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my grimoire. What transpired thereafter, however, made me no longer wish to bother." "What happened?" I asked, pouring another cup for myself. "Ah, Eddas. The Black Tower is full of fools, I think. They wished to trade for books on general magic theory, and research works regarding conjuration, summoning, alteration, ectoplasmic manipulation and soul-theory. It would be obvious even to a hedge-wizard that they are attempting to create a formula for revivification, which you, of course, have already done. The purpose was obvious, as well - they intended to raise your race from the Void, one person at a time - or at least raise their wives and loved ones. I thought this Page 65 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html strange, Eddas. Why spend all that time and effort researching a spell formula that you, a member of their order, already knew? So, in curiosity, I asked," Taliad said, and rolled his eyes. "Their leader flew into a rage at the merest hint that they might ask you, and said they'd cast you out of their order as a heretic and a madman. What utter nonsense. If it weren't for their age, I'd have told them to their faces they were fools." I nodded. Elves had a great respect for age in their culture, and all the members of the Dyclonic Circle were over sixteen centuries old. "The quality of foolishness is not limited to the young," I replied, quoting an old elven proverb. "True, Eddas - as you Hyperboreans used to say, 'There's No Fool Like An Old Fool'. In any event, I asked them what they might have to trade for these books. 'Gold - your weight in gold,' they replied. In deference to their age, I did not sneer. I am no grubby dwarf, whose every waking thought is occupied by gold. I trade for things that interest me, as you know, and things that I can trade for other things that interest me. Gold I have aplenty. It is not the accumulation of wealth that drives me, but the acquisition of interesting things, and the act of trading itself. I find bartering and haggling to be as enjoyable as pleasant conversation with friends - more, sometimes, as it's a bloodless and sometimes exciting exchange as each side makes offer and counter-offer in pursuit of the best deal they can get," Taliad said, then sipped at his cup quietly for a moment. This was the aspect of elven culture that Arella had the hardest time understanding when she had met Taliad a few years ago, and took me the longest to explain it to her. She, like most humans unfamiliar with elves, used to see them as being flighty, aloof, and unconcerned with anything other than frivolous activities, yet at the same time she knew they were beings of incredible age, experience and wisdom who are often possessed of such intensity and focused purpose that they are impressive - sometimes even frightening. Their desires and goals often seemed so alien to humans that their true intents and purposes seem to defy understanding. This dichotomy in their nature is resolved when one understands the two main elements of an elf's existence: Long Life and Obsession. The primary reason elves are seen as being flighty, aloof and unconcerned with day-to-day affairs is their very long lives. What reason is there to hurry when your average lifespan is six to seven centuries? Barring accident or illness, a typical elf can easily expect to outlive any human or dwarf. Many elves have seen several human kingdoms rise and fall in their lifetime, and met one or two members of their own race who are over a thousand years old. To an elf, nothing is really permanent. Even the mightiest castle in the world will crumble before they are middle-aged. Also, where a human female comes into season once each month, an elven female comes into season only once a year, in the springtime. Without the pressure of rapid population growth and short life, elves always look to the long-term, laying out plans and ideas that will take not months or years but decades or centuries to complete. In conflicts with humans or other short-lived races, elves are sometimes content to avoid conflict and simply out-live their foe, returning in a century or so to deal with their descendants (who may be more reasonable). Since elves are so long lived, they do not have the same concept of time or time-related conflict that humans do. An activity that seems like a heart-pounding pace to an elf will seem like a maddening crawl to a human, and an hourglass that seems to empty at a snail's pace to a human is empty in a very brief time to an elf. On the one occasion Arella met Taliad, our conversation was constantly interrupted with regular pauses while I carefully translated what was being said to Arella, then translated her words back to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |