The Fellowship of the Fourth Age (Part 1): A New Beginning Discussion Thread

[Brinniel]

Brinniel - I used Shae a little bit, so let me know if I handled her properly.

Looks all good to me.

I've added a bit of a twist. Shae has lost her brother's necklace- a devastating factor to her. But this necklace could be useful. Perhaps the slavers will find it, or maybe the orcs. If Shae lost it closer to her own camp, perhaps Khamir will find it and think something happened to her. I don't know. Anyone who wants to include this item in their post is welcome...

Folwren- When Shae reaches the camp, perhaps Athwen could take notice and tend to Shae's wounded hands. Now that her bandages are gone, the wounds and blood will be quite obvious.

Also, for all those whose characters I used, let me know if you disapprove of something.

[Tevildo]

Folwren,

I've sent you the post we discussed. Feel free to adjust and add as needed.

Pio -

Yes, I will have her remember some things in a rather jumbled way. I'll put it in a new box.....she may not wake up for a bit.

[Folwren]

Originally Posted by Brinniel

Folwren- When Shae reaches the camp, perhaps Athwen could take notice and tend to Shae's wounded hands. Now that her bandages are gone, the wounds and blood will be quite obvious.

Okay. Sounds good to me. If people shook hands in ME when they met, that'd be a really easy way to find out, but I don't know if they do. . .I mean, I can see Hobbits doing it, but I'm not sure if the Rohirrim did.

--Folwren

[Folwren]

Save filled! The post was written by both Tevildo and myself. (Tell me if anything is wrong with what I did after you worked it, Tevildo.)

-- Folwren

[Child of the 7th Age]

Hilde, Durelin, Brinniel, ...

If no one objects I will do a short "generic" post that has Lindir lead our small band westward. The post will end as we approach the knoll where Athwen and the others are waiting. I'll wait till Saturday evening to put this up. That way, if anyone has anything they want to say or do before we arrive at the knoll, they'll have a chance to post first or at least reserve a save.

As it stands now, there will be no immediate attacks from Imak per his last post. (Given the state of several of our members, that is a lucky thing!) Lindir will be fairly certain that there won't be a mass attack but will still wonder if there might be a slaver or two taking pot shots at us. Fortunately, that will not happen.

Everyone (except the orcs who are patiently waiting)

Once everyone gets to the knoll, I am assuming we'll move out fairly quickly and make our way uneventfully to the slave camp. We haven't really talked or planned for what will happen once we get there. I am thinking we might want to talk about this a little on the discussion thread (not that everything has to be pinned down). Even if we don't spell out the specifics, it's nice to get an idea of the general outline of things.

Just a few random thoughts/questions......

• What kind of reception will the fellowship get from the slaves and the leaders of the slaves---(hey, guys, give us a warning if you're going to drum us out of camp.)
• Would there be any slaves arguing that the group should take off the next day without fighting (despite what Imak thinks) since the prisoners have been released, or would this not even come up in discussion?
• Assuming we fight, what do we do to protect the children and those women who do not feel comfortable wielding a sword? Do we just find them a good shelter, or is there a role for "noncombattants"?
• Presumably we'll have to set up some kind of "planning body" to decide on and carry out the various traps and decoys we talked about earlier...., and,
• Who is well enough to fight and who isn't? Both physically and mentally! I have my doubts about some of those slaves.

Anyone else with thoughts on this or additional questions/ideas?

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

Secondly, I just wanted to tell everyone how much I've enjoyed the quality of writing in this game. Some really great stuff! I am looking forward (maybe that's the wrong word?) to pulling the slaves and fellowship together and then bringing the wild card--the orcs--into the equation.

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

No objections here.

[Durelin]

What kind of reception will the fellowship get from the slaves and the leaders of the slaves---(hey, guys, give us a warning if you're going to drum us out of camp.)

Well, I imagine Shae will approach first, and Khamir will be quick to receive her, having been worried about her. Then, what follows... Well, Khamir will be shocked. How the rest of the slave camp reacts...well, some will be thankful for the Fellowship, others I imagine will be insulted by the 'help.' Particularly since they are so used to being without it. I don't see the slaves getting together enough to actually be *against* the Fellowship, so I think they will be as technically accepted as they can be.

Really, I think the majority of the slaves will readily accept the Fellowship. I imagine a few will be bitter, but mostly I imagine they will readily accept an outside force as more of a 'leader' (though they would never consciously admit that they need to be or want to be lead by anyone or anything), in place of any leading Khamir has done.

Would there be any slaves arguing that the group should take off the next day without fighting (despite what Imak thinks) since the prisoners have been released, or would this not even come up in discussion?

If the Fellowship arrives late in the night, I don't know if things will be 'settled' enough before the next day for anyone to even bring up moving on... I'm not imagining there being enough time. Either there will be some rejoicing, or there will be utter confusion.

Or...the Fellowship can be readily accepted because they are the rescuers of the children, and are those who were promised by the King of Gondor (and the slaves are ready to accept aid from Gondor), and someone(s) calls for revenge on the slavers. Or, someone could be a voice of 'common sense,' either in the Fellowship or one of the slaves, saying that there's no sense in them running off if those slavers are just going to be on their tails the rest of the way...wherever. (I can see Vror doing that, if need be. )

Assuming we fight, what do we do to protect the children and those women who do not feel comfortable wielding a sword? Do we just find them a good shelter, or is there a role for "noncombattants"?

Perhaps the "noncombattants" can play a role in those traps and such that were discussed?

I'll have to think about those questions, and the others, a little bit more...

Also, I'd like to second that remark on the quality of this game. It's really marvellous! I can't believe everyone's been so into character development and interaction that we've gone five pages already without getting all the groups together that we initially intended to have together near the start of the game! It's astounding...in a wonderful way, at least in my opinion.

[Nogrod]

I'm bent to the direction of the ex-slaves greeting the fellowship as the saviours who will solve all their problems... That would be just natural. Surely some would grunt, though.

But at the same time it would leave open the question of the ex-slaves freedom in the first place: so just changing a bad lord to a good one - where is the freedom if you are under someone's orders anyhow, good or bad??

Looks very good indeed!