Of course! I never thought of Frodo, but of course he's going to get involved to help his dearest cousins. And you cleverly had the ban pronounced in Hobbiton, so he would know as soon as anyone. I need to remember how well they all stick together, and how much any one of them would do for the other - nobody is alone and friendless here, under the ban or not. Saradoc's going to go off to talk to the Mayor? I know the mayor's main function is to open festivals, but there is at least the suggestion of authority there, and Saradoc will be the Master of Buckland some day. I think the more upstanding hobbits in on the conspiracy, the better: to lessen the real damage Lalia can do to the Shire culture with her vindictiveness. (I still think Frodo would have been a natural as mayor. Too bad Tolkien didn't agree with me.) Lalia's not going to like being interfered with, and I could see her insisting on the payment being only in wool, as specified in the contract. They're going to have to be clever to come up with some way she won't be able to refuse. Will the Thain be in on the conspiracy too?
It was my impression that the succession of the Thainship is fixed. It appears to be a straight descent through the male line, and any hobbit worth his salt ought to know the geneologies and see that Paladin is at the top of the list if Ferumbras leaves no heir, since he is the only son of Adalgrim, son of Hildrigrim who was next in line after Isumbras IV (unless Heldrigrim had other children, but there aren't any listed). If Paladin and Pip were under the ban though, when Ferumbras died, maybe they wouldn't be eligible and the nearest to succession would be one of the many descendants of Isembold, or failing that Aldelard, father of Regi and Everard? About now the idea of Ferumbras dying unmarried ought to be coming to the front of everyone's mind, and there must be a bit of Talk about Lalia going after someone who could be considered her rival. And I remember from your other stories that when Paladin dies, there isn't an election for the Thainship per se, but Pip had to be approved, and there was the suggestion that he could be tossed out if necessary (in favor of the next in line, I suppose) so maybe it isn't all that cut and dried. It just surprises me that nobody, including Paladin, seems even aware much less concerned about who will be the next Thain. Perhaps Ferumbras just seems young enough that nobody's thought about it yet, though they ought to after his recent health scare. OK, now I'm rambling. You have only a few chapters to wrap all this up, and I'm eager to see whatever clever way you've thought of to pull Paladin's family out of the hole. |
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