Shadowknight12

Techno-Ninja: Thanks again! I'm glad you enjoyed the explanations and underlying justifications, they were really fun to think through!

Techno-Ninja: Thank you! Glad you think it was primal and sexy, that's exactly what I was aiming for!

Hah, really? My English is just barely decent grammar cushioned by florid vocabulary! I thought you could spot the foreignness a mile away! But yeah, the contradictions and lack of solid, stable rules make English tricky. But at least it doesn't have a gazilion verb tenses or weird ideograms. Oh hey! That's pretty awesome! Thanks for the link, I'll be putting it to good use! And heh, that's an original mother-daughter activity. Though I think you'll regret the beta offer when/if she starts getting into lemon. Well, the day I can't take a piece of concrit is the day I'll stop writing, that's what I always say.

Well, I'll be honest with you, English isn't my first language, and I've never been taught anything beyond the basics. Everything you see is the product of reading and imitating others, and authors/publishers are hardly unified in terms of punctuation. Sometimes I'd just wish there was a big list of rules I could check to ensure I'm doing things right. What you've mentioned about dialogue is a classic example of the type of conundrums I face when writing, that I have literally nobody to help me solve. If you know of any good websites that have compiled this sort of thing, I'd be forever in your debt. Hah, well, I'm actually not really that passionate about writing (being passionate leads to being defensive, which leads to not taking concrit very well, something I really want to avoid). It's just something I have to get better at, so any kind of feedback is most welcome. Heh, well, thanks! I really enjoy creating characters (not so much the 'writing what happens when you put them together' bits), so I guess it shows in the writing? It's definitely my favourite part of the process.

BronxWench: Thank you for the review and the compliments! Heh, with praise like that, my ego might get too big for my house! I try to be as... I don't know how to say it... "unshallow" perhaps, if you'll allow me to fabricate a neologism, to set myself as far apart as possible from the people who just write stories to fantasise about attractive characters. So it makes me rather pleased you think it's poetic and evocative, even if I'm not aiming exactly for that (since I'm seriously terrible at poetry). Heh, glad you liked the characters. I definitely shot for complexity and originality with them. Yeah, grammar and punctuation are my banes. Feel free to say as much as you want about that here or in the review (or a PM, why not), since I definitely listen to any concrit I get. The last part... well, I have the ending written and nothing else, heh. So it might take a while.

Two words for you: daddy issues.

Stupid me.

Who said anything about love? I never mentioned anything that esoteric. In fact, the closest thing I said was 'care about' and 'get attached' which are so far from love it's impossible to mistake one set of terms for the other. What I said was simple logic. You get attached to someone, they die, you feel bad. It's simple human nature. I continued positing the argument that it's logically unsound to perpetuate a cycle of attachment and downer endings. Then you mentioned the old age example. I'm not harping on old age, what I'm saying is that mourning isn't necessarily a waste of time. It's a natural process that varies from person to person, and stating "Oh, but X amount of time is too much!" is invalid because it really does vary enormously from any given personality to the next. That's all I'm saying. See my previous point re: "who brought love into this?" I said 'attachment' and 'care' which are words you could also use for friends, pets and family members. I did that on purpose. My point was that the logical path for an elf to take regarding humans is either pure sex with no attachment (one of the very first examples I mentioned) or enter a relationship with a human knowing full well what the outcome will be if he starts caring about her. Which given the amount of half-elves in the world, it's not entirely discouraged, it's just not as logical as choosing a mate that will likely live roughly as much as you will (since the elven population is far greater than its half-elven counterpart, representing here the percentage split between these contrasting philosophies).

Hah, yeah, that's definitely true. And ugh, don't remind me of that particular bit of fail on Sand's part. "Oh, dear councillor of mine, you had a Luskan past and didn't see it fit to inform me yet? Even as you knew full well what I was being accused of and offered to HELP me? WELL GUESS WHAT, YOU'RE NOT HELPING." Ugh, that's what I get for playing a low Int, high Wis and Cha, Aasimar prettyboy. Heh, glad it could spawn a funny scene! And yeah, I echo addict's advice to post the other fic along with this one. At least for the snark value! You can't EVER have too much snark. LOL. Somehow, I really don't think you can go overboard with character introspection. Though maybe that's a biased opinion, since I'm ALL ABOUT character introspection. Who needs sex when I can look at how a character's mind works? Heh, I fear I'll never stop rewriting my stories, LMAO. Every time I think I'm done with one of them, someone shows up with wonderful concrit that just GNAWS at me until I go back to edit. Oh, I see! Well, rewards are always nice. And as an aside, I honestly can't believe Bioware. Did they seriously believe that the sector of the female population that would find Casavir attractive (mainly, women about 30-50 who avidly read medieval romance novels) would buy their game? No, the women who'd buy their game would be teenagers who drool over hot men. I mean, look at them, fawning over Bishop, for crying out loud. Did nobody ever tell them this? Bah.

Good, now I can reply without derailing. addict stated what I think of the issue pretty well, so I think that's covered. BronxWench: A woman might outlive a man for 10-20 years (or even 30, in some cases). Those years are not spent at the peak of one's physical and mental maturity, like elves. They're spent fruitlessly battling decrepitude, senility, dementia, illness and ultimately death. You're not going to have TIME to mourn your loved one, you'll be more concerned about remembering important stuff before it fades for good, being able to shit on your own and praying not to slip and fall every time you go downstairs. Your GOOD years, anywhere from say, teens to 60-70, will most likely be spent together. Sure, he might die first, but you're not going to be able to go cruising for young tail afterwards. You'll be lucky if you remember the anniversary of his death, after all, so mourning him while you can is a pretty good idea.

Hah, I get what you mean. Looks like you have it figured out, don't be afraid to ramble. We're not ADD teens with short attention spans, like in the Pit (LMAO awesome nickname). Well, yes, I do see where you're coming from with Sand's emotionality, but it still feels so wrong, since he just doesn't seem like the type, you know? I don't know, I see Sand as the type to be cold and snarky even if he's bleeding to death from a rape and a beating. But hey, I haven't played NWN2 in a long time, so maybe you have the right of it. And eh, I can't really sympathise with Sand here. He brought it upon himself. If he wants to be free, he should go back to Evereska or Evermeet. If he wants protection, he's gotta pay the price. Nothing's free, you know? I thought he'd be smart enough to have figured out how the world works by then. Hah, you don't write like a chick! You write very gender-neutral, so don't worry about that. The point is, I think, that if you're going to include emotional stuff, you have to explain it. If you don't like delving into that kind of thing, don't add it. Giving the reader unexplained emotion is like giving them half a cat. Not only is it unsatisfying, it's a bloody, confusing mess. LOL, I see Machiavelli (and governments like Rome et al.) as sort of "Know Thy Enemy" guides. Though hey, don't be afraid to rant away, it's what the forum's for! If you don't want to do it in this thread, create a new one! Nobody's going to bite or anything. The staff is really easy-going here. Truffles from Leonidas... do I even want to know, lawl? Will do, Madam! And thank you, I do my best. *tips hat*

While I agree with your and wanderingaddict on the fact that elves might adapt to humans (I don't necessarily see this as a rule, I think that it's possible that the elven mind simply functions in a different level than the human's, and unless the elf is raised since birth in human lands, he's never going to think the same way as one), I don't necessarily believe that elves really do behave like that. Some might, of course, but I don't see it as the norm. I am honestly not fond at all of the old "elf sees humans as cute little playthings to keep himself amused throughout the ages" that is disturbingly prevalent in many stories. If the elf was raised amongst humans, he might see having a relationship with one as perfectly normal (or might in fact be attracted to his elven brethren due to the mystique of rediscovering his past), but I think that normal elves (those from elven communities) wouldn't necessarily think of mating with humans as something innately desirable. Sure, it's a new, invigorating experience, but I'd wager that there's just as many elves who'd rather not bother with them and pick an equally long-lived partner to spend the rest of their lives with. Which, in my opinion, makes a whole of a lot more sense (since I honestly have a hard time comprehending how an elf who allegedly cares about his mates actively pursues a cycle that ends inevitably in death over and over again). And also, the whole "it isn't a lifetime commitment for the elf the way it is for a human" just reeks of relationship inequality. The human spends his entire life with the elf and when he dies, the elf just shrugs and moves on? Yeah, you can't tell me the elf actually cares in this case. Like I said, I can understand the elf that doesn't give a crap, but how do you reconcile such masochism, caring about someone you know is going to die in what, for the elf, is a rather short time?

Two, if you count Zul'Drak in Northrend! But yeah, I had completely forgotten about the pathetic fences tauren are so fond of (they're not even tall enough for humans, for tauren it must be like a knee-high coffee table to trip over). Ugh, talk about epic fail. Huh, look at that. Guess trolls are the most nature-loving race. That sounds... so weird to my ears, lawl. Heh, agreed, I have to say I'm a fan of societal stuff in general. And cool, this was fun. I don't normally get to discuss lolore with someone who isn't a rabid Blizzard fanboy or a rabid Blizzard hater. Or who even KNOWS this stuff at all! Feel free to point out this kind of thing in the future if you want. It's awesome for me to consider things from another point of view. Looking forward to it! :3

Weeeeeell, I think huts/tents are more eco-friendly than enormous ziggurats, so I'd put tauren above trolls (rabidly defending their lands notwithstanding). But you're right, those two are pretty laid back! LMAO at the body bit. That's so true, trolls could just survive on mould and bat droppings. Hmmmm, you make a good point about night elves, BUT! I have a counter to that. What if they CAN'T do jack shit about it? I mean, I've done some research on Felwood, and it's stated pretty clearly that not even Cenarius, Malfurion and who knows who else, have been able to cleanse it. What if the same applies to any area where life can't teem naturally? (Let's leave Ungoro aside since that shit is seriously messed up) And if you look at the War of the Shifting Sands, you see that the night elves went there, the Silithids did not invade. That tells me that perhaps night elves DO try to exert their powers over their surroundings, it's just that apparently they're rather pathetic about it. Or whatever, lol, it's just random speculation. Yeah, vanity and self-importance are definitely there, too. And heh, you're right, it could be any of those! I'll go with 'every elf decides how much of an egomaniac he is, and views nature accordingly,' lawl. I've been thinking about what you said about magic being a natural force and while I have no idea if that's the case objectively, I think it makes a lot of sense if that's what high elves believe. Couple that with innate arrogance and it does paint a pretty accurate picture. What I'm thinking now is that my take on the rivalry between mages and rangers still makes sense, since each would see the other as inferior (and druid magi would see BOTH as inferior for choosing one force over the other!), but it'd still be kept under a very polite pretence of diplomacy. Until the Troll Wars, where shit became rad. Thoughts? LMFAO! That shit's crazy funny, dude. It would have been for a MUCH more interesting history if the elves had been bent on sexing up the trolls when they founded Quel'Thalas. Though I think the 'sacred' thing is just an excuse for trolls. They're berserkers and cannibals, they probably try to bite your face off if you so much as cough in their vague direction.

Hm. Probably deleted due to "speculation." They seem to be fond of doing that. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... now that's a rather excellent question. To be honest, I had never even considered all that. I do agree with what you say, though I think it's based on philosophy. Night Elves were actually charged to take care of nature, and their approach seems to be "revel in it," which means what you've just said. Tauren I think it's more about seeing themselves as a part of nature too. They hunt, just like animals. And since the strong hunts the weak, it's understandable why they go after the greatest predators, to find their place in the food chain. Trolls are definitely lazy. To me, troll philosophy is less "live and let live" and more "let's get high and eat hearts, mon." And it's all about the Loa. There's Loa representing pretty much every major animal in their environment, so it'd be very disrespectful to go around killing those. And personally, I think the high elven view of nature is a bit steeped in hedonism. I mean, it's not entirely about respecting nature, if you look at the eternal springtime/eternal autumn enchantments they have going on, it doesn't really serve any function but to make the place idyllic. If they respected nature, they'd see it as a rather unnatural thing to do (hello? Cycle of the seasons? What can be more natural than that?), that serves no purpose but to please them, or perhaps as a tangible proof of their absolute power over everything in the world. So yeah, I think it's less about respect and more "Lookit the trees, they're like, sooooo pretty omg!" You know, I have to admit, I feel kind of silly for assuming the dichotomy was alive and well in high elven society. It's not really explained anywhere if they still believe what the druids believed, or if they started thinking differently. The arcane's nature is... disputed. On the one hand, you have magic explained as pulling stuff out from the Twisting Nether and being horribly unnatural. On the other, you have the blue dragonflight and ley lines, which are pretty much arteries of... something that hasn't been really explained, that can be tapped to do magic. So yeah, the only thing they seem to have in common is that magic corrupts, is addictive, yaddayadda (and LMAO, you're right, Teldrassil is a huge example of druidism gone bad!). Honestly, I hadn't thought about from the ley lines PoV, about magic being part of the natural world and all that. It would definitely be something the high elves would believe in. Hmmmmmmm. Yeah, I think that definitely works. They see it as another aspect of nature that can be tapped and controlled. And then the Holy Light comes along and by the time BC rolls in, it's seen as yet another source of power out there for the taking (which is actually true! Silly humans, attaching morality to an elemental force!) Yeah, the Troll Wars were 2800 years ago (but who's counting? ) and before that, the elves were pretty much on their own. And hah, when they came to Quel'Thalas, it was a sacred troll area, and these guys invaded and drove everyone out. I think they had it coming! Interesting points you've made...

Yeah, I was actually kind of stunned by the revelation. What the fuck was Arthas doing in Silvermoon? Having a slaughter picnic? "Oooh, whee, let's kill the pretty elves!" Especially taking in consideration that yeah, they have a freaking Archdemon to summon! And honestly, the elves are NOT easy to kill, spread thin all throughout the forests. Even in the game you see that they're always in small groups and take advantage of the terrain to attack by surprise. You honestly can't expect to slaughter so many in their own home ground! And the Dead Scar makes a lot more sense as a surgical strike than as a meaningless terrain marker (which is what it is if you say that the undead spread all over Quel'Thalas, killing everybody). Half of Silvermoon destroyed? That one doesn't make sense any way you look at it. Especially since they're freaking BUILDINGS, built with MAGIC, and the undead aren't especially renowned for their dispelling techniques (that one goes to dryads, random creeps and DING DING DING THE HIGH ELVES). Seriously, what are those spires and towers made of, cardboard and toothpicks? And besides, what the fuck are you doing in the city when the Sunwell is on the goddamned ISLAND! What the fuck did Ner'zhul see in Arthas? A pretty face and a cock? Because I'm pretty sure that's all Arthas has going on for him. He really doesn't have the brains to lead a cart, much less an army of undead. And ugh, even if we assume he can't reanimate them all, that still leaves you with a huge boost in troops! After all, you have HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of corpses (and spirits! Since apparently you get to bansheeficate all the women!) that you can reanimate until your necros can't take it anymore! Geez, the developers must have seriously failed math in High School, because what you say about a single line to catch any straggler... yeah, that's pretty much it. Definitely agreed. And if Arthas has two brain cells to rub together and stops for just a sec, brb to kill Sylvanas, so that she doesn't inform Silvermoon, it makes a whole lot of sense. The guy storms the gates before the city's defences are up, goes through it with a small group of elite units, crosses over to the Sunwell, revives Kel'Thuzad and sounds the retreat. Wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am, got himself a lich, some banshees and left the high elves without their source of magic. That would have been pretty cool. But noooo, they just had to bend over and get DP'd by Rule of Cool and Rule of Drama. LOL, that last part is hilarious because it's so true. You can say that again! But apparently, things aren't likely to go back to what they were any time soon. If I took over as it is right now, I'd scrap worgen and replace them with High Elves (but since we can't have two player races with nearly identical models, I'd just come up with something to justify a distinctive if minor physical makeover). And yes! Factions within factions are definitely something that adds variety to the game. And not just "well, every race has its own PoV," but actual philosophies and ideologies struggling for dominance, like Theramore vs. Stormwind, Nordrassil divided between Tyrande and Faghelm, etc. And yeah, I absolutely hated the whole Quel'Lithien deal. Though I think the developers read the winner's story and didn't feel they were slapping him across the face, I think they completely missed the point of the story and looked at it from Blood Elves' PoV (which makes the QLL sound like stubborn, bitter, grudge-keeping assholes). But even though you writing for the competition would be like reading distilled awesome, I can completely understand your reasoning. Winning and then getting shat on the face is... less than cool. Yeah, I guess that's true. The only dwarves they get along with are the Wildhammers. And LMAO, I always forget that the first war took place in Stormwind and ended there. I always keep thinking that it involved the Alliance or some shit, when it was just ORCS and HUMANS. And well, Alleria might have been an extreme case (what with her brother being killed by orcs) but you get the impression elves really hate them or something. Though this might be something that later got retconned. Yes! The Forsaken look almost universally human. Yes, I know that Lordaeron got the worse of it, but geez! You said 90% of the high elves got killed! Show me that percentage, Blizzard! And yeah, especially the Forsaken closer to Quel'Thalas (a single elven ghost wandering around Darrowshire? ). Ah, my bad. No idea where I got that from. I've probably been reading too many forum discussions and taking opinions as facts. Let's hope that when Cata comes around, they'll deign to explain what the fuck is the deal with Dark Rangers. Hmmm, I'll give you that on the hunter bit. No matter what the Forsaken and the Blood Elves flavour the hunter class as, they're not really the same. Yeah, that part was what set me up for disappointment later on. I was expecting SO much more from her when they said that. But no, we got Sylvanas Windrunner, the Bitch Queen. Though Jaina was pretty decently done, actually. She's a pacifist that actually tries to stop war (and not in a hypocritical way), but the developers seem to HATE her or something. Arthas, Dalaran, her father, Wrynn showing up, it's like they don't know how else to make her cry! Though I have to admit I hated the whole 'she's still in love with Arthas' plot that showed up in the comic and continued in WOTLK. It makes no freaking sense. He DUMPED her before the entire deal with Ner'zhul happened, turned evil, killed pretty much everyone she knew in Dalaran, violated her principles all over the place, TURNED EVIL, and she still loves him? Oh, Jaina, not you too. Another victim of the Character Derailment stick. LMFAO! Your reaction to Garrosh had me rolling on the floor! It was seriously hilarious, dude. Yeah, he's ugly as fuck, he's a whiny embarrassment to all orcs (nay, to the entire HORDE) and he's the dumbest bitch around (which is why 'half a stack of peacebloom' has been voted higher than him in a list of possible warchiefs after Thrall steps down), but you can't deny that if him and Scarface spent the next expansions fucking like angry boars instead of driving their respective factions to the ground, we might actually see some progress for Azeroth! Though I'm not touching that pairing with a standard-issue ten-foot pole. I might enjoy a challenge, but not one that makes my eyes bleed. Though whiny cuntboy is a good nickname for him... Bah, I missed the fact that those two were in a romantic relationship (haven't read The Shattering yet). Ugh, that shit seriously sucks. I honestly have no words. These people can't write romantic relationships for shit. *nods* Definitely agreed. Lor'themar was VASTLY improved by that guy's story. I actually got a feel for his personality! And ugh, satyrs. I have a huge love/hate relationship with them. I am *extremely* fond of satyrs in stories or 'verses (read: reduced to a drooling idiot), but in this one, not only are they 100% undiluted evil, but they also sport grandfather beards. Some night elves do, too, and it ruins ANY shred of sexiness they might have going on. Yes, slutty stripperrific outfit... and a Santa Claus beard. Just... no. Do not want. Give them a shave (or keep 'em kinda scruffy, I don't mind scruffy!) and we'll talk. Though you have a huge point there with making pre-existent males sexy. The developers could take a HUGE hint from all the porn out there. To be honest, I never thought of draenei as sexy until I saw all the well-done porn with them. They actually made them look proportioned and attractive! But we all know that won't happen, because the players enjoy playing over-muscled, silly-looking males that don't threaten their frail egos. Hmph. Yes, but all that blood elf bullshit has to come from somewhere, right? How else do you explain how swiftly and universally they became what they are now? (yes, you can blame bad writing on the developers' behalf... which is actually a point I hadn't considered...) Assuming the transition to blood elf ideology is natural, it means that most high elves must be, in some level, like that (LMAO, you're so right about mind control, they think it's like a banshee's Possession or something!). I do get what you mean, but back before the Troll Wars, who else was around if not other elves? They didn't want to have anything to do with humans and the trolls left them alone until they launched the massive attack that begun the Third War. Yes, you can say that there's no point in looking down at a member of your own race... but I don't think they HAD anyone to look down upon back then. They invaded the trolls, founded Quel'Thalas and built their own little shred of paradise, sealed away from the rest of the world. The humans were far towards the west, the trolls were readying themselves to counter-attack and there was nobody else around. My guess is that logically, all that dickery has to be spewed upon somebody. Though like I said, it's not Blood Elf 'all up in your grill, doncha wish your girlfriend was hot like me' massive dickery. It's subtle, sweet-talking, behind-your-back dickery that might have probably been seen as an art form. It just sounds a lot more direct because Rivandyr's perceptions are a bit skewed (and like I said, he's old and doesn't mince words). If I had to think of an example, it'd probably be something like a ranger wanting to eat at a fancy tavern in Silvermoon, and the innkeeper saying "Oh, no, good sir! I'm afraid we're all out of fine wine tonight. It's a true shame, I tell you, but entirely my fault for not keeping my cellar well-stocked. I offer you my sincerest apologies!" And then fifteen minutes later, a wizard shows up, orders fine wine and gets discreetly served a bottle. Well, the article you mentioned was renamed into the one I linked earlier, the Elven Druid. It's right there in the Discussion tab. Doesn't say much about integrating magic and nature, though. Anyway, from the High Elf article, I get this: "Soon, Quel’Thalas became a shining monument to high elven prowess. It was crafted in the same style as the halls of Kalimdor, with the addition of integrated magic and a brighter colour scheme. Although they did not worship it, a great respect was maintained for nature. The high elves were careful to interweave their cities and architecture with their natural surroundings, creating a truly beautiful and tranquil land." My guess is that the 'respect for nature' bit comes from their intrinsic connection to it, something that's in their blood, that no amount of magic abuse can taint. It's also what makes some of them follow the path of the ranger, that ancient calling to be one with nature. To be honest, I can't imagine the bitter, assholish, resentful Highborne liking people that remind them of those that gave them such a hard time back in Kalimdor. It's too OOC. Granted, I'm assuming that this way of thinking was perpetuated by the Magistrates and ruling class, but I don't think it's that much of a logical stretch. You do make a very good point about why would rangers stick around if they were being treated like that. It's not like they couldn't defend themselves if they settled elsewhere since that's more or less what they're doing for Quel'Thalas in the first place. Hm. I may have made it sound a bit too harsh there. Gonna have to clarify it wasn't THAT bad in the next part. I still think both factions CAN'T get along that well, simply out of ideological differences. There's bound to be disagreements. Though I suspect a lot of this comes from the massive retcons the game experienced between its iterations, the novels, the RPG, the comic, etc. We have 'gentle, RELIGIOUS, nature-loving magic people,' 'pompous assholes addicted to magic,' 'massive dicks willing to sink to any level to get what they want,' 'stealthy, skilled archers' and who knows what else. While the orcs got a massive change for the better (and not just morality-wise, I mean in terms of characterization and lore), the elves were assfucked by just about everyone. Heh, for what it's worth, discussing this stuff with you has given me a lot to think about! I was going to have Rivandyr talk about this a bit more in IIIB, but now I think it might actually lead to a lot of back-and-forth between the two of them as they discuss elven culture, LMAO. There's certainly a lot of issues to touch here!

Oh, that! Yes, yes, now I see what you mean. I remember that glaring plothole. Or Elayne's 'I have been watching you ever since you were a child' speech, which comes off quite creepy AND nonsensical if you're an elf as well. Though I normally chuck that to 'developer laziness' which admittedly is an endemic malady in the gaming world. Actually, you touch a good point there. If the elf takes on a shorter-lived lover, they're going to watch them get old and die without being able to do a thing about it. If that's the first time it happened and nobody warn them, I can understand, but if it's happened to you before, isn't it masochistic? Assuming you get attached, of course, since I can definitely understand an elf who takes humans as playthings or bed-warmers and doesn't really care when they die. If the elf, however, DOES care, no amount of wisdom or 'let's just take life as it comes' philosophy is going to dull the pain when their loved ones die. Think of humans and pets. We might go through dozens of them throughout our lives. We mourn and move on, yes, but doesn't it hurt all the same when they die? No amount of 'been there before' helps if you've truly grown attached to them. And we're talking about pets here, it's far worse when it's a lover. And hey, I don't think mourning for 400 years is excessive. Remember elves are very slow to change and can become rather set in their ways. I've known people who have mourned someone for two thirds of their whole lives... imagine an elf like that.

Uhhhh, what's the problem with that? He experienced a traumatic event in his youth, which you can use as a part of his backstory to justify his choices. An elf at 102 is like a human at 14 (see Spoiler below). Don't we have a lot of well-written stories about humans experiencing traumatic events at such a young age? It can serve to explain both the elf's and the human's choice in adventuring career, their class levels (why, I was going to be a warrior, but that event awakened something in me... sorcery!), etc. It's a bit trite, but hey! If the player can pull it off... Though if you're aiming it from the 'elves try not to live in the past' angle... there are things that you can't just ignore. Ignoring a traumatic event is called being in denial. It's not that healthy for your mental state. But since we're touching the whole 'elf-slash-supernaturally-long-lived-critter' angle, it's important not to go overboard with the 'immensely old' approach, because it just skids into Mary Sue territory, with a healthy dosis of plothole and Deus Ex Machina. In the real world, age brings wisdom and experience at the hefty expense of physical fitness. In supernatural works, this isn't necessarily the case. Usually, old means wiser, smarter, more powerful... and with the body of a person in their twenties. That's just Suish. If I'm reading about an old character, it'd be nice to be able to explore the flaws that come with old age, especially if the writer themselves must take the time to think things true and come up with reasonable explanations for what they're writing.

When it comes to vampires, elves, immortals and all sorts of supernatural critters, I don't think it's truly a matter of age, but a matter of maturity and experience. If the difference in both is too high, it's very easily to create an unbalanced relationship that, to me in particular, makes it impossible for the reader to enjoy. I think it's a matter of balance. If one of them is very old and the other is young, find a way to give the younger one positive traits (and the older one, negatives) so that both of them stand on equal footing. Otherwise we fall into the old trap of Super Awesome Perfect At Everything and Average Person (and sometimes not even that).

Ah, well, good to know! Hah, your first time? Man, that's crazy! Definitely wishing you the best of luck, you're way too productive, lawl.

Well, a lot of the main stuff came out well thanks to you! So much to do... *goes back to work*

Well, we all need a steady dose of insanity in our lives! Heh, I honestly don't bother with FF.net anymore. What's the point in taming and trimming when you still get only smidgens of concrit? And you're doing NaNo, on top of that? Holy shit, you definitely ARE insane! I like you. Indeed. Who needs sleep when you have coffee?

Bwahahahah, I can so sympathise with the 'intravenously' part. Hey, if you want to, go for it! I'll R&R all the same!

Solved.

Heh, I know how disheartening it can be to post a story you've spent a lot of effort in, and watch as the days go by without a review. I try to do my part to prevent that. Sand needs more love. Seriously, you're doing a great job. Elven culture is really well explored, along with Vale being a rather compelling character. Sand is pretty much a given, he's just that awesome (I have a weakness for snarky characters, I even considered writing something for Shandra, my all-time favourite!). So yeah, these two are awesome and I'm glad you're planning ahead! Especially since we know for sure that Sand survives That Which Must Not Be Named (read: the ending of NWN2), and it's interesting to see how you'll explore the events that happen throughout both games (and especially Mask Of The Betrayer, since we hear next to nothing about what happens to Neverwinter and the survivors while Sir/Madam Knight Captain is out there eating spirits). And I'm glad you're touching stuff like politics and the entanglements that come from mixing work and play. Most writers forget about stuff like that, so I'm rather pleasantly surprised you didn't. So anyway, looking forward to the next chapters!