It's the company they keep.
Seriously, Goblins spend lots of time with Trolls. Would YOU want to eat a troll? Then you have the "cannibalism" prospect, where goblins are said to have "wretched guts" or something like that, implying that they are altogether non-edible. As a consequence, goblins may be under the mistaken presumption that sentient life is just not fit for eating.
On the flipside, those preening pansies with the long flowing golden locks spend lots of time with giant carnivores, and use their completely self-contradictory "Nature magic" to communicate with same-- Large carnivores have no qualms about eating sentient lifeforms, and coupled with same-said extra-natural animal communication, ALL animal life could be considered "sentient" to elven sensibilities. This results in a kind of inescapable issue concerning meat products, and the "pact with nature" thing. Large carnivores eat meat. Exclusively meat. This means that elves must do one of 2 things: Consider large carnivores inherently evil, (A-La PETA), which destroys the whole "at peace with nature" thing -OR- adopt a utilitarian policy concerning the eating of meat products. It appears that elves have taken the latter approach. Since to elves, basically *ALL* meat is sentient, there isnt a separation between cow and dwarf in that philosophical sense, so, eating sentients that have been killed in "Self-defense" is OK. Going hunting is willful murder of their little animal friends, and is unacceptable. The kind of twisted "logic" that only an elf with their cherry picking
confirmation biases could dream up.
([ETHIC:KILL_ENEMY:ACCEPTABLE] + [ETHIC:KILL_ANIMAL:JUSTIFIED_IF_SELF_DEFENSE] = "All wars are for 'self-defense' reasons, and when other sentients get killed in this way, it is OK. Throw in [ETHIC:TORTURE_AS_EXAMPLE:ACCEPTABLE] and [ETHIC:EAT_SAPIENT_KILL:ACCEPTABLE]-- It suddenly becomes OK for elven sociopaths to go on cannibalistic rampages against other civilizations in the name of "Self-defense".)
Basically, for elves, EVERYTHING about their culture revolves around the pre-concluded notion that that THE ELVEN WAY is infallibly correct, which is why they have to perform mental gymnastics and enforce absurd cultural norms. (Seriously, how do they make all that cloth with this in their ethics file? [ETHIC:KILL_PLANT:UNTHINKABLE] I suspect that elves have this twisted "Dont kill the plant, only just maim it a bit by cutting parts off while it's still alive" exemption. It's the ONLY way they would get bast fiber of sufficient quality to make cloth goods in such prodigious quantities. Maybe it's how those elven sociopaths find their outlet, given these: [ETHIC:TORTURE_FOR_INFORMATION:MISGUIDED],[ETHIC:TORTURE_FOR_FUN:UNTHINKABLE],[ETHIC:TORTURE_ANIMALS:UNTHINKABLE]. I note the conspicuous lack of "trophy plant" in their raws: [ETHIC:MAKE_TROPHY_SAME_RACE:UNTHINKABLE], [ETHIC:MAKE_TROPHY_SAPIENT:UNTHINKABLE], [ETHIC:MAKE_TROPHY_ANIMAL:UNTHINKABLE])
(Clearly, The large number of clothiers in elven society must be rather telling about them... I would strongly suspect a STRONG correlation between being a clothier, and having a proclivity for being willing to engage in war in elven society. Keep that in mind the next time you consider buying elven fabric.)
Long story short-- Elves are the way they are because they are whackjobs. End of discussion.
Now then-- Where to elves who run foul of their culture's ethics, ( [ETHIC:TREASON:PUNISH_EXILE], [ETHIC:OATH_BREAKING:PUNISH_EXILE], [ETHIC:LYING:PUNISH_EXILE]) go when they get exiled?
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Topic: Could someone explain... The thread where we muse over what causes certain wtfs. (Read 466331 times)