The Mirror remains open before the silent wardens. Its dark surface shows armed houses in Rohan receiving Saruman’s envoys, while pale offers of protection pass from hand to hand.
Galadriel
The promise of safety may be sincere in the hand that accepts it, yet shaped by the hand that offers it. Look beyond the words, Tuiwen.
The image turns. A second thread of silver bends south toward Gondor, vanishing beneath a veil of cloud before reappearing beside a seal that no messenger openly bears.
Galadriel
Help me distinguish genuine alliances from the hidden road by which Saruman intends to extend them. The Mirror will show patterns, but it will not judge them for us.
The elder Galadhrim wardens remain in their crescent, listening without interruption. Their guarded faces reflect the Mirror’s shifting light as the Rohan visions divide into honest fear, calculated loyalty, and concealed dependence.
Galadriel
Name what you recognize, and tell these wardens which roads lead toward fellowship, and which lead quietly back to Isengard.
✓ Quest Accepted
Determine whether Gondor’s hidden seal represents a genuine alliance
“"Saruman is the mightiest of wizards, and he is never content to rely on diplomacy alone. He is surely using magic to these ends. But magic cannot be used without leaving traces, a signature to its origin. Find this enchantment and we know his plans, and when we know his plans, we can unravel them."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Magic, rolled +1)
Tuiwen
Saruman is the mightiest of wizards, and he is never content with diplomacy alone. His magic must leave a signature. Find it, and we can unravel his plans.
Tuiwen lowers her gaze into the Mirror and follows the silver thread beneath each promise of protection. She separates spoken intent from the older force shaping the visions.
Tuiwen
The enchantment bends every alliance toward one hidden source.
The Mirror darkens around Rohan’s seals. Beneath them, a gray-white residue coils through the unseen paths, bearing the unmistakable pressure of Saruman’s will and turning southward toward Gondor.
Galadriel
You have found the signature. It does not command every hand, but it inclines frightened choices toward dependence, then conceals the guiding road beneath lawful words.
A hidden junction appears in the Mirror, linking Isengard’s enchantment to the Rohan messages and the unclaimed southern seal. Its pattern is clear enough to warn both realms and trace the next bearer.
Galadriel
The origin is Isengard. We know the road now, and knowledge gives us a choice: expose the enchantment, or quietly sever its reach before Saruman knows it was seen.