Scarburg Meadhall Discussion Thread

[Mithalwen]

So the reboot will be early spring of FA20? If I recycle Elfthain, and I would like to I think since he is on the periphary of my private fanfic and I know him well and like him - though I wouldn't have chosen to write a male of that age otherwise - he would be 17 I think if I honour the dates of his previous appearance at the Edoras mead hall and Darker Days.... given his background I imagine he would be whatever the Rohirric equivalent of a esquire would be...scutifer? shieldbearer? arrowfodder? - a young man of good standing attached to a noble household to learn the knightly trade Are there any precedents in this version for such things? I don't want to tie myself in to many knots but it would be nice not to be too discordant with what has gone before.

He could either be a new arrival having started elsewhere - though whether that would be "normal" like medical student rotations or exceptional I don't know or given the time frame he could have been there since 14..

If he would be a nuisance I will come up with someone else..

[Folwren]

Oh! That would be amazing, Mith! Javan (my character) is about 18 now and I'd love to have someone closer to his age. The other boys in the game are four or five years younger than Javan, I think.

[piosenniel]

Just an FYI for the new players in this extension from the Meadhall:

For the new players who have joined in the discussion on this thread --

Use this short Character Bio form, please…

Inziladun – place your character bio(s) on the new RPG Discussion thread when they’re done

Mithalwen – place your character bio(s) on the new RPG Discussion thread when they’re done

Snowdog – place your character bio(s) on the new RPG Discussion thread when they’re done

~*~ Thanks! -- Pio

[piosenniel]

So.... now the RPG and its Discussion Thread are titled: Hard Winters

is the icon for both the threads - unless you want to change it

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

given his background I imagine he would be whatever the Rohirric equivalent of a esquire would be...scutifer? shieldbearer? arrowfodder?

Shield-bearer would be most appropriate for the Eorlingas. What's scutifer?
Arrowfodder? I hope not - you want him to live, right?

Now that I've read much of the rpg, I get it why Firefoot was having some difficulty with the time jump. Now I am too: Scyld and Rowenna had a plotline and to just skip over it seems difficult at best.

I wonder if we need to spin it off into a separate rpg, or outline the events? Any thoughts? For those who have not carefully read the Scyld-Rowenna exchanges, this involves them teaming up to figure out who the dead body in the smoke-hut was, and how he died.

[Thinlómien]

Just a quick note as I'm abroad and just online on my phone - I'll update my bios on Tuesday once I'm back in Finland and have consulted Nogrod about Cnebba and Modtryth etc. I might even write a post then!

Firefoot - I'd love some interaction with Leof and Wilheard! I think Wilheard will need a friend, too, after having lost his brother (poor boy), but I'll get back to you about the details next week.

PS. Everything looking nice and busy here!

[Mithalwen]

Scutifer is of similar etymology to Esquire also meaning shield bearer I found it when looking for a less French alternative to Esquire but it is not unfrench enough really being so latinate... Armiger (armour bearer, senior esquire) has the same problem. Of course it may not be appropriate to translate too closely the chivalric tradition but the Rohirrim clearly trained ... some may be born fighters but soldiers have to be made.

And yes I want him to live, I am fairly hopefuk he will get to grow old on his beloved farm eventually but I don't know so much what happens to him in the meantime.

[Folwren]

I am leaving today for a long trip. I won't be on the Barrow Downs for a few weeks. Carry on without me! I hope it all gets started in my absence! I'm excited.

[littlemanpoet]

Firefoot and I have decided that Scyld's and Rowenna's efforts to uncover the identity and murderer of the dead man found in the curing shed did not turn out: all leads led to dead ends.

What I know, then, is that Scyld is absent from Scarburg for a few years; is that sudden and unexplained, or not? I don't know, that's up to Firefoot.

During this time, I presume that Rowenna will have stayed at Scarburg; she has no reason to go anywhere else, unless Scyld had told her of his plans, in which case she might have been tempted to join him, but probably not as he has not yet given her enough reason to trust him enough.

So Rowenna stays at Scarburg, and also remains unwed as she is unwilling to marry anyone at all, deeming none of the men quite to her liking. Whether she admits it to herself or not, this is because she is comparing all men to Scyld and finds them wanting.

Meanwhile, she has become as close to Saeryn as she is capable of doing, and has served as one of the babysitters for the twins. Has she been the only one? Has she made it so by alienating everyone else from the task? If so, could her influence be one reason why the little girl is so wilfull? Just some thoughts to mull.

[Firefoot]

What I know, then, is that Scyld is absent from Scarburg for a few years; is that sudden and unexplained, or not?

Mostly. He's not going to leave unannounced because he's not such a good woodsman that he'll want to leave without good provisions. I think he will say to Rowenna something along the lines of, "I talked to some of those living nearby and could find nothing out about the fire or the body, but I did find out about some things from my past that I need to see to. I'll be gone for a while, but I plan to return. See ya, bye." If you want to co-write some dialogue, let me know; otherwise I can let you know what I actually come up with when I write the post - this week sometime (this weekend was Leof and Cerwyn's turn, so they're ready to go now). I think he could be enticed to tell her about the letter from his brother as well.

[Firefoot]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

Now that I've read much of the rpg, I get it why Firefoot was having some difficulty with the time jump. Now I am too: Scyld and Rowenna had a plotline and to just skip over it seems difficult at best.

I wonder if we need to spin it off into a separate rpg, or outline the events? Any thoughts? For those who have not carefully read the Scyld-Rowenna exchanges, this involves them teaming up to figure out who the dead body in the smoke-hut was, and how he died.

I feel better knowing at least one person doesn't think I was just being whiny about the time jump.

Anyway, my current thought process was pretty much to just drop that plotline - they aren't able to find anything out and it stays a mystery. As I wrote in my most recent post, Scyld tries to follow up, gets scared of what fingers get pointed his way, and decides to leave. He'll go first to Dol Amroth and obtain some sort of letter of pardon from Linduial to get his name cleared, maybe spend some time there, then go track down his family, and finally after five years now be returning to the hall. I think he might need to acquire some kind of trade in that amount of time as well - right now he has an odd collection of talents but nothing that would really earn him a living, which seems problematic. If anyone who has a little more knowledge about the culture has thoughts, I'd appreciate it. Alternately, if his current skill set would be sufficient to put him to some use in the Hall, that would be cool too but I have no idea what sort of role that would be.

Any of this can change though.

On a separate note, with all these young men running around I think it might be a really good time to introduce Leof's now 18 year old sister...

[Folwren]

I didn't know Leof had a sister! Sounds like fun.

I was thinking it's about time Thornden found himself a wife. He might never marry, though, because he'd be one to fall slowly in love, and he hasn't shown any sign of liking any of the girls currently at the Hall.

For the record, I didn't think you were being whiny about it, Firefoot.

K, Lommy, what happened to Wilheard's brother? Wilheard and Wulfric were Athanar's sons, right? I know there was some discussion of them above that I missed.

[Firefoot]

Since G55's posts jump significantly in time, I attached the co-written Scyld and Rowenna post onto the end of my last Scyld post to keep the timeline in order.

[Nogrod]

I hope you got it via PM lmp as I forgot to click the "get read receipt" -button (without it I always ponder whether I managed to send something or not).

And thanks for the kind words - it was fun to think over and write...

[littlemanpoet]

I got it. I'll take some time with it. But I need to have it done by Friday's end, I think. Much to do after that!

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Firefoot

Since G55's posts jump significantly in time, I attached the co-written Scyld and Rowenna post onto the end of my last Scyld post to keep the timeline in order.

Perhaps, Firefoot, you could add a link to your post so people could click and go?

[Firefoot]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

Perhaps, Firefoot, you could add a link to your post so people could click and go?

Post here.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Great job here! And nice post, FF. It's a pity we had to mess with the Scyld&co. - plotlines by the timejump, but hope we can build anew from here (Personally for example, all the last posts just before the 'Downs went down, the whole dead body etc. went completely past me, so in that way I am happy to get the chance to look forward to re-engaging with Scyld and all under "normal circumstances" after the jump).

I am back from my short trip now, so expect to post some fill-in posts during the weekend, and also to introduce my new character on the other thread.

[Firefoot]

Just to be clear - we're now starting in F.A. 19? So more of a 4 year jump?

I think I'm the last person on the thread who will argue with that ( ) but want to make sure we're all on the same page.

[Nogrod]

Originally Posted by Firefoot

Just to be clear - we're now starting in F.A. 19? So more of a 4 year jump?

It looks like that.

It was easier to make the general storyline so that it went over four years rather than five (one reason being that we were already in late autumn year 15 where we left the game so there was not much of that to play anyway for year 15).

So it should be something like May F.A. 19 as we start - and the snow is just receding (well melting away) so much that it is possible for a caravan of aid to come through.

So there would still be considerable amount of snow everywhere (except perhaps the inner yard of the Mead Hall and maybe a path or two to some nearby locations like where people would have tried to gather wood etc. that would have been kept quite clean of snow) but it would be melting quickly...