#I wont't go into too much detail yet

[outofangband]

One

Introductory Snippets with links to introduction to the AU

AU masterlist

(second author’s note at the end!)

Feel free to ask any questions! I know this is pretty short but I have just been so excited about starting!

(First author’s note: I haven’t yet gone into much detail about why Maedhros is like this but his actual time in Angband wasn’t too different than in my main verse which is going to add yet another layer of difficulty for those attempting to discover who he is because who he is is still deeply associated with agony and humiliation. I talk about in more detail on this post but in Angband, dissociation to this degree is considered a mercy and not one Maedhros has been allowed very often. And I will explore in more detail exactly what’s going on as I continue. Feel free to ask questions!)

I am also going to intersperse with scenes of Maedhros in Angband as the changes are undergone and for many of them he’s still an angry smartass so..

Warnings: dehumanization, implied body horror, potential claustrophobia, my possibly poor attempts to write Ainur other than Melkor and his ilk (I haven’t for so long!) oh! very brief implication of a canonical instance of animal cruelty. the author’s note at the end explains it without detail too. 

Masterlist 

(I hope this is ok! I’m pretty nervous but I wanted to have the first one up. Thank you so much to @aronoiiel for preview reading and @pepperonyscience I believe you said you wanted to be tagged!)

Elegant hands folded upon the table came into focus as Manwë was pulled out of his reverie by a presence in the doorway. He waited for a moment without speaking, expecting his visitor to break the silence first. When Eönwë did not, the king raised his eyes, concerned by what he saw.

“Yes?” A verbal prompting was clearly needed. Eönwë appeared rather disgruntled.

“The gift thy brother spoke of.” His lieutenant was one of the few who still referred to Melkor as such, refusing of course to use the dark Vala’s original name but refraining from the titles given by the Eldar.

“What of it?” 

“I took it upon myself to ensure you were being handed nothing volatile.” Eönwë‘s expression was grave. Manwë maintained his air of polite interest though from the moment Melkor had mentioned the gift he had felt the rare pull of dread fester in the physical form he wore. He did not find it pleasing to have to prompt the Maia again but could nonetheless understand Eönwë’s hesitance.

“And?” 

“It still breathes.” 

Manwë’s gaze narrowed to an eagle-like intensity, searching his lieutenant’s eyes for more. 

Eönwë did not falter though what he spoke of next was clearly distasteful to him.

“I suspected a living gift. Or that had been once alive. It was the former.” He beckons the king forward and Manwë stands, follows him into the adjoining room, hands pressed together in front of him, expression neutral.

“We have not yet removed it from its restraints, I do not know how injured they are,” Eönwë continued as he gestured to a large, iron chest that lay in the center, flanked by two sober looking guards. 

The gift appeared to be Eldar and he would have been content calling it such had it not sported a pair of folded wings, tucked carefully around the bare form. Even in the dim light, Manwë could see the fading tracks of rust marring both skin and feather. King and councilor both looked into the chest without moving.

Eönwë finally breaks the silence. “We believe it to be unconscious, possibly the result of a draught. They are certainly weak enough to be susceptible. What is it you will do with it, My Lord?” The Lieutenant’s own feathers appeared ruffled as something akin to scorn stung his voice, “Thy brother said that he was gifting thee a pet.” At this last word, the almost monotonous voice he favored when giving reports lilted and all present heard the soft fury, “Perhaps He has merely been away from Home for too long a period but we do not typically treat my kin as prized animals or trophies.” Eönwë stopped here, conscious of the several lines he had crossed as he prepared for a rebuke from Manwë, however gentle it was likely to be.

But it never came. Indeed, Manwë did not appear to have taken in the Maia’s words. Eönwë waited for nearly two minutes before his lord met his eyes and gave a nod of ascent. The lieutenant understood that he was to give the next set of orders, Manwë presumably lost in both thought and memories of the first wars and what he had lost to Melkor then. 

“Bring a healer to stand by while we remove them from their chains. If these injuries are at all similar to what I have seen Him inflict on other winged creatures, including my own kin, there is likely damage that will require careful handling. Assuming it is not already irreversible.”

(author’s note: In earlier versions of Silm, Melkor takes several of Manwë’s Maiar, including eagles to torture and experiment on. I also do headcanon that there are hundreds of Maiar and half Maiar of Manwë that have formed since the First Music. These are the children of the original Maiar who take more grounded forms though there are a few rare half Maiar half elven beings who serve or live at the palace. Not all of his Maiar necessarily serve him, some merely maintain a connection to the King without necessarily taking an active role in his court. So this, combined with layers of Melkor’s own power, is why Manwë isn’t sure exactly what he has been given)

#maedhros #the silmarillion #Manwë #eönwë #short writings #present!maitimo au #if you don’t HAVE a Maia of Manwë to mutilate and gift back to your brother #homemade is fine #I wont't go into too much detail yet #though feel free to ask questions! #but basically Maedhros has been locked in what's essentially a dissociative state #but he is NOT broken and his fire and will are far closer to the surface than either Melkor or Manwe realize #to whom all birds are sacred