Grand Summer Picnic, Sunday 31 July

Post date: Jul 09, 2016 10:37:23 AM

By Lina Willowwood   

Joy of joys, the summer is near! And summer means time for food and drink! Well, so does the rest of the year too, but there’s one thing summer surely brings. Picnics! Get ready for this year’s Grand Summer Picnic!   

Date: Sunday July 31st

Time: 7:30PM ((UK/BST, 2:30PM servertime))

Location: On top of The Hill overlooking the party tree in Hobbiton, where the summer pie races used to be held.

We are pleased to invite all hobbits and good friends to this year’s summer party and picnic. Activities to look forward to include music, dancing, games, food and drinks, fireworks and competitions! And who knows, maybe them lazy Songburrow Strollers can be lured out to play a bit too?

The pies roll further

Lobelia’s Hill Pie Rolling Run returns! After the success of earlier years, we just had to arrange a follow-up! Wear fancy costumes and throw yerself into the chase of the pie, but remember – it is not always a question of finishing the race first ter win!

Why this run, though? Local legend has it that Bilbo Baggins once had a picnic with invited guests on top of The Hill. The times were good and the hobbits were jolly, until someone noticed Lobelia Sackville-Baggins walking determinedly towards the crowd. The ensuing escape was spectacular, with hobbits streaming down The Hill, making use of all possible and some impossible shortcuts.

They even say that one of the picnic pies started rolling down The Hill, not stopping until it hit The Party Tree. It was eaten soon after by the escaping hobbits, which improved their moods no end.

The legend may not be 100% correct, but it is to celebrate this occasion that we arrange Lobelia’s Hill Pie Rolling Run during the Grand Summer Picnic!

For rules, see below!

(( OOC:

This is certainly a hobbit-preferred event, but well-mannered dwarves and good friends from taller persuasions may surely pop around too. Just don’t block the view of the locals once the concert starts!

Pie run rules

First of all, this is not a competition to be taken very seriously. It is loosely inspired by the Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake. While we will endeavour to find out who crosses the finish line first, visual confirmation of this is generally hard in LOTRO, given the latency differences between players.

Winning the race is not really the purpose, though. Basically, this is a short, adrenaline-filled event so the guests can remember local lore and build an appetite before the picnic starts in earnest. There may be some prizes involved, but most of all we want folks to have fun!

The route starts at the top of the Hill, heads down around the Party Tree below Bag End, and back to the start. All runners will likely start at once, and a fast run through the route will take approx. one minute.

We ask that the participants don’t use mounts, speed buffs/skills/items or safe fall skills (burglars). Apart from this, the route to the party tree and back to the picnic spot is your own choice.

Go fast or slow based on your preferences. Set off fireworks, dress like Lobelia, stop for a drink – your choice. If you want to brave Lobelia’s garden and the steep cliffs below, be our guests! Good luck and have fun!

This video shows the general route of the race.

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