[Child of the 7th Age]

Pio and Mith --

Bear with me. This will be long.

I have hesitations about this. I know that I suggested some of it myself so I'm sorry, but I see problems. The is particularly true if we assume the person on board is Ancalimon or his agent, or another Valar agent. Let me explain.

Everything I know about Ancalimon and the Valar suggests they wouldn't have used a "ruse" like this. Whoever did this is deceiving hobbits. By offering a trip to Valinor, even in jest, they are encouraging hobbits to consider avoiding their "doom", that of being mortal. In Tolkien, this is a serious charge. Why would one of the Maiar or Valar suggest hobbits go against a basic precept of Eru, even if it's only done as a means to get us the ship?

Plus Ancalimon has always treated hobbits with respect and affection, and maybe a little exasperation, but he has never belittled them. This ruse makes hobbits look a bit gullible and silly and, also, as if they can be easily misled. That isn't so. Hobbits were chosen to carry the Ring both because their ambitions were small and they were resistent to deceit.

When you're under four feet and you live in a world of Men and Elves who may be twice your height, the one thing you have going is your wits and your brain (not in an academic sense, but in a practical one). You may be tricky or deceptive but you're not gullible. And you don't trust strange situations or people.

Just look at Sam's attitude about life. Tolkien calls him (not Frodo) the most repesentative hobbit. No self respecting hobbit (Child included) would trust a big person in this way to sell their possessions and get on a ship bound for someplace they've never been. Remember Child's own experiences. Living among men, she has received her share of stares and raised eyebrows. Remember how she and Bilbo heard the "learned" Men announcing that hobbits were "animals." In the Fourth Age, Men couldn't even come in to the Shire, so how are they supposed to attract all these hobbit recruits?

Also, Child's interest in Valinor is atypical. Because of her love of lore, she might want to sail to the West, but most hobbits couldn't care less! Generally, they live in the present, not the past like Child, or the future like most men.The one race that historically wanted to avoid their "doom" was Men, not hobbits (sorry Mith!) I think you'd have more takers for a trip like this in a community of men. (Sharon might stand in line for the first ticket on the mystery ship to Valinor, but Child would wait by the side and suspect a trick.)

So I don't see why you'd have someone from Valinor pulling a scheme like this. And I don't think hobbits would volunteer to go. (LOL) Plus, without Ancalimon, just putting a "trickster" in his place, I don't like the idea of getting such a wonderful magical ship from an "impure" source. It should be clear and light, just like the phial of Galadriel (see below on proposed origin of our ship.)

Where does this leave us? Perhaps we need a simpler approach. If one of the Valar or Maiar wanted someone from Middle-earth to go on a quest, I think they would have done exactly what was done with both Bilbo and Frodo. They'd have sent an agent or gone themself to speak with that person. The person would be given a chance to say "yes or no" with no trickery involved. (They might not understand the full extent of their commitment, but that's another question--who does in life?).

And who would initially be the one "chosen" by the Valar? I think it would be Pio because of her dual heritage. She fills both sides of the prophecy. (Hey, maybe we should have a prophecy aboutthat.)

I think Idril and Tuor would have been the agents sent to Pio for this purpose. Maybe they even felt a bit sad because they had some premonition that all might not end well. Plus, Pio already knew them, and they understood the secret of her heritage. (The reader won't be told this secret yet.)

This kind of introduction also makes Pio's death even more critical in the story line. A little like losing Gandalf in LotR.

It's quite possible that Pio was even waiting in line at Grey Havens ready to board the boat to you-know-where, and she gets pulled out of line with this strange request. Tuor and Idril tell her simply that some of her hobbit kin have been lost in the Bay of ????. She must rescue them, find out their needs, and try to help them. She is told to pick her own crew. It must include hobbits, Elves, and men, including one hobbit who is of full age. Pio assumes the Elves and men are the practical ones who will carry out the actual mission, and the hobbits are along simply to make the rescued hobbits feel comfortable. (Boy, is she wrong. Pio has a lot to learn about hobbits!)

Just as Frodo received the phial of Galadriel, Pio is given the ship on loan from Tuor and Idril who have sailed it from Valinor. But NOT the time-travel device. That will come later. Pio picks up her friends Veritas and Bird and they sail to Minas Tirith with Tuor and Idril trailing behind in their own ship. Pio wants to find out more information regarding that bay, maps, hobbit history, etc.. As Pio starts her voyage, she is startled to disover that a small green dragon sits at the top of her mast.

(***I will need to edit my own posts about "owning" the dragon, although it's clear Angara is curious about hobbits and pushes her way gently into my mind.) The idea about Angara avenging her kin is a good one.

The story begins with the background already written by Mith. Then Mith encounters Pio some place (tavern, library??). Pio tells the above story to Mith. He agrees to link up with her. Then Pio has to get a hobbit. Minas Tirith is not exactly crawling with hobbits, but Pio (or more likely Mith?)does have some previous knowledge of Child who takes care of children in the home of one of the minor nobility and gives them some book learning. This hobbit also is knowledgeable about what passes for hobbit history, so that is a plus. Rose is an orphan cousin(SORRY BIRD)who is loosely under Child's care and who works in the same household as she does. Everyone boards the ship.

As we've been given such scanty information, we're out on the Bay looking along the shore or trying to find islands where "real" hobbits might be stranded. Boy, are we surprised when Kali pops up. We find him in a sea cave along the shore. (or do you want to do it in deep water as the RPG assumes? But Kali doesn't have gills.)

Kali is the guardian of the time travel device, only he doesn't know what it is. He gives it to us. It has been in his family for generations. We later discover that it was presented to his people by Ulmo at the time of the first choosing. Their mission has been to keep and guard it and wait for the ship with the single star.

Does this make any sense?

We'd have to edit those sections where we assume the ship "belongs" to us in equal shares. At the end of this adventure one of the Elves will presumably sail her back to Valinor. A ship this magical and powerful just shouldn't "belong" to the likes of us. It's too special.

sharon

[ September 04, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]