That's not too bad, at that pace we'll have them home in two weeks and can then apologize profusely. And I really expect we can win their agreement.

You're very persuasive and I bet lichen tastes terrible.

And it's not even likely they'll be suspicious of us, they don't seem to have invented conflict yet.

That'll help.

See you soon. We have osanwe relays set up so we can ask you any questions that arise while we're trying to win them over or escort them back.

And vice versa. Love you.

They're gone six days when the news comes.

There weren't humans. There was a Maia known for being very, very gifted with illusions. They didn't send the whole host in at once; just the King and a small escort, to try to talk to the humans instead of scaring them. Everyone else had gone in afterwards. It had technically been a victory. It turned out you could kill valaraukar, if you denied them an avenue of escape through the air, and that they exploded with a destructive radius of twenty yards when you did.

Maitimo's probably not dead. Didn't find a body, and the Enemy does not seem to have gone to all that effort just to kill him.

Why didn't he think of that. Why didn't he think of that -

No one thought of it. A settlement of thousands, they'd scouted it, the shines after the humans 'learned servantmaking' had in fact been real -

- they tested that by stamping them with programs, they weren't just, illusion shines or something -?

The servants all reacted like there were people there and none of them would have been able to tell the difference if they were orcs under illusion, would they -

Real shines. In case the Noldor had a way to tell, probably. The servants wouldn't distinguish 'orcs and shapeshifting Maiar' from 'humans', though they would have noticed if there'd been illusory people.

But how did they pretend to puppet the shines - does this mean there were kids on site -

Probably. If so they either made it out or were persistently illusioned to look like orcs even in death, they're still picking over the battlefield.

Kib throws himself at the talking golem. The talking golem that will just be able to fucking tell them what things look like.

The rest of the host rides back. Who should be King of the Noldor (or, possibly, regent? since the King isn't dead?) is not obvious. There is a lot of singing.

Kib is not going to generate a strong opinion on the kingship/regency unless someone suggests something obviously idiotic.

They aren't doing that. Bounce it back to Feanáro, maybe, with the actual job duties divided a few ways, or give it to Feanáro's brother. Non-stupid options, those. 

They revise security procedures on the assumption everything Maitimo knows is compromised.

And Kib has to go around telling every model of golem that Maitimo is not allowed to tell them what to do now - just in case - it's what he'd say to do, isn't it -

Yeah. It is.

Findekáno works shifts much longer than the ones the Noldor found unsustainable at the start of the war.

Please tell me you're only being dramatic and not dangerous.

If I am ever suicidally inclined I'll go sneak into Angband, don't worry.

That's not really an improvement.

He wouldn't want -

- a suicide mission? No, I wouldn't think so.

So I won't go until I think of a way to get us out.