How convenient that he can shield his thoughts and target his communication now!

Yes, though not in great detail. What about it?

We think it was as ugly as it was because no one present had ever been in a fight before, and didn't know what to do except blindly stab at everyone trying to stab them. I am guessing that sufficiently experienced combatants can often defuse a situation without killing their opponents or risking their own life. It seems maybe something worth investing some training in. But it's politically sensitive because it'll be taken as a declaration that the only mistake at Alqualonde was not knowing how to effectively handle resistance, and lots of people feel very strongly it was evil to try stealing ships in the first place. 

Your guess about sufficiently experienced combatants is correct. 'Give everyone stunners' is considered an elegant solution to this category of problem where I'm from, but I don't have a hundred thousand stunners to spare. Deescalation comes standard with the curriculum of every military force I've trained with, though. It's considered irresponsible to teach people how to kill but not how to refrain from killing.

We taught neither, and it didn't work so well, and now we're going to have to teach killing. 

If I am called upon to do any of this teaching in greater depth than spending a day teaching two hundred people how stunners and nerve disruptors and plasma arcs work - and it would be a good idea; I'm familiar with everything a trainee is supposed to learn in two different armies, although I'm not formally qualified to teach it all - I will include the parts about how not to kill people.

That should help. Are there weapons that work like stunners but for a whole battlefield? Could those be developed?

Yeah. They're mostly not practical in combat because stunners don't scale efficiently - it takes a weapon of more than twice the size and power consumption to produce twice the stun effect - but they're possible.

Alright. And have we tested whether Elves stun normally?

I have not personally tested that, but someone might've gotten around to it while I was busy.

Alright. The other piece of the picture in terms of Alqualonde was that both hosts agreed before the King was rescued that we'd keep it from the locals. It'll basically destroy any chance of cooperation. This is not ideal but we can't think what to do instead. 

Yeah, that's a tough one.

Do you have suggestions? Clarifying questions?

I think I'm missing a lot of the detailed cultural context surrounding why the locals would be so upset if they knew.

There were wars among Elves very early in our history, at Cuivienen. It's not spoken of much and it's a deeply traumatic cultural memory. The Enemy orchestrated it, set people at odds and faked provocations and occasionally threw outright mind-controlled people into the mix. There's a very, very deep seated cultural taboo on violence against other Elves. It also has never happened without Enemy prodding. And there's also a very very strong taboo on even the hint of violence in Valinor. It's the place we go when we die, people are very invested in believing that there, at least, there's real safety.  

Yeah, that's... that makes a lot of sense.

Yes. So it's a hard problem. 

No brilliant solutions spring to mind. I'll keep it in my thoughts and see if I come up with anything. If we find ourselves desperately in need of convincing some specific person or faction to listen to us despite the problem, I might be able to go in with my life story and establish the possibility of a nuanced understanding, but it would take time and effort and there'd be no guarantee of success.

I feel like if there were time they could be made to understand the position we were stuck in, too. But assumptions travel fast and taboos can be very very deeply rooted. 

Yeah. I'd only expect to get anywhere if I had a week or so to make my case before they knew what I was making my case for.

Even knowing it's not a taboo your society has it's very confusing to me that it doesn't shake you. 

How much have you heard of the stories I've been telling?

Whole town heard. You're very practical. But you haven't just decided to work with us despite us being currently monsters, you trust us and like us. 

My childhood bodyguard was a rapist and a murderer and I trusted him with my life for seventeen years and he never once faltered in upholding that trust. People are complicated. I'm not sure 'monster' is a real category, and I think it's possible to do awful unforgiveable things and still be likeable and trustworthy and deserving of happiness afterward.

I think you should try to get your story out there even if it doesn't insulate us much. People'd benefit. 

I think so too.