Eorling Mead Hall Planning/Discussion Thread

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

Will we that wrote already in The White Horse be keeping our characters and continuing the plot that is already there, or will we be starting from scratch, as it were, with a new Inn?

Excellent question, Fea. Anybody who wishes to keep their old characters around, are encouraged to do so. For my part, you'll be seeing plenty of Falco Boffin, Garreth, and Harreld; and Eodwine, of course.

The time of the new opening will be rather soon after Bethberry's leave-taking; I'd say within a couple of days. Certainly within the same week.

And Eodwine is going to be in need of those who wish to be employed at the Mead hall, so Aeólhild (sorry, can't remember the Ansi for Ae off-hand) will be most welcome to stay on. Eodwine will have to have a conversation with her so as to determine the exact nature of that arrangement.

Kath, a "day in the life of" mode is to be compared to how things run in The Green Dragon Inn, where time is continuous. That is, each new day is precisely the next day on the calendar. By comparison, I want us to have the freedom, as a group of writing rpg'rs, to agree that the next day may dawn on, perhaps, two days later, or a week later, or even a month later, depending on plot lines. Basically, I don't want us to wind up stuck in one week for the entire year. Does that make better sense?

Please pardon my lack of quotes; the computer I'm currently using does not have a good right-clicker.

Folwren, character can, are encouraged to, just walk into the Eorling Mead Hall on any given day. New arrivals are most welcome. And it will still be in Edoras. That was one of the purposes of Eomer's decision: to hand over local government to a local lordling so he could run the kingdom. I suppose the King Eomer stuff isn't really important to anybody but Eodwine, as he will be the one directly answerable to the king.

Aside: It'll be interesting, though, that being a Mead Hall, local issues of justice could reasonably be decided there, and Eodwine would perhaps be the one responsible for handing out that justice. Thinking out loud, there.

The Mead Hall will be the same building, but will be undergoing some renovations. That should be fun. That it is not an Inn shouldn't matter, really. The Anglo-Saxons were a very hospitable people, as are Tolkien's Rohirrim. In fact, Eodwine will be, by Eorling standards, a most hospitable eorl, to men, women and children. Please don't let that be a concern.

Bewilderment may have its place, actually. It could make for some fun writing. But I don't think you'll find yourself quite at sea as you may fear. There is, after all, this discussion thread to answer any questions, and boy, am I glad Pio thought of it!

Yes, we'll be going for the "Viking" mead hall, which wasn't really limited to the vikings at all. (In fact, vikings were pirates (the one word means the other) and therefore had ships instead of mead halls. Legitimate lords and earls had mead halls. It will be set up somewhat differently than the Inns. If you want a really good image of a mead hall from Tolkien, just read up on Beorn in The Hobbit. There's a great picture of it in the illustrated The Hobbit, too.

I will be introducing all potential "time jumps" (handy phrase, that), on this discussion thread, most likely during the evening of each day.

And yes, I do see a need for on-going mead hall characters, Durelin.

I am absolutely thrilled at the level of response! You guys have made my day!