Lonely Star: Fanfiction/RPG discussion

[piosenniel]

Sharon

The Idril and Cami and Andril and Rose post is up. Is it in a good position for you?

[mark12_30]

Pat,

This is really Sharon, not Helen. (Te He) Actually, I made a mistake. I meant to be Sharon.

We have a problem. You and I posted at the same time on the same topic. Mine was on the discussion thread, waiting for pasting. (I deleted it since then, in favor of the one below). I desperately need to insert my post in the middle of yours. I have given a suggested revision below which can be cut and pasted. My post and yours would clash unless they're merged together, which they easily can be. The revision involved erasing just a few sentences of yours and inserting my own post in the middle.

BTW, this can go in the same slot where yours is now.

The problem is that my post is central to Cami's character and who she becomes in the course of the story. She starts as a nanny teaching small children, with memories of her teacher Bilbo in her head. She is afraid to go beyond that, and has avoided even returning to her own people, living in the world of men,where she can shut herself off.

Her challenge is to grow beyond what Bilbo has taught her. He, after all, is a male, and well-to-do. She has to find her own path.

She finds it in two ways. She develops an emotional attachment to a man, which unfortunately she must sacrifice. She is absolutely loyal and carries out what she had promised to do. Emotionally, she is not going to find anyone else. But she still has to find a way to live with some meaning and dignity. She will be going to the late Second Age, when there are still a number of Elves about. She has no husband to support her.

Her role has to be that of wise-woman. She must have healing and osanwe skills as well as what little lore has been left to the hobbits. She has to rise above herself.

More importantly, Cami must learn to believe in herself, which she freqently does not. This post is key to all this, and points the way she will go. At the end of the story, Cami will choose a name that reflects her new status. This is an option which Ancalamon will give her.

Oh, yes, Rose is semi-comatose. Would she thrash about or lie still? Would she have been able to swallow the elixir? I defer to you here as I am no nurse. Please change or keep as you see fit in that aspect in the early part of the post. I have revised the initial accident to reflect a head injury as well as a spear in the side. (BTW, Andril does know osanwe from the previous story line.)

Let me know if this is alright.
---------------------------------------------

Pio's post:

Once the shift in time had been made, then Idril answered Ancalimon’s call to come and tend to Rose. He worried about the wound from the spear, but more so he worried about the blow she had taken to the head.

She had seen Rose several times now, and today was pleased to find her looking less pale than before, though Cami and Andril, had been sitting with her, said Rose had not opened her eyes or responded to their voices in any way. Idril sat on the bed next to Rose, and opened her healer’s chest to take what she needed from it.

She spoke softly to Rose as she moved through the motions of her care. The Hobbit was pale, her heart and breathing still rapid from the blood loss she had suffered. She slipped in and out of consciousness, moaning softly when the pain assailed her.

The wound itself was grievous. It was deep, penetrating to the bone of the ribcage, cracking the rib which had stopped it. She had cleaned out the gash, and now packed it with healing unguents. Soft, absorbent dressings were laid over it, and a clean band of linen bound round the Hobbit’s chest.

‘Come help me!’ she called to Cami and Andril, who had watched how she worked with the wound. ‘We must prop her up a little so that she can breathe properly.’ Andril and Cami gently raised Rose up, as Idril tucked pillows and rolled blankets behind her for support.

Rose moaned as they moved her, and Idril gave her a few drops of the honey-colored elixir to ease the pain. The Hobbit’s lips moved greedily toward the sweet liquid and would have more, but Idril eased her head back against the pillow with her hand, saying, ‘No more, little warrior! That is enough for someone your size.’

Sharon's post

Then Idril explained to the women how the mind sometimes shut down after a grievous injury. Often it awoke naturally, but sometimes it could not. This seemed to have happened to Rose. They would try and help her.

"First, you must join with me. Otherwise, you will not be able to understand what I do to help Rose."

Andril concentrated, carefully focusing her mind until the link was established. Cami sat back and blurted out, "I'm not sure I can do that."

Idril looked sternly at her. Then she spoke in a firm, if kindly, manner, "I have been told otherwise by Piosenniel and Ancalimon. This is your friend. If she responds to anyone at all, it is most likely to be you. We need you in this link."

Cami sat down and took Rose's hand in hers. Somehow, a physical touch made it much easier. She tried to do what she'd done the night of the rescue. Only this time her focus was on both Rose and Idril. Her mind jogged. It was almost as if a portal was suddenly thrust open to reveal something that had been there all along, only cleverly hidden from view.

Good, you have not only linked with me, but also the girl.

Then Idril turned her attention to Rose and spoke to her,Come back little warrior! We await you.

For an instant, Cami thought Idril was talking to her the way she would with a friend, but then she realized the words were coming through her head instead.

I will move in and try to wake her. Andril, Cami, watch what I do. Cami, if she responds, she will probably come to you, since she knows you as a friend. Do not thrust her aside. Speak with her first with your own thoughts, and then try bringing her outside with words. The whole idea is to open her up to the outside again.

The Elf leaned over Rose. Her face, with its shining light, spoke of a goodness and beauty that went beyond the things of this world. She caressed the girl's mind, only with thoughts and feelings instead of physical touch. This went on for several moments and still Rose slept. But slowly very slowly, there was movement. First the movement of thoughts, and then the tentative glimmerings of a body reawakening.Almost instinctively, Cami began to talk. Only this time it was inside, not outside.

Rose, are you here? It's Cami. I'm worried about you. Are you alright?

The woman sensed a tiny response from her friend. She went inside Rose's mind and did something very close to gently shaking her, that is, if such thoughts could be translated into physical movement. Cami prodded again.

Rose, is that you? Wake up. I need you back.

The girl looked at her friend and peered quizzically. How did you get in here?

Never mind that now. We both need to get out. Cami gently pulled Rose and herself through to the other side, and continued talking, only now out loud.

Suddenly Rose blurted back, "I told you we'd make it alright. I promised we'd get through together, and we did."

"We certainly did," A tear slipped down Cami's cheek. She brushed it aside, and sternly told herself not to start weeping.

The girl lay back on her pillow exhausted. She closed her eyes to sleep, but this time it was a sleep of grace and healing.

Idril showed Cami how she could clean the wound and replace the bandage for her friend. "Now we must let her sleep. She will be fine. She is young and strong. More and more her spirit will fight to come back, but the healing will take time."

Relief flooded over Cami's face. Now she turned to ask about Mithadan. Idril answered, "I am hopeful. But his wound still festers, and he has not yet spoken. Piosenniel guards over him like a mother hawk with her brood, and will not let any other tend to his needs. Still, it is early. We may see improvement in the next day or two."

Then, Idril made Cami promise that she would spend time with Andril as she made her rounds among the ill and injured hobbits. "It is important that you learn the arts of a healer. Your people will need it. You have skill in this, Cami. Even I can see that in what you have done for Rose."

Pio's post:

Before leaving the room, the Elf had opened her wooden chest and was putting back the herbs, unguent, and elixir she had used, when Andril put a hand on her arm. ‘Yes?’ she asked, looking closely at the Hobbrim

‘If you would, Lady Idril,’ said the woman, ‘Cami and I are very much interested in the numerous medicinal supplies you carry in that chest of yours. I have never seen so many before! It would be wonderful to have such at hand when need called.

’Idril looked from one to the other, appraisingly. ‘Ancalimon and Piosenniel have spoken with me about your need for such. She would have spoken to you about this herself, but Mithadan is much on her mind these days. It was to be her gift to each of you before you went your separate ways.’ She took out the layers of trays within the chest and arranged them on the rug. She showed them all her assortment, giving a brief description of what each was used for.

‘What are these?’ asked Cami, noting that in each discrete section of the tray there was always a small envelope tucked beneath the herbs themselves.

Idril pull one from beneath the leaves piled on it and opened it, shaking the contents onto the palm of her hand. ‘These are my most precious treasure – the seeds from which each herb springs.’ She carefully returned the seeds to their envelope. ‘You will each receive some of each of these seeds so that you also may continue to renew your stock of herbs.’

Idril placed the trays back into the chest and left it open for the moment. ‘There is one thing which you will need to do before you take the chests I will prepare for you.’ ‘Anything!’ cried Cami, overwhelmed at the generosity of the gift.

‘There is my note book of herbal lore and usage that will need to be copied.’ She pulled out a fair sized notebook bound in well worn leather, filled with drawings, histories and recipes for each herb. ‘If you can come for a short period of time each day until we leave, you can get this copied and we can discuss any questions you have as you go along.’ She placed the notebook carefully on the top tray of the chest and closed the chest lid securely.

‘Can you do this?’ she asked, turning back to face them.

Sharon's post:

Andril nodded her head and gracefully bowed. "Your gift is most welcome. It will be a joy to do as you have asked. I will come each morning to copy the notebooks and learn more of these things. The hobbrim on Meneltarma will bless you for this gift."

Andril prepared to go, but first came up to Cami to remind her. "Don't forget. You promised to come tomorrow. We will meet with Lady Idril first. Then you'll come along with me when I visit those hobbits and hobbrim who still need the services of a healer. I'm afraid we have many of those, though I hope to see their numbers lessen." Cami weakly nodded. Then Andril curtsied again to Lady Idril, and left.

The room was filled with an awkward silence, until the Elf addressed the woman again, "And you, Cami, what do you say to me? Can you do this?"

Cami sighed, and wondered what to say. Just how much of the truth should come out of her mouth? This was a great Lady, and she would surely not want to hear her concerns. Perhaps, a polite 'thank you' would do.

But, before she could get her words out, the Elf spoke again, "Cami, what is wrong? You are not one to have trouble expressing your views."

Cami struggled for words to explain, "Lady Idril, this is truly one of the most wonderful gifts anyone has ever given me, especially because it is not just for me, but also for my people. Your generosity touches my heart."

"It is only that....that all of this is happening very fast. I never thought of myself as a healer or master of lore. I grew up in a family of simple Harfoot farmers who struggled to make its way. Before this voyage, I lived in a household of Men and took care of small children. No one thought me wise or learned. If I wanted to know things, I went to the great archives in the city and looked into ancient books. But I kept it to myself. No one came to me for wisdom or looked into my eyes and asked me to bring healing to them."

"I would like to do these things for my people, but I do not know if I can. I am not like Maura or Andril or Loremaster. They are from ancient, respected families. My family's only distinction was sowing and harvesting crops. Mithadan has noble lines of ancestry which go back to King Elros, and Piosenniel is an Elf with all that such a wonderful title implies, but I am just a nobody...."

Cami stopped. As usual, she'd opened her mouth and said a bit more than she had intended to.

A smile played on Idril's mouth. "So that's it."

"You will have to admit that most of those whose names appear in the Lore from the First and Second Age have a more illustrious lineage than mine. Sometimes, I think I have banged into the wrong tale by mistake, and someone will be chasing me out quite soon."

Idril cut in, "Ancalimon warned me that you could be headstrong. He was certainly right on that account. Cami, I can tell you. Neither Ancalimon or I would be offering you these things if we did not feel you had the personal gifts to do a good job and a heart that was inclined to goodness. You must stop doubting yourself."

"And, if the lore of the First and Second Age fails to record the brave deeds of those from simple, humble families, then perhaps the mistake lies in those who do the recording and not in the actions of those good folk. Surely, you must have learned that from Numenor. With all their great monuments and long bloodlines, most of them miserably failed to understand right from wrong. That is what makes the difference Cami, that knowing and understanding, that rightness of the heart, not who your ancestors were!"

"Now, I ask again, will you do this thing both for your own knowledge and for the benefit of your people? Tell me yes or no."

Cami knelt down in front of the great Lady, and looked up into her eye and said, "With every bone in my body, with every inch of my will, I will try to go your great gift justice."

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[mark12_30]

Awk! Have I developed Dissociative Identity Disorder??? What do you think, Sharon? Oh, Helen, I don't know. Cami? What do you think? Gee, C7A, I couldn't guess. Why don't you ask Mark? Okay. ... Mark doesn't know either. I guess I'll ask Sharon after all. But wait!!! Am I Sharon???

[Child of the 7th Age]

Sorry, I'll be more careful. I was trying to straighten out this problem where Pat and I posted on the same subject in different places. Argh! sharon

[mark12_30]

Joke-joke-joke. Guess I should have put in smilies
[img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[ November 04, 2002: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[Birdland]

There's a Birdie post in the space saved by me on November 3, 5:17 pm. Warning: it's a long one.

Pio: Birdie's decided she's gonna need a sword. Ya got another "precious childhood heirloom" laying around somewhere? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to write a lovely "frolic" with Phura, Kali, and Levanto.

[Birdland]

Helen - Thank you so much for "Birdie's Song"! (and Psalm.) I'm still blown away by your poetry. It's all truly beautiful.

Poor Phura! He picked the wrong person for a "guru". [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[piosenniel]

Sharon

Deleted my post and placed the edited Idril post on.

Someone, and soon, needs to start moving the Hobbits/Hobbrim off the crowded ships. We came to the island for a place to recuperate, and aren't the Hobbrim staying here?

Let's move the troops to the cleaner, outdoorsy air!

[mark12_30]

Bird-- ...and thank YOU! That post was a tearjerker. --Helen

[Rose Cotton]

That whole Phura story.

Wow, I didn't think people would be so worried about me. Especially Gamba. He didn't seem to much care about Rose before. I like people crying over me. Perhaps I should be fataly wounded more often. J/k

Um..is Rose up and about now?

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

Thanks for the cut and paste.

Cami will be glad to move the hobbits today to Meneltarma. I'll do it the first thing when I get home from work which will be in 5 hours.

One of the first thing I am doing is to have a memorial service. This time, for real! These families have lost a ton of people. I assume this is one of the first things they'd do! Especially since, it's been a week since the deaths. The children all got through (I'm too kind-hearted to kill them.) but a lot of older ones did not.

So please put on your nice clothes and turn out for the service.

sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

Bird,

What have you done? Something like that could turn a hobbit into a hobbrim!

(Just a little guilt trip should families be split up in the process.)

sharon

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

My italics got lost in the cut and paste. Don't feel bad. That happens to me too.

Anyways I cut and pasted the same post in Helen's space immediately below, and added the italics. Since the post is in and out of people's heads, it's hard to understand anything without the italics.

I asked Mith to delete the earlier one under your moniker. I didn't think there'd be a problem, since they are otherwise identical, and the chronology stays exactly the same since it's the very next space.

Hope this is ok.

sharon

[piosenniel]

Is everyone done who might need the 'SAVES' I put in?

If so, I'll delete them.

[mark12_30]

Here's an idea... rather than everybody (except Mith) having to beg for somebody else to cut-and-paste into somebody else's post...

How about we create an account called LonelyStar, and everybody on the team has the password? Then when we want to add a "general / anybody save" we can log on as that, and reserve the space, and then anybody on the team can post into it.

Unless I'm mistaken, we've all gone past 500 posts, so it's not like we need to rack up posts... (all moderators frown at the very thought...)

Sound like a good idea?

--Helen

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

I do not need any more of the earlier spaces. I think we're all OK. I did add one post before the Meneltarma landing which has to do with reuniting families and keeping lists of departed ones.

In this earlier post, I said there were originally 1,000 hobbits and with 800 left after the rescue. Is this right? Should I revise these figures? I can't remember what we decided earlier.

We made it to Meneltarma. Yeah!

Loremaster has asked people to relax and have picnics and stuff. I hope some of you will post funny or reflective things before Loremaster goes ahead with his memorial service and explanations of the choosing. I won't do anything further till late tonight.
If you think I should, I'll wait till tomorrow morning. (I can write it ahead, and paste it in before I go to work tomorrow.) What do you think?

After I wrote the section up, I wondered why anyone would want to leave. Cami must be nuts to leave this place! It sounds a little like paradise. Honestly, I expect Ancalimon to give people a choice and all 800 will choose to stay there. I better think of some reason why it's not so great. Does anyone have some ideas here on making the other side of the equation?

The only thing I can think of is that it might get boring, since it's secluded with not a lot going on.

Any ideas?

sharon

[Mithadan]

High sodium diets cause bloating and high blood pressure?

Oof! What a waste of a 2000th post!

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: Mithadan ]

[Rose Cotton]

Um..so Phura is gonna be a Hobbrim?

We're visiting the island now right?

I'm just having a small problem of keeping track of things.

[mark12_30]

Eh, Mith, congrats on your prolific grey mistiness. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Yes, Rose, Phura is headed for Hobbrimality.

Umm, Sharon. Reasons for leaving Meneltarma? "Destiny". They need to be on the shores of the Anduin or there'll be nobody to migrate when Mirkwood gets mirkier. Doldo, Noldo and Sindo need ancestors.

The sales pitch (sorry) has to be two fold-- do you want the destiny of being there for Eru in the Last Days, or do you wan the destiny of settling the Anduin so that there are hobbits to do the required Good Deeds needed in the third age?

Both are needed. Ancalimon can do his usual thing, and clarify the choices. Here-- hobbrim. Anduin-- hobbits. No middle ground. If there were, Gamba would certainly stay, to be near his brother.

Hmmm. Near Phura?? (Wait... !) Okay, we're staying. Cancel the trip. Who needs a Ringbearer anyways?

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

[piosenniel]

Sharon

So are @400 hobbits staying and the other half going with you?

If so, then shortly after the memorial service and the wedding party/ceremonial (hint! hint! to you party planners!) Pio will send a great number of the Teleri home as well as Tuor and Idril. I believe Veritas and Khelek will also take Pio up on her offer, and they will head west with the Elves.

Pio's reason for not wanting to live forever in Paradise - she's got itchy feet and the wandering spirit.

*wanders off singing*

Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space

I like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder
Racin' with the wind
And the feelin' that I'm under
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space

Like a true nature's child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die

Born to be wild
Born to be wild

-- Mars Bonfire - Steppenwolf

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

To tell the truth, I see a smaller group needed at Meneltarma. They will be perfectly hidden, no enemies, no big folk, just sunshine and surfing. Gosh, they probably don't even have viruses or bacteria. They'll live a long, long time.

It's the poor guys in the Anduin who need more hobbits to survive since all the nasty big folk are out there hunting them down with dogs. Cami better learn to run fast. (I should never have read Bird's posts in the Gathering!)

What is a 'viable' number for a group to survive and multiply (hobbits are good at that!)? Or do we just use whatever we want? How about 250 Meneltarma, and 550 Anduin? Anyone else have feelings on this?

sharon

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[piosenniel]

Sounds good to me - with the Star we'll need 14 of the Telerin ships. so I can send 6 of them plus T and I home.

BTW - I'm going to move us closer to Minas Anor in AAWtK before I go off to work.

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat--

We need to discuss what will happen on 11/7 in AwtK, and how we'll lead up to that. Will send you a pm later. sharon

[Rose Cotton]

With hobbit reason in mind I would think that some of the hobbits even though island may be paradise would rather live on the mainland including Rose.

I was just thinking. What would happen if none of the hobbits left Meneltarma. This is my theory:

The hobbits would have a period of longed for "Golden Years" living with their hobbrim neighbors.

Being so close to water dwelling creatures the hobbits would want to use the water too. This may result in some of them becoming a fishing comunity instead of a farming one.

After a long time the hobbits will start to crowd the island.

Eventually few of the hobbits might become curious about the wider world and build sea worthy boats to explore.

Sooner or later some hobbit explorers might find elven ships or mainland.

This might lead to a migration of brave hobbits from Meneltarma to the mainland. If the land happened to be Middle earth the hobbits might after some time discover the land of the shire though if they did it would be later then they originaly found it.

If the land was somewhere else like Valinor or any of the other lands I don't really know what would happen to the hobbit colony.

So there you have it. My theory on what would happen if the hobbits all stayed on Meneltarma.

Um...ya. After we finnish this story would anyone be up for a alternate ending based on this theory? [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Rose,

This is interesting! Many good ideas. No, I'm not willing to change our own ending. We've invested too much in it. But perhaps someday you could write up a proposal for this "alternate world" RPG.

sharon

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Mithadan]

Out of curiosity, how are the Hobbits to get up the Anduin? The Elf fleet would not go unnoticed (unless the Hobbits are transported prior to the Fall of Numenor and even then, 14 ships going up the river?) and could not get past Rauros at any rate.

[mark12_30]

I thought we were getting unceremoniously dumped off around Minas Tirith someplace, so that we could build/ excavate those stinkin' caves and paint on the walls, so they'll be there for you to discover in the (?nth) age.

Gamba has had enough of stinkin' caves and doesn't ever want to see another one. Even a nice hobbit hole probably wouldn't appeal to him very much unless it had BIG windows. Maybe he'll live on a flet.

[piosenniel]

At the choosing, the hobbits will all be issued several cans of spray paint by Ulmo with which they will camouflage the Elven ships.

The Teleri will then sail back to the West looking like a long grafitied freight train.

[mark12_30]

So... Piosenniel, what's elvish for "no more stinkin' caves" and "boy am I glad to see the sky"?

I'm ready. Gimme the spraypaint.

[Birdland]

Anyone miss me? I was twelve hours without a phone (and internet access). I actually DID other things! Maybe I ought to pull the plug...NAH!

Anyway, I finally come back to find that Helen is turning the Hobbits into juvie delinquents, defacing Valarian property with graffiti. Bad Helen. I guess we know what Hobbits are doing in the 7th Age now. Tagging subway cars.

[mark12_30]

Hey, it gets me around. Who do you think paints "Frodo Lives" on the walls of the New York Subways? And all the way from Rhode Island, to boot.

Well, the rest of you can hang around in the City of Stone if you want to, but I'm outta there. Even if I have to steal a horse. ....Hmmm. (ponders)

[piosenniel]

The Hobbits had only that one experience with tagging - and they, of course, only did it out of necessity.

The Elves, on the other hand, elevated this new form of calligraphy to a high art form and preserved it into the 7th Age. It is, in fact, one of the ways unwelcome travellers to the Blessed Lands are warned off. The Elven turf is well marked to prevent the incursion of any rival gangs.

Unfortunately, the remaining orcs who survived the Ages took over this 'art' form and have also made it their own. Some for good, some for bad, as modern day shadow creatures are wont to do.

But seriously, folks -

I thought Sharon wanted the Hobbits in Minas Anor first(to account fo that underground dwelling we found earlier in the story). Then they have the diaspora north and west to the lands they eventually settle.

It was my understanding that Minas Anor had been in existence since the very late 2nd Age. How about we venture up as far as Pelargir, an ancient haven of Gondor, with the Hobbits and then they can trek up through Lebennin to Minas Anor.

We can head upriver about a hundred years before the dawn of the 3rd Age and drop them off.

Will that work?

[ November 06, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Can't you just see us pulling into Minas Anor with 20 swanships? And the hobbits are supposed to keep a fairly low profile!

......Cami looks sheepish and says, "Er, I never thought of that!"

Gandalf arrived about the year 1000. Let's say 950 so Cami will have a more peaceful life!

First possibility, dump the hobbits off at the mouth of the river and make them walk up the Anduin. The Fallohides will have a very long walk!

Second possibility, This is more complicated. The swanships park most of the hobbits back down on a secluded part of the coast along the Bay of Belfelas(not far from Umbar). Or, if you want, we could invent some island in the Bay.

Actually, whether the coast or an island, this is exactly where our voyage began, where we found Kali. The hobbits could be temporarily housed in the honeycomb caves where the hobbrim used to live.

Meanwhile, Pio and Mith and Gandalf, plus a few select hobbits (i.e. Cami, Rose, Gamba and their kids) head up to Minas Anor. Mith approaches his descendent and persuades him of our cause. The descendent then petitions King Ciryandil to relocate 800 refugees up river, described only as "mortal folk" who have been displaced by a great natural disaster.

I know this king had a ton of ships, and he spent a lot of time fighting in Umbar. Maybe he had ships coming to Harad, 3 and 4 at a time, with supplies. They would resupply the king's navy and army and then head north up the river to pick up more cargo, not just from Minas Anor but the entire length of the Anduin. Mith's relatives could volunteer as the pilots of these cargo vessels for the king.

Since they are coming back pretty empty, the ships could take the hobbits along with them. First group to go would be the Harfoot, then the Stoors, and last, with Cami, the Fallohides. BTW, Cami isn't stupid. She wants her Fallohides dropped off east of Rivendell. She intends to go banging on the door of the Elves.

Needless to say, we will be staying at the same little house in Mias Anor which was later discovered by us. Actually, that room and the house above it could belong to some of Mith's ancestors. Also, needless to say the kids spill the beans to a local artisan with a wild story about Ulmo and the hobbrim, which ends up in a work of art.

Mith, will any of this work? Or am I doomed to walk?

We have a more immediate problem. Cami, the great healer that she is, has already managed to give the entire community a severe case of sunburn. Do you think Meneltarma has any aloe vera?

[ November 06, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[mark12_30]

The hobbits could be temporarily housed in the honeycomb caves where the hobbrim used to live.

Gamba, glaring daggers at Cami, begins plotting an open revolt. Perhaps a military coup. Mutiny on the Lonely Star...

[Child of the 7th Age]

Pat,

Sorry I didn't see your post. Mine was up a long time before it was sent. I was cooking a stir fry.

I had a long discussion with Mithadan. We can't go to the Second Age. We have to go to the Third Age in the year 420 or later. That's when King Ostaher rebuilt Minas Anor. Otherwise those old things we found in the first part of the story don't make any sense, i.e. the room for hobbits, and the bas relief. They would have been destroyed in the wars.

In the fanfiction, there are one or two posts that I'll have to revise because of this. I initially assume the old bas-relief and ruins meant the late second age, just as you did.

As long as I have to leave paradise and go to the Third Age, I prefer to be in the same time frame as Gandalf. He's been the one constant for Cami in the First through the Fourth Age, and the only one who knew her when she was with Maura.

The only reason I want to put any hobbits in Minas Anor is to account for the clues at the beginning of our story. Obviously, when Cami goes out of that room, she will leave behind the stone inscription of Ancalimon and the picture of the hobbit on the wall, so they'll be waiting for her in the Fourth Age. If she doesn't do that, the Star might never find the hobbits. (Boy, time travel is weird!)

Each of the clans will go to the general area where JRRT put them: Stoors furthest south, Harfoot in the middle, and Fallohides up further, just north of Rivendell.

If you want to let us out in Pelargir, we'll walk, but some of us hobbits will need to stop off in Minas Anor and leave those clues for the Star. Then we'll keep walking up the Anduin. From Pelargir to Rivendell is about 950 miles.

Ouch, my feet hurt already. Can we borrow some leftover Olipahunts from the Harad delegation in AwtK?

sharon

[ November 06, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

[Child of the 7th Age]

Helen,

Don't panic. Gamba can sleep out on the beach. Plus, if we do what I suggested, he'll be in a real house in Minas Anor.

Anything's better than walking almost a thousand miles!

sharon

[piosenniel]

How about this scenario - we sail up the Anduin to Mount Mindolluin, 2nd age, prior to the founding of Minas Anor. I cannot see there will be many or any to challenge us, especially if we sail under cover of darkness. We can, in fact, go all the way to Cair Andros, the river island north of the site of Minas Anor.

Then, handy dandy time crystal in hand we can drop you all off, at the precise time you need to be there. Some of you can then trek to the north and west. Others can head south to inhabit the requisite places near Minas Anor.

We can wink out of there and off to whatever time frame we need once you are off loaded.

Will this work?

[mark12_30]

Song and dance the heart enchanting
Ancient wisdom understanding
Thoughtful Pio, Wise Pio,
Noble Piosenniel.

[Mithadan]

Or, in the alternative, Mith can arrange for transport upriver during the Third Age with the King as suggested. I have an idea about how to accomplish that.

[piosenniel]

Please do, Mithadan!