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Of Winding Ways and Cunning Devices

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A tricky choice...

[x] The pride of Ar-Pharazon who clutched a scorpion to his breast and was thus destroyed
 
[X] The Glory and Fall of Numenor, from their service in the wars of wrath, till the wars against Sauron, and the foolishness of men seeking to conquer God himself.
 
OK, vote closed, let's see how this goes
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Dec 16, 2022 at 3:22 PM, finished with 21 posts and 11 votes.
  • [X] The Glory and the Wrath of the Valar, from the Fall of Morgoth to the sinking of Numenor they would brook no rival to their power
    [X] The Glory and Fall of Numenor, from their service in the wars of wrath, till the wars against Sauron, and the foolishness of men seeking to conquer God himself.
    [x] The pride of Ar-Pharazon who clutched a scorpion to his breast and was thus destroyed
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Arc 1 Post 13: Of Songs and Ships
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    • Of Songs and Ships ​

    12th of May 867 A.D.

    "Sing then of the ones who broke us. Sing of two lands sundered and of the Powers in the Utmost West who made it so from the Shadowed peaks of Thangordrin to the holy mountain that is no more, let them know whence we came and what drove us!" By the end you are almost shouting despite yourself, feelings you had lashed with chains and buried deep rising to in your chest, a nameless malady, or perhaps one you fear to name for there is no cure.

    And so he sings the bard of middling skill turned sailor, next to the memory of elven song not even a shadow of a shadow familiar melodies set to unfamiliar verse as he songs of the Faithful often are. Of Manwe he sings, Lord of the Winds who sees all through the eyes of eagles, of all the powers closest match to his dark brother, of Aule the smith whose whose forgefire is the mountain's boiling blood, whose art is for making and swift shattering blows. High and cold are the songs who speak of Varda for distant she seems to the Secondborn, even those who yet kept to the old faith, scant use the stars' light to the children of the sun.

    Through songs of lamentation dragons fly, their wings dark as pitch, their hearts blacker still and orc-work is spoken of in verses sharp and cruel like a blade to the guts, melodies cut short like the children of Falas under the Shadow of Morgoth. Then, swift strikes of the chord one after the other flying the Ballad of Elwing to her husband's ship as they sought succor beyond the Sundering Seas and by the light of the Great Jewel found it.

    In the march of armies, in the account of great deeds you hear echoes of familiar marching songs that no elf would have sung, much less the Vaynar, fairest and most dreadful of that kin whose voices are crystal and ice yet to the men in Rurik's hall that is a beat to follow, a drum to march to among the bewildering storm of war and tragedy, vengeance and loss in which they had been tossed without the luxury of knowing all the names and the folk that bore them.

    Surion sings passing fair the ever faster faster melodies of the Songs of Wrath that need no words, but like thunder in the distance grow and grow, the rafters shaking and the banners upon the walls fluttering. Distantly you hear the younger brother of the king call out to Thor, a god you would guess, in wonder and in fear, but the folk beside him laugh and slam their cups on the table, demanding more. More the gives them, accounting for the breaking of the dragons and the scattering of the orc-folk, driven with thunder and the rushing waters from the realms of Beleriand

    "Fair voice! Great heart!" Helgi calls, wine sloshing in his drinking horn as he raises it up in honor of the singer.

    But as Surion rests his voice Rurik comes near you and asks: "So you claim to be of that folk, the ones who broke dragons upon Jotun-Mountains?"

    "Our kings were, I claim no royal blood and glad I am for it."

    "Why?" the warrior king asks, beard bristling.

    That too is answered by the night's end. The lute now sighs, like broken cries when even weeping fails. The boy sings not of the storm for he knows himself outmatched to put such a thing to his art, but of the loss and pointless, what seems to him the failing of Westernese to remember.

    Remember what that the Valar were mighty as they were wrathful?

    "Some foes even a great warrior cannot face..." you had almost forgotten the man sitting not three feet yo your right, which might have been taken as an insult were he a lesser lord, but Rurik seems far more interested in the shine of your armor than in any perceived forgetfulness.

    "Come with me to war against Vyacheslav Redhand of Sarskoe. I could use men like yours, horsemen especially on such mighty beasts and in exchange you can have second pick of the plunder and then... land, there is plenty of land to set to the plow and trees waiting for the axe for those who do not fear the Old Men of the Woods and you for certain to not."

    "For your offer gracious thanks, but our path is on to Miklagard..."

    "Ah, then another offer I have for you. It is time and past time maybe that Helgi seeks some of this own fortune in the south, along of course with the Emperor's gold, but I have need of both my brothers' counsel and their strong arms in war..."

    "I don't want to go father, not yet." the boy in question spoke up in an urgent whisper most unlike his earlier good cheer.

    Rurik snorts, but seemingly pays him no mind. "If you take the lad with you and mayhap teach him something of your sailor's craft that saw you through a storm of the gods' own wrath I'll see to it that you have an the ear of honest folk when you reach the City, Arne commander of the Guard especially is a straight arrow in a pile of bent twigs."

    "You do not fear to send him..."

    "What among strangers? Most of the crews of youngmen who go down the River Road are strangers to one another and ask for the anger of the gods tis clear your folk have weathered it."

    What do you reply?

    [] Accept Rurik's offer, it seems a small price for a letter to recommend you the captain of the Emperor's guard

    [] Refuse Rurik's offer, Helgi himself obviously does not want to go for some reason

    [] Write in

    OOC: You will not leave right away obviously but Rurik is the sort who likes to strike while he iron is hot, he did not get who were he is by letting opportunity pass him by
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Accept Rurik's offer, it seems a small price for a letter to recommend you the captain of the Emperor's guard

    Sad Bout the song, but we don't have much magic so it wasn't really going to plan our well anyway.
     
    He liked the song well enough.

    Maybe you could accept his offer to fight Vyacheslav Redhand of Sarskoe? You are in need of food and plunder for the long journey to Miklagard.
     
    [X] Accept Rurik's offer, it seems a small price for a letter to recommend you the captain of the Emperor's guard

    Constantinople, here we come!
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Remember what that the Valar were mighty as they were wrathful?

    "Some foes even a great warrior cannot face..." you had almost forgotten the man sitting not three feet yo your right, which might have been taken as an insult were he a lesser lord, but Rurick seems far more interested in the shine of your armor than in any perceived forgetfulness.

    "Come with me to war against Vyacheslav Redhand of Sarskoe. I could use men like yours, horsemen especially on such mighty beasts and in exchange you can have second pick of the plunder and then... land, there is plenty of land to set to the plow and trees waiing for the axe for those who do not fear the Old Men of the Woods and you for certain to not."
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    This like a pretty sharp break from singing of the Fall towards practical matters.

    I'm not a good writer, but I believe one sentence in between about the people here getting their emotions back in order might not be a bad idea?

    [X] Accept Rurik's offer, it seems a small price for a letter to recommend you the captain of the Emperor's guard
     
    [X] Accept Rurik's offer, it seems a small price for a letter to recommend you the captain of the Emperor's guard

    rx915 said:
    Maybe you could accept his offer to fight Vyacheslav Redhand of Sarskoe? You are in need of food and plunder for the long journey to Miklagard.
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    I would like to do this too.
     
    I'd prefer to avoid anything like a fair fight, we have 60 men that are absolutely irreplacable. We shouldn't risk their lives unless absolutely necessary.
     
    We may have to risk them at some point but joining a military campaign against an enemy we know nothing about is particularly risky.
     
    No7sHere said:
    We may have to risk them at some point but joining a military campaign against an enemy we know nothing about is particularly risky.
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    It's no less risky than Eriol's adventures in Middle Earth even if the benefit of it being a chargen prevents said risk.

    An enemy we know nothing about applies to everyone on Earth actually except the enemies of Mikalgard as they're the richest means their enemies will be more dangerous than this local chieftain whose intentions means he wants aid against another chieftain.
     
    While our military actions in middle earth may have been similarly risky we always had the option of replenishing our complement of Numenorian sailors. That is no longer possible. Regarding Miklagard/Constantinople, while military action might be similarly dangerous there we'll hopefully have other options to increase our wealth in one of the largest trade and cultural centres in the world.
     
    Those fact that we know something about Rurik and know nothing about Vyacheslav Redhand of Sarskoe hints about chances of success of this campaign. This is not a guarantee, but a a solid argument "pro", IMO.
    Also, our superb equipment (and high martial skill) will give us an advantege. When we arrive in Constantinopole, I doubt that we'll remain advantage of equipment in wars we'll be drawn in.
    Also, I want to proceed in Liv's quest chain.
     
    Arhin said:
    Those fact that we know something about Rurik and know nothing about Vyacheslav Redhand of Sarskoe hints about chances of success of this campaign. This is not a guarantee, but a a solid argument "pro", IMO.
    Also, our superb equipment (and high martial skill) will give us an advantege. When we arrive in Constantinopole, I doubt that we'll remain advantage of equipment in wars we'll be drawn in.
    Also, I want to proceed in Liv's quest chain.
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    You could do a write in and express interest about who this Vyacheslav Redhand of Sarskoe is if you want to do the side quest chain.
     
    [X] Accept Rurik's offer, it seems a small price for a letter to recommend you the captain of the Emperor's guard
    -[X] We will also accept the offer to help against Vyacheslav Redhand of Sarskoe in exchange for a reward of some interest
     
    So, if the Finnish language is considered similar to Quenya, would the Welsh language also be considered similar to Sindarin? From what I understand, Welsh is a lot more similar to Sindarin than Finnish is to Quenya, since there were some Latin influences on the latter.

    Would we get a bonus to learning it as well?
     
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