Yeah, the portal rooms make that less of a good idea. I can help with whatever you end up deciding to do, though.

Thanks.

Grin, hug.

I have a little while before I need to get back for lunch, do you have anything else for me to do?

They do! They have a list.

At some point I really need to learn your language. And to read.

But they can read the list to her, and that works fine. Spells! Experiments! Lunchtime!

I can't read either, no worries. And they document the experiment results and say goodbye.

And she heads home and gets to work on lunch.

That went well, they didn't seem upset about Findekáno being a mage at all. Unless one of the others was and Tyelkormo didn't mention it, I guess.

Oh, good. I'd expect him to mention it, he doesn't usually stay quiet about things that are upsetting him.

Good.

I mentioned that the Ñolofinwëans are planning on a second city, too, I'm not sure Tyelkormo shared that with the others but it didn't seem to be a problem - probably helped that they had me working on their defenses today.

I think they mostly want the Nolofinweans to be safe and far away in Valinor, like we originally thought they were.

Mmhmm. I meant since they're not it's probably important that I don't seem like I'm favoring them too much.

It will certainly make my life easier politically if you don't seem that way, but we wronged them, it's very fair to favor them in response.

Mmhmm. And if they need that I will, but for now they seem okay with how I've been splitting up my time, and working with your siblings on the spellcasting will help them too. And I do want both groups to be as safe as I can get them.

That's good of you.

...there's a cultural difference there, I think, she says after a few seconds. Not surprising, really. This kind of thing would just be expected, among kobolds - the world's not safe, we don't have powerful people making it be; if you can do something to keep your tribe safe, of course you do that, it's your tribe. And the same principle applies to other ones - less so, but for basically the same reason.

No, that's the same with us, it's why we left Valinor, because there were people who were in danger and we wanted to make their world safe. It's just that lots of those principles fall apart when people have hurt each other badly in the past.

Ah. Well, I don't feel that much like I'm a part of them, yet, and I'm really good at not letting my principles go.

That's a good trait to have.

That gets a grin. Yeah, I think so.

Thing the Enemy likes to try to do to people. Give them impossible choices, grind them down, try to make them feel like all principles are lies...

Must've been hard.

I don't think so. But if I've subtly been tampered with I might not be able to tell.

Mm.

She considers that for a few seconds, and goes back to cooking.

A lot of my problems come down to not knowing how I'd tell if I were dangerous to my people.

She nods. And there's nothing obvious, but I'm sure you could tell that yourself, and I don't know enough about what things might be problems to help with anything much more subtle - I think you'll be okay, but it's hard to know.