Treachery of Men Discussion/Planning Thread

[Folwren]

O-oh. The ol' writer's block. Right.

Okay. What is currently taking place is this:

Lachrandir has just been killed by Thuringwethil. She killed him because a seer like character (introduced and played by Elempi) was receiving information from The Song about the intended treachery of the Ulfings and this seer told it to Khandr (Child of the 7th Ages character) who told it Fastarr (Nogrod's character) who informed Lachrandir. Thuringwethil first killed Khandr and then Lachrandir. I don't think she knows about Thorn (Elempi's seer) at this point.

Tathren and Lachrandir had joined the Borrim and the Ulfing lords on a hunt. After the first boar was killed, Fastarr and Embla had come running up to Lachrandir to tell them what they know about the Ulfings treachery. Lachrandir took them aside, leaving the Ulfings, Borrim, and Tathren. While they were alone, out of sight in the woods, and just after Fastarr and Embla had tried to make their message clear, Thuringwethil, in the form of a vampire bat thing, swooped down and killed Lachrandir. In his dying moment, he tried to connect to Tathren through telepathy, but only got out two words, not even complete thoughts - "Tathren! Treason!"

So, Tathren now knows, presumably, that there is treason somewhere. He is going to be made to believe that the treason is on the side of the Borrim and sent back home to Caranthir with that message. (Through cunning, Thuringwethil and Uldor are going to convince people that it was Fastarr who killed Lachrandir, I believe.)

Thorn, the seer, has in the mean time been thrown in prison. As soon as Uldor returns home, I imagine he'll have him killed.

As soon as Tathren is convinced and he leaves the settlement, we'll probably skip to the battle and finish the game.

Am I correct, everybody? If anyone has anything to add, any of my words to contradict, go right ahead. That is how I understand things at present, and I am very possibly wrong about some matters.

[Mithalwen]

Right I got that Lachrandir had been killed but not quite the prior situation. I think it is quite fitting that due to a misunderstanding it will be "all his fault" ... OK well I have a nice long bank holiday W/E and only myself to answer to for once so I should be able ot get to grips with it. I will shove up a save, pick up from Folwren and develop Tathren's reaction to his master's death and be up to speed I hop for the beginning of next week.

I don't expect the save-fill to have much action, though I don't know how far out from the village they are, I am sure Tathren won't wan't to leave Lachrandir's body whatever the immediate danger.

Let me know anything I need to know inthat context.

Cheers

[Folwren]

Now the distance to the Ulfing settlement is something I do not know. Not terribly far. A mile or so, maybe? I don't know.

But they can certainly get Lachrandir's body on a horse to get him back...surely.

[littlemanpoet]

My sense has been that a boar hunt can lead a hunting party far afield. So at least a mile, but no more than 10 miles from the home site. However, the way we've been writing, it has been closer to around a mile.

I don't think the Elves would find it in their culture to throw an fellow Elf's body over a horse; they'd put together some kind of wooden bed that could be dragged between two horses at a slow pace, "in state", as it were.

[Mithalwen]

It may have to be that - I don't think Tathren would just sling the body across the horses back and though Elves seem light LAchrandir was a very long elf otherwise Tathren might carry his body before him as Imrahil did the injured Faramir... well won't have time til this evening...

[Mithalwen]

Save filled - the computer ate last nights version. Apologies for the wholesale rip off of the doom of Mandos.

I did write a scenario with Lachrandir's horse bearing Lachrandir in tathren's arms but besides being extremely sappy I had a sudden vision of Lachrandir's head falling off which I now can't rid myself of. So I deleted it.... the bier thingy may well be the way to go.

[Folwren]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I did write a scenario with Lachrandir's horse bearing Lachrandir in tathren's arms but besides being extremely sappy I had a sudden vision of Lachrandir's head falling off which I now can't rid myself of. So I deleted it.... the bier thingy may well be the way to go.

Oh, wow. The laugh that got out of me was practically shameful, considering the circumstances.

Yes, when I said put him on a horse, I meant, bear him before another rider (Tathren, presumably), as Imahril did Faramir, or eomer did Theodred in the movie. But a bier is good.

[Mithalwen]

Dreadful isn't it? Meant to be so moving and pieta like but I can't get beyond this potentially precarious head, what with Lachrandir being about a foot taller than Tathren and somehow them riding bareback eems to make the whole thing more difficult to manage.

I think it is all fault of a casualty (ER )nurse I used to know who told me some very gruesome tales about motorcyclists....

[Folwren]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Dreadful isn't it? Meant to be so moving and pieta like but I can't get beyond this potentially precarious head, what with Lachrandir being about a foot taller than Tathren and somehow them riding bareback eems to make the whole thing more difficult to manage.

I think it is all fault of a casualty (ER )nurse I used to know who told me some very gruesome tales about motorcyclists....

*chuckle* Your post was very good - it was moving. Riding bareback isn't difficult, but riding bareback holding someone a foot taller than you probably would be difficult. Never tried it.

I'll try to post today or tomorrow.

-- Folwren

[Mithalwen]

Well some horses are more comfortable than others, though personally I'd prefer a saddle over any distance but I imagine it would be harder to support the body if you, yourself don't have the support of the stirrups. It probably is possible - but probably a bit undignified...

[Anguirel]

I've just read the RP through and it is beyond my expectations and hopes in its success so far...

I am basically off-Downs, but if he is needed at the end, I would very much like to play Caranthir.

Poor old Lachers, eh!

[littlemanpoet]

Phew! I was worried you'd be angry at Lacher's death.

[Gwathagor]

When Uldor gets back, Jord will appear and converse with him in a sneaky, I'm-secretly-plotting-to-enslave-your-people-to-Morgoth kind of way and hopefully find out about Thorn through a comment dropped by Uldor. Then she can figure out how to get Thorn killed off while simultaneously pitting the brothers against each other so that they want to fight for Morgoth...this may require some serious thinking on my part.

[littlemanpoet]

I had been hoping for a conversation between Thorn and Uldor - but a conversation between Jord and Thorn would be even more interesting.

[Folwren]

Jord can still converse with Thorn but we can also still have the conversation between Uldor and Thorn, too. Jord can't very well kill Thorn in Uldor's prisons, can she? And why would she, when she knows Uldor is probably going to kill him anyway?

Anguirel, I'm glad you dropped by and read through the game, and I'm glad you approved. lol...like Elempi, I was worried you'd dislike the turn of events.

I don't know if Caranthir will be needed, but if you think of a way he could be brought into the story and you want to play him, then I won't be one to stop you!

-- Folwren

[Mithalwen]

Well I suppose my poor little elf-mite is going to have to do some explaining when he gets home..... to lose an emissary may be regarded as careless at least...

[Gwathagor]

Originally Posted by Folwren

Jord can still converse with Thorn but we can also still have the conversation between Uldor and Thorn, too. Jord can't very well kill Thorn in Uldor's prisons, can she? And why would she, when she knows Uldor is probably going to kill him anyway?

The trouble being that Thorn might reveal Jord's identity and mission to Uldor. Hence the motivation to kill him sooner rather than later. It must be thought on.

[Folwren]

Uldor knows that Jord comes from Morgoth, if that's what you're worried about.

Yes...Tathren will have a great deal of explaining to do for himself back home.

[Gwathagor]

Originally Posted by Folwren

Uldor knows that Jord comes from Morgoth, if that's what you're worried about.

Well then...no point in killing Thorn just yet.

[Lalaith]

Nogrod, so it looks like you are being smeared re the death of old Lachy. What are you going to do about it, do you think?

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Folwren

Uldor knows that Jord comes from Morgoth, if that's what you're worried about.

Yes...Tathren will have a great deal of explaining to do for himself back home.

Yes, and Caranthir isn't exactly cuddly and approachable is he?... might be a tad worse than being summoned to the headteacher's office...

[Folwren]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Yes, and Caranthir isn't exactly cuddly and approachable is he?... might be a tad worse than being summoned to the headteacher's office...

I'd definitely dread it a bit more.

Hey, it looks like Anguirel may be able to play Caranthir after all! This could be extremely interesting.

-- Folwren

[Mithalwen]

It would certainly be more exciting than one of those dreary lectures.... although the end of term speech by the head when I was Assistant Matroning was a corker ...full of unintentional humour and backhanded comments such as while congratulating one girl on getting a place at a fairly prestigious girl's senior school effectively saying that when she arrived she seemed so thick that you wouldn't think that she would stand a chance of getting in to such an academically selective institution.

the wretched computer has just eaten my post .... I will have to redo tomorrow... will teach me not to save

[littlemanpoet]

Mithalwen, I'm not going to fill my save until you fill yours because what you write for Tathren may affect what I write for Ulfast. It has been almost a full week now since those saves went up.

[Mithalwen]

Sorry I haven't had any significant online time since monday when the post literally got swallowed as I was about to save. I will try tonight if I can get an hour at the library but if not tomorrow definitely.

I don't htink it should affect anyone else.
Tathren really just lays out Lachrandir and does not register the significance of the attitude of the body ie that it was dropped from a height rather than just fell to the ground. Being elvish I thought it would not occur to him to close the eyes .... which may freak out the servants when they return. Lachrandir's horse will have joined them. Tathren will be thinking about what happens next as far as he is able in his current state.

Oh yes .. would that bag of cash have been handed over already?

[Mithalwen]

Save filled enfin

[littlemanpoet]

I expect to have my save filled by the end of the day.

[littlemanpoet]

My save is filled. Foley, I think it's about your turn.

[Folwren]

Yes, I'd agree. It's my turn in more than one game...eehh.. Late tonight, at earliest, I'm guessing.

-- Folwren

[Folwren]

I'm leaving tomorrow morning and won't come back until June 6. Then after that, I will be gone every week, and back every weekend, until the middle of July. On the weekends, I will try to catch up on all my necessary writing of posts. I'm volunteering at a camp, you see, for approximately 8 weeks.

If I'm lucky, I'll get a post in for Uldor before I leave.

-- Folwren

[Gwathagor]

Should I post, or should we just wait for Folwren to return from her goings out and comings in?

[littlemanpoet]

Gwath, Ulfast wants to find Jord, and Jord no doubt wants to work her wiles on both brothers, so if you want to do an insidious type post, I think it would be appropriate; then Foley would have something very useful to work with when she posts.

[Mithalwen]

given that LMP is winding up his RPG involvement and Folwren has plenty of stuff going on to state what further posting if any we envisage to complete our character's story? It mighty provide a bit of framework for the endgame.

For example Tathren on a personal level is going to have to dispose of Lachrandir's body (funeral pyre), hand over the cash (if that has happened I missed it), and make his way home to face Caranthir.

Would the Ulfings be sophisticated enough to demand a sort of inquest in to Lachrandir's death or would it be - he's dead, these things happen?

Any other suggestions of what he might need to do or that others need him to do, gratefully received.

[Lalaith]

I left it to Nogs to decide if those poor benighted Borrim lovers are going to live or die...and they're still blundering around the forest weeks later...

[Mithalwen]

Tsk, tsk..these people who don't post for ages...

So you are Schrödinger's cat? Tricksy.....

[littlemanpoet]

I'm still around and waiting for someone to do something so that I can post again. I've asked Gwathagor to post for Jord and he said he would, and still intends to according to word I've had but he's gotten distracted (as has Nogrod) by a certain Dueling Wizards werewolf game. So we can either pester the heck out of them or wait until the deuced game is over (in about 10 days or so). I haven't been pestering in regard to this because it feels like it's winding down anyway, and I have rather intense involvement (yes, still) in 2 other rpgs one of which has reached its dyscatastrophe and now is ratcheting up toward its eucatastrophe (if we are capable).

As to an inquest, I think the Ulfings are sophisticated enough to go through some sort of basic inquest for the sake of at least the appearance of justice; after all, Lord Caranthir could come calling asking for an explanation before the battle begins, and the Ulfings will not want to be without an answer. Of course, I don't care to see that get drawn out into some months long posting chore...

[Gwathagor]

I'm sorry that DW II has distracted me from this RPG (not that I'm very good about posting regularly anyway...). I'll do my best to post real soon.

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Lalaith

I left it to Nogs to decide if those poor benighted Borrim lovers are going to live or die...and they're still blundering around the forest weeks later...

I try to post this weekend as Lommy and Greenie will be away and my time that is not going to the DW II can be assigned elswhere...

Sorry.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

(yes, still) in 2 other rpgs one of which has reached its dyscatastrophe and now is ratcheting up toward its eucatastrophe (if we are capable).

As to an inquest, I think the Ulfings are sophisticated enough to go through some sort of basic inquest for the sake of at least the appearance of justice; after all, Lord Caranthir could come calling asking for an explanation before the battle begins, and the Ulfings will not want to be without an answer. Of course, I don't care to see that get drawn out into some months long posting chore...

One of these days I will learn what those words mean...

It was because it is so near the end that I thought we could discuss what we felt was needed to do in the few posts that remain with the aim of simplifying rather than complicating.

The inquest need not be a chore for anyone particularly, it could be as little as a reference in the funeral post - " inquiries had been made but it seemed the exact circumstancees of Lachrandir's death would remain a mystery" (depened on what happens to the Borrim - eg if they die and their bodies are found they would be recognised as the people who had spoken to L. It certainly doesn't need to be played out.

[littlemanpoet]

Okay, that sounds better. All there needs to be for my posting is for Jord and Ulfast to connect with appropriate ramifications, including Jord finding out about Thorn and wanting to influence both Ulfast and Uldor in regard to Thorn. Then there needs to be an "interview" between Uldor/Ulfast/Jord and Thorn, and then Thorn gets killed.