Re: The Battle of Celebrant OOC

[Gadreille]

Those are both good ideas. I've gotten caught up in some stuff, but hopefully by the time I think up a post I can figure out a map solution as well as write up my NPCs. Also, I'm not sure where to put the NPC list.

[Silvan Arrow]

Ryona, my suggestion would be the list the NPCs below the "Heroes" list in the first post of this OOC thread. That way all the information is in one handy-dandy place.

[Gadreille]

That is a very good idea. I'll try to get that implemented soon.

[Guest]

I don't really lose track of where characters are because of the countless hours I've spent looking at the LOTR map (many versions), and drawing my own. But I can understand how it can get confusing. I also think that the NPC list is a great idea. In a war-themed story, there are always so many characters.

[Blackrock]

I can't say I'm really confused with the character locations at the moment, then again - I'm a proper nerd and have spent a lot of time studying the maps. So yeah, maybe we can figure out some sort of solution to this.

The NPC list, on the other hand, I can definitely appreciate. It's still pretty early on and we have a big amount of characters, I can only imagine how it will be when Ryona and I will have to introduce parts of the company of Eotheod riding South

[Kalon Ordona II]

I have this updated at home, but since I'm not at home at the moment, here's the un-updated version.


The tulkarim, in order of appearance.

Magorthaen Tunneth. The Adventurous One.
Age 23. Tall and tough. From western Gondor. Best Swordsman.
The cainenhir or leader of the tulkarim, or squad.

Anglad son of Anglond. The Reasonable One.
Age 22. Tall and slender. From Aglarond. Best Spearman.
Trusted by Magorthaen.

Callon. The Helpful One.
Fair-haired and athletic.

Menveru. The Forgetful One.

Darthion. The Reliable One.
Age 24. Husky. Spearman.

Narumir. The Stern One.

Brand. One of The Dutiful.

Baramir. One of The Dutiful.

Arodion. One of The Dutiful.

Halward. The Perceptive One.
From Dale. Best Archer.
Tense with Magorthaen over cainenhir position.

Baranor. One of The Inquisitive.
From southwestern Gondor. Spearman.

Hirbarad. One of The Inquisitive.
From Minas Tirith. Spearman.

Findegil. One of The Playful.
From Ithilien. Shares a bond with Araglas.

Araglas. One of The Playful.
From Ithilien. Shares a bond with Findegil.

Orogond. The Blood-thirsty One. One of The Mysterious.
Big and Muscular. From Calenardhon.
Unlikable but good at combat.

Duinhir. One of The Mysterious.
From Dor Rhunen. Best Rider.

Dervorin. The Highminded One. One of The Mysterious.
From Pelargir.


The tulkarim, in order of respect/reputation

Magorthaen
Anglad
Darthion, Narumir
Halward
Duinhir, Menveru, Callon
Dervorin, Baranor, Hirbarad
Brand, Baramir, Arodion
Findegil, Araglas
Orogond

[Gadreille]

Worked on the NPC list. We are going to have to work together to keep it updated, so please PM me with updates whenever necessary (Silvan, since you are a global moderator, I do not care if you edit the first post with updates as necessary). Please let me know if anything regarding the Of Greybarrow section is unclear.

I began working on the map, marking where Greybarrow is (near the Greylin River) and the Tower of Angrenost (which is the Tower of Isengard, if you were unaware). However, I'd like to mark Kalon and Silvone's current path their supposed to be marching along as well as destination, and I'm honestly unsure of that at this point. It's probably stated somewhere IC but I cannot find it.

If you bring up the map I have linked in the first post of the OOC, you should notice that between the Limlight and Anduin (southeast of Lorien) is a place called the field of Celebrant. This is where our battle will take place, eventually.

Speaking of...when should we introduce Eorl, Blackrock?

Also, have the six riders already been sent, or is that something that Kalon/Silvone will be writing about?

---

Edit: First post includes new link: Edited Map with Role Play Details

[Blackrock]

Ooops, sorry for my delay in answering - as usual, it slipped my mind.

About the departing riders, here's what Tolkien states "...The first pair of messengers left on the tenth day of Súlìmë; and in the event it was one of these, alone of all the six, who got through to the Éothéod."

Súlìmë is March, so that would put their start, from Minas Tirith most likely, at the 10th of March. After that we have: "...He came at last to the Éothéod after fifteen days, for the last two without food; and he was so spent that he could scarce speak his message to Eorl."

That leaves us at the 25th of March. Afterwards: "...At last the whole host was assembled; and only a few hundreds were left behind to support the men unfitted for such a desperate venture by youth or age. It was then the sixth day of the month of Víressë."

So that's the 6th of April - about two weeks during which the Eotheod muster. Their journey lasts nine days, according to Tolkien, thanks to Galadriel's magic. So that puts us at April the 15th.

So really, the question is - what date are we at the present?

Silvone's and Kalon's characters already know that the enemy is approaching, but is that guarantee that the rest of Gondor knows? The Balchoth are said to have been massing south of Mirkwood as early as 2509 (we're at 2510 currently), so I'd say that news may be travelling pretty slowly.

Again, it really depends what date we want to pick.


As for Eorl, I don't really know Ryona. I'm generally not a fan of using established characters in my stories, so I guess it depends on what you mean by "introducing" him. When Borondir, the rider from Gondor, comes along Eorl will summon his Elders to hold council with them. I guess as the leaders of Greybarrow both Helmgar and Leohelm will have to go there. Maybe that's when?

Great work on the map, too

[Gadreille]

When I mention bringing in Eorl, I don't suggest we play him. But I do think that, this story being what it is, it would be silly for us not to mention him at all (Galadriel too). We don't have to follow his every move, but I imagine that my character would see him from afar, perhaps hear a rallying speech or two, and that your character may have words with him personally once or twice.

As for what day it is...I'm not good at this, but I know that they still have to march toward where they are going, and we don't want to get to the heat of things too fast...I guess we should figure out how long it takes them to march to where the battle is first. I imagine that, them being a rather untrained guard, the heat of battle has already begun, and they are one of the last to be called.

[Gadreille]

I think I am having trouble posting because I'm not exactly sure what to post about. Silvan, please double check this for me:

My character does a lot of waiting around, and then, in the dead of night, three elves ride up, having already disengaged the wildmen?

Or, do the three elves ride up with wildmen on their heels?

Also, with previous post, we do need to decide what day it is. Blackrock, I think that you and Silvone should discuss it, as Silvone has got a general plan of movement and rate of pace, and you have a good hold of the timeline. Also, what day we are writing in Greybarrow need not necessarily be what day it is for the Gondorians.

[Kalon Ordona II]

Great work on the map, Ryona! It looks so professional!

Yes, we should keep track of the days. I thought we were later in march than we are, but that's okay, because weather can be unpredictable sometimes, especially inside a ring of mountains.
(At least I think I was wrong. Maybe I was right.)

[Blackrock]

Sorry for not replying, the past few days have been pretty hectic.

Come to think of it, maybe we (the Greybarrow plotline) should assume that it's already March the 20th at the very least. There's just no point in placing it any sooner, seeing as we'd have more than half a month while Gondor's riders come to us. And we're already having trouble figuring out what our characters should do to begin with

For the Gondor soldiers, I think that is something that Kalon and Silvone should sort between themselves, based on how long they reckon their characters will get to the battle. And when they want to join the fight.

That's just at the top of my head, if you want me to sit down and figure it out precisely (maybe after a chat with Silvone) then it will have to wait 'till the weekend. Just have no time for it, sad to say.

[Gadreille]

Alright, so we're going to be in late March...I assume the rider isn't going to come to Greybarrow, but that we would recieve word from another rider mustering the eohere. So, we could be on the 24th of march. The next morning we continue telling our story, and perhaps late in the evening or the day after we recieve word.

I think it's perfectly fine to have Silvone and Kalon plan their own date ()

[Blackrock]

Aye, let's say today (tonight if we go with IC time) is the 24th and the rider will reach Eorl tomorrow some time. He'll then probably send out for his village elders, which shouldn't take too long a time I guess. The men of Gondor have their beacon fires - I'd say the Eotheod have got a similar system. When a news-bearing rider comes to one village, it will then send out a rider of its own to bring word to the next and so on and so on.

We're cool then

[Gadreille]

Awesome I imagine it would take a day or two for a rider to reach Greybarrow, so, the 26th or 27th will be when our story starts getting juicy

[Kalon Ordona II]

Ooooh, planning.

How's Silvone doing? Is he still feeling unwell?

[Gadreille]

Yea. I'm hoping he bounces back within the next couple of days.

[Guest]

@ Kalon: I'm going to read up on the dates and do some map studying tonight if I have the time after work. I'll get back to you with a tentative date and marching schedule for the Northern Army. Or feel free to make the date yourself

Sorry I was away during the important discussion...

[Blackrock]

Sorry I was away during the important discussion...

Discussions - it's not important if someone didn't miss it.

[Guest]

On a currently unknown date, a rider(s) is sent south from Dor Rhuinen to warn Gondor of the approaching Balcoth horde.

Riders are sent north from Minas Tirith on March 10 to gather the Northern Army.

On March 12, a rider reaches Rheinhîr Harnastin, the current leader of Calenardhon.

On March 14, Rheinhîr Harnastin reaches the Angrenost Guard.

On March 21, the Angrenost Guard marches to war.

Here is where I get the info I used to determine the rest of the dates. Feel free to dispute it:

Spoiler:

On March 25, the Angrenost Guard fights its first skirmish against the Balcoth. This is the same date that the last surviving rider reaches the Eotheod. The Balcoth are easily pushed from Calenardhon, as only limited numbers have crossed over the River Entwash.

As the Northern Army, including the Angrenost Guard, crosses over the River Entwash and enters the Wold, the encounter increasing numbers that force them farther north.

After a forced retreat northward, and a quick, dangerous crossing over the River Limlight, the Northern Army is trapped in the Field of Celebrant.

On April 15, the Eotheod arrive to help the Northern Army.



The northern army needs to travel approximately 6.5 miles per day, after their first engagement on March 25, to reach the Field of Celebrant by the time the Eotheod arrive. I figured this could easily be managed with several engagements in the beginning, and then the forced retreat toward the end to make up for it. Also, they should spend a few days at the Field fighting before rescue arrives. We will need to talk about these numbers in more detail soon. I'm imagining the orcs attacking their rear 1-2 days before the Eotheod arrive.


With this, we at least have a date and expected arrival point. We can determine the marching speed as the story progresses. I figure our traveling speed at first will be much faster, because the Angrenost Guard is not a large unit. Once the entire Northern Army crosses the River Entwash, their marching would slow significantly, plus the numerous battles they would be fighting.

Also, not all of this is cannon information. I had to make some if it up. But I DID NOT ignore anything already established. At least, I tried not to. If anything contradicts with anything Tolkien has said, please let me know!

[Kalon Ordona II]

We have all the relevant information in the first couple posts here, right?
Unless there's something in Unfinished Tales or Appendices or other canon material that we've either forgotten or don't know about?

[Guest]

Yes, it should all be in the first few posts. All that I know of anyway. I'm not sure where Blackrock got the dates he posted up.

[Blackrock]

From the first page of this very thread

It's all in the excerpt I took out from Unfinished Tales, the only difference is that Tolkien uses the Sindarin names for the months.

[Guest]

Oh... I knew that. Seriously, I did. Unt.

[Gadreille]

I edited my posts with the current date. The rest may want to do the same.

I am going to try and post by Wednesday.

My post is finished! Silvan may post!

[Gadreille]

Even though it is Silvan's turn, Silvone is also going to start working on his post (but don't expect it any time soon). So perhaps we'll get two posts around the same time

[Silvan Arrow]

Yeah...sorry about the delay. I've been slammed with my thesis proposal deadline, and I have another major assignment due Thursday. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it! Silly schoolwork...

[Gadreille]

Yeah...sorry about the delay. I've been slammed with my thesis proposal deadline, and I have another major assignment due Thursday. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about it! Silly schoolwork...

I understand! Thesis comes first! I took much longer than this on my post, and I really didn't have much of an excuse other than "I don't know what to write..." Lol!

[Silvan Arrow]

Haha! Yeah in my case, I know what to write. It's just a matter of finding time! It's almost 2 and I still haven't started on any actual schoolwork! I've been doing other productive stuff besides that. like catching up with my piles of email and doing accounting for my treasuries.

*runs around in circles panicking*

[Silvan Arrow]

Sorry for the delay, friends! I finished my paper and had some muse left, so I decided to get this post done. I apologize if it's shorter than my other ones, but I needed to leave it open at the end for Aethylwyn to respond.

Enjoy!

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