Roll on fifteen! 

Green Dragon Friday is 14 years old, and we shall, must and will celebrate! Welcome hobbits! Bring all yer hobbit friends!

Date: Friday May 20
Time: 7:30PM ((UK, 2:30PM servertime))
Location: Green Dragon Inn, Bywater, The Shire.

Plans for the main party are always changing, but here are some things to look forward to:

• The Grand GDF Pie Baking Competition – sign up with yer best (or worst?) pie! See details below!
• The Grand GDF Wear Green Competition – wear a fine green outfit, you might win a prize!
• The Grand GDF Anniversary Meal – food and drink aplenty!
• The Grand GDF Anniversary Speech – yer not getting away from it…
• The Grand GDF Raffle – win fun prizes!
• The Grand GDF Anniversary Song – turn it up to eleven!
• The Grand GDF Fireworks Display – we’ll boom even closer to the Cotton farm this time!
• GDF-related entertainment – sign up in advance if yer have some!

((OOC:

Please note that Green Dragon Friday is an in-character roleplaying event for hobbits. Travelling dwarves are welcome as always.

Also note that the anniversary parties are usually quite busy. If you’d like to entertain on the night, please sign up in advance!

The pie-baking competition!

The aim of the competition is to find out who bakes the best pie (or worst?), as well as have some fun on the way.

Obviously, there is no way to have a jury eat your pie and and check its quality in-game. That’s why we will ask the participants to describe their baked goods, according to the instructions below. The jury will then choose which pie they think sound the best. It will be subjective, but then again, most matters of taste are.

How to enter

There will be a limited number of entrants in the pie-baking competition. To enter the pie-baking competition, please do the following:

1. Be (or create) a hobbit on the Laurelin server
2. Contact me and say that you’d like to enter the competition. Provide the name of the character you’ll enter with. You must sign up in advance to participate.
3. Check the rules below.
4. Come to the Green Dragon for the anniversary party on Friday May 20 and be prepared to present yer pie.
5. You’ll also have to roleplay that you have brought three extra pies in addition to the one being presented to the jury, since the audience is likely hungry for a taste as well

Rules

During the party, be prepared to do the following when called up by the jury:

1. Present the name of your pie. The name should indicate what kind of pie this is. For instance, “This is Ma Willowwood’s herby mutton pie”
2. When prompted by the jury, describe what your pie looks like, by a single emote text. This could be the shape, colour, appearance or any other interesting information about the visuals of your pie. For instance, “/e holds up a soggy-looking pie, slightly pale on top”. Short and sweet does it.
3. Answer two questions in /say when prompted by the jury (once again, keep it short and simple)

• • What are the main ingredients in your pie?
    Give a short response in /say, for instance “Well, I used those moldy strawberries I found lyin’ near them dogs in me Gaffer’s backyard”.
  • Why did you bake this pie for the GDF anniversary?
    Of all the pies in the Shire, why this one? Why is it a great one for the GDF anniversary? Once again, give a short response in /say.
    

Keep in mind:

• I cannot stress this enough: keep your answers short and simple! Neither question should lead to a wall of text or a long lecture.
• Keep your answers fitting to your character and the LOTRO universe.
• Avoid power-emoting (for instance, variations of “this is clearly the best and most fabulous pie you have ever laid your eyes on” won’t do at all, since there’s no wriggle room for the judges).
• Try to tempt the judges and be creative, but don’t go overboard either!
• Finally, remember that the pies should be edible and not poisonous, but they don’t necessarily have to taste good…  ))
  

Results

After all pies are presented, the jury will deliberate a bit and vote on the winner. The audience is free to sample the extra pies brought in the meantime.

All participants will get a reward. The top baker will win a special prize, and  likely also get honourable mentions in the Bramblebury Gazette. There may also be special prizes given for particularly fun or clever entries.

The judges are currently kept as a secret, to avoid the danger of bribes!

The voting has now closed and the tally is being made.

On Sunday May 1st or Beltane as sum call it , we will crown our next Shire May Queen an King!

First, ye needs ter know where ter go?

So many places are full o' folk setting off them fizzers, tis hard ter think at times.

We will gather at 4 Myrtle Court in Oakham, 7:30 pm ((BST/2:30pm servertime)) where the doors an grounds of People of the Shire have been opened up ter ye all!

Am hoping ter get the Maypole up in time fer yer ter dance around.

Bring a picnic if ye likes, bring fizzers too if ye've any left!

Let's do our out going Queen an King proud and celebrate the new as well!

An if any musicians feel like strumming a tune or two at the time, do let me know an ah'll give ye a nod when ye can play.

So much ter do, ah plum fergot about tunes!

The Lazy Hobbits Club helps Barmy out with party preparations.

Our first Lazy Hobbits meet-up turned out to be pretty fruitful. A ton of apples were gathered for a huge apple pie that was later served at the Early Pie Day party in Songburrow. All in all, it all turned out to be very successful. Even Lobelia didn't spot us in the Appledores – probably because we moved too slowly for anyone to catch our movements.

News of the helpful lazy hobbits have also reached Barmy Rootknot’s ears. The innkeeper of the Green Dragon in Bywater is pretty busy with preparing the inn for the 14th Green Dragon Anniversary that takes place later in May. He could certainly use some help, be it lazy help or not. He might even offer the helpers something for their trouble. Here are the details:

Date: Saturday 7th May

Time: 6:30PM ((UK, 1:30 server time))

Location: Green Dragon, Bywater, the Shire

We welcome everyone to join us and be lazy together! Please note that we start early so that we can also go napping early after all the hard work. If you have questions, please contact Miss Pycella.

((OOC: This is a new recurring hobbit roleplaying event with a loose theme/plan, e.g. helping NPCs, fishing, searching for lost farm animals and so on, where we leave room for improvisation and surprises. All hobbits are welcome, but also lazy travelling dwarves can join if they wish. Please note that this event starts earlier than usual.))

Date: 27th April, 2022
Time: 7.00 PM ((UK time/2:00 PM server time))
Location: Needlehole, The Shire

Hither and yon again!

What is the history of the Yondershire villages? Who lives there, and are there any famous inhabitants? Is there a Hithershire too?

Answers to these questions, and possibly more, may be given during the hobbit historical field trip. There are no guarantees, though!

Meet up in Little Delving. After a quick welcome, we’ll walk through parts of The Yondershire and see some of the sights, with stops where our historians present stories, tales, poetry and/or songs related to the history of the area. Food WILL be served, but of course, any hobbit knows that the safest bet is to bring some of yer own.

Date: Saturday April 30
Time: 7PM ((UK time / 2PM servertime))
Location: Meet in Little Delving

Want to know more about hobbit history? Bring a sturdy walking stick and be welcome along!

((OOC

The historical field trips have been running irregularly since 2009. They combine a few lectures/stories of hobbit lore with a trip to locations of hobbit interest. If yer want to know more about hobbit and Shire history, this is yer chance. Remember that our historians often go for a tall, exciting tale more than strict lore accuracy, though!

Given the subject matter, this is certainly a hobbit-preferred event. The odd lore-seeking dwarf, man or elf interested in hobbit lore is of course welcome along, but wouldn’t you rather just roll a hobbit alt for the evening? ))