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#3921 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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A few points about this harsh winter.
It's the Fourth Age, the age of humans. No dark lord is to blame for it. There is no human caused reason for a harsh winter, the technology is not available. It can only come about by natural causes. Historically, harsh winters were caused by volcanic explosions. Krakatoa comes to mind; so, to my mind, and would have to be our template. If so, then the winter would not be limited to winter months, but would, depending upon the size of the volcanic eruption, last well into spring, maybe have started the previous summer, and could within reason last longer than a year. Thus, starvation would be the killer, and frostbite might or might not be an issue. All that would be needed is for temperatures to remain below that necessary for crops to grow. This means that the sun would be dimmed and ash would have filled the sky for long periods, and would rain down on everything. If we want a truly harsh winter, this seems like the only way to have it happen. Otherwise, all we could really, reasonably conjecture would be a tough winter that would not entail frostbite, starvation, or anything severe. The only alternative to this would be a mini-ice age, which lasts centuries; I don't think we want to go there. |
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#3922 |
Flame of the Ainulindalë
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I'd say it should be you lmp.
I'd be both ready and willing to take a rear-seat once again as my work seems to be a bit erratic or unpredictable aka. I might have shorter and also longer periods when I'm unable to contribute not to talk of taking care of things. That was one of the reasons I wished to write lord Athanar off from the story leaving myself only Stigend and (half of) Cnebba. I might take something like a co-facilitator's role though, at least in the beginning as I kind of feel it to be my duty to help the new Hall getting started as smoothly as possible. Also, if you writers wish / agree on it, I might think of starting to develop those local lords and their stories, possibly then intertwining them with the future of the Mead Hall.
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#3923 | |
Flame of the Ainulindalë
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Agreed on not wishing to have a mini ice-age... let's keep this within some boundaries.
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Like let's say the spring (one year before we start the writing) was just very late. This kind of things happen every now and then. And when people finally got into sowing there was a sudden "back-winter" like we call it here in Finland killing all the crops. So they'd have very thin supplies for the next winter (maybe they managed to grow little something during the late summer) - which would then turn out to be a lot more severe winters are normally. Also those things just happen to happen every now and then. I remember in late 80's there was a winter in Finland when the temperature stayed below -30C for over two months (-22F). So the unhappy combination of frostbited crops in the summer and severe winter would produce enough hardship - people who are not well nourished tend to be weaker against extreme cold as well. And they would have fex. needed to have made a dramatic decision whether to eat their (already very low supplies of) seed grain during the winter to survive...
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#3924 |
Blossom of Dwimordene
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The realm of forgotten words
Posts: 10,359
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I agree that we don't even need a volcanic eruption, just a chain of unfortunate events. A late spring frost that killed half the crops (is that the "back-winter"? We call it "freezeover" in Russian
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#3925 |
Desultory Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat.....
Posts: 7,779
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If you all are wishing for me to do a quick-link type of post on the new RPG Discussion thread (like this one in Scarburg Mead Hall Discussion thread) - please do make sure all your character edits go into your original character bio posts - links for the Scarburg players/characters are found HERE.
Any new character bios should be placed on the new, So Far Unnamed RPG Discussion Thread - HERE
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Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside. Last edited by piosenniel; 05-21-2015 at 01:38 PM. |
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#3926 |
A Voice That Gainsayeth
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: In that far land beyond the Sea
Posts: 7,431
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I also think you let yourself overreact to the words "Fell winter", Lmp
![]() What Nog and especially G55 said was exactly what I was imagining (although Rohan I daresay can't be compared to Finland, but evil winters can come also elsewhere. I'd compare Rohan perhaps to Ukraine, lot of it actually is similar in terms of climate, vegetation, and surrounding biotopes, with perhaps the difference that Rohan is even more land-locked, which makes the climate less mild. Imagine, you get mostly eastern winds from the desert-ish lands beyond Anduin, and they get stopped by Misty Mountains, and if you get a dry summer and, by unfortunate accident, a very early dry frost, you're in for a bad start. Anyway, point being, a bad winter in such area is imaginable, and let us bear in mind we don't probably have amazingly extensive farming). I'd actually be for G55s account being used as the real explanation, as that sums up a nice chain of events that might have caused the main problem: bad harvest, early frosts, some snowstorms for isolation, heŗe we go.
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"Should the story say 'he ate bread,' the dramatic producer can only show 'a piece of bread' according to his taste or fancy, but the hearer of the story will think of bread in general and picture it in some form of his own." -On Fairy-Stories |
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#3927 |
Flame of the Ainulindalë
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Anything you want to know about different kinds of winters and phenomena they might bring forward, just ask a Russian or a Finn...
![]() What g55 said actuallly got me into thinking. Let's say the heavens give 1½ to 2 meters of snow. So without engine-powered modern snowplows it would be basically impossible to get anywhere, well at least without skis or snowshoes. If the woods were something like less than a mile away it might be possible - with a couple of days of hard labor - to shovel a path and get fresh wood (which actually is pretty bad for burning: normally you'd have to dry the wood after cutting it for a year or two before using it, but the supplies of dry wood would most certainly run short). But to shovel a riding path farther away in freezing cold and under-nourished... probably not: especially after the snow packs tightly into a snowdrift.
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#3928 |
Desultory Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat.....
Posts: 7,779
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So, just for my sense of direction, is this the Player/Character List we're looking at for now:
Players with their probable characters for this RPG - with XX's designating characters who won't be played from the Meadhall Firefoot – Scyld (aka Nydfara) Léofric ---------- Folwren - Saeryn - Eodwine’s wife Eoghan and Ruari - Saeryn and Eodwine's twins Thornden Javan ---------- Galadriel55 – Ledwyn and her son Theolain (Theolain – most likely going to perish) (?)NPC or (?) ---------- Legate of Amon Lanc – Hilderinc NPC Áforglaed+wife ---------- littlemanpoet – Eodwine (First Eorl of the Meadhall) Rowenna (Wenna) Harreld Smith - possibly an NPC Garreth Smith - possibly and NPC XX Master Falco Boffin - has gone back to the Shire XX Laerdil (Elf) - won't be around. He's probably over the sea by now. ---------- Nogrod – Stigend – will be occasionally mentioned/brought in by another character Cnebba - with Thinlómien NPC one of Athanar’s soldiers (?) or (?) XX Athanar – off on an away adventure with Durelin’s ‘Coenred (Coen)’ ---------- Thinlómien -- Wilheard - (now with added trauma; and probably also completed soldier training - he was only 17 and now he's going to be 20 or 22) Modtryth - possibly as a secondary character Cnebba - with Nogrod XX Wulfric – will not be played in this game ------------------------------------------------- For the new players who have joined in the discussion on this thread -- Use this short Character Bio form, please… Inziladun – place your character bio(s) on the new RPG Discussion thread when they’re done Mithalwen – place your character bio(s) on the new RPG Discussion thread when they’re done Snowdog – place your character bio(s) on the new RPG Discussion thread when they’re done
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Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside. Last edited by piosenniel; 05-28-2015 at 11:06 AM. |
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#3929 | |
A Voice That Gainsayeth
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: In that far land beyond the Sea
Posts: 7,431
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And Pio, yes, I think that's more or less what we are looking at right now. I am not sure if somebody had mentioned some previous players still being possibly interested in showing up?
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"Should the story say 'he ate bread,' the dramatic producer can only show 'a piece of bread' according to his taste or fancy, but the hearer of the story will think of bread in general and picture it in some form of his own." -On Fairy-Stories |
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#3930 |
Flame of the Ainulindalë
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Thanks Pio, I think that looks something like it should, with some questionmarks maybe added at this point.
Another thing then is that we have some quite central / visible figures who were either written by someone in our last installment (like Kath's characters) or who were co-written by others (like Garstan and his kids). We should come up with what to do with them (unless the original writers turn up, that is) aka. which ones are going to die or disappear and which will be continued to be written by others. Anyone doing a kind of update-reading these days (like Legate told he had been doing) might do well to pick up the names of other minor characters we have invented there as it is nicer to use some already defined (or at least named) characters as possible NPC's than go and invent new people every time you need one. I was thinking about people like this old Raban who was to teach Javan how to make a chain mail as a punishment, or some named soldiers from both Eodwine's and Athanar's troops etc.
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#3931 |
Desultory Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat.....
Posts: 7,779
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If any former Meadhall players express interest, I'll be sure to put them on the list...
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Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside. |
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#3932 |
A Voice That Gainsayeth
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: In that far land beyond the Sea
Posts: 7,431
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I updated my bio for Hilderinc, so now I can start focusing on all the other things that need adressing. Well, after I get some sleep, that is
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"Should the story say 'he ate bread,' the dramatic producer can only show 'a piece of bread' according to his taste or fancy, but the hearer of the story will think of bread in general and picture it in some form of his own." -On Fairy-Stories |
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#3933 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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I'll adjust my thinking to simply a bad winter in Rohan (Tolkien said that Rohan is about the same latitude and climate as France, I believe).
I'll facilitate. With Ginna either gone or a NPC, I will probably let the two blacksmiths pretty much be passive, slipping toward NPC. I think I'd like to start by concentrating my energies with Eodwine and Rowenna. That's enough. Falco is back in the Shire. If anything is needed from me, let me know. |
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#3934 | |
Desultory Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat.....
Posts: 7,779
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Quote:
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Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside. |
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#3935 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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#3936 |
Flame of the Ainulindalë
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That sounds good.
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#3937 |
Illusionary Holbytla
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 7,547
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pio - I do intend to keep writing Leof so he can stay linked on the character list.
Lommy - I wonder if in the absence of his brother a more grown up Wilheard might start making friends with Leof? They are the same age at any rate, even if they differ quite significantly in temperament. Something top think about anyway... ------------------------------------------------- Leof onboard!!!! ~ pio Last edited by piosenniel; 05-24-2015 at 06:56 PM. |
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#3938 |
Messenger of Hope
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: In a tiny, insignificant little town in one of the many States.
Posts: 5,076
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I just read Saeryn's character bio. She is a twin. Does anyone know what became of her brother?
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#3939 | ||
Blossom of Dwimordene
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The realm of forgotten words
Posts: 10,359
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I apologize for the lack of posts on the game thread - my mother was working nights and I had to take care of the little guy in the house. Now she has a break, though, so the first post should be up soon.
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You passed from under darkened dome, you enter now the secret land. - Take me to Finrod's fabled home!... ~ Finrod: The Rock Opera |
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#3940 | |
Desultory Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat.....
Posts: 7,779
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Here's her last post on the game thread: HERE - at least as far as I could find..... Looks like you could write him in whatever way you need to......
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Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside. |
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#3941 |
Emperor of the South Pole
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: The Western Shore of Lake Evendim
Posts: 618
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I have one simple question... What year exactly will we be re-starting this?
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#3942 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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I'm not sure I have this right, but I know this started in Fourth Age 14, a year passed, and now five years later, it would be Fourth Age 20. Or did more time pass than I recall?
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#3943 | |
Blossom of Dwimordene
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The realm of forgotten words
Posts: 10,359
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You passed from under darkened dome, you enter now the secret land. - Take me to Finrod's fabled home!... ~ Finrod: The Rock Opera |
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#3944 |
Emperor of the South Pole
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: The Western Shore of Lake Evendim
Posts: 618
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So it will be Spring of 4th Age year 20, after a harsh winter. Got it.
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#3945 |
Messenger of Hope
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: In a tiny, insignificant little town in one of the many States.
Posts: 5,076
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Thanks, Pio, for your help.
I will try to get my bios updated before this weekend, and before I leave. I hope we can start writing the actual story soon. I was glad to see Firefoot's post on the old game thread! How do we begin the new game thread? Do we need to plan who's posting first? What else do we have to sort out before we can begin?
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#3946 |
Messenger of Hope
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: In a tiny, insignificant little town in one of the many States.
Posts: 5,076
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Alrighty, I edited Javan's, Thornden's, and Saeryn's bios. Javan and Thornden I am happy with. Saeryn, I'm not so sure about. I reserve the right to alter it if necessary.
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#3947 |
Desultory Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat.....
Posts: 7,779
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I need to put whatever is your first post for the game on the game thread - so, whoever is going to write the first post, just post it on the new RPG discussion thread thread HERE.
And by the way - it would be great if you came up with a NAME for the game. So far, it's just being called the So Far Unnamed RPG. ![]()
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Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside. |
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#3948 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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I'll take a stab at a name for the new thread, and if there is a hue and cry against it, I suppose Pio can change it.
Scarburg Meadhall: Hard Winters Who says there has to be only one hard winter? And we could change up what kind of 'hard', too. It could be hard ground because of drought, hard because orcs or bandits raid it, hard emotionally, or hard weather. I'm happy to write the first post, but I think we need to wait a little while for others (and me) to write their seque posts on the old thread. |
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#3949 |
Messenger of Hope
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: In a tiny, insignificant little town in one of the many States.
Posts: 5,076
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Knowing us, it'll take another 10 years before we get to the next winter season. What if it was
Scarburg Meadhall: After the Hard Winter
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#3950 |
Desultory Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat.....
Posts: 7,779
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Folwren - are you going to write a brief bio for Saeryn and Eodwine's twins?
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Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside. |
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#3951 |
Messenger of Hope
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: In a tiny, insignificant little town in one of the many States.
Posts: 5,076
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I need to talk to Elempi first.
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A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. - C.S. Lewis |
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#3952 |
Messenger of Hope
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: In a tiny, insignificant little town in one of the many States.
Posts: 5,076
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Character Bios for Saeryn and Eodwine's twins
NAME: Eoghan and Ruari
AGE/GENDER/RACE/WHERE FROM: Eoghan is a boy, and Ruari is a girl. They're about 5 years old. They were born at Scarburg, the son and daughter of Eodwine and Saeryn. APPEARANCE: Being twins, Eoghan and Ruari are both somewhat small for their age. Eoghan has blond hair, as his father, but his eyes are hazel, like Saeryn's. Ruari was born with fiery red hair, and her eyes are green. BITS OF CHARACTER/HISTORY YOU FEEL MIGHT BE HELPFUL IN DEFINING THE CHARACTER: Ruari was born first, and though an hour's difference in age wouldn't seem to account for much, it is clear she is the oldest. She takes the lead in the twins' activities, and Eoghan follows meekly behind doing almost everything she encourages him to do. Eoghan is quiet and passive and relatively well behaved when left to his own devices. Ruari is curious and active and prone to trouble. They are both intelligent and agile and capable children. --------------------------- Folwren - I've placed this with your bio on Saeryn and linked it to the new RPG's PLAYER/CHARACTER list ~*~ Pio Last edited by piosenniel; 05-28-2015 at 11:10 AM. |
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#3953 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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Um .... could we change that to Scarburg Meadhall: the Hard Years? The ideas are already cracking in my brain for this. :P
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#3954 |
A Voice That Gainsayeth
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: In that far land beyond the Sea
Posts: 7,431
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Whoa! Great activity here. For the record, Hard Winters sounds brilliant to me as a name, just what LMP said - it can signify anything we can come up with also for the time to come, and I think it nicely goes with the idea we had with making the RPG a bit more "dramatic"...
Anyway, I am currently on short vacation (and Lommy too) for about a week, so I am not sure if I will manage to write anything right now (I want to write a summary thing for Hilderinc during those years), but there shouldn't be that much. So just as soon as I have a little bit of time, I can write it in a very short time, and also put up updated bio for Áforglaed and my new character, aka his new-found wife (or wife-to-be, as I am beginning to think, to allow for a bit of dynamic). EDIT: crossposted with LMP regarding the thread name - honestly, I think "Hard Winters" has a bit more specific and epic sound to it (after all, the term "years" and "winters" can be used synonymously to a certain extent), but whichever everyone thinks sounds better. ![]() P.S. And Folwren, I wanted to say, I really like the concept of the twins, looking forward to them being around...
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"Should the story say 'he ate bread,' the dramatic producer can only show 'a piece of bread' according to his taste or fancy, but the hearer of the story will think of bread in general and picture it in some form of his own." -On Fairy-Stories Last edited by Legate of Amon Lanc; 05-28-2015 at 04:49 AM. |
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#3955 |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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I'm fine with the idea from "the voice that gainsayeth" - let's hear what people like better.
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#3956 |
Illusionary Holbytla
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 7,547
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I also like the sound of "Hard Winters" - regardless of how accurate it ends up being timeline-wise.
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#3957 |
Desultory Dwimmerlaik
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat.....
Posts: 7,779
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I know I'm not playing in this RPG, but I like the ring of "Hard Winters" - without the modifier of Scarburg Meadhall attached to it.
Makes it seem more of a stand-along game, and somehow it has the feeling of deeper dramas - not only of the weatherish sort but of the personal.... Just my dramatic 2-cents worth...... ![]()
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Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside. |
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#3958 |
Messenger of Hope
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: In a tiny, insignificant little town in one of the many States.
Posts: 5,076
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Timeline stuff...
I just did a little research to see what needs to be added to our timeline.
It looks like Eodwine returned to Scarburg at the end of the December/early January. Saeryn will have her delivery in May. Nogrod, when do you think Athanar will leave the hall? What other events need to go on the timeline? We could note Scyld's departure, just to have it there for future reference, if need be.
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A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. - C.S. Lewis |
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#3959 | |
Emperor of the South Pole
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: The Western Shore of Lake Evendim
Posts: 618
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I'm working on a character profile now. Hope to post it next week. |
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#3960 | |
Itinerant Songster
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: The Edge of Faerie
Posts: 7,066
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I kinda like "Hard Winters" too. Plain and simple. And evocative. |
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