Greetings, everyone! :) - Thorn Valley Forum Archive

RavenBlackDeath

21-06-2005 00:53:33

A large, black rat enters the introduction room cautiously, unintentionally bumping things as she moves along.

"Forgive me...had I forseen my size would have been a problem, I'd have been more careful. By the way, my name is Raven, for an obvious reason", she says shyly, running a hand over her ebony fur.

No, large is an understatement. She is gigantic, cat-sized. At full height, she stands over two feet tall, with a long, luxurious mane which makes her look even bigger. Her bright black eyes give her a knowing expression.

"I'm sure you are all wondering about me, where I came from, and how I became...this size. Well, I'm from NIMH, as I'm sure many of you are as well. I was among the replacements for the rats who escaped from the lab some years ago...Jonathan Frisby and all the others. It wasn't until many years later that I myself escaped. In that time, I was given the same injections as they had, only with some additional substance which caused my growth to accelerate, and another which has made me immune to bubonic plague. Once I escaped I tried to blend in with ordinary rats, but could not, especially after they learned of my immunity: whispering rumors circulated that I was a carrier of the plague, and was there to destroy them all."

She pauses momentarily, apparently having to suppress her pained thoughts.

"As they feared me so, the rats gave me another name: The Black Death. I was shunned, and lived in the shadows of their society...that is, until I learned of the legendary Jonathan Frisby, Nicodemus, and of course Thorn Valley. Which is why I came here. I humbly ask to be accepted, to start anew. I do hope my past will be of little concern..."

Trembling slightly in her apprehension, she takes a bow before the one she presumes to be the lead rat, then waits in silence.

(I hope you don't mind my introduction being written in RP-style prose: 'tis my favorite method). :wink:

Simon

21-06-2005 07:44:47

Simon bows back to the large dark rat; if he's intimidated by her size, he's very good at hiding it.

"Welcome to Thorn Valley, friend."

--

I do hope that you enjoy it here. :) BTW, if you like RPing, I'd suggest checking out NIMHmuck[=http://www.nimhmuck.com]NIMHmuck. We're always grateful to have another player among us.

Whiskers57

21-06-2005 18:58:01

Welcome to Thorn Valley ,

Oh man, that was a great intro RavenBlackDeath as simon has said you would great for roleplaying, I hope you enjoy it here at ThornValley :D

I checked out your "Water Ship Down" site and loved It. You know other than "The Secret of NIMH" W.D. Is another fav. of mine, I`m thinking of (when I get time ) of stopping by your forum a bit longer and I did visit for a bit and seems like good folks there also :).

Great avatar lihintli 8)

RavenBlackDeath

22-06-2005 04:37:48

Thanks for the warm welcomes! :D I've been roleplaying for a couple years, it's grown into quite a hobby for me. I'll definitely check out NIMHmuck at some time or another: I'm not as good at real-time roleplays as I don't have as much time to think over a post like at a forum, but it's fun all the same. :wink:

I actually only saw SoN last week: I rented the DVD. I've been interested in old animated films lately, and I had seen it in the fourth grade over ten years ago, so I figured, why not? I'd buy the DVD, but it's not in widescreen. I have software on my laptop which allows for the running of DVDs from any region, so I might order the disc from Europe.

I've long been a fan of the book: it's right up there with Watership Down on my list. I'm considering reading the sequel books: I only wish Robert C. O'Brien had lived long enough to write them himself. It's kind of cool that his daughter continued what he started, however.

Hehe, my avvie is from the 'rat attack' scene in WD: I'm using it until I get around to replacing it with an drawing of my character I edited in Photoshop Elements.

Edit; here is that pic, on one of my DeviantART accounts: http://www.deviantart.com/view/19743029/[]http://www.deviantart.com/view/19743029/

Simon

22-06-2005 07:44:10

Thanks for the warm welcomes! :D I've been roleplaying for a couple years, it's grown into quite a hobby for me. I'll definitely check out NIMHmuck at some time or another: I'm not as good at real-time roleplays as I don't have as much time to think over a post like at a forum, but it's fun all the same. :wink:

NIMHmuck's actually pretty laid back; there's a lot of people that'll take some time on their posts. Still, I think there's something to be said for the thinking on your feet that mucking makes one do. And who knows... if there's enough interest, I might be willing to start a NIMH RPG on this forum sometime...

I actually only saw SoN last week: I rented the DVD. I've been interested in old animated films lately, and I had seen it in the fourth grade over ten years ago, so I figured, why not? I'd buy the DVD, but it's not in widescreen. I have software on my laptop which allows for the running of DVDs from any region, so I might order the disc from Europe.

Well, unfortunately, there hasn't been a widescreen release of SoN ever, and from the looks of it, MGM's just not interested in doing one. However, with the price of a SoN DVD at right around $10 most places, it's not a bad deal, I'd say.

I've long been a fan of the book: it's right up there with Watership Down on my list. I'm considering reading the sequel books: I only wish Robert C. O'Brien had lived long enough to write them himself. It's kind of cool that his daughter continued what he started, however.

They're decent reads, though as I've mentioned elsewhere, I much prefer the original. The sequels feel more like they're written for children than the original, and they take a somewhat simplistic view of life in the Valley, IMHO. Still, fun reads, and it only takes all of an afternoon or two to get through them.

Hehe, my avvie is from the 'rat attack' scene in WD: I'm using it until I get around to replacing it with an drawing of my character I edited in Photoshop Elements.

Edit; here is that pic, on one of my DeviantART accounts: http://www.deviantart.com/view/19743029/[]http://www.deviantart.com/view/19743029/

Very cool! Let me know if you ever want to post any NIMH fan-art on Thorn Valley's art gallery[=http://www.thornvalley.com/gallery/fan]art gallery. :) I've only seen Watership Down once, a few years ago... probably ought to watch it again sometime soon. And I'm afraid I've never read the book, though it's been on the 'to read' list for quite a while...

Procyon

22-06-2005 14:59:15

A large furry shape falls from a balcony above onto the introduction room floor with a muffled thud. Springing to his feet, a large raccoon dusts off his black and grey pelt and smiles widely.

Sorry. Lost my footing as I was leaning over the railing to see what was going on.

Rubbing a shoulder he approaches.

Hey, as I'm down here I might as well say... welcome to the valley!

He throws his arms wide. As he does so the shoulder he had been rubbing clicks loudly. The raccoon goes very still, except for the twitch beneath one eye.

Ow...

Sorry that was pointless. I wanted in on the quasi-roleplay fun. Hi Raven, welcome to the Thornvalley Forum. Please keep up the RP style posting, it could be fun. Love the Watership Down art (Inle-Rah! Cool idea). I know what you mean about real time RPs too. I prefer to mull things over... I say this as I notice Simon mentioned above that if there were enough demand there may be a role play section appearing on the forum...

Dragon

23-06-2005 20:03:47

I bid thee welcome . . .

Hello. Very nice rp form you have. We got this little thing called Nimh Muck where all our rp'ing takes place. Would love to see you there!

In the meantime, enjoy your stay!

RavenBlackDeath

23-06-2005 21:10:49

(Sorry, it took me so long to reply, our phone line was acting up yesterday, and I couldn't go online ><)

Raven smiles and nods to the raccoon. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well." It seemed an interesting way to meet someone.

---

On visiting Amazon.co.uk, I checked out their version of the SoN DVD: it seems it has both a widescreen and a fullscreen version on the same disc. For the record, I also own the German DVD of Balto, which my brother bought for me while he was there for part of his college education. It seems Europe and other countries always get the coolest DVDs of lesser-known animated films: Australia is going to have a widescreen, full version of The Plague Dogs out on DVD next month, which I'll be getting, as the film is by the same company that made WD.

I'd love to submit art to your gallery, Simon: looks like there's a lot of great, no, fantastic, artists! Is it exclusively for art of SoN chars, or could I put pics of Raven there, too?

Once I've gotten the UK SoN DVD, I'm going to start building a NIMH site on Yahoo Geocities: I have a Balto themed site on my first account, so I created a second account for my future NIMH site. I hope Yahoo allows that: I didn't see anything about it in their TOS(Terms of Service).

The site will likely have a forum as well, since two out of my three current websites each have their own. Forums rock my socks. ^_^

Simon

23-06-2005 22:05:57

On visiting Amazon.co.uk, I checked out their version of the SoN DVD: it seems it has both a widescreen and a fullscreen version on the same disc.

Really? lichecks...li Huh. So it does... I'm a bit pessimistic, though--could be a typo. If it isn't, let us know, though... ;)

I'd love to submit art to your gallery, Simon: looks like there's a lot of great, no, fantastic, artists! Is it exclusively for art of SoN chars, or could I put pics of Raven there, too?

As long as it's NIMH-related, I don't mind... Though I'd love to see some art of regular SoN chars as well. :) Just email me[=http://www.thornvalley.com/help/contact.php]email me with whatever you'd like to submit and I'll post it.

Once I've gotten the UK SoN DVD, I'm going to start building a NIMH site on Yahoo Geocities: I have a Balto themed site on my first account, so I created a second account for my future NIMH site.

Cool. Good luck with that. Be sure to post a link here when you're done. :)

RavenBlackDeath

26-06-2005 10:10:11

Here's the auction where I bought SoN(although I used "Buy it Now"--I have yet to actually bid on anything): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6408784585&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1[]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6408784585&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

It says 'fullscreen' for the format, but everywhere I've looked online, the R2 DVD is has both fullscreen and widescreen: I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :) In any case, PAL is higher resolution than America's NTSC, so it won't be a wasted purchase regardless.