All right. Sounds good to me, too. We should eat before I go; I'm not sure how long I'll be gone.

Okay. Thank you. Be careful.

She grins. I will.

There is soup, and then she goes, appearing in a small clearing in the woods outside the city.

Their scouts spot her almost at once. Arrows are drawn on her from a lot of different directions and the King is notified.

Eldar eyesight: rather better than kobolds'. She's oblivious, and it's probably pretty obvious from her behavior. She's looking for a path to follow.

Hello, a voice says tensely after a while. Explain who you are.

Oh, that was quick. Sorry if I've startled you; I'm from a different world and I have teleportation magic that I'd like to share and also some important news. I know you need to figure out if I'm safe first, though; I'll cooperate with whatever you need to do with that.

Can you swear that you don't serve the Enemy?

Unfortunately no; I don't think my species can swear at all, and we don't share a language.

How do you propose demonstrating that you're safe to have around?

...I was under the impression that you'd have some other way to check. I might not be able to, then; I don't think I know enough about the situation here to suggest anything.

There's a minute's wary silence, and then a very large wofhound appears through the trees up ahead.

Holy shit.

She stays very, very still, and sends an image. Yours?

Yeah, the Elves say, that's Huan. You wanted us to check whether you're safe, right?

Wasn't expecting that to involve an animal big enough to consider me a snack. Go ahead.

Huan pads over and stops a little short of her, sniffing the air anxiously. He does not close the rest of the distance.

She stiffens when he gets close enough that she wouldn't be able to get away if he lunged, but doesn't otherwise react.

So after a minute he closes the rest of the distance and sniffs her.

Wow this is deeply unpleasant. She doesn't move.

He is trying really hard for friendly, curious body language but she's clearly terrified all the same. He sighs and retreats, wagging his tail. He tells Tyelcormo that she is from another world and was in Angband a few weeks ago and does not seem to have met the Enemy but that she has been near Maitimo very recently.

She relaxes, marginally, when he moves away.

Okay?

What were you doing in Angband?

I was trying a new kind of teleportation spell, and it didn't work how I was expecting it to, and it put me there rather than where I was aiming for. I didn't stay long.

You saw Maitimo.

I rescued an Elda; I haven't asked their name and they haven't offered it. I didn't see anyone else while I was there, though.