The Golden Hall (OOC Thread)

[Lail]

OH @Allafyrefleorhtlig absolutely no worries! I am in no hurry at all. After all I am an Ent now!

[Bereth]

@Allafyrefleorhtlig absolutely no problem. You’re a dear for caring so much! I’m afraid the holidays and several family issues have consumed me for the past week. Sorry to have missed out on some fantastic RP! Now to catch up a little!

[Allacan ob Burzum]

Awww, you are all so sweet, thank you.

@Rowena Ellenweorc You’ll have to wait to see what Alla has planned, but can I make a personal request? Can Rowena not calm down about her Thali-anger? It’s not becoming of such a good marshal to hold a grudge, and surely Thali has suffered enough. Plus she’s been so helpful in so many rohan threads it’s unfair for her PC to suffer. In today’s world where there is already enough stress and uncertainty I think it’s better to try and build friendship instead of strife on the plaza, so it can be a safe place for everyone.

I’ll also reply to your Facebook PMs on here as well; I hope that’s ok? I’ve Facebook messaged you my reasons why I want to keep plaza on plaza, which are personal and private so I won’t put them here.

( - You say that your issue with Grimthain is that you would prefer my primary cavalry character to be the higher rank of my two PCs.

Allacan wasn’t offered any rank above Paeth, and she doesn’t want to leave Eastmark. If you wanted Alla to be the higher rank out of my two PCs, I would have preferred her to be offered a higher rank in Eastmark, but she wasn’t. I knew you and Shiva had only agreed on Paeth or Dryht, and I wasn’t given any other choice, so I let Allacan take almost the lowest rank in the cavalry to save drama.

In return, I asked for Grimthain, who was already established in my posts as an Aethelwigend before I ever thought I would ever keep the character. I also would rather prefer my primary character to have rank, which wasn’t possible, I don’t see why that should stop me from having any rank at all. I’ve held much higher ranks than Aethelwigend before and would like to think I did a half decent job, the job is open and me holding Aethelwigend isn’t stopping anyone else from progressing higher and shouldn’t threaten anytime because my authority, for the most part, is over imaginary unnamed NPCs.

- You said you have no issue with my secondary character having rank, but you would prefer him to be in an Eored with someone else that has rank.

As I said in Dragon Room. Paeth and Healand are both above Aethelwigend, so he is in an Eored with higher ranking people. I presume you mean you don’t want a secondary character to be in charge, and right now he isn’t. In any event, with the cavalry elections going ahead, he probably never will be, because a Marshal will be in place by the time new Sperewigend/Dryhtgumas are in place. Anyway, I’d like to think if you trust the player to have a rank, then you’d trust that player with a rank regardless of who they are playing. As you have rightly realised, Allacan is WAY more morally dubious than the lovely Grimthain.

- You speak about trying to make a compromise and asking for a few weeks for Row to find a new Watchmaster.

Firstly, I do still struggle to see why Shiva or I dis anything so wrong that required a compromise, so I’m not entirely sure what you mean by compromise but I appreciate the effort to make allowances for us and try to be considerate of our point of view.

Regardless, you and I are Cavalry pros by now; we both know there are endless nameless NPCs that could take Grimthain’s place; he didn’t even exist until I created him so I think you are making a mountain out of a mole-hill. Treat is as a role-playing challenge; your return to the cavalry test, as it were (but hopefully easier than the Cuthbert challenge). You are exceptionally creative at making new characters so I’m sure you will be amazing at coming up with a random NPC who can be promoted or something similar. It doesn’t have to be a major character (only two cavalry characters, remember) so just say ‘Terry can have the job’ and be done with it.

- You contacted me because you were worried there had been a misunderstanding, either between you or I, or you and Shiva.

I don’t think Shiva or I are necessarily misunderstanding you, I just don’t think your reasons make much sense to either of us when you consider things like what I have detailed above. We understand your points, I think, we just respectfully disagree with the logic behind them. But I’m grateful you reached out to me, truly I am, and I too think it’s good to reconnect and communicate when there has been any kind of misunderstanding, I just unfortunately can’t do it over Facebook right now for completely unrelated reasons.

- You say you aren’t mad at me, or you wouldn’t want me in Westmark

I’m glad and really relieved you aren’t angry with me. I think you have done a wonderful job getting the cavalry up and running and I think we can both agree that the Cuthbert task was a big challenge for us both. For my part I apologise if I didn’t use the most respectful language or explain myself very well; Cuthbert’s behaviour touched a nerve and I’m sure you of all people know how hard it is to stay calm when something has triggered you because of trauma in your past

- You say you felt blindsided by Shiva’s actions and you find that difficult.

I sympathise; we all have difficulty with being surprised, and the world is such a tumultuous and uncertain place right now that everyone is clinging to whatever certainty and security we can find. I think it’s safe to say that obviously communication between you and Shiva broke down for a bit - we’re human, it happens - but I’m sure there have been occasions when you have made decisions without checking with her first, or spoken for both of you when she might not necessarily agree. The important thing when we are feeling unsafe and uncertain is to not lash out at the people who also have the capacity to make us feel safe and secure, loved and appreciated. Trust me, I’ve learned from experience you can lose some quality, loyal friends that way. Hopefully your friendship with Shiva is strong enough to overcome this, but for my part you don’t have to worry that we are not friends any more; we are as close now as we have ever been. We are just both a bit broken and still learning, is all

- You say you like Grimthain as a character, and you think he is exactly what the Westmark needs right now to help better his reputation.

First of all, thank you for the compliment! I started the NPC just as a means to an end but the more I played him, the more fleshed out he felt and by the end of the task I just didn’t want to say goodbye. I’m exited at roleplaying his story out, but as I’m sure you will understanding, I want to have a chance to tell his story my way.

Allacan has her own IC reasons for requesting his Eored transfer which I will go into IC so no spoilers there, but if your frustration is that it doesn’t make sense him leaving the Westmark for Meduseld I assure you, I can provide some IC reasons so Rowena can hopefully understand more, which will hopefully make the whole roleplay situation less stressful and more enjoyable for you. Also, I’m pretty certain Westmark’s reputation is fine; you’ve always been the fiery lot that everyone would rather have on their side than against them, but loyal to the last )

_____

Now, I’ll be mostly offline until midday Monday as I already spent too long today dealing with plaza and my poor boyfriend wants to spend some time with me. Once again thank you for getting in touch, and I’m glad we were able to clear the air of any confusion.

[Rowena Ellenweorc]

On Thali -- I hadn't even given her much thought yet because I'm not entirely sure how Rowena would respond given their last meeting... especially given Thali was essentially was supposed to be court martialled. But Rowena's probably just not going to care one way or the other at this point with all the stuff going on hahahaha

On watchmaster -- Can't wait to see what's up your sleeve. All my OOC qualms I'm just gonna leave aside now because its a moot point, however I do think IC Rowena does have a point to be stressed. ;) I do still wish I could keep Grimthain though, cause he's freaking awesome the way you've fleshed him out thus far.

[Amadhrill]

I have you on my list too, @Allafyrefleorhtlig , but it must wait a little longer, as my hælend skills are a bit rusty and I really want to work on them! And its not so easy on a phone/old pad... but I'll get to it

[Shivased]

@Aethelu @Eógyth, @Fairy Nuff Post in the Courtyard! Post in the Courtyard! Especially you, Aethelu since you're done with your next post!

[Aethelu]

@Shivased Just finished it up! I was having some major writers block but seem to have overcome it at last.

[Fairy Nuff]

@Shivased oh yes sorry, I spread myself too thin (like not enough butter over too much bread) and forgot the places I was supposed to post.

[Allacan ob Burzum]

Ok, stop press!

I just realised Rohan is the ONLY kingdom that does not have a kingdom image banner thingy?!

Someone with art skills please save us from our lack of pretty horses to stare at

[Aodh Hammerhelm]

@Allafyrefleorhtlig
I quite like being with out a banner... They take up loads of phone screen space and make my thumbs ache from too much scrolling. Hmmm, but I do like shiny pictures too

[Allacan ob Burzum]

@Aodh Hammerhelm But, shiny pictures?! Prescribes thumb exercises for Aodh

[Taethowen]

Questions for a couple people/threadrunners!

@Eléowyn - some of us with character storylines that are intertwining are wondering if we can use the Hall of Rohirric Histories to do a bit more than just give a brief IC backstory for our characters. It would be handy to have a place in Rohan (like most other kingdoms have) where we can document what we know about our characters (such as physical description, etc.) We're also thinking of having a place where we can track home locations/family land, and rather than starting another one or two threads, we were thinking that it might fit in with the Hall of Rohirric Histories. But we wanted to check before we overran it. Would this be okay with you, or would you rather we kept that separate?

@Aodh Hammerhelm - I know you've made some awesome Rohan maps in the past, and @Allafyrefleorhtlig mentioned that you were probably too busy at the moment to make *new* maps, but I was wondering if you had a higher resolution Rohan map that you've already made which you might be willing to let some of us use to map out where family homes/other residences are in relation to other character's holdings?

[Lail]

Said in a Boromir-like voice: Rohan has no banner. Rohan needs no banner.

[Eléowyn]

@Taethowen I have no problem with that. It’s a thread for the members, after all, so you should be able to use it in whatever way facilitates your character development.

[Aodh Hammerhelm]

@Taethowen ,

I'm sure I have the original map PSDs somewhere, if not on current RAIDs, backed up somewhere.

What size/res are you looking at for final copy?.

Have a look at those currently on my web and let me know which map best suits your purpose.

Towns & Settlements, mayhap.

Here's the link:
http://www.ajpsauk.com/geographicrohan/ ... gindex.htm

[Taethowen]

@Aodh Hammerhelm The towns & settlements map would be WONDERFUL. Especially if it could be like... 4x the size that it is. My eyes have never been the best. Things can always be shrunk down into a thumbnail and clicked and expanded. Maybe, pixel-wise, 1000x1000? or 1200x1200?

[Aodh Hammerhelm]

@Taethowen,

Ok, I'll see what I can dig up from my archives. It may take me a while, I have a few night shifts etc on until Saturday morning.

Please give me a if I've not got back to you by Sunday evening!

[Taethowen]

@Aodh Hammerhelm THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH. I will... try to remember to touch base Sunday evening if I haven't heard from you by then.

[Aodh Hammerhelm]

@Taethowen

[Bereth]

Great! Thanks so much for the maps, @Aodh Hammerhelm
I’ve always wondered about deeper details of the lands.

On a differing note, I have come across this quote several times and it stirred up old memories and, well, an age-long yearning for more “tales and songs” in some settings or another:

(Describing the people of Rohan) They are proud and wilful, but they are true-hearted, generous in thought and in deed; bold but not cruel; wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs, after the manner of the children of Men before the Dark Years

We’ve done an excellent job portraying many aspects of that, but my question is - - where are the minstrels? The songsters? The songs?

I put forth that need @Wamba_the_Fool and his merry songs!

[Rowena Ellenweorc]

@Bereth I am still still trying to dig up some of the old rewrites of classic folk songs I've done in the past. The two I remember most are 'All the pretty little horses/ponies' and 'What do you with a drunk Westmarker'

[Wamba_the_Fool]

Said in a Boromir-like voice: Rohan has no banner. Rohan needs no banner.

Concur. We're good to go, IMHO.

On a differing note, I have come across this quote several times and it stirred up old memories and, well, an age-long yearning for more “tales and songs” in some settings or another:

(Describing the people of Rohan) They are proud and wilful, but they are true-hearted, generous in thought and in deed; bold but not cruel; wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs, after the manner of the children of Men before the Dark Years

We’ve done an excellent job portraying many aspects of that, but my question is - - where are the minstrels? The songsters? The songs?

I put forth that need @Wamba_the_Fool and his merry songs!

That description of us has oft been thrown aside, sometimes with a "but it's 4th age!" excuse and sometimes just because we'd rather play who we want to play without that pesky Tolkien guy getting in the way.

Having said that, when's the pub opening again? @Bereth

[Taethowen]

@Wamba_the_Fool I think the pub will probably re-open after the final Summer Festival events conclude (the Campian Tournament, and the After Party). However, I have first-hand knowledge that there will be drunken revelry--including song--at the After Party, so I think you *all* should definitely show up! (also tagging @Bereth for that )

[Allacan ob Burzum]

@Bereth and @Wamba_the_Fool There will be at least two songs at the Festival After-Party, and I highly encourage people to contribute their own

Also, Allacan is singing in the Cavalry RPG, and the songs in the Tub Race were awesome. I definitely agree we need a Rohirric Dramatics Society or something though!

@Wamba_the_Fool I had an idea for a Throne Room in your honour? Open the Rohan Throne Room for a month, but instead of it being the King on the Throne, it is Wamba who has stolen the keys and opened it up and invited all his fooling, jesting, singing friends to fill it with insanity and performance.

“Throne Room; Hall of Fools”

And if anyone tries to come in and pledge their sword to Rohan or anything serious without properly reading the OP and previous posts and such, the fools all just play along as if it’s all part of the jest.

[Aodh Hammerhelm]

@Bereth & @Wamba_the_Fool

I've found an old Cav' drinking song. Let us know when you have a thread for doggerel.

@Bereth ,

I adapted most of the maps from this excellent book: The Atlas of Middle-Earth - Karen Wynn Fonstad

@Taethowen,

Map enlarged. It's from the small GIF in the Atlas, so not as sharp as I'd like it.

I know I have the PSD on my PC (saw it scouring for old Threads and Word Doc) but where?

[Taethowen]

@Aodh Hammerhelm it'll work, thank you SOOOO much!

[Aodh Hammerhelm]

@Taethowen ~

[Bereth]

Haha, wonderful! @Rowena Ellenweorc & @Aodh Hammerhelm ~ can’t wait to hear them!

@Taethowen, sounds like fun. (Can Ber be there if she’s in training for the Infirmary? Probably a silly question).

@Wamba_the_Fool That, and perhaps there are some we’d really hope wouldn’t torture us too often with their musical skills? Think karaoke. Uff. Or Ber’s last pitiable attempt at song in the pub, haha!

I’m excited to see what develops. And who else may come out of the woodwork to surprise us.

[Taethowen]

@Bereth Ber can absolutely be there even if she's training for the infirmary! Taeth would love to see her, too. Lots has happened since she last saw Ber at her shop!

[Wamba_the_Fool]

@Wamba_the_Fool I had an idea for a Throne Room in your honour? Open the Rohan Throne Room for a month, but instead of it being the King on the Throne, it is Wamba who has stolen the keys and opened it up and invited all his fooling, jesting, singing friends to fill it with insanity and performance.

“Throne Room; Hall of Fools”

And if anyone tries to come in and pledge their sword to Rohan or anything serious without properly reading the OP and previous posts and such, the fools all just play along as if it’s all part of the jest.

Ye say kindly, an' I say thank'ee, but I don't think my present circumstances would permit me to participate in such a thing to the level at which it would deserve. The Fool can remain on the periphery for the nonce.

[Eldrith]

Yes, pub will reopen after After Party. Or something of that nature..

[Allacan ob Burzum]

@Wamba_the_Fool I had an idea for a Throne Room in your honour? Open the Rohan Throne Room for a month, but instead of it being the King on the Throne, it is Wamba who has stolen the keys and opened it up and invited all his fooling, jesting, singing friends to fill it with insanity and performance.

“Throne Room; Hall of Fools”

And if anyone tries to come in and pledge their sword to Rohan or anything serious without properly reading the OP and previous posts and such, the fools all just play along as if it’s all part of the jest.

Ye say kindly, an' I say thank'ee, but I don't think my present circumstances would permit me to participate in such a thing to the level at which it would deserve. The Fool can remain on the periphery for the nonce.

@Wamba_the_Fool Thanks for the response; maybe we can find another jester to sit on the Throne, and that way you can just drop in for a foolery visit and disappear straight after if you need to

[Wamba_the_Fool]

@Wamba_the_Fool I had an idea for a Throne Room in your honour? Open the Rohan Throne Room for a month, but instead of it being the King on the Throne, it is Wamba who has stolen the keys and opened it up and invited all his fooling, jesting, singing friends to fill it with insanity and performance.

“Throne Room; Hall of Fools”

And if anyone tries to come in and pledge their sword to Rohan or anything serious without properly reading the OP and previous posts and such, the fools all just play along as if it’s all part of the jest.

Ye say kindly, an' I say thank'ee, but I don't think my present circumstances would permit me to participate in such a thing to the level at which it would deserve. The Fool can remain on the periphery for the nonce.

@Wamba_the_Fool Thanks for the response; maybe we can find another jester to sit on the Throne, and that way you can just drop in for a foolery visit and disappear straight after if you need to

@Allafyrefleorhtlig Or just have a different theme, if theme there must be, for a Throne Room-type of thread. I'm assuming the Eorlingas had scops of some kind, but truthfully "jesters" were a far later development; not exactly Rohirric.

[Lirimaer]

@Aethelu hello - it didn't seem to work last time I mentioned you, so I am checking this again in here. I'm visiting your shop in the market!

[Allacan ob Burzum]

@Lirimaer and @Calimir (and @Aethelu) the current Riddermarket was temporarily closed for the festivals and I don’t think it has officially been re-opened; I think the plan was to open a new one.

@Shivased Now that the Festival is, for the most part, over (and especially because the Festival Fairgrounds are done) could you please open a new Riddermarket thread? As soon as it is open either Lirimaer and Calimir can repost their stuff there, or I’ll hop in there to nab the second post quoting their unanswered queries and having Allacan head to the markets too; gotta get me some new boots!

Alternatively; if you don’t want to run the Riddermarket thread yourself let people know here and maybe someone else can take over opening the new thread?

I also trust @Thorin Firehelm and the previous pub patrons don’t mind if we leave the old pub closed and start afresh with a new one? I think @Eldrith and @Amadhrill were planning on reviving the Aeldsel?

[Aodh Hammerhelm]

@Allafyrefleorhtlig ,

I'll let the kid, @Calimir, know re Riddermarket. I'd be inclined to close thread if action moves to another, post new ones when reopening?

[Aethelu]

Oh no, sorry @Lirimaer. I've been a bit spaced out the past few days and forgot where I needed to make posts. Once the new Riddermarket is up I'll be back in the shop.

[Eldrith]

@Allafyrefleorhtlig actually the original intent was to reopen that pub because something else was kind of supposed to happen there.

We can open a new thread for the same pub though. The Aeldsel will probably be back just ehm..not..quite yet.

[Allacan ob Burzum]

@Aodh Hammerhelm I was planning on posting in the Riddermarket when it re-opens so I could happily “quote” both Calimir and Lirimaer’s posts (with links to the originals) as well as putting together a list of any ongoing RPs that got cut short, with links to the recent posts, just in case anyone would prefer to continue on where they left off.

@Eldrith I guess it depends on you; I figure that most of the festival is over so we could re-open the old pub but a lot of time has passed since those conversations, and characters have moved on.

I figure something is supposed to happen in the old pub though? Does it need a whole new thread or could you conveniently wrap up the old one with it, then close it? Or do you need more time/is Aeldsel not ready?

[Shivased]

@Allafyrefleorhtlig Yes, a new one is ready to go up tonight.

[Taethowen]

@Shivased can you add @Fairy Nuff as secondary character Starbreeze as an apprentice for Awesnis Gærwe Nædleprica? Thanks! I 'hired' her during the Summer Festival.

Also potentially @Almarëa Mordollwen as Seleðryðe for shop assistant, pending confirmation? Alma, did you still want do keep this up? Taeth posted a letter IC for Seleðryðe but hasn't received a response yet.

[Eldrith]

Where did my post go? OH ehm yes, something was supposed to happen before we were setting up the Aeldsel. Unless that happens at the after party (@Shivased What do you think? After party?
If not, we can just set up a new thread for the previous pub and start with the Aeldsel for the next one. Besides after Campian, I think Eldrith's going to stay out of the public eye for a bit. LOL

[Lirimaer]

Since you have a closed Market and a closed Festival, with both telling you to go post in the other, it's very confusing.

IS there a great problem with just deleting the closure and keep going ... ?

Thanks @Aethelu!

[Almarëa Mordollwen]

@Taethowen Yes, please! Shall respond to the letter asap

[Almarëa Mordollwen]

@Taethowen Yes, please! Shall respond to the letter asap.

[Eldrith]

I reopened the Pub. It's still the old pub. Eldrith and @Amadhrill have nothing to do with this one yet. But there are.. plans.

[Taethowen]

@Almarëa Mordollwen YAY!

@Shivased ok, so please add Fairy Nuff as Starbreeze as apprentice, and Almarëa Mordollwen as Seleðryðe as shop assistant for Awesnis Gærwe Nædleprica. Thanks! (just putting it all in one post for ease.)

@Eldrith the second 'n' got dropped off the title on the new pub thread, just fyi.

[Shivased]

@Eldrith I believe there are already plans for the after-party, so your plan may not work so well there. I don't mind picking up back with the old pub and finishing the plan, then moving on to the Aeldsel.

@Taethowen Yup, I will put an apprentice in.

[Eldrith]

@Taethowen It's a PUN. I mean.. ehm.. I fixed that. LOL Thanks for letting me know!

@Shivased Excellent. It's a better fit anyway. I slowed things down there not to coincide too much with the festival.

[Allacan ob Burzum]

@Lirimaer I know, I can appreciate that it’s confusing. I think the Festival one got closed without the Riddermarket threadrunner realising so the new thread got delayed. Small failure in communication, apologies.

I’m sure a new thread will be open shortly.