~PORTRAITS:An Intimate Look at the Elven Warriors

[Finduilas Ancalimon]

AN INTIMATE LOOK AT THE ELVEN WARRIORS OF FANGORN FOREST

The Elven Warriors Of Fangorn Homepage: elvenwarriorsoffangorn.tk/





Good morning everyone. This is Finduilas Ancalimon;better known as Fernelf of the SHoA. I am posting this interview a day early as I wil be out of town for the next few days. Imbeglin was kind enough to allow me a chance to probe him with many questions this Last week. I am happy to be able to give to you an Initimate Look at the Warriors of Fangorn Forrest!



1)I want to thank you for allowing me to come and take a personal look at the Elven Warriors of Fangorn Forest. Before we begin could you please tell the viewers a little bit about both Daniel and Imbeglin?

Daniel, me in RL, is a 15-year-old boy in Year 10 at Secondary School doing his O-Levels. He's intelligent, kind, a good laugh and is good to work with in a group, as long as he is not under lots of pressure.

Imbeglin, my character in MEO, is a male Elf, around 200-years-old, living in Fangorn Forest with a number of his kin from Lothlorien. He is kind, a natural leader but can take orders from others without question, intelligent, a good laugh (see the resemblance ) and likes to speak his own mind (as long as it is the right time).



2) Could you tell us how both Daniel and Imbeglin are an integral part of your kinship?

Daniel, the founder, will be the one who organizes the members and is the final say with anything to do with the RL side of the game (members, Leader etc).

Imbeglin, the Elf who led 5000 of his kin from Lothlorien to Fangorn forest, will probably be the Leader of the kinship at first but if he is not then he will be the Chief Councilor to the Leader. He is a Diplomat, Lore master AND a Warrior to boot. He does not value himself higher than any other Elf in Middle Earth and will happily do what he is told by superiors.


3) As I was preparing for my interview with you, I could not help but be impressed by your talents as a historian. Here is one example:

We Elves moved out of Lothlorien to establish a realm closer to Isengard so as to help the realms of Gondor and Rohan against the threat of Isengard. I took five thousand of my kin with me to set up a new realm there, (under the invitation of Fangorn of course). So far we have had a number of skirmishes against the barbaric hordes of Uruk-Hai from Isengard and, more recently, the hordes of Dunlendings Saruman has betrayed into his service. Due to our exceptional skills as warriors only fifty lives have been lost over a time spanning over a millennia (we removed to Fangorn in the year 2017 of the Third Age) however, even one warrior lost to an orc raid is too much. We were all Galadhrim lore masters and diplomats as well as warriors and so the Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel have asked us to try to bring peace and alliances between all the Free Peoples of Middle Earth who are opposed to evil and the Dark Lord. We will, in the end, remove to Aman like the rest of our peoples to live in bliss for eternity

That is quite an impressive history! ...When you have dedicated so much time and effort into Tolkien...how do you feel about players that may not really know much about Tolkiens' world other then maybe seeing the movies? Will you or have you accepted a candidate that has no formal knowledge of Tolkien? If so...how will you help your members who may not have had the opportunity as of yet to become more familiar with Tolkien. If you have not..or don't plan on accepting any candidates (unless they have read Tolkien), can you give us your reasons why?

As far as I know, all the members of the Elven Warriors of Fangorn have read the books (LotR at least), and I hope all members in the future will have read the books, but if they haven't at the moment then that is OK. There is still plenty of time before the game comes out for them to read them, .


4) I can tell by some of your answers thus far that you are a kind hearted person and you do have a sense of humor. How will both of those personality characteristics help Imbeglin and the Elven Warriors of Fangorn Forest?

I feel that being kind-hearted will help Imbeglin in his role in the kinship as it means that he will be able to bond well with the other kinship members, and having a sense of humor will have the same effect. In short, being a good-natured person will help strengthen the bond between the members in the kinship.

[Finduilas Ancalimon]

5) I think it takes a lot of courage and imagination to create a history such as yours. Even though MEO is of course about Middle Earth and Tolkien's world, it is a game that will allow us to create our own "present" so to speak. I think your history is one to be proud of and also gives you some freedom once the game begins. I do understand that at one point you will settle in Fangorn Forest. Please tell the viewers where you see your Kinship settling in the beginning of MEO. Also if you will, please explain how your history will evolve to compensate for starting at point A in the game and then moving your Kinship to point B.

I see it that we will at first be situated first in either Rivendell/Imladris or the Tower Hills/Emyn Beraid, then as the game progresses we'll move to Lothlorien, followed by Fangorn, once available.
I believe the history shall evolve in a way that the entire kinship shall be able to get stronger before we get to Fangorn, because if we could start off in Fangorn then we would not be strong enough to withstand the relentless attacks we shall face from the hordes of Uruk-Hai and Dunlendings from Saruman, and possibly from the Huorns, if we venture far enough into the Forest (which we shouldn't).

6) The Warriors of Fangorn Forrest seem to be very nimble and adept with the bow. I also noticed while visiting your home :
elvenwarriorsoffangorn.tk/

that all members will indeed be elves. Have you any concerns about limiting your members to just one race? If there are limits placed on certain races, will this cause any problem for the Warriors of Fangorn Forest? Let me give you an example if I may. Let's say that for some reason elves are unable to be taught any armor repair skills. (this is just for arguments sake..don’t shoot me..lol) How important would it then be for your Kinship to have allies of Kinships that could provide these skills for you?

This is indeed a disturbing question. I think that if, as you said, there are limits to elves and the other races, then we should indeed make alliances with other kinships that can provide these skills, otherwise we will be disadvantaged in-game.

7) Alliances can be very important if we need to rely on each other. In my opinion I think it is very honorable of you to allow yourself to be vulnerable in certain areas. The Warriors of Fangorn Forrest will add much needed avenues of social game-play if they do intend to rely on other kinships for certain things. So many Kinship will try to be self supporting. By not needing ANYTHING from any other kinship, npc etc...I do believe those type of kinships will eventually get very bored very quick. While I am on the subject of alliances..Have you made any alliances as of yet? What qualities do you look for in other kinships when you consider an alliance?

As of now we do not have any alliances in mind. We are open to suggestions from other kinships for alliances they will be thought about but not decided upon until nearer the time. We really want to be allied with a kinship / kinships that can be trusted to be there in our hour of need.

8) What services and advantages will you bring to other Kinships you will seek an alliance with?

We shall of course be there if any allies are in need, and we shall help any neutral kinships if we feel they are desperate, but we shall of course not be too difficult to persuade to help. *Chuckles*

9) By reading so far about the Warriors of Fangorn Forest, I am under the impression you will align with "good". How "good" will the members of your kinship be. Will you bend the rules on occasion if the ultimate outcome will support good?

We shall try to be as "good" as possible. Though that does not mean to say that we shall not use "dirty" tactics against truly evil folk such as Orcs, Uruk-Hai and Liquid Evil. (Joking, I'm only joking).

10) Lets talk for a moment on member recruitment. How many members do you currently have? Could you explain to our viewers how one goes about applying for the Warriors of Fangorn Forest?

At the moment we have 10 members (Hooray!) but we could have had more if some people had been a bit more active on the forums (Grrrr). We used to accept anyone that wanted to join (and we pretty much still do) except that now any would-be members must join up at the forums, promise to be active and post their details (in real-life and in-game) before they are accepted.

11) I do believe your kinship had a vote recently to elect yourself as their Leader. First let me congratulate you on your position. Will each member of your Kinship have this sort of power in all decisions? Tell us a little about how The Warriors of Fangorn Forest are governed.

Thank you, I was reluctant to take the job as I wanted to let everyone to have a vote, which they did and it was a unanimous decision that I should become the Leader. For major decisions such as new leadership if I don't do a good enough job as the Leader and other major decisions. For all other decisions the high Council and I shall get together and discuss the issue and then post it on the website so the other members can see what it is and, should they not agree, they can either PM someone in authority or post why they disagree with the finished article (if that's the right word). The High Council consists of:



• Founder & Leader - Imbeglin
• Councilor Of Intelligence - Frenzy0fElves
• Councilor Of Politics & Alliances - (Vacant)
• Councilor Of Resources & Finance - (Vacant)
• Councilor Of Military Strategies - Earendil
.

[Finduilas Ancalimon]

12) With the way you have certain responsibilities designated to certain head Council members; it will be easy for new members and also other Kinships to contact the right person. If new members join is there still room for advancement? Also what are some of the requirements to become a member?

Of course there is still room for advancement, we're a very advancement-orientated kinship *Laughs*. The requirements needed to join the kinship are:

Real name (first is fine);
In-game name (if you're not sure, say you're not sure);
MEO forum name (if it's different from the forum name in here, which it shouldn't be);
Gender;
Age;
Where you live;
Why you want to join the clan;
A brief description of your in-game character;
You MUST sign up at this forum if you want to join.

13) With your numbers growing, how large will you allow your Kinship to become?

At the moment we are standing at 10 members, but we are going to go up to 30 for now. If there are more people wanting to join then we shall of course increase our maximum number as we see fit. (So probably all the time then... lol)

14) What time zones are so far represented in your Kinship?

So far we have people from England, America, Belgium, Sweden and Australia. Not bad, eh?

15) How much of your game time will be devoted to role-play?

As of yet this hasn't been discussed, at least not that I know of . But I'm sure me and every other member will have discussed it by the time the game is released.

16) Has the Warriors of Fangorn Forrest as of yet made any determination on how individual members will contribute various bounty to support the Kinship?

So far we have made a few roles definite. Some are the High Council members (see above), and,.... actually that is about it. Some people have suggested idea about crafters etc but nothing like that has been determined yet.

17) You have helped me and I am sure the rest of the MEO community to understand what the Warriors of Fangorn Forest are all about. I want to thank you for allowing me to steal you away from RL so you could talk to us. Before I close is there anything you would like to add?

Yes, I do have something to say. Thankyou for the interview! Hehe... that rhymes lol. Anyway, I look forward to meeting you in-game because I shall definitley be looking out for you. Glad to have met you and glad you have given me the chance to tell people about *dramatic drum roll* The Elven Warriors Of Fangorn Forest. Ta...

I really like the other interviews as well. They have been an enjoyment to read for me and doubtlessly a lot of other people as well.

You are the Queen of Interviewing *Bows down* Hail the Queen!!!


(laughs at the last comment). Before Imbeglin gets me beheaded I will close this interview with a few last words. As one can see Imbeglin does indeed have a sense of humor and is very kind hearted. He does however take his duties very seriously. I would recommend to any new community member to take the time to get to know the Elven Warriors of Fangorn Forrest . Once you do you will be hooked.