"While there are some Elves I respect, they are reckless and foolish and I don't recommend teaching them your magic. But I already have abilities that must at least equal yours; surely we can be allies in advancing our own studies?

"The problem is that magic can scale. Even a seemingly insignificant piece of magic can shift the balance of a conflict when every soldier on one side has an effectively infinite source of water that weighs less than a pound. I was trying to make a very crude smoke crystal. Harmless as can be, not even effective for concealment, and hard to generalize just from seeing it... Anyway, the point is, things can be told later, but cannot be unsaid."

"Fair enough. I have no similar concerns, so may I teach you my magic, so that, should it be relevant, you can use that knowledge to reconstruct yours?"

"I am interested. How long do you think it would take to gain a basic grasp? But, perhaps later. I still wish to determine the major players and pieces of history of this world, from as many different sources as possible. I plan to visit the place the invaders crossed the sea from next."

"A comprehensible desire, but as I've just said, I'm not comfortable with you wandering my land with unknown capabilities in the middle of an invasion by people who you arrived with." He launches into a grave explanation of how his magic works.

Mountain... Listens gravely. And takes notes on more stone tablets. How much of it makes sense?

There are major differences in their capabilities. It seems internally coherent, but to be coming from a very different theoretical structure than hers.

Is there some basic exercise she can do to confirm that she can use the principles?

"Your word seems faster paced than ours. I've tutored people in expanding their capabilities before, and never seen any results within a week."

"I see... I will have to decline further instruction, then. At least for now."

"You say I do not have leave to wander your land. I will consent to be told to leave, but not to be told to stay. If you wish to tell me what areas you consider yours, now would be the time."

"You've been here less than an hour. Are your errands so urgent we must immediately part on bad terms?"

"I would be delighted to stay and learn your sort of magic if I had not been dropped into the middle of a conflict of unclear-to-me causes with no understanding of anyone involved. I cannot allow myself the luxury of this degree of ignorance, uncertainty. If in my investigations I conclude that the elves are indeed reckless despoiling invaders I will return and do my best to apologize for being mistrustful and attempt to prove myself harmless or make amends."

"Understood. Can I at least have your commitment that until we've spoken further you won't help them with the invasion?"

"I will promise to not build them defenses or weapons or homes or to tell them anything about your fortress and the layout of the passes and so on, at least until I speak to you again. If I encounter any open combat I intend to nonlethally separate everyone involved by as much a distance as seems warranted, Orcs and Elves alike. Is that sufficient?"

"The distance that is warranted is the ocean that was between our two peoples before the invading army landed."

She sighs. "I was thinking more like fifty miles."

She lifts into the air slightly, about to fly away.

"Safe journeys. I will delight in learning more of your world and exploring what we can teach each other of our capabilities, once you've explored the situation to your satisfaction."

"Thank you, and farewell for now."

She zooms off. Towards the city on the far side of that ocean.

Though she does land outside a smallish settlement of Orcs to greet them and explain herself and ask some slightly subtle questions, like what they think of Elves, of Melkor, how old the oldest one is (history onle goes back to living memory after all).

They hate Elves. They love Melkor. The oldest one is several hundred years old.

Why do they hate Elves? (Does it seem any more complicated than being told they're evil from childhood?) Do they mind answering these questions? She'll leave them alone if they want.

Elves hate them, the Elf-god tortures them after they die, Elves want to eradicate them and have the whole world. They don't seem to mind an opportunity to rant about Elves.

She takes their religion with a high dose of skepticism, but otherwise listens patiently to the ranting for a while, then continues heading for the ocean.

The Elves she saw earlier are heading inland.

She doesn't bother them. Merely flies by at the same just-short-of-sonic-boom speed, heading for the city they told her about.

There are islands surrounding the continent across the ocean. Around the islands there's some kind of miasma of magic.