Halloween Party Aftermath

Yeah, yeah, it’s been a while. If we ever gave the impression that we were punctual and responsible, we apologize and wonder what insane conspiracy theorist you picked that idea up from.

So, last thing we mentioned was a Halloween extravaganza. We are pleased to report it went off without a hitch and we hope to host more themed parties at the Tavern in the future, so stay tuned if that’s your beef!

(A WILD HOBBIT appears!

Wild Hobbit: Where’s the beef?!

Codella: Er...)
 

A little open mic complete with refreshments. Try not to fall in the bear pool.

For a breakdown of the schedule, please see the previous entry, because we are not typing all of that up again.

After a suitable number of people arrived at our gates (mostly from Sons of Numenor, thanks for the representation, guys!), Chalse and Codella began the tour, with Miri noticeably absent. We trucked on regardless and eventually discovered her lurking in dark corners throughout the tavern, being generally creepy.
 

No, that’s not a disembodied lantern, that’s our kinleader. *sigh*

Anyway, after the ghost incident was sorted and the guests were suitably terrified, we settled down with some good old bagpipe/pibgorn music then took a break with an open mic.
 

Costumes as follows: Codella (left) as a goblin, Mirinaeth (middle) as Rowena Ravenclaw, and Chalse (right) as a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people-eater.

Next was the costume contest! And what a doozy that was. First place was the gorgeous Fionwyn, second was the indecipherable Fincin (so...much...orange!), and third was the adorkable Thompetti. Congrats, guys! Oh, but we’re not done. As an unannounced treat, we added two categories for scariest and silliest costumes. What we didn’t anticipate was the same person winning both: Benjimir the giant chicken in overalls! (We estimate he managed two sentences in Westron the whole night, and that was only after successfully completing the Inn League challenge.)

[Picture removed after complaints of frightening young children and hobbits...and elves. No matter what she says.]

 

And what do you follow up with after such a display of artistic talent and tailor-ish prowess? Musical chairs, of course. What universe do you live in? With four participants and a little confusion after Miri almost dropped her bagpipes into the reflecting pool, we believe Xandrin won this round...or possibly Vierra. It was a long night, guys.

After another rousing set of spooky music, we moved outside for the ghost stories contest. The rules were simple: two sentences in which the contestants tried to scare our pants off. With a unanimous staff vote, Thompetti won the first round with this chilling number:

“We had just begun to dance and I asked her name… Sara Oakheart was all she said…”

Kind of curdles the blood, doesn’t it? Fionwyn stepped up next with a historically frightening tale that won the audience vote by a narrow margin:

“It is said that Ungoliant came from the black void beyond the skies over Arda, some fell spirit of utter emptiness who took the form of a giant spider. It is also said she was a corrupted Maiar who drained the sacred wells of Varda and it is from there her ravenous hunger came to be.”

As if we needed another reason to hate spiders. *shudder* Miri threw her hand in as well, though the text has since been mysteriously lost. A-hem...I said mysteriously! Anyway, Xandrin finished out the night with a light-hearted story that lifted our spirits and earned him a consolation prize:

“The ghost howls through the Haunted Burrow at midnight. He would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those pesky kids!”

Finally, it was time for our Halloween skit, with our special volunteer, Vierra! She was a great sport, and we had a ton of fun gamboling around the stage. We had time for one more open mic before we played the night away and scared everyone off with more pibgorn and even moor cowbell. Haha, get it... get it? Once everyone was gone we polished off the last of the booze and wound up in some interesting corners of Middle-Earth.
 

“...I have no memory of this place,” the hobbit dressed as a goblin stated sadly, as she was led away to a comfy jail cell.

So! As an apology for the lack of pictures in this post, we’ve included a special behind-the-scenes look at what we went through to prepare for this monstrosity of a party. Have fun!
 

This was an early exorcism concept gone horribly wrong. ...We ended up keeping the turtle heads, though.

Picture taking is often a long and tedious process. But there are some fun outtakes to get out of it!
 

Wherein Miri plays the part of Gollum, Chalse tries to run away, and Codella is so done with this.

Wherein Chalse is creepy, Miri attempts murder, and Codella is still definitely not looking.

Wherein there are two equally terrifying things happening in Miri and Coda’s line of vision...and Chalse is oblivious.

Some more of Ghost Miri. Once she figured out it was possible to emote while using Silvan Shadows, well...the rest is history.

It’s not all fun and games though. This is just one of many days we spent fishing for dirty skulls. ...It seemed like a good prize idea at the time!

And my personal favorite and because I love you all and sleep is overrated anyway:
 

Miri’s nightmare closeup shot. You're welcome.