The Fellowship of the Fourth Age (Part 1): A New Beginning Discussion Thread - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Regin Hardhammer · 11-03-2006, 12:00 PM

Save filled. The slavers have just left their camp. Ishkur has dragged a small barrel back for all the orcs to enjoy.

Child -- I've moved the time to the afternoon as you suggested.

- Regin

Folwren · 11-03-2006, 12:06 PM

Athwen has the ability to ride almost as well as her husband (she beat him in a race once, when they were younger

) - not fighting, of course - but if you need someone to simply do interesting and wild horse maneauvers, perhaps to lead the slaver's on, Athwen can do it.

Otherwise, she won't be doing anythng besides staying back and helping the wounded and hurt.

-- Folwren

Child of the 7th Age · 11-03-2006, 12:34 PM

I think there are a lot of good ideas here.

Hilde - The stones in the blanket are a nice touch. They are heavy enough to fly true even with the winds.

Brinniel - Your point about the bow and arrow is a good one. My guess is that some of the "older" runaways would already have made a bow for purposes of catching game, if nothing else. They can certainly be used as weapons, and the skills and extra weapons can be given to the newcomers. You'll probably need to get in very close, however. With the winds blowing so hard just as the attackers come in range of the camp, there is a possibility of arrows going far astray. The advantage of the winds and sand is that the slavers will be hard pressed to see you, especially since they won't be wearing any protective covering. You might want to consider taking shelter behind some boulders and keeping your heads down, then darting in very close to shoot as the slavers come roaring by you.

Nogrod, Folwren -- This sounds good too. I'd love to see both Folwren and Dorran part of an "advance" horse guard. I especially like the idea of using this advance guard to spook the other horses and run some of them off. Any character who can sit a horse is welcome to borrow a horse and join. (We have enough horses between us, and I doubt that characters like Carl or Vror will want to fight on horseback!) Of course, if Dorran or someone wants to finish up with a blade to the rider they are chsing that is fine too!

Because of what Rog and Aiwendil are doing out on the plain, some of the slavers' horses will aready be running away and/or partly spooked. This will only be a small number, however, so further help in this department when the slavers actually reach the outskirts of camp would be good.

I think there is one thing we are all going to have to be careful about. We have 24 or so slavers so we should probably resist the urge to take out 6 at a time! Rather than describing large numbers hitting the dust at once, we will probably need to have the focus be the single individual and the particular enemy he/she is facing.

***************
Regin and other orcs---

I know I haven't posted as an orc in a long time. I'm sorry, but I will get up something for Makdush. And now that the three groups are coming together, I expect to be doing a number of orc posts. It would be good if we could have some other orcs post in that scene as well as the later episode in the slaver camp.

The general idea is to have the main body of orcs be slightly (totally?) soused by the late night when the freed slaves triumphantly arrive to take over the slavers' camps. That is when the confrontation of the three groups will finally occur! (YAY!)

Regin came up with this, and I think it is a good idea. There is a basic problem here in terms of that first meeting. The natural instinct of the slaves would be to try and kill an orc if he/she was pillaging and stealing, which is what the orcs are doing in the camp. But it is a lot harder to kill someone if they are tipsy and not able to stand up straight. You have a choice...you can kill an orc who isn't capable of fighting back, or you can stay your hand and see what happens.

At the same time, we need one or more sober (or semisober) orcs who can make a plea for mercy to the followship and the slaves for their fellow orcs....explain how the group plans to settle in the foothills of the northern mountain and how they ran off rather than fight in the war against the Easterlings.

Maybe one or more of the female orcs could do that? In Morgoth's Ring, Tokien once said that, in the entire history of Arda, an orc had never made a plea for mercy, but if they should happen the free peoples of Arda would be obligated to take the plea seriously. We're going to take Tolkien at his word and see what happens....

I know we're still a ways from those scenes but I wanted to give you an idea which way this is leading. I have a feeling that different characters will respond to the orcs/slaves in different ways. It will presumably strain the unity of the group.....in fact probably both groups! It won't be easy for either side to forgive or at least to learn and live with the situation. In the end however mercy will gain the upper hand. (It better or the game will be over a lot quicker than we had planned!

)

Nogrod · 11-03-2006, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

Nogrod, Folwren -- This sounds good too. I'd love to see both Folwren and Dorran part of an "advance" horse guard. I especially like the idea of using this advance guard to spook the other horses and run some of them off. Any character who can sit a horse is welcome to borrow a horse and join. (We have enough horses between us, and I doubt that characters like Carl or Vror will want to fight on horseback!) Of course, if Dorran or someone wants to finish up with a blade to the rider they are chsing that is fine too!

We should deliberate on this... An advance horse guard is a possibility. It might distract the actual attack by drawing some of the attackers after them (and creating suspense among the slavers about possible other mounted escapees to be met).

But what I had in mind was that our riders would stay hidden until the crucial moment when they could flank the attacking force - f.ex. when the first of the slavers hit the tunnels and are unmounted and the first burst of arrows, sling-pebbles etc. have rained upon them, ideally at the same time. In that confusion (the rest of the slavers trying to hold their horses and trying to adjust to the new situation) a mounted attack with even just six riders could do a lot of damage and create even more confusion and even panic.

Child of the 7th Age · 11-03-2006, 01:34 PM

Nogrod -- I am definitely open to mulling over ideas on this one. One of my concerns is that we get to take advantage of Folwren's fine skills as a writer by having her character involved in the battle in some meaningful way. This seemed like a good way to do it, since the general theme of confusing the slavers is central to our plot.

If we go with a traditional mounted attack, it would be less likely that Folwren would participate. Can we do both? Or should we do one tactic or the other? Anyone else have any opinions here?

Durelin - You're definitely right about the horses. But I remembered we still have two free mounts. Aiwendil and Rog are on foot.

Actually, I cheated....

.... Rog was on foot and I edited my post to free up Aiwendil's horse. Still, they are both in walking distance of the camp.

Brinniel · 11-03-2006, 04:26 PM

Well, whether an advance horse guard or a mounted attack is used, Shae can volunteer to be a rider. Though Shae isn't an experienced rider, she won her own mount from her kill the previous night, and got a fair share of riding to the Fellowship and back to her camp. While Shae may not be any expert rider, as are Dorran and Athwen, she learned much from her experiences on horseback last night, and because of that she might even know more about riding than many of her fellow ex-slaves. Especially since most of them have been slaves their entire lives and have never even been on horseback before....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

My guess is that some of the "older" runaways would already have made a bow for purposes of catching game, if nothing else. They can certainly be used as weapons, and the skills and extra weapons can be given to the newcomers. You'll probably need to get in very close, however. With the winds blowing so hard just as the attackers come in range of the camp, there is a possibility of arrows going far astray. The advantage of the winds and sand is that the slavers will be hard pressed to see you, especially since they won't be wearing any protective covering. You might want to consider taking shelter behind some boulders and keeping your heads down, then darting in very close to shoot as the slavers come roaring by you.

Yes, I think that could work. We would need a lead archer if such an attack were to be made- maybe one of the "older" ex-slaves. Who would be skilled with a bow? Maybe Beloan? That could give him another opportunity to take a leadership role...

Nogrod · 11-03-2006, 05:43 PM

How about the following?

Beloan might be the leader of the archers - here I'll stick with Brinniel. That's a good idea. He might take the leadership there, and on concrete game-terms anyone of us could use him the way s/he wishes as he's a non-player character.

Feel free everyone to recruit to the ranged attack party. A couple of bows and a bit more slings are available. Maybe the gang should be divided in two, half of the people to the other side of the place we think the slavers will ride through and the other half to the other side, hopefully with a little height advantage (let's say slow hills from between which we wish to lure the slavers to ride).

How about the next one? Athwen could be riding boldly to meet the slavers and act like being surprised and make a run away from them towards the camp - thus luring the slavers to follow her. There should be a fake camp with fires burning in the direction Athwen is riding towards so that the slavers would happily follow her. Then, as she would know the exact location of the tunnel-trap, she would let the slavers come near enough her and in the last moment she would make her horse to jump over the trap and the slavers would have no time to react and the first row of them would fall into the tunnel (their horses stumbling and their riders cast off from them). Then there could be a rain of arrows and pebbles from both sides of the slavers who would be confused enough as the leading row has just stumbled in a flash. And before they could rearrange themselves, the party of 5-6 riders would attack them from the flank, galloping through them and causing a maximum damage. Surely a gang of foot soldiers would have been part of the "fake-camp" and would spring to their feet the moment Athwen comes over the tunnel-trap and they would be the ones trying to bring down the unmounted slavers... Hadith could be one of those, maybe one of the the leaders of that party - alongside Khamir and Vrór?

So who would be riding and how many horses we do have? Dorran surely and Athwen if you buy my plan, and Shae as Brinniel said. But that still leaves something like four horses to be used (if we have one or two captured ones from the last attack). I propose Joshwan to be one of the riders, the others might be some of us writers characters here or then unnamed veteran escapees. That ok.?

Folwren · 11-07-2006, 06:16 PM

I am to write the next post, am I not? Just let me know. In the mean time, I'll be preparing it.

-- Folwren

Child of the 7th Age · 11-07-2006, 09:41 PM

Yes. When you approach Lindir to volunteer, you are welcome to use my character if that fits into your post. I think the elf will be extremely grateful that you have made this offer but will not say "yes" to the offer until Dorran has had a chance to respond.

Child of the 7th Age · 11-08-2006, 01:34 AM

My save for Aiwendil is filled.

Nogrod · 11-08-2006, 04:39 PM

That was great fun, Firefoot! I loved it! I try to answer something as soon as I have time...

piosenniel · 11-09-2006, 10:18 AM

SAVE filled . . . slavers delayed . . .

~*~ Pio

Durelin · 11-03-2006, 01:11 PM

Just as a note: Carl I believe has a pony, and Vror has nothing in the way of a mount.

Love all the ideas!

And yes, finally we get to meet up with the orcs! Shall be more than a little interesting!

11-03-2006, 12:00 PM	#1
Regin Hardhammer Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Tumunzahar/Nogrod Posts: 364	Save filled. The slavers have just left their camp. Ishkur has dragged a small barrel back for all the orcs to enjoy. Child -- I've moved the time to the afternoon as you suggested. - Regin __________________ For once I myself saw with my own eyes the Sibyl at Cumae hanging in a bottle, and when the boys said to her: 'Sibyl, what do you want?' she replied, 'I want to die.'"

11-03-2006, 12:06 PM	#2
Folwren Messenger of Hope Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a tiny, insignificant little town in one of the many States. Posts: 5,076	Athwen has the ability to ride almost as well as her husband (she beat him in a race once, when they were younger ) - not fighting, of course - but if you need someone to simply do interesting and wild horse maneauvers, perhaps to lead the slaver's on, Athwen can do it. Otherwise, she won't be doing anythng besides staying back and helping the wounded and hurt. -- Folwren __________________ A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. - C.S. Lewis

11-03-2006, 12:34 PM	#3
Child of the 7th Age Spirit of the Lonely Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 5,133	I think there are a lot of good ideas here. Hilde - The stones in the blanket are a nice touch. They are heavy enough to fly true even with the winds. Brinniel - Your point about the bow and arrow is a good one. My guess is that some of the "older" runaways would already have made a bow for purposes of catching game, if nothing else. They can certainly be used as weapons, and the skills and extra weapons can be given to the newcomers. You'll probably need to get in very close, however. With the winds blowing so hard just as the attackers come in range of the camp, there is a possibility of arrows going far astray. The advantage of the winds and sand is that the slavers will be hard pressed to see you, especially since they won't be wearing any protective covering. You might want to consider taking shelter behind some boulders and keeping your heads down, then darting in very close to shoot as the slavers come roaring by you. Nogrod, Folwren -- This sounds good too. I'd love to see both Folwren and Dorran part of an "advance" horse guard. I especially like the idea of using this advance guard to spook the other horses and run some of them off. Any character who can sit a horse is welcome to borrow a horse and join. (We have enough horses between us, and I doubt that characters like Carl or Vror will want to fight on horseback!) Of course, if Dorran or someone wants to finish up with a blade to the rider they are chsing that is fine too! Because of what Rog and Aiwendil are doing out on the plain, some of the slavers' horses will aready be running away and/or partly spooked. This will only be a small number, however, so further help in this department when the slavers actually reach the outskirts of camp would be good. I think there is one thing we are all going to have to be careful about. We have 24 or so slavers so we should probably resist the urge to take out 6 at a time! Rather than describing large numbers hitting the dust at once, we will probably need to have the focus be the single individual and the particular enemy he/she is facing. ************* Regin and other orcs--- I know I haven't posted as an orc in a long time. I'm sorry, but I will get up something for Makdush. And now that the three groups are coming together, I expect to be doing a number of orc posts. It would be good if we could have some other orcs post in that scene as well as the later episode in the slaver camp. The general idea is to have the main body of orcs be slightly (totally?) soused by the late night when the freed slaves triumphantly arrive to take over the slavers' camps. That is when the confrontation of the three groups will finally** occur! (YAY!) Regin came up with this, and I think it is a good idea. There is a basic problem here in terms of that first meeting. The natural instinct of the slaves would be to try and kill an orc if he/she was pillaging and stealing, which is what the orcs are doing in the camp. But it is a lot harder to kill someone if they are tipsy and not able to stand up straight. You have a choice...you can kill an orc who isn't capable of fighting back, or you can stay your hand and see what happens. At the same time, we need one or more sober (or semisober) orcs who can make a plea for mercy to the followship and the slaves for their fellow orcs....explain how the group plans to settle in the foothills of the northern mountain and how they ran off rather than fight in the war against the Easterlings. Maybe one or more of the female orcs could do that? In Morgoth's Ring, Tokien once said that, in the entire history of Arda, an orc had never made a plea for mercy, but if they should happen the free peoples of Arda would be obligated to take the plea seriously. We're going to take Tolkien at his word and see what happens.... I know we're still a ways from those scenes but I wanted to give you an idea which way this is leading. I have a feeling that different characters will respond to the orcs/slaves in different ways. It will presumably strain the unity of the group.....in fact probably both groups! It won't be easy for either side to forgive or at least to learn and live with the situation. In the end however mercy will gain the upper hand. (It better or the game will be over a lot quicker than we had planned! ) __________________ Multitasking women are never too busy to vote. Last edited by Child of the 7th Age; 11-03-2006 at 01:03 PM.

11-03-2006, 01:34 PM	#5
Child of the 7th Age Spirit of the Lonely Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 5,133	Nogrod -- I am definitely open to mulling over ideas on this one. One of my concerns is that we get to take advantage of Folwren's fine skills as a writer by having her character involved in the battle in some meaningful way. This seemed like a good way to do it, since the general theme of confusing the slavers is central to our plot. If we go with a traditional mounted attack, it would be less likely that Folwren would participate. Can we do both? Or should we do one tactic or the other? Anyone else have any opinions here? Durelin - You're definitely right about the horses. But I remembered we still have two free mounts. Aiwendil and Rog are on foot. Actually, I cheated.... .... Rog was on foot and I edited my post to free up Aiwendil's horse. Still, they are both in walking distance of the camp. __________________ Multitasking women are never too busy to vote.

11-03-2006, 05:43 PM	#7
Nogrod Flame of the Ainulindalë Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wearing rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves in a field behaving as the wind behaves Posts: 9,308	A suggestion How about the following? Beloan might be the leader of the archers - here I'll stick with Brinniel. That's a good idea. He might take the leadership there, and on concrete game-terms anyone of us could use him the way s/he wishes as he's a non-player character. Feel free everyone to recruit to the ranged attack party. A couple of bows and a bit more slings are available. Maybe the gang should be divided in two, half of the people to the other side of the place we think the slavers will ride through and the other half to the other side, hopefully with a little height advantage (let's say slow hills from between which we wish to lure the slavers to ride). How about the next one? Athwen could be riding boldly to meet the slavers and act like being surprised and make a run away from them towards the camp - thus luring the slavers to follow her. There should be a fake camp with fires burning in the direction Athwen is riding towards so that the slavers would happily follow her. Then, as she would know the exact location of the tunnel-trap, she would let the slavers come near enough her and in the last moment she would make her horse to jump over the trap and the slavers would have no time to react and the first row of them would fall into the tunnel (their horses stumbling and their riders cast off from them). Then there could be a rain of arrows and pebbles from both sides of the slavers who would be confused enough as the leading row has just stumbled in a flash. And before they could rearrange themselves, the party of 5-6 riders would attack them from the flank, galloping through them and causing a maximum damage. Surely a gang of foot soldiers would have been part of the "fake-camp" and would spring to their feet the moment Athwen comes over the tunnel-trap and they would be the ones trying to bring down the unmounted slavers... Hadith could be one of those, maybe one of the the leaders of that party - alongside Khamir and Vrór? So who would be riding and how many horses we do have? Dorran surely and Athwen if you buy my plan, and Shae as Brinniel said. But that still leaves something like four horses to be used (if we have one or two captured ones from the last attack). I propose Joshwan to be one of the riders, the others might be some of us writers characters here or then unnamed veteran escapees. That ok.? __________________ Upon the hearth the fire is red Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet...

11-07-2006, 06:16 PM	#8
Folwren Messenger of Hope Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a tiny, insignificant little town in one of the many States. Posts: 5,076	I am to write the next post, am I not? Just let me know. In the mean time, I'll be preparing it. -- Folwren __________________ A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. - C.S. Lewis

11-07-2006, 09:41 PM	#9
Child of the 7th Age Spirit of the Lonely Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 5,133	Yes. When you approach Lindir to volunteer, you are welcome to use my character if that fits into your post. I think the elf will be extremely grateful that you have made this offer but will not say "yes" to the offer until Dorran has had a chance to respond. __________________ Multitasking women are never too busy to vote.

11-08-2006, 01:34 AM	#10
Child of the 7th Age Spirit of the Lonely Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 5,133	My save for Aiwendil is filled. __________________ Multitasking women are never too busy to vote.

11-08-2006, 04:39 PM	#11
Nogrod Flame of the Ainulindalë Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Wearing rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves in a field behaving as the wind behaves Posts: 9,308	That was great fun, Firefoot! I loved it! I try to answer something as soon as I have time... __________________ Upon the hearth the fire is red Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet...

11-09-2006, 10:18 AM	#12
piosenniel Desultory Dwimmerlaik Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Pickin' flowers with Bill the Cat..... Posts: 7,779	SAVE filled . . . slavers delayed . . . ~*~ Pio __________________ Eldest, that’s what I am . . . I knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless - before the Dark Lord came from Outside.

11-03-2006, 01:11 PM	#13
Durelin Estelo dagnir, Melo ring Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 3,063	Just as a note: Carl I believe has a pony, and Vror has nothing in the way of a mount. Love all the ideas! And yes, finally we get to meet up with the orcs! Shall be more than a little interesting!