Roleplayers of Laurelin's monthly prompt for December 2024 is... "Yule-tide" and "Helm's Hoarfrost"!
"By midwinter Gandalf and Bilbo had come all the way back, along both edges of the Forest, to the doors of Beorn’s house; and there for a while they both stayed. Yule-tide was warm and merry there; and men came from far and wide to feast at Beorn’s bidding." ("The Hobbit")
"In Helm’s Deep, there was a great hunger after Yule…. Helm grew fierce and gaunt for famine and grief; and the dread of him alone was worth many men in defence of the Burg. He would go out by himself, clad in white, and stalk like a snow-troll into the camps of his enemies, and slay many men with his hands." ("The Lord of the Rings, Appendix A")
Winter is a time of uncertainty in Middle-earth; it can bring both great cheer as in the Yuledays of the Hobbits (a time of special feasting!), or great despair as in the Long Winter of 2758 and 2759 of the Third Age, which saw many folk suffer from starvation and exposure to the cold, and even led to wolves crossing into the Shire, and Rohan being invaded by its enemies.
This month’s prompts ask you to engage with the ambiguity of winter in Middle-earth by hosting sessions or events that involve the gift-giving and feasting traditions of Yule-tide and/or the travails of surviving a particularly difficult winter in Rohan, as Helm Hammerhand once did. Details are below:
"Winter has come to Middle-earth!
For the folk of the Westlands, it is a time of great festivity: Hobbits and Men celebrate the Yule-tide, while the Dwarves and the Elves follow their own secret and forgotten winter customs. Yet in all places, family and friends gather in hearth-warmed cottages or garlanded halls to share food, gifts, and cheer to stave off the bleak cold of winter.
This year, that bleakness is felt especially harshly in the realm of Rohan. There, a bitter frost has been driven north from the frigid peaks of the White Mountains to blanket the wide lands of the horse-lords in an ice and snow that recalls the Long Winter of yore, when Helm Hammerhand held the Hornburg against invasion. Though Rohan’s people suffer in this cold, they are heartened by the memory of Helm: the bellies of hungry children are filled with old folks’ tales of his heroics, and riders, lost, wayward, and close to death on some frozen track are inspired by the grim and ghostly echo of the horn of Helm Hammerhand.
For the “Yule-tide” prompt, host a session or event on Roleplayers of Laurelin's LFRP Board celebrating Yule and involving the sharing of gifts and food. Sessions or events responding to this prompt could include a small gift-exchange between family and friends in a small home, or the gathering of folk for a great feast (consider creating a menu!) in a communal space, such as the Grand Smials, the Prancing Pony, the Last Homely House, Grimbeorn’s Hall, or the Hall Under the Mountain at Erebor.
For the “Helm's Hoarfrost” prompt, host a session or event on Roleplayers of Laurelin's LFRP Board located in Rohan that involves the difficulty of winter and/or engages in the history of Helm Hammerhand. Sessions or events responding to this prompt could involve the sheltering of folk in a mead-hall, the telling of tales about Helm Hammerhand, the dangers of horse-riding or farming in the winter, or even the pursuit of rumours of a horn-blowing wraith that haunts the Deeping-coomb."
Players who host sessions on Roleplayers of Laurelin's LFRP Board responding to this prompt by December 31, 2024, will be added to a prize draw for rewards that include an exclusive Steed of the Red Dawn, a Snow Fangorn Huorn pet, gold, and more!