OOC - Land of the Serpents

[Naveen]

~

Thanks Cock Robin. Feel free to jump in whenever you are ready.


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[Celebrimbor32]

Add me to the list of silent lurkers, please! This must be the new RP thread where all of the 'oldbie' TORC veterans are hanging about these days I see Arrasuil is present as well. Well, very good! I could use a good literary sideline project such as this RP to serve as a distraction from my Arnor tale over on the Scriptorium for a while. An occassional change of direction does a person good every once in a while.

I noticed that the action will begin in or around Bree-land and work its way south. If so that would work well for me. I can sit back for a while and read all of your posts and guage what sort of character I want to introduce. One question I was wondering was, if you get too many people jumping in later will it clutter up the storyline? Also, will there be a specific 'plot' to this new thread? Perhaps more than one going on at once with different characters entirely seperate from others? Either way is fine, really. I was just wondering.

I look forward to some quality reading in here

[Shadowfax]

I think the plot will evolve a little as the story goes along. Right now it seems the Triad in Harad is ticking a few people off......something must be done! That's how I see it so far.

I see no issue joining in at a later time and it is possible to have seperate groups adventuring towards a common goal. I'm a firm believer in having an ending to aim towards or we'll wonder about in middle earth forever.





Shadowfax!

[shaggydog]

OK here is a bio for my character. I am going to post in the IC thread as well, hope that's alright. As has been said, there may be many routes to converge upon the ultimate destination, wherever that turns out to be. Of course, I hope Naveen gets past her distrust of the sea and chooses to travel by boat. I feel like Amel might be able to assist her if she gets to Dol Amroth, for the right price of course

Name: Amel
Race: human
Gender: male
Age: mid-thirties
Country of origin: Near Harad

Appearance: Like most men of Harad, he is swarthy with dark eyes and hair. He is clean shaven and keeps his dark, curly hair close cropped, almost shaved to the skin. He is of medium height and build, very lean/wiry but what there is of him is all muscle from a lifetime of hard work. He has an abundance of mainly small scars from various work related injuries, cuts, rope burns, etc. and a few fights here and there. The only significant one is that he is missing his left thumb and forefinger from an accident on board a vessel he was crewing on as a youngster. He wears the loose clothing of a man of the south, baggy pants and a long loose shirt, sometimes a long vest, all made of cotton. Underway he seldom wears more than just the pants. He doesn’t wear shoes at all.

History: This will be developed as we go along but briefly he was born in a fishing village along the coast of Near Harad. Somewhere around the age of 10-11, his village was raided by slavers and he was hauled off to a slave market in another coastal town. He was bought by an old fisherman who had no sons to help him with his work. Amel was not treated badly and life went on, but then the old man got sick and died. Amel stole the man’s fishing boat and sailed off to start life over as a free man. He did so by selling the little fishing craft, hiding the money and shipping out on various vessels that plied the coast. He saved his earnings and eventually was able to buy his own boat, a small but swift and handy sloop, which he put to use smuggling goods up and down the coast, from Umbar to Tolfalas. Being wise enough to buy protection from one of the stronger corsair bands, Amel has done well and increased his little business to three vessels and eight other men besides himself. The recent war saw the destruction of many of those who held powerful positions in the Umbar hierarchy and this is a source of concern for the smaller fry like Amel, who watch carefully the jockeying for a new structure to their illicit trade.


If this doesn't work for you please just let me know and I can edit, rearrange, scrap, obliterate, etc Same goes for the IC post.

[shaggydog]

Did I kill it?

[Shadowfax]

Did I kill it?

I think so.....................





j/k!


Things move slowly at times, we're getting old ya know!


Shadowfax!

[Hunter]

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lol, no Shaggydog, you didn't kill it. I liked your post.

I have a half written reply, but weekend aren't always the best for me. I've always been the odd-man out where weekends are concerned. My work week usually starts on Thurs/Friday and ends on Mon/Tues and they are night shifts. Hard to find time to write when I'm working and no access to PC when I do.

~

[Tempest]

It's nice to see the old guard up and about again! It's been too long!

[Shadowfax]

It's nice to see the old guard up and about again! It's been too long!

Great to see your're still about too!

I have a half written reply, but weekend aren't always the best for me. I've always been the odd-man out where weekends are concerned. My work week usually starts on Thurs/Friday and ends on Mon/Tues and they are night shifts. Hard to find time to write when I'm working and no access to PC when I do.

You're a Dude now? Glad to see that you went through with the 'operation'



Shadowfax!

[Naveen]

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Celebrimbor32 I don’t think it will clutter up the story line if people jump in late, in fact it might make it more interesting! Only time will tell.

One plot so far is Naveen’s mother is very ill/or else has died already and she and Najhim are making plans to head back home. Her background was written to show what the dangers of returning to Harad are and the background of the Triad was set up to be a source to draw on for plot creation and future conflict.

Strider created a sub-plot about the disappearance of Aeron’s sister so that makes two different storylines heading south. Go ahead if you wish and create another one and tie it in.


Hi Tempest! Yes the old guard still has a few stories left in them!

Shadowfax!

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[Celebrimbor32]

Naveen - Ah, I see... I suppose the main thing I was wondering was whether or not the various seperate storylines in the thread are going to remain seperate, or is the goal to have all of the characters converge together later on? The difficulty with the latter strategy is that, assuming there will be at least five or six of us in total, with some of us writing for more than one character, it might get a bit crowded if we're all together. Having all of us attatched at the hip as we wander through the streets of Umbar like a troupe of sight-seers would be a little awkward

Personally, I was thinking it might be best if we maintain, say, three or four independant, yet loosely connected storylines that don't necessasily have to always converge together. Sort of like how Leo Tolstoy does it in War and Peace. Lots of different characters doing their own thing within one tale. Does that makes sense? Maybe write in pairs or something like that. What do some of you think about that?

[shaggydog]

For what it's worth, which ain't much , my idea for my character was just a means for Naveen, and whoever is with her at the time, to get into Umbar by boat, if that's what she chooses to do. So in that respect, our paths would cross but not necessarily for the whole rest of the RP. How "loosely connected" were you thinking of Celebrimbor?

[Naveen]

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I don't know what Strider has in mind so I can't speak for her. Right now I have a feeling she's playing her cards close and not letting out her plans. I have toyed with the idea of creating a character to join with her, but haven't done more than think about it so far.

As far as loosely connected storylines that may or may not converge? If it's done right (not too loosely connected) I see no problem with it. Others may even be attracted by the idea and join you, but be careful. In Mists I think the story got bogged down partly because I got carried away with writing separate storylines and used too many characters. I did have a plan for all to mesh together but then people left and it was alot of writing to do by myself and it confused people. Oh well, live and learn.

Having written with both Shadowfax and strider before I know they have each written for more than one character at a time. The characters were not all in the same place all the time, they would meet, split up and meet again somewhere down the road, but they all had a common goal and did meet up at the end. Yes, both stories I'm referring to did come to a successful conclusion (a rare occurence in Rp writing). Plus we had alot of fun.

The choice is ultimately up to you. This isn't a strictly run Rp, and may even be called free-form. There is no pre-planning unless someone wants to take it upon themselves to contact a specific person and bounce ideas back and forth or plan something.

Personally I'm here to write with people whom I admire, have fun and (hopefully) end up involved in a good story that makes me think while I write.

~

And yes Celebrimbor, Naveen and Hunter are one and the same. She is an old alt I resurrected for this story. And shaggydog, don't count Naveen out as far as ending up ending on a boat, just not sure where/when yet.

~

Shadowfax, Naveen isn't quite taken with Del yet. He'll have to spread on the charm pretty thick or do some fast talking in order to convince her he is indeed lucky!

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[Arassuil]

... and Darius the Dunlanding was just going to work it as a hired hand or something to be able to tag along south. He'll have to connect with someone at the inn to do that. I'll have to work on something here....

[Shadowfax]

Shadowfax, Naveen isn't quite taken with Del yet. He'll have to spread on the charm pretty thick or do some fast talking in order to convince her he is indeed lucky!


What! With his sparkling green eyes, curly locks, boyish good looks, bleached white smile and he plays a mandolin, you want more!?!?!? Shall I go on to describe his well tanned muscular arms and rippling six pack abs??!?!??


Do hobbiits have abs???? Or is it just one big ab.........



I'm planing on something.


Shadowfax!

[Celebrimbor32]

For what it's worth, which ain't much , my idea for my character was just a means for Naveen, and whoever is with her at the time, to get into Umbar by boat, if that's what she chooses to do. So in that respect, our paths would cross but not necessarily for the whole rest of the RP. How "loosely connected" were you thinking of Celebrimbor?

Well, to tell you the truth, I suppose I have to confess that I bear a slight preference for more than one 'storyline' going on at once. Perhaps two different storylines working towards the same general goal in the end, but I am certainly open to whatever the concensus of all involved here want to do. I am a humble visitor for now Perhaps it is too early on in the story to decide this yet? ...Also, one of the pitfalls of excessive 'group writing', besides a given inclination to posts that are too short, is that if any particular poster decides to drop out from the thread, or even simply doesn't show up for a long while, it does tend to leave those who were interacting with that person high and dry - especially if that person neglects to inform the others that they will not be posting for a while. That happened to us over in the old BELERIAND thread a few years ago. I suppose that is my main concern when so many people are signed up into one RP at once...

I'm still not quite sure what character I will introduce yet. Since the story will mainly be set in the south (I assume, anyway) I will take that into consideration. The only thing I know for certain is that whoever he (or she) will be they won't be an elf.

Strider created a sub-plot about the disappearance of Aeron’s sister so that makes two different storylines heading south. Go ahead if you wish and create another one and tie it in.

I might go ahead and do that, Naveen, though I hope that I will not have to do so alone - or at least not indeffinately. I'm always open for suggestions, though.

Looks like the thread is off to a good start so far! I'm all caught up on my reading now.

[heliona]

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As far as loosely connected storylines that may or may not converge? If it's done right (not too loosely connected) I see no problem with it. Others may even be attracted by the idea and join you, but be careful. In Mists I think the story got bogged down partly because I got carried away with writing separate storylines and used too many characters. I did have a plan for all to mesh together but then people left and it was alot of writing to do by myself and it confused people. Oh well, live and learn.

Having written with both Shadowfax and strider before I know they have each written for more than one character at a time. The characters were not all in the same place all the time, they would meet, split up and meet again somewhere down the road, but they all had a common goal and did meet up at the end. Yes, both stories I'm referring to did come to a successful conclusion (a rare occurence in Rp writing). Plus we had alot of fun.
~

Yes, I think that was a problem with Mists. And certainly was one reason why I dropped out, aside from not being able to come up with any ideas for my character, who sort of ended up on her own. (The end of Shadows was like that too, when all the people who were working on the storyline that I was involved in disappeared and I had to do it all myself. *pout*) I much prefer to have a group of characters who work most of the time together for a common goal. Perhaps they have their own reasons for doing so and go off on a tangent occasionally, but they always converge together again.

]Also, one of the pitfalls of excessive 'group writing', besides a given inclination to posts that are too short, is that if any particular poster decides to drop out from the thread, or even simply doesn't show up for a long while, it does tend to leave those who were interacting with that person high and dry - especially if that person neglects to inform the others that they will not be posting for a while. That happened to us over in the old BELERIAND thread a few years ago. I suppose that is my main concern when so many people are signed up into one RP at once...

Also, I actually dislike really long posts. Not that I like three-liners, but sometimes I find that really long posts just end up bogging me down and I lose interest. I prefer mid-length posts. Post-length shouldn't be an issue anyway: the post should be as short or as long as the writer feels it needs to be. No pressure for length.

I don't think you should worry about people leaving this thread or not telling people when they do. Certainly I've RPed with them all before and they're very reliable.

Ideally, I'd like a slightly lighter-hearted version of something like Freedom to happen (a thread that I tried to join in on too late, really for my characters, who couldn't really contribute). It was a great thread to read.

I feel that too much planning goes on in the newer RPs. This thread was thought up to be free-form flowing as Hunter/Naveen suggested.

[shaggydog]

OK well I will keep on posting and see where we get. Anchors aweigh

[strider-]

hey all! just a couple of comments for what it's worth. personally I like the shorter posts also, I'm afraid my brain is already full of very useful information and I don't like to have to remember a whole lot. I DO tend to remember a whole lot but I don't like to LOL

secondly i'm a bit "over" the meticulous planning of the entire plot line - i'm with Heliona on that one in the way that i liked the freedom Freedom offered LOL. However saying that - I do trust both Shadowfax and Hunter have some kind of end game which I think is also important. I just don't know and don't want to know what it is right now - been there, done that, accomplished 2 "The Ends." Very happy about that, don't get me wrong - I just like that someone else is in charge this time.

for me - all i'm going to say is my plan is for Aeron to meet up at some place/point with Naveen so they recognize a common enemy. My storyline is primarily about character building not plot direction - except that I've got the "same enemy" so our purpose will be common. Obviously Rhun is far away and I must allow her time to get there. For now Aeron's journey will be trying to track his sister and the scum who kidnapped her for reasons I've yet to figure out!

(i hope that wasn't too curmudgeonly of me? i really am quite nice, just don't tell anyone.)

hey there Shadowfax, maybe if Dell grew another 2 feet or more he'd have a chance for a tryst in the hay LOL

Naveen - obviously you are most welcome whenever your muse strikes. My next post hopefully will have our handsome prince on the road and under cover

[strider-]

oh and shaggydog - don't worry you didn't kill anything! trust us - we've had lizard men and magic super babies to contend with before so it's all good!

and HI TEMPEST!!!!!!!

btw anyone else think this looks like a mouse mooning you?

[heliona]

Phew, I'm glad someone else feels the same way I do, Strider.

I'm similar in the sense that I have a vague idea of some plot points for my character, but I will work them in with what everyone else posts. I have found that if the RP isn't too structured, then the ideas and posts become much more inventive and enjoyable both to read and write, because everything remains dynamic. Being thrown into a situation that you haven't thought of gets your mind working as to how your character would react. My best writing has come from someone else putting a situation out there that I wouldn't have thought of any my character develops in a way I'd never expected.

Anyone who hasn't read Freedom should do so. I think it's an excellent example of both some structure (as I suspect that Anriel knew her endgame pretty early on) and free-form, flowing dynamic thinking (and excellent writing) in an RP.

ShaggyDog, as Strider says, don't feel you have killed a thread until it's been about a month! Threads like this tend to take a little longer to post to, particularly in the beginning. And I'm currently waiting for Del to return so I can chat to him about these mysterious people he's been talking to!

[strider-]

Freedom was fun, the only problem was that it never actually ended to my memory, and that was a bit frustrating. It kind of kept going and going and going LOL Still, all in good fun!

[heliona]

Yes, I just read the last few pages and it sort of fizzled out. I only posted a couple of times in it. I think that perhaps one of the problems with it was that in the middle section there were too many posters and it got a bit confusing! Certainly my characters weren't missed!

I just read the ending of Adventuring too (or rather the fizzling out) - that was a flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants thread. Half the people are stuck in the middle of a battle at the moment, and the other half are sneaking into the Dark Lord's lair!

[strider-]

LOL Awakening Fyre and Heritage had endings - we all worked really hard to keep the story going and to give them decent endings. I failed miserably at Tribulation though...it just kind of died I'm afraid oh well!

I also wanted to say I'm missin' me some G-Force! I told Galhadrim there was a new RP but nary a peep from the wordsmith.

I also was not able to find you either there Hunter girl on facebook

[heliona]

Ah, now Hunter on FB I can help you with, Strider. When I get home, I can recommend you to each other.

I may see if I can get in touch with Radagast and persuade him to return to posting. I did manage to get him back for about a week a few years ago.

Lovely post, by the way, Strider.

[strider-]

Thanks heliona esp. after I said I wasn't big on long posts either LOL oh well can't be helped in the beginning though I don't think - plus we get to know other peeps characters better

[heliona]

Writing dialogue really lengthens a post, though. My posts haven't had any dialogue in them (apart from some random words to a horse) so they've been kept quite short.

It wasn't too long. Having all the paragraphs makes it easier to read, too.

(Just emailed Radagast but his email bounced back - I shall perhaps have to do a little bit of research to find him! )

Edited to add: I've just got back in touch with Raddy. He's probably too busy, but I'll point him in the direction of TORC anyway.

[heliona]

Shadowfax, how about in your first post in this thread, along with mentioning who is involved in posting in the RP, also listing what characters they are writing. I have a feeling it could come in handy - at least for me, my memory isn't what it was!

Oh, and rwhen, expressed a desire to join. I told her she couldn't. So expect to see her shortly.

[rwhen]

Oh dear heliona, you know me well. Hey at least I "asked" before just barging in. I think it would be fun to post with you vets. Hunter and I have crossed paths in a few different RPish settings.

Look forward to writing with the rest of you as well. Shaggy wrote and said I might have a charrie that would fit this RP. I have read the OOC and the main thread now.

I plan on resurrecting an old savory charrie of mine.

Name: Korah
From: ?????
Race: Human/female
Age: Around 30
Build: Fair to scrawny, at the moment very VERY short straw colored hair. Eyes blue.

History: Was born into a lower class family, the youngest of fourteen. Having to steal food away from older siblings and getting fairly roughed up by the same, she left home very young, fifteen. She made her way from town to town doing whatever she had to do to survive and met some very savory ladies and gents along the way, who taught her the ways of the streets. By her mid-twenties, she had settled in Tharbad, working the local Inn as a maid by day and prostitute by night. In her 30th year, she had cultivated the sheriffs wife and was blackmailing her as her lover. She was caught and dragged out of town, beaten and had her hair shaved off. She found work as a foot pad to a wealthy estate family. As she enters this story, she is traveling with the very sick daughter of the land owner, who is trying to take sail to a warmer climate. Traveling as a male by the name of Korman, I am sorry to say that the daughter of the rich estate family will never make it to her destination.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That is enough to get going here. I will try to have a first post up sometime in the next day or so.

Any questions or problems with the charrie??? Just let me know.

Thanks.

[shaggydog]

*runs up to rwhen and gives her a and a big sloppy shaggydog greeting*

Er, yes, indeed . . . just a wee bit different than Fiona . . .

Oh, sorry, was that your face I just smacked with my tail?