When you awaken at the start of the week you struggle to get out of bed. Your conversation with Merrill has left you emotionally drained. While you are grateful that she has not decided to leave and never return, you doubt she understands the full magnitude of what you have done. You manage to rise from your bed with an effort of will wholly disproportionate to the actual difficult of the task. You head to the kitchen and are pleasantly surprised to see that there is food ready, you might have forgotten you hired a housekeeper. You do not see the woman, Karla you think her name was, so you cannot thank her. This leads you to decide that you should spend today getting to know your staff, you certainly do not want to be surrounded by strangers you do not trust. You also would like to get to know Lanaya a little better, especially considering how your plans will likely be intersecting with her clan. That will have to wait for another week though.
Given that it was the work of Karla that inspired you to get to know your staff, beginning to do so with her seems the most reasonable option. Finding her takes some time, you find her in one of the unused bedrooms, presumably trying to figure out if she can get away with not cleaning it. You knock on the door to let her know you are there.
"Excuse me Ms., Karla, was it? I hope I am not interrupting but I was hoping to have a short conversation to get to know you better."
Karla starts and whirls at the knock, seemingly prepared to scold whoever is disturbing her. When she sees that it is you who has done so, she seems at a loss for what to do.
Smoothing her dress nervously she says, "Oh. Of course, milord, how can I be of service?"
You will admit that you find nervousness ill suits the sturdy woman so, leaning against the wall, you say. "Forgive me the interruption, if you have work you meant to do this can wait. You also do not need to call me your lord, I am after all not a lord of this land."
"No no, uh, sir, I mean, I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing. I thought you had a small manor house not… this."
You look around at the elaborately furnished room and the arched ceilings and have to admit, if only to yourself, that you may have gone a bit overboard.
"Then let me begin by thanking you for breakfast, it was well made. If you are confused about your duties, then you may always ask me. As a general rule, the rooms that are in use, such as the kitchen and study, should be cleaned regularly and all else can be done once a month or so. It is a large challenge for a single person, so I do not begrudge you not cleaning every room every day."
You smile to show that you are jesting, but she still seems nervous. You cast about for a topic to put her more at ease.
"How is your son?" You ask, if there is one thing you know from experience it is that parents are almost always insufferably proud of their children.
"He's well mil…, sorry, sir. Has he done something? I'm sorry. He's just very young and he doesn't know any better. I'll talk to him, don't worry." The woman starts to babble, presumably this has been a problem before.
You raise your hand. "Peace. Your son has done nothing that I am currently aware of. I simply am concerned for his wellbeing. Do you have plans for lessons? Is he settling in? I remember that children often find a sudden change in environment disturbing."
Though Elrond and Elros had other reasons to be disturbed when they arrived.
"Oh. Sorry, he's having a bit of trouble settling in actually. He's been acting out lately, and I thought he might have been disturbing you." Karla seems to have relaxed now that she realises you are not here to get her in trouble.
You grin at her. "I am told by a reliable source that most children find me terrifying. I think it is the height."
Your joke manages to get a weak chuckle out of your housekeeper. You spend an hour discussing her plans for her son. True to your expectations she spends no small amount of time gushing about how smart and handsome he is. You also pass on some advice for dealing with unruly children. You are almost embarrassed by how long the conversation goes on before you realise you have left an important question unasked.
"It occurs to me just now that I never found out your son's name." You say after she finishes the story she was telling you.
"Oh. Right, it's Kerry." She tells you.
"Kerry? What does that mean?" Mother names are considered somewhat prophetic among your people, human mothers may not have the Eldarin gift of prophecy but you are still interested in her thoughts.
To your surprise she blushes slightly and looks down. "It don't mean nothing. I just though it sounded neat."
"As good a way of naming a child as any. There is no need for such embarrassment." In truth you are slightly disappointed, but you knew humans had different naming conventions, so you are not surprised.
You manage to continue the conversation for fifteen more minutes before Karla realises she needs to get started on lunch for the rest of the staff.
You wish you were back with Karla. Wesley has been talking for nearly ten minutes solely about how wonderful his lover is. He has said that he loves them no fewer than three dozen times. You think you might actually go mad.
"So I was going through the orchard thinking of what a wonderful spot for a picnic it would be. I do love…"
"Stop! Please for the love of Eru stop!" The words leap from your lips almost without permission.
Wesley is taken aback by your outburst, because he is apparently incapable of perceiving that you have been holding back the desire to strangle him since the twelfth time he proclaimed his love.
"I know I asked about how you were settling in, but I was more hoping for practical concerns rather than how much you are enjoying your honeymoon." You say, massaging your temples.
To your amazement he goes straight back to his previous wide eyed joy. "I have no problems, my life is perfect. We are finally together. This weekend I was thinking of…"
Oh merciful Valar strike you dead here and now, he is getting started again. You need a topic to distract him now! You cast about for something to talk about
"So, you have not had any problems with the other staff? I know there was tension with the Dalish, and I am not so naïve as to think a short conversation has ended them." You are proud of how you keep your voice from revealing your desperation to prevent him from beginning his tirade again.
There is a moment of hesitation before Wesley speaks. "I wouldn't say there are problems milord." It's just, I ain't exactly comfortable being guarded by them elves. I worry they're gonna slip into my room and cut my throat."
"I am not legally a lord." You say reflexively, before you ask your true question. "Where does this suspicion stem from? Have you been threatened?"
"No. Well not exactly. But everyone's heard the stories. Young people daring each other to go into the forest only to be attacked by Elves. That sort of thing." The young man says, rubbing the back of his neck.
You place your hand on his shoulder and look down to meet his eyes. "I understand that you are worried, but there is no need for fear. So long as you dwell in my lands you are under my protection. Any who seek to harm you must answer to me, no matter who they are."
Wesley looks at you for a few moments, then bows his head slightly. "Right, 'course. How'd you manage to get Dalish listening to you anyhow?"
You shrug. "It was a long process. I likely owe the fact I even had the chance to Merrill."
"Who's Merrill?" The blonde human asks, his face a picture of confusion.
"The dark haired female Dalish mage. Have you not met?" You mirror his confusion, you had assumed Merrill would introduce herself.
"Oh yeah, I've seen her around. Always leaves the room whenever I show up though." Wesley says, realisation in his voice.
You resist the urge to drag your hand down your face. You really need to help Merrill get over her shyness one of these days.
You manage to extract yourself from your conversation with Wesley with only a few more proclamations of his love. You have one last stop to make, your Dalish hunters. They are not quite so talkative as the other staff members, but you do manage to get a short tale from each of them. The underlying theme of these stories is that they needed some time away from the clan to consider their loyalties. They had been some of Zathrien's more trusted warriors and they feel understandably betrayed. To your disappointment they mostly view their role as a temporary posting. You will likely need to replace them before too long.
Merrill does not appreciate the mandatory group dinner you drag her to. You play the host to the best of your considerable abilities, introducing everyone. You have to intervene several times throughout the event to ensure that no human elf tensions bubble over, but it was worth it. While it was a difficult task, it proves a successful one. Merrill actually talks to everyone, if somewhat hesitantly. Also, everyone is much more comfortable with each other after sharing food and good conversation. You smirk into your water glass when you notice Wesley talking to one of the married Dalish about their respective loves. Better her than you.
On the second day of your week, you are feeling much more your usual self, and you dedicate the day to studying how exactly you can move your spirit into the Veil. You have already resolved to create some kind of working that can open a hole into it at will, the only question is how. You are grateful that you had spent some time planning this out, you manage to get some paper off Merrill. Then, you lock yourself in the study with nothing but ink and that paper in order to force yourself to work.
You begin by writing down everything you have observed about the Veil. Its nature and defences, trying to put into words the sensations that it caused when you stretched your awareness over it. This task proves to be a challenge that reminds you of attempting to describe what something is without saying its name. When you have finished you do the same for everything you know of the Beyond and the energies that stem from it. This is much easier to do, though reading over what you have written reveals a lot of conjecture and very little verified information. You then write down everything you know from your home that might be relevant. Charms of opening, wards and how to unravel them and other things of that nature.
You look over what you have written and you do not see an obvious answer. You know there is something here, but you cannot see it. You have a number of different ideas that could work but no certainty about any of them. You could try them all, trial and error style. You also could consult Merrill on the matter. You had wanted to this largely alone, but she is the only person with the knowledge to aid you. There is one other possibility. It would be risky, but you could try to find a spirit. Merrill has compared the Valar to spirits and mentioned that they can teach mages. They apparently want to leave the Beyond so they should have studied the Veil in some detail. You are confident you will not mistake a demon for an uncorrupted spirit, you are cautious about what they might ask for in return though.
You spend half an hour more staring futilely at the page with your notes on it. When no ideas come to you, you decide that it is time to actually do something. Of the options you have considered so far, the best one is
The option of interrogating some kind of spirit is a tempting one. It would give you a unique insight into the problem you are facing. It might even give you an idea of what has already been attempted. You resolve to try to find a friendly or neutral spirit. Perhaps the lady of the forest, she should be nearby and has already passed through the Veil once. You close your eyes to focus on your soul in the beyond.
You are greeted by a purple mockery of a human woman, "Hello Darling." It purrs, tail twisting back and forth.
You open your eyes and try to massage your headache away. Asking Merrill seems like a much better option now that you think about it.
You leave the study and start to search for Merrill. You find her in the courtyard sitting under a tree near the fountain, studying the stone table you had found in the ruins.
You announce your presence by saying, "I hope I am not disturbing you?"
Merrill does not seem to hear you at first, so you repeat yourself louder. When that does not work you rap on the tree by her head. It brings a tear of pride to your eye when her first reaction is to grab her staff.
"Oh Nelyafinwë, it's you." She says, lowering the weapon. "Did you want something?"
"I have come across something of a stumbling block in my research. I was hoping a fresh set of eyes would suffice to resolve it. If you are busy I have another idea." You tell your student.
"No, no. I'm happy to help with your research." Merrill's eagerness reminds you of a puppy, it really does.
When Merrill starts reading what you have written everything seems normal. The further into it she gets, the closer her face gets to the page and the fiercer her expression grows. You fear to disturb her, that is how dedicated to the task she seems.
Finally she finishes reading and lowers the papers from her face, clutching them to her chest. "I am keeping these."
You raise an eyebrow, "If you help me solve this problem then I will give them too you."
Merrill blushes and stutters. "Oh, yes, right helping. What was the problem again?"
Apparently she had gotten caught up in what you wrote rather than what you needed to do. "There is a skin over the Veil that prevents objects in the Beyond entering. I need a way to pierce that skin."
Merrill nods and considers the pages at length once more. When she puts them down, she gives you three options that she sees working. A Song of power. It's pretty much a straight up song of opening, with only a few alterations. Merrill also thinks that you could, in theory, change the area around the skin to appear to be part of the veil final proposal is to manipulate the Veil itself. With some careful application of your knowledge you may be able to create a password to allow whatever you wish to pass through temporarily
You are tempted to simply craft a song of opening specifically tailored to the Veil. The fact that it would be a working few if any could recreate is certainly a tempting aspect. In the end your greatest fear is that you will overshoot your goals. That the power of your song might accidentally tear the Veil asunder, allowing anything to pass through. If you had been willing to accept that as a consequence of your escape you would have torn the Veil with your power weeks ago. After a song of power, the best option presented by Merrill is that of subtly altering the Veil to allow those with a certain password through its outermost barrier.
"Umm." Merrill hesitates at the door, your notes still clutched to her chest. "Can I watch?"
"Watch what?" You ask, settling back into your chair, prepared to enter the Beyond.
"What you're doing with the Veil." Merrill says, nerves making her speak faster than normal.
"If you wish to." You say before your physical eyes close and your spiritual ones open.
Once the creature that you had forgotten was waiting for you was dealt with, you were joined by Merrill; and you began.
You have always believed that the construction of the Veil was an art beyond your ability to recreate. It was not beyond your ability to understand. As Aulë had once said, 'the first step in any construction is comprehension'. With your knowledge of how the Veil works you are able to create an exception in its 'understanding', if a mindless construct can truly understand anything. You are concerned about the possibility of leaving the proverbial door open behind you, so you manage to ensure that you are the exception. Rather than anyone with a specific password, it will be the fact that you are speaking that opens a 'hole' in the outermost barrier. Though the reality is that you are making the barrier permeable to specific energies crucial to the existence of a soul rather than making a literal hole.
When you step back from where the barrier seems to be to your eyes, Merrill asks, "Did it work? I can't see anything."
You command the veil to open and then stick your hand into it. It is immediately forced out by a great pressure, and the pain is intense. It did demonstrate your success by briefly causing the hand to disappear, but you feel that it was not worth it.
Merrill looks a little disappointed. "I know intellectually that I just saw something impressive, but it just looked like you staring into the air and muttering to yourself."
Merrill seems so downcast by the fact that impressive magic does not always look impressive that you cannot help but laugh. If some of your humour comes from how you are now one step closer to success, then who could blame you.
"It's not funny." Merrill says, blushing. "I just saw magical history being made in front of my eyes and I don't feel even slightly impressed."
You can only laugh harder, this causes Merrill to start grumbling about unreasonable teachers, and the cycle continues.
You come to Glensville to find that construction has been proceeding without you. Not particularly fast but proceeding none the less. Two of the watchtowers are finished now, which means you have a good chance of finishing construction this week. You join the workers to help construct the next part of the wall. You have to leave a gap for a gate, which is something you had forgotten to do with your first wall. This means you will not be able to have four gates that you had originally been assuming would be present. You have mixed feelings about this. On one hand it saves a great deal of time since you have no blacksmith or metal hinges are a challenge. On the other hand, it means fewer points to escape if the defences ever fall.
You quickly discover that there is no small amount of debate going around regarding the walls. As you noted last week there are those who would like to add the spiked ditch to the wall, concerned about the relatively small numbers of defenders. These people clearly have never dug a large ditch or made spikes before. It will take a great deal of time, you might be able to finish the wall and the ditch in the time you have left, but you doubt it.
You would like to say that you end the debate, but you get side-tracked by a concern that has only occurred to you now that you are looking at the gates. This town is going to need roads. You are not so foolish as to believe that you can make a true stone road but even an area of cleared, flattened ground would serve. It is important that it gets done soon as future construction will need to take these roads into account. You are accused of putting the cart before the horse, but you know that these concerns lead to better town planning in future. You do admit that it is more important to know where the roads will be than to have them finished.
As the first day's construction comes to an end and you prepare to head home you discover that your use of voting has been adopted by the other villagers. The entire group is gathered and is told of the various options. Several voices point out that having some defences now is better than having perfect ones a day after everyone is dead. This nearly causes an argument, but you are able to step in and bring order. You call for an orderly show of hands based on the three options you have heard proposed today. The winning vote is to at very least mark out where the roads will go in future.
The votes were in, once more proving that your ideas are the best and everyone should just listen to you from the start. The fact is that even just marking out where the roads go with stakes would be sufficient for your purposes and will bleed nicely into the wider road project that is starting to germinate in the back of your mind. With a decision made, you and the other workers start with the road markings before heading to complete the walls.
Actual work on the walls progresses much faster than anyone had expected. Something about the atmosphere or the camaraderie or just practice has every individual worker fitting seamlessly into a larger whole. There are no inefficiencies, no one waits around for others to finish their tasks so they can start their own. You feel as though you were working with Noldorin builders rather than humans. You yourself are caught up in this sense of flow to the work and when tools are downed on the final day the walls are finished. Further there is a cleared area of raised and packed earth that will serve as the central road. Everyone is staring at the results particularly the last minute addition that you had not so much as consciously chosen to add as you had briefly channelled the spirit of Aulë during construction.
Torch sconces or brackets cover the wall, waiting for some kind of light source to be placed within. The packed dirt road has elegant constructions of wood and glass that will hold oil lamps or candles safe from the wind lining it on either side. The soft light cast by these devices highlights the road, like a stream of light in the darkness. You do not know where you got candles, or glass nor have you ever seen a device of this nature. Your own people have always preferred lanterns that shed their own light, rather than contain something else that does. Yet here they are, shining a light in the darkness, illuminating the path home. It feels like a metaphor, or a message.
"Tha' is right priddy tha' is." One of the other workers says.
"You have the right of it." You reply.
The sight is no great work, unmatched in mortal lands, but there is a beauty to its simplicity. You feel something when you stare at it, though you have no idea what it is that you feel.
"Jes' wha' I needed after a long day's work." A different worker says, before he starts on down the path. "Come on, we're gonna miss dinner at this rate."
The road itself is smooth and easily wide enough for four men to walk abreast. The workers wander along it in no particular hurry, chatting among themselves, and none of them trip or stumble.
There is a celebratory atmosphere to the evening meal that night. The walls are completed, and everyone feels safer. People are starting to make concrete plans for the future rather than speculating about what might happen. You take part in the celebrations, but your mind is elsewhere. There are not yet enough people to man the walls. It is not so bad as if you had gone for the largest walls, but it is still a problem. You manage to keep your thoughts from spoiling the mood by dint of long practice, but you decline the invitation to stay the night.
In the darkness of the forest, you succumb to the temptation to turn back and look at the town. Most of the lights have been put out for the night, but there are still a few torches placed on the wall. You smile, looking at the beacon of civilisation in the wilds of this land. It reminds you, if only faintly, of the bright stars fighting back the darkness of night. Then your eyes spot something on the walls with a heavy sigh you begin to run back towards the walls, drawing your sword. A spider has already begun to test the walls. You curse fate for its cruel sense of humour, that it would wait until the walls were finished to send an enemy but then send one the instant they were completed is very characteristic of your luck.