I'm sure you'd have dozens of volunteers. Findaráto will probably follow you if I don't invite him, he's been dying to meet Men. I'd like to myself, but I have obligations here.

If you can spare the people I'll teach 'em to fly and bring 'em out. The Nandor are unlikely to be a source of personnel.

He nods. Lots of the Quendi are isolationist. The Vanyar, in Valinor, the Nandor here, Elwë's people to a lesser degree - not so much the Noldor, because we're fatally adventurous. When my uncle was persuading us all to leave Valinor he said "let the cowards keep this city! but if I have the measure of my people rightly, then if only the cowards stay, grass will grow in the streets."

Does he write all his own speeches?

Back home he was as known for rhetoric as for craftsmanship.

Anyway, do you want to ask around and see who wants to be a bird juggling ball for a few hours and go live among Men?

Assuming, as I expect, I have far more volunteers than you have need of them, what should I be selecting for?

Being able to pick up the Men's language quickly. Anybody who's annoyed that Fëanor got to inventing a Quenya alphabet first can have a shot at this one. Patience with other cultures, because the Men are not going to turn into Quendi with any amount of acculturation, you're designed around different constraints - they're going to be faster and presumably have different sexual mores and fret about dying of old age until I can fix that and so on. Teaching ability, particularly of basic infrastructure things - I made off with copies of a bunch of books from your cousins, but actually knowing how things work is often useful in being able to make sense of written references. I don't want anybody who would be too tempted by the possibility of being worshiped or has a short temper.

He nods. I'll start spreading the word.

Thanks, it might not have even occurred to me to ask.

The words the Valar have for us and for Men mean 'firstborn' and 'secondborn'. Like siblings. You don't really understand them but you protect them with your life and you tease them and you teach them and before you know it they're grown, and have something to teach you.

Awww.

How many people do you want?

I am skeptical of my ability to effectively manage more than thirty, but if they come in convenient subgroups I could take a few more.

I can do like twenty under Findaráto and twenty under someone of my house, though I'm not sure those command structures give us more in use than they cost us in interpersonal friction.

I'd rather not be managing a lot of interpersonal friction. I want to be able to spend most of my time on accelerated perception - cousins have had somebody in their room for three weeks no ill effects, by the way, if you were as curious as I about dose - doing spellwork.

Yeah. I'll find you people who don't need much oversight.

Thanks.

He comes back about two hours later with thirty names. I can vouch for their competence, tendency to get things done without close supervision, reasonableness. I don't think anyone is trying to raise Men as if they've Elven children. I could get you better people with more time, but probably not much better.

Time's a bit of the essence. I'm not sure the werewolves are really going to behave if I'm not back in a timely manner. Did you make sure everybody's who they seem to be?

Yes.

And it's nightfall again.

And she lets everybody be an elf for overnight, gets everybody's face and name in her notebook, suggests that because she has such a problem in her life with Balrog impersonators she could put a dot on everybody who's coming with her and make sure it moves when she wants it to? and sleeps.

Everyone agrees the dots are a great idea. In the morning there's singing, of course, and a farewell breakfast thrown by the whole camp.