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Tumunzahar makes Menegroth look like a contract project. Which, the Dwarves assure her, it was. The stonework is astonishingly careful and beautiful, silky to the touch up close while from a distance it gives the impression of stretching on forever above, a sky of stone with crystals for stars. Vast natural cave systems are connected by dozens of perfectly smooth, gently sloped broad stone pathways from which the fall, if she fell, would be several miles down. There are handrails. "We use those to move materials carts," someone explains to her, "we're not going to be reckless."
There's an amphitheater, a place where a hundred of the stone walkways twine around to create space for a hundred thousand people to sit in close proximity, and someone is giving a lecture or a demonstration at the base of it, the seats closest to him filled with eager, tiny, bearded Dwarf-children.
And they spiral down, and down, and down, past waterfalls and egg-sized gemstones left half in the rock and halls of crystal. Everything grows gradually more ornate and more perfectly maintained and the clang of hammers fades behind them. "People say," her guide says, "that we only have a council instead of a single King because there were nine winners of the competition to design the throne so we couldn't just select one person to sit it." And they push open the doors to reveal, indeed, nine thrones so elaborate it would be hard to choose between them, and nine squat bearded people sitting them.
purposeful_glory
Loki leans in. Although she then says, "My home planet doesn't have the hair thing so all actually I know about it is to avoid it under most circumstances."
"What does your home planet have? And it's not a big deal except among, like, royalty. You really shouldn't lean on them too much to get a sense of how Quendi work altogether."
purposeful_glory
"Good to know. For various reasons I haven't run across anything which I can confirm is a thing of the relevant sort on my planet but not here. I assume you have, oh, kissing."
So of course this is the moment when the walls shudder and something osanwë-wails and Maitimo cuts through it - well, he can't talk over a Maia, he can definitely make himself heard while one is talking - with orders for a cover drill that is not a drill.
purposeful_glory
"Oh nine realms in a singularity," mutters Loki. She didn't even wear armor to the party. "Can you get down from here okay?"
purposeful_glory
"Okay. Of all the rotten timing -"
And she teleports to her apartment and changes as fast as she can.
And she teleports to her apartment and changes as fast as she can.
Walls are rattling, wind is howling, several different people are singing, civilians are rushing for cover and everyone else is rushing into position.
purposeful_glory
Loki is not going to be spending this fight keeping her new trick in reserve, but she doesn't yet know where to land. Huan? If I go out now can you tell me where he is?
No answer. Huan does not spend much time in a city heavily warded against Maiar, though Tyelcormo was here tonight so he has to be somewhere nearby. Maitimo is sending troop movements and the view over the walls but all of that could easily be an illusion.
purposeful_glory
She was hoping Huan was within osanwë range, but no such luck. Tyelcormo where's Huan.
On his way. He roams the whole area whenever I'm stuck in the city for a few days - could've gone to Doriath - he thinks he's ten minutes out -
purposeful_glory
She doesn't have person targeting installed yet and if she did she couldn't go get him because she doesn't have passengers yet. She paces. She waits. Can everything hold that long? I can't see through Thauron's illusions -
The city was meant to hold out even without either of you, Maitimo says. Though with grievous losses. We can certainly do ten minutes. He keeps projecting information - no serious attempts to breach the walls, yet, just a rising tide of magical power -
purposeful_glory
Loki goes out to just inside the wall; if anybody falls off it injured she can at least help there.
Thauron is singing. Thauron is singing of some war of the Valar and Melkor early in history, of meadows and valleys and rivers swallowed by sudden fire -
- countered with rock hardening and tides washing it and birds landing on it, flowers sprouting through the rock -
- countered with darkness, that countered with an overpowering impression of light -
The sky goes darker and lighter, the walls shake more or hold steady.
Here, Huan says.
- countered with rock hardening and tides washing it and birds landing on it, flowers sprouting through the rock -
- countered with darkness, that countered with an overpowering impression of light -
The sky goes darker and lighter, the walls shake more or hold steady.
Here, Huan says.
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