The Elf looked up from tuning his lute as Istlonda led Cutch into the library.
“Ah! Master Crane! We have been expecting you”, Gildor greeted as he stood and offered a warm smile.
“So, I gather”, Cutch answered politely, glancing sidelong at Istlonda as he offered to shake hands. “And you are Gildor Inglorion? My wife has spoken of you with great respect.” Gildor took his hand in friendly greeting, answering, “The respect is mutual, I assure you. You must have many questions.”
“Indeed, I do.” Cutch recounted again all the clues he’d gathered since leaving the Falathlorn weeks ago.
Gildor listened thoughtfully nodding occasionally, while Istlonda stood stiffly with crossed arms. When Cutch finished, Gildor sat and bade the others to sit on either side of him. “You have come here nearly as well-informed as your wife”, Gildor began. “I can answer one of your questions; she has indeed acquired a shard of the Ambossar, about the size of a fist. What I can’t tell you is what she intends to do with it, besides learning how to harness whatever power it might have. However, my sense is that this quest is very personal for her and probably involves someone quite dear.”
“That was my impression also when she embarked on this quest”, Cutch assured. “But she also insisted that I trust her to deal with this on her own, and she promised to get word to me if she needed my help.”
“And after all this time she has still not asked?”, Istlonda sharply probed. “Perhaps you should have stayed home.”
Cutch fixed his eyes coolly on her, but before he could respond, Gildor interrupted with an upheld hand. “Let’s first help Master Crane understand what we know and have surmised about the Vandassari.” Cutch and Istlonda nodded.
“The Vandassari were presumably crafted by Feanor, a name even an Elf’s mortal mate would know?”, Istlonda began sweetly. When Cutch grimaced and silently nodded, she continued. “The mystery of them deepens when we consider that they somehow came to Numenor, since Feanor passed centuries before the island kingdom was founded.”
“We think the work on the Vandassari,” Gildor said, “began with Feanor but may have been continued by his son Curufin, who also passed before Numenor was founded. The work would then have been completed by Celebrimbor, Feanor’s grandson. All three were renowned crafters.”
“Why could not Curufin and Celebrimbor merely be the inheritors of the Oathstones?” Cutch asked.
Istlonda sighed at the question. “The Vandassari were enormous. They would have been unlikely to have been moved to keep up with the turmoil and displacement that Feanor and Curufin suffered. During those times, they were likely no larger than the Palintir. This implies that the work on them probably finished with Celebrimbor, perhaps in Harlindon.”
“And the early centuries of what is called the Second Age were not only the time of Numenor’s founding, but also a time when little is known of Celebrimbor’s location or doings. It was a time when the Valar and the Elves held the Edain houses of Men in high regard. These High Men seemed to be the hope for all their race and likely would come to rule all Men.”
“It was during these early years of the Second Age”, Istlonda continued, “that the Valar raised the island of Numenor and gifted it to the surviving Edain who’d fought alongside those who opposed Morgoth in the War of Wrath. It could be that, soon after, the Vandassari in their final form were finished and gifted to the Numenoreans. Given Feanor’s obsession with oaths, which was likely carried on by his descendants, it furthers the conjecture that Celebrimbor completed and delivered the Vandassari. Little could he know that, like all Mortals, the Numenoreans were flawed and thus could easily come under a Dark Lord’s thrall”. Cutch’s jaw tightened.
Gildor again held up a calming hand. “Sauron’s power was great. Many have succumbed to it, not just Men. It is possible that, during the time when Sauron was Numenor’s prisoner and then counselor, the Dark Lord learned of the Vandassari. Your wife’s discovery of the corrupted Ambossar Oath leads us to believe Sauron was well prepared to undermine the efforts of The Faithful once Numenor was destroyed.”
“The Faithful?”, Cutch asked.
“The few Numenoreans who’d remained loyal to the Valar and friendly with the Elves”, Istlonda explained. “They survived the destruction of Numenor, brought the Vandassari to these shores, and founded Gondor and Arnor. Unfortunately, they were still ignorant of the vastness of Sauron’s ability to weaken them here. The corrupted Ambossar Oath is proof of his planning. One wonders how he may have influenced the use of the other Vandassari. Seregrian’s discovery is of immense historical significance.”
Cutch sat silently. No words came to him as he glanced dumbfounded between the two Elves.
“So, you must see”, Istlonda pressed, “why there are legitimate misgivings about your following Seregrian. Your being an inherently weak mortal could be turned against her on her quest, given the insidious powers probably at play here. The Dark Lord is gone, but he leaves powerful minions littering his wake, and they are likely on the path she follows.”
Cutch started to raise an argument, but Gildor spoke first. “You are aware of the power of Seregrian’s staff?”
Cutch blinked and shook his head. “Not entirely”.
“Dondangol, it is called, The Deep Magic’s Fist”, Gildor explained with a gentle voice, adding, “Its power is the best ally and shield she could hope for. Not even the love of a devoted mate could be as great.”
Cutch regarded them skeptically, not bothering to mention his own small measure of Elf blood, of which they were probably already aware.
“Where was she headed after here?”, he demanded.
Istlonda abruptly threw her hands up and left the library. Gildor and Cutch silently watched her leave. After she slammed the door behind her, Gildor answered. “Angmar, likely the village of Aughaire. You are persistent, then, against our warnings?”
“Why Angmar, specifically?”, Cutch pressed.
“She seeks more information about Angmar’s dealings with Tauressar, the Vandassar that the Witch-King captured from Rhudaur. You really should consider your decision carefully, Cutch. Realize that even after what she learned here, she did not summon you. The clues she had left were to lead you here to learn what you now know. Much could be at stake here. We still recommend you wait for your wife’s summons before going to her.”
Cutch nodded, sensing that Gildor’s sincerity was underpinned by an immortal wisdom personally accumulated over a life of many millennia. He concluded, though, that if She perished, the summons would never come…
“Perhaps I can wait here for a while?”
Gildor shrugged. “Seregrian would know to send your summons here?”
“Yes, she would”, Cutch answered confidently, remembering a moment years ago when crisis somehow enabled them to glimpse each other over a great distance through fires burning simultaneously in his campfire and in her salon hearth. He was sure it would be such a moment when she would reach out for him and know where he was. Could it be Dondangol that enabled such things?
“Then, yes” Gildor conceded. “You will be welcome here for as long as you need. I imagine your friends in Esteldin would feel the same”.
And so, after sending messages to Captain Teahesto and Ardanion, Cutch chose for a time to reside in Kingsfell, hoping to hear something from Angmar.
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