Ellana's eyes dart to the book, then back to Galadriel, her expression a bit embarrassed. If she could have found a book written by an elf, she would be completely absorbed in it right now.
"It is written by a human man," she says softly. "I haven't been able to find anything on the subject written by elves. Even the elven tales told by Gisharel Ralaferin weren't in a book published by him. He told the humans our stories so they would survive, and the humans published it. Many Dalish think he did wrong, but I don't. Whatever helps others understand us better is fine by me."
But the opportunity to spread elven tales to an elf from another world is one she won't take for granted. She immediately begins telling Galadriel what she knows of the ancient days.
"Our people were once the only intelligent race in Thedas, or Elvhenan as we called it. That means 'the place of our people,' and at that time we were immortal. We lived in beautiful cities, but our capital was at Arlathan. That means 'this place of love.' It was located in the Arlathan Forest, which is in the Tevinter Imperium today. After the elves came the dwarves, and we had no quarrel with them. Then came the humans, and it's said that their presence somehow caused us to lose our immortality. The humans conquered Arlathan and the whole of the empire, taking elves as their slaves. For centuries we lived that way, and as time passed, we lost more and more of our history."
Ellana pauses, allowing Galadriel to absorb all that. It's a hollow ache in her chest, to know so much is gone. Could some of it be recovered if she were to explore some of these ruins herself?
no subject
"It is written by a human man," she says softly. "I haven't been able to find anything on the subject written by elves. Even the elven tales told by Gisharel Ralaferin weren't in a book published by him. He told the humans our stories so they would survive, and the humans published it. Many Dalish think he did wrong, but I don't. Whatever helps others understand us better is fine by me."
But the opportunity to spread elven tales to an elf from another world is one she won't take for granted. She immediately begins telling Galadriel what she knows of the ancient days.
"Our people were once the only intelligent race in Thedas, or Elvhenan as we called it. That means 'the place of our people,' and at that time we were immortal. We lived in beautiful cities, but our capital was at Arlathan. That means 'this place of love.' It was located in the Arlathan Forest, which is in the Tevinter Imperium today. After the elves came the dwarves, and we had no quarrel with them. Then came the humans, and it's said that their presence somehow caused us to lose our immortality. The humans conquered Arlathan and the whole of the empire, taking elves as their slaves. For centuries we lived that way, and as time passed, we lost more and more of our history."
Ellana pauses, allowing Galadriel to absorb all that. It's a hollow ache in her chest, to know so much is gone. Could some of it be recovered if she were to explore some of these ruins herself?