Ahhh excellent, if only all 16 year olds were as circumspect!

:I was just wondering: Why did so many people suddenly leave the site? Where is Smaug the Magnificent? Forkbeard? Beren? Meneldur? Beremborg? I know people come and go but it seems there was a sudden mass leaving. Did I miss something? I looked in the archives but couldn't find anything there to explain it. Was it just coincidence or what?

: -Curious Tolkien Fan

Well it's nice to know that you've been missed. Smaug has, for reasons of his own, decided that he needed a slight cooling off period. A period of quiet reflection and contemplation, not unusual for a dragon you know, especially for one to whom flaming comes as naturally as breathing :) (apparently)

In the meantime I've been lurking over at the Tolkien newsgroups, alt.fan.tolkien and rec.arts.books.tolkien, it's good to meet new people, discuss Tolkien stuff with them and then kill and eat them, which is something you just can't do here.

I have been particularly enjoying the robust discussions on alt.flame, a great place to go if you're not easily offended.