[Child of the 7th Age]

There was much discussion between the man and the Elves as to Tule's proposal. Child sat over on the side, and said little. She looked about and saw that the other hobbits also seemed vaguely uncomfortable.

Somehow, Child could not shake the feeling that she did not like what Tule was proposing. Deep down in the center of her heart, she had a nagging doubt that something was wrong with Tule's ideas. Child had a nasty image of Mithadan floundering about in the water, his boat left thousands of years behind him, with large sea creatures darting to and fro in anticipation of their dinner. Plus, a line strung between the ships did not seem like much protection.

She went over and tugged on Tule's sleeve. "I need to ask some questions. I would rather you didn't go ahead with this, but if there's no other way, I suppose you must." Child pushed her small frame forward. "I don't know much about osanwe, but common sense says we should make this trial as safe as we can. Why can't we bring the Star close to one of the nearby islands? Tol Morwen would be a good choice. Then, the small skiffs could sail into the shallower waters. The Star will still be two miles out, so there's no danger of running aground. And, since Tol Morwen was deserted by the Second Age, no one would discover us. You could even station Angara in the skiff which is in the deepest waters, since the dragon at least has wings to carry her out of trouble."

"Then, if the skiffs don't transport, the four of you will only have the problem of swimming about by yourself within striking distance of the shore. You won't have 100 fathoms beneath you, or sea monstors lurking on your tail. If the skiffs do transport, there's absolutely no reason it shouldn't work equally well in deep water the next time you try."

[ August 28, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]