Green Dragon Friday Is Eight Years!!

Post date: May 01, 2016 10:11:51 AM

By Lina Willowwood    

Eight years ago! That's when the local hobbits started meeting at the Green Dragon every Friday night, for musings, music, mead and merriment. Come celebrate the anniversary with us, hobbits! Here are the party plans!   

Parties  

There are two parties, both held at the Green Dragon in Bywater on the LOTRO server Laurelin, at the usual time of 8PM UK/BST (3PM servertime). Here are some of the things planned (subject to change):  

The warmup party on Friday May 13th

• • The Grand GDF Ale Restocking

  • The Grand GDF Anniversary Meal Competition, presentation of entries (see below for rules)

  • The Grand GDF Anniversary Waiter Tryouts (see below for details)

  • The Grand GDF Green Outfit competition (see below for rules)

  • GDF-inspired poems, songs, riddles, limericks and stories

The main party on Friday May 20th

• • The Grand GDF Anniversary Meal

  • The Grand GDF Patron Poem Presentation (see below for details)

  • The Grand GDF Fireworks Competition (see below for details)

  • The Grand GDF Pony Dance. Bring yer ponies for a dance outside the inn!

  • The Grand GDF Anniversary Speech

  • GDF-inspired poems, songs, riddles, limericks and stories

Entertainers

Green Dragon Friday is home to many hobbit performers. This time, we ask our performers to:

• • Prepare riddles, songs, poems, limericks or similar that relates to the Green Dragon, Bywater, Green Dragon Friday and/or its patrons.

  • Sign up in advance for a given date by sending me a letter.

  • Given the other activities planned these Fridays, there will be little to no room for on-the-day sign-ups.

  • Any entertainment that is related to GDF somehow will be given priority.

  • Keep your entries short and to the point (10 minutes is max, but shorter is better), and please remember the event guidelines

Anniversary meal competition (sign up before May 12th, presentation May 13th, winning meal announced May 20th)

Naturally, we'll need an anniversary meal. Usually, Barmy has set up a menu on his own, but this year, he has asked you all for help! And thus, we have made a competition of it. We urge all our cooks (amateur or professional) to set up a suggested menu!

Rules:

• • Sign up by sending me a letter before Thursday May 12th. You'll need to send me the menu entry too, as way of signing up.

  • The menu should describe 3 courses: A starter, a main course and a dessert. Please also suggest drinks to go with each course.

  • A jury will score the suggested menus based on a) perceived taste, b) lore (stick to food that would naturally have its home in the Shire), c) menu composition/balance between courses, and d) innovative use of local ingredients

  • On May 13th, all cooks will present their suggested menu to the audience at the Dragon. Remember to keep descriptions short and to the point.

  • In the following week, the jury will ponder over the menus.

  • The winner will be announced during the main party on Friday May 20th, and the winning menu will be served during the party.

  • Humorous entries with some odd ingredients are encouraged. You might not "win", but you'll certainly spread joy in the audience!

Anniversary waiter tryouts (sign up before May 12th, tryouts May 13th, winner Friday 20th)

Barmy needs a new waiter, given that miss Amburr hasn't been around to serve the patrons for years. Do you have it in you to work under the watchful eye of Barmy and all the patrons at GDF? Then we might have a job for you!

• • If you'd like to work as a waiter during the anniversaries, please send me a letter as soon as possible, and Thursday May 12th at the latest.

  • During the warmup party on May 13th, those who have signed up for the tryouts will be assigned slots to work the bar besides Barmy. The waiters will take orders for + help serve ales and two dishes: pork pie with season's veg, and crisp-fried fillets of perch with boiled taters, herbs and lemon.

  • Waiters should be efficient, courteous and humorous in their interaction with the guests.

  • At the end of the night, a jury will announce the winner.

  • The winner will help serve the anniversary meal during the main party on Friday the 20th (don't worry, you'll also have much time to attend the party proper). He or she will also be given a fine salary.

  • If interested, the winner might be offered a permanent slot as waiter at the Dragon. The role may include deciding menus for the night and help serving the patrons.

Green Outfit Competition (no sign-up, just wear a green outfit during the warmup party on May 13th)

During the warmup party on May 13th, there will be a "stealth" outfit competition running through the night. A jury will choose which outfits they feel celebrate the spirit of Green Dragon Friday the best. Prizes will be awarded near the end of the night.

The only rule? Your outfit has to have a green theme! That's it! It won't have to be fully green (I hear good things about yellow...), but the main colour must indeed be green. Apart from this, feel free to try express GDF through your chosen clothes or cosmetic items (including hand-held items). There will be no sign-up for the competition, just come dressed in your best greens.

Patron Poem Presentation (sign up before: May 19th, competition on May 20th)

We'd like to get to know our patrons better! And what better way to do that than to have yer write a short poem or song? So, we'll have us a small poetry competition! And the theme of the poem/song has to be ... yourself.

Basically, the poem should tell us: What makes you stand out from the others?

Do you have special habits, background, preferences, idiosyncrasies, favourite colour or food, etc? Which characteristics define you as a hobbit? Write us a poem about it! Or perform it as a song with lyrics!

(For instance, I might be inclined to write "an elegy for a burning bagpipe"...)

To enter:

• • Please sign up by sending me a letter as soon as possible, and Thursday May 19th at the latest (you do not need to include your poem in the letter).

  • During the main party on Friday May 20th, we'll have a poetry competition slot. Be prepared to recite your poem during this slot.

  • Keep your poem short and to the point. Don't plan on it taking more than 5 minutes to perform, shorter is certainly good!

  • You can perform a song with lyrics, instead of reciting a poem. However, no backing bands are allowed, you have to play the instrument yourself.

  • Sometime after all poems have been recited, a jury will announce the winner!

Fireworks competition (sign up before May 19th, competition on May 20th)

Fizzers are a natural part of GDF, at least outside! We have mumbled many years that we should set up a coordinated fireworks display, but we never quite got around to it. So we'll let yer do it instead! Let's have a fireworks competition!

To enter:

• • Please sign up by sending me a letter as soon as possible, and Thursday May 19th at the latest.

  • During the main party on Friday May 20th, we'll have a fireworks competition slot outside the Dragon. Be prepared to set off your fireworks from the roof of the Dragon, with the audience down below.

  • To enter, you'll need to be a group of between 3-6 players.

  • Entries will be judged based on: a) synchronised fireworks/patterns, b) novel use of colours, c) novel use of the rooftop as a staging area

  • No music should be played as part of the display, fizzers only. Effects from festival emotes are allowed.

  • Displays should not last more than 3 minutes.

  • A jury will select the winner.

Who can participate?

Green Dragon Friday has always been, and will always be a hobbit event. While a few travelling dwarves are always welcome, men and elves are strongly encouraged not to come.

Why so? First of all, this is in no way based on any ill will towards men or elf characters on Laurelin, neither the players behind them. It is simply that we try to keep these two hours each week somewhat close to the inn experiences you get from books.

This means lots of hobbits. Possibly a few travelling dwarves. Taller people were likely not present at all, and elves were definitely not there. Local residents like Sam Gamgee dreamed of seeing an elf one day. You can bet that he hadn’t ever seen one dancing on the tables in the Green Dragon.

In short: If you’d like to participate

• • Create a hobbit character

• Follow the general RP guidelines of LOTRO

  • Keep your chats and actions somewhat fitting of a hobbit in Tolkien’s universe. Stay In-Character! No OOC in ((double brackets))!

and we’ll have a grand good time together!