Hey Dets, during the time of the quest, did any of the then dead dwarves realise that Bilbo was Thorin’s One, the same way that most of the Company observed and guessed? Thror and Thrain don’t seem to have known, but did Fris or Frerin or anyone else perhaps wonder about it as they watched the Company move towards Erebor?

Ah 🙂

Yes, as you’ve gathered, Thror and Thrain didn’t figure it out. But Frerin definitely did. Even though it hurt him (and Frerin doesn’t deal very well with his own pain, only with other people’s) he watched the whole sorry story unfold. Thror and Thrain had to leave when Thorin fell under the gold’s spell (too much, too painful, too close, my son, my grandson, not you, not you, not again, no no no – ) but Frerin stayed. Frerin saw. Young, clever, immature Frerin knew long before Thorin did. He knows his brother, after all.

Fris is an inconstant watcher. She is more likely to care for people one-on-one, where she can speak to them and care for them. She is very good at comforting those she loves, and watching people suffer at a distance is not something she can handle very well. She knew Thorin cared for Bilbo, but not to the extent that he did.

Vili visits Dis every morning without fail. Not in one hundred and forty years has he missed a sunrise. He now and then stopped in on his boys as well, and he noticed a thing or two that puzzled him – particularly after the Carrock. But there were so many more pressing things for him to consider, really. His boys’ safety and survival (and later, Kili’s immediate attachment to this strange Elven captain) occupied most of his thoughts.

Hrera spotted it immediately. She knows what it is to dislike a person on sight, and through time and circumstances come to love the very things that had once seemed so obnoxious and ridiculous. She knew the minute Thorin swung down from a ledge upon the Misty Mountains to rescue his ‘useless burglar’. After all, how many times did she rail against her allotted husband, only to choose him for herself in the end?

kailthia:

I did a gift-fic!

Meant to Be, which is a Sansuk-verse present for determamfidd.

It’s basically Thror/Hrera fluffyness. M rating for caution.

Enjoy!

THIS IS THE CUTEST MOST TENDER INTIMATE FLUFFINESS

I AM TRYING DESPERATELY NOT TO MELT STRAIGHT THROUGH THE FLOOOOR

I think that maybe that most of the people who “heard” the One Ring, like fili and kili and nori, would go and have a quiet chat w/Thror or Thrain. Because how did they deal with one of those for decades?

Ahhhh I’m really really glad you asked actually! I’ve put MASSES of thought into that particular aspect. Okay, I’m paraphrasing a bit from canon here, but this is where the whole ‘hearing the One Ring’ stuff came from, and how Thrain and Thror were able to bear their ring without going totally postal.

The Dwarf-rings did not have the same effect as the other Rings of Power. They have no voice, only malevolent magic.

When Aule made the Dwarves he made them knowing that Melkor was still about, still twisting things into unrecognisable evil – and so he made them incredibly resistant in every way. When Sauron made and gifted the Seven to the Dwarves, he actually fucked up a bit.

The Dwarves do not lightly accept another’s rule over their own will. They are WAY too tough. No Dwarf-Lord ever became a wraith the way that the Kings of Men did. They retained their form and their own mastery. The Seven didn’t even turn them invisible. And so the Rings got handed down generation after generation, and Sauron had expended all that power and effort for nothing.

But.

Instead of making their wills subject to Sauron, the Seven Rings encouraged covetous behaviour in their bearers. They could make whatever the Dwarves mined grow manyfold. They became eager for dominion. Huge treasure-hoards built up around the Rings, which in turn attracted dragons. (Sound familiar?)

Sauron got pissed off about his failure to corrupt the Dwarves, though, and so he tried to gather the Seven back to himself (tantrum, much). Four of the Seven were eaten by dragons, and three he managed to get back eventually. The last one, the Ring of Durin, he took from Thrain in Dol Guldur. These three rings are the prizes he offers to Dain in return for information on Bilbo Baggins (and Dain basically does the equivalent of ‘hold music’ while he gets Elrond’s advice).

So that’s what Thrain and Thror both experienced. It would have felt like their own thoughts, and it would only be in hindsight that they could see how far from themselves they roamed. But the One is a different beast altogether.

Throughout the fic, I’m having the One Ring grow in power as Sauron’s strength waxes. It remains mostly dormant while with Bilbo (we don’t see it growing heavier as swiftly as it does with Frodo – Bilbo has no chain-scar on his neck), and wakens more and more on the journey.

When Bilbo first gives it away it does not have the power to tempt Thorin. He looks at it lying on Bag End’s steps where Bilbo dropped it – and nothing happens. It only has the power to attract the living, and even then it is not the irresistible force it becomes.

By the time it reaches Rauros, it has begun to weigh on Frodo – and it has the power to tempt the desperate. Boromir falls.

By the time it is in the Dead Marshes, it can feel its Master’s nearness and has grown in power. It casts about, and finds the dead. Thorin and Kili hear it. It seeks to sow discord and fear, and it succeeds. It also seeks Thorin’s Gift – can you imagine how useful that would be, to Sauron?

By the time they reach Cirith Ungol, it has become even more potent. Yikes.

Definitely, they should all go have a good natter. I think Thror would be the best bet for advice, and Thrain would be the best bet for comfort. Thror is pretty bald and blunt about what happened: he will not allow himself any pity, it’s one of the ways he indulges that terrible guilt of his (SNAP OUT OF IT THROR, jeez, if Thorin can do it). He’d be up-front and matter-of-fact and understanding, though. Thrain would probably not want to talk about it, but he would be the one who gives the massive bear-hug and hot drink and blanket and corner in his forge to hide in.

Good lord, this answer meandered everywhere: sorry Nonnie!

The real reason Thror sleeps with a small mountain of pillows before he marries: he is a secret snuggle monster. Between the fall of the Mountain and his death, he would often have one or more of his grandkids crawl into his bed at night, especially Frerin or Dis. It helped with their nightmares, and made Thror feel a little better too.

small squeak bc THAT IS ADORABLE