[Child of the 7th Age]

Welcome to our new RPG "In the Shadow of the Lonely Star". Admission to this game will be 'by invitation only' and will recognize and reward those posters who have made exceptional contributions to the Shire in the quality of their writing, or in the services they have rendered as game founders.

We are planning to offer a short invitational game once every few months. So if you were not asked to help with this story, you may be included in a similar game later down the road. Unfortunately, Piosenniel and I had too many good posters to include everyone who deserved to be included.

Background:

This is a short sequel that stems from an earlier RPG entitled "The Voyage of the Lonely Star." This lengthy tale, currently docked in Elvenhome, describes the adventures of a sailing ship, outfitted with a special time travel device, and its search for the 'secret' history of the hobbits in the First and Second Age. We will include a brief summary of that game later in this thread, as it will make the action and characters in this RPG easier to understand.

Basic Storyline:

This story will trace the continuing adventures of several characters involved in the original time travel series on the Star. It will also include a number of new characters who are current or former residents of Hobbiton, or who have been involved with the history of the Shire during the War of the Ring in some significant way.

The story will focus on the following events:

1. The impending birth of the twins, the first born children of the Elf Piosenniel and the Man Mithadan, who pledged their troth as husband and wife in the course of their adventures.

2. Cami Goodchild's continuing effort to reunite with her lost love Maura Took, who has been left behind on the isle of Tol Fuin, along with the other First-age hobbits, after the drowning of Beleriand.

3. The rise of a new threat in the Shire from Bill Ferny, resident of Bree and former agent of Saruman, who was expelled by Frodo after the Scouring. He is now actively seeking revenge against the hobbits, and is particularly angry at any who had close connections with the Baggins family.

Other secondary themes will include Bird's continuing search for clues to her shapechanger past, the problems children have with their families, and the extraordinary lengths to which parents and relatives will go when one of their little ones is threatened.

Setting and time:

This tale will be set in the eleventh and twelfth year of the Fourth Age. However, it will use Tolkien's device of time travel though dream to draw on other characters from earlier ages. Tolkien's stories about dream travel, which were never completed, can be found in the History of Middle-earth.

The bulk of the story will be set in the Green Dragon Inn and nearby areas in the Shire.

Ending of the story:

The story will end when Bill Ferny's plot is defeated, Mithadan and Piosenniel's twins are safe and sound, and Cami and Maura manage to get married.

Above all else, we want to spin a good yarn and have some fun! Additionally, posters from the Shire will have a chance to game in a format which is more commonly used in Gondor, where there is a great deal of collaborative planning to hammer out a story plot.

This means you will probably spend almost as much time reading background material, posting notes on the discussion thread, and contacting other characters by private message in order to come to a collective agreement on where the plot is heading. This can be tremendously fun. It can also be a challenge, and is a great way to learn the give and take which is at the heart of a more advanced RPG.

Duration of Game: This game is likly to take four to six weeks of the poster's time.

Characters:

As posters agree to play particular characters, we will insert their names in parentheses after the name of the character.

Piosenniel the Elf (Pio)

Mithadan the Man (Mith)

Cami Goodchild, hobbit (Child)

Cami's hobbit boys: Gamba, Ban, Maura, Asta, Roka (Mark 12_30)

Rose Goodchild, Cami's daughter

Maura Took, hobbit and Loremaster (Child)

Bird, shapechanger (Birdland)

Lindo, hobbit, singer and Loremaster (Mark12_30)

The Snowhobbits (Mark12_30)

Lorien, the Vala who is master of dreams ad visions (Mith)

Frodo Baggins (Mark12_30)

Bilbo Baggins (Child)

Bill Ferny, Man

Sam Gamgee

Rose Cotton Gamgee and her younger children, (midwife)

Elanor Gamgee, 12-year old daughter of Sam

Frodo Gardner Gamgee, 10-year old son of Sam

Merry, Frodo's old friend

Pippin, Frodo's old friend

Faramir I, hobbit, Pippin's three-year old son

Angelica Baggins, childhood friend of Cami, Bilbo's niece, assistant midwife

Green Dragon Innkeeper

Green Dragon Servers (2)

We will be posting biographical notes later in the thread on those characters who had their origin on the Star.

[ February 05, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]