She comes back and transforms without landing. "If you want to cross an extra mountain range," she says, "there are many choices of rivers. Without going that far, it's the ones coming from the lake your cousins are using, or an unappealing marsh lake." She provides an illusion of what she saw.
"Do you prefer it less than sharing the lake with your cousins?"
"I think that if you go to the lake they're at you should be prepared to cross the mountains abruptly anyway, considering, so you might be well served making the attempt all at once and giving them a wider berth. If some of you can make the climb and some cannot I could turn some of you into birds - there's hardly time to learn to fly but birds are light and could sit on those with better stamina."
"This is what I saw," she says, gesturing at the illusion, "give or take some imperfections of memory. You can get farther from the fortress than they are, if you like." She points at a river. "That one, for instance."
"Yes. And back. Also, the kind of bird I can turn people into cannot walk."
"People who aren't me couldn't talk as birds either, which would make it hard to negotiate some less restrictive arrangement. But, yes, it has some advantages as an interim solution if it comes to that."
Behold how the map of the area continues to float in the air.
Nolofinwë looks at it. "So we're going over the mountains. Twice. That's going to be a very difficult trip, for those of us who can't fly. Turning people into birds is appealing, but might make them nervous. I'm not sure how our specific relationship between mind and body endures being turned into things."
"It is perfectly comfortable for me but I understand if people do not want to turn into birds, especially since it will take time to learn to fly. We could try a single volunteer again."