Barrow-Downs Birthday Party at the Fields of Cormallen

[Galadrie1]

Galadriel stops spinning long enough to watch the defeat of the fan-girls "YAY! GO ELANOR!!!!" she screams, then continues spinning...

[Samwise]

*Stacey walks past the remaining guests, noting a black tent, but not going near*
*Sighs* Oh, well. Sorry we missed Frodo. Wonder where Sam and Prim got to?
*Chuckles* I hope Prim hasn't gotten mad and speared anyone....
*She wanders to a tree away from the crowd, sits down and leans her back against it. A tear comes to her eye, but she blinks it away.*
Should have known this party would be a downer. Reminds me of the "I'm not popular days" in school, 'cept I haven't got my "geeky" friends to be with....
*Sighs and looks out over the un-vandalized parts of the fields.*
Oh, well, at least the scenery's pretty.
*Closes her eyes and chuckles*
A three....jeez, Prim, like it matters...
*Feels a bit sad again* Too bad we couldn't have run into the Barrow-wight or Mithidan, though. That at least would have made it more worth it....
*Leans her head back and closes her eyes again, thinking of how to go on with The Adventure of Primrose Gamgee....

[Galadrie1]

Galadriel notices someone sitting against her tree.. she leaves Laie "i'll be back soon," she promises before she leaves. She approaches the figure, it's a human woman, who introduces herself as Stacey. "Hiya, Stacey. Wanna spin? want some coffee?" she asks as she pulls a thermos full of coffee from some pocket on her dress, grabs stacey's hand, and pulls her back to where Laie is waiting...

[ May 21, 2002: Message edited by: Galadrie1 ]

[Samwise]

Primrose: *Yawns, thougroughly bored.* Tries walking, but nearly trips on the dress* Argh! Why did papa make me wear this horrid thing!?!?
*she tucks the hem of the skirt into the waist of her knee pants, and she can walk*
Whew! Now maybe at least I can find a coney to shoot so I can bring it home for dinner...
*looks at the food on the ground sadly*

[Samwise]

Stacey:*Feeling a bit out of place* Hi--I came with the Gamgees....*Looks around* Though I have no idea where either of them could be at the moment...

[Galadrie1]

Galadriel grins. "OK, now, Laie and stacey hold hands, and i'll hold hands with both Laie, AND stacey, making a circle, see? NOW, spin!!!!!" So they spin...

[Samwise]

Stacey:*chuckles*Whoa.....

[Galadrie1]

Galadriel steps out of the spinning-circle. the runs a bit around Laie and Stacey until she has them all fixed up in Titanic-stlye spinning.
"you guys can stop spinning whenever you want! See ya!"
She walks over to her tree, hoping the party will still be going on when she wakes up.
She closes her eyes, and begins to dream...

She's the teenage girl again...
She has to go to bed, then to school..
She hopes with all her might that the party will still be going on tomorrow, after school.....

[ May 21, 2002: Message edited by: Galadrie1 ]

[Thinhyandoiel]

Thinhyandoiel looks around the place, now covered in various dishes of good food. All her clean-up work for nothing! Hurrying to meet Niere in the middle, having gotten lost on the way the first time *nervous laugh* Thin shows her the full trash bag she was able to collect, and is rewarded with a brand new trash bag.
"Drat. Hey look! Someone brought more ale! I'll just pretend I'm 18, walk over there whilst I collect pies and such from the floor, and help myself to a pint!"

[Birdland]

Birdie leans over Piosenniel's shoulder as she reads the note from C.7.A. "Alright! She's in!" exclaims Birdie.

"Now wait just a minute", fumes Chile', "That's not what that note said!"

"But it's Contrary Day, Sharon! 'No' means 'yes', red means green, 'don't walk' means 'run like heck', AND..." Birdie beams, 'I am now a semi-respectable dweller in the Barrow-downs' means 'Up against the wall, Mithadan!!!'

Birdie watches as C.7.A sputters and rolls her eyes. "Well, if you didn't want it to be Contrary Day, you should have called it first." states Birdie huffily.

"Come to think of it, though", says Piosenniel, the REG seems to be not working on anyone but us, lately."

The three look around the party; people are primly bagging trash. Not a good sign. Some fan girls are chasing Legolas around the the fields, but that's nothing new. Samwise and family are standing in a corner, looking like they'd rather be planting taters then wasting their time here. Birdie's Essence of Entdraught seems to have no effect except to give people the spins. Even the dragons look a little forlorn.

"But what's wrong with the REG?" thinks Birdland. Then she sees a giant pink rabbit strolling by. Well, that's a start.

[Samwise]

Samwise: *Finally coming out from behind the tree, having finished off the last of the cake* Mmm. Well, that was worth it. Miss Stacey? Tiny Rose? [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] Oh, dear! I hope Primrose hasn't gotten mad and shot someone through! *Looks frantically around for his daughter*

[piosenniel]

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your soul it will creep . . .
. . . Step outta line,
The Man come and take you away . . .

The last strains from Buffalo Springfield come to a scratchy halt as Birdie took the 45 carefully, with fingers touching only the rim and edge, off the turntable and inserted it into the parchment sleeve. 'Sigh, cd's are nice, but these dusty discs have a really full character . . . ' she remarked fondly.

'OK, I'm with you, pio.' she says. 'What's the plan?'

'Well, I don't exactly have a Plan plan, I just thought in the spirit of things we'd improvise. Our first thing we need to do, though is bolster up the courage of C7A. She's just written me a very long note explaining what a respectable hobbit she is, and how Mithadan is some very important Lord of sorts, and how she wants to advance among the dead, and can't afford to offend the powers that be - read Mithadan here. Of course her syntax and sentence structure were much better done than the brief synopsis I just gave you.'

'Hmm!' replied Birdie ' I think she needs the same push out the door that Gandalf gave Bilbo the reluctant thief.'

'Great minds think alike!' exclaimed piosenniel. 'Besides, I was sort of half planning for her to ply those hobbity thief traits. & I also had plans for the Massive Tome to figure into the plan at some point.'

Night was drawing near, groups of straggling party-goers were seen settling in for rounds of stories by the bonfire and the occasional hot chocolate with marshmallows or draughts of what ale was left. Birdie handed pio some black grease paint to paint both their faces and each donned a black beret. Steering clear of the bright flames of the fire they set out in search of C7A, whom they found sitting at the back of a group of hobbits, in the shadows, hoping not to be noticed. Putting an arm through each of hers, and clamping a firm hand over her protesting mouth, they dragged her gently to a stand of rocks not too far away.

'Child', whispered piosenniel in her ear.'I have an inducement sure to make you change your mind about coming with us. Treasure!'

'Treasure!!' squeaked Child, removing the muffling hand from her mouth. A sudden gleam came into her eye. 'What exactly do you mean?'

'Well, three things actually,' replied pio thinking fast.'1.) I have enough silver pennies in this bag here to pay off the postage plus interest for all of the Shire. It's yours if you come with us. 2.) I've found a publisher for your Massive Tome - prepared to pay handsomely for the rights to printing it - red leather cover, gold lettering, your name in big, big letters. 3.)Birdie and I are prepared to go to each thread you make a reply to and enter into long debate with you until you've become a Ghost Prince of Cardolan, and beyond. Now how does that sound?'

C7A furrowed her brow and went deep into analysis of the problem.

In the darkness, piosenniel's elven eyes could see Birdie rolling her eyes at the promises made. Birdie hissed quietly at her 'You're not going to tell her *where* you got those pennies, are you?! I saw you wiping the mold off them just before you came to get me! Don't you think HE'll miss them?!'

'I'll deal with that later -- I think I have a few more Ages left in me. Some plan will come along!'

'Well, Child, you with us?'

A reluctant hand reached for the greasepaint and the beret offered; the other, more insistant hand grabbed the sack of pennies and secured them in the waistband sash of her pants.

Standing in a tight circle, and placing hands on each other's shoulders they swore to keep the rest of the party safe from random generated events. Tightening the black leather vambraces on her arms, and securing her bow to her back, pio stated firmly: 'Let us hunt some lordling!'

'Yessss' cried Birdie, Child, shaking her head bemusedly muttered -'You 2 have seen the movie far too many times!!'

::Later, down the trail toward the bar . . .::

'Just how important and powerful is this Mithadan' said pio to Birdie. 'Beats me!' came the reply.

In the trailing darkness, Child sighed, rolled her eyes at the folly of this venture, and, trusting in the Hand of Providence, hoped the consequences of 'evil' by choice would not be too disastrous.

[Samwise]

Primrose: *Coming back to the fire after an unsucessful hunt, finding her father and Stacey sitting down with hot chocolate and listening to stories*

Sam: *Looks at her sleepily* Prim, where have you...nevermind.

Stacey: *Glancing up at the stars* Oh, well. The party was probably too wild for me, anyway.

Sam: *Yawning* Me, too. I'm getting too old. This is rather nice, though.

Primrose: *settling down next to her father and leaning her head on his shoulder* Yeah...

[Rose Cotton]

Rose is satisfied with her attempt to liven things up.

She walks over to Sam to apologise for the Cake accident.

" I wish the Barrow Wright would come back out. Really, his own party and he spends almost no time enjoying it."she says to him.

Then she goes to spin with Stacy and Laie.

[Rose Cotton]

( Yes! Frodo still hasn't gotten his necklace back)

[Samwise]

Sam: *Smiles* Not a problem, Rosie. It was rather tasty, actually.

[Daisy Sandybanks]

Daisy accepts the asprin Sindacuion gave to her graciously and quickly gulps it down
with a glass of wine. “Wait a minute....” Daisy slowly and reluctently swallows before
realizing what she had just done. “”Uh-oh.... drugs and alcohol don’t mix......” Daisy groans and sits down in the grass next to a passed out, drooling Orc. Suddenly hearing twigs snapping and leaves rustling above her, Daisy jumps to her feet and starins her neck upwards. There, sitting all alone, is Sin. who had given her the asprin. “Sindacuion, darling, what are you doing up there all by yourself?” asks Daisy. “Come down from there, the least that we could both do is help clean up this unsightly joint.” Not waiting for him to make his way down, Daisy grabs a trash bag and begins to pick up bits of garbage here and there. “Well.... this is just fantastic” she grumbles “I came hopping to have a fun time, and what do I end up doing? Picking up trash and having what must be the worst headache I have ever had....” Though being just a bit angry, Daisy continues to do her part in helping out. As s

[Daisy Sandybanks]

(Heh, sorry, that last post didn't seem to quite make it....)

Daisy accepts the asprin Sindacuion gave to her graciously and quickly gulps it down
with a glass of wine. “Wait a minute....” Daisy slowly and reluctently swallows before
realizing what she had just done. “”Uh-oh.... drugs and alcohol don’t mix......” Daisy groans and sits down in the grass next to a passed out, drooling Orc. Suddenly hearing twigs snapping and leaves rustling above her, Daisy jumps to her feet and starins her neck upwards. There, sitting all alone, is Sin. who had given her the asprin. “Sindacuion, darling, what are you doing up there all by yourself?” asks Daisy. “Come down from there, the least that we could both do is help clean up this unsightly joint.” Not waiting for him to make his way down, Daisy grabs a trash bag and begins to pick up bits of garbage here and there. “Well.... this is just fantastic” she grumbles “I came hopping to have a fun time, and what do I end up doing? Picking up trash and having what must be the worst headache I have ever had....” Though being just a bit angry, Daisy continues to do her part in helping out. As she goes from table to table (or passed out creature to passed out creature...) Daisy catches bits of conversations going on in various tents, somthing about the Beatles playing here, spiked Dr. Pepper, food fights and other random weirdness that she decided to just overlook. “Hmmm.... this place has become somthing of a Middle Earth Woodstock it seems...” she mumbles to herslelf while plucking off a peice of toilet paper hanging from a nearby branch and stuffing it into her all ready full trash bag. Seeing that many of the creatures about are leaving, and that the party seems to be almost over, Daisy throws her trash bag onto a heap of other trash bags and walks over to nearby stream to wash herself off.

[Veritas]

As it seems that when she's awake, most people are resting, she dicides to play a game of chesswith with a little dwarf that's looking a bit angry.
"Why are you looking this angry?" the wizard asks.
"Me beard is not the longest of this party." he growls, "Gimli's longer."
Veritas thinks he doesn't like chess so asks him if he want to play a game of gambling.
"What have you to offer?" asks the dwarf.
"Nothing, a glass of wine for the winner!" the wizard replies laughing.
"Nothing to offer, I'm not in for playing!" cries the dwarf with a heard voice. A few people are looking in their way. Then the dwarf takes off to be not been seen again by Veritas.
"A pity, ah well, what does it matter, and she sits down at a table where dire Halflings are sleeping above their ale.
"Another wine please!"

[Veritas]

When one of the tree (sorry, last message was a mistake) Halflings awakes, Veritas asks if he wants to play a game of chess. This time the answer was satisfying, but halfway the game, the Halfling fals asleep again. The wizard thinks that she just have to wait until everybody's awake, and the party is rising again.

[Rose Cotton]

Rose stops spinning and goes to sit down,

"I must stay awake" She looks around hoplessly as almost everyone else is in a doze.

I thought this party was going to last longer than this.It hasn't been even 3 days yet. How pathetic.


She goes to play a game of chess.

[Rose Cotton]

After losing a game of chess Rose decides to take a look at the Random Events Generator.

The Random Events Generator:

-Silly Events

-Scary Events

-Suprising Events

-Imposible Events

"Hm, I think I'll try the Imposible Events."

SUDDENLY A HUGE MOVIE SCREEN APEARS.

THE MOVIE STARTS PLAYING.

THE TITLE SAYS:

THE TWO TOWERS


"Hey everyone wake up!!!!!!! This really is imposible. Oh well. Come on everyone, you don't want to miss this,"

Rose grabs a seat and some popcorn and starts to watch the movie.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

At the edge of the Cormallen Fields, Estelyn and Chrysophylax sat, talking quietly. A common love for all things Tolkien had yet again succeeded in reconciling two formerly hostile races; the princess and the dragon had become fast friends.

Estelyn looked down at her dancing shoes regretfully – she would have loved to keep going, but apparently everyone was either sleeping or cleaning up. The festivities would hopefully continue with the dawning of the new day, but until then, what was an enterprising princess to undertake?

“This will never do,” she thought. “I am Estelyn of the House of Telcontar – I do not get deserted by all of my dancing partners!” With a sudden gleam in her eyes, she whispered to Chrysophylax and kicked off her sliver slippers, hoping that some gallant gentleman/dwarf/hobbit/elf would find them for her later.

She carefully mounted the dragon’s back and held on while he spread his wings and circled the party grounds. They spotted Sindacuion in his tree; he was so startled when the dragon flew under his branch that he dropped right onto Chrysophylax’ back. “Hang on,” shouted Estelyn, “we’re going for a ride!”

Now for the other dance partner, who had basely deserted not only the princess but also the Barrow-Downs’ birthday party! “Beatles concert indeed!” she humphed, “who needs a yellow submarine when you can have a live dragon?!” Chrysophylax swooped over the concert grounds, where only a few stragglers lingered. One looked particularly apathetic and melancholy. “That’s Stephanos, alright!” Estelyn cried out, and the dragon landed next to him just long enough for Sind and Esty to grab a hand each and pull him onto Chrys’ back. Bewilderment gave way to recognition, then to fear, then to delight as they rose higher and higher above the party fields.

“Now for the show,” Estelyn urged, “or the sun will rise and spoil the effect!” Chrysophylax began producing the most wonderful fireworks, combining smoke rings with fire images for spectacular effects. The cleaning crews stopped and gazed in wonder; those sleeping awoke, frightened and thinking it was a nightmare at first, then awed in astonished appreciation.

A proud Chrysophylax was greeted by enthusiastic applause as he landed near the Barrow-Wight’s tent-encased mound. (“Do be careful not to come too close to Cimmerian,” Estelyn had admonished him, “if he realizes that you’re a talking dragon, he’ll pester you to take part in the RPGs!&#8221 [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

As the sun rose to a new day of partying, Estelyn stood on Chrysophylax’ back and led the assembled Barrow-Downers in a rousing song:

“Happy Deathday to you,
happy Deathday to you,
happy Deathday, dear Barrow-Wight,
happy Deathday to you!”

[Rose Cotton]

Wow! That was great, but Um....if you didn't notice,

LOOK WHAT THE RANDOM EVENTS GENERATOR DID!!!!!!

*POINTS TO THE MOVIE SCREEN PLAYING THE TWO TOWERS*

[Sindacuion]

Sindacuion, still startled from the dragon ride, looks at the fireworks in astonishment. "Wow.. That's just amazing.." he whispers to Estelyns ear. "Yes, of course." Estelyn replies. "Well, I think I'll head back to my tree now.." he says. "No way! You're not going back there!" Before Sind can say but, Estelyn has grabbed his arm. The princess drags him to the dance floor. Suddenly, out of the blue, there came music, music of the Elves. Sind grabbed Estelyns other hand, now holding both of her hands. They begin to spin as the music grows stronger. "Is this a party or what!!"

[Sindacuion]

Suddenly, the music changes... into a birthday song! Sindacuion adds his share to the singing.

"Happy deathday to you,
happy deathday to you,
happy deathday dear Barrow-Wight,
happy deathday to you!!"

[img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[Rimbaud]

"Yes, well, that's just what comes from messing with royalty," muttered Stephanos, carefully brushing dragon scale glitter from his very very crushed velvet jacket. "I've really been taken for a ride on this one."

Seeing Estelyn beaming insouciantly at him, he managed a wan smile in return. He hoped no-one had seen his lunch, deposited with the fireworks some minutes earlier. He still felt rather shaken, albeit not stirred. Straining his ears, he found he could no longer discern the Fab Four and he supposed that the REG had cancelled that ill-fated reunion. A pity...they were playing songs that had never been played live before...

He bowed to Sindacuion, his dragon riding Padawan, who was murmuring softly about the need for pastries and muffins. He noticed Rosa Baggins sitting near-by staring blankly into space. Her could not discern what she was staring so fixatedly upon; he shrugged and looked around for other amusements.

Seeing that someone had dared to enter Bee-Dubya's tent, he emitted a low rasping chuckle as the sound of gnawing bones floated through the stiff black canvas opening.

He saw The Frodo Lives clan planning their folly against Mithadan. He adjusted his own badge, given to him in childhood by an older friend, who had clearly predicted the young man he would become with unerring accuracy, proudly and thought of joining them but realised that hugging trees in the 80s and writing faintly anarchial anti-globalisation texts in the 90s probably didin't match up to 60s and 70s student radicalism. Instead he retook his place under the tree, after flourishing an unnecessarily elaborate bow to the radiant Princess Estelyn, and opened a book of poems and other works by Arthur Rimbaud.

Who da poet?

Soon thereafter, zifnab came and sat beside him and Estelyn too. They sat in companionable silence as twinkle, Telchar and Glorfindel crossed the dew-sodden lawns towards them. The sun awoke, sending pink illuminations darting across the impenetrable depth of morning blue-black sky.

They sat and watched as Arien stained the canvas with lights fantastic. Stephanos smiled contentedly; he saw other companions come to sit beneath the canopy of branches. An amalgamation of friends and acquaintances all drawn together by this daily wonder. As he watched a young hobbit girl lower her tousled head into the Princess Tar-Miriel's lap with sleep, a poem came to mind.

He cleared his throat and gently quoted, words from the tortured young lady Emily Dickinson:


’T IS sunrise, little maid, hast thou
No station in the day?
’T was not thy wont to hinder so,—
Retrieve thine industry.

’T is noon, my little maid, alas!
And art thou sleeping yet?
The lily waiting to be wed,
The bee, dost thou forget?

My little maid, ’t is night; alas,
That night should be to thee
Instead of morning! Hadst thou broached
Thy little plan to me,
Dissuade thee if I could not, sweet,
I might have aided thee.

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

The loneliest tear in a thousand years escaped his eye and travelled earthwards. Remembrance fierce within him, he gathered his friends in his sight and blessed them thricely.

Happy Birthday.

[ May 22, 2002: Message edited by: Stephanos ]

[Sindacuion]

Sindacuion is deeply touched by Stephanos' words. As the flood gates open, he retires to his tree. He gets out the box of tissues and sits on the branch, alone...

[Sindacuion]

"Oh! Now I remember!!" Sindacuion looks in his pocket. "Uh oh.. Pastry gone bad.. Nah!" Sind grabs the pastry and stuffs it in his mouth. "Hmm.. Ugh.. I think it had ants in it.."

[Mithadan]

As the new day dawns, Mithadan wanders back from the concert field. A pun wraith floats by bearing a fistful of citations for Stephanos (I warned him... $10 for the first pun, $25 for each subsequent offense). To his surprise, not only has the party wound down a bit but also a number of guests were cleaning...CLEANING! This will not do. He pulls a laptop from behind one of the bars, enters the administrators' area and clears the cache. Then...refresh...and the detritus of two days of partying have disappeared. He e-mails the catering company to send over more food and refreshments, then stretches. Behind him, a twig snaps. He spins around only to find Pio, Birdie and Cof7A standing together, each looking in a different direction with hands clasped behind their backs. Also, they are whistling innocently. He turns away. That wasn't suspicious at all...

[Kuruharan]

Estelyn, come back here with my dragon! You don't know what he's trying to do! He's lulling you into a false sense of security. When you are not watching he'll pounce and eat you!!!

You know how dragons are about princesses. Kind of like how Barrow Wights are always having to abduct and sacrifice people. It's their nature. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[Frodo Baggins]

Frodo has just finished stuffing his face (and pockets) with the overlooked toseed mushrooms *gasp* Sam?? SAM!!!! He does a little skip and jump over to where Sam, Primrose, and Stacey are. "Well you finally got here. Hehe I'd hug all of you but you'd get pie all over you *buisily brushing pie off his clothes with a red silk pocket-handkerchief* "I spent a whole day on this outfit and now look!! And I still don't have my necklace back *sigh* Well, at least youre here and Tiny Rose, I may say you look rather beautiful this evening
People this party is supposed to last 15 days we still have 13 to go, Stop asking if it's over!!!!!

[Niere-Teleliniel]

Niere stands in the middle of the chaos, wide-eyed. "Oooooooooh myyyyyyyyyy." Sighing, she suddenly notices the bulging trashbag in her hand. She shrugs, tosses it aside and goes to find her book. Retrieving it from beneath a pile of rubble, she dusts it off and heads for the nearest egress. "See ya'll back at the language forum!" She yells over her shoulder and then she is gone.

[ May 22, 2002: Message edited by: Niere-Teleliniel ]

[Belin]

Much has been happening, but Belin has been going about her business in the background.. Sometime last night, she somehow managed to find a place to change and reemerged in the simple dress of a freakishly tall hobbit-maid. After a quick snack, a perfectly lovely dance with Stephanos (for which great thanks [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] ), and a chorus of "Happy Deathday," she wanders over toward the gift table.

Of course, it's a hideous and rapidly dimishing mess. Hobbits at birthday parties follow no rules but their own, and many have decided that the lack of labels on the gifts is due to the busy life of the Barrow-Wight, and that they should simply pick the gifts themselves. All around the field, in addition to Princess Estelyn's "party favors," can be seen hobbits decked out in belts, crowns, and some truly astonishing pieces of jewelery. What a generous and open-handed Barrow-Wight! thinks Belin, then stops to consider. Something about the yoking of the terms "generous" and "barrow-wight" strikes an ominous chord, or maybe that's just the organ music one of the Shirriffs has begun to play. Is he playing for them, Belin wonders, or for the fall of a semi-respectable hobbit into conspiracy? At any rate, he's very good, and seems to have missed his true calling in life, doubtless because of the lack of organs in Middle-Earth.

[ May 22, 2002: Message edited by: Belin ]

[piosenniel]

Mithadan returned the laptop to it's place behind the bar, & flipped on the the neon welcome sign - a ghastly greenish hued hand with the index finger beckoning thirsty partygoers. A hastily scrawled sign,in runic characters by some passing southron, identified this particular watering hole as the Khumaun Inn.

His attention taken by setting up the bar and polishing pint mugs, he took no notice of the trio as they approached the bar in a studiously casual manner.

Entering the bar, the trio halted just inside the doorway, blinking the sunlight from their eyes. The interior was dark shading up to dim where pale sunlight trickled through the dense holly leaves making up a sort of portico at the cave entrance.

Pio poked C7A gently in the ribs, just enough to stop her from her now nervous sounding whistling. 'I think it best if you stop whistling the "Knife in the Dark" theme!', she whispers in her companion's ear.

C7A glared at pio, kicking herself mentally for agreeing to go along. Her eyes swept the room and fixed on Mithadan. Her short gasping intake of breath and a hasty step backward toward the door brought his attention to the trio.

'What can I get you, ladies?! Miruvor? Ale? A glass of water for the gasping hobbit? Take a seat at the the bar, there's plenty of room!'

The room seemed curiously empty. A little chill shivered up the back of pio's neck. Spying a familiar looking wizard sitting in the dim recesses of a booth, she nodded toward her and said to the barkeep, 'A round of dwarf spirits, if you please - and one for my friend here. We'll be joining her.'

'I live but to serve!' came the reply from behind the bar. A ghostly smile playing about the corners of his lips.

'Birdie, get Child into the booth, and see if you can do something about that whimpering. She's starting to sound like Bilbo before his adventures with the dwarves.'

Pio turned her attention to Veritas, who sat quietly taking in the scene and fingering the edges of an empty chessboard. 'So,long time, no see, my northern friend. What are you doing on this gloriously sunny day, sitting in this gloomy place?'

The long sad story of an ill-timed arrival at the party and the rude refusal of a dwarf to play a friendly game of chess without the promise of a wager took up the next 10 minutes, punctuated finally by the arrival of a large flagon of dwarven spirits and 5 silver goblets.

'5 goblets?' queried pio. 'There are only 4 of us here.'

Mithadan, his smile now in full bloom, poured the 5 drinks and raised one high in the direction of the trio. 'To your very good health, ladies; & a pleasant day for all!' '& to you, good wizard, you are in some *interesting* company. To your continued good health while you're with them!' & with those last words, he slammed back his drink and returned, humming, to the bar.

'Should I be sitting near you?', said Veritas. 'There seems a dangerous friction in the air!'

'Don't worry, Veritas. We have things well in hand, don't we girls?'

'I'm not so sure about that,' replied Birdie, fanning Child who had fainted dead away at the approach of Mithadan. Gulping her own drink down, she trickled a thin stream into the mouth of Child, who sputtered once, opened an eye for a furtive glance about, and then crawled under the table with her goblet.

'Why is he standing over there with a decidedly Cheshire cat grin on his face?', asked Birdie. 'Don't know.', said pio. 'But now's the time to put our plan into action.'

'P-p-p-p-p-plan?! What plan?' came the thin voice from beneath the table.

'Don't worry, I have one. Now get up here and listen to it.'

Three heads huddled together; the rise and fall of hushed arguing accompanied by wild gesturing and the slamming of goblets on the table filled the small corner of the room. Veritas leaned back in the booth, as if to distance herself as far as possible from the trio, but not far enough that the flagon couldn't be reached.

'We're agreed, then,?', said pio, looking pointedly at each of her companions. They nodded their heads mutely. 'Let's have another drink, and then we're for it!'

Birdie downed her drink and glanced toward Mithadan whose ghostly smile was now directed entirely at their table.'Why do I feel as if I've walked into Shelob's Lair?!, she shuddered to herself.

[Daisy Sandybanks]

To distraut to thoroughly read the last couple of posts, Daisy cleans herslef off in the stream. She makes a hasty attempt to comb her hair with her own fingers, and takes her leave, walking at a fast pace from the not so enjoyable party. Singing quietly to herself, Daisy disappears into a low mist on the ground.
"Happy birthday to you…
Happy birthday to you…
Happy birthday dear Barrow-Wight…
Happy birthday to you…"

(Great party everyone! I really enjoyed it! Keep posting! And, again HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARROW-DOWNS!!!!)

[Child of the 7th Age]

(LOL)

Treasure, did someone mention TREASURE? And my own leatherbound volume.....?

It's amazing how such things make one bolder. (Tears of joy streamed down Child's sweet face.) She had begin to relax noticeably and was no longer shaking. Pictures of a tall and vengeful Mithadan faded into oblivion, as she envisioned showing off this new tomb (er, tome)to her admiring friends.

Then, to the dismay of her companions Birdland and Piosenniel, Child began
speaking of several related and unrelated topics in quite loud tones. Birdland hesitated to stop her, but rolled her eyes upwards as she knew from experience that this might go on for some time.

Child fondly related: "I do have certain points in common with my relation Bilbo Baggins. Did you know I was his fifth cousin twice removed?.... He has promised me that I may add a very small appendix to the revised Purple Book of Westmarch which is due to be reissued later this year in connection with the retelling of the story of the Twin (that is, Two!) Towers."

"And, of course, Bilbo and I do like a bit of treasure now and then as long as there are no rings involved. Hobbits get quite nervous when it comes to rings. We far prefer bracelets and necklaces."

"But to be frank, I am a far better burglar than that rascal Bilbo. Despite what Master Tolkien implies, female hobbits have superior skills in this regard. We are always needing to hide our mushrooms and other food, since we have children who may sneak into the pantry and devour everything in sight. So we mothers have become extremely clever in the art of concealment."

"Now, when you first mentioned a conspiracy, I had assumed you meant that I should instantly go and steal Sting from Frodo(who by the way is my fourth cousin twice removed) and then run Mithadan though with this sword. This seemed a bit ambitious for one of my size and nature."

"Plus, I would not like to distress cousin Frodo unduly as he is already laying on the ground and hyperventilating in relation to some piece of jewelry which he has evidently mislaid."

"But, should you require the skills of an expert burglar, with no assasination thrown in, I am confident that something might be arranged. Any swordplay or other violent measures would, of course, have to be left to the two of you. (Looks at Piosenniel and Birdland expectently. They have huddled about her in a small circle and are attempting to get Child to lower her voice).

All voices now drop to an indistinguishable whisper....."Now, what sort of theft did you have in mind? Perhaps, the master key to the Barrow-downs, or perhaps something else........."

Mithadan continues to glare at the group from the adjoining table. He takes out a notebook and a writing instrument and begins to scratch slowly on the sheets. Elsewhere the party continues to spin onwards.

[ May 22, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[ May 22, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Sindacuion]

Sindacuion gets tired of sitting in the tree and climbs down. He doesn't spot very many people. "Where is everybody?! The party isn't over yet!!" He walks down to the buffet table now laden with new food and wine. "Ahh.. Wine." He pours himself some dark red wine and sat down on one of the chairs. As he sat there, he put his hand in his pocket. "What's this?" said he in his mind. He took the object from his pocket and looked at it. "Oh my! It's a necklace! There's some writing here.. 'To FrodoBaggins. Love, Arwen.' Hmm.. That's strange." As he pondered the subject, he decided to keep it for the time being. "I don't think anyone will miss it."
Now, that he had eaten, he wanted to party. "Come on people! The party's just begun!!" He runs to Kuruharan. "Hello! Nice to meet you? Is that dragon yours? Nice pet."

[ May 22, 2002: Message edited by: Sindacuion ]

[ May 22, 2002: Message edited by: Sindacuion ]

[Mithadan]

Taking the opportunity to seize a little "down time" after the business of the previous two days, Mithadan elects to tend bar for a while. This will also give him an opportunity to monitor the intake of some of the "less restrained" guests.

Nearby, a large rabbit is engaged in an animated debate with a small balrog about the similarities between LoTR and 'Watership Down'. After several minutes of discussion, the balrog flies (the use of the word "flies" is not metaphorical; this balrog has wings) to seek less confrontational environs. He also notes that a silver tree has suddenly sprouted by the stage. Perhaps the gain on the Random Events Generator should be turned down?

Before he can decide about the REG, Piosennial, Birdland and Cof7A walk over and join Veritas at a table. He takes their strangely nervous order and returns with their refreshments (what is wrong with Cof7A?). Then he sits and pulls out a pen and paper. With a scowl, he begins to write 'Tales from Tol Eressea 5; Whatever happened to that Oliphaunt?' Then he growls and scratches out the title. Writer's block is a horrible thing... The REG is forgotten for now. One thing drives out another as they say.

[ May 22, 2002: Message edited by: Mithadan ]

[Samwise]

Stacey: *Stretches, yawns, and blinks* What...? oh, yeah...*looks around, then up sleepily into a friendly looking hobbit face.* Frodo? Well, hello, there! Glad we finally found each other!
*Glances at the two hobbits sleeping beside her* Eh...just a sec.....Sam, Prim! SAM! PRIM!
Primrose:*Draws back a fist to her chest, then opens her hand as if letting go of her bowstring* A three, eh? Take that, mister pious Barrow Wight!
Stacey: [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] *Looks apologetically at Frodo* Agh...I think it's cause the story's about HER...
Sam: *Blinks sleepily* What....*His eyes fly open as he sees Frodo! Mister Frodo, sir! Yay! *Jumps up and gives Frodo a (possibly too enthusiastic) squeeze.
Primrose: Huh? *Rolls over. Seeing her father is up, jumps to her feet and yanks her skirt out of her waistband.* M-Mister Frodo? [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] *The tomboy does a nervous curtsey*