Hallowe'en Spook-tacular A Week of Olympics-A Tale of Tragic Bad Moods

Hallowe’en Spook-tacular
by Elarith

Winddy as Princess Buttercup, Roh maiming people with a purple lightsaber at every given opportunity, and the dread Invasion of the Legoli... Yes, Hallowe’en descended on the Plaza in a blaze of glory this year.

Down in the Hidden Valley, things took an unpleasant turn for the resident Elves when they metamorphed into their arch enemies - orcs! Cries of ’Yrch!’ and ’My hair!’ shattered the usual calm of Imladris, and no matter how many facial products they used, orcs they remained. Well, for a few days at least. When the true Hallowe’en icons were revealed, the Elves found themselves all looking remarkably alike, for they were all Legolas. Though some wished to have their previous orcish faces back, many revelled in their new, immaculate hairdos, and the canny Elves soon had a lucrative new project underway. ’Legoland’ opened its gates to great public acclaim,

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with a Legolas kissing/punching booth as a star attraction.

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Unfortunately for the Elf, it seemed that most visitors wanted to either punch his lights out or hurl rotten tomatoes at him, but a few fans were on hand to kiss it better. With another opportunity to cash in further on their flowing golden locks, the Elves quickly opened a Legoland Shop

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with all manner of Legolas paraphernalia available to the discerning fangirl.

Christmas came early to Khazad-dûm. Many dwarves would have settled just for the removal of their pre-Hallowe’en Elf icons, but they got all this and more! They were all transformed into characters from ’The Nightmare Before Christmas’, from Jack Skellington to Igor and a very scary Clown. The bearded ones seemed to be having a ball with their new icons, and funnily enough, they threw one: the Hallowe’en Death Gathering, in which everyone had to turn up dressed as an appropriate Hallowe’en character.

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The merriment didn’t stop there, as there was also a special Hallowe’en Colouring Competition, with some fabulous entries all round.

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In the stony lands of Gondor, Gollum was on the loose. There he goes! No, wait, over there! And there! Hang on... there are hundreds of them! Yesss preciousss, all the shiny tree icons had been replaced with different Gollum images, from the psychotic to the just plain cute. However, a few days later they were switched once more, to ’Shrek’ characters such as the Gingerbread Man, Puss in Boots, and Prince Charming. Minas Tirith being Minas Tirith, numerous associated games popped up. Three Blind Mice players had to carefully negotiate their mouse to the cheese, avoiding some deadly traps on the way,

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and there were some excellent poems submitted to the Shrek-themed Limerick Competition.

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The Riddermark awoke to find their horses replaced by their carousel equivalents. There was much cheerful springing and rocking back and forth until the wooden horsies were whipped away and transformed into Peanuts characters. Charlie Brown, Pigpen, Freda, Marcie, and the rest of the gang all came out to play for Hallowe’en. One special activity involved Snoopy and his arch-nemesis, the Red Baron, who took to the skies for a classic dogfight. Both were very evasive of the other’s attacks until they finally succeeded in shooting each other down as their fuel tanks nearer empty.

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Elsewhere, the ever-charitable Dr. Lucy made herself available for any problems that Plazaites had - providing they had the appropriate 5 coppers consultation fee - and dished out lots of helpful advice to patients such as glomping hobbits and vengeful Princesses.

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In Orthanc, the wizzies swapped their robes for... err... more robes. Just of a lesser quality. In fact, their less-than-professional appearances were down to their wannabe Harry Potter costumes. Despite their best efforts, they were certainly not Harry, and a few days later (with the exception of SaruMon) they were still not Harry. The Istari did, however, get to be a range of other Harry Potter characters - no more second-rate pretending for them. In celebration of this, they threw a wondrous Hogwarts Hallowe’en Ball, complete with crunchy Cockroach Clusters and Pumpkin juice.

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The Hobbits remained roughly the same size, but gained a worrying orange complexion and tufty, green hair. Yes, they became Oompa Loompas for a few days, and we can all be fairly sure that they made the most of their new chocolatey surroundings before they got their real Hallowe’en icons. This time they were magicked into characters from Finding Nemo, and though a couple of wayward sharks had to be reminded that ’Fish are friends - not food’, everyone got along swimmingly with their new icons. The fishy Shire folk held a Nemo-themed version of Jeopardy as part of their Hallowe’en celebrations, with questions on the address Nemo was found at (42 Wallaby Street, Sydney, if you were wondering) and the nickname Gill gives Nemo (Sharkbait) and some coral reef trivia, for example.

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The Elves of Lothlórien discovered that they had gone all-out foo, with new anime-style icons. The over-large eyes, bubblegum pink hair and über-cuteness was just too much for some, and there was widespread relief when they were transported Down Under. With a swift addition of fur, wings, and claws, the Galadhrim became Australian animals, and opened a suitably-themed Hollow to enjoy their new furriness (or fishiness, in some cases) and it was perhaps understandable that there was not a barbecue in sight.

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Like their Imladris relatives, the Lórien Elves also decided to do some trading on the back of their Ozziness, with a special Billabong Market doing a roaring trade in authentic Australian wares.

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Over in Fangorn, what had begun as a forest full of rather frightened-looking trees transformed into the cast from the classic Star Wars. Characters from the original trilogy (Episodes 4 - 6) were soon opening up their own Mos Isenley cantina, populated by inter-galactic visitors from Jawas and Ewoks to the menacing Darth Vader himself (complete with dramatic wheezing and tendencies to commit grievous bodily harm). With the cantina being the wretched hive of scum and villainy that it is, not all of the patrons came out alive.

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The Mordorians, with a sudden revelation, denounced their evil ways and became light and fluffy fairies. Well, on the outside at least. Inside, they were still the same cruel-hearted minions they have always been, and no doubt many would fear for the stability of the Middle-earth if it were otherwise. The general outrage at the discovery of twinkly, shiny wings at their backs was quelled when the wings were removed and they metamorphed into characters from ’The Princess Bride’. As well as delivering their own ghoulish Hallowe’en gifts, the Mordorians revealed their worst fears in ’Scared?’, which may provide some good blackmail material if you ever find yourself strung up in the Black Pits for a torture session.

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In addition, the Dread Pirate Roberts challenged all comers to a battle of wits to work out which goblet of two contained poison, with the loser becoming dead meat. Some truly tortuous logic was put forward by the entrants as they attempted to survive the dastardly duel.

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Of course, the Admin team did not miss out on the Hallowe’en fun. The Poetry Maia all became characters from ’Alice in Wonderland’, with Thom as the Mad Hatter, Nabooru as the Cheshire Cat, Caewyn as Alice, and Ránlindë as the Queen of Hearts. A one-off A&FF tea party was held to honour the occasion, drawing visitors from all over Wonderland to wish a Happy Unbirthday to the Mad Hatter.

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Icons such as The Fairy Godmother (Brandybuck), Sere Nigh, the Science... Guy? (Sere), Hercule Poirot (Arlo), and Ya-vina (Laebeth) were seen all across the Plaza, and Peeg himself became the inimitable Fluffy, Destroyer of Worlds. Peeg’s Pub of Power and Fish Mongery was opened in the Admin forum to cater for all Plaza palates, though Trading Standards may have something to say about the lack of fish on the menu.

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Barrels of fun were had all round with the new Hallowe’en faces and the various associated activities that cropped up in their wake, and many thanks have to go to Peeg for his creation of not one but TWO sets of icons. No doubt the Plaza will wait expectantly to see if he can excel himself yet again for next year’s festivities, but until then our regular shiny icons will do nicely.

Hallowe'en Spook-tacular A Week of Olympics-A Tale of Tragic Bad Moods

A Week of Olympics-A Tale of Tragic Bad Moods
by Lord Sauron Himself

Day 1 - Why in the Maim of Eru is the Sky so Blue Here?
Black Mountain Side

Today it was a battle of wits. Yes, today was the day for Black Mountain Side. At first the task seemed daunting to the minions. Not only were there killers, but they actually had to find out who the killers were. This was a severe problem for the minions as they were only used to killing things-and not used to figuring out who killed who and why. It isn’t logical for minions to be logical. What was more surprising is all the other races didn’t try and kill the minions straight off. This was all too bad for the other races, as Mordor received a silver medal. Imladris received gold, which was not surprising, as many elves are used to being cunning. I learned that during a certain silmarillion incident of my Master’s, but I don’t care to write about that today. Third place was the Riddermark, who was close behind Mordor. Luckily they were probably too busy watching after their horses to care for the game enough to defeat Mordor.

After that I had lunch with some Maia who claimed to be Uinen’s sister, but I told him to get off her high horse and come to facet with reality. Either way, it was a pretty horrible lunch as the tomatoes were rotten in my sandwich.

Day 2 - The Air is So Clear I Can’t Breathe!
Traveling Riverside Blues

Today I was whipping my minions into shape for the adventure of their lives. If they were not in shape enough, then I would make sure this WAS the end of their lives. I would say that in the nicest way possible, but then I would be lying. The task today was to win Traveling Riverside Blues. What the Olympians had to do was to get down the river before any of their opponents. It was a tough race with people drowning, getting slivers from rough oars and some feelings were hurt through vicious rhetoric. It would have been wonderful, except the minions fell behind. For this I later reprimanded them sternly with threatening to throw them into Mount Doom. I of course did no such thing. Instead I had some Uruk-Hai do the dirty work. In the end the little hobbits of the Shire won the gold medal with the Gondorians coming in second. Then the dwarves came in third, only to claim the bronze medal. It seems as though this is a race only short people can truly be good at. Next time, I will send in the midgets of Mordor to compete!

Day 3 - I Think There Should Be More Mount Dooms.
Night Flight

On the third day of my Fangorn experience, I watched the minions get ready for Night Flight. The whole point of the game was to invade citadels and have the most people on your team not to die. The game was filled with uncertainty and suspense, but I handled the situation very well. I debriefed the minions prior to the game, warning them that if they did poorly and did not die while playing the game, then I would definitely make them wish they had. This seemed to motivate them pretty well, as the Captain, Borrarz, told his teammates exactly what they should do. In the end, my minions won and are therefore still happily alive. In second place was the Riddemark, who was once again probably too engaged with their horses to worry about coming in second. In third place were those pesky Lothlorien elves. No doubt they had gotten a stern talking to from Galadriel beforehand as well. That lady really knows how to scare people at times. I won’t admit to anything, but let’s just say I avoid her when she isn’t quite feeling cheerful.

Day 4 - I Never Cared for Clear Water
Whole Lotta Love

It is the fourth day and I have been excited ever since I woke up. I was pretty sure Mordor would take gold, as I had the funniest minions ready to take the heat. I warned them ahead of time that if they failed in making the judge laugh his head off, then they would lose theirs. For some odd reason they didn’t laugh at that comment and played the game. In Whole Lotta Love, there were three tasks. Each one was designed to make the judge find which was the wittiest and funniest of them all. After all three tasks were completed, Mordor won the gold medal, with the almost funny Gondorians in a close second. They would have won, but I have heard that Denethor had a very negative effect on Minas Tirith and it just has never been the same. In third place were the Halflings, who seem to find many things funny - including throwing little golden bits of jewelry into foreboding mountains.

Day 5 - Give Me Liberty, or Give me Gold
Battles of Evermore

As five has always been my unlucky number, I was tense all day. Luckily I had a good team fighting for Battles of Evermore. Of course Gothmog couldn’t stay out of the action and he raced head on into the game. I would have threatened him as well, but I decided after some thought, that perhaps that wasn’t such a good idea. Battles of Evermore is where each person is given a topic and is asked to debate for or against it. In the end only a few people were left in the game and were forced to debate against each other. Lord Gothmog was luckily a part of the final team, as he probably would have roasted the judge had it been otherwise. In the final tournament, Imladris got third place and Khazad-Dûm got away with the silver, leaving Lord Gothmog to grab the gold. Once again, I have to wonder whether he threatened the judge-as he is a flaming Balrog and the judge was a very dry Ent. Either way, I can’t complain.

Day 6 - Clear Water Makes Me Have Writers Cramp
Misty Mountain Hop, Black Country Woman, Trampled Underfoot, Babe I’m Gonna Leave You, and What is and What Should Never Should Be

The rest of the games only made me angry that here in one place were so many of Middle-earth’s inhabitants settled into only one area and with all my minions there, it would be only too easy to capture them all. Some could be used for ransom and others just for slaves. So, I traveled back to Barad-dûr to control my Dark Lord urges and had someone orc to get the rest of the results for me. They are as follows:

Misty Mountain Hop:
Gold - Khazad-Dûm
Gold - Minas Tirith
Bronze - Lorien

Trampled Underfoot
Gold - Isendgard
Silver - Lorien
Bronze - Mordor

What is and Never Should Be
Gold - Minas Tirith
Silver - Isengard and Mordor

Black Country Woman (Team)
Gold - Minas Tirith
Silver -Shire
Bronze - Mordor

Black Country Woman (Individual)
Gold - Minas Tirith
Silver - Mordor
Bronze- Minas Tirith

Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
Gold- Isengard
Silver - Lorien, Imladris, and Isengard

The final medal tally saw Minas Tirith take 10 medals to Mordor’s 8 - I can assure you that not only will several minions find themselves dead by morning, but that wall around the White City is simply gonna have to come down…