"How many Maiar are there?"

"Forty-nine thousand, six hundred, five. Many of them are very very minor and the Eldar don't know of their existence: they make a particular spring beautiful, for instance."

"Okay, so you wouldn't have necessarily expected to recognize any given one. So this is an interesting revision to my 'Ungoliant was from another planet' theory... what I'm not clear on is how the Enemy would have gotten in touch with her and fetched her over."

"This is also unclear to me. Also why the arrivals from Valinor believe she came from beyond the void. If the Valar said that, they must have had a reason, and she wouldn't have been unknown to all of them."

"So if this is a parallel reality she could still be from my side, or yet a third."

"All the realms previously known to you were from, ah, 'your side'? The same universe?"

"From my own galaxy, even. Traversing the space between them is uncommon."

"I see. I am not sure I can be of further guidance."

"Yes, that's how the universe was before we made a place in it suited to life. I can't detect it now, except the ones that are visible in the sky, but I expect everything still works the same."

"The alterations made to fit the universe to the life - how far out do they operate? And you never did say what the stars are; are they the same thing I'm familiar with -" She explains conventional stars.

"So the way we'd done all this turned out not to create the sort of atmosphere you'd want to see the stars, but the Elves were supposed to awaken to starlight, so Varda went ahead and made some stars look the way they should. The universe has the things you're thinking of, but they're not in the positions suggested by the night sky, because of all the alterations. None of those extend more than a few thousand miles out."

"Do you know roughly how many real stars there are? And how many Valar and Maiar split off to do their own things early on?"

"The Ainur that joined the project of making this world were the smaller share of all our number. The rest stayed with Eru. The real stars are innumerable."

"More than that, but I think innumerable."

"And when you say 'stayed with Eru' - where is he? I've heard people implying that he has to be personally intervening every time Quendi get married, is that false and his attention's wholly elsewhere?"

"His attention is as far beyond mine as mine is beyond yours, but I don't think that's how it works. He communicates his disappointment to us sometimes as much as days after the decision that disappointed him, so he is not continuously aware of all on earth. Marriage is an oath taken in his name; just as you could take an oath in my name without my personal knowledge."

"So he may be concurrently running any number of other planets."

"Well, not hundreds of billions. But many, yes."

"Are you confident this was first?"

"Yes, we were the first volunteers to leave Eru's presence and create the world he'd envisioned and sung of."

"No need to answer if this is too personal a question, but when he's communicated disappointment what has it tended to be about?"

"The world not being round. Not dealing with Melkor sooner. Creating Dwarves. The decision to take the Elves to Valinor rather than fix this world for them."

Three out of four. "Thank you. Should I consider any of this information private from anyone else?"