Middle Earth PbP, Volume 3 (In Character)

[Bill Whitmore]

"I be called Gorbo Proudfoot and if you not bein' able to tell, I also be a 'obbit.  I be ''onored that you be openin' your 'ome and kitchen to us."

[glimmerrat]

The King nods sagely at each introduction, stopping only to laugh and shake the hobbit's hands. "Hobbits! Ha! Tough as old tree roots! A shame I couldn't attend old Bilbo's eleventy-first birthday... fine folk indeed, and you're welcome in our kingdom."

After the introductions, you're all taken into the dwarven citadel. You pass along huge, vault hallways decorated with tapestries and suits of armor. Everyone other than Kyan has never seen so many dwarves in the same place all at once. You're given small, spartan quarters that are actually surprisingly cosy, and once you've had a chance to bathe, you're invited to the main banquet hall. The first day of the King's week-long birthday celebration begins tonight!

When you arrive in the hall, you are shocked by the shear opulence of the place. From Bilbo's descriptions, Gorbo and Bella assume that this must have been Smaug's treasure hall when he occupied Erebor. It is only after you've been seated at the banquet table, piled high with food that in the flickering torch light you notice the enormous draconic skull, easily ten feet long, mounted on the wall above the throne at the head of the table. The underside of the skull is encrusted with jewels, apparently driven into the very bone itself as if the skull grew arond them.

Sundry other dwarves begin to file into the room. Some give you stares and the odd contemptuous glare, some smile and nod, and a few greet you vocally. Huge tankards of ale and empty plates are brought to each of you. You have places of honor at the head of table by the King, and Kyan sits at his right hand.

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Alright, what are you doing guys?

[Girlfriday]

Bella rubs her hands together and stands on her chair, loading her plate. With a mouthful of whatever she grabs first, she laughs out loud. "This is great!"

[Catodon]

Lord Gillion glides into the hall and bows to the king. His eyes rest briefly on the huge skull. Taking his seat he scans the room. Who is important? Who is nervous? Who is shunned? How do dwarves behave?
 

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Sense motive to analyse the crowd.=26
1d20+12=26

[Bill Whitmore]

At long last, it seems that his companions have discovered how to keep Gorbo quiet.  You just have to put a pile of food in front of him that is stacked higher than he is tall.  Gorbo makes it his quest to at least sample everything on the table, and largely succeeds.  How can something so small,  eat so much, so often?  Middle Earth may never know.

[foproy]

dren is not much of a heavy eater, his early years living on the streets, and days stalking a target have made for a small appetite.

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so i dont forget, when everyone retires to chambers dren is going to spend an hour on his blade practice ability, taking knife mastery feat.

[ahzad]

Kyan sits at the table enjoying the feast and spending time with his friends. After a time he pulls out his pipe and loads and takes a few thoughtful pulls at it blowing out a few smoke rings while making small talk with those around him. As the feasting starts to wind down he signals that everyones tankards should be refilled and waits a few moments before rising to his feet.

"Fellow dwarves, and dear friends allow me this time to wish Dain, King Under the Mountain a very happy birthday and hopes of many more to come" Turning towards Dain Kyan lifts his mug and shouts"Long live the King!" and takes a long drink wiping the foam away with the back of his hand he turns back and speaks again "Thanks be to the King to allow my friends to partake in this celebration and enjoy the marvels of the Kingdom under the mountain and the hospitality of the dwarves. Three cheers for Dain King Under the Mountain!" Kyan raises his drink again and leads the chamber in the cheers before sitting back down.

[glimmerrat]

Hatholdir raises his tankard and cheers. He's drinking a staggering amount of mead, and he's obviously going to be extremely ill in the morning. Still, he seems to be enjoying himself, and he's made several new dwarvish friends who seem intent on teaching him to swear in Khuzdul...

[foproy]

dren preferring to stay alert does not drink a whole lot, he still has not figured out what he thinks of the gondorian merc and has decided that caution would be his best course of action. he also expends quite an effort trying to mask all of this.

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1d20+11=26

[Wolverine]

Erkenwulf resists the temptation to go overboard on the food and drink, but still packs enough away to have him pass for an unusually tall Hobbit. He also takes the time to talk to a few of the more amiable Dwarves present. In these darkening times, making a few new friends is always a good idea.

[Catodon]

As the evening wears on Lord Gillion seems to loosen up, soon he is introducing himself as Thurinir, quaffing and laughing with the dwarven lads, and gnawing meat off the bone.

[Antilles]

Brannadan eats and drinks somewhat more than he normally would, enough that he'll regret it in the morning, but no so much he'll make a fool of himself tonight. When the hobbits occasionally come up for air, he discusses the merits of dwarven cooking versus hobbit, elven and man cooking; when Kyan salutes the king he joins in on the cheering and drinking, and after a friendly argument with one of the dwarves present about famous dwarven smiths he finds himself approached by dwarves through the evening who overheard the earlier conversation and wanted to give their opinions on the matter.

[glimmerrat]

The festivities carry on for hours, and once you are all thoroughly bloated and/or seriously drunk, several dwarves bang their tankards on the table, chanting “Ma-zar-bul! Ma-zar-bul! Ma-zar-bul!” Soon the whole hall joins them, and you can’t help but be caught up in the moment, joining in despite the fact that most of you have no idea what you’re actually saying…

The hall is silenced by King Dain rising from his throne and bellowing “ENOUGH!” The hall settles almost immediately. “So! It’s an epic yer want, is it?” Tankards are rattled again, and a mumbling of agreement ripples around the room. “Alright… I’ll tell the tale. The tale of when I, at the fine young age of just 32, slew the ‘mighty’ Azog of Moria!”

He launches into a tale of war between orcs and dwarves, and how his father, Náin, was killed by the warlord Azog during the Battle of Nanduhirion in front of Moria’s very gates. He describes the moment when he saw his father’s death, and the bloody trail of vengeance that he and his huskarls carved through the orc host. He finishes by describing his encounter with Durin’s Bane, the great Balrog itself, and his decision to abandon Moria. The dwarves seem downcast until he reminds them that the Balrog still lives, so that this and future generations may win the honor of freeing the great realm of Dwarrowdelf.

Once done, he turns to Kyan and the rest of you. “Now, young ‘uns! Per’aps you can share with an old man the tale of when you fought and defeated one of the Nazgûl…” He glances at Gillion. “Listen closely, sir elf… you’ll like this.”

[Antilles]

Brannadan finishes his mug of ale, and answers the king.

"Certainly, your majesty. Although I'm not much of a storyteller, between me and my friends we should be able to tell the story as it should be told. Now, it all started in a cold autumn evening three years ago, in a small but reputable inn called the Ivy Bush, just south of Hobbiton. We'd just finished dinner when an old hobbit told us that Longbottom Leaf, considered by many to be the finest pipeweed in eriador, was in trouble and might not be around come the end of the year. Since we all enjoy a good pipe in the evening, we couldn't let that happen, now could we? So off we went, the next morning..."

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Now, Brannadan has no problems with starting the story, but telling the whole story might be best left to those with more than 10 in charisma and ranks in Impress. So what he's planning to do is leave certain parts open for others to pipe in with their side of the story, leaving more and more for the others to jump in and by the time the we've gotten about halfway, the 'main' storyteller has taken over and Brannadan only jumps in to add little details, like how he shattered the orc chief's nose and front teeth with his shield, how the sword they recovered turned out to be none other than Vanima Amarth, famed sword of yatta yatta yatta, how the icy aura of the nazgul could freeze a man to his bones, etc etc etc.

[ahzad]

Kyan chimes in after Brannadan winds down a bit telling of meeting Gandalf on the road, and telling how we took down Maugash and feed Saradoc "It was with a mighty blow with me axe that split that big, ugly bastards skull and sent him to whatever black pit that spawned him!" Kyan says of the battle with the orcs, making it out to be a fun great romp that they had, but when it comes to meeting the Nazgul he gets a bit quieter "Now the Nazgul there's one I don't want to face again in this lifetime. The very ground recoiled at it's presence. If it weren't for having Vanima Amarth on our side things might have turned out very different." the way Kyan talks about it in subdued tones and not with the relish of the orc battle makes it clear that the thing unnerved him. "It ended with us meeting the great wizard Sarauman and the selling of the pipeweed that saved the hobbits land."
Kyan stops and motions for another tankard before launching into how they helped to restore Erkenwulf's family honor and saved the King of Rohan "We meet some blasted trolls on that journey. They ambushed us in the night and we managed to trick them into fighting each other, never seen a stupider pair of critters" Kyan says laughing while telling that tale "Ran into a camp of Beornings after a goblin ambush, though we didn't see any turn into bears did we Gorbo? That would've been a sight." next he launches into the adventures in Rohan and the battle with Aldor in Helm's Deep making his jump from the stairs onto Dren and Aldor a lot more heroic than most of you remember. "Gorbo there got to meet a Treant on their leg of that adventure, probably more exciting that a bear-man right?" Kyan motions for another tankard, and stops to fill his pipe again.

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Kyan tells some of the tale, stopping to let the others interject where they will. He makes the whole thing out to be one great romp and a lot of fun, except for the bit with the Nazgul where he's a bit more somber and glosses over it pretty quickly. He calls for glasses to be raised when telling of the exploits of his friends.