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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.
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So one of the Elves brings her one of the orcs.
purposeful_glory
"I imagine you've figured out the bind I'm in," she tells the orc.
"He sort of explained. He said you feel obliged to kill us all because you hate him and you like Elves, but that you also like us and wouldn't murder us all if we didn't work for him. He said you probably won't kill the children, and we said that it'd be awful for the children to watch us all die, and he said that then we should convince you not to do that, and we could, because you find it kind of distracting to kill us and would like to not do it. Then he showed us all the other orcs you've talked with and what you're like."
"Um, there's an orc you met in the mountains who you learned about our oaths from, and we watched you talk with her. She's back now so we can look at the things she remembers. And she also remembers when you were in the Elf camp and talked with more orcs there, and killed the disobedient ones, and tricked the others. And then the last orcs he sent out to say hello to you out here, when you were blue and scary. He thinks that's all the orcs you've talked to. If there are others we didn't see that."
purposeful_glory
"How exactly is he showing you these things without access to the orcs in question?"
"He sends someone out to be a hundred miles away and watch through our minds with osanwë. He can't go personally because he can't maintain a physical form right now. But they can read everything we're thinking so they know what we say and they know when we die, and they can take the whole thing back to him to learn from."
purposeful_glory
"That's good to know." She sighs. Holds out her hand. "Lemme heal you."
She holds out her hand. "I have orders to be helpful so that's why I told you all that but I sort of wish I hadn't, it means you'll kill us faster so he learns less. Are you going to spare the children? Do you know how to take care of them?"
purposeful_glory
"I'm not a Man, I have seen babies before." Heal. "Are there special baby orc care and feeding guidelines to worry about?"
She flexes her hand like it's unfamiliar. "Huh. Thank you. They don't eat solid things until they're this big, usually," - she gestures - "they drink from our breasts, but I suppose it'd be better to give them solid food than let them starve. Or if you have animals, the milk animals produce for their babies works. Not as well, but it works."
purposeful_glory
"Those features are not unique to orcs."
Loki thinks.
She stands up.
"Will the adults hand the babies over voluntarily? I may or may not have an idea for not killing you, but just in case I want the adults separate."
Loki thinks.
She stands up.
"Will the adults hand the babies over voluntarily? I may or may not have an idea for not killing you, but just in case I want the adults separate."
"If you swear to spare - oh, no, I suppose you can't. If you seem inclined not to kill our children, since that's the best we're going to get, I expect most people will give them to you if only so the children don't have to watch."
purposeful_glory
"They've sworn no oaths. I'm sure their parenting situation will be astonishingly awkward either way, but killing them is uncalled for."
And she goes out. And she heals all of the orcs - paying close attention to whether the babies react to this treatment or not. And she has them hand over the babies to any Men who want to practice holding babies and if that's not enough to go around she enlists Elves.
And then she inquires of the orcs under lie detection if their current orders allow them to change tactics, and if their current communication situation allows them to receive order updates.
And she goes out. And she heals all of the orcs - paying close attention to whether the babies react to this treatment or not. And she has them hand over the babies to any Men who want to practice holding babies and if that's not enough to go around she enlists Elves.
And then she inquires of the orcs under lie detection if their current orders allow them to change tactics, and if their current communication situation allows them to receive order updates.
There are lots of Men who want to practice holding babies. The orcs are cheered to learn that the babies will be spared. They want to personally advise the Men on holding babies better, this is really important, and also teach them nursery rhymes to sing the babies.
Their orders do allow them to change tactics, except their specific current orders include 'don't fight back or hurt anyone even if you think it's the best way to achieve your goals' so they can't change that tactic. They can be communicated new orders via osanwë.
Their orders do allow them to change tactics, except their specific current orders include 'don't fight back or hurt anyone even if you think it's the best way to achieve your goals' so they can't change that tactic. They can be communicated new orders via osanwë.
purposeful_glory
All right. She does not want them to be communicated any new orders. So all the orc adults are going to go over there in that circle, see, and they're going to confirm that none of them are Balrogs please, and then she is going to turn Lævateinn into a ladder and stab it into the ground and climb up it and make an ice wall around them. It is too slippery and tall to climb but they can sing nursery rhymes over it if so inclined.
Need an Elf's eyes up in the sky with me.
Need an Elf's eyes up in the sky with me.
The Elves are super stressed by this situation and happy to help.
purposeful_glory
She turns one into a bird. She turns them invisible.
Can you see a hundred miles or is this going to take a while?
Can you see a hundred miles or is this going to take a while?
We can see that far. It'll still take a while to look carefully.
purposeful_glory
Right, but none of the time will have to be search-transit time. Here's the deal. I'm sure whoever Thauron's got out there mindreading the orcs is invisible. Only makes sense. I have an idea that might work to find them. Then I can go increment my Balrog tally and as long as somebody's always up in flight to notice and give a warning if something else enters the vicinity we can leave the orcs alive in some hacked-together social disaster. My illusions have no range limit. They react to real light; and they react to each other; my guess is they will completely ignore whether or not someone is differently invisible. I'm going to flood the entire radius and then some with color and you're going to tell me if you spot a shadow.
Your commitment to not killing orcs is admirable, but at that point why not just send them back? At some point he communicates an order to them and then we have a lot of hostiles in our camp.
purposeful_glory
I'm considering it. But then he can just keep sending them at no cost and they loiter around, maybe surround us. I don't think he can afford to lose Balrogs the way he can afford to lose orcs, either.
All right. Will it be apparent to the observer that you've illusioned the place?
purposeful_glory
Yeah, I can't help that, that's why the orcs are in an ice wall. You ready?
Yes.