Dear Elder Valla and Elder Rumil,  Following on from the previous letter, one reason we set the parameters on the creativity of our role play was based on what Mara experienced every day as an admin/ leader in Aglarond.

There despite having pages and pages of rules and guidelines, anything could change and the rules proved to be unenforceable and frustrating because frequent exceptions for primarily political reasons were made.

Therefore, our land’s role play has a tiebreaker:  “If it is not in the first seven chapters, and within our timeline (based on the birth of Feanor’s sons), or one of the specific allowances (wings on Valar, clan hair colour, etc.) then it is not within our role play”.  This is intended to prevent/ minimise chaos and discontent so prevalent in other virtual lands.

It is more to be:  ‘I have an opinion about what The Silmarillion says’ and ‘you have an opinion about what The Silmarillion says’ and then The Silmarillion says!  In an argument or discussion, our reference for truth is always Tolkien’s book, The Silmarillion.

We hold The Silmarillion the authority and a set reference point that should help minimise/ eliminate political actions and/ or “making an exception this one time”…which breaks hearts, slows participation and creates friction and resistance to involvement and confusion to those newly arrived.  This worked for about six of our years without a glitch.

We must return to basics.  Nevertheless, your combined learned thoughts will help me and are invaluable because people no longer seem as willing to listen to me.  They will to you Rumil and Valla and also to Elea, Torgo and Anaire.

Then there are a few who are simply increasingly discontent, like white ants, who would rather force a change to the goal posts just to see if they can or they threaten to take their ball and go to another field where there are no goal posts.

Because I no longer have the luxury of being in as much we need more individuals sold out to the original ideas, who are strong enough to hold the goals posts in line!

For now, we need to re-establish the goal posts!

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Letter 1 – The Questions

Dear Elder Rumil and Elder Valla,

From a recent Barding session (every Sunday in Second Life from 12:30PM PST (SLT) in Tirion Forest), many issues arose that need validation and clarification.  We are always blessed by your wisdom, especially when barding enters turbulent waters.  I’ve sent you the minutes and a few questions you might have answers to, or thoughts on.

I sense once more that there is more than one “school” of thought regarding the undocumented-by-Tolkien “shades” of his works.  As only the Founding Elders Valla, Bon, Vala and I know, we originally set up our Forest and City and based our role play on the first five chapters of The Silmarillion©[1].

Eventually, realising that some things concerning Feanor would be too far in the future, we stretched out to chapter six and then settled firmly on going no further into the book than chapter seven.

Furthermore, we tied our role play timeline around the birth of Feanor’s seven sons.  Until recently, that was only two sons, meaning we were still VERY early in time, but with the wedding of Finarfin to Earwen, Feanor and Nerdanel had to have had a child in secret that no one, not even Nerdanel or Feanor, knew of.

Regardless, we remain (and will remain) firmly within the first seven chapters of The Silmarillion©.  We believe it is wise and less controversial not rely on the many additional or obscure writings addressing this time, including fan fiction and academic studies that would simply confuse those who come to learn and role play within this time.

We have made some adjustments as visual devices for consistency of role play, that are not exclusively in the book, such as:

• Wings on the Valar to ensure they are not mistaken as simply Elves (unless they chose to be seen that way for a purpose)
• Hair colour – Strict standard hair colour of the three Clans in the book. This is not to be mean but is a costume requirement intended to easily distinguish the Clans and affiliations from each other (Noldor have raven black, with the exception of Mahtan and family which is flame red/ orange), Vanyar have golden honey, Teleri have pure white/ silver (not glowing))
• Dragons – Presently we permit four dragons within our role play. Three of these four were, in our story, hatched from three eggs left in the care of Aule.  He watched over them and raised them to be protectors/ Guardian dragons of the Noldor.  (Note:  No dragons have ever stayed within the roleplay.  Many of the fantasy players within Second Life insist they ARE dragons and wish to play with us – friendly and unfriendly.)  The fourth dragon/ worm is Glaurung, who is sometimes an active antagonist and the owner of the Uhre and a long-time friend of our group.  ALL other dragons are evil and would bite your head off.  They are nothing like the romanticised Medieval dragons everyone thinks might be cuddly, if they could ever just meet one!

Returning to this week’s barding session, here are some issues/ questions that need to be further teased out for maintaining the clarity and integrity of our role play:

1. How many generations have there been thus far in our re-enactment? There seem to be writings that indicate the awakening of only 144 matched pairs of male and female Elves (strangely, the number used in Revelation 7 and 14).  What is the mythology surrounding them in relation to The Silmarillion?   I do not find this in The Silmarillion© itself.  It seems to dictate that Finwe, Ingwe, Elwe and Olwe were not first generation Elves.  Using this resource there seems to be a possible further push into the timeline.  (We see Finwe as generation one – or zero probably to be exact; Feanor as generation two and Maedhros (etc.) as generation three, maintaining early First Age.)
2. What “killed” Miriel? Was it Feanor stealing her spirit from her or her abandoning her spirit by her own will?
3. Did the three Elven Clans split up to be led by three Valar (Aule, Ulmo and Manwe)? I saw this from a different perspective in that the Elves seemed to have “favourite” Valar.  Aule was a special protector of the Noldor; Ulmo loved the Teleri and the Vanyar loved Manwe.  Their leaders were the three kings (well four, but one was lost to love!)
4. The initial topic for the barding was immortality and how we conceived of it as Elves in the roleplay at our stage in this world. Someone posited that you need to experience evil to know good (I suspect because some see a need for more antagonists for excitement in our role play).  This does not seem to be a principle within Tolkien’s writings, but more what is apparent in the world today.

My growing struggle is with maintaining the EARLY First Age time “location”.  We planned the lands to BE peaceful, innocent and inquisitive, with constant discoveries and amazements at what we find…a childlike and kind curiosity and purity that eventually and subtly begins to unravel but NOT yet in our role play.

We spent so much time creating educational quests in the lands that were positive, hope-filling and challenging.  We only, eventually, created the Pass as a fall back for those who craved combat.

We created a “mythology” that since the Halls of Mandos are (unknown to the Elves, of course), situated in the Pass, it would seem natural to have evil creatures (with no breath/ life/ spirit) gather there milling about on the “scent/ sense” of Melkor.  Their intent is, of course, to free him if they can only find him and kill any who enter the valley for spite.

We knew that by the time he is incarcerated there are works of his hands such as Orcs and Dragons and other fell beasts who would be aligned under him.  However, they are leaderless at this time.  We even created a means for Melkor to get occasional messages to his minions in the minds of rats.  Just to satisfy this need for combat.

However, it is my contention that Tolkien created a pristine time…the “Noontide of Valinor”…as a place of perfection.  In our roleplay, it is very difficult to separate our thinking from a world that is so opposite to what those early Elves would have awakened to…the opposite of what his world was slowly deteriorating into.  I aim to preserve this in tribute to him.  Ten years of holding up this standard banner is what our vision was and remains about.

I seek your wise comments and will post them here.

Blessings, Yavanna/ Sheri

[1] © 1977, George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd., Harper Collins Publishers of the paperback edition 1999, 51.  Written by J. R. R. Tolkien.

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INTRODUCTION

I want to remind everyone we are a “Tolkien-Tribute Role Play Land”.  That means we try to use the resources we have to create something that JRR Tolkien, were he still alive, would be proud to be part of.  Contrary to popular belief, I do not channel Tolkien, but I have a strong opinion on how things should be.

We are a stage play unlike any other in this strange world of Second Life and one that I have had many wonderful people, creative thinkers and creators help raise up from a bunch of square prims.  Yet real people “animate” those who wander into our lands and those who linger to become part of the fellowship here.  Our roles and appearances can be tightly defined as are those of the Valar and some of the characters.

Some are not so easy to define and then create.  Today we will focus primarily on the non-Noldor characters.  One question that comes up often is why do I have to change just to wander around.  The answer is that we ARE a living stage play.  If you are a Guide, you’ve figured out a few answers that work as to why we do not want to disrupt the smooth flow of our production.

Here, we LIVE the  first seven chapters of The Silmarillion.  They FOCUS on the life and times of the Elven clan of Finwe – the Noldor in the Two Trees First Age in a restricted geographical area.  Also, we use certain “props” to create “stage presence & identification of some characters.  Other races you might find here include:

• Valar
• Maiar
  • Mermaid-types
  • Fae-types
  • Balrog
• Dwarves
• Ents
• Eagles
• Kraken
• Dragons
  (restricted to four active at any one time)

Last week’s class was a great joy to conduct and I hope you  all got a copy of the link to what we learned so you can review it.  If not I will give you the link now: https://sheridanne.wordpress.com/  if you have not found this site before, there are many lessons on there that can help many, or that is the hope.

I had anticipated Aule would be here today, but we will  proceed.  Last week we focused on the Noldor and Elves as the key and most important of races for our lands- We are FOCUSED firmly on Noldor-we are also a living/virtual stage play this means we have firm guidelines we use to create our stage play.

THE SILMARILION.

We use as our key guide in our lands “The Silmarillion”.  We used to say, “if you can’t find it in The Silmarillion, then it doesn’t exist.” .However, there are two characters you may find in our lands that are not within the Silmarillion first seven chapters and one is at this table … Would anyone like to guess what form is not catered for by Tolkien?

• Feanor: the Fae
• Nica blushes…I am NOT a Fae!
• Feanor: I apologize
• Nica pets her bunny and is quiet again

MAIN CHARACTERS

Yavanna smiles- few would have met Nica and there is a good reason for this.  The non-Noldor characters are not “in the front of the stage”.  Nica is here many times, but she is quiet and she has a job and does it without taking focus off the main characters.  Who ARE the main characters of our play, again?

• Feanor: Noldor elves
• Losa: the Noldor

PARTICULAR TIME

We will stick with that always because that is what the seven chapters focus on the restricted time we live in is called what?

• Losa: The First Age?
• Feanor: First Age

Yavanna: We are the First Age and a certain PART of the First Age called what?   Two Trees.  The First Age was long and so Tolkien divided the time into special parts.  What this means is that the Fallen one…  The Noldor never mention his name by the way.  The Fallen one is one of my brothers, and I call him Melkor.  Feanor will create another name for him later.  (Morgoth).

The Two Trees First Age is a time of relative peace because Melkor is in the Halls of Mandos.  However, this does not mean the lands are always at peace.  The reason Melkor was captured and imprisoned is because he was a bad little Valar

Does anyone remember what he was doing that landed him in chains?  What was Melkor doing when he was first around?  He was creating havoc
and also he was creating creatures to serve him thus we HAVE Balrogs and Dragons

GEOGRAPHICAL RESTRICTIONS

In this time also we are restricted geographically so all these foundational issues need to be considered when we look at non-Noldor races in this land, because this is a rendition…an interpretation.  Additionally, because we must always have some tension for a story to work well and because we live within Second Life there are some issues that also come into play…such as what is “reproducible”.  (I have to say most “evil/dark”
creatures seem to have been well created by the makers in Second Life.)

So, we have a story that restricts us to a time in Tolkien’s writings and geography combined with the media of Second Life that restricts us.  As the Director of this stage play, I also have a group of leaders who help make decisions for non-Noldor characters to keep them to a bare minimum.

Think about what would happen if you walked into a land and there all Fae there?  Do the Fae seem special?  The point is if there are all Fae,
the Fae are common.  This would happen if we had heaps of Fae, or even Maiar, or heaps of dragons, or Balrogs.  And for dragons, we have the wonderful land of Uhre nearby, built to support the “largeness” of a Dragons life.

Exploring these characters, feeling their specialness is important so I want to take each of the characters we do allow in this land one at a time but our key guidelines are ALWAYS to be:

• REALISTIC
• MODEST
• RESPECTFUL
• RECOGNISABLE
• BELIEVABLE
• CONSISTENT

• Vailelir: and not too much into Fantasy

AINUE

[Also see Aule’s excellent article on this  )

Starting at the top of Tolkien’s hierarchy is Iluvatar.  He does not appear in any stage play as He is God and no one wants that responsibility.

The next in power are the Ainur.  Within this grouping are some categories of power.  The Ainur were created before time as “companions” sort of for Iluvatar.  They aren’t exactly thought of as His children, that distinction goes to the Elves and later in time to the race of Men.  The Valar are part of a group called Ainur.

The Ainur is a category of Iluvatar’s creation that includes: the Aratar, the Valar and the Maiar so he uses one all encompassing word for all three of those types of characters: Aratar, Valar and Maiar all are categorised as Angels in our meter except for those who choose to follow the Fallen one

The Valar are gifted with the power to sing Iluvatar’s creation into existence at His direction.  The Valar are not the creators of things in  themselves they are servants and managers of the resources of Iluvatar’s creation, yet they are amazingly powerful.

The Aratar are the highest of the Valar.  They are Manwe, Varda, Ulmo, Nienna, Aule, Mandos, and me

There is one name I did not mention who is also Aratar – the Fallen one or Melkor.  He is called the Fallen and is not counted as part of the Valar because he made his choice to withdraw.  Nevertheless, he is Aratar and was understood to be created of equal power to the highest of the Valar, Manwe.

The remaining seven Valar are also very powerful but not the most powerful.  To create a recognisable image of the Aratar and Valar we have had to go to a bit of special costuming.  The Valar can fly and have wings (not in Tolkien).  They are the one race that can shape shift at will, in any form, at any time for any or no reason.  Their true form is what? Anyone know?

• Valarauko: misty vapour
• Isyarmo: they haven’t form

That is correct.  We have no form.  We look conveniently enough like Second Life clouds when things aren’t rezzing but we choose to mimic what race primarily?

• Feanor: elves
• Eredhion: elves
• Isyarmo: nods

We as Valar looked around and were amazed at the beauty of the Elves and so most of us appear as beautiful as we can possibly manage in
Second Life.  We, as a group, choose to wear wings because visually it makes us easy to recognise.

STRANGE RELATIVES

Valar are changeable and the only race that can and do shapeshift.  Look at those gathered at table and tell me what two are the least likely to be related or friends…

• Feanor: the Balrog and Nica
• Nica hides behind her hands

Yes, this is true.  Nica and the Balrog are related.  They are both what?

Nica protects the little animals in the forests.

• Valarauko gives a growl at the winged Maiar
• Feanor: Maiar
• Isyarmo: Maiar
• Nica puts her head down on the table and hides

You are safe here, Nica and the Balrog will not hurt you.  It is true.  The Maiar are lower “angels/Ainur” and they serve specific Valar.  They have
Iluvatar-granted powers as the Valar do.  Our Balrog started as a servant of Aule and turned to the Fallen one who then perverted his body and encouraged him to love evil and the fire.

• Isyarmo: looks at the flaming creature
• Valarauko thinks that his Master is more powerful

Aule often speaks of this because there is always hope, he thinks, to redeem the Balrogs.  The visual appearance of the Balrog and Nica is quite startlingly different.  In the category of Maiar fall various races with specific visual appearances you can tell a Balrog easily and know to avoid
him if possible.  Sorry, no offense Valarauko.

With other Maiar we have Mermaids and they would serve whom?

• Feanor: Ulmo
• Isyarmo: Vala Ulmo?

Yes, the Mermaids serve Ulmo.  What do mermaids look like? Can we all tell a mermaid easily enough?

• Vailelir: half fish like tail
• Nica whispers: they smell fishy?
• Feanor: they have fins

Most can tell a Mermaids/Mer whether male or female by the way they are equipped to be in the water.   One note…we do not have female mer who are not covered on their top- this is part of being modest.  Have any of you seen the mer Goldberry?

• Feanor: Eruanna has hung
  up a painting of Goldberry in the museum, let me find a painting for you

Ok, we can recognise Mermaids and Feanor will find a picture for us. The Mermaid and the Balrog are easy to recognise and costume.  Ah, yes, thank you for the painting of Goldberry, but I think the one character that is not mentioned in The Silmarillion has taken her away now or killed her?

• Vailelir: The “Kraken”

There seems to be some controversy about this character.. but we see him as an evil Maiar who once served Ulmo and has turned away.  Did anyone ever make a painting of the Kraken?  Let me see if I have any of the pictures of a kraken and I will pass them to you Feanor…

• Feanor: the kraken I have seen looked a tad different.  He was all red and had many tentacles and had a lot of tentacles.

Many times he looks like an octopus to me

• Vailelir: I see the kraken as sea food >:3
• Vailelir has fought with the Kraken as did The Tyr
• Isyarmo: : you always think of eating Vailelir

But I am unsure if Goldberry has survived.  We will find out in time.  Hopefully she did.   So Mermaids and Kraken are related Maiar.  They both served Ulmo initially.  The Kraken took the dark path as did our Balrog friend here and so their appearance demonstrates this clearly and visually so you don’t walk up to one and have a casual chat with them.  You can SEE immediately that they should be, sadly, avoided.

• Feanor: he does not seem to serve Ulmo – Goldberry was frightened of him (Feanor shudders as he remembers Goldberry’s
  scream of agony…)

Remember we are a STAGE PLAY.  We want our characters to be identifiable from the last row in the balcony, as it were… Let’s talk of structure:
Ainur, including Aratar, Valar and Maiar – can we all tell these characters now visually?

• Losa:  nods
• Feanor: most of them, because the Valar do resemble Elves if it was not for the wings
• Isyarmo: Yes

SPECIAL EFFECT

We do a bit of stage direction with the Valar only and this is that the Elves kneel others do sometimes as well because this creates a sense of AWE and recognition that they ARE creators by decree and will of Iluvatar

• Valarauko will not kneel to anyone but his Master

Yavanna smiles at the Balrog, knowing he too has knelt at her feet and will again the Evil ones do not kneel easily but as one of the Aratar and one of the most powerful of the Valar, I can defeat most evil easily.  I am even stronger than my beloved Aule.

• Feanor: no, you will need some ‘arguments’ to convince them to kneel

Now moving on… where did Dwarves come from…just quickly?

• Vailelir: Created by Aulé
• Valarauko watches Yavanna with dislike and remember the embarassing moment when she made him kneel…

Yavanna: my sweet husband Valar Aule created the Dwarves because Aule was impatient and lonely for students.  Dwarves are typically short of stature.  and they have BIG characters.  They drink a lot and sometimes even smoke.

• Vailelir:  They are bulky, stubborn, drinkers, they get into fights easily, big egos.

STAGE PLAY

Let me stop right here to be sure everyone understands the term Stage Play.  Did everyone receive a copy of “Sheriwood being in a RP land is like a Stage Play”?  What this means is that it is like putting on a play on a stage.  Have any of you ever been in a play – or even gone to a life play on a stage or in the round.

We have spoken of Valar and their categories and that there are Maiar.  We have noted that the Balrog and Nica are related as they are both Maiar, as is Oaklie – each Maiar by the way is devoted to serving a Valar they are not independent

Yavanna: I am trusted with all Trees, Plants and Animals that live in the Forests with this in mind I have a few Maiar at this time.  One is Nica of the small animals and the other is Oaklie of the plants.  Nica resembles what she represents and it might be good to note that Oaklie is one of the few who has been able to BE a character other than Noldor because Noldor are the STARS of our stage play .

• Feanor: just for the protocol: the NOLDOR are the stars, not the main royal characters!

Oaklie your costume is quite unique….and I know you have wanted to share a bit about your appearance. I would like to share the last few
character categories and then I will ask everyone to share a bit about their appearance.

Ents were created by me with permission of Iluvatar to answer the threat of the Dwarves- they look like trees in themselves and they move and speak painfully slowly.

DRAGONS

Dragons, according to Tolkien were, in fact, created by the Fallen one.  Has everyone gotten the notecard on Worms-because they are also called by Tolkien “Great Worms.”

So when we began we had a lovely part of our group, called Grendel.  He was realistic looking.  He stayed at the Guardian Cave as a resource
of quiet wisdom to those who roamed the lands he agreed to be our first Protector of the Guardian Cave.  He knew Tolkien inside and out.  So many would wander TO the cave and seek his wisdom.

He was an Ancient, quiet and tired… and it worked for us he knew being here was special.  He moved on and we considered the closeness of our neighbours Uhre.  They are land designed for Dragons, with lots of big spaces to sit and caves that would accommodate this race that Tolkien
had already said were evil in our stage play- there were no good dragons.  Also, most dragons have been permitted to shapeshift in most lands.  Here the leaders have met and decided they will keep to one form only.

How we have handled dragons is to restrict the number of active dragons to four, they have to appear realistic and like most races they do not shape shift.  You will note this set of pictures here they are by John Howe and they are from The Lord Of The Rings and they are there to point to if someone wants more clarity on what we mean by realistic…

Dragons have always been difficult here.  We do not allow them to wear clothing for instance.  The Tyr is from Uhre and the ruler there so we choose to always welcome him with his crown and bracelets and kilt if in his bipedal form.

The colouring of our Dragons is to be realistic, yet we have a purple dragon everyone loves, called lady Salix, who some have argued looks like the Flintstones dragon, yet we love her just the way she is.

Realistic for us MEANS it seems to fit into “nature” and is recognisable.  I can visually determine that Nica is safe and a “good” character.  I can
visually determine that Valarauko is a dark and “evil” character.  In a stage play if I am 6 meters away from you, you need to immediately know what I represent.

To review:  the shape shifters are the Valar and the Mer, who can take a land-walker form we used to ask the Dragons to have a Noldor form but sometimes that seems difficult.  For now we have strict guidelines on Dragons because, again, Tolkien does not include good dragons…and we have only found ONE reference in all of Tolkien’s writings that may indicate he had one small exception.

EXCEPTIONS TO RULES DANGEROUS

• Losa: A question Lady Yavanna.  I have seen Lord Cromm in  the lands, and thought he was a shapeshifter.

Yes, lord Cromm is also one who came in our very early days and  is not here often enough.  He is many times an amazing Ent.  Being an Ent, having experience with this  costume myself, is VERY difficult — you cannot see and you cannot move easily…so it is not easy to be an Ent…so perhaps that is why he chooses to shift out of that form.

We know that making exceptions creates tension and arguments.  It makes being an administrator and leader of the lands difficult.  It allows others to argue they should be able to appear as pole dancers or mechanicals with fur.  At the end of the day, I actually am tasked with making the final decision…I rely on the other leaders to help me with their recommendations and these come from their observations.

I can tell you right now there is someone who is saying they will be a Fae type but they have not even been in our lands to demonstrate their abilities.  When Oaklie came, for instance, many leaders observed her and many spoke with her. It was a consensus that she had the ability to be respectful with her role play that she was …demure and gentle in her approach and she does greatly.  Unlike some characters she is very gentle…

To be a non-Noldor in these lands, means you are a supporting actor… you are not and never will BE the star. You may have some very important parts to play. just think of how important Vailelir can be sometimes or Glaurung who is not here either today.  He is the most evil of all dragons/worms.

Think of this amazing Balrog.  To play a Balrog by the way is equally not easy.  It is difficult to see and it is sometimes difficult to move out of conflict and it takes very special people behind the screen to play these roles.

OAKLIE – MAIAR

Oaklie would you please pick up our spirits and tell us about your wonderful costume- and then we will close this class

Oaklie:  “ok I do this OOC as it be better for this ok?  First, you see I look like a little tree in colour and looks.  This fits in well with my Maiar role as looking after plants and trees in a forest- I blend in very well –  if you see where my heart is it is a hollow with a little beautiful plant in it, this I feel shows my love for the beauty of the forest and always in my heart.

“On my head I have mushrooms and a snail, this I think is good for showing things do die and rot and get eaten in the forest but then, from the death and rot comes new life, and this is shown by the new shoots on me.  So on my avie it shows the cycle of life in the forest and the big branch helps me look more tree like when hiding and the little pink stick is like a wand but not, it hold Maiar magic to help me do my work in the forest.  So that is a short guide to what this avie is all about.  So now you have some idea what i am trying to show in my look.”

Thank you, Oaklie.  At the end of the day we are creating a land of tribute to an author we all admire… the desire of my heart is that, even though Tolkien is now dead, that if his spirit- walked into our sims-met any of you here-that he would recognise who you are and what you stand for– and he would know this place and see that we respect his time constraints-

CLOSING

Having this vision is difficult.  I am responsible for the set decoration (the sims)-and they are here to support the BEST of creative thinkers who also love the works of Tolkien.  Sometimes we do not get what we want in our choice of character, but we truly try to encourage everyone to respect and focus on the Noldor. those who are non-Noldor are here to support the Noldor as they quest through the story as best they know how.

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INTRODUCTION

For our introduction, I want to remind everyone that we are a Tolkien Tribute Role Play Land.  That means we try to use the resources we have to create something that JRR Tolkien would be proud to be part of.  Contrary to popular belief, I do not channel Tolkien, but I have a strong opinion on how things should be.

We are a stage play unlike any other in this strange world of Second Life and one that I have had many wonderful people, creative thinkers and creators help raise up from a bunch of square prims.  Yet real people “animate” those who wander into our lands and those who linger to become part of the fellowship here.  Our roles and appearances can be tightly defined as are those of the Valar and some of the characters.

Some are not so easy to define and then create.  Today we will focus primarily on the Noldor Elves, but surely we will take time with those represented here to share ideas about their appearance.

One question that comes up often is why do I have to change just to wander around.  The answer is that we ARE a stage play and, if you are a Guide, you’ve figured out a few answers that work to why we do not want to disrupt the smooth flow of our production.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I want to start by asking YOU what Noldor Elves or just Elves look like?

Some Answers Included:

• Losa – generally tall, fair skinned, and black hair
• Vailelir: And pointy ears
• Vanwen: Tolkien never mentioned pointy
• Anairë: green or grey eyes
• Oaklie: male and females all sharing a beauty about them

TOLKIEN QUOTATIONS ABOUT APPEARANCE

Provided by Aulë from The Silmarillion:

“The Elves were a far more beautiful race than Men, and generally taller. Among them, those who had gone to Valinor were the fairest and had the greatest skill of body.

“Quendian (Elvish) ears were more pointed and leaf-shaped than Human. However, practical considerations, including a number of occasions
where Men were mistaken for Elves (most notably Túrin Turambar), suggest that the points must have been subtle. Also note the similarity between the words for “leaf” (lassë, las) and “ears” (lasu, lhaw)

“Elven hair colour is quite varied and complex. In general, the Vanyar were golden-haired, and the other Elves (including Noldor, Sindar, and Avari) had dark or even black hair, although some of the Teleri had silver hair.

“This is not the full picture, however: Finarfin, the youngest son of Finwë, and his descendants (such as Galadriel) had golden hair on account of Finwë’s second wife, Indis of the Vanyar.

“Idril, the daughter of Turgon, had golden hair inherited from her mother, Elenwë of the Vanyar. Even the sons of Fëanor, the eldest Noldorin prince, were not all dark-haired: Maedhros and the twins Amrod and Amras had auburn hair, from their grandfather Mahtan. Fëanor’s son Celegorm had blond hair, thus his epithet the Fair in contrast to his brother, Caranthir the Dark.

“Elven eyes tend to be grey, but not universally. The Noldor, though, yes, are the greyeyed almost without exception. Though he was half-Noldorin, Maeglin is said to have dark eyes (possibly from his father Eöl, who was not of the Noldor)

• Matth: Did all Noldor have really black Hair ?
• Vanwen: *looks at Nerdanel
• Vailelir: I doubth ttat…
• Vanwen: no

ABUNDANT RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHING

We have resources that we can use to KNOW what our appearance should be.

• We have the Sheriwood Welcome Documents in here are some general descriptions.   I’m sure many have not actually read through the many pages before they begin to roam, but we have tried to make it easy and yet very informative.  All the leaders have opportunities to make comments on the Welcome Documents and a lot of time is spent creating them for everyone.
• We have The Silmarillion, and the first seven chapters we happily give as a gift to those who are interested and we thank Ranger Vanwen for providing this for everyone
• We have the Web to do searches on
• Many wonderful resources in our library (and lots of work has been being done in the library lately, thanks to Aule, Feanor, Eruanna and Narwien and lately Earwen has also been a great help.)
• We have some wonderful full time players here who are so wonderful with helping each other
• And the spirit of this land is just that…that we will help one another with our questions

We also have visual images of experts who have researched this topic in a professional way that most of us would not know about for The Lord of the Rings (LOTR).  However, what is different with the LOTR, in relation to The Silmarillion?

Answers included:

• Feanor: it is the Third Age
• Oaklie: there humans in it
• Feanor: and many other races
• Anairë: Humans are not yet awoken
• Losa: and halflings
• Vanwen:  corruption is more far spread

If WE are living in the First Age, there are some “genetic” differences actually.  You are the first generation actually, well right now we have three
generation of this clan.  We have the High King Finwe and his three sons and now we have one youngster and that is Maedhros.  This is the golden time…when it says the Elves were beautiful, they were yet to be marred by life for instance.

Nevertheless, I think the LOTR does give us experts’ views on some things that still hold true for the Noldor. Especially when it comes to costume.  In particular they are modest there is only one character in LOTR that does not dress fully.  Who is that?

Yes, Smeagol or Gollum.

The experts that prepared for filming the LOTR showed Elves as a modest people.  There are no pole dancers, no silks and no skin showing in the Elves.  We also have paintings from John Howe and Ted Naismith.

Who is one of the key Elf lord in the LOTR journey to destroy the Ring, the one we see the most of in the film? (Meaning he appears the most , not that he is undressed.)  Yes, it would be the archer called Legolas.

Can you tell from his appearance is Legolas a Noldor?  He appears Vanyar or Teleri but we are reminded that the Vanyar did not leave Valimar once they arrived there, so when we look at Tolkien’s works, we can also see that by the time history had developed into that Age there were some differences.  Legolas was tall, his skin was pure and milky white, he had white or silver hair, his features were delicate.

In reality (thank you Aule), Legolas was a prince of the Silvan line of Elves, part of the Teleri clan who did NOT make the Great March to Aman.

• Vanwen:  Are the elves in the third age still that defined?

Actually I think it is the other way around Vanwen.  I believe they have “somewhat deteriorated” with injury and hardship by the time LOTR is in play, so if Legolas is that beautiful at that time, think how much MORE beautiful the Elves must be in the First Age

You realise my appearance and the appearance of the Valar is in admiration of the first children Iluvatar created.

• Vanwen:  I meant defined as Noldor and Teleri.

Each of the clans of the Elves were established around the family heads, such as the Noldor Finwe and were defined/created from the very  beginning.  Many generations of interbreeding by the time of the LOTR would have occurred.

Some visitor was recently in the Forest and told Feanor he looked like a female.  In a way this is perfect…Feanor has worked diligently on his creation and it IS beautiful and the clothing that is worn, the long flowing skirts and cloaks does sort of seem non specific sometimes.  Vailelir mistook Cucuawe for a female.  So This would be common.

• Vanwen:  Was Galadriel a Noldor?

Does anyone remember who the parents of Galadriel were?  Galadriel’s parents were Finarfin (whose father was Finwe, the first Noldor and Indis who was Vanyar) and Eärwen (who was Teleri).  So she had quite a heritage!

• Anairë: No wonder Galadriel was special.. smiles

VISUAL IMAGE OF OUR CHARACTERS

So let’s talk about how we create our characters here.

In the homework giver there were many notecards for you.  One of them was prepared by Feanor, and on this card are many references of places where you can find various parts of your costume.

For homework after this class you are to create your most perfect Noldor or Noldor friend look and create a Sheriwood Quick Chance Folder.  In it you will place the proper items, including:

• AO
• Shape
• Skin, etc.

There are many notecards to read pertaining to this that will help you afterward confirm your own creation and also will help you help others with their creations when they are new in the lands.

We will have to have a special class on characters other than Noldor but for now we have to focus on just the Noldor.  But everyone will have opportunities to share what “does fit” with visitors when they ask.

Lets talk about each of the items listed.

THE AO OR HOW YOU STAND & MOVE

Thinking about what we know about the Noldor and Elves in general think about each of these parts of your appearance, what kind of an AO
would the Noldor or Elves in general have?

NOTE:  An AO is an animation override and it smoothes your walk and other standing poses to be more attractive than the generic one that you have as part of your SL package.

Answers included:

• Aulë: the keyword for all Elves motion is “Graceful”
• Losa:  for women, demure, almost shy in appearance
• Eärwen: An elegant and modest one, not that of a sex bomb
• Feanor: one you like and that suits your character
• Vanwen: *lifts an eyebrow,  “Shy?”
• Feanor: I don’t know, there will be shy women of course but others would need a diffenrent one.
• Eärwen: Non macho
• Losa: stately, regal
• Feanor: no boxer ao
• Eärwen: Nobel
• Vailelir: tall, straight, normal moves
• Absolutely…graceful, the males and females !!

Wonderful!  No silly “in-your-face,  sexy back ends wiggling in your face” AOs.  They will be graceful and not abrupt.  When we are in THIS stage play, we choose an AO and our movements that reflect what we “see” as according to the references.

SHAPE

Now what of shape?  Shape would be tall, elegant, slim, graceful looking.

• Ar-Feiniel: how tall are we supposed to be?

Elves were tall, taller than the race of men.  I believe the Valar are the tallest, in that they could be.  I think height is somewhat personal.  For fighters, by the way, the best ones are shorter than “normal” muscular but not bulky.

SKIN

Skin would be?

Answers included:

• Feanor: fair
• Eärwen: Rather light
• Vailelir: tan…to white a bit?

Fair, no St Tropez tan or Drow.  That does not mean you have to be very pale.  Eärwen’s skin is lovely and quite fair for an example…not necessarily perfect for everyone, but lovely.

EARS

Ears are what colour again?  Purple?  Red?  Pink!!  Ears would be the same colour as your skin.

Creating your own ears.  Many of our “shapes” give us the option to modify parts of our bodies.  One part you may be able to modify is your ears.  This way you can create the most realistic looking ears you can have as an Elf and save money.

Does everyone know how you can create your own ears?

• You take off your hair
• Ideally stand on a pose stand
• go into edit appearance
• select ears
• and look at all the power you have to change things
• be careful though, to read the parchment that Aule has kindly provided us about saving your appearance
• be sure if you are just fooling around that you save the look you currently are happy with as (“Current Appearance (I always date these to help me remember the last one I liked) or whatever you wish to call it and then as you create a new one and you like it, save it in a way you can find it in the future.
• if you need help with this contact any of the leaders

EYES

What colour eyes again?  Yes, green or grey or in some cases blue depending on heritage.

CLOTHING

What about the clothing Elves wear?

We have one of Naismith’s paintings in particular that indicates the Elves favoured white and their clothing was a bit formless sometimes. And as Valier remarked, white symbolises or represents purity.

Again, if you look at the representation of costumes within the Lord of the Rings, you will see that the characters (except Gollum/Sméagol
were modest in their dress.  So nothing cut down to here or slit up to there and no midriffs or open shirts or topless for either sex and no silks.

SHOES

Shoes are not track shoes or runners, they are not spiky black boots either.

Comments Included:

• Eärwen:  What I think does not fit high heels, sorry to, say so
• Ar-Feiniel how about spikey white boots?
• Eärwen: I cannot imagine Galadriel walking on heels, neither Arwen
• Ar-Feiniel removes spikey boots
• Feanor: no as they lived in the forest this would be most uncomfortable, Earwen

We must always remember that we must live within the limits of Second Life though.  Some of you wear various types of footwear.  Men have it a
bit easier as they are typically not tempted to wear stiletto.  For females there are flat shoes, sandals or boots that are not stilettos.

Vailelir:  Earwen is wearing nice shoes :3

I have found a nice gray coloured boot at Husky that I wear often, called Deckmaster.

• Eärwen: They are hard to find indeed
• Ar-Feiniel: (that’s because SL only sells heels)
• Eärwen: But I preferred creating simple one s myself than wearing unsuitable ones
• Feanor: You might want to check out Caverna Obscura or Vigo’s for some flat shoes suitable for Elven

It is always good if anyone finds something really perfect that they let the leaders know so we can add these to our resource list.

• Losa:  Surprisingly I have found a place that might work, look in maternity stores, have found several low heels there, think about it, someone pregnant will surely not wear heels
• Anairë: Sounds like a Noldor should start a shoe shop in the village!

Again, Feanor has gathered a wonderful list of resources for us to use and explore and perhaps this is as Ar-Feiniel mentioned a market niche one of the clever Noldor could fill.   But always remember that Elves were individuals they were not cookies cut from the same cookie cutter.

• Oaklie: ((I got a LM of a good shop that might have useful things for elves))

WEAPONS & ACCESSORIES

Weapons and accessories make each of you individual and special  but again the Elves would not be caught wearing eight gold chains and big diamond rings blinging away on seven of their fingers.  Even though the Noldor, in particular, had more gems and precious metals than anyone could imagine they were modest and humble.  (Well most of them were…/me looks to Feanor.)

• Ar-Feiniel: how about on their ears?

Earrings?  I would imagine the Elf maids might wear earrings occasionally.  It would be individual taste.

HOMEWORK

Let’s get to your homework now.  Has everyone gotten a copy of the homework assignment now because I want us to work on this now before we leave today.  How many of you here know how to create a “Replace Outfit” folder ?

Aulë has passed out and excellent reference notecard for that.

• Eärwen: Well, in viewer  2
• Feanor: V2 is quite easy with putting outfits together
• Losa: (( I don’t normally use replace outfit because it takes off huds))

That is one of the dangers, Losa, but let’s continue and find a way to deal with this.

Aulë: the way to DO it, though it to DO it for real.  You CAN include the huds in the outfit…and all your attachments, but I’ll tell you one trick… make a folder called “Utilities (worn)”… and drag all your favourite huds and things into it then, when you change outfits…. you then click the “Utilities  (Worn” folder and select add, and all your huds and things appear.  If you simple drag that “utilities” folder to yourself,  you become  rather undressed.

If you create a “replace outfit” folder you can forget very important parts of your character.   One way I do this is to create a new folder called “WORN”.  Then type the word “WORN” into the search category.  For the most part this will bring up all that you are wearing and you can see what you can copy and paste or have to drag and drop into the folder for your Quick Chance to a Noldor replace outfit folder.

I love Aule’s idea about all the huds and extra things we have on our person, so will give that a go once I have some time.

• Sámowe has also suggested that you can past links into your folder as a link, not a copy.

Feanor thinks the wardrobe function of V2 is better in this as it only copies links into folders so even no copy items can be used as often as you need them

To have a QUICK change to Noldor file in your inventory is your homework assignment for this week.

• Anairë: oh and if you drag a folder on that has just hair be careful… you end up naked quickly – very embarrassing when you choose the wrong folder.

A good point, Anaire!

• Saronwe has a good suggestion to ask a designer store here make clothing and appropriate footwear for the Noldor.

Lets start this homework assignment as a group please.

• open your inventories please…
•  put your cursor on My Inventory
• and select new folder
• then label this folder in all upper case letters
• “SHERIWOOD QUICK CHANGE FOLDER”
• now you can begin to fill this folder with the bare necessities of your character as a Noldor
• this is so important when you are out dancing or exploring somewhere else
• if you are needed back here to help someone you can simply replace your outfit

I have given you the outline of this class today and at the end of it is a list.  If you follow this list and be sure you at least have your

• AO
• Shape
• Skin
• Eyes
• Ears
• Clothing (will have many pieces typically)
• Shoes
• Spellfire 1.8 meter
• Weapons and any accessories (like jewellery)

Always try to appear here as Noldor.  For this stage play this is what we want to continue to encourage.  Those who are leaders may appear as anything if there is a griefing emergency, but that is fine and how it will always be.

CLOSING

You will want to explore the many resources that have been provided for you in this class.  It is always good to take a friend with you if you are looking for some of these things, too.  Makes it more fun!  There are many wonderful free items out there that can also help you.  Anaire used to
have a lovely resource of free items too.

• Anairë:  Yes, I have some free clothes and hair..but mainly for women.
• Feanor: sometimes you get a free outfit as a group gift

QUESTIONS

• Eärwen: Do you think it wrong an elf lady to have naked arms in the summer?
• Answer:  I think many of the gowns seem to have bare arms.  Do you mean completely bare?
• Losa: I love sleeveless, especially in the summer
• Eärwen: For a lady this can be very elegant without being vulgar.
• Feanor: like a ballgown.. some are sleeveless and they look elegant
• Ar-Feiniel: do we need to wear more white?
• Anairë: I cannot  imagine elves worrying about being sleeveless
• Feanor: and I cannot imagine elves worrying about colour either
• Feanor: you just wear what you like
• Vailelir: If all would wear white, it would look like a sect

I think everyone here is doing such a lovely job with their costumes.  It seems from some of the paintings that some interpreted the writings to imagine the Noldor did favour white.  Why might that be?

• Vailelir: Because White represents Purity
• Eärwen: In the LOTR Elves were wearing different colours

Noldor are imagined to favour white.  It looks elegant and perhaps also represents the purity and the unspoiled Two Trees, First Age we inhabit.  It does look quite lovely to see all the white, as it does look like there is creativity here, yet that creativity is focused not on fussing around with clothing all the time, but in other ways.

• Anairë: But if we were questing in rugged terrain we would likely wear sleeves to protect us
• Aulë: well, considering the Noldor’s renowned crafting skill, they’d wear anything they’d like.
• Feanor: You can favor a special colour and yet not everything in your wardrobe has to be that colour.
• Losa: I have a gown of Arwen’s that is navy blue with red highlights
• Feanor:  I would not favour white for a battle or for combat

This is wisdom talking about what is appropriate for what task.  when fighting why would you not find white or red a good colour to wear?

• Vailelir: You stand out too much
• Feanor: White would be ruined fast
• Vailelir: And easy to be spoted
• Anairë: I would think practical clothes for doing things.. as they have lots of time to make things comfortable
• Feanor: well, at least people know where to find the leader if he wears red
• Vailelir: If you wear red instead….you can fake death more easily

We have Healers uniforms that are white with a red sash to indicate they are protected

We covered a lot of topics today and it was wonderful to have your participation.  Remember the best gift you can give to a new member of the Fellowship is your support and here is just one way you can help.  Thank you.

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This would be the most significant topic we face in the lands of Sheriwood and Aglarond, and I will endeavour to offer the essence of “who we are” in our Tolkien Tribute Role Play.

Although there are many definitions of Role Play, I would offer this one:

We use the term LIVING The Silmarillion.  What this means is that we live out every day and extraordinary situations, within our specific, chosen and CLEAR characters so we interact with CONSISTENCY and strength with those around us in a harmonious, well-defined “world” or environment.

Tolkien-Tribute Role Play

Our “world” is covered in the first seven chapters of The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien.  We are not Star Wars, or the Roaring 20s, we are not Huck Finn or a shopping mall or a furry palace.

I was with Commonwealth and then Valimar and ran the Role Play Council there when they imagined playing the entire Silmarillion.  But it can’t happen because the entire book covers thousands of years of time in different places and such a vast array of characters who NEVER met.  When we began, we spent an entire YEAR planning everything from each placement of a tree to who we would be.

Vision

The vision I have for ALL who LIVE in these lands is simple: 

If JRR Tolkien took on Avatar form and walked into our lands, he would know where he was and he would recognise you as part of his amazing creation.

The way we protect all those who help administer this land is we say simply, “If you cannot find it in those first seven chapters, we are NOT going to play it and we will not argue with you about it.”

If you want to know how to play here; if you want to encourage your friends to play here, it is NOT going to be just a waltz in and use a few gestures and do “LOL”.  None of that fits!

Language Sensitivity

Everyone who stays believes in the concept of fellowship, and fellowship is about HELPING one another.  Each of us who wishes to play here can do far more than just play here.  The greatest privilege any of us ever have is to help another and if anything this is why we exist.

We do not, for instance, use Elven translators or speak through titlers.  The reason is so simple. 

For the record, the Noldor LOVED languages.  They categorised and invent and embellish words; they loved collecting knowledge.  Because of this, they NATURALLY welcome others who speak other languages (other than English as their first language). 

So we provide a simple-to-use translator for all who enter.  It translates our words to all in a special colour so it’s easy to see the words in your familiar language.  If you speak through a titler however, the colour that comes up is the same as most emotes and the colour the translator uses.  Therefore, it’s confusing and difficult to HEAR others. 

When there are individuals who speak another language (other than English), and wear a translator it translates for each person around and adds to the confusion.  If you speak in a pseudo-language, like Elven that not only displays heaps of strange words and sometimes letters (even translates into English), this is disrespectful to visitors who may not speak English. 

EVERYTHING we do here is designed to support and assist those who WANT to play here.  We use a few short phrases of Elven, but minimise this out of respect to those who enter who have enough things to contend with for role play.

Teachable Spirit

The way to love our lands is to read our book (and we have a free gift of those 67 pages for you in the Welcome Area too).  We are a stage play and I’ve already written an earlier article about this on this blog site.  Without doubt, if you are wearing a short skirt or you are half dressed as a man or you wish to come in and be Aule.  We point you to our notecards about how you play here.

There has never been one person EVER, with a TEACHEABLE spirit, who has not stayed to enjoy playing here.  What a significant, heart-racing privilege it is to attempt this tribute to Tolkien.  You don’t have to LOVE Tolkien as some of us do, but if you wish to play here, we will help you understand what this means.

There are many here who know so much from whom to learn.  During our barding times on Sundays from 12-2 PM (SLT), much valuable information is shared in bite-size pieces that make this book come alive. 

A “Natural” Look

In an attempt to help with some pictures, we have put a collection of John Howe paintings to illustrate what we see as “natural” looking.  If someone comes in and says, “But I LIKE being a dayglo furry-fairy with an AK-47.”  Point to these to help them see what we mean.

These paintings are, of course from “The Lord of the Rings” (LOTR), but they go a long way to help illustrate costume and setting.  The 7 chapters are about the Noldor…more than anything else.  We opened the Forest two years ago and we have always struggled with appearance of characters and I hope these paintings by John Howe will help us all to better clarify the “look”, without hurting anyone’s feelings. 

This is a serious stage play – we do not use scripts, we BECOME our characters using The Silmarillion as our guide..  We have costumes and parts and a stage to play upon.  The characters we play are immortal, so from the First Age (The Silmarillion) to the Fourth Age (the LOTR) many changes and developments of their personas takes place.

We are Tolkien.  We are First Age.  Two Trees (in that the First Age covers a long time and we are THAT specific too).  This means also that the race of Men is not awake yet, there are no Hobbits and Melkor is being held securely in the Halls of Mandos.  Danger and combat is sensed and being prepared for — the Noldor did much to perfect weaponry after Mahtan made alloy metals and Feanor crafted this new material in new ways. 

Not for Everyone

People WANT to be part of this fellowship and this attempt.  They want to learn and most of all to enjoy the authentic, lovely people here who share this vision.  We would love for EVERYONE to “catch this ‘Tolkien-bug’, but I know they will not.

We are NOT for everyone…but if you do catch this bug, there is nothing more satisfying that someone “recognising” you as a Noldor…and perhaps one day that someone WILL be JRR Tolkien.

We have had Ted Naismith in our lands.  He is the artist who has illustrated so many of the scenes in The Silmarillion and he DID recognise this world we have created. 

Now, just think of this.  The LOTR movie by Peter Jackson also helps us “see” a perspective of the future, and a style of clothing, weaponry, etc., but there is no film yet for “The Silmarillion”. 

When Ted Naismith came here, he set a little seed idea in our hearts.  What if those of you who live in our lands become part of the vision for a film of The Silmarillion?  That would be ultra exciting. 

So Much in 67 Pages

 At first I was afraid to insist on a high standard, to stress quality, to ask someone to “dress modestly”, to consider not having a machine gun or being a furry.  People WANT to be here and every week, every day or every week, more and more people are coming to TRY, to endeavour to learn about these seven chapters to play here.  You are actually the new leaders of this vision!!

You would think that in only 67 pages, we would not have enough material to role play with, but I can see NO end in sight.  Reading these pages is a very important start.  If you cannot find time to read them, then be sure you’re here for teachings like the culture ones Aule and I conduct, or barding or just come and learn from each other.

We long for you to have fun and to be successful.  It takes everyone in the lands helping and not in a pushy and argumentative way but in the way, I believe the Noldor would take:  gracious, patient, teaching with understanding and love.  We offer sanctuary to those who wish to embrace our culture so enjoy!

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Someday, you might wish to come to Tirion Forest where we LIVE The Silmarillion as a Tolkien-Tribute Role Play, choosing the first seven chapters of the book, or it would be impossible to “role play” it as the book covers Four Ages (we live only what is known as the Two Trees – First Age).   I never imagined anything so challenging and fun. 
 

In our Age, for instance, it details the races “awake” now.  So we have only Valar, Maiar, Dwarves (made by an impatient Valar, which is why they are so “unusual”), Ents (created in response to the Dwarves being granted life) and Elves.  From the Fallen one (see below) come the race of Balrogs, Orcs (originally Elves, but perverted), Dragons.
 

I just presented a lesson at our barding session about the difference between Ainur (the overarching term for special “holy ones”) created by Iluvatar (God in Tolkien’s writing who is also called Eru).  You may not have noticed, but as you are plowing through The Silmarillion, Tolkien went to a lot of trouble to include a thorough Index of Names, that most find quite helpful as they read the dense pages of his book.
 

Arda, is the term the races of Elves and Men gave to Ea.  Ea is “the world that is”.  Ea is the realm that Manwe (one of the Valar) rules over, also called the Undying Lands (it is not Middle Earth).
 

There were only 15 who are termed Valar or Valier (if speaking of one of the female Valar).  They were given this name by the Elves, by the way.  Sometimes this is the reason there are different names for some of the characters in The Silmarillion, in that an existing race has terms for things already named.  However, it is important to note that the Elves, in particularly, the Noldor were also responsible for cataloging knowledge and creating languages, so they LOVED words (as Tolkien actually did). 
 

Of the Ainur (all special, powerful “angels”), the Valar (were like Seraphim – powerful within the category) and Maiar (lesser in power) are sort of like volunteers who made a choice to come to earth and serve Iluvatar’s purposes on the surface of the earth and shepherd Ilvuatar’s creation.
 

Each of the Valar were given a “song” of creative responsibility.The Valar are commissioned by Iluvatar to exercise delegated authority in their spheres of rule and governance, (not creation, making or re-making of Iluvatar’s creation).  They are divine and outside creation because they existed before creation of the world.
 

Again, the Maiar are lesser in power and are “assigned” within the spheres of a Valar in their areas of specialty.  Few Maiar are named.  Some followed the Fallen one (see the next paragraph) and this is the origin of Balrogs, for instance.
 

Of the Valar, one is called the “Fallen one” and is much like Lucifer in the Bible, he was the most beautiful and the one given the most power and responsibility.  But he imagined he had better ideas of how to shape and create the world than what Iluvatar did and set himself up against Iluvatar and those who served His purposes. 
 

Seven of the remaining 14 Valar are called also Aratar (meaning they are the most powerful of the 14 (in that the Fallen one is no longer counted AS a Valar).
 

So an organisational chart might look like this:
 

  Iluvatar

       l

Aratar-Valar

      l

   Valar

     l

  Maiar
 

Hope this helps sort out these terms.  

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Every Role Play land you wander into is to be a land of wonder, ideally dedicated the highest excellence in Role Play – however THEY define this.

To be the best player within a new land, start with their rules, guidelines, whatever they call them  Read them and if they have other literature, history, roles defined or races and professions you can choose from, read this too.  Try to understand the basics before you enter.  If they have a combat meter or a titler system, try to be familiar with them or wait and use their “Visitor”, “Observer” or “OOC” (out of character) flip title.  If they say you must be silent in open chat during active role plays when you are a visitor and speak only in IM, then be sure to respect these rules. 

As you wander the lands, watch how people interact with each other, “listen” to their conversations.  If you have a particular group or role of players you would like to join, be sure to find some representatives from this group and hang around with them.   Most groups really do put a lot of work and detail (some WAY too much to be practical) into helping you know how to fit in.

Landing A Role

Figure out how they “assign” or agree for you to play a role.  Some lands just let you wander in as a green Elf and you can just play what you want.  Others may have a panel of people who make the decisions.  Sometimes the Administrators or Managers of the lands themselves can make the decision based on the answers in your application form (if they have one) or they may interview you and submit the results of their interview to another group. 

Some Groups Find Certain Characters “Iffy”

For instance, in Tirion Hunting Forest or Aglarond, if you have a role that does not fit within their organisational structure, these details, and sometimes a photo of your character, will be presented to the Ringbearer’s/Knight’s Council.  They will have the final say on how appropriate your character will fit within the lands. Most lands do not dictate a character, role, race or religion for you…you are free to choose. However, once you choose, you must stay within the parameters of that race/role/religion.

Meet with the groups again after you have decided on your character and learn from their leaders.  Read or ask questions on what they think Role Play is about.  Think of it as the “script” for the lands.

It Is Only A Stage Play

If you wanted to be in any play, you first look at the parts available and the way the parts are played. You choose one that you think fits you. This includes your behaviour parameters, your limitations, your god (if religion/belief systems are part of their RP), your costume, what you eat, the weapons you are good at if you wish to participate in combat, your abilities, etc.

You may, in some cases have to audition for a part. Typically no one person wrote the “Land’s Play”, it was decided over many hours of study, proposals, debate and playing issues through and testing them.  The most difficult lands to RP are the ones who have no idea of parts, structure, roles or scenarios.

The land is like the “stage”. There will be an overall day-by-day play and special “scenes or acts” to play, with parts for players, each part has particulars. If you wish to play a dark or evil race you will stay within the description of the dark/evil race you have chosen. But it is an oxymoron to say you are a good Demon or a loving Orc. Both are obviously dark/evil races and are bound by the descriptions within the race — unless the land allows this.

Each of the described races has specifics based on literature or a specially-created history that is matched to races and roles.  Each land is unique.  Tirion Hunting Forest is is unique from Aglarond, Nordhaven, Avilion or a BDSM sim. They are not Hell Boy, Hulk, Spiderman, Batman. They are not Lord of the Rings, Final Fantasy, Dune, Dungeons and Dragons or Forgotten Realm, theyare Tirion Hunting Forest, a First Age, Middle Earth land based on The Silmarillion.

NOTE:  In any land you enter, you have freedom to play within the rules or find another land where you can play what you feel comfortable playing.  This is a virtual world we live in, not the real world-and OOC issues have no part in what we play here, so issues of racism or freedom of religion are irrelevant in a land’s “play”.

Lands cannot make make exceptions to everyone’s wim, for to do so is to be disrespectful to their “play”. If you wish to play in a land….be ready to play by their rules and guidelines. It is not personal, it is just what exists in every land – every character has limitations. So like you may have heard sometime in your life…”if you are under our roof you need to play according to our rules“.

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