They Might Have Been Lesser, Once.

They might have been lesser, once.

They might have been lesser, once. In a time filled with blurry memories and bright sunshine. In a land adjacent, where they were never beset by orcs, never dragged into the deep and the dark, never forgot the sight of light and stars.

But that was nothing more than a dream to be clutched at in their darkest, most shameful moments.

They learn Song at the knees of the greatest elven minstrel, a forge-maia that could rival Eonwe in might, and the Dread-power Mighty Arising. They learn to Sing with the voices of the long-dead and not-yet-born, too many voices and not enough throats. Their skin cracks like a feathery mantle and their eyes flash with the predatory instincts of one who knows they are untouchable.

They eat better than most. Their teeth have sharpened in Angband and they have learnt how to use them. They sing their nails sharper and harder until they can claw and rip and tear. Their fingers pop and twist and bend as they stalk the labyrinthine hallways. 

Angband’s uncanny architecture has no effect on them. They grow up running around the halls; guided by a scratching in the base of their skull that blurs and warps their vision until the corridors re-align and set themselves in front of them in a neat ordered fashion. They learn to hide in the shadows while they do this; other elves dislike the many eyes they have to open, and orcs are not like the Lieutenant and His Highness and treat them like all the others.

They try not to get angry anymore. The last time they did, Elrond was angry at an obstinate patient and in his rage he sang their joints out as their bones cracked to the marrow and blood flowed like an oil spill. Something inside him sang with the thrill of the kill, prey crushed in the maw of a predator.

The Lieutenant had clutched him close and stroked his hair as Elrond sobbed into his chest.

It wouldn't have happened in another life. In another life his first kill would have been a rabbit that he and his brother had hunted. Maedhros would have congratulated them and Maglor would have skinned and cooked it for them all. In another life they didn’t know they could be anything other than elves, didn't know how to properly sing.

In another world they didn’t know what the Lieutenant’s voice sounded like as he sang to them, didn’t know how to creep along the edges of the shadows, didn’t know the sound of their fingers and neck cracking as they shifted their bone structure.

They might have been lesser, once.

They look almost exactly like Luthien

They look almost exactly like Luthien.

Their jaw shape is slightly different, and the slant of their noses is just a bit off, but those are such trivial things.

They've known it since they first arrived in Angband- their first view of the Lieutenant was his face contorted in a terrifying mask of rage as he snarled at Elros. They are half-convinced the only reason he didn't slay them then and there was that Maglor tripped and revealed there were two instead of one.

Throughout their childhood in the weaving room Maglor is their primary teacher. He tells them of the crimes his brothers have committed against their family, compares them to Luthien in both appearance and temperament. When the Lieutenant takes them away to supplement their education he tells them of Tol-in-Gaurhoth and the witch and her hound that threw him down and stole his lands. 

He takes their tiny hands and makes them swear to never do anything like that against him or His Highness. They cry out in horror that they would never do such a thing, and the Lieutenant lets them throw themselves into his waiting arms. 

His Highness likes that they look like Luthien. He’s never tried anything untoward, but he likes to pat them on the head and call them Luthienlie when they do something good. It feels vaguely paternal, and they aren't particularly averse to it.

Luthien was good at singing, and to the Lietenant’s joy so are they. He and Maglor teach them Song, how to bring an elf the purest joy, how to make them insensate with terror. They can cast down walls, will rivers to a rage. Elros incorporates it into his work in agriculture- sings crops to a greater yield many times more than normal, sings animals into docility for the slaughter. Elrond learns how to sing the flesh off to get the internal structures of a body before singing everything back together, and how to burn out infection from a wound.

They’re often brought to see new prisoners, along with Maglor and Maedhros. 

The Noldor cry out to the feanorions to help them. Maglor cringes behind the lieutenant’s skirts while Maedhros shouts and swears at the maia.

When the Sindar see the twins their faces fall in despair and resignation.

They look almost exactly like Luthien.

Do you take requests? If so I'd love to see how you picture Ulmo! If not, totally valid!

Ulmo! I headcanon Ulmo as being able to take a pretty convincing Eldar form when he wants, but he just doesn't want to. Ulmo’s form tends to have smooth skin like a dolphin or a shark, and he often forgets to form outer ears because he normally has no need for them.

Bred in captivity

It is soon discovered that it takes effort to breed elves in Angband.

Orcs breed like rats, and Maiar and Balrogs can’t properly die, and thus don’t really need to be replaced.

But elves come with problems.

No matter how many threats Mairon makes, no matter the methods he uses, he cannot get results. And he tries mostly everything. Melkor wants more elf-slaves, wants the freedom to kill them without decreasing their already dwindling stock.

So, Mairon tries something new.

There are rooms in the upper levels of Angband. Rooms populated by elves taken in early childhood so they do not know the world outside. They are weavers and spinners- nothing like the toiling labour of other captives. They are treated well; kept away from the worst parts of the fortress, and especially from other elves. They are kept happy.

And if the price of this is giving up their children to their masters, well. Its not like they know any better.

They are not elves anymore... They have the eyes of corpses. But they are nor Orcs. Because Orcs do not take our children when we lock our food up. And although they look like the fair Eldar, they always sing off-key

was in a conversation was @outofangband and we started discussing the concept of Not Elves- too elvish to be orcs, but to different to be elves. Mostly escaped thralls from Angband who came back different, or failed to adapt to life outside the fortress. They are always hungry. And they are always searching for food.

Current WIP- angband au portrait. I feel like I've sold my soul for next day and a bit to work on this