[Child of the 7th Age]

Luindal nodded in agreement and then beckoned Rôg towards the table in the center of the cabin where maps and scrolls were haphazardly strewn. “I didn’t have a chance to show you this before, but this is where we need to search.” He pointed to a spot on Cirdan’s map that was highlighted with a small circle. Rôg could see that this location was not far from a lengthy sandbar that stretched along the eastern side of the Bay in relatively shallow waters. “But how do you know for sure?” Rôg queried.

Luindal handed a parchment to his friend and explained. “I don’t know for sure, but read this and see what you think. When I first arrived, the Elders presented me with a document penned in an ancient Lossoth tongue, hoping it would aid our search. The words were inscribed on deer hide and described what happened the day the Elven ship sank. The hide sat on a shelf in the Hall of Elders for countless years and was totally forgotten until this latest threat. Few among the Snowmen could even read the old script, but Alahseey had been taught as a child at her great-grandmother's knee. After our arrival in the Bay, she spent many hours translating it and filling in as many missing parts as she could.

Rôg’s eyes scanned the sheet quickly. Then he looked up at Luindal. “I see. With the water so shallow, the sandbar iced over early in the year. When the wind picked up, the Elven craft lurched closer to shore and collided with the ice, crushing the hull.”

“I would agree,” countered the Elf. “Cirdan’s map of the Bay when placed beside the account of the Lossoth suggests that this is probably what happened. If that is true, we need to search just west of the bar. Lucky for us, it is still there after all these years and not frozen over yet.”

“But so close to a sandbar and in shallow waters?”

Luindal sighed. “In one way, this should make it easier to pull up the Stones, since the shallow water would be less frigid than the depths of the Bay. But, to begin, I would suggest we leave the Spirit a ways away and approach the area where we plan to dive with smaller boats. If we find the small stone first, we can just retrieve it with the small boats. If it is the larger one, then we have a problem. We cannot get the larger palantir off the bottom of the Bay and lift it up without a winch. Even aside from the winch, its size and weight would swamp any of the smaller boats. We'll have to sail the Spirit closer, hopefully on the western side furthest from the sandbar.”

“A tricky piece of sailing,” Rôg observed.

“Tricky indeed. Let’s just hope the weather holds. Or tricky may become close to impossible! Now get to bed and tell the others to do the same. We’ll need all our wits and strength in the morning. And make sure to bring along those air bladders and special diving suits.”