A Songbird and a Black Sword (MotM/ATR)

[Arnyn]

Several of you did a marvellous job of standing around in some meadow or farm field, but in the end only two will receive the laurels

Our Member of the Month is

@Chrysophylax Dives

The Thrush

Our ATR recipient is

@Rivvy Elf

Turin Turambar


Congratulations, Chrys and Rivvy! Enjoy!

[Pele Alarion]

@Chrysophylax Dives , @Rivvy Elf Congratulations and very well earned!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Well, thank you very much! I am not used to such honours so apologies if this is a dumb question, but does the honour and icon come with any genuine power that i can abuse? In particular, is there any chance of gaining Admin access to the 'Riddles in the Dark' thread so i can discover the answers to the two house riddles?



I quite understand if such abuse of power is not sanctioned in the nu plaza and I want to emphasize that there is no anti-Dwarvish bias in such a request. Or at least, very little. But if the answer is no, I would very much hope that future Admins consider this option. I suspect that i am not the only one who would give my vote to anyone campainging on such an enlightened policy.

[Arnyn]

@Chrysophylax Dives No admin powers to my knowledge, just a flashy icon and possibly the admiration (or jealousy, depending on your outlook at life lol) of your fellow members. *pouts*

You can always try to convince the riddler in question to privately grant you the answers, since you're member of the month and all. Maybe they'll be so in awe of your thrushing self they will give it up!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

You can always try to convince the riddler in question to privately grant you the answers, since you're member of the month and all. Maybe they'll be so in awe of your thrushing self they will give it up!

No chance. Dwarves care nothing for such matters. And this one is more stiff-necked than most.

[Arnyn]

Sing them a song, little bird, for even Dwarves do not possess hearts of stone.

[Rivvy Elf]

Thank you everyone! Now I shall travel into an elven kingdom and hopefully it won't collapse!

[Drifa]

Congrats, Rivvy and Chrysophylax Dives! Enjoy your icons!

[Lail]

whoo hoo!! I am delighted to see another birdie and my fav tragic hero (anti-hero?) of the Silmarillion kicking about the place!

congratulations to you both! and thank you for your continued thought-provoking posts and discussions.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

@Chrysophylax Dives No admin powers to my knowledge

Turned out there was Admin powers! In my first post as a thrush I got one of the two riddles! However, I have not guessed the other so I guess I used up all the magic Admin power on the one guess.

[Eldy Dunami]

Congratulations, @Chrysophylax Dives and @Rivvy Elf! Your recent posts in Lore have been an absolute delight to read, even as someone currently in lurker mode.

[Moriel]

Congratulations!!

[Periantar]

*stands there clapping whilst looking totally confused about the whole afair*

There was voting of some kind? and what in the confustication and bebotherment is an ATR?

[Arnyn]

Hey, @Periantar! Yup, there was a thread open to vote for Member of the Month in the Administrator Messages forum - and it appeared as a global sticky thread (like this one) for a number of days.

As for the ATR, that's the Admin Tribute Rank.

The members get to pick the member(s) of the month and the admins pick the admin tribute rank(s). Hope that explains things a bit?

[Silky Gooseness]

Congratulations to both our wonderful members @Rivvy Elf and @Chrysophylax Dives - I’ve greatly enjoyed reading both your posts over the past couple of months. Eglerio!

[Ercassie]

Well done to you both.

@Chrysophylax Dives, I could make some jest about a clever thrush knock-knock-knocking on a secret door, in hopes of revealing a Dwarvish riddle answer .. but honestly, your perseverance there is admirable. Congratulations on having guessed any of the Master Riddler's enigmas.

@Rivvy Elf, how you manage to still be so prolific in posting when you are abroad and so busy is incredible. Very impressed. And you know reading that fanfic of yours is still on my 'to do' list.

Enjoy your unique avatars ! Very nice.

[Periantar]

Cheers!

Hey, @Periantar! Yup, there was a thread open to vote for Member of the Month in the Administrator Messages forum - and it appeared as a global sticky thread (like this one) for a number of days.

As for the ATR, that's the Admin Tribute Rank.

The members get to pick the member(s) of the month and the admins pick the admin tribute rank(s). Hope that explains things a bit?

[Aikári Salmarinian]

Chrys and Rivvy: Congratulations! You both, definitely deserved. Enjoy the honour in the coming months!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

@Chrysophylax Dives, I could make some jest about a clever thrush knock-knock-knocking on a secret door, in hopes of revealing a Dwarvish riddle answer .. but honestly, your perseverance there is admirable. Congratulations on having guessed any of the Master Riddler's enigmas.

Ercassie, did you see what @Periantar did?!?

[Rivvy Elf]

A belated thank you to everyone for your lovely thanks!

To more thought-provoking discussion and other fun posts!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

A belated thank you from me too.

However, would it be ungrateful to request my Ent face again? i feel i am closing down on an identity crisis with these feathers, that my voice has become shriller, and that i am losing touch with my roots. i know that @Rivvy Elf and others hold that Ents are not Trees, and i am sure that is true. but i am an Ent, and i feel my inner Tree. Or i used to.

I am a Hobbit and i don't like heights! i am an Ent with roots, but cannot find them anymore. I am a dragon who seeks a wilderness, and i am trapped in feathers.

please.

if you let me be an Ent again i promise to move beyond the seedling stage - which was meant to make a point about Ent time being slower, but was not a very good point.

[Fuin Elda]

@Chrysophylax Dives Poor little bird I hope you at least had fun for a bit as a Thrush!

[Arnyn]

@Chrysophylax Dives As you wish, dear Ent.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

thank you!

Honestly, everyone - i deeply appreciated it. My usual assumption is that i've annoyed 90 per cent of you. So it was nice to discover that is not always the case. And from my side the exercise was very rewarding. It is wonderful to fly high. It just makes me feel a bit giddy.

I will go find the tree growth buttons, as promised.

[Lail]

you look good as a bird or as an enting or a mighty tree. whatever face you wear, we appreciate you!

[Arnyn]

Then I'm part of the 10% whom you did not annoy, @Chrysophylax Dives :p

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Thank you both. Arnyn, i am very sorry you have missed out . i will come and poke you a bit and annoy you some, i promise. but not for a little - i need a nap first.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Hi @Arnyn. Can I ask a plaza question of potential delicacy? I wish to go to the points fairy on Drifa's riddle. But it appears that the riddle may have been faulty. So i do not see how the points fairy can distribute the appropriate gold rings and the like until the nature of the riddle is first settled. And to be honest, if the riddle really was faulty, and i wasted 2 years of my life on a Chubb-Baggins who never existed, then i do think that some questions need to be asked.

I was wondering if the admins might be prepared to adjudicate? Or possibly call a meeting so that we could select a small committee to deliver a report? I am open to alternatives. All that motivates me is justice - for the Dwarf.

[Dungeon Delver]

Sounds like a matter for the Halls of Injustice to me.

[Arnyn]

@Chrysophylax Dives I think @Laurence makes an excellent suggestion: the Halls of Injustice would be the perfect way to settle this. If your tree-like self would truly like to bring the matter to the court and obtain justice. I am sure one or more (I would be, so that is one at least) of the admins would be willing to serve as judge(s).

[Chrysophylax Dives]

O yes!
Dwarf, we will talk.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Is there a place i can go for legal counsel? If i get this right, any case would be judged by the Mouth of Sauron. Correct? I need to find out about this judge - receptivity to cash, for example, personal biases and other stuff to avoid - the usual.

[Dungeon Delver]

[Chrysophylax Dives]

If your tree-like self would truly like to bring the matter to the court and obtain justice. I am sure one or more (I would be, so that is one at least) of the admins would be willing to serve as judge(s).

Thank you very much Arnyn. That was a supremely helpful suggestion. One point, if i may, and also a question.

My tree-like self has no problem with the Dwarf - in this day and age we are beyond all that tree and axe and consistency of squirrel droppings conversation. And to be completely honest, my dragon-self is very fond of this Dwarf, who I actually consider a good friend. However, my dragon-self is hungry and i have learned over the years never to turn down the opportunity of a free lunch.

Question: please don't take this as a challenge to the supreme all-knowing might and wisdom and virtue of the admins, may the hairs on their toes, feathers on their wings, etc etc never curl - but i am a little dubious as to the expertise on riddles of the current admins.

Legal matters are a lengthy business. It will take a while to prepare my case. May I humbly suggest that we enact a nuplaza bylaw requiring all admins to make at least 3 guesses a month in the 'Riddles in the Dark' thread? I appreciate that you are already massively overworked, but my confidence in your noble and honest characters assures me that you will not rest until you have done everything in your power to ensure a fair trial for the Dwarf (who after all is the plaza member we should be thinking of here and, as i have said, is my friend).

What do you say? I'd settle for 2 out of 3 admins with a minimal requirement of 2 guesses each a month.

[Arnyn]

well I'll be. @Chrysophylax Dives

So, firstly: the halls of injustice were King Otis' (previously Laurence's) suggestion, not mine. I merely agreed and therefore cannot take any credit. (If you are questioning any comprehensive reading skills - one of the many skills required to solve riddles - then hopefully I have at least addressed that concern.)

Secondly, by default the threadrunner (@Silky Gooseness, or the goose supreme) would be playing the Mouth of Sauron yes. If she deigns some version of some existing or new character I and or @Rivvy Elf could play as worthy, we would be allowed to sit in.

Thirdly, pertaining to the matter of obtaining legal counsel - this is left to your preference and discretion. You may choose to represent yourself or you may petition someone else to do it for you. (This person does have to agree, of course.)

Fourthly, expertise on the matter at hand is not required for a judge. It is not required for judges who handle divorce cases to divorce x times a month. Legal representatives may bring forth their case, experts and eye witnesses. The judge takes into account the law, precedent, and in the case of The Halls of Injustice, whatever else they like.

Fifthly, your suggestion for a bylaw has been noted. Once we have filed through our backlog, we will review it and get back to you. Unfortunately the current team is only in office for six months and if a new admin team is in place by then, you will have to make the suggestion anew.

[Silky Gooseness]

the problem is that I am not very good at riddles; and thus if said bylaw is enacted I can’t be blamed for frivolous guesswork

[Rivvy Elf]

I'm just imagining roleplaying as The (hewn) Feet of Melkor, as the Mouth of Sauron is a thing.

[Dungeon Delver]

Imagine the athlete’s foot those things must have…

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Ah. I am pleased to see some interest in a thread at last. Thank you all. The truth is that i am by now very tired and in need of putting down my roots for the night, and so i will inspect carefully all suggestions tomorrow.

In the meanwhile, may i make two suggestions:

1. The obvious resolution of this issue is actually through the Hobbit, @Periantar. This Hobbit gave the right solution to what may be the wrong riddle! No other in our world has more authority on this issue than this Hobbit. (The only problem being that this Hobbit is of late especially shire and retiring).

(The pun was deliberate.)

2. Shall we take it that the question of a formal committment by the admins to riddle-thread participation should be taken up with a post of its own? Not in Lore, surely? May i ask you to point me to the appropriate forum? We could use the thread to hammer out the numbers - how many of you, how often.

Please note, and reiterating that i have not yet read any of your (no doubt wonderful) messages, i assume it was obvious that when i said bylaw it was a typo, and i was actually referring to a sort of unofficial pledge by the admin crew for at least a couple of tries every now and then. one of those legally binding unofficial pledges.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Hello? Admins?
i thought we had a thing going here. but apparently the prompt and polite service that followed the coronation is now falling back into the slow stupor of regular plaza existence. so rather than draw out this drama needlessly, i thought i should come directly to the point.

We are very happy to bring this case to Mordor and play by your Admin Mordor rules (do we not in any case grind our faces in the dust of your happy regime every single day?) We will do our day in court!

But in return we need your help to fix the riddle thread, which has been broken by the Dwarf's Chubb-Baggins confusion. What we need is to chain one of you to a small machine on the small slimy island at the end of the goblin tunnel that begins with a nice-looking hole in the Shire. You do not need to worry about expertise. @Drifa and me fixed up the machinery so that the thing works on role-playing power (automatically converted to riddles).

You are welcome to discuss among yourselves which one of you might volunteer for this noble sacrafice on behalf of a venerable thread. But know that we think that the apparatus that we fixed up would work very nicely with the one you call 'Arnyn'.

[Arnyn]

The dregs of the cole mines, Chrys.

But it seems like you want to drag me from my mine to some horrid machine! At least tell me I will not have to be slain by the Son of Darkness and Dragnipur to remain forever chained to this contraption?

Pray tell, should I indeed volunteer for such a sacrifice, how would it work exactly? For if there is one thing I have learned, it is to demand the fine print.

[Dungeon Delver]

Ha! *inserts “I understood that reference” gif*

[Arnyn]

excellent

[Chrysophylax Dives]

O my bad! i just initiated stage 2 of my 'get to know Arnyn a little better' campaign.
i am really happy with your willingness to be chained on our island (it is not as bad as it sounds - there is a good supply of fresh fish and some other unexpected delicacies that may be scooped out of their shells. and every now again Drifa or me would come and paw you a bit to see if you have become more hairy - it is a thing).

unfortunately, it is too late!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Hi @Arnyn, I hope i am not bothering you. I'm also aware that you have a lot on your plate and hesitate to add more. But Tolkien is all about language, right? And i have a linguistic issue with the plaza censorship filters. The word B-O-L-L-O-C-K-S is rendered 'bullocks.' I assume that this is a plaza filtering device and, i must inform you, it is wrong.

If you google the famous Sex Pistols album cover trial of 1977 you will discover that a high court judged ruled that the word derived from an Old English name for a priest, and means 'nonsense'.

In the interests of freedom of expression, may I call upon the admins to reset the filters? At the very least, we could all have a meeting about it.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Hi @Arnyn, i am so sorry to bother you once again! It is just that you have become my go-to admin.

I am supposed to be posting a new competition on the plaza Cottage competition. But there appears to be something of a rumpus going on (balagan is the Hebrew word one would use, indicating a mixed up mess).

Is it possible that the admins could sort it out please so that I could proceed with my plan to draw out the untapped aesthetic potential of the plaza?

Thank you so much!
Chrys

[Chrysophylax Dives]

At least tell me I will not have to be slain by the Son of Darkness and Dragnipur to remain forever chained to this contraption?

Pray tell, should I indeed volunteer for such a sacrifice, how would it work exactly? For if there is one thing I have learned, it is to demand the fine print.

Of course not! You would be released at the end of your natural admin term (though we would expect a replacement from the new crop).

Well it works with a rather nifty goblin device that we found in a nearby tunnel. Did you ever see the Dr Who episode where the Daleks have a TV broadcast station in space? It is a little similar.



But as i said above, forgetting to check the replies on this thread i accidentally advanced to the second stage of the campaign. We reckon we can catch a Hobbit for the machine and what we actually wish for is for you - singular, plural, other - to go over the riddle and explain what has gone wrong. As i did say at the beginning, I don't so much wish to eat the Dwarf (though that is not a bad idea) as to achieve clarity on the genealogy of the Chubb-Bagginses. I need this clarity in order to continue my story of the Undertowers Hobbits of the 4th Age.

[Chrysophylax Dives]

That was the dragon's hope. The plaza members could all get into the boats for all he cared. Then he could have fine sport hunting them, or they could stop till they starved. Let them try to get to land and he would be ready. Soon he would set all the shoreland woods ablaze and wither every field and pasture. Just now he was enjoying the sport of admin-baiting more than he had enjoyed anything for years.

@Arnyn, you have made me feel 22 years younger! Thank you.

[Arnyn]

@Chrysophylax Dives Sweetheart, I tried to fix the thread, let me know what you think.

Also I tried to fix the b o l l u c k s problem. Do try it out!

[Chrysophylax Dives]

Test:

Never mind the billferny, here's the Admins!

Almost.