We're hoping to send the families to visit while they're still friendly, and maybe they'll accept at least the children even after they know. Might be a little hopelessly optimistic.

You don't get the impression they'd hold them hostage, though?

No, they'd have to be a lot more actively evil for that. They'll just shut their borders. And it's not like they want us doing anything differently from what we already are; there's not even much to hold anyone hostage for.

Some kind of justice for Alqualondë? I'll take your word on it, anyway. We can send kids if prince Nelyafinwe thinks it'll help.

He did have an implausibly good estimate of what they were like ahead of time. 

I'm not sure how likely this is to help, but it's better odds than not doing it.

He will think of everything relevant and do it if necessary, she says, the osanwe conveying the conviction and admiration almost more strongly than the words. And some approaches to doing it might be better than others.

All approaches are long shots. Hopefully at least one's good enough.

At least there's no outcome worse than if they weren't here. And in the meantime they're willing to send any supplies that don't risk being used against them. 

Oh, that's kind. Brithombar said that when they were besieged Thingol offered no help at all. I guess now that the continent's safe everyone can be more generous.

Might be that. I don't know if they're supplying Brithombar or not now. This might just be because we're providing the defense.

We can't accept  their things, not unless they'll swear not to steal a Silmaril.

Why not? It's not likely they'll have a chance to steal one, and that would be a tricky oath to ask for without giving away that the Silmarils aren't just something the Enemy stole.

Well. We could. But then, if they do steal a Silmaril, it's over for all of us, and that's quite the incentive for the Enemy to arrange for them to get one...

Yeah. Or at least really bad all around.

But that's not more true if they've sent you things before then? I know they'll accept oaths not to use what they send against them, if nothing else you could just drop it all when you find out they have a Silmaril.

I think we could do that. Depending on a common understanding of 'benefit'. You usually do not have more than one future-action-binding oath, just as a matter of safety, but we're throwing out a lot of rules and it's not like the Silmaril oath contains a 'using all resources at our disposal' clause or anything...

But of course this still doesn't do anything to stop the Enemy from arranging the problem if he wants to...

Do they seem stupid enough to, if handed an instrument of division by the Enemy, go 'oh, shiny!'?

Not if it was helpfully labeled as that. But if it just appeared and you told them about the Oath, they might hang onto it and trust the queen to keep the borders closed. She's a pretty powerful Maia. It could work.

If it were impossible that'd actually be a good outcome. Note how the oath isn't forcing the King to run and bang his head against the walls of Angband. We'd have to work on the problem, but we could work on it from here, no hostilities until we have the strength to kill a Vala.

But you'd still be at war, more or less at the request of the Enemy...

Once we have the strength to kill a Vala, we kill him, ask them to reconsider.

I think they'd reconsider. Probably.

The Oath doesn't make you go after the least difficult Silmaril, then?

No. If one were trivially accessible then yes, but otherwise no.

Then what does he even gain from handing one to them? I guess it'd matter if there's some weapon that can definitely defeat Doriath but probably not Angband.

And he'd be taking a very big gamble, because if they do hand it back to us, that's it, we've won the war.

It's that certain?