interfaith dinner mingle!!

[stefanged]

Who: Interfaith Center regulars & the not-so-regulars (party crashers are welcome too!!)
Broadcast: Nope
Action: Interfaith Center on the Iskaulit
When: Forward-dated to November 4th

[The Interfaith Center sounds far more bustling and busy than usual - and anyone peering inside would quickly figure out that a communal dinner is underway! Take off your shoes and walk in: the lounge has extra tablecloths on the floor as well as buffet tables with non-alcoholic beverages and all sorts of food, including Jordanian cuisine (or the outer space equivalent of Jordanian food).

The board games are out of their hiding nooks; the furniture's arranged for the maximum seating possible; and even the teddy bears donated by Kitty & Winn are out for cuddling, should anyone want them.

The kitchen's bustling with helpers - Stefan's running around at vamp-speed to make sure everything's a) done on time and b) cooked to perfection - but he sure wouldn't mind an extra hand. And if you're still not up for some food? Well, the prayer rooms are open as usual. There's always a quiet moment to be found, even if the laughter's louder and the scent of freshly-baked mansaf's wafting through the long corridors.

Anyone and everyone who's ever been inside the Interfaith Center has been invited (via text message - and Stefan even used the fancy emoji). If you're not particularly faithful or devout? Well, drop by anyways. There's more than enough food to spare.]

Comments

[monolike]

Oooh, you brought your harp! [Sidles up all sneakily to Maglor during all the quiet conversations happening elsewhere.] Did Stefan ask you to play?

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor smiles at Sorey and tips his head ]

I did - but he has not asked. Did you want me to play?

[monolike]

I'd love it if you would! Your music feels really spiritual to me, like it's talking to my soul. [He grabs a cushion over to sit on it eagerly.] I think it's appropriate.

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor chuckles, flattered and pleased ]

That is the first time I have had anyone describe it so, but I would be glad to play for you, Sorey. Is there anything you want to hear?

[monolike]

Hmmm... [Drums his fingers against his chin.] Do you have anything like, um, mountainous? Or something like ancient ruins. Either of those would be good.

pinched from Robert Browning "love among the ruins"

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor considers softly and then he nods, striking a chord, his voice clear as he conjures the images for Sorey ]

Where the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles,
Miles and miles
On the solitary pastures where our sheep
Half-asleep
Tinkle homeward thro' the twilight, stray or stop
As they crop—
Was the site once of a city great and gay,
(So they say)
Of our country's very capital, its prince
Ages since
Held his court in, gathered councils, wielding far
Peace or war.

Now the country does not even boast a tree,
As you see,
To distinguish slopes of verdure, certain rills
From the hills
Intersect and give a name to, (else they run
Into one)
Where the domed and daring palace shot its spires
Up like fires
O'er the hundred-gated circuit of a wall
Bounding all
Made of marble, men might march on nor be prest
Twelve abreast.

And such plenty and perfection, see, of grass
Never was!
Such a carpet as, this summer-time, o'er-spreads
And embeds
Every vestige of the city, guessed alone,
Stock or stone—
Where a multitude of men breathed joy and woe
Long ago;
Lust of glory pricked their hearts up, dread of shame
Struck them tame;
And that glory and that shame alike, the gold
Bought and sold.

Now—the single little turret that remains
On the plains,
By the caper overrooted, by the gourd
Overscored,
While the patching houseleek's head of blossom winks
Through the chinks—
Marks the basement whence a tower in ancient time
Sprang sublime,
And a burning ring, all round, the chariots traced
As they raced,
And the monarch and his minions and his dames
Viewed the games.

plagarism is the new platinum single

[monolike]

[Hopefully Maglor won't mind if Sorey slowly takes out a notebook and starts writing. He's glancing up and staring at Maglor, watching him play but he's definitely, absolutely also taking notes. Taking notes on his song like he's in an academic lecture. Though if Maglor decides to peek over, he won't see the lyrics so much as observations about the song, the melody, the imagery of the lyrics. Even a couple rough (very rough) sketches.]

That's such a beautiful song...I love the way it ended, it's almost like I can see it. Did you write that yourself?

aka it's easier than writing my own =p

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor doesn't, shaking out cramping fingers with a smile for Sorey ]

A scholar of music, hm? Thank you for the compliment, but I did not. That one was once a popular song in the hills of the kingdom of Arnor, in my world. They were a people twice dispossessed, you see, for their ancestors fled from the wrack and ruin of the fall of the Island of Numenor, and Arnor as a kingdom was already failing, when this song was popular.

[monolike]

[heART EYES

This history scholar leans forward eagerly.]Why was the kingdom failing? Weak leadership? Economic strife?

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor laughs softly, and obliges him ]

Many factors, those included, yes. During that time Arnor was divided, for it's last king designated no heir, and the kingdom was divided between his three sons, none of whom could claim superiority over the other. At the same time, Angmar's power under the Witch King grew - we did not know it then, but Sauron had given that one a Ring of Power. Pestilence swept out following the waves of war, and the Mountain passes were often closed, by enemy or weather, so the southern kingdom of Gondor cpuld not send enough aid. Crops began to fail, strange blights creeping out from Angmar's sorcery.