you are of the teleri and long before that name was given to you and your people, you followed your lord through dim, starlit lands, for the promise of light and peace. you are of the teleri and, omnious sea crashing in the distance, your lord is lost; you search for him, he who carried the promise and the hope, and do not find him. you search and search and know your friends and kindred are waiting for you in the twilight.
you are of the teleri and your kindred is waiting, until they are not. at long last you accept your lord must be lost—after all, you all know that you and yours get swallowed by the shadows in this strange and wild land; after all, there is a reason you are following promises of light and protection. at long last you come to the edge of the world, and find your friends and gods long gone.
you linger. you mourn your lord and you mourn your kindred and you mourn all those you have lost along the long way. you are of the teleri, and a god, a different one, begins to search you out. to tell you stories, to teach you of the raging seas, to let you hear its music. you are of the teleri and at long last, you become part of the sea, and it becomes part of you; a coming home on the most treacherous of grounds.
and yet; you miss your kindred, those who have crossed the sea. when you are offered the chance, you take it; leave the land, leave the long-lost lord, leave the god who loved you enough to stay—he whose domain does not extend to where you plan on going. you leave, but you decide against arrival, an island rooted just in between.
for a while, you are content. sacred shores, just close enough to be in sight; raging seas, just enough on the edge for your prayers to still reach.
you are of the teleri, and you are constantly torn into two. you are of the teleri, but eventually, the desire for reunion, for those who you loved, those who loved your lord, wins out. the god who cared for you, as a final parting gift, at last, teaches you how to build ships. how to cross the seas he so loves to whip into a frenzy. how not to drown. he loves you enough that he lets you go, and you love your kindred enough to leave him.
you are of the teleri, and not too long from now, the same kindred, those who you have followed, again and again; those who you have given up pieces of yourself for, again and again; soon the same supposed kindred will slaughter your children, and steal your boats, those so tenderly gifted to you by a being ever untender, and light them aflame. you are of the teleri, and yet more years later, you will still come to their aid. a tale, by then, as old as time.
within the depths, ossë rages.
