The King's Players - Discussion/Planning Thread

[Anguirel]

excellent, o lean and fit one

I too was wondering when we'd start; I saw Lommy's "five or six years", misunderstood and sort of fell off my perch. But it's just a matter of curiosity for me, all times are equally terrible

I don't suppose anyone wants to play my dashing son or son-in-law yet?

[Thinlómien]

NAME: Sereth (most often called Seri)

AGE/GENDER/RACE/WHERE FROM: 12, female, Gondorian

APPEARANCE: Sereth is 5'3'' tall and of slender built. She has a tan, childish face with a turned-up nose and big brown eyes. Her long hair is black and wavy.

BITS OF CHARACTER/HISTORY YOU FEEL MIGHT BE HELPFUL IN DEFINING THE CHARACTER: Sereth was born the bastard daughter of an actress in a small troupe touring in the countryside around Calembel. She grew up living and breathing the theatre atmosphere, and could never even consider doing anything else in her life than theatre.

Three years ago Sereth's mother and the playwright of the troupe died, and soon after the whole troupe dissolved. Sereth stayed with an old actress called Aelin. After a bit of wandering they came across the King's players and managed to convince Brinn that they'd more help than trouble, and so they stayed. One year ago Aelin returned to Calembel to live with her niece because she had become too old for the travelling life, but Sereth stayed with the King's Players and under Brinn's protective wing.

With the King's Players, Sereth is a helping hand where needed - looking after the costumes and wigs, sewing, cooking, cleaning, collecting money from the audience or guiding them, acting child roles etc. She is resourceful and smart and gets along with most people effortlessly. She is dreaming of the day she can do the female lead role on stage, but her biggest ambition is to become a playwright and a director one day.

[Thinlómien]

Mnemo - tell me if anything needs to be changed.

Ang - I'd love to play your nephew but I know I wouldn't do him justice given that my time is very limited and I already have one character.

[the phantom]

Okay- no one has worked out a rough timeline and roadmap for the formation of The King's Players, have they? (The place and time at which each member joined and where and when they've performed?)

If not- here's a bit of stab at it. Please point out to me anything I'm missing and I'll edit the timeline, or discuss how we can work it out (as I actually found backstories of characters that conflicted with each other and we need to settle on just one version).

F.A. 12-
*The father of Brinn & Asta constructs a second Robo-Smaug for Dale's Feast of the Dragon
F.A. 13-
*Brinn, Rollan, and a few friends put on performances in Laketown, Erebor, and other small villages near Dale
F.A. 14-
*Brinn and Rollan marry
*Asta joins the group
F.A. 15-
*Branor joins the group
*The Players perform for the first time in the Iron Hills and in Thranduil's hall
F.A. 16-
*Therian joins The Players
*The Players cross Mirkwood to perform for the Beornings
F.A. 17-
*The Players make their first visit to Minas Anor
*Amdir joins The Players while they're in Minas Anor
F.A. 18-
*Coldan joins the group in Dale
*The Players visit Minas Anor again, and also perform quite a bit in Lossarnach
F.A. 19-
*Harrenon joins The Players during their third trip to Minas Anor
*The Players hit Lossarnach again, and Lamedon for the first time
*While in Lamedon they are joined by Sereth and Aelin
F.A. 20-
*The Players visit Minas Anor for the fourth straight year
*Aelin leaves the troop
*The Players go to Dol Amroth for the first time and have run-ins with The Swan Players and its members
*Aldarion defects from The Swan Players and travels with the group to tour in Rohan
F.A. 21-
*After performances back home in Dale and for the Beornings and Rohirrim, the group makes their fifth trip to Minas Anor's Cormare celebrations

TYPICAL OR PREFERRED ROLES IN GENERAL
Brinn- minor roles if necessary (manager, props, effects, etc)
Asta- minor roles if necessary (mechanical, costumes, props, etc)
Rollan- comic roles
Branor- major roles, primarily dramatic
Therian- prefers warriors & kings, but always plays ladies
Amdir- minor roles if necessary (set design, construction, etc)
Coldan- minor roles (prompting)
Harrenon- semi-minor roles, usually young
Sereth- child/youth roles
Aldarion- dramatic, tortured soul, romantic lead (playwright)

ROLES IN WAR OF THE RING DRAMA
(Mistakes purposeful- we have some serious correction to make before the performance!)
Brinn- random Hobbits, Orcs, Soldiers, Sorceress of Lothlorien
Asta- Mary the Elf of Rivendell, Gollum the Orc
Rollan- Saruman the dementia suffering wizard, Denethor Steward of Gondor
Branor- Aragorn the returning King of Gondor
Therian- Eowyn, random Orcs, Soldiers
Amdir- Pippin the Hobbit Prince
Coldan- Gimli the Dwarf, Sam the Hobbit servant
Harrenon- Legolas the Elf
Sereth- Frodo the Warrior Hobbit
Aldarion- Boromir prince of Gondor, the evil King Butterbur

[Dimturiel]

I was wondering about something: I imagine the troupe hasn't been performing the same play all this time since it's been founded, right? And if so, is the play being performed for the first time in Minas Anor? And do the actors know already what characters they're suposed to be playing?
The timeline looks good, by the way, but then again maybe I shouldn't be the one to talk since I'm quite aware that I've provided a very sketchy and maybe even a bit unhelpful bio.
Oh, and whenever we decide to start is fine with me, my schedule does not change from week to week

[Anguirel]

actually I've had a thought that requires a deal with the Force of Darkness himself...phantom, could Amlach, your friend and professional rival, be married to Cirdacil's daughter?

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by the phantom

F.A. 15-
*Branor joins the group
*The Players perform for the first time in the Iron Hills and in Thranduil's hall

Although it is often difficult to tell where the early Mnemonic scholar (dubbed "the phantom" in popular contemporary accounts) gets his information, his reconstruction of the Dale King's Players performance history gives us a rare glimpse into his sources, a fascinating suggestion of the dramatisation that surrounded dramatists themselves in the early 4th Age.

More recent scholars have debated the possibility that the Dale King's Players ever performed in the Iron Hills, as no Dwarven manuscript from the 3rd Age or the first five centuries of the 4th ever attests to dramatic performances being held in Dwarven environs*. However, the majority of scholars think it is quite possible that the Dale King's Players would have played in the Iron Hills, since their is ample evidence of close collaboration with the Dwarves of Erebor in their early years. Dwarven craft is universally held to be the source of the Players' "Smaug" and other early mechanical effects, and the close, even symbiotic relationship of the Dwarf-realm to the Mannish realm of Dale is well-attested, and has parallels throughout Dwarven history**. Given that the Iron Hills were a major centre of Dwarven activity (the chief settlement of Longbeards at that time outside Erebor itself), and probably had its own closely related Mannish ally in kinfolk of the Dalemen who dwelt farther down the Carnen (perhaps also related to the little-studied Kingdom of Dorwinion), it seems that the Iron Hills would have been a logical first place to travel away from Dale.

Greenwood the Great, however, is another case, and although a few scholars believe "the phantom's" chronology in this respect, comparison with other historical records suggests that this is highly unlikely. Although the Red Book indicates there was trade between Thranduil's people and the Lakemen, this trade does not seem to have extended to full-fledged cultural cross-pollination. Indeed, apart from venturing out in the hopes of claiming Smaug's treasures, a situation that led to the Elvish presence at the Battle of Five Armies, we do not see the Elves of Greenwood taking an a strong interest in the doings of the Men of Dale. During the War of the Ring, Thranduil's people were focused on the threat of Dol Guldûr, while the Men of Dale, together with the Longbeards of Erebor, faced invasion from Easterlings.

Furthermore, apart from a temporary situation in Gondor, where Legolas son of Thranduil started a short-lived colony in Ithilien, little about the early 4th Age suggests that the millennia-long situation of Elves and Men having less to do with each other as the years passed ever changed. While the Elves of Rivendell, the last Noldorin presence in Middle-earth, were open and welcoming, and indeed closely partnered with their local Mannish communities (the Rangers of Arthedain, and to a lesser extent the Woodmen and Beornings over the mountains), this model was not as true of the Sindar/Nandorin-dominant communities of the Grey Havens, and certainly not in the Sindar/Sylvan communities (which also seem to have had strong Avarin influences) of Lórien and Greenwood (although it is to be admitted that Greenwood was less closed off than Lórien, nonetheless that was the model Thranduil's realm followed).

Furthermore, the close relationship of Dale and Erebor makes it even more unlikely that Men of Dale would have been visiting Thranduil's halls. Although relationships between the Elves and Dwarves were not marked with quarrels in the known accounts of the 4th Age, the historic grudges borne between these two peoples would still have been present, and even the stellar example of Legolas son of Thranduil and Gimli son of Glóin would not have reversed this aversion completely--indeed, it is noteworthy that both these personages moved with colonies to lands far beyond the influence of Erebor and Greenwood.

What is most likely, according to F. Ormen Dacil, is that "the phantom" derives his information about the Dale King's Players performing in Greenwood from the promotional literature being put out in their later career in Gondor (about the time that Andarion of Dol Amroth joined their company--approx. F.A. 20). Since this promotional literature was produced for a Gondorian audience, it was most likely composed by a newer member native to Gondor, who would not have been present in the earlier travels. In promoting the Players as a respectable troupe, it is possible that their résumé was padded by suggesting more kings and courts before whom they had played. In reconstructing his chronology, "the phantom" probably used near-contemporary accounts derived from this promotional, but exaggerated literature, offering us a fascinating glimpse into the "no holds barred," competitive world of drama in early 4th Age Gondor.




* Actually, recent excavations in Moria may suggest otherwise, as tombs previously believed to belong to 2nd Age Dwarven dramatists connected with the Elven kingdom of Eregion (where the theatrical arts flourished best in western Middle-earth in the 2nd Age) may include later burials from the Guild of Playwrights--as late as the first couple centuries of the 3rd Age. However, this is not pertinent to turn-of-the-4th Age discussions of the Iron Hills.

**Cf. the essay "Of Dwarves and Men," by pre-eminent scholar J.R.R. Tolkien (HoME XII, The Peoples of Middle-earth).

[the phantom]

Form- I can understand why seventh age scholars would reach that conclusion only having a single line to work with ("The Players perform for the first time in the Iron Hills and in Thranduil's hall"). But the troop has a story behind the performance that they tell....

Aldarion only heard the tale once, but later in his memoirs he could still remember the gist of it. There was a group of Elves down in Laketown to discuss some details of river trade and the like when The King's Players rolled through to perform their Smaug drama. When they heard some Elves would be in attendance they seized the opportunity and enlarged the part of Thranduil to epic proportions. The Elves naturally knew it was complete bunk (especially the bit where Thranduil rode upon Smaug's head), but it amused them somewhat, and they thought that their lord would be especially tickled by the performance, and so their leader extended an invitation to the troop to come and perform at the upcoming Autumn festival.

Now, the reception their performance(s) received in Mirkwood is certainly debatable (note that they never performed there again), but the discovery of Aldarion's writings surely adds some amount of believability to the claim.

Originally Posted by Dim

And do the actors know already what characters they're suposed to be playing?

That's something we'll need to settle soon. But first we need to be certain about who all is actually acting in this troop. These are the ones I know about-
Brinn, Asta, Rollan, Branor, Therian, Amdir, Harrenon, Sereth, Aldarion

Are there any other actors/actresses that have been introduced that I missed? Are there going to be any more (more Downers joining that you know of) or do we need to have more (create some members to be controlled by those already playing)?

Originally Posted by Ang

Phantom, could Amlach, your friend and professional rival, be married to Cirdacil's daughter?

Well, I don't see why not. He's the same age as me, he's from Dol Amroth, his father is the director/manager of The Swan Players, and his sister is also a member. So long as that all fits, go ahead.

[the phantom]

Okay, I made a couple of changes to this post. I now have included a list of the known players and their typical type of role and the role they currently own in the LotR drama. I'd say we could perhaps use a couple more players (either real Downer controlled ones or side ones controlled by one of us, such as Brinn's husband controlled by Mnemo).

Just like with the timeline, please tell me if my label of your character just doesn't work.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Therian actually would rather have almost any role but that of a warrior woman. His ideal role is Theoden, so under preferred roles, maybe 'kings and famous warriors'? And perhaps the reason why he's saddled with Eowyn's part is because in some way he irritated the playwright a few too many times?

[the phantom]

Well then, I would say that Therian should definitely have a word with Aldarion then, because he's under the impression that warrior women is Therian's preferred role seeing as when he joined the group Therian was cast as such in nearly every play Aldarion took to edit.

Hmmmm.... Perhaps Therian's attitude towards women in theater led to Brinn and Asta purposefully putting him as a woman in all the plays? So if you go around their backs and try to get Aldarion to rewrite you... Suppose that would cause problems? We can always find out.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by the phantom

Well then, I would say that Therian should definitely have a word with Aldarion then, because he's under the impression that warrior women is Therian's preferred role seeing as when he joined the group Therian was cast as such in nearly every play Aldarion took to edit.

Hmmmm.... Perhaps Therian's attitude towards women in theater led to Brinn and Asta purposefully putting him as a woman in all the plays? So if you go around their backs and try to get Aldarion to rewrite you... Suppose that would cause problems? We can always find out.

We can indeed...

[Mnemosyne]

the phantom, thanks for your timeline. Formendacil, thanks for your exegesis. Everyone, thanks for your feedback.

Due to the feedback on a starting date, and due to my own busy-ness on that Monday--

The King's Players will be starting on Tuesday, March 8.

That gives us five days to work up our wrong script to whatever level of detail we want, and, more importantly, decide whether we're playing in real-time or half-time. I need people's thoughts on this matter so that we can come to some kind of a consensus.

What I am thinking for the first two days of in-game time:

Day One: The Players arrive in Minas Tirith. We learn that the pheriannath are present. One of the party (who?) encounters Elanor (or if someone wants it to be Sam or Rose, that'll work, too) during the day. During the night, we do a dry-run rehearsal of the War of the Ring play.

Day Two: Early in the morning, a messenger shows up letting us know that the Court is attending our performance on Cormare. The Plot develops from there.

[Boromir88]

I would prefer doing the full-days, since right now I'm more able to contribute in the mornings and afternoons, and less so at night.

As far as my general idea for Branor. I don't know how 'redeeming' he'll end up yet, that's going to probably be a spontaneous 'let's see what happens' thing. However, he will have likable qualities once you get passed the arrogance business. The big one being, he can put any back-stage disputes out of his mind, while performing and always does his best out of love for the play (but this also means he always likes to think himself the star, even if he's not). He's just one of those guys that doesn't let back-stage shenanigans contribute to the success (or failure) of the performance.

[Pitchwife]

Commendable research and scholarship, phantom and Form! *applauds*
I suppose during the years when the Players started to tour abroad and play in Minas Anor, they also continued to perform in Dale & surroundings, right? Because that's where Coldan met & joined them, which I imagine happened around F.A. 17 or 18 (probably not later, as they seem to have been quite busy extensively touring in Gondor and Rohan from F.A. 19 onwards).

Anyway, since Coldan is, after all, a member of the troupe, I'll do my best to post at least once a D/day. I probably won't have time on Tuesday the 8th (this being my wife's birthday), but from Wednesday on there should be no problem.

phantom's assignment of roles looks good to me, especially this:

Originally Posted by the phantom

Aldarion- dramatic, tortured soul, romantic lead
[...]
Aldarion- Boromir prince of Gondor

Do the wave for Aldarion the disco king and Therian the disco queen?

Only a few minor quibbles:

Originally Posted by tp

Amdir- minor roles if necessary (set design, construction, etc)
[...]
Amdir- Pippin the Hobbit Prince

Come on, you can't make the Ernil i Pheriannath a minor role! Didn't he lead a whole host of five thousand halfling warriers to the Pelennor, one of them riding with every Rider of Rohan? Or so I've heard...

Originally Posted by tp

Aldarion- Boromir prince of Gondor, the evil King Butterbur

Lovely idea to recast old Barley as the Dark Lord, but somehow I doubt that any of our sources has heard so much as his name.
And I notice we have nobody cast as Gandalf/Mithrandir. Now while it would be quite consistent for us to be totally ignorant of the part he played in the War of the Ring, he was a prominent and well-known figure both around Dale/Erebor and in Gondor, so I don't see how we could have failed to include him in the play.

Concerning our script, how about including some of the plot ideas the Prof considered in his early drafts but rejected later, such as:

• Frodo gets captured by evil!giant Treebeard (who is in league with Saruman) at some stage of the quest;
• Boromir isn't slain at Parth Galen but survives to duel Aragorn for the throne of Gondor (ok, probably not, as somebody from our Minas Anor audience would likely have corrected us about that already, or what do you think?);
• ...(can't remember any more at the moment and don't have the pertinent HoME volumes to look up, but I'll try to wring my memory over the weekend.)

[the phantom]

Ah, sorry Pitch- I completely left out your character! I was going off of the first post of the thread (the one with the links to various characters) and yours wasn't on there so I didn't get it. I'll do something about it later today.

[Pitchwife]

No worry, phantom, my vanity was hurt just the tiniest of bits.
On further consideration, "Vat's up with zis Frodo fellow I've heard folks here in Gondor mention? I zought ze halfling who burned down Barad-dûr vas ze same as stole zat magic ring from Smaug's hoard - vasn't his name Bingo or Dildo or some such? Unless of course it vas ze Ernil i Pheriannath himself..."

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

On further consideration, "Vat's up with zis Frodo fellow I've heard folks here in Gondor mention? I zought ze halfling who burned down Barad-dûr vas ze same as stole zat magic ring from Smaug's hoard - vasn't his name Bingo or Dildo or some such? Unless of course it vas ze Ernil i Pheriannath himself..."

Channeling "Eorache" from Bored of the Rings?

I'm not quite sure yet where Vëandur's going to make his entrance. I think I'll just look at how things start to play out and take it from there.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Channeling "Eorache" from Bored of the Rings?

"Vat do you mean, ve have a funny vay of pronouncing ze Vyestron in Dorvinion? *mutters* Arrogant Númenórean suprematists..."
Actually, I imagined Coldan's accent to sound somewhat like Star Trek's Chekov. "Keptin, ze Ringvraiths are penetrating ze Rammas Echor!" (The German sync speaker in Star Trek 2009 had the awesomest fake Russian accent I've ever heard, palatalized vowels and all. [/OT])

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I'm not quite sure yet where Vëandur's going to make his entrance. I think I'll just look at how things start to play out and take it from there.

Spontaneous idea which may not appeal to you and I don't know what Ang thinks of it, but couldn't Vëandur be Cirdacil's nephew or something? I mean, with Cirdacil originally being a merchant, he could have a younger brother who went to sea, couldn't he?

phantom, I think Coldan is beyond himself with pride to be cast as Gimli - usually, he only gets roles with little stage presence and next to no text (think of characters like Ceorl or Hirgon in the book), having to hide behind the sets and prompt most of the time. But I suppose Gimli's part in the play - which must originally have been quite substantial in order to please our Dwarven fans back home and would have been played by someone else then - was cut a lot when Aldarion adapted the play to suit Gondorian taste?

[the phantom]

Okay, so I decided to make some lists here. As we discuss and add more, I can edit in the changes and we can use the post as a reference point.

sources of The King's Players information

• a couple dwarves from the Lonely Mt that heard stories from other dwarves who heard things from Gimli
• men of Laketown that heard stories from Elves of Mirkwood who heard stories from Legolas
• farmers & such from Gondor & Rohan that saw/heard things here and there
• a pair of travelers from Bree they met in Minas Tirith during their first visit

I don't think it would be difficult for us to have received awful information about the story and characters, if we consider that many of the people wishing to tell tales were lying drunkards, or perhaps just inventing scoundrels looking to get a free meal. Plus I think some of us might be prone to believe the most fantastical/interesting stuff we hear given that the events were so big and the stakes high, not to mention as actors we'd want the story to be crazy.

some possibilities for The King's Players version of The Lord of the Rings

• Gandalf shows up mysteriously at random moments, doesn't say much, and is just sort of around behind the scenes (role played by several people in heavy costume & makeup).
• Whoever heard about Merry mistakenly thought "Mary" and after that the group filled in blanks with the assumption Merry was a lady. The thought that "she" is an Elf stemmed largely from "her" ability to speak to the trees (Fangorn). It was later decided to make "Mary" a love interest for Boromir, which added nicely to his death defending "her".
• Gollum is an orc. After all, he's an evil creature that knew his way around Mordor. What else could he be?
• From what we've heard, we know that the Hobbits ran into lots of trouble up around Bree, and we know that Aragorn helped them get out of Bree alive. Regarding their near deaths, we heard that the attempted murder was while staying with Butterbur (who must've been some sort of ruler if he had dozens of guest rooms), and that he had their ponies stolen, and that Butterbur was an evil man. (The travelers from Bree the King's Players met were full of crap and had a grudge against Barliman.)
• Frodo was a mighty warrior and a bit of a wizard too. He did fight Sauron after all- what else could he have been?
• Since we believe Sam to have been a somewhat stupid and unimportant servant, we decided to have him die earlier in the tale to add some drama (somewhere between the Shire and Rivendell). Imagine our surprise when we find out the visiting Hobbit-Mayor is Sam!

[Mnemosyne]

Sorry about not adding Pitch to the character list--I was holding off because I didn't know what list to put him in, and rather than do the sensible thing and add him to the minor one for now, I had quite forgotten...

I was going to suggest that we had forgotten that Sam existed entirely!!

And I will put in a second plug for Frodo going to Barad-dur to challenge Sauron to single combat, since that's pure canon.

Also, if we're still looking at aborted plots for ideas, I would love it if we had a Trotter...

I'm going to try to get a First Post up on this thread tomorrow so we all have a general idea of when and where the game is officially starting.

Oh, and this is now officially morphing into the Discussion Thread as well as the Planning thread.

[the phantom]

I was going to suggest that we had forgotten that Sam existed entirely!!

That's fine with me. I can change it if you'd like.

And I will put in a second plug for Frodo going to Barad-dur to challenge Sauron to single combat, since that's pure canon.

Oh, definitely. And as far as Saruman's character description, that's due to what you said about Brinn's husband wanted to play comic roles- I figured Saruman had some comic potential if we portrayed him as a rather ineffective crazy wizard. He couldn't have been very powerful after all, as the rumor is he and his works were ended by some walking plants.

Originally Posted by Pitch

But I suppose Gimli's part in the play - which must originally have been quite substantial in order to please our Dwarven fans back home and would have been played by someone else then - was cut a lot when Aldarion adapted the play to suit Gondorian taste?

Yes, I think that would be appropriate.

And what do you guys think about Lothlorien? How should we portray it and Galadriel?

[Boromir88]

Originally Posted by the phantom

And what do you guys think about Lothlorien? How should we portray it and Galadriel?

If we want an insanely twisted romance plot, Branor's Aragorn would totally have the hots for Galadriel. A powerful beautiful elf-lady, who gives Aragorn gifts, as opposed to the sappy elf-maiden he's supposed to shack up with....

Of course it might be one-sided, as he attempts to court Galadriel, but Branor's Aragorn does not want to be with Arwen. No way. (Edit: Oh wow, and I just realized the whole grandma thing, that may be tooooo messed up)

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by the phantom

And what do you guys think about Lothlorien? How should we portray it and Galadriel?

In keeping with Boromir's feeling about the Golden Wood, as corroborated by the Rohirrim generally, I think something of a "Midsummer Night's Dream" take might be appropriate. In that case, perhaps Galadriel should be modelled on Titania and Celeborn on Oberon?

In which case is Legolas a Puck who has gone along with our "human heroes" ? :-p

[Anguirel]

ha good one Formendacil. I was thinking along similar lines but via Spenser not Shakespeare (note last line of my character's profile)

Inziladun and Pitchwife, I'm definitely open to having a sailor cousin (whom the newly minted Lord would be quite ashamed of)...might be a bit coincidental that my character just happens to intersect with Veandur and Amlach from Aldarion's cast though? reckon we should have one such link and not the other?

[Galadriel55]

Galadriel is of course a powerful witch, and all witches are bad. She tries to stop the fellowship (it was her that sent the dragon to the mountains, but he was defeated by Gandalf), but then orcs come (randomly) from the Misty Mountains and assail Lorien and the fellowship. Boromir is killed. The orcs are driven off. Galadriel humbles herself and helps them.

Something to echo the Battle of Five Armies, which men of Dale will be more familiar with.

And... just sayin'. Yeah. No need to change the scenario if this is a stupid idea.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Anguirel

Inziladun and Pitchwife, I'm definitely open to having a sailor cousin (whom the newly minted Lord would be quite ashamed of)...might be a bit coincidental that my character just happens to intersect with Veandur and Amlach from Aldarion's cast though? reckon we should have one such link and not the other?

Well, I'm fine with the kinship, and maybe the double link would still work out, as I'm thinking Vëandur has been to Minas Anor on several occasions, but never when the King's Players were in town. As a matter of fact, I don't think he really knows what to expect from a "play". He might be looking for a stiff, reverential, "historical" drama.

And phantom, I think it's neat that Aldarion and Vëandur have such similar backgrounds and yet took completely different paths. Might be an opportunity for some drama between them, at some point?

[Dimturiel]

So Harrenon's ended up with the role of Legolas, eh? Nice, that's a character that leaves a lot of room for exaggeration ("Well, of course he could shoot ten orcs with a single arrow and of course he could fly over snow. What do you mean it's absurd? He's an Elf. Don't Elves always do that?")

If we want an insanely twisted romance plot, Branor's Aragorn would totally have the hots for Galadriel. A powerful beautiful elf-lady, who gives Aragorn gifts, as opposed to the sappy elf-maiden he's supposed to shack up with.

Ouch. Imagine the look on Aragorn and Arwen's faces if they saw something like that in the play

Of course it might be one-sided, as he attempts to court Galadriel, but Branor's Aragorn does not want to be with Arwen. No way.

Double ouch. I don't suppose those of Gondor had something like the death penalty, but I think they might have just made an exception with the King's Players after seeing such a story unfold.

[the phantom]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Galadriel is of course a powerful witch, and all witches are bad. She tries to stop the fellowship

Actually, that bit would totally fit with what typical residents of Gondor and Rohan and such thought, wouldn't it? I can easily imagine the players initially writing in the Sorceress of the Golden Wood as a force opposed to the quest that ensnares the fellowship. There could be a great escape sequence, yes? But we could maintain some sort of romantic undercurrent if we want, with the enchantress trying to weave spells of seduction about Aragorn (or if need be someone else or perhaps several fellowship members).

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by the phantom

But we could maintain some sort of romantic undercurrent if we want, with the enchantress trying to weave spells of seduction about Aragorn (or if need be someone else or perhaps several fellowship members).

Like Gimli?

[Mnemosyne]

Originally Posted by the phantom

Actually, that bit would totally fit with what typical residents of Gondor and Rohan and such thought, wouldn't it? I can easily imagine the players initially writing in the Sorceress of the Golden Wood as a force opposed to the quest that ensnares the fellowship. There could be a great escape sequence, yes? But we could maintain some sort of romantic undercurrent if we want, with the enchantress trying to weave spells of seduction about Aragorn (or if need be someone else or perhaps several fellowship members).

We could turn the entire "testing" sequence into a dream-dance, featuring comely lasses (or lads, if we're going with Merry) of each member's various race (the Gimli/Dwarfette would be played for pure laughs)... but I don't think we have enough Players to pull that one off.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Mnemo

I was going to suggest that we had forgotten that Sam existed entirely!!

Absolutely plausible, I think. Self-effacingly devoted to Mr Frodo as he is, he probably won't even mind being left out that much, but we shouldn't expect Rosie and Elanor to be as lenient with us.

Originally Posted by Form

In keeping with Boromir's feeling about the Golden Wood, as corroborated by the Rohirrim generally, I think something of a "Midsummer Night's Dream" take might be appropriate. In that case, perhaps Galadriel should be modelled on Titania and Celeborn on Oberon?

I like this a lot. For maximal comedy, Gimli as Bottom.

Originally Posted by Form

In which case is Legolas a Puck who has gone along with our "human heroes" ? :-p

Nice idea, but wouldn't Brinn and the other Dale people at least have an idea who he is?

Originally Posted by G55

Galadriel is of course a powerful witch, and all witches are bad. She tries to stop the fellowship

Not bad either, and like phantom already said, it fits her reputation in Gondor. Couldn't we combine this with Form's idea somehow? Like, I dont't know, maybe she isn't evil but tried to stop them because Celeborn/Oberon enchanted her to fall in love with Gimli/Bottom and she wanted to keep him, so the others had to break the spell somehow. But maybe this would over-complicate our plot?

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

If we Players have offended, think but this, and all is mended...

[the phantom]

As far as Celeborn, he may have to be left out. For one, I believe it was the Lady of the Golden Wood that was more commonly known anyway, and then also we are limited by the number of actors and actresses we have.

(Mnemo- for now I edited you in as Galadriel on the role list, as you were pretty much the only choice.)

[Mnemosyne]

Sounds fine to me, phantom.

Due to people's various commitments across different times of day, and since not too many others have spoken about it, let's make this Half Time--i.e., the first 24 hours of play or so (I don't want to be so precise as to have a set deadline, especially with time zones) will take up from midnight till noon; the next 24 from noon till midnight, of the first day. That'll give the Players one week to get their act together (pun intended), and should make for a much more hectic situation. If anyone objects, speak now or forever hold your peace.

In the meantime, here's a tentative first post. I have probably messed up my harvest times and Sereth. Lommy, I hope you don't mind my having borrowed her, and let me know what I need to do, if anything, to fix her.

I'll post some notes later on stuff that should be useful to the RPer--the Gondorian time-keeping system (this first post is at about 8:00 a.m.)



Yavannie 24, F.A. 21

A sudden gust of wind brought the sound of two faint bell-strokes to Brinn's ears, as she walked alongside the painted waggon. That was good, then--she was a terrible judge of distance when it came to big cities nestled in the mountains, but surely they were close if they could hear the bells of Minas Anor. The lands of the Pelennor smelled ripe with harvest--fruit from the orchards, bleached barleycorn, punctuated with whiffs of the Anduin itself. Behind and before them were the carts of merchants and farmers for the markets in the first few circles of the City, laden with casks of wine and oil from the Emyn Arnen. Every so often they were passed by one of these, for they were in no real hurry, and the mules that pulled their carts were not meant for speed. A few of the folk stared at the lettering on the sides, recently repainted in the style of letters that Gondor seemed to favor--

The King's Players!

Tales of Joy!

Tales of Woe!

Tales of Derring-Do!

feat. the Finest Dwarven-made Mechanicals you ever did see, so true-to-life you'll jump out of your seat

Not that that last bit was entirely true, but Father wasn't there to see it and Asta hadn't complained yet. It drew more people, anyhow.

"Hear that, Rollan?" she called up to the man driving the first cart.

"Loud and clear, my love," Rollan called back. "Maybe we'll actually have time to settle before we rehearse tonight!"

"Ah, wouldn't that be a lovely change of pace?"

"'Course, now that I've said something, and knowing our luck--"

"Don't say anything further, then!" said Brinn, laughing. "I'd like this to be a peaceful run, thanks, maybe pull in enough money that we can take a holiday for a couple of weeks."

"Well, Cormare always brings in plenty, from all over. Don't reckon those merchants that just passed us could make a profit on silk otherwise. Have you got everything ready to get in the city?"

"I think so," said Brinn. She looked down at her dress, which was rather more respectable than most of their costumes--just right to make the first impression. And she had run over in her mind the exact location of the inn-yard where they would be staying, and the innkeeper's name, and the official she always spoke to when they needed that particular market square that was right along one of the main streets, and she had the papers...

The papers.

They were still in the cart. "Half a minute!" she cried, and climbed up the steps in back of the cart to get inside. There, sitting on the trunk where the papers were, squished among racks of costumes and crates of props, was a maiden of about twelve years, reading over a script.

"Seri, dear," said Brinn, "why don't you come outside? The light's much better out there."

It took the child a moment to realize she was being spoken to. She put down the script and looked up. "Do you think I'll make a good Frodo the Warrior Halfling?"

"Well, the audience loved you last year--I don't see why not."

"I'm taller this year."

"The better to charge the gates of the Dark Tower with, then. Do stand up; I need to get our papers out of that chest."

Sereth complied, and Brinn opened the chest. On top were the papers they had procured last year, authorizing and easing their return to the White City to perform for the Ring-Day festival. "Thank you," said Brinn. "Now, come outside and take the air with me."

Sereth did so, leaving the script behind, and immediately began launching into a dramatic recitation of her cues and lines. So passed the next half-hour, until they reached the great and majestic mithril gates of Minas Anor.

Brinn made a full courtesy to the guard on duty and presented her papers. "I am Mistress Celebrindal," she said, "of the King's Players, requesting admittance to the City to prepare and perform our annual play for the Cormare celebration."

The guard looked through the papers, and nodded. "You may enter," he said.

"Thank you." Brinn nodded and waved at Rollan, who started the line of carts on their way into the city.

"You should have a fine attendance this year," said the guard, as the waggons passed through. "The preparations for Cormare this year have been twice as splendid as any year I can recall, on account of the King's special guests."

"I am sorry," said Brinn, "but we are a travelling group and were not aware of any special guests. Who might these be?"

"Why, the pheriannath, of course! I am certain you'll see them some time while you are here, for the people love to see them--the lord Samwise, and his wife, and his daughter, who is a lady in waiting to our beloved Queen. And since it has been many years since we have had those people to whom we owe so much in our midst, everyone wants to make the celebration this year especially grand. Your show, no doubt, will be a boon to our City."

Brinn thanked him for his kind words--he was a younger sort and not half as dour as so many of Gondor's men were--but she could not help but feel a little troubled. Halflings belonged in the Breelands, or beyond, in the Shire, not in Gondor! What in heaven's name could they be doing here?

[Pitchwife]

Lovely first post, Mnemo! I'm getting first tinglings of stage fright already...

Originally Posted by Mnemo

I have probably messed up my harvest times

Well, in most of Europe barley and other grain would have been harvested in July/August, but with Gondor's southern climate, I suppose they could have one harvest in late spring and a second one in autumn, so no prob, I think.
Here's a nice article on the agricultural year, and another one here.

While I'm at it, some links about medieval/renaissance theatre which may be helpful (should have posted these way earlier):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_theatre
http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/medieval.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English...ssance_theatre

For historical background, I've discovered an old Downs thread about the political situation in and around Fourth Age Gondor which may be of interest to some of you.

[the phantom]

Just so everyone knows, pretty much every hour of the next three days is owned by a paper, test, or work. There's a slight possibility I'll be able to look in on the thread early this evening, and I may also get a chance late Wednesday afternoon, but don't count on anything from me until Thursday.

[Mnemosyne]

Thanks for the links, Pitch! I'm going to include some general resources in the beginning of this thread, under the character sheets. If anyone else has any good resource ideas, go ahead and post away!

First post will be going up in about 3 hours because that will be midnight EST.

Also, all character sheets that haven't been linked will be linked as "minor characters," even if the people who play them are going to try to post regularly and often.



JUST BECAUSE THE GAME HAS STARTED DOES NOT MEAN THAT NEW PEOPLE (or old people) CAN'T WHIP UP A NEW (or another) CHARACTER TO JOIN!

[Boromir88]

Writing post now, but wanted to tell everyone I'm making a slight adjustment to Branor's character sheet.

He will not have a stage name, instead he rarely ever gets out of character. So, have fun with Branor acting like Aragorn most of the time...erm or, how Branor thinks Aragorn would act.

[piosenniel]

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