September 30, 2007 Meeting
5pm EST (GMT - 5);
(GMT = 22:00)
AIM: Valar Guild Meetingplace
Back to News
Transcript work by: Varda
Attending: (7)
Arathornv, AriehnV, ArPharazonV, Ancalagon/Sarujil, Eonwe Valar, Fladrifv, VardaValar1(presiding)
Before-meeting
Meeting begins
Membership:
Tenth Anniversary week begins now!
Web:
Robert Jordan passed away.
Gaming:
Regular gaming reports, with talk of the Forum rp
scattered through the whole meeting, since most of those active are in
it.
Tolkien:
If we looked at the whole Fellowship ensemble as one
person, what would each member have contributed to this one over-all
great hero?
Marathon chat room week begins.
Before-meeting:
You have just entered room "valarguildmeetingplace."
VardaValar1: Aiya : )
Sarujil: aiya varda
VardaValar1: Hey there Anc :-)
VardaValar1: Arathorn, hi again :-)
VardaValar1: Arathorn and I were just working on Book 1 in LotRO, help
from Angrod and Melkor for parts. : ) Up to the evil Ch. 11.
Sarujil: ah cool
VardaValar1: If we're very lucky, maybe we can get up a group for it later
VardaValar1: What are you in the middle of, Ancalagon?
Sarujil: watching Tigers' last game of the season
Sarujil: i think my captain is on chapter 10...
VardaValar1: ahh, we could help on that one first, Andraste and her ravens.
VardaValar1: Did the game just start or near the end?
Fladrifv has entered the room.
ArPharazonV has entered the room.
ArPharazonV: Aiya
VardaValar1: Aiya Fladrif, Phar : )
Fladrifv: *waves a branch*
ArPharazonV: brb, playing Dungeon Siege, just in front of a boss, but I'll save him for next time :-)
VardaValar1: ohh, something to really look forward to!
Fladrifv: save a boss is that wise? might get angry if he neet to wait for such a long time
VardaValar1: Maybe it will make him miss!
Fladrifv: *need
Eonwe Valar has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Hail, Eonwe! : )
Eonwe Valar: Heya
Eonwe Valar: So quiet in here...
ArPharazonV: eh, today's been the first time I played the game in
months, so he's been besieging the fort for a long time already...
ArPharazonV: he can wait
VardaValar1: Seems the links are bad on the News even on Netscape. Was trying to fix
ArPharazonV: maybe he'll die of boredom and then I can just pick up the loot
VardaValar1: Phar was in Dungeon Siege, Arathorn in LotRO, Ancalagon watching the Tigers game.
VardaValar1: Now there's a plan, Phar : )
Eonwe Valar: Ah
Sarujil: oh by the way, its the bottom of the 9th varda
ArPharazonV: I bought Dungeon Siege 2 deluxe pack this week, which is
the original DS 2 and its expansion in 1 package, and some extras
VardaValar1: Thanks Anc
VardaValar1: So a bunch are out watching a game : )
VardaValar1: More info for your Games Page, Eonwe : )
ArPharazonV: so after a few hours of testing it, I decided I would continue with the saga where I left off... in DS 1 ;-)
AriehnV has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Aiya Arien : )
ArPharazonV: besides that, a good deal of WoW... did some dailies, paid off a debt to a friend, and alted some
AriehnV: Aiya Varda :-) and Aiya to all the rest
ArPharazonV: I'd save it for the Gaming section but I won't be there, as I'm leaving early tonight
Eonwe Valar: Heya Arien
ArPharazonV: Aiya Arien!
VardaValar1: I'd better get started then.
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VardaValar1: Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo!
ArPharazonV: by all means, don't feel rushed on my account...
VardaValar1: Membership News:
ArPharazonV: there's transcripts for a reason!
VardaValar1: Ten minutes late, Phar ;-)
VardaValar1: Sept 22 was the Birthday of Bilbo and Frodo in the books, as we mentioned last time.
VardaValar1: Bilbo-(V)'s birthday was Sept 24, Sauron-(Valar)'s was Sept 27th. A good week. : )
AriehnV: Gratulations to all of them :-D
VardaValar1: Erkenbrand-(V)
left the guild this week. He joined to help us start up the kinship in
LotRO, but is uncomfortable with the idea of using a book character
name.
VardaValar1: He is still a guild-friend under the name of Herdy.
VardaValar1: In other Membership News
VardaValar1: This meeting is the kick-off of Tenth Anniversary Week. : )
VardaValar1: The Tenth Anniversary of the Valar Guild is Oct 4 on a Thursday.
VardaValar1: As usual, people have scheduling problems so we make the whole week the time of the event.
VardaValar1: One tradition is to keep this chat room open the whole week, more or less.
VardaValar1: Usually Pallando (previously Orodreth) was the main one behind that.
VardaValar1: Do we have people who can make an attempt to at least keep it open a lot? : )
VardaValar1: I can keep it open when on the webwork computer, which should be a good bit.
ArPharazonV: I'll be free from Friday the fifth up to Wednesday after that, and will try to be online a lot in that time
VardaValar1: It can be left on while afk, as Pallando used to do, if that is feasible.
ArPharazonV: though of course during the nights I'll need to close :-)
VardaValar1: That works.
VardaValar1: Europe and N. America nights are reversed, so someone should be up all the time. : )
ArPharazonV: hehe
VardaValar1: So Phar, myself will give that a shot. Any others?
AriehnV: I can make a try to have the room open from Wed afternoon
during Thursday and Friday , since those are my days off , maybe we can
take turns Phara ;-)
ArPharazonV: not *exactly* reversed, you're like.. what... 8 hours earlier than me?
ArPharazonV: brb, pancakes
VardaValar1: Currently 4:17pm here.
VardaValar1: yum, pancakes : )
VardaValar1: I guess the guys in Japan are reversed. Tom Bombadil, who moved back from Japan, and another
VardaValar1: Tom got out of contact too long unfortunately. Hope he gets back with us.
VardaValar1: Ok, so chat room marathon for one!
VardaValar1: How about something for the special gaming days?
VardaValar1: Fireworks, pie, special questing, other?
VardaValar1: LotRO suggestion of a tavern crawl got a good response. : )
VardaValar1: Sauron said a Molten Core run would be nice *wince*.
AriehnV: *chuckles*
VardaValar1: Suggestions?
VardaValar1: The Tolkien-only crew has some stories planned.
VardaValar1: Fladrif, you had artwork planned to go with the story already up for the Anniversary?
AriehnV: Fladrif is not here :-(
VardaValar1: I hope to put some cheery stuff on the home page of http://valarguild.org during the week for the Tolkien webmaking crew's contribution.
VardaValar1: Pardon, he shows on my screen and spoke earlier. My mistake.
VardaValar1: Also, Arveleg has been refining his webwork contribution on the Search Everything Engine, for fun.
VardaValar1: If any of you have suggestions, this is the week we need
to be doing those suggestions, not putting them off any longer. : )
VardaValar1: For Forum people, we now have a thread for Happy Tenth comments, feel free to weigh in. : )
ArPharazonV: allright, back from pancakes
Eonwe Valar: We do still have the Forum RP going,..
VardaValar1: Pancakes with nuts and peach syrup...
ArPharazonV: my brother brought American pancake mix home from his trip, quite different from what we have here...
ArPharazonV: very thick pancakes, quite filling
ArPharazonV: anyway! Forum RP, yes...
VardaValar1: Sounds like it might be Belgian pancakes.
VardaValar1: Mostly we make flat ones.
ArPharazonV: well, it was your mix!
VardaValar1: I posted recently
VardaValar1: My mix?
ArPharazonV: American!
VardaValar1: I'll have to send you my home recipe. : )
VardaValar1: I make them from scratch.
ArPharazonV: you as in you Americans :-)
VardaValar1: Americans have all kinds of pancakes. : )
ArPharazonV: oh, I'm sure
VardaValar1: Sounds interesting. : )
VardaValar1: If we can all post to the Forum rp, that would be great!
VardaValar1: Thanks for the reminder, Eonwe. : )
ArPharazonV: anyway, forum RP,
I still had a post planned at Thranduil's for Calaron, but I'm not sure
how I'm gonna put it in now... it would disturb our little arrival
there a bit
VardaValar1: Oh, some people are getting to know us as Auros and Fainan, don't know us as Eonwe and Varda. Amusing.
ArPharazonV: I could wait until after we've left already, but then
other plans would be quite different as one party would have to travel
faster than the other
ArPharazonV: I would like to know more about Orc transportation, messengers, scouts, and their maximum speed...
ArPharazonV: see if I could try to make this work ;-)
ArPharazonV: but I just need to put some time in it, perhaps make my next post the coming week, and we'll see what happens
Eonwe Valar: Transportation: wolves or foot.
ArPharazonV: wolves... those probably wouldn't outrun our horses as we travelled west, right?
Eonwe Valar: You could probably extrapolate their ability to move
quickly from the Chaper in TT where Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas are
chasing them.
Eonwe Valar: The wolves outrun or the orcs?
ArPharazonV: whatever's fastest, probably the wolves :-)
Eonwe Valar: Wolves are more likely to keep up with horses than orcs are, if that helps.
Eonwe Valar: I have seen no reason to believe that any of the free
people or their corrupted forms could keep up with something like a
horse.
ArPharazonV: if Calaron (the evil possessed brother now) was to make an
incident after we'd already left Thranduil, would he been able to move
fast enough to ambush us before we left Mirkwood?
ArPharazonV: might have trouble riding a wolf, but judging by the Nazgul, horses aren't unheard of on the side of darkness
VardaValar1: Sauron's forces stole horses from the Rohirrim, always the black horses. Few are left of that color now.
ArPharazonV: true, true... and they probably wouldn't be used much up north
Eonwe Valar: Orcs rode wargs, wargs are essentially large wolves.
ArPharazonV: well, we have a rather unique situation here... elf,
controlled by dark power, through an item, working with Orcs, even in a
sort of commanding role
ArPharazonV: what would he ride?
ArPharazonV: well, we have an elf taming wolves, why not one riding one...
ArPharazonV: I'll just have the incident occur in the next week, before
we leave the Halls, that way he'll have a head start... no need to go
into details then
Eonwe Valar: in the next week story time or real time?
ArPharazonV: it's getting more and more unbelievable, but I'll make it work...
ArPharazonV: real time
ArPharazonV: we're not staying a week story time at Thranduil ;-)
Eonwe Valar: Aye, which is why I asked, hehe.
VardaValar1: We will not be staying at the Halls long in rl either if we can help it.
ArPharazonV: then I'll have to post quickly :-)
ArPharazonV: I'd try to make something tomorrow, but I have like very little pc time on mondays
ArPharazonV: so probably later
VardaValar1: Arien, think you'll be able to post?
AriehnV: when?
VardaValar1: Also, has anyone seen Menelvagor and is he going to post on the rp?
VardaValar1: When can you, Arien?
AriehnV: let me have a look ... i can now but i have to see where we are
VardaValar1: People do log into our site just to read the story.
ArPharazonV: they probably think I'm nuts
VardaValar1: Don't forget how interesting your main character is either
Eonwe Valar: You're not? ;}
ArPharazonV: I'm screwing Tolkien over more than PJ did!
VardaValar1: He has a special affinity with animals of all kinds, not just the one wolf.
ArPharazonV: I am, but they don't need to know that!
VardaValar1: I was re-reading Scouting 1 recently. : )
ArPharazonV: I have 3 more events planned with Calaron, 2 of which in
combination with (members of) our own party, so focus will shift to
Calion again
VardaValar1: What qualities of your main character would make him so good with animals? Don't forget your main guy.
VardaValar1: Ah cool.
VardaValar1: Web News:
ArPharazonV: to be honest, I haven't thought about Calion in quite a
while, I'll have to reread some stuff... but it's probably some
subconscious link or something, a natural affinity
ArPharazonV: I haven't fleshed out his story as much as I have Calaron's, at least not personality-wise... but that'll come
VardaValar1: Think about what qualities would make him attractive to animals. Those would show in other actions too.
ArPharazonV: I could do that!
VardaValar1: Fainan will notice someone's horse before she notices the person, for instance.
VardaValar1: She knew your horse very well, and had to work a bit to recall you. ;-)
ArPharazonV: I must really reread that stuff!
VardaValar1: Instead of commenting much on Auros, she is admiring his horse's qualities.
Eonwe Valar: I'm sure Auros is the most hated character among readers, heh :}
VardaValar1: hehe - yes, it helps.
VardaValar1: I think he's the hero of the story.
VardaValar1: It's his mission. Sadly, Haran's character fell out or they might have been co-mains.
VardaValar1: He could still fall back in though. Right, Arathorn? ;-)
ArPharazonV: a good story has a flawed hero, so that's allright, Auros ;-)
Eonwe Valar: hehe
VardaValar1: A little pride, nothing terrible.
ArPharazonV: depends on your opinion of pride, no doubt, but let's not go into that
VardaValar1: Not enough that he thinks he should go it alone, at least.
VardaValar1: I mean as far as the story goes.
VardaValar1: Confidence may be mistaken for pride, but is not the same thing.
ArPharazonV: I hate proud people with a passion, and that shows in Calion, I'm afraid ;-)
VardaValar1: Good! Makes for an interesting yarn. : )
VardaValar1: okies, is there something we need to do to make an opening for your post? Just get back on the path?
ArPharazonV: I've put more of myself into Calion than anything
arbitrary, which makes it hard to flesh him out... I'd have to know
myself a little better then, perhaps
VardaValar1: At least get to know Calion? : )
ArPharazonV: hehe, there's an option
VardaValar1: He doesn't have to be exactly you.
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VardaValar1: Web News:
VardaValar1: We have two new drabbles from Jay of Lasgalen:
ArPharazonV: but for me? no need to get back on the path, or I would
run behind terribly... remember, Calaron's supposed to do something at
Thranduil's, then ambush us back in Mirkwood!
ArPharazonV: so please stay at Thranduil's until I'm done, I promise to hurry!
ArPharazonV: allright, will shut up
VardaValar1: Charity Begins at Home I and II.
VardaValar1: Actually, interesting, but know your time is limited. : )
VardaValar1: You want us to stay at Thranduil's a bit longer? oh, ok.
VardaValar1: Our group is supposed to be in a hurry though.
VardaValar1: http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/fiction/authorsT/JayofLasgalen/stories/drabbles/ CharityBeginsatHome.htm
VardaValar1: From the first one you can click to go to the second one.
VardaValar1: They are 100 word drabbles, quick reads.
VardaValar1: Arveleg has done more work on the
VardaValar1: Search Everything Engine
VardaValar1: http://valarguildsearch.googlepages.com/
VardaValar1: and more work on the Book Reviews page.
VardaValar1: He hopes to have the Timeline ready sometime during the anniversary, but it is a massive project.
VardaValar1: What about that Numenorean research?
VardaValar1: Is that coming along?
ArPharazonV: running a bit slow, with a busy study, but I'm working on it, read another bit yesterday, even
ArPharazonV: vacation time's over, I can tell you that
VardaValar1: Thanks for working on it at all : )
VardaValar1: In other news, not exactly web, but under other Authors, Eonwe, would you tell the group about Robert Jordan?
ArPharazonV: I'm sorry, but I have to take my leave now
ArPharazonV: will try to post on Tuesday
VardaValar1: Namarie Phar
Eonwe Valar: Yes
ArPharazonV: will save, but not send, unless you crash, because you
were here before me and it's only a small part of the meeting
ArPharazonV: Namarie!
Eonwe Valar: Take care Pharazon.
ArPharazonV: *waves*
ArPharazonV has left the room.
Eonwe Valar: I was visiting my usual bookstore yesterday, and inquired about the next book in the Wheel of Time series, only to learn that Robert Jordan, the author, has pased away.
Eonwe Valar: I decided to check this out, and it seems he passed away September 16th.
Eonwe Valar: You can find out more information at his blog:
Eonwe Valar: http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/
Eonwe Valar: I know some of us have been reading the Wheel of Time series, and thought this may be of interest.
AriehnV: *raises her glass in memory to a great writer*. I fairly like his style
VardaValar1: He was working on the final book, but did not have it finished.
VardaValar1: One hopes that his notes at least might be published.
Eonwe Valar: According to a wikipedia search (I couldn't find it on his blog in my quick reading of it) he died of amyloidosis.
Eonwe Valar: Well, the book he was working on may be finished via notes
and audio tapes he left, evenutally, once his wife and others are ready
to finish it.
Eonwe Valar: *eventually
VardaValar1: His blog tells more about it. Lot of entries there.
Eonwe Valar: Aye
VardaValar1: Lot of photos of where he lived also.
Eonwe Valar: That is all the news I have.
VardaValar1: rare blood disease amyloidosis, a progressive disorder he
was first diagnosed with in December 2005 at the Medical University of
South Carolina.
VardaValar1: Thank you, Eonwe.
VardaValar1: Is there any further web news?
VardaValar1: If not, let's move to Gaming reports.
AriehnV: *post on rp*
VardaValar1: Thank you, Arien.
VardaValar1: All the elves would be able to hear Frali's moan.
VardaValar1: Slight mention, Fainan helped Frali off the pony.
VardaValar1: Previous post, no biggie.
AriehnV: well let them .. i dont know what to post ... nobody interacts with him
VardaValar1: Phar won't be posting til probably Tuesday.
VardaValar1: Is Frali interacting either? This can give us something to interact with.
VardaValar1: Saying Frali would be heard is not a bad thing, I mentioned as it should affect the next post.
VardaValar1: It's tough being the only dwarf and the youngest to boot.
Eonwe Valar: and considering most of the time since his joining the journey has been spent riding.
VardaValar1: Now he's a stranger in a strange land. : )
Eonwe Valar: We didn't have any "camping" posts to interact with Frali
in on our journey to Mirkwood, though camping can be assumed.
VardaValar1: We probably collapsed or pulled sentry duty. : )
VardaValar1: We were pushing along pretty hard.
Eonwe Valar: Someone would've been on sentry duty if Auros had any say :}
AriehnV: hehe
VardaValar1: Whoever was not on sentry duty would have collapsed, maybe we ate cold travel rations first.
Eonwe Valar: We weren't pushing too hard. Auros paced the group based on the pony's speed.
AriehnV: ok then i change the post
VardaValar1: ok, then we could have interacted, but we were trying to get to the next plot point.
Eonwe Valar: I haven't read your post yet, just commenting on what I already know.
VardaValar1: Post is fine, we just need to remember to react to Frali's moan next post.
Eonwe Valar: Perhaps Fainan with her friendly nature was the more likely to interact with Frali, heh :}
AriehnV: ah yes :-)
VardaValar1: Fainan helped Frali off the pony.
Eonwe Valar: During the unmentionaed camping scenes that is :}
AriehnV: I wondered about a marauding orc .. so i could let my young
warrrior fight with him .. the boy is eager to prover himself
AriehnV: give him a chance ;-)
VardaValar1: Just one would have been perf-orc by the Mirkwood elves.
VardaValar1: We'll have plenty coming up in the Mirkwood path after the Halls. : )
Eonwe Valar: Auros may have, while slightly less talkative, made sure
the pony was not being overworked, and that Frali was not getting too
much wear and tear from the travel.
VardaValar1: Right. Eonwe was keeping it paced. Frali was probably up front.
VardaValar1: Maybe riding by Eonwe.
Eonwe Valar: Auros :}
VardaValar1: er, Auros.
VardaValar1: Different guy entirely, pardon. : )
VardaValar1: Gaming, non-rp, non WoW, non-LotRO by anyone?
Eonwe Valar: Seems at least at the first outset, Auros made sure the
pony could keep up, though not keeping Frali at the front. After that
he may have moved Frali and his pony to the front.
VardaValar1: It's normal to put the slowest member up front in a long march for pacing. But he might have needed a guide too.
AriehnV: dont think so ,even though Frali does not know the way .. he
mainly served around Erebor since his mishap 15 years before
Eonwe Valar: Close to the front, not necessarily at the lead.
AriehnV: maybe short scouts into the forest but not deep into it and as member of small groups
VardaValar1: doubt the main road was a mere single-horse path. We probably road several together.
VardaValar1: *rode
VardaValar1: Could have been sort of a clump on the main road.
VardaValar1: okies, any non WoW, non-LotRO gaming this past week?
Eonwe Valar: Hmm, I didn't imagine much of a road between Mirkwood and Erebor, but I suppose there would have to have been.
VardaValar1: I was thinking Erebor and to the south.
VardaValar1: towards the humans.
VardaValar1: There was very little path into Mirkwood at all.
VardaValar1: You'd want a Mirkwood native guiding in
Eonwe Valar: Aye, above the great East-West road.
VardaValar1: But Thranduil was able to take his cavalry towards Dale in the Hobbit,, so there's some road.
VardaValar1: I should probably recheck - assuming they rode.
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Gaming:
VardaValar1: We need to let Arien get some sleep tonight, so Arien, would you like to do your WoW Argent Dawn report now?
AriehnV: hehe yes
VardaValar1: : )
AriehnV: Valandile and Urwendi had a most interesting trip into
Scholomance in the company of a strong hunter, a druid and another
Paladin from Urwendi's guild.
VardaValar1: Urwendi is whom in our guild? You?
AriehnV: yes, but she is not in the Valar guild , but Valandile helped us out
AriehnV: as main healer , since she is a bit low for that instance *gigglels*
AriehnV: it was very kind of him to do that and he proved himself a worty companion.
AriehnV: A few days later Aeremethar, Valandil's paladin, and the
valourous lady had some adventures in the Un Goro Crater. We visited
some apes and lead Ringo back to Marshalll s refuge
AriehnV: Not without a Valandil special ... somehow he pulled the Ravasaur and Ringo decided to collapse just then ..
AriehnV: he got himself killed but i managed to run with a newly
sprinkled Ringo and a bubble with lay on hands and we just made it in
time to his brother ;|)
AriehnV: Now she has got a new pair of trousers :-)
AriehnV: And we both decided that we earned our rest after that
AriehnV: thus endeth my report
VardaValar1: Thank you, Arien.
VardaValar1: So the only Valarite was Valandil in that report?
AriehnV: yes
AriehnV: and meself
VardaValar1: I'm glad he got to play.
AriehnV: I cant tell of more of one at a time in my company :-( since it never happens
VardaValar1: Eonwe, would you like to do the Lothar report?
VardaValar1: Guess you'll have to play more LotRO with us then. :-)
Eonwe Valar: Sure
Eonwe Valar: To the Lothar report at least :}
Eonwe Valar: I didn't make it into Lothar until late, as I was getting my truck worked on, but I did manage to catch Sauron on.
Eonwe Valar: Together, his Priest and my Paladin killed two elite demons at invasion points in Netherstorm for a quest of his.
Eonwe Valar: That was it for Sauron though, as he needed to get some
sleep. I teamed up With Draxcil on his Paladin and helped him with a
quest in Terrokar to stop the Blood Elves from using another mana-bomb.
Eonwe Valar: Along the way, we discovered an escort quest I had skipped, and so we saved a Night Elf scout from the Blood Elves.
Eonwe Valar: After that, I decided to call it a night.
Eonwe Valar: Thus endeth my report.
VardaValar1: Thank you, Eonwe : )
Eonwe Valar: *bow*
VardaValar1: Uldaman report came in from Elwing.
VardaValar1: She said she was the only one she saw on, but
VardaValar1: everyone had been knocked out of the Valar friend channel by the recent patch.
VardaValar1: Also, she got restarted about three times.
VardaValar1: People are slowly making it back into the friend channel on both Lothar and Uldaman servers.
VardaValar1: LotRO:
VardaValar1: Lots of people have been on, but luckily for you I forgot to write down the list.
VardaValar1: Irmo and Miriel are active again after about a week's break
Sarujil: more like 3 :-)
VardaValar1: For this anniversary week, I'm trying to help people get through the book and chapter quests as far as I can.
VardaValar1: Thanks Anc, three weeks.
VardaValar1: They were back today and busy
VardaValar1: ok, enough of gaming. : )
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VardaValar1: Tolkien:
VardaValar1: Tolkien did a lot of work with ensembles or duos rather than single heroes.
VardaValar1: That is one thing making it so hard when we ask recruits who is their favorite character.
VardaValar1: The ensembles and the settings tend to be the heroes.
VardaValar1: The big ensemble even split into smaller ones rather than individuals.
VardaValar1: If one were to look at an ensemble, we might find all the traits needed to make one great hero of immense power.
VardaValar1: If we looked at the whole Fellowship that way, what would
each member have contributed to this one over-all great hero?
VardaValar1: Try taking just one of them for a contribution. : )
VardaValar1: Aragorn
Eonwe Valar: Experience
VardaValar1: What did he bring to the group? Aye experience, with what?
Eonwe Valar: He's been roaming Middle-Earth for roughly 50 years at the time of the War of the Ring. He knows the people.
Eonwe Valar: He knows the enemy.
VardaValar1: and the land, hiding places, roads, shortcuts
VardaValar1: languages
AriehnV: different peole
VardaValar1: He had served in Rohan and Gondor.
AriehnV: *nods*
VardaValar1: Raised by Rivendell Elves.
VardaValar1: Guarded the Shire with his Rangers.
VardaValar1: Leadership knowledge from being the Ranger Chieftain.
VardaValar1: For a long time they had been guarding the Ring from Sauron and did not know it.
VardaValar1: He could wield what was probably the greatest sword in Middle-earth.
VardaValar1: He was also a goal.
Sarujil: he was a goat?
VardaValar1: The High King had to be returned.
VardaValar1: That was an L hehe
Sarujil: my mistake
VardaValar1: He may have smelled like a goat.
Sarujil: but he still had his rugged good looks, cant forget that
VardaValar1: Arwen agrees with that. : )
AriehnV has left the room.
VardaValar1: On to another member: Boromir
VardaValar1: (Arien fainted right off the internet)
VardaValar1: What did Boromir bring to the Fellowship and would his brother have been better?
VardaValar1: Number one in my mind was reminding Aragorn of Men.
Sarujil: supposedly, boromir surpassed his brother in battle prowess, but we already have aragorn so it might not be as useful
VardaValar1: Boromir surpassed Faramir probably in open warfare, but
not guerrilla warfare, Faramir's specialty as Ranger leader for the
south.
Sarujil: boromir's main contribution, i think, would be mostly a
physical one. he was, apparently, the strongest member of the fellowship
VardaValar1: No one would argue though that Boromir was a brilliant swordsman and therefore valuable as a fighter.
VardaValar1: He was the bulkiest, I think mentioned at Caradhras, making an excellent snowplow. : )
VardaValar1: Aragorn was taller and leaner
VardaValar1: So that might be right. Tank maybe? :-)
Sarujil: perhaps what aragorn brings to this superhero in terms of
battle tactics and battle experience, boromir would add the ability to
strike a stronger blow
VardaValar1: Sounds good. Maybe it makes the superhero a dual-wielder? : )
Eonwe Valar: Or to take more blows. He took 13 arrows as I recall.
VardaValar1: True! Tank again.
Eonwe Valar: And not those puny man-arrows. We're talking orc-arrows here, heh.
VardaValar1: hehe - aye
Sarujil: he definitely was a good clutch fighter
Sarujil: when he thought the hobbits' lives were on the line he stepped up big time :-)
VardaValar1: He didn't back down against insane odds if he saw the need.
Sarujil: so, fearlessness?
VardaValar1: Courage, certainly. He wasn't stupid though.
Sarujil: another thing is: the other guys that we are adding to this
amalgamation were all relatively able to resist the pull of the ring,
except boromir.
VardaValar1: He knew he was in trouble.
Sarujil: however, boromir was able to redeem himself. maybe that trait would help this character?
VardaValar1: Aye, one might hope the others could keep him from falling, but it didn't work.
VardaValar1: Aye, quite right.
Eonwe Valar: Boromir knew better than to make a move in front of everyone else. He fell into temptation when he was alone.
AriehnV has entered the room.
VardaValar1: Good point. The ensemble was not present.
VardaValar1: Welcome back : )
VardaValar1: As long as the entire "body" was together, it was strong.
VardaValar1: The hobbits, should we take them individually? They were mini-ensembles within the overall one.
VardaValar1: Frodo
AriehnV: they certainly belong together as unity but there seems to be a split in who interacted with who in the community
AriehnV: Frodo was more dealing with Aragorn and Gandalf , while MERRY a and Pippin had more contact with Boromir
AriehnV: Sam of course stuck with Frodo, but he stayed always more in the background
VardaValar1: He was a very keen observer, Sam.
AriehnV: *nods*
VardaValar1: Frodo was the only one who could carry the Ring. Essential.
Eonwe Valar: Besides saving them (or trying to rather) from the orcs,
remind me of where Boromir interacted with Merry and Pippin in the
books?
AriehnV: they were in a boat with him, werent they
AriehnV: on anduin after they Left Lorien
VardaValar1: I felt like JRRT left out an awful lot of potential
character interaction. But like he said, the books were too short.
AriehnV: the night is too short too :-(
AriehnV: I am afraid i have to go
VardaValar1: Sleep well, Arien : )
AriehnV: and you, once you get to it *waves*
AriehnV: NamarieQ
AriehnV has left the room.
VardaValar1: only 6pm here : ) Thanks for when that time comes!
VardaValar1: Who is left able to discuss?
Sarujil: im here
Eonwe Valar: I can chime in once in a while.
VardaValar1: ok, how about Merry?
VardaValar1: He seemed to be something of a stragegist, had resources such as the ponies the hobbits rode.
Sarujil: i think he had a store of wisdom, and an ability to plan, shown in the crickhollow chapter and in fangorn
VardaValar1: *strategist
VardaValar1: Aye, Anc
VardaValar1: He wanted to help too. And had plenty of courage. Opportunistic too. All seen against the Witch-king.
Eonwe Valar: He had a sense of responsibility, which was needed to reign in Pippin where he could.
VardaValar1: True.
VardaValar1: Bringing us to Pippin!
VardaValar1: Pippin's enthusiasm had to help keep them going.
Sarujil: and he had a certain wide-eyed innocence and inquisitiveness
VardaValar1: He gave his sword to Theoden and saved Faramir.
VardaValar1: er Denethor.
VardaValar1: bad typo night.
VardaValar1: Merry gave his sword to Theoden.
Sarujil: and he had a love for the finest beer
VardaValar1: hehe
Eonwe Valar: He helped throw the enemy off Frodo's trail for a while. That's something the others could not have done.
VardaValar1: And they danced and sang and kept up morale.
VardaValar1: Aye, Eonwe!
Eonwe Valar: In a way, he bought Aragorn time for Aragorn's own confrontation through the Palantir.
VardaValar1: He looked in the Palantir and got Sauron thoroughly on the wrong track.
VardaValar1: And that probably added to the misdirection. As in Aragorn got the Ring from Pippin maybe.
VardaValar1: Made it more likely. Saruman didn't have it as earlier thought from Pippin's misdirection.
VardaValar1: Helped have some upset between Saruman and Sauron, surely. : )
VardaValar1: Let's move to Sam who somehow was left out
VardaValar1: The Conspirator.
Sarujil: loyalty, honesty, straightforwardness :-)
VardaValar1: aye.
VardaValar1: Support.
Sarujil: oh i forgot steadfastness
VardaValar1: Willing to sacrifice his own food and water to help Frodo. And that's a hobbit!
Sarujil: oh and down to earth-ness. thats important for a hero so he doesnt get too big for his britches :-)
VardaValar1: Right! : )
VardaValar1: He was the only one not from a famous line, although he became famous and a many-time Mayor later.
Sarujil: and single-handedly fathered an entire town worth of hobbits
VardaValar1: hehe
VardaValar1: New party tree, changed the looks of the next generation of hobbits
VardaValar1: Took care of Frodo for years after the War
VardaValar1: How about Gimli?
VardaValar1: Anyone still here? : )
Sarujil: well he had a lot of energy :-)
VardaValar1: : )
VardaValar1: He added endurance to our superhero, and axe-work extraordinaire.
Sarujil: and he had the ability to count up to .... whatever his total ended up being
VardaValar1: And he lets our hero have a proper beard.
VardaValar1: 43, hehe
Eonwe Valar: He added the good qualities of a Dwarf without too many of the bad qualities.
VardaValar1: Aye. Over him gold had no dominion.
VardaValar1: We have so many short characters that we needed Aragorn to give some height. ; )
VardaValar1: Gimli added to the peace afterwards with his colony of Dwarves from Erebor that he set up in the Glittering Caves.
Eonwe Valar: hehe
VardaValar1: Gandalf. What did he add?
Sarujil: wisdom, and a little fiery know-how
VardaValar1: sorry, and Gimli contributed to a peace with the Elves that had not been seen before.
VardaValar1: Aye Anc : )
VardaValar1: He knew what was going on better than the others.
VardaValar1: Contacts, speed.
Eonwe Valar: Aye
VardaValar1: He tended to go off on his own.
VardaValar1: He could run off Nazgul.
Sarujil: the body to pull off a robe...
VardaValar1: He ran off Nazgul that were chasing Faramir and his men.
Eonwe Valar: Aye, he added a power to the group that the others could not.
VardaValar1: He chose to save Faramir over Theoden, watching out for the future peace.
VardaValar1: So he made decisons on his own in a great many places.
Eonwe Valar: It was a hard choice either way.
VardaValar1: Aye.
VardaValar1: Theoden, however, had a replacement handy in Eomer.
VardaValar1: They were running out of Stewards.
Eonwe Valar: Aragorn was going to become King, so there was someone to replace Denethor/Faramir as well.
VardaValar1: Aragorn would need a trustworthy Steward later, because he went off to war a lot, with Eomer.
VardaValar1: The movie made it look as if peace suddenly broke out, not so in the books, just not a war with Sauron.
Eonwe Valar: Aye
VardaValar1: Imrahil could probably have handed over Gondor peacably to
Aragorn, but it was better to have a Steward do it so the people in
Gondor would feel they had a say.
VardaValar1: Legolas for the wrap-up.
VardaValar1: of our super-hero.
Sarujil: keen sight, for one
VardaValar1: Eye, and hearing.
VardaValar1: When Gandalf was not present, he was the only ranged fighter.
Eonwe Valar: The ability to walk on snow without sinking in.
Sarujil: i dont remember much about his hearing, but i know that he could see birds waaay up in the sky
VardaValar1: Resistance to cold and heat.
Sarujil: well, in my old lotr pc game, i gave merry a bow :-)
VardaValar1: : )
VardaValar1: PJ gave Aragorn a bow. : )
Sarujil: didnt he have legolas dual wielding too?
VardaValar1: Face more fair than mortal man.
VardaValar1: True. Legolas had only one very long knife, used heavily at Helm's Deep.
VardaValar1: He understood Haldir, Rumil and Orophin at Lorien.
VardaValar1: Only Haldir could speak some Westron for the main group to understand.
VardaValar1: Calmed a horse, Arod, at the Paths of the Dead.
VardaValar1: Not afraid of the shades of Men.
VardaValar1: Helped the peace between Elves and Dwarves.
VardaValar1: Established a colony of Mirkwood Elves in Ithilien.
VardaValar1: *bangs gavel*
VardaValar1: I just like to play with the gavel.
VardaValar1: Good night all : )
Sarujil: night varda
VardaValar1: *supper calls*
VardaValar1: Namarie
(Some members remain in the chat room or come back and forth for the Tenth Anniversary week-long marathon chat room. Sunday:
Arathorn, Ancalagon, Fladrif, Eonwe, Varda remained after the meeting.
Eonwe remained after the meeting into the wee hours of Monday, Varda remains.)
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