[Child of the 7th Age]

Manardariel,

Regarding the "Friends of Dol Amroth". That's a really good idea!

Maybe these agents claim to be an association promoting trade between Dol Amroth and all the cities along the Bay of Belefas. (That covers a lot of territory stretching west and south, all the way down to Harad and Umbar where the Corairs are.)

Of course, all this is a ruse. Their real purpose would be spying and getting information on military plans and forces for their home countries which are secretly becoming allies of Sauron. Four years from now Throngil destroys the Corsair fleet. Maybe that couldn't have happened unless Gondor first managed to ferret out these baddies from the court and destroy their pipeline of information.

Hey, do you want the spies to be the official male representatives of the association, or their wives who are the "real" gatherers of secrets behind the scenes?? That way, you could work in more women's role. Plus, it would make sense that Finduilas would become suspicious as she involves the different women who've come to court on planning these parties. These women friends of Dol Amroth could even claim to be sympathetic to Finduilas' goal of lightening things up and going against the fuddy-duddy men. But we know their real goal!

To keep the story light, you probably wouldn't want to get too heavy into the ties with Mordor or Sauron, but focus on the human intrigue instead. That way, the story could stay humorous and witty the whole way through, which is the point Nuru brought up earlier.

Cami