Land of Darkness Discussion Thread

[piosenniel]

A gentle reminder - there is one week remaining for game-play.

~*~ Pio

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

All Right All: strap in, cause we're almost done.

I have put up a rather substantial post in which a lot of things happen. Most of what is in there I have been working out with the involved players via PM so I'm not simply highjacking the story (mostly. . .)

At any rate, I am sorry to have been so. . .firm. . .in moving the game along in the last while, but as Pio's last post indicates, the game will be over on Monday and I wanted to make sure we had time to finish the game in good order.

So here we are, at the final battle. Get in there and mix it up! If anyone feels that it would be dramatic for their character to die and/or change sides (and be killed) then now is the time to do it!

The fight with the orcs will continue uninterrupted until the weekend, at which point I will perform my last act as a dictatorial Game Owner and conclude the battle in order to send the prisoners on to Ithilien where we can all spend Sunday/Monday setting up our final posts of the game.

[Aylwen Dreamsong]

Oops!

I had a post for after Aman/CoD's posts, but before Fordim's major-event post! I meant to place it on the game thread last night, but I had AP homework (sorry for excuses!) and decided to put it up tonight. It came too late, though.

In any case, would someone kindly place the following post on the game thread? I suppose it would work best at the end of CoD's post, post 157 on the game thread...

Aylwen's Post ------- EDIT: POST PLACED AS ABOVE ~*~ PIO

“What about you, Jeren: where will you go, now you are free?”

Jeren thought on this, and at first nothing came to him. It was a question that he did not know the answer to. How many times had this happened to him? Too many for his liking, especially since he had been made prisoner by the power that he had once served. Too many questions had been left unanswered.

Where will I go?

The Southron had never actually thought about where he would go, for he never knew any home other than the one as captain of an army. He was always the leader, and he never needed a home as long as there were loyal soldiers behind him… following and listening to him. He hardly recalled the land his family once roamed, or if family would be there and remember him at all. It had been far too long for him to return to that home. There was nowhere for him to go.

“It hardly matters if I am free, for I have no where to return to. There is no where for me to bask in new-earned freedom,” Jeren finally replied to the question posed by Raeis. His voice remained steady and level, as Jeren refused to show his uncertainty and sorrow at his own words. “The things I have done make me undeserving of such freedom. I have no place to return to and that is how it must be,” The Southron added as an afterthought, the volume of his voice lowered so it came out just above a whisper.

Surely that is how it will be in the end…

“Yes. We rest. But only for two, three hours.” Jeren looked up as Grash began to speak in his usual choppy manner. “Then we must go – the path goes down soon, down to green land. Green land with trees and cool breezes, and waters. Freedom. Freedom at the end of the path.”

Turning back to Raeis, Jeren sighed, letting out all his self-pity in the exhale. What about everyone else? Raeis had hardly answered his question in a manner that satisfied his curiosity. Something about the group, though, and the way they came together in a most unusual way made Jeren hopeful for all of them. “I have certainly learned the value of comfort, on this journey. Not just being comfortable, or not being comfortable…but being able to live and go on and appreciate it anyway. I do not know you very well at all, Raeis, but somehow I know that you will be able to make home encompass one more elf…you will learn to make home within your own heart and strength, and not let it depend on someone else…”

Jeren paused, looking around at the rest of the group for a moment.

“Hopefully we will all be able to do the same. Maybe we will all find home.”

--

And now I'll get to work on another post!

Thanks guys!

-Aylwen

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Hurm. . .hoom. . .baroom-boom

I don't want to supplant the rightful role and place of the redoubtable Pio, but I shall -- this once -- assume the mantle that is so ably worn by herself and note that:

The game will be closing on Monday, and there's still a ravening pack of orcs to deal with and resolutions to be achieved. . .

*Fordim wanders back into the forest barooming thoughtfully*

[Bêthberry]

Could the redoubtable pio please place this post for me? It can go anywhere after Aman's post # 156 and before Fordim's post #160.

My save alas must wait for later Saturday to be filled in. It should not deter others from entering the last fight.

EDIT: Post placed on #156 ~*~ Pio

>>>

Bethberry's post for Darash

Darash sat confused and frustrated. After the near-deadly encounter with the bestial orcs--no better than charging, stupid rinombos-rhinoceros--iit had been with a relief amounting to joy that she had first seen Lyshka safe and then spied Grash. The two women had sprung on rejuvenated feet towards him, eagerness lightening their tired faces, ready to tell what they had seen.

Now Darash sat trying to make sense of it. She had run to him and taken his arm, pulling it almost, pointing back to the melee. She had gesticulated wildly almost, running on in her native tongue, describing the struggle and their near-escape, only to be put back under greater assault by Aldor's treachery with the orcs.

"Ahdor. Ahdor. Machumba nuwalla, esumba relege isbatu. Ngeme ebulu," she had told him excitedly. "Dtcekma." It meant carrion bird of prey, vulture, feasting off the dead, without honour of the kill. But Grash had looked at her with strangely glowing eyes. She had taken his arm again, drawing him towards the small bend in the path, so he could look back and perhaps see the traitor in the orcs' midst.

Grash had smiled at her as if humouring her. It was maddening! Darash had never before experienced such failure to be taken seriously. She had turned to Lyshka, pleadingly, her frustration clearly visible in the tight knot of her muscles around her shoulders. Lyshka had nodded yes, but shrugged, as if to say she wasn't sure. Darash had turned back to Grash, the fire of being thwarted and misunderstood shining in her eyes. The man had almost chuckled. He had not looked at her eyes; his own gaze had not met hers and staid there, but wandered off elsewhere. With a snort at this hare who did not recognise the vulture, she had stormed off, exasperated with him who seemed not to listen.

And so she had sat in semi-isolation, her eyes wandering from time to time around the group of her companions who were licking their wounds like animals who had escaped the trap. Lyshka had come over to her, hunched over as if to say "Maybe. I don't know. I couldn't see for sure. It was a blur like the whipping rain." Then Raeis had mouthed the name. The elf understood! The women knew. Why were the men so obtuse? Darash sat there, trying to rest, her eyes closed in the soft afternoon light, aware that Grash was watching her from time to time, but utterly without comprehension.

[Novnarwen]

Both my saves are filled. It's not much, but it's all I can do right now. I'm sorry for taking so long, but I've been busy...

If they need edits, please do tell.

I'll be posting my last post for Rhând soon..

Nova

[Bêthberry]

Thanks for placing my post, pio.

I have a question about the timing. When exactly on Monday will the game close? Will we have the day to complete our post, or does the axe fall in the morning?

Right now, having survived the last orc onslaught with Alak's Lyshka, I'm at a bit of a loss to consider how to survive yet another attack. I hate to resort to that infamous line from Monty Python--"Run away! Run away!"--yet the thought is tempting.

And speaking of Monty Python, I did see Castle Doune in Scotland.

EDIT: Well, what wonders it does to read over each other's posts closely! I took a hint from Fordim's set up of the approach of Aldor and the orcs and have set up some possibilities for our defense. Catch a ride on the menhir express.

I have not mentioned anyone by name other than those that I have closely planned or interacted with but if anyone wants me to edit in the name of their character, let me know.