Erebor Rebuilt - Discussion thread

[Earniel]

I've been running around with an interesting idea for a RPG and since all the other are still in hibernation of sorts, and as I was planning on a Hobbit-re-read anyway, I thought 'why not?'

Game thread is here.

Players and Characters
Acalewia: Celebfin
Eärniel: Thorin III Stonehelm
..........Rithelle Sailmaker
Tessar: Sanders Longreach
Varnafindë: Galadhlin
................Bard the Bowman


The Idea: It's one year since the death of Smaug. Dale is in the process of rebuilding under Bard's supervision. Many people still live in camps with supplies coming regularly from the Mirkwood Elves and the Iron Hill Dwarves. Erebor has been only partly in use. A small group of Dwarves have been left by the newly crowned King DaÃ*n to make the mountain ready for full inhabitation while he and most of his people remain in the Iron Hills and other dwarven settlements untill that time. A small number of Lake Town refugees also live here as curtesy of King DaÃ*n. They are still cleaning out the deeper tunnels and caverns on the Mountain of which there are a surprising number, it seems.

There is much work to be done, and many new opportunities present themselves. And there's peace, friendship and aid between races of the region. A council with members from the Elven, human and Dwarven communities has been established for the time being to uphold leadership and justice. Everything is looking up.

Or is it?

There are a few... troubling occurances. Nothing serious, mind. Odd finds of ashes. Strange noises at night. Rumours of people disappearing. Nothing could be confirmed despite efforts, there's still much chaos and many people simply move on without telling anyone. A tent camp is not a pleasant way of living and Dale only has a few inhabitable houses so far. Some don't want to stick around waiting that long.

The Question: I can't do much without people wanting to play, so is there any interest in this game?

I intend to make this game less strictly organised than LLL. People will be able to make their own storylines with more freedom, although I will be poking people occassionally to keep things moving. You can play pretty much any free race available. There are Elves, Men and Dwarves present to choose from. Other races are also allowed as long as it makes sense for your character to be there. So wandering Hobbits of the Tookish variety, or foreign traders are also welcome. You can pick anything as long as your character fits Tolkien's writing. (So please no reformed Orcs or Hobbit-wizards.) More characters allowed per player as long as you can keep track of them all.

[Varnafindë]

From LLL:

"Yes, I used to know your uncle Galadhlin, Barufiniel," Sirandion said. "When he first moved here from Lorien, he worked with the Raft-Elves who were shipping goods between Laketown and Thranduil's halls - but later he joined us to work in the wine trade all the way to Dorwinion. It's sad that he fell during the Battle of Dale. He would have enjoyed seeing the trade prosper after the fall of Sauron."

I have played Galadhlin for a little while on a different board in an attempt at a story much like this one, but without the 'ashes' and 'people disappearing' elements.

I could play him again here - I have no particular plotline for him yet, but he could be one of those who bring supplies from the Elven-king, perhaps even be one of the members of the council.

[Earniel]

Oh, he'd fit right in, by the sound of that. There's a lot one can do with trading.

[Varnafindë]

He also fought for Thranduil in the Battle of Five Armies. He's not a Wood-elf by birth, but he's moved in and he wants to belong in Mirkwood. By now his sister has left for the West with her husband Rameldir, and their daughter Barufiniel lives at Rivendell. His daughter Nimlothel is currently visiting her cousin there.

I want to keep Nimlothel out of the way. For some reason I cannot play her anywhere else until I've finished the RP where she first occured, unlike Baru and Rameldir, that I play in many RPs on many stages of their timelines simultaneously. Baru could even turn up in this story, if I could find a reason for it to make sense.

Even Ainon (from Journeys) might turn up - perhaps an emissary from Rivendell would be plausible? Gandalf has of course told Elrond everything that has happened. But none of the Rivendell people would be there to stay, so Galadhlin would be my main character.

[Tessar]

I think I'm interested, with the caveat that my main "availability" will begin in the summer. It's been soooooo long since I've been able to write!

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

Even Ainon (from Journeys) might turn up - perhaps an emissary from Rivendell would be plausible? Gandalf has of course told Elrond everything that has happened. But none of the Rivendell people would be there to stay, so Galadhlin would be my main character.

An emissary from Rivendell would certainly be plausible. While Elrond may not have a personal stake in the events in Dale and Erebor, he played a significant role in the quest that he undoubtedly would like to know how the rebuilding is going on.

All your characters, including the ones I haven't met in a game yet, would be a good fit, I think. Since this game will be a bit more free-form than LLL, you can always have your characters come and go.

Originally Posted by Tessar

I think I'm interested, with the caveat that my main "availability" will begin in the summer. It's been soooooo long since I've been able to write!

Oh, it would be lovely if you could. We see far too little of you in the RPG-forum. I don't think it will be much of a problem if you can mostly play in the summer months. If all previous and running games are a good indication, than this would be a fairly slow-paced and long game.

[Varnafindë]

It would be great to RP with you, Tessar!
Do join us - eventually!
Eärniel is right, RPs here tend to be slow going - but as long as they're good, we can live with that.

In that other RPG I mentioned, the main plot was to have the King of Dale calling for help from all the other free peoples of Middle-earth - like the Elven-king, the Dwarves, perhaps all the way down to the Steward of Gondor. The last post before everybody stopped playing (some of them because they left the board altogether) was about writing the actual letter calling for help.

In our case, the local help is there already, but our characters could still discuss whether help from further off is needed.

Eärniel, do you want only original characters, or canon characters as well? Bard really should appear - but it's possible either to have someone play him, or to allow everyone to use him as a secondary character. The same goes for the other leaders, and I suppose it's not necessary to choose the same solution for each of them.

[Tessar]

I wouldn't mind being Bard's secretary or some such. I think I'd like to play one of the men of Dale.

[Varnafindë]

With Bard's secretary as a character, we would get close to the King's quarters and get valuable insight into the royal considerations.

Here's Galadhlin's bio, lifted from the other board:

Name: Galadhlin
Age: 4892 (or 4893 if we play it a year after the Battle of Five Armies)
Race: Elf
Sex: Male
Appearance: He has long black hair and grey eyes. He has adopted the dressing style of Mirkwood, and often wears practical clothes for the work he is doing.
Bio: He was born in Lothlorien in the Second Age. Around the change-over from the Second to the Third Age, he got married and had a daughter, Nimlothel. About a thousand years ago, his wife was killed by Orcs. A couple of centuries ago, he moved from Lothlorien to Mirkwood, where he now lives in a small village at the outskirts of the wood, working as a raft-elf and moving goods going between the Elven-king and the Lake-town in the Long Lake. Most of this time, his daughter has been living there as well. He fought against the Orcs as a spear-man in the Elven-king's army. He returned to his village after the battle.

[Tessar]

Well I've been wanting to write from that kind of a perspective for a while, and actually if someone wants to play Bard it would help spread the RP around a bit. I'm not interested in playing Bard myself, but if someone else would like to I think that would be fun.

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

In our case, the local help is there already, but our characters could still discuss whether help from further off is needed.

Indeed and there will be much still to do and plan both short-term and long-term. So our characters can really dig into rebuilding Dale and readying Erebor as much as they like.

Eärniel, do you want only original characters, or canon characters as well? Bard really should appear - but it's possible either to have someone play him, or to allow everyone to use him as a secondary character. The same goes for the other leaders, and I suppose it's not necessary to choose the same solution for each of them.

Originals usually have my preference. But anyone who wants to play a canon character that has a good reason for being there, and who can do the character justice, may do so as far as I am concerned. So Bard is available if anyone would like to play him. He should indeed be included either way, especially if he's to have a secretary. If Bard isn't claimed, he'll likely be a public character. In which case I will write for him occassionally according to plot. [EDIT: crossposted, but if you want to play Bard's secretary, Tessar, I'll make sure you have someone to play against]

I haven't given my own characters much thought yet as their nature will depend on what characters the players pick. I assume I'll likely end up taking a human council member (Bard or otherwise) and a Dwarven council member. The number of people in the council is undecided, so that leaves room for people who want to play a leader. The temporary ruler of the Dwarves is undetermined so far as well, but I was considering perhaps young Thorin III, newly-minted Prince, for that. While a canon character, there is very little written about him.

[Varnafindë]

Would it make sense for Galadhlin to be Thranduil's representative on the council?
I guess I never mentioned that he's descended in a direct line from Elmo, the brother of King Elwë Thingol of Doriath. I like my royal connections

[Tessar]

When it comes right down to it, I could really be anyone's secretary if you aren't keen on playing Bard and no one else is down for it. Or, if you prefer, we could do sort of what Varna mentioned where I kind of "play" Bard by communicating with you. You tell me what Bard would've done/said, and I let it come through my character that way.

Another thought I had is that a secretary might be a good contact point for Galadhlin or anyone else doing trading/work/tasks-around-the-city. I imagine for an important visitor Bard himself would probably try to handle the greeting and wining/dining, but for day to day matters they would probably communicate with Bard via a middle-man (my character) to free up Bard from details.

So I'm not sure if I'm really thinking of a "secretary," or something more like a right hand man. I believe I'm thinking more secretary, as I'm not considering someone in an overt position of power.

[Earniel]

No, don't worry. I'm perfectly fine with playing Bard if no one else is. And as Varna has said, he's one character that must be included either way.

[Varnafindë]

To refer once again to that other RP of this period that I played in, I then considered playing Bard, but for some reasons I left him to a fellow RPer.

I've been thinking now that maybe it would be a nice challenge to play him here.
I've asked Eärniel, and she has approved - so I now claim Bard for my character (in addition to the aforementioned Galadhlin).

Tessar, would you like to be my secretary?

[Tessar]

I would love to!

Does this look plausible to write with your Bard?


Name: Sanders Longreach
Age: 27
Race: Man
Sex: Male
Appearance: He is of average height, so a bit shorter than average for a man of Dale. He has black hair, green eyes, and is clean-shaven. He moves with a slight limp in his left leg that becomes more pronounced if he is walking quickly. He is always neatly dressed, but his hands often have traces of ink about the nails and fingertips.
Bio: Sanders is a native of Laketown, and his father is a guardsman and friend of Bard, while his mother is a baker. He has two older brothers who work in the guard. Because his older brothers were so athletic they wanted to be out of the house constantly, but Sanders was more bookish and spent most of his time helping his mother around the house, or bakery. As he moved into his teens, Sanders began to help his mother organize the bakery and quickly showed a talent for organizing and keeping records. When Smaug attacked Laketown, Sanders was injured while trying to flee a burning building by jumping out into the lake. His left leg struck the dock and broke, leaving him with a limp after it healed. After Bard became King, he appointed Sanders to a small, temporary council to help with the organization of the city's rebuilding. Sanders's talents were quickly recognized, and Bard took Sanders on as a personal assistant just a month later, and since then Sanders has been serving the King.

[Varnafindë]

Secretary, personal assistant, right hand man - seems like a good position where Bard can have someone trusted! And looks plausible to me ...

I think Bard is a litle older than Sanders, although not necessarily the age of his father, but older than his brothers. But they are both grown men, the age difference is not something to make Bard patronizing the other. He has seen Sanders' qualities and appreciates them.

This is going to be fun!

Edit:
I've been reading up on Bard - there's not a lot about him, but I'm rereading it.
I also found something interesting in LotR, The Tale of Years:

2941
The Battle of the Five Armies in Dale. Death of Thorin II. Bard of Esgaroth slays Smaug. Dáin of the Iron Hills becomes King under the Mountain (Dáin II).

2944
Bard rebuilds Dale and becomes King.

I choose to interpret this to mean that he is made King immediately, and is sworn in as such, and takes on the responsibilities of a King - but he refuses to have a coronation and any of the pomp and circumstances of the title until he has finished rebuilding the town in 2944. He prefers to spend his time and his resources on helping his people until the task is done.

It may not be the only possible interpretation, but I suggest we adopt it for the current RP.

[Tessar]

I may be wrong, but it was actually my impression that Bard would be somewhere in his 30's. But now I can't recall if that's something I read, or just because of how he was drawn in the animated Hobbit movie!!!

[Earniel]

If I recall correctly from the Hobbit, then Bard looked older because he always looked so serious and pessimistic. But I'm not sure, I'm planning a re-read of the Hobbit soon.

Excellent character, Tessar.

[Varnafindë]

Being somewhere in his 30's is roughly my own idea of Bard as well, Tessar. And he may have looked even older because he was always looking "grim" (and even had a grim voice).

Even back in Esgaroth Bard was captain of a company of archers, so he was already a leader.