Mairë Annatári

I’m feeling restless… So have something doodled with Mairon/Sauron in mind…

Circular lacquer box carved with dragons in clouds - China, circa 1790.

Segovia Amil

Now animated, Fëanor colour study by Soni Alcorn-Hender. (Bigger, better, uncrunched resolution version here

Maybe he’s looking into the forge, or the mirror, or at the Teleri fleet. Either way there’ll be marshmallows. Prints and shiny things available here

Spirit in the Forest - Yuqi Wang

All of the vanished asks that Tumblr eats now go directly to Melkor in the void, not only is he pissed about his situation, now he’s confused as hell.

Maire paced, glittering in blood red robes. Their hems hissed like vipers as they trailed across the floor. With every step, her tone grew sweeter. This was not a good sign at all. 

“My dearest King of Misrule, do you know how many months I’ve spent reforging old alliances? Do you know how many lords of the South are calling for your head? Be glad, my love, my pretty, that you’re already dead!”

“Ah…yes.. I could have but.. the Steward is a friend of mine and I wouldn’t have wanted to bereft him of his position of power. That would have been unjust in every possible way. And I might be a pirate but I know how much worth there is in friends and allies. Especially when you’re an /undead/ pirate.” 

Oh, how hard he was trying to wriggle out of this though he felt the walls closing in on him, felt that even his sweet, fast tongue was slowly running out of things to say to defend himself. But he would not give up, certain he’d prevail here just as the corsair had so many times in the past. One did not manage to keep a vaguely handsome physique if one did not know how to protect, life, limb, ship and crew. And his elusive title of course.

“And ‘tis not fair to accuse me of past crimes since I have been rather..laid back with said plundering in the last years. I doubt a few ships could have angered them so much. It was merely a way to flex my muscles and keep people from thinking I had grown weak. That is all, my lady.”

The way Maire was pacing, the way her voice grew sweet as honey- Ji Indur might have done foolish things but he was no fool. Besides he’d fight whoever would call his actions foolish. Everybody who was not the mistress, for that matter. And his head? Aye, such a barbaric heartless demand. 

“Well…. Let them have at me then.” he replied, chest puffed out in a peacock’s way, filled with unnecessary pride, “if they wish to fight me for my head, so be it. But if I defeat them they will have to swear fealty to you for generations to come. Oh mighty Maire…you know me well by now, don’t you? While my actions and words might not seem to always follow a path you would prefer them to, I never did this out of rebellious intent or to undermine your authority. You know I did my utmost to be a loyal servant to you thorough the centuries.”

Should he expect any lenience? Nay, he knew he wouldn’t be this lucky to escape unscathed all the times. But…it was worth a try?

@maire-annatari

“You are boring me,” said Maire, flashing her fangs as a warning. Oh yes, she knew him well by now. Through some absurd mischance, she’d snared the most arrogant pirate in Arda. No other servant stabbed holes in her plans and then presumed to charm her while she fumed. He flung her the same damned flattery every time he irked her, expecting her mercy to be infinite. It might have amused her once, when he was young and foolish and had no idea who she was. She might even have let him seduce her, the better to lure him down into undeath. An Age had passed since then. Now that she had him, his ploys were doomed. 

“Save your breath. I know your lines so well that I’ll spare you the trouble. ‘Forgive me, my Lady! You wound me, my Lady! Fate forced my hand, my Lady, and my crimes were all for you! I’m a slave to your might and wisdom! Spare me, most ravishing Maire, and I’ll shower you with praises! And with kisses, if you’ll let me! Oh, you enthrall me so!’” She paraded like a courtier, throwing back her shoulders (which might bedazzle Ji a little, given her low neckline) and gesturing dramatically. Without a Maia’s grace, she would have looked ridiculous. If Ji’s theatrical fits were half so daft, and if a wraith could blush, he might turn a very shamefaced shade of grey. With her last words, she blew him a kiss and dropped the act. 

“Before you sing me lauds, reformed ex-butcher of the seas, let me remind you that kings command their fleets. You might have irked the Haradrim no more than a whining gnat, but your subjects plagued them. Are you shocked that they blame you? If I don’t give them your head, they’ll ask for a hundred others.” 

Of course she wouldn’t hack it from his shoulders. A few mewling warlords weren’t worth the effort it took to dismember a wraith. She might fling them witless thieves, but none so clever as Ji. She wouldn’t let him know it, though. Not yet. He deserved to tremble. 

“You fraud of a monarch,” she snapped, “I hardly care what you call yourself. You’re not the first Nazgûl to wear a crown, and it won’t be why I gut you. When the Northern Kingdoms shuddered and spoke of a Witch King of Angmar, Murazor embraced the title. He never enraged me. I smiled upon his schemes. If you have any sense, you’ll know why. Tell me. Now.”

Muscles tend to atrophy if you curl in a corner and sob instead of eating.

Yes, he was very foolish to have lashed out at the Mistress. It was a wonder that she hadn’t incinerated him on the spot over such an ignorant display on his part… He was humble - perhaps unusually so, for an Orc.

“Ah, I apologize. I intended no lewdness to you, my Lady,” the Lieutenant started with a bow of his head… Really, he had not meant to come across like that… And besides, Lady Maire was almost certainly out of his league. Surely she would have no desire for such interactions with lowly Orcs.

… Alas, he couldn’t help but blush at the thought.

He was amused at how she spoke of the Herald, though. Though amusement soon turned to curiosity at what she was implying… A masterful seducer whom Gondor will love and trust? What did she mean by…?

“Me?“

“You’ve proven your talents already. You share a close friendship with a certain Steward’s son.” 

Maire smirked a little, pleased with her thorough knowledge of Mordor’s rumours. She paid well for interesting news, beguiling orcs and other, darker creatures into spying. If Gothmog’s underlings weren’t spilling his secrets, wild beasts might be. Wolves howled their tidings to the Lady. Bats chittered in her ears. Each day crows flapped to her Tower, cackling out their gossip in tongues no orc could speak. Even flies droned around her and earned bloody meat from her hands. None could say how much she heard, or what she saw with her own fiery Eye.

Lately she held the heir of Gondor in her gaze. His fears amused her, and she’d thought of a hundred uses for his anger. She might have watched his little talks with Gothmog. As the pale orc turned bright pink, she assumed this thought had dawned on him. Why else would Minas Morgul's most ambitious creature blush? If he'd risen through squabbling hordes to serve her as a lieutenant, with duties she'd initially intended for a Nazgul, he couldn't possibly be shrinking from her praise. Lewd quips shouldn't shock him either. Orc speech was full of them, and he made plenty himself. He must know something truly appalling. 

“Winning his trust must have taken unusual skills. What more can you do with your sweet tongue, I wonder? Have you teased Gondor's battle plans out of him, or news of his ailing father? Tell me all,” she cajoled, “for we must take an interest in our neighbors.”

Rich B*tch

You wound me, my friend. Do you wish me gone? Would you prefer Tarks to conquer the South and turn its lands into ‘protectorates?’ If my tower falls, they will. You know how eager they are to loot your cities and torch your shrines. They’ll ‘save’ you from your ‘evil’ gods and force you to worship Manwë. They’ll demand tribute until Harad’s gold is spent. Join me, dearest lady, and let us crush them. Together, we can drive them into the sea.

@masteroftheseas I hear you thrumming. Are you jealous of my lust for your beautiful Uinen, or are you craving a threesome?

…. I am certainly not jealous; why would I be angered by others appreciating the beauty of my spouse?

Good! I’m glad you’re so broad-minded about such things.

May I borrow her?

Borrow her? You would need to ask *her* if she wishes to be traded.

How can I ask while she lurks in the deep? Go and give her my message! If she accepts, perhaps we’ll let you spectate.

I am not about to seduce my wife on another’s behalf. Here I thought such arts were your specialty, and yet you enlist another to woo for you?

What else am I to do? You don’t lurk half as deep as she. I’ll need a tank of air and rubber fins!

@masteroftheseas I hear you thrumming. Are you jealous of my lust for your beautiful Uinen, or are you craving a threesome?

…. I am certainly not jealous; why would I be angered by others appreciating the beauty of my spouse?

Good! I’m glad you’re so broad-minded about such things.

May I borrow her?

Borrow her? You would need to ask *her* if she wishes to be traded.

How can I ask while she lurks in the deep? Go and give her my message! If she accepts, perhaps we’ll let you spectate.