Chapter 8

Part 1

“Throughout the two hundred and thirty-seven thousand years of elven history, our average elven life span was about one thousand eight hundred years. But, during this present epoch, which includes the last eight thousand years, it has been relatively peaceful for those of us of the elven race, and we have only been affected by three major wars and seven minor ones. Largely because of this peaceful condition, our average life span during that time has risen to two thousand, three hundred years. Generally, if you live to eighteen hundred, you start to get a little extra respect due to your age. The plains elves tend to suffer more fatal mishaps than the rest of us, on average, but that’s due to the influences of living with humans.”

“I see. And how many of your people are there? The High People of The Nine Valleys?”

“Two thousand, seven hundred and ninety-one since the last birth, a baby boy born just six years ago.”

“Your people don’t have many babies, for that many people.” Markee commented, a little sadly.

“Not compared to yours, but everything has its price. We have long life, but if we also had high fertility as you do, we would cover this world like flies on a carcass, until everything was consumed, and then we would all die. The same would happen to your people, with their amazing fecundity, if every one of them could be a wizard and live as long as an elf.

“I didn’t know wizards lived as long as elves!” Markee exclaimed.

“Ah, they are not as consistent in their longevity as elves. Almost all human wizards manage to extend their life span by at least fifty years, but only a few manage to do it as well as elves. Still, there are a few human wizards out there who are more than two thousand years old.”

“And what about me? How long will I live?”

“My boy, I have no idea. At least as long as an average human, at any rate.”

“Huh. So really, all you elves are wizards, but only the most powerful among you get to call yourselves wizards?”

“Almost all of us can cast the power to a greater or lesser degree, but it is not only the most powerful elven magic users who declare themselves to be wizards. Those who are the most skilled, those who are most knowledgeable, and those who have a special talent in one area also declare themselves to be wizards. It’s more of a trade designation, really. Those who choose to devote themselves to the study and practice of magic as their primary interest declare themselves to be wizards, and unless they are spectacularly inept, no one would challenge them about it, even if their personal power was minimal.

“Among human wizards, the title is only bestowed upon those who have served an apprenticeship of four to seven years, and passed certain minimum competency tests which vary from guild to guild. Their trade is organized very much like the other human trades guilds.

“You will be an interesting student. Though I will have no trouble imparting knowledge, your magical transparency may make it impossible for you to actually utilize the power in any way. On the other hand, since you can see my power, the tissue at the back of your eyes is not completely transparent to the power, once it has been taken up and re-released by my body and my mind. Perhaps we can build on that, or perhaps I can teach you something similar to the way I brought myself out of tune in order to make my spell affect you.”

“Huh. Well, we have lots of time for that.” Markee nodded. “Right now, I’d like to find out more about your people. After all, they’ll be my new neighbors. How am I most likely to offend them by mistake? What should I do to get along with them? I notice you have a slight accent. Do all of you speak my language?”

“Ah, such excellent questions!” Yazadril smiled, rubbing his palms together eagerly. “This should be fun! Of course I am helping to instruct my young daughters, and I conduct regular lectures and researches at The Hall of New Magic, but other than that I have not taken a private student for hundreds of years!

“Now, you are unlikely to offend any of my people by accident, as you are quite considerate and polite, and our culture is far less restrictive than yours. In fact, I imagine the most important thing you could do to get along with The High People is to remember to not take offense at our actions. You will probably find that many of us will be intimidated by you at first, not only by your size, but by your unusual appearance and your immunity to magic as well.”

“Well, I can’t do anything about my magic immunity or my size, but if I had a razor and a pair of shears, and a mirror and some soap, and some clothes that weren’t ruined, I think I’d be less intimidating. I’m not too particular about things like that, so I’ll gladly wear your people’s styles, if it’ll help.”

“It will, very much so.” Yazadril nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll arrange for clothes to be made and to have you barbered. Which brings us to the next offenses you will have to brace yourself for. Once my people become accustomed to you, and get beyond being intimidated by you, they will begin to treat you as we treat one another. You will then find that we tend to stand close to each other, compared to your people, and we are much less inhibited about touching one another. You may feel that they are taking liberties with your person. You will also notice that we are much less inhibited about liaisons between lovers. Elven couples are not fertile with one another until they have bonded as husband and wife over a period of years, so liaisons between consenting adults, both before and outside marriage, are not frowned upon or discouraged. And we are less motivated to seek privacy for such play, which may embarrass you.”

“I think I can deal with all of that. You just let them know that if any male touches my kilt or under it, I’ll… I’ll consider it an offense against my honor!”

“Quite.” Yazadril nodded, suppressing his smile. “We also do not have such a strong division of labor based on gender, as your people do. Our females as well as our males tend to every task, be it childcare or combat. Every position of authority is open to both genders as well.

“Since we can heal ourselves of almost any wound, the young and hot-headed among us are wont to challenge each other to combat, sometimes with knives or even swords, and occasionally with limited magic. We can afford to do so, since there is little real danger for us, but that’s not the case for you, so don’t let them goad you into foolishness.

“Many of us speak your language, but you are right in guessing that we have our own native tongue, the Mountain variant of High Elvish. Do not be offended if some choose to speak it in your vicinity. They may be talking about you, but there is little to be done about it, since Elvish is a much more complex language than yours and it may take you half your life to become proficient in it. Rely instead on facial expressions and body language, which have identical meanings for elves and humans.

“Except for all that, just be yourself. You’re a very likable youth, and I’m sure you’ll get along fine. It will help if you talk and laugh a lot; everyone will love to hear your voice, and if you can bring yourself to sing something pretty, you will have them in the palm of your hand.”

“If you say so.” Markee nodded. “Will they take my measurements for the clothes? I’m kind of curious to see how tall I’ve grown.

“Not at all, I have a nice little Measurement spell I can learn such things with. You only have to stand. And since it will probably not work on you, I will cast it upon the particles of dust that adhere to you!” Yazadril stated proudly, and cast it with a hummed note and a careful gesture.