<...My native language, the one Tolkien wrote in, was basically five languages in a trenchcoat pretending they were all the same tongue, by the time I was around to speak it.  In the words of - well, whoever came up with that turn of phrase - English follows other languages down dark alleys and mugs them for spare vocabulary.  Quite literally, or, well, the mugging is obviously figurative, but especially when it's a thing English doesn't have a word for, you get 'we didn't even bother to change the pronunciation to fit the one you would expect from standard orthography' 'loanwords'...  ...I can only imagine how aghast - or, possibly, intrigued - say, Fëanor, would be, by that.  Though given that, if I recall correctly, there was all but a civil war over 's' vs. 'th' at some point, perhaps more aghast than intrigued after all.>

<Indeed.  Not a civil war yet, I do not believe... but ah, Fëanor.>  He shakes his head.  <Alas for the darkness he fell into.  Lindir would tell you much about him, if you ask - he followed Fëanor as a youth during that time, and still wears his emblem though he has over time recognized some of his failings.  And he was himself more interested in magic, as you have seen.>

<...Fëanor should have been anything but a King.  I think it broke him.>  ...She isn't going to say more because if she does that's going to get into the 'What the fuck, Eru,' and/or 'What the fuck, Valar,' topics.  And that would just be rude.

<I do not know if it was that or something else, but at the least, it broke many other people.  Though I do not believe he was ever broken beyond mending himself - if he had seen how, and chosen to.>

Sigh.

<And I have been wondering lately what broke Saruman.  He said it was his losing hope about Sauron's power... but I feel there was something else as well.>

<...Sometimes, you have to meet people where they are, not where you wish they'd be.>

<...As for Saruman - I wish I knew, but I don't think it was ever said, or at least if it was I've certainly never heard of it.  Unless there was a Palantir involved, which would be more of a deduction than any specific knowing.  There was something about probably-Sauron having some influence - not on what was seen, but how it was seen.>

<A Palantir?  I had not thought of the Palantirs for Long Years...>

He starts murmuring to himself, with scraps of thought floating through osanwe:  <... Seven stars and seven stones and one white tree...  who knows where the lost stones now lie... buried or drowned, or Elendil's Stone on the Straight Road...  Ithil, ah, Ithil, or perhaps Amon Sul...>

While Gandalf is still musing, a party of four Dwarves come down the road riding ponies, with grim expressions on their faces.  One of them is much older than the other three, and he gives a curious look to Gandalf as they pass and calls out "Ah, Gandalf!"

Gandalf starts.

"Why, Gloin!  What brings you here?"

(Meanwhile, he sends to Alicia, <This is Gloin, one of the dwarves who came with me and Bilbo to the Lonely Mountain.>)

His face darkens.  "A long story, and not a happy one.  I hoped to bring warning, and seek Elrond's counsel - and yours, since you are here."

<...I'm not nearly as surprised by that as I rightly should be,> she sends back when there's a lull.

<Ill tidings, I take it?>

Gloin doesn't notice Alicia's osanwe, even if she was attempting to speak to him.

"Is Bilbo still living here?" he asks Gandalf.

"Yes, and his nephew Frodo has just arrived..."

"... though grievously wounded; that is another story in itself.  Another newcomer here - Alicia - helped heal him.  But come, let us speak inside.  I believe Bilbo will be in his study, if you wish to see him; and Elrond may still be with Frodo."

(For the record, her osanwë was directed to Gandalf, specifically.)

Alicia hears her name, and waves.

<...I think I should like to be included in the briefing on whatever this is,> she adds, to Gandalf.  <If that's convenient.>

<Absolutely,> Gandalf says as they walk back beside the Dwarves.  <I wish you could speak some language in common with us - I am sure Aragorn will be there too, and perhaps Bilbo.>

Gloin smiles with satisfaction at Alicia, but then he studies her with surprise.  "A girl of Men, isn't she?  To have such talents at her age!"

<I'll add translation to my to-do list.  I mean, it's on there already, but, well, moreso.>

And, hm -

<I'm a bit of an outside context problemsolution - it's not normal at my age, but where I'm from, anyone who'd trained in the right skills could have done what I did.  Hopefully, with that - mostly - sorted, I can cause some problems for whatever's giving you problems - though I suspect your problems and our problems are going to be the same problem.>