We'll end it.

Yep.

Sigh. Snuggle.

It might be safe to scout for worlds even if it's not safe to travel to them.

I don't think there's a point without a way of checking whether they have magic or not. I need to read that book the elf translated, see if it lets us guess where to try for a better version of the magic detection form.

Sounds good.

Nod.

The Enemy remains quiet. The King seems relaxed and happier, even if it takes him a while. Lots of people want to learn healing. There's a good harvest with the magic-aided crops.

Rána makes time to give healing lessons, after double checking that they really do want the magic distributed to whoever wants it; Nidela considers learning it, but ultimately demurs when one of the other stable workers picks it up. Tirinquo is introduced to Maitimo; Rána waits long enough after he's done healing his scars that it's at least plausible she wasn't waiting on that. And as the season turns to winter, she reports that she's found what she was looking for in the book: a tribe of birdfolk are briefly mentioned as having especially complex magic detection spells, which she believes can't have been cast with the normal version of the form.

Then they're off on another hiking expedition, once she can find the place.

Cliffs are much easier to target than forests; the tricky part this time is going to be finding enough cover that they aren't spotted.

...and by 'tricky' she apparently means 'not obviously possible'; the area isn't completely treeless, but it's more like badlands than plains, much less a forest.

They consider it and decide to take their chances on being spotted.

She gives them a portal to the base of a rock formation a few miles away from where the birdfolk live. It doesn't help; they're spotted immediately by the ones flying overhead, and some of them swoop down for a closer look.

Anyone in range casting?

Not that. Someone is using a better version of the water creation form, though.

They catch it. They stay around and do not acknowledge the bird people.

The birdfolk - cockatiel-like and roughly kobold sized, and loud - land on a nearby pillar and call down questions: Who are they, what are they, how did they get here? Do they have new magic? That looked like some new magic, can they have it?

They don't speak the language, obviously. They make this clear by answering in Quenya.

They're very excited at this, and swoop down and start trying to get the Quendi to tell them words in the new language.

Awww. The Quendi are charmed, and happy to do that.

They don't seem have the longest of attention spans; some of them take to the air again almost immediately - but a couple minutes after that, most of the rest of the fliers join the group on the ground. A dozen or so of them at a time ask for words, switching out every few minutes, while the rest - a few hundred - chatter excitedly to each other in a combination of their own language and Quenya.

That's adorable. The Quendi like them immediately and start soliciting words in their language, whatever it is.

There's a brief argument over which language they should teach them; the conclusion is 'both', and they start sharing words as well.

Soon enough, the birdfolk who cycle in to ask for words start asking other questions, too - what species are they, how did they get here, where are they from?

They're Quendi! They teleported in, they're from Valinor, they wanted to meet other people!

Coooool. What is Valinor like? What do Quendi do?