"Great. See you around." And he's off. Finally caught someone thinking about the thing where they killed whole tribes, he tells the kobold once he's far from the elves' camp. Elves are in fact just terrible and will wipe out whole species over mild annoyances, apparently.

Mmhmm. Any luck getting more detail about why? Even if it doesn't actually make sense it might help us avoid setting them off, I can tell the Speakers when I see them this summer.

Yeah, a kobold stole their sacred maple syrup.

Yeah, I knew that - well, not the sacred part, but that that's what set them off. Nobody will do that again. Not sure there aren't other things we don't know about that'd also set them off, though.

This one thought they might kill tigerfolk if they cut down trees? I can ask her for a list of everything that might do it, she wanted a way to help...

Knew about the trees, they'd definitely come after us for that, we don't do it. Damaging them badly enough, too. A list would be great, though... wanted to help?

Yeah, kinda fell apart just at the reminder it happened...

...

That's... really weird.

Are they okay?

She has a super protective lynx. And no, it's not weird. It's what a decent fucking person would do, just decent people are really rare.

I mean, yes, but I wasn't expecting there to be any decent people who were also elves, and I definitely wasn't expecting any decent people who were also elves to live there.

I almost want to meet them.

I said I'd stop by occasionally. Decent people come in all types, and I don't know if these elves are actually shittier than the city type. She hates the city, which, excellent taste there.

Mm.

Still don't tell them you know a kobold. Even if they really are okay themselves I don't want to trust them not to tell the others.

Yeah of course. 

Thanks.

I still don't... just... did you find out anything else? About the war, or anything?

I can go back and ask any questions you have. She knew it was awful, just couldn't do anything about it. I guess.

I'm still trying to figure out how to think about this to even have questions.

Squeeze. Sorry. I'm sure it sucks to be reminded, and to learn it was all for absolutely no reason...

...not as much as you think? I barely remember the war, I hatched during it, most of what I've seen is what came after, which is - still bad, but less directly about them. But I grew up on the idea that elves are all monsters, it's hard to figure out how to deal with the idea of one that isn't.

Nobody's all monsters.

Yeah, I know that, but it was safer to think of them that way. I'm not saying I like the result here, but it helped keep me alive to even see this result.

What exactly would have gone wrong if most kobolds thought that elves were mostly shit with one or two decent ones?

For most kobolds, not much. But I might well have gone and tried to figure out how to talk to them, and most likely gotten myself killed. That happened, in the first few years of the war - Speakers are prone to doing that kind of thing, it's part of why there are so few of us now compared to what there were.

I'm glad you're alive but if it's a chance you would have taken if you had accurate information...

I would still have been dead? It isn't very likely that I'd've run into the exactly one elf who might not try to kill me on sight.

She sighs. I'm not being fair. I'll need a couple days before I can be, I think.

Okay. Take 'em, I wasn't planning to be back here for a week or two.