My goal here is to be in possession of the Silmaril in a sufficiently meaningful sense that the Oath's inactive and to try to be likable enough to Thingol that he's more willing to accept our assistance where it's useful to his people. Friendly musical rivalries seem conducive to that end. Also Maglor and I got to talk about various things too sensitive for letters.

Makes sense. You think they can read tengwar after all...?

There cannot be no one in the kingdom who's picked it up.

Did they inspect your letters?

If so, they were careful about putting them back how I'd left them. I'm not even inclined to be annoyed if they did, that's a reasonable way for paranoia to manifest.

I suppose finagling something with illusions relies on Melian not being called upon to contest the illusion. Well, at least you and Maglor got to talk.

He's not running logistics for me, Amrod is. He wouldn't have time. But it was still useful.

Good. The concert was spectacular, could you really hear it all right from here?

Not very well at all, no. I'll ask him to sing it for me some other time.

I could give you a loop of it. I took it all down.

Thank you, I'd like that. Do I have a way to make it stop playing?

Put it inside your bubble of silence?

That will do it.

So she attaches Maglor's half of the concert to a convenient object for him. There is also no way to replay it from start, it'll just pick up wherever it is.

I am disappointed that you did not design your magic better for the convenience of a single Quendi in a war you didn't know you'd be fighting.

I'm not. If I'd gotten fancier with the illusions I wouldn't have been done with turning into a bird by the time I got here and it was really handy.

Ah. Well, if it's the reason I was rescued from Angband I guess I'll forgive the illusions the inability to start them at the beginning.

I could've got you out without that part, probably, but it'd have been messier and harder to take two people at once, especially if you weren't inclined to cooperate.

I am struggling to think how you could have gotten me out without the ability to turn into a bird.

I might not have gone in to notice the opportunity in the first place, admittedly. But I walked out and could have walked in, and I think I could have scaled the wall if I were really determined, with Lævateinn for a climbing pick. I could carry two Quendi encumberancewise as long as you weren't squirming too much. Wouldn't have been any harder to turn you invisible. The unpleasant part would be the bit where you'd have fallen while weighing considerably more than a bird and maybe if I couldn't pry the cuff open missing a hand. I mean, I would have fixed it, but still.

I would have told you to kill me, not attempt a rescue.

...Might've done it.

He nods. I would have been very persuasive.

No doubt.

Is there an eventual plan for bringing back the dead?