[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Many thanks, Estelyn. I only hope that I haven't used up all the jokes in one post.

I've left Meanderin and his crew out of touch with Merisuwyniel and her companions so that other players can come upon them in whatever way they see fit. I notice that I haven't described Meanderin in any detail, so I'll give you a brief run-down here.

Meanderin is short, skinny, badly shaven and worse dressed, with ungovernable mousy hair, watery eyes and various Homeric accoutrements that don't suit him or, indeed, fit. His crested Spartan helmet keeps falling over his eyes (or dropping off his head entirely from time to time); there is a large gap between his impressively muscled breastplate and his actual breast, and his moth-eaten scarlet cape is ragged at the hem from trailing on the ground behind him. His crew are basically going to be a pastiche of the Argonauts, the sailors of Odysseus' fleet and anyone else from mythology or maritime fiction who can't get out of the way quickly enough. There are enough of them to allow plenty of latitude for names and personalities.

Incidentally, I'm all at sea with Gilligan's Island. I don't think it's ever been broadcast on this side of the Water, and if it has I missed it. I haven't followed Lost either for that matter. I suppose that there's enough fiction about people stuck on islands that even the most remote must be getting crowded by now. What horrors would result, for example, from Treasure Island having to share a mile-square atoll with The Island of Dr. Moreau? Heaven forbid.