"Will he have done so already? How long does it take him to get back on his feet when he dies?"

"You know, I'm not exactly sure. But - longer than this, I think, and he might come back really far away, especially if he's aiming to come back as soon as possible rather than in the most convenient location. And he comes back without most of his memories, so he wouldn't be able to Gate back to Valdemar or the north, he'll have to find his nearest records cache and then work his way back from there." 

Nod. "And we don't have a way to contact him?"

"The communication spell already failed. I don't have an alternate method to try although I'll keep thinking about it." 

"Okay. 

I'm so sorry. Obviously any help we can provide you is yours."

Vanyel ducks his head. "Thank you. I need to go - rest," cry for a few hours, "and then I'll try to reach Nayoki. It seems like probably whatever happened didn't hit places outside of Valdemar, since the peasantfolk on the Border are fine, it really does look like they started with Haven and went from there. I just wish I knew why–" And then it clicks. "Oh. Oh no." 

" - hmmm?"

"I don't know how I forgot, I'm an idiot. Iftel is ruled by a god. The entire country has a giant shield-barrier around it. That god is Vkandis. Who - doesn't like Leareth very much. And who apparently had an entire goddamned army in there that we didn't know about. Um. I'd been assuming this was related to whatever got through the Gate..." 

"Maybe it was. If one of Melkor's Maiar got through, don't you think they'd go try to ally with the nearest major power? And that'd explain how they could take out Leareth even though you don't think an army could." 

"And the delay," Stef adds. "Velgarth gods and Maiar are both slow." 

"I don't know." Vanyel twists his hands together in his lap. "I wouldn't have thought a Maia working for Melkor would've shared too many goals with Vkandis, but... I guess I don't really know what Vkandis' goals would be, here. I assumed He was fine with it since Karis didn't say anything against Arda. Maybe that wasn't a reasonable assumption." His eyes are stinging again. "I messed up. Should've been more careful." 

"We should maybe have not returned to Velgarth until we had the resources to help Leareth complete his plan there." Sigh. "...which is conceivably what we should be trying to do, in the medium term here, though I think short term we just need to get into contact with more people and gather more information."

"His plan to make a god, you mean? I - don't think we have an alternate power source, yet. The Silmarils won't do it for that." 

"Quendi and orcs are more power efficient than humans, and come back."

"...Right." Vanyel looks down at his lap. "All right. I need to rest and then I'll reach out and then we'll - know more - and we can plan." He feels like he still needs about a month to take in the enormity of it enough to actually be able to think straight. "Thank you. I really appreciate knowing that we have you and your people with us on this. I wish this wasn't happening but...wishing won't change it, will it." 

"Well, it's never worked for me. Take your time, I think thinking clearly is more important than moving quickly at this point. Because we're too late."

They're too late.

Those words are a refrain in Vanyel's head for the next several hours. He goes back to his room with Stef. Cuddles. Closes his eyes but can't quite sleep, despite his fatigue.

Stef sings to him, quietly, but has to stop because he's crying too. It hadn't seemed so final until now. 

When his reserves are slightly recovered, Vanyel gets up and goes back to the Work Room and casts the spell yet again. <Nayoki?>

<Herald Vanyel!> The spell, unlike true Mindspeech, doesn't convey any overtones of emotion, but there's still a franticness in the cadence of her words. <Valdemar - we don't know - Leareth - are you safe?>

<I'm safe. We think. In Arda, can't speak for long> He relays everything they've found, as tersely as he can manage it. <We think Leareth's dead. Can't contact him. You tried too?> 

<Yes. I had hoped...> Whatever her hope was, she doesn't say. <Vkandis. You are sure?>

<We're certain it was Iftel. Can't see why they'd attack if it wasn't at His bidding, they were our allies> That part still stings as well, more confusion than betrayal. <And - maybe the Maiar we think got through the Gate, before. But don't have direct evidence of that yet. Need to find out what the conditions are in Valdemar. Tayledras are scouting> 

<Will they work with us? The Star-Eyed and Leareth did not see eye to eye> 

<...I don't know> Vanyel had failed entirely to think of that, which is stupid of him. <They haven't mentioned any premonitions about it but I'll ask. And I don't need you to coordinate directly with them for right now. Just - try to get information, if you can. I'll be in touch>

He drops the connection, and relays the answer to Treven and Macalaurë, and Fëanáro if he's interruptible.