Strangers in Strange Lands

Your character arrives for the first time in a new place. Maybe he journeyed there with a purpose, or maybe she ended up there by accident. What does she perceive? What new experiences and conflicts will he have? This month's challenge asks you to bring a character to a new, strange place for the first time and to develop a story around his or her experiences there.

Part of the challenge involves painting a realistic picture of a place or civilization for your readers. How well can you make your readers see the stolid bleakness of Himring? Or feel the enchantment of Doriath? Fear the shadows of Angband or be overwhelmed with the grand halls of Nogrod?

And within each of these places are strange new cultures, possibly contrary or hostile to what your character is accustomed. From here, your conflict may arise, as characters try to barter, entreat, and win love in foreign lands, facing the same barriers of language and custom that plague the modern world. Or, possibly, the conflict is more of a physical nature: an Easterling battles the cold of northern Beleriand or a new captive in Angband learns to navigate the complex prison society of her new home.

The character you choose for this challenge may be original or canon. The conflicts the character faces may be profound or petty. Such a challenge can be shaped into any genre: horror, romance, adventure, or humor, to name a few examples.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • A young messenger from Himring arrives in Doriath, bearing word from the Sons of Fëanor that they will attack if Dior does not return to them the Silmaril.
  • Oromë, arriving for the first time at Cuivienen, must convince the Elves to follow him to Valinor.
  • Dwarves passing along the Dwarf Road become waylaid by a storm into a Noldorin city, where they experience for the first time the hostility of those who share their lands.
  • Aredhel is a well-bred lady of the Noldor, but on her first night in Nan Elmoth, she finds herself perplexed by the customs of her Avarin host.
  • The Valar have seiged Utumno. Manwë steps into his brother's dungeons for the first time.

This challenge opened in .

Fanworks Tagged with Strangers in Strange Lands

This is a Artwork fanwork

Eönwë after the War of Wrath by Ruiniel

Eönwë, Maia and herald of Manwë, after the War of Wrath and after seeing Angband. He has long silver-grey wings, and his appearance is tattered and bloodied, he's exhausted after the long war and what he's seen. His hair is silver-white and long. He wears a knee-length surcoat over his armor. He wields a polearm.

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This is a Writing fanwork

The Jinn by pandemonium_213

While leading his tribe into the deep desert to escape the inevitable war between the Zigûr and the Sea-kings, Sharif finds a woman — injured and unconscious — among the rocks.  He discovers this is not a mortal woman, but one of the immortal demons of the north. He is ready to kill her, but the tribe's priestess stays his hand, warning him that slaying the jinn would bring terrible misfortune to his tribe.  His wives care for the jinn, who recovers and aids the tribe as they journey to the East in search of a mysterious land where they hope to find sanctuary, the jinn no less than Sharif and his tribe as they flee from the Zigûr and the Sea-Kings.

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This is a Writing fanwork

The Man Who Grew Tomatoes by pandemonium_213

Navin, a young boy living in a mystical land in the East of Middle-earth, a civilization as rich in lore and magic as any in the West, visits family friends while his mother prepares to give birth to a new sister or brother. There in the hills, Navin helps his elderly friend in his garden and later, his friend -- a man from a distant land now gone -- tells Navin the story of how tomatoes came to Bharat.

MEFA 2010 Winner, First Place; Races: Cross-Cultural: Gapfiller.  

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This is a Writing fanwork

Brother Mine by wind rider

 

They say, even in the darkest of times and nightmares there is always a light, a silver lining, a hope… It comes in many forms and often in the most unexpected places, events and situations.

 

It was well known by Erestor and Ereinion, as they were struggling to find their places and roles in the dying society and stay alive in the end of the First Age to the time beyond.

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This is a Writing fanwork

Will Overruled By Fate by oshun

Haldir meets Beleg in Valinor and each comes to terms with his past. Slash. (Warning: Could conceivably be called a LotR/Silmarillion crossover, although it is primarily based upon The Silmarillion.) Written in response to a request by Kenaz for the Ardor in August 2008 fic swap: “ . . . an encounter between an Elf recently released from the Halls of Mandos and an Elf who has recently come to Valinor from Middle-earth. . . . struggling to acclimate themselves to a new place and time, and trying to relate to each other . . . . love to see Haldir meet Beleg.” Betas: Pandemonium, IgnobleBard and Lissa

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MEFA 2009, Second Place - Elves: General

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