Depends what they do. She can describe how to awaken, and if any of them do they'll end up with a lot more influence toward what's considered normal.

I gave Melian an even more selectively emphasized version of the laws than Maitimo, and more unrelated statements slipped in like that people shouldn't be universally obeyed solely because they have job titles labeling them as authority. Er, no offense intended.

So maybe the Valar decide to go along with that and it actively helps, or they're at least deterred by it and it doesn't hurt. But if they guess that it's malleable, and try, the spirits will listen.

They are certainly likely to continue feeling strongly about various features of Eru's will that your system does not currently seem to care about.

And different objections from mine, too.

If they grumble but accept it as coming with magic, that's barely different from leaping at the chance. It's if they decide to make it work differently that they might change things.

Their values are not precisely my own but seem much better along every possible dimension than the existing ones, so there's that.

Not every dimension. Not allowing people to leave Valinor comes to mind as something you'd be likely to agree with.

I guess I would technically have succeeded if they end up turning their will into natural law, but it's still not the success I was hoping for. In any case it's a problem for after we've handled the Enemy.

I am hoping that was ill-consideration on their end, not policy. But yes. It is good to know there is a place of beauty and safety in Beleriand.

It is.

Irissë and I thought future groups could be whoever would benefit most from being there, but they might have to also be selected for not mentioning Alqualondë.

There are only a few people I'd accuse of disobeying an order on that. Maybe we can send families, hope they're permitted to stay even when the truth comes out.

Hopefully. That sounds like exactly the kind of thing that might work.

Thank you, Amber.

A few things I should ask you about. Can the Feanorians be relied on to build and use new technology discreetly? A lot of what I could tell them would benefit the Enemy more than us if he got a chance to copy it, I'm hoping the best answer isn't just to keep it secret.

I am not sure. They'd take the necessity seriously, but they haven't shown much in the way of good judgment recently.

And if they eventually decide that whatever they have just has to be enough, and it isn't...

I could make the offer conditional on giving you a veto for anything conspicuous? Might even motivate them to go do their inventing in the Dwarves' city.
Kind of doubt they'd go for that.

I expect their reaction to an offer conditional on giving me a veto will be 'haven't you realized by now that we'll learn it anyway'?

They very well might not.

But I don't want them to not have anything I could help reconstruct, not if there's a safe way they can.

Really? Nothing?

Not nothing, they could probably get the steam engine just from the name. Maybe internal combustion, or who knows what else. But I doubt they'd be able to make electricity based solely on the fact that there's something I'm not saying.

And their unknown means of spying on us. But what I meant was that it surprises me that there's nothing you know you wouldn't prefer to have in their hands.

Oh. I meant I'd prefer to avoid the result where I don't tell them anything at all, not that there aren't things I wouldn't trust them with.

That makes more sense.

This question's kind of a long shot, but have you or other non-Feanorians ever used a palantir? Without one of them there?

If those are their means of spying, maybe they'd be reluctant to turn it over. Suggesting that they send Doriath one might be a somewhat useful test.

I have used them, yes. There is no immediately apparent mechanism to use them other than for communication, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.

And there are non-spying reasons not to send one, too. Like more communication meaning more risk of someone slipping up about Alqualonde.

Maybe it doesn't give that much information.

Are you planning to get in touch with their host again soon?

Both to describe them some machinery to whatever extent I can do that without giving Fëanáro a chance to get too curious, and to tell Maitimo why I'm not doing the same thing for their greenhouses as their forges.

They should also hear about the Dwarves; I'm mostly sure they didn't know there were any in Doriath.