Tengwar: To The Letter by cuarthol

Tinco (metal)

‘Seest thou not how here in this little realm in the Deeps of Time Melkor hath made war upon thy province?' - Ainulindalë

(Warning for mild reference to radiation sickness. 188 words)

The enthralled Quendi who labor in Melkor’s deepest pits whisper of a new evil found there.  Surely this is the marring of Aulë’s work, they say, even as he marred all of his brothers’ dominions.  But some wonder to what greater purpose it might be turned.

At first they find comfort in the lights far below the earth, calling them Elbereth’s crumbs, even as their own craft might leave off-cuts and detritus behind.

They do not mine it, for it is not among the metals which their overseers demand, but some begin to carry stones of it, to take out and gaze upon, or to help see one another in the dark.  Those caught with it are beaten, but it is not that which turns them from it.  They learn to avoid it, for those who spend too long in its eerie glow grow weak, twisted.

Once revealed, however, the orcs crave it.  They use it to paint their bodies and coat their weapons, to trace the lines of their banners and mark their houses.  Few of them survive long enough to suffer the sickness which it brings.

Chapter End Notes

Don't at me for getting the science wrong, it's Middle-earth, it has its own science.

The passages in Ainulindalë where Eru shows Ulmo the way Melkor had attempted to mar his dominion but instead made beautiful new things like snow and frost had me wondering if radioactive materials resulted from that same intention.

So this was inspired by the idea of Radium (which has an atomic number of 88, hence the word count, a drabble + radium: 188)

(plus I liked the idea of Orcs having preferences, fads, a liking for the shiny that doesn't hurt their eyes)