The Burning Stars (ooc)

[Eldfess]

Yes...that's right...I'm starting another new rp as well. This one, though, is going to be a little different. Let me set the stage.

It has been about 4 or 5 long generations since the beginning of the 4th age. The thoughts of such things as Sauron, the Istari, and even the elves have faded into a distant memory. Not long after Aragorn's children died of their own old age Arwen dissapeared. Some believed her to have gone across the sea.

Men rule the surface, dwarves the underground. And a large tribe of halflings, sired by Samwise, Merry and Pippin have broken off from the shire and have begun to set up their own kingdom elsewhere.

It is a time of political machinations and religious warfare. Different religious beliefs have sprung up around ME worshipping elves, Eru, the Vala, the Maia, and even the dark lord Sauron (though this is banned in most civilized places). But even these beliefs are beginning to lose faith.

Now...our story is with a group of monks the church of Eru (think of it like the feudal catholic church) have discovered a secret within the crypts beneath their monastary, haven't decided on what yet. They decide to go on a quest to discover the truth about the end of the 3rd age and what happened after. There had been a time of silence with the dissapearance of Arwen. Now the truth has the possibility of destroying the Church's foundation in ME. Oh, btw, these monks are of a warrior class.

Rules...your character has to be a monk, though not a monk all their life. Your character could have become a monk for any reason. Perhaps they were hiding out from something, you decide. The point is they are young and don't trust the teachings just becuase they are told to. Male or female accepted. Only humans, dwarves and adventurous hobbits. No wizards, though mystics are accepted (mind readers, seers, empaths).

Post your bio if you're interested.

[Eldfess]

I kind of broke some of my own rules with this thread by making the storyline pretty complicated, but the whole idea hit me all at once and I felt compelled to try it.

One addition to the above...another character type that can be added is the holy Knight, or knight in training.

Here's my character bio:

Nerin
Race: Female Human from Rohan
Age: 20
Appearance: She has long white-blonde and sea green eyes. She's fair as the children of the Rohirrim with pale skin. She wears the traditional (traditional for them) monk robes in the colors of Gondor, black and silver and tall boots. She carries a silver quarterstaff.
Personality: Nerin is proud as a rider, and wilful. She is extremely curious to learn about everything and suspicious. Though she has been well trained in the staff since she was 12 she has never seen a true battle, and is aprehensive.
Bio: As a young girl she felt the desire to learn more of the world around her. The best place to do that was within the monastary in Minas Tirith. As she grew under the teachings, however, she began to doubt and question them.

[undomiel]

Eldfess, no fair! No sooner do I join your other RP than you come up with an even better one. It sounds fascinating and I would love to join. But I don't know if I'll have the time with the other 2 I'm in plus the other I just joined. I really, really want to though.

[Aiwe]

So would I! But it goes against every fibre of my being to play a human, dwarf, or hobbit character. Whatever shall I do?

--Aiwe

[Eldfess]

Aiwe, would you prefer a lycan? I think I have an idea of how that could be aranged...

Undomiel, I know how hectic that could be...this is my 3rd rp that i'm leading plus 2 or 3 guilds that i need to keep up with. But I'm on so much that I feel like I need more to work on. lol

I wouldn't say this one is better, just different.

[Aiwe]

Thanks Eldfess. Sounds good. I never play human if I can possibly avoid it (and that includes short humans and slender pointy-eared humans...). I'm human all day, and would much prefer to escape reality in the form of a different species.

Thing is though, I've got three other lycans currently already. I need to keep them all seperate personalities, you know? But the monk thing sure offers some different personalitiy quirks. Here goes.

Name: Piyelan Shadowbound (Pie or Shadow for short)

Age: 19

Race: Lycanthrope

Appearance as a man: average build, a bit on the geeky side, grey eyes, short black hair, dark skin. His nails are dark, curved, and sharp, and he has the perfunctory elongated canines.

As a wolf: grey eyes, dappled black-and-gray fur, bushy tail.

Clothes: grey monk's robe over grey trousers and undershirt. Walks barefoot in dry weather, wears weatherproofed boots with straw stuffing and wool lining in wet and cold weather.

Weapons: carries a daimondwood staff, but is loathe to use it or any of his natural weapons.

Personality: nerdy, loves to solve problems though he tries to avoid his own. Not chatty at all. Rarely meets other peoples' eyes. Hates hurting people, even though it seems that's what he was designed for. Likes cheese.

History: Piyelan was someone's accident. When the monks were sorting out a supply delivery 19 years ago, one of the baskets of cheese started to bawl. Upon closer inspection, the basket contained a very small Easterling child in addition to the rounds of cheese. After a bit of head-scratching the monks presented the baby to the abbott. In the folds of the baby's wrappings was tucked a note, written in a language none could recognise. Eventually one of the very senior lorekeepers pronounced it to be Black Tongue. It said: "His mother named him Piyelan with her last breath. Raise him in light instead of darkness." After the message was read aloud, there was a long pause and a lot of thoughtful staring. Eventually it was decided that Piyelan would be raised and trained in the monastery. Foundlings were not unusual in the Church, but most of them didn't come with cryptic notes tucked into their nappies. Nor, as the monks soon found out, did they often turn into wolf cubs at random. Most of the monks thought it would be best to cull the dark creature they'd unwittingly allowed into their ranks, but the abbott stayed their hands and charged them to raise the baby/puppy as a creature of light, just as the note had said. There was a lot of grumbling about how though Eru worked in mysterious ways, so did the forces of evil. Howevver, Piyalan was raised with as much compassion as the monks could muster. The abbott gave him the name Shadowbound, since it would be Piyelan's duty to break free of the shadow he was born beneath.

Reason for joining: Piyelan needs desperately to prove himself. He has never left the monastery, but will steel himself to do so if need be. He is often teased by younger monks because of what he is.

--Aiwe

[Eldfess]

that works really well Aiwe. Hopefully we can bring in some more interested spectators soon.

Is there any reason to believe that an elf could hibernate for centuries if something happened to it?

[Aiwe]

Someone plays a character like that; can't remember who. Magic would be the easy way out. Or perhaps this elf has an oath that must not be broken, so they missed the last ships in order to see it fulfilled?

-Aiwe

[Eldfess]

Okay, I'm gonna spill the beans on this one...I hate to do it but its so hard to keep a twist this big quiet.

One of the secrets that the Church of Eru is keeping in its vaults is the sleeping body of Queen Arwen. She refused to leave and went into a sleep. There was a prophecy over her awakening. Haven't written it yet.

What do you think.

[Errand]

OOOOOOOOOO nice twist. Personally, I wouldn't put a prophecy there. Just the fact they have an Elven body stored somewhere... kind of has a sinister undertone, you know? Deep, deep, deep underground, below the sacred and holy front, in the subterranean depths, there is... an elvish body. Gives the creeps, just a little bit. Shady...

I'm not joining the RP or anything, just dropped by.

[elfshadow]

This sounds like a great RP! All of my old ones faded into nonexistence due to lack of interest. But this one has a really new, different topic....and I think the Queen Arwen sleeping idea is awesome .

Alrighty, I think I'll write a new character for this one....

Name: Lianna Rae (or Li)

Race: Human from Gondor

Age: 16

Appearance: Lianna is fairly small, about 5'4'' and slender. She has pale skin, long brown curly hair, and piercing green eyes. As a female monk, she generally wears a long black robe with silver fastenings. Underneath she wears a simple dress. However, unbeknownst to the rest of the monks, she carries under the robe a small, jeweled dagger that she inherited from her great-grandfather.

Personality: Li is very secretive (as is demonstrated by hiding the dagger). She is quiet, and can be difficult to converse with due to her tendency for one-word answers. She has always dreamed of adventure, but tries to hide it from the rest of the monks.

Personal History: Li came from a very extended but authoritative family situation, and oftentimes her older relatives would beat her and her younger siblings and cousins for misbehavior. She dealt with the abuse until she turned 15, when she learned from an old scholar about the teachings of the church of Eru. Obsessed with the knowledge she had discovered, she ran off to the church of Eru's monestary in Minas Tirith and begged the elders of the church to become accepted as a female monk.

[Eldfess]

Welcome Elfshadow...like your character.

Errand, wasn't sure of what to do with Arwen. Now I'm thinking that the idea of elves as a species have been covered up. The reason being that the line of the kings (having elven blood) is not only royal but theocratic. They are the voice of the gods on middle earth. An elf arising would be a big deal then.

[Aiwe]

Yay! More players!

Sooooo....when can we expect an IC, oh fearless leader?

--Aiwe

[Eldfess]

I'm gonna throw both the ICs out there at about the same time, since they are both coming to a head. I think that I'd like at least one more player on this thread, and that would still leave it open for latecomers. But we shall see.

Can't post much at the moment, will give it a better look through later.

[Dindraug]

I will admit that the premis of this thread tweaked my interest

Having said that, there are a few things that would need to be ironed out before I thought seriously about joining though.

puts on medievalist head

Firstly, you talk about feudal catholic Monks, I am assuming by this you mean one of the early medieval orders like the Benedictines? I should point out immidiatley that if you wanted to persue that line, monks are male. Nuns are female. It's an important distiction, especially given the amount of access that Nuns have had to anything really.

Several of the Orders, in fact almost all, would not have Monks and Nuns mixing (except in mass). They would never allow mixed parties of Monks and Nuns to opperate together. Again it depends on how far you want to persue that idea.

Oh and Monks are universally (except a few crusading monks) non-violent. And they lived in monestaries to get away from the world, not to be involved in it.

A far far better idea would be to use the Jesuites or even the Inquisition as investigators. You get much more freedom, more of the fanatisism associated with a young faith and they did know how to fight.

Or ex Monks, who found out the truth and left the orders, but know they have to get back into the monestary to reveal the truth.

Still, interesting idea this one. Even if you do give away the plot to early [/i]

[undomiel]

Dindraug, I think the key is that the Church of Eru is LIKE the feudal Catholic Church. Similar, but not the same. I believe Eldfess simply meant to give us something to compare it to so that we could get a good feel of what we would be posting about. After all, this is only 4 or 5 generations since the 4th age began. I hope you will join. I've heard that you're an excellent RPer.

Eldfess, I've decided that this RP is just too good to pass up. I'd love to join, if that's ok with you. I should be able to post a character bio within the next couple days.

[Eltirwen]

Hello. I would like to join this RP, if I could. I realize I don't know many of you, but hopefully that will change. This is pretty intriguing, and I've got a character that will fit the story, I think.

Her name is Hirilwath. She's ancient, and can remember Ages of time. Not even she knows what she is any more. For as long as she can remember she has been a rapacious maw of desire, enticing and sucking dry one lover after another. The one male she could not completely subdue was Sauron, in the First Age when he went by Annatar. She made the mistake of falling in love with him, her first real feeling in millennia. She knows not the real story behind the end of the Third Age, for at that time she had fled far to the East in solitude to try and escape her anger at what Sauron had let himself become. She seeks to know true knowledge of his downfall, illogically hoping he somehow found redemption. In the past three hundred years a feeling of emptiness has begun to consume her, and she sees how pointless and pathetic her life has been. She has disguised herself as a human, and joined the monks of the new church in search of a greater meaning to life. Yet, recently, the empty ache has returned, for she feels there is still deeper truth.

She has no great powers, for she struggles not to use her seductive wiles any more. She can use a sword and bow competently, but is certainly not an outstanding fighter. Perhaps she can learn to train her ability to read people to a kinder purpose. Her contribution to the group would be her overwhelming desire to know the truth, about the end of the Third Age and about life in general.

(I know you said humans only, but I have no idea what she is. She looks human, and will endeavor to pass herself off as such.)

[Eldfess]

Dindraug, like Undomiel said it is only like. I wanted to give an impression of a strong connected church that mastered the art of keeping secrets that could disrupt its order. As to the discrepencies you pointed out, these were true of the Catholic church. However, this is a different church. As to fanatisism, the only things these young ones are fanatic about is truth and knowledge. They have begun to doubt the teachings. For their ability to fight, the church believes in training the mind and the body both. You are welcome to join if you wish. I may have explained much of the plot...but I still have some surprises up my sleave.

Glad you decided to join Undomiel. Eltirwen, I'm kind of antsy about your character, but if you're careful I'm willing to allow it.

[undomiel]

I wanted to give an impression of a strong connected church that mastered the art of keeping secrets that could disrupt its order.

Hey, what are you implying about the Catholic Church?

Alright, here's my bio. Hope it fits your criteria.

Name: Leorner

Race: Man of Arnor

Age: 23

Appearance: Tall and lithe. He has a head of shaggy, light red hair and eyes that switch color between green and blue depending on his mood. Common attire is the traditional long white robes with a golden star on the front of the Monastery of Annuminas and leather sandals.

History: Leorner grew up in the new city of Annuminas that had been rebuilt during King Elessar's reign at the beginning of the 4th age. His grandfather was regional governor and his family was respected throughout the north. However, Leorner's father was an alcoholic and when he inherited the family holdings things went rapidly downhill. Their fortune was quickly squandered and what respect that had was lost. Bitterly resenting his father for their loss of status, Leorner fled to the Monastery of Annuminas hoping to salvage at least his own future. There he devoted himself to acquiring all the knowledge he could find. Being a rapid learner, it only took him a few years to memorize all the books in the Monastery's library. Having exhausted their resources he requested leave to visit the library of the Monastery at Minas Tirith.

Personality: Leorner is a firm believer in "Knowlege equals Power." He tends to be a bit arrogant and always thinks he is right. Yet deep inside he has also developed a love of Truth and would go to great length to discover and preserve it.

[Eldfess]

The catholic church now is not what it was then. That's all that I'll say.

Undomiel, great. Welcome in.

[undomiel]

*Resists the urge to get into a debate*

Alright, I won't say anything else. Just want to clarify a few things about the Church of Eru and the current state of things in Middle Earth. Don't want my monk getting his theology wrong.

Does the Church of Eru also worship the Valar? Or is it Monotheistic? Are the Valar considered Angels, Saints, nonexistent?

About Elves... are they remembered? As an extinct race? A Myth? Do people remember Elves at all?

About Arwen... Technically after Elrond left for Valinor she ceased to be immortal. There would have to be some outside influence on her for her to have remained alive. She couldn't just will herself to sleep forever. Perhaps someone within the church is harboring some sort of secret power? Handed down from the remaining Istari or something? Who knows.

You mentioned the government of Gondor and Arnor being theocratic. Does this mean that we worship a sort of GodKing? Like the Pharaohs of Egypt who were all the children of Ra?

Oh I had other questions that I can't rememer right now. Can't wait to see the IC.

[Ulugz]

Hmm… this sounds really interesting. Since all the other RP’s I am involved in seem to be abandoned, or on hiatus due to members not being able to get on line (except for the wedding of Orion and Elena, and there’s not much that I can do there except sit and watch now), I’d like to join in.
You mentioned Dwarves being OK, not my usual racial choice but I’d love to have a go at one.


Herutha;

A young redheaded female dwarf, just at that awkward age, post-adolescent, but not yet an adult. She has left her cavern home without her parent’s permission. Running away rather than face the disgrace of being, as yet, unable to grow any sort of real beard. Despite her father’s admonition- “A perfect diamond takes time to cut.”- the taunting of other girls near her age (OK so there were only two…), as they curled and braided beads and bows into their luxurious whiskers, was more than Herutha could stand. Especially since her father was a highly respected clan lore-master, and her mother the second daughter of the Mountain King.

Coming from a family of relative wealth and privlige, Herutha had little knowledge of real world survival. Like all young dwarves she has been trained with ax, spear, and sheild. She can play the harp. is a wealth of information on mining, and while she cannot spin flax into gold she can weave a halfway decent bolt of cloth, given enough incentive,(threats). Hunting, fishing and the value of coin, (and the fact that some humans might be dishonest) were completely unknown to her. She joined the monks after they took her in, wet, penniless, and hungry, and gave her shelter and food with no questions asked.

The existence of women who survive without beards and who seem to actually be happy without facial hair, has given Herutha some hope for her own future. The quest for truth fascinates her and she will happily don her light but sturdy dwarven helm again, and sharpen up her axes (if need be) to fare forth.

[Eldfess]

Welcome Ulugz. I'm glad to gain a dwarven character here, truly. I think we are now a large enough cast to begin.

Undomiel...lets get these questions answered. The ones I don't have answers for we can decide on.

The Church of Eru does not believe in the Valar. The elves that were prominent in stories and histories were turned into saints and angels.

The history of Elves has been destroyed. Who they were has been turned into stories of saints and angels. There are some who keep the memories alive, but those have been hunted.

Now, if I'm not mistaken, it was only in the movie that Arwen spoke of giving up her immortality. I don't think there was anything in the books to say that. If I am mistaken let me know.

Yes, the King is considered a GodKing.

[undomiel]

Maybe it didn't specifically state it in the main body of LOTR. Elrond does say in appendice A "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen" that so long as Elrond abides in Middle Earth Arwen (and the twins) will live as the Eldar. Basically, the only ones who were given a choice between being Eldar or Edain were Earendil, Elwing, Elrond, and Elros. Now because Elrond chose to be judged among the Eldar, his children share that fate only as long as they remain with Elrond. As soon as Elrond leaves Middle Earth, if they remain behind they become mortal. Or more acturately, they were mortal the whole time (because they have mortal blood) but enjoyed the benefits of immortality as long as they lived with daddy. So Arwen isn't even considered an Elf anymore. Technically, they are 25/32 Eldar, 3/16 Edain, and 1/32 Maiar, but ANY mortal blood makes them mortal. (No, I didn't come up with those figures myself. Those are credited to Romestamo from a thread in the ever useful Books Forum.):)

So you can still do that thing with Arwen. You'd just have to have some outside force causing the hibernation.

Also, you said that the Elves are hunted. Who are they hunted by? You'll find that I tend to be full of questions. I don't expect you to know the answers to everything though. I'm perfectly willing to lend my own creative thought to the RP.

Welcome Ulugz. Nice character.

[Eldfess]

I didn't know that...I'll have to read that to find out for sure. It doesn't seem logical. From what I read in the Silmarillion it seemed that since Elrond chose the Eldar his children would be that way as well. So I'll have to check on that.

Its not the elves that are hunted, as there are no elves left. But anyone with obvious elven blood or those who spread the true stories of the elves. They are hunted by the church to supress those ideas.

[undomiel]

That's an easy assumption to make. It's logical, but the only ones who were given the choice were Earendil, Elwing and THEIR children. Their grandchildren don't get to choose. Because the way it works is that any mortal blood makes you mortal. Earendil, Elwing and their children were considered human before they were given their choice. So all the half elves running around the Pony and living their lives as elves are impossible in Tolkien's world. There were only 4 Peredhel who were allowed to choose. Everyone else who has mixed blood is mortal.

I didn't actually verify that textually, since I'm at work and without the books. I went to the Books Forum and there are some incredibly knowledgeable people there. Romestamo I think knows just about everything there is to know about everything Tolkien has written. Also, I read through the Silmarillion fairly recently and that is how I remember it. Arwen, like Luthien before her, gave up the chance to live as the Eldar by breaking away from her father and marrying Aragorn.

I see. So there are no pure blood elves left. It seems the Church of Eru has some issues. So how long before the IC goes up?

[Eldfess]

well, I guess even a well preserved body of Arwen would work. It would prove the existence of elves as the stories were, against what the church says. I guess that could work as well.

[Eldfess]

This thread discussing the IC has fallen down the list, but it should pick up a bit when I make this announcement. The IC thread will be starting presently. Here is how we will begin. The first post is merely an introduction. Place your character within the abbey. It will take a couple of posts before the quest begins I think.

[SorceressintheGoldenWood]

If I may, I'd love to join you. Your story sounds very interesting! If you do alow me to join to might take me awhile to get back into things. It's been some time since my list RP and this character is new to me.

For your concideration...my character -

Name: Ara Ishahira
Alias: Rivahin
Age: 19
Place of Birth: In the far East
Race: Easterling
Parents: Navier and Viara
Siblings: Older brothers Naven, Zaren, Rahiri, younger brother Aliren, and younger sister Shilen
Training: Warrior
Current Occupation: Monk
Current Residence: The Monastrey of Minas Tirith
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 135lb
Build: Curvy
Hair Color and Length: Black, mid-waist
Eye Color: Light blue
Skin Color: Light brown
Marked Areas: Entire back, shoulders, top part of upper arms, lower arms, and back of hands are marked with Easterling symbols
Outfit: A dark red long sleeve dress, corsetted waist, mid-thigh length side slits, floor length, with black embroidery
Weapon of Choice: Scimitar
Weapons/Possessions: A scimitar that has been passed down through her family line, two slender boot daggers, and five small throwing knives
Fighting Skills: Fighting with swords and haldberds, archery, and martial arts
Personal Skills: Drawing, card games, weapon making
Personality: Dark, protective, mysterious, cunning
Marital Status: Single
Children: None
Animal Companions: -
Biography: -

(Just a rough draft of her bio, I will add more information if I am accepted)

[Aiwe]

Yay! An IC!

Well, I posted. Anyone can use that little tag I left.