Tol-in-Gaurhoth XXV: All Star Crossed With Nowhere to Go - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Diamond18 · 10-28-2006, 08:30 PM

Once upon a time in an age gone by, there was a small band of Elves who traveled to the far east of Middle-earth, all the way to Far Harad. What drove them to such a place is a point of fact lost in the sands of time, not to mention the sands of the desert, but surely they had their reasons. They set up a secret enclave in the heart of the desert, far from any Haradrim, and with the aide of the long forgotten Mood Ring of Power turned their home into an oasis. Palm trees and soft grasses are said to have leapt from the sand dunes at the command of the Ringbearer, and a crystalline spring bubbled up from the ground, as springs generally do, rather than bursting forth from thin air.

The Elves lived in their sunny paradise for many years, eating cocoanuts and mangos. I am not entirely sure that cocoanuts and mangoes should be growing in Far Harad, but if they used the Ring they could, in theory, be growing anything they wanted. Such as butternut squash.

Whatever became of the Elves of Far Harad? No one is sure. Many believe it to be a just a tale told by the Haradrim, a legend. Some say that deep in the heart of the most brutal deserts, where no man can survive the arduous journey, the Elves still live in their oasis. Others say that great tragedy befell the the Elves and their oasis was swallowed into the desert never to be seen or heard from again. Still others with throw rotting squash at you if you even so much as mention the word Elves.

The following is a tale of the Elves of Far Harad. Truth? Or Bolliwockus? Do we care?

---

One night in the dead of winter, a cold wind blew over the sand dunes on the outskirts of the Elven Oasis. It carried with it all the usual imports of impending doom. No one, it seemed, was out and about that night. Not even a mouse. But then, a lone figure came creeping out of the lush foliage of the Oasis and made its way to a barren rock several yards away. On the ancient stone, upon which the Ringbearer had stood and summoned forth the Oasis, were carved many runes of great importance. Alongside these were carved the runes: Diamond + Jay 4 Evah!

The figure, a young elven maiden by the named of Diamond (for it was said her eyes shone like jewels and all that rot) crouched by the stone and waited. For a long time. She began to grow bored and restless, and was thinking about going home when a hushed noise made her snap to attention. From the shadows came the sound of heavy breathing, and licking of chops, and she was mightily afraid. She peered into the darkness, and saw:

Screaming, she leapt up and ran. The giant cat leapt after her, but succeeded only in ripping the shawl from her lily-white elven shoulders. Diamond ran screaming back to the Oasis, and the Werecat ripped her shawl to shreds and left it lying upon the stone in tatters.

A moment later, a second humanoid figure came rushing from the Oasis. He was rather short, for an Elf, but he brandished a very long Elven sword. The Werecat, seeing said sword, wibbled a little, then bounded off into the darkness. Jay, for it was indeed the owner of the second name carved into the stone between the little girly hearts, was about to run after the Werecat, but then he noticed the shawl. He stopped and looked upon the torn fabric in horror.

He burst into spontaneous verse:

"But stay, O spite!
But mark, poor knight,
What dreadful dole is here!
Eyes, do you see?
How can it be?
O dainty duck! O dear!
Thy mantle good,
What, stain'd with blood!
Approach, ye Furies fell!
O Fates, come, come,
Cut thread and thrum;
Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!"

The gist being that he, seeing the mangled shawl, assumed his lover to be equally mangled and gave up all hope for life. He continued:

"O wherefore, Evil, didst thou Werecats frame?
Since Werecat vile hath here deflower'd my dear:
Which is--no, no--which was the fairest dame
That lived, that loved, that liked, that look'd
with cheer."

The gist being that Werecats suck and Diamond was a really great gal before she bit it.

Jay then lifted his sword and held it to his chest, weeping tears of utmost sorrow. With one final gust of poetry he declared:

"Thus die I, thus, thus, thus.
Now am I dead,
Now am I fled;
My soul is in the sky:
Tongue, lose thy light;
Moon take thy flight:
Now die, die, die, die, die!"

With each repetition of the words "thus" and "die" he stabbed himself in the chest. It takes quite the tragic Elven hero to stab himself in the chest eight times and still have breath enough to narrate his own actions. But then, you can see why Diamond held him in such high esteem.

Our Hero fell to his knees, oozing copiously, blood gurgling from both chest and mouth. He gasped out one last word... "Di....!" Was he uttering the name of his love? Or just saying "die" again? Who can say?

Meanwhile, back in the Oasis, Diamond was collecting her wits about her. She feared going back out into the foreboding desert, but feared also that her love might come to their rendezvous point and get et while waiting for her. So she gathered up her courage, to go with her wits, and set off once more.

When she came to the rock, she found Jay lying facedown in the sand. Naturally, she assumed him to be sleeping, and said as much: "Asleep, my love?"

When he didn't lift his head from the sand to answer her remarkably stupid question, she gave him a little nudge with her foot. Belatedly, she noticed his bloodied sword lying nearby, and gasped. She turned the body over and gasped a second time upon viewing the multiple stab wounds. "What, dead, my love?" she squeaked.

From there she was about to launch into a soliloquy that would rival Jay's death chant, when she heard a fluttering of wings from above. She looked up and saw:

Screaming, she leapt up and ran. Unfortunately for her, she ran straight into the embrace of a:

The giant bear crushed her in its crushing embrace, crushingly. Diamond died with a scream on her lips and blood projecting from her mouth to strike the bear splat on the chest. The bear was about to tear into its kill with ferocious ferocity when it looked up and saw:

The bear roared angrily and dropped the compacted Elven maiden to the ground. The Werewolf stalked toward the Werebear, menacing, its hackles raised. Then they clashed in epic fashion, and fought late into the night over the kill. While they did this, the Werebird inconspicuously picked Jay's bones clean.

Finally, sunrise came, and the wolf and bear were forced to give up their fight. They both retreated to their lairs, regretfully leaving Diamond, now stiff with rigor-mortis and rather unappetizing all things considered, rotting in the hot desert sun. The Werebird fluttered away, burping. Jay's bones gleamed whitely in the sun.

---

The bodies were soon found, and the Elves wondered in horror what could possibly have happened. Luckily, Viggo Mortensen was riding by and stopped long enough to read the signs and tell them exactly what had happened, with quotes and everything. He also pointed out some important runes on the Ringbearer's Stone, which read:

I love my little teddy bear!

and

Wolfy and me oxoxoxox!

and

I know why the Werebird sings

and lastly

Werecats rule!

"But what does it mean?" they wondered.

"It means that the evil creatures have groupies, or lovers, if you will," he informed them in a barely understandable mumble. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go hallucinate now."

They watched him ride off into the sunrise on Hidalgo, then turned to each other, wondering what to do.

Diamond18 · 10-28-2006, 08:36 PM

The Living Elves:

Lommy - Ostrich Chaser
Mac - Builder of Gibbets, unemployed for millennia
Kath - Flower Girl
Kitanna - One Legged Chambermaid
JennyHallu - Countess
Nogrod - a Smith of the Billmarins
Valier - Arranger
Menel - Mad Scientist
Holby - Oliphaunt Whisperer
Durelin - Lead Tragic Actor
arcticstorm - Raving Alcoholic and Resident Moocher
morm - City Street Cleaner
Lhuna - Beautiful Girl with Sleeping Sickness
Rune - Humungous Fungus Grower
Naria - Lemba Baker
Farael - Patient suffering from Mad Elf Disease
Rikae - Contortionist
Fintaeph - Mutton Herder and Purveyor of Fine-Quality Undead Prosthetic Limbs

The Dead 'Uns

tgwbs - Tragic Elven Hero and Lover of Diamond - (co-mod) - Stabbed himself eight times and subsequently eaten by the Werebird

Diamond - Elven Maid - (mod) - Crushed in the embrace of the Werebear

Day One starts now. Lovers, please stop PMing.

Meneltarmacil · 10-28-2006, 08:55 PM

It's alive! IT'S ALIIIIIIIVE!

...

Oh, you weren't supposed to see that. Pay no attantion to that hulking figure on the operating table with the bolts sticking out of his neck and all, heh heh.

Anyway, this was quite a tragic occurence, yes indeed. Hmm, but perhaps our little dilemma can be solved by logical reasoning yet. Problem is, we're not going to have much to go on in terms of finding connections with the werecreatures. Connections between one werecreature and one Ordo, certainly, but we've got four teams against us not one.The Seer seems our best chance now.

Anyhow, please don't try to link my rather oddd experiments with animals to these things. Seriously, I'm not trying to make monsters here.

HULKING FIGURE ON TABLE: Uuuuuurrrrggghh...

On second thought...

mormegil · 10-28-2006, 09:12 PM

Okay so who's the moron that signed up for street cleaner in a desert?

Menel, your guilt is a obvious as the talons marks on your back you little bird lover!

Fintaeph · 10-28-2006, 09:59 PM

That's okay, mormegil, I thought to try raising sheep in the desert. #-o

Hmm, maybe they are sandsheep. Oh, I know, mutton jerky! It will be all the rage. Look out, Naria, lembas is on the way out!

Okay, I'll go away now.

arcticstorm · 10-28-2006, 10:33 PM

Can anyone give me some money? These events are too depressing, I need a drink. Besides, I cannot think clearly in this state of sobrietry. How am I supposed to make any wise decisions without something strong to drink. What? No one will give me any money? I guess I will just go home and go to my still.

Kitanna · 10-29-2006, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Lommy is right that when facing a really grave danger of lynching, the lovers will try to help each other (timezone problems might twist our judgements though...). There is nothing else for them to do then as they both die when one dies. And that surely is our chance of catching them.

Quite good and I agree. Getting the Lovers between a rock a hard place will force them into giving away their role. If one Lover is in grave danger looking through those who defended him/her it'll be easier to root through. Or if they don't speak up and hope fate turns in their favor there's a really good chance of the death of a pair of Lovers.

Quote:

Though I admit I don't have a real plan how to detect somebody, throwing random accusations is pretty much never a good idea.

You really think that? On Day One I enjoy random accusations. But I'd never declare them random. Throwing them out there can be quite telling, depending on how the person you accused reacts.

Quote:

My experiments, strange as they may seem, have nothing to do with the current situation.

You always say that! Just look at my leg. I just have a stump thanks to your experiments, Menel.

Naria · 10-29-2006, 12:44 PM

There aren't many posts to go on as of now, but there are a few things that perked my interest as I read. I have never liked it when someone puts forth an "if" type post and especially on Day one and especially your first post, Mac. It's hard to explain why I feel this way. It's like you are saying things that you are going to do or are not going to do, all the while, making us believe that someone that puts that down can't possibly be bad. Why would they? Afterall, you just told us how you would act if you were bad/lover...yeah right, I dunno like I said it's hard to explain, it's always made me uneasy is all.

Now on to my other perked interest. Menel you seem a little defensive so early on. I do realize that your job might be just a tad stressful, but....

And lastly, Fin...my Lembas will never go out. They are the best in all the lands. And if any Elf would disagree with that then...well...pooh, poo on you

Diamond18 · 10-31-2006, 09:29 PM

deadline time

The narration won't be up for another couple hours.

However, Lovers may start PMing and whatnot.

10-28-2006, 08:30 PM	#1
Diamond18 Eidolon of a Took Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: my own private fantasy world Posts: 3,460	Tol-in-Gaurhoth XXV: All Star Crossed With Nowhere to Go Once upon a time in an age gone by, there was a small band of Elves who traveled to the far east of Middle-earth, all the way to Far Harad. What drove them to such a place is a point of fact lost in the sands of time, not to mention the sands of the desert, but surely they had their reasons. They set up a secret enclave in the heart of the desert, far from any Haradrim, and with the aide of the long forgotten Mood Ring of Power turned their home into an oasis. Palm trees and soft grasses are said to have leapt from the sand dunes at the command of the Ringbearer, and a crystalline spring bubbled up from the ground, as springs generally do, rather than bursting forth from thin air. The Elves lived in their sunny paradise for many years, eating cocoanuts and mangos. I am not entirely sure that cocoanuts and mangoes should be growing in Far Harad, but if they used the Ring they could, in theory, be growing anything they wanted. Such as butternut squash. Whatever became of the Elves of Far Harad? No one is sure. Many believe it to be a just a tale told by the Haradrim, a legend. Some say that deep in the heart of the most brutal deserts, where no man can survive the arduous journey, the Elves still live in their oasis. Others say that great tragedy befell the the Elves and their oasis was swallowed into the desert never to be seen or heard from again. Still others with throw rotting squash at you if you even so much as mention the word Elves. The following is a tale of the Elves of Far Harad. Truth? Or Bolliwockus? Do we care? --- One night in the dead of winter, a cold wind blew over the sand dunes on the outskirts of the Elven Oasis. It carried with it all the usual imports of impending doom. No one, it seemed, was out and about that night. Not even a mouse. But then, a lone figure came creeping out of the lush foliage of the Oasis and made its way to a barren rock several yards away. On the ancient stone, upon which the Ringbearer had stood and summoned forth the Oasis, were carved many runes of great importance. Alongside these were carved the runes: Diamond + Jay 4 Evah! The figure, a young elven maiden by the named of Diamond (for it was said her eyes shone like jewels and all that rot) crouched by the stone and waited. For a long time. She began to grow bored and restless, and was thinking about going home when a hushed noise made her snap to attention. From the shadows came the sound of heavy breathing, and licking of chops, and she was mightily afraid. She peered into the darkness, and saw: Screaming, she leapt up and ran. The giant cat leapt after her, but succeeded only in ripping the shawl from her lily-white elven shoulders. Diamond ran screaming back to the Oasis, and the Werecat ripped her shawl to shreds and left it lying upon the stone in tatters. A moment later, a second humanoid figure came rushing from the Oasis. He was rather short, for an Elf, but he brandished a very long Elven sword. The Werecat, seeing said sword, wibbled a little, then bounded off into the darkness. Jay, for it was indeed the owner of the second name carved into the stone between the little girly hearts, was about to run after the Werecat, but then he noticed the shawl. He stopped and looked upon the torn fabric in horror. He burst into spontaneous verse: "But stay, O spite! But mark, poor knight, What dreadful dole is here! Eyes, do you see? How can it be? O dainty duck! O dear! Thy mantle good, What, stain'd with blood! Approach, ye Furies fell! O Fates, come, come, Cut thread and thrum; Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!" The gist being that he, seeing the mangled shawl, assumed his lover to be equally mangled and gave up all hope for life. He continued: "O wherefore, Evil, didst thou Werecats frame? Since Werecat vile hath here deflower'd my dear: Which is--no, no--which was the fairest dame That lived, that loved, that liked, that look'd with cheer." The gist being that Werecats suck and Diamond was a really great gal before she bit it. Jay then lifted his sword and held it to his chest, weeping tears of utmost sorrow. With one final gust of poetry he declared: "Thus die I, thus, thus, thus. Now am I dead, Now am I fled; My soul is in the sky: Tongue, lose thy light; Moon take thy flight: Now die, die, die, die, die!" With each repetition of the words "thus" and "die" he stabbed himself in the chest. It takes quite the tragic Elven hero to stab himself in the chest eight times and still have breath enough to narrate his own actions. But then, you can see why Diamond held him in such high esteem. Our Hero fell to his knees, oozing copiously, blood gurgling from both chest and mouth. He gasped out one last word... "Di....!" Was he uttering the name of his love? Or just saying "die" again? Who can say? Meanwhile, back in the Oasis, Diamond was collecting her wits about her. She feared going back out into the foreboding desert, but feared also that her love might come to their rendezvous point and get et while waiting for her. So she gathered up her courage, to go with her wits, and set off once more. When she came to the rock, she found Jay lying facedown in the sand. Naturally, she assumed him to be sleeping, and said as much: "Asleep, my love?" When he didn't lift his head from the sand to answer her remarkably stupid question, she gave him a little nudge with her foot. Belatedly, she noticed his bloodied sword lying nearby, and gasped. She turned the body over and gasped a second time upon viewing the multiple stab wounds. "What, dead, my love?" she squeaked. From there she was about to launch into a soliloquy that would rival Jay's death chant, when she heard a fluttering of wings from above. She looked up and saw: Screaming, she leapt up and ran. Unfortunately for her, she ran straight into the embrace of a: The giant bear crushed her in its crushing embrace, crushingly. Diamond died with a scream on her lips and blood projecting from her mouth to strike the bear splat on the chest. The bear was about to tear into its kill with ferocious ferocity when it looked up and saw: The bear roared angrily and dropped the compacted Elven maiden to the ground. The Werewolf stalked toward the Werebear, menacing, its hackles raised. Then they clashed in epic fashion, and fought late into the night over the kill. While they did this, the Werebird inconspicuously picked Jay's bones clean. Finally, sunrise came, and the wolf and bear were forced to give up their fight. They both retreated to their lairs, regretfully leaving Diamond, now stiff with rigor-mortis and rather unappetizing all things considered, rotting in the hot desert sun. The Werebird fluttered away, burping. Jay's bones gleamed whitely in the sun. --- The bodies were soon found, and the Elves wondered in horror what could possibly have happened. Luckily, Viggo Mortensen was riding by and stopped long enough to read the signs and tell them exactly what had happened, with quotes and everything. He also pointed out some important runes on the Ringbearer's Stone, which read: I love my little teddy bear! and Wolfy and me oxoxoxox! and I know why the Werebird sings and lastly Werecats rule! "But what does it mean?" they wondered. "It means that the evil creatures have groupies, or lovers, if you will," he informed them in a barely understandable mumble. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go hallucinate now." They watched him ride off into the sunrise on Hidalgo, then turned to each other, wondering what to do. __________________ All shall be rather fond of me and suffer from mild depression.

10-28-2006, 08:36 PM	#2
Diamond18 Eidolon of a Took Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: my own private fantasy world Posts: 3,460	Day One The Living Elves: Lommy - Ostrich Chaser Mac - Builder of Gibbets, unemployed for millennia Kath - Flower Girl Kitanna - One Legged Chambermaid JennyHallu - Countess Nogrod - a Smith of the Billmarins Valier - Arranger Menel - Mad Scientist Holby - Oliphaunt Whisperer Durelin - Lead Tragic Actor arcticstorm - Raving Alcoholic and Resident Moocher morm - City Street Cleaner Lhuna - Beautiful Girl with Sleeping Sickness Rune - Humungous Fungus Grower Naria - Lemba Baker Farael - Patient suffering from Mad Elf Disease Rikae - Contortionist Fintaeph - Mutton Herder and Purveyor of Fine-Quality Undead Prosthetic Limbs The Dead 'Uns tgwbs - Tragic Elven Hero and Lover of Diamond - (co-mod) - Stabbed himself eight times and subsequently eaten by the Werebird Diamond - Elven Maid - (mod) - Crushed in the embrace of the Werebear Day One starts now. Lovers, please stop PMing. __________________ All shall be rather fond of me and suffer from mild depression.

10-28-2006, 08:55 PM	#3
Meneltarmacil Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: The bottom of the ocean, discussing philosophy with a giant squid Posts: 2,254	It's alive! IT'S ALIIIIIIIVE! ... Oh, you weren't supposed to see that. Pay no attantion to that hulking figure on the operating table with the bolts sticking out of his neck and all, heh heh. Anyway, this was quite a tragic occurence, yes indeed. Hmm, but perhaps our little dilemma can be solved by logical reasoning yet. Problem is, we're not going to have much to go on in terms of finding connections with the werecreatures. Connections between one werecreature and one Ordo, certainly, but we've got four teams against us not one.The Seer seems our best chance now. Anyhow, please don't try to link my rather oddd experiments with animals to these things. Seriously, I'm not trying to make monsters here. HULKING FIGURE ON TABLE: Uuuuuurrrrggghh... On second thought... __________________ I ♣ baby seals.

10-28-2006, 09:12 PM	#4
mormegil Maundering Mage Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,637	Okay so who's the moron that signed up for street cleaner in a desert? Menel, your guilt is a obvious as the talons marks on your back you little bird lover! __________________ When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. -- P. J. O'Rourke

10-29-2006, 12:44 PM	#8
Naria Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 500	There aren't many posts to go on as of now, but there are a few things that perked my interest as I read. I have never liked it when someone puts forth an "if" type post and especially on Day one and especially your first post, Mac. It's hard to explain why I feel this way. It's like you are saying things that you are going to do or are not going to do, all the while, making us believe that someone that puts that down can't possibly be bad. Why would they? Afterall, you just told us how you would act if you were bad/lover...yeah right, I dunno like I said it's hard to explain, it's always made me uneasy is all. Now on to my other perked interest. Menel you seem a little defensive so early on. I do realize that your job might be just a tad stressful, but.... And lastly, Fin...my Lembas will never go out. They are the best in all the lands. And if any Elf would disagree with that then...well...pooh, poo on you __________________ MONEY Anyone who says it doesn't buy happiness.....is probably broke.

10-28-2006, 09:59 PM	#5
Fintaeph Pile O'Bones Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 11	That's okay, mormegil, I thought to try raising sheep in the desert. #-o Hmm, maybe they are sandsheep. Oh, I know, mutton jerky! It will be all the rage. Look out, Naria, lembas is on the way out! Okay, I'll go away now.

10-28-2006, 10:33 PM	#6
arcticstorm Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Johnson Bible College: Knoxville, TN Posts: 464	Can anyone give me some money? These events are too depressing, I need a drink. Besides, I cannot think clearly in this state of sobrietry. How am I supposed to make any wise decisions without something strong to drink. What? No one will give me any money? I guess I will just go home and go to my still.

10-31-2006, 09:29 PM	#9
Diamond18 Eidolon of a Took Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: my own private fantasy world Posts: 3,460	deadline time The narration won't be up for another couple hours. However, Lovers may start PMing and whatnot. __________________ All shall be rather fond of me and suffer from mild depression. Last edited by Diamond18; 10-31-2006 at 09:36 PM.