{Video; UN: elvenking}

[tauraran]

{He is a king without his elegant trappings - but, really, he doesn't need them. The robe he wears catches the light with the smallest of motions, glittering faintly as if precious jewels are woven in the fabric. His hair is bound into a single thick braid that lays against his back and his circlet is elsewhere - as are his rings.}

How many parents reside in Lunatia? Are you separated from your children if so? {The flickering light on the table before him is all the illumination he requires as he works on a sketch. The drawing depicts trees and a variety of animal life beneath their mighty boughs.}

My fear for my son increases by the day and I have found no relief for it. I hardly realized how helpless I could feel as a father.

{His attention shifts from the sketch of the forest to a second sketch of a face much like his own - yet different enough that it must be his son.}

Comments

video; un: laurea

[wearingguess]

I am perhaps more like a brother than a father to her, but... I too am apart from a child who is dear to me. When I first arrived here, I was often consumed by my fears... The fact that I had abandoned her with no explanation, however involuntarily, was almost more than I could bear. I knew that my friends were trustworthy and would surely look after her in my absence, but nonetheless, I spent many nights lost and terrified, dwelling on all the worst and cruelest possibilities...

It was not until one of my trusted friends arrived here that I was saved. He was from three years in the future, relative to me, and he assured me that Marga was well and happy.

And now...
Well, now I am as consumed as ever by how desperately I miss her... but still, nothing has brought me as much relief in all the time I've been here as the assurance that she is safe.

video

[tauraran]

I have not had that reassurance. {Who could reassure him about Legolas's fate? His son ventured off alone and unless he meets up with Aragorn - as he suggested - there is no one who knows.}

May I ask the age of your Marga? {Compared to him, Legolas will always be young. He has a father's bias.} I must warn you that your concern will not decrease as she grows.

[wearingguess]

I am truly sorry. I can only hope that one day before long, you will. [ geez... titus doesn't even want to imagine how much of a fucking mess he'd be by now if he still hadn't heard anything about marga. ]

She was nearly six when last I saw her. And around nine, of course, in my friend's time... I suppose the lack of relationship between this timeline and my own world's means it is hard to say what her real age is.

[tauraran]

{Only six? In the eyes of an Elf, Marga is no more than a newborn babe!}

How long have you been in Lunatia? The difference between six and nine, for one such as I, is nonexistent. If she were an Elf, she would be kept well-protected in a nursery.

[wearingguess]

I have been here for 473 days.
In humans, I think it is probably quite a large difference...

Then all Elf children are cared for so devotedly? Without exception?

[tauraran]

Elves do not have children until they are prepared. We can choose the moment of impregnation. If both Elves are not in agreement, a child will not be created.

Therefore, yes.

[wearingguess]

And the parents never succumb to disease, or die unexpectedly?

[tauraran]

We are immune to disease, but not to death. If an Elf perishes, another will foster the child.

[wearingguess]

If Marga had been afforded such protection, I would probably never have met her. Still, how wonderful it must be.

[tauraran]

Gifts should not be abandoned or thrown away. I will never understand that practice among Men.

[wearingguess]

Do the Elves work together to take care of human orphans as well?

[tauraran]

We do not, usually. We keep to ourselves and our people.

I do not think Men would like for us to steal their children.

[wearingguess]

So you know that such children exist, who have been "abandoned" or "thrown away." And you think, but are not certain, that humans would consider it theft if you intervened on behalf of these children. Do I have it right?

[tauraran]

If you are preparing yourself to pass judgement over me, keep in mind that the relationships between the races of Middle Earth are complicated and span millennia.

[wearingguess]

What you say is no doubt correct. All we know is what we can see and what we're told; I could not possibly grasp the nuances of your world or your experiences. I have no more right to judge you for anything you've done, or not done, than either of us does to judge the Men you mentioned who cannot care for their children as we would.