Arda: A World of Dreams - Free RP

[Fuin Elda]

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Fuin smiled and gave a nod knowing just how nervous Cala was, she was doing quite excellent really. "Sure," Fuin said and moved to look at wwhat she had done so far. "Normally your best bet is to cut the tines which is what those pokey things are called before you flatten it for most forks which are just two tines, if you're doing fancier forks with three or more tines you do it the way you've done." Fuin said calmly "You'll want to heat the metal and then punch through it with the chisel we made the other day - try to get the sharpest edge of it so that it doesn't displace too much metal and it should do a good job." Fuin said making sure it wasn't so loud that the people outside could hear her easily with all of the windows open.

"Alright." She said giving Cala another nod and then headed for the door making sure Cala was busy at work when she opened the door and opened it greeting the people that were waiting and welcoming them into their forge. She spoke to several at length looking at the items, some passing a critical eye to Cala as she worked and whispering about there being a young woman learning smithing but nothing more than their whispering about it came from it. Most put it to the fact that it was elf run and elves had some strange notions. There were quite a few questions on the shield and others on the swords.

The first item sold was one of Cala's toys, a merchant had been harried by his son for the last two weeks about getting the puzzle toy that his new friend had from apprentice at the elf forge. After the initial rush it did slow down a bit, with only one or two people coming in at a time but soon the nail toys were getting depleted, and the scissors that Fuin had made were also gone, as were a good number of pins. Fuin hadn't thought that the sword and shield would go terribly fast though several men did look at them in wonder - the price tag was high enough on them that they would likely not sell for a bit Fuin figured. The scissors and pins commanded a higher price than the toys but Fuin was starting to think she should get Cala back to making nails and the little puzzles.

Fuin couldn't help but wonder when the delivery boy that was utterly enamored with Cala (even if neither of them would admit to it it was plan as the sun rising in the east to Fuin) would come to visit, he likely had deliveries to make first. She hoped he would come, that would give Cala a bolster if he returned like he said he would. She didn't expect him though until after noon and by then if the puzzles kept going Cala would be hard at work again.

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis



September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
Grand Opening of the new smith shop!

Listening to Fuin's answer, Cala smiled and nodded. That was exactly how she had been thinking of doing it, so that was a relief to know she'd had the right idea. But it was always nice to check before she messed up, especially with a lot of people about to come in and see her at work for the first time. She was very nervous but tried her very best to block out all the people as they entered. She worked on her project, focusing on cutting the tines into the fork. Tines, strange word. The girl was aware of people coming into the shop, murmuring and commenting on things, and tried to focus on doing her work properly.

Soon she had put two cuts into the fork, making three tines. One of the cuts was slightly off-centered, making the middle one slightly skinnier, and the end one a little thicker, but she hoped it would be alright. These were only for their own personal use, so it would be alright, surely.

She glanced up as she heard the first sale beginning to happen, hardly able to contain her excitement. Their first sale! She was even more pleased to see what the sale was.. one of the things she made! She turned back to her work so the other people couldn't see her grinning happily.

After finishing the first fork, she worked on a second, trying to get the tines more even this time, and then a third. By that time, she saw that her nail puzzles were nearly sold out, and was surprised to see how low the supply had become. Setting the third finished fork aside with the others, she selected some more metal and got to work on making some more nails, very pleased to see how well they were selling. Probably due to Radaron, she thought with a smile. Word of Mouth Advertisement is the best way, she'd heard somewhere, but also showing other kids something you have that they don't tends to make them want the same thing, she had noticed with children.

[Moriel]

Omentië
Cuiviénen. late YT 1080.
(Private with Frost)

He was different. There was something different about her friend, and Tyelpelfindis could not divine it. He shielded himself from her, so she could not see what he saw, feel what he felt. And when he spoke into her mind, it was to reveal that he had kept from her secrets of darkness. Before she could begin to feel the hurt of dishonesty, though, he did show her something: a glimpse, the briefest flare of the utter darkness he had described. Even in that instant of exposure, that darkness flooded Tyelpelfindis. She felt rather than just saw it, and its tendrils shot forth, twining themselves about her from within, snaking through her every nerve and vein and fiber of being. She inhaled sharply; it was horror and pleasure at once, and her mind screamed against it. Then Mairon’s thought cut off from her again, and the darkness receded. But it did not snap off at the root as his thought had, rather it retreated deliberately, and as she watched him command the two children out from the trees, Tyelpelfindis could perceive about her friend an aura like to that of the ungualaco.

I know this darkness. he had said, I can manipulate it. I can get those taken by the ungualaco and bring them back. But…

But what? The aura lingered around Mairon as he spoke to Trasander and Cútaþar, swirling like smoke, and just as slowly dissipating. She registered what he said and did to the boys, but her eyes remained fixed upon him. The boys rushed off.

Mairon, she began to whisper, but he cut her off, maybe before taking the chance to hear. When he spoke it was to command: his urgency was utmost, but his words were two-sided, and something was in them other than the desire to protect her and the rest of the quendi. He called her not by her name, but the name of her kind, and with another command was gone. An oppressive silence filled the void of his sudden absence, and Tyelpelfindis stood alone in the glade where they had spent so many happy hours, beside the starlit waters. Though she had spent much time by herself in her life, never before had she felt alone as she did now. The feeling of it caught at her chest. Mairon had come at last, but his coming had not been the balm she had wished for, or even offered the hope she had been desperate to receive. His assurances were tainted by… something, and Tyelpelfindis could but turn her face up to the stars, blinking away the tears that came to her so often now.

Something wet touched her feet. Without realizing it, Tyelpelfindis had walked forward into the edge of the water. Closing her eyes, she took deep breath and pressed further into the water, feeling it lap over her ankles, her calves, knees, thighs; it hugged the curve of her waist as it encapsulated her hips and lifted the hem of her robe, the feather-light fabric floating atop the water’s surface, mingling with the silver of her hair. In her mind’s eyes she recalled the first time she had trod these waters upon Awakening, and the laughter and joy she had shared with the first of her kin. Her hands floated upon the surface as the water rose to beneath her bosom, and upon the completion of her next long inhalation, Tyelpelfindis began to sing. Without words, the way she had begun, in praise and wonder of the stars above. Beyond her notice, the reflection of the stars in the water slowly brightened as she sang, and the branches and edges of trees and brush that formed the border of the glade took on their glow. And deeper in the trees, lurking ungualaco were repelled by the light of her song. But Tyelpelfindis knew none of this, and merely sang until she could sing no more. It was a long time later when she emerged from the water, and paced slowly alone across the plain to rejoin her kin by the shores of Cuiviénen.

YT 1085

It was not as long as his previous absence, but it seemed much longer. At first, Tyelpelfindis had waited anxiously and in hope, unwilling to think that Mairon could not do as he had said, to control the darkness, and return to the quendi those of their kin who had been taken by the ungualaco. But as time passed on, it seemed to her that she waited in vain, no matter how much she might assure the others that help was coming, that the darkness was sure to pass. Days turned to weeks, to months, and finally to years as her hope dwindled and despair began to creep into its place. But among the quendi Tyelpelfindis was one of the few Awakened, eldest, accounted wise, and her kin looked to her for guidance and for hope. She kept her despair locked within, and devised new songs of remembrance each time one of her kind vanished into the forest. There were so many quendi now, and they had devised so many words and things, but there were times that Tyelpelfindis wished for the days before words, when there had been only starlight and song. When she studied herself in the still waters of Cuiviénen, she saw the changes that Mairon had wrought in her on their first meeting, the sheen of the elder stars in her eyes and hair, and felt she betrayed him in her wishes. But he did not come.

One day, something changed. Tyelpelfindis was walking with Tata along the edge the water, near to where a stream joined the inland sea. Though she was one of Enel’s people, she had forged a special friendship with Tata, and they often talked together in quiet moments. But as they walked this day, both suddenly stopped, as they felt a change in the air, and as one looked around. There in the distance they could see something- the outline of a figure- and a kind of light they had never seen at Cuiviénen before: golden and warm, seemed to accompany it. Together they fled, back to the villages of their kin. There they gathered a council, but were interrupted with reports of the figure coming nearer and nearer, until at last the group decided that some should go out and meet it. Imin, Tata, and Enel elected that they should go, and Tyelpelfindis went with them. She had with Tata been the first to see, and none could stop her from being among the first to know. By the time these decision had been made and the quartet of quendi had made their way past the furthest dwellings to the waving grasses of the plain across which the figure had approached, it had all but arrived, and now they could see it clearly.

It was what appeared to be a male of their kind, but taller and broader than any Awakened or born on that shore. His hair was gleaming-gold, and he wore garments the like of which they had never seen. Perhaps most remarkable of all, he sat astride a horse, but no such horse as any that the quendi had met. This was a horse of such stature as to bear the figure on its back with ease, bright-white, but shimmering silver and starlike, except for its hooves, which shone and rang with gold. As they approached him, Tyelpelfindis could not help but feel there was something familiar about this apparition. His face was stern, but there was no sense of dread about him, and as they drew near, he dismounted from the horse.

“Hello,” he said in the tongue of the quendi, and in the deep vibration of his voice, the thunderbolt struck her.

I know his voice!

In the ecstatic symphony Mairon had shared with her that was the music of creation, Tyelpelfindis had discerned many voices. This voice had been one of them, one of the voices that had sung all of creation into being, and stood against the discord. She stared at him openly, her lips parted in astonishment, and he went on.

“I am sorry if I startled you. I have been watching you for some time. I have seen the things that afflict you, and am come to help. I am called Arōmēz, which I believe in your tongue would be-”

“Oromë.”

Tyelpelfindis spoke the word at the same time as the newcomer, who looked to her for the first time. She could see the surprise in his eyes, and feel the might behind their question. But before he could ask it, Imin stepped forward.

“You say you come to help, but you have watched us long enough to learn our language. How long have you lurked, spying on us? If you come to help, why have you done nothing? For all we know, it is you responsible for the ungualaco! You could be the one stealing our kin! There is nothing good that stays hidden from the quendi in Cuiviénen.” Oromë raised his hands, empty and placating.

“If I desired you harm, should I have come to you openly? I am the rider who drives away foul things, not herds them. I have heard you far-off singing, and came to see what you might be, and have found you marvelous- the Eldar.” This last word seemed to set off a faint ringing in the minds of all the elves as Oromë named them in their own tongue, the people of the stars. At this the great horse lifted his head from where he had been cropping at the grass and neighed, and even the voice of the horse was like music. Tyelpelfindis stepped forward, and stretched out her hand. Again Oromë turned to look at her, but she paid him no heed, focusing only on the horse. This too looked at her, assessing Tyelpelfindis with the liquid dark of his eyes, and then paced forward, head nodding in time golden hooves, until his muzzle rested in her palm. It was softer than anything she had ever felt, and her face broke into an enchanted smile as she caressed the velvety smoothness, raising her free hand to reach up and stroke the horse’s round jowl.

“Nahar,” Oromë introduced the horse, the wonderment in his voice slightly muffled by the whickering noise the horse was making into Tyelpelfindis’s hand. “Surely,” he continued, his tone turning slightly mirthful, “you can see that he means you no harm? Let me come among you,” he persisted, turning to the trio of néri standing behind her, “and learn your ways.”

And he did. Imin relented, the others agreed, and Oromë followed them back to the dwellings upon the shore, to meet and mingle with the rest of the quendi. He was eager to listen and to learn, and quick to study. Tyelpelfindis always had a feeling that he already knew most if not all of what they explainted to him, or that his learning was so quick he did not need all the instruction, but he listened nevertheless. Oromë offered guidance and suggestions, assisting with many improvements, and Nahar was the delight of young and old alike. This strange newcomer joined in their songs, and though his voice was always different enough from that of the quendi that it could never quite blend in the kind of harmony they achieved alone (or with Mairon, Tyelpelfindis thought), he never sought to overpower. And Oromë told them of his kin, the Valar, who lived across a far away sea, and had sung the world into being. The quendi marveled at this, and Tyelpelfindis kept her silence. But even as Oromë offered so much to the quendi and seem to want nothing from them but to learn their ways, there were those who feared him still. And their fear grew; some returned from the woods, having not been taken by the ungualaco, but having heard whispers of a dark rider who was not what he seemed, who sought to betray them, vision put into their minds of Oromë as a dark terror. The elder quendi took counsel together often, and Oromë could tell that they were troubled. At length, he told them that he would depart and tell of them to his kin beyond the sea, and that the Valar would talk of what could be done to protect the quendi.

So the great Huntsman departed on his great steed, and Nahar’s musical cries lingered upon the air in their passage. Tyelpelfindis watched them go, seated upon the hill overlooking Cuiviénen where she dwelled. It had changed little since she had first brought Mairon there, only becoming more adorned with the offerings that her kin (mostly the young) sometimes brought her; flowers and garlands and carved things and fluttering scraps of fabric that were too small to make anything useful, but were beautiful nonetheless. Unease crept back into her as she watched Oromë recede into the distance. Mairon had told her to allow no one within the bounds of Cuiviénen, but all she had sensed of Oromë from what he had shared of her, and from meeting the Vala himself, had been good. He had said there were things of both light and shade not to be trusted, but there was nothing about this Huntsman that had seemed so. And none of her calls to Mairon had gone answered. Was she waiting on a miracle that would never come? More than anything, she wanted to believe that Mairon could drive away the darkness and vanquish the ungualaco. But even now as she stretched her thought out to him across the vastness and silence, there was no answer.

YT 1086

Oromë had returned. In the time since his going away, not one of the quendi had vanished from within a league of Cuiviénen’s shores. The Huntsman had spoke of putting a girdle of protection about the waters before departing, and it seemed he had been true to his word- though it was not enough to protect those who dared wander further. They were mourned and missed as much as those who had been taken before, but now the quendi at least did not fear for themselves beside their homefires, and Tyelpelfindis ventured frequently to her quiet glade, waiting. By the time Oromë returned, nearly all who had doubted and feared before had had their hearts and minds changed by the benevolence and strength he had left behind. He had been greeted with much armwaving and cheers, and now the quendi had built up a great bonfire on the shore and laid out a feast to welcome the Huntsman back to Cuiviénen, and the laughter and song rose above the crackling flames. Though she had gone with the others to offer her greetings, Tyelpelfindis sat apart now on the knoll by her shelter, knees drawn up to her chest, arms clasped around them. She smiled as she looked down upon her kin and Oromë in their midst, but a pang tugged at her heart.

Oh, Mairon, she called wistfully, I wish you were here. Even as she said it, a hint of something caught at the edge of her awareness- a flash of scarlet, a hint of- him.

Mairon?

[Fuin Elda]

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

The day was going well and Fuin was fairly certain that the novelty of the nail toys would wear off soon she didn't stop Cala when she began making more, they would undoubtedly need more for a week or so before everyone about had one of the little puzzles to play with. Noon came and with it a lull as many went home to eat lunch or take a break at one of the food stalls. Fuin took this time to look over the forks that Cala had made and nodded her approval, indeed the ability to practice the same item repeatedly in a short time showed her that Cala knew what to do she just needed more practice at it to be able to master it. The next issue of course would be making one work well for Rada.

"Perhaps you can sharpen one side one of these forks as Rada won't be able to use a fork and a knife." Fuin suggested holding a fork up looking at it running a finger along the edge of the tine that she would sharpen if she were making something for Rada to double as both knife and fork. "I'll go grab us a bite to eat and some more water from upstairs you man the shop." With that she headed upstairs leaving her apprentice to her own ideas and any customers that might wander in while she was away for a few minutes - possibly a terrifying thing however she only took a few moments grabbing a loaf of bread some nuts and cheese as well as the pitcher Cala had made filled with water for them with the cups.

"I think we are going to get you working on pins in the next few days, they are selling well and once the seamstresses start bragging about their new pins more of them are going to be coming in for pins and scissors." Fuin said as she hopped herself up onto one of the tables near the forge where she could see the front as well as the forge itself and patted the table beside her for Cala to join her since they didn't have any seats down stairs - something they would perhaps need to remedy in the near future as they finished stocking the shop and had more time to sit and relax even during their work day. "I can manage scissors easy enough but pins tend to sell no less than twenty at a time and take enough time to get them made well we'll be needing a hundred or more of them in the next few days is my guess."

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis



September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
Grand Opening of the new smith shop!

Glancing at the fork upon hearing Fuin's suggestion, Cala realized that was something she had not even thought about. "Oh, that's a really good idea." She nodded, keeping that in mind. She could do that as soon as she had finished with her current project. It would probably be best for the boy to learn to use proper table manners, not that Cala had much experience to teach him, but it was probably better if he could cut the food into smaller bites rather than using the fork to pick up an entire piece of meat and biting off what he needed. It would be interesting to see how he changed and adapted as they provided him with better tools for coping in proper society.

When Fuin left her for a moment, Cala initially felt a little nervous...what if a flood of customers came in while she was gone? What if they got out of hand, or started demanding things and she didn't know how to handle them? But all went well, and in fact, they seemed to have a lull in customers coming in. She finished the batch of nails she had been working on, then came over to join Fuin, eager for a break from the work. "Do you think there's anything else I need to work on today? After I finish the toys, that is?" She wondered, already starting to think about what she might do once those had stopped being so popular. She had a couple of untested ideas on other variations of puzzle toys, but she'd have to play around with it a little before she knew whether another style would work.

[Fuin Elda]

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen


Fuin sat eating for a moment as the two of them took a break from work to eat the door to the shop was still open but the foot traffic outside had calmed for the moment. "I think." She started as she swallowed her mouthful, "That once you get the new toys finished a good idea might be for you to start drawing out some thin wire half the width of the nails you are making now from the high grade steel we bought, since that is the first step in making more pins for the seamstresses and will be good practice for you making something fine." Fuin said finally figuring that once she was finished with the toys there would be another lull and Fuin would likely be able to take on starting actually making the fine pins in question so that they were restocked for tomorrow. "I may get you to start pulling sides for making scissors as well depending on how long the wire takes that way we aren't stuck working all night again to restock for tomorrow." Fuin said with a smile. "Eventually it would be nice to only have to work an hour or two after we close to restock our sellable wares and work on commissioned pieces once those start coming in. That though will probably take a bit for us to do as we'll need to get more stock made than what we were able to get done in a few days." Fuin smiled. The good news was she at least didn't need to make another shield or sword until those sold which had taken her the longest as they were the biggest and fanciest. She could move onto nails, and pins and basic tools. As could Cala when they actually got the toys finished as well.

"Actually I may get you tomorrow to forge us a new hammer, if we are going to be working on pins and other fine items we are going to need a very small and light hammer to work with fine wire without decimating it with one strike." Fuin was quite certain that Cala would be able to make a hammer head with ease especially one as small as she was thinking. She picked up a piece of coal as she as eating and sketched out the new tool between them on the table top the head was about as big as Fuin's thumb with both sides flat one she had drawn a line across and put what looked like a fine nail coming out from the main face of the hammer into that lined off area. about half an inch back and then she drew the face as a perfect circle and the length and width of the handle which seemed mighty small. "The one face is going to have nail coming from it and we'll be facing it with some hardened leather for when we start working with gold and silver which is very soft." Fuin said as she finished her lunch "The main head of this is going to be made out of the bronze we bought so it won't be hardened the same way." Fuin said "It's meant to be a soft touch hammer made mostly the same way as a normal hammer but out of softer materials."

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis



September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
Grand Opening of the new smith shop!

Pins! Something Cala had tried to make before, but they never turned out right. She still recalled the turned-up noses and eye-rolls from the seamstresses she had once tried to sell her pathetic pins to, and how they had ridiculed her attempts. She knew they weren't very good, then, and began to feel a little bit nervous already as Fuin suggested that she might have her make some tomorrow. That soon? She paused in chewing a bite of food and thought about that, with some worry, while Fuin continued talking about a few other things.

She felt some slight relief, then, to hear her suggest maybe she should make a new hammer. "Yes, that's a good plan," Cala nodded, somewhat glad to have a different project to work on. Leaning closer to see what the elf was drawing, Cala nodded slowly and thoughtfully as she saw the design, trying to picture the finished product in her mind. In fact, she was sure that she had seen one of those before, in one of the smiths she had either slept in or worked in, long ago. No one had ever told her what it was for, and she'd had no one to ask at the time. "What is it called?" She asked now, studying the sketch and keeping in mind what the real thing looked like. "It's for making delicate things, then." The girl mentioned thoughtfully, nodding slightly to herself. "I've seen one before. I wondered what it was for. But that was a long time ago." She frowned, trying to recall how long ago, but gave up, as she realized it didn't really matter. She was about to have one of her own, and that was far better than a half-forgotten memory.

[Fuin Elda]

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

She could sense the dread in Cala at the mention of making pins, though Cala would not be making the pins, just pulling the wire to make the pins, which was about half way there really. She smiled and watched her as she relaxed at the mention of the new hammer as well, something that would be possibly harder to make than the pin wire itself even if Cala did not realize it yet. After all the wire simply had to be the same width and a good length of it. A jewelers hammer had to be precise as precise as a pin really she thought with a smile.

"Yes it's for making delicate things - a jewelers hammer, and working with softer metals and inlaying wood soft metals as well without deforming the wood itself just pressing the wire into it." Fuin said with a smile. "With it we will be able to do more with the precious metals that I purchased as the current hammers we have for those are far to heavy and rough, though I suppose if we wanted to make gold leaf for scribes and the sort to illuminate their books the big hammer would work just fine for that since it's got a nice flat head, it would get coated fairly quickly though I am certain." She said with a chuckle. She finished up her lunch and brushed her hands together. "Right back to work now I suppose, you've puzzles to make and it looks like the foot traffic is picking up again which means we will probably be seeing more people coming in soon now that it is afternoon. You're doing excellent." Fuin said calmly. She hoped very much that the novelty of women running a smithy would not bring any hecklers in the afternoon as word got out that indeed it was being run by a she elf who had taken on a young gondorian woman as an apprentice, she also hoped that the delivery boy would make a return soon since he had said his deliveries tended to be made in the morning. That would bolster Cala even further, Fuin was certain of it

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
Grand Opening of the new smith shop!

Cala was rather eager to get started on this new project tomorrow. A new hammer. A special one. She could hardly wait, but she had other things to make today, and the hammer would wait. She hoped maybe that would make the pins easier to make, but she still had a bit of nervousness about the idea of that. But she had Fuin here now, to help her make them better. Maybe there was some trick she didn't know about before. Maybe she'd do fine with it, this time. She could only hope.

For now, it was time to get back to work. Just as she hopped up from her seat, lunch now concluded, another person entered the shop. Cala glanced over and smiled, glad to see a familiar face at least, and one that was friendly. "Hello Thal!" She greeted the delivery boy, pleased to see he had managed to make it, just as he said. She was beginning to think she'd made a friend her own age, for the first time she could remember.
"Cala," his face grew slightly pinker as she smiled at him, but thankfully that might be explained by the heat of the forge. "Ma'am," he added politely to Fuin. "I hope everything is going well?"

"Quite well, I think!" Cala said happily. "We were just getting back to work, but we've sold quite a few things. I'm about to make some more puzzle toys,"
"Oh, I saw some of those.. with the nails, right? Do..uh, do you have any more? I couldn't come earlier, lots of deliveries to make, but.."
"I think we sold the last one just before lunch," She told him regretfully. "But I'm making more... if you'd like to wait?"
"Sure!" If he was trying to hide his enthusiasm, his grin made the attempt not entirely successful. "If... that's alright?" he added with a glance at Fuin, uncertain. "I'd hate to get in the way or anything."

[Fuin Elda]

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Fuin smiled seeing Thal come in as she and Cala got back to work, he blushed and Fuin had to look away making herself busy with checking what merchendise was still in stock and what needed to be replaced tonight before she had a rest.

"Oh everything is going fantastic Thal, Cala is right we've sold quite a few things, and given word of mouth for good items tends to be the swiftest way to new customers I'm just figuring out how much we might need to make for tomorrow so that we don't have barren shelves." She said over her shoulder, she was happy to let Cala work and the two of them... flirt. even if they were both oblivious to what it was that they were doing it was sweet and cute and she wondered if she'd ever been like that? She was certain she had not. She'd been older and far more headstrong thanks to where she had grown up and when she had met Afarfin. Sappy later yes. Oblivious no she decided as she listened to him asking about the puzzle toys and Cala offering to make him one while he waited.

In fact there was one left, but she deftly pocketed it so that he would have a reason to stay rather than finding that there was one left. She didn't feel bad; not in the slightest, when he half shouted sure and his face looked like Rada when he'd discovered fruit tarts. She raised an eyebrow at the question. "Not an issue at all Thal, I'll be doing books and paper work while she works on those for the next bit so as long as you stay away from between the forge and the anvil you should be quite fine and out of the way." Fuin said with a smile. If she'd had been thinking she'd have brought the third cup down so Cala could show off the pitcher and cups she'd made for them, an impressive bit of work for a new apprentice. "Any funny stories Thal about horrible deliveries? It's good for her to work while distracted, one you can stay longer if you like, and two it means she will know how to talk and work at the same time." Fuin called back "Besides numbers and books are boring but we did not have time to build a second anvil yet and I am not the one that needs practice with the forge."

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
Grand Opening of the new smith shop!

"That's great!" Thal grinned, genuinely pleased to hear that they had done so well in their sales. "I've been telling everyone I've talked to," he added, a little shy to admit it.
"Thanks," Cala smiled, happy to hear that. "My brother's been telling all his friends, too, so I guess they've begged their parents to come and see, and buy them the toys." She laughed. "He's always been good at that." She didn't notice Fuin slipping the one puzzle left into her pocket, and figured that it must have sold when she was busy working on something else.

"Oh, you have a brother?" Thal commented, positioning himself where he could stand near enough to talk to Cala without being in their workspace.
"He's in school during the day," She answered, taking a couple of the finished nails, and placed them in the forge to heat up. "He's six, nearly seven."
Nodding, Thal was secretly relieved it wasn't an older brother who might be intimidating toward any guy trying to be friendly with his sister. "Funny stories?" He glanced toward Fuin and then went back to watching Cala work, thinking for a bit. "Oh, actually, there was this one.." He grinned, shaking his head a little in amusement at the recollection.
"Let's hear it," Cala smiled, curious as she checked the nails and decided they were ready to be bent.

"Well, so I had a delivery to this smith on the first circle, right?" He began. "And I was a little late getting there, because there were some unexpected delays, couldn't be helped. But when I got there, the man was extremely irate, and yelled at me for being late, said he was desperately needing those ingots, he had a ton of projects lined up and he was out of metal to make them with... So I apologized over and over, but he just kept complaining and stuff... more than usual. The guy's always full of complaints, but this was worse than usual." He shrugged, then smirked as he went on, "So I went to put away the ingots where he usually keeps them... and guess what? There's like half a months' supply of metal, all sorts, still there, stacked up all neat. So I'm like, What is all this? I thought you were out of metal.. and then he got really annoyed and told me to mind my own business.. but his face got all red like he was embarrassed, and he said something about how those ingots were reserved for some particular project and he needed more for other stuff." He rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, so while I was putting away the new ones, this customer came in and was really upset, and complaining about something he'd bought from the guy, and I could hear the smith just begging forgiveness and telling him he'd remake the thing, but the guy was like, No, I'm done with you, this is the third time I've gotten poor work from this place, I'm going someplace else.. and he demanded to get his money back for the thing." Thal grinned, trying not to laugh too hard, but was clearly amused as he went on, "So, I went up to the guy while he was waiting for his money, and I told him there's a new smithy that's just opened up today on the second circle, and told him he'd be more than satisfied with anything he bought there. So he said he'd definitely come by sometime this afternoon." He grinned wider.

"Really?!" Cala looked up, surprised as well, laughing a little. "Wow, that's great!" She grinned.
"That's not all!" Thal grinned. "I could see the smith guy was furious but he didn't say anything while the customer was there, just shoved the coins at him and watched him leave, then he was turning to me and I told him, He was looking for a new smith, so don't yell at me for telling him where he can find one. And that seemed to shut him up. But then as I was leaving, I heard him grumbling about elves and women," He smirked. "I think he knew exactly which place I'd sent the guy to."

Cala was laughing harder now, though still mindful of her work. "That's amazing, thank you so much for telling that, Thal." She said, grinning as she carefully bent a loop into one of the nails. Once she had adjusted the bend to her satisfaction, she set it aside on the edge of the forge to keep it from cooling too much while she worked on the other.

[Fuin Elda]

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Fuin sat writing down the items that they would need as Cala worked diligently on the order for Thal, a smile on her face as he asked about about her having a brother and knew exactly where his mind had gone and then he began his story and she could not help but laugh with Cala as he told the story of the blacksmith that she'd cursed not that long ago. Indeed her words had bite cruel and sharp, but it was more likely his own mind foundering at the thought of the words than some actual curse from her. She was no great elf, she had no power of foresight, nor had she been blessed to see the light of the Trees, nor had she powerful blood flowing through her veins like Luthien, or those that came of the line of Melian.

"Well I look forward to meeting this customer and I told you Cala, that that smith would learn a harsh lesson." Fuin said with a chuckle shaking her head even as Cala started the work of bending one of the nails. "One unhappy customer means there will be many more, and many more will mean there shall be more to follow for customers speak with each other and tell each other of where they go to replace poor quality." Fuin said with a smile glancing at Cala. If the young woman had ever been worried about how well the forge would do, all they needed to do was make sure that whatever this customer that was coming to them courtesy of Thal was to Fuin's elven standards.

Would it be a while before Cala was able to make her own goods to Fuin's exacting standards when it came to certain items? Indeed she was certain it took practice but, she would get there, and she would start working on items getting them started for Fuin so that it would be swifter for the elf to get the work done.

"I should say Thal, if this man come, and I am sure he will, I may need to send for more ingots in case we get over run with orders thanks to your kind words, and should that smith in the first Circle not keep his tongue behind his teeth cursing elves and women even more will know about us thanks to him as well as you!" She finished up her paper work happy with what they had made for the day even if they did nothing else all day they had made enough and it was only just after lunch.

It was not long after that that people started to come into the shop once more and more pins were sold the women chittering excitedly like hens over pins and how fine they were and two of them order scissors to be picked up in two days since Fuin no longer had scissors and they already seen the scissors that had come from the forge their deposits put down they headed out excited to start using their new items when a man came in tall and stern with sharp eyes and Fuin gave a small smile as the man looked past her to Thal.

"I take it this is the right place then that you are here." He then looked at Fuin who stood calmly her hands resting on the table waiting for him to speak to her. "I take it you are the owner of this establishment."

"I am the benefactor, and current master of the forge." She said with a smile, and the man nodded.

"If you've enough wealth to start a forge in such a short time you either are insanely rich or insanely good at what you do." Fuin gave a nod in response.

"I would like to think I am insanely good especially compared to the standards you've been suffering lately. Tell me what is it that you are needing smithed?"

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
Grand Opening of the new smith shop!

After making sure that the bend in both nails was just right, Cala dunked them into the quench and started on another, smiling a bit in amusement at the memory of Thal's story. "Is he always that rude to you?" She wondered. "I hope you won't have to deliver there as much anymore. I think he absolutely deserved Fuin cursing him."
"It sounds like maybe I won't," He said, a little wide-eyed at what Fuin had said. He leaned a bit closer to Cala, whispering. "Did she really curse him?"
Cala smiled and nodded. "Yes, she did." She answered, then added, "You do NOT want to make her angry."
"I'll keep that in mind," He nodded slowly, watching her work on bending the nails carefully. "That's fascinating, how you do that." He commented, then glanced up as Fuin spoke to him. "Oh, yes ma'am. Do you need them now?" He asked, preparing to hide disappointment, should she say that she needed him to go now...

Soon after, another flock of customers came along, and Thal stepped off to one side to make sure he wasn't blocking any of the merchandise, nor the people's view of the smith's apprentice at work, while also still allowing him to watch her work.

Cala smiled, hearing people go on about the pins, and wondered if she'd be able to make any that nicely. She felt a bit nervous again at the thought of doing it, but then remembered that she'd be making the hammer tomorrow, so that would be something nice to work on. Being fairly well-practiced at making the puzzles, she deftly worked at bending the nails she'd made, and dropping them into the quench bucket. The first one was probably nearly cool enough by now but she held off on retrieving it yet, so that Thal wouldn't feel that he had to leave just yet.

Hearing the voice of the man he'd referred here, Thal glanced up and smiled, nodding. "Yes, sir. This is the best forge in the city." He held off on his personal opinions about WHY it was the best... that was irrelevant to the man.
Cala grinned slightly while working on the nails, sneaking a glance toward the man, curious.

"We'll see," The man answered, glancing at the two teenagers with a slightly raised eyebrow, before turning back to Fuin. He pulled out a sketch and held it out. "This is what I want. I had requested this from another smith and was highly disappointed by his work. First off, I came three days in a row after he said it should be done, and it was not yet finished. Today, I came again to check and he said it was finished, but there was a rivet loose and the handle came apart in my hands! Since I had paid in advance, I demanded my money back, and this young man recommended that I try this forge. Can you do better than that?"

[Fuin Elda]

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

"Not today no, but we shall have to see. After all I do not know what exactly was ordered or what he has need of. If I do I can send Cala to request another delivery before our next, account will be good for a while so she need only remember what we need and the way to the smelter." Fuin said with a smile at Thal's eager offer.

She was calm and quiet trying not to laugh as Cala warned Thal that he did not want to make her angry, indeed she was not wrong making her angry was a dangerous affair. Insulting her or other women for their skills or want to learn skills? Well it was not a fatal mistake but there were worse things than death and Fuin knew that full well.

Fuin stood calmly before the man and took the sketch when it was handed out as Thal gave praise to her forge. She looked it over reading the dimensions required, a long sword. "Yes I am certain I can do far better than the smith in the first Circle." She said calmly, "While I do not have a blade of these dimensions you can see my work well enough in terms of the hilt and the blade itself ." She motioned to the sword she had already crafted. so that he could lift it and feel its weight in his hand. It was light but well balanced and strong.

"I've some questions though in terms of pricing this for you, since had already ordered it elsewhere how swiftly do you need it by? We already have orders for the next few days but, while my apprentice needs rest as she is second born I have less need of rest and could press on well enough to get it to you swiftly, but I am a fan of a soft bed and good meals." She said with a smile. "So for that I would charge more by one hundred gold to deliver it by tomorrow, but if you can wait three days then I can give you a fairer price for I can get a fairer bit of sleep and a full belly."

The man looked at her and gave a laugh. "A hundred gold! Indeed elf you do like your food and rest, and three days is not to long a wait considering what the other did. How much for the blade in three days time?"

"One hundred and fifty." She said calmly, "As drawn but made to elven quality. If you wish for more elven touches and embellishments like gold inlay in the blade and hilt... then that too would be more at two hundred gold." The man drew a breath and narrowed his eyes.

"You jest."

And Fuin raised her eyebrows still calm though mildly confused she'd never had a man accuse her of joking about her prices and she held a hand below the counter behind herself spread in a motion for Cala and Thal to hold their tongues knowing full well that they might try to speak against this man, which for now was her place as she heard them shifting. "I do not. I require half payment upfront."

"One Hundred and Fifty gold for as I drew it." The man shook his head and set down his pouch that he'd recovered from the other blacksmith. "He was charging me two hundred."

"Yes well I have been doing this long enough that when I do something I can do it faster because I've had centuries of practice and I have no need to pay rent upon the forge or my dwellings in this city." Fuin said calmly. Trying to give the first circle smith what little benefit of the doubt that she could at this the man nodded and opened the pouch and counted out the coins 75 of them as Fuin pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down the mans name and his deposit and the final agreed upon price.

"I will be back in three days Master elf, I hope that your friend's boasts are truthful, but I do not know any elves to be liars when it comes to what they will do unless they feel like speaking in riddles that might be misinterpreted."

"I hate riddles and would not speak them if given a choice." Fuin said with a laugh and the man gave a snort and a small smile. "In three days I look forward to seeing my new blade." Fuin gave a nod and quickly put the money away and carried the drawing of the sword back to the forge.

"I think you will be doing a lot of the cooking and cleaning Cala in terms of this evening and next." Fuin said with a smile and pulled out the metal ingots that she would need to make the sword. "You will be practicing your skills while we are open, for I will be busy making scissors and this beast." She said and let her see the sword. She was not sure if Cala knew what the numbers meant but she had no doubt that Thal would. This was a two handed long sword and would be a monster to make.

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis

September 15, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
Grand Opening of the new smith shop!

Watching with intrigue as the man examined the sword that Fuin had made, Cala had to remind herself to return her attention to her work. She pulled a couple more nails from the fire and carefully bent them, glancing briefly at Thal. He seemed split between watching her and watching the interaction with Fuin and the customer. She quietly dropped another pair of nails into the quenching bucket and then glanced back at the customer in slight surprise, hearing him say that Fuin must be joking about the price. She frowned slightly, glancing at Thal, but saw the motion that Fuin had made, a signal for her to keep quiet.

Glancing briefly at Thal, she wondered if he knew much about this guy, and noticed he looked slightly surprised as well. Soon after, the reason was revealed, and Cala was relieved... it seemed the man had been expecting a much higher price than Fuin told him. She had a hard time not grinning, but managed to refrain until after he had left. Then she eagerly tried to get a look at the picture.

"Wow!" Thal exclaimed softly. "Do you know who that was?" He wondered.
"No, what is he wanting?" she asked, intrigued.
"That's Commander Trevadrion!" He revealed, having not realized this, until seeing the man in the better-lit forge here, rather than in Thindor's darker shop. "He's wanting a very big sword, too." He commented with wide eyes. "Also... I might be wrong but I think the sword he rejected from Mr. Thindir wasn't quite that size," He added, looking over the dimensions listed. "And I wouldn't be surprised if the 200 coins he spoke of was only the upfront part Mr. Thindir insisted on. I've been delivering to him for a long time, and he usually wants most of the payment upfront and then about another third or so when you come to collect the item, whatever it is."
Cala nodded thoughtfully, remembering from when she used to watch him work. "Yeah, you're probably right, I've seen him do that, too." She agreed. "So who is this Commander Trevadrion?"

Thal looked a little surprised she didn't know, but then thought she probably wasn't from around these parts. "Oh, he's very important! He's a commander in the Gondorian Navy, and commands a whole fleet of ships. And, he does other important things too, I guess, though I'm not sure exactly what. Still, I'm sure that if you make him happy, he'll tell ALL his friends, and all those serving under him, and everyone he knows... where to get the best work." He grinned, very pleased for them.

"Wow..." Cala blinked, wondering how much business that would be, and if that could really actually happen. That would be very exciting, but could they keep up with so many orders? She nodded in reply to what Fuin had said. "I don't mind cooking and everything, but can I help make it? At least a little?" She asked, hopeful. It would be very exciting to get to help in crafting something like that, and she intended to watch as much as possible even if she didn't get to help. "Please?" She grinned, looking up from the sketch of the sword the man wanted.

[Fuin Elda]

September 15 to 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Fuin turned a smile on her face listening to both Thal and Cala talking and she raised an eyebrow at the comment that the man she'd just dealt with was a Commander, "Commodore. That man is a Commodore not a Commander." She said gently with a chuckle. "I would not suggest letting him hear you call him a Commander either." She said with a smirk. "And yes I have no doubt that should he like the blade I make for him that we will end up making many more blades, for his crews."

Fuin for her part motioned that Cala should get back to work. "And you are welcome to help after you've gotten the cooking and cleaning done I would like your help with stretching out the metal for both the scissors and the swords, if you get the nail puzzles done before the end of day you can start on drawing out the scissor halves which is the first thing we will need to have made for tomorrow for those ladies."

---
The next few days were hard, the work to get the sword done was intense and Cala had so many questions and she was so confused at why Fuin was using three ingots instead of one, and why she was folding the metal over multiple times. And Fuin was confused at first about why this was a question, it was something that she had shown her in passing when she had been working on the short sword and the dagger. It was then that she realized that Thindir had never used more than on ingot in any of his works. If one used a good enough metal one could perhaps get away with it but over all it was almost always something that would end up in a poorer quality blade, that was not as strong, or would not be able to be as long or keep it's edge. It would lose to much metal in the heating process.

Fuin wanted to go back down to the first circle and curse the smith again but instead she pressed upon Cala that taking short cuts like that she would undoubtedly kill people. She reminded Cala how the rivet had given way in the Commodore's hand and she asked what she thought would happen if that had of happened in a battle instead of in a forge behind the high walls of Minas Tirith during a time of peace. Or if he was adventuring and was set upon by bandits? Cala started to understand it seemed realizing that if there was ever one thing that Fuin would never allow it would be cutting corners where it could cost the person their life. Cala learned that she'd be haunted and followed by something far worse than any curse elf, man, dwarf or even the valar themselves, the broken trust, and lives of those left by the deaths of those lost due to the failure of things that should not fail. The swords, the armor made by her in the future, her work... It was a bond of trust. Those that wore it, those that fought with her blades. They used them and trusted they would not fail. This brought a look upon Cala of grave realization, as she had been learning from Thindir could have gotten people killed.

---

On the morning of the 18th the Commodore came amazed to see that unlike the day he had come in the shelves were stocked further, with more pins, and small items, trinkets make by Cala, utilitarian items made by Fuin. His eyes wandered the shelves and he questioned how the elf and the young girl could possibly have gotten other orders finished and the shelves filled and his sword made to his order complete.

However when he came in Fuin bent low and pulled the sword forged for him from behind the counter wrapped in fabric and set it upon the counter and he stood in shock for a moment and gently pulled the fabric back to reveal the sword made real from his drawing. His hand hovered over the weapon at first and then he lifted it feeling the weight of it and how solid it was in his hand.

"I knew elves were magical but this..." He held it in the morning light, "This is better than I could possibly have imagined in three days." He gave Fuin a nod and Cala one as well for she was working hard at the anvil on some project.

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis

September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

It was fascinating, and very educational, watching, and helping, make the sword. Having spent a lot of time, before meeting Fuin, watching Thindir from afar, trying to learn how to do things, it was quite a surprise to realize that quite a lot of the things she had observed the man doing were actually wrong. She was happier than ever that fate had thrown her and Fuin together, so she would learn how to do things properly, and tried to put out of her mind everything she'd 'learned' from Thindir. No wonder the sword he'd made had fallen apart.

Once the sword was completed, Cala couldn't help feeling very proud to know she had helped in making it, even if it was only a little bit. Hopefully, she would soon be able to make a knife or something small like that all on her own, but as of right now, she still had a little ways to go before she'd be able to take on a project like that. There were always the scrap pieces of metal though, to practice with.

Having come to the realization by now that making pins wasn't that hard when doing it properly, she didn't dread doing it so much, and had discovered that the reason hers didn't turn out well before was because she had been doing it incorrectly. With Fuin there to instruct her, she made several, and after the first few, they were actually sell-worthy, and she was very pleased. The jeweler's hammer also made a huge difference, rather than trying to use a regular 'claw hammer' meant for pounding nails.

After the initial surge of people wanting to buy the nail puzzles, that had slacked off enough that she was able to keep a supply on hand, and therefore was able to work on other things, like the scissors, and a few items for their own use, like bowls, spoons, and a few other utensils they could use in cooking. She made a few dishes and things that were deemed nice enough to put on the shelves, and was very pleased anytime one of the items she'd made was sold.

During the three days, she continually worried about whether the sword would be done in time, eager to note how much progress had been made on it by the end of the day, and then, finally, it was finished and she could hardly wait for the Commodore to return for it, hoping he'd be happy. When the time came, finally, she was busy working on a new design of puzzle toy she'd come up with while experimenting with some of the scrap stuff. At first she didn't notice him, being absorbed in her work, but she heard his voice when he spoke and glanced up, trying not to get distracted despite the thrill of excitement, seeing that he was examining the sword. She reminded herself not to rush on her work, making sure to complete this step before setting the project back on the coals to reheat. Then turned to watch, anxiously hoping the man would be pleased with the sword.

After a few experimental motions with it, he nodded. "The balance is exceptional," He commented, though it was hard to tell if he was surprised or not. "The edge, I dare not even touch, but I can see how sharp it is. This.." He looked at Fuin, with a brief glance toward the apprentice, and back to the master smith. "..far exceeds what I had hoped for." He smiled. "And it makes that other smith look like a joke." He added. "From now on, I shall be coming to this smith for all my needs. You can be sure that others will hear of this, as well. What is that you're working on?" He added to Cala, who was struggling to suppress a big grin.

Caught off guard, she cast a quick glance to check whether it was heated enough or needed more time; seeing it needed more time, she turned back to him to answer. "Only a puzzle toy, sir..." She answered.
"A toy," He nodded, and turned back to Fuin, "I'll take one of those toys as well, my son is sure to enjoy something like that. And I'd like to find something for my wife, as well, can you recommend anything?"

[Fuin Elda]

September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

The Commodore was exceptionally impressed and while Cala was nervous Fuin was not. He was thrilled with it and she gave a nod acknowledging that yes it probably was better than he had expected especially given what he had been getting from the man before delays and shoddy work. And Thal had stated that the sword he'd been getting was not to the proper dimensions to begin with. There were reasons not everyone could become a Commodore, one needed and impeccable sense of order and dedication. It was the exact same reason not everyone could become a master smith. "I am glad to hear that you will be coming here for any future needs." Fuin glanced as he asked Cala what she was working on and she gave a simple answer perhaps shocked at being questioned directly by someone like Commodore she couldn't help but smile.

"Which one sir, my apprentice has talent and made two different ones." Fuin said and set the first design on the counter for him the simple double nail design, and then the larger horseshoe puzzle she'd just come up with. "She just came up with the horseshoe puzzle yesterday so this is the first one she's made for sale." Fuin said quite proud of her apprentice.

"She made these?" Fuin nodded them "You designed them for her?"

"No the nail one she came up with before she became my apprentice and the horse shoe, she made them entirely herself while I was working on your sword, she lets her younger brother test them." The commodore for his part gave a smile as well.
)
"A sharp mind then!" Trevadrion said picking up the horseshoe toy, and glancing at Fuin who motioned that he aught to speak with Cala and not her on the toys. "So you're meant to get the toys apart then?" He asked looking back to Cala and then looking at the toys knowing full well that that speaking to Fuin on this was not going to get him all the answers he wanted and she seemed happy to let her apprentice speak for herself for her part Fuin turned about to see if she could find something that Commodore Trevadrion's wife might like from the items that she'd already made.

She picked out a few simple yet elegant items that weren't too terribly lavish yet fitting of a woman of status without being overly opulent. A bronze hair comb meant for pinning back ones hair with tiny dainty bronze flowers accented in silver both in the center and with leaves filling out the design. Fuin held onto the hair comb waiting for Trevadrion to finish speaking with Cala.

"Right I'll take one of each, save me a trip back later when he solves one." He looked down at the pin and blinked.

"You made a sword and something so fine." He reached down and touched the hair comb (Like this) he picked it up in both hands and looked at it. "It's perfect, she will love this." He said and very gently put it back down. Fuin nodded for her part and pulled out some clean white soft wool and bundled the comb in it and then wrapped that into a small piece of white fabric. The sword was put on his belt.

"So the comb is a gold piece, the toys are are a silver for both." She said calmly, the nail puzzle was only a few copper but the horseshoe one had more metal to it, and took more to make so Fuin was happy to charge more for it. Trevadrion didn't even argue on that he pulled the coins asked for and gently tucked the bundled comb into his chest pocket and then the toys in a pouch on his belt. "Thank you ladies, I look forward to seeing you again in the future."

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis

September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

Cala couldn't help a light blush as Fuin spoke about her having come up with the designs herself. Though it was true, she wasn't used to being bragged on, and nodded in answer to the commodore. "Yes, sir," She checked that the one she was making wasn't in danger of burning if she left it, and stepped closer to explain. "This one, you have to get the ring off." She smiled.

"That doesn't look possible," He raised an eyebrow.
"I know," She grinned. "But it is, I assure you. May I?" She held out a hand, and he turned over the horseshoe puzzle in his hand. Cala had taken care to make sure this was possible, and had, in fact, made the ring and the other part separately. She twisted the horseshoes in a particular way and soon slid the ring off, holding it up to show the commodore, then put it back on and unfolded it to show that it was back as it had started, to the man's apparent amazement.

"And with these," She pointed to the nails ones, "the goal is to get the two nails apart, like this," She picked up one of them and took but a moment to twist them apart. Holding up the two pieces, she smiled, then slid them back together and held it out to him. "My little brother is still trying to get it apart, but he will," She grinned, feeling quite confident in that. If he'd had both hands, he would've had it apart long ago, but having only one hand to work with, he found it a greater challenge; still, she was positive that he'd get it one day. "He's been enjoying the challenge of the new one, as well, but he hasn't had much time to play with it yet." She added.

Her grin widened as he turned to Fuin and said he would take both pieces. She was thrilled that her work had apparently impressed someone of his status. Returning to the forge, she listened to the rest of their transaction as she worked the metal into the correct shape, finishing that piece, then dunked it into the quench bucket before taking a length of thick wire that she would turn into the ring that would go around the chain links of the puzzle. "Thank you, sir," She called after him as Commodore Trevadrion left.

"I think he was very impressed!" She said excitedly once he had gone, hardly able to contain her excitement. "He loved the sword! And I didn't expect him to be interested in those puzzles, I could hardly believe it..." This whole thing seemed so unreal. It was hard to believe that only a few weeks ago her life had been completely different, and now she was an apprentice and people were actually buying things that she had made, and not laughing at the thought of her making anything.

[Fuin Elda]

September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Fuin smiled, indeed she could see just how excited Cala was at the fact that Commodore Trevadrion was so happy and impressed by her work with the toys. Between the sword and all of the scissors and pins, and toys she knew they were set for the month with the gold brought in. There would be plenty more sales and commissions coming in, there were likely many merchants on the second circle wouldn't see the amount of money that they'd brought in over the last three days in an entire month. Today Rada would be happy to learn was going to be a tart day.

"So Cala there is one last thing that we do need to do for the shop, we've been busy preparing for so long and I think it's time we start thinking on this..." Fuin said coming and looking at her work as she was looking to finish making chain links. "We need to think about a proper name for the forge that we can paint on the sign outside, especially if we are going to be getting more an more customers like the Commodore." Fuin said with a smile, as much as she had idea on what she thought the forge should be named this was going to be Cala and Rada's home so she absolutely wanted to get her opinion on it as one day she'd not be working here any more and would be returning to Imladris and they would be on their own.

"So do you have any idea of what you would like to call your forge?"

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis

September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

Tilting her head in curiosity, Cala wondered what else there could possibly be left... until Fuin mentioned the name. Of course... a name! She hadn't even thought about that. She paused, frowning a little as she realized that Fuin was asking her for ideas. "Oh. Uh.." She laughed a little nervously. "I don't know if you ought to ask me, I'm terrible at coming up with names." She shrugged. "I mean, it took like three or four years before I even decided what name Radaron should have... I wouldn't even know where to begin thinking of a name for a forge..." She hesitated, taking a moment to make sure the circle was properly rounded and the ends met together properly before dropping it into the bucket.

"How does one even decide on something like that? It's so hard... I had such a hard time before, and...this is totally different." She frowned, confused and slightly overwhelmed by the very thought of such a task. She tried to think of a few other names she'd seen on other smiths' shops, but all of those were already used, and she thought this one ought to have a much more unique name... but what? "You surely know much more about it than I do... what would you suggest?" She looked up at her mentor and friend, hoping she'd have a suggestion.

[Fuin Elda]

September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Fuin chuckled. "Well I have never named a forge myself, and we are quite lazy in Imladris ours is called Tingdain. So I do not know if I am the best at naming things either, though I did not name it that so at least I am not so on the nose." She said not sure if Cala even knew what Tingdain meant she would eventually given Fuin would undoubtedly teach both Cala and Rada elvish over the years.

"Perhaps naming it after yourself and fire?" Fuin offered "Something like Seafire, but in elvish as well... you're being trained by an elf it would make sense" Fuin pondered for a moment... "Normally I would suggest Quenyan most elves prefer it but Ëarsá, I don't know maybe Aernar which would be Sindarin... Or Ithilnar? You were named for the moonlight on the sea." She offered with a shrug giving the young woman some options.

"The good news is we don't need to think of it today, we can take a few days, perhaps even Rada might have some suggestions when he comes home tonight from school?" She knew he'd be excited to tell Cala about everything that he learned he always was, and he was despite being behind catching on really fast thanks to the basic lessons even if they were shakey that Cala had given him in writing.

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis and Radaron



September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

"Tingdain," Cala repeated, tilting her head thoughtfully. "I'm not sure what that means... forge or something similar?" She surmised based on what Fuin had said. She listened thoughtfully to the various suggestions that Fuin had made. It hadn't occurred to her to name it after herself, but now that it was suggested, she supposed it sort of made sense. "Seafire.." She considered that, trying out how it sounded. "Seafire forge..." She thought on that for a moment while gazing at the glowing coals. The next suggestion sounded prettier, but she tried to think if it really fit.

No sooner had Fuin spoken of Radaron weighing in on the name ideas, than he came bursting into the shop, excitedly yelling, "Cala! CALA LOOK!"

Caught by surprise, having assumed he would be out playing with his friends for several more hours after school, she jumped and spun, fearing something was wrong. "What?" She asked, half-scared to find that he had hurt himself or something, but upon seeing him decided he looked far too excited and happy. "Calm down, Little Brother, what's going on?" She caught him as he nearly barreled into her.

"Looook!" He beamed as he held up the two halves of the nail puzzle. "I did it!" He bounced up and down excitedly. "I finally did it!"

Cala looked down, then laughed in joy. "Oh! I'm so glad for you!" She hugged him, and grinned. "I knew you'd get it eventually! But please, don't come running in here yelling like that, you scared me! I thought something was wrong... and you could've knocked me over into the forge, running at me like that... it's dangerous, Little Brother."

"Sorry!" He answered breathlessly, and turned to show it off to Fuin, still grinning. "See!? I did it! I can put it back together too, I figured out how to do it one-handed!" To prove his point, he demonstrated proudly.

[Fuin Elda]

September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

"Yes basically." She said witha smirk. "Elves are far less creative than you might think." She said with a chuckle and she could see Cala thinking on the name now that naming it after herself was something that might be the best idea. She was watching Cala as she kept working rolling the elvish words around in her mouth trying to see which one she liked best.

Radaron for his part came bursting in and Fuin jumped as well with how he was shouting and Cala seemed just as concerned as she was and she moved seeing him charging at Cala to make sure she didn't get knocked back into the forge itself. When he showed them that he'd finally managed to figure out the nail puzzle. Now of course he'd have to get onto the horseshoe puzzle.

Cala for her part corrected him on coming in and running and yelling the way he had that he'd worried both of them as well as that he could have hurt her horrible. However she was able to see him demonstrate the puzzle to them both and Fuin for her part gave him a pat on the head. "Rada what do you think of the names Ëarsá or Aernar or Ithilnar for a name for your sisters forge?" She asked since she knew Rada would be a part of the forge for a number of years yet he was still young enough that he would be there for a while yet.

"While you think on that help me shut down the shop so we can be done with costumers for the day." She said with a smile as she motioned for Rada to help her start closing up while Cala finished up with her puzzle that she was working on.

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis and Radaron



September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

Rada looked a bit puzzled, tilting his head as he tried to repeat those names, unsuccessfully. "What's those mean?"
"One is Seafire, and the other is Moonfire.." Cala answered. "In two different kinds of elvish." She explained, anticipating his next question.
Rada looked around. "A name for this place?"
"Yeah, Fuin reminded me just now we haven't named it." She nodded.
"Moonfire!" He declared without hesitation, grinning.
Cala laughed. "Why that one?"
"Because!" He pointed to the forge. "Look, it's white like the moon. Someone in school said the moon is a big, huge white rock up in the sky, so your forge is like a chunk of the moon came down and was made into a forge." He grinned. "So it should be Moonfire, don't you think?"

Cala laughed lightly as he made his points. "Well that's a good reason, I suppose. It's the only white forge in Gondor, isn't it?" She asked with a glance at Fuin, smiling. "I thought Ithilnar sounded nicest, anyway. Plenty of people here speak Sindarin, so it should fit well enough." She nodded, cleaning up her work area after finishing her project, while Rada worked on the chores Fuin had asked him to do. "So, is that what we're naming it?"

[Fuin Elda]

September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Fuin smiled and nodded as Cala told Rada what the words she had said meant, and then he gave his own reasons for why it might be called Ithilnar. She couldn't find any argument against the young boys reasoning it was perfect really. Indeed it was likely the only white forge in all of Minas Tirith as far as she was aware, she had seen nothing that looked anything near it even with over a week of constant forge burning it still gleamed white on the exterior though it's interior tray was black now from the coal and the burning .

She looked to Cala "If you like it and agree with him, then yes. I think it's a lovely name." She said with a smile, she would go and get paint in a day or so before the Market closed so that she and Cala and Rada could paint the sign so that they could have it hung and up for their second week which would hopefully draw even more customers next week and then beyond that as well until everything that Fuin had promised came true...

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis and Radaron



September 18, 2615 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

Cala grinned, nodding. "Yes, I like it too." She decided. "Ooh, what if we could make a really nice sign, out of metal?" She suggested, trying to think how something like that could be done. "With like, a crescent moon or something.." She frowned, trying to picture something like that in her head. "Anyway, whatever we do for a sign, it'll be lovely... and it'll be nice to have a name for our shop." She grinned. "That ought to make it easier to advertise."
"I can't wait to tell everyone we have a name for the shop now!" Rada said excitedly, bouncing up and down. "I'm done now, is it time to eat yet?" He asked, eager to get supper.
"I think so," Cala nodded, finishing up as well. "Shall we?" She smiled, eager to tell Radaron about the sale with the Commodore, over supper.

---

About three years later...

.

Late Spring
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
Ithilnar Forge

Cala smiled as she looked down the length of a sword, checking that the blade was properly straight. "I think it's ready for displaying," She decided, smiling as she held up the sword to show Fuin. She wondered how long it would last on the shelf before someone decided to buy it. "How's your project coming over there?" She wondered, curiously peeking to see how much progress Fuin had made so far. "Radaron'll be getting home before too long," She mentioned with a glance outside, gauging the time by how much daylight was shining in through the windows. "Oh.. that reminds me, I'd better go check on the cake." She took her apron off and hung it up. "Do you need help with anything, before I go?" She asked, checking just to make sure. She could hardly believe that Radaron was already ten years old! She was looking forward to surprising him with cake and presents when he got home.

[Dungeon Delver]

Rembina
Alqualondë, YT 1499
(With Moriel)

The evening had proven to be a successful one, despite the lack of female companionship. Many of the romantic tones Finnbarr had intended to overlay across the evening were scrapped and, in their place, he added many of the pelagic rituals and customs of what had become his house. They sang a dozen sea shanties, each one more ribald than the last as the food cooked on an open flame. Despite the obvious dangers to such a feat, Finnbarr acquitted himself admirably, or at least he believed he had. They talked and sang, sang and talked. Finnbarr told Davos of all the things he wanted to accomplish, of all the places under the surface he wanted to explore and visit, he told him about the legends he’d heard some of the other mariners talk about: naiads and undines, mermaids and selkies. The longer the evening went on and the more wine and spirits father and son consumed, the more Finnbarr could see his foster father distracted by something. More than once, he caught him looking across the great vast sea with a look in his eye that he'd did not altogether understand, nor did he altogether like it. Despite being young still, Finnbarr had noticed that sort of look on more than a few sailors. The great blue desert was inviting and hypnotic, but there were dangers that were not limited to the physical makeup of the sea. It liked to tease and play tricks. Her embrace was always warm, but it was not always inviting.

After making sure all the sails were still tied down and all the knots were secure, Finnbarr sat next to Davos, swaying just a little from the vast amount of drink they’d shared. He stared out across the ocean, listened as the waters splished and splashed, as the waves from miles and miles away crashed and roared, as the wind carried salt air in great swirling arcs. Even in the quiet stillness of the little cove, there was a symphony of sounds. Finnbarr had to fight the urge to rip off his shirt and dive beneath the waves.

“I don’t if I have,” he admitted. “My parents were born after the great crossing, and none of their stories included anything from way out yonder. My greatest urge was to know the sea herself, to know what sort of world exists beneath the waves, where the sharks and whales and squid live their mysterious lives.” He scoffed, tossing a piece of breadcrumb overboard, watching the ripple expand as a dozen tiny, silvery fish appeared and competed for the morsel. “I expect not a great many good things are happening over there. Or at least that’s what I pray to Ulmo for every night. None of them deserve a moment’s peace. Not a single one of them.” He surprised himself with his candor, blaming the wine for the freedom of thought. However, he didn’t take it back nor offer apology. They did] deserve that.

“What about you? Do you ever miss the wilds beyond the sea?”

[Dungeon Delver]

Omentië
Some Nameless Plain, YT 1080
(With Moriel)
CW: Angbang References

He flew across the plain, heedless, reckless. The moment he had feared for some time now, the moment he’d avoided having to confront was quickly looming over him. Which road was he going to take? Which side was Mairon going to stand with? It was a moral questioned that had doggedly pursued him for so long, longer than the quendi had been awoken, longer than Arda itself had been shaped with their music. So far, he’d been able to play each side, pretend to be in each of their counsels. He’d held his own for so long he wasn’t sure what it would be like to actually pick a side. There was a conflict coming, he could taste it in the air. He’d long told himself that he would not have to take part in it, that he could avoid any part in in the coming war. Yet here he was now, flying with all speed and haste, moving swifter than the steeds of the Huntsman to catch up with the ungualacos. He was not only involved in the coming conflict, he was the very spearhead on which the conflict rested.

Neither side deserved him. Both Mānawenūz and Mbelekhūrūz were unworthy him, each of them shunned the greater part of his gift in favor a grand design of their own. Creation and Destruction. They were two sides of the same coin, a bad penny that always reared its head at the worst possible times. He was not ready to choose. His anger swelled as he flew across indescribable prosaic scenes, starlit groves and shadowed riverbeds. Had he not been in the greatest haste, he would have stopped to observe them, imagine all that they could do for him. There were islands and forests upon which he placed the greatest desire, places where his mechanizations and creativity could swell and grow and expand. He flew toward the west and to the north, feeling the tug and pull of both masters.

His rage and frustration boiled over and he roared. He’d taken the form of a bat, massive with a wingspan of six fathoms, the sound that erupted from his vespertilionine was terrible. It swept across the forest beneath him, flattening trees in all directions as if a star had fallen. He did not have time to waste looking back at the damage he’d done. He roared again, voicing his ineffable frustrations to the skiey vastness around him. The world was too quiet, his rage could not feel the space. He wanted to rage and tear and break everything. He was so filled with emotions he did not understand that he wanted to stop and burst. What if he just stopped? What if, in his unutterable grief and rage, confusion and consternation, his hatred and his love, he just stopped and let everything pass him by? What if he found a forest or an island all his own and poured himself into that place, became the master of that tiny little place and let the world twist itself into ruin? It would be what they all deserved. But not the quendi. They hadn’t done anything to deserve this. They were foolish and naïve, bitterly so, but that was no reason they should be subjected to the gaze of Mbelekhūrūz and be put to the knife. Tyelpelfindis would never forgive him if he gave up and went on his own way. Despite her being a child next to him, a creature hardly different than a serpent or a wolf, he did not wish to disappoint her. There were others too, he knew them, and they knew him. Despite knowing he was different somehow; they gave him a form of acceptance none of his real brethren ever had. IgwišaƷûlêz, the nearest thing he had to a companion, was a petty, jealous baggins; even though the quendi knew almost nothing of metalworking and forging, he found them to be far more agreeable and amiable partners. They were not his children, but if they weren’t then what were they?

He sped on, faster and faster, moving against a torrent of wind that originated in the west. He spoke a thick, poisonous word and the wind around him died. He flew on. Below him the verdant fields and hinterlands began to change, slowly but surely. The green of life became a sickly, choking green, a slimy green. All the other millions of shades of millions of colors faded, leaving a landscape torched with gray and black and white. There were pylons of bleak, oily looking stone with things carved in them that no intelligent hand could replicate without a cessation of sanity. The ground was cold, covered in snow that looked blacker than shadows, mixed with ash and given a strange sort of unlife. The air around him grew heavier as he went on, and bonesnappingly cold, the more he tried to fly the more the air around him seemed to weigh him down, drag him back to earth. The air tasted like iron, a tangy, rust feel in his mouth and lungs. He tried to breath but found the air too toxic. His voice was silenced. He could feel them, the ungualacos, they were near, he was closing in on them, they were nearly before the gates of hell though, they were moving swiftly, too swiftly. The shadows underneath him, the shadows of the mountains of iron, moved without a light to cast them, detached from pits of primordial decay, and followed. They were lifeless things, bereft of thought or reason, but they could follow the scent of darkness and power.

Worst of all though, Mairon could feel him. The closer he came to the mouths of hell, the more he felt him, his presence was infused into every stone, slag pit, and thornspawn. The force of his will was almost too powerful. Mairon had trouble focusing, the more he tried to spy out the ungualacos the more he found his mind wandering to things like chains and whips and clawed fingers awash in blood. It was distracting, and he could not afford to be distracted now. Not when things were so perilously out of balance.

He was almost there, almost to them. But they were close, the gates were almost in view. He had to move, had to fly faster, faster, faster…

--- * --- * --- * --- * --- * --- * ---

Before the Gates of Utumno

He'd failed. He'd not flown fast enough; he'd tarried too long in the garden of Cuiviénen. He nearly overtook the creatures, howling and screeching, he was within just a few feet of them, his voice could have ripped them apart, but before he was able to kill them and stop them from moving forward (those two things not being mutually exclusive) the monolithic, blasphemously cyclopean gates began to creep open. He'd lost his chance. He failed. The secret of the quendi was about to be revealed and it was his fault. Briefly, before the gates opened fully and his mistake was laid bare, he considered destroying everything. He could do it. The gates would crumble as mountains are wont to do, the twisted bones and flesh of the ungualacos and the quendi would be obliterated, turned to something even less than ash. He could do it. All it would take was a word, a twisted, angry word formed with malice. Just a simple word….

But it was too late. The gates were opened, a great door of stone that was too vast for this world to comprehend. And of all the people, it was Kosomot, a spirit of brutalizing fire and darkness. Mairon sighed. His quarry was within his grasp, but to act now would have been suicide. There was no chance for these quendi anymore. They were as good as dead, though likely death would have been far, far too easy for them.

Kosomot strutted forth, flames running in veiny rivulets up and down his arms. The fool had chosen a shape somewhere between a centipede and a praying mantis, it was unsettling to look at. Mairon felt the ire rise in him. He took his form, the elegant man with hair darker and richer than blood. He moved to intercept the balrog, to stand between him and the quendi.

“Well, well, well,” the balrog said, hissing and clicking as he spoke, rounding out his disgusting insectoid persona. “What have you brought me, Mayazōnōz?” His head tilted to the side, neck straining to see around Mairon’s form, a plume of flame erupted from his back and slide down his spine, the earth around him seemed to waver in a haze of unbearable heat.

“I haven’t brought you anything, wretch,” Mairon said, his voice hard as the iron around him. “What I have brought here is meant for him.”

The sound of bubbling, capricious laughter filled the grey canyon they were in, followed by a low hiss. “You would do well, Mayazōnōz, to respect me. I speak with his voice. I—”

“You speak with the voice of a cockroach, Kosomot. No matter how much you prattle and praise, you will never be his son, your greatest desire will forever be out of reach. I speak for him. I am his second in command. I am beyond you, you wretched little bug.” TO emphasis his point, he spoke a word and the wind picked up suddenly, rushing the balrog who was thrown off balance. His flame was snuffed momentarily, leaving him more disgustingly entomonical. The balrog slithered back up to a standing position and hissed as the flames rebirthed around him, shrouding his twisted form once again in heat and shadow.

“One of these days, Mayazōnōz, one of these days I will see to it that you get your comeuppance. I know what you do in the darkness, I have watchers too, spies that see all the things you say. They know you slither off in the darkness. What is it you do, eh? Where does the great slut of Mbelekhūrūz go to nurse his wounds?”

This conversation was getting dangerous. Or course the balrog had spies, little sprits of shadow or sparkles of flame, but Mairon had his own to counter. Kosomot was a brute, a strong brute with many friends, but he naught but a brawler in the end, something to which Mairon need not lower himself. They both knew where they stood in the hierarchy of He Who Arises in Might, and nothing the little flaming quim could do would change that.

“I have a gift for him,” he said at last, taking a step sideways to show the oafish pyromaniac the quendi. They were bound in something that looked like rope but dripped shadows like webs, mercifully, they were all unconsciously, sick and tired from their imprisonment and subsequent journey. The balrog leaned in close, then looked from Mairon to the quendi and back.

“What are these things supposed to be, eh? You captured some of Mānawenūz ladies? That’s not going to be enough to impress him anymore. You’ve been away too long Mayazōnōz.”

“These are the Children…” Mairon said coolly.

“What?”

Mairon smirked openly at the slack jawed expression he knew would come. The balrog could barely conceive them, let alone find them. “The Children, the creatures that our master as been looking so long for. I found them.”

“What?” the balrog repeated, hissing and clicking.

“You failed, once again, Kosomot. You will never get to usurp me.”

“We’ll see about that, pretty little one. We’ll see about that.” There was a smile on that face that Mairon didn’t like. He was going to try something, but there was nothing Mairon could do about it right now.

--- * --- * --- * --- * --- * --- * ---

The Depths of Hell

He had not expected to be back here for a very long time. They were deep beneath the earth now, as far down as the mountains rose, as far from the light of the stars as they could get. It was cold down here, colder than anything Mairon had ever experienced, but the cold burned. The very air itself was froth with invisible fire. He hated it here. The closer they came to him the more Mairon could think of nothing but the many years they had spent together. They passed aeons in carnal embraces that would tear the world apart. Mairon could still feel the chains around his neck, squeezing the life out of the body he’d made, a body constructed and formed at the pleasure of Mbelekhūrūz, a body destroyed over and over again in rushes of sadistic pleasures. He could feel the hot clawed fingers on his throat, on his cheek, in his mouth. He remembered the taste of blood in his mouth, blood so potent that it tore at every bone and muscle. He remembered the whips and how they tore into him, he remembered the wild, erotic and esoteric pleasures he was driven to, he remembered the howls of pain and pleasure and saw how they mixed like blood and wine. He remembered the teeth that would tear into him, and the release it gave him. He remembered more and more and more the further down into hell he went…

By the time they reached the uttermost pits, the throne room of the lord of Chaosophy, Mairon was in a state. His breath was ragged and his brow was slick with sweat. The balrog took it to mean something he could not possibly understand. “Scared? You ought to be, he’s not been happy you spend so much time away.”

“What I’m feeling,” he said in a thick, lurid voice, “is something so far beyond your comprehension that to even learn a hint of it your mind would turn to slag. Maybe I ought to share it with you one day.”

The chamber was dark, not a glimmer of light reached this place. This was were light went to die. And yet, despite the lack of illumination, Mairon could see him perfectly, a specimen that radiated power and authority. His knees felt weak at the sight of him, his mouth watered. The air itself was charged with potential energy. Kosomot drew in behind him, dragging the prisoners into the chamber, bound in shadowy chains of viscous iron. There was not a sound.

“My lord,” Mairon began, before Kosomot cut him off.

“Great King of the World, a gift has been given to you, a boon of fate, the Children…” he paused, his tiny mind still wrapping around what it was that was being dragged into the depths here. “They have been found. But even in the midst of your greatest glory, your greatest triumph over the forces of order, you have been betrayed!”

There it was. Mairon had expected something, and the stupid wretch couldn’t wait to try and drop it. “Excuse me?” his voice reverberated with power. “Betrayed? By whom?”

“By you! You poisonous snake! I saw what you were doing! I saw you try to free them! I—”

“I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR SUPPOSITIONS.” the voice of He Who Arises in Might was so loud the very chamber shook, sending reverberations up through the stone and across the plains far above them. Mairon and Kosomot were both brought to their knees, humbled by just the voice of their master. He stood, towering like a mountain above them. Even with his great height, he was nothing in comparison. He could feel the power slipping off Mbelekhūrūz as he moved toward him. “I HAVE MISSED YOU, MY DARLING. YOU TARRY SO LONG IN THE WORLD OUTSIDE. IT TEARS AT MY HEART. HAVE YOU BROUGHT ME THIS, AS KOSOMOT SAYS?”

His mouth was dry, his head spinning. He could barely look up as familiar touch caressed his cheek. The balrog answered first.

“I spied your servants coming from a ways off, my lord, and I saw him, this pitiful thing, chasing them, he wore the wings of a bat, trying to catch them and deprive you of your glory.”

Something growled in the darkness, the room rumbled again. “I DO SO LOVE YOUR BAT, MY DARLING. WHAT WERE YOU DOING? I’VE BEEN SO WORRIED FOR YOU.”

“I was…” he choked out, “I was searching for the Children, as was your command. You told us to be on guard for them, that we must find them before— before the others. And I did, my lord, I did. I found them before the Smith, the Huntsman, before the Skyfather.”

“He was trying to free them!” protested the balrog, still on his knees. “I saw it with mine own eyes.”

“You cannot see anything with your own eyes, you blind little mouse,” Mairon spat. “If you could, you would know where your lovely sister is.”

“ENOUGH MY DARLING, DO NOT BE SO UNKIND TO POOR KOSOMOT. HE HAS BEEN AS WORRIED AS I ABOUT WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN. IF YOU ARE TRUE TO ME, THEN TAKE THESE CHILDREN, THESE PRECIOUS, PRECIOUS CHILDREN, AND TEST THEM FOR ME. SEE WHAT IS THEIR SUBSTANCE. STRIP THEM OF ALL THAT IS LIGHT AND SEE WHAT DARKNESS REMAINS.”

“As you have commanded, my liege.” Mairon felt himself on the greatest precipice of all now. What road would he take now? What choice could he make?

--- * --- * --- * --- * --- * --- * ---

Angband, YT 1086

He’d know them. He’d sung with them, spun melodies together and brought down the light of the stars to them. He’d broken bread with him, shared in their homes and in their laughter. Now, now these two things that he’d been given, for they could no longer be called quendi, even by the greatest stretch of the word, lay out before him like insects pinned under glass. He’d taken the road. He’d played his hand. As much as he’d hated himself in the beginning, he knew that he’d had no other choice. There was nothing he could do. There never was a choice. He was always going to be here, always going to chose this.

This one, a thing with sparkling blue eyes and wild black hair, the color of the deepest pools of night, had been kind to him, had learned from him. They had crafted a great pillar together, something all the quendi in Cuiviénen could see and admire. They’d shared a moment of triumph and adulation. Now he was here, vivisected, torn apart, splayed with flayed flesh for all the world to see, no secret mental or physical could he hide now. Mairon knew everything about him. He knew every thought the quendi had ever held, every grudge, every jealousy, every slight. He pushed those to the forefront of his broken mind, broke him, ripped him apart and reformed and repurposed him around those grudges and slights and jealousies. The thing had blackened skin, stretched over twisted bones and shredded muscle.

The other was locked away in a dungeon, another that Mairon had known, a forager who looked too far abroad to find the choicest fruits and the most exotic flowers. He’d paid for that. He, too, had been torn apart and remade, formed in the awful image of He Who Arises in Might.

“Help me,” the thing said weakly, a tear forming in those blue eyes. “Mairon, please, please, help me. Kill me, don’t let me live like this. I… I…”

“You will serve a glorious purpose, a purpose which you cannot see now, but you will. I have helped you, remade you. I have taken what you were, and made you more. You are closer to me now, closer to the glory that you and your brethren were meant for. You, Watain, and Nargaroth, will serve to construct a new world. We will reform it in our own image, and we shall rule.”

“No…” the reply was weak, choked with tears. “I am not this Watain, that is not my name. And your name… your name is not Mairon, it cannot be. I do not admire you. You… you are Sauron.”

The word twisted and flung itself at him, strangling him momentarily as it forced its way down his throat. He could feel the fire of hate in that word as it settled in his belly. He roared. From the greatest depths of Angband, the fortress he’d been gifted with to do his diabolic work, to the greatest heights of the stars, the sound and emotion reverberated and stretched, growing louder and stronger as it stretched across endless fields of sea and wheat, across islands and forests until it came at last to a little grove with an apple tree by a crystal-clear lake.

[Moriel]

Omentië
Cuiviénen. YT 1086.
(Private with Frost)

Mairon?

She called out again as the flicker strengthened. His voice did not come, but she could feel him, and Tyelpelfindis arose in a rush, shedding the shawl from about her shoulders, and took to her heels. Away from her dwelling, the shore, the fire, and her kin she fled: across the plain along the path her feet had created in so many journeys to her secluded grove. As she ran, the sense of him intensified: the flash of scarlet became as a roaring flame before her eyes and somehow still she ran; the feeling of him strengthened as built in a surge of emotion, carrying her along on its wave until she burst through the brush at the edge of the grove. Mairon was not there, but it was at that moment that the surge peaked and burst in a cascading shower of rage. It struck her like a hammer to the chest and she staggered, clutching at her heart. From that point of impact spread a different sensation. Once, Tyelpelfindis had slipped and fallen, and put her hand into a fire: the pain of that burn was nothing compared to the scorching flames that now seemed to spiral out from her chest and consume her entire body, until it felt as if every inch of her skin were wreathed in flame. A wordless scream tore from her throat, even as the roar of his voice reached her at last, ringing inside her mind. Distant and as if through fire and smoke and deep water, distorted and tortured, and she knew that he roared not in the spaces of his mind, but aloud, and his voice traveled to her on the current of his rage.

The invisible flames that bound her scorched hotter; the stars seemed to quake before her eyes, until they too were obscured, and the rage began to swirl like the multifaceted hues of fire, of fallen leaves, of his eyes. It was rage, deep and profound, but also hatred, betrayal, in the deepest heart of the fire, grief. The pain consumed Tyelpelfindis, burrowing into the deepest parts of her, until at last it touched the hint of that utter darkness Mairon had shown her, left behind by his touch. She fell to her knees, the horror of the darkness asserting itself over the pleasure as its tendrils short forth to twist and twine with the flames. But this time, rather than fighting against it, Tyelpelfindis opened herself: to the darkness, the horror, the fire and rage and grief and every overwhelming, all-consuming thing that came to her on tide of Mairon’s rage across the stars. Her fingers clutched the grass, arms stretched out before her hunched body, as her forehead pressed into the earth.

Give it all to me. Bring me your suffering, the riot in your heart, bring it all! I am not afraid of the dark.

The darkness threatened to consume Tyelpelfindis, the conflagration of titanic emotion to combust, scattering her across the shore as ash, the unimaginable scale of what she had invited to wipe her mind free of thought. But even as she allowed it in, she drew upon every good thing she had ever known. And Mairon himself; the vision of him swam before her mind’s eye, first in the umber shades he most often appeared, then in the form he had taken when first he came among the elves; the sound of his voice mingling with theirs in song. She drew upon the earth beneath her, the waters before her, and most of all, upon the stars above. The scent of apple blossoms cut sharply through the pain as she inhaled deeply, even as, at last, a single word reached her: whether because he had sent it to her or because it hurt so much it came of its own volition, she did not know.

Sauron.

“Mairon!” She cried aloud, her body arching in an arc of silver hair to rise high upon her knees: all at once her vision cleared and the stars came into focus; the pain had gone, the darkness had gone, and in the crack of her voice a shockwave burst from her to all sides, and on the vibrations of the stars sped away to she knew not where, back along the current of fire in a shard of silver lightning. In the sudden silence that followed her cry, a wave of weakness swept Tyelpelfindis, and she crumpled.

On the broad shore of Cuiviénen where the Eldar dwelt, Oromë laughed and sang, enjoying the feast in his honor. It was a strange thing, to be so fêted: there was a sort of hierarchy among his kin, of which he was at neither the top nor bottom, but essentially they were equals. This sensation of being recognized as something special, of being celebrated, even elevated- it was new, and not unpleasant. Oromë tried not to let the pleasantness of it go to his head: he had not come to the Eldar to be worshipped, or to rule over them. It was the desire to rule that had so corrupted Melkor, and the Huntsman could see how easily many of the Ainur who had been swayed to his cause were tempted. These Children were a responsibility, not a prize. Nevertheless, he was enjoying himself: the quendi danced with abandon in the firelight under the stars, in lines and circles with many steps of their devising. Their music rang out over the water, and Oromë flew through a hay of the current dance, the interweaving circles of quendi, catching and releasing hands as they skipped energetically until with a final loud shout the song ended and the dancers broke apart.

Oromë wiped his brow and joined the laughing crowd as they milled about, coming to rest at the water’s edge at the very limit of the firelight, leaning against a boulder. He watched the Children fondly as they ate and drank and prepared for the next song, and was so occupied that he did not notice the person who sidled up next to him.

“Has anyone offered you a bit of this yet then?” Oromë did not quite jump, but did look round a bit more sharply than he had intended. Offering him a carved wooden cup was one of the younger Eldar- though no, not the youngest; Oromë recalled that he had been the first child born at Cuiviénen, so a young adult it seemed in the brief lives of the Children. He was not the tallest of his kin, but still quite tall enough to not have to tilt his head back too far to give Oromë a look full of mischief. The Huntsman appraised the flashing grey eyes beneath the shock of silver-grey hair, and laughed.

“Davos! You should join my hunt, I think you could sneak up on anything. What have you there.” Davos laughed too and slapped Oromë’s arm with his free hand. Where many of the other quendi exhibited a certain reverence towards Oromë, Davos had had no such sensibilities, from the moment they had been introduced. The blow was a friendly one, but Oromë could feel the strength behind the youth’s wiry frame- he had exhibited astonishing skill in the deep waters of Cuiviénen.

“Miruvórë!” Davos replied eagerly, thrusting the cup towards the hunstsman, “Made from the honey of our friends the bees. Its effects are quite enjoyable.” Amused, Oromë took the cup, briefly studying Davos’s face as he raised the cup to his lips. His eyes could take in much more at a glance than those of the Eldar, and frequently did. There was something queer about this youth, apart from his forwardness; an odd angularity about his face, as if it had not quite been finished when he was born- but if the attention the other youths paid him in the dances was any indication, it did not diminish his appeal in their eyes. Chuckling inwardly to himself, Oromë put the cup’s rip between his lips and quaffed it at a toss. Immediately his eyes watered and he choked- the liquid scorched its way down his throat with a sweet and delicious fire, burning its way down to the pit of his stomach. Davos howled with laughter as Oromë coughed and wiped his mouth, struggling to compose himself. “Wonderful, is it not? Though perhaps best consumed a bit more slowly.”

“Yes, indeed,” Oromë replied drily, wiping his eyes, “I think I shall enjoy it much more next time, knowing what to expect.” A brief lightness passed through his head, diminishing almost as soon as it had come, and he suspected this was part of the “effects” Davos had spoken of. No doubt it would affect the Children in a much stronger way. As Oromë looked up over the heads of the crowd, his vision clear at last, a sudden movement caught his eye: on the knoll above this stretch of shore where the quendi had lit their fire, a solitary figure arose in a flash of white. Tyelpelfindis, rising abruptly from her retreat and, as he watched, taking flight, away from the fire and the rest of her kin there on the shore. A feeling of unease settled on Oromë. But the music had begun again, and Davos tugged at his arm.

“Come on then, show us your light feet!” Oromë shook his head and managed another laugh for the youth.

“No Davos, I shall sit this one out! Go on.”

“Your loss!” With a shrug and a wave of the hand, Davos turned from Oromë and dove back into the crowd. It was a fast dance, this one, performed in changing lines with complicated steps and a rush at the end to find one’s final partner. It was one of his favorites, and he bounded through the steps with frenetic energy, laughing and shouting and teasing with everyone he passed and clasped hands with, until at last the final rush came, where in a complicated figure of eight hay, everyone changed partners over and over until the final chord. Davos reached out blindly into the swirling mass of bodies to catch the next hand that came his way, then took the dance’s finallunging backward step, and raised his arm to spin his final partner in to him. He felt an arm come about his waist even as his free hand slide about his partner’s, and with an assertive step, they came to a halt with their bodies flush together, and locked eyes for the first time. Bright-gold waves of hair bounced about her chin as she looked up at him, laughing, and her eyes- her eyes too were golden, like the gold of Nahar’s hooves, a color he had never before beheld. Amidst the final strains of music and the cheers all around them, the world seemed to shudder to a halt around Davos, and for the first time in his life he was quite lost for words, drowning in the golden depths of her eyes, and the heat of her body against his, and the soft flesh of her hand, strong in his. When at last he regained his voice, it was in a stammer.

“I- I’m Davos.”

She smiled, her teeth flashing at him in a vulpine grin of delight.

“Sombelenë.”

***

Oromë had cloaked himself from the sigh of the Eldar as he slipped through the crowd, not wanting to be noticed departing. He followed Tyelpelfindis at a distance, across the plain. He knew where she was going: she had told him of the grove where she went to think, to be alone, to study the stars. Something had troubled her, he was sure, and if the unease he felt was anything to go by, it was something larger than just one Child. Her insight had been both a wonder and a mystery to him since their first meeting, and perhaps there was foresight there as well. There was so much he and his kin did not yet know of the Eldar, that had not been fully revealed, and many of the Awakened possessed strange gifts. So Oromë trailed her, watching as she disappeared through the brush and into the grove. He had never encroached on her solitude before, and hesitated to do so now. His steps were slow as he continued, wondering what might have disturbed her- until a piercing scream rent the air. This time Oromë did jump, for this was a sound such as he had never heard from one of the Eldar, a sound of uncontrollable pain- and more, something more, behind it. The Huntsman broke into a run, sprinting towards the grove. Then, when he had almost reached the brush that formed its barrier, came another cry:

“Mairon!”

And with the word came a battering wave of power that knocked Oromë back and nearly took him off his feet. In an instant he took in the layers of what lingered on the wave: Tyelpelfindis, her fëa, every energy she could muster, crystallized into her voice; and beneath her essence, something darker, sharper, sinister, and familiar. Oromë bounded forward, bursting through the brush at the edge of the clearing in time to see her sway, upright upon her knees, arms splayed out and head thrown back beneath the pale starlight. He dashed forward, sliding onto his knees to catch her as she fell. Tyelpelfindis sagged in the Huntsman’s arms, and he could feel the power ebbing from her, receding like a slow tide. And he could feel her breathing, shallowly but regularly, and the beating of her heart.

“Tyelpelfindis,” he said, brushing the hair out of her face, “Tyelpelfindis, can you hear me?”

Something had stopped her from hitting the ground, and it took several moments for Tyelpelfindis to register the arms around her, and chest against which she rested. Someone very large had come between her and the earth, and she blinked slowly, even as the light touch of fingers against her face came, and a voice calling her name. It was Oromë, somehow come to this place at this time, but she did not think to question it. Her mind was sluggish, her body felt all-over weak, and her throat parched. Her lips parted, and she managed to whisper,

“Water… water.”

At once the ground disappeared from beneath her, as Oromë thrust an arm beneath her knees and lifted Tyelplefindis easily. Without hesitation he strode into the water, until it lapped over her knees and rose to her chest. With one hand she scooped the fresh, clean water into her mouth, as its cooling pressure covered her booth, soothing the burning sensation that still lingered. Tyelpelfindis looked at the skin of her arm, and saw only smooth paleness- no burns, no scars, no physical evidence of anything she had felt. Inside and out she felt raw.

“Thank you,” she said, and her voice was stronger. She took another mouthful of water before asking Oromë to retreat to where she could stand. He did so, and gently lowered her until her feet touched the bottom beneath the water, which rose to the top of her shoulders. He stood slightly behind her, one hand upon her back to steady her, and she did not object. For some moments they stood in silence, Tyelpelfindis breathing deeply and gazing up at the stars. Until, at length, Oromë spoke.

“Who is Mairon?”

“My friend,” Tyelpelfindis replied, after a moment.

“Where is… he?” Oromë questioned.

“I do not know,” she said, “far away. Somewhere I cannot reach him.” Oromë waited, but she said not more. Again he prompted her.

“Was he taken by the ungualaco?”

“He…” she hesitated. Even though she did not think Oromë had any ill intent, Mairon’s warning still lingered in the back of her mind. And not only that, but for some reason, she felt she must protect him, protect their secret. And she did not know precisely what it was that had just happened to her. How much should she say? “I think he was taken. Something prevents him from returning. He has always come and gone, but something is wrong. He came to me out of the dark, but now… I fear he may be lost to Darkness.”

Oromë stared at the back of Tyelpelfindis’s head, deeply troubled by her speech. It seemed clear to him that this Mairon was not one of the Eldar. And from the hints he gleaned from what Tyelpelfindis had said, and what he had felt from her, it seemed that this creature was something more like he himself. Oromë knew that there were some of the maiar, such as Melian, who had been drawn to this land, but none had returned any reports of the Children prior to himself. He had been the one to find them- hadn’t he? If any Ainu had discovered them, why should they not have reported their finding at once? Her talk of Darkness, and the currents he had felt in the shock that had radiated from her, cut deep misgiving’s into Oromë’s heart. Surely they would know if He had discovered the children, surely… but He had many servants. Could it be?

“He does not answer me,” Tyelpelfindis’s voice cut through Oromë’s musings. “I call out to him, and he does not reply. I sing, but he cannot hear.” Her voice trembled, and the Huntsman allowed his hand to slide up her back and come to rest comfortingly on one shoulder.

“There is a Power in your voice, Tyelpelfindis.”

“Yes,” she whispered, “I had begun to think so. There are others, but I do not think they know it.” Tyelpelfindis stretched out one hand, and floated it upon the surface of the water. Softly she began to sing without words, and spreading out from the tips of her fingers, all around them the water, which had been rippling in the breeze, turned flat as ice. Nary a quaver touched the reflection of the stars, and they shone brighter in the still water. Then she fell silent, and the water resumed its play. Aprubtly Tyelpelfindis turned to face Oromë. “What does it mean?” she asked, and he sighed.

“I do not know.” Beneath his hand, he felt her begin to shiver. “Come. Will you let me walk you back to the fire?" Tyelpelfindis nodded, and took his hand.

[Fuin Elda]

2618 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Cala asked how her project was going as she finished polishing up the last bit of metalwork she prepped the crossbow and put a bolt into it and stood up. "We need to test it but it looks like it's done." She said with a smile as she looked at the sword that Cala had put up. She had stopped checking Calas work about a year ago now. The only time Fuin worried about her work was when shew as doing very very specific and precise commission work which tended to have far more detail in them than the ones that they sold to the public. They would be closing early but it was now something that people had gotten use to over the last three years Fuin had always closed early for the childrens birthdays and by now their regulars knew full well that they closed for them and which days they were now. She expected that they would be heading down to the first circle either tonight right after cake or in the morning. He didn't have school and tomorrow as as it were and market would be closed.

In the past few years Fuin and Cala had made plenty of friends with military so they would be able to test the new item that she'd built a tiny ballista as it were much smaller than the massive siege weapon. It was so expensive and hard to make she doubted the military would want anything like it at this time though perhaps some day in the future, or perhaps they would get a few orders for the generals of the army or the rangers.

"Did you remember to invite Thal and your friends so you don't have to deal with only Rada's friends?" Fuin asked with a smile, she knew that Cala had started making more friends and Rada absolutely had a bunch of friends and now she would need to make sure that the large roast that she had gotten for their dinner together with all their friends something that they all seemed very much to enjoy. The upstairs was now far nicer than it had been when they'd first moved in and the children were happy to have people over and visiting something that they had not really been able to do before.

[Fuin Elda]

Another egg has been found this is what I get for posting without refreshing and checking because I didn't want to lose the post I was working on

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Late Spring
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

Cala laughed. "Of course I did, you don't think I'd spend the whole evening with just a bunch of over-excited little boys for company, do you? I mean, there's you, but..." She shook her head. "Thal said he'd come over a little early to help," she added with a small smile. "Although I'm not really sure what there really is for him to help with..." A thoughtful look, then a shrug. "Anyway... what about you? Have you got any friends coming to help you through it?" Cala wondered, curious as she glanced over at her mentor.

Brushing off her clothes, she took a curious look at the device that Fuin had made. She was eager to see Radaron's face when he saw it for the first time, and smiled, eager for that. The smell of cake wafted down from upstairs, reminding her again about that. "I better get the cake.." She hurried up the stairs and quickly washed up before taking a look into the oven. It looked done. She'd learned a fair bit about cooking in the last few years, and folks were usually pretty surprised to learn that she could not only run a forge and make weapons and things, but she could cook and even sew, too. Cala smiled to herself at those thoughts, as she carefully took the cake from the oven using some folded towels, and placed it aside to cool. While it was cooling she mixed up some frosting to put on it, and debated about the best way to decorate the cake.

[Fuin Elda]

2618 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Fuin llaughed indeed the thought of an entire evening filled with over excited little boys was not normally a prospect that she looked forwards to and were it not for the fact that it was for one of her wards she very likely would have attempted to get out of it any way she could. "I believe a few of the boys coming have their parents coming with them - rubbing elbows with the top smithy runners in Gondor does give ones social standing a boost so I am not sure which will be worse talking shop with the parents or making sure the sweets fueled boys don't tear this place apart. You'll be able to chat to them as well of course." Fuin said with a laugh before Cala retreated to pull the cake from the oven.

With Cala off Fuin began the task of shutting down the forge entirely, to the point she not only let the coals die, but actively poured water on then not wanting the boys to get the idea to play with the forge if some of them managed to slip away without Fuin seeing. It was going to be a hard enough task to keep Rada or the other boys from shooting the cross bow in the house. She tucked the hammers and tongues up where even Cala couldn't reach them without a stool, as well as the flint to strike an ember to restart the forge. She glanced around putting the sword her young apprentice had made up as well, and all the other weaponry. Better safe than sorry she figured, Rada was quite proud of his sister and would often show off the merchendise in the forge whenever he had a chance which was fine when Fuin or Cala were there but Cala was likely aside from the food and cake going to be actively avoiding the throng of young boys.

Happy that the most dangerous of items were out of the reach of young excited sugar fueled hands she locked the front door from the inside and began locking up the windows until the forge was properly closed. The cake smelled amazing. As did the baron of beef that Fuin had procured for the event. And was another reason (the foremost being that he was one of the most personable children Fuin had ever met) that Cala and Rada's birthday's tended to be well attended. That and Cala's cakes. Fuin was debating on how she was going to hide most of the cake after everyone had had a piece so that she could eat more of it. With that she headed up stairs and slipped into her room where she would wrap the cross bow in one of the traditional gifts Fuin got the children every year - A new shirt and pants (or dress in Cala's case)fortunately Rada had grown a fair bit so it wasn't too hard to wrap the small cross bow and handful of darts that they had made for him. The gift wrapped up Fuin returned to see Cala hard at work decorating the cake. Fuin for her part began pulling out the dishes to set the table for the party - a set of twelve in total, all made and refined and re-refined by Cala over the years and cups and cutlery to match, Fuin caught sight of Thal climbing the stairs and smiled.

"The first bit of help appears to have arrived!"

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis and Thalaben

Late Spring
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

Looking up from the frosting, Cala wondered who was the first to arrive. A smile appeared as she saw who it was, and hurried to open the door for him before he had a chance to knock. Cala grinned, stepping back to let him in. "Thanks for coming!" She said happily, relieved that he had arrived before Radaron's friends.
"I told you I would," He smiled and nodded politely to Fuin. "Ma'am, how are you? Can I help with anything?" He wondered, inhaling the lovely smell wafting through the room.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I was just starting to decorate the cake," Cala thought for a moment, glancing around. Loud, noisy footsteps could be heard pounding up the stairs about that moment, and Cala realized that Radaron was coming a bit sooner than she'd expected. He must have run home from school.

"I'll keep the kid busy, how's that?" Thal offered quickly, seeing the alarmed look on her face. Setting down the small gift he had brought, he grinned as he hurried to intercept the excited boy before he caught sight of the unfinished party preparations.

Cala breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thanks, Thal!" She called after him. The smile stayed as she continued to work on the cake decorating. Soon, she could hear Radaron and Thal playing some game down below. "Are we mostly ready, aside from this?" She asked Fuin, trying to go over all the things that they still needed to finish.

[Fuin Elda]

2618 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Thal took off to keep Radaron out of the upstairs. Fuin hissed Cala. "We better hurry up we don't have too long!" Fuin said as Cala was working hard on finishing the cake decorating "Rada is smart enough to know he's being delayed." She said as she quickly set the settings for the main meal on the table. And once they were on the main dishes themselves. She could not help but smile at the work Cala had put in so far to make sure that the forge was successful. For now though it was Rada's day, soon more voices joined Radaron and Thal as they played at a game of kick ball from the sounds of it in the small alley off the main street. Soon everyone had arrived and the task they'd set Thal to - delaying Radaron and his now entourage of friends- would become utterly impossible.

Fortunately aside from perhaps a bit of the cake being decorated as Fuin glanced at Cala the table set and fabric ribbons draped festively through the wall sconces they'd installed to make sure the upstairs was well lit at night so Rada and Cala could study seems looked like they were done the small pile of gifts in the corner would undoubtedly grow, though the one large gift would doubtlessly have much of the young boys attention when he came in. "Are we done can we let the horde in?" Fuin asked with a laugh certain that everything else was in place. She was certain Cala and Thal would slip outside to sit in the quiet for a part of the night. Fuin would do her job of being guardian of all of these boys and make sure their home survived as well.

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis

2618 - Late Spring
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

"Yes, he is," Cala agreed. "But as long as Thal keeps them all having fun, he might not mind being delayed." She could only hope, but wasn't really sure how long they'd be able to keep the horde at bay. Luckily, she was nearly finished. She placed the cake on the table, grinning as she stepped back to admire it, licking the remnant frosting off of the knife before putting it in the washbasin. "Alright, I think we can let the monsters in.. I mean children." She laughed, and went around to do a once-over to ensure that there were no breakable items anywhere within reach of small hands.

Going to the doorway, she called the children inside, and then stood back holding the door open, waiting for the stampede.

[Fuin Elda]

2618 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

And then they were beset.

It was both terrible and wonderful at the same time, Rada and his friends had a fantastic time, the food was devoured until there was only crumbs left (and one roasted strip of onion that hadn't been seen). The lot of them ran and played games in the house though Fuin refused to let them down into the forge despite Rada promising they would be good he only wanted to show them the newest latest things that Cala and her were working on - which admittedly was echoed by most of the children attending the party - a glimpse inside the elf forge run by women that was where the elite got their weapons and their finery in terms of metal work done was a treat to them. Fuin would not allow a bunch of over stimulated children into the forge though even if was cold for the night. No that was the last thing she needed or wanted.

Thal did his best to help keep them in line and play with them as well and finally when the energy had started to wear down they let them open the presents though Fuin had smartly hidden away the bow that had been made until it was the last gift and Rada was confused at where his normal gift was - Fuin normally bought him practical things that he could use when he got older today though he didn't find himself with any new tools or mechanisms that would make his life easier with his one hand in amongst the gifts he'd opened... And then he saw the massive gift that she'd pulled from some hidden location the boys had not found and she was certain his eyes went as wide as saucers as he looked at and tore into it.

Everyone wanted to try it but it was dark and Fuin had been smart enough to make sure the bolts for it were locked down in the forge. After all the last things she needed was Rada's friends using the bow or him using it and one of them getting hurt. Instead Fuin said that no there would be no trying it, that Rada would be learning how to use it properly and it was not a play thing. Which was true most of the boys he was friends with had small knives and the like but none had so.... princely a weapon to call their own. Indeed there would be many jealous of it including more than a few members of the Gondorian army.

So instead the boys looked it over inspecting every detail they could from the grain of the wood to the curved metal that reenforced it to the designs patterned onto it by practiced hand until parents began arriving to collect their children as the Arien had gone down and the torches of the city were lit. More than one telling their parents about the wonderous bow that Rada had gotten and how they were going to save up for one of their own.

[Arnyn]

A shadow fell on a forge in Minas Tirith. Passers-by looked up, curious, to have their eyes widen and their hearts stutter. The air shifted violently as the dragon's paws touched the cobblestones. A silver-haired woman with braids and bells in her hair entered the forge, and soon left again with a coin in one hand.

He looked at her expectantly. "Nay, Drogon," she smiled. "No enemies here. Come. To the skies."

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis & Thalaben

2618 - Late Spring
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

The party was great. Cala was delighted to see how happy her brother was, and how much he enjoyed his gifts. Especially, the main one. That one had been her and Fuin's secret for some time, and she was thrilled to see how excited Rada was with it. Of course, they'd have to go over a lot of new rules with it, but she was eager to see how well he might be able to use the crossbow.

And yet... she still had some vague thoughts about how it might be made possible for him to use a regular style bow. Because, while this one would enable him to get a feel for using a projectile weapon like that, and he could practice aiming and all of that, she knew that he wanted to, someday, shoot a bow like Fuin's. They just had to figure out some way for that to be possible.

As the last of Radaron's friends said goodbye and the sound of his excited voice, telling his parents all about the party, faded down the street, Cala smiled softly and turned to begin cleaning up the assortment of plates and cups that had been left behind.

Thal was just finishing filling the washbasin. "That crossbow was amazing, by the way." He mentioned, impressed.

"Yes, he's going to be the envy of all the kids in school." Cala laughed as she began washing up the dishes. "Perhaps someday I'll be able to make something like that, all on my own."

"That 'someday' might not be all that far away." He shrugged, starting to dry the dishes that she had finished washing. "I'm not sure if you helped with making that one, but I'm sure you could have done most of that, without any help. If you'd wanted to, I mean. You're creative and inventive enough to make anything you want, you know." He smiled at her.

She blushed faintly. "Well.. thanks. I guess.. if I didn't have a teacher to guide me through how to make something, I'd experiment until I figured out what worked," She mentioned thoughtfully, recalling how she had done back before she met Fuin.

As they finished up the dishes, Cala could hear Radaron in his room, playing with some of his new toys. She passed the last plate to Thal and leaned against the table with a sigh.

"You've been busy all day," Thal mentioned. "Running around, trying to keep up with all those kids," He laughed, then hesitated as he finished drying the plate, and set it aside. "Would you.. like to take a walk with me?" He asked, turning toward her. "You deserve a little quiet time, and now's the perfect time.. your brother's got plenty to keep him occupied, the shops are all closed by now, most people have gone home.. stars are starting to come out..." He mentioned. As a delivery guy who frequently traveled the streets at all different times of day, he knew the streets would be mostly empty right now, and it would be a nice, quiet time of day to take a stroll and enjoy a bit of peace and quiet.

Cala considered for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Hang on." She went to the next room to find Fuin, figuring she'd check if she minded being left in charge of Rada for a little bit.. he was still rather excited about several of his new toys, though for the moment he was staying in his room with them.

[Fuin Elda]

2618 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

The party was over it was... A strange thing at times to be in charge of children and there were times Fuin questioned if she was doing right by them. She knew Cala was thriving and learning but she was so near an adult by human standards Rada....

Today she was certain she was doing well for Rada. The smile on his face threatened to overtake his ears and his friend were happy as well and despite having been given a crossbow no one had been injured or maimed. She was sitting cleaning up the last bits of the party while Cala and Thala were doing the dishes. Every once in a while she'd check in on Rada make sure be still was it getting into trouble. So far she'd been lucky when Cala came and let her know she'd be going out for a walk.

Fuin was fine with taking care of Rada the boy would likely be out cold after all the excitement of the day before Cala got back. "Enjoy yourself and stay safe Cala." She said with a nod giving the young woman a nod and a wave to go ahead. She'd be finished cleaning in the next few minutes and then she'd go see how soon before Rada was done for the day.

(Ooc typing on my phone please forgive shortness and possible autocorrects)

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Calaerdis & Thalaben

2618 - Late Spring
Minas Tirith - Second Circle

After being assured that Fuin did not mind, Cala smiled. "Of course. I won't be gone long," She promised, then returned to Thal. He had finished putting away the dishes; he was always being helpful, it seemed. After putting the towel away, they set out for a walk together. They had grown closer in the past couple of years, and while she had a few other casual friends that she saw now and then, Thal was the closest friend that she had, besides Fuin.

They strolled leisurely along, chatting quietly as they went, and wandered into a park, enjoying the sight of all the spring blossoms and the cooler night air. Sitting on a bench, they looked up at the stars and talked about this and that, but nothing really in particular.

---

Radaron

Emerging from his room after a little while, Rada was hoping to sneak another look at his new crossbow before it was time for bed. After spotting Fuin working on some cleaning, he tried to see if he could sneak up on her and surprise her with a hug, though he'd never managed to catch her off guard before. He grinned at her. "This was the bestest birthday ever! Thanks. Can I start practicing tomorrow? Will you teach me how to use it?" He asked hopefully, eager to learn and thus, settle things with those former friends of his from the first circle. "I can't wait to see those two boys swimming in the sewer." He added with a mischievous grin. So far, that was his and Fuin's secret.

[Fuin Elda]

2618 - TA
Minas Tirith - Second Circle
@Rillewen

Fuin kept cleaning as Rada slipped out of his room and decided to sneak up on her. It wasn't hard to hear him, he was not nearly as sneaky as he thought he was but she did her best to let him think he was sneaky giving a chuckle as he hugged her from behind and she gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder. "I am glad you enjoyed your birthday." She thought for a moment. "I think I should have time to teach you to use it tomorrow. We have some errands to run as the forge is closed tomorrow but once we get those done." She said shaking her head at the little boys fantastically mischievous grin at the comment about the boys swimming in the sewer. "I will wager that they've forgotten the bet." I say with a smile as well. Cala would likely be mortified at the childish behaviour of both Fuin and Rada plotting such a thing.

"We will have to get you well practiced so there is no doubt in the fact they need to go for a rather filthy swim." Fuin said rather seriously as she finished putting the chairs back in their places.

[Rillewen]

@Fuin Elda

Radaron

"Yay!" He cheered happily when she said there might be time tomorrow. Then he looked curious. "What errands?" He wondered. His birthday was over, so it couldn't have anything to do with that. Right? And Cala's wasn't for several months. "Does that mean I don't have to go to school?" He added, eager for a chance to do something more exciting than schoolwork.

When Fuin said she didin't think those other boys would remember that deal, Rada's grin widened. "Oh, they remember, alright!" He declared, almost smirking as he said so. "Every time I see them, I remind them about it, and then they tease me and say it'll never happen, and then I tell them that they'd better learn how to fight alligators." He said proudly. "They haven't forgotten, and I don't plan to let them forget."

He grinned happily when she said they'd have to make sure he was well practiced. "Yeah, I wanna be able to shoot and hit whatever I'm shooting at, every time." He could hardly wait to begin learning!