I know. He's - this is so hard on him and I'd do anything to make it easier...

Yeah. Well, I'm working on my dreamshaping; it's the best I can do for now. I'm glad I even have that.

He needs all of us the way you do. And he has us. That's something.

Yeah.

After they have spent five Years in exile the Valar invite them to a festival on Taniquetil to mend ties. It is not actually an invitation. It is a summons.

Right, because they hadn't already communicated "Your personal autonomy is less important than our whims" strongly enough.

Yup. Fëanáro is seriously considering not going.

Would there be a significant advantage to not going? It might make leaving easier if they avoided gratuitously flaunting the fact that they consider their personal autonomy more important than the Valar's whims until then.

Yeah. But being dragged around by divine command is really infuriating and he can't promise he won't be rude to the Valar.

Is there a way they could get around that? Like having him transmit his rude comments to people who agree with them instead of to the Valar and letting Maitimo compose his actual responses or something.

Oh, he's not taking anyone with him. The invitation is to all the disunited Noldor but the only one ordered to show is him and so he is going alone. Let them see how reconciled the Noldor look now.

How far is osanwe range, anyway, and is it plausible to hide someone just on the edge of it for this purpose and have them not technically come?

Probably, but he doesn't want to be puppetted, either. He knows perfectly well how to be civil and is just not at all sure he'll be inclined to try.

Fair enough.

Have a lovely six months, everyone, while his will be wasted on a pilgrimage to Taniquetil and back for Manwe to magnanimously forgive him. He won't ask if the Valar have been looking for Melkor. Of course they haven't.

Sigh.

Back to studying.

Three months later the Trees go out.

Fuck. What the fuck.

Let's get out of here. I don't know where, just - Melkor knows where it is -

Is it going to be substantially more difficult for him to find us if we run.

If everybody scatters -

Then no one has backup if he finds them--

Are you imagining that if we're all together we can fight him and live longer than the count of ten -

I guess not.

What size group is safe if we scatter, I'm not leaving without my sister--

How about we start moving and figure that out once we're clear of the city.