FC0 - CH 3: Trollbane

[HorizonsDream]

"Why?" Tavi asks curiously. "Do elves find humans that annoying?" she asks. It was clear that Arvin found them to be a bit annoying, but she didn't understand the reason why. She didn't even know why Barlemus found elves to be so annoying.

[JadedDM]

"Humans are reckless and arrogant. They believe they are more important than older, wiser races. They rush forward without thinking, they never consider the consequences, and they do not live in harmony with nature. They mine caverns empty, cut down entire forests, and pave over pristine land...and all in the name of greed. They're quick to anger, violence, and hatred," Arvin explains.

He huffs. "This entire nation that the humans call Gontoria was once beautiful land that belonged to the elves. When the humans first appeared, they went about claiming it as their own. As if planting a flag somehow means anything. Before long, our people had been pushed away to the far north. It is likely only a matter of time before the humans decide to turn their gazes that way, hungry for more land and resources."

[HorizonsDream]

"Not all humans are that way," Tavi says with a frown. "You kind of view us like a mother and father would their child." That thought made her laugh a little bit. "I mean, mom and dad would ask me why I never did as I was told, or why I never listened to them. I guess that is just what the young do."

[JadedDM]

"Perhaps so," Arvin says. "But if there are any humans are not like that, I have never seen them myself. And while children don't always do what they are told, they tend not to destroy nature, either. Humanity is extremely dangerous in large numbers, even if they mean well individually."

[HorizonsDream]

"You know, humans aren't the one ones to destroy nature," Tavi says. "At least, I don't think we are the only ones," she adds thoughtfully. She glances to Barlemus. "I guess I can see why you don't like elves," she says. "But Arvin here doesn't seem so bad. He makes good points."

[JadedDM]

Barlemus hasn't been paying much attention to the conversation until now, but he does speak up when Tavi talks to him. "Elves think they're better than us just because they live a long time. Well, it takes them forever to do anything, too. Ut, they'd be content to just let goblins slaughter livestock and raid honest folks for decades, even centuries. As long as it's not their people suffering, what do they care?"

"They would still only be slaughtering livestock, as you say, had you not given them cause to band together and start attacking people, too," Arvin shoots back. "Your human passion and inability to think ahead is what has put us in this situation in the first place. You've made things worse."

[HorizonsDream]

Tavi looks between the two men with wide eyes. She didn't think it would turn into something like this. "Wait a minute," Tavi says to Arvin. "Killing livestock isn't a very good thing either, you know. Some people that live out here depend on that livestock to survive," she explains. "Barlemus was only trying to help, and besides I don't think his actions alone are what caused the goblins to band together. It took them awhile to plan something like this, I'm sure."

[JadedDM]

"Yeah!" Barlemus adds, giving Tavi a smile.

Arvin shakes his head. "Of course the humans will side with each other." Putting his arrows away, he adds, "Elves manage to survive just fine, for hundreds of years I might add, without the use of animal slavery and butchery. If humans learned to live off the land, instead of relying heavily on domestication, they wouldn't have that problem."

=====================

Tavi receives a +1 reaction to Barlemus.

[HorizonsDream]

"How are we to learn how to do that if the race that has been doing that for so long won't teach us?" Tavi asks curiously. "If the elves, providing a lot of them are like you, would put aside their dislike for us, and actually take the time to teach us, then maybe we wouldn't rely on livestock so much," she points out. "Instead, elves and humans would rather bicker about which race is better, and why that race is better for whatever reason. Each race has good things and bad things about them. Human passion can be a good thing and a bad thing if you think about it."

[JadedDM]

"Do you really think we haven't tried before?" Arvin asks. "Humans cannot be taught. They do not have the patience for it. They chafed under our guidance, believing they knew better. Humans only want instant gratification. Everything must be given to them now, now, now."

"That's just 'cuz it takes elves decades to do anything. Humans don't live long enough for elven lessons," Barlemus retorts.

"Perhaps not," Arvin replies. "But any knowledge could be passed down throughout the generations. But humans seem not to care at all about the future. Spending a lifetime learning something to help their descendents is seen as a 'waste of time' by most humans' reckoning. They have no perspective of things in the long term at all."

[HorizonsDream]

"That is where you are wrong," Tavi says with a sigh. "Everything that I know was passed down to my by my father," she explains. "Humans do pass on their knowledge to the next generation, and we do think about the future. You can't use your methods to teach us what you think we need to learn," she explains. "Yeah, we do want things quickly, but we have reasons for that as Barlemus has pointed out. If you really wanted us to learn, you would find another way to teach us that didn't take centuries to learn."

[JadedDM]

"As I said, humans do not even wish to learn. I've yet to meet one that didn't all ready think he knew everything all ready," Arvin points out. Shaking his head, he pulls out some food and a waterskin from his backpack.

[HorizonsDream]

"We wish to learn," Tavi says simply. "And I'll prove it to you at some point." Arvin was going to be a challenge with the way he thought about humans, but she was sure she could change his mind at some point. "I think I'm going to get some sleep." With that said, she curls up in a little ball on the ground and closes her eyes.

[JadedDM]

XP is as follows:

Octavia
Roleplaying: 200 XP
Ideas: 50 XP (Goblin trap)
Combat: 527 XP
Sidequest: 200 XP

TOTAL: 977 XP (+10%) = 1,075 XP

Barlemus
Combat: 767 XP
Sidequest: 200 XP

TOTAL: 967 XP (+10%) = 1,064 XP

Arvin
Combat: 587 XP

TOTAL: 587 XP