The letter is sealed in green wax, with a lily-of-the-valley stamped into it in gold and white powder. When the letter is opened, oddly fresh white petals fall from it. The cursive handwriting is graceful.
To Vignár, son of Tyrnár, of Erebor
My dear sir,
You will already have received the dreadful news from your son's friend Harnack, who resides at Hrimbarg in the North High Pass. I am deeply grieved for your sake.
Harnack assures me that Vigfús was a brave and honourable Dwarf, who never shirked his duty nor shied from battle with the enemies that plague the area. I am certain that he went to his forefathers without shame, and that he now joins them in stone, in the bosom of the great Mahal. His memory will be carried with the Elves unto the Uttermost West, long after the last of us have departed Middle-earth.
You may be wondering why the Elves of Imladris know your son's name, and why it is that I write to assure you that we will avenge him and return your heirloom to your family. House Lósengriol, the Flowers of the Valley, and our friends -- though we be of different kindreds -- have one important trait in common: we are all survivors. We have lived long and seen much injustice visited upon our own kind, as well as upon the Mortal races, and we can simply tolerate such things no more. In time we must leave these shores altogether, and it seems merely morally correct to leave a world as clean as possible, free from the dishonourable tactics of the Enemy.
No power on this side of the Sundering Sea can restore your son -- would that it were so. Please, good fellow, be assured that the heirloom he carried will be rushed across the mountains and into the hands of its rightful owners as soon as we have recovered it.
My House, and such of my friends as have joined this cause, are at your service.
Yours in sorrow,
Airesarë Celulinda "Manadhlaer"
Turinqui, Lósengriol
Imladris
