Because we weren’t allowed to play even minor
characters from the original books (and films) we were given a pretty free rein
with creating our own ‘original’ characters. Who you chose, and where and how
you decided to play them was up to you. Some people only wanted to play in
classic canon style threads and so their hobbits, elves or dwarves etc, tended
to retain the original profiling as written by Tolkien – salt of the earth
hobbit types like Sam Gamgee, or enigmatic, serious Rangers like Aragorn. You
knew where you were with that kind of character.
For a Bard like Jano, you were of course expected
to sing and tell stories, and so that was an opportunity for you to build up
your own backstory as well. When I was playing to strict canon rules, I had the
chance to wow people with my versions of the older tales from the legendarium,
and for that I could, of course, name drop like crazy. It was in fan-fiction
that you could really start to cut loose however.
Before I began to get into roleplay, my first piece
of fan-fiction wove baby Janowyn firmly into Minas Tirith, right after the
Battle of the Pellennor Fields. I had her mother give birth in the Houses of
Healing after being saved by a cavalryman of Rohan as she lay injured in the
ruins of a tower destroyed by a Ringwraith (this really ‘happened’ in the
Return of the King, so I simply had Jano’s mum standing on the roof terrace of
the tower when it fell). This man, who became Jano’s stepfather, was also
harmed during the battle (being me, I gave him PTSD rather than a flesh wound!)
and so he was also with the Healers, acting as a messenger for the Lady Eowyn…
And because it wasn’t part of a game thread, I could put in as much canon
character interaction as I wanted.
Some of my writing for Jano was not so ardently
plagiarised however. I killed Jano’s natural father off just before she was
born, but I still wanted to let him have some part in Jano’s history, so I
wrote this short piece for her to roleplay at a tavern. The canon bending was
very minimal, because I made her father a cousin of Prince Imrahil of Dol
Amroth (who’s barely mentioned in passing in the books), but when they were
young boys on a sailing trip. The following was therefore never written by
Professor Tolkien…
The Sea Horse
On this day, Erlrohil and Imrahil decided
to go sailing in their glider, the Princess, taking care not go too far out to
sea as the currents there could be treacherous. At first all was well and the
wind took them scudding across the waves faster than a gull can fly. They did
not intend to stray too far from the shoreline, but after they had been out for
an hour, what seemed to be a light mist surrounded them. For a while they could
still see the shore and all they had to do was hold the course they were
taking. So, when the mist got thicker and the beach gradually disappeared, they
held their tiller steady, still unafraid until suddenly they were aware that
their craft was travelling much faster.
Try as they might they could not
turn the little boat to the starboard to hug the coast. The current held them
for several minutes longer, but then, as suddenly as it had begun, it released
them into clear sunshine once more and their small vessel slowed. Looking
around them, the lads saw to their relief that they were in a beautiful
sheltered bay they had never seen before. Realising they had come much further
than they had intended, they decided they would head in towards the shore and
then follow the coastline back to their summer home.
As they turned toward
the shoreline they saw some horkas leaping in and out of the water not far from
their boat. They smiled at each other as these small blue-grey dolphins were
thought to be lucky creatures. The wind was getting strong again, and, as they
did not want to be blown back into the current they decided to take the sail
down. Regrettably Erlrohil, who had not often seen horkas, and could not resist
looking at their agile jumps, did not concentrate enough on the task in hand. A
strong gust suddenly snatched the sail and boom, which Imrahil was trying to
tie down, and swung it sharply in Erlrohil’s direction. He had turned away
again and did not realise his peril, despite Imrahil’s loud cry of dismay, as
the boom hit him squarely in the shoulder and sent him flying through the air
and into deep water.
He fell with a great shout and
splash. There was a strong undertow and he was dragged irresistibly underwater
back out towards the main current. Had the blow been to his head there is
little doubt that he would have drowned. As it was, he was fighting for air as
he finally surfaced almost back where they had arrived, far from the Princess
and still being pulled away out to sea. Erlrohil was a good swimmer and struck
out for the little boat, but his shoulder ached horribly and the current was
far too strong for him.
He could see but not
hear Imrahil, yelling at him, ashen-faced, and desperately trying to reset the
sail to follow him. Seawater was filling his nose and mouth and he was pulled
under once more. He could hear a hollow clanging sound and felt something swim
between his legs. Instinctively he tried to grasp hold of the object, which he
suddenly realised was a horka’s head and beak. The creature, supple and smooth
as leather to the touch, seemed to understand his distress, and positioning
itself beside him, nudged him none too gently until he took hold of its high
dorsal fin. The animal immediately surged off in the direction of the Princess,
Erlrohil clinging frantically to the rigid fin. It took him a while to realise
how powerful the fish was. It almost felt like he was riding a horse as the
horka flexed itself in an up and down rhythm through the waves, and he
gradually realised the creature had actually pulled him out of the current and
was taking him back towards the Princess.
As the little dolphin, barely as
long as Erlrohil was tall, neared the small boat it began to slow. Imrahil,
seeing what had happened, had stopped struggling with the sail and was reaching
out toward him. The horka’s beaky mouth was almost touching the hull of the
Princess as Imrahil, leaning over, grasped Erlrohil’s lower arm with both
hands. Erlrohil almost reluctantly let go of the slick, warm fin and clasped
one of Imrahil’s arms firmly as the little creature rose beneath him, boosting
him out of the water.
“He’s smart!” Erlrohil shouted,
teeth chattering, as Imrahil hauled him into the boat.
“Just as well he is!” Imrahil yelled
angrily back at him. “Why didn’t you watch what you were doing!” then he
clutched Erlrohil to him fiercely and burst into tears. “I thought you would
drown,” he sobbed.
They were both crying with relief
now. The horka was chittering at them, head bobbing a few yards away from the
prow now, it’s long beaky mouth almost smiling at them. They both turned and
watched laughing, as the horka made one huge leap into the air, twisting away
from them as it hit the water and swam furiously back to its family, who were
still playing their leaping games off in the distance.
“That fish just saved your life!” Imrahil’s
voice was filled with wonder.
“It let me ride on its
back!” Erlrohil spluttered, shivering violently. “It’s not a fish! It’s a sea
horse!”
In
A Freebooter’s Fantasy Almanac, because I couldn’t use any canon names at all,
I changed Erlrohil’s name to Ruari, and Imrahil’s to Ærdhen. These are two of
the main characters from my new (and wholly original) fantasy series, still
being written, The Tomes of the Havenlands.
The sigil on the left is one that Jano designed for the hilt of her father's sword for her's and Silen's combined coat of arms;the House of the Sea Horse and the Fiery Moon of House Aranor.
The sigil on the left is one that Jano designed for the hilt of her father's sword for her's and Silen's combined coat of arms;the House of the Sea Horse and the Fiery Moon of House Aranor.
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