I have described upon the main thread the contents of my next two posts. They are both part written, Elrond and Guthrin. I neglected to include Volkmar's spectacular death, but those watching can see its inevitability. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Nothing like setting yourself targets, Rim. Oh shut up, Rim.

Now it's my turn to apologize for not posting lately. Closing this weekend on a new house, and moving in is eating all my time, but not for much longer. Thenamir post due early next week, provided the cable-modem-guy gets my service hooked up in my new and larger digs. (I'll actually have space for my new office!)

And by the way, Rim, "exiguous and exsanguinating"??!!?! What, did you swallow a dictionary? Feeling the need to clean out some of the old vocabulary and using the RPG as your private Dump? Ccompeting wwith Kkate? (lol -- good post!)

Will be offline until Monday at the earliest -- look for a new Thenamir-character post by mid-week!

Thenamir

Suuure, Thena! Tell your RPG buddies where you are but don't tell your chat pals who MISS YOU TOO! *sniffle* [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

Miaow, réd.

Both saves filled in, all else. Finally.

The new RPG forums have been up for three months now. You are invited to come and discuss how well you think they are working on the thread A Measure of Success.

Come and share your thoughts, Folks!

Bethberry

Hi folks -- the cable folks *promise* me I should have the net back up by Thursday! Please bear with me! The public library computer is a pain in the derriere.

Vince

Hey-

I'm back. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Give me a few days to catch up with the thread and you'll have a new Volkmar post.

-Ivan

Great to have you back, Ransom, and a good post to boot. Fine work. I'll post then, in due course, and we can see if we will wake this beast (again).

Good day!

OK, OK -- gone long enough, I'm trying now to find out where the Thenamir party now stands. My last post (over two months ago, my apologies!!!) had Thenamir overhearing what he surmised was probably an orc troop approaching their position. Shall I carry this forward another step now, or does anyone want to contribute to our situation before I post?

I am *very* sorry for the delays -- I am still out of work, and trying to get a new job is driving me nuts.

Thenamir of Rohan

Hi Thenamir and Ransom!

Welcome back to you both. Good post, too, Ransom.

Thenamir, my post of January 20 handled in retrospect the orc attack, the demise of Gurthden in a rock slide, and the group's passing over Methedras. We are now on our way down the west side of the mountain into Dunland, from where we can cross overland to Ost-in-Edhil. (I'm using p. 81 of Fonstad.)

Bethberry

Bethberry

Howdy folks! I'm in the process of catching up, which may take a few days more.

Unfortunately, I may not be able to catch up on the DISCUSSION THREAD.

Reading back over the initial work you've all put in, I'm well pleased so far with all you've done!

I hope I might have a suggestion or two in guidance toward a conclusion. (We'll see...)

Alright everyone, listen up -- a few points to be made by the titular owner of this RP (not that others do't have a say...).

Number 1:
I need a show of hands as to who is actually following this RP, and who is going to be able to participate in carrying it forward. And I don't mean to fault anyone who is no longer with us -- it has been dragging a lot lately, but it's time to bring this sucker a bit closer to the destination, and to the eventual ending. Those who are participating need to post **something** to indicate your presence (or your intended absence) on the discussion thread by March 17th. This will give me something to go on as to how to proceed.

Number 2:
For those who are stil with us, we need to move everyone over/around the mountains and to our rendezvous point by the first week of April. Start moving things forward in whatever way necessary to get us to the other side and back together. We have essentially been fragmented into about 3 different RP sections within one title, and that is not a good thing. Let's close ranks and advnace to the destination.

Number 3:
I am setting a tentative date for ENDING this RP on June 30th, with the option to keep it open further should Gilthalion actually return and begin contributing to the plot, as originally intended, but under no circumstances are we (the RP moderators) going to let this drag on much past that date. That gives us three-and-a-half months to wind this story up.

Number 4:
This is an unpleasant reminder that the reality of the story means that most or all of us are going to die before the end -- we just know too much. But -- we *will* be going out in a glorious and ultimately successful attempt to foil Saruman's evil machinations, though we perish in the process.

Number 5:
Gilthalion, if you are watching, please let us know what is coming at the end. If you cannot, I've got a substitute plot waiting, but I don't think it's quite the same.

Number 6:
This is going to be a fast and furious time of posting. Make it count, becuase this is the time for the best creative writers to exercise their creativity, and make this ending worthy of the great story that has come before. If you can move the story forward, don't wait for others to post, just do it! Others will be insired to act or react from your plot lines.

Number 7:
We can always edit to make sense of posts afterwards. I'd rather have more posts that need cleanup than just a few posts that are perfect.

That's all for now -- let'sget moving!!

Thenamir

Borleg is here, waiting, because that's what he's been ordered to do, standing ready to fight for Dunland and loot and various other reasons which descend into blackhearted and despicable villainy. * bows * [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

As for Gus the Two-Headed Troll, now that Taradan and Andros have already successfully slipped past his cave and he's abated his hunger somewhat by downing roast horseflesh, I'm not sure whether Gus would be motivated enough to actually get off his duff and follow the two Men or not.

Gandalf the Grey

"But -- we *will* be going out in a glorious and ultimately successful attempt to foil Saruman's evil machinations, though we perish in the process."

*waves hands and jumps up and down*

None of my RP characters has ever died yet. This will be fun. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

I'm here, as are Taradan and Andros. I guess we have nothing to fear from the troll anymore then, and will continue over the mountains to meet the others on the way to Ost-in-Edhil. I may be absent for awhile between now and June, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Guthrin and Elwood Blues Brother are still very much alive and kicking. Well, kicking and thrashing. I'll continue to write for both... unless it is preferable to advertise for a player to play the Elf? Now that we have a more organised system of RP, substitute players could be recruited more easily. Just a thought.

As you know from chat last night, Thena, of course Ulfwine is here.

Bethberry

This is good -- is there anyone else we are missing?

Those who have responded, let's get a discussion going on where we will meet and how soon we can join up. Saruman is of course going to oppose us, and we may lose a couple of NPCs on the way, if our numbers need to be pared down.

Thenamir

Haleth/Baranthol is here, too. I certainly am not among "the best creative writers", escpecially not in English, but I'll do my best.

I have my own apologies to make for not returning as soon as I intended (following my last post to this thread).

If I cannot return to aid in the final plot developments, feel more than free to conclude it as you see fit, for I see that the spirit of it is intact and the outcome is going to be "canon friendly" regardless as to whether I am able to contribute again or not.

For what it is worth, my latest crisis has been as follows:

The pastor and youth pastor of our little church decided that they were in love, and left the church suddenly, leaving two broken homes and a devastated congregation. I had been hired as Church Administrator the previous week, and suddenly found myself managing a great crisis. It has been 24/7 work here to comfort and lead 100 or so families and hold the flock together until a new pastor is found. (A friend of mine joked that these people have looked to me as if I were Gandalf, when really I am Bilbo and want only to return to my nice snug little hobbit hole far away from such adventures! A nasty disturbing thing that makes me quite late for dinner!)

You who are Christians (and know that Tolkien's God is God), pray for our situation.

Thenamir, do not hesitate to contact me at my email address <robertwgardner@hotmail.com> if you want to discuss any points with me and if there is any help that I can lend. The crisis part of my labors has subsided, but there is much to do in the aftermath as we set a new direction for our Church, restore it to a New Testatment model, and await the Return of the King!

Even so, I now have time for consultation, if not participation, if this is desired. But do not feel obligated, for if you continue with your own plans, I am confident that the result will be as good as the rest of the adventure has been! It could not be in better hands. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I regret to say that due to impending commitments and assorted other reasons, I am leaving this exalted company.

Wish you all well and my apologies for an abrupt departure.

Oh dear. When I mentioned to Esty this morning that I was falling farther and farther behind and would have to withdraw from some of my games (hers also, this morning), I didn't know that Rim was facing similar constraints also.

With much regret to the fine writers here, I too must resign from the game, for various reasons. Best wishes to you all.

Bethberry

Fellow Rohan gamers,

Our gaming comes with a cost; it is time to reflect on this fact and make some changes to how we run our games.

We RPGers are the most voracious consumers of Barrow Downs resources. We use a game thread, a discussion thread, PMs to plan games, and are constant visitors to the site, often returning more than two or three times a day to keep up with developments in the game in order to prepare our own posts.

Why is this a drain on BD resources? Please take some time to read carefully and reflect seriously upon the Barrow Wight's recent posts in the "Announcements >> The Barrow Downs" forum concerning storage space and bandwidth, chat and discussion, and the costs of running the site, and then change your posting habits.

What are the most beneficial changes in our posting habits? For one, we need to stop using the discussion threads for idle banter, for personal comment. We must restrict our posts to discussion of the games only, that is, to issues of plotting, character interaction, clarification, and notification of absences. For most occasions, we don't need to make multiple posts about why we are absent or how we are doing and we don't need to make a string of 'see ya' posts in reply. For personal comments, we can use the chat room or PMs. A discussion thread that is far longer than a game thread is often a signal of a misuse of the discussion thread.

Please take the time to do several things: Delete posts or run of the mill comments in the discussion thread that have no bearing on the game. Refrain from such posts and comments in future discussions of the games. Limit your daily visits to the thread.

If we all help out, we can ensure that our games remain treasures in the Barrow Downs.

Thanks for being responsible gamers and credible members of the Downs!

Bêthberry

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Long-lived Original Rohan RPG:

I fear that this is the end. Due to my own situations, I have been unable to post nearly as often, and most of our best writers have had to drop out for other reasons.

I consider this a personal tragedy, but there is no avoiding the inevitable. The story has been so good for so long, but the time has come to close it down. Therefore, I will be closing the Rohan RP and discussion threads and asking Bethberry to archive them.

I plan to continue writing in my spare time (which is hard to come by) and try to finish the story to the original ending, keeping the characters "in-character" as much as possible. There is a lot of ground to cover, but I expect it can be brought to a satisfactory end as a fan-fiction.

I want to thank all of you who have participated in the RP over the last two years (yes, it has been that long), and hope taht we will all be able to continue participating in the RP forums for a long time to come.

Thenamir