The Return of the Entish Bowventurers - a Fourth Age Epilogue - DISCUSSION

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Years have passed since we last encountered Merisuwyniel and her companions, and some (those few who even remember who they were and what I'm talking about) may have wondered what fate befell them in that interim. For those three or four readers, but mostly to indulge my own desire to revisit them, this RPG will check out their current location and status. All who posted on those 2 1/2 threads are welcome to post here.

Whether or not further adventures will follow these brief summaries is not yet known. For the demands of Life (TM) have overtaken them and their creators/authors. Nevertheless we should never say never (or less), and who knows what may yet happen. On this planning/discussion thread, I shall first sum up where we last saw them after the reunification of the Ent-that-was-rent...

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Merisuwyniel and her spouse, the love of her life, Gravendil (The Elf formerly Orc formerly known as Gravlox) have been granted the Realm of Topfloorien, since she is Saladriel's niece and the former ruler had no heirs (heirs, not hairs, silly!). Her request to Yawanna:

I have grown accustomed to leading others on this quest. I would like to have a realm of my own to rule, so that I can go on telling others what to do more conveniently. Of course it would be for their own good...

Gravendil stands by her with his experience and knowledge:

I will strengthen the defenses of Topfloorien with my military experience. Together, we shall see the Hidden Realm prosper and its malls expand. Our combined wisdom will make it a refuge for those who love the finer things of life.

Twelve years after we last saw them attempting to travel back to Muddled-Mirth by ship, they not only have the child they were expecting then, now a maiden of 11 years who promises to be as beautiful as her mother, though without the adventuresome streak, but twin sons of 8 years and a three-year-old daughter. As they continue to enjoy one another's proximity, they may well be on the way to surpassing Feeblenor's legendary Elven fecundity...

[Estelyn Telcontar]

The ghosts of games past raise their ghoulish heads to see what has revived the Travestometer (TM):

"'The REB RPG's dead, Jim!"

"No, no, it's not dead, it's restin'!"

"It's not restin'! It's passed on! This RPG is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't pinned it to the forum it'd be pushing up the daisies! Its metabolic processes are now 'istory! It's off the twig! It's kicked the bucket, it's shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-RPG!!"

"Well, I'd better replace it, then... Sorry squire, I've had a look 'round the back of the forum, and we're right out of RPGs."

[Estelyn Telcontar]

There was another couple who had been a vital part of the He/She and Itship - whatever happened to Pimpiowyn, the Half-Halfling, and Vogonwë, The Half-Elf, you may ask? (No matter if you don't - I'm going to tell you anyway!) When we last saw them, they were newly wed by Manuël himself in Valleyum, and had requested the right to stay in the Blessed Lands of the Sür-Ferd-Ûds.

Vogonwë here is half-elven, and would like to request you grant him permanently the immortality of an Elf. I, as his fiancée, would like to request that we both be allowed to stay in Valleyum, he as an Elf and me as an Elf-friend. (Pimpiowyn)

Whether they found the little house of their dreams, with a white picket fence, a garden just the right size for the needs of a Quarter-Hobbit-Quarter-Elf-Half-Human family (and a small army of gardeners to tend it for them), this tale does not tell. Then again maybe it will. You never know - never say never!

[piosenniel]

Esty - once you've gotten the players you want, just let me know & I'll move this thread to the Game Playing Forum.

And when you're ready, you can then open a new thread for the actual game in the Game Playing Forum.

~*~ Pio

[Estelyn Telcontar]

What has taken place in the kingdom of Grundor in the meantime? Orogarn Two, the only heir to the Lord Denimthor, Proctor of Grundor and Guardian of the Porcelain Throne of Minus Teeth, perished in the final battle of the Entish Bow in Valleyum. But Yawanna revealed the identity of the true king:

Halfemption is the last in the line of Noodleorian kings of old.

Merisuwyniel and Gravendil were entrusted with the preparation of his future reign:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to aid him – as a matter of fact, your first hurdle will be to get him back to Muddled-Mirth safely and soberly, then to train him for his task until you can find a way to introduce him to his people so that they will be willing to accept his kingship.

This responsibility they fulfilled, and eventually Halfemption rejoined his beloved Dulciníniel, who had finished the king-sized double wedding ring quilt she had made for them, and she became his queen, and together they ruled in the City of Pearly Wights.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Another of the original Questers now resides in Minus Teeth - Chrysophylax, the Dragon. He is the proprieter of a gambling establ- um, of an entertainment center that, contrary to the usual terminology, owes little of its success to chance. He also attempts to emulate Merisuwyniel as a singer, alas, without her innate skill and its impact on the listeners. He would be willing to give up his independence temporarily to rejoin his friend Kuruharan on adventures, provided the profit was worthwhile.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Deaths there were to be mourned at the end of the Quest of the Entish Bow:

Orogarn Two perished at the hand (or rather, crowned head) of Mogûl Bildûr, and Merisuwyniel herself sang his dirge:

Build high the barrow his bones to keep!
For here shall be hid both mouse and keyboard;
and to the ground be given blû dením Djeens,
and green Tê-Shirt with sword gleaming,
wealth unbegrudged for the well-beloved;
of forum admins the first and noblest,
to his moderators help unfailing,
to his members the fairest founder of websites.
Glory loved he; now glory earning
his grave shall be green, while forum or mainsite,
while post or thread in the internet lasteth.

Another member of the original cast left the Itship before its departure for Valleyum - Earnur Etceteron. He returned to Topfloorien, and of his fate it is said...

...the end of his days was utterly unknown for there came upon the hotel one night a huge flash of fire. It was said in after ages that the Lord of Dun Sóbrin had found a legendary end, one as highly wrought of fantasy as any subcreative faculty could imagine, for Earnur, the Lord Etceteron, went out like a flame, burning in the middle as well as both ends, combusting spontaneously one night and leaving behind nothing but blackened earth where grew no longer elanor and niphredil.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

As to the whereabouts of the Dwarf Kuruharan, we know this:

Kuruharan used his gaming license to re-establish the great kingdom of Hazard-boom. He expanded the resorts and casinos until they exceeded in size and gaudiness even those of the Ancient Days. He also made King Gain Lotsamoola an offer he couldn’t refuse and got a hefty share of the take from the Trebor Resort and Casino.

His companion Reeperneep

... signed on as Kuruharan’s hired muscle and enjoyed a life of continually getting into brawls, battles, and total wars. However, he was always agitating that they hadn’t “gone far enough east!!”

[Estelyn Telcontar]

And what happened to the title hero, you ask? The Ent-That-Was-Rent-But-Is-Now-Reunited had remained in Valleyum, for Yawanna had revealed to him a sapling of his line, and Deeproot (the short version of his true Entish name) wished to raise it to be a good Ent who would carry on his labours in the forests. Alas, it never occurred to him that the sapling might possibly not be an Ent after all...

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Among the final companions of Merisuwyniel was also Gateskeeper, the technical expert wizard, and his recently acquired virtual-but-somehow-real sidekick Tara Craft. He had turned over a new leaf - or perhaps one should say he had downloaded a new program - and was looking forward to different, possibly even honest, ways to earn a living in Muddled-Mirth.

The wars would have to cease, there was no question. The soft wares he created would have to become friendlier to those who used them. But, loathe to give up his high-spending lifestyle, he had to contemplate whether there was a souce of profit that could be as successful as the threatening and extortion with which he had hawked his Great Window. It was time to do a 360 and find new vistas, though he found taking advantage of the hype odd without those impy three players with whom he once associated back at the Networkgaard of Dorktank. But he’d severed all connections with the jobs and the buffets of days gone by, and there was no way to reset his way thru the tangled net of the ether of his past. He would have to shift, to escape, to enter a new line and rid himself of the numb lock that prevented him scrolling to a new page. In short, he would have to delete his past and find the key to getting himself home in CTRL of a new destiny. And then it came to him like a politician to a fundraiser – he could make people happy and make money at the same time by offering music on demand from Mantoes’ gift*!

*Mantoes graciously gave him the gift of unlimited royalty-free access to the complete music vaults of the Lords of Khopy-wight...

Whether these valiant purposes will succeed remains to be seen...

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Remember Leninia, former player of the Entish Guitar and at home in the Marrow Bones Studio? After kind of reforming and joining the adventures, she remained in Valleyum following the final battle to prepare for a new profession. Vairsacë and Chanessa made her an offer she could have resisted, but it was certainly better than no prospects for the future at all. Besides, she had resolved never to say never...

"...we have some boutiques here in Valleyum, and they do pretty well, but we’ve been thinking about expanding to Muddled-Mirth. You see, there aren’t a lot of new customers here, except for those who go to Vair’s husband’s halls, and it takes awhile before they have a body and want some new clothes again.”

“We noticed that you have a good fashion sense and a great figure – bit short, perhaps, but definitely thin enough – and wondered if you’d stay here for a bit, learn the business, and then set up some chain stores in Muddled-Mirth for us. You see, we’re not allowed to go into business there ourselves, so we need a franchise taker. What do you think?”

Who knows what competition there may now arise for the GAP of Rohan and other smart shops?!

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Last but not least - well actually, he was least in height - comes Squire Windsor Gummidge, the reformed Hobbit formerly called Soregum. He was pledged to the custody of Gravendil, per decree of Mantoes:

"OK, I hereby declare the Hobbit dude, Windsor Gummidge, formally redeemed for a probationary period of five years,” said Mantoes. “Subject to good behaviour during that period, said redemption shall become permanent."

He therefore returned to Topfloorien with Gravendil and Merisuwyniel and there serves them faithfully. Alas, the lack of wartime activity leaves little scope for a squire to prove himself, but he has his hands full trying to keep track of their twin sons and provide them with a semblance of educational discipline...

[Thenamir]

As I am *always* late wherever I go, I just stumbled on this. Thanks for remembering ol' Gateskeeper, he was fun to write.