Forward dated to June 2; video

[inafadingcrown]

[The woman who appears on the screen is sitting on the floor of a forest in what is obviously a makeshift camp. The chirping of birds and the faint sounds of horses can be heard in the background. Her first message is short and simple, open to everyone (though, admittedly, there are a few who she is particularly hoping to hear from).]


I am curious;  how many of you hail from Arda? When did you see it last?

For those who do not, tell me something of your world, if you will. I have time enough for a tale or two.

[Locked to Seelie]

Gi suilon. I am known to some of you already; for those to whom I am not, I will offer a short introduction. [She gives a little nod of her head- not a bow, but still with a slightly formal air.] I am Galadriel, formerly of Lothlórien.

I regret very much that I am not able to offer my greetings in person to those of you who have newly arrived, but, alas, circumstances necessitate my presence elsewhere.

Regardless of my absence, I would offer you- and those who have been longer in this world- use of the lembas and miruvor I received as a boon. Lembas, for those who are unaware, are Elven waybread. My supply of these is dwindling and even a little will provide nourishment for days, so I ask that you take only at need and sparingly. Miruvor is healing cordial, though it may also be used simply to renew strength. Of this I have more, but, again, do not use it needlessly. Both the lembas and the miruvor I keep in my quarters; my maid is likely to be about and able to show you to it. If not, you may contact me and I will find a way to make arrangements.

Upon my return, I will no doubt meet many of you for myself and I will be glad to offer what assistance I may, for I know well that this place may be frightening and strange, however welcoming our hosts may mean to be. Until then, keep well.

[Locked to Maglor]

[Ordinarily, she would deem this unnecessary, but she does know that he was traveling recently. And it's best he know as soon as possible.]

I do not know if you have heard, cousin, but yet another kinsman has found his way to this world.

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Re: [Video forever]

[lightbranded]

That is curious.

[He grins suddenly.]

But its a bit marvelous, too. To think that there might be so many other worlds.

[inafadingcrown]

[His grin is infectious. She smiles back, a little more enthusiastically than before.]

I suppose that it is. [She's been so focused on her troubles that she's rather missed the wonder of it all.] I would not have believed it, had I not been here myself.

[lightbranded]

Have you been here long?

It is something. My world has many marvelous things in it, but it is a world in itself. We watch the stars, sometimes. But we do not travel to other worlds.

[inafadingcrown]

Not long, no. It has been only a few months.

I might say much the same. [A little pause as she contemplates] The stars are quite different here than from those I know. You must take the time to study them, when you have the chance.

[lightbranded]

Are they? [Privately, Will thought that it might be disquieting to look at the stars, and know that none of them were the same as he had learned from the Book of Gramarye. To look at a sky and not know any of the star's names or histories.]

Has much happened here?

[inafadingcrown]

[Truthfully, she finds it disconcerting as well. Disconcerting and fascinating in equal measure.]

War has happened here, little one, for many years. Even the land speaks of it, in places. My time here has seen only a continuance of what has already come to pass.

[lightbranded]

I see.

[After the end of the battle he had hoped that there would be some times of peace. But it wasn't to be, after all.]

Do you know why they are fighting?

[inafadingcrown]

Beyond what they have explained themselves?

[lightbranded]

It can help, sometimes, to hear a story from others.

[inafadingcrown]

So it can.

As the Seelie tell it, we each of us have within us a 'shard.' Enough of these will enable either side to open a gateway to otherworlds. The Unseelie, again, as the Seelie tell it, would use this to unleash darkness upon a host of worlds, including our own. And so the Seelie hope to harness this power first, preventing the Unseelie from doing any such thing.

A suspiciously simple tale, to my way of thinking, but it is what we were told. [And she's already contemplating ways that she might find out more.]

[lightbranded]

And I expect the Unseelie have their own tales.

[The more Will discovered about this situation, the more worried he became. ]

This shard, has anyone ever seen what one looks like?

[inafadingcrown]

Precisely so. [And the truth of things is likely to lie somewhere in-between, in her experience.]

None that I know have, but I have, of course, not spoken to all here.

[lightbranded]

I suppose I must keep asking, then. [He says this in a quiet voice, almost musing to himself.]

Really, it seems that this entire situation is terribly complicated.

[inafadingcrown]

Politics and war, in my experience, are seldom simple matters.

[lightbranded]

It is because they are things created by people. And people are very complicated. [He sounded sad, saying this. ]

[inafadingcrown]

So they are. Yet that is precisely what makes people so wondrous, is it not? It is that complexity which allows for near infinite possibility.

[lightbranded]

It is. [Will smiles slightly.] They're a bit marvelous, humans. They can be brighter than the brightest light, or darker than the deepest pit, and all of it from their own choice.

[inafadingcrown]

The Eldar are not so different, in that regard. What of your people? [Oh, yes. She caught that 'they.' Not 'we.']

[lightbranded]

The Eldar? I have never heard of them.

[Although Will was already certain enough that this lady was not quite human herself. So it came as little surprise.]

The Old Ones are of the Light. We cannot ever choose to be of the Dark.

[inafadingcrown]

'Elves' may be the term more familiar to you. ['Old Ones' is unfamiliar to her, though. A familiar sort of unfamiliar, granted- a term that she might apply to several she knows, but that's neither here nor there.] I am afraid I have heard nothing of the 'Old Ones.'

[lightbranded]

I have heard of them, but I have never met one before.

[Will suspected that they did not exist in his world.]

That's expected, really. Even in my world we are half forgotten. Most people think of us, when they think of us at all, as only a story to tell children.

[inafadingcrown]

[That...strikes a very familiar chord with her. She nods, solemn and understanding.]

And so it will be with us, ere long. The world is changed and so must the part we play within it.