nysalogs | locked to house #4

[Rare was it for Abelas to spend time in the assigned residence other than sleep required it, but for reasons only known to Abelas he returns unusually early. Of course he did proceed to ignore everyone for the most part, as usual.

He took a seat off to the side, with a glass of wine, and lit a candle with an odd green flame that gave off no heat. He had some parchment and a pen and seemed to be writing something with what looked like shimmering green ink. Of course it was in ancient Elvish though, so supposedly no one would be able to read it, at least not until he was finished.

Then there was a familiar voice behind him and he had to take a moment to close his eyes and sigh. He had enjoyed the very brief moment of peace and quiet while it had lasted.]

What is it you want of me, Shemlen?

Ohhh my god how many times do I have to tell you? I have a name. You can use it you know.

[ That is Rhys's greeting to his sunny-dispositioned housemate as he steps into the room, closing the front door behind him with a slight leer. It's been a long day for him at work Mr. Grumpyface, a "Hi Rhys how was your day!" would be great!! ]

I don't go around calling you "elf."

I will cease calling you "shemlen" when it no longer suits you.

[Seemed a pretty fitting adjective for the time being. He was not above amending things as he saw fit, but for the moment the only other fitting names he could thing to call this one were insults. He would rather not start an all out war between someone he had to live with.]

Elvhen. I am Elvhen. If you are to address me as what I am, I would rather you you did not confuse me for my fallen kin.

[Meaning he would not be adverse to simply having a label thrown on him and leaving it at that. Considering he was the last, it would serve as well as a name.]

Well excuse me for...not knowing there are different kinds of you.

[ Rhys crosses his arms over his chest defensively...but it's undeniable now that he's curious with that tiny tidbit of information dropped. The problem is he has to ask Abelas of all people, and forthcoming he'll be with that information is...unpredictable. ]

How many different kind of you guys are there? For reference. What's different about you compared to Zevran?

[ Besides skin tone BUT RHYS DON'T JUDGE THAT KIND OF THING ]

Only two to my knowledge, if you can call the others as elves at all. Zevran is hardly any different from a human. He has no language or culture to call his own, he walks through his short life ignorant to what he has lost.

Then there is the child who calls himself Dalish. Arrogant children that claim to be "true" elvhen while they brand themselves with vallaslin, and horde scraps and tales misremembered and mistold throughout the centuries

[He let out a sigh. This was a topic, while he was growing weary of explaining it so often, he had a lot of feelings on it. Whenever someone asked it was as though he couldn't stop himself from going on about it. He supposed that's what he got for sitting on it for a thousand years.]

I am the last of an ancient stock, a remnant of a time when the empire of our people spanned across Thedas. We were immortal, magic was as much a part of us as your arms are to you. We could change the world around us with but a thought. Those that descended from my people are but shadows of their ancestors.

Soooo... They just came after you and aren't magical or immortal? How old are you? Are you guys sure you even come from the same, you know, reality? Apparently there's like...hundreds of those now.

[ According to all the varying types of refugees. ]

Maybe something happened and stuff was lost. It happens with people all the time. Even aliens. As weird as that sounds.

We did not count our years as you mortals do, but I would say I am a few millennia old. I know it has been a little over a thousand years since the fall of my people at the very least. As for whether or not we are from the same realm, I encountered the Dalish child before. As for Zevran, considering he mistakes me for one of the Dalish, I would say tis safe to assume that he comes from the same Thedas.

[Then there was the other young elf from Tevinter, he was obviously a sad remnant of his captured people, but this one may not be familiar with him so he did not think to bring him up.]

We warred upon ourselves, then humans came to scavenge the remains like carrion upon a corpse. I know very well what happened, I have lived through it, isolated as I may have been.

Wait--wait back up there, several millennia? As in, thousands of years??

[ Rhys just needs to full-stop right there and clear that up because yeah, sure, sometimes people live a...while. But several thousand years?? That's a bit beyond his ability to like, consider. Normally. ]

Yes, thousands of years. I am immortal in that I do not age, as I have said.

[A few times actually. Apparently this one needed to see it applied before it sunk in.]

Well yeah but like...I figured maybe a few centuries or something. Max! Not thousands of years....

[ Rhys runs a hand back through his hair in disbelief as he lets out a whoosh of air. ]

This explains...so much.

[ Namely why Abelas is such a grandpa about stuff like bathrooms!! ]

[Sometimes he wondered why he bothered. This was onesuch time. Of all the things he had said it was his age that got to him.]

And what, pre tell, does it explain?

[ Look it's the one thing that's still hard for him to take in alright? Cultures and civilizations died out or wore away over time constantly and now Rhys lives on a planet filled with magic. Immortality--real immortality--is still a far-off novelty. ]

Why you're so angry all the time? If I was as old as you I would be too. You're like, classic grouchy-old-man dude.

[Just when Abelas thinks he's reached the low point of the conversation Rhys surprises him once again. Again, out of everything he had described, this one assumed it was being old that had left him bitter.]

I was unaware mortals associated age with annoyance. I can assure you, if my annoyance accumulated with the sum of my years I would have lost the will to live centuries ago. I suffered fools no better in my youth than I do now.

[Granted, he was just as much of a fool in his youth, not to mention back then he could at least manage to crack a smile once and a while.]

Well that's morbid.

[ And doesn't help Rhys's view that Abelas is as "charming" as he is old, but if it's true that it has nothing to do with it, then it lends weight to the idea that the elf (sorry, I can't remember the word kjdgs) was just born disgruntled.

Unlucky. ]

You mean you've always been this "pleasant"?

I was raised in the Temple of Mythal to perform a duty. Foolishness was not something well tolerated.

[It happened regardless, you couldn't herd that many youths in one spot and expect them to behave, but they were disciplines accordingly. He had no doubt the other would probably be interested in the hot-headed child he had been, but he had no intention of indulging Rhys.]

Not to mention humans had yet to be when I was a child.

Hah I knew there had to be one!

[ Rhys sort of bursts that out all of a sudden mid-way through, be he recovers quickly and explains: ]

--Sorry. I meant a world where there were elves and no humans. I was totally talking to this other elf about that like, two weeks ago! He thought you guys had to have existed for us to put you in books and stuff but we really don't have Elves on Pandora. Or anywhere.

Humans do exist in my world, we Elvhen simply predated them. By the time our empire collapsed, there were enough of them to scavenge the remains, and enslave those of my people that yet remained.

[Yet another thing to add to his "reasons to be bitter" jar.]

Ooooh....uhh. [ w e l p that got awkward fast ] That's. Your world was one of those huh?

[ "Those" being one where humans apparently moved in and enslaved other people which...yeah okay it happens back home, but it's not generally an entire people that's oppressed? Dahl went through that phase of criminal labour, Atlas had their turning-kids-into-assassins, and Hyperion...more or less terrorized a planet full of the remnants of the former.

It wasn't a race thing though?? ]

I'm...sorry. For that.

[ Rhys isn't from Abelas's world and maybe it's meaningless coming from a human who isn't involved or doesn't know the fell scope of it all, but he feels like he should at least say something. ]

[He continued writing as he spoke, and surprisingly his tone was not as biting and scornful as it was previously. The human was making an effort not to be offensive, he could respect that.]

Tis not the fault of a single human, much less one that has never set foot in Thedas.

[It was a nice sentiment, but there was a reason the Elvhen fell, and it was by their own doing.]

My people were not innocent in such matters themselves. It was not a utopia by any means but... there was much worth remembering if not preserving.

Is that what you're doing? With the writing I mean. You seem to take a lot of notes.

[ Just as an observation. Rhys tries not to run into Abelas if he can help it since they haven't gotten along too well so far, but he has seen the man writing rather diligently once or twice now. ]

[He finally looked up to the human, then glanced back down to his work. The green ink had an odd shimmer to it.]

Something to that effect. There is much that I have forgotten after so many years, I would like to preserve what I can before even that meager bit is lost forever.

[ It's an unusual color for notes as far as Rhys knows it, but somehow he doubts that Abelas's world came supplied with red and black pens or highlighters. Or notebooks. ]

That's cool. [ It sounds entirely tedious to him but it's probably a pretty important thing in the grand scheme of things. ]

What sorts of stuff are you writing down?

Memories.

[He should probably elaborate for the human. As much as he enjoyed being vague and cryptic, if it would save his from another round of inane questions, he may as well give up the information willingly.]

Tis Veilfire writing, [He gestures to the green flame on the candle near where he was working.] it allows me to convey more than merely words on paper as your forms of writing are limited to.

Clearly you've never heard of vlogging.

[ Writing is not the only medium humans use in the future now Abelas!! They have expanded in new, thrilling, and frivolous ways! Now anyone can make a poor-quality video in their computer room and upload it to the ECHO net. ]

What does the ink do?

No, I have not.

[Nor does he think he'll care for it. It would no doubt be more crude and needlessly complicated, as he's come to expect from human technology.]

It allows me to convey memories, or even emotions.

[For some weirdo with an Elf fetish]

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It's okay Rhys. He's an elf. Don't feed into his self-importance

how can someone so cool be such a negative nancy!!!

a thousand years stuck with the world's most depressing job

he was a tax attorney wasn't he

More like boss of a bunch of shut-ins stuck while protecting a haunted puddle

a haunted puddle...............

supposedly had the knowledge of all his former bosses in it. Y'know last bit of his culture and all

it had ALL the grouches is what you're saying

well, yes, but they leaned more towards the angsty side. It WAS called the Well of Sorrows.

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