The reflected seals lengthen across the Mirror’s dark water. A formal promise, bearing Gondor’s hidden seal, appears beneath lawful Rohan script, while a faint silver pressure bends both toward Isengard.
Galadriel
We must separate the words from the influence surrounding them. A lawful promise may be genuine, even when Saruman has shaped the fear that makes it welcome.
The southern seal opens into reflected lines of guardianship, tribute, and mutual defense. None bears a visible spell, yet every path curves toward the same concealed junction.
Galadriel
Do not call dependence enchantment merely because it serves his design. Find what was freely offered, what was demanded, and what choice the wording quietly removes.
The Mirror divides the promise into three reflections: a genuine plea from Rohan, a protective covenant, and a thin gray strand leading south beneath Gondor’s unclaimed seal.
Galadriel
If the warning names only what we can witness, it may reach Rohan without strengthening the hidden design. Look closely, Tuiwen, and tell me where the lawful road ends.
The reflected seals remain suspended, awaiting scrutiny. Beyond the chamber’s open arches, Lothlórien’s ward-lights hold steady while the southern path waits for Tuiwen’s judgment.
“She studies it closely.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Perception, rolled +0)
Tuiwen studies the reflected seals without invoking ward-sight. She follows each curve through the Mirror’s dark water, comparing the lawful script, the southern mark, and the pressure bending them toward Isengard.
Tuiwen
The Rohan plea is genuine. The covenant is offered, but its wording removes refusal by making Isengard’s protection appear necessary.
Her careful scrutiny separates the reflections. Rohan’s fear belongs to its own message; the covenant carries no spell, yet its conditions turn protection into dependence. The gray strand begins only afterward, beneath Gondor’s seal.
Tuiwen
The lawful road ends at the covenant’s hidden condition. Rohan freely asks for protection, but the wording makes continued safety depend upon obedience to Isengard.
The Mirror confirms her reading. The Rohan seal remains clear and separate, while the covenant folds toward Isengard and the unclaimed Gondorian mark receives the same quiet pressure.
Galadriel
Then we can warn Rohan without calling its plea false. We will name the condition plainly, and distinguish Saruman’s influence from the choice that remains its own.
“"Rohan seems able to protect its own borders without Saruman's help. What dangers threaten Rohan? They must surely be asking themselves that. Could Saruman himself be stirring up trouble on their borders? It is worth looking into."”
FAILURE (Great Reasoning, rolled -2)
Tuiwen
Rohan seems able to protect its own borders without Saruman's help. What dangers threaten it? Could Saruman himself be stirring trouble there? It is worth looking into.
Tuiwen follows the covenant’s reflected road beyond the lawful seal, seeking signs of danger along Rohan’s borders and traces of Saruman’s hand behind them.
The Mirror clouds beneath her scrutiny. It reveals frightened settlements, disputed marches, and scattered reports of raids, but the reflections overlap before their causes can be distinguished.
Galadriel
The dangers are real, but the Mirror will not prove that Saruman made them. His influence may be exploiting fear rather than creating every threat.
The investigation falls short. Yet one detail remains clear: every report seeking Isengard’s protection passes through the same border settlement before reaching the wider covenant.
Galadriel
That settlement is our opening. We cannot accuse Saruman from this vision, but we can ask what danger first drove that house to seek his protection.
The Mirror closes around the blurred roads, preserving the settlement’s position as a defensible lead. Repeating the same sight would yield only confusion; direct testimony must now answer what reflected vision cannot.
“"This blurring is strange. Could Saruman be using magic to conceal his schemes? If so, I can use the revealing light to penetrate it. But it might be better yet to go and look myself."”
SUCCESS (Great Reasoning, rolled -2)
Tuiwen
This blurring is strange. Could Saruman be using magic to conceal his schemes? If so, revealing light might pierce it, though it may be wiser to investigate in person.
Tuiwen weighs the blurred reports against the clear limits of the Mirror. The scattered dangers are genuine, but no reflected sign proves Saruman created them. The uncertainty is part of the evidence.
Galadriel
Your question has found the useful distinction. Concealment may veil a scheme, but it cannot turn suspicion into proof. We must learn what the threatened settlement witnessed.
Tuiwen traces the overlapping reports back through the Mirror and identifies the first border settlement named in every request for Isengard’s protection. The place, not Saruman’s supposed spell, becomes the defensible lead.
Tuiwen
The settlement’s testimony can distinguish danger from manipulation better than another uncertain reflection.
Galadriel
We have gained a place to investigate, though not yet the cause of its peril. The cost is time: the Mirror’s blurred reports cannot tell us which raid or fear began the chain.
The Mirror closes over the overlapping roads, preserving the settlement’s position and the unresolved question. Galadriel orders the record copied for the wardens, while the next inquiry turns toward living testimony.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn what danger drove the border settlement to seek protection
“"I can approach Rohan safely and undetected by passing through Fangorn Forest. I don't know how the Rohirrim will receive me. I suppose I will just have to go and find out. Pack me some lembas bread and I'm off."”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +2)