The Return of the Entish Beings (REB III) Planning/Discussion

[Thenamir]

Originally Posted by Saucy

one of those assets is currently travelling with the party.

And she has one of the finest assets in Muddled Mirth, too.

[Kuruharan]

It's nice to see that Chrysophylax fell on his feet after the last outing, combining the elements of live performance and torture that he loves so much.

It must be remembered that Chrysophylax thinks that he is truly talented and that everybody loves his singing. It is his dwarves who have behind his back concocted this scheme to use his singing as a punishment for defaulters.

He would be staggered to learn what is really going on.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Now that is a dangerous game. Does C. have any albums out?

Originally Posted by Saucepan

destroying liquidation assets is a serious offence.

Is it, by Jove? That puts an entirely different complexion on matters. I shall be forced to revise my next post accordingly: say ten per-cent more mayhem and a shade more evidence left behind.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Squatter

I shall be forced to revise my next post accordingly: say ten per-cent more mayhem and a shade more evidence left behind.

I was rather hoping that you would say that ...

[Thenamir]

Fantastic! You've outdone yourself, Squatter. I especially liked using Tara as R2-D2, but the whole post is a milestone in the realms of REB-dom. Can't rep you enough on this one.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Wonderful posts, guys!

Kuru, you invented the karaoke prison - a stroke of genius! You also showed the Proctor actually gambling; my favorite quote was the "Grundor has no Queen-Mother" - hilarious! Thanks for your prequel to your later cameo - it's good to have you along for the ride.

Squatter, brilliant post again! How clever to find a connection with a previous post that the rest of us had probably forgotten by now. Your handling of other characters (speaking for myself in this case, of Merisu and Gravendil) is excellent - I liked the "fancy talk" line! That, and "Merisuwyniel boldly and valiantly fluttered her eyelashes". (We need an eyelash-fluttering blonde smiley!) The discussion about the meaning of the words was great fun, as were Gatesy's attempts to crack the code. At any rate, you managed to achieve the total destruction of the island - if this story were ever published, maps would be unnecessary, as all locations would have perished by the end of the tale!

I think Squatter's post set a new record for length on a thread accustomed to lengthy epistles...

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

You're too generous. Thenamir and I discussed a plot and I tried to work in as much of it as I could. He deserves credit for thinking of an argument about word meanings, along with several other elements in the narrative. If it's the longest post in REB history (which I doubt: Saucepan posted some monsters in the epic back-story for REB II), then it's just because I had a lot of ground to cover. There were a couple of times when I thought I'd never get the dratted thing finished at all.

I've left us out in the ocean somewhere, so the field's open for anyone who wants to get in the first description of the next island. I'm sorry that I didn't leave you the evidence I promised Saucepan. It's one of many defects in my post; I'm pretty sure that the sisadmîn of Bildûr had a remote logging system, or that our gallant heroes left behind some evidence of their identity that I forgot to mention.

[Thenamir]

Originally Posted by Esty

We need an eyelash-fluttering blonde smiley!

Here you go, glad to oblige!
Alas, my admin powers are too weak to break thru the spell of protection BW has woven about the smiley cache, so he'll have to add it.

EDIT: For some reason I cannot make the smiley appear in the post, so you'll have to click one of the links.

EDIT EDIT: I figured it out, finally. Merisu is now one of the smilies! BW may kill me for this one, though.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

How could BW possibly be annoyed with this face?

[Kuruharan]

He apparently wasn't.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Ooooh, I'm famous! - Well, at least my character is. Almost as good as having a smiley named after me, like Squatter's !

Let's enjoy it while it lasts!

[Thenamir]

How could BW possibly be annoyed with this face?

Well, I can think of one reason -- the "Squatter" icon is only 201 bytes, while Merisu's is a bit over 3K. I tried every reduction algorithm I could come up with, but that's as small as I could make it.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

If you edit all the posts in this thread to remove that information, then he may never find out. You might have to delete this one too, though. And erase his memory in case he's seen this thread over the past few days. And we might have to lock out the other ops while it happened: they're loose cannon to a man.

[Bêthberry]

Buh-u-u-u-u-t . . . I can't see the Merisu smilie here in Gondor. It is on some of the fora but not all of them.

Is this some kind of insidious segregation? Are there places a lady is not allowed? This will not do. It is not practical.

(On the other hand, I must say this is terribly sweet of you, Thena, and a lovely tribute to Esty's inspiration and contribution here. One of the nicest things that's ever happened on the Downs.) I just hope it won't lead to those werewolf addicts inundating you with demands for a Fenris Wolf smilie.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Bb, I can get the Merisu smiley here:
Perhaps you need to refresh the page or something to get the newest one to work. Try colonMerisucolon, with : for my word 'colon'.

[Bêthberry]

Esty, when I go to reply on some forums, the Merisu smilie shows up in the smilie choice box. In other forums, she is not there.

Forums which show the Merisu smilie with the other smilies: Books, Novs and News, Movies, The Shire, Rohan, Announcements and Obits in the BD forum.

Forums where the Merisu smilie does not appear with the other smilies: Quiz Room, QQuotes, Mirth, New Silm, Gondor.

Coded conundrum fun, I suspect.

But here's to using the long hand form:



Nope, that doesn't work either for me, at least in Preview Post.

Methinks Thena is pulling my, er, keyboard fingers?

EDIT: In fact, the Merisu smilie does not show up (on my screen) in your post, even when I refresh.

[Thenamir]

I see Merisu's fluttering eyelashes in your post now, Bb. Not sure what the problem might be, but I'll look into it.

EDIT: I would never pull your keyboard fingers -- injuring them would deprive us of your elegant wit and wisdom.

EDIT EDIT: I changed the "list priority" on the smiley to the same number as the others. See if it works now in all the fora.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Thena, I went ahead and posted briefly, since I had a scene with my characters in my mind over the weekend. You'll probably want to carry on after that, since mine occurs directly after the destruction of the island. Should I have ruined anything you wanted to write, please let me know and I'll edit it to suit.

[Thenamir]

Absolutely no problem writing around your post, Esty. I deleted my save and posted after yours. We have now arrived at the next island, but have not yet disembarked. Please let me know if I have committed any intolerably heinous continuity errors...yeah, right.

[The Saucepan Man]

I was wondering how the small goat managed to avoid being eaten for so long ...

Great post Thena. Nice to see Tara in action too. The shark-punching and non-geek dialogue was very much in keeping with what I would expect. Although I am sad to see no mention of her traditional 'marine adventure' skin-tight wet-suit/hot pants combo.

I have put up a save for a post that I have in mind. But it won't involve the Island-Hopping-Ship, so no need to wait for me.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Continuity?

*looks puzzled*

*shrugs*

Whatever that is - REB has no continuity, REB needs no continuity!

Thena, what a fabulus post! You had me laughing all the way - excellent use of Tara as a worthy addition to our little band of questers. I love the way you picked up on that old reference to the Puking Men and used it appropriately here. The painter's name and affliction sound vaguely familiar somehow... and what a fun new name for the ship! Love the geek talk and translations! And the punch line really takes the cake - great idea!

I look forward to your post, Saucy, and of course we need not wait. I'm in the midst of holiday weekend, with all the extra RL activities it involves, so won't be doing any writing till next week. Unless Squatter feels inspired in the meantime, consider the story temporarily becalmed.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

I've used up two posts' worth of ideas. I think I'll just wait and see where Saucepan takes us before I start cudgelling my brains again.

Nice impromptu outboard motor there, Thena. Tara appears to be a useful person to have around, not to mention promising to prove an inexhaustable mine of Terminator references. Salvage laws being what they are, I think that the newly rechristened ship will be something of a hyper-sensitive issue, but enough of such foreshadowing. The joke once spoken can engender no suspense.

[Thenamir]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

And so, anonymously hooded and cloaked, he set off on foot (his horse having been clamped) for the Wight Mountains.

Though I quite understand Esty's sentiments regarding continuity, I found the above statement about Deminthor's horse quite at odds with his earlier statement:

Originally Posted by Denimthor II, REB II

“No cousin of Isildur, however many times removed, has ever required a steed for transportation. You know our motto, ‘A Steeded Steward Shall Soon Succumb to Shadow.’”

Perhaps Denimthor, in his old age, is not quite the Stepper that Orogarn was.

[The Saucepan Man]

But Thena, the motto was, of course, a prophecy. For soon after taking a steed, the Steward did indeed succumb to Shadow ...

[Thenamir]

I am in the midst of re-rereading REB2, in an attempt to format the text into something like a published book in Microsoft Word -- re-arranging the posts for better flow, adding real footnotes rather than end-of-post items, and correcting minor errors. I doubt that CT & Co. will ever let this really be published, but I thought it would be nice to have a copy saved and printed offline to read to my grandkids, should I live that long.

Nevertheless, I found this later quote that makes my former point rather moot:

Originally Posted by Denimthor II

I have changed our motto: “Stewards of Grundor do it on the Porcelain Throne”. So, the whole horse thing is null and void. Look for a steed to follow shortly behind this message.

[Kuruharan]

Oooo...let me know when you finish that!

I have a feeling I will have to extricate Chrysophylax from an embarrassing situation after The Saucepan Man posts.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Thena, you're a brave man to take on a project like that! Of course I'm interested in the result when you have accomplished that Herculean task!

Speaking of mythological persons and happenings, I'm working on a landing post for the second island. This one will not have separate locations for the testing of each character, but one central Bacchanalia. The morning after can bring each character's resolution for future temperance - hopefully more permanent than such morning after resolutions usually tend to be!

In case you're wondering, the females won't be involved in this temptation. Merisu's hormones exempt her from such things - and we wouldn't want her testing the Elven drinking capacity of her future child(ren), would we?! The only other female of the group, Tara, is probably exempt too - unless Thena wants to give her an emotion chip to try out...

This is the island upon which to parody the movie drinking contest between Gimli and Legolas, by the way! I'm sure other similar scenes from books/movies/etc. will occur to you.

[Thenamir]

In REB II all involved will remember our run-in- with Underhill's cameo character, Eryy, son of Tait the Terrible. There is a reference to "two curious sigils" on his steel-mesh tunic, but the picture Unde provided is no longer available. In trying to come up with a replacement, I was struck with the following inspiration, posted for your enjoyment, which I was able to whip up in an hour or so of photoshopping.

EDIT: and while we're on the subject, I have almost finished with all the posts on forum-page 3 (of 8), and formatted in 12pt Times New Roman we're already up to 160+ printed pages of text. At this rate, the finished product will be something over 400 pages.

[Thenamir]

Well, I've finished the first pass of the pseudo-publishable REB II, and it comes out to a staggering 531 pages, not including the table of contents, the foreword (to which I hope all concerned will contribute) and the Prologue (comprised of The Tale of Mogul Bildur, Part I). Anyone interested in receiving a copy via e-mail please PM me. Bear in mind that the Word document is approximately 2.75 MB in size, so make sure you can receive such large attachments.

[The Saucepan Man]

Apologies for the delay in filling my Save. But, as I said, feel free to carry the story on as my proposed post will have no bearing on it just yet.

Originally Posted by Kuru

I have a feeling I will have to extricate Chrysophylax from an embarrassing situation after The Saucepan Man posts.

Actually, I wasn't proposing to address that strand of the story in my post, so please feel free to continue it (indeed, I should be delighted if you would, as I am not exactly sure where to go with Chrys and Denny's current situation).

Originally Posted by Thena

Bear in mind that the Word document is approximately 2.75 MB in size, so make sure you can receive such large attachments.

I would be highly interested. But I think that may be too large for any of my home accounts. Is it possible to split it up?

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Wonderful, Thena! I'll have to check to see if such a large attachment will work for me. Maybe splitting would be a good idea. At any rate, thanks for all the time you put into that project! We did write a pretty big tome there!

Saucy, no problem - nothing's happening right now anyway, so no need to apologize or hurry. I'm assuming the menfolk are too busy carousing to report details of the org- I mean, feast. I hope Thena and Squatter will put in their two cents soon; otherwise, I'll post for my male characters in the next week or two.

[Thenamir]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

I am not exactly sure where to go with Chrys and Denny's current situation

Oh my...I can see where that could open up a whole series of running jokes on the Denny's restaurant chain. For those of you in the *real* world (outside the USA), Denny's is a chain of diners best known for decent and reasonably-priced breakfasts. And notorious for hideous puns in naming some of the entrees. (One particular breakfast sandwich containing ham and two eggs-over-easy is listed on the menu as "Moons Over My Hammy". Ouch.)

And yes, it should be possible to break the narrative into separate "books", as Tolkien did with each volumne of LOTR. Let me know what the max attachment size is for your systems, and I will perform the necessary surgery.

[Kuruharan]

as I am not exactly sure where to go with Chrys and Denny's current situation

I'll see what I can do.

Denny's is a chain of diners best known for decent and reasonably-priced breakfasts.

They've also become known in recent years for slack (indeed, almost non-existant) service. A little over a month ago, I had the worst experience I've ever had in a restaurant at a Denny's.

[Kuruharan]

Wow! Just...Wow!

Amazing work.

Praise Thenamir with great praise!!!

[Thenamir]

I was just proof-reading (for the third time, and still finding mistakes), and I realized something. When I read the part of Grrralph, in my mind I hear the voice of Alan Rickman.

Never...call me 'Lurch.'

[Bêthberry]

Thena, I have a question about the formatting of this massive tome. Did you keep the post titles or were they omitted in order to create more flow in the prose?

Post titles weren't used often, but often enough they were a source of some merriment. Do they remain?

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Kuru, your new post is fabulously funny! The development of Chrysi's reactions from positive to negative is an amusing turn, and the last half of the post is just plain hilarious. Thanks for getting things moving again!

I hope to contribute to the main story line soon, in the hopes that Squatter and Thena will add their characters' point of view of the drinking party - or can't they see from under the table?

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Esty

Kuru, your new post is fabulously funny!

... not to mention a Lovecraftian board gamer's delight.

[Thenamir]

With the exception of entries from "The Very Secret Diary of Falafel", which required the title to explain the abrupt changes in voice and format, I have omitted the post titles in the interest of maintaining a book-ish look to the document. But you're right, Bb, there were some keepers in those titles. I will review the posts and see where I can incorporate them in some consistent fashion.

I believe that I did, in a couple of cases, reference a post title in a chapter title, but the chapter titles are mostly my own inventions.

I have one last round of edits to perform (and post titles to review now, <sigh>) before sending out a draft copy for revisions and corrections to all concerned. I sent out a preliminary review copy to Kuruharan before it was really ready, and will forward a revised copy to him once this round of revisions is complete.

For those who cannot receive 3MB attachments, I will look into the possibility placing a downloadable copy on the Downs website, with access instructions sent privately on request. I want to avoid a mass rush to download copies of this monstrosity which would overtax our bandwidth capabilities.

[Bêthberry]

Oh, dear, I didn't mean to cause you more work, Thena.

I was simply curious about how you handled the editing. Did you try to meld everyone's , er, "style" into a more consistent, um, "tone" or did you leave the ideosyncracies? I've always been able to read a, say, Squatter post as different from, say, a Sauce post.

It is amazing, isn't it, how posts and threads 'translate' into pages. I remember printing out the old Rohan game (because I'm a oldstyle bookie who still found it easier to cross reference and page back in book form) (and besides it is so much fun being able to write marginalia) and was shocked to discover that it was 50 pages long. Fifty pages!

I wonder, would LotR or The Silm have been longer if Tolkien had had a computer to work with? Or would CT have been out of a job?

Hilarious work, Kuru. As I said in the rep, I lurve the dial tone. Now you've got me wondering what kind of ring tone to expect on a REB phone.