Time continued to pass, slowly stealing away the precious moments of life that the race of men are supposed to hold so dear; and yet, Addie didn’t seem to notice much or care that it was slipping away. The paper atop the wooden board that crossed her lap remained pristine, untouched by the ink that had already dried on the tip of the pen she held over it.

Mortals:  A Case Study (Interrupted Research)

Torech Besruth, Falathlorn, Lindon

A careful hand, brush strokes long and tidy to complete the heartfelt note. A bloodless smile as the words are read and reread.

"Dear ones...take care. Not all you love are as they seem. Wheels turn in many places, many hearts. Olds sins, old promises are still remembered. Beware the blade unseen."

The envelope sealed with warm wax, the sigil of the House of Elrond pressed in. A shame the message could not be more direct as of yet...but this should have the desired effect.

I had to see the ashes of my past. There could be no moving on without full recognition that there was no going back. For Waelden and Ethel that was not a concern. Ethel had hardly been there at all, and I was thankful for that fact. 

Shimmering waves of heat rose above the grasses of the Firion Wood. Mosquitos droned around her ears as Asmalinde pressed her body deeper into the crevasse in the Ered Nimrais, the White Mountains separating Rohan and Gondor. She was forty days out of Imladris: through Misty Mountains cold and the swamps of the Anduin wetlands. Asmalinde’s journey had been uneventful, at least until today.

Salute the Four Quarters

Before I leave your eyes

Twinn'd in the mirror

Les Mysteres come

-- a fragment atrributed to the sage Sandy Pearlman

The terror was general. It seemed to them in that moment that the final catastrophe had at last arrived after a glorious and bright peace of a millenia and a half.