View Single Post
Old 11-18-2002, 08:50 PM   #1
Rimbaud
The Perilous Poet
 
Rimbaud's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Heart of the matter
Posts: 1,096
Rimbaud has just left Hobbiton.
Silmaril The Seventh Star Inn

The Seventh Star
Portal to the Land of Gondor.

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

The door creaked somewhat ominously as the leader of the party pushed, with some trepidation, upon its rough-hewn oak surface. A voice surprised all of them, well-toned and even.

“Welcome to The Seventh Star, famed throughout Gondor, and indeed Middle-Earth, for its storytelling!”

The visitors entered the large, spacious common room. The Innkeeper rose to greet them as they looked around themselves, uncertain. He was dressed in a well-fitting dark grey tunic, with a thin blue sash at the waist. He spoke, in the same low voice, as he shook them by the hand, one by one.

Gondor is the Barrow-Downs’ premier Role-Playing arena and as such has a very limited membership. To succeed in Gondor, you must display in The Seventh Star a virtuosity in prose unmatched throughout the realms of Middle-Earth!

My name is Rimbaud and I am the Innkeeper here at the Seventh Star.”

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

Inside The Seventh Star it was eerily silent, yet imbued within the well-appointed building was a powerful sense of purpose, a sense of unseen creative forces at work. Lights angled upwards onto the bleached white ceiling were evenly spaced around the walls. A lone but fiercely bright candle burned on each clean and uncluttered table top. The pale, wood-panelled floor was spotless. Grey clad staff drifted silently through the room, towards the footsore group. They were impossible to describe, being human yet somehow indistinct. The looks they gave the weary travellers were deferential as they took their coats and arms, and they disappeared as abruptly as they had appeared.

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

The Innkeeper finished his welcome speech, stepped back, and looked upon the small group before him doubtfully. He nodded imperceptibly. The room suddenly dimmed. Terrifyingly quickly, darkness rushed into the room, spewing from the walls, floor and ceiling. As the obsidian blackness billowed about them, all they could perceive were the steady blue eyes of the strange Innkeeper, unquenched by the cloud. The air grew thick and unyielding . Their hearts quailed but they did not falter or cry out, but stood firm, despite their fear.

The darkness evaporated as swiftly as it had arisen, and light streamed in through the tall windows around the hall. Their host stood smiling before them. The ceiling arched gracefully over him, slender beams supporting the simple, skilful plasterwork. It seemed that they had passed a test of some sort.

”Hail and well met!” he exclaimed. “Here you will find succour in the creation of many a fine tale.”

Several of the party had noticed the great iron plaque hanging over the fireplace at the far end of the common room. On it was written a list of names, in a long flowing scipt. The hulking oval shape was flanked by two lamps, fashioned in the likeness of Great Wyrms, the flame licking from within the great jaws of each. Upon noticing his guests’ questioning glances, Rimbaud endeavoured to explain.

“Here is writ the names of those Story Tellers of Gondor that brighten this land. These are they who can create the Tales of this land, so that in a lifetime those tales may become legend, and ‘ere long, myth. The Seventh Star welcomes many story-tellers, but these are the creators. The list is ever growing.”

The party nodded approval and their leader moved to inspect the names. The others followed, more cautiously.

The header for the beautiful engraving read thus: The Founding Scribes of Gondor.

Behind them, they heard the voice of the Innkeeper again, reciting the names.

“The Lords Mithadan, Thenamir and Gilthalion there are, fair Bethberry, noble Gandalf and Rimbaud of the Star. There is Piosenniel, Birdland and The Seventh Age’s Child. Estelyn Telcontar and Mark12-30 do complete the List of Gondor.” He paused and then started afresh, his voice harsher and more urgent. “Yet there is fell work afoot, upon this chart and when ‘twas scribed, it gave all men a fright, for atop the list in letters bright, Lies the name o’the dread Barrow-Wight!” His voice rose in volume steadily until the last words came out in a roar, shocking the party with its intensity. The room grew still and silent again, as the echoes faded.

The tense atmosphere slowly faded as the party made themselves comfortable, settling down with pipes as food was prepared for them in kitchens unseen. Food and drink, for oft-times The Seventh Star was a merry place, to be filled with laughter and good converse.

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

Welcome to The Seventh Star. Post here so that you may join the Great List of Gondor!

The Seventh Star is the meeting place for the élite of the Barrow-Downs Role-Players. The List mentioned above is by no means closed and any who prove their worth in The Shire and especially in Rohan can come to the Star and talk with the members here about joining Gondor.

If a decision is to be made, it will be made by myself in collaboration with the other Innkeepers, at The Green Dragon and The White Horse, and approved by members of the Downs Admin team, or more pertinently, The Barrow-Wight and Mithadan. There will also be discussion, here at the Star, with current Gondorians over the criteria for posting at this level.

The Innkeeper can also be contacted at Rimbaud@barrowdowns.com


Keep watching here and at Ecthelion's Tower for the Rules pertaining to Gondor.

[ February 11, 2003: Message edited by: Rimbaud ]
__________________
And all the rest is literature

Last edited by Rimbaud; 09-19-2005 at 05:26 AM.
Rimbaud is offline