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In the High King's Secret Service by Fiondil	10 Review(s)
obsidianj	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/27/2013
Love the meeting between Calandil and Valandur. I can see how Valandur fretted when he didn't get an answer from Calandil seeing how insecure he is of himself. Calandil just showing up was the best thing to happen for Valandur. He needs some support from friends he trusts. Author Reply: Hi obsidian. I'm glad you liked the meeting between these two. Their friendship goes way back and Calandil is Valandur's first otorno. He trusts him before everyone else. Thanks for reviewing. I appreciate it.

Fadesintothewest	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/26/2013
I enjoyed the discussion between Valandur and his friend, revealed much of the interesting and growing difference between the Noldor and Vanyar. Yet it is interesting that the Vanyar are concerned with the shift in language, language is a malleable thing. After all they speak a language that has itself evolved. It seems though that at the heart of it, and as Valandur has overheard, there are deeper cultural conflicts brewing. Author Reply: And we will see something of those deeper cultural conflicts as the story progresses, Fades. As for language purity, well, the French think they can keep their language pure but it's a losing battle because, as you say, language is malleable and we will see this later on in the story as well. Thanks for reviewing. It's much appreciated.

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/24/2013
At least these two are at peace with one another, and Valandur is preparing to learn more of what motivates many of the Noldor. Author Reply: Valandur and Calandil are the best of friends, very supportive of one another no matter how much they may tease one another. Thanks for reviewing, Larner. I appreciate it.

bookworm	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/23/2013
Oh I liked this chapter - really nice to watch the two old friends catch up - it's the best part of true friends, it doesn't matter how long you've been apart at all Author Reply: I'm so glad you liked this chapter bookworm. It is nice to see true friends get together, teasing one another mercilessly, but showing their love and respect for one another at the same time. Thanks for leaving a review. I very much appreciate it.

Agape4Gondor	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/22/2013
waves hands wildly I'm still here, Fiondil. Another lovely chapter. It epitomizes the depth of your writing. You bring new characters in without a faltering step. And we find ourselves drawn to them - or away from them - in a moment's time. Love this chapter. Love the story. I'm reading, though I cannot respond to every chapter. Blessings! Agape Author Reply: Hi Agape. waves back Glad you're still with us and that you are enjoying this story. I don't find it too difficult to create OCs and imbue them with personality. It's actually harder with canon characters, especially those that are well depicted in Tolkien's stories. It's easier to start from scratch, you might say. At any rate, I'm glad you find my OCs interesting. Thanks for leaving a review. I appreciate it and look forward to hearing from you again whenever you are so inclined. Blessings!

Kevana	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/22/2013
I respectfully plead a heartfelt and tearful case for "octopodes," but no one ever believes me (or, well, cares). Oh no, I always suspected I was an outcast living on the fringes of society and this just confirms it. cries Well, you say octopi, I'll say octopodes, we'll find common ground in that octopuses is just plain silly and krakens are another kettle of cephalopod molluscs entirely. I'm not sure I could have taken this more off topic if I had legitimately tried. Apologies! But I do find all of this and your take on it here to be absolutely fascinating. bows and exits stage right -Kevana Author Reply: Hey, whatever rocks your socks, Kevana. I'm glad you like my take on the linguistic aspects of the story and find it to be so fascinating (at least, I'm assuming that's what you mean here). I appreciate you telling me. Thanks.

Kevana	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/22/2013
Addendum: snort That's what I get for reading before I finish my coffee. I misread what Valandur was saying, I see now he didn't really give away much if anything of his purpose there. -Kevana Author Reply: Yeah, I wondered about that sentence in your review. grin Glad you realized your error. Calandil may be Valandur's otrono but Valandur knows that some things cannot be shared even with one's heart-brother.

Kevana	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/22/2013
Imagine being able to say "oh yes, I was there when they built the first palace." That's just incredible. You whippersnappers need to get off Valandur's lawn. I was thinking how silly the súlë and thúlë argument seems to me in the grand scheme of things, but then I remembered the absolutely massive brouhaha a few months back about how to pronounce "gif." Pot, kettle. Plus for absolutely no reason whatsoever I am strangely opinionated about the plural form of "octopus," so I have no room to talk, LOL. There was some really good background info about the situation here from Calandil. It's obvious Valandur trusts him if he's revealing his true purpose for being at the talks. Have a spectacular week and thanks for the great update! -Kevana Author Reply: Hi Kevana. Pronunciation has been a bone of contention since biblcal times, which we get the word "shibboleth" from, and has often been used to determine who's "in" and who's "out" politically, religiously, socially or whatever. And EVERYONE knows the CORRECT plurs of octopus is octopi. LOL! You have a great week yourself and thanks for taking the time to review. It's much appreciated.

Sunny	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/22/2013
Good to know that Valandur has the sense to keep operational security, even whe he is with an old friend. Hmm. Is the Nambarauto mentioned here the same one who made such an ass of himself in _Once Upon a Blizzard_ and who snarked at Finrod for his tree-swinging in _The Findaráto Diaries_? Author Reply: Hi Sunny. Yes, Valandur is not that much of a fool. grin And Nambarauto is a common enough name (the Sindarin form is "Damrod") that it could be given to a number of ellon. In this case, this Nambarauto is not the same one in the other stories. The one here is a coppersmith and the other is a noble. After awhile I have so many OCs that it's hard to come up with unique names so some of them get recycled. grin Thanks for leaving a review. I really appreciate it.

Cairistiona	Reviewed Chapter: 5 on 7/22/2013
I'm so glad that Valandur's friends are warmly welcoming him, and loved the way Calandil chose to respond to the invitation. :) Very interesting conversation as well. Intriguing to think about how Feanor's resentment over his father's second marriage could have had a part in causing a language change (or at least a pronunciation change)... makes me wonder how English may have been altered in similar fashion. I'm sure it has, but I'm not enough of a language historian to know! Author Reply: Hi Cairistiona. These friends are Valandur's otornor, sworn brothers, and very supportive of him. Tolkien tells us in his essay "The Shiboleth of Fëanor" (History of Middle-earth, vol. 12) that the language change had begun earlier, but that Fëanor rejected it because his mother had used the older forms and he insisted on retaining them in honor of her memory. Thus, Fëanor used the langauge change as a loyalty test and thereby set in motion the events that occurred later in the time of the Darkening. So while Melkor had much to do with the discord that followed, the seeds of that discord were planted long before he was ever released from Mandos and we have Fëanor to thank for that. Thanks for reviewing. It's much appreciated.

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