board77

pour me a cup aaaaaanytime Tibo darlin'. i have so many left over bottles from my birthday i can do some *cough* realistic research on how drinks affect one's conversation skills :cheers

edity for the pirate

what? you don't trust me? what was all that sweet talk warm-me-up-if-you-could-be-so-kind about then? nautical term for i don't trust you?


:P

I'm being slapped around the ears by elven logic...

ah so your head isn't as thick as it looks.

miracles haven't left the world yet!

Jaeniver wrote:

ok question :

can anyone tell me around what time we are working here? morning still, afternoon, evening?


i am desperate to write but no idea where to start without knowing the time of day. Also is there anything that needs moving forward? I get the feeling we're walking in circles and no one is writing because no one knows what exactly to write.

is there anything we are waiting for or does anyone have a plan?

i'm just lost again and my muse won't cooperate writing another personal post i need some interaction i think. I have somethign lined up with the Arun but this can't happen for a while yet.

so anyone, enlighten my confuzzled elf.

There are many plans but we are waiting for Kaya to post I think.

At the moment, a few things need to be finished;

A) The Din, Meaglin, Alandriel conversation in the cabin. at the moment it has been stalled for an agae but I can try to fill that just to get it moving.

B) Anun needs to get onto the ship if he is going to. I think I discussed this with Kaya in Holland, but it just needs to move now. I can get him on if we need, but this shebang needs to move.

C) The galley is sparcely fitted, but the supplies are ok. They were fresh the same morning, stolen of a Gondorian ship. They will not be sophisticated though. Expect lots of pulses, salted pork, hard biscuits etc.

D) The Haradrim ship is also in the Gulf of Lune and full of angry baddies.

E) The sea is stormy and very very cold indeed. Swimming (once out of harbour) will be suicide for anyone. This is like the North Sea between Norway and Britain, not the med.

Errr, apart form that the time, which is about three hours after dawn.

I guess Tibo's post takes us on two days, but a lot will have had to happen in that time

Response to B: I'm working on it as we speak to make this happen soon.

thankee much Din began working on a post already and will await what my muse gives me. so far nothing very interesting but the elf motherly watching over poor sleeping Tibo( the hours before he wakes up thus could very well be very early morning)

Wasn't Kaya supposed to be emailing me something?

Wasn't I supposed to be finishing that conversation with Alandriel?

Where did the past 6 months go to?

You didn't get it, Leoba? I sent it over this morning rather early, to your work addy.

Kaya, yes, the Brazier was the thing I had in my memory.
And I thought about some things that might have been ordered by the Gondorians. I'll do some exploring of the supplies in my post.

And I put you on my IM - list, Kaya.

Areanor, one thing we should have is food and provisions an a lot of fresh water and lots of rum , and basic equipment like spare ropes, sails etc; all the stuff needed for a long sea voyage, but remeber it won't be preserved (no tins), but may be salted or pickled.

And a lot of odd spices and herbs from the far south left by the previous incumbent.

I also envisaged lots of things like fishing lines for catching fresh fish, and a few harpoons

What you should probably notice though, or maybe not, is the lack of provision for going ashore. No snow shoes, sleds, furs (apart from well oiled sea coats) etc. Probably best not to make a fuss about that *innocent whistle*

I agree on no tins - but couldn't there be some stuff in glasses or pots? They existed....

(I want to write a real finger-licking cooking post)

Dindraug wrote:

...and basic equipment like spare ropes, sails etc

Since I've ploughed myself through more than one lengthy post explaining why the corsair needed a new sail, and what trouble he had to go through just to get one in the make, I'm not in favour for having a spare sail on board (or at least not a main sail).

Fully in agreement about the rum though.

For the time being, I beg everyone to leave Arunakhôr untouched. I have a too hectic working shedule at the moment for me to be able to react quickly with a counter-post. I have no intention to leave him out of the loop with the rest of you for long of course, it's just for the upcoming weeks.

However, I'm more than eager to plot about things that might happen in the (near) future. Or if anyone needs to know a few tidbits about the ship, just let me know.

Areanor, added you as well - hope to see you around soon.

Thank you Leoba for the editing, and Crys for the help with the research.

Aaah how it feels good, to be writing again!

i shall await Areanor's post before i mess up any f her plans. and Tibo can do the cooking! i'll just...stroll

Dindraug wrote:

Areanor, ... all the stuff needed for a long sea voyage, but remeber it won't be preserved (no tins), but may be salted or pickled.

And here I was just trying to write about canned peas, SPAM, turtle soup, corned beef and bear furs in a trunk.

Nin, there will be some pots of honey - very carefully stored in a crate.
I'm not sure about glasses in Middle Earth. Or even Bottles. I wondered about big balloon bottles, filled with wine....

Of course Rhum. BIIIG Barrel.

Ships biscuit. Or Cram. And other things.

You'll see.....

Oh and cooking only when the sea is smooth. So with all the storms to come we'll have to stick to cold food.

By the way, have we ever mentioned a date?

Some more notes on food storage. I am assuming the tech level is the equivalent of the medieval/Renaissance (Tolkien’s world normally is)

Foods would be stored and transported on ceramics for much of the time, or just hung if meat. Food hygiene was not a skill possessed until recently. See here

Meats would be smoked, or salted, to stop them not going off etc.

Wines would be stored in gourds or skins, as would many oils or vinegars. Possibly amphorae (roman storage jars) would still be used as well, especially on a Gondorian/Harad ship.

Glass was too expensive to make and would not be wasted on storage jars except for fine spices and oils.

Hardened wax leather bottles would also be a good item for storage.

A few more food questions: ME defintately has potatoes - we know this... how about noodles? I mean, it is sure they would grow wheat, but can I safely make noodles out of them? How about rice? (Okay, this is getting really geeky)

Just because they are so easy to store on a boat, you know....

As for sails, experience made, no decent sailor would anyway store sails on a boat which could be exposed to the cold.... ice dammages sails.

I know Nin, but this is big sailing ships going out on the icy northern seas.

I did some work on them for an essay in my MA. They had everything on board because they were sailing a thousand miles into the unknown with no way of getting help. Spare spars were not unknown, an a spare mast was reported. Sails would be kept in dry lockers, usually at the front of the ship.

As for rice, why not. It was a staple in the east. I would prefer cuscus though, easier to stiore, cook and links to Araby/Harad ?

Noodles are getting beyond my knowlage.

I am sure pasta in many forms was available in the 14 century (will be willing to be proved wrong on this). No jars of pasta sauce though

Dindraug wrote:

Wines would be stored in gourds or skins, as would many oils or vinegars. Possibly amphorae (roman storage jars) would still be used as well, especially on a Gondorian/Harad ship.

In the Hobbit, wine and apples were stored in Barrels. As the provisions were intended to go on a gondorian ship, and this ship IIRC were to sail back south again, they would have wanted to get a large supply of things. I assume when transporting larger quantities, it would have been in barrels.

Dindraug wrote:

I know Nin, but this is big sailing ships going out on the icy northern seas.

I did some work on them for an essay in my MA. They had everything on board because they were sailing a thousand miles into the unknown with no way of getting help. Spare spars were not unknown, an a spare mast was reported. Sails would be kept in dry lockers, usually at the front of the ship.

Would the corsair have all that? After all, it's a -small- pirate ship, not intended to go in the icy seas and not intended to sail into the unknown.....

Could there be a room where they stored all the pans, pots and bowls? Or could that be stored away in a cupboard (or whatever sailors call that) in the cook's cabin?

Dried mushrooms could be an option, too, but somehow I can't imagine noodles/pasta in Middle Earth.

(Sorry, a pic of Aragorn trying to eat spaghetti just crept into my mind....)

wasn't there somewhere a "Cook book of Middle Earth" around?

Edited to add This Link Sounds interesting, though I don't want to try the Dunlending lung soup......