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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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The fellow managing the werewolves?
purposeful_glory
Some werewolves savaged some Men, I killed them and healed the Men, and then a bunch of the werewolves all ran off home past some sort of invisibility curtain. I threw a rock at it. It stopped at the curtain and a fellow walked out with it in his hand and we had a... conversation. It was Thauron.
Oh.
You poor thing. Do you want another hug?
So she hops over to sit closer to her and gives her a hug that would probably be too forceful for an Elf. I'm glad you're safe.
purposeful_glory
Hug. I kept him talking for a while. He wanted to bribe me. Offer came with a free sample. It's the orcs. He offered to stop them hurting all the time. I talked the free sample from six days up to twelve but I'd have to give him stuff to get further increments and I'm not going to. But leaving the Men there being ignored by their Nandor neighbors and courted by Thauron seems like a bad idea, which is why I came here; they'd be your father's people too, wouldn't they?
Yes and no. They mostly don't believe in kings. They're his kin, certainly. They can't adopt responsibility for a bunch of Men, and they're defenseless too if Thauron's around. Oh no.
Have you considered taking anyone with you who'd be helpful and just trying to kill him?
Have you considered taking anyone with you who'd be helpful and just trying to kill him?
purposeful_glory
Well, I killed a Balrog but Thauron seems likely to be out of my league and I'm not sure who else would be helpful and would come.
Mom. But I don't think she would - feel she had the right to take that risk.
purposeful_glory
I'm not sure I have the right to take that risk without some kind of ace in the hole.
We could invite the Men to come to Beleriand, tell them there's no werewolves here. I don't know We aren't much like Men, I don't think we'd be very good at guiding them. They're not meant to live in trees, for one thing, and they don't sing themselves the things they need and couldn't rely on us...
purposeful_glory
And I'd have to go tell them that and Thauron expects me back to continue employment negotiations in eleven days and may be laying an ambush if my first words aren't "so when do I start".
You said he wanted something. Something we could fake?
Leaving Men alone for the Enemy to toy with isn't acceptable. Going and warning them might get you killed, going and fighting will probably get you killed. Asking the newcomer Elves to go and fight?
purposeful_glory
It's a long trip if you're not a bird, and I'm not sure how much support they can provide against a Maia. The suppressive fire some of the newcomers' archers provided when I fought the Balrog barely annoyed it.
Ugh.
This would be a really useful time for the Valar to step in.
This would be a really useful time for the Valar to step in.
We'll ask. I wouldn't count on it.
This is horrible and I don't have any idea what to do.
This is horrible and I don't have any idea what to do.
I wish I knew how to fight things.
purposeful_glory
I probably cannot train you to be good at it in eleven days minus travel time.
How long would it take?