...Are lobsters in this world sentient? Leareth doesn't ask because it would reveal he's been reading thoughts, and Tyelcormo doesn't know about that. He reaches out a hand for Huan to sniff again and then pets him, skimming off mage-energy as well until his insides feel less empty.

:Have you arranged a room?: he asks Nelyafinwë. :I think that I wish to rest for a time now, and then I will work on artifacts: 

Yes. And he gestures for someone to show him to it.

Leareth follows them. 

The room is excessively large and has an elaborate glass water fountain and a four-poster bed and a little sitting area with a plump sofa and a desk. The windows open onto a courtyard.

:This is very nice. Thank you: Leareth can't tell if the fountain is meant to be purely decorative; it doesn't seem practical for washing up in. :If I wish to bathe, where...?: 

Attached room! It has spigots for hot water and cold water; the water runs along the countertop to a sink and to a bathtub and to a toilet.

:This is wonderful. Thank you: 

Once they leave, Leareth takes a bath (while examining the plumbing and trying to figure out how much of it is run with magic versus clever engineering), and then lays some basic wards around the area, and pulls all the curtains shut so the next Mingling won't blaze in and wake him, and lies down in the bed to sleep. 

They are heating the water with magic and maybe supplying it with magic; the rest is engineering. No one wakes him.

Leareth wakes up about seven hours later; he's not quite groggy, but definitely has the feeling one gets after Gating a very long distance to a place where sunrise falls much earlier or later, his body confused about whether time still exists.

He gets up and splashes water on his face and puts on his not-quite-fitting new clothes, then heads out to grab something to eat from one of the street stalls. Once he's obtained a pastry that he can eat while on the move, he looks for Nelyafinwë. :I am ready to build artifacts now. Or go visit Aulë, whichever is higher priority: 

Let's do Aulë first. So they can tell whether they'd know if Melkor is skulking around the palace invisibly.

If Melkor can make himself invisible to ordinary vision, it's possible he can hide from mage-senses as well – but it's not obvious he'd know to bother, the Quendi don't have Leareth's kind of Sight.

Leareth does his best to mentally prepare himself, and goes to meet Nelyafinwë. 

Will you be able to gate there if I send you a memory of the place?

:The place where Aulë is? I ought to be able to, if the memory includes all senses and not only vision. Is it very far?: 

Less than a day of travel, but we're scheduled so tightly it might be worth it anyway. If you'd rather take a horse we can certainly do that.

:Gating does seem worth it, I simply wished to estimate the energy-cost: His reserves ought to be plenty for a short-range Gate. :...Are you confident that Aulë will not be offended or startled if we arrive in this fashion?: 

We won't go right in, we'll land at my grandfather's and walk the rest of the way. I have no idea what Gating looks like to a Vala and don't want to assume it wouldn't startle one.

:Ah. Reasonable. I am ready, then: 

Then he will show some memories of some adorable stone-and-metal cottages, surrounded with forges and outbuildings, sparkling in the light of the Trees.

:That will do, thank you: Leareth readies himself, lays the threshold on a nearby doorway in seconds, and then focuses on the destination and the Gate snaps up. It's a lot easier doing it this way. 

:Let's go: He steps through. 

And now they're in the village, just as pictured. The air smells a bit smoky. Half a dozen young children are playing outside, and all of them race over the second they see them; Maitimo adeptly scoops them up, one after another, and kisses noses, and "do you know where my grandfather is?"

They do! They point him to one of the workshops. 

Leareth stands back while he's greeting the children, then follows him in the direction of the workshop. 

His grandfather is tall and redheaded and covered with soot. Maitimo explains that Leareth is a visitor from another world and needs to meet Aulë to learn some things about the gods of this world and apologizes for the terrible hurry they are in -

       "Nonsense in the city?"

"Yes."

       "How's your mother?"

Maitimo winces slightly. 

       "I don't suppose it will do you any good to tell you to slow down."

"No. I'm sorry."

And then they can head off down a little cobblestone path into a ravine beside the village, and from there into a cave. The ravine, and the cave, are magic, ambiently magic the way places in Leareth's world are.

Fascinating. And not necessarily in a way that Leareth likes. He leaves the ambient energy alone; he doesn't desperately need it, and if it belongs to a god, nabbing some of it might offend them. 

There's more of it as they get farther in. And eventually they enter into a grand cavern, lit by magic, glittering with gemstones, where a man ten feet tall works at a forge. 

A few things that suggest that he is Aulë, god of earth and metal, include that he is handling the red-hot metal barehanded and that he is as intensely magical as the Silmarils, not just in the place where his physical body is but for a blurry foot or so around it, and that Nelyafinwë kneels.

Leareth kneels as well. He really does not want to be standing out any more than necessary, right now.