If he doesn't remember it, but then he is reminded, is it in force? Like, could he distinguish between real and fictitious reminders-of-oaths to the point where that would work?

I think so, yeah. When an oath is acting on you you know it, you feel it, and I expect being reminded of one that's still in force would feel like something...

So we keep a golem attending him, I guess, but we don't have to lock him up or anything.

But we can't let him do anything, either. Which will be a problem if he decides he wants to be doing things, if he's up and healthy and acting normally people will listen to him - 

If he's acting normally he will follow the arguments for why he should not do anything sensitive. Maybe he'll have a brilliant idea.

Yeah. He is not acting normally. Might be the shock.

Would people's fealty oaths be an issue, here, do you all need to renounce your citizenships for a minute and then have Fëanáro wave you all back in?

He tried to give me orders when I was flying over, didn't feel the force of it. I would not expect us to be stuck following orders that might be coerced, though I suppose we could do it anyway to be safest...

What was he trying to order you to do?

Go away and be safe. 

Suppose that makes it moderately less likely he's a plant, but...

Well, even if I were still stuck obeying him, I would have been able to disobey an order like 'tell the Enemy you're here'. But he could have easily told the Enemy I was there. 

He said this was the third time he'd hallucinated being rescued.

Well, fuck.

Maybe the Enemy is a really, really bad actor. Except when he's, say, playing a settlement of a few thousand humans, or something...

They all moved separately, they were visibly distinct, no two looked alike - the Enemy can't be smart, or he should have won already, but with what he does do, he's very very good.

And in Valinor he didn't strike me as a bad actor.

I was giving him some benefit of the doubt, but yeah, not bad.

Doesn't know me as well as anybody else here though.

No. And Maitimo knows you very very well. It's - probably worth a try, in a couple days, once the healers - 

- it'd be so conspicuous for me to go be at his side but I want to, very badly -

I've got the excuse that I need to set him a golem.

I'll get him one with hands, so - so.

I did that. There wasn't a way to get the shackle off.

That was my guess. Golem can double as a spare pair of hands. Maybe there's a way to rig up a prosthetic or something.

Yeah. 

I cut off his hand and then carried him back with a knife at his throat, it might not require any Enemy action at all for him to have - reacted the way he did - 

We'll see what he says when he's healed a bit.

Macalaure sits at his side and does not stop singing. They've had the chance to develop and learn from the locals, better healing spells, and it's only a few days before he's well enough for visitors. Too thin, badly scarred, but well enough for visitors.

Kib brings him a golem. One with hands.

"Hi."

His expression twists with faint humor. "Hi."

So it occurred to me that the Enemy didn't know me that well and might find me relatively harder to impersonate than most people, then it occurred to me that all I'd said so far was 'hi' and a mynah bird could impersonate that, except the reason I haven't said much is I don't know what the fuck one says in this situation, so my compromise is probably going to be incredibly awkward rambling at you until I have some cue to do otherwise, meanwhile I brought you a golem, it is obviously here to make sure you do not suddenly turn out to be compromised and start strangling people with your considerable current ability to strangle people but it will also do most things you tell it to.