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"Plantation?" Elros substituted for her; and he smiled faintly. "Really ... that's wonderful! It means then that it was rebuilt after the war. I had heard something about the Aldrich family owning a plantation out in the desert, and I saw it when I was down there, but it had been completely destroyed then."

He nodded. "I'm glad their life is back to normal."

"Well, it was war," Elros explained patiently, "the dwarfs destroyed it. As far as I know, nobody knows why they did it, only that they did and that from there they moved to the city, and started to destroy it."

He paused thoughtfully.

"Then again," he murmured, "not much about that war made sense at all."

"I really don't know," Elros admitted. "Though I've often questioned whether they wanted a war to begin with. They certainly weren't prepared for it, in any case."

He spotted the third guard just ahead and strode forward purposefully.

Elros blinked at Lin. "Turned off?" he questioned as he approached the guard - this time a black-haired Southlander.

He was average height, seven feet flat, but Elros made him look just plain short. He had a kindly face, though, and was, compared to the other fighters, in very good condition (so to speak, meaning that he wasn't scarred at all).

"Ah, I see," Elros nodded at Lin. "Well, no one has ever accredited the dwarfs with an overabundance of intelligence, though it makes sense, considering their creator."

He cast the Southlander a curious glance, and the elf nodded and gave Elros the thumbs up. Without any further communication, Elros headed off once more into the forest.

"Elves and humans were created by Iluvatar, who is the One, who created even the Valar," Elros explained, heading now towards the south. "Thus, the elves and the humans were created perfectly, without any flaws. Sad to say, it wasn't long before they created their own, but still, they are a reflection of their maker. The dwarfs on the other hand were created by a Vala who was impatient to populate this world, and they were created from the rocks and dirt, and they were only given the knowledge of their own creator, who knew but little. After all, you can't teach one what you yourself don't know. So the dwarfs then are ... I hesitate to use the term, but they are lesser beings, because of the way they were created."

He shrugged. "When they die, they just die. That's the end of them, there is nothing more. The souls of the elves return to the Halls of Mandos, where they are judged and eventually they return to Arda as a new person. The humans are taken to live with Iluvatar - at least, their souls are. In a manner of speaking, then, the humans are as immortal as we elves, though they have but one life on this earth, and it a short one. The dwarfs though are the most mortal of us all."

Elros blinked at Lin. "Then your humans are like we elves, save that our lifespan is so much longer," he murmured. "But the humans here ... they are the fortunate ones. They spend their eternity with Iluvatar, the one who made us ... they can see and be with everyone they ever loved here on Arda, and know who they are ... but we, when we are reborn, have no memories. It's like we're someone different altogether."

Elros nodded. "It's been known to happen," he agreed. "On the other hand, I have never died, and thus never been reborn, and so I can't say from experience whether or not it's true as fact. Nor have I ever loved anyone, so I have no one to look forward to seeing again."

He shrugged one shoulder, the one that Lin wasn't sitting on. "Life goes on, whether you know the same people or different people, whether you still have everyone you ever knew or whether you've lost those who are dear to you."