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"Mountains should probably work. South wouldn't be a problem for me, but might make returning hard for weaker girls, or girls who can't fly well. First few shouldn't need much space."

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“Mablung reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a piece of paper. It unfolds to a map.

It doesn’t appear the same as other Quendi works Sue has seen; it shares a clear kinship, but is also not wholly dissimilar to the world of the Khazad she has seen before. 

“Menegroth is here, in central Beleriand; the princess says she met you here, on the norther border of the woods, and the mountains lie beyond that border, perhaps two thirds the length from here to the edge of the woods along the same path, though you will reach the foothills somewhat sooner.

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"Thanks. Mind if I copy that map?"

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“I do not. This map contains no information unknown to The Enemy, so there need be no efforts taken to keep it a secret from him or his servants. The princess you do not yet know how to speak Sindarin, much less read it, but that you can read writing from your own language; if you wish, I can translate it for you through thought-sharing.

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"I need to make an effort to learn the language anyways... But yeah, that'd be helpful." She concentrates for a moment, and a version of the map sans labels appears in her hands. "If I can figure out translation I can leave you guys with some nonfiction books on stuff like technology and medicine. Don't know how much it'll help, but..." Sakura's nerd and book-hoarder tendencies to the rescue, she guesses.

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"In Doriath, even reading in Sindarin is an uncommon skill. You might gain better results by leaving such texts among the Noldor, or at least the Khazad or tbe Sindar of the havens."

In speech, it might not be so obvious, but via thought-sharing, it's clear that when he refers to the Khazad, it's the same people that Luthien calls the Naugrim.

"The cities of the Khazad lie along these eastern mountains, although they share their exact location only reluctantly with outsiders, and this map does not list them. The great forest in the center is Doriath, the kingdom in which we reside, and the smaller woods to the east is Nam Elmoth, the territory of Eol. He, along with the inhabitants of the Havens of Falas under Lord Cirdan- centered around Brithombar at the mouth of the Brithon and Eglarest at the mouth of the Nenning - and the scattered Nandor and Laiquendi of the south are direct vassals under King Thingol. 

"To the North and east lie the fortress-towns of the Feanorians, although they are mostly now in ruins besides Himring. The Feanorians serve their lords, the sons of Feanor, who in turn  obey their eldest brother Maedhros and supposedly above him the Noldorin High King Fingon, but the kinslayers are give scant loyalty to any of the house of Fingolfin. On the northwest side sit the territories of the House of Fingolfin; Hithlum, and its sub territories of Mithrim, Dor Lomin, and Nevrast, which were under the control of Fingolfin, Fingon, and Turgon. Turgon and his people left their homes to found Gondolin, and thus Nevrast is largely empty, while Fingolfin's death leaves both territories directly under Fingon. Here also dwell the house of Hador, the greatest surviving Edain kingdom. 

"In Dorthonian once dwelled the house of Beor under King Finrod, but the coming of the shadow in the battle of sudden flame left their forces in ruin and their kingdom occupied; Their lord yet lived when last I saw him, but it has been many hard years under the shadow since and we have heard no word if any survive. To the southwest of Doriath lies Nargathrond, the hidden city of King Finrod, and from that fortress he controls the surrounding plains and hills of western Beleriand.

"Further north than the territories this map covers is Angband, the central Fortress of The Enemy, and his soldiers roam the plains of the north. His chief servant, Gorthaur, rules out of the Island of Werewolves, which fortress he seized from Finrod; it guards one of the few paths to the north, and should be given wide berth."

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"So. Complicated politics. I can put copies of books more places than one, but learning a language is slow."

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"None of the still-free kingdoms would fail to shelter refugees from The Enemy with whom they have no quarrel, should you have need of it, and even should you not reveal your origins widely your status as an aftercomer will shield you from the worst of those disputes. Your strength will not change that fact, unless His rage at you becomes so great that the forces he sends after you cannot be withstood by the locals. To most of the continent, your powers will seem to be those of the Ainur, and they do not have Queen Melian around to connect them, so for this and the previous I suggest you do not widely spread the extent of your power without cause. If you scribe enough copies of the Sindarin version of these texts to go around, though, there are those among Doriath and Nargothrond who would happily learn from these repositories of lore."

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"I'm used to keeping my magic secret. And physical objects without - little fiddly bits - are easy to make multiples of."

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”Aren’t all objects made of the same things, when you get small enough? Protons and Neutrons and Electrons, and below that Quarks?”

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" - I'm not sure magical girl bodies are, but it's more - if I get the chemistry wrong in a piece of paper, it's not bad? But if I get the details wrong in a computer, it won't work, and if the chemistry in food is wrong it's maybe poisonous."

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"I'd think if you messed up the chemistry of paper, it wouldn't last as long, but I guess that's much less bad than bad food or a broken... whatever a computer is, especially if you don't live forever."

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"Yeah. A computer is - a thing that stores and shows data and does calculations, is why they're useful. They have a lot of small parts."

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“The Enemy possesses many powers that we do not, but if you wish, we could test your invulnerability under controlled conditions against some of the weapons from the armory.”

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"That'd be really helpful, yeah."

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Mablung leaps down from the treehouse, landing easily without a sound, and once Sue and Luthien descend, he leads them across Menegroth, back in the general direction of the throne room. He seems rather more serious, and less prone to song or dance than Luthien, but he has much the same effortless grace and perfect balance, simply channeled into economy of motion and silent travel. His hair hangs behind him, but it doesn’t flutter in the wind or otherwise act in a way that might give him away, were he moving stealthily through an area under observation.

 

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Luthien follows behind, keeping pace easily; this would be quickly tiring for any human that wasn’t fit, but it’s not an issue for any of them, and doesn’t seem to be the limit of any of the parties involved.

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After a short trip, they arrive at the throne room. Melian and Thingol are once more holding court though there are a few more Quendi around this time. 

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There’s a bit of a stir when Luthien arrives; most of the conversations stop, andany turn to look at her.

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Mablung goes down on one knee, and bows his head before the monarchs.

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She sort of half bows, half nods, about the same amount she did last time. 

(She's not positive why they're in the throne room instead of going to the armory. Maybe they need permission? She'll let Mablung or Luthien do the talking...)

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The conversation is in Sindarin, but Luthien relays a translation to Sue.

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“Thou hath Our leave to speak, Marchwarden.”

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Mablung rises from his bow. 

“I would like to request access to the armory. Our visitor, Sue, has a a remarkable defensive ability, and I would test its extent before needs must.”

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“At times, thine worries cross from preparation to paranoia, but thou hath earned Our trust in such matters many times over, Marchwarden. Thou hath our blessing to withdraw or use all that thou need.”

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