The Middle Earth Messenger

October 2004

Message from Valinor

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Greetings fellow Plazaites, Plazars, Plazanuts, Fanatics, whatever! Lots of cool shtuff happening lately! Our bi-polar Dork Lard, Mo has been busy as a Warg breeder delving deep into the code (I think he's part Dwarf) to fix some bugs and make some very nice additions to the Plaza and it's many areas. There are more changes and fixes to come, but don't worry, they'll be gradual so there should be no shock or freaking out. Anyone caught freaking will be sent to the 70's room to join the other super-freaks. The ghost of Rick James will be the moderator and DJ. But I digress...or some junk. You've obviously all noticed the new colors that have been added in honor of the hard-working RA's. From the fifteen or so "Yay!" threads we're assuming you are pleased. As I said, more to come. Due to some unforeseen Gollumy fear of change, the old ones are back alongside so you can feel free to blind your friends and family with Magenta or Yellow or Lime Green once more. There are also some new smilies to play with, including a regular smile and a big grin. I know I've been wanting one of those for a while. Laughing at your friend when you meant to smile can be odd sometimes. We know you are all anxious for more Knowledge Halls as well, these are still being worked on, but we promise, soooooon. Yeah, I know, said that before. Mean it this time. There will be some surprises in the coming weeks, and of course, Halloween is very close, so be prepared for some strangeness (as if the Plaza isn't strange on a regular basis). So with no further delay...enjoy this edition of the Newsletter and don't forget to thank the people who put so much hard work into it. Be excellent to each other and keep the dream alive. Peeg da Subaru *honk honk*

Valinor coming and goings

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Thankfully, this month was relatively calm in relation to the comings and goings from Valinor. Loke had to step down, and Mandallah was welcomed back as Lord Sauron. May he reign long again, in all his evil glory!! Fortunately, we've seen nobody else step down. May all of the rulers be in power long and peacefully. I suppose that's a good thing to say! Perhaps the many resignations are finally calming down, and we'll see some general stability again! By Elanesse

The Plaza Library

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Comfortable? Good. Let's prepare ourselves for another article about the Fanatics Library. Dedication for building the Library goes to all plazarians, since without their contributions, help and time, our Library wouldn't be the place as we know it today. But in our memory four names will stay forever, thanks to them our dream will stay alive. Elwing, Maiarian Man, Andér and Protoguy where the ones who started the idea of our Library, they shall never be forgotten. As we know the Library wouldn't exist without the members of the Plaza. They give us their time and talents, and we are all grateful for that. For those who would like to add their name to the Library history, please visit these threads. Artists STILL wanted for the Library People who contributed to the Library this month: MARAMALO (Istari), CRYSTALENDUNAMI (Lorien Elf) and VAMP-BARKY JR. (Lorien Elf) Ilustrating Arda People who contributed this month: TABI GEININ (Gondorian) and ENDAEWEN (Rohirrim) Our Library is not just a place where people enter, leave their work and leave with few a points given by the Admins. No. The Library had also earned its own thread where members may discuss many new ideas on improving the Library. There few threads you shouldn't miss while visitng this forum. Be sure to visit these threads! Book of Plaza History Third Age Part As the Library is improving the number of contributors is growing. They are helping the Administrators with their kind word, ideas and articles. The leaders of this group of members are Gwaihir and Eäranna, special thanks goes for that. Writing about our Library there is one name we cannot forget to mention. It belongs to the Istari from Orthanc - Istarendil is his name, and with the wonderful work he has contributed, plazarians can now feast their eyes on a great number of maps and pictures, as he is the threadrunner of 'Ilustrating Arda' and 'Artists STILL wanted for the Library' threads, which are the main contribution points In the Library thread. During this month one member proved his loyalty with the Library, giving his time and skills and was awarded one of the coveted Admin Tribute Ranks by Andér. His name is Tabi Geinin the Gondorian. As we go through this forum we can see that many threads had been made to record the names of people who contributed with us. Those may be easily recognized as they are coloured in various shades, especially now that the Admins have given us a new series of colours, but we shall not talk about it in this article. As for the special announcement in this article I would only like to say thank you for those who keep the Library thread and Fanatics Library running, and to those who would like to join us in the future - keep the dream alive! By Tabi Geinin

More of Lore

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Pride in one's lineage can often be seen as a good thing, however, in Eorlhelm's thread Pedigree and the Arrogance of Lineage... several instances of people thinking that one lineage is lesser than another have been brought to light from both The Silmarillion and the Appendices of the Lord of the Rings. Eorlhelm sets out some questions such as "Did Eru or the Valar intend the Firstborn to be greater than the Followers?" and "Was it intended by that The Children of Eru's Choice (Elves) be greater than the Children of Eru's Adoption (Dwarves)?" Bilbo NOT the oldest hobbit - This thread started with the simple query as to whether or not Sméagol could be considered to be the oldest hobbit. Then it turned into a discussion of whether or not Sméagol could be considered a hobbit. Ad lore challenge #1 and #2 - Current Advanced lore challenges invite people to explain why Gandalf went from being able to touch the ring to having a very strong aversion to it in the space of 10 pages or so (#1) and "The Barrow Wight's Lament" where writers can portray the life of a Barrow Wright (#2). Make sure you come and join in! Sauron's physical form - This thread began as a search for a definitive piece of text proving once and for all that Sauron had a body. Then the discussion moved on to whether or not balrogs could change form. Boromir's redemption - Many argue that Boromir redeemed himself at the end by saving the hobbits from the orcs. But the orcs were attacking anyway. So did Boromir really redeem himself in the end? By Nylara

Plaza Wide Competitions

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Interkingdom Competitions is continuing to be an excellent place as a location for various competitions, which of course, it was intended to be! Fëa and Gwai, as ever running some crazy game, are currently runningFëa's Possessed Halloween Contest. We've seen many great costumes, and look forward to many more. Good luck to all! The Junior IK Debate League recently started up. The first debate is being judged by Acabar. Best of luck to the Wookies and the Ewoks (the two debate teams) in their debate. Pelennor Pigskin is also continuing to run strong, managed by the capable the King of Gondor: Naith. I'm excited to see what else might develop in the IK Competitions forum, now that they have all the room they need to plan and try things out! By Elanesse

Debates are in the Air

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As the title suggests the approaching of the Season V of IK debates can be felt in the Air. The official season has some time before its start but the preparations for the next season are heavily under way. After a main round of pre-season signups, the captains of Kingdom teams have organized intra and inter Kingdom debates. All kingdoms are working hard for the next season. For example Meduseld is having an IntraKingdom Debate - Helm's Deep right at this moment. Also, as I mentioned there are inter-Kingdom debates in progress such as: Mordor vs. Khazad-Dûm ~ Practice Debate and Practice Debate: WC vs. Lorien. Both debates have provided excellent discussions and they have been a great step forward for new debaters to get a hang of what it means to be an IK debater. For all of you who think they are too late for signing up I have one thing to say: You're not too late, it's never to late to sign up for your Kingdom's debate team! Since most of debate team members have been very occupied with practice debates, the discussions in the IK debate HQ weren't so fertile as last month. However, there were some proposals for improvement of the rules. To name one; there was a proposal to cut down the number of debaters to three per team with a fourth debater who would summarize everything, but the idea didn't get very much positive feedback. After another well written parody, by mojo, in the honor of debates, another vital point has been touched. At the moment of writing this article the final vote about the All-Star Debates is being held. The final date is November 15th and if at this date there will be insufficient number of debaters available we will have to make a sad decision and cancel the All-Star Debate for this season. Real Life and lots of Plaza work have made this debate rather difficult to organize, coordinate and finally start. However, if this season All-Star debate won't be held, you can be sure that next season we'll make up for it! Besides the normal happenings a big change has occurred in the leadership of the IK Debates. Andér, plaza's official Librarian, has decided to hand over his position as a DGM to Aralomiël, a fantastic and well-experienced debater from Minas Tirith. Andér has done a terrific job during his time as DGM so we are all sad that he had to leave us. However, Lomi is a worthy heir of that position and there is no doubt that Debates shall go on with great success and much fun as they did before. But there was no time for rest after these changes in the leadership. Immediately after getting the position Lomi had to work with her partner DGM mojo since there were already some proposals which needed attention. There were some ideas about changing the scoring system, equalizing the point distribution from post to post and those things are still being discussed. However, besides the usual discussions in the HQ, DGMs have requested that everyone share their topic proposals since there is a need for the season V. If the All-Star debate won't occur and everything goes as planned we can expect the start of Season V somewhere at the end of November. But that is still open. So, be on the lookout for the next 'IK Debates' article where you'll find out much more! By Fingolfín

Interview Roulette

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In the summer of 2004, our slavedriving...er, I mean our hard-working editor, Gwai, asked for new ideas for the plaza newsletter. One thing that was mentioned was a monthly interview with a plaza member who was not an R/A. Twin Demon (now Boo Radley and who knows what else in the future) had the idea of rotating the interviews so that a variety of plaza members would be highlighted. Hence, "Interview Roulette" was born. It's simple, Twin started as the first interviewer, choosing me as her victim. The next month the interviewee becomes the interviewer and so on each month, using the same set of questions - yes, simple enough even for a cave troll. So, without further adieu, I present this month's plaza interviewee, the pinkest of the pink - Mithriltears of KD. How and when did you discover the Plaza? I discovered the plaza after taking some quiz on a friend's advice, the quizilla thing informed me that I was a Tolkien aficionado, and I had to set off and prove it wrong! I ended up finding the Bilbo 100 question thingy and then the plaza! Errr, that was in February 2003 I think *g* Which Kingdom did you join and why? I was all set to join Rivvy then I remembered that I didn't much like Rivvy in the books so I wandered into the newbies forums and found out that the dwarves were really sweet. So, I was like, "heck, I'm short in RL, why not?!" Have you ever switched kingdoms and why? I've been a dwarfie the whole time... I thought about switching to the White Council and also Mordor, but I just love KD too much. Besides that, I always chicken out. What forums are you most active in and why? I usually hang out in Khazad-dûm and the Poetry Forum. I lurk around Khazad-dûm because I love the people there; I loom in the poetry forum because there's just some amazing poetry out there on the plaza, and I get a kick out of reviewing it! I would like to loaf around more in Mordor, but sadly I don't have the time. What activities are you involved in on the Plaza? Oh Eru, I know I'm gonna forget something, but here goes: the titles I hold are Burx Uzban clan leader, co-racing mod for the badgers, debate team foo-dwarf, Pellenor pigskin punk (go Krushers!), dwarven army officer, member of the DPS, Khazad-dûm maze manager, resident dwarven spammer, and that's it I think! I also write for the Mirrormere Reflections (KD's newspaper) and The Last Homely Herald (Rivvy's newspaper)!! Are you a member of any houses? Yep, just a few! I own the Badger Stadium house, co-own the Burx Uzban house, and I'm a member of the Anghak headquarters and clan chambers. *blinks* I think that's it! What are your short-term Plaza goals? I long to spam all of the throne rooms of the plaza pink one day! I have already succeeded (if you can call it that) in Mordor and Khazad-dûm. Watch out Minas Tirith! You're next on the list!! *winks* Similarly, what are your long-term goals? I just want to have fun on the plaza and not stress out about it; apart from that I'd really like to see Khazad-dûm flourish and get real big and active. Thank you so much for your time, anything else you'd like to add? Hmm, embrace the foo-within? Naw, I've got nothing... By Rohanna

Poetry Corner

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Excitement in the Poetry Forum seems to have died down at the moment, though there is no lack in poetry. So many writers and topics are available and the forum fills quickly each day. Choosing one to feature in this month's newsletter was very difficult, but this one happens to really touch people's hearts. So here it is by Istya Alassea, a member of the Shire. The Journal I kept writing and writing Until I could no longer express All the emotions I'd been hiding Inside with bated breath Now I can truly focus Yes I can finally breathe There's no longer smoke around me It's a relief that I finally see Yes, so I wrote those words That I really meant to say And now I can re-read them To prepare for a happier day In this journal I see the real me Despite all my usual masks I'm actually feeling happy here I am released at last Now I carry this journal wherever I go Being honest with myself Is a feeling I've never known I no longer am lying just whenever I can Because I see the very truth Displayed at the palms of my hands! By Tari Boffin

Plaza Art

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'...the wind of change Is blowing...' With those words we could describe think that took place during the last month on Art Forum. After abolishing the '...need to have 8 pics, before you can open your own thread' rule, made in one of Art Cafes, Plazarians started to post their ideas. Many new threads have been born, and though a few of them were deserted, a few stayed and evolved into the kind of great art threads that the old PaFF used to have. Here are the topics, which in my opinion, deserve special attention: Coffee Mug Army: Tindome's Art Calling All Artists Laifana's studio A&FF Recommendations Thread Behind my eyes: Silarvalla's Art thread As usual, our art forum hadn't lost their old ideas. To the famous threads such as 'Get Your Name Design Thread' and 'Get Your Characters Design Thread' plazorians decided to add few new Ideas of "Get Your ....', and with those here are the links to the most Interesting threads: Get Your Name Design Here Get Your Characters Drawn Here Get Your banner design Here Get Your Wax Seal Done here Get Your Icons design Here Get Your cover Art Designed Here As for during the last month new threads had been opened, we could see many new, skilled artists that appeared onto the pages of our art forum. With those words I would like to announce that a 'Golden Hall of Memory' had been opened, and each month an artist that has proved their loyalty and skill in the Art Forum will have his name written with golden letters onto the walls of the Hall. Artist of the month Silarvalla (Her name will be remembered!) As we had an artist of the month, it would be a crime not to mention about one thread that stayed in the memory of many plazarians. With this, the owner of this thread earned his place in the 'Thread of the Month' hall. His name is Protoguy. (Editor's note: you may have seen him in Rohan once or twice…) Thread of the month Work In progress 'The wind of change is blowing, we can't see what he'll bring, only have hope, of better tomorrow' Special announcement: I would like to announce that the A&FF forum finally earned its official 'Art Contest' which is hosted by a Rivvy Elf called Pan. While reading this article do not forget to bump into this thread, leaving your work there, as the fun is great and there will be awards given to the best 3 pictures. For more information search for the name of 'Art Contest' in A&FF By Tabi Geinin

Fantastic Funtacular Fan Fiction Forum!

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After never ever walking through the immense complexities that are the fan fictions, I decided it was high time I did. I have to admit that everything is pretty scary, more organized chaos, I would call it. Do not take that the wrong way. I was amazed at how many talented writers there were on the plaza, beside myself of course. It was difficult selecting pieces to review, as many of the threads were many posts of *bumps* Good stories nonetheless though. You certainly can't force someone to write, and it seems to me that those who excel in writing only do it out of pure enjoyment. Anyway, on to the reviews. I chose to assess more serious stories this time, and if I'm asked to do this again I shall focus on more humorous and lighthearted writings. The first review is of Path of the Walking Dead by Ista Sharrasi: I came upon this thread by the recommendation of one of my fellow plaza members, and was intrigued by the mythology of it all. It is a fan fic based on the times of early Egypt. The protagonist, Shai, is dealing with the emotional and physical stress of the death of her father, the Pharaoh. His food was poisoned by an unknown being, and with her father dead, Shai is very vulnerable. It may seem as the healer was to blame, but fate would see otherwise. He only wants Shai, for she is the key to the throne. Even though it was written by an Elf I was surprised to see a good death scene, other than the Pharaoh dying of course. One of the evil and malicious 'bad guys' Nadar murders his own wife. He is quite literally caught 'red handed' if you take my meaning. His murderous attempts now ruin his plan of marrying Shai for the throne; without using force. The story now stands at a suspenseful halt, as the author ponders the next positively pleasant plot twist. Ista would like her readers to know that, "The title is deceiving, but part of the story in the end." I give it 7/10 thumbs up! The next story I stumbled across was Lothithil's fan fiction thread titled, Lothlithil's Inklings a fan fiction collection IV. The title very accurately reflects what the thread is about. Contained within are many short stories about the different creatures of Middle Earth. One in particular that grabbed my interest was 'The Heir of the Hill.' This whimsical story gives an insight to the relationship of Bilbo, Frodo, and the other Hobbits. I was very much amused by the reading, and I think that it is very accurate to the way Tolkien would have written it. It really reminds me of 'The Hobbit.' The only way you wouldn't like these stories is if you didn't know how to read. I give these literary collections 8/10 thumbs up! The final story I'll look at is "Of a Time Forgotten, Called Soulmyre" by Gil-uial. Because of time constraints I was not able to digest this entire story. However, the prologue and chapters 1-3 are immersed in descriptive detail. There are a lot of characters, and this gives the story a deep sense of realism, and Silmarillion-like history. Don't get me wrong, it does not take away from the story one bit. Here is an excerpt that I found to be exceptionally well written: "Werewolves. Thousands. Thousands upon them. Enormous and hair covered, hulking, colossal beasts. Beasts. That was the only word that truly suited them. The hunt; the kill. That was all that mattered to them. Pale yellow eyes, with a human...or something, in there somewhere. Fangs, dripping with saliva, lusting for blood. Sharp noses, white puffs of air visible in the chill night. Terrible, hunched figures, over six feet tall, each, covered in hair from snout to toe. Matted and disgusting, dark brown and dull, now clinging to the werewolves in the pouring rain." In the original there were a few spelling mistakes, but the description is amazing! I had a clear as crystal image of the beastly werewolves in my mind. This is only about a quarter of the total story, and already I'm captivated. Don't take my word for it though! Read it yourself! I give this fan fiction 9/10 thumbs up! Gil-uial's current thread contains links for the previous threads. Well, that's all I've got for you today. I hope I've outlined the stories well enough for you, so that you can enjoy reading them as much as I did! I'm sorry if I did not pick your writings. These three just really stood out in my eyes. I am however NOT responsible for reading fixations on these stories after reviewing them, and if you find anything disturbing about them don't cry to me! (Editor's note: or me! Cry on Gwai!) By Bôrrárz

Kingdom Reports

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Cry me a River Perhaps I should have titled this "Roh cries a river" because for an evil persona like myself, the thought of a trip to Rivendell was terrifying. However, as my dear sisters needed me at the last minute, how could I say no? Okay, Ears' whip might have had something to do with it, but we won't mention that. After putting some athelas on my lash marks, I trundled off to Imladris to see what exactly the Elvsies had been up to this past month. Funny enough, the first elf I saw was Eithil, last month's Rivendell reporter. She was busy on her way to a hair appointment, but mentioned that the Enedhoer festival that she reported on last month probably had some results just waiting to be published! Another Elf friend of mine and former plaza newsletter co-editor, Firerose Arien, was pouting because she didn't win the cooking competition. Anything that makes an Elf pout is high on my list, so I searched through the threads and found that many had winners, though a few were still in progress or still being judged. The horse racing event was won by Rossilíndë, with Webit in second place and Viktor in third. Elron Qel Droma, Boo Radley, and Samuraielf shared first-place honors in the archery competition. Barrel racing was won by Thom Greenleaf (one has to wonder if any of the Ent's relatives were used to make the barrels) with a 3-way tie for second place among Arwil, Itania, and Silver_sprite. Ancalima* won the cooking contest with Webit in 2nd and a tie for 3rd between Searogim and Mor Olnathron. Capture the Flag winners were Viktor, Eliswathe, and Lclaulau in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively. Congratulations to everyone who finished well but also to all who participated and enjoyed the festival. October also saw rulers Laebeth and Taramiluiel open a thread entitled Let Us Talk About It where Elves young and old were given the chance to voice their opinions on what they would like to see in their fine kingdom. An interesting discussion has developed, and all Rivendwellers are encouraged to add their thoughts. After reviving myself from the snoozing I did while listening to the Elvsies debate such stimulating things as thief hunts and pubs, I found a thread that intrigued my evilness, Dol Guldur - The Necromancer's Tower, a new game that had me so intrigued I signed up for it! Now I'll have to actually visit the Last Homely House again, oh the shame... *ahem* Anyway this game starts as soon as 25 people sign up (at the time of this writing, there were 22 and looked to me to be in dire need of some more evil). We don't know exactly what the evil wannabee Lilu Olnathron will throw at us for challenges, but puzzles and tests of knowledge were mentioned (which effectively leave me out, but if I can't win I'll just go to the good old minion standby of killing, so no problem). Another new and very exciting thread in Rivvy is Gwaith i-Nestoer where members of all races can sign up to take the training course to become healers in RPGs. The first class of 15 was filled immediately, and a waiting list has already begun, even before the training! However, I'm sure any good lurker can glean some knowledge without having to be an actual student (a minion promoting cheating - never!) And one last thing worth mentioning, Tengwar Tours - Gondor River Cruise is just beginning a new thread and ready for those in search of romance, adventure, or the Corsairs. Come on, you know you love pirates! There looked to me to be many other fascinating threads in Rivendell, so why not head over there and check it out for yourself? Just wash your hair first... By Rohanna

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Khazad Kraziness - A Dwarven Update Time does fly when you're having fun, as the Anghak dwarves can tell you. The army dwarves were happily celebrating the first anniversary of the mighty Anghak when something shifted in the woods. And nope, it wasn't Ran's rampant foo bunny either, it was scouts! Not even friendly, they were Southron ones at that. That's right, a terrific force of, "baddies" is poised to attack the Anghak while they are all gathered together, celebrating the tradition of the dwarven army. The battle has not yet ensued, but scouts from the Anghak are currently watching the 3500 baddies that are lurking, and the Anghak is getting ready to attack the terrible baddie force… However, fighting was not the only thing happening this month, indeed quite the opposite took place as well! Everyone's favorite berserker queen finally bit the bullet and tied the knot with Lujan Stormwing. The wedding was supposed to be a secret ones, deep within the woods outside of Khazad-Dûm, but as is typical the news leaked out and soon the little glade was surrounded my well wishers, eager to see their queen wed. The king of Gondor, none other than Naith Liathant was the one to officiate the ceremony. Truly it's something that Khazad-Dûm won't forget for a long time! Congratulations and good luck to Dis and Lujan! Tornihyanda opened a new type of game this October, aptly named, "battlefields." It is already promising to be a fun game, although it should not be attempted by those with weak stomachs or those that cannot wrap their head around strategy. The spoo contingent of Khazad-dûm backed away from the game, holding their heads in their hands, murmuring something about, "No, just give us cookies…" Nevertheless the more serious members of my fair kingdom are already having a blast moving troops about with this excellent game. The Dragon Hunt is still off in the jungles of Rhûn somewhere, battling fierce insects and other things that are just best not to mention. The princesses and Meneldil are doing the best to lead the silly groups to find Sunny, Meneldil's crazed wife. Journals just sent in by raven report that they have just endured a terrible night of ants and other riverbugs, but it also reports the Princess Mai Tai, a native of Rhûn, exulting in it as a, "blessing from the gods" This October the queens blessed Khazad-dûm by showering them with more medals. In the tradition set up by Anno and Marin, Dis and Hrive gave new Telchar and Balin medals out . The Telchar medals are given for those who work hard in one area to see it furthered and the Balin medals are for the hard working non-axe bearing loonies that commit much time to our kingdom. The Telchar medals given out this time were all of the mithril class (the best one) and they went to Star Flower, Oin, TMM, Lujan, and Mithriltears. The Balin medals went to Thomas Greenleaf, Winddancer, Doronlassil, Rohanna, Tari Boffin, and Eäranna. Congratulations to all the medal recipients!! By Mithriltears

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Autumn in the Shire Autumn is a busy but calming time in the Shire. Filled with harvests and parties, there is no better place to be spending your time. The largest party of them all is the Harvest Ball. Hobbits and foreigners are all welcome to enjoy the music of the Shire Fire, the ale of the Strawberrystar Brewery, and the decorating by the Shire Knitting Circle and Architecture Guild, among other contributors. Recently, the Shire Knitting Circle and the Shire Architecture Guild have teamed up to work on an Extreme Makeover for ugly hobbit homes. Those hobbits can come by and sign up to have their house revamped and redecorated. Have a leaky roof? That can surely be fixed with these skills. Also, the Hungry Hobbits Pup Recipe Drive has ended. The pup was looking for new recipes and food to update the old ones and give it a new flavor, now there are several choices. Any weary pub-goers would find themselves overwhelmed with food and drink! More exciting news among the annual harvests and parties is the Shire's own Olympic team. It's that time again, and the hobbits have gathered to team up in different activities. Right now they are practicing and planning for a good win. Hopefully the Shire will appear with gold! Another competition is being hosted by the Shire; this Drill Team round between the Shire and Lorien is an excellent match still in its beginning phase. The recent sign-ups to the Drill Team have proven excellent as the team has many members contributing to its answers. However, the most recent of Shire Activities has been the Shire Mystery Story. The sign-ups are open now, looking for writers and then actors to act in the production. All interested hobbits should surely stop by. It is looking to be an excellent idea for a production! The Shire is still it's calm and welcoming self though, The Watch will begin hiring new Shirriffs soon, the Bounders will begin their activities once more. The Ivy Bush is planning on reopening in November…there are still a great many things to come! By Tari Boffin

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The WC This Month. The first thing you can tell when you enter the WC is that Halloween is in the air. The Old Angren Street Market all decked out in Hallowe'en decorations and all the shopkeepers have got some tricks or treats hidden about. Star Quality Robes is now taking orders for Hallowe'en costumes. Designers are more than willing to create an individualized costume just for you. Also the Tricks and Treats Shop is hiring, so if you have any skill in making a ghastly sort of sweet, it should be right up your alley. ShEru and Moneta are now taking applicants so come on down and show off your baking skills. Wizard Jeopardy is just about wrapping up. This fun game pits contestant's creative skills on a variety of topics including Foods of Middle-Earth and Nicknames of the Ainur. The theme may be Tolkien but that doesn't mean any of these answers will be found in the books . . . Hear ye! Hear ye! The White Council Court is now in session. The Honourable Judge Faldras and company are presiding over the trial of Éowyn. Charges are immoral impersonation of a Rohirrim Soldier, illegal smuggling of hobbits into battle, attempted insubordination in the Houses of Healing, and having unrealistically blond hair. Is she guilty? Is she innocent? Drop by the court to find out. The Music Mages and Poetry Potentates proudly present The Anthology, located in the MM&PP house. It's been a long time in creation and it showcases the works of poets throughout the ages. Also included are poet biographies and notes about individual poems. While still a work in progress it promises to be a fantastic addition the writings of the WC. By Nylara

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Minas Tirith Report Again, hello every Plazalings. This month for Minas Tirith has, as always, been a good one, and especially for our own Debate-master and Poet Laureate Aralomiël. Besides reaching the fabulous amount of 2000 points she also made her 2000th post this month. And as if that wasn't enough, our Lomi has been picked as one of the three judges in the upcoming Debate-season that will be up. We wish her all the best with the debating, and we hope it will be fun... Also, a new Cart Race has been made, and still the terrific judge and GM Naith Liathant keeps the fun up. This writer can't remember any boring things about the game when he was a member of it. This round is called 'Tarlang's Terror', and the map is as always... Incredible. Our King uses much of his time to find the correct map, and the time is used right. Another RPG has also been created, and this is to show how good and worthy our Gondorians are to roleplay the Swan-Knights of Dol Amroth. There are many that has signed up, and as far as this writer can count there are 28 from all kingdoms that have signed up. Enjoy the RPG, and I can promise you that it will be fun. Gondor has always been known as an IC-kingdom, and this is not an exception. Southern Storm & Northern Wind is at Phase 7, and the outcome will be great. The Rohirrim participates as well in the RPG, and they have their own RPG: Southern Storm & Northern Wind ~ Fire & Stone. This is also an RPG you can enjoy very much, and I promise you, it will have a cool outcome! The Plaza-Olympics is going on in Mordor. Some Gondorians have chosen to participate, and some have not. Gondor has its own Sign-up thread, and it is named something as simple as: Mordor's Middle-earth Olympics. We wish every Gondorian good luck with their competitions and hope that we will win something. But first of all... maintain good sportmanship! We have also got a new thread opened in Minas Tirith, lead by the friends Aria Galadonel and Tia Galadonel. They have been creative with their job, and this sounds like real fun. Alas! This writer hasn't tried something, but it has to be funny. It isn't called The Gondorian Games Room - The Maze of Madness' for nothing! Good luck to the new recipients of the job! The last thing I feel needs mentioning is that last report I said that Rinon Encaitaro left the Plaza because of RL-obligations. This is not true anymore. Many sad hearted Gondorians became light-hearted again after the announcement from Rinon that he will be back! This can be found in our Minas Tirith's City Hall LXXIII. Enjoy everyone, because I enjoyed this! By Øyvind

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Lorien report For the past month things have become quiet in Lorien. Or so the Elves thought at least. With the return of Lord Celeborn things were, for a while, as normal as they can be in this forest. The most disturbing event would be a snow fight, though so far no injuries have been reported. So far. Apparently such mischief cannot satisfy the Elves of Imladris though, who invaded the Caras Galadhon and happily turned this most solemn room into a white landscape of freezing Elves. No doubt the only reason they got so far was due to the absence of many soldiers. On no less than two battlefields has the Lórien Guard been engaged. In a valley close to Khazad-dûm, the Dwarven army was doing combat against a large number of enemies. Together with the Rohirrim Cavalry, the Elves of Lothlórien have come to the aid of the Dwarves. How the battle unfurls will be of great interest to all who interest themselves with the military. The other occasion for the Guard to move out was a far more pleasant one. A sparring session has been arranged with the Host of Imladris, and thus many Elves from both realms have been doing training duels against each other. Friendships have been formed and old bonds renewed, a fact that is to be celebrated soon. Those Elves who have not left the woods and survived the onslaught of the snow have had their hands full with the Olympics. As the other kingdoms, Lórien is proud to send a team off with high hopes of victory. For those few that also escaped the snares of these dark games, a feast is being held. The Elves pass no chance to feast, and the coming of autumn is to them as good a reason for celebration as any other. They invite all of Middle-earth to join them and experience an Elven feast! When not feasting, the Elves delight themselves with poetry or perhaps the solving of riddles and mysteries. Several places exist to host all of this, and recently competitions were held as well. A contest of poetry is being held, . But also a Trivia has been done which is entering its final stages with only 2 teams left now, while new thought has been given to the kingdom pages when it concerns poetry and art. There are still the permanent threads were both Elves and others may appear, such as Nimrodel's Glade, a Maze, the Quentalmo organisation and even more. The mind is not all that the Elves exercise though, and physical achievements are also encouraged. A sign of this is the new house opened in Lórien, the institute of sport. It will no doubt aid the Galadhrim greatly in coordinating their efforts within sports, or other events such as the Olympics. Rumour also has it that the Guard is planning to add more space to their talans, besides the new training grounds which have run for a month now and trained countless Elves in the art of war. Thus Lórien continues to offer all that a person might desire. Whether it be peace or not, stillness or feast, or the exercise of mind and body, the Golden Wood does its best to ensure that none are not satiated with all that they could wish for. By Chilly

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Fall in the Mark All of Meduseld was shocked to learn that their newest King, Wamba the Fool, was to resign. Due to RL problems, he decided to resign and pass on the crown and bearded face to another. So, Wamba has left us with the message of Forth Eorlingas! All will miss him and the great inspiration he provided. With every resignation, a new ruler must be crowned; and so, the members of Meduseld were happy and proud to watch their fellow friend Ele Isenfolme take the crown. We know Ele will do an awesome job, and Meduseld couldn't be prouder! Congrats Ele! The Special Character Ranks were awarded last month to Amadhrill the pubmisstress, who is now Freda, a little Rohirric girl; after declaring that she wants to be a sword maiden when she grows up, she presented her wooden sword to Éomer in the Throne Room, and then accompanied the Queen to "try out pastries" for her... Twin Demon (my beloved co-writer who is currently sporting the name of Boo Radley) was awarded Windfola, the horse that carried Éowyn to the battle of the Pelennor Fields; as many other Riders would be in her place, she is utterly excited to get to be a horse. And finally, Caewýn Sharrasi was granted the icon of Háma, the faithful Doorwarden of Théoden; his loyalty was the key quality that decided her to ask for this character. The Rohirrim were indeed asked not long ago to say which Special Character they would choose, should they be awarded one: the SCR recipients are now enjoying their new icon as a surprise as well as a reward! Three RPG's are currently being held in the Riddermark to celebrate the event: Helm's Deep for Háma,; ; Pelennor Fields for Windfola and The Village for Freda. The pubs continue to be a success, not that we expected less! In Ældsell Inn: Locked off, all the patrons from the previous pub have been locked in; with the thief among them and attacking patrons, no other choice was available… This pub also may have the record for longest pub ever! In Ældsell Inn: the aftermath, all are given a chance to remember the events of the night before. Harvest Festival! Those two words scream fun! Well, we have the honour of hosting a Harvest Festival in the Riddermarket. A planning thread is currently open, and ideas such as an ego contest, badger chase, eating contest, Miss Meduseld election, and a produce/baking contest! Come check it out and help us with brainstorming! And of course be sure to check out the festival as soon as it opens! A new RPG, called The Fields and Forests of Rohan, has been opened by Aclæc Janglur. In this RPG, you are riding to Minas Tirith to visit your sick brother, and need to describe hunting and riding with your horse. Aclæc moderates the weather and makes changes in the storyline. In Cavalry news, it was decided that Cavalry training threads were to return to the main kingdom forum. And no sooner than decided, did Isenfolme's Cavalry Training and Eormed's Epicenter of Equestrian Excellence pop up! The Southern Storm and Northern Wind RPG is still going in Minas Tirith; be sure to post all you wigends! The IntraKingdom Debate that was held in order to help young (and not-so-young) Rohirrim get acquainted with debating has finally ended, and has been recently judged. The topic debated, "Who was more crucial to the victory at Helm's Deep, Théoden or Gandalf?" proved a challenging one, as the opposition had to support the idea that Théoden wasn't the most crucial to the victory. Another challenge was the awaiting of the judgment, which was, for the new debaters, as tough as debating… In another aspect of competition, the third Drill season has resumed for Tweam Med, under the form of a match against Minas Tirith. The Minas Tirith Dragons was a very large team, which included both the King and the Queen; only this can explain the fact that, despite amazing tweam work, Meduseld missed one question. But the season has just begun, so all hope isn't lost yet; and anyway, Meduseld has already won on a crucial point: we have the best mascot ever, Wigsigor Wicket! All these competitions have not quite managed to reduce the activity in the Raciendas þæra Talu, which is now running its tenth thread! But the discussion goes on, and the topic now elaborated upon is: "Invent and describe a tradition, custom or habit of the Rohirrim". Come and see what we've devised so far! But enough with competition… In order to encourage people to "read, savour and devour" the opening posts, a brand new game was devised in Rohan: Read the opening post - The game. This game consists in cautiously reading the opening posts in Meduseld, in which our rulers have slipped an inconsistent - cat - word. See? Just like that! Knowing the number of words to be found, the participants try to make a Tolkien or Middle-Earth related sentence with them (the prize awarded is ten points). The legendary Rohirrim hospitality makes this game open to all: come and enjoy the fun of reading the rules! In Guild news, the Guild of Historians continues to plough through history with wonderful products! The Bard's Guild is having a closed session as of now. However, The Story Guild is having an open session, so go check it out! The Kokopelli Art Guild is running strong, with beautiful submissions from the members. In Olympic news, we can proudly announce that Meduseld has assembled an impressive set of teams, captained by Imbeannowyn and Idesinholdè. The Rohirrim will also have one extra team, not the least important: the cheerleaders… Beware of the green pom poms! What else is going on? Well, the Adventurous Souls have a new RPG up and running! ~Survey~ continues on, come check it out, all riders may post. The Campian continues to run strong, thanks to Imbeannowyn. Gædrian of se Mark XVI is still going with ideas! Rohirric Faces is on its 14th thread, come check out the most beautiful and handsome riders you've ever seen! Want more news? Check out our current Rædboda! We have a new editor; Éile will do a wonderful job, already proving her dedication! By Gemætancwén& Twin Demon

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Of Falling Leaves and Adventure! Greetings from the woodland realm of Fangorn! Fall is upon us and winter is fast approaching and life in Fangorn comes to a slower pace. This past month has been rather quiet besides the excitement, which has lasted from the previous month's Birthday Celebrations. There have been some interesting activities including the Entish Word Branching, which is a Middle Earth version of Boggle, rather a hasty game, but everyone seems to like it. Besides that we are still searching for the Birthday cake, but are on the verge of finding it or so it seems! The two major RPGs, which are running alongside one another, have progressed well during this month. The first one is called Chasing the Huorns and this takes us back to the time when there are no Entwives in Fangorn. Only the Ents and Huorns. The Ents have set out from Fangorn since they received a message from Mandos and are on their way, not knowing where they will go. They have set out from Fangorn with an Elf named Laebeth, but meanwhile the Huorns have rebelled and are causing trouble. So the Ents are chasing them and trying to figure out what they are supposed to be doing. Meanwhile where are the Entwives? In the Timeless Halls of Mandos of course! Two of the Entwives have set out from there and are searching for Eru the One, whom the Firstborn call Illúvatar, to seek His guidance for they wish to return to the Ents with whom they rightly belong. Will the Entwives ever reach their goal? Just last month the old TreeGarth - Fangorn's defense organization was renovated. It now consists of two parts - the Tree Garth, the defensive part of it and the Tree Guard, the offensive part of it! Each of them is further sub-divided into two parts so as to make each part more specialized. Both of these organizations are flourishing currently and so the unhasty and hasty Ents are happy. This month our two rulers decided to honor Collecthor, popularly known as Achoo. He ruled Fangorn ever since it's creation and has only left it to take up the position of Tulkas the Admin. In his honor the two of them have decided to retire the Treebeard icon during their reign of Rulership. He also recently celebrated 1000 days of Plaza membership! Congratulations Achoo, that's quite an AchievemENT. Check out Morim's timeline of him over here. Since both our rulers are fairly new and not all of us are well acquainted with them, they've opened a thread called Ask your rulers a question . Here anyone can ask Morim and Mojo questions which can be as serious or silly as you like. Some interesting bits of trivia for you to enjoy - Mojo is a greedy Ent. He stole the missing birthday cake or so Morim says. According to Mojo, the reason Morim's nose is so big is because he grows larger with every lie he tells! (It figures - he is made of wood!). Now they've started the next thread in which you can ask a question to someone in addition to the two of them. The first person is Thom! Have fun pestering him and our rulers over here . Besides that life in Fangorn continues as usual, with a few leafing that sadden us, and the new saplings that take root in our forest that brighten our day! Do come and pay us a visit sometime! We would love to have you! Hoom! Hoom! By Silver Leaf

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Eye on Mordor Ash, Shadow, Pain, Death, Surprises, Good Drinks, and Purple Nazgûl. All of these are images that should spring into your mind when you think of Mordor, and why not? It's what our land is best known for, especially when you look at what has happened to everyone's favourite kingdom this month. Yes, with the onset of the Olympics now rushing towards Mordor like a Balrog on fire, the whole Kingdom is being kicked into shape in the hopes of making the Olympics the biggest gathering of darkness since the siege of Barad-dûr. Of course it has been a big blow for us to see our beloved leader Loke depart for Western lands, but our spirit has not been tainted, and the Olynpics is now proceeding just as it always has been under the watchful eye of Mandallah. (Watchful eye, geddit? 'Cause he's Sauron, and he has that big eye… I'll get my coat.) Of course there have been rumours about desertion in the Olympic team of darkness, and this has done nothing but strengthen the will of our opponents, however let it be known that those rumours are unfounded. If anything Mordor's numbers are multiplying in anticipation of the games with thousands of non-minions converting to the land of Darkness in the hope of being picked to be part of the Olympic team. (Alright, maybe not, but we live in hope.) Of course there's a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes with the Olympics with testing threads giving teams a chance to hone up on their techniques before the games officially start, and this is where most of the action has been happening for the past month with minions taking part in acts of unspeakable cruelty all in the name of progress, sometimes life is good. And one thing's for sure. This will be where the winners of the Olympics begin to show their talents. Those who put in the effort early will undoubtedly be the ones to go home with Olympic gold. And as long as they're minions, they may just go home breathing. And then there is all the frantic back stage action taking part in the committee threads where ideas are being fired back and forth across the tables like a barrage of arrows from the Morannon. Back there, the look of the games are designed and redesigned with each passing minute. The rules are recompiled, restructured, and sometimes thrown out of the window again and again and again all so that the games themselves will be perfect for when the opposing teams arrive. And they say all we do is kill stuff… However the Olympics have not been the only things happening this month in Mordor and we have seen the rise of new threads such as "Ringwraith Review , "Evil? You? 'Cackles', , and "Tunnels of Terror , all with the primary goal of relieving the stress and tension caused by the Olympics and giving minions a chance to vent some steam before the big event. And the response to these new threads has been tremendous as minions have flocked en masse to these threads in the hope that they will be able to prove their worth before the events start. True competitive minion spirit has begun to show itself here as minions have begun to try and top each other with each of their attempts in the hope of being noticed in the run ups to the biggest event in Mordor's history. So, that's pretty much it for Mordor this month, of course there's more if you want it. But to find it you're gonna have to get down into Mordor yourself, if you dare. But then again you might as well get down there, 'cause once the Olympics start the chances are you're gonna have to go down there. And let's face it; you might as well beat the rush. Life down there will be hard enough as it is. By Byg Sci

Searching for Treasure

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After trips to the archives of Rivendell and Fangorn these past two months, I decided this time to journey into the ancient tomes of the White City. With some trepidation, I wondered if something spectacular had happened during the month of October 2002 that was worthy of the plaza newsletter. With good luck, I didn't search too far before I came upon the coronation of Queen Laielinwen. When many plaza members only make it for two months, can you believe that Minas Tirith has had the same lovely queen for two years? I'm an ageless Nazgûl, and I'm impressed! Some priceless snippets (or should I say blackmail) from Laie's coronation thread: Arteris, sitting in his seat in his formal silks, enjoying a cup of wine, curses under his breath and turns to Hador. He quietly whispers, "So much for popular sovereignty." Laie: When I left Rivendell so long ago and moved to Gondor, little did I know I would have the honor of assuming Arwen's identity and plaza position. (Not to mention her wardrobe) I dearly love the plaza and the White City. I take great pride in calling Minas Tirith home. Laielinwen has always loved, her hero, Aragorn, and so there is an added perk to becoming Queen. *smiles and blushes* *Minstrell comes in while playing his lute and chanting a ballad about the sorrow of seeing Gwai leave as queen of Gondor, and the happiness we feel in the presence of MT's new queen* Forgive me to attend this ceremony uninvited, but I hope a humble bard is allowed to sing praise to the new queen. Hoyamir: He is not immune to the emotion of the situation, despite his stoic nature. To mask his sadness at the change of leadership (and to commemorate the occasion), he has written a poem. Nothing has changed, seen from afar, Minas Tirith still stands. And Gondor and its city are Still fairest of the lands. Inside the walls, though, there is change Not everything's the same. The Rangers are home from the range, And all hail a new name. A new Queen rules the White City, Whose name is Laielinwen. (To try to spell it is not pretty - So we'll call her Arwen!) And what, you ask, comes of Gwaihir, Whose reign is at an end? We'll have her, thank Eru, quite near, And she'll remain a friend. Perhaps then, not so much is new, Except a change of cast. They'll both stay leaders we look to As they've been in the past. Bows low and quickly returns to his seat. Gwaihir: Congratulations and I swear, with all my jewelry...er..I mean I and my sword Thorondorian are at your service". Geeps: *The Grey Pilgrim enters the hall with her best robes on, nothing else for the new queen. Bowing before her and removing her what she speaks in what she hopes are humble tones* Laielinwen, Queen of Gondor, your position is truly deserved, and may you have a long and enjoyable reign. (One can only wonder what exactly she removed....) Narsil Anduril: HipHip Hooray for Laielinwen!! Does that mean now that the queen won't be giving my vaccination with her needles?? *Starts shaking picturing the queen with those big hospital needles.* Elen Sila: *El shakes her head and pulls out of Gandalf mode. She promptly goes and finds Gwai so they can party hearty* Beryle: I shall follow your noble rule until, either you or I die. (Which ever comes first.) Grishnak: My apologies for being so late fair Lai!! Word has just reached my Nazgûlness, and I flew here with all haste. Congratulations on your new position, and I wish you a long and successful tenure. I will now be able to say that a Queen has my Nazgûl essence. Halfir: (This is long but sooooooo good...) Your majesty: as I was personally invited by your gracious self I trespass but briefly in the Realm of Gondor and claim both your protection as my host (and the Fifth Amendment) for the ungracious words I am about to utter. But first, before I commit lese majeste, may I congratulate you on your elevation and wish you well. However, as you know, as a result of your hankerings after a certain Aragorn King - so blatantly posted recently in the Lore Forum, I have decided to found the Halfirian Republican Regicide Party. As self-elected chairperson and absolute ruler of that party, like the wicked fairy in Sleeping Beauty, I arrive malignantly at your celebrations to indict your new majesty on the following charges: Item : That the said Queen of Gondor, one Laielinwen did wickedly and with malice aforethought leave the realm of the Elves - the most perfect beings in the world - and treacherously transfer her allegiance to Gondor Item: That the said Queen of Gondor once held the position of Steward of Gondor and in ascending to the throne has broken the sacred vows of stewardship (unless she is considerably more than ten thousand years old) Item: That the said Queen of Gondor is sexist in that she is co-ruler over a kingdom that proudly announces itself as The Kingdom of the Men of Gondor Item: That the said Queen of Gondor has wantonly deserted the Musketeers Fellowship and, given the absence of Bear and Elanor 48 also, allowed the Elven High Lord Halfir to continue his ramblings in many threads without constraint or inhibition thus causing distress and dismay to many of the inhabitants both of the Kingdom of Gondor and of other Kingdoms and Principalities in this Plaza. Item: That the said Queen of Gondor has tried to entice the Elven High Lord Halfir to enter the Gondorian Realm by means of adding a special fish tank to the castle - knowing that his weakness for such items and their denizens exceeds even the lust of Sauron for domination of ME and Saruman for the One, and thus exposing his wicked private vices to the world at large (well to those who read this thread - let's not exaggerate!) (Editor's note: Exaggeration? O Yea! I proclaim a new era, in which the young shall once again expose the private vices of Halfir!) Wherefore it is declared by the Halfirian Republican Regicide Party sitting in solemn conclave (given my current weight I am allowed to be a conclave individually) do adjudge the said Queen of Gondor guilty and pass sentence that unless she promises to appear with reasonable regularity in those forums in which she was frequently such an eminent contributor she will be condemned to reading threads such as "What is your favorite...?", 'Who do you hate most in LotR? "Is Tom Bombadil Germaine Greer'? and such similar threads for a period not exceeding twelve minutes. With that your majesty I bid you and your kingdom a forlorn farewell and hope that in the glorious sunshine of your reign you will not forget there is another world elsewhere! Elwing: Halfir was here in Merethrond? Holy Eru! *Sits tensely on throne, waiting for the Last Battle to begin, and Eärendil to come in the Vingolat and Morgoth to stand forth from the Void and Ar-Pharazôn to rise from the Caves of the Forgotten and the next theme of the Music of the Ainur to begin.* A lot of snippets, I know, but who could pass up the poetry of Gondor's most handsome or the insane ramblings of the plaza's most learned? You can view the entire coronation here Until next month - keep making plaza history. Maybe someday someone will write about you! By Rohanna

Junior Debates

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Junior's First Steps After almost a month of careful preparing, discussing, organizing by Rock, Elk and Fing, Junior IK Debate League has finally started. As promised in the last Plaza Newsletter, a sign-up thread has been opened in Basic Lore Forum. I would just like to stop here and thank all the Admins who have given us great support in this endeavour! As soon as "Jr. IK Debate - Sign Up Thread" was opened we could see a great interest for it. Many young newbie plazarians have decided to sign up, but what pleased us even more is that some of the more experienced plaza members have decided to try out debating as well. In a very short time we got enough people for the start and Rock, as the Head of JR Debates, had announced the official rosters and the debaters had been led to the planning threads in Elk's house called Tartarus. The Debaters have been divided into two teams "The Wookies" and "the Ewoks" and after some tentative first steps, the JR debaters have quickly planned their strategies and headed to work on their debate posts. On October 12th 2004 Rock opened the "JR IK Debate - The Opening Debate" debate thread in the Inter Kingdom Competitions forum. The debate progressed in a lively manner and very interesting arguments were brought to the fore. In many aspects, young debaters have shown us very much and the debate posts they have given us can even be compared to IK ones. The current topic is: "The Elven-king was justified in keeping the Dwarves prisoners - Ewoks Pro, Wookies Opp". All this is happening under the keen eye of the Judge Acabar. The debate is still under progress and in the next article you can expect the results. But the JRs haven't stopped at only one debate, the recruitment has continued in a new thread to which I invite you all. Whether you are a plaza member for two years or just two weeks you can always sign up in the: "Jr. Debate League Sign Ups II" thread. Also remember that after you sign up you have to check back regularly to see what is going on in that thread, since there the Teams are being announced soon after enough people sign up. The responses we have got from the JR debaters is very positive and everyone is enjoying themselves very much, so sign up and be a part of a growing family of Lore-knowing and famous Plaza JR Debaters! By Fingolfín

Sere…or is it ent45?

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Tari: First off, what's all this about Cambodia? Did you go there? I hear Cambodian is your favorite food type. Sere: A couple years ago my dad had a conference in SE Asia and he took us along to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. Out of the three places, Cambodia was my favorite. Our tour guide had befriended a Khmer girl my age and she came along with us while we visited the temples in Ankor Wat. I couldn't eat Thai and Vietnamese food, and after a week of starving, Khmer food finally agreed with me. I'll probably go back to Cambodia some time since I had such a great time. Tari: I heard you had a different name when you first joined the plaza ... ent something? Were you inclined to first be an Ent instead of a hobbit? Sere: I have no idea why I joined as ent45. There was still a year to go before Fangorn was created. I just lacked creativity and was a hobbit child with the name ent45. Tari: Tell us about newbie Sere? Did she spam or use her siggy when she wasn't supposed to ever? Sere: Little Sere was ridiculously shy and point concerned. She would hand write all her posts and count each character to make sure there was at least 200. She was immensely excited when she was adopted by a hobbit family and spent all her time in pubs. She also boldly IMed RAs and high rankers...who had no idea who Seregon was. ^_^ Tari: The rumor mill tells of a newly redecorated room for you, how does it look? Theme? Color Scheme? I understand you are very enthusiastic about it! Sere: AHHH IT'S GORGEOUS!!! I love my room passionately. I would marry it, it's so beautiful. *g* I have my grandmother's mahogany furniture that she bought in Manhattan in 1943 when her husband was overseas with WWII. So I have the furniture set, and I have a rather dark room. So, I decided to paint the walls a creamy peachy yellow to brighten it up and enhance the color of the mahogany. That turned out really nice, and I have creamy yellow table runners on the dresser and desk, white window treatments and bedspread. I have two sets of pillows, a spring/summer and fall/winter colors. Spring/summer I haven't decided on yet, but fall/winter are deep cranberry and wine - all different shapes and sizes of pillows, which make the bed luxuriously comfy when you flop on it. Then I have a black and white picture of my grandparents when they were just married, the night before he went off to England. Then we have some paintings of stuff and a dried bouquet of deep red roses hanging on the wall. It's my little sophisticated peaceful place. haha. Tari: As an admin, do you ever miss just being able to post and get involved like a normal plaza member? Sere: I continually regret not being able to post and have fun like the regular members. Of course I still am able to post around, but I'm not a humble hobbit anymore... rather just a pair of hot lips *weeps* I won't be admin forever, so I'll get to have Sere the hobbit back some day. By Tari Boffin

Through the Keyhole

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This reporter went on quite a journey this month to peek Through the Keyhole for you. I went to The Galaxy Far, Far Away . This House is one of the Plaza's Independent Houses. It is a Palace (room for 20) located in Coruscant. Don't bother to look on your map, Coruscant is not in Middle-earth. It's not even in this solar system! The Galaxy Far, Far Away is owned by Aclæc Janglur, a Rank 8 Rohirrim. There are currently ten members to the House. While playing the Star Wars Theme song, the Welcome says "This house is designed to be a place where Plaza members who like Star Wars can come and talk about it, RolePlay it, and just generally act like it's the Plaza, only Star Wars." They aren't kidding on that score folks! This little Hobbit reporter is not a Star Wars fan in particular, but she was mightily impressed with this House. Aclæc and his household have done some very commendable work here. They even have their own career paths and ranks system! There is a list of recommended reading, there are quizzes, debating, trivia, games and of course RPG. At the time of this writing, the current RPG was The Fight at Geonosis. I peeked into each of the 10 topics, reading at random. They were well organized and everybody seemed to be having a great time. I laughed out loud in their Star Wars Tales game. In the S.L.I.M.E. threads , where they talk to each other out of character, I sensed a real feeling of camaraderie. Oh, they fuss at each other just like any family does, but it all seems to be in good fun. In case you're wondering, yes, I know what S.L.I.M.E. stands for. It's a very very clever acronym that combines both Star Wars and Tolkien. And nope, I'm not going to tell you. You just visit and see for yourself. This reporter thoroughly enjoyed her peek Through the Keyhole at a galaxy far, far away. The only negative thing I can find to say is that their living room has one of those cursor trails that follow you around. This House rates a definite honorable mention in the book of Middle Earth Real Estate. Star Wars fans... you won't find anyplace more enjoyable than this independent Palace in Coruscant! By Garnet Took

Deja-vu Drilling

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On October the 4th many plaza members began to furiously thumb through their copies of various Tolkien books. What was the reason for this sudden flurry of paper? It was the Third Drill Season of course! After having had a short break away from Drilling between seasons, most participants were well rested up, the others had been keeping on top of their game by partaking in practice games. Yet if you were to look at the schedule, you could be forgiven if you had a sense of deja-vu. The White Council and the Shire were to play each other in the first week, a replay of the Season Two finals it seemed. This proved to be the longest match of the week, only ending after both teams agreed to call it quits and have a rematch later. While this was going about, there were, of course, four other great matches underway. Khazad-dûm was hosting Fangorn, Lórien dared to enter Mordor for their match and neighbours Rohan and Minas Tirith went head to head. Rivendell had the bye for the week. In Khazad-dûm, Fangorn had an outstanding performance and defeated the hosts 6-4, showing that they are definitely going to be contenders this season. Meanwhile in Mordor, it was Lórien who were the stars of the match, winning 4 questions to 2. We can only hope for better from Mordor in the coming weeks as they surely do have some excellent talent in the team. In the final match, Minas Tirith managed to just beat the home team in a 5-4 victory. While Rohan went strong for the first 4 question, they stumbled on the last, yet still they gave the officiant Balbo an answer that required deep thought. This was a hard fought match and ultimately it came down to the challenging questions asked. Looking back at these results it can be seen that the home team has lost each match, with the exception of the Shire / White Council game which, as was noted earlier, was abandoned until a later date. Should the Wizzies be wary of the rematch? Or will this phenomenon have passed by then? Only time will tell. By Gollidge

Who Watches the Watchers?

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So they think they can watch us all the time and get away with it, eh? I think not! It's time to turn the tables and see what those loonies up in Valinor do in their time not spent policing the rest of us lowly plazaites! Hmmm, who gets to be my first victim? I'll start with Hoth. He's spent this last month creating more secret rooms in his secret house for his secret RPG - man, I'm not having much luck, am I? Those admins are too secretive! Maybe I'll have better luck with a ruler, let's see here.. ah yes, Rohanna. It appears Roh's past as a maid (yes you heard right, maid) is coming back to haunt her as her old Rohirric family sends letters to us minions regarding our beloved Witchking's whereabouts. Well, they'll have a hard time getting a hold of her, she's been extremely busy organizing this year's Olympics, not to mention trying to defend herself in Mordor's own Halls of Injustice - she's been accused of murdering Gothmog, if you can believe it! Moving on, I think I'll check up on Fëawen. Fëa and Gwai have delivered a couple more contests for the public, the first being The Orange Dragon Drinking Song Contest, in which the contestants had to create a song for the Orange Dragon pub they were at. The second would be the Possessed Halloween Costume Ball & Contest where contestants waltz around in their fabulously self-created costumes. The orange admin's husband, Peeg, has invaded the White Council with an intriguing karaoke competition. He shows off his true insane self by commenting on all the songs as three, count 'em, three different people. He may say he's doing it to be like the American Idol judges, but we all know that he's really just mental. Andér has been in LLL this past month, repeatedly insisting that he is, in fact, THE number one Stud of the Plaza. No matter how many guys may come in to try and woo the girls with their pictures, he knows he is number one and always will be. That appears to hold true for now at least as a fan club is opened for him and he is fawned over by a number of R/A's - Fëa, Brandy, BB, even Hoth. In their time not being secretive or gushing over Andér, BB and Hoth created SPOO, proving they have, officially, gone insane. Spoo is a combination of Spam and Foo, and their competition challenges members to include multiple types of spam or foo into one post. Yes that's right, they're inviting plazaites to be as annoying as they possibly can be. Those crazy admins! One admin who entered that contest (not following the rules of including all the types of spam I might add) is Mr. Tomorrow himself Mo. When he's not proclaiming 'Mo rocks' with a multitude of smileys in SPOO, Mo is creating Olympic banners with heartbeats and thunder that successfully scare the daylights out of elves and hoppits or testing to see how evil he really is in Mordor's Pre-Olympic Personality test, "created by non-psychology trained person and registered blonde." We shall see, maybe he will turn out to have the heart of an elf, wouldn't that be a kicker! All that must be keeping him from cleaning out his own house, The Void, which is still full of spam. (Editor's note: erm … feeling brave are we, co-conspirator of said spam?) The Dwarven Queen Hrive seems to be having problems in paradise, apparently even with a pink throne your marriage plans won't be perfect! She's proposing to one very popular dwarfy and being chased after by another! While I'd love to see who wins over who and such, I've got to stop my spying and skulking before someone catches me. Check your local listings for further reports on what those wacky Valinoreans are up to when they think no one's watching! By Jess

Fresh Blood

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Yes, the Newbies and Introductions forum. A place for young, easily-moulded minds to come and be corrupted by our professional distributors of propaganda and sin. Yes, here is where hundreds of evil layabouts are recruited for Mordor every month, and it's usually the last place they post before disappearing off the face of the plaza, still, there are those who are picked up by the watchful eyes of our more experienced plazaites and at the end of their questions they are fully prepared to become productive members of our Kingdoms. Either that or drunks in our pubs, anything goes. This month has seen a myriad of new plazaites join the plaza, each one asking thousands of questions. Lluckily we have a more than capable team of older minions able to field questions right, left and centre, and make sure that all the woes and complaints that get voiced are dealt with, and at the end of the day new souls are left with but one thing on their minds, how to join Mordor. (Editors note: Nice propaganda! I bet no one can tell this was written by a minion!) And Mordor has in fact been stepping up its campaign to recruit new minions, and next month should see the start of a new 'postcard campaign' specifically designed to bring in more flesh blood to Mordor (so that we can feast upon it, and maybe even use it to fetch our drinks). This new scheme will work by combining rich and detailed artwork with witty, catchy slogans that should stay in the minds of prospective kingdom members so that they make the right choice when they choose their kingdom. Of course the Newbie and Introduction forum is not necessarily a forum just for newbies; older, more experienced, members can often be found in here asking what may seem like obvious questions, but are in fact ones that have widely unknown answers. And of course it's a boost to all of our egos to answer questions asked by older members. At least it is to mine. What? It's fun. And then of course, for those of us with more patience than time, and more time than sense, there is the critically acclaimed Guardian scheme that has brought light into the lives of so many new plazaites. Through the use of Guardians, newbies are able to have someone to go to with questions about their kingdoms and to show them around. This has been a great way of helping new members to the plaza through their first few weeks and allowing them to get to grips with the Plaza and stop them from disappearing forever after a few days of confusion. So, that's it from the Newbies and Introductions forum, feel free to drop by sometime to help out the new blood, or even just ask a few questions yourself. It's alright, no-one will think any less of you if you do, unless you're really old, or have loads of points, or have a special character rank, or anything like that. Remember, we're there to help, not judge. Alright, we may judge a little bit, but not too much. By Byg Sci

Pigskinn

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For the past few weeks there have been pigskin games being played out on the infamous Pelennor Fields outside of the White City. The group stages finished a while back with eight teams competing to try and get through to the semi finals and then finally get their hands on the first ever White Tree Championship trophy. The group stages finished as so: So the winner and runner up of each group went through to the semi finals until only teams would be left to fight it out in the finals. The semi finals were played this month with the home team Gondor Gale vs the minions from Mordor United and the foreign favourites the Khazad Rock Krushers against the wizzies of the Isengard Eagles. I'll be taking you through the match reports of each of these games; everything is up to date as this paper goes to press. Gondor Gale vs Mordor United This was the first game to be played of the semi finals, Gale had gone through the group stages quite carefree not losing one of their games and they entered the pitch with an air of calmness, well some would call it arrogance. It was a clash of true enemies and brought back memories of the War of the Ring to both sides, there was a lot at stake in this match, bragging rights included. Gale were a strong team with players such as the infamous PeLaie on their side while Mordor could not be easily written off for Winddancer was a constant source of goals for Mordor and one of the reasons they had made it so far. The game started with a minion kick-off and the minions wasted no time in running down the field full pelt with some excellent play by Winddancer and Eäranna urging her team-mate on running backwards and forwards from the goal she was meant to be protecting, if Gale had managed to react in time then they could've stolen the ball and caught Eäranna off her line and had an easy shot but the play was too fast, too fast even for the famous Pink Wall, Arteris the Gale's goalkeeper as the ball landed safely in the back of the net and the minions had the early lead. But Gale quickly lived up to their name and blew the minions away with some fantastic play between PeLaie and Leoric, and with one majestic sweep of the head from PeLaie the ball went straight past Eäranna scoring an equalizer for Gale and the game was tied at 1-1. Winddancer and Eäranna tried their play again to try and score another goal but this time the Pink Wall stood firm and prevented United from getting another goal. Once again Gale sprinted down the field with poccession of the ball with PeLaie gracefully sidestepping a tackle from Winddancer and shooting another ball towards the goalmouth. But wait, this time one of Uniteds' defenders jumped in the way of the ball and the referee's whistle blew as he called a handball against the defender. He then pulled the unlucky defender out and pulled out a red card, a red card for a handball! This was ludicrous as uproar went out across the stands as PeLaie was awarded a penalty kick with but a few minutes left in the half. The stands went silent as PeLaie went up to take her shot, and the shot was good! Gale were 2-1 up. But the minions we're not about to take any of that and Winddancer once again began one of her deadly plays, which had resulted in United's early lead. But once again the pink wall stood firm and prevented an equalizing goal as the whistle was blown for half time. Gale had quick off in the second half and wasted no time in trying to capitalise on their slender lead against Mordor. Once again PeLaie sends off an excellent shot towards the goal resulting in a hat trick of goals for her leaving Eäranna the poor minion goalkeeper (Editor's note: your name was Shayleyla, yes? *seethes*) wondering what happened as Gale go up 3-1 in the early minutes of the second half. But still holding on for dear life United tried their play another time but still the pink wall stood firm and the shot was saved, the United fans in the stands were getting restless, they hadn't come all the way to Minas Tirith to see the Mordorian team lose to some Gondorians! Time was desperately running out as Gale tried another shot on goal but this time Eäranna seemed to have found her goalkeeping gloves and kept the shot out. But then it seemed that everyone on her team seemed to be being marked by some Gondorians and so what did she do, she decided to go for goal herself. It was an amazing thing to watch as the Gale players looked in awe at the brave goalkeeper trying to go for one last ditch attempt to score a goal but the shot came to nothing as Arteris managed to catch it safely in both hands and the whistle was blown for the end of the match. The match ended with the score 3-1 to Gale, with all of Gales goals provided by PeLaie and Gondor advanced to the final. Khazad Rock Krushers vs Isengard Eagles The Krushers have been the foreign favourites for the White Tree Championship with a forward to match the likes of Gale's PeLaie and a goalkeeper to match the likes of Gale's Pink Wall - Arteris. The Khazad Rock Krushers truly did shine through the group stages winning all of their games and scoring 9 goals in 3 matches. The Eagles haven't had as easy a road as the Krushers but still having their own star forward and goalkeeper they can't be completely written off. It would be an interesting match to say the least. This match is still in play as this paper goes to print. But in the first half of the game the Krushers had kick off. With some terrific play from their star forward Narguzîr and Mithriltears, Krushers secured an early lead of 1-0 against the Eagles, I guess even Istari magic couldn't suppress the talent of these Dwarves. The Eagles tried to use this same tactic of blitzing the other side with a very fast play towards the goal but the Dwarven goalkeeper stood her ground and with a death defying leap stopped the Eagles from equalizing. The game was full of sudden fast plays from each side each time the goalkeepers stood their ground. But then things changed when Queen Dis the Dwarven goalkeeper who scored a goal earlier in the group stages decided to try her luck again and went down the field full pelt towards the opposing goal with her other teammates backing her up. But the precious seconds on the clock were slowly ticking away and the whistle blew just as the Dwarven queen pulled her leg back to take the shot and the half ended a disappointing 1-0, disappointing in the terms of the spectators hoping to see the great goal scoring of the Krushers who had become infamous hat trick scorers. The Eagles had kick off this time and wasted no time on capitalizing on catching the Dwarves off guard. They were even entertaining the crowd with Mirluin, the Eagles' goalie, bringing out a megaphone and leading the Eagles supporters in a song to urge their team on. But before Wedgie, the Eagles' forward, could take a shot at goal he was stopped by two Krushers. He managed to get past the first but the second was the famous Narguzîr who managed to slip the ball out from under Wedgie's pointed shoes and head towards another goal. This is where we leave the game with the score still at 1-0, it truly is anyone's game. By Shayleyla

Plaza Truth or Dare

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Hosted by the Purple Wicked Witch of the South Round 3 of our five-round truth or dare game moved to the lovely shores of the Sea of Nûrnen. So far, only the Rivendell elf had accepted the dare in the first round (stay and keep the barrow-wight company eternally in the Barrow-Downs). The second round saw everyone tell the truth and no one take the dare. This month's dare was answer truthfully or take a nice dip in the sea. What would the 9 representatives of each plaza kingdom do? My question this round evoked far shorter answers from most (proving again that Mordor is the only place to live): The worst thing you've ever smelled was... Wizard: Definitely Green Goo that was on the menu for some time in the WC, It was alive somehow and there were some who enjoyed the stuff. There was big demand, but ever I saw a skunk accidentally fall in the pot, I had my doubts… Gondorian: ...something that haunts me to this very day. The Battle of the Pelennor Fields was brutal, with foul orcs and sundry creatures assaulting us almost constantly. As if their stench wasn't enough, it mingled with the reek of the Fell Beasts above and the fallen warriors below. These odors, coupled with the iron-tinged scent of spilled blood and the stinging smell of fear and bloodlust that hung over the battlefield, combined to make a stench that I do not think I will ever be able to truly forget. (ah the memories...) Lórien elf: The worst thing I've ever smelled was far and away the interior of a pub in Mordor. The stench was absolutely wretched, and horrid. It was so bad, I haven't returned there since for fear of suffocation at the hands of the rank odor. (as I have always said, only the strong survive in the Mordor pub) The Tree Herder: Mordor smells really bad sometimes, especially during fights or feeding sessions. You'd think they would clean up the place once in a while...XD *Dodges pitchforks* Rivendell elf: Probably Elrond's socks. He's a great leader, and one of the wisest elves this side of the Sundering Seas, but under that sensible mask is an elf who rarely changes his socks...and for sensitive Elven noses, well, it's not good! Ever wondered why the Hall of Fire has such big windows? Hobbit: A garden run by a Minion. Now let me tell you them Orcs sure don't know what to plant in a garden mind you! Dwarfette: Me man's beard after a long night of hitting the pubs. (ya, ya, ya, your man - I could be independently wealthy placing bets on how often you mention him) Rohirrim: The best and worst smell in all of Middle-earth is that of burning Orc flesh. Bad because, it is burning Orc flesh and if you haven't experienced it, I will spare you an attempt at description. Good because it means the Rohirrim were victorious and there are Orcs to burn! Minion: Rohanna on a bad day, I mean she smelt of roses - what is going on with that rider? Can't she just use trolls to clear the pub just like everyone else? But no, she has to go and order roses in a bottle, and it's not even as if that stuff tastes nice when you drink it, and yes I have tried. Special thanks to those brave souls who represented their kingdoms in our little game of truth or dare: Ultchuk, Hoyamir, Firien Echui, Munchikinka, Eithil, Tari Boffin, Ranlindë, Éoarod, and Bùrzbag. Looks like no one had to take a swim this month. Let's hope next month one more takes the dare. It just wouldn't be any fun at all if I only get one hostage out of the deal... By Rohanna

Learn to Draw II

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Tabi Geinin's advices on how to become an artist; Junior lessons #2 Welcome onto our second lesson, on how to learn to draw. As you can remember previously we learned about your equipment: which pencil is the best to use and to which technique. Today we will learn important things about figures in art. As you know each handdrawn picture can be made using figures, (circles, triangles etc.) but there is no need to use them for every picture (such as quick sketches, large pictures of land, paintings). If you want to draw a person or single item, then figures are what you need .... During the junior lessons we will learn how to draw items, not characters. I've just used the pictures of a human to show you that each person can be drawn using figures and special laws. First of all you will need to think of the picture you want to draw (example: human, sword, dragon). Take few pictures of dragons and study them, looking onto the figures that were used in them. Do not worry if the figures are 'not pretty' since this is the main problem for each young artist - throwing away the ideas beacause the picture is looking bad after the first move of the pencil! When you decide on what to draw, take few figures and 'glue' them together, onto paper, so that a shape will appear (dragon). The rest is up to your imagination ... whether the dragon should be big, small, angry, friendlly, have a lot of hair and claws etc. Hint #1 Do not stop drawing after the first move of your pencil. That is the main mistake. When you think that the picture will look bad, do not 'destroy' it, just leave it for a day or two and then return with new ideas. In lesson 5 we will be talking about the motivation and inspiration. Hint #2 While starting it is good to have a copy of a dragon picture, onto which you could sketch the figures that were used to draw him Hint #3 Try not to move the paper arround, keep it in one position. While moving the paper, you will make the picture look thin, fat etc. Hint #4 Try to draw the figures with 0.7 mm pencil, so that you could erase them easily when the dragon shape appears. Hint #5 If you do not want the picture to be made by pencil, use Ink as the final line of the dragon. In that case It doesn't matter which type of pencil you will use, since you will not erease Ink. Important announcement Do not worry about the angle of your picture or the shading. We will be discussing them in the next lessons. At the moment try to draw pictures in 2D, such as swords, axes, faces (if you feel strong enough). G'day and till next time, when we'll discuss Lesson #3 Shades and shadows By Tabi Geinin

A Valar's eye view

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This is yet another new article for the newsletter, where we try to make the Valar do some writing and say a little something about the place they love. This SO did not work this time. After they all went into hiding and refused to come out from behind what I can only describe as a big rock (Taniquetil, I think they called it) I had almost given up until prodded into serious panicked action by a purple wraith, I found myself in possession of a few choice quotes from the mighty Mo … enjoy! About the plaza as viewed from the Blessed Isle: The Plaza is fluid. It's very much like the sea. Always moving and changing, creating new things with the ebb and flow. It is quite the miracle when viewed from the right angle. Never the same, ever. Every minute the Plaza changes. Where it goes from here is anyone's guess, though I can assure you that Valinor is always looking forward. We never rest on our laurels there. We have such a team of minds that an idea for bettering the place is never far away. Then again, just the other day I had to step in and stop a fight between Arlo and Ally involving horse manure and nappies ... but other than that, there isn't really all that much foo in Vali. We have the odd silly thread but I'm not really all that good at those. Give me the coding questions, or the serious stuff anytime. About being Mo: I'm not evil all the time, mostly I'm literal. Mo isn't Mo without a good solid dose of sarcasm thrown in, hence "tomorrow", hence any answer I give to a question that has been asked a thousand times. If people just took a minute out of their day to look through Admin Messages, they'd find the answer they were looking for. That's not human nature though. Everyone always believes they are the first to think of something, the first to ask something. What is "obnoxious"? Is obnoxious answering the same question a different way, or is obnoxious asking the same question every day? Dumb questions are a pet hate. I was brought up under the adage "Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer." This is due both to where I was brought up and the generation I belonged to. The Mary Whitehouse Experience. That defines my adolescence. I am Ray! (Editor's note: he was the angry one, right?) (*(Mo edit: No. Ray was the one who sounded sarcastic even when he was being sincere.)*) (Oh. *meep*) I wouldn't say I am tyrannical. I throw out my share of ideas, but that is no more than anyone else. I certainly don't push my ideas through in a tyrannical way. More than once an idea I've had has been shot down in flames. None that I can name. As for proactive, I think the whole Admin team is. Lead by example and all that. About being the man behind Mo. Why neighbours are the bane of his life and he doesn't write poetry any more: America is like England, and like any country, they have their share of complete morons. My neighbour, unfortunately is a-typical TPT. Honestly, I'm sure I've seen her on Jerry Springer and I'm sure she's related to herself more than once. The answer to why I don't write poetry any more lies in the poetry. Take a look and you'll see it all rather depressing and lonely. I am no longer either depressed or lonely. I have a wonderful life, and wonderful wife and a beautiful family. What reason do I have to write Robert Smith anymore? About being a ruler & admin: I loved being Sauron. I was expected to be the way Mo is. Minions loved it. A lot of people joined Mordor because of it. I got a lot of time to try out new things and I learnt new things. The WK was a fun rank, unfortunately I wasn't in it long and only while I was adjusting from being Morgorth the clumsy Balrog. Mandos was a great rank. Being in charge of a bunch of dead people has its perks believe it or not. Hoth though has a fixation on Mandos and I was more than willing to have a hand in fulfilling his dream and letting him have the rank. Aulë was ok, he's a bit of a prat really. Let's face it, 2 Maia and one whole race, completely messed up. Disobeying Eru like that was the only decent thing he did. Melkor.... I couldn't not be Melkor when the rank became available now, could I? About The Void ~ that General Zod banner, and house spam: My first venture into Flash. Sucks don't it? I'm much better at it now! And I'm not going to delete all that spam. I'm going to wait for the people who put it there to delete it themselves, either that or there'll be some suspensions handed out. And finally ... As all in Middle Earth bows down to your glory, what do you say to the lowlife at your feet? Hold your breath kids. By Ears

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Not just for Legolas Lovers any more... Do you avoid the Legolas Love Letters forum (commonly known as LLL) because you are not one of the thousands of screaming fangirls who faint at the site of his blond locks? Do you think you don't belong because you are too ancient (i.e., over 18)? Or do you simply abhor spam and think there's no place to RP there? WRONG on all accounts! Yes, there are new threads started daily in honor of he-who-states-the-obvious, but there are also threads where non-