[littlemanpoet]

I'm posting this up for the general entertainment of the rest of you. It came out of a YIM with Helen, so it reads as only half a conversation. Anyway, here goes:

Tharonwe and Raefindan are going to find that what's left of the merlocks are very angry with Tharonwe, angry enough to revolt. ....which they more or less have started doing already.... So we shall have the women in the conditions I predicted, plus a few scratches.... Tharonwe can move more quickly than his merlocks, and can osanwe where they are, and has heightened senses anyway, so he is unlikely to be wounded by them. Raefindan may slow him down, but that's bad for Rae, not for Thar. Nevertheless, I see the merlocks being sooooooo angry that the chase Tharonwe out of the swamp... which sort of serves Tharonwe's purpose anyway, since he knew he'd have to keep an eye on Amroth's party once his bid for an oath to end the quest was foiled. So now...... Tharonwe finds Raefindan interesting.... and even likeable.... And Tharonwe actually turns out to be capable of engaging conversation.... Meanwhile, Raefindan is feeling very much out of time and place, and is quite reticent about where he comes from, now that it's all come back to him. Raefindan aka Roy Edwards understands the "butterfly effect", and decides that it is absolutely essential that he take as little action as possible so as not to alter the course of history. But this does not stop him from Dreaming.... So we can have the Mithrellas and Imrazor dreaming going on, because Tharonwe causes it - but is not able to completely control it - - he can't control the dreams if they are to work how he needs them to. Mithrellas would detect artificial dreams, and Tharonwe needs these dreams to be real, so he can't mess with them, only cause them.