The Barrow-Downs' Third Birthday Party and Downie Awards

[Sophia the Thunder Mistress]

At Sophia's table both Alatariel and Thoriel's heads had dropped and they slept blissfully. She and Fin exchanged rueful glances, apparently someone needed lessons in holding her liquor. Only a little giddier than before, Sophia grew bored of sitting still and wandered off to seek some company, Fin trailing behind her.

The Saucepan Man stood by hiself at one corner of the room contentedly sipping what looked like a hot cup of tea. Tea?! Sophia thought, but then revised her thought, Maybe I could use something hot and sobering too. She chuckled and wandered over to him.

"Mind if we join you in a cup of tea?" She asked him politely. "This is Fin." She waved back over her shoulder at him. He gave a slightly goofy grin (not having nearly so much charm when not dealing with women) and said in a slightly slow voice.

"Whatever we're drinking's on me!"

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: Sophia the Thunder Mistress ]

[GaladrieloftheOlden]

Menelien came back to her table, falling twice on the way (but luckily Arafangwen was there to help her up) and sat down, vowing not to get up again… well, at least for the next ten minutes. Trippo had gotten bored and wandered off, she noticed, as she prodded Gimli with her heel in hopes that he would get up soon, as Arafangwen had gone again and Menelien couldn’t find anyone she knew.

[Talon Stormcrow]

As Talon came through the emormous doors she first noticed the bar crowded wtih people. She glanced at the dance floor which was not as busy as she expected. She walked up to the bar and recognizing The Saucepan Man and Sophia the Thunder Mistress and starts up a conversation.

"Hello everyone! Having a good time? Hey Saucepan! Wonderful work on the mirrorball! It looks absolutely splendid!"

She gets the barmans attention and asks for a champagne and looks oddly at The Saucepan Man and his tea. 'Hmmm...well whatever floats his boat' she thought.

[Arvedui III]

After surrendering weapons at the security stops, Arvedui strode into the brilliantly decorated hall. Walking aimlessly among the guests seemed to be enough for the awe struck shade who, amid such illustrious company, still felt like a newbie. Then spying the buffet, in true hobbit fashion, runs to attempt filling his bottomless stomach.

[Airehiriel]

"Hey, Firondoiel , what happened?! I saw those women pushing you around. I tried to get to you and help you out, but I tripped.
Would you like a drink of water?"

Airehiriel ushers Firondoiel to a chair. She wanders off to find a glass of water, and carefully brings it back before she can spill it on herself.

"Here." she hands her the glass, "Drink this water, and relax for a moment." Airehiriel sits down for a moment. Concerned for her friend.

"Where did you go?" asked Firondoiel.

"Well, first I went to the ladies room. And then Reesha found me, and we spoke for a while. And then I went back to the table, but Gimli was asleep with drawings on his face, and everyone else was gone. So I went looking for someone."

Firondoiel appeared to have calmed down some.

"I really have to go now. I think I will be back tomorrow though. You be careful though. No more run ins with scary people."

Firondoiel managed a weak smile in return, "I'll try."

[alaklondewen]

Alaklondewen grinned to Annun in such a state.

"You're right, I've been scarce lately. Being inspired by the tragedy of Turin, I have been consumed by the my studies in psychology. I believe if Turin would have just reached out, psychotherapy maybe could have helped his disposition and..." she stops herself before she gets into Freudian theories and Turin's separation anxiety.

She downed her Stoli, and ordered a dirty martini. "Annun, it looks like I have some catching up to do!"

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: alaklondewen ]

[Mattius]

Meanwhile Chicken had grown bored of The Phatom using the phone and had moved across to the buffet, the line was short so he stood on the table with a plate in his mouth and used his feet to kick and flip the food he wanted onto his plate. A struggling ten minutes later he had a plate full of the finest cuisine Middle-earth could offer.

He looked about for a place to sit and found one next to a Hippo and a snoring dwarf. Chicken dropped the plate on the table and began pecking at the food while the Hippo watched with wonder.

[Eressië Ailin]

Eress slammed down on the brakes of her yellow Jeep as she neared the red carpet. Her long dark brown hair had been hastily pulled back from her crystal blue eyes in a low ponytail. She was wearing a hot pink tank top and a pair of ripped jeans, but this was acceptable, as she was coming in early to help decorate. And she, of course, had the dress that had been given to her by her fairy Gollum-mother.

'Mith!' Eress called. 'I'm here early to start decor... Mith?'

She took off her sunglasses, only to find the thousands of reporters surrounding her. Some one stood up and said, 'You know that you're eight-and-a-half hours late, hon.'

'Oh Eru...' she breathed softly. 'How was I supposed to this party started at nine in the morning, not at night?!?! Oh well... guess I'm just fashionably late.'

She hopped out of her Jeep, grabbed the dress, and hurried to the bathroom so she could change.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

About an hour later, Eress came out of the bathroom, transformed. Her hair was in some sort of an inexplainable, exquisite, elegant masterpiece; it was a work of art. The dress was made of an unidentifyable deep blood-red fabric, resembling crushed silk. The dress had a v-neck cut, her shoulders were bare, her sleeves billowing, and the dress was hemmed with golden thread. A goldenrod rope was tied in the back, slightly above the waist.

Fortunately, the dress was long enough to cover her feet. Not that Eress had ugly misshapen feet, or anything, but... We have mentioned her fairy Gollum-mother before; have we not? This Gollum-mother of hers had a good heart, no doubt, but was a tad forgetful. When I say a tad, I mean that, for instance, instead of forgetting to put salt on the radishes, her fairy Gollum-mother would, in all likelyhood, forget to put radishes under the salt.

Now her fairy Gollum-mother was regaining his/her/it's memory (slowly but surely), so Eress decided to entrust him/her/it with the simple task of making an evening gown. Her fairy Gollum-mother had been recovering for quite some time now, and therefore did a fairly good job with the dress. It is a well-known fact that with every evening gown you need an appropriate pair of matching slippers. This was the bit that the fairy Gollum-mother left out. The slippers. Which leaves poor Eress with a lovely gown and a pair of worn sneakers.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

'Weapons?' one of the Uruk-guards growled.

Eress twirled gracefully. 'Do I look like one to be carrying weapons?'

'Go on in,' snarled the same Uruk-guard.

[Arafangwen]

"Firondoiel! Over here!" Arafangwen yelled over the crowd as she waved her arms in the air

"Menelien, are you ok?" she asked once more as the clumsy, and apperantly drunken elven girl rose to her feet glanced around quickly and sat back down without so much as a word.

"What did you see?" she asked recalling the fear and desperation reflected in Menelien's eyesright before she had rissen to obviously do something very important.

"Firondoiel! There you are!" she exlaimed with a sigh of relife as the other elven lady appeared holding her arm in obvious pain.

"Are you alright?" she said noticing the pain Firondoiel was in.

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: Arafangwen ]

[The X Phial]

High above the throng a solitary guest zipped past the unobservant Uruk guards and made her way to the appointed meeting place.

"I do so hope Merendis shows up soon," she thought to herself.

The X Phial settled neatly on the wall of the great hall, near the punch bowl, as instructed. She had been waiting for this party all day, and since a fly's life is relatively short, this instituted a considerable life investment. Fixing the crowd with her multifaceted eyes, she surveyed the company. A number of beautious elves, humans, wargs, half things, hobbits and maiar were evident, but she appeared to be the only insect in attendance. X had decked herself out in her best green outfit, but fly outfits being what they are, she doubted anyone would notice.

X Phial checked to make sure no one was looking and flew down to the table for a quick nip at the punchbowl. She heard the music shift in tone and volume and was startled back to her original position. Oh the joys of being a fly on the wall.

[GaladrieloftheOlden]

Melenien still sat at her table, consuming a glass of orange juice (the waiters were drinking the beer, so this was all that she could find). Suddenly, she saw another elf, who, like herself, seemed very clumsy. Hooray! thought Menelien after a minute or so, her reactions beginning to be slowed down. Another stumbling elf! I thought I was the only one! she thought excitedly, emptied her glass, and got up, having totally forgottten her promise to stay seated for 10 minutes, and swaggered after the elf.

[Eruanna]

Eruanna's attention was caught by a strange, sparkling contraption revolving on the ceiling.....Was that.....a glitter ball?
That could only mean one thing. Saucepan man was here!

Dragging her aching eyes away from the ceiling, Eruanna looked around for the shiny Knight of the Saucepans. There he was! And was that Sophia, with a young escort that Eruanna didn't know? She wandered over to see them. Saucepan looked cheerful as he sipped, what seemed to be tea, from a china cup.

"Hello fellow Quizzaholics. How are you enjoying the party?" she asked.

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: Eruanna ]

[ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Eruanna ]

[Mithadan]

Mithadan stood near Squatter, chatting pleasantly. He was a bit taken aback by the prodigious amounts of drink that the Brit and Mattius were consuming and decided that it would be ill-advised for him to try to keep up. Nonetheless, he ordered another glass.

Another change of musical genre had taken place and the guests were now dancing to the strains of 'Brick House'. He sipped at his vodka as Squatter squinted past him at some passerby. At that moment two things occurred. First, Squatter set his scotch down firmly on the table and rubbed his eyes. Second, there was a tug on his sleeve.

He looked down to find Cami standing beside him with an impish expression on her face. She cleared her throat. "My escort has arrived," she proclaimed.

"I thought I saw Maura earlier," replied Mithadan.

"Not Maura," she said with a smile. Then she gestured to his right. He turned and came face to face with a scaly, reptilian snout. Leaping backwards, he cursed as he spilled his drink. "Angara!" he cried.

"Hello, Man," intoned the dragon. "Care to introduce me to your fellows?"

[The Saucepan Man]

Surveying the scene before him, Saucepan noticed an insanely giggling Hippo tying together the bootlaces of a snoring Dwarf. Across the room, a small yellow chicken was jumping up and down with impatience next to a tall Elf conducting an important looking conversation on his mobile.

"I really feel quite at home here," he thought to himself. "Funny, though. Aren't Elves supposed to have long wispy beards and pointed hats? Still, the pointy ears make sense. Well, leaf-shaped, anyway."

His eyes alighted on a fair, cold, but somehow innocent looking figure in white waving at him. He waved back, not recogising her. Then, as he noticed her looking questioningly at his cup of tea, realisation dawned.

"Why, Lush!" he exclaimed. "It cannot be. You look so, um, well, innocent. Radiant, of course, though. How do you do. Lovely to see you here."

Just then Sophia came over and introduced her escort, Fin.

"Mind if we join you in a cup of tea?" she asked.

"Bree?" replied Saucepan. "I thought that we were in Gondor. Mind you, I don't live here, of course. I've just popped up from the Enchanted Wood for the evening."

Sophia flashed him an impatient look. "No, TEA, I said."

"Oh, sorry, I thought that you said ... Oh well, never mind. Of course you can."

Saucepan deftly (well as deftly as an old man covered in pots and pans is able) snatched two cups from the bar and filled them with steaming tea from his kettle.

"Now, how about that dance?"

[Sillabub]

Sillabub arrives in a mysteriously floating white swan-boat from Lothlorien. She appears to be without escort currently(Sources later linked the discovery of Frodo- her escort- bound and gagged in a broom closet in the hall to her). Wearing a black and silver elvish dress and carrying her flyswatter She waves elegantly to the reporters. Upon entering the hall Sillabub heads for the food table, looking for oranges. Finding none, she contents herself with a slice of black forest cake (in middle earth?!). She then walks over to the bar and sits down.
"What d'you want?" the Bartender demands.
"THE ONE RI-uhh, I mean, red wine, thanks!"Sillabub answers nervously.
"But you're under drinking age!"The bartender tells her.
"Oh well. Some other time then" Sillabub sighs, though she never really planned to drink the wine... [img]smilies/evil.gif[/img]
She leaves the bar and sits down in a corner, amusing herself with a lighter. After a few minutes she gets bored and waits in the front hall for Antien and Fraul.

[Arafangwen]

"Menelien! Where are you going?!" Arafangwen cried out as she tried to help make Firondoiel comfortable as she asked how she had hurt her arm.

"I think she's drunk, although how she managed to get a hold of anything alcoholic is beyond me.

"Now, what happened Firondoiel?" she asked as she dismissed the drunken elf for the moment...

[Nurumaiel]

Nuru dodged past different reporters who were eager to talk to the newcomers until at last she was inside, feeling very safe and pleased with herself for having made it thus far. Trying hard not to be amazed at the crowd (for she knew there would be a large crowd), she made her way to a quieter corner of the room to watch all that was going on.

Was Rie there? If so, where was she? Yes, that was Nuru's only that. She wanted to find Rie so they could have some fun together. Well, she wouldn't be too hard to spot, with her fiery red hair...

Nuru settled back, leaning against the wall, and her eyes began to scan the room, looking hopefully for her friend...

[Oddwen]

A black corvette pulls up at the curb, and a young woman steps out. She is dressed in a dusky rose roman-styled dress, decoratively trimmed in black fringe, with a black shawl draped loosely about her shoulders. Her blonde hair is swept up gracefully kept in place by two black hairpins. (And about a hundred bobby pins!) Her lips and fingernails are painted a startling black, and her open toed sandals (black, of course) reveal that her toenails are painted the same.
"Miss Oddwen!" screeches a reporter shoving a mike at me. "What's it like to see your phrase all over the downs?"
"Spiffy!" and I make a run for it. There is a bevy of cameras making straight for me, and I'm very camera shy.

She passes the metal detector with ease, having no weapons to take, and walks into the great hall. There is an overwhelming amount of color and faces. All she can recognize are the large form of Trippo and the shine of the Saucepan Man. She waves at both and sits at a corner table to wait.

[Antien]

Antien was feeling a bit out of place. She wasn't at the bar or dancing on the dance floor, the two most populated places. She couldn't even find sillabub. She wasn't used to formal occasions, and had never been asked to dance. Antien wasn't sure if she even wanted to dance, but someone asking would be a welcome change. If she found Sillabub or fraul, though she doubted that fraul would show up, she would likely hang out with them until they screamed in fury. She was that bored.

[Firondoiel]

Firondoiel hurried towards Arafanwen. "I've been better." She said in response to her question. "We need to find a mod or an admin. Quickly!"

"I don't understand. What are you talking about?" Arafanwen asked.

Firondoiel explainded about the strange women in black that had come in through the service entrance.

"Oh my! Are you all right?" asked Arafangwen concerned.

"Yes. Airehiriel helped a lot. I have to thank her when she returns. Now lets find someone to report the the women in black to!"

[GaladrieloftheOlden]

Menelien swaggered over to where Arafangwen and Firondoiel were sitting just in time to hear one of them mention her. “Me? Drunk? I only drank- I mean, I didn’t drink anything!!!” she yelled, rather too loud. However, this statement was quickly proven untrue as her knees buckled and she slid gracefully onto the table.

[Sophia the Thunder Mistress]

Sophia looked briefly from the Saucepan Man to Fin, who was eyeing his cup of tea with some suspicion, and then around at Eruanna and Talon and the few other young ladies in the vicinity. Was it safe to leave him alone for that long? Or would she find herself without a ride home as he dragged some lady fair off? She scrunched her brow up in deep thought. Finally she looked at Saucepan and grinned.

"Certainly!" she responded, still pondering how a dance could be managed, given the large number of pots adorning the Saucepan Man's clothing. She gave him a quizzical look, then entrusting her date to Eruanna's watchful eye, they made their way out to the floor. She'd just make him lead...

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: Sophia the Thunder Mistress ]

[the real findorfin]

Fin bid Sophia farewell and was about to return to his seat when he saw Sillabub turned down at the bar.
"That will never do," he exclaimed and quickly bought two glasses of wine.

He quickly caught up with her, but she appeared to already be with another maiden. Fin caught the name 'Antien' and noticed that she too had been having problems. He quickly changed tak and moved forward.

"Hello ladies," he greeted, "like a drink."

"why thank you," Antien said taking the glass.

"A pleasure," he replied, handing the other over to Sillabub.

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: the real findorfin ]

[Talon Stormcrow]

Talon saw another guest alone. So Talon departs from the bar and walks up to Antien and says,

"Hi! Are you having a good time?"
Antien answered, " I feel a little out of place..."
"Oh so do I! Im not much of a drinker so Im not doin too well at the bar." says Talon with a light chuckle.

[Diamond18]

Diamond gazed lovingly at the latest soda-and-alcohol-concoction in her hand. But after a moment or two, she sighed with the realization that dirt, dust, dog and cat hair wait for no women, no matter how criminal her attractiveness might be deemed by the pure of heart.

She nodded to the various Downers at the bar with her, and begged them to excuse her for a little while. “I must find a quiet corner somewhere,” she explained, “and use telekinesis to vacuum my house. I will rejoin the festivities, anon, and then I (if I may be so bold) will be expecting a dance from Mattius and Squatter, and even Mith, if you can find the time from running this smashing party.”

She paused and assessed the unstable appearances of Squatter and Mattius as they drowned in whatever poisonous liquid they were gargling now. “Well…” she thought… “this will be interesting…”

Diamond waved nonchalantly to the rich and beautiful, the pure and the wanton the teetotalers and the drunks, and walked over to a couch in a dark corner. HereIstarion was sleeping peacefully on said couch, smiling as he dreamed of fireworks and sailboats, no doubt. Diamond carefully (so as not to wake him) moved his feet and sat down. Then, concentrating all her mental abilities on a little ranch-style house many miles and ages away, she began to hum like a vacuum cleaner.

[Nuranar]

Tarondo couldn't believe his ears as the cacophony of partyish noise around him resolved into a definite three-count. Someone must have strange ideas about Barrow-Downs celebrations, he mused momentarily. But a waltz is a waltz is a waltz! Jumping to his feet, he seized his sister's hand. "Hurry, before it's done."

Luinien looked up in surprise, then grinned as she, too, heard the beat. "Let's go!" she said, slipping into his arms.

The couple spun rapturously around the dance floor while the song lasted. The sheer joy of doing something well possessed both of them, and they danced with an ease and grace born of long practice and love of movement.

Finally the music died. As Tarondo escorted her back to her seat, Luinien noticed a tall girl in a stunning deep red dress enter the Hall. She looked closer, then gasped in delighted recognition.

"Eress, old thing, how wonderful to see you again! It's been so long, I'm just devastated, darling. Tell me, how are things at home? And let me tell you, your dress is just too, too marvelous, darling!"

[Gandalf_theGrey]

APPEARANCE NUMBER ONE:

INTRODUCING JOHNNY TAYLOR

Now why had a red carpet unfolded itself in between rolling mounds of grass out in the middle of somewhere? The red coursing through the green almost looked like the Don't Panic symbol on the cover of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, mildly putting its tongue out at him. Johnny Taylor shrugged, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, planted his feet on the carpet, exhaled, opened his eyes. Still in the same reality! Or close enough. The red carpet being the closest thing to a yellow brick road he'd seen so far, the poor befuddled lad claimed it as his road. With luck, it would lead back to the university and his calculus exam. Johnny weaved his way down the carpet, only tripping over his feet twice as he played air guitar and mumbled lyrics from Led Zeppelin.

Green, red, yellow … those same over-bright hues reminded Johnny of where his trip began, in the Science and Engineering Library at his computer in the study cube. Of course, he hadn't been studying. He'd been playing Moria. What else? Hour after hour after hour he'd spent wandering through those text adventure dungeons, slaying screenfuls of Orcs and Dragons and grabbing up gold, potions, scrolls, and other goodies. Until one day after pulling an all-nighter and making it down to the thirteenth level of his intensely favorite computer game, a very zonked out, sleep-deprived Johnny passed out and pitched face-forward into keyboard, monitor, and all. There were amazing snap, crackle and pop sounds even louder than his friends the Rice Crispies. Electricity arced everywhere until the monitor found the culprit who'd trespassed into its once lovely smooth glass, then finally pulled Johnny down to a level of consciousness far stranger than the thirteenth.

At the end of the red carpet, part of his nightmare stood in Johnny's path. He'd come to recognize it as the U symbol that he'd battled many a time, U for Uruk Hai. Groaning "Oh no, not U!" he pulled a scimitar from his backpack and wielded it with all the smug confidence of a gamer at full hit points and a pack full of azure healing potions.

The creature grunted, barking back with all the smug confidence of a bureaucrat enforcing the rules, and a gatekeeper to boot. "No weapons allowed if yer wish to pass."

Johnny blinked, his stammering kicking in. "Is this a b…b…bonus level then? Treasure without fighting? That's never happened before. I m…must've run into a new bug."

The Uruk snarled, snatching away the scimitar. "Watch who yer callin' a bug! Now step through this metal detector and join the party when I gives the all clear."

On stepping through, the metal detector gave a resounding DONNNNNGG! Out from Johnny's pockets and backpack and onto a table came everything from pocketknife to flashlight to can opener to toenail clippers to … reluctantly … gold.

The Uruk reached across with his arms and swept the gold up towards himself. "Payment fer whichever Uruk yer killed to get that fine scimitar of yers, for I can read the runes on the weapon."

Johnny stood up, looking for the Exit so he could finally make it to his calculus exam, but there was no Exit to be found. But then, maybe this tricky level where you lost your weapons and treasure held a hidden secret passage to the outside. As he jostled about to reposition the weight of his unzipped backpack, Johnny's usual awkwardness kicked in. A stale brownie from the Student Activity Center cafeteria came flying out and hit the Uruk square in the head, knocking him out. Johnny looked around, smiled with a hope beyond reason, and walked on, looking quite the adventurer in his t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Too bad he didn't see his opponent passed out on the ground behind him, leaving both scimitar and gold unguarded.

[Arafangwen]

"Menelien, you are completly drunk and don't you try to deny it!" Arafangwen said in annoyance about Menelien denying her drunken state.

"I think we should look for Mithadan. He's the only one here as far as I know. I belive he's over there by the bar speaking to a few friends of his, I'm sure he wont mind us interupting as this is important." she said as she helped Firondoiel to her feet and pointed over at the bar.

[Eressië Ailin]

Eress made her way over to the buffet, asking for alecake. Over and over she heard cries of, 'Alecake! Who has ever heard of such a thing? How preposterous!'

This angered her, for alecake was the best food in existance! 'Has no one here ever heard of alecake?' she asked in distress.

[Salix]

Salix glared at Antien. Why was she getting all the attention? All she was doing was switching the punch with some alcoholic drink. Salix sighed and headed for the bar. "Hey barkeep. Give me a pot, hot water in the pot and about 50 peppermint tea bags!" Looking confused, he gave ther the aforementioned items. While carrying the pot to her table, she bumped into Antien. Cursing, she attempted to avoid Antien's gaze and the crowd around her, but it was too late. "Salix!" Antien cried. Salix groaned. She was stuck now.

[Nurumaiel]

Nuru frowned deeply. No, Rie wasn't in the Hall right now. Hopefully she'd arrive soon, though. The Elf was anxious to see what her friend thought of all this craziness.

"Some wine, m'lady?" a voice said in her ear. Nuru shook her head, having no idea who said it. Whoever it was was now gone.

No, she didn't want wine. Never did care for the stuff, anyway. Doubtfully she eyed everyone, some of who seemed to be drinking their fifth bottle of the it.

A reporter was shoving his way through the crowd, trying to drag his cameraman after him. He had obviously made a thorough job of everyone at the place, and now he was after her. "You, Elf, you in the green dress! Hey, Elf!" he shouted, ignoring the angry protests from guests as their beverages were spilt.

Nuru ducked behind a man passing by and crawled under the table. She'd wait for Rie there. It would be safer.

[The Saucepan Man]

Greeting Talon Stormcrow and Eruanna as he went, the Saucepan Man led the Mistress of Thunder on to the dance floor. He too wasn't quite sure how this was going to work out. He loved to dance, but he mainly danced by himself.

"Well, a Thunder Mistress must be used to noise", he thought to himself wickedly.

"How about a waltz, my dear?", he suggested, his eyes twinkling.

Sophia looked doubtfully at the speakers blasting out heavy rock music, but shrugged her shoulders and joined him on the floor nevetherless.

A sudden cacophony roused all the guests. They turned their heads to the dance floor to watch in amazement as Saucepan and Sophia waltzed from one end of the floor to the other, Saucepan with a happy smile on his face as his pots and pans clanged and crashed and Sophia's cheeks slowly flushed redder and redder.

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: The Saucepan Man ]

[GaladrieloftheOlden]

"Menelien, you are completly drunk and don't you try to deny it!" yelled Arafangwen at her. However, Menelien wasn't even trying to deny anything, having passed clean out. The only thought which surfaced momentarily in her mind was "boy, will I have a hangover after this!" and then she fell back asleep.

[Eressië Ailin]

"Eress, old thing, how wonderful to see you again! It's been so long, I'm just devastated, darling. Tell me, how are things at home? And let me tell you, your dress is just too, too marvelous, darling!"

'Luinien!' she gasped. 'Thank you so much! You look great too! It's been so long since I've seen you! When was the last time? Two, three years...? I can't remember anymore.' She took a deep breath. 'Did you see my new Jeep?'

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: Eressië Ailin ]

[Antien]

Antien smiled at salix.

"What, no alcohol?" She sniggered. Salix was such a pushover.

Salix stared down her nose and said

"What, no escort?"

Antien knew that salix was just trying to provoke her.

"I came with sillabub. Not an escort, but a friend. i can see that you didn't even come with that"

Salix started off. Antien sighed. Good thing that was over...now, where was Sillabub?

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: Antien ]

[Firondoiel]

Firondoiel and Arafangwen hurry towards the bar leaving behind a very drunk Menelien, who had fallen asleep on the table.

"Where is he?" Asks Firondoiel, frantically scanning the bar.

"There he is! Next to Cami and the dragon." Arafangwen points.

Arafangwen and Firondoiel hurry towards Mithadan. Firondoiel clears her throat. "Excuse me."

[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: Firondoiel ]

[Oddwen]

Isit playing with my little disco ball earrings: they shine little spots into dark corners and I am completely engrossed. So engrossed in fact, that I don't notice the waitier asking me what I want to drink until he pokes me between the shoulder blades.
"Huh? Oh, just some apple juice...and do you have some graham crackers?" He walks off shaking his head. "Just wait," I think. "The night is young."

[Frodo Baggins]

Elrond nodded pleasantly to Mithadan as he swept across the hall in a whisper of grey silk. He arrived back at the table he had with the other three with a shake of his head.

"Was it like this last year Frodo?" he asked, taking a delicate sip of spiced miruvor.

"Hm? You mean all of them drinking themselves silly before anything really starts? Yes it was the same last year." Frodo answered.

Maggie roller her eyes and shook her head, sipping her tea.

"Hmph!" Cromthal snorted "Among my people drinking to the point of silliness is considered disgraceful."

"Well, we can't all be Brehon can we Cromthal?" Maggie said with a small laugh. "Cromthal? I feel in the mood for a dance, will you do the Pattern Dance with me?"

Cromthal and Maggie glided onto the dance floor and began a dance that was very intricate and pretty, but also quite energetic.

[Hanna_Gamgee]

Hanna has now lost track of how many drinks she has had and notices the table is now empty of food. She wonders if she passed out. She notices that they are playing waltz music now so decides to just watch the dancing until something better comes on.

[Annunfuiniel]

Annun couldn't quite follow what Alaklondewen was talking about. 'Turin needs therapy? Well, who doesn't?', rang in her head. Alak ordered a new drink but Annun felt she'd better head for the buffet or the paramedics would soon be needed again; she hadn't eaten since her arrival and that combined with the excessive amount of liquor she had taken... Well, everyone knows that math!

Annun left the bar and headed for the buffet. She didn't get far though when a horrifying sight knocked her out of breath. "A dragon!" she screamed. How was that possible? She blinked her eyes but the Worm was still there. 'I'm not that drunk', she reasoned. 'It has to be real!'

Annun backed away from the beast (and of course didn't pay any attention to the fact that the named beast was having small-talk with Mithadan and co.), took her skirts and dashed to the opposite direction. She didn't see if she run over some hobbits or not as she made to the door, pulled it open and rushed in.

Considering the shock and the shattered sugar-balance of Annun's blood it was no wonder that the only sound coming from the cleaning closet (where she had rushed in panic) was a quiet snore...