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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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"People who know each other intimately can hear each other's thoughts at a great distance. I will be able to determine where Maitimo is even if he doesn't answer me."
purposeful_glory
"Well, that's real fucking creepy," she says. "And the orcs get the extra six days, because this entire scheduling problem is based on you not knowing how legs work."
"I swear that, if you are on your way with the proof that you're willing to negotiate, the orcs won't start experiencing constant pain in the agreed-upon sense again until you take action indicating breach of our agreement or until ten years have passed."
purposeful_glory
"Do you not have to swear on things? That was just showboating before?"
"You should probably ask that question of someone other than me. Maitimo will know, though I'd ask him before mentioning my conditions."
purposeful_glory
"But imagine how silly I'd feel if I find that you do in fact have to swear on things, were in fact showboating, and I didn't even get a straightfaced lie out of you about it."
"I can lie. I can't swear falsely, even without naming a Power. Ask him."
"Oh, it's been a pleasure. Twelve days." And he drops the rock, turns around, vanishes like he's stepping through a curtain.
purposeful_glory
Okay it is now time for her inaudible heart to calm the FUCK down. Any minute now. ...Okay. Shit. Twelve days. That's not nothing.
Maitimo didn't mention he was such a fucking smooth talker.
What is she going to tell Maitimo.
She takes off, notebook pacing her deep underground; and she thinks about that.
Maitimo didn't mention he was such a fucking smooth talker.
What is she going to tell Maitimo.
She takes off, notebook pacing her deep underground; and she thinks about that.
The Men are sleeping, or pacing anxiously in the dark, and of course do not notice her passage.
purposeful_glory
It'd be a long walk; there are mountains.
It's not such a long flight.
She stops, in the middle of the desert, when the sun's risen again; bakes in the heat to see if she turns blue, tries to freeze a cactus. She thinks she may have almost done something. She doesn't turn blue and the cactus survives the lack of experience.
She flies the rest of the way. She goes into the caves and rents the same hotel room she had before and flops facefirst into the designed-for-tall-surface-dwelling-types bed and shrouds herself in silence and screams.
And then she osanwës Maitimo and says, I have something extremely awful to say to you, I have no words for how much you will hate it, and if on this basis you would like me to not say it, I will leave.
It's not such a long flight.
She stops, in the middle of the desert, when the sun's risen again; bakes in the heat to see if she turns blue, tries to freeze a cactus. She thinks she may have almost done something. She doesn't turn blue and the cactus survives the lack of experience.
She flies the rest of the way. She goes into the caves and rents the same hotel room she had before and flops facefirst into the designed-for-tall-surface-dwelling-types bed and shrouds herself in silence and screams.
And then she osanwës Maitimo and says, I have something extremely awful to say to you, I have no words for how much you will hate it, and if on this basis you would like me to not say it, I will leave.
Come on over, he says. I am not that fragile.
He's changed into something in the Dwarven style, if a little awkwardly sized, and has a book next to his bed. Hello.
purposeful_glory
Hello. I don't know where to start. Hi, Maitimo, found some Men. Hi, Maitimo, werewolves are pushovers, I don't know how one's supposed to take down your brother's pet Maia. Hi, Maitimo, remember those career choices you think I made, I hope you think I am getting paid really fucking well because if you don't you're underestimating how they construct the pitches for these things.
She goes to a corner of his room and clonks her head on what looks like empty air overlooking a meadow.
She goes to a corner of his room and clonks her head on what looks like empty air overlooking a meadow.
He watches, amused. Your boss demanding results?
purposeful_glory
Thauron is terrorizing the Men and I ran into him and we had a really interesting conversation which you may read and I am not going to kidnap you but oh stars there are so, there are so many orcs - and I don't know how you tick or what your probabilities of various things even are or - but if it was me I'd. There are so many of them. If it were me I'd wouldn't want - whoever was talking to Thauron on my behalf - to tell him to go fuck himself before inviting me to volunteer.
What do you want me to read?
purposeful_glory
I don't really want you to! I want to flee from this room like a coward and probably never speak to you again and hope you never think it's hypothetically strategically relevant to mention to anybody that I even thought of it! She sits on the floor, head still buried in the corner of the room. She pulls the transcript, explodes it into its pages. The kerning's all fucked, I had to write it without looking and haven't fixed it.
He leans forward and starts reading.
And goes very very still.
If I try to jump right now will you stop me?
And goes very very still.
If I try to jump right now will you stop me?
purposeful_glory
No. I'd advise against it because I'm not in fact going to kidnap you, this is exactly what I said it was, and I think this place is probably nicer than the Halls, but no.
He's trying to make sure my father doesn't work with you.
Everything so far, if events occurred as you've characterized them to me, made it seem easy. Like the Enemy was incompetent. You weren't prepared for him to be a real adversary. I made a similar mistake at a much higher cost.