M. Meduseld - Edoras Summer Festival - CLOSED (Head to the After Party now!)

[Taethowen]

Find the Summer Festival After-Party HERE!

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The Edoras Summer Festival is coming to a close! Soon, there will be one final event to celebrate all the winners and participants from this year's contests. Friends, family, and archenemies, please feel free to wander in help decorate, set up food, and begin to mingle as we wait for the winners to show up! A new thread will open for the After-Party, but the 'prep' will take place here in this thread.

Skip to the end of the thread

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In the fields and hills around Edoras, a new sight has popped up seemingly overnight. There are brightly colored tents with lanterns and streamers hanging between them. It’s time for the Edoras Summer Festival!

One open-air tent in particular draws your attention as you amble through the Summer Festival grounds. This tent has a banner hung overhead at the entrance that reads, in finely embroidered emerald and gold...

Curious, you step inside to find two people (Gwai, Taethowen) seated at a table just inside.

“Westu hal!” one greets you. “Are you interested in gaining the title of Miss or Mister Meduseld, and representing Rohan and the King throughout Arda for the next year? If so, please sign up here! The competition will start soon!

“If you wish to simply observe, rather than compete, please go grab some food and drink for yourself and return in a little while! We would love for our participants to have an audience to cheer them on, and we may even need your help!”

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On Audience Participation:
Please come and support your friends/family in the Miss/ter Meduseld competition! Every round will have an audience participation aspect that will play a role in the scores/judging for participants! Watch for those prompts as the competition moves forward!

However, keep in mind that this is an IC event. Please make your posts role-play, and at least 1-2 paragraphs in length.

Hopeful Participants:
Please make sure to read through the rules and the schedule below before you submit your sign-up form! The link to the sign-up form will be below the schedule.

Once you have submitted your form, you are welcome to start roleplaying as you wait to hear who will be selected to participate!

The Judges:
@Gwai is the owner of the local tack shop in the Riddermarket, as well as a cavalry officer. Originally from the Westfold, Gwai has made Edoras her home for the past fifteen years, although she spent the last several years on an extended journey. She spends her free time catching up with friends in the pub, playing with her dog, or riding her horse, Brightfyr.

@Taethowen, recently returned to Edoras after a ten-year sojourn in… other parts of Middle-earth, is the proprietress of Awesnis Gærwe Nædleprica in Se Riddermarket. She has a newfound passion for bringing textiles and fashion from all parts of Middle-earth to Rohan.

The Rules:

1. All are welcome to apply, but depending on the number of hopeful participants, all may not be chosen.

• Hopeful participants may only enter one (1) character for the competition. Choose wisely!

• This will be an In-Character competition. Some announcements by the judges (such as deadlines passing) may be made OOC, though.

• If there are at least five (5) participants, some will be eliminated during the first two rounds. The final round will contain a MAXIMUM of five (5) participants.

• For each round, participants are required to ‘accept’ their assignment within 24 hours of the judge(s) post in which assignments are doled out. If you do not respond within that 24 hours, you’ll be disqualified. These disqualifications will count towards the eliminations each round. Please make sure to thoroughly review the schedule below before signing up.

• Rounds 1 and 2 will have an AUDIENCE scoring as well as a JUDGE scoring. Round 3 will have an AUDIENCE participation aspect which *may* affect a participant’s final score. All of this will be explained as each round goes live.

• The winner of Miss/ter Meduseld will be determined by the TOTAL cumulative score for the participants who make it into round 3.

• There will only be one winner of Miss/ter Meduseld this year. There is no prize except for the title and (probably) a nifty(ish) graphic to display said title.

The Rounds:
Round 1 - A Creative Challenge!
Round 2 - A Fashion Show!
Round 3 - A Test on Rohirric Culture!

Further details will be included as each round begins!

The Schedule:
June 18 - Sign-ups OPEN! They will remain open for roughly 24-ish hours.
June 19 - Sign-ups CLOSE! Gwai and Taethowen will choose participants from the pool of applicants by some mysterious method not yet determined, at least if there’s more than 10-15 applicants.
June 20 - THE COMPETITION BEGINS! Participants announced and ROUND 1 TASK handed out. 24-hour countdown for TASK ACCEPTANCE begins when the judge’s post has been made.
June 23 - DEADLINE FOR ROUND 1. Judging commences!
June 24 - ROUND 1 WINNERS ANNOUNCED, as well as any participant eliminations. ROUND 2 TASK handed out. 24-hour countdown for TASK ACCEPTANCE begins when the judges’ post has been made.
June 27 - DEADLINE FOR ROUND 2. Judging commences.
June 28 - ROUND 2 WINNERS ANNOUNCED, as well as any participant eliminations. ROUND 3 TOPIC assigned. 24-hour countdown for TASK ACCEPTANCE begins when the judges’ post has been made.
July 1 - DEADLINE PART 1 FOR ROUND 3. Participants, you must post on your assigned topic by today!
July 2 - Judge AND Audience: Ask questions on participant’s topics within 24 hours of the DEADLINE PART 1 post! JUDGES will select 1-2 audience questions for each participant to answer if there are more than 2 questions per topic presented by the audience.
July 3 - DEADLINE FOR ROUND 3. Participants *must* respond to JUDGE AND AUDIENCE QUESTIONS by end of day. FINAL JUDGING COMMENCES.
July 4 - MISS/TER MEDUSELD WINNER ANNOUNCED! (Winner please respond within 24 hours if possible!)

[Gwai]

Gwai hurried toward the festival grounds, excitement darting through her. The Summer Festival was here! She headed straight toward the open air tent with a large banner advertising the Miss/ter Meduseld Contest, walked inside and headed directly toward the table where Taeth already was sitting. "Good morning!" Gwai said cheerfully, setting down a bulky bag filled with various items for later in the competition, and digging out a paper and pencil. "The banner you made is absolutely lovely!" she complimented as she took her seat behind the judge's table, excited for the competition to begin.

[Shivased]

NPC: Gudrun

Gudrun couldn't help the grin that split her rather lumpy face as she hurried through the festival grounds. It was here! Miss Meduseld was here! She skidded to a halt beside another woman and grinned toothily down at Taeth. I'd like to sign up! she declared, smoothing down the plain brown frock she wore that strained to contain her muscular arms and chest. Without waiting for an answer Gudrun hefted the bag of things she had brought to help her and moved to sit in one of the empty chairs with the other hopeful competitors. She made sure to sit up straight and keep her knees together, and patted down her long blond plait, tugging a piece of straw out of it as she did so. She couldn't wait!

[Taethowen]

Taeth grinned as @Gwai strode up. "Good morning to you! I'm glad you like the banner." Just as Gwai settled in beside her at the judge's table, another woman--albeit a bit swarthy in appearance--ran into the tent and almost bowled the table over.

"I'd like to sign up!" the woman (Gudrun) declared, then dragged a rather large and full bag of... something over to the participant's seats and sat herself down. Taeth couldn't help but smile at the woman's infectious enthusiasm.

"Will you take charge of the sign-ups for a bit, Gwai?" Taeth said as she rose from her seat and retrieved a pencil and sign-up form. "I'll make sure this one gets everything filled out."

The newest hopeful participant was a little nervous, it seemed. Taeth laughed softly as she watched the woman straighten in her seat and pull a piece of straw from her braid.

"Welcome," Taethowen greeted Gudrun. "If you would like to participate, can you fill out this form for us? I can help you if you don't know your letters well."

[Rowena Ellenweorc]

NPC Audley aka Leylann
'What do you mean no? It's not like its a secret anymore. You said yourself you'd been seen by your own damn bunkmate and he spread the word. You might as well flaunt what you got.' His daughter was trying to convince him to enter the Festival's damned pageant.
'No way in hell, Darylene. No way in bloody hell.'
'You'd make Mama happy.'
'Your mother would be happy even if I didn't participate. No… ESPECIALLY if I didn't participate.'
His twin sons snorted and shook their heads. 'Mama may come off as a --' The auburn haired one said, with the black haired one stopping him. 'Mama likes to have fun as much as the next person,' Daegan rephrased for his brother. 'Don't you want to put a smile on her face and make her laugh?'
'UGH! It's a good thing Zara isn't here right now or I'd have ALL my kids ganging up on me.'
'Why are the kids ganging up on you?' Rowena asked as they entered the room.
'MA! Don't you think Pa should do the pageant?'
'Your father? In a pageant? Don't make me laugh.'
'Not as himself, but as Leylann…' Darylene said.
'Yes-- that's SOOOO much better,' Audley grumbled.
Rowena laughed and shook her head. 'Well, it's up to your father, children. You've said your piece, now let him decide what to do for himself.'
'But Ma! He'll say no!' Shiven whined.
'And you'll respect his decision,' Rowena said quietly and coldly. 'Also you're 17 years old, don't whine at me.'
The kids sighed and then disappeared. Audley looked at his wife with gratitude. 'Thanks.'
'Don't thank me… I agree with the kids. You should do it.'
Audley raised a brow, but then sighed. 'If you want me to do it, I'll do it.'
'What I want is for you to be happy, my love. If you don't want to do it, then don't. But if you think you'll enjoy it, do. I'm not gonna pressure you one way or another.'
Audley smiled and kissed his wife. 'Have I told you how much I love you?'
'Once or twice…' Rowena teased back returning her man's kiss.

In the end, Audley decided it would be fun to do the damned pageant. He walked up to the tent, and said, 'I'm here to sign up for Miss Meduseld?' He intentionally said Miss Meduseld, and a little blush appeared on his face. 'The name is Leylann.' He ran his fingers through his honey blonde hair, obviously a bit nervous. Suddenly he found himself doubting the decision.
This was a bad idea. His Eored may not mind so much, but parading around as Leylann for the whole of Rohan? There was bound to be talk, and a lot of dissent. What if people didn't want him in the Cavalry after this because they were too afraid of his differences?
'My darling, calm yourself down. It's all right. Anyone tries to mess with you, they'll answer to me. And no one wants to mess with a cranky Rowena Ellenweorc.' She smirked as she kissed her husband's sheet while they waited to sign him up.

[Taethowen]

GM/Judge Notice:

We're SO HAPPY to see this interest in the Miss/ter Meduseld Pageant!

If you're a hopeful participant, please make sure to also fill out this form (CLICK THE LINK!) in addition to your role-playing for sign-up!

You *must* fill out the form to be signed up!

The form will close in approximately 16 hours from the time-stamp on this post. Thank you!

[Lail]

Lailyn approached her Aunt Celdwen standing at the table for Mis/ter Meduseld and grinned. "Uh, Auntie...have you entered yourself in the competition?" she asked with a brow raised.

Her aunt gave her a sweet smile with a mischievous glint in her eye. "No, my dear, I entered you."

"WHAT?!" Lailyn exclaimed in a loud voice. "How could you do that? You know I hate being in the spotlight!"

Her aunt shrugged. "Well, I think you'll be a good contestant and perhaps if you win, you'll meet some eligible bachelor and stop moaning about that fool you met up north."

Lailyn gaped at her aunt as she walked away. "I haven't been moaning about it! I told you the story once! Once! And I'm not even looking for a bachelor, I'm quite happy on my own!" Huffing, she walked up to the registration table. "Excuse me, there's been a mistake and I've been entered in the contest, but I don't wish to compete. Please can you remove from the list? I don't like being on stage!" she asked desperately.

(OOC: please don't let her out of it. She has to see it through now! bahaha.)

[Gwai]

The enthusiasm of some of the participants was contagious, and Gwai smiled as Taeth helped Gudrun sign up, and wondered idly what could possibly be in the bag. She didn't have long to ponder, however, as more contestants began approaching the table. Gwai smoothed her green skirt as Marshal Rowena approached accompanied by someone Gwai didn't recognize, although she assumed it was Rowena's husband Audley, and asked to sign up. "Westu Leylann hal," Gwai said politely, albeit somewhat curiously. "We are happy to have you sign up! Please fill out this form and we will be announcing the final contestants shortly!" she said with a smile, pushing forward the form and a quill.

Gwai soon turned toward the next contestant, who she overheard arguing with her family member, although she couldn't quite make out the words. Lailyn soon approached the sign up table, however, and seemed quite distraught, asking to be removed from the contest. Gwai nodded sympathetically, but she had be fore-warned by Lailyn's aunt this may happen. "I'm so sorry, Lailyn, but we already received your registration form, and if you back out now it will throw the numbers off," Gwai said sympathetically. "Besides," Gwai added with a smile, "The audience is mostly friends and family, so if they heckle or boo I'll help you with any revenge scheme after the festival you want!" she said with a wink.

[Veowyn]

Jakiewyn Ellenweorc

"MA!" Ailura ran toward her mother, Caddrick not far behind her. "UNCLE AUD..." "Aunt Leylann." The teen corrected his sister. "Aunt. Leylann." she glared at him, before looking back at Jakiewyn. "HAS ENTERED THE MISS MEDUSELD CONTEST!" Jakie blinked for a moment, taking in what her children were telling her. She remembered what her husband had said about this Leylann. Bema, she'd seen her herself. There was a very real chance that Leylann could win this thing. Which meant that Rhys would be talking about it an awful lot for the days to come. Her brown eyes narrowed. She knew what she would have to do. "Go grab my white bag.." Mama was bringing out the claws!

Once she had the bag, she found a place to change. Her costume fit a little tighter than she remembered, and she had to have Ailura help her with the laces, but she made it fit. She left the hooded cloak off, but she added a headband across the top of her head, that had soft, fuzzy, white cat ears on top. The whole outfit was white, and the bodice was made of the softest doe skin. The blouse she wore under it had sleeves that only came to her elbow, and the skirts were a lightweight material, but were designed much like a riding skirt, with slits in places to allow freer range of movement. If it should be noticed, she also had white leggings, and boots that came up to her knees, underneath, to keep herself properly unexposed. On the back of the skirt she had fashioned a tail, in such a way that it seemed to move on it's own, but was still secured to the skirt. The last touches she added before leaving was a pair of gloves that looked like that had little white claws on the knuckles, and a white and silver mask over her nose and eyes with little whiskers attached. They, like the headband were more recent additions to her little getup.

Jakiewyn then entered the tent, and smiled at both Gwai and Taethowen. I would like to sign up, for Miss Meduseld, please!" She filled out their form, "Is the mask ok? I can take it off, but it kinda completes the look, no?" She giggled, but was starting to get nervous. Was she really going to join this just to make sure she didn't have to hear about Leylann for a couple days? Kinda selfish, she chastised hersel. Plus, no one had actually seen her in this costume, except for Rhys, for several years. She did not know how he would react, and bit her lip thinking about it. Well, she was here, no turning back now. Though, she was not going to make herself too obvious to Rowena and Leylann, yet.

Once their Ma was inside, Caddrick and Ailura both raced off to find their Pa. Rhys was going to want to see this!

[Taethowen]

GM/Judge Notice:

Sign-ups are CLOSED!

The participant list will be posted later today/early tomorrow.

(OOC @Shivased If you hop online in the next few hours, please hit me up on Discord and I'll re-open the Google form for you to enter Gudrun.)

[Taethowen]

(OOC - @Shivased has decided not to enter Miss Meduseld this time around, and gave me permission to RP Gudrun's departure because she doesn't have time to right now.)

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Just as Taethowen finished greeting Gudrun, the woman let out a gasp and shot up from her seat. "Oh my goodness!" Gudrun exclaimed. "I forgot another commitment I'd made. And I was so excited about Miss Meduseld, but I'm going to have to dash!" And just like that, Gudrun picked up her bag of supplies and exited the tent.

Taeth was a little sad to see her go, and so suddenly, but hoped that whatever else Gudrun had going on would go well. She took the form she held back to the judge's table, and was pleased to see that @Gwai was busy signing up more participants!

Just as she sat back down, another hopeful participant (Veowyn/Jakiewyn) approached the table, but when Taethowen looked up she found herself staring at... a cat. Of sorts. Blinking away her surprise, she laughed softly. As a seamstress, she had to admire the creativity and skill put into crafting the costume.

"Of course, here's the sign-up form!" Taethowen answered, sliding it and a pencil across the table. "The mask is fine for now, but it may have to come off for the second round, if you make it that far."

Once the woman had finished, Taeth began to stack all the participant forms that had been filled out. "I think it's time we make our pick now, Gwai, don't you?" she asked, and looked over the slowly gathering crowd. "Let's go check these over."

Audience and Hopeful Participants: Please feel free to begin RPing as you wait! At the soonest, we'll have the participant list ready in a few hours, at the latest it will be tomorrow morning (12-18 hours from now).

[Thalionwen Hunigfolm]

Thalionwen loved the Summer Festival Pageant. She liked getting to hear everyone's interesting stories, and to look at pretty people. But she especially liked to heckle @Taethowen when she was hard at work.

That was Thali's most cherished hobby.

Accordingly, she arrived at the spacious pageant tent bright and early, only to find Taethowen disappointingly absent from the registration table. How vexing of her to be off doing her actual job. Letting out an impatient sigh, Thalionwen glanced about, looking for a familiar face. And there, standing a few yards away and looking intensely uncomfortable, was the last person she expected to see.

"@Lailyn???" Thali called out in delight. "Are you entering the pageant? I never would have thought it! How exciting! Why didn't you tell me at the market the other day? Oh, you're going to look so fetching in the fashion show!"

[Lail]

Lailyn swallowed nervously at Gwai's words, but then set her jaw and nodded her head. It would do no good to ask twice, so she accepted her fate with dignity. "Very well. If I must compete, then I shall do my best. And if I make people laugh, then all the better for it, I suppose." She smiled appreciatively at Gwai's offer to help her get revenge. "Uh, I may need to take you up on that, thank you."

Though she tried to look composed, she was feeling quite nervous. She took a moment to look over the other contestants, none of whom she knew. Gudrun, the picture of confident before running off, Audley/Leylann with family support, but when she saw Jakiewyn in a cat costume, her eyes widened and Lail felt like she certainly could not compete with that.

Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, she heard someone call her name. "Thali?" she asked, feeling relieved it was a friendly face. She sighed as @Thalionwen asked why she hadn't told her. "Well, I had no idea...my aunt entered me thinking it a good idea! She mentioned something about eligible bachelors..."

"I appreciate your confidence in me, but to be honest, I'm rather horrified. I'm not allowed to withdraw, so I'll make the best of embarrassing myself in front of you all." Lail wrinkled her nose. "Maybe I'll just go out in round one and then I can enjoy the show with you."

[Taethowen]

It wasn’t long before Taethowen and Gwai returned. The decisions, fortunately, had been easy to make since they didn’t have an overwhelmingly large amount of participants. But by the time they returned, there was a crowd gathering, filled with both the hopeful participants and their friends and family hoping to cheer them on. Catching sight of a familiar face (@Thalionwen), she gave a quick wave.

“Westu hal!” Taethowen hollered to the murmuring crowd as she and Gwai came to stand before their table. “Welcome to the Edoras Summer Festival! We’re so glad you’re here for the Miss/ter Meduseld Pageant!”

As the crowd slowly grew quiet and turned their attention to the judges, Taethowen held up a sheet of paper. “I have here the list of participants! As your names are called, please come forward and stand in a line!”

Clearing her throat, Taethowen began to read from the list.

“Our first participant, though in no particular order, we have Lailyn! Lailyn hails from the Westfold and is a retired pæthfindian of the Westmark eored. Now, she is a beekeeper!

“The next participant is Jakiewyn Ellenweorc)!” Taeth’s brow furrowed a little. That name seemed awfully familiar, and then it clicked. The children she’d met her first day back in Awesnis Gærwe Nædleprica. Jakiewyn, their mother, was the cloth dyer! “Jakiewyn is formerly of Gondor, but fell in love with Rohan and its people when she ran away from her noble title.”

Taethowen tried to catch her breath as Jakiewyn came forward through the crowd, but there was not quite enough time. Still, she smiled, and then continued.

“For our third participant, we have Mx. Shadowfox, who was once employed as a jester by a minor noble family in Rohan. And… that is all they had to say about themselves.

“Next in line, we have Silendris!” Taeth paused, trying to make sense of the next sentence on her sheet of paper, confusion flickering over her face for a moment. “Silendris says… we love long walks, taking over... other people’s bodies, and drinks on the beach.”

Taethowen repressed a slight--very slight--shudder as Silendris joined the line of participants. There was absolutely not a tremor in her voice as she continued speaking. “The fifth Miss/ter Meduseld participant is… Leylann Ellenweorc!

“The Ellenweorc clan seems to be very interested in the Miss/ter Meduseld title this year, yes? Leylann is a close relative of Second Marshal and Bealdorhaeland Rowena Ellenweorc. While Leylann also serves in the Cavalry and considers it to be her family, she also loves to cook and tend to the family farm.”

As Leylann came forward and joined the line, Taethowen glanced further down the list. Just three more names. Then she could give her throat a break.

“Our antepenultimate participant is Toast! Sounds delicious, if I do say so. Toast spends their days wandering Middle-earth, and says his… great-great-great-and who knows how many more greats-grandmother was…” at this, one of Taeth’s eyebrows fairly leapt off her forehead “a balrog.”

Taeth bit back an amused grin as Toast strode forward to take his place.

“For our seventh participant, please welcome Amethyst Copperpick of the Glittering Caves! This lady-dwarf loves shiny, beautiful things, and works as a jeweller. She also loves cats.”

The amount of folks--of all races!--who were turning out for the Miss/ter Meduseld pageant was thrilling! With a nearly-beaming smile, Taeth looked down at her list for the final participant.

“And coming in last--though not least--as our eighth participant is…” Taeth stumbled a little over the name here “Aelorco. Did I say that right? I’m so sorry if I didn’t.” But what she saw next made her pause. Was… was it safe for him to be here? Well, surely the Bealdorhaelend would show up soon, since Leylann was competing, and be able to intervene if it wasn’t. “Aelorco says he is a horse-lover in Rohan afflicted with... The Flesh Rotting Disease, and he is currently… THALIONWEN’S HUSBAND?!”

Taeth’s head shot up and furiously scanned the crowd, searching for her friend. So fixated was she that she didn’t notice Aelorco and his bandage-covered-everything stalking up to the participant line. “Thalionwen?!” she shouted as their eyes locked. “Is this true?”

As Taeth noticed Thalionwen starting to edge out of the crowd, eyes wide, Taeth hurriedly handed off her notes to Gwai. “I’m sorry, I’ll be right back. Could you take care of assigning the tasks for Round 1? I need to go interrogate my best friend.”

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The Official Participant List:
@Lailyn as herself
@Veowyn as Jakiewyn Ellenweorc
@Allafyrefleorhtlig as Mx. Shadowfox
@Sil as Silendris
@Rowena Ellenweorc as Leylann Ellenweorc/Audley ap Cyril
@Sil’s Fool as Toast
@Elarith as Amethyst Copperpick
@Dwarrow Elf as Aelorco/Orco del Oro

PARTICIPANTS: Please make sure to list the name of your participating character in BOLD at the TOP of your post, as well as the Round Number for your COMPETITION RELEVANT posts. Thank you.

On Eliminations:
Round 1, we will eliminate the two participants with the lowest scores, or whoever fails to meet the deadline.
Round 2, we will eliminate the player with the lowest score, or whoever fails to meet the deadline.

Possible Points:
Rounds 1 and 2 will be worth a total of 40 points each. (20 points possible from each judge.) There will also be BONUS POINTS available, awarded by the AUDIENCE.

Round 3 will be worth a total of 90 points. (45 points possible from each judge.)

Scoring:
The scoring criteria for rounds 1 and 2 is as follows:
Creativity (10 pts total)
“Rohan-ness” (10 pts total)
Originality (10 pts total)
Writing Skill (6 pts total) (This is how well we are able to understand your posts, mostly.)
Judge’s Bonus Points (4 pts max)
Audience Bonus Points (5 pts max)

The scoring criteria for Round 3 will be disclosed when we reach Round 3.

@Gwai will post the Round 1 Assignments sometime in the next 10-12 hours. Maybe sooner.

PARTICIPANTS: Please role-play your arrival at the pageant if you haven't already, as well as coming forward when your name is announced.

AUDIENCE: Feel free to interact with the judges, participants, and/or your fellow audience members.

[Rivvy Elf]

Aelorco
Coming Forward in Participation Line

A big-boned individual appeared in the Edoras Summer Festival. His walk repelled many, for yellow and white gauze and strips covered most of his face except for his eyes, nose and mouth. Gloves covered his hands, and strips of gauze also covered his arms and his legs. His boots were polished clean, however, and shone with high-quality leather. For all intents and purposes, he looked like a mummified big-boned person straight from either mounds near Edoras or in that funeral dirge circle in Minas Tirith.

He walked and attempted to maintain a safe social distance from nearly everyone, as he did have the flesh-rotting disease after all, and did not want to catch any erstwhile weird things from others. Aelorco saw others conversing, and he nodded. Then he frowned, narrowing his eyesight, blinking rapidly, until finally, the desired water began appearing in his eyes.

Aelorco waited, not voluntarily speaking to anyone, and he did not think anyone would speak to him outside of the main speaker. Though, truth be told, when a couple of people were announced, the big-boned person stiffened and barely suppressed a growl.

His face and eyes moved up, the end of his bandages slightly rustling as his name was announced.

"Ya said that right," Aelorco responded, his mouth bandages slightly muffling his voice, "What? Why's it supprisin' that I'm married to the love of mah life?"

He walked to join the participant line, careful to maintain a safe distance from the person ahead of him.

[Silky Gooseness]

Silendris Getting In Line

It’s been a little while since either of them had been in Rohan, but this looks familiar - the stretch of green, the wind whipping in their long black hair, merry folk celebrating and preparing. Silendris swaggers up uncertainly. They’re not walking like that on purpose. Half of them still wants to sway hips that aren’t really shaped for shaking any more. Not that it’s about to stop Silendris from trying.

They sweep their hair out of their eyes and give a vague, friendly smile to all the Nice People about. “Hello everyone!” they declare brightly, wiggling the fingers of one hand. The other hand is fiddling with a figurine in their pocket.

They edge into line, carefully distanced from the mummified guy ahead of them. After all, they have to ACT NORMAL, and if keeping their distance is the Thing To Do, Silendris is gonna do The Thing.

[Gwai]

Judges' Update
Round One Announcement

The contestants were announced, although Gwai was a bit nervous about a couple of them. Something about balrog descendants, taking over bodies, and flesh rotting disease? Taeth seemed well equipped to deal with the latter, so Gwai instead stood from behind the judge’s table, cleared her throat, and announced first round of the Miss/ter Meduseld competition.

"Thank you all for entering this historic competition! For Round One, your task is to use the items provided in your individual bags, and create a work of art that depicts an aspect about Rohan that is meaningful to you. The only restriction we put on you is that your work of art MAY NOT contain a horse!

We are providing three randomly assigned items for you which are mandatory to use in your work of art. Two you will find from everyday life, and a third item that is a bit more…creative. We are also providing a silver coin so that, if you wish, you may purchase an item from the Riddermarket to add to your artwork, although this is purely optional. (If you require more money, unfortunately you are on your own!) You may, of course, add anything else to your art you deem appropriate, but the three items we provide are required to be used."

@Lailyn --Your items include: A feather boa, A Simbelmyne flower, and a blanket
Jackiewyn Ellenworc (@Veowyn )--Your items include: A top hat, a dagger, and a basket
Mx Shadowfox (@Allafyrefleorhtlig)--Your items include: A scented candle, a leather belt, and boot laces
Silendris (@Sil )--Your items include: A glass slipper, a Rohirric tapestry, and a knitted scarf
Leylann Ellenweorc (@Rowena Ellenweorc )--Your items include: A pink lipstick, a gold necklace, and an old rope
Toast (@Sil’s Fool )--Your items include: A macaroon, a carriage wheel, and a rag doll
Amethyst Copperpick (@Elarith )--Your items include: A throw pillow, a wine goblet, and a flint
Aelorco (@Dwarrow Elf )--Your items include: A lava lamp, a candle, and a stew pot

Contestants, please come forward and get your bag of random items! You have 24 hours to acknowledge your task and ask any questions. Your work of art needs to be presented in three days (June 23rd by 9AM EST). Best of luck to you all!

Audience, judges can award bonus points to your favorite participants, so your participation is highly encouraged!

[Thalionwen Hunigfolm]

Thalionwen, An Audience Member, Approaching the Participants' Line

Thalionwen sat eagerly watching as the Miss/ter Meduseld contestants were announced. She clapped happily and waved as Lail's name was called, and smiled as Jakiewyn and Mx. Shadowfox took their places among the contestants. But as Silendris appeared, she gaped in shock.

"What the everlasting fredegar," Thali breathed. "What are they doing here? Do they even know what kingdom they're in???"

She was already out of her seat and on her way to attempt to do damage control on behalf of her wandering Mordorian acquaintance when the last contestant's name was called, and Taethowen's voice echoed across the tent.

"Whoops," Thali muttered. She skirted the crowd and edged her way over to the participants' lineup, but by the time she got within sight of them, her shock had given way to excitement. The participants were all standing at a much further distance apart than in previous years, apparently thanks to the example of the familiar, hulking figure in bandages.

Attempting to stifle a squeal and predominantly failing, Thali threw herself at Aelorco, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You came! You came!" she said, beaming at him. "I was hoping you would! I, um. Did not expect you to...enter a pageant the moment you got here? But if that's where your heart is leading you, I'm unequivocally supportive. Do you need some help? I've got a scavenger hunt to run in the Riddermarket but everyone's used to me being out of my shop as often as I'm in it. And look," Thalionwen raised her arm and shook the extremely heavy bangle around her wrist. "I'm wearing the bracelet you sent me. Admittedly, it weighs several pounds and my arm gets sore after about an hour of wearing it, but love is pain and it's a good reminder. Did I mention I'm happy to see you? Because I'm happy to see you. Oh Bema, here comes Taethowen."

It was at that moment too, that Thalionwen realized all of the audience members were staring at her in horror as she stood with her arms around the one participant afflicted with loathsome, highly-transferable disease.

"Oh no, it's alright," she reassured them. "I'm immune. To diseases. All the diseases. It's why we make such a lovely couple!"

[Rowena Ellenweorc]

Leylann, Rowena, Rhys

Now it was time for Audley to change from a he to a she. Becoming Leylann would be a feat in and of itself, but hell, that's what he came here to do. He looked at his wife and said, 'You have all my stuff?'
'I might have forgotten the garters but otherwise yes.'
Audley glared at his wife. 'Funny. Very funny.'
'Sorry! You really expect me not to make any sassy jokes, honey?' She kissed her husband and then said, 'But yes, I really do have everything.'
Audley sighed. 'Okay let's get started then. What dress did you bring?'
'That's a surprise. First we paint your face, beautiful.'
'Did you really just call me beautiful?'
'Of course!' Rowena smirked as she started powdering his face. 'How the hell do you clean up so much better than I do?'
'Its a gift.'
'Clearly.' She laughed as she made sure the color on her face was even, her cheeks were appropriately contoured, and her eyebrows made slightly more 'feminine'. 'How about a ravenwolf for your shadow look?'
'Sounds perfect,' Leylann replied.
Rowena smiled tenderly as she got out various shades of greys, whites and blacks, even some blues. Various brushes adorned the table. 'All right, here we go.' She grinned as she started working on the eyelids.
'I forgot how long this takes.'
'Beauty is pain-- or time.'
'Clearly,' Leylann said with a laugh.
After some time, Rowena finally was ready to do the lining that would make the eyes shaped like the ravenwolf. The eye crease was lengthened with black eyeliner, and the lids of course highlighted with liner, that went out and feathered up on the cheek. Leylann looked at herself in in the mirror, then picked up a black shade of lippaint and placed it on her lips, then dabbed a little bit of white and spread it on the center to make it pop out.
'Perfect…. Clothes. Do you have a little black dress?' Leylann said looking at herself in the mirror.
'Of course! I wouldn't suggest Ravenwolf if I didn't, babe.'
Rowena tossed a black satin dress over the chair, along with a corset. Leylann stripped out of Audley's clothes, and looked at Rowena, 'You'll help me with the corset won't you?'
'Of course, now come here, babe,' she tried to bite her tongue at how beautiful she thought Audley as Leylann was. She had designed the corset in such a way that it pushed up the pectoral muscles while padding them, so they looked like a woman's chest. 'Suck in.' When her love did so, she tied the corset tight, and then tossed over her stockings and undergarments.
'REALLY ANNIE?!' Leylann grumbled as she was tossed the items.
'Hey, I'm allowed to know that you have exciting things underneath.' She winked. She folded her arms and then smiled when Leylann put them on. She helped Leylann into the dress, and then did her hair so that small portions from the front were braided and pulled back, but the rest were loose and left in fluffy honey blonde waves. 'DAMN Leylann. You're beautiful.'
'Oh they're introducing me, I guess I better go.' Leylann ran off to the stage, almost forgetting her boots, but quickly turned around to get them.
Rowena returned to the audience and folded her arms to watch the rest of the introductions--- Wait, JAKIE WAS ENTERING? She looked around for signs of her brother. Oh… there he was being dragged over by his youngest. 'Did you know about this?'
'Not until these guys dragged me over.... Something about Leylann joining so she joined?' He shrugged his shoulders confused as hell.
'She must be jealous…' Rowena said with a laugh.
'Jealous?! Of what?!'
'Oh holy mother of Bema… Are you really that dense? She knows you and Audley had a fling at one point…'
'So?'
'The last time you saw Leylann you weren't exactly keeping your eyes away…'
'But I'm constantly mildly flirting with Audley and it hasn't bothered her before…'
Rowena rolled her eyes. 'Rhys -- if Leylann were to win, and Jakie hadn't joined, how long would you be talking about it?'
'I du-- Oooh. So she's doing it so I don't talk about it?'
'Yes.'
'That's not jealousy though.'
'Damn Rhys, and here I thought Audley was dense.'
'I'm not dense!!!!!!'
'Right.' She folded her arms and said, 'Word of caution, best if we cheer for our own wives. Got it?'
'FINE!' It was obviously Rhys was not thrilled by this conversation.
Meanwhile Leylann peeked in her bag of items, and immediately knew what she was going to make. Perfect This would be fun.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Eawyn, An Audience Member

She didn't know what had possessed her to go and watch the Miss/ter Meduseld Pageant. It had sounded like a very odd show to begin with the the announcements of the various participants made her realise how very strange it was. For one, not everyone was from Rohan, let alone even human. She looked around, wondering if anyone else found this years contests a bit … odd to put it simply. At any rate, it was clear that the organiser of said event, Taethowen, seemed to find things bit surprising. And when it was mentioned that one of the contests was Thali's husband, Eawyn gasped in surprise. Of course the Rohir woman was known to be a bit bird-brained, so running off and marrying an orc was will within the realm of plausibility, despite the obscenity of it.

At any rate, it was sure to be a contest for the ages. Eawyn planned stick around for awhile and then, depending on how exciting it was, would go and search out the "boat". This festival would certainly keep her mind off regular life for a time.

[Burnt Toast]

To be totally honest, Toast had absolutely no idea what they were doing. In fact, he hadn't actually ever been to Rohan before. But they were a creature of whims, and having never done anything like this before, it was too tempting to not join in.

When the announcement came that they were to make art, he was rather excited. That sounded fun. He wasn't a particularly good artist himself, (though his disguise work with his paints and dyes was rather impressive), but it was all part of the fun! He eyed the other contestants, looking for familiar faces, but was not surprised to see they were all new to him. So engrossed was he in his search, he gave a start when his name was called.

"Toast, that's me!" they exclaimed, bounding forward, and nearly tripping over their multi-coloured patchwork cloak. They were a bit a of a mess, as usual, ginger tufts of hair and beard sticking out in nearly every direction, but at least the hair wasn't on fire, for once. He hoped it stayed that way, at least for a bit.

Digging into the bag, he pondered what Rohan meant to him. This would be interesting, since he nothing much to go on, as a first time visitor. But maybe that would help him show the good citizens of Rohan their beautiful lands with a fresh set of eyes. He realized he had been rummaging aimlessly in his bag, and finally dumped the contents before him. A carriage wheel, a macaroon, and a rag doll plopped onto the ground. Without thinking, he picked up the macaroon and took a large bite, and then realized it was part of his potential art piece, and quickly spat it out in a bit of a panic.

"Ooops." He scooped up his items and looked for a suitable place to begin his work, already thinking of how to incorporate the partially chewed macaroon. Yes, this would do very well.

Picking a place to set up, he pulled out his dyes and paints. He would show them Rohan as they had never looked at it before!

[Silky Gooseness]

Silendris Collecting The Stuff

Silendris beamed as they were announced and attempted something between a curtsey and a bow, which only resulted in their legs buckling and catapulting them into a nearby tuffet of grass. With all the dignity they could muster (very little), Silendris righted themself and proceeded to graciously trundle up to collect their items.

Why was everyone looking at them so strangely? Perhaps their hair was sticking up. Silendris licked a couple of their fingers and nervously tried to straighten a forelock. Perhaps they hadn’t dressed appropriately for Rohan or something. From what they could remember of the local customs, there was a lot of horse riding and beer drinking going on, so in respect to that Silendris had packed their favourite horse puppet, made with Genuine Horse. A leg of it was sticking out of their pocket. Nervously, Silendris poked it back in.

“Ooh, goodies,” they said, peeping inside the bag. They could see one of the other contestants beginning to munch on the contents, so Silendris gave it a try too.

CRACK

OUCH

Silendris spat out half a tooth and looked sadly at the glass slipper. That had been a bad idea. Best think of something else.

[Elarith]

Amethyst Copperpick

Amethyst had been lurking for some time outside the festival tent, hidden behind some beer barrels. She wanted to see who was going in, to size up the competition. The dwarf was expecting a load of Riders, but it had been a... varied crowd, if she was being kind. A bunch of weirdos if she was being unkind. She was fairly certain that one of them wasn’t even alive.

After a while she heard a louder voice from the tent. It sounded like it was starting. Amethyst gave herself a quick once over to check she was absolutely pristine. Naturally, she was. Why had she even doubted? Dressed in a purple jacket with oversized shoulder pads, tailored trousers, and high-heeled boots to give her an extra two inches in height, she meant Business.

Now that she was fashionably late - “keep ‘em waiting, darling”, as her mother would say - she could go. Picking up her handbag with Krystalle, her favourite floofy kitten, making unhappy noises within, Amethyst flicked her plaited beard back over her shoulder and strode into the tent.

The dwarf was disappointed that there were no immediate gasps of appreciation as she made her entrance. She had missed the first three contestants being called, but soon enough her name was being read out. Smiling broadly and waving her affected wave as she took the scattered applause from the audience, she stepped forwards to join the other entrants. She gave the line of participants some sidelong appraising looks. Hmf. She had this.

One of the judges was announcing the first task was to produce an artwork. How fabulous! Amethyst's mind was whirring away. She could do a big mural, or a collage, or... Wait, what was that about a bag? Sure enough, she was handed a bulky bag which, when she looked inside, held a pillow, a goblet, and a flint. "Oh Krystalle, what am I meant to do with these pieces of Shire? Where are the art materials?! WHERE IS THE GLITTER?!" she moaned into her handbag. The cat had gone to sleep. Well, she had a coin, maybe the Riddermarket had something she could buy to jazz things up. "Come on, Krystalle, we have work to do," she said, snatching up both bags.

[Eléowyn]

NPC Beda

She only had a few moments, as she expected, even hoped, the candle shop would be quite busy during the festival. But Beda could not help but allow herself just a peak at the Miss/ter Meduseld contestants as they lined up to begin the pageant.

It was quite an interesting group, to say the least, and her eyes grew wide at the sight of a few of the contestants. But one in particular caught her eye--Amethyst Copperpick. She was dressed in purple, Beda's favorite color, and her plaited beard was an absolute fascination to Beda, who had never seen a woman dwarf.

Duty called though, and Beda had to rush back to the shop, but not before calling out "Huzzah for Amethyst Copperpick!"

[Rivvy Elf]

Aelorco
Round 1

"Well yeah, the heart leads to wherevah their love is," Aelorco responded as he placed a big audible kiss on Thalionwen's forehead, "I'm happy too, specially with my skin condition and all that. Makes me look like an orc!"

Then he looked at all the onlookers with a glare, "Yeah that's right. Y'all get out. She's immune, and I don't want any diseases preventin' me from enjoying my time here. Understand?"

Soon, he received his materials, immediately pocketed the silver coin. He received a stew pot, a candle, and.... what in the world was that.

It was an enclosed thing, in the shape of a long stone-like figure made of glass or whatever mysterious thing. It carried a mysterious goo-like thing that seemed alive, moving to-and-fro from top to bottom in the container. A "lava lamp," it was called, and Aelorco's eyes started to move this way and that. His breath came in hitches, his heartbeat pounding in his head, body swaying all around as if in a trance.

Then his hands went to work, placing the stew pot upside down so that the base was on top, placed the lamp on top of that. Then the candle on top of that. It looked like an infantile idealized version of a Warning Beacon of Gondor and Rohan at Halifirien, where Eorl the Young forged a historic pact with Cirion, Steward of Gondor. made by a child who had never seen it.

Then Aelorco promptly sat on the ground, trying his hardest to control his breathing and to prevent unconsciousness from sweeping over him. He was in no state to get anything from the riddermarket to make anything more creative, as the lava lamp entranced him so.

[Lail]

Lailyn, collecting items

Her aunt left her with everything she would need, including an outfit for the second round. Now behind stage, Lailyn was feeling very nervous, especially as she observed the other contestants. Everyone seemed much more confident than she. When her name was called, she took a deep breath and stepped forward. No backing out now...

As she stepped on stage she plastered a smile on her face and returned Thali's wave. She tried very hard to imagine the crowd as people, but with horse-heads, but it only made her laugh. She managed to stifle her laughter, though, as the other contestants filed up behind her.

When a strange bandaged person was announced as Thalionwen's husband, Lailyn almost fell over in shock. She would have to have a word with her about this after the contest.

Before she could worry about it further, a bag of items was thrust into her arms. Peeking inside, she found a feather boa, which she promptly wrapped around her neck, a Simbelmyne flower she had a feeling may have been plucked as an after thought and a very plush blanket.

As she brought the flower to her nose to sniff, she muttered to herself, "no horses? Oh dear...what am I going to do with this?"

(OOC: are we allowed to deconstruct our items? )

[Veowyn]

Jakiewyn Ellenweorc - accepting items, forming a plan

Jakie had come forward and stood in line with the other participants. It was a pleasant surprise that she was announced second, and before Leylann. Now it would be a little easier to hide the jealous streak that brought her here. She just hoped she could hide it from... too late. She locked eyes with her husband in the crowd. Well, own it Jakie. Wasn't the other part of this decision to show off for him any way? She smoothed one of her whiskers between her fingers, smirked and gave him a wink. Her brown eyes fixed on his steel grays. She rolled her weight from one foot to the other and back again, causing her skirts and tails to swish.

She missed some of the other introductions, and now Leylann was standing on the stage with her. After she looked over the others, she gave her sister-in-law a smile. Did she know that Jakie was up here because she was jealous? Rowena knew, Jakie knew Rowena knew, her husband's twin was overly intuitive like that. Her face flushed under her mask, her kids also knew it, they had seen the emotion first hand. Well, who cared who knew. She had Rhys' attention, and she had to finish this at least on par with Leylann or there would be no end of it from the Ellenweorcs! Plus it was good publicity for all of the various Ellenweorc endeavours (shops and the inn) to have them both up here.

They were then given bags to create... art. Well, that was something she figured she could handle. She stepped forward and retrieved her bag and looked inside. Dagger. Basket. Tophat. Hmmm, and a silver coin. "Excuse me," she turned to the judges. "Must these items remain in tact? Once she got confirmation that she could in fact dismantle items if she wished, she gave a smile. An idea formed in her mind. "My next question is for Taethowen, after you speak with your friend, might I purchase a small embroidery hoop from you? You are the one my children mentioned as the owner of Awesnis Gærwe Nædleprica, right? I just need one that is smaller than my palm."

"After that, I just need something sticky." She mused to herself, outloud. She started fingering her whiskers again, while she thought.

[Taethowen]

(OOC @Lailyn Yes, you can deconstruct your items. Please clearly detail how it ends up broken down and how you use all the parts for your creative work.)

---

Taethowen nearly tripped in shock as Thalionwen threw herself onto the bandaged man. By the time she righted herself, Thalio was waving the gaudy bracelet she'd shown her at the shop several days beforehand in the man's face, one arm still wrapped around Aelorco's neck.

She paused her steps, though, as she heard one of the contestents say her name. She turned to see who needed her, and saw that it was the woman wearing the cat costume, the one she'd learned a few moments ago was Jakiewyn (@Veowyn). "Aye, yes, I own Awesnis. I'd be happy to provide the embroidery hoop, as soon as I find out what is going on with my friend." With a tense, though friendly, smile, Taeth turned back to the urgent matter at hand...

...just in time to see Thalionwen declare herself immune to The Flesh-Rotting Disease, and Taeth rolled her eyes so hard she thought they might get stuck turned backwards. A statement like that might convince... some people, but Taeth knew when her friend was straight-up bull-shiring her way through a situation.

With a huff, Taeth finished marching across the tent, and planted herself in front of the... happy couple.

"Hello, Aelorco. I'm Taethowen. I'm sure you're, er... a perfectly fine gentleman, and I can't wait to get to know you better, and I promise that none of what is about to happen will affect your scores for the competition, but I need to borrow your wife--" that word came out reluctantly through gritted teeth "--and find out why my best friend has been lying to me for weeks."

With that, Taethowen grabbed the braceleted wrist that Thalionwen had been waving about, pulled her friend off of the man who was apparently her husband, and to the back of the tent.

"HUSBAND?! You said you were a widow! I knew you had a suitor, but a husband?!"

[Dungeon Delver]

Frost, Spectating Backstage

It had been a very long time since he had been in Rohan. A very long time. So long in fact all of the rolling hills looked utterly alien to him. His trip had been long and plagued with rain. He lost a horse trying to navigate the Emyn Muil (don’t tell any of the Riders here about that) and was forced to barter for one from a lonely crofter.

He was here though, and that’s all that mattered. He had hoped to make in time to enter this… what was this contest again? But in retrospect maybe it was good that he had been delayed. There would have been no competition if he had entered and the event would have been ruined. Also, not actually being in the competition would allow him to move less constrained by time. He was on a mission here and distraction would not do.

He gazed upon Meduseld with a half nostalgic smile. The last time he was here he was run out of the city at spear point and warned never to return. A grand chase through the streets that had been! He laughed. Would anyone here still remember him and follow through on the threat of violence? That was half the fun of being here! The other half a was seeing a new friend, or acquaintance, or rival. Frost was still not completely sure what Thalionwen was to him yet. In any case, she had invited him up to Rohan for the Festival and Frost was never one to miss out on a bit of reverie. He was also here to make sure she stayed true to a promise she had made. She had told him that after the Festival, she would relocated to Udûn. He was here to make sure she remembered that promise.

It was too nice a day to dwell overmuch on the possibilities of unpleasantness though. The sun was shining, bright and golden, the wind was sweet and wild, gusts blasted Frost’s cloak for all different angle, causing it to billow behind him like some villain in the old stories. The scent of fresh wheat carried on the wind, it had been a long time indeed since he had smelled wheat that had been smoked or was rotting in bundles in some forgotten cellar. Birds were singing, whistling and tweeting back and forth to each other. The only songs the birds sang in Mordor were songs of greed, decay, and death.

The crowds were gathered around the stages, everyone’s eyes on those on the stage, giving Frost enough leeway to sneak in behind everything and make his way back stage. He dodged frantic contestants and hide behind curtains when security details passed until he finally made it to where he was trying to go.

Thalionwen and someone Frost immediately felt he should recognize (Taeth) were arguing, rather loudly too. Apparently, from what Frost was able to overhear, Thalionwen had just let it drop that she was married. A twisted smile and a chuckle escaped from Frost’s lips. If he had been shocked by that strange revelation back at On the Rocks, he was certain her fellow Rohir would not take it well that she was married to an orc.

“Well, well, well!” He shouted, using his best stage voice. He raised his with a showman’s flair. “If it isn’t my favorite Rohir!” As he moved closer, the more her friend came into focus, and the more she looked familiar. Had he flirted with her in a pub before? No, no. What was it? “Thalionwen! It’s so wonderful to see you again.”

[Lail]

Lailyn, planning

Lailyn tried to block out all of the noise of the other contestants and the crowd as she focused on the matter at hand. Something that shows what Rohan means to her. Then, she knew she could answer that question with one simple word.

Gripping the blanket in one hand and the flower in the other, and her aunt's bag under her arm, she chased after @Taethowen hoping to use her silver coin to buy a helpful tool from the seamstress. She spied Jakiewyn in her amazing cat outfit talking to her, but by the time Lail reached them, Taethowen had disappeared into a tent.

She distinctly heard the word "HUSBAND" yelled loudly and she winced a bit. Trying to ignore the scene that was likely unfolding in the tent, Lailyn decided she would have to wait to make her purchase.

Then she heard Jakiewyn mutter about needing something sticky under her breath. "Excuse me, I don't know if its allowed in the rule or not, but I couldn't help overhearing...I have a small jar of honey in my bag. Perhaps we are allowed to trade items? I mean, not our three items assigned of course..." Lail smiled. "I love your outfit, by the way, the whiskers are a really wonderful touch!" She truly admired her courage and creativity in wearing it to the contest.

(OOC: Excellent thanks, Taeth! Feel free to intervene, judges, if we are not allowed to trade non-assigned items with others. You didn't specifically state so in the rules. :smiley8: )

[Taethowen]

(OOC @Lailyn We don't really care how you acquire additional items, as long as you include the required ones. ;)

[Thalionwen Hunigfolm]

Thalionwen, Spectator in a Predicament of More or Less Her Own Making

"Oh dear," Thalionwen said softly to herself as "Aelorco" cobbled together an odd-looking beacon with objects before his attention drifted away entirely. "Not again. This is awfully inconvenient timing."

But she sat down at his side, her shoulder pressed against his, waiting for the all-too-familiar fit to pass. She liked to be there when those strange spells blew over--Orco never said anything, but Thali thought if she were afflicted with such an ailment, it would be nice to have someone sympathetic nearby once it passed.

However, no sooner had she settled in than an incensed Taethowen appeared and seized her by the wrist, dragging her bodily to the back of the pageant tent.

"HUSBAND?!" Taeth squawked. "You said you were a widow! I knew you had a suitor, but a husband?!"

"Well I am a widow!" Thali explained, peering over her friend's shoulder in an attempt to keep an eye on Orco. Still there. That was alright then. "One of my husbands died, and I got another, very shortly after. Three weeks after, in fact. I wasn't expecting to, it just happened!"

"And I was sad about the first one, of course, but he was always a bit sickly," Thali said thoughtfully, entirely failing to remember the charade of flesh-rotting disease as she made her explanation, "so I feel like this is rather a step up for me. Himself over there may be a bit rough around the edges yet, but I'm not exactly noble by birth or manner myself."

It was at that entirely unwelcome moment that Frost chose to make his appearance, looking fetching and wickedly sly as ever.

"Oh Frost!" Thalionwen blurted out in chagrin. "I'd completely forgotten about you, and about the cheese. Bema's horn, it never rains but it pours. Did you see Silendris is here? And this is Taethowen, the seamstress I mentioned to you."

Thali narrowed her eyes at the calculating look on Frost's face as he regarded her friend. "You two haven't--you haven't met before, have you? If you have, I can't imagine when or how."

[Silky Gooseness]

Silendris Round 1: Artwork, Assemble

Crunching the glass slipper in their mouth had been a bad idea - but crunching it in general seemed like a good idea. Who wore glass slippers, anyway? Presumably people with severe foot trouble, that was who. And keen to show it off, apparently, given the glittering clarity of said slipper.

Well, it was going to have to go. One of Silendris’ many skills is destruction. They rolled the shoe up in the tapestry - a standard boring Rohirric tapestry showing fields and blue sky - and jumped vigorously up and down on it, boots crunching with the merry sound of showing another shoe who was boss (a soleful kind of noise, if you were wondering).

The scarf, too, a standard boring brown Rohirric scarf - Silendris began to unravel at once, picking out the loose thread and pulling at it with their clever long fingers. It was wool, with a scratchy warm quality that would make GREAT wigs for their figurines after (or maybe for Silendris themself? Undecided), and Silendris draped this over the kicked-open tapestry, now studded all over with shards of glass.

They were Ready To Present their work - nearly. This was Art after all, so Silendris settled down in the grass nearby to start writing an essay about it, thereby proving the cultural significance of their piece.

[Culfinwen Lihtarwe]

Culfinwen, spectator

Culfinwen wove through the crowd, admiring the contestants'... uh, skills. @Lailyn was making friends, as usual, and Jakiewyn (@Veowyn) looked deep in thought. And then there was @Sil, who was... uh... eating glass? Culfinwen tried to sidle by them without being noticed.

The word HUSBAND drifted gently through the air--okay, verberated in her eardrums. @Taethowen and @Thalionwen were apparently at it again. With some nervousness, Culfy patted her hair (that was definitely auburn and not green, not that it had ever been green, no way) and hurried over, just in time to hear Thali explain about her (very strange looking and decidedly unhygeinic) husband, Aelorco (@Dwarrow Elf)... who had a candle on his head and was sitting on the ground hyperventilating. Culfy blinked, then focused on the matter at hand.

"What's this about a husband?" Culfy demanded. "Thali? Is it true?" Her blue eyes filled with tears. "You got married and didn't invite me!? How could you!?"

She took a deep breath, turning her back on Thali and Taeth to look out over the competition. It was extremely hard to concentrate. She thought Aelorco might be frothing a bit at the mouth and stepped nervously away.

[Burnt Toast]

Toast heard the painful crunch as someone nearby (Silendris) emulated his own munching of art items. Belatedly, he tried to issue a warning, "I'm not sure that's quite wise-" he mumbled, tugging at his wild ginger beard, but it was quite too late. He sighed. Oh well.

Now to his art.

A macaroon, a carriage wheel, and a rag doll. He realized he had no canvas, and so, after glancing through his things, decided his shirt would have to do. This would be a beautiful depiction of ... stuff. Rohan stuff.

Yes, the Macaroon would symbolize the moon in the sky over Rohan, and the wheel, the, erm, wheel of progress. And the rag doll, well, just let them look at the rag doll and make what they would of it. They thought to themselves, spreading inks and paints across the shirt. It probably wouldn't hold up well as an art piece, since the pains and dyes were made more for skin, but hopefully it wouldn't rain soon. He glanced up at the sky, squinting at it, daring it to rain. His hair flared briefly in agreement, a few licks of flame toasting the ginger wild mane.

"All right!" He announced at last, "Here is my art! The half eaten macaroon moon watches of the wheel of Rohan's progress, and this ragdoll, well, it holds significant meaning that must be interpreted in the eye of the beholder!"

He stepped forward and raised his shirt high for all to behold. But right as he did so, his hair lit up, as it was wont to unpredictably to, and caught the edge of his masterpiece on fire.

"No, no, NO!" Toasty shouted. "Why are you always so rude, hair? NO MORE MACAROONS FOR YOU!" He tossed his shirt on the ground and stomped on the flaming edge, managing to put it out, but the damage was done. One corner of his piece now bore the mark of his flamey hair.

"Uhh,"they improvised, throwing on a smile, "And this burnt corner symbolizes the hardship and toil that Rohan has gone through!" He kept smiling, as sweat trickled into his eyes, hoping his bluff would pass inspection.

[Silky Gooseness]

Silendris, Round 1: Artwork: Revealed!!!
This was it.

Silendris was ready to reveal it. Their masterpiece. Their finest piece of work since that play they wrote that was super dramatic and ended in the puppets being united and magnificently snogging each other’s faces off because they weren’t dead after all. Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with being dead. No dead discrimination here, thanks.

They dramatically unrolled the tapestry...

“Here we present our artwork, the true representation of Rohan,” they declared importantly. “It is called: The Meaning Of Rohirric Life Is...”

They trailed off and stared into space, apparently counting silently under their breath for a few minutes.

“... BEER,” shouted Silendris triumphantly.

“As you see, We were looking for what Rohan really is - without using the imagery of a horse. But what does a horse represent, to Rohan? It is freedom. It is the wind in your hair. It is fields of wheat and the naughty pranks that may be committed therein. It is a pungent scent. ALL of which is within my artwork.

For why do men desire freedom? Why is Rohan truly the land of the free?
Because life is suffering, that can only be alleviated by getting absolutely badger-faced.

For that reason, Rohan is represented here by the tapestry; a simple field; the unwound scarf has been freed from its repressive stare into a string which can go anywhere and which has here been draped gently into the vague shape of a pint; but also the unwinding free roads; and the glass sprinkles represent both the foam on top of a tankard, and the inevitable actual debris that you get from a bar fight, the ultimate result of excessive freedom from everything.”

Silendris beamed beatifically. Some of the glass started to fall off the tapestry.

[Rowena Ellenweorc]

Leylann
Pink lip-paste, a gold chain, and a rope. This was going to be fun. She smirked as she immediately thought of all the fun times she had with Rowena. 'Okay, I need a big boulder. Then I need a log, some Cav uniforms, and I think that will be it... She smirked and laughed as she tracked down a really tall log and stood it up right and dressed it in Rowena's haelend attire, particularly her Westmark robes. The bulky boulder she dressed in Audley's Cav uniform, and then laid it on the ground, as if he had been thrown by the tree. She then took a couple small branches and tucked them under the boulder, into the legs of the pants, and then tied them with the rope. She tucked the gold chain around the log to represent the pendant Rowena always wore.
She folded her arms and stared and decided it wasn't good enough. She then disappeared for a moment to where she had gotten dressed and gotten some wigs, one black and one blonde. They weren't perfect matches for who they represented, but they would do. She plopped them on their corresponding figures and then used the pink lipstick to paint the lips on the figures. She stepped back and looked and finally was satisfied.
'When Audley learned about his future wife's temper…' She shook her head. 'No. Not a good enough name. 'The healer's felled bodyguard.' She still wasn't satisfied, but it would have to do.

[Bereth]

Bereth - Spectator

As she wound her way around yet another tent, more than a little lost, she almost missed the banner that heralded the “Miss/ter Meduseld Pageant” as the folks gathered around that appeared to be contestants were decidedly not what she had expected. Well, almost all. She slowed to an awed halt, mouth discourteously agape. Snapping it shut again as she checked her manners, she skittered closer, keeping behind the other spectators.

Until she spotted Talionwen, and overheard something about a husband. A husband?! She found herself within shouting distance despite herself, and called out to the woman who’d she’d come to know a bit while sharing lunch with Taeth just a few scant days ago. “Your unseasonable, erm, remarkable gown turned out . . . well.” She deflected before inadvertently adding “and would this be your ‘admirer’ then?” Immediately she bit her lip, chiding herself as perhaps an admirer and husband may not necessarily be the same thing! Hopefully Tali hadn’t heard her, there were so many trying to speak to her at once!

She backed away, wide eyed as she surveyed the others working at their first tasks, pondering only briefly to whom she should be cheering on. Of course an actual Rider. Surely. She raised a hand to catch Lailyn’s eye with an encouraging wave before plunking herself down onto one of the freshly harvested bales of meadowgrass that had been provided for some of the seating.

“This. This should prove interesting!” she chortled as she tried to smother a burst of laughter with both hands over her mouth!

[Lail]

Lailyn, Round One

Sensing that Taethowen was likely going to be busy for a while, especially when she saw Culfinwen enter the tent, Lailyn half-considered barging in after them. But she had a competition to complete! And she'd decided that it would be best if a true Rider of the Mark could win.

"Here, please take the honey," she said to Jakiewyn, handing her the jar. "I think she might be a while. I've got to go find some needle and thread!"

With an apologetic smile, she turned and headed into the crowd of spectators until she finally found her aunt. "Auntie, have you got a needle and thread?" she asked.

"A good mother never goes without one," Celdwen replied with a satisfied smirk.

"Your son is a grown man," Lailyn said, blinking at her aunt.

Celdwen sighed. "Well, old habits die hard, I guess." She rummaged in her pocket and passed Lailyn a small packet containing needle and thread.

"Thank you!" Lail exclaimed, placing it in her pocket. "I'm still not happy about it, but I'm going to do my best. After all, don't you think a true Rider of Rohan ought to win the competition?" Now that she'd seen the competitors, Lailyn was hoping Mx. Shadowfox, Jakiewyn or Leylann would be the triumphant victor.

With that, she raced back to the tent with her supplies in hand. Before she hunkered down to work, she caught Bereth's wave, gave her a smile and returned the gesture. Though it buoyed her efforts, it also made her nervous to know who was watching.

Clutching the blanket with two hands, she tore it in half down a seam, then folded it over on itself and began sewing three sides together. Once that was done, she unfurled the feather boa from her neck and began plucking the feathers off one by one and stuffing them into the partially-sewn sack-like blanket. 

Biting her lip, she considered the piece before her and decided to rip the other half of the blanket into smaller pieces, which she placed inside the sewn blanket. Satisfied, she finished sewing up the fourth side of the blanket and had a lumpy sort of pillow.

The Simbelmyne was the last thing. Plucking the petals off, she thread the needle through one and sewed it onto the pillow like a tassel until each petal had been used.

She was taking a chance with a professional seamstress as a judge, but seeing as it came from the heart, she was hoping that would win her some points.

Lailyn held the Simbelmyne-tasseled feather boa-filled blanket-turned pillow to her chest and presented it. "What does Rohan mean to me?" she asked, holding the pillow close. "Home. It is where I lay my head to rest and when I am travelling afar, it is always the place in my heart that I wish to be." She paused and looked down at the petals, thinking of what home really meant. "Let this pillow represent home and the Simbelmyne petals represent fallen family and friends, who shall never be forgotten."

As she held the pillow out, one of the petals fluttered down to the ground, but Lailyn did not notice. It was not a perfect work of art, probably not very comfortable to lie on, but she meant what every word she said.

[Taethowen]

Taeth found her mouth agape as Thalionwen explained that not only was she a widow, but she'd also been married the entire time she'd been back in the Mark. So aghast was Taeth that she didn't even catch the utter fallacy when Thali commented that Aelorco was an upgrade from Thali's first sickly husband.

Where was she to even start with this infuriating friend? But mostly, she was... concerned. It was never a good thing when a friend felt they had to hide the existence of a relationship. And just as she was about to open her mouth and say so, when a rather belligerent (familiar?) voice broke through.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't my favorite Rohir! Thalionwen! It's so wonderful to see you again!" A strange man (Frost) said, stepping up to them.

Taethowen found herself frozen. Oh no... no. No. NO. What was the man with the ridiculously pretty hair and that ridiculously pretty mouth doing here? She'd not really expected to ever run into him again, let alone in Rohan. And why was he saying Thalionwen's name and greeting her like an old friend?

And... Thalionwen... she just kept nervously blabbering. "Oh Frost! I'd completely forgotten about you, and about the cheese. Bema's horn, it never rains but it pours. Did you see Silendris is here? And this is Taethowen, the seamstress I mentioned to you."

Sweat broke out on the back of Taeth's neck. Dear Bema... Thalionwen had been talking to him about her?

And Frost... Frost was looking at her as if trying to place who she was and she really, really hoped he wouldn't remember that utterly embarrassing incident in the Umbar market more than a few years ago. All she'd wanted was a few bolts of Haradrim silk. And technically she still owed him for keeping her from making that terrible, terrible faux pas. And for giving her a reasonably... safe place to sleep.

Fortunately, Thalionwen was also distracted by the look on Frost's face. "You two haven't--you haven't met before, have you?" Taeth carefully met Frost's eyes as Thali was looking the other way and sharply shook her head while mouthing no.

"What's this about a husband?" Yet another person spoke up, and Taeth nearly jumped out of her skin. Thank Bema, Culfinwen had finally emerged from her self-imposed isolation, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Taeth felt a bit of relief when she realized that Culfy wouldn't be needing the... bag. With the eye cutouts. That she'd been making. Because her hair was back to normal, thank Bema.

Though now the issue with the mushrooms Thalionwen sent for Culfy's cold was beginning to make so much more sense.

"You got married and didn't invite me!?" Culfy started to cry, then, and that was the last thing Taethowen wanted. "How could you!?"

Taeth reached out and patted Culfy's arm, and suddenly caught a glimpse of the crowd that had gathered in the meantime, and her responsibilities as a judge for the pageant came flooding back to the forefront of her mind. They would also be an excellent escape from this... awkward situation. Her eyes briefly flashed back to Frost's and she wasn't sure if her cheeks suddenly flushed with embarrassment, a touch of anger or... something else entirely.

She pulled her gaze away and turned back to Culfy. "Do get the full story for me, dear," she said. "I have to get back to helping Gwai."

Only feeling, just a little, like she was running away, she returned to the crowd of participants and observers. She fanned her face with one hand, trying to cool the flush down, and took a deep breath. She spotted Lady Bereth, apparently newly arrived in the crowd, and gave her a smile as she continued to thread her way through the people.

Ah, right. Someone had needed an embroidery hoop. Taethowen spun around slowly, looking for the participant, and as soon as she spotted Jakiewyn (@Veowyn), she waved her over. "Let's go get the embroidery hoop."

[Taethowen]

Deadline Reminder

There are roughly 9 (nine) hours remaining to complete the task for Round 1!

Still waiting for 'art' works (no picture necessary, just detailed descriptions) from:

Mx Shadowfox (@Allafyrefleorhtlig)
Amethyst Copperpick (@Elarith)
Jakiewyn Ellenweorc (@Veowyn) (OOC - No need to RP going to the shop with Taeth. Just using it as an excuse to get Taeth out of a sticky spot. You can pick up from right when we 'return' or even a little later, however it works best for you.)

[Veowyn]

Jakiewyn Ellenweorc - Round 1

She was musing to herself, when she heard someone speaking to her. She looked up from her bag to see the one that had been introduced as Lailyn. She mentioned honey, as something sticky. Ah, she was the beekeeper, right? Jakie beamed at her from under the cat mask. Honey might indeed work, and be greatly appreciated. However, would you really want to spare some for a little art project like this? I also do not have anything with me to trade. Other than this silver coin.. However," She eyed 2 of her children, who both gulped. They realized she was about to volunteer them, however the lady seemed to have other plans. Lailyn handed her the jar and hurried off. Jakie didn't even have a chance to tell her that she had a needle and thread in her own personal bag. "A good mother never goes without one" she had once been told, herself.

Jakie then took out the things from her bag, and set to work. She planed to use the dagger to cut the basket into little bits, but the dagger was rather dull. So, she pulled one of her own out of her bodice, and saved the provided one for the art itself. Suddenly Taethowen showed up beside her. "Oh, thank you!" She smiled up at the woman, followed the woman to the shop, and quickly returned with the smallest hoop the seamstress had been able to locate. She then went back to work on taking apart the basket.

Once she had the stack of little wicker pieces, she grabbed up the hat, and stabbed her own dagger into it. It seemed a bit aggressive, but she just wanted to make a hole for the dull thing to fit. Once the provided one was slid through the hole, it would serve two purposes. 1. To stabilize the hat, so that it did not suddenly start rolling while lain on it's side. 2. Wall support for her model. Using the honey, she glued the basket's framing to the inside of the hat, shaping it with only a small amount of personal sound effects. Then she took all the bits and pasted them together over the frame. Well, some stuck better than others, some wanted to shift and run with the honey, but they did eventually stay in place in an effective manner. When she was finished she held the hat out at arms length.

"Helm's... I mean... Hat's Deep!"



She set it down to dry, while she wandered around to look at the others. Everyone's looked amazing so far! A pillow, a tapestry with an artistic representation of beer, a collage of sorts on a shirt, and Leylann's scene of Rowena and Audley. She smiled at that, it was cute. Made her feel like her's didn't have enough personal touch to it, but she was still satisfied with her work. When she returned to her diorama, something had changed. Some ants that had been disturbed by all the summer festivities, had found her honey coated fortification! Caddrick came up to his mother. "Now it looks like a battle at Hel-...Hat's Deep!" They both chuckled.

[Thalionwen Hunigfolm]

Thalionwen, Still In A Pickle

Oh good, Lady Bereth was here, and had said something polite about Thali's new dress before taking a seat. But Thalionwen, in a shocking breach of manners, had made no reply as she was rather preoccupied by Culfinwen crying. Bema's horn, she hated it when anyone made Culfy cry. Hated it with a murderous, fiery rage. But in this case, she'd been the source of the tears, and had no one to be angry with besides herself.

Accordingly, Thali wrapped Culfinwen in a rather smothering hug.

"Oh love, don't," she begged. "It wasn't anything like Taeth is making it sound. There was just an empty barn and a few promises spoken--nobody was there, it's not that I didn't invite you. You know I'd never EVER do something to hurt you on purpose."

Frost was still standing by, apparently enjoying the scene, although his gaze kept wandering suspiciously in Taethowen's direction as she hurried through the tent looking lovely and efficient.

"What exactly is it you want in here, Frost?" Thalionwen asked, a little sharply. "I thought we'd do our business in the market. Have you got some other reason for being in Rohan? Something I don't know about, perhaps?"

[Dungeon Delver]

Frost, Spectating and Enjoying the Chaos

Thalionwen’s discomfort was palpable, that just made Frost’s smile widen. She had apparently stepped in something large and squishy and his added presence only seemed to through her off her game.

“Thali, you wound me! Can’t I just come up from the Black Lands to visit a friend? And as a matter of fact yes. Yes, I do have other reasons to be here in Rohan. I have memories I’d like to relive and people I’d like to see again.” He let the last phrase hang in the air a bit before bowing gracefully.

With a flick of his hair, he turned to the woman that looked so familiar. Who was she? Taethowen? That was not a name that sounded overly familiar to him. But that face, those eyes. He had seen her before. He bowed to her and took her hand, placing a gentlemanly kiss on the back of her hand.

“I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure, my lady. I’m called Frost, I’m a rather new friend of Thali over here and came to visit her. What’s all this I hear about her getting married and not telling anyone? Well I think that’s just like Thali, or at least the Thali I’ve gotten to know.”

There was something about this woman. He had to remember who see was. He was certain he’d seen her before. But most of his work kept him away from places like Rohan. Could he have met her elsewhere? Umbar seemed the most likely of places, but then again it seemed utterly unlikely that any Rohir besides Thali would brave that pit of vipers.

The mention of Silendris, that strange amalgamation of Silendra and Naokis, one a rather good old friend and the other a tantalizing curiousity, brought Frost out of his reverie.

“They here as well? Well now that’s a treat I can’t pass up! I’ll have to go see them. I have a feeling they’ll… eat the competition.”

The woman called Taethowen seemed busy though, very busy. Was it she that was running this whole affair? The corner of his mouth quirked up in a mischievous grin. “We must talk later, Taethowen,” he said the name with heavy purpose, “I always enjoying meeting new people.”

He bowed again to both woman and with a flourish of his cloak, excused himself, going back into the main area to watch his old/new friend present their art.

He clapped and hollered praise as her piece was unveiled, an abstract piece meant to represent Rohan. Apparently it was meant to be a mug of beer, and Frost nodded his approval of their work vigorously. “Bravo!”

[Elarith]

Before she could stomp away, she distinctly heard a small voice shout "Huzzah for Amethyst Copperpick!" Ah, recognition! The dwarf blew two kisses in the direction of Beda. That perked her up.

She ducked beneath a couple of tables to sit and think. She always thought better in enclosed spaces. What was meaningful about Rohan to Amethyst? She stroked her beard as she thought. Shiny stuff. The beer was quite good. The humans were all right.

Opening the bag again, she took out each item to see if they gave her any inspiration.

The throw pillow was making her eyes hurt. It was a mustardy colour that somehow managed to be both garish and drab at the same time, with tassels all round the edges. The flint was sharp. Putting the two together, she gutted the pillow and gave the innards to Krystalle to keep her quiet. The inside of the cover was black... Maybe she could do something with that? But she still needed something else.

“To the Riddermarket, Krystalle!” The dwarf hurried away to visit a couple of shops.

On her return she began to construct her Art. She took all the minute scraps of metal and gemstone dust she had got from the jewellers and stuck them to the black side of the pillow. The wine goblet, now jazzed up with shiny bits stuck on it, was covered with the cushion cover to make a sort of tiny tent. Amethyst then took some twisty candles she’d bought - the sweet girl who had cheered her turned out to work in the candle shop so she’d bought twice as many as she really needed - and added them around the goblet to help prop up the cover. She put the flint at the front along with a few other rocks she’d found and given a bit of a clean. She stood back to admire her work. Yes, it was quite clearly The Glittering Caves behind Helm’s Deep. A fabulous place, and as her current home, definitely meaningful to Amethyst.

[Allacan ob Burzum]

Round One - Mx Shadowfox

Shadowfox watched on as each entrant presented their works in turn, clapping appreciatively with each presentation. Thus far, they had remained set to one side, ceding the floor to the others to allow them their moment. It was odd; one might suspect that they were perhaps shy of the limelight, but such a trait would be catastrophic to one who was stated to have once been a court-room jester. Their stance was relaxed, respectfully, observant, although at one moment a keen observer might have caught them throwing a sly wink towards a small child watching on eagerly in the front row. Perhaps they were intentionally maintaining an air of mystery, it was difficult to tell. One thing was certain, it looked like the competition was on the very brink of moving through to the next round without any contribution from this particular competitor. Even when the announcer began shifting through the crowd to prompt the stragglers forward for their turns and there was still nothing from the strangely garbed individual.

Eyes began to scan the crowd in the tent for the last competitor who had yet to enter only to discover... they weren't there. In fact, as Gwai scanned the crowd back and forth it became increasingly apparent that Shadowfox was nowhere to be seen. The only sign to be seen was a small, burning candle in the empty space of the performance ring, burning quietly away unattended amid the hubbub. A few might presume that perhaps this sole candle was all the contribution Shadowfox would be making, and questioning what exactly had happened to the remaining contents of their bag, and Gwai was perhaps clearing her throat to move the competition on when the small child tugged gently at her sleeve and pointed... up.

Hanging upside down from one of the thick, main tent-poles, legs hooked above them and arms crossed on their chest, observing with interest the crowd below, was the fox-masked individual. Taking advantage of the distraction given by some of the more impressive feats, few had actually witnessed when... and perhaps just as importantly how - the entrant had scaled up there, but there they were.

As the murmurs and whispers and pointed fingers and the odd occasional scream of horror passed through the crowd at noticing them, their voice spoke up. "Hail, noble rohir and honoured guests, for I have a tale to tell, of corruption and greed, of peril and threat, of betrayal and of redemption."

The crowd grew still and expectant, and the voice continued, rich and smooth, as the figure slowly uncurled their legs from the tent post and pushed off gently and... rather than falling they seemed to rotate. Slowly. The keen eyes could see that wound about their waist and holding them in place with a tight belt were wrappings of black silk, almost imperceptible against their dark clothes.

"I speak of a time when grey hairs here were fresh in colour, when the wisdom of age was once the sharpness of youth. The darkness to the East was roused, and its sinister tendrils of power reached snake-like over hills, through forests, and found root in noble-Rohir heart. And there, it festered and waited, cancerous in its selfish ambition, twisting and turning even the faithful towards a destruction of ruin and hate. Until one fair day in Meduseld, the darkness that had taken the heart of the once loving, generous and loyal Gecko urged her tarnished heart to bring sword and pain to our very hall of Kings and make an attempt on the life of the Queen.

"Many noble and courageous warriors took up arms in her defence, and the Queen herself took up blade to defend her life, but Gecko had not come alone. With her came her dreaded companion of the night, Niht. Many of our greatest heroes fought valiantly that day against the corrupted souls of our own people, and the assassination being thwarted the enemy sought to escape by the same manner of their invasion, by scaling to the rooftop itself."

Shadowfox reached a hand below them and opened a palm, and fluttering and falling down came the long length of string and bootlaces tied together, uncurling down towards the ground in such a manner that it looked like it might snuff out the light of the candle waiting below, except that with a gentle flick of the wrist from Shadowfox it fell slightly to one side to pool instead beside it, a long line connecting the ground below to the suspended person above.

Reaching hand over hand while upside-down and shifting their feet in mimicry of climbing, Shadowfox began to draw the string back inwards but their performance made it appear instead as though they were drawing themselves closer and closer to its end as they ascended towards the ground. "The enemy climbed the rope towards the open window above, Gecko and her night-shrouded friend, so swiftly that it seemed they would easily find their escape. First to retreat, Gecko reached the rooftop and from there was able to secure her liberty; her later insults and injuries to the Riddermark and the greater ruin she did to her people world can be told in another legendary tale. But her companion, Niht was pursued. The First Marshal of the Mark, fighting valiantly with their soldiers, hesitated not a moment in pursuing them up the ladder, climbing but a foot or two behind the escaping enemy, snatching at feet and ankles to slow her and being punished with vicious kicks." The string-rope was growing short, a growing crescendo to the climax of their climb, as Shadowfox mimed taking a blow to the face a momentarily being swung almost off the rope before returning to the climb even as their voice continued.

"Even as they climbed, higher and higher towards the vaulted roof and nearing the exit, the First Marshal could see that they could not stop Niht. But what they also knew that below waited a noble archer of Rohan, her arrows swift and sure but unable to cease the fleeing enemy's progress. With arrow knocked and watched with horror, she could already guess in that moment what she must do. With the certainty of command and knowing it might cost their life, they First Marshal commanded the archer below to take their arrow to the rope. And the noble warriorress, courageous and loyal to the last even in the face of the willing sacrifice of their commander, loosed her arrow and cut the rope."

At the last word, Shadowfox suddenly dropped. Spinning over and over in a falling tumble, their form plummeted seemingly unhindered towards the hard surface of the ground below. An impact seemed certain and many recoiled back, but in the last instant the silks that unfurled about them reached their end, and mere centimetres from the ground grew taught. The entire tent, sturdy and well-pitched though it was, shuddered for a moment and bowed under the unexpected pull, but held. And Shadowfox, suspended by the silks, was now turning slowly only centimetres from the candle whose flame was now snuffed from the sheer force of air forced over it by their sudden drop.

"The Marshal landed with their enemy atop them, winded, with bones and body broken by the fall. And in that moment, though the fate of the enemy might seem clear, so thoroughly surrounded and outnumbered with all chances of escape gone, the commander gave one further command. An order of mercy, and hope. They recognised in Niht the touch of shadow, but also saw there a moment of recognition and horror at what they had wrought on that day. The First Marshal commanded mercy, claimed the enemy's blade and life as their alone, and in being willing to sacrifice their life against the darkness yet still showing mercy to the enemy who was once of their people, drove the darkness from Niht's soul at last and returned her to her wits and will."

Shadowfox circled slowly only inches away from the recently snuffed candle on the ground, eyes fixated upon it as they are held firmly aloft by the silks and belt wrapped about their midriff. "Light defeats darkness, hope banishes despair. The people of the Riddermark are proud and strong, courageous and noble, but like all men they are weak to the call of the shadow in all its forms." Shadowfox reaches down to enclose the still-smoking candle in their hands for a moment, shielding it from view. "But the true power of the Rohir is that they carry the light of hope within them, and though some among them may fall into shadow, among others - and sometimes among those who have returned home from that shadow - it burns ever stronger." A spark of light, and they withdraw their hands once more to show the candle burning again, as bright and high as it had but moments before.

OOC @Gwai (I could not for the life of me remember who loosed that arrow, and the Wayback Machine wasn't co-operating, but I had a vague feeling it might have been you. If not, ah well, it was still a good story)

[Gwai]

Gwai had been a participant in events such as this before, and while drama always ensued, she did not recall quite so much of it from days past. While the contestants composed their works of art, Gwai halfheartedly pretended to do paperwork while she couldn't help but overhear accusations about Thali's sudden marriage, to the contestant with flesh eating disease no less. She was curious what that story was. Gwai was quickly distracted, however, when one of the contestant's piece of art caught on fire. And was another one eating glass? As Taeth made her way back to the judge's table, Gwai whispered, "We should have had the participants sign a waiver!"

The contestants began to present their works, some more dangerous than others, between broken glass, fire, and contestants contestants hanging upside down from the roof. Others were more traditional, and Gwai was impressed with how well all the contestants were able to use the items they had been assigned. Standing up behind the table, Gwai announced, "Round one is now complete! And with no serious injuries," she added, relieved. "Judging will begin now, and scores will be announced shortly!"

Scores for Round One will be announced later today
Round Two will begin tomorrow!

@Allafyrefleorhtlig (I don't think it was me, but maybe? Like you said, still a great story!)

[Taethowen]

Audience Participation (Possible Bonus Points for your Favorite Participant!)

Please go vote for your favorite Round 1 'art' presentation here.

The poll will be open for 24 hours.


Contestants: because the shortest amount of time possible for the poll was 24 hours, the scores for Round 1 will be announced tomorrow. Sorry!

[Taethowen]

By the time she was heading back from Awesnis--Jakiewyn had gone back first, since she needed get started on her task--Taethowen thought she'd been able to calm her flaming cheeks and racing heart, at least a bit. Her face still felt warm, but that could simply be because of the quick jaunt to the shop.

In the heat of the moment, she'd managed to not let Frost's words and actions sway her, simply pulling away after he bowed low and kissed her hand--which she now frantically scrubbed along her skirt as her skin burned hot like a brand at the memory--then introduced himself and commented on Thalionwen's behaviors. If he truly was a recent friend of Thali's, then it was possible he knew a side of her that Taethowen had not yet seen. Bema's Horn, there were certainly things that Thalionwen and Culfinwen did not know about her now. Yet. It had been a decade. People changed.

Just before she'd split off from the group, Frost had caught her eye again. We must talk later, Taethowen. I always enjoyed meeting new people. The weight he'd put on her name made her now entirely uncertain as to whether he remembered the... Umbar Incident or not. Because at first she'd been certain that he didn't... maybe. Now she was just thoroughly confused. And from what she remembered of the infuriatingly pretty man, it was exactly the type of chaos that he thrived on.

With a sigh, she stepped outside and locked Awesnis' door behind her. No matter, right now. She had to return to judge with Gwai.

~~~

Fortunately, it was not a terribly long walk back to the tent, and it seemed that most of the participants were still finishing up their... tasks. Gwai had chosen some very abstract items for some, and Taeth was curious to see what the participants came up with.

She glanced around to see what had become of Thalionwen, Culfinwen, and Frost. The latter was... escaping her at the moment. She couldn't spot him anywhere. But Culfy and Thalio seemed to still be conversing.

Taeth slipped back into her seat at the judge's table just in time to see part of something go up in flames. Fortunately, the matter was quickly resolved.

"We should have had the participants sign a waiver!" Gwai whispered, and Taeth laughed to keep her slowly mounting horror at bay.

"Aye," she agreed. "But I guess it's too late for that now."

There was a small lull, then, and Taethowen's gaze wandered back to the person who was, just a bit, at the heart of all the drama that had happened that night. Aelorco. Such an odd name, and such an odd appearance, but if Thalio had found him to be worthy of her affections, then surely there was some redeeming quality about him.

Or Thalio had finally cracked, completely. That was also a possibility.

But Aelorco... he was still sitting on the ground. It almost--almost--looked like he was in a trance or taking a nap, but she saw the way his shoulders heaved and his torso swayed, and suddenly knew that something was wrong.

Quickly, Taeth stood and crossed back over to him, knelt down, and gently set a hand on his shoulder. Whatever was going on here, she knew that it was no flesh-rotting disease as Aelorco and Thalionwen had claimed, and besides. She came into close contact with Thalio so often that if Aelorco truly was ill, Taeth had likely already been exposed to it second-hand.

"Aelorco," Taethowen called softly, steadying him where he sat. She was no hæland, but she knew a panic fit when she saw one. She'd had a few herself, early on in her recovery days in Gondor when she felt so completely helpless, alone, and lost, with not even her memories to rely on. "Aelorco," she said again, until he looked over at her, even if a bit dazedly. "That's it!" Taeth smiled, as his breathing started to even out. "Everything is fine, and you've made a wonderful sculpture here. Now, if you can hang on just a few more minutes, I'm going to get Thalionwen, all right?"

Aelorco still didn't really respond, but she felt his shoulder become just a bit less tense under her hand, and she took the opportunity holler at Thalionwen. "Mistress Aelorco! Get over here and tend to your man!"

Unfortunately, Gwai called her away to start the judging then, but when Taeth looked back, Thalionwen was kneeling down next to Aelorco. She gave a small sigh of relief, and turned her attention to the participants, and let herself forget about the other stresses for a little while.

And oh, what a show it was! Some participants artworks made her laugh aloud. Others made her scratch her head, just a little, and one in particular made her smile at its child-like simplicity. And one, that final one, entranced Taeth and brought tears to her eyes as she heard heart-rending stories of some who had once been her comrades. But all of them showed some aspect of who the participants were, and what they loved of Rohan, and that warmed her heart.

And now... now she just had to score them! Dear Bema, how was she to decide?

[Thalionwen Hunigfolm]

Orodruin Hath No Fury Like A Thalionwen Scorned

Not ONLY had Taethowen dragged Thali halfway across the pageant tent and rudely demanded an explanation as to her personal business when Thali was just trying to be a supportive wife, she'd also foisted an emotionally fragile Culfinwen off on Thali. And now Thalionwen had put out that fire (which wouldn't ever have been lit without Taethowen starting a messy argument in the middle of Miss/ter Meduseld!) said seamtress was SHOUTING AT HER AGAIN from across the tent, demanding she deal with Orco, who Thali had been keeping an eye on the entire time.

Or not the entire time. Because as Thali glanced over, she saw something that made her blood boil and her vision go red.

Taethowen Anhyrne, former best friend and confidante, with her grubby needle-pricked fingers ALL OVER THALIONWEN'S HUSBAND. It was the sort of behavior you expected in Mordor, and honestly, Thali was willing to overlook a fair bit there. But not HERE, in EDORAS, where she expected her FRIENDS to have STANDARDS.

Having already been chastised publicly for her inattentiveness, Thalionwen hurried over to Orco for a closer look. Still off in a world of his own, and BEMA it was irksome having Taethowen act as if Thali had never dealt with this before.

"I will be right back," Thali whispered to the prone orc before slinking through the crowd.

Taethowen was once more seated behind the judges' table, looking smug and virtuous. Sliding around behind her chair, Thali bent until her mouth was only inches from the other woman's ear.

"You touched my or--HUSBAND," she hissed. "You ill-bred, troublesome, loose-moralled MULE. First you're in here making at eyes at Frost, who everyone knows is the biggest flirt in Mordo--in MUNDBERG, and then you touch my person. I swear to you, Taethowen, before this festival is over, you will PAY."

And as quickly as she'd arrived, Thalionwen was gone again, weaving her back through the crowd and dropping back down at Orco's side with an angry flounce.

"Back-stabbing treacherous filly," she muttered under her breath, staring daggers at Taeth from where she sat.