Are there just - songs for everything?

They take a really long time to compose but there's nothing you couldn't do with a song in principle. Our songs for war mostly make arrows fly straighter and soldiers tire less and everyone surer on their feet.

As opposed to, like, exploding stuff.

A song that did that wouldn't be impossible but it'd be really really hard. Songs are much better at affecting people and animals and even plants than at affecting things, and they're slow-acting. You could sing down walls, you could light things on fire, but you couldn't use a song like an arrow, at least not any song I've ever heard of. 

I wonder if all I'd have to do to alter the course of your war is hand out guns.

What are those?

Projectile weapons that can fire more quickly and accurately and forcefully than arrows, in modern forms anyway. Most puella magi get a theme weapon, but I have the shield instead so I just filled it up with guns and learned to shoot.

That would make a really big difference, yeah. Though Mother has vague prophecies Doriath won't fall to the Enemy by force of arms.

Well, that's good I guess.

Better than the alternative. Though it doesn't mean he can't make it happen through mind control or internal dissent or something. Thus Father's caution. 

Yeah, understandable. Assuming being really cautious about everything doesn't make either of those easier to prompt, at any rate.

Yeah. Anyway, guns would mean we'd stop losing people, and if we gave them to the Noldor they'd probably launch an offensive against the Enemy with them, only I don't know what else they'd do with them and don't know enough about them to guess on the whole whether it's a good idea.

Humans have had them for a while, but suddenly introducing them would be - sudden.

And to the people who did a lot of politely taking over just with slightly better swords than anyone else. 

Yeah. Plus if nobody knows what a gun is brandishing one might not have the deterrent effect of a bow.

Yes. Though orcs can't be deterred, as far as I know, the Enemy has some kind of magical hold on them and doesn't hesitate to send them into certain death.

More mind control?

Probably. Maybe he just holds their families hostage, I don't even know if orcs have families. Maybe they're all sworn to him.

Sworn?

Is that another thing that this world doesn't have? Weird.

Maybe? What is it?

If we swear to things we have to do them. People generally don't except in really important circumstances, and oaths are worded very carefully, except for the Noldor who as I said swore to kill anyone who stole their jewelry.

...why would they do that. I mean, it sounded really dumb before, but if you actually have to follow through...

I can't make much sense of them. It might be that they're counting on people to be intimidated by it. If someone's said they'll kill your family unless you obey them there's at least the hope they wouldn't really bother. But if they've sworn, that's it, they will, can't even have a fit of conscience when your family turns out to be mostly unarmed children...

I guess. I could see it being a - smart if intensely high risk tactic - but over jewelry? It's literally... jewelry? Not like, my ring-bauble-diamondything which is literally me and I'm operating this body like a puppet from me and if it gets more than a hundred meters away I fall over insensate. That I have to go a little nuts if someone takes it. But I assume the jewelry in question is not anybody's soul gem.