"My world had real gods. We didn't call them that, we called them the Valar, which just means powers of the world. They weren't gods in the sense of being omnipotent or all-knowing, though. Only in the sense of being charged with the care of our universe and of the beings in it. It was too big a job for them, and they made many mistakes, and they were often baffled. But at least they took their responsibilities seriously and did the best they could."
"Except for their brother Melkor, that is. He became disaffected early in the game and went about destroying things and corrupting people. Come to think of it, I believe he was feeding off the substance of the world, and off the misery of the people and creatures he afflicted. Maybe he had something in common with the gods of Hadriel! They certainly act like him at times." He chuckled, though it was a laugh that was mostly without humor. "The Hadriel gods are basically parasites. They don't do anything positive for us except in the expectation of being fed, though they seem to want credit for their 'generosity.' Some of the Hadrielites refer to them only as parasites, and will object when they hear the word god. I can hardly blame them. And the gods themselves refer to us as their hosts -- so they clearly think along the lines of a parasite/host relationship."
Of course Curufin did want to return home, but neither he nor any of his family could do that except by returning to a different point in time than the ones they had been pulled from. This is because they were all either dead or dying at the time. He did think of himself as a Hadrielite, but he suspected it was temporary. This was a situation that could not last. Either they were all going to die here, or they would prevail over the Null and gain access to the Door -- in which case, other worlds were a possibility. Or, given enough technical expertise to modify the time-properties of the Door, perhaps they might return to their own.
He listened to what Kelson had to say about the cubes and what he hoped could be created. "That sounds familiar. My father was famous for creating the palantiri, the seeing stones. They could be used to perceive events at a distance, or to contact other palantir-users at a distance. Battles of the will could be fought between two users, through a pair of these stones -- so that implies that one user could fend off the energies of another. It required a strong mind to control the stones, but that mind did not have to be versed in the magical arts."
But the fact was that Curufin did not know if there was some kind of link established between the energy beings and the Hadrielites. If there was, that would explain how these beings were able to affect their hosts so strongly and so directly.
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"Except for their brother Melkor, that is. He became disaffected early in the game and went about destroying things and corrupting people. Come to think of it, I believe he was feeding off the substance of the world, and off the misery of the people and creatures he afflicted. Maybe he had something in common with the gods of Hadriel! They certainly act like him at times." He chuckled, though it was a laugh that was mostly without humor. "The Hadriel gods are basically parasites. They don't do anything positive for us except in the expectation of being fed, though they seem to want credit for their 'generosity.' Some of the Hadrielites refer to them only as parasites, and will object when they hear the word god. I can hardly blame them. And the gods themselves refer to us as their hosts -- so they clearly think along the lines of a parasite/host relationship."
Of course Curufin did want to return home, but neither he nor any of his family could do that except by returning to a different point in time than the ones they had been pulled from. This is because they were all either dead or dying at the time. He did think of himself as a Hadrielite, but he suspected it was temporary. This was a situation that could not last. Either they were all going to die here, or they would prevail over the Null and gain access to the Door -- in which case, other worlds were a possibility. Or, given enough technical expertise to modify the time-properties of the Door, perhaps they might return to their own.
He listened to what Kelson had to say about the cubes and what he hoped could be created. "That sounds familiar. My father was famous for creating the palantiri, the seeing stones. They could be used to perceive events at a distance, or to contact other palantir-users at a distance. Battles of the will could be fought between two users, through a pair of these stones -- so that implies that one user could fend off the energies of another. It required a strong mind to control the stones, but that mind did not have to be versed in the magical arts."
But the fact was that Curufin did not know if there was some kind of link established between the energy beings and the Hadrielites. If there was, that would explain how these beings were able to affect their hosts so strongly and so directly.