"A universal truth indeed." Nellara said, raising an eyebrow as she watched, amused as the glen Ixtaro was looking at struggled to stand upright as he continued drinking.
Regardless of the offenses that were committed by Silbermine and his 'loyal knights', the common glen soldiers weren't at fault for what was happening and Nellara knew that. No matter how badly was her impression of Silbermine or how the Mythadian forces disrespected the Ascension territory, the common soldiers had simply nothing to do with their superiors' choices. Softening her gaze would probably be a good idea, not only out of consideration to the common glen soldiers, but more importantly, since it might make the very Tekeri soldiers feel uncomfortable.
"Hm... Considering your species seem to be the dominating one on your home, it is understandable that regional differences might appear. Different cities, different kingdoms, different cultures..." Nellara said, thinking about Ixtaro's answer, still a bit amused on how she was using words from different languages.
While such cultural differences between members of a single race could be quite interesting, Ixtaro would soon explain that it also brought much strife and many wars over the centuries. Conflicts that seemed to almost be, as Ixtaro suggested, part of human nature, seeing as how those continued to hold them back from creating a paradise for their own race to inhabit, despite having such advanced technology.
"Perhaps the introduction of a common foe might have been the first step towards escaping such 'violent nature'. The sense of unity that the despair of a common foe might have brought. The new heights humans were able to attain due to uniting themselves and forgetting their previous differences..." Nellara replied.
When Ixtaro mentioned the Jotunheim itself was a weapon, Nellara raised an eyebrow, surprised. While her reaction was rather mild, internally, she was quite shocked. Knowing that the entire ship was a weapon made her quite relieved that her first choice was to establish friendly relations with the humans instead of showing any hostility. A race of beings that seemed to be eternally engulfed in war with themselves, since the beginning of times, undoubtedly had developed very powerful instruments of war.
The very idea of such 'ships' seemed to be one intimately linked with violence and war, as Ixtaro mentioned when talking about what happened to the people from her homeland after other humans arrived on wooden ships. What was perhaps most alarming about the story Ixtaro told was that Nellara herself could imagine very well a similar situation unfolding in Kanth-Aremek, should other 'groups' of humans, ones that weren't as amicable as Zeynep's crew arrived. Such concerns would definitely be written in later reports to the Ascendancy, once the current situation was dealt with.
"I see..." Nellara said, with a serious expression flashing over her face for a brief moment.
"The reason for such extreme cautiousness over sharing human knowledge and technology seems to be much clearer and justified now." Nellara said, certainly relieved on how seriously the Jotunheim crew seemed to take the act of sharing their technology. Not out of selfishness but out of concern of what it could do to Kanth-Aremek.
The emotions invoked by the matter they were discussing quickly became apparent in Ixtaro's voice and expression. Nellara herself noticed how she seemed to change matters as soon as she realized that she was losing her composure and respectfully moved on as well.
"In these cases, respect seems to be the key word. For both sides, coexistence isn't impossible, as long as both sides respect each other." Nellara said, agreeing with Ixtaro as she talked about how even for the humans, religions were
remarkably hard to deal with.
With other humans going to check up on Kerchak, Nellara started getting a bit worried that things might quickly get out of hand, considering how quick some of the humans were to resort to violence. Due to that, the moment Ixtaro mentioned she would go after Kerchak, Nellara was a bit relieved, knowing she was a bit more... sensible than a few of the other humans she had briefly met earlier.
"Some of the humans might have a rather... excessive reaction to the scene but just remember, it might look quite unsettling, but he probably had a bad reaction to the alcohol." Nellara said, nodding towards Ixtaro as she started making her way.
Just before she turned away though, Ixtaro had one more thing to say to Nellara, her tone visibly more serious as she talked about making peace with Mythadia, using her own race's story about how bigger threats would destroy them should they keep warring against each other.
"Thank you for the advice, Ixtaro. Although, as I mentioned earlier, respect is the key to the relationship between our kingdoms. The way our societies work might be incompatible with each other, but as long as respect is maintained, coexistence should not be a challenge. Once again, it is not mine or the Ascension's desire to start a war against Mythadia." she said, her tone, posture and expression quickly suggesting she was talking not as 'Nellara', but as a Castigator, before her expression quickly went back to normal.
It was only after Ixtaro was gone that Nellara noticed that humans were the majority that went to check on Kerchak. Suddenly, the idea of having Ixtaro go wasn't enough to make Nellara relaxed about the situation. Not enough for her to go after, but enough for her to keep an eye on the direction where the group of humans went soon after.
While paying attention to any commotion from the humans and Kerchak, Nellara ended up also noticing how close General Kvarr was from the Warden... Their closeness made even more apparent since they were from the same race and from the fact that both of them attained positions of extreme importance in other kingdoms... Suddenly, Ixtaro's warnings about other enemies became a bit more relevant...
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