It's useful to have some outlet for my immense frustration with my cousins. And my uncle, I guess, but him I model like a force of nature, more than a person. 

I've heard the analogy. About Valar, and in some metaphors gods.

And he's probably a practitioner now. Hope he doesn't get himself eaten.

Did you check how many of the ten were also people who'd sworn the Oath -

I didn't recognize any of them, but I also don't know that there are only ten. 
Maitimo claimed not being part of his family was a criterion for safety reasons. I don't think it makes much difference, given the scary loyalty.

Makes no difference at all in terms of what we can assume they'll be willing to do, including for a Silmaril. Might matter for karma purposes - or they might have sworn themselves to obey their King with their kind of oaths -

- I don't even know why I expected anything better from him -

He had me almost convinced he was better than that. I apologized for making him swear he wasn't doing exactly this.

We'd be better off if I had been giving him the force of nature treatment, could have assumed he takes and takes and doesn't discriminate between sin and sainthood.

Of course he had you almost convinced, you didn't know better. I watched the mess in Tirion unfold and I participated in Alqualondë and I watched the ships burn and I knew better.

Also true, but it's not like I wasn't warned.

Well. We'll keep going anyway. And hopefully make fewer mistakes.

Yeah. 

The King approves spreading the word about magic, if it's taught carefully to people who understand the risks and once it's been communicated to the whole camp that there are shapeshifters imitating the leadership and things they secretly tell you to do cannot be trusted, even with an oath, just go check with someone else.

Nothing so far has pointed toward the Enemy being able to fake oaths, but it's definitely better than underestimating him.

Their numbers gradually tick upward. Amber translates English to Quenya. She briefly considered leaving it in her own alphabet, so if it did fall into the wrong hands only people she taught would be able to read it, but on second or for that matter any thought, no. The practitioners find themselves having to go farther afield to find usable spirits. Not that anyone comes within a world-radius of challenging the record, of course. No one searches Utumno.

And at some point - care to take a letter over to them? They already know, but we can play nice.

Sure. It's saying we escalated numbers and aren't offering lessons because incentives, plus whatever he picks up?

More diplomatically, but yes, plus a priority ordering for the return of our stolen stuff.

Right, that. I might be back with an installment of that, if so we can see how well it matches the priority list he asked for.

Thank you. Good skill, I guess.

Thanks.

Flying stealthily isn't absolutely safe anymore. She won't stand out to the Sight much more than to regular Elf sight, but if one of the practitioners happens to be watching when she sees them, there wouldn't be anything stopping them from pointing her out to the nearest innocent. So she crosses the mountains in the air but walks more of the end distance than usual.

Still just the ten, here. The guards recognize her and wave her in.

Still just the ten unless Maitimo is going to any trouble to keep the rest secret. He didn't know when she'd be here, but the eleventh could easily be on assignment elsewhere and it's not like she checked Fëanáro.

She goes in.

Hey, Amber. Better time to grab the cargo?

Hi, Maitimo.

Yeah, it is. And I've got a letter for you. From Findekáno.

Okay.

Warehouse, over here -

She follows the directions, taking the opportunity to glance around the camp for anything that stands out as magical. If the practitioners left proof of what level they're operating at it was probably on purpose, but still.

The greenhouses now have spirits; that's all. The warehouse has no magic but electric lighting.

They got electricity working already! That's– good, probably. In the abstract.

It's the best-lit place since Doriath. She decides against complimenting them on it.

We're building new greenhouses not visible from the outside so we can have electrical lighting in those without anything noticeable from outside. Here's everything I have so far, I think with another couple months I can get most of the rest, and here's our latest work on electricity for them.

If it should come up in the future, you want to ask me for an oath the wording of which I'd accept from a hostile party if I shared your goals.