Finwean Correspondences on the Topic of the Edain (Posthumously Selected by Elrond Half-Elven) by Dialux, Anne Wolfe, , Idrils Scribe, , Dawn Felagund, , Aprilertuile, , janeways, , Himring

Amras and Amrod

To our favorite k̶i̶n̶g̶  n̶o̶!̶  brother Maedhros, hoping very much that all remains well in your domain, et cetera.

We have just heard of your recent hunting trip with Finrod, and h̶o̶p̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶u̶c̶c̶e̶s̶s̶f̶u̶l̶   a̶r̶e̶ ̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶e̶n̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶v̶i̶t̶e̶d̶  hope you were able to carry a respectable prize back to that sun-forsaken fortress of yours.

How did we learn of this hunt, you ask? Straight from the Arafinwëan’s mouth, as it were; he has sent us a letter all about it. (And, incidentally, his love to you all. As a matter of purely geographical convenience, we must ask that you take up the task of forwarding these sentiments to our remaining brothers. We cannot be expected to spare more than one messenger at a time!) Since he has, then, clearly sent you no correspondence since his return, we a̶r̶e̶ ̶c̶l̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶a̶v̶o̶r̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶s̶i̶n̶s̶  thought it might be wise to inform you of some of his discoveries.

If his account is accurate, you may remember turning around at the end of a grand chase to find Finrod missing. And although we cannot know what you did thereafter, h̶o̶p̶e̶f̶u̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶l̶o̶o̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶!̶  we do know what he did, and what he claims to have found.

You will hardly believe this, but he found people. Not orcs, or dwarves, or elves, although of the three he says they look most like us. They call themselves “humans,” if their habits have not changed since Finrod left them. He seems to think them very much like children: small and loud, but not entirely unskilled— one of them made a harp, for example, and Finrod says it worked. Much unlike children, however, they have had some success in hunting, which (we are told) has greatly displeased their neighbors among the Laiquendi. But we will see more clearly what they are like when we meet them.

In explaining this last remark, we come to the reason (probably) that he wrote to us and not you: the Laiquendi only want them to leave, caring very little where they go; and willing, apparently, to do some frightening things to make them go. Finrod,̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶f̶e̶r̶e̶r̶,̶  thinks they may like our land, if we will let them share it.

Anyway, after thinking it over we can think of no real objections to this notion of Finrod’s. Being the youngest we have very few followers with us now to keep the enemy’s creatures away from the door, and moreover s̶i̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶n̶u̶m̶b̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶s̶i̶s̶t̶s̶ ̶u̶p̶o̶n̶ ̶m̶a̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶h̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶w̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶’̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶o̶r̶s̶t̶e̶p̶  there is the problem of food. So they will be quite helpful to us here, and we are sure you would appreciate an increase in the frequency of grain shipments.

If you should have any concerns about the veracity of these claims, they might be best directed to Finrod i̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶  if you happen to have one of his pigeons. Failing that, you may try the humans’ leader: his name is Balan, and he is located somewhere in Ossiriand where there are also Laiquendi. Finrod says he knows how to speak our language, now, so even if he cannot read, if you send a non-bird messenger there will surely be no trouble at all.

If you do not send us any word within a year, we will conclude that you wholeheartedly approve of our plans, and will invite all the humans to come encamp on our land for as long as they like.

Best regards,

Amras and Amrod

P.S. Finrod apologizes for running off from the hunting trip.

-Amras

P.P.S. We would not have run off.

-Amrod