Here There Be Dragons - Discussion/Planning

[Child of the 7th Age]

Sorry about that empty save.... I had all these good intentions today, but I have come down with a summer flu and I am wobbling around. Will post when I can see straight again.

~Child

[Ealasaide]

Sorry about my empty save too. I had hoped to fill it yesterday, but now it looks like it will be tomorrow before I have any writing time. I will do my best to post then!

Later:
I have now filled my save, but I wanted to say a quick word about the relationship between Airefalas & Isabel: In my original profile for Airefalas, I wrote that he and Isabel "love each other very much." Since then, the terms of both the situation and the relationship have been evolving in my mind, so, now I think would be more accurate to say that while they are fond of each other, they are totally unsuited for one another as a couple.

BTW... I am going somewhere with all of this... ...eventually...

[Child of the 7th Age]

Hmm...very interesting Ealasaide.

You can scratch my discussion post from yesterday. I was so zonkered out that I didn't erase the save. I am up and wobbling around now. Save 257 is filled in and Narika is back in camp.

[piosenniel]

I've filled in Rog's continuance of the conversation with Airefalas. And brought in Mithadan and Aiwendil to the conversation . . .

Perhaps Airefalas could use the services of a maenwaith goodwife?

Matchmaker, matchmaker,
Make me a match;
Find me a find;
Catch me a catch . . .

[Ealasaide]

Perhaps Airefalas could use the services of a maenwaith goodwife?

ooh...um..eh... heh heh heh...
We may already have something in the works...

[piosenniel]

hmmmm . . . I shall just have to sit and quietly speculate then . . .

[Ealasaide]

After considerable discussion back & forth with Hilde, I have decided to pick up the character of Fador as a regular character. He is maenwaith, the father of Latah, and the uncle of Surinen.

If anyone has any issues or concerns with this idea, please PM me. Otherwise, I will go ahead and work up a profile for Fador and get him moving. THANKS!

Also...provided this meets with everyone's approval... please PM me rather than Hilde regarding any plot developments involving Fador. THANKS!

[piosenniel]

I for one should like to say that I have deep . . . not to mention abiding . . .issues with this . . .

Let me just work up a detailed little treatise containing them . . .

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Joking, of course -- looking forward to seeing the work-up.

~*~ Pio

[Child of the 7th Age]

Ealasaide - Looking forward to learning more of your new character.


I have filled in Aiwendil's save. He has raised a question and I would be very happy to have someone take up the bait and continue.

Alternately, I am working on a post for Ráma. She will shortly be bursting in on dinner and posing a few queries of her own as well as sharing information. If necessary, she will interrupt whoever is speaking!

[Ealasaide]

I for one should like to say that I have deep . . . not to mention abiding . . .issues with this . . .

Yipe! For a minute there I felt like my grandmother everytime something came in the mail for her from her bank: uh-oh, I'm in trouble now...

I should be able to post a profile for Fador (I hope) by Tuesday.

[piosenniel]

Rôg has managed to say something . . . a little incoherent . . . and his line of reasoning is certainly spotty . . . but not bad for a woolgatherer . . .

Can edit, of course, if necessary . . .

~*~ Pio

[Nerindel]

Save #264 is now filled, sorry for the wait!

Hilde for the moment I decided not to mention her fathers name, Although Sorona's name is not familiar with them, her fathers might be, so she will keep it to herself for the moment. But do not be afraid to ask her questions of her past.
She will not voluntarily give up anything of her past, but if asked she will answer. It is not in her nature to lie but she may leave things unsaid.

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Thanks Nerindel. I have put up a save for the moment, and I will be e-mailing you shortly.

[Ealasaide]

I just wanted to mention that I live somewhat in the track of an oncoming catagory 2 (possibly catagory 3 by landfall) hurricane. I don't know if or how much that will affect my internet access over the next several days, but if I disappear for a little while that is why. Hopefully it will not affect Orlando too much! I hope, I hope...

Since the eye of Hurricane Charley is likely to pass to the west of me, I expect to miss the worst of the destruction, but, as I said, I don't know what the storm will do to internet access, or power and phone connections in the area. Since we are on the "leading edge" of the storm they are predicting tornadoes and heavy wind and rain in my location.

Wish me luck!

[Mithadan]

Take care Ealasaide! I've been there and I wish you the best.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Best wishes, Ealasaide! I will be away next week plus a couple of days, so just imagine Wyrma still scheming, and Tinar will tag along with Korpulfr and Co. until I'm back.

[Ealasaide]

Thanks, everyone, for your kind thoughts and well wishes. As it turns out the storm made a direct hit over Orlando. The metro area is a mess - lots of power & phone outages, structure damage & trees down - but I made it through okay.

Thanks again for all of your kind wishes!

[Mithadan]

I am glad to hear that all is well, Ealasaide!

I have filled in my dusty old save. Forgive me for the delay (again).

[Nerindel]

Sorona seemed to hiss at the mention of the name

Mithadan She certainly would have if she was actually there! But she left with Surinen when the Gondorians arrived at Aiwendil and Rog's tent. She is currently dinning with Surinen and his cousin.

[Mithadan]

My bad. I'll edit.

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

The save for Surinen, # 270 has finally been filled in, with humble apologies for my tardiness!

[Child of the 7th Age]

Poor Aiwendil! His reply is up along with a rather critical question from Ráma to the men of Gondor. I am definitely interested in seeing how they answer her.

[Mithadan]

I have a bad feeling about this... Somehow, I would guess that Rama and her clan may not appreciate the answer to this question.

[Mithadan]

OK, Mithadan has spilled the beans... Go ahead. Lock him and Airefalas up. See if we care....

[Child of the 7th Age]

Mithadan,

I really like your post! It has just the right tone. (Of course, the next scene will be Mithadan dragged off in chains.)

There is just one small change I am wondering if you can make. You would have no way of knowing this, but Rama does have an incident in her past--a very important incident that pertains to dolphins. It is something she was eventually going to share with Aiwendil. (She was very young and dwelling on the coast when this dolphin encounter occurred.)

Could you simply erase Rama's name and leave Miri's in? Rama and Narika are the only two in the clan who have ever seen a dolphin so you can truly say that such an acquaintance in rare. Later on, at some point, Rama may reflect on the dolphin issue and discuss some things with you. Without knowing it, you have actually given me a "hook" for something I had already planned. Actually, Rama is even more likely to help you now that she knows you are friends with a SC that can take on dolphin form.

If there are any problems, let me know.

[piosenniel]

My SAVE for post 275 is now filled in.

[Ealasaide]

Sorry I have been so horribly slow in developing Fador. (I'll bet you thought I meant that Tuesday when I said I would have a profile up by Tuesday a couple of weeks ago! ) All I can say is that it has been an interesting couple of weeks. I will do my best to get him up and running this week.

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Surinen's post is filled in.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Ráma's response to Mithadan will go up later today. Unless someone needs to say something further at the dinner itself, I will post my answer after Pio's and promise to aid Mithadan in his quest. Then I will bid everyone return to their beds.

Just a day before, Rama would have given a different answer. But she has just finished speaking with her mother who has told her to search for the "other" dragons. It would seem that Bird fits that description....

[piosenniel]

Cami

Once you've written your response to Mithadan, I'd like to follow it with a post from Miri . . . walking back to her tent with you . . .

[Child of the 7th Age]

Funny....I had the identical thing in mind. I'll send you a pm on this to see if we're on the same page.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Poor Mithadan and Airefalas may have gotten more than they bargained for from Ráma!

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Pio,

Could you tuck this in right below Rog's last post (Post 274)? The day has changed so it will fit better there.

I will erase the post from the discussion thread later....

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Child's post for Ráma


Ráma did not move her eyes from Mithadan's face even when Rôg dumped the tray on the ground and Miri scurried forward to retrieve the fruit. The Man from Gondor could be lying or confused, but Ráma did not think so. There was a calm assurance and honesty in both his tone and demeanor that convinced her he was speaking the truth. If he said Bird had mastered five shapes and that one was an Ent and another a dragon, then it must be so.

Ráma was less certain how others in her clan would respond to Mithadan's plea. However softly phrased, his description of Bird implicitly challenged some of the Elders' teachings. She was not sure whether the Man from Gondor even recognized this.

She had apparently been taught things that weren't true. Not all dragons were base and dishonorable. And there was at least one talking, sentient creature whose form had been taken on by a maenwaith . Quickly, her mind made another giant leap. It wasn't only the Ents. In the ancient tales, the wyrms could speak to each other and even with Men. Why had she never made this connection before and recognized that the limits about talking creatures had certain exceptions? She had always accepted what the Elders said about who she was and what she might and might not do. It was not that they had lied to her. They were good Men and Women who knew a great deal more than she did. But they did not know everything.

The Elders had constantly drummed a simple dictum into her head: only clan leaders could take on four shapes; all others, including herself, were restricted to three. The message had been clear: do not squander your forms, or you may find you have none left when it comes time to take your place among the adult Eagles of the clan. You will be one of the dispossessed who harbors an Eagle spirit, but with no physical form in which it may find its expression.

Perhaps, the Elders had been mistaken that day on the beach when they had scolded her. And her own mother had been right to urge her to look for help among the wyrms. Maybe the key to her past as well as the fate of her people lay in accepting the same hard lesson: although goodness never changes, ways of thinking and acting do, and we must master those changes with grace and an honorable heart, just as we master changes in our form.

Impulsively lurching to her knees in front of Mithadan, in full view of her astonished dinner guests, Ráma spoke loudly so all could hear: "Man of Gondor, you say more than you realize. But I believe you. I swear that I will not rest until I help you and Airefalas find this Bird. For your search and mine have become one. Perhaps this Bird was sent to us for reasons we cannot altogether know, perhaps even to lead us to her other Dragon kin who have not forsaken the old ways. Tomorrow, we will speak more on this and see where we will begin this search. For now, it is late, and I would ask you to return to your tents. Say nothing more of this to anyone until I have had a chance to speak with my sister." With that she turned and, beckoning Miri to her side, quickly left the tent.

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Miri looked up hesitently at her older friend as Ráma took her by the hand and briskly whisked them out of the tent, preparing to take her home. The girl was not certain exactly what to say. So much had happened between her and Rôg, and now Ráma was acting in a way she could not understand.

They stopped for a moment by a large barrel that stood nearby to ladle out two small cups of water. After they had drunk, Ráma threw her head back, looked up at the stars, and began humming a song to herself. Miri could see that she was acting very strangely.

"My mother will be pleased!" Ráma confided. "I know she will be excited to hear about Bird." Perhaps, she mused silently to herself, Ayar will feel better after she's rested and I can speak with her in the morning. As they reached the end of the row and stood in front of the tent belonging to Miri's family, Ráma halted for a moment to speak with the girl, "I wanted to see if Rôg would be willing to help us recruit among the tribes to the south. But so much happened at the end that I never had time. I know you are close friends with him. Perhaps you can tell me. Do you think he would be willing to speak with his clan so that they could help us? Do you know what form his clan takes to defend itself?"

Miri hastily shook her head, looking uncomfortable. "You'll have to ask him. I don't know much about this. Anyways, I'm not sure if he can help. He's going to visit his family."

"The ones he mentioned earlier who are camped south of here."

Miri shook her head, "Not exactly. Some other relatives.....very old ones." She was feelng a bit uncomfortable and hoped Ráma would stop questioning her. "I think his whole clan is going for a visit. They live in some caves on the rim of the northern desert. Not too far from the Sea, I think. Anyways, ask him yourself. He'll only be gone a little while."

At that point Rána's face blanched. "But that's not possible. There is no place like that in Harad."

Miri shrugged her shoulders, "Well, he never said it was Harad. Maybe it's someplace else."

"Miri, look at me!" Ráma commanded. "I want you to repeat exactly what Rôg said....."

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I'm back from my trip to England and need a couple of days to catch up with reading here as well as with real life. As soon as I know what's going on, I'll post for my characters...

[piosenniel]

Cami

Your post is on board. I'll see what I can get out of Miri later tonight.

~*~ Pio

[piosenniel]

*hands round the black crepe armbands

Cami

Rama is now hurrying off to the tent . . .

[Nerindel]

Oh! dear Sorona will be devastated, she was hoping to see her old friend one last time before she passed on!

She was just waiting for Fador to arrive before making her excuses, but I see how my posts for Kor and Hasrim have created a problem. I can take them out and put them back after Ayar has passed away if that helps.

I have just had them ready for so long, forgive my impatience.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Nerindel,

Let me check on some things and get back with you....

~Cami

[Ealasaide]

Again... sorry, Nerindel, that I have been holding you up. I have the Profile done for Fador and, once that has passed muster, I will get my Save filled in. Right now, Hilde & I are having another round of discussions regarding my plans for Fador. Once that has been ironed out in one direction or another, I should be able to get to work on a post.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Nerindel,

Pio and I have popped our last posts forward on the thread so that the time sequence will be less of a problem. I probably won't get to Ayar's death scenes till Sunday or Monday, so if you or Hilde or Ealasaide need more saves before Ayar dies and the morning comes feel free to reserve them now.

If you'd like to have Sorona say goodbye to Ayar, you could look over the earlier thread and see where something like that would fit in. If you want to have Ayar actually respond to you, you'll have to go back a ways on the thread since she has been in a deep sleep and unresponsive for some time. You could post on the discussion thread and I'm sure Mithadan could paste it in. (Or if it's in one of my boxes, I'll be glad to do that as well.)

If you just want to go into Ayar's tent and quietly say goodbye to a dying woman who is unconscious, you could go ahead and do that now by putting up the saves.

Hope this helps. If anyone has more questions or concerns about the sequencing , just post them here or send a pm and we'll work something out.

~Cami

[piosenniel]

At the behest of my historian friend

Here’s one of my infamous lists for your perusal – if you’d like to add anyone/thing let me know. Do you want the writer’s initial added?

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CHARACTER LIST – with a few places and other assorted things added on for ease of reference

~*~

GONDOR

-- Mithadan – Captain/The Lonely Star
-- Airefalas – First Mate/The Lonely Star
-- Avarlond – Airefalas brother
-- Lady Isabel - Airefalas’ fiancée
-- Saelon – Helm’s-man/The Lonely Star
-- Ardil – sailor/The Lonely Star
-- Duilin – sailor/The Lonely Star

-- Piosenniel
-- Cami, Isilmir, Gilwen – Pio and Mith’s children
-- Derylin – friend of Pio and Mith
-- Hester – Pio/Mith’s housekeeper-cook
-- Sinda – Pio’s horse/male

-- Baran the Beorning

-- Morien – Innkeeper/The Seventh Star Inn
-- Mirenin – serving-girl/The Seventh Star Inn

-- Faragaer – Captain/The Scuppered Gull
-- Haladan – First Mate/The Scuppered Gull

-- Tavar – Captain/The Windrunner whose crew is manning the Star’s return to Umbar

-- Hamar – First Mate/The Sandpiper/one of Elessar’s sailors sent to assist in the return of Mithadan and Airefalas

xxx Places/Things xxx

-- The Seventh Star Inn

-- The Lonely Star – Pio and Mith’s ship/renamed (see following entry)
-- The Sandpiper - Star renamed for rescue trip south/old ship which used to sail the coasts to Umbar
-- The Windrunner - Capt. Tavar's ship/crew is manning The Sandpiper

~*~

UMBAR

The Dragon Clan

-- Wyrma
-- Tinar - Wyrma’s youngest of four sons
-- Markal – Wyrma’s 1st son
-- Walat – Wyrma’s 2nd son, serves under Halfr/Wolf Clan
-- Kumat – Wyrma’s 3rd son
-- Elsta – Wyrma’s maid

-- Falasmir – ruler of Umbar
-- Galandor – Falasmir’s right hand man/Wyrma’s dalliance
-- Kalir – Falasmir’s servant
-- Raal, Mahal, Seft – Falasmir’s guards for the Gondorians

-- Musad and Nizar – odd jobbers for Wyrma
-- Wahid and Wasim – Wyrma’s would be, now dead, assassins of Elessar

__________


The Wolf Clan

-- Korpulfr (25) – only child of Halfr
-- Hasrim (35) – Korpulfr’s cousin
-- Isram (30) - Korpulfr’s cousin
-- Jahr (17) – Korpulfr’s cousin
-- Asrim – Korpulfr’s cousin
-- Halfr (52) – Korpulfr’s father/Clan Chieftain/overseeing building of maenwaith city
-- Audulfr – Halfr’s now deceased father

xxx Places/Things xxx

-- The Cat’s Paw Inn
-- Wyrma’s maenwaith city/under construction (I’m still unclear where this is in relation to Umbar)


~*~

THE DESERT

The Eagle Clan

-- Rama
-- Narika – Rama’s twin
-- Ayar – Rama’s mother – now deceased
-- Claris – Ayar’s grey-haired serving woman
-- Ayka – ancient Eagle crone/lives in the mountains to the south
-- Kyelek – Rama’s trusty steed

-- Thorn – marrying Narika/was spying at Falasmir’s court
-- Yalisha – herbalist-healer/Thorn’s sister

-- Surinen
-- Dinsul – Surinen’s father
-- Mirya – Surinen’s sister
-- Fador – Surinen’s uncle

-- Narayad
-- Latah – Narayad’s wife/Fador’s daughter

-- Sorona – trapped in Eagle form/mildly amnesiac
-- Freya – Sorona’s cousin

-- Miri – 7y/o girl/has a brother

-- Kron, Zed, Garel - Eagle tribesmen

~*~

ODD AND ASSORTED CHARACTERS

-- Aiwendil

-- Rôg
-- Abar, Uriyat, Dairaphel (Daira) – Rôg’s father/mother/sister
-- The Elders of Rog’s clan – a curious lot who will appear soon

-- Hazad – Ayar’s assassin

-- Lena – Innkeeper at the Cat’s Paw in Umbar

-- Waitimu – leader of the Bakhpusta/Haradwaith nomads/non-maenwaith

-- Bird – Skinchanger/close friend of Mithadan and Piosenniel/whereabouts unkown

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Here's a MAP, too.

One of the few left to link to . . .

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