The Logs of the TDFS Tindome

Chapter 77: Lost and Found

Late breakfast arrives. There are a surprising number of people present. Daëwen stands and speaks. "Captain Fallataal, piloting the flagship of the now officially commissioned Coast Guard, who has been granted the honor of the title of Captain within the Coast Guard, and Captain Ciryandil, also a ship's captain. Each has contributed something to Lanthil by his service. We are here today to grant to Finwë Ciryandil the title of captain. The designers of the Tindomë and its crew are also present. They have performed somewhat heroically, saving the lives of many, and aiding others to begin new lives.

"This epitomizes the highest goals of the Coast Guard: exploration, rescue, and care. I would like to ask Samantha Sylvestri, known as Sam, Captain Ciryandil's recently adopted daughter, to pin the captain's pips on her father's uniform." Sam picks up a small box from the table, walks over to Finwë. "Thank you for this honor," he whispers to his daughter. The pips are actually winged anchors. (Fallataal is wearing his pips; they are anchors only.) She examines the pips briefly, and looks a bit odd. Then she just pushes them onto his stand-up collar. (There was no pin or other fastener on the back. They just stick.) Sam kisses her father on each cheek. He is deeply touched by the gesture.

Daëwen then welcomes the Ambassador on the behalf of Lanthil, the Coast Guard, Captain Fallataal, and Captain Ciryandil. The breakfast fruits are brought out. "Our final duty is to welcome Lanthil's new citizens." She turns to Sam. "I didn't ask you, my dear, what name you wished to go by here. Will you keep Sylvestri, or take your new father's name?"

"My father had no brothers. Since his death is so recent, we would like to keep his name." She sits down to a smatter of applause.

After breakfast, Daëwen asks Finwë where he would like to live now, since he has a family now, "Castleton, Harborton, or the castle itself?" He thinks about it, and realizes that he needs his new home to be near a school, for Sarah and Micah, so it will have to be in Harborton. She nods, and suggests the New England-like area of that town. "It's where the Lost Boys lived. Most of them are grown now, so there should be homes available."

The newly-minted captain returns to his quarters, and gathers his family around him. He warns his children that they will be looking for a house in Harborton. The children take the idea of further education phlegmatically. Micah volunteers to pilot the boat down to the harbor, and his offer is accepted. The ride is somewhat terrifying, but they survive the trip.

They soon find their way to the area of Harborton that looks most like a New England fishing village. A man steps up to them, and introduces himself as Curly Joe. He welcomes the children as honorary Lost Boys, since they were all castaways, and welcomes Finwë, "if your children are willing to have you." Curly Joe shows them the three houses that are available. Two of the houses are clearly New England, and one is Euro-Fay Revival. Finwë favors that one, of course, but is aware that his children may prefer something more familiar.

"Accepting the house carries some obligations to the Association of Castaways and Lost Boys. You will be obliged to provide accommodations to such Castaways and Lost Boys as you can conveniently house, should the occasion arrive. I'll leave you here to discuss it among yourselves. I'll be at my shop; it's the chandler's."

Finwë finds the obligation to be philosophically appropriate, since he, like many Lanthilos, was a castaway of sorts. Sarah asks, wide-eyed, "I've heard we have Indians. Do we?"

"We might. I don't know. But we can find out. Now, which house do you like best? That is, if you can agree on one."

"We'd like the fairy house best."

"Really?"

"Oh, yes. If you're going to be shipwrecked, captured by pirates, and rescued by people on a magic ship, then you should at least live in Snow White's cottage."

"Well, then, we're decided." They trot off after Curly Joe, and announce their decision. "Welcome to the Association of Castaways and Lost Boys." He spits on his hand and sticks it out to Sam. She manfully shakes it.

She gets up her nerve, and admits, "I have to ask you. Do you have a Wendy?" It turns out that they do have a Wendy, which is an office that is elected annually. The subject of mermaids comes up, and Finwë draws on his experience to warn them against the savage mermaids of Lanthil.

They then spend the rest of the morning examining their new house, and making lists of the things they need. They head into town to start acquiring things. In the bakeshop, the proprietor steps out from behind the counter, and introduces himself to Sam with "I'm the Toodles!" She shakes his hand, and expresses pleasure at meeting him. He then recommends the elven waybread to Finwë.

Eric Wright gathers together all the treaties and maps he has produced and set out to find a counselor. Lorelei and Eïr had disappeared shortly after early breakfast, but he finds Daëwen and Silverhand after late breakfast. He explains about the documents, and hands them to Daëwen. "I can make new copies if you need them." He also offers them his log, and mentions that Captail Finwë had also kept a log. Silverhand asks about his information on the island. He explains that, in addition to the log, he also saved samples of the plants and fruits of the place. Daëwen is delighted, and invites Eric to come with he to her cottage.

They take one of the little boats up the stream to her cozy home. She points out the woods of her boat. "It looks silvery. Is it silverwood?" "Yes, come with me." Around the back of her cottage is a grove of silverwood trees. She pulls down a damaged branch, and shows him the silver rings in it. "It's quite easy to force the silver into the wood. The description of the central spire of the island quite struck me; it seemed to be the description of a tree."

"We did chop down some of the trees. We made them into cradles for the ship."

"I would be very interested in seeing any wood from there. Part of my plans for the descendants of the Tindomë requires special wood. I would welcome any more information you could give me."

Upon his return, Eric mentions his talk with Daëwen to the two dwarves, who are on their way down to the New Dawn shipyards. Mandorak definitely remembers that there were rings in the trees that were definitely silvery in texture and sheen. Mannie goes and finds Daëwen, and tells her what he knows of the wood on that strange island. She is deeply appreciative of what he found. Their talk covers many aspects of that side trip, from the vacuum that he encountered when we first arrived there, to the improvements that he and Bay made to the ship's engines.

On the Tindomë, he locates those baulks and timbers which most have the feel of skymetal. He points them out to Daëwen.

After dinner, Daëwen invites the crew (except for Finwë, who is occupied) to supper, up at her cottage. They accept. Some of them take a boat, but the Lady and the two dwarves stroll outside, and then walk to the cottage. Actually, they clamber straight up a cliff. Two thirds of the way to the summit, they follow a cleft that leads to the back field of Daëwen's cottage. The meal is a hearty stew, which they all enjoy. After supper, the Lady lead the dwarves away from the others. They in turn spend their time exploring the silverwood grove.

The Lady does some special work with the tall mirrors. She warns them, "This doesn't work, and we never went everywhere." She leads us through the mirror in the library, into another library, and from there out onto a porch. It's actually on a treehouse.

Here, it is night, and the sky is a blaze of stars. "Oh, we've gone through an interface," says Mannie.

"Yes. This is the point I've been trying to make. The egress from a witchwalk, that interface you passed through between the Spire Island and the Sky Islands, and the interface of a mirror are all similar things. Now, you said there were some things you needed?" She leads the dwarves into a woodworking shop.

She picks up a level, some shingles, and a few wedges.

They return to the continuum of Lanthil. Mannie puts most of the items down on a table, which he very carefully levels. With a gesture, she puts a mirror sheen of water on the table. Yes, it is perfectly level. Mannie puts his globe of skymetal down in the middle of the table. Slowly, it rolls towards the mirror interface. He stops it, and releases it again. Again, it rolls toward the mirror.

"I think you want to measure a witchpath." They take the small table, and the sphere with them back to the treehouse. There, they take the spiral staircase down the tree to ground level. "There's no witchpath here now, but this is where I usually start from." He sets up the table, and measures that there is a faint, but detectable interface trace. She then opens a witchpath. The table and sphere indicate that there is definitely an interface here.

"Would you care to measure the other end?"

"Certainly."

They troop through to a grove of flowering trees. He measures again. "The world we came from is a more physical world, and this is a more psychical world. In fact, this world is more… chaotic than it appears to be," she explains. "Now, it would be good to measure all three kinds of sky metal. Can we?"

"Yes, I have samples of all three kinds back on the ship."

"Fine. Well, since we're here, do you mind if I check on the horses?"

"There are horses here? Certainly."

We walk up over the hill, and turn down one of the paths. It leads past a cottage that is very similar to the one in Lanthil, and down to the stables. She hands out a apple to each of the horses. "I don't get back here very often. There are people who take care of things for me."

They turn back, and witchwalk back to the treehouse. Mannie returns the things he borrowed, including the table. From there, we return to her cottage. We agree to stay the night, rather than take the boat back down the stream. She offers us the opportunity to take the boat down, or basejump down. Even after she explains it, no one is willing to parachute down.