[Child of the 7th Age]

Pio -- the background information may be things like this:

1. how did Pio become friends with Child and Bird. There are several indications in the story that their friendship goes back some time.

2. how did we get the Star and the time travel device? It grew out of the Blue Wizard story. Do we want to keep the Wizards as backgound?--probably not. But if not that way, then how?

Mith and I had one preliminary exchange of ideas on this. I have listed it below.

SHARON: Perhaps, the original background story might read like this. Piosenniel and her friends -- Child, Rose, Bird, Veritas--had an adventure where they discovered an Elvish ship being sailed by someone (a Man impersonating Cirdan??) who claims to be taking yearning travellers (not Elvish ones) to the Blessed Lands. He has stolen the ship from some unknown location. His actual plot is to steal their things and dump the unfortunates in the middle of the seas.

With the help of some of Pio's Elvish friends and of Tuor and Idril, our group was able to stop this deception and seize back the ship. (The Valar didn't like this scheme, and this is why Tuor and Idril were sent out to help. --We have to have something in the background story to explain their presence with us.) As a reward, Pio and her friends have been granted the ship. Pio is coming to Gondor to discover more about the strange device on the helm (i.e. the time travel thing).

MITHADAN: A few difficulties with your proposal: You'll have to explain what Pio, Child, Rose, and Bird are doing together/ How would a man get an Elven ship? How would a man or an Elf for that matter, have the time travel device?

But some pieces of it work. How about this? A man" is in Gondor, recruiting the hobbits, there on another errand, for this voyage to Valinor. My draft bakstop stas basically intact. Mith and Pio become aware of what sounds to them like an evil plot. Either they pursue the Star in Mith's ship or Pio goes along on the Star and Mith follows. When the Star is caught the "Man" disappears (perhaps he is Ancalimon in disguise as we later discover--though this may be a paradox--I hate time travel stories) When the Star is searched, the device is found. Its purpose is discovered through experimentation, or Tuor and Idril explain it (this gives them a real reason to return to Middle-earth. We find Kali, etc. But where does Angara come in? We'll have to work through all these issues.