wiseheart | Party time again!

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: the virtual patry cellar
Current Music: whatever you want

Entry tags:

silly things

Party time again!

Hi folks! *waves*

Time is flying by, isn't it? It's that time of a year again - I'm getting older. In this case, I'm turning 55 on October 9, which used to be an important thing, back under the old regime. Women could retire at the age of 55 back then. So I've decided to ignore all that fantastic headway we've supposedly made towards democracy in the last two decades and enter my virtual retirement, blithley overlooking the fact that I'll have to work another 7 or 8 or only God knows how many years.

So, let's party! Last years virtual birthday party yielded 742 comments on 6 pages, which won't be easy to top, but we're good, aren't we? WE CAN DO IT! So, let's give it a try! In the recent years, it has always been great fun, so let's have fun again!

You're all cordially invited to help yourself to a slice of virtual Dobos Cake recipe - it's my absolute favourite, although I never managed to get it as good as my Garnny used to.

Cheers!

Note: The party will be closed on October 9, at midnight, sharp. Join us and have fun!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You do indeed. Interested on a gift snippet of your own? ;)

I'm lucky that this year October 9 falls on a Sunday, so I could start a good week earlier, on Saturday - meaning, I'll actually have the time to reply to the comments immediately, instead of days later.

Yes please!

I'll try to post on my journal about the party and ask people to come your way.

Here comes a snippet from the Umbar fic, that will eventually center around Imrahil's oldest sister. You might find a hint to a shared OC in it, too, although he won't actually appear. Five bonus points if you guess who it is.

Excerpt:

‘Twas the year 2968, in the Third Age of Arda, and – save from the occasional Corsair raid along Gondor’s coasts – Umbar had known relative peace for more than eighty years. At least where Gondor was considered. It had been less than fifteen years since the inland areas have been severely raided by the forces of Bakshir. The second-largest Haradric realm had even besieged Umbarlond itself, and it had taken First Consul Herucalmo great personal sacrifices – namely to send his own daughter to the kha-kan’s bed as a concubine – to placate the enraged Haradric warlord and persuade him to take his booty and go home.

That had led to a lasting peace between the two realms… at least until lately. For rumours had reached Lord Herucalmo that Kha-kan Isfhandijár had died in the previous year and his legitimate sons had driven out and killed all his concubines and their children. Which meant that Rothinzil was most likely dead, and they no longer had a supporter in the kha-kan’s house – whoever might be filling that particular office right now. That also meant that Umbar as a whole and Lord Herucalmo himself needed another strong ally to better their chances against their Haradric overlords.

******************
Lord Herucalmo was the one responsible for defences and warfare, while Second Consul Manwendil was supposed to care for trade negotiations and civilian affairs. It had been time-honoured tradition since the days of the Ancient Realm that Umbar would be ruled by a pair of consuls; mostly, yet not exclusively men of high birth and standing, as Ancient Númenórean right allowed a female child to follow her father in power if she was the firstborn.

These nobly-born rulers counted back their ancestry to the King’s Men of the Second Age, the ones called the Black Númenóreans by their Gondorian cousins. Never had one of them proclaimed him- or herself as the King or the Queen of Umbar, even though they’d considered themselves the true representatives of the last legal King of Númenor, regarding the Heirs of Nimruzîr (Elendil) as usurpers. Legend even spoke of some surviving relatives of the Line of Elros (or Ar-Gimilzôr, as they preferred to mention their ancestor) among the local nobles who claimed the governship.

Whether that had been true or not, no-one could tell all those millennia later. In any case, the overlords of the Haven had created a system that of the Ruling Stewards of Gondor not unlike, claiming to rule “in the King's absence”. By the King they meant Ar-Pharazôn the Golden, of course, whose rule they glorified, enshrouding the dark events of the past and magnifying the power and greatness of Westernesse in memory. Oddly enough, this attitude had led to the birth of a cult that foretold Ar-Pharazôn’s triumphant return from the West. Followers of that cult expected the King to reclaim the throne of the unified Reams in Exile – all three of them – in some distant future.

The current rules of the Realm, Lords Herucalmo and Manwendil, did not subscribe to this messianistic cult; nor did they join to that of the Death Eater, the revival of which they had watched with some consternation for quite some time by now. They were warlords and merchants, respectively, and did not want to tighten the leash binding them to Agannâlo – or to the Haradric realms – more than it would be inevitable. They had to consider their moves very carefully, though, for the number of Zigûr’s spies had been slowly yet steadily increasing in the recent years. They could almost literally feel the iron grip of Zigûr tightening around them. ‘Twas high time to seek out alternate routes that would not bind them quite so tightly to the fate of Agannâlo.

Oh, I love the idea of the Black Numenoreans having their own system of Stewardship, and looking for the return of Ar-Pharazon! That is absolutely inspired!

And did I capture a glimpse of Andrahar's back story in there?

To tell you the truth, the idea is based on Lalaith's theories - he(?) used to have this fantastic website, and one of the chapters "The Third Realm in Exile", dealt with Umbar. Of course, what I made of it turned out quite different, but that site was the inspiration, definitely.

And yes, it's about Andrahar's mother. Well spotted. Isabeau generously allowed me to mess around with the guy's family, and I created the whole fire-worshipping, semi-nomadic, merchant-warrior society based on Ancient Iran, completely with Persian names taken from the Sáhnáme and from the research I did on nomadic societies decades ago, just for fun - and to find the roots of my own people. We lived with such societies before coming here, you know.

So yes, Isfhandijár, the culture and religion of Bakshir, the social order and whatnot are mine. I even have long lists about the various wives and concubines of Andrahar's father, the servants in the house, the nobles of the realm and all that. One day I might even write "Where the Stars are Strange", Isfhandijár's tale. One day...

It's such a nifty idea and I don't blame you adapting it for your own ends.

Tell me if there's anything you'd ever like me to add to the

best_loved_sons timeline.

Not yet - the last thing I wrote was "A Brotherly Gift", and I think you already have that one. I'll alert you when any part of the Umbar fic is linkable.

If only I could find a beta for the poor story. It only has a single chapter so far, and three people have abandoned it already. :(

Very interesting and loads of worldbuilding. I like the way that you have developed their mythology - it really works and makes them very interesting. :)
I really like the way that you have developed the independent cultures of the different places.

What can I say? It's gone beyond a hobby, it's a downright obsession by now. *g*

It's part of what Tolkien meant when he wrote about 'other minds and hands'.

The idea of the Black Númenoreans waiting for Ar-Pharazon to return is absolutely brilliant! Of course he merely sleeps under the Pelori.

Umbar has a lot of potential - especially as Tolkien summarily declared the Black Númenóreans "evil"; I like to be contrary sometimes. Although these guys aren't exactly what we would commonly call the white hats, they must have got their own reasons to act the way they acted, even an Age after Númanor's downfally. I was trying to work with that.

Being subversive is more interesting than just imitating the master.

Absolutely. They were Númenóreans, after all, which means stubborn, strong-willed and gifted. What they use their gifts for is another matter entirely, but they weren't any less than their cousins in the area of abilities, I deem.

Given that only a small percentage of every population is evil, a fair number of Black Númenoreans must have been perfectly okay.

Agreed. Probably most of them firmly believed that the Elendili were usurpers and themselves the true Faithful: to the legitimate King.

I love that line of Tolkien's, makes me feel like he might vaguely enjoy some of what I do...

Except the slash, I'd presume. He was way too Catholic for that. *g*

But again, so was I, once upon a time. Who knows...

But again, so was I, once upon a time.

Weren't we all... ;-)

What you do, yes. Not necessarily what I used to do...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Party time again!

no subject

no subject

Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Black Númenóreans

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!

Re: Your wish is my command!