Maglor Makalaure Canafinwe Feanorion (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bythewaves) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hadriel2017-08-16 05:20 pm
bythewaves) wrote in hadriel2017-08-16 05:20 pm
Entry tags:
Video/Action if you're by the lake
[ He's drawn to water, he always has been, and it's no different here. This world is strange, and although it is joyful to see again the dead, it is very strange, too, and he retreats, away from the bustle of his family, down to the water's edge with his harp, to try and get his balance back.
(He has to be well. Maedhros and Curufin will worry, if he's not. Elrond too. He can't let them see)
Anyone who walks past will hear it, although they might not realise that it is a harp, at first, but the song ripples, moonlight on the water, the stars clear above, the emotion carried through on clear notes that seem to blend into the sounds of the world around them despite there being no stars or moon, here. And then the voice, deep as the rolling sea, full of heartrending sorrow, but climbing to defiant hope.
Sometime during the performance the phone flips on, bumped, maybe, to reveal Maglor crouched over his harp, singing.
Pay attention, and the song will tell you a story, even if you don't know the language he sings in - war and blood and tears and light-against-the-dark. ]
(He has to be well. Maedhros and Curufin will worry, if he's not. Elrond too. He can't let them see)
Anyone who walks past will hear it, although they might not realise that it is a harp, at first, but the song ripples, moonlight on the water, the stars clear above, the emotion carried through on clear notes that seem to blend into the sounds of the world around them despite there being no stars or moon, here. And then the voice, deep as the rolling sea, full of heartrending sorrow, but climbing to defiant hope.
Sometime during the performance the phone flips on, bumped, maybe, to reveal Maglor crouched over his harp, singing.
Pay attention, and the song will tell you a story, even if you don't know the language he sings in - war and blood and tears and light-against-the-dark. ]
Private
I'm not... used to all of you being here. I'll be alright. Truly, Finno.
[ Shyly ]
I won't mind if you bring your harp, though.
Private
Just remember that any of use will gladly help you, with anything.
[Brightening]
I have a new one, have I shown you yet? Russandol and your clever nephew conspired to make it for me.
Private
I'll get used to it again.
[ That makes him smile ]
No! Will you show me?
Private
[Grinning] I'd be delighted. You'll see me shortly, just let me grab it.
[He's already moving, picking up a somewhat larger harp than the one he most often carried in Middle Earth]
Private
I'll be here. [ And he is, idly picking out songs of long ago when they were young, when Fingon shows up ]
Private/ Action
Coming.
[Fingon arrives a few minutes later, humming along to Maglor's playing.] I don't think I've heard that last one since the Mereth Aderthad.
Action
I... suppose I'm feeling nostalgic. [ He smiles up at him ]
Didn't you write this one?
Action
Not so bad a feeling. [Grinning back, he settles down beside Maglor and begins to tune harp.]
An early one. I was maybe eighty-just after the second time I broke my collarbone. Never understood how it managed to become popular.
Action
[ Maglor says dryly ]
Mm, and you were slightly high on poppy at the time, I think. And ... because it's fun to sing? [ Maglor points out with a laugh ] Rounds always are, and the fact that the words are ... er... slightly nonsensical only adds to the fun.
Action
[Poor Turgon. He's not even here and Fingon can't resist teasing him.]
What I meant to say was that if you want space, we'll try to give it to you; if you need company, we'll all gladly be there. We can't know what all this time has been life for you, though maybe your brothers would understand a bit more than I. I don't know.
But you're family. We may not be able to turn back time, but if there's anything we can do for you now, we will.
More than slightly; you didn't see the worst of it. [He shakes his head, and plays a few bars of the song.] Still, I can't complain if people were having fun.
Action
Somehow, that would not surprise me, if true!
[ He smiles shyly at him ]
I know. I missed you all and I wanted you all back so much that it... doesn't seem real, still. And even above that, I had... forgotten how loud it can get. I promise, I'll be alright.
[ Maglor plays the next bit back to him ]
That much is true, do you know, the Hobbits picked up that tune. They have their own words for it, but it's a Spring Fest song. I don't know when they learnt it. Maybe from the Dunedain.
Action
Itarille could have been ruling in his stead. Really we should have skipped all this hereditary line of succession nonsense and given the crown to her, she probably surpassed us all in ability by the age of ten.
Perhaps that's how you know it's real. Everything's loud and messy, and half the time someone's stepping on someone else's toes in the kitchen. The idealized version would be tidier, and would probably involve someone more likely than Curufin being the happiest and most well-integrated of all of us.
[
See, Turno, he can make fun of other people too.With a smile he plays the next verse, then shifts to an accompaniment to allow Maglor the melody]
Hobbits? I don't think I've heard that name before-or Dunedain, for that matter, through that's a simpler one to parse.
Action
Probably, and Artanis too. Although she was rather scary at that age, and possibly might just have made things worse.
[ He smiles at that ]
You rather are messy too. I had forgotten. And Curufin has alawys been adaptable!
[ He hums, teasing him by speeding up the tempo ]
Ah, that's right, you wouldn't have known. The Dunedain are the descendants of the Edain - mostly the houses of Hador and Beor, although I believe some of the Haladin survived as well. The Hobbits... well! Hobbits are an oddity. No one knows where they come from, but that they are akin to Men is certain. They are a small people - coming to roughly about half my height. They love peace and comfort and good food and strongly dislike the disruption us 'Big Folk' bring to their comfortable existance.
[ He grins ] You'd be so bored in the Shire.
Action
I could entirely believe Artanis could defeat Moringotto herself. But to be honest, I would be worried about what she set her eyes on when she was finished.
It is always halfway to chaos around here, isn't it? Still, we've managed so far. And I'm glad he and Celebrimbor are doing well.
[Liking Curufin again is a very strange feeling, though not a bad one.
Fingon gives him an amused, knowing look and speeds up to match. Come on, Maglor, he can follow that easily enough.]
They survived? That is good to hear. Your brothers knew something of their leaders [And his face falls slightly at that, thinking of Hurin] but they were less clear about what happened to the rest of the Edain. Are they well?
[Fingon gives him a slightly bewildered look, half people actually want to live like that, and half are you calling me some kind of public menace, which should confirm Maglor's suspicions of how he'd view the Shire.]
How did you come to know them, then?
Action
Knowing her, the whole world would have been too small! I am glad she married Celeborn, he seems to have been very good for her in general.
[ Maglor lifts an eyebrow back and transposes the song into an entirely different key in answer ]
They did, and they thrived, for a while! After the Valar came and finally overthrew Morgoth, they were given an Island, off the western coast. Numenor, they called it. One of Earendil's twin sons chose mortality, and he became their first king, Elros Tar-Minyatur. They became a very great nation, but in the end they grew overproud and listened too closely to Sauron, and they fell. Out of the ruin only a few survived - five greatships worth of refugees, plus those who weren't on Numenor at all when the great wave came and reclaimed the island for the sea. They are the Dunedain, now, and after a long struggle their star is again on the rise, and will hopefully remain so for a while! They built great kingdoms and fell to near ruin, but the day is come at last, with Sauron finally overthrown.
[ He laughs at the look on Fingon's face ]
Oh Finno! I may have been a wanderer, but even I occasionally get tired of self-flagellation and missed a warm bed and a bath. And there are no finer inns on either side of the sea than Hobbit inns - and most of the publicans are quite happy to house a minstrel, for a week or so! One goodwife decided that I was too thin, and all but demanded I stay with them so she could feed me properly. I worked at the Golden Perch for a year, I think.
Action
And does our Artanis know you've been watching closely enough to have opinions on her marriage?
[Ok, a bit trickier, but he can follow that still.]
Sauron's work again? [Sighing heavily] It sounds as though for all their valor the armies of Aman did a shallow job of cleaning up behind them. But at least their fate does not end in darkness. Are you in the mood to tell the whole tale now, or should I pester you for it another time?
[Hush, Maglor this isn't funny.]
I am glad that someone was feeding you, at least. Even in Tirion I wasn't always sure you were, when you caught up in some new work.
Do I dare ask what exactly these lovely and sensible people did to my poor bit of nonsense?
Action
Uh... [ That's a No, although of course, this being Galadriel, chances are good she is, at least, aware of her not-actually-dead stalker of her cousin ]
Yes, unfortunately. [ Maglor seizes on the subject change eagerly ] He was ever cunning, and he knew exactly how to flatter and manipulate. Eonwe let him go, at the end of the War of Wrath, after he sued for pardon. I believe the Valar thought him reformed - but they were sadly mistaken. [ There's a hint of derision there, Maglor hadn't thought he had reformed, nor had any of the other Elves, or... well, anyone who'd been actively fighting him ] He tricked their last king into trying to invade Valinor to seize immortality. I can elaborate further, if you like, but all the details I obtained second or third hand, as I did not stay long in Numenor after Elros died.
[ It is totally funny ]
Why, they turned it into a drinking song, of course!
Action
I don't envy you explaining yourself if she shows up here. [True. Which means the fact that she hasn't sent out soldiers after him is...probably a good sign?]
You'd think the Valar would have learned something after having Morgoth lie to their faces for as long as he did. [Groaning. And then he pales-Maglor can probably see the moment the realization really sinks in.]
And they punished the king by drowning the kingdom? What- the whole country could hardly have had Sauron whispering in their ears, what were they thinking?
[Nope no subconscious projection here at all why do you ask?
And no it isn't.]
Well, so off from it's original, I suppose. Might be easier to sing tipsy, actually, I never thought to compare.
no subject
I had hoped to simply avoid the topic, but...
[ But well... Galadriel And he will take what he can get! ]
Well...they rather did? [ Maglor winces and hurridely picks a few new keys to transpose into along with a few extra flourishes ]
According to reports they had started practicing human sacrifice. Of...well...anyone who disagreed with them but most especially anyone who was friendly with the elves or venerated the Valar.
[ is too ]
It rather is, if you want me to teach you the new words!
no subject
At this stage that might be for the best. Denial will just put you in more trouble.
What? [Total bewilderment and utter horror flash across Fingon's face, and for a few moments, he can't think of what to say. The notes just trail off.] But...even then... five ships. There had to be more people who didn't deserve that than five ships worth....
[...Right?
Onto more important matters: your sense of humor stinks, Maglor.]
I would, actually.
no subject
Knowing her, probably!
[ A sigh and Maglor stops playing to reach out and grip his hands in comfort ]
It really was that bad. [ He says sadly ] The stories say the smoke from the sacrificial fires could be seen for miles out to sea by the end, maybe even as far as Tol Eressea, and it never ceased. Most of the Faithful got out as early as they could. Those five... sorry, nine? I'm not sure how many, in truth. Those were the only ones left who hadn't fled the Island years ago or were locked in the dungeons awaiting the next available alter. I'm sure there were young ones who didn't know better though, and there was poor Tar-Miriel, who should have been queen. They say she tried to speak against her husband, but he ... I don't know what he did to her, but the fact that everyone knows she was one of the Faithful but never left his side...
[ He shudders. Eol aside, the Eldar do not go in for spousal abuse. But he has lived and worked with Men. He knows how things can get, at times ]
She drowned, the stories say, trying to climb to the top of Meneltarma, the highest peak, to beg for mercy. But since no one was there to see and so cannot truly say... I... sometimes wonder if she was glad to die. Elros would have been broken-hearted.
[ He squeezes his hand ]
I would be glad to teach you.