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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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purposeful_glory
"I should probably consult with a bunch of people on this one. Last time I thought about making a deal with him somebody else noticed flaws I didn't. But thank you for conveying the message."
"This is honestly way more excitement than this side of the continent normally sees. Probably gonna get me killed but you know what it's not going to do? Get me killed in four hundred fifty two years. See you." She leaps out the window.
purposeful_glory
"See you."
And she goes and tells the Elves what she is considering.
And she goes and tells the Elves what she is considering.
Negotiating with Sauron is a terrible idea. They are unanimous.
...not negotiating is also probably a terrible idea. But still. Uh. Stall for time, plead with Ulmo?
...not negotiating is also probably a terrible idea. But still. Uh. Stall for time, plead with Ulmo?
purposeful_glory
...She thinks somebody else might have better luck with Ulmo than her, but if somebody wants to be birded and sent to plead with Ulmo she can spare them.
Someone goes off to plead with Ulmo.
purposeful_glory
And whenever the other bird is back from telling newcomers about the correct Maia-repelling sigil they can turn right around to get advice from the same places on this negotiation, please.
The responses from that come a little later, in the form of letters.
From Nolofinwë:
Might have some suggestions with respect to Ulmo, disinclined to put them to text. I'd move the Men somewhere defensible with the time you have. I do not think it particularly likely that you'll leave an opening in the wording, but I'd expect that to happen even given extraordinary caution perhaps one time in ten, with an Enemy with these resources, and the best of possible failure modes if it fails is that you die. We have the resources to hold him off, now. Not well, not without horrifying casualties, but five years won't make that situation much better and he may be bluffing on how quickly he's able to act again anyway. It's entirely possible that it's still five years before he's recovered and he's 'offering' nothing at all.
From Macalaurë:
The rest of this letter is not written in Quenya but with a cypher we developed for the purpose of communicating with you and then wrote a lot of material in, none of which ever left our hands, so that Allspeak might have enough content to work from. We don't know enough about Allspeak to tell whether this will work; if not, send a messenger with instructions on how it can be done or come yourself.
From Nolofinwë:
Might have some suggestions with respect to Ulmo, disinclined to put them to text. I'd move the Men somewhere defensible with the time you have. I do not think it particularly likely that you'll leave an opening in the wording, but I'd expect that to happen even given extraordinary caution perhaps one time in ten, with an Enemy with these resources, and the best of possible failure modes if it fails is that you die. We have the resources to hold him off, now. Not well, not without horrifying casualties, but five years won't make that situation much better and he may be bluffing on how quickly he's able to act again anyway. It's entirely possible that it's still five years before he's recovered and he's 'offering' nothing at all.
From Macalaurë:
The rest of this letter is not written in Quenya but with a cypher we developed for the purpose of communicating with you and then wrote a lot of material in, none of which ever left our hands, so that Allspeak might have enough content to work from. We don't know enough about Allspeak to tell whether this will work; if not, send a messenger with instructions on how it can be done or come yourself.
purposeful_glory
...Fëanorians.
How many letters are in the alphabet, can she brute force it by trying various installations or would that take all week?
How many letters are in the alphabet, can she brute force it by trying various installations or would that take all week?
Sixteen letters, she can try them in an afternoon but this doesn't get her anywhere.
purposeful_glory
Okay. So she'll come herself. Hold down the fort, Elves/Men/werewolves/teenage orcs.
Zoom.
Zoom.
Across the desert, across the mountains, across eastern Beleriand, of the star-shaped city which now has thick external walls.
purposeful_glory
Good for the star-shaped city. The Fëanorians haven't moved in yet, right?
Maitimo's presumably there, but the others are still where she left them at Lake Mithrim.
Across the foothills, across the spider forest, across the mountains, Lake Mithrim. A thousand miles. With the zoom song, it's barely a good day's flying.
purposeful_glory
And she lands and waves at the guards, do they remember her after all this time?
Not only do they remember her, but they don't act as if it has been a long time. "Hello, Loki. Good to see you, everyone's well here, can you turn someone into a bird and back before you go in, please, even though we've dug up all the stones and sigiled them."
He takes it.
He wishes her well. "Looking to talk to anyone in particular?"
He walks her there.
purposeful_glory
Whereupon Loki explains that if Allspeak worked that way, her sister would be able to read her diary.