[Imladris]

I don't know if Hobbits play chess or not, but here goes. Hope you like it.
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Character Description Form:
Have you ever played in an RPG at the Barrow Downs? – NO

Have you posted in The Green Dragon Inn or in The White Horse in Rohan? – YES - The Green Dragon

For your character please include:

NAME: Olo Underfoot

AGE: 56

RACE: Hobbit

GENDER: Male

WEAPONS (No magical, super-hero, mithril weapons. Just good solid Middle-earth weapons and armor only that is appropriate to the race of the character and the time period.): Olo carries a short bow which he can shoot fairly well.

APPEARANCE: Standing at 3’6” He has dark brown curly hair to match his dark eyes. He is a fairly well dressed hobbit with brass buttons upon his yellow vest. Though rich, he is nearly always dressed in plain brown breeches and a white cotton shirt along with the bright yellow vest He is fat, even for a hobbit, and he loves to smoke. He is always seen with a pipe in his mouth, even if he is not currently smoking it. The course hairs upon his feet are always neatly brushed, and his hair is always carefully combed so that the tops of his ears are framed with a delicate fringe of curls.

PERSONALITY/STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: He is very clever and loves to play chess. Strategically minded, he has no scruples in making himself richer and others poorer when an opportunity arises. Often times, he will switch sides in an argument/situation if circumstances are turned on the side he is currently on. Olo Underfoot is, of course, aware that this is a dangerous game, but he thrives on it as his quick mind always rescues him out of political scrapes. Proud and egotistical, especially after becoming shirrif, he does not have many friends and many wondered how he ever managed to become shirrif. He is very persuasive when he wants to be and is very popular among Bill Ferney and his southern friends.

HISTORY: Olo is the son of Esmerelda and Polo Underfoot, where they had an isolated hole in the country several miles from Hobbiton. They were the last of the little known Underfoots and their family was also one of the poorer ones. Though not anywhere near poverty, Olo always looked with envy upon the Baggins of Hobbiton, where he would occasionally journey to when he was a young lad. Early in his life, he determined that he would make the Shire remember the Underfoots for all time, and that he himself would be rich, maybe even richer than Baggins himself! Little by little he rose to the top, until he moved to Bree, where he opened a bakery to please his mother. It was while he lived in Bree that he became friends with Bill Ferny, if friendship it could be called. Because of his wits and clerverness, he became shirrif when he was 50 years old.

FIRST POST October 27

Two men, pipes hanging from their mouths and heads wreathed in bluish grey smoke, studied a light brown board checked with black intently; carved chess pieces of mahogany stood in military array upon the different squares. Well, at least one of the players was technically a man, the other was a fairly wealthy hobbit.

Snickering slyly, the man, Bill Ferny by name, smoothly threatened Olo Underfoot’s king with a queen. Rotten yellow teeth revealed themselves in a gloating sneer as Bill leaned back in his chair and blew a cloud of smoke into the sky. “Check, Olo.”

Olo grimaced slightly at the board and blew a smoke ring from his fat lips. Rubbing his pudgy tanned hands thoughtfully, Olo considered Bill with a pair of rich brown eyes. Ferny was a clever man, but Olo knew that he was smarter than the sallow faced man that crowed in early pride before him. With a shrug, Olo said, “You are not lackin‘ in brains, Billy. Though I must admit ye had me worried when ye took up with them southern men. Thought ye was a fool and I imagined that ye would loose everything you possessed, even though that was precious little. I see I was wrong.” He fingered his brass buttons thoughtfully before he added, “Thanks to ye, I’m richer than I ever thought possible. Technically, o’ course, it was all because o’ Sharkey. ’Twas a happy day for the Shire when he came.”

Bill Ferny laughed scornfully and said, “That’s not the tune you were dancing to when he first came. You were all afraid that Sharkey would ruin the Shire, and look at ya now: one of Sharkey’s best men.”

“That’s because ye opened me eyes, mate. ‘Twas ye that showed me that Sharkey really meant to improve the Shire, this poor land that wallowed in its unchanged state and that plodded contentedly on in ignorance of great mechanical advances. If it weren’t for ye, I’d be starving in some dank cell, becoming thinner and thinner and yearnin‘ for a bit o‘ smoke.” Olo jiggled his fat stomach appreciatively and patted a leather tobacco pouch which was stuffed so full with Leaf that it threatened to burst its seams. Glancing at the board, he countered Bill Ferny’s move with his knight and watched in unrestrained glee as Ferney’s smugness faded and was replaced with irritation.

Swiftly moving a pawn, Ferny said, “Not all the Shire folk think as we do.” Nodding towards Tookland, he said, “Thain Paladin is making plenty of trouble. Tomorrow, you and two of your fellow shirrifs are goin' to have a meeting in the morning.”

With a disdainful scoff, Olo replied, “I’m goin’ over with two o’ my fellow shirrif to see to him, try an‘ convince him to our side, if ye know what I mean. If they refuse,” he said with a careless shrug and a forefinger swiping at his throat, “Sharkey will see to ’im, Under his finger, the Tooks will bend an’ bend ’till they snap.” With a flourish, Olo maneuvered his queen to a black square and peered triumphantly into Bill Ferny‘s yellow face. “Checkmate.”

[ September 03, 2003: Message edited by: Imladris ]