[quote][i]Originally posted by Irennan[/i] [br][quote][i]Originally posted by xaeyruudh[/i] . I guess I'm saying, if I could have my way... the heinous things would be traced to individuals, so that we can say [b]this guy right here[/b] hated the moon elves, and [u]this[/u] one decided to use the green elves to get rid of the silver elves, and [u]this[/u] one developed a [i]mass�charm[/i] high magic spell that compelled the green elves to go along with it in spite of it alienating them from their friends, neighbors, lovers, and children, and it was [u]this[/u] one who murdered the three elders and kicked off a war of terror and tears that made the silver elves scatter and lose their homes and loves. That isn't consistent with existing presentations of history. History chapters, even when they're long, sometimes seem to be rushed and short on some of the details that would help us sort our reactions to the story. Kudos to the Ruins of Myth Drannor for naming the nycaloths -- I still remember reading those names the first time. Cormanthyr gave us the Vyshaan clan, giving us a more specific target than just hating all of Aryvandaar... it creates a door, behind which we might find good in Aryvandaar; drowned out, maybe, and certainly overbalanced, but possibly [i]there[/i]. If it's taken another step, to naming individuals in the clan who set the whole nightmare into motion and made "everyone" go along with it, then there's room for writing about opposing voices even within the Vyshaan family. Yah, the room is there anyway... but the prompt to write those stories is more clear when fingers are pointed and names are named. When it's clearly individuals who are doing the evil, then the rest of the race can be basically okay. All just my opinion. Except the "awesome lore." That's not opinion; that's fact. [/quote] I hear you here. When something bad happens on a large scale, you can't really expect the common people to be behind that, it is far more likely to have a group of few powerful and influent individuals pulling the strings (and often brainwashing/manipulating the masses, in order to be able to do their thing). [/quote]
[quote][i]Originally posted by Irennan[/i] [br][quote][i]Originally posted by xaeyruudh[/i] . I guess I'm saying, if I could have my way... the heinous things would be traced to individuals, so that we can say [b]this guy right here[/b] hated the moon elves, and [u]this[/u] one decided to use the green elves to get rid of the silver elves, and [u]this[/u] one developed a [i]mass�charm[/i] high magic spell that compelled the green elves to go along with it in spite of it alienating them from their friends, neighbors, lovers, and children, and it was [u]this[/u] one who murdered the three elders and kicked off a war of terror and tears that made the silver elves scatter and lose their homes and loves. That isn't consistent with existing presentations of history. History chapters, even when they're long, sometimes seem to be rushed and short on some of the details that would help us sort our reactions to the story. Kudos to the Ruins of Myth Drannor for naming the nycaloths -- I still remember reading those names the first time. Cormanthyr gave us the Vyshaan clan, 
giving us a more specific target than just hating all of Aryvandaar... it creates a door, behind which we might find good in Aryvandaar; drowned out, maybe, and certainly overbalanced, but possibly [i]there[/i]. If it's taken another step, to naming individuals in the clan who set the whole nightmare into motion and made "everyone" go along with it, then there's room for writing about opposing voices even within the Vyshaan family. Yah, the room is there anyway... but the prompt to write those stories is more clear when fingers are pointed and names are named. When it's clearly individuals who are doing the evil, then the rest of the race can be basically okay. All just my opinion. Except the "awesome lore." That's not opinion; that's fact. [/quote] I hear you here. When something bad happens on a large scale, you can't really expect the common people to be behind that, it is far more likely to have a group of few powerful and influent individuals pulling the strings (and often brainwashing/manipulating the masses, in order to be able to do their thing). [/quote]