Friends of Nimrodel: Tapestry of Dreams
PROPOSAL
Title:
'FRIENDS OF NIMRODEL'
Basic Storyline:
There are three threads to this story. First thread: Mellonin's brother, Mellondu, is missing, and Mellonin is trying to find him. Concurrently, Nimrodel is lost ("Where now she wanders, none can tell, in sunlight or in shade"), and although Amroth (in the halls of Mandos) is waiting for her to sail west, she is waiting in Middle Earth for him to come and find her. Mellondu, via ("Lost Road"- style) dreams, becomes Amroth's vehicle for doing so. The third thread is the history of Imrazôr and Mithrellas which will be connected to this via ("Lost Road"- style) time-dream-travel by Raefindan. This thread informs the other two and helps bring closure to the story.
We will know the story is over when Amroth and Nimrodel are reunited, and Mellonin and Mellondu (as himself) are reuinited. It would also be nice if Raefindan figured out who he really is, along the way.
Starting Location: Minas Tirith, at the Seventh Star
Likely destination: Edhellond, via Rohan, Lorien, the Anduin past Rauros, Belfalas, and other locations including Erech.
Important:
The story of "Nimrodel's Friend" will be as canonical as possible. This has several ramifications.
One is plotline; we will all strive to weave this story into Tolkien's Legendarium as plausibly and accurately as we can. This will be a team effort and there may be times when we seek help outside the team. I will provide reference material (especially on Amroth/Nimrodel/Imrazor/Mithrellas ) so that players can be thoroughly familiar with the gaming fabric.
Another is the behavior of the characters. Activities of the characters will adhere to Tolkien's standards of morality, nobility, and general behavior. Remember that he had high standards of behavior and lived by them. This RPG will adhere to those standards. Our characters' faults and struggles will be appropriate to those of characters striving to maintain an honorable, upright, moral life and lifestyle. When in doubt, look to Aragorn, Faramir, Eowyn, Eomer, Gandalf, Frodo, Sam, Arwen, Galadriel. If they wouldn't do it, your character probably shouldn't either.
Timeframes:
i) This game takes place in the fourth Age at around year twelve or so.
ii) The story itself or plot covers late Fall FA12 thru spring FA13, roughly months (or years).
iii) This game requires a time commitment of three to four months from me, the game owner and from the major players.
Characters:
Main character types are:
Men of Gondor, men of Rohan, elves of Lorien, men along the Anduin, men of Dol Amroth, and men and elves of Belfalas.
Secondary character types likely are:
Good: see main character list above.
Bad: leftover orcs, hostile/resentful Haradrim, and other hazards from the War of the Ring and the Southlands. There is plenty of room for adventure and conflict all the way from Rohan, thru Lorien, down the Anduin, and into Beleriand. (And Erech.)
Character types which would not generally belong: hobbits and dwarves unless they are serious travelers or merchants.
Main characters already cast are:
mark12_30 will play Mellonin, Mellondu/Amroth.
littlemanpoet will play Raefindan/Imrazor, and Ædegard.
Needed characters:
Highly qualified writers will be considered to play Nimrodel (past and present).
Mithrellas, Nimrodel's elven traveling companion who marries Imrazor, bears his children, and then disappears
possibly Prince Imrahil
Other adventurers from Rohan, Gondor, possibly Lorien, or anywhere else along the route.
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Rules (Helen's Version) for the RPG
Canon to the left of them,
Canon to the right of them,
Canon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered...
No, I didn't misspell "Cannon." I mean "Canon", as in the Canon of Tolkien's writings.
My most important goal for this RPG is that it be as canonical in spirit, morality, character and theme as possible, and in style and detail as practical for the skills of the team involved. Note that there is a hierarchy in importance there.
The following items
Spirit
Morality
Character
Theme (which I will define below)
I consider crucially important. My goal (whether it is possible or not, only time will tell) is to produce an RPG that Tolkien would read with approval. That means that although the plot is our own and some (but not all) of the characters are our own, they must fit in with Tolkien's legendarium, chronologically, logically, morally, and thematically.
Style
Detail
are nice-to-haves. It is far more important to me that the plot and the characters unfold and behave in ways that fit, spiritually, morally, and thematically, into Tolkien's legendarium and his outlook on life, heroism, morality, and virtue. In terms of Style and Detail, do your best and ask for help where you need it. If detail is an issue, the team will be here to help you out-- more about that in a moment. In addition, here at the Barrow Downs we have some of the most passionate canon-guards around. When a canonicity issue arises that cannot conclusively and peacefully be resolved within the RPG team of writers, a canon expert from the Downs outside the game will be consulted (top on the list are lindil and Mr. Underhill) and their decision will be considered final and binding.
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Mellonin is a servant-girl in Minas Tirith. Mellondu, a young blacksmith-in-training, is Mellonin's younger brother. Both grew up in Gondor and are servants in Minas Tirith. Mellondu has disappeared, and Mellonin is looking for him. She takes a position at The Seventh Star hoping to hear news of him.
There she meets a redheaded man who does not remember who he is or where he came from. For lack of a better name, he is called "Red-Haired Man": Raefindan. He begins to have troubling dreams about Nimrodel's handmaiden, Mithrellas. In Raefindan's dreams, he is Imrazor, who loved Mithrellas and married her. Raefindan's dreams puzzle and distress him, and he discusses them with Mellonin.
From Nimrodel's tale:
1000 yrs before War of the Ring
Amroth loves Nimrodel and she him. Nimrodel and Amroth decide to sail west; Amroth prepares the ship; Nimrodel travels to meet him, and is lost in the mountains. Amroth's ship is blown away from shore; he dives in to swim back to her, and is lost.
Mithrellas is separated from Nimrodel. Imrazor the Numenorean living in Belfalas, finds (and marries) Nimrodel's handmaiden Mithrellas. (Unfinished tales, page 260) She bears him two children, a son Galador and a daughter Gilmith, and then (I'm guessing she'd at least wait til they were full-grown) Mithrellas slips away at night and "he saw her no more"..."
The Song:
Quote:
An Elven-maid there was of old, A shining star by day.
Her mantle white was hemmed with gold, Her shoes of silver-grey.
A star was bound upon her brows, A light was on her hair
As sun upon the golden boughs In Lorien the fair.
Her hair was long, her limbs were white, And fair she was and free;
And in the wind she went as light As leaf of linden-tree.
Beside the falls of Nimrodel, By water clear and cool,
Her voice as falling silver fell Into the shining pool.
Where now she wanders none can tell, In sunlight or in shade;
For lost of yore was Nimrodel And in the mountains strayed.
The elven-ships in haven grey Beneath the mountain-lee
Awaited her for many a day Beside the roaring sea.
A wind by night in Northern lands Arose, and loud it cried,
And drove the ship from elven-strands Across the steaming tide.
When dawn came dim the land was lost, The mountains sinking grey
Beyond the heaving waves that tossed Their plumes of blinding spray.
Amroth be held the fading shore Now low beyond the swell,
And cursed the faithless ship that bore Him far from Nimrodel.
Of old he was an Elven-king, A lord of tree and glen,
When golden were the boughs in spring In fair Lothlorien.
From helm to sea they saw him leap, As arrow from the string,
And dive into the water deep, As mew upon the wing.
The wind was in his flowing hair, The foam about him shone;
Afar they saw him strong and fair Go riding like a swan.
But from the West has come no word, And on the Hither Shore
No tidings Elven-folk have heard Of Amroth evermore.
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Here Tolkien's original tale stops and "Tapestry of Dreams" begins.
After Mithrellas leaves Imrazor she returns to the mountains to look for Nimrodel. She travels far west (towards Lefnui?) and finds the wandering Nimrodel, and persuades her to return to Edhellond and look for Amroth.
Nimrodel has found his corpse (uncorrupt) washed up on shore, somewhere on the Belfalas. Since he is uncorrupt, she hopes in the possibility he might return to that body instead of being reborn as an infant, so she lays him in a few feet of clear water (a la dead marshes, only he doesn't rot) and waits (for a couple of decades) over his body for him to return.
But the Valar don't want to send Amroth back; They want her to come west; so they wait, hoping that she'll catch the next ship. Amroth is stuck in Mandos, waiting and hoping.
Nimrodel waits beside Amroth's body for a long time; however, Nothing Happens, (while Mithrellas and Imrazor are happily building a family, and Amroth is waiting in the Halls of Mandos for her to sail west.) and eventually Nimrodel despairs and loses her reason.
She returns alone to the mountains, where she finds the Stone of Erech. She waits there, drawn to it in her madness and despair, and the dead come. She recognizes their despair in hers, and chooses to stay with them, dwelling in her memories of Amroth while she is awake, and dreaming of him while she sleeps. In her madness she willingly participates in their curse. The Valar realize this and further refuse to send Amroth back to her while she is under the curse.
Mithrellas finds her, after a long hard search. She waits on her, and takes care of her. For long years they dwell there, til they forget their names and take names given them by the dead. When Elessar breaks the curse and frees the Dead during the War of the Ring, Nimrodel and Mithrellas are freed as well. (Nimrodel is, however, still mad, completely living in memories of Amroth.) They wander west from Erech, through the cleft above the penninsula that juts into the bay of Belfalas, straight to the coast. They follow the coast up through Enedwaith over the mouth of the Isen, up into Miniriath, to the mouth of the Baranduin. There they halt; short of the havens, they turn south and return to Belfalas.
Mellondu in his delirium begins dreaming that he is Amroth. In his dreams he progresses thru the story til Amroth's ship has been blown away from shore, and Amroth has jumped in to try and swim back, and has drowned; he is now in the halls of Mandos (stuck) and cannot wake up. Amroth, trapped in the halls of Mandos, is trying to find Nimrodel, who has never come west. He enters Mellondu's dreams via Osanwe; Mellondu willingly agrees to help him, but his personality quickly fades besides Amroth's strength, and as a result, Mellondu has faded almost entirely. Mellondu shows up in Rohan with no clear idea who he is. He calls himself "Mellon". Several snowball fights later he is feverishly, deliriously sick. He awakens thoroughly convinced he is Amroth, Nimrodel's long lost love. But his new identity brings some interesting side-effects: osanwe, and knowledge and memories spanning thousands of years. In Mellondu's body, Amroth sets off to find Nimrodel.
Ædegard pities the crazy blacksmith and asks for permission to follow him. His father, unable to spare additional men decides this is Ædegard's 'coming into manhood', and sends him alone. His father also sends word to Gondor which says essentially: addled & raving blacksmith has fled northward to search for Nimrodel. He may be joined by other companions.
Ædegard and Mellondu/Amroth ride north from Eastfold over the Entwash, follow the Entwash up to Fangorn, then between the Forest and the Wold, up to the borders of Lorien.
"Amroth" presses into the forest, and is immediately challenged by border-elves; he demands news of the Maiden Nimrodel, is told that 'she departed for the havens long ago', he realizes they mean Edhellond, and "Amroth" turns south. They chase the river to Rauros. (They could be joined at this pooint by one or more genuine elves.)
They travel to Edhellond (evading all contact with Gondorians, Mellondu/Amroth is interested only in getting to Nimrodel as quickly as possible).
Meanwhile, at the Seventh Star, Raefindan discusses his dreams about imrazor and Mithrellas with Mellonin. She has had some puzzling dreams of her own. She and he both agree that somehow, some way, Mellondu is mixed up in all this-- and they set off to find out why, and how, and where he is. By then news has reached Gondor of the addled young blacksmith who set off for Lorien. They set out in pursuit. with whatever companions join them (from the Seventh Star, or along the way.)
Grand adventure ensues... (all players fill in the blank)
Mellonin, Raefindan, Nimrodel, and Mithrellas end up together at the climax of the story.
How it all ends I haven't decided; Mellondu may actually die, or may wake up and regain his own identity. I don't think Amroth will re-incarnate... I think Nimrodel needs to sail west to find him. Or maybe, she needs to actually die of a broken heart and meet him in the halls of Mandos. Not sure. As you can see, there are plenty of loose ends; I half expect Imrahil to make an appearance. We need adventurers, and there can be many skirmishes along the way; it's a long journey from Minas Tirith to the old elvish havens in Belfalas. Ædegard and Mellondu arrive at Edhellond, find it deserted, and Mellondu somehow slips into a long sleep of despair-- does he jump out of the boat and half-drown himself, and get rescued but never really wake up? Comatose?? -- anyway, Ædegard watches over him til the questers show up. He's dreaming that he's Amroth in the halls of Mandos. Possibility: Ædegard could find Amroth's body too; one is dead, the other sleepeth... Maybe that's how Mellondu realises in the end he's NOT Amroth, being faced with the body of the elf-lord.