with Bird and Cami - what are you doing?

[Mithadan]

Catching some rays and sipping margheritas. smilies/tongue.gif

[Child of the 7th Age]

Margheritas sound good......

Ahem, Miss Pio,

Please do not forget that Phura, Kali, and Daisy are hitching a lift as well to the east. Ancalimon will return to Amon for the time being. You will be dumping us off near the Falls. Cami's got her hiking shoes on.

Cami needs a goodbye scene with Andril and Loremaster. I will probably stick it at the end of my own post and before yours. But will probably wait until you get yours up.(maybe, maybe not)

sharon

[piosenniel]

Gamba and Cami had passed out long ago. The band had done one last swansong and packed up their instruments, heading back to the ships. Even Ancalimon lay gently snoring beneath a table.

Pio and Bird sat on the surf line, letting the foam break over their toes. 'You tired?' asked Bird. 'Not really.' replied Pio. grinning. The shapechanger motioned with a nod of her head to the Star. 'That time crystal still on board?'

The Elf looked closely at her friend, head nodding. 'Road trip?'

[mark12_30]

Phura's not going ANYWHERE without Azraph, so somebody has to negotiate that with Andril... curfews, guardians, chaperones... Andril will want to be quite sure that everything remains proper.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Miss Helen,

Rumor has it that Mistress Cami makes a very strict chaperone. She'll crack the whip quite nicely. I will set it up when I speak with Andril.

sharon

[mark12_30]

Ah, that sounds good.

I added a section to your most recent post, before your last heading. Is it all right by you?

--Helen

[piosenniel]

You do all realize that when Kali and Daisy and Phura and Azraph are put into the skiff with the time crystal(once we have deposited the Hobbits at Rauros and returned to the open sea) that there will be no chaperone.

So, if this is, indeed, a problem, then it will need to be worked out before I load the ships.

Thanks!
*******************************************

Just a thought - If a chaperone is needed - then we will need to bring Andril with us, and then let her go back with the four in the skiff.

[ November 26, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

That's actually a good idea. And it has nothing to do with chaperones.

It is Andril who now has Idril's journal with the tale of the Star. If she were to sail to the Anduin, she would then be able to record the last episode of the hobbits dispersing in the Third Age. Otherwise it would be Phura recording (that doesn't seem right) or the page would be blank.

I vote for Andril to come as chaperone and, even more importantly, as recorder of the tale.

sharon

[piosenniel]

Sharon -

Can you put the 'Good-byes and chaperone arrangements' after the post I'm doing now?

My post will cover getting the Telerin ships and the Star ready to go.

We will leave tomorrow, game time.

Once you post your 'goodbyes and chaperones', I can get us loaded on the boats - Pio and Mith won't know until then the Phura and Azraph also intend to go. Then I'll head us to the Anduin.

Sound ok?!

[Child of the 7th Age]

will do

I'll probably throw up a rough post tonight and edit tomorrow, as I often do. But you should have no trouble going on and posting after me.

Since I am dragging Andril along, there will be fewer good byes and more arrangements.

Helen, if you want to add any hobbit goodbyes, you can always append them in my box.

sharon

[ November 26, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen,

How do you want to handle Kesha? Do you want to write a farewell post now, or have him sneak onto the Star, and have him discovered by Cami after the ship begins to sail? This will de deja vu for her a la Daisy. I personally like the latter, but decide and let me know.

You are always welcome to use my space as you need it.

Also, what about Loremaster's good-bye to Gamba? That is prety important and has to be done somewhere.

I hope you can do these, but if you're busy with real life, let me know and I can help out, although Loremaster/Gamba won't be easy. Or you could append to my own posts and add it on later, if you need to.

Sharon

[mark12_30]

OK, Kesha sneaks. :-D

I'll do Gamba/Loremaster; I'll reserve the space & get to it when I can. Thanks for the notice!

love ya-- Helen

[mark12_30]

Pio-- any chance you could please leapfrog your list of departure stuff past my latest save? If not I guess i can pirate a spot in Sharon's space... thanks, --Helen

[piosenniel]

Helen - Done.

Will probably post the farewells to Ancalimon, Khelek and Veritas sometime today.

Bird - any farewells you want to stick in - I can always move the 'Let's go to the Anduin post'

Let's save posting the trip to Rauros until after the holiday if we could. Friday or the weekend would be better.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Yes, let's slow down the game after the farewells. I can do some posting on Friday, and then not too much till Monday.

I am a wee bit bogged down. I have Thanksgiving, Hanukah (all the presents for the kids), and my daughter's birhday party happening in the next few days! Help!

sharon

[piosenniel]

((Sharon)) - let's put it off til Minday, then.

I have guests arriving in 2 hours - the house still looks like someone lives there who has spent too much time on a 4th age sailing ship! Why don't houses come with handles like toilets - just one flush and it's all clean!

*bats at the dust bunnies, and wonders where the vacuum has disappeared to*

[Child of the 7th Age]

Yes, I sympathize. Right now I have a turkey frozen rock solid. We are going to a friend's and I'm supposed to bring the bird. Hope they like frozen raw poultry!

I will continue on Cami's goodbyes. They are turning into a small book! I just keep adding to that one long post. At the rate I am going, I will fill the whole thread.

sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

My post before the departure is indeed turning into a small book. Cami has a little different problem than the others on the Star. Not only does she need to say her goodbyes, but to set up a credible backdrop for her people's arrival on the shores of the Anduin. So a lot of that long string has to do with future hobbit destiny and trying to tie things together with the later information Tolkien gives us, e.g., the crazier Tooks feeling compelled to go to sea without knowing they are really searching for their lost hobbrim relatives.....as if Gamba were still grieving for Phura.

Also, Pat, please note that there will be a group of people waiting to meet the ships when they land, in addition to Gandalf.

Perhaps, we might want to make camp, and spend one night greeting these folk and hearing their tales, before the ship sets sail the next day for the Fourth Age. There may be a familiar face among them. I couldn't resist and it is logical.

[ November 28, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

Bird

I moved 'saves' so yours should fit in fine.

[Birdland]

Thanks Pio. 'Cause right now I have a major case of writer's block. I keep reading the last threads, and I got nothing. Maybe tomorrow.

I wonder if prunes would help?

[mark12_30]

Golly, it's quiet out there. Well, I'm off to Seattle... love y'all, --Helen

[Birdland]

I think we're back in gear again, Helen. smilies/smile.gif

I have filled in my 'saved" spot from page 12, Nov. 28th, 9:08 am, if anyone wants to read it. Bird has a last meeting with Kali, Cami and Angara, and she gives them a "gift".

[piosenniel]

The ships have set sail, east and west.

Please continue on to the Anduin.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Probably late tonight or Monday.

Pat, I need to reply to Bird's present. Can I use my magic key to get into your box and stick my answer before the sailing?

sharon

[piosenniel]

Sharon

I moved all the necessary posts and put a 'save' in just beneath Bird's for your reply to her.

[Child of the 7th Age]

I think I am having withdrawal symptoms. It has taken me forever to write Cami's goodbye to Bird, and to the isle of Meneltarma. Now, that I've written it, I think I understood why I kept putting it off!

The next few days are freer for me. I will work on the ship sailing to the Anduin and its arrival by the Falls.

Helen--will you be working on Loremaster and Phura, or are you snowed under with real life?

sharon

[mark12_30]

I, like you, Sharon, can hardly face it. I went through this once when I knew I was going to have to kill off one of my characters-- it took me weeks to gather the courage to do it. I liked 'em too much. I missed them, too. It was almost a grieving process. Okay, no "almost" about it...

But yeah, real life is in mugging-mode right now.

Good luck. If I have to I'll just keep saving spots. The one thing I know is that Gamba is going to be in on Kesha's plans, and is going to write Kesha a "Don't worry, Loremaster, I stowed away on the Lonely Star" kind of note. So Gamba will be unsurprised, and guilty, about Kesha. Maybe you can catch him bringing Kesha food.

[Child of the 7th Age]

I need help!

I sat down tonight to try and do the post on the ship's journy to the Rauros Falls when I realized I had a rather large problem.

You know Cami (and her owner) are not exactly the best navigators on the Star! Exactly how do we get there? Do we sail across the sea in the year we're in and proceed north up the Anduin past the Mouths of the Entwash until we get to the base of the Falls? Then do we time jump?

Is it a problem to have 14 swanships streaming up past Minas Anor in the year 3320 SA in broad daylight? Even at night, there is surely no way to sneak those ships in. The city was founded in 3320. Correct?

Pat, you indicated you will be posting regularly later in the week. Perhaps you have a better sense of how this voyage should go, and would like to describe the sailing yourself? Pretty please. If not, I am willing to write it myself, as long as I understand what our route is.

The one thing I would like to do in my own subsequent post is to discover Gamba sneaking food to our stowaway Kesha. Plus, I'd like to describe the party that is there to greet the hobbits near the Falls when we actually land.

Speaking of which.....does anyone have trouble with the Silvan Elves being there to help the hobbits? We will be heading up towards Greenwood (soon to be Mirkwood, alas). And does anyone have problems with a brief allusion to Legolas being with this party as well. (Fangirls, eat your hearts out!)

I am anticipating that we will spend the one night all camping out together much as Frodo did in LotR. Then, in the morning, Cami and Elven crew plus hobbits will depart.

BTW, Gandalf will not be at the landing site. He will send a message to Cami that he has been 'unavoidably delayed'(you know Gandalf!), and will hopefully see her sometime soon. He will, however, have sent a substitute in his place as well as the pony which she so richly deserves.

This substitute character will indeed provide a link with the next voyage of the Star. In that RPG, this same character will reappear and be able to regale us with tales of the infamous Cami Goodchild and her exploits in the TA, should we require amusement around our campfire. Knowing Cami as I do, however, I venture to say that these tales may be excessively long-winded.

Indeed, just as the Star twinkles out of the Third Age, I believe this character may reveal a piece of information to Cami that would be critical to Bird's search for her people. Poor Cami! Unfortunately, she has no way to get that information directly to Bird who is now chugging off into the Fourth Age.

Rumor has it that Cami may put this clue and other minor tidbits into a journal that will be deposited into the library at Rivendell. Of course, if Bird or Pio have the good sense to check that out in the archives, then they will find their friend has left them some helpful information!

sharon

[ December 05, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

When exactly do you want the 'sail and reach Rauros Falls post? does everyone have all the places claimed they need to?

I'll write it tomorrow if needed and as we draw near the Bay of Belfalas, Pio will take us all back to the very first years of the Second Age - before Sauron reawoke (@ 500 SA before he began to re-establish himself in Mordor).

We'll safely sail upriver to Rauros Falls area - transport to the approriate 3rd age date - drop off the hobbits - wink back to the early Second Age and skedaddle back to the open sea. Then to the appropriate time for Kali/Daisy/everybody else. At which time, Kali will come on board with Pio, Bird and Mith (While everyone else waits for him) - The Lonely Star will transport to the fourth age, then send Kali out in a skiff with the time crystal, and he'll head back to the second age where everyone in the Swan ships is waiting. this is a lot of winking in and out of time - but is certainly do-able.

OR - take Mith up on his original offer of getting us normal appearing ships to head up the Anduin.

Your call. Or anyone have any other ideas?

[ December 05, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Very tricky, but it will work. I am willing to use either scenario. Does anyone else have a preference here whether we use men's ships or do lots of time jumps? I wonder where and how Mithadan intended to find Men's ships? I'll do whatever you folk think is best on this one.

Let me do this. Today (and tonight), I will do one or more posts where we will begin sailing towards the Bay of Belefas in the year 3320. That way, I can get the details in about Kesha and Gamba as needed. Hopefully, Helen and Bird will pop in as well. I see Helen has saved a block. I'll check with her to see what she has in mind.

Either way, I'll make sure that we're into the Bay in the year 3020 SA(game time)by 1:30 a.m. central time on Friday morning.(real time). Then, one way or another, you and/or Mithadan can get us to the landing site at the falls in the year 1000 TA (game time).

Then, I'll pop back in with a post describing what we see as we come towards the landing point. (Cami, will be a little panicked at Gandalf's absence, but we all know how wizards are!) We'll disembark to begin meeting those who've come and have a night around the campfire with the Elves for our final goodbyes.

Since you didn't mention anything regarding the landing scenario, I am assuming that is basically alright in your eyes. Does anyone else have ideas about the landing, or who's there to greet us?

sharon

[mark12_30]

Lots of time jumps versus mens ships-- doesn't doing time-jumps sort of punch holes in the fabric of the universe or something? I thought we were s'posed to avoid doing it TOO much. Threads in the loom of time, and unravelling things, and all that? I would vote for mens' ships for that reason. But then that's a lot to explain and engineer...

Being a mere passenger (okay, four of them) I'll just hang on either way.

Uh-- I saved the spot, Sharon, just in case I needed it, and because I've been awfully quiet lately and I don't want the Tooks to drop altogether out of the story. (I'll think of something.)

Bird-- I'm confused. Who should say goodbye to you (of my characters) and when? Cami said goodbye to you-- don't we have a whole voyage ahead of us? We've got to get to the mouth of the Anduin, and then up the Anduin--it won't happen in one night, not at seven knots (tailwind, upstream.)

Confused passengers to Navigator... "Ruh?"

Love, --Helen

[Birdland]

Helen - I sure hope Phura says good-bye to Birdie. She's swimming alongside the ship with Levanto.

[Mithadan]

I've got the transport to Rauros covered if you wish. I don't like the idea of shifting on a river whose banks and shoals may have chaged over the space of an Age or so. If you want the transport, we need to stop by Minas Tirith/Anor. Probably leave the Elven fleet moored somewhere and go in with the Star. Someone refresh my memory. Who was king then?

[mark12_30]

Bird-- Phura's coming for the ride, and returning with Kali afterward. So's Azraph, and Daisy-- I thought? Right? And also Kesha will be stowing away in Cami's closet.

So does Phura have to say goodbye now or can he do it later?

[piosenniel]

Sharon - remind the addle-brained Elf once again - what year are we aiming for?

Mithadan - once we know the year, here is the list of Kings:

Kings of Gondor (http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/k/kingofgondor.html)

Please feel free to bring the Star to its destination.

[ December 05, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

We are aiming for 1000 of the Third Age. That is because the hobbits' earliest mention of recorded history, according to Tolkien, is 1050 of the Third Age.

I also wanted Cami to get a few good years in Greenwood before it becomes overun with spiders and Orcs. She will see that change in her lifetime. Near the end of her days the hobbits will decide to split up into the three clans. Cami will retire to Rivendell to write her memoirs.

Too bad JRRT didn't check the Rivendell archives when he composed his hobbit history.

Wasn't Ciryandil King then? He was the third ship-king killed in 1015.

sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

My post is completed regarding Gamba and Kesha.

Helen, if you want to add anything (don't know if you will), you can always append it to mine.

sharon

[piosenniel]

I've got the post written where the Star reaches the outer limits of the Bay of Belfalas. Before I post it - does anyone else have a save or post they need to put in?

I did put in an extra 'SAVE' for any one to use.

After my post should come the post concerning obtaining the Mannish ships and then the arrival at Rauros.

[ December 06, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Birdland]

Helen - Jump in anytime with a post for Birdie, and I will respond.

Child - I never thanked you for the wonderful good-bye scene. Oh, and thanks for leaving Bird and Pio some "clues". Although it will be hard to read something left behind so long ago by Cami. Too sad.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Hey, if Gandalf can read a manuscript from Isildur from the very beginning of age 3, surely you guys should be able to decipher my journal. I have a feeling that the Elves of Rivendell take better care of their manuscripts than the men of Gondor.

Not so sad. Cami will have a long life, and die at over 100 years. Her final years will be spent at Rivendell writing, much like Bilbo. Rose and Gamba and the others will go on and have families of their own. Such is the way of the world, theirs and ours as well! Still don't think she will marry, but she does have a family.

sharon

[mark12_30]

...and Noldo and Sindo will be Gamba's great-grandsons...

[Birdland]

Is it just me, or are we all avoiding writing the final chapters to our mighty saga? smilies/frown.gif

[Mithadan]

Its not just you, though I have a number of (lame) excuses for not posting lately. If someone doesn't fill in some of the "saves" I'll get moving on it.

[piosenniel]

We have been avoiding this for a couple of months now.

I would really like to close soon, and start the planning for the Southern Adventure - can we have a concerted effort to try and do this?

Also, the longer we take to finish - the longer it will be for Sharon and I to start editing/revamping it for a fanfic. smilies/smile.gif

[Child of the 7th Age]

You think you've got problems? I'e got to say goodbye to my character forever. Sniff, sob.

Mithadan, please ignore my saves. You may go ahead and get us to shore.

I do have some definite ideas on what is waiting for us. And, in one sense, at least it will tie in with the next story. Bird and I have been discussing this in just the last day. We've discovered that great minds think alike!

Mith, as soon as you post I'll describe what's waiting for us. We'll spend one night at the Elves' campfire. Pio and I need to say goodbye to each other. And that goodbye will have relevence for the next story. Then you folk can wisk away and I can take a rest!

sharon

[mark12_30]

I'm a bit fuzzy about "the saves". I'm percolating. Is this frowned upon? It's not writers' block; it's more like gestation. I think.

Anyway, speak Westron... does the thread have a deadline now or is this just a communal deep breath before the final plunge?

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen,

I would say it's not a deadline, just a deep breath before the final plunge. I personally don't think there's any problem having 'percolating saves' in the thread at this point, as long as we go forward with the landing and the story. Realistically, it will take us at least a few days to tie everything up.

My guess is that the posts to come in saved spaces would enrich the story, but not redirect the main plot line so that we can safely go forward.

If we still have saves when we come to the end of the tale, we could always ask Mithadan to wait a day or two before locking the thread and taking it to Elvenhome or wherever finished threads go for their 'afterlife'. That would give you (or any of us) a window to finish whatever needs finishing.

Plus, worst case scenario, we can always add (or delete!) anything we want to in the fanfiction, if we feel that something needs editing or supplmentation.

One other point......we once talked about having some wrap ups at the end which tie up our character's lives. Since there's going to be a volume 2, it makes more sense to handle that there. Since Radagast will know Cami, Gamba, etc. he will be able to do that even for those characters with tales around the campfire.

The only missing ones would be the Meneltarma crew.

sharon

[ December 09, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[mark12_30]

FYI, I've filled in three out of five of my "saves". Loremaster & Gamba's goodbye is still waiting (sniffSob) and the most recent "Save" I'll fill in after I see what kind of trouble Cami gets us into!

[Child of the 7th Age]

Trouble? Me? Miss Cami stares towards the ceiling. I would never do that. (But Gamba and Kesha would!)

[Mithadan]

#@$%&$# Halflings!

[piosenniel]

Wonderful! Trouble brewing, and Pio is unarmed.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Boys will be boys!

Helen, please see my pm.

[Mithadan]

Knowing Hobbits, rescuing them will more likely require a wheelbarrow than knives. smilies/wink.gif

[Child of the 7th Age]

Perhaps a wheelbarrow and a fist fight?

[mark12_30]

Child, see my PM, thanks. That was fun, but I ran out of time in the marketplace. Good luck.

[mark12_30]

Wooly-pated little gadabouts??? Excuse us??? There's just as much wool on our feet, but you fail to mention THAT.

Your life would be duller without us, admit it.

Besides, we were behaving VERY well until Cami egged us on.

[Mithadan]

Pio, I've been following along with your sleuthing in the Green Dragon with interest. Very clever.

[Child of the 7th Age]

A Friendly Reminder.....

Remember to click on the "disable sig" button when you post on the game thread.

sharon

[ December 12, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Mithadan]

Of course. So sorrry. My bad. smilies/eek.gif

[piosenniel]

Sharon - I've placed the 'boys' at the "Broken Pikestaff" - can you do a set up scene before Pio and Bird wander in, followed closely by the Guard and the informant.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Will reserve space and finish this evening.

[piosenniel]

Excellent! I'm off to work - not home til after midnight Pacific Time!

[mark12_30]

Sharon, We cross-posted. Let me know if my post works, if not it can disappear.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Your post is fine. Please see my pm. Hope you don't mind that I need to append to your post to resolve the problem about the drinks.

sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pio,

Cami has disobeyed you and gone off to do her motherly duty. Now, she's managed to get herself in a pack of trouble, so you'll need to rescue 3 hobbits instead of 2!

sharon

[piosenniel]

Pio has the lads and Cami in tow. I do need you to edit your post - I needed Brodda in my post - can you make it so he doesn't run off home, please.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pio,

Thank you. Post edited. Brodda is gone, and I've made the ending blend in with your beginning.

One small edit needed. Could you add a "picture" or "framed picture" to the list of items on the bar. That was another of the things that we found.

[mark12_30]

Sharon, see my PM when you get a chance, thanks, --Helen

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen,

Have responded with an outline of the posts.

sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

Have finally finished editing that humongous, long post.

Pio and Mith -- Please read carefully as Cami may come banging on your door or picketing your cabin after you get the serious affairs of state resolved. (I will move the square as needed until you resolve the matters with the King.)

Pio chains Cami for "disobeying" orders. smilies/eek.gif Surely this is the pot calling the kettle black!

Helen--What happend to your post that disappeared?

sharon

[piosenniel]

Sorry, Cami smilies/wink.gif - but Pio is on task, and seeks the shortest and most assured means to its completion.

[Birdland]

I filled in my "save", but it doesn't really fit into the chronology. Can it be shuffled around some way?

[piosenniel]

Sharon & Bird

I shuffled the posts - I think yours (Bird) fit in fine.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Sorry, Cami - but Pio is on task, and seeks the shortest and most assured means to its completion.

Sharon understands; Cami does not.

Given who Cami is, she will be shaken to the core. The fact that these actions came from a friend, who has given her all to the hobbits, will make the situation all the more distressing to her.

Let me explain this scenario from Cami's perspective.

First, 'family' is the core value of hobbit cuture. No hobbit would sit still if their child was in danger without attempting to help them. Cami is no different in this regard. Since Cami managed to survive the Orcs, the work camps, and the Tombs, it is likely that she would have the backbone to deal with a "dicey bar," particularly if she was with friends.

Unfortunately, the post was done in such a way that it was impossible for Cami to disagree or put forward her objections to Pio's orders to stay put and wait on the street corner. The issue was set down and decided in a single post, with no answer or rebuttal possible, since the Elf had since departed.

Cami had two choices: to accept the ultimatum, which went against her conscience, or disobey and help her son. She chose the latter.

Cami has witnessed character after character disregard orders and go off and do whatever they wanted. The Elf has been particularly flagrant in this regard.(Come on, admit it!) Yet, no other character has been reprimanded for their misdeeds, let alone ended up in chains.

As a result of all this, Cami was chained together with two children, ushered to her cabin as a prisoner in the sight of all the hobbits who regard her as their leader, and told that she would be 'dealt with' tomorrow. Moreover, two hobbrim children were told to guard her and keep her from further interference.

There was never any question in earlier posts of Cami threatening to flee or acting as a truant. She was the one who informed Pio of the boys' departure and asked for her help in getting them back (in response to a pm request by Pat). This was no lark for Cami. She was worried about her son and wanted to get the boys back to the ship as quickly as possible. This was her only purpose in going.

Pio was aware of all this, but didn't trust Cami to walk back without chains. Since flight was clearly never an issue, Cami can only believe the chaining was done to make her an object of jest. Certainly, Mith interpreted it that way.
smilies/eek.gif

Cami is not Merri or Pippin who would see the episode in chains as a lark. She is a fifty-year old, older than anyone on the Star except the Elves, and has been accorded the title of 'wise woman' by her people. She has been through poverty; hard times; the loss of her family, her Shire, and her husband-to-be; but she has stubbornly clung to her dignity, even during her ten-year tenure in Minas Anor where she would surely have been regarded as an oddity. In many respects, she is the poor man's female Bilbo.

Now that dignity has been stripped away. She has been paraded not only in front of city residents, but also before her own people who regard her as their leader, and has been placed under house arrest by two teenagers. She does not feel any of this would have happened had she been one of the big folk in a comparable leadership position, perhaps, say, a nobleman from Rohan.

Moreoever, these are not the happy hobbits of the Shire. They are all veterans of brutal work camps. Chains for them are no joke. The last time Cami was in chains was on the forced march out of Beleriand. She watched hundreds of hobbits collapse on the trail and die, still being dragged along by their chains until the Orcs cut them loose. She has supressed most of these memories. Now they will return. Even for the other hobbits who only witness the chain gang, it bring back haunting recollections of Numenor and raises questions about the extent to which big folk can be trusted.

The real irony that lies behind all this is that the old Cami would never have the gumption to stand up and disobey. She is able to do this because of the model of Pio, whom she greatly admires. Yet, when Cami makes what is essentially an adult decision, she's treated like a child by the one person who taught her to behave like an adult. What a disappoinment!

Just think of it this way. What if Pio's twins were captured by two huge stone trolls, and it was suggested the Elf stay behind, since those trolls were a bit large for her? Do you think she would listen to that? Heck no! smilies/biggrin.gif And if anyone tried to put Pio in chains, she would give them a taste of their own medicine (good for her!).

I am not asking for wiping out the posts. I don't believe in censorship, and there are too many that would need to be edited (Helen's, Bird's, mine, Mith's--all have elements of this.) But we'll need to deal with these issues in some serious way in the dialogue between these two characters.

Any idea?

sharon

[ December 14, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

Sharon

Just posted a scene between Gamba and Pio

Moved your confrontation save below that one. (or go ahead and move mine if you need to)

Pat, the writer agrees - Pio was rash, cannot say what or if she will offer any rationalization for her actions. Hit me with her indignation and anger, and let's see how Pio responds. (This would be so much easier if Pio were a perfect super-hero character! she would never do anything wrong.)

Another thought - here is an alternative - I'll go back and take out that scene and you can rewrite it if you wish. perhaps that would be simpler.

[ December 14, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Thanks for letting Cami rail.

Also, you'll want to back up on the thread. There's a new post Helen did on the 'hobbits in chains' theme. Quite humorous in a grim way. Plus, I revised my 'locked in the cabin post' to make it grimmer yet.

I think we are best treating the 'chains' as part of the story line. It is interwoven in too many of the posts to take it out with a knife.

It is even possible that the characters of both Cami and Pio will learn something new about themselves through this dialogue.

Perhaps, the easiest way to do it is this. Cami writes a letter to Pio outlining her anger and concerns (a condensed version of what's on the discussion thread). Then Pio comes to see Cami and talk( in a separate post). Would this work?

I will probably not get the letter up till tomorrow afternoon. Weekends are crammed.

Cami also has to talk to Gamba, if she doesn't kill him first.

sharon

[mark12_30]

Dang!! And I was set up to begin with!!!

[piosenniel]

Yes - here is one thing Pio has learned - she is horrified to learn that she would ever be considered a role model. (What an awful time this one will have being a mother!)

A letter is too clean a come-uppance for Pio - I really think Cami should challenge her face to face.

[ December 14, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Face to face, huh? TeHe. That should be fun. I'll think evil thoughts all night for Cami, and do it tomorrow afternoon.

sharon

[Birdland]

(Birdie barges in) "Hey Cami, can I please get my boots back, now? My feet are freez..."

(See Cami and Pio glaring at each other and backs s-l-o-o-w-l-y out of the room.)

[ December 15, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen here, in disguise... whups, it does get confusing.

Eh, speaking of cold feet, I've edited my last two long posts on Page Twelve; Gamba is in a deeper funk than we thought, and Bird, he has miscontrued and extrapolated some of your warnings well beyond warrant.

Perhaps the haze of alcohol and the hangover had something to do with it.

(Sometimes I miss my happy-go-lucky rascal of five months ago. What a wreck he's become!)

--Don't let the signature fool you

[ December 16, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Cami fumbles under the bed for those boots. Actually, she thinks they're lying somewhere on the streets of Minas Anor. The chains wouldn't go around her ankles without kicking off those boots--Cami has big feet even for a hobbit, which is a matter of great pride.

Bird, would you like me to get off the Star and go down to the market to buy you another pair? Oops, I don't think so. Leaving the ship again? UhUh, been there, done that. No need to get in trouble twice.

Cami will have to do chores in the galley to earn credits towards those boots. Remember she used herlast farthing to bail out her delinquent son.

********************************************

Ahem, once the Elf and Cami have made up, the hobbit will knock some sense into her delinquent son!

sharon

[mark12_30]

Dang, dang, DANG!!! Whose idea was this mad jaunt anyway??? I seem to recall "Hobbits go off and cause trouble" or something like that. And it wasn't in a Mark12_30 post!!!!

And for the record, I would have asked Esta's brother to come, and not Kesha. Even a flake like me would have guessed those webbed feet would be a dead giveaway.

grumble, grumble, grumble. I'm gonna build myself a flet up at the source of the Langwell river and live off of fish and mushrooms and not tell ANYBODY where I've gone.

[Birdland]

Oh, well, you probably stretched out those boots, anyway. But next time, couldn't you borrow Mith's boots, instead? He obviously could afford them, what with giving away all those knifes and such.

BTW, Mith - just why did Bird make such a fuss about those knifes, anyway?

Oh, and Cami? (Bird heaves small purse at Halfling.) I swam around the river and found this. Don't spend it all in one place.

[ December 16, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]

[mark12_30]

Bird and/ or Pio,

Sharon called my attention to a conversation about Cami in The Green Dragon, and there was also a question asked about Gamba's descendants. If he survives the next few days, Game Time, he will probably have some.

Assuming Cami doesn't throttle him in the next few posts, would you like some stuff about Doldo, Noldo, Sindo, Mallie, and Lorien?

[piosenniel]

Helen

Yes, if you don't mind. A little info, too, on where the surviving families of them might be would be nice.

I'd like the old Hobbit, Amaranthas to mumble a few 'facts' to Pio, before the old dear falls asleep on the table from too much mead and wine.

[mark12_30]

OK, Pat, it's underway. I'll forward it to you when it's ready. It'll probably be much more than you need...

It makes me want to write an epilogue for Lindo, too.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Cami and the Elf are now arm in arm, if not eye-to-eye. Later tonight, I'll tackle Gamba (and by implication Phura).

Mith--

I thanked you from the hobbits, and raised a question about our transport arrangements.

Bird---

Thanks for the purse. When you have children, you always seem to need extra funds as they are always needing this and that.

sharon

[ December 16, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Mithadan]

Mithadan has answered your query, Child, as well as Bird's.

[mark12_30]

Pio,

Gamba's epilogue is on its way; it's a draft but there should be enough there to provide interesting fodder for Amarantha, about Gamba. I cc'ed team members.

More on Noldo and Sindo is available atThe Fairy Wife (http://members.cox.net/hrwright61/noldo.html).

Hope that helps, --Helen

[ December 16, 2002: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen,

That's a great piece on Gamba and his descendents, but there's one place where our chronologies id not jive.

You had Cami going to Rivendell after Asta and Roka came of age. Wouldn't they be of age in another 22 years? That would make Cami retiring to Rivendell when she was just 72 which is way too young.

Plus, there's no way she would trot off to Rivendell when Ban and Maura hadn't even come of age. I see her sticking around to age 96 or 97, getting some grandchildren from Rose and the others! She wouldn't have left until her last child was married and settled, or at least come of age.

Cami lived to be 100 years old and went to Rivendell for the last 3-4 years of her life. If you want to keep the same time line for Gamba, you could just have him leave Cami after Rose gets married and has children of her own. That would probably happen in 20-25 years. Presumably, Gamba still would have come back and visited Rose and Cami occasionally.

What do you think?

sharon

[ December 17, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[mark12_30]

Sure, that'll work. I'll make some edits and send it on. Thanks.

By the way I've posted a discussion between Gamba and Mithadan, which finishes with Miths' departure and Cami's arrival; you're "on".

[ December 17, 2002: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen,

You're going to kill me! But shouldn't Greenwood be Mirkwood in your epilogue? That change happened about 1050.

Also, when Gamba was young, he would have met some of the Wood Elves and actually lived in Greenwood. That's where we're heading once we leave the boat. They are actually going to meet and help us for a bit. That's what Gandalf promised. Plus I need the Greenwood base for Cami's ties to
Radagast and the subsequent shapechanger story. Radagast lives there (for real in Tolkien!)

Presumably, though, as spiders and Orcs began to appear, the hobbits moved out of Greenwood/Mirkwood and lost many of those ties with the Wood Elves. Cami was the only hobbit to have connections with Rivendell, and those came through Gandalf, I presume. I don't know if you'd need a phrase simply saying it was many years since Gamba had been in Greenwood when you speak of Thranduil.

sharon

[mark12_30]

Living In Greenwood? All right. I always imagined the hobbits living on the west bank of the Anduin and visiting Greenwood-- presumeably because the Gladden fields are on the west bank, I suppose.

I know Gamba made a big fuss about Greenwood, but I pictured him being seriously disenchanted about elves and men both, by recent events, and thinking only of getting as far away from Minas Anor as he could. I guess you're going to talk him out of that disenchantement, though, right?

Then I'll edit the stuff about Thranduil; but I still picture him carefully, rather suspiciously and judiciously making friends with just a few elves who travel through regularly, and not trusting them as travelling companions until he had really proved them as friends. It's one thing, as we have seen, to trust a group of elves all on a mission together helping a large group of hobbits; and another thing to trust a single elf. You lose that "safety in numbesr" thing. And those Rhovanion elves are mighty suspicious of outsiders, and so the suspicion is mutual. I still see Gamba aas being very careful up at the Langwell.

I didn't think it was Mirkwood yet. I thought it was still Greenwood. The shadow was only beginning, so I don't see them changing the name yet, not until Dol Guldor is more prominent.

From Encyclopedia of Arda: "The name 'Mirkwood' was first used in about III 1050...".

ref. Mirkwood: The name 'Mirkwood' was used of this forest after Sauron, in his guise as the Necromancer, took up his abode at Dol Guldur in its southern regions.

ref. Dol Guldor: Founded c. III 1050.

So I stand by Greenwood! smilies/biggrin.gif

[Child of the 7th Age]

You're right about the name. I was thinking it was already 1050 when Gamba visited there, but if it is earlier than that, you are definitely right!

Greenwood is a huge place. Although they initially help us, I don't think we'll be banging into Elves every day. Initially, I see a lot of movement within a small area--no permananent settlement. Perhaps the hobbits went down to the river for the winter and back to the woods for the summer months.

I think the hobbits would have stayed pretty close together for the first 5 years or so. That way, Cami could make sure to train enough healers and people who had certain basic skills. I see Rose and Cami doing rounds like itinerent preachers both for teaching and healing purposes, at least till the different groups get their own folk trained. From about ten years out, I can imagine the hobbits gradually breaking into different groups, according to clans, and going off to found new communities (as Gamba did).

That would be painful for Cami. In her heart of hearts, she thinks they should stick together. The worst example of that would be dragging Maura off to the north. Grr!! That would have made her pretty mad! Surely she would have visited that community at some point. Plus, Gamba better come back and visit, or she'll kill him.

It would not be a frequent thing, but now and again, every few years, Gandalf might turn up. When he saw that Cami was becoming infirm, and didn't have a lot of time left (sniff), he would have gotten her into the Rivdendell Retirement Community. smilies/biggrin.gif

Sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

Your post is great. I added a little bit in between Mithadan and Gamba. I will work on the response.

This isn't going to be easy! Plus today is hectic. I'm trying to get my work done, so I can see the movie tomorrow.

sharon

[mark12_30]

CAMI, PIO, BIRD--

Due to Cami's questions, I took a hard look at my timeline on Gamba and his descendants, and now I'm scrambling -- please put it on hold til I finish the math?? I find the story is changing in a disarmingly fluid manner...

Sharon, thanks for making me check the math! I'll pull it together as soon as I can!

Love y'all, --Helen

[Mithadan]

*Mithadan stands by the gangplank of The Lonely Star, impatiently tapping his foot and thinking grumpily that we may have spent more time winding down than we did battling in the Tombs.

(Gamba's epilogue is great, by the way)

[mark12_30]

So, Mith, did I just add insult to injury then? (I just filled in a save.) smilies/biggrin.gif

[Child of the 7th Age]

Hang on Mith! I didn't like Cami and Gamba's talk so I have totally redone it. Just have to type it in, but will be interrupted by carting kids around.

Then I'll be ready to sail.

sharon

[piosenniel]

Helen - Gamba can't tie Pio's hair to the bed post - she is on deck on watch.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen,

I have totally redone that post. It is going to require a brief reply from Gamba. Either jump in the lake or I'll try....

Then I'm ready to move on.

sharon

[ December 19, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

I posted in my save - let's scrape the barnacles off the Star and get the ships on the move soon. smilies/wink.gif

[mark12_30]

I'm there, I think. Anchors aweigh.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Mithadan said we had to work out details. What are those?

sharon

[piosenniel]

Some details which we are working on:

Can the Star actually sail up the river to the Falls.

Where will we say our final good-byes?

How will we work around the inattentive 'Pio' who spaced out during the negotiations and thought we had bought the ships. (After all, in her opinion, those knives could have bought the entire city of Minas Anor.) Good thing one of us (Mithadan)in this marriage has can focus on the details of business transactions!

Will 'Mithadan' let 'Pio' pilot one of the ships upriver to keep her out of trouble. smilies/smile.gif

[ December 19, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Veritas]

Strange to see this all, really. I feel like I have abandon it a long time, and I feel a bit homesick to it.
Well, I can't turn back time, just one question: Why is the RPG stopped?

[mark12_30]

Veritas!!!! WOW!!!! I wondered if you'd ever come back!!!! Welcome, welcome! Did seeing TTT bring you back?

[piosenniel]

Veritas!

It's not really stopped - we are working out a few necessary details (seeing what will work and what won't) before we proceed.

Things like - Can a ship the size of the Lonely Star actuall sail up river beyond the port of Harlond.

[Mithadan]

Welcome back Veritas! You have some reading to do! I think we sent you off to the Undying Lands about a month ago. smilies/wink.gif

[piosenniel]

Sharon

Once I get the ships to the bay - can you get the Hobbits loaded up? I'll probably post later tonight.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Will try to do something with this tomorrow, though I go to TTT in the afternoon with my children who are out of school and clamoring to go.

Veritas, it is good to see you. How are things in the West?

sharon

[ December 20, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Wagons ho!!! (oops, wrong story!) Well, the hobbits are on board the Mannish ships.

Mithadan, Pio, or whoever, please get the fleet turned around and headed towards the Anduin.

I will be away Dec. 25- Jan. 1 so it would be nice to get Cami's part done by then, if possible.

[mark12_30]

Wow. Tearful goodbyes and all. Guess I'd better hurry up and go back and write Gamba & Loremaster's parting before the whole thread closes down!

[Veritas]

Thank you all for the warm welcome, although I seem to be dead.. smilies/tongue.gif. By the way, it's all fine in the West. I like it there smilies/wink.gif.
I don't think that the Lonely Star can sail up there. The Anduin (That is the river we're speaking of isn't it?) is a great river, but the size of the Lonely Star is a lot, I think the river is too undeep for such a seaship.

TTT has made miracles come out...

[ December 20, 2002: Message edited by: Veritas ]

[mark12_30]

Hi all,

I keep fussing at Gamba's Epilogue, and I'm not sure anybody has the same copy now... so I figured I'd post it here instead of spamming it around? That way I can edit it in one place, keep one copy, and simplify, and anybody can comment that wants to. So please delete your other copies.

Gamba's epilogue

Timeline notes:
Year Event
1000 Rescue
1017 Gamba comes of age
1027 Asta, Roka come of age & go north
1031 Asta's first son born
1035 Gamba returns for Maura
1037 Lindo, Maura's first son, born
1050 Gamba marries Opal
1052 Phura, Opal's first son, born
1062 Asta's first son comes of age
1084 Gamba passes away
1085 Phura, Opal's first Son, comes of age
1087 Phura's first Son, Doldo, born
1115 Doldo meets Mallie
1120 Doldo Marries Mallie
1121 Noldo born
1127 Sindo born
1148 Noldo begins to court Lily
1150 Fallohide Migration and tale of The Fairy Wife (http://members.cox.net/hrwright61/noldo.html)

Gamba's Epilogue

Gamba and his four boys lived with Cami and Rose in Greenwood peacefully for twenty years. Three years after he came of age, Gamba began exploring up north, especially the Langwell river, saying that he wanted to go settle there.

Ten years after Gamba came of age, Asta and Roka came of age. At that time Gamba left, taking Asta and Roka with him, and went up the Anduin til he found a fair-sized wood along the Langwell River. There he built three flets, fished, and gathered mushrooms, and learned to hunt in the north, where deer ran differently and the rabbits had a whole other way of life, and even the fishing was different. Roka became a fair gardener, and learned which roots and leaves grew well in the far north and which did not. Both Asta and Roka returned half a year later, to visit Cami and Rose and their sweethearts, and before three years had passed, they each brought a bride to the Langwell.

Gamba stayed at the Langwell for seven years, and mastered the local fishing and hunting, and homesteading, and learned to avoid dragons and trolls. But when the seven years had passed, leaving Roka and Asta to take care of their tree-homes and their families, he jouneyed home hoping to convince Ban and Maura to join them.

On the way, Gamba walked southward along the riverbank, and some thirty leagues into his journey he came to the first tributary below the Langwell, called the Rhimdoth, or the Rushdown. He crossed it on a clear summer night, and he saw a darkhaired young lass come out of the river after swimming fully dressed; without seeing him, she climbed up onto the bank, and lay gazing at the stars.

He wept when he saw her, and softly cried out to her, calling her Esta; she answered gently, and said that was not her name. He told her the story of his lost love whose grave lay buried beneath the sea, and trembling, asked if she was Esta's ghost; she told him plainly that she was not. He sang for her that night, old lullabyes and laments and histories, and she listened with delight, for his voice was husky and strong. He sang on until her parents missed her, and following the singing, found the two of them on the Rhimdoth riverbank.

Her name was Opal; the name suited her well, because her skin was always pale and translucent and shone stark white in the starlight. But Gamba called her Esta for the rest of his life, and said of Opal that she was just as wild at heart as Esta had been. Her new name became dear to her, and her heart turned quickly towards him. She was eighteen years old.

Gamba stayed for several days, and sang for her often. Then Gamba reluctantly continued his journey southward towards Cami's home, still desiring that Maura and Ban should join him at Langwell. Neither Cami nor Rose relished the idea, and they fought him long and hard; but Ban and Maura were both of age, and Gamba persuaded Maura to go. In the end, Ban stayed with Rose and Cami, and Maura married his sweetheart and went north with Gamba.

Parting with Maura was hard on Cami, and she made him promise to visit, a promise which he kept faithfully, even visiting her yearly when she retired to Rivendell. When they were old enough, his two elder sons accompanied him on his yearly trips to Rivendell; there she taught them herblore and healing, and found them her most apt students.

From then on, Gamba travelled south to the Rhimdoth to see Opal every season. Opal's father was skeptical of Gamba's Langwell settlement at first. But wherever Gamba went, he told his tales of the abundant fishing and hunting, and seeing that neither he nor his sons nor their wives or children were by any means famished, other hobbits went north to join his community. Learning this, Opal's father softened, and Gamba was more welcome after that.

Gamba's heart did not rest from the time he met Opal until she came of age, fifteen years later, when she married him and joined him at Langwell, in 1050. By the time Gamba wedded Opal, Langwell had become a large community, and to her surprise, Opal found herself the young matron of it; Gamba shared the decisions with her, asking her opinion; and when she would have rather not have given it, he would remind her that Nitir would want him to ask her. When he was away, she acted as his steward.

He made friends with the elves that came his way, rarely travelling into the Greenwood to search for them, at first. Only after he had made several good friends did he travel one summer with a guide all the way back to Thranduil's groves, and joined them for a woodland feast during the berry season; they were glad to see him again, but they did not invite him to their underground palace, nor show him the pathways through the woods that led to it. Of that he was glad, having no desire to see Thranduil's cave.

Together Gamba and Opal had three sons and three daughters, Phura, Mitha, Leva, Azraph, Nitir, and Waterbird. The sons when married all reverted to normal hobbit custom and lived in burrows in the riverbank. But to the end of his days, Gamba could never abide being underground for very long; and when he was too old to climb up into a flet, his Opal built him a sturdy hut on the ground, in the forest, between three young, close trees. Of course it had no glass, but two of the walls had wide doors, and the third wall had a shutter over a large opening; so even in his dotage, Gamba could ask for the shutter and doors to be thrown open wide, and see the wind in the branches and feel it in his hair.

One windy summer night, with torn clouds racing across the sky, he earnestly begged Opal to take him to the riverbank. She wept, knowing all too well the story of her namesake and knowing what was in his heart; but she called for his grandsons, and they carried him out. He lay with his head in her lap, and watched the stars winking in and out behind the clouds; and he pointed down the river, and told her again the story she knew so well, of the hobbits swimming out to the white ships that came and took them from the caves. Finally he told her that together they would see the stars again. By the time the moon rose, he had passed beyond the circles of the world. He was buried by his sons and grandsons in the forest below the flet that he and Opal had raised their family in; and she planted a beech tree beside his grave.

Phura's first son was an exceptionally tall hobbit-lad named Doldo. Doldo travelled south in his tweens to trade for southern orchard produce, and met a girl from the far south near Lorien. Her name was Mallorn, and he courted her for five years and wedded her when he came of age, and brought her north to the Langwell. Like his grandfather, he loved the woods best, and was a hunter. He built his burrow high up on the hillside under the eaves of the forest; from his front door-step, a great wide sweep of the Langwell valley could be seen. Doldo and Mallie had two fine sons, tall like their father, and named Noldo and Sindo; it's said that Mallie chose their names in tribute to her father's elvish friends, south away in Lorien, where the mallorns grow.

After Noldo and Sindo migrated over the Misty Mountains fleeing from the Shadow, and after their parents' mysterious death, Noldo and Sindo wandered far west; but they returned, and settled on the western bank of the Hoarwell, on a southfacing slope just below a wood, building many tunnels as their clan expanded. That wood was said to be teeming with game and mushrooms; if the clan expansion was any indication, that clan never lacked for provender. They were a hunting clan in the midst of a fishing community, and they went out to the woods most often, and it's said that they had dealings with elves, though few discuss what kind, and those that do, speak what they shouldn't as often as not. That south-facing slope had the odd name of Little Valinor, and many folk wonder why; to their dying day, Noldo's sons called it that. Noldo was as tall as his father; most of Noldo's children were tall and slender and golden-haired, and some even had eyes that were a deep and clear October-blue, and it's said by some that that's where the Fallohide fair blood comes from. But it's said that they took after their mother, Lorien, Noldo's wife, whom few ever saw, fewer knew, and fewer still, understood. Some rumored that she was a fairy wife; but if you ask Noldo's descendants, they will tell no tales concerning her. But folk observe that whenever her name is mentioned, her descendants fall silent, and more often than not, they look to the west.

[ December 20, 2002: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[ December 30, 2002: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[mark12_30]

...uh... what or who is next?

[Veritas]

I like it.. but just a few questions:
1. Who/what are Gamba, Roki and Asta, and the other names?
2. Do I need further explanations?
Well, now I'm going to break my brains at the continue of the story.

[ December 22, 2002: Message edited by: Veritas ]

[mark12_30]

Veritas,

They are all hobbits rescued from the Tombs of Meneltarma where they were imprisoned by Ar-Pharazon (and previous kings, too, I guess.) Loremaster was, well, the Loremaster; Gamba and Phura were orphans, and became his adopted sons before we met them. Five more children were orphaned in the course of the story: Kesha (a 12 yar old), Asta, Roka (both 6), and toddlers Ban and Maura. Those children basically started hanging around with Gamba and Phura, so Loremaster adopted them too, by default, sort of. But they ended up being Gamba's children, going with him on the ship.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen,

I think someone has to get us up the river. I can do a description of the landing and who is there, but I'd prefer someone else do the sailing.

Here are the dates for Cami and Rose, as well as Rose's descendents. Do you want to add this to your chronology, or keep it separate?

Just as Gamba and his brothers are founders of the Fallohide line, Cami's blood kin, Rose, leads the earliest Harfoot migration into Eriador. Their lineage joins up with Hamfast of Gamwich who is listed in the family tree in LotR.

1016 Rose comes of age and marries Hamlan Galbasi
1020 Daisy, Rose's first daughter born
1030 Halfred (Hal), Rose's first son born
1046 Cami retires to Rivendell
1053 Daisy comes of age and marries
Holman Greenhand
Cami passes away
1054 Daisy's first daughter Camelia born
Rose and all her kin head to Eriador,
settling near Weathertop (Harfoot
migration)
1063 Hal comes of age
1073 Hal marries May Hlothram
1092 Hal's youngest son Gamba born
1125 Gamba comes of age
1130 Gamba marries Rose Smallburrows
1130 Gamba settles in Gamwich
1160 Gamba's youngest son, Halfast of Gamwich born

sharon

[ December 22, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

I can do the rest of the sail up the river tonight - or we can leave it for Mithadan tomorrow.

Which do you prefer? I stopped it part way up the river just incase anyone wanted a last bit of reflection. Otherwise, we'll hoist anchor and off we go to finish the last three days of travel to Rauros.

*sob . . . sniff*

Of course, I could delay us with an attack from the east on our anchored ships . . . smilies/wink.gif

[Child of the 7th Age]

I am fine either way. BTW, when do Cami and Pio get to say goodbye?

sharon

[piosenniel]

At the final landing - yes? - no? Or would you prefer I came back to the Star for the last 3 days of travel and we do it prior to the landing? Let me know, before I write the final travel post.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pio,

I am amenable to either scenario, but we need to do it Monday or Tuesday. It would be hard for me to do that from the road.

sharon

[piosenniel]

Pio will come back to the Star for the final day of the journey. I will post tonight, after work, I'll do the next two days of the journey then have Pio come to the Star.

Cami can then approach her and begin the farewell. Pio will respond. There will be tears, of course. This could all be done by Monday or Tuesday.

Then, either Mith or I could actually anchor us for the offloading - the aftermath of which I'm thinking will not occur until you return after the first of the year - correct?!

[mark12_30]

Sharon, I think you should do a "Cami and Rose Epilogue". --Helen

[Child of the 7th Age]

Yes, I think it would be hard to get the offloading completely done in the next two days--the scenes with Radagast and the Elves. Do folk mind waiting? The alternative is to save a bunch of spaces, and let you folk go on later on, and then come back and fill in the empty spaces.

What do you think?

Are you folk going to get out and spend one night camping with the hobbits? Or will you stay on the ship and head straight out? I thought the first, but either way is fine.

Helen will also have to do a goodbye with Gamba and Phura. Helen--did you ever do Loemaster's goodbye to Gamba?

sharon

[ December 22, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

Sure - Pio loves to camp - and wouldn't mind hobnobbing with a few more Elves.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pio,

Good, bring out the camping gear!

Helen,

That last post was lovely. You sure love shapechangers. How can you resist our next story? Maybe play one of the shapechangers from Harad instead of the crew going with Pio and Bird and Mith to search for them. That would give you a breather, since their part wouldn't pick up for a bit.

Just an idea.

sharon

[mark12_30]

Sharon, yes, I finally went back and filled it in. Loremaster's and Gamba's goodbye, and Kesha's plot to sneak aboard, both done. THanks for the reminder!

[Veritas]

I was thinking, can I jump back into the story? It seems that this chapter is almost ending, but that there will come another story soon. And I don't want to miss that one too.

[mark12_30]

Sharon,

My husband has been asking when The Lonely Star is going to end since a week after I joined it...

On the other hand, he thinks I should start my own game, for the experience... Sometimes he puzzles me.

(!!!)

Time will tell.

Love, --Helen

[piosenniel]

Sharon

Pio and Cami are in the pantry negotiating what to fix for supper on the Star.

Tomorrow, game time, they will be at the disembark point - can you write us to there and get us off-loaded.

How long a camping venture do you see us all doing, before the Hobbits go their way and we go ours?

[Child of the 7th Age]

I'll try.

What do you think? One night, or two?

sharon

[ December 26, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

Let's really try for one night! smilies/wink.gif [which means it will stretch to two, I'm sure!]

[Child of the 7th Age]

He, he.....all you Mary Sues out there. Cami gets to be with Legolas, but she also gets a real loser of a wizard!.........

OK, I got us up to the landing, and have described the party on shore. I have no books at all here (except for The Hobbit which my daughter is reading), so I'm doing all the geography by memory. If I goof, someone please correct me.

Also, I need geography help. When Cami eventually leaves, I don't think it's realistic that her large party would go up the north stairs. Is it?

Mith or Pio, geography experts, please help me here. Would they veer west to cut north across the plains of Rohan, near the base of the cliffs? Since they have an Elvish escort, they would presumably be allowed to cut through Lorien itself, then cross over to the East at the Great East Road? Then north to Greenwood? As I said, I don't have a map here. This basic path would presumably be discussed at the campfire before you folk clear out.

sharon

[piosenniel]

Are you eventually making for Greenwood the Great?

I would not go up the North Stair. I think much of the travel along the Anduin north of the Argonath would be high rocky cliffs and and highlands and very inhospitable travelling.

Better to to go around the western base of the Emyn Muil (the East Wall of Rohan), and then travel along the river all the way north. You would pass the Downs, then between the Wold and the Brown Lands, past the River Limlight and up to the Silverlode and to Caras Galadon. Then up the river, north as always, past the River Gladden, to where the Anduin narrows (just south of the Carrock), this will be known as the Old Ford, and it is there you can cross the river.

Radagast will know this place. If your company travels east from the ford a short distance to Greenwood Forest, you can pass by Rhosgobel, the dwelling place of Radagast in the vales of the Anduin.

Travelling along the river as much as possible will afford you fresh water, fish, and small game.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Yes, we will make for Greenwood the Great. I chose the location for several reasons--woods, Elves, and Radagast's home, close to the Anduin. I suspect that the hobbits will eventually do some kind of seasonal migration, perhaps the Forest in the Summer and the River in the winter.

Thanks for the routing help. That's the general route I was thinking of, but, without a map, I was not sure.

Pat---I'd certainly have no objections if you did that part of the campfire talk which outlined the route the hobbits will be taking north. (Please do it, pretty please.)

Cami has already been thinking in terms of Greenwood so the suggestion won't come as a shock to her. Gamba, in fact, begged her to go there because of all the trees.

Presumably, Radagast would make this suggestion, and there would be discussion by Cami and the various elders. (That guy Tuka who was Azraph's father is one of them.)

What will come as a 'shock' is Radagast's presence. He was apparently sent by Gandalf, since G was unavoidably detained. You know wizards! G send word by Radagast that he intends to see her at a later time (unspecified).

sharon

[ December 27, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]