You're welcome.

Do you miss it?

There are things I miss about it.

Mm. Inevitable, really.

I mostly miss the effects it had on the people I love. Many of them were much happier there.

Fair. Although that's probably at least in part because of--the war, rather than the change in scenery.

We are the Eldar, I think a lot of it was the scenery. 

I'm not sure I understand the significance of your species in this context but okay.

In general we seem to care much more than Men for being surrounded by beauty.

Ah.

It's been one of those cultural barriers that I think comes down to an innate difference, though I suppose it could be a learned one.

It varies, among humans. She recalls the sheer aesthetic wonder that had accompanied her change of vision. I don't mind it when things look ordinary but I love beautiful things.

After the war we'll have the luxury of building the sort of places we had in Valinor. Ones that existed just to be uncomplicatedly beautiful. And no more rationing, no more scarcity, people will be able to start lives they've put on hold for five centuries...

There sure is a lot of "after the war" going around.

We never had even an optimistic path to ending it. Now we do, and I need to get people behind it.

Yeah. ...Not even an optimistic one, really?

Well, the wild optimism of "if we throw a large army at him, perhaps it will turn out that we win".

If by some miracle the teacher who tried to kill us isn't dead when Odette gets strong enough to contact our original plane I'm sending him a gift basket or something.

Dead of vengeance on the part of people who'll assume he killed you?

People who kill random innocents by magic die. This is why you can live next door to a mage without worrying that they have deficient ethics and short tempers.

There's a strong taboo on killing random innocents in our society as well.

Yeah, but--if you hold a sword to a random person's throat--you know how much more effective I am at killing orcs than any one non-mage soldier. Killing by magic is so much easier than sticking a sword in someone. There have to be harsher consequences. ...Not that I'm saying we shouldn't continue to kill orcs with magic. I don't think there's ever been a war back home where one side was so unambiguously in the wrong.

There's never been a war in Eldarin history at all, but I'll take your word for it.

Wars back home are pretty much less justified and also lower stakes than this one.

I can't imagine stakes short of this that would justify war, so that makes sense.

I honestly don't know whether your species is just inherently less violent than mine or if it's all cultural but I grant that it is better to be highly averse to war regardless.