Journeys discussion thread

[Rían]

Yay! Eärniel's playing! *dances around*

Sounds good to me! I like the choice of different art-forms. A big part of the idea for me is a search for beauty, and another thing I had pictured is that the refugees from Gondolin would miss their particular style of music. The Angband bit is certainly interesting!

(as far as Aisle 13, I was just teasing You're quite right - it would be very interesting to have someone from that house be around )

[Rían]

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

Very good - Rameldir and Gil-galad are first cousins then. Gil-galad's father Orodreth was the brother of Rameldir's mother Arindis.

Varna - do you want to get out a draft (or final) first post for Rameldir? The first place I want my guys to go is Rivendell - if you wanted, you could start setting the scene for Rameldir to join them when they come.

[Varnafindë]

At first something about him just in Rivendell, maybe talking to someone else, creating a setting where it will be very appropriate that this group comes along to fit in with his musings ... is that what you mean? I'll start thinking about it.

Btw, what I don't get done by Monday might not get done all week. I'm going away (with my job) for a seminar of sorts, and I don't know how much time or even how much web access I'll have. I'll be back home on Friday night, though.

[Rían]

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

At first something about him just in Rivendell, maybe talking to someone else, creating a setting where it will be very appropriate that this group comes along to fit in with his musings ... is that what you mean? I'll start thinking about it.

Yes, maybe even a memory of the two trees in Gondolin, like my elves had. Anyway, start some sort of process going where it's reasonable for him to go along on the trip when it's time.

Btw, what I don't get done by Monday might not get done all week. I'm going away (with my job) for a seminar of sorts, and I don't know how much time or even how much web access I'll have. I'll be back home on Friday night, though.

That's fine - use your airport time (when you're not doing work) doing some planning I look forward to a post!

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

Yay! Eärniel's playing! *dances around*

I'm glad you approve! Now, the Journeys thread (I see a pattern in your thread names. ) is it the game thread, or just for a draft version of an opening post to be approved?

Hallindel and Halweg will start out from Mithlond as well.

Do we have a more exact time-frame yet? I thought it might be interesting if Imladris is still somewhat under contruction when our characters arrive. If our characters can play some role in the planning or construction, that could provide for some interesting stories?

[Varnafindë]

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

if this is later than SA 1697, when Rivendell was established.

Established in 1697, then it was under siege for a while, until Gil-galad got help from Numenor in 1700 and broke the siege. So there had been a great war going on, ending with Sauron retreating and establishing himself in Mordor.

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Hallindel and Halweg

They're brother and sister, born in the House of the Harp in Gondolin. They were in their teenage years when the place went down and grew up in the Settlement at the Mouths of the Sirion. When the sons of Fëanor destroyed the settlement, both ended up in different groups of survivors, thinking the other dead. Neither of them managed to reach the safe haven of the Isle of Balar until the end of the War of Wrath.

[Edit to add: My skill in the Elven languages is very weak. But if I'm correct in remembering, Hallindel and Halweg are more Sindarin names than Noldorin. Since both lived longer among Sindarin than Noldor for most of their adult life, it is not really surprising both have a Sindarin epessë by which they go by.]

Rameldir was only a little boy of ten - they might have known about each other in the Settlement, but not necessarily have known each other well. And Rameldir went straight to the Isle of Balar after the Settlement fell.

Rameldir is the Sindarin version of his amilessë, btw. It was Rameldo in Quenya. His ataressë is Eruannon, but he doesn't use it. (And what little skills I have in Quenya, is mostly due to help from our fellow Mooter Aikanaro, who also helped me work out the maternal lineage of Rameldir.)

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Do we have a more exact time-frame yet? I thought it might be interesting if Imladris is still somewhat under contruction when our characters arrive. If our characters can play some role in the planning or construction, that could provide for some interesting stories?

What about around 1720? Things would have quieted (is that a word?) down and become peaceful again, and I assume that Rivendell / Imladris (what language would our characters use?) could still be under construction that early.

[Varnafindë]

My first post in a new RPG always tends to be long - and in this one I hope that this should be appropriate It grew in the telling - I didn't know when I started writing it that it would end with Rameldir not knowing whether to stay or not ...

It can be a draft or the actual post. Rameldir needs to do some more musing on his own, but that will be for a later post.

The story of how Rameldir and Tindacallë discovered Rivendell (together with Ainon, who already knew about it) is part of a different RPG at a different board. Tindacallë is someone else's character, so she won't appear here - Ainon is mine, so he can be used in our RPG.

[Rían]

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

My first post in a new RPG always tends to be long - and in this one I hope that this should be appropriate

It's perfect! I loved it! That's just what I had in mind. I liked the little references to "homely", and the idea of Rivendell being small but them having plans for its development.

It grew in the telling - I didn't know when I started writing it that it would end with Rameldir not knowing whether to stay or not ...

Thats one of the things that I really like about this type of writing! Sometimes I just sit down and start writing, and it ends up going in directions that I never anticipated. I found out what JRRT meant when he said the story wrote itself

It can be a draft or the actual post. Rameldir needs to do some more musing on his own, but that will be for a later post.

Let's go ahead and keep these. I just called mine "draft" because I was open to changes if people wanted some different things at the start.

The story of how Rameldir and Tindacallë discovered Rivendell (together with Ainon, who already knew about it) is part of a different RPG at a different board. Tindacallë is someone else's character, so she won't appear here - Ainon is mine, so he can be used in our RPG.

OK, sounds good.

I have to go now - more later - but I really enjoyed it!

[Rían]

Earniel - can you please change this thread title to Journeys - Discussion thread, or something like that? Looks like we're up and running. Am looking forward to a post from you

Varna - (is that what you like to be called, btw?) I can easily do a time jump to when my guys leave. Let me know how many posts you'd like to do before they arrive.

[Rían]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

(I see a pattern in your thread names. )

Can't slip anything by you!

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

Rameldir was only a little boy of ten - they might have known about each other in the Settlement, but not necessarily have known each other well. And Rameldir went straight to the Isle of Balar after the Settlement fell.

We could do that. I suppose they would definitely have known some of his family, even if they didn't know them well.

What about around 1720? Things would have quieted (is that a word?) down and become peaceful again, and I assume that Rivendell / Imladris (what language would our characters use?) could still be under construction that early.

Sounds good. RÃ*an, what does our game master think of that?

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

Earniel - can you please change this thread title to Journeys - Discussion thread, or something like that? Looks like we're up and running. Am looking forward to a post from you

Will do. I'm working on an introductory post for Hallindel en Halweg, it should be ready and posted before or in the weekend.

[Varnafindë]

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

Varna - (is that what you like to be called, btw?) I can easily do a time jump to when my guys leave. Let me know how many posts you'd like to do before they arrive.

Yes, I'm usually Varna - shorter to write, and without that troublesome special character at the end

I may not need more than one post where Rameldir thinks about things ... he'll just end up being confused and needing to think more about it anyway, even after that post, and only the arrival of the new people will give him some new input for his thoughts.

Originally Posted by Eärniel

We could do that. I suppose they would definitely have known some of his family, even if they didn't know them well.

His mother is Angrod's daughter, so her only close family in Gondolin would be Turgon and Idril.

His father is some cousin some times removed to Glorfindel, so there's more family on that side. In the RPG Son of the Evening Star, Willow Oran and I discussed their family relationship and decided on a (non-canon) solution. We can use the same one here (I can look it up), or ignore the details of their exact relationship - as long as they are related and his father belongs to the House of the Golden Flower, that's what I see as important.

[Rían]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Sounds good. RÃ*an, what does our game master think of that?

Sounds good Shall we use "English" months for our timestamps, or Elvish? I'm leaning towards English, because I'm lazy

Will do. I'm working on an introductory post for Hallindel en Halweg, it should be ready and posted before or in the weekend.

Yay! Can't wait! *watches eagerly*

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

I may not need more than one post where Rameldir thinks about things ... he'll just end up being confused and needing to think more about it anyway, even after that post, and only the arrival of the new people will give him some new input for his thoughts.

Yeah, too many "thoughtful" posts can get annoying. I think I'll do one more post at the most before they get on the road.

[Varnafindë]

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

Sounds good Shall we use "English" months for our timestamps, or Elvish? I'm leaning towards English, because I'm lazy

I agree - if not, I would have to look up the names all the time to find out where we would be in the year

[Earniel]

Would we have to use time stamps? We're not running different plot-lines at different intervals, so is it necessary?

Posted by the way, it got a little longer than anticipated, but don't get your hopes up yet, I know myself: I won't be keeping this up.

[Varnafindë]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Would we have to use time stamps? We're not running different plot-lines at different intervals, so is it necessary?

Posted by the way, it got a little longer than anticipated, but don't get your hopes up yet, I know myself: I won't be keeping this up.

Another long introduction, then. I like it very much!

I can't see a need for time stamps either - just good to know that if I ever mention the current month, I needn't look up the Appendices

I should get Rameldir off to muse silently by himself soon ... preferably while going for a a walk.

Edit:
And his musings are up.

[Rían]

Wonderful posts, Eärniel and Varna!!! That's exactly the size (each post is a tiny story in itself) and feel that I was hoping for. I like how they all have slightly different reasons for wanting to set out, and I like that feeling of how they're drawing together, kind of like how the Fellowship was drawn together without them knowing it.

Eärniel - I like the nature tie-in with the birds, and I really like your idea of almost a responsibility of "bearing witness" to the good as well as the bad.

Varna - I like how the unexpected change in plans sets him thinking, and I really liked the running river water reference - the "running off to somewhere else, somewhere he hadn't seen" idea, and how river water is different from the sea in that respect.

Very enjoyable, both of you!

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Hallindel and Halweg will start out from Mithlond as well.

How long from Mithlond to Rivendell, do you know? I think there's some sort of travelling time website somewhere...

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Would we have to use time stamps? We're not running different plot-lines at different intervals, so is it necessary?

I think it's very helpful - that way, we don't make mistakes of wrong seasons and such. And also, we're setting out from different places and need to get that right. And if we use English, it's a lot easier, anyway.

I'm fine with the year, and I'll think about a starting month date. I have something that I want to happen on the anniversary of the Fall of Gondolin, and I'm trying to decide if I want it to happen on the road or not. Sound ok?

[Rían]

Eärniel - I consolidated my posts - could you please delete the now-empty #2 post? Thankee

Hmm, I see you used a brother and sister combo - I was thinking of resurrecting Alagos' sister (although with a new name), but I don't know if 2 bro-sis combos would be too much ... I'll have to think a bit more. I definitely want at least 1 female, though. Maybe I'll invent someone in Rivendell ...

(ps - Varna, I keep forgetting to tell you - something that's handy for this type of RPG, where we write small story-sized posts, is to have several characters, so you can easily write your own post with dialogue and not worry about having to interface with a character not your own all the time. It's fun to interact with others, of course, but it's also handy to own two characters that you can make whole posts with without having to check your dialogue with someone. You might want to think up someone else from Rivendell to go with Rameldir to give you that luxury )


EDIT - hmm, just got an idea for a female character ...

[Rían]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

... but don't get your hopes up yet, I know myself: I won't be keeping this up.

*refuses to not get her hopes up*

[Varnafindë]

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

It's fun to interact with others, of course, but it's also handy to own two characters that you can make whole posts with without having to check your dialogue with someone. You might want to think up someone else from Rivendell to go with Rameldir to give you that luxury

Using Elrond that way certainly made the first post easier - and without him being there, I might not have come up with the whole "settling permanently in Rivendell" idea at all. Not in such detail, at least.

I've got Ainon - so I wonder, should I have him come along, just to be there for Rameldir, not wanting for himself to leave Rivendell at all? It might be fun with someone with the attitude 'this is all well and good, but aren't we going home soon' - at least in the beginning. He's a loyal soldier, one of Rameldir's best archers, and will also become something of a friend (perhaps because of this journey - I'm playing them going on an errand together in a Third Age RPG elsewhere). He would come out of loyalty, and also keep his mouth shut out of loyalty, and sometimes even speak his mind out of loyalty.

If I continue to develop Ainon, I may end up having to give him a family history, too ... Let's see - where would he fit into my existing family tree? Perhaps on the Nando side of it - that would make him related to Rameldir's future daughter through her mother, but not make him family with Rameldir here and now. After all, he was only created for such purposes as you mention ...

Ainon could provide some grounding for Rameldir, and contribute to Rameldir's final decision: To stay in Rivendell as well. Unfortunately this isn't an open-ended story for Rameldir, I already know what he's going to decide in the end, because that's where he lives later on. But it will be interesting to have this as the result of a process, to have him choose Rivendell in the end, not just be there - and to see how that process develops ...

Perhaps Rameldir and Ainon even decide before the others arrive to set out on a similar journey, and that they then decide that there's no reason to leave Ainon behind just because Rameldir won't be travelling alone after all? I could have a smaller post where they talk about this, actually play out what I mentioned towards the end of my post.

Yes, our characters have different reasons for going on this journey. I thought about making Rameldir more philosophical about the Elven realms of old, but decided to keep him just practical - to see whether there is somewhere he would feel at home. The philosophies would suit the discussions of how to build the new and permanent Rivendell, though. Elrond would love to have his home reminding people of something of the past greatness. There could surely be some input from the group.