Tapestry of Dreams, Part 2 Discussion

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

If you write anything Angela-wise that really doesn't work, I'll let you know. That's a promise. I appreciate your sensitivity. But I'm not worried.

Awesome.

[mark12_30]

Yes, awesome. I like whta is hapening here; lmp, thanks for the encouragement on all sides.

TO explain my recent Mellondu post: Having 'hosted' Amroth for so long, and having watched Amroth's remembrances of Nimrodel, and being a youthful dreamish boy-- Mellondu is trespassing; he has fallen for Nimrodel. Twas to be expected but is a heinous trespass nonetheless.. How and whether he survives al this remains to be seen.

Just another twist/ braid/tapestry thing.

Which is, as lmp points out, what makes this game such a fun one. We keep talking about Unraveeling; but really, the point is to "ravel"; all these weavings are what makes this work.

TIme for some more dreams, somewhere.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

TIme for some more dreams, somewhere.

[mark12_30]

Fea, that rocked.

Brrr.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

Brrr.

He's such a skeevy creep. No offense, Elempi.

I mean, you don't get much more "Hello, I'm the bad guy" than scaring little children. I should introduce a dog for him to kick in the next scene.

[littlemanpoet]

Yikes, Fea! He's nastier than I thought. Kreepy!

Now I'm just wondering, did I see a new whim just crop up, a new possibility, that Mithrellas = Angela = Indil/Eledhwen?

Wow!

That is, they are somehow all the same entity? That's making my brain chugachug and the gears aren't quite grasping the sprockets, if you take my meaning.

Can't post now, will have to wait until later tonight or next day or so.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

Now I'm just wondering, did I see a new whim just crop up, a new possibility, that Mithrellas = Angela = Indil/Eledhwen?

It's certainly a possibility that's been running through my mind for awhile, but it's by no means finite. Just an idea, you see, that can grow or shrink as needed or desired. Because I like the possibilities that evolve with so many strong personalities floating around ME.

And I find it wonderful and fascinating that I got the idea of the three of them being tied to each other from you, yet you seem not to have had it at all until I wrote it.

[littlemanpoet]

I'm having some difficulty trying to figure out what to write next. I have four active characters, any one of whom could be written about, but which one deserves the most attention? Which one moves the plot forward the most? Certainly not Ædegard. Jorje? Waiting mode for those two, really. I'm waiting for Ravion and Mellonin to do something, or for Liornung to say something.

As for Tharonwe, it feels like a natural to have him mull this whole thing over again, and then do some more evil osanwe.

Raefindan/Roy? Maybe it's time to dream. Is it night time for that group? Feeling a little at loose ends after reading two dreams, I guess.....

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

The trouble it seems easiest to fall into is having Indil and Tharonwe be inactive. Not that they're not doing anything, just that they're not moving as they do it. Maybe I spend too much time with comic book writers, but it's been ingrained into me that a stationary character had better be stationary for an extremely good reason. My biggest complaint about Kafka's Metamorphosis is that it took what's-his-name like eight pages to get out of bed. So one question is "Where do we put Tharonwe and Indil next?" in terms of moving the plot and keeping them active. Their motion should be reflective of both state of mind and state of story. If we keep them in one place too long, we risk stagnation, which is an interesting effect to have with Senior Swamp-Elf, if we want to play with that, but do we?

So one response is that you and/or I can shift Tharonwe and Indil elsewhere, though I'm not sure where.

A related note is that it seems to me as though it will create more tension (insert painting-teacher voice) if we have the pursuers get substantially closer before they move on again. The proximity adds interest and momentum. It seems to me as though simply having Tharonwe and Indil continuously out of reach is less interesting for a reader (and a writer) than having them almost found and then lost again.

So another option is that you can take the chasing group and get them closer, which may or may not require more than a few sentences like "They struck out, Bergil following the tracks with the famed expertise of a Ranger, and, hot damn, the Elf and Child were within view, just over the next ridge." Say one of the horses gets lamed, a storm crops up, Bergil has a sneezing fit, Raefindan stubs his toe, and the followers are forced to watch as Tharonwe picks up Indil and disappears from right between their outstretched fingers. Ouch.

You said yourself that Aedegard and Jorje are in waiting mode.

A dream could be interesting for Raefindan/Roy, as we've had dreams from pretty much everybody else who's tied up in mental knots. But it could also make it harder to move on physically with the plot, just because then it's like sitting around having a dream pow wow. You get a lot of intense mental play, but lose track of what's going on in the surroundings.

So...

(always feel free to ignore me)

I'd say the most beneficial next move is to physically shift Raefindan's group, and then maybe use proximity to Indil/Tharonwe to give birth to a Raefindan/Roy dream. Which it would be mad cool if it impacted Indil/Angela and Tharonwe noticed...

Because I can't imagine Tharonwe not wanting to unravel this mystery.

Question: is Raefindan strong enough to overpower Tharonwe at all?

Because it would be really cool (this is me letting my imagination frolic; don't forget how willing I am to be slapped on the nose with a newspaper and told to sit quietly and hush) if Tharonwe could get his cold-hearted fingers on both Raefindan/Roy and Indil/Angela and probe their minds together...

*meanders away for a while*

[mark12_30]

Er, Mellonin and Ravion were sort of waiting for direction... nevermind. Mellonin has been bashed on the head, and is not as strong (or resilient) as Avarien thinks she should be. Elf wearing huiman body (remember Amroth?) thinks human body can be pushed farther and harder than it really can; dratted human body keeps collapsing for no good reason.

So if needed, we can have Avarien dragf Mellonin out of camp & onup the hillside (Roheryn will cheerfully do as ordered) and make some tracks only to collapse in the snow. Or we can sensibly wait another day at Saethryd';s hut && she can gain alittle more strength and then it will be longer & further til she collapses again.

Ah, mortal weakness. Ravion will tear his hair out once more.

By all means, let's have the pursuers catch sight of Tharonwe & INdil. Hooray. Maybe they only get away because Tharonwe messes with Raefindan's head?

[littlemanpoet]

Okay, good ideas. Thanks.

Alert: Blurt mode approaching.....

HEY FORMY! ARE YOU STILL WRITING WITH US?

End blurt mode.

Okay, part of my frustration is still the sheer number of characters we're dragging around, and it just got worse with Immy dropping out. Yes, we have a way of dealing with that, and I'm quite willing to use it, but this is so unwieldy! It's frustrating.

Okay, now that that rant is done with, I'm cool with your ideas. But first I want Raefindan to almost kill Mellondu at a precipice, to be saved by Aeron sacrificially. Actually, it might be cool to combine catching up to Tharonwe with Mellondu almost getting killed by Raefindan.

But it's too late again today to write a post, and I have a 3 hour meeting tomorrow evening, so I'm sorry but you'll have to wait if you're going to wait for me.

Please pardon me if this is dripping with spleen, I just went through a 2 hour meeting that produced much frustration. Did I have a vacation last week? I seem to remember something like that. What happened? Blah.

Answers: Raefindan cannot overpower Tharonwe, all he can do is withstand his influence once he realizes it's being used on him.

Tharonwe getting Indil/Angela and Raefindan/Roy together and probing both their minds is very intriguing. Question: how do we wrap such a thing back into the plot of Amroth and Nimrodel? Or do we just wing it?

Ravion is the de facto leader of the "behind" group, so he'll force a wait for at least one more day. Ædegard, Leafa and Bellyn will not depart until those who are continuing are ready to rejoin the chase.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

But it's too late again today to write a post, and I have a 3 hour meeting tomorrow evening, so I'm sorry but you'll have to wait if you're going to wait for me.

I mean to wait, but it's not a problem because I have twelve hours of classes tomorrow, then Wednesday I have six hours of classes, plus a random hour of work, all of which include the crit for this godawful assignment, and then, unless I've mistaken the dates, after we talk about how painting gutted fish made us feel, we're painting half-cooked crabs. Then Thursday I have another six hours of classes.

So long story short, even if you posted right this second, I wouldn't be able to do anything for a few days. So I'm unconcerned.

Question: how do we wrap such a thing back into the plot of Amroth and Nimrodel? Or do we just wing it?

Wing it, bearing in mind the ultimate goal of weaving it back into the Amroth/Nimrodel plot. I like subplots. They build dimension and give us something fun to do while we get the rest of the story in working order. As a general sort of thing.

[littlemanpoet]

Okay, cool.

So do we now have 3, 4, 5, or 6 writers? I fear it's only 3.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

Okay, good ideas. Thanks.

Alert: Blurt mode approaching.....

HEY FORMY! ARE YOU STILL WRITING WITH US?

End blurt mode.

I'm still here, and I've been following the conversation--at least when the internet hasn't been malfunctioning.

I haven't had anything to say, so I haven't said anything. Bergil is decidedly a secondary, not a primary, character, and that's more than fine with me, given that I'm busy enough with homework as it is. As far as posting for him... I'm sort of waiting to see when it's a good time to do so, and so far it hasn't seemed like a good time.

So yes, I'm here, but I'm not to be counted on as a pillar of the story, methinks.

[Firefoot]

I've still been following the RPG, but I think it might be for the best if Rugh just quietly dropped out of the picture. I have been busy, yes, but I'm finding myself more and more unmotivated to write in this (and other) RPG's. Rugh never really was a main character, so I don't feel too bad pulling him out, and as it is I don't want to be slowing the rest of you down.

[littlemanpoet]

Okay, so it looks like we are three main writers with two minor writers. Good to know.

I think there ought to be a storm in the mountains soon, too, something to hold up the front-running groups and so that Ravion, Liornung, Jorje and Mellonin can catch up in a realistic fashion.

We need to get all the characters back in the same story line, please?

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

I think there ought to be a storm in the mountains soon, too, something to hold up the front-running groups and so that Ravion, Liornung, Jorje and Mellonin can catch up in a realistic fashion.

We need to get all the characters back in the same story line, please?

If, as a specific post, this can be done from Bergil's point-of-view (the storm beginning/having to halt), I can probably do that. I feel I should add to my last post by saying: I want to be involved as much as possible, but I have got school and seminary commitments to keep me busy, and I simply don't feel like I have ownership in this RPG, a fact that can only change with time, and given Bergil's non-essentiality to the story, and the age of the RPG itself, will not happen anywhere near overnight.

Consequently, the more you direct me to do, the more I'm liable to do. Which, very unfairly, puts the burden of getting me to post on other people, but I really don't want to tamper with a story that doesn't feel like mine, and which I really have no vision or future planned for. I'm really just along for the ride.

[mark12_30]

SO hey, like, let's make something happen.

[littlemanpoet]

I'll write something. I've been really busy for the last few days. Sorry about that.

Okay, I've wrapped a few different things we've been talking about into one post. Boy is Roy in trouble now.

[mark12_30]

PsychoRoy??? Yoicks!

Bergil want to respond?

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Wowee. That's one of those get-things-done posts if I've ever seen one.

Nice one.

Poor Roy...

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

PsychoRoy??? Yoicks!

Originally Posted by Fea

Poor Roy.

Uh, yeah. How do you explain that you've been osanwë hypnotized to a Middle Earth human smith? Do you even realize it yourself? Do you want to?

[mark12_30]

Mellondu considers Raefindan a coldblooded murderer. Erebemlin is too shaken by witnessing and sharing the last moments of Aeron's life to much care at the moment.

I think Erebemlin just learned what it is like to die. Maybe it'll unravel him a bit. Am I missing anybody in Erebemlin's party???

[littlemanpoet]

Bergil.

I want to use Erebemlin to do an osanwë on Raefindan. Things are about to get darker. But first let me read this latest post.

[mark12_30]

I didn't forget Bergil. He's there.

[littlemanpoet]

Yes, I noticed that in the rpg. I was referring to him not being in your list on this discussion. Anyway, I have half a post drafted, and maybe I can complete it now.

[Formendacil]

Okay, I've kind of fallen off the face of the internet with midterms week having crept up unexpectedly....

Bergil may or may not have a post in the next couple days, depending on how well I catch up.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

with midterms week having crept up unexpectedly...

No joke. I haven't quite figured out how the semester is already half over with.

Elempi, where are we sending Tharonwe and Indil next? I considered having a sort of reactionary post, except decided against it for a few reasons. I can always have post-traumatic reactions later, if I decide it's important. But it means that the next time I see Indil is wherever they are when one of us looks back in on them. Will it be them interacting with each other, them interacting with the world, or one of the other characters (Roy? Question mark?) finding them?

[littlemanpoet]

My intention is that Bergil, Erebemlin, and Mellondu have to choose between tying Raefindan up or exiling him out into the coming bad weather. Exiling seems too cruel for our good guy elf, smith, and ranger, but that's what I had planned. I can rationalize this in that Tharonwë osawnë/hypnotizes Bergil into insisting on it. Tharonwë doesn't dare mess with Mellondu's mind because it might wake up Amroth, nor does he dare mess with Erebemlin because Ereb is an Elf who can osanwë-fight back. So Roy will be sent on ahead, and will catch up to Tharonwë and Indil, much the worse for wear as he's going into a snowstorm in the mountains ill-clothed. This puts him into his next bout wiht pneumonia which sends him to dream land. So T & I are holed up against the weather (even an Elf knows better), as are B, E, and M. The other group is too far down the mountain to get caught in the bad weather and may the better conditions to catch up.

How does that look? And T & I can be at the pass where there just so happens to be a cave, how darn lucky can you get.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

How does that look? And T & I can be at the pass where there just so happens to be a cave, how darn lucky can you get.

My, how coincidental. A happy accident. I'm sure they'll be very thankful for the shelter.

I won't be able to write this weekend, so I'll have to see what you guys come up with if you write between now and a few days from now. Then I'll see if the time looks right for me to post.

[mark12_30]

Er, Okay. So we need Bergil, right?

How about them Rohirrim?

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

Er, Okay. So we need Bergil, right?

Right.

Formy, we need you to post, and that post will need to include the fact that Tharonwë has osanwë/hypnotized Bergil into believing that the best thing for the quest is to send Roy on ahead. I foresee a debate about canonicity.

How about them Rohirrim?

Do you mean Ædegard and Leafa?

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

Right.

Formy, we need you to post, and that post will need to include the fact that Tharonwë has osanwë/hypnotized Bergil into believing that the best thing for the quest is to send Roy on ahead. I foresee a debate about canonicity.

Do you mean Ædegard and Leafa?

Canonicity? Huh? *is confused*

Well, obviously I didn't get around to posting... a tidal wave of suddenly having a social life, peer pressure, and touring the province with the Archbishop conspired not only to steal me away from RPGs, but homework as well.

I've got 48 hours, so I'll put a save up... but I'll probably need all 48 to get it done. Better hope I have lots of homework: nothing inspires RPG-writing like avoiding homework.

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

Canonicity? Huh? *is confused*

Or maybe not. We shall see what the actual writing endeavor produces.

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

Do you mean Ædegard and Leafa?

And Liornung. And by association, Bella. ANd I guess by double-association Nethwador.

Those who in Saethryd's cottage do linger.

[Formendacil]

Well, it took me about ten minutes over 48 hours, but I have miraculously filled my Save. I took the liberty of doing it sort of from Tharonwë's perspective, so I hope that's okay.

I'm verging onto a diabetic low at the moment, so I'm not entirely sure if the post is coherent, or if it's any good. If improvements could be made, particularly with regards to continuity/character, by all means let me know. Since I'm off to get sugar right now, I should be in a good state of mind when I'm next on to make reasonable changes.

[littlemanpoet]

Cool post, Formy! You did slightly differently than I had expected, but it turned out better. Or worse - for Raefindan/Roy, I should say. Wow! Plenty of grist. I hope to get a chance tonight to post.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Hey, just throwing my head in to say I've been sickly and busy, but I do plan on posting in the near future. Not today. Maybe tomorrow.

[littlemanpoet]

I got a plot twist of a post. I'll put it up now.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Hey, my dears. Indil's glad to see Raefindan, Raefindan's vocabulary (until Elempi or someone writes otherwise) is kind of limited to "unghhhh," and Tharonwe might at some point in his career have read Machiavelli's Il Principe. Sorry Saturday's not quite Thursday.