"Thank you. It--hm, in that case it might be best to have a list of the specific people I'm looking for--as long a list as possible, of course, but I'd hate to waste carrying capacity on someone who respected the Valar enough to object to being stolen."

"We can certainly prioritize people who we expect to languish long in Mandos without reembodiment," he says. "Do you hesitate similarly to reembody people who've done great wrongs to the living?"

Well isn't that a loaded question. "That would depend a great deal on what wrongs, and if they would be expected to resume if the person was returned to life, and whether there exists a way to mitigate that likelihood that wasn't prohibitively difficult."

"If my brother were alive I would want him tried for war crimes."

So it's going to be like this is it. "Would your father feel the same way?"

"I don't know. He died before the relevant war crimes were committed. If a son of mine went around slaughtering innocents, I think I would still desire that he be returned to this world, still hope that it was a strange tragedy, still assure myself it could not happen again; such is the love of parents for their children.  The fact of the matter is that, if we can only resurrect a limited number of people, there are many that didn't commit any war crimes."

Augh he has a point why does he have to have a point. "True. I have to admit, though, that while I acknowledge that enabling other peoples' mistakes isn't always a good idea I'm not really comfortable leaving someone in something called 'Everlasting Darkness'." Aah why did she not ask Maedhros for advice ahead of time she has no experience whatsoever with this kind of thing--

But she does have magic.

Okay, first of all, obviously she should have the inside of her head private except as desired. It's not an enchantment, but she can draw a temporary veil over anything that leaks through her still-not-quite-perfect shielding.

Next she can convince her osanwe that it ought to be able to reach Maedhros despite the fact that she hasn't known him much more than a week.

Help I'm talking to your uncle and I have no experience with diplomacy.

It takes a minute. Then -

You're in Eithel Sirion? Mild, almost genial suspicion. I don't think we're that well acquainted. 

We're not! I used magic! I am genuinely worried that I won't be able to come out of this without saying either 'fine I won't bring Feanor back' or 'I don't care about fairness because I like his kids!' I don't think either of these is true! I'm just out of my depth!

If the King proposes a policy that those involved in the tragedies of our departure from Valinor, no matter how high the price they've already paid for their role in those tragedies, must reside in Mandos for all of time, it will be accordingly difficult for me to ask them to risk their lives for him. Does the King assent in general to the resurrection of those whose hands he'd consider unclean?

The King made an argument that I might be able to get only a limited number of people out of Mandos' halls before he changed things so I couldn't because he's a Vala and those whose hands he'd consider unclean shouldn't be at the top of the priority list.

What's his proposed prioritization? The ones that seem sensible are 'those who Mandos will be longest in returning', or 'those who can help most in the war' or 'those who die protecting innocents' for incentive reasons. I suppose we could do moral worthiness but then we're just doing what Mandos is doing with slightly different criteria.

Odette, who has kept her face--not blank, it wasn't blank before she started talking to Maedhros, adds, "I don't, honestly, consider myself qualified to judge who ought to come back first on moral grounds, and assuming that I had a right to do so seems, um, like a slippery slope to the exact same kinds of problems the Valar have. And everything I've heard about him so far suggests that he'd be incredibly useful, assuming that he was more occupied with inventing things than trying to meddle in politics."

Here, have my memories of the conversation so far, she lobs to Maedhros.

"He would," Fingolfin says. "If that were what he occupied himself with. No one believes that he will."

"Would he have any reason not to, if I brought your father back as well?"

"I'm not sure," he says. "It's a possible solution. It might be the only possible solution. I still have reservations, and I still want it known, so to speak, that there's an expectation Fëanor would answer for his crimes were he alive."

She transmits this to Maedhros, too, which is probably not what the king expects her to do with the information. "Noted," she says aloud.

"Thank you. What are your goals here in Beleriand, Odette, and what will we be looking at once you've achieved them?"

"Right now my main actionable goal is to become more magically powerful. The primary ends I intend to achieve with this power are the resurrection of the dead and the destruction of Morgoth. Given time to become more powerful than any of the Great Mages of my home, I hope someday to also be able to resurrect the human dead, but that's not really something I'd describe as firm enough to be considered a goal. Once Morgoth's dead...I don't know. Oh, and I need to come up with a better solution to the spider problem than I currently have, that's relatively short term, but I'm going to need to talk to some engineers about that one."

"We'd be happy to have you consulting with anyone you'd like. We appreciate your commitment to the war effort."

"I have been appraised of his tactics. He needs to be gone, for the sake of every other person in the world."

That wins her a smile. "We're working on it."

"It's an important goal."

"My nephew and his brothers were disinterested in committing their forces to an offensive, when last I raised the idea. Perhaps you can convey to them my hopes that they have reconsidered."

"I'll do that." Of course, she might have accidentally made it less likely by giving Maedhros reason to think his uncle was trying to control who came back, oops, she had prooobably mitigated that damage.