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Beneath the Blue Mountains
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Inside, Celebrimbor and his cousins were led through a tall hall lit with bright lanterns ensconced along the walls. Many small doorways leading from the main way were cut into the walls of rock, and the relief murals and columns were cunningly wrought, and quite a sight. At last they came to a grand tall room adorned with many dazzling jeweled chandeliers and gleaming displays of weapons and armor, and candelabras and figurines and toys and instruments wrought of gold and silver and steel and brass. The sconce lamps in this room held the bright blue flames of the Noldor - gifts from their elf-friends when they traded in goods and knowledge long ago, and through shafted windows dug into the hillsides the fading sunlight still peeked through and caught in the chandeliers, which cast its rays in wondrous rainbows on the walls. At the far end of the room sat a pair of dwarves on tall fine chairs. Nurim now with great flourish and ceremony introduced them as their lord Báin and his wife Findis. It turned out that in the great battle against Morgoth their last king and his closest kin had fallen, and none had the heart to take another, choosing from among them one to be their chieftain with only the title of Lord. The fair halls were only a small part of the caves; most of the rest were the depths of their mines there.
Their elf guests gave again the customary dwarf courtesies, and the dwarf lord welcomed them as close kin of their old friends among the sons of Fëanor. Celebrimbor gave them his two requests: assistance in creating a new crown for his king - also a son of the Noldor, and also any news of the wider world that his people would do well to be aware of.
"And for such services as I am requesting," he said to them, "I have brought you, Lord Báin, this offering." He turned to the door warden and nodded toward the box. Nurim went up and presented it to his lord with a kneel and a bow. Báin received it, and found inside to his great wonder and delight a horde of those jewels which his folk prized above all others: the shellfish pearls found beneath the waves of the sea where no dwarf ever dared go. In this box there were many, of different sizes and shapes and colors. The dwarf lord now felt inclined to grant the request, and hold his people paid in full, but he was still hesitant.
"And did those from whom you acquired these jewels approve of its recipients?" he asked.
"The master of the havens understands that the dwarves of Belegost were not party to the war with the elves of the Forest Kingdom," answered the elf leader. "And besides, he gifted them to me, and so they are mine to do with as I will."
"You offer a generous gift for the services you request," replied Báin. "It has not been our custom to accept elves into our tutelage for many years, not since that war you speak of in which the dwarf kingdom of Nogrod all but perished. But, as you are descended from those elven smiths out of the West who had friendship with us, and who were also not involved with that war, we will agree to your terms, and instruct and assist you in creating a crown for your king, and give you such news as we can provide."
At last they welcomed all the elf visitors and hosted them with honor. At the lord's table that evening Báin told his guests what he could. "We have little news of late that could guide you, Master Celebrimbor," he said. "For it is long since we left our keep here at the western edge of the lands. Certainly we have no news that could shed any light on the whereabouts of Sauron the wicked. But we are overdue for a visit to our kin in the Misty Mountains. That place is quite a marvelous sight to see, if I may say so. It is so large and fair that it makes our halls here look like a woodman's hovel. They have greater contact with the other dwarf kingdoms and various folk of the wider world which many may be found east of the mountains. More useful news we may be able to gain from them, and we can send messages as we are able."
Celebrimbor was enthralled by such a description, and resolved in his heart to see the grand realm of Moria one day. The next day he sent much of his company on the return trip back to Lindon, except for a few that desired to stay and learn alongside him from the dwarf masters all they were willing to teach, including his two cousins. With them Morfindel remained also, for though she had no interest in smithcraft, she and Rodhiril were loath to be parted. But Morfindel was grim and quiet and enjoyed solitude, and was content to go out hunting in the woods while her friends worked in the smithies, and bring offerings of game to their hosts, and at times would leave to visit the gulf town and bring back tidings of their people.
And the dwarves grew to love their gracious guests, impressed with their passion for learning their craft in metalwork, and in return for the treasure of pearls, they provided all materials their guests desired - gold and silver and all manner of gems. They spoke to their guests in more detail of the marvelous halls of their kindred kingdom in the Misty Mountains, and Celebrimbor in his great wonder at their tales persuaded them to one day guide him there for a visit.
Now the crown he forged was made of gold and delicately set with many small gems (including a few pearls), so that it gleamed with many colors, and it could cast the rays of the sun to give its wearer a crown of colorful radiant light. It was long in the making, and so it was a good while before Celebrimbor and his kin at last returned to his people dwelling by the Gulf of Luhn. Many other lovely gifts his companions also made for their friends and family: necklaces and rings and cuffs and brooches and bejeweled nets to adorn the hair.
By this time the returned elves discovered to their great wonder that the town of Lindon was much grown, with beautiful mansions of stone built for the king and the shipwright along the banks of the inlet nearly complete. Very large piers there were, with more under construction, and to each were tied many marvelous white boats. But now that their jewel smith had finally returned with his gift, at last the elves there held an official crowning ceremony, on which day they also decided to mark the founding of their lord's kingdom, and for many years after it was a joyous day of annual festival.
Celebrimbor told them much of his time with the dwarves, and how they had hosted him well and taught him much. With much excitement he regaled them with the dwarves' tales of their kindred in the mighty kingdom of Moria across the fields and forest in the Misty Mountains, where there could be found rich ore of rare metals that could create weapons and armor exceeding the strength of anything the elves had yet wrought. He told the king and his court that his new dwarf friends had invited him to accompany them to visit this wondrous place, and so he would soon return to them to make the journey.
"Perhaps there is a land near to it that might be suitable for one of these haven realms the Lady has recommended," he said to Gil-galad and Galadriel. "Then might the two races benefit from each other both in the learning of craft and in defenses."
Galadriel was most pleased to hear that he had such a mind to follow her wisdom, and commended him in his initiative to build such alliances, even if she could see he was far more motivated by a desire to learn and perfect his skill in smith craft, than by any worry of the Shadow growing and taking shape again to trouble the free peoples of the world. And after a while the jewel smith and his friends, this time with several more of his people who desired to go and learn from the dwarves all manner of craft subjects from jewelry and tools to weapons and armor to stone masonry, departed again for their neighbors to the south.