Records of an Inquiry Into Unlawful Conduct in Angband Division C-134-B by kimikocha  

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Trial of Thuringwethil, lately herald, of the Lieutenant's household

[A small book bound in plain leather, its pages ruled into columns for the date, the bell, the warden of the watch, and what was observed.]

WATCH KEPT OVER THURINGWETHIL, LATELY HERALD, IN THE PLACE PREPARED BY THE LIEUTENANT, BY WARDENS OF THE LATE PRINCE’S GUARD, BY HIS ORDER.

By order of the Lieutenant: she is to receive nothing from any hand, and be spoken to by no one. If she or her attendants are seen walking free, she is not to be approached, and the Lieutenant is to be told at once.

Ulubhân 37, fourth bell of the night. Received from the Lieutenant. He made the door fast with his own hand. Watch set. —Karnûzabâr

Ulubhân 37, fifth bell. She speaks to the walls. —Karnûzabâr

Ulubhân 37, sixth bell. She is silent. —Karnûzabâr

Ulubhân 38, first bell. She asks for the Lieutenant by name. Not answered, per the order. —Šurrapinu

Ulubhân 38, third bell. She asks for him again. Not answered. —Šurrapinu

Ulubhân 39, second bell. Cold in the passage. Shapes along the walls. We know what they are. We did not look at them long. They went. —Karnûzabâr

Ulubhân 41, fourth bell. She asks whether the seamstress is dead. Not answered, per the order. —Šurrapinu

[Note — Several pages follow on which nothing is recorded but the date, the bell, the name of the warden, and the word ‘Nothing’ —E.]

Ulubhân 50, sixth bell of the night. Her shape is not as it was. The Lieutenant informed, per his order. —Karnûzabâr

Ulubhân 50, seventh bell. The Lieutenant came. He went in alone. He came out at the end of the bell. Her shape is as it was. —Karnûzabâr

[Note — Some pages wet, sticking together —E.]

Zaghân 19, first bell. The Lieutenant came with the recorder. We brought her up to the Hall of Bears, as ordered. —Karnûzabâr

—First Audience—

In the Hall of Bears, on the nineteenth day of Zaghân and the five-hundred and twentieth year of the Jewels, at the morning audience, Lord Mairon, Lieutenant of the Lord of All, presiding sole; the assessors Urukišha, Šunilukkái, and Lakjašalli being seated; present also the observer Hašmetarai; Mírlach, secretary, first rank; and Nênšelardi, recorder, first rank, internal matters.

The accused Thuringwethil was brought from the place prepared for her by the wardens of the late Prince’s Guard who keep watch over her, the Lieutenant and the recorder going down with them.

The accused was sworn to tell the truth promptly and entire, concealing nothing, and to keep secret all that she should see, hear, or learn in these proceedings and all that should befall her. She swore by the Lord of All, and by no other. Asked whether she would swear secondly by anything she held sacred, she answered that she had just done so.

She was told that she would be asked to give an account in her own words, that she would not be interrupted while giving it, and that she should take what time she needed. She was given leave to sit, and sat.

Asked her name and office, she answered: Thuringwethil, herald of the Lieutenant. The secretary, being directed, entered: lately herald.

Asked her clan, she answered that she has none. Asked her ancestors, she answered that she is older than the ancestors of every person in this hall, and asked whether the court wished her to name them.

The assessor Urukišha said that it did not.

Asked her disciplinary history, she answered that she has none, the Lieutenant having always been gracious to her.

Asked whether she knows the Codes, she answered that she does. She was asked to recite the provisions concerning punishment given by an officer on his own authority, the custody of the infirmaries, the taking of persons against their will for the use of their bodies, and the duty to report offenses; and she recited them correctly and in full. The Chief Investigator, being asked by the Lieutenant, confirmed that she had. The accused added that she knows them well, having watched the Lieutenant write them; and that she has watched, besides, how they are kept.

She was then admonished to recollect herself and to confess freely and in full whatever she had done, said, or seen which might be offensive to the Lord of All, concealing nothing either concerning herself or any other person, and bearing false witness against no one; submitting herself entirely to the Giver of Freedom, under whose hand she and all things are held. She was told that one who confesses freely completes the cycle of offense and expiation, and goes out from it with a clean slate, and that one who does not cannot.

She answered that she has submitted herself to the Giver of Freedom in all things, always, and has never yet been told she did it wrongly.

Asked whether she knows or conjectures why she is held, she answered: “Because you are angry with me, Mairon.”

The Lieutenant directed that the answer be written.

The hall then grew cold, and there were figures among the pillars and along the walls, more than could be counted, and the lamps did not touch them; and there was a sound in the hall as of teeth. The Lieutenant let them stand for some time. Then he raised his hand, and they were not, and the cold went out of the hall.

The assessor Urukišha asked what the others had been looking at. The Lieutenant indicated that it was not an urgent matter, and that he would explain in full after conclusion of the audience.

Asked to give a full account of her dealings with the seamstress Nárelótë, from the time the seamstress came to division C-134-B until the present, the accused answered that she would give it to the Lieutenant alone, and asked that the hall be cleared.

She was told that what she has to say she may say before the court, or not at all.

She asked: “Do you want to hear it, Mairon?”

She was told that the court did.

She then stated that she saw the seamstress in the workroom of division C-134-B in the winter after the elves were brought from Gondolin; that she wanted her, and took her, as she was entitled to; that she kept her better than anyone in this mountain has kept anything; that she fed her, and dressed her, and gave her a gown of silk; and that she has nothing else to tell the court about it.

Asked whether that was the whole of her account, she answered that it was the whole of what the court would understand.

Asked what the court would not understand, she answered that she took the seamstress because she could, and because no one would stop her; and that she had good reason to believe that no one would.

Asked what reason, she answered: “You know why, Mairon.”

The Lieutenant directed that the answer be written.

Asked whether she had sent her attendants to fetch the seamstress from her station, she answered that she has whatever attendants she needs, and that the Lieutenant knows what they are better than anyone in the hall.

The assessor Urukišha asked, with leave, whether the seamstress had asked for any of the things she was given. The accused answered that she had not needed to ask.

Asked by the same assessor whether the seamstress was hers, the accused answered that she was.

Asked how the seamstress came to be hers, she answered: “The same way anything in this mountain comes to be anyone’s. Ask Mairon.”

The Lieutenant directed that the answer be written.

She was again admonished to recollect herself and to declare the truth, and was returned to the place prepared for her by the wardens of the watch, the Lieutenant and the recorder going down with them.

In my presence—

Mírlach, Secretary, First Rank

Recorded and attested—

Nênšelardi, Recorder, First Rank

—Second Audience—

In the Hall of Bears, on the twentieth day of Zaghân and the five-hundred and twentieth year of the Jewels, at the morning audience, Lord Mairon, Lieutenant of the Lord of All, presiding sole; the assessors Urukišha, Šunilukkái, and Lakjašalli being seated; present also the observer Hašmetarai; Mírlach, secretary, first rank; and Nênšelardi, recorder, first rank, internal matters.

The accused Thuringwethil was brought from the place prepared for her by the wardens of the watch, the Lieutenant and the recorder going down with them. She was reminded of the oath she had sworn.

Asked whether she remembered anything relating to her affair which she was bound by that oath to declare, she answered that she had only this to declare: that she has been held since the thirty-seventh day of Ulubhân, and has not yet been told her offense, as the Codes require.

She was told that the Codes require an offense to be named before punishment is given; that she has not been punished; and that the time given her is given so that she may recollect herself and declare the truth of her own accord, she having stated in the previous audience that she knows why she is held.

Asked again whether she remembered anything she was bound to declare, she answered that she had nothing more to say.

She was then reminded that in the previous audience she had been admonished to recollect herself and to confess freely and in full, submitting herself entirely to the Giver of Freedom, so that her offenses might be paid for and the stain of them taken from her. She was admonished again in the same form.

The hall then grew cold, and there was a stirring along the walls; and before any shape could be made out, the Lieutenant raised his hand, and the cold went out of the hall.

Asked whether, in the previous audience, she had stated that she saw the seamstress Nárelótë in the workroom of division C-134-B, she answered that she had.

Asked whether the workroom was the first place she saw the seamstress, she answered that it was.

Asked whether she had stated that she took the seamstress as she was entitled to, she answered that she had.

The assessor Lakjašalli asked, with leave, by what provision of the Codes she held that entitlement, and asked her to recite it. The accused answered that she could recite every provision of the Codes, and that there is none such in them; that the Codes are not the only law in this mountain; and that the Lieutenant knows this better than anyone.

Asked what other law she meant, she answered that the court should ask the one who wrote the Codes what law stands over them.

The Lieutenant directed that the answer be written.

Asked whether she held that the matter was one for this court, she answered that it was not; that it was a matter between herself and the Lieutenant, and no one else in the hall; that what she had done to the seamstress, she had done as those above have always done to those beneath them; and that the fault the Lieutenant found in her was not that she had done it, but that she had done it where he could see.

The assessor Urukišha asked, with leave, who spoke for the seamstress, she having no clan.

The accused answered: “I did. She was mine.”

Asked by the same assessor whether the seamstress had ever asked her to speak for her, she did not answer.

She was again admonished to recollect herself and to declare the truth, and was returned to the place prepared for her by the wardens of the watch, the Lieutenant and the recorder going down with them.

In my presence—

Mírlach, Secretary, First Rank

Recorded and attested—

Nênšelardi, Recorder, First Rank

—Third Audience—

In the Hall of Bears, on the twenty-first day of Zaghân and the five-hundred and twentieth year of the Jewels, at the morning audience, Lord Mairon, Lieutenant of the Lord of All, presiding sole; the assessors Urukišha, Šunilukkái, and Lakjašalli being seated; present also the observer Hašmetarai; Mírlach, secretary, first rank; and Nênšelardi, recorder, first rank, internal matters.

The accused Thuringwethil was brought from the place prepared for her by the wardens of the watch, the Lieutenant and the recorder going down with them. She was reminded of the oath she had sworn.

Asked whether she remembered anything relating to her affair which she was bound by that oath to declare, she answered that she had nothing more to say.

She was then reminded that in the two previous audiences she had been admonished to recollect herself and to confess freely and in full, submitting herself entirely to the Giver of Freedom, so that her offenses might be paid for and the stain of them taken from her. She was informed that the investigator Uzhumâghan had an accusation to bring against her; that she would do well to declare the whole truth before it was brought, since one who confesses before the accusation finds more mercy than one who confesses after it; and that otherwise the accusation would be brought, and justice done.

The hall turned cold, and then did not.

She answered that she had nothing more to say.

Straightway appeared Uzhumâghan, investigator of internal matters, first rank, who presented the accusation, signed in his own hand, and swore that he did not bring it out of malice, but solely that justice might be done. The accusation was as follows:

ACCUSATION.

I, Uzhumâghan, investigator of internal matters, first rank, appear before the Lieutenant of the Lord of All, and accuse Thuringwethil, lately herald of the Lieutenant, held in the place prepared by the Lieutenant and now present; in that the said Thuringwethil, being an officer of high rank, and bound to keep the Codes as all are bound who live beneath the Lord of All, has committed offenses under the Codes and against those beneath her, in the following manner:

  1. That she took Nárelótë, now secretary, ninth rank, junior, of division S-2, and formerly seamstress of division C-134-B, against her will, for the use of her body; and did so on many occasions, from the winter after the elves were brought from Gondolin until the sixty-eighth day of Grazhân of the five-hundred and nineteenth year; and that she bound her.
  2. That over the same years she fed upon the blood of the said Nárelótë, against her will and on many occasions, by bites to the shoulder, the arm, the wrist, the neck, the knee, and the thigh, with venom such that the blood was slow to stop; by which the said Nárelótë was many times brought fainting to the infirmary serving her division, and wasted, as the case reports of that infirmary show.
  3. That on or about the sixty-eighth day of Grazhân of the five-hundred and nineteenth year, she bit the said Nárelótë over the pulse of the thigh, with venom such that the blood would not stop, and left her so, bleeding, in the corridor outside her workroom; by which the said Nárelótë was brought near to death.
  4. That she caused punishments to be given that the Codes do not allow: the sempster Ozûtalai, fed upon by her attendants until he fell, with no offense named; the seamstress Draumâkil, shown her dead by means the Codes do not know, and given forty strokes by her order for an offense not of the highest degree, with no healer present; the healer Assurakûn, punished eight times to the highest degree with no offense named and no healer present, and lastly given fifty strokes by the hand of his own commander, by her order; and the chief medical officer Bakharma, fed upon in her own infirmary.
  5. That on the fourth day of Bashân of the five-hundred and seventeenth year, she broke the custody of infirmary CL-23, and took the said Nárelótë from it undischarged and unfit.
  6. That she gave gifts and favors to Assupilik, captain of division C-134-B, so that he would give the said Nárelótë into her hands and conceal what was done.
  7. That she punished those who reported or complained of her conduct, so that it would not reach those above her.
  8. That it is to be presumed she has committed further offenses of the same kind against other persons, whose names are not yet known; and that, having been admonished three times to declare the truth, she has not done so.

For these reasons I ask that the Lieutenant receive this accusation as true, or so much of it as shall suffice for justice; that he declare the said Thuringwethil guilty of the offenses aforesaid, and impose upon her the gravest punishment the Codes allow, for an expiation to herself and an example to others; and that, if it be found necessary, she be put to the torture, until she declare the whole truth of herself and of others.

And I swear that I do not bring this accusation out of malice, but solely that justice may be done.

Uzhumâghan, investigator of internal matters, first rank

The accusation having been read, the accused laughed, and asked who in this mountain could put her to the torture.

She was told that, if it should come to that, the Lieutenant would do it himself.

She asked: “Is that a threat, Mairon?”

She was told that it was a warning.

She was then informed that, under the Instructions governing this inquiry, she might choose one of two advocates named by the Lieutenant’s Office, to defend her so far as the Codes allow: namely, Tarhunzaš, advocate of internal matters, second rank; and Halpašuli, lately officer of the armies, now elder of the clan of Kurruhi.

She answered that she would have neither; that she has always spoken for herself.

She was then sworn to answer the accusation truly, article by article. It was read again, article by article, and she answered as follows:

To the heading, she answered that she is the Thuringwethil accused, herald of the Lieutenant. The secretary, being directed, entered: lately herald.

To the first article, she answered that she took the seamstress, as she had said, and kept her; and that the seamstress came when she was sent for. She said further that she did not know the seamstress had been made a secretary, and asked whether the Lieutenant meant to keep her for himself.

She was directed to answer the article.

She answered that she had.

Asked whether Nárelótë came willingly, she answered that she came, and was not carried.

To the second article, she answered that she fed upon the seamstress, as she had fed upon others.

Asked whether she has need of blood, she answered that she has not.

To the third article, she answered that the seamstress lived.

Asked whether, when she left Nárelótë, Nárelótë was bleeding, she answered that she was.

Asked whether she sent for a healer, she answered that she did not.

Asked who found Nárelótë, she answered that she did not know.

Asked whether she knew that Nárelótë could die of such a wound, she answered again that the seamstress lived. She said further that there are those in this mountain who have been hurt worse than the seamstress, and mended by the one who hurt them, and—

The assessor Šunilukkái stood. The accused did not finish.

Asked whether she had mended Nárelótë, she did not answer.

The assessor Šunilukkái sat.

To the fourth article, she answered that the punishments were hers to give, and were given for insolence; and that the Codes require an offense to be named, but that there are some in this mountain who have been punished without being told why, and that no one has brought anyone before this court for it.

She was directed to answer the article.

She answered that the punishments were hers to give.

To the fifth article, she answered that custody has not always stopped— and then stopped, and asked whether the court wished her to finish.

She was directed to answer the article.

She answered that she needed the seamstress, and took her.

To the sixth article, she answered that the captain was paid for his trouble, as captains are.

To the seventh article, she answered that she punished insolence, as any officer may.

To the eighth article, she answered that the court would find what it finds.

The above being read back to her, she affirmed it to be correctly recorded.

The Lieutenant ordered that the request of the investigator Uzhumâghan concerning the torture be reserved; that the accused be given a copy of the accusation; and that the testimony against her be published at the next audience.

She was again admonished to recollect herself and to declare the truth, and was returned to the place prepared for her by the wardens of the watch, the Lieutenant and the recorder going down with them.

In my presence—

Mírlach, Secretary, First Rank

Recorded and attested—

Nênšelardi, Recorder, First Rank

—Fourth Audience—

In the Hall of Bears, on the twenty-second day of Zaghân and the five-hundred and twentieth year of the Jewels, at the morning audience, Lord Mairon, Lieutenant of the Lord of All, presiding sole; the assessors Urukišha, Šunilukkái, and Lakjašalli being seated; present also the observer Hašmetarai; Mírlach, secretary, first rank; and Nênšelardi, recorder, first rank, internal matters.

The accused Thuringwethil was brought from the place prepared for her by the wardens of the watch, the Lieutenant and the recorder going down with them. She was reminded of the oath she had sworn.

Asked whether she remembered anything relating to her affair which she was bound by that oath to declare, she answered that she had nothing more to say.

She was informed that the investigator Uzhumâghan had asked that the testimony against her be published; that before it was published she would do well to declare the whole truth, since it would go better with her to confess it than to have it shown to her; and that otherwise the publication would be made.

She answered that she had nothing more to say.

Straightaway appeared Uzhumâghan, investigator of internal matters, first rank, who stated that the witnesses in this cause had ratified their testimony in form, and asked that it be published. The Lieutenant ordered the publication to be made, the names of the witnesses and all other circumstances by which they might be known being withheld, according to the Instructions governing this inquiry; and that the accused answer each part, being sworn to answer truly. This was done as follows:

PUBLICATION OF THE TESTIMONY.

I. A certain captain declares that the accused came to his workroom in the winter after the elves were brought from Gondolin, and asked the name of the seamstress, and whether she had a clan; that the accused afterward sent him gifts, namely wine of the south, a ring set with a garnet, fine silk, and ration tallies of his own division; that whenever the accused or her attendants came for the seamstress, he sent her; that by the accused’s word he was absent from his workroom on the day the sempster Ozûtalai was bitten; that the complaints of his division he carried not to his superior but to the accused; and that by the accused’s order he doubled the count of his division, so that they would have no breath to complain again.

She answered that the captain was useful, and was paid.

II. A certain witness of the stores declares that the ration-tag of the said Nárelótë drew no rations at the hall for runs of days, while her count was met; and that fine cloth was drawn by her division against no order, and marked in the division’s cloth-book for the Lady.

She answered that the seamstress ate at her table, and that the cloth was for her gown.

III. It was further published that there were found in the chambers of the accused, among other things: a gown, shifts, and slippers made to the measure of the said Nárelótë; kerchiefs of rough cloth, one hundred and sixty-three; and, in a locked chest, a gown of the fashion of Gondolin, shoes, and a head-cloth, never washed, stiff with the mud and ash of the road.

Asked whether, in the second audience, she had stated that the workroom of division C-134-B was the first place she saw the said Nárelótë, she answered that she had.

Asked how she came to have the clothes the said Nárelótë wore when she came through the gates of this mountain, which are taken from all who come at their first bathing, she answered that she liked to remember how the seamstress looked when she came.

Asked whether she was at the gates when the said Nárelótë came, she answered that she was at the gates when all of them came.

Asked whether, then, the workroom was the first place she saw her, she answered that it was not, and asked why it mattered whether she first saw the seamstress in this place or that place.

She was told that it mattered because she had sworn it. The Lieutenant directed that it be entered that the answer she gave on this matter in the second audience was, by her own admission, false.

To the kerchiefs, she answered that the seamstress always had another.

It was further published that there was found in the same chest a small casket of silver, holding seven locks of hair, each tied with a thread, from seven different heads.

Asked whose hair was in the casket, she answered: “Would you like me to tell you, Mairon? Or would you rather not know?”

She was asked again, in the same words, whose hair was in the casket. She answered: “Ask me as if you wanted to know.”

The question was entered as unanswered. The Lieutenant directed that it be entered also that the request of the investigator concerning the torture remains reserved.

The accused then asked the Lieutenant whether, if she were put to the torture and bore it, that would pay for it, in his eyes.

She was told that the Codes say what pays for an offense, and what does not.

She said that she had not asked the Codes.

The question was entered as unanswered.

IV. A certain witness of the division declares that the captain would leave the workroom a short time before the accused came to it, and return a short time after she had gone; that the accused’s attendants came often to the workroom to fetch the said Nárelótë; and that the witness believes she went with them, the first time, so that they would stop.

She answered that the seamstress came, and never was dragged or carried into her presence.

V. Another witness of the division declares that the accused named the offense of the seamstress Draumâkil before the whole division standing along the wall; that the division told their captain what was being done, and used the word for it, which is rape.

With this testimony was entered a length of grey cord, closely knotted, tied by a witness one knot for each time the said Nárelótë was fetched. It was counted before the accused, and found to bear nine hundred and four knots.

With a very small smile, she said: “They counted.”

The assessor Urukišha asked, with leave, whether the said Nárelótë had any kin who might have counted for her. The accused answered that she had none. The assessor Urukišha said that she had.

VI. Another witness declares that she asked, at times, to be let be, saying that she was sick, or sore, or weary, and was not let be; that she asked for mercy, and was refused; that she was bound at such times as she could not keep still; and that she was told that she belonged to the accused until the ending of the world.

She answered that she had said so, and that it was true.

VII. The case reports of a certain healer, forwarded under seal and ratified in form, were then read in their order, from the first, of Ulubhân in the five-hundred and fifteenth year, to the last, of Grazhân in the five-hundred and nineteenth. The last was read in full, the names of persons being withheld; the substance of it is entered here as follows:

Brought by her division, carrying her. Unconscious. Found in the corridor outside the workroom before the first bell. A whole bite at the innermost thigh, over the pulse and not the vein. Bright blood, rising with each beat of her heart. Venom heavier than in any prior report. Pressure by hand through the night, three healers in turn. Toward morning the bleeding at the wound slowed, but bruising has risen at the flank and the small of the back, where no hand can press. She is bleeding where I cannot reach. She would not survive another like it.

She said that the seamstress was given everything, and was grateful for none of it.

She said further that the seamstress never raised the hue and cry; that she never complained to her captain, nor to her healer, nor to anyone; that she asked her own division to keep silent; that she came when she was sent for, and said that she was content; and that if this was force, then there are others in this mountain who come when they are called, and do not complain, and say that they are content, and—

The assessor Šunilukkái spoke without leave, and said: “One who does not complain has learned what complaining costs. That is all it proves.”

The Lieutenant did not rebuke him.

The accused then stated that the seamstress consented; that she said yes.

Asked what she would have done had the seamstress said no, she answered that the seamstress did say no, before.

Asked what was done then, she did not answer.

The Lieutenant then answered the accused, which he had not done before. He said: “A yes given to keep another from your teeth is no yes. It is so written in the Codes. I wrote it.”

The accused answered: “Then the Codes are not kept by all, Mairon. I have seen it done. I thought the law had been set aside.”

Here the audience was suspended, the Lieutenant being summoned immediately to attend the Lord of All.

In my presence—

Mírlach, Secretary, First Rank

Recorded and attested—

Nênšelardi, Recorder, First Rank

—

[Note — Where are the disposition records? Possibly to be found out of order in the stack of documents which lie below the next one, or possibly elsewhere, or possibly nowhere — I hope not the latter. These three were on the top of a stack of perhaps two hundred sheets, all bundled together, all standing in water from a seep in the lower wall of the chamber where we found them, which is a small one just off what I believe to have been the main chamber of the secretariat. There are several such chambers along that wall, all alike: very thick walls, nearly a forearm through; a drain set into the middle of each floor; and iron fittings let into the stone at about the height of a man’s shoulder. I take them to have been strongrooms for the most valuable records, with the drains to keep them dry, and the fittings for shelving long since rotted away. If so, the drain in this one failed us badly. The bottom of the stack is pulp. The middle may not be. We have stopped excavating that corner until I can learn how the elves of Lindon dry wet parchment without destroying it, if they do. I have written to three of them. I will write again when I know more. I hope the remainder can be salvaged. —E.]

—

[A parchment bearing the Grand Seal of the Lieutenant’s Office.]

In the city of Angband, on the twelfth day of Mughân and the five-hundred and twentieth year of the Jewels, Lord Mairon, Lieutenant of the Lord of All, hereby orders on his own authority:

That what has been found by the questioning and the searches ordered on the seventh day of Zaghân warrants further action; and that the questioning be widened accordingly, as follows:

That the rolls of every division of this mountain, and not of division C alone, be searched for the last fifty years for any worker reassigned at the request of the household of Thuringwethil, or struck from the rolls without cause entered;

That the rolls of the armies be searched for the same fifty years, for every campaign in which the said Thuringwethil served, for any prisoner or captive given into her keeping, and what became of them; and that twelve more officers of those campaigns be chosen by lot and questioned;

That the case reports of every infirmary of this mountain, and of every field infirmary of those campaigns, be searched for the same fifty years, as before;

That the reports of the scouts of every march be searched for the same fifty years, for any account of persons taken, or found dead, in the manner described in the case report of infirmary CL-23 dated the fifty-first day of Grazhân of the five-hundred and fifteenth year;

That notice be given to the kin of every person found, where there are kin to give it to; and that it be given in such words as do them no further harm;

That restitution be made to the kin of every person found, or to the person themselves where they live, from the stores of the Lieutenant’s own household, the one who did this having been of it;

And that the findings be brought to the Lieutenant, and to no other.

In my presence—

Halkiran, Secretary, First Rank

—

[A sheet in the hand of the division of internal matters, ruled in columns.]

FINDINGS OF THE QUESTIONING AND SEARCHES ORDERED ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF ZAGHÂN, AS THEY STAND ON THE TENTH DAY OF MUGHÂN. FIRST SHEET.

Of the seven locks of hair found in the chambers of Thuringwethil: one is the secretary Nárelótë’s. Three are matched, by those who knew them, to persons entered below. Three are not yet matched.

Persons found, to this day: [Note — This number was repeatedly crossed out and blotted, and the paper itself is foxed; I am unsure what it says — E.]

1. Kuwaliya, spinner, of division C-118. Reassigned at the request of the household of Thuringwethil in the four-hundred and ninety-seventh year; struck from the rolls of her division in the same year, without cause entered. Her ration-tag not presented at the hall after that month. Those who worked beside her, being questioned, believed she had been taken into the Lady’s service, and envied her. No death entered. Of the clan of Hapallu, of which one elder lives, dwelling with the clan of Plashavar. Her hair matched to one of the seven by a woman of her division. Notice given.

2. A captive, an elf, name not entered, taken in the campaign of the Sudden Flame, and given into the keeping of Thuringwethil by order of an officer of the third army. No record of return. No kin known. Her hair matched to one of the seven by the officer who gave her into that keeping, who remembered its color.

3. Hûrkalaš, soldier, of the third army, sent with a message to the tent of Thuringwethil in the same campaign. Case report of the field infirmary: punctures of one size and one spacing, at the throat; blood that would not stop. Died on the second day. The healer who wrote the report lives, and was questioned; she stated that she sent word of it to her commander, and heard nothing after. Of the clan of Arnukhanda. Notice given.

4. A worker of the mines of division M-31, reassigned at the request of the household of Thuringwethil in the five-hundred and third year, and returned to her division in the same year. Lives. Being questioned, confirmed that she was taken into that household, and asked that her name not be written further. Her hair matched to one of the seven by herself. The Lieutenant, being told, directed that her name be struck from this sheet, and that restitution be made to her in her own hand, and that she not be questioned again.

5. [Note — This is where the water line appears on the document. What follows is what I think I can make out — E.] …report of the scouts of the eastern march… a pale thing, winged, at night… 

—

[A small sheet, folded, bearing the seal of the Lieutenant’s Office.]

To Annawanni, eldest mother of the clan of Hapallu, dwelling with the clan of Plashavar.

By order of the Lieutenant of the Lord of All, notice is given that your kinswoman Kuwaliya, spinner of division C-118, struck from the rolls of that division in the four-hundred and ninety-seventh year of the Jewels without cause entered, is now known to have died in the keeping of one who has since been held to account.

Those who worked beside her, being questioned, remember that she was quick with her spindle and quicker with her tongue, and that she sang at her work when the captain was out of hearing.

The Lieutenant regrets that this was not known to you sooner, and that it was not known to him.

Restitution is owed to your clan, and will be made from the stores of the Lieutenant’s own household, the one who did this having been of it.

Her name has been entered in the record of this matter, so that it is known.

[On the back, in a different hand:]

Carried by the assessor Urukišha, of the clan of Zíšelardi, at her own asking; and spoken by her to the said elder from memory, the said elder being blind.

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