Yeah, but groveling worked.

True.

And even if the Valar say, "okay we won't let him out" I don't want to bet the relevant stakes they won't change their minds later.

Fair. Buy us more time though.

That it would.

Not sure how long we need to hit epic. It can be done in a human lifetime in Materia but usually involves stuff I'd call luck if it didn't seem to be the active will of the universe.

Well, I wasn't planning to be able to dreamshape my way out of this within a human lifespan.

How does dreamshaping even theoretically get there, I'm curious.

Ah, eventually one can apply traits from things in dreams to non-conjured things, is most of it.

So you go apply 'alive' to dead people?

Nnnnooo that's not quite it. More like I would apply "capable of resurrecting people" to myself but even that's probably an oversimplification.

Will it help if I tell you stories from Materia, where resurrection is not particularly irregular, just expensive?

May or may not!

Funnily enough one of the books I grabbed is about a paladin one of whose epithets is Nine Times Alive.

Really.

I'd have to translate it though.

Into Quenya?

Either that or just telepathically reading it 'aloud' to you.

Pretty sure the latter is less work for you.

Yeah. Bedtime story?

Sure. How late are you planning to stay up?

Unless it takes longer than I expect for you to go shoot things I think I'll have time to read you three, four chapters, less if I wind up having to explain a lot of cultural context I guess which I probably will.

How long are you expecting me to shoot things?

Hour, hour and a half?

Sounds about right.