>>5289070>>5289066>>5289067>>5289049>>5288893>>5288751>>5288747>>5288582>>5288547>>5288522“The Dark Gods are co-equal, you try to explain, looking to your senior intellectuals for confirmation.
They nod.
“They have no leader. Like apex predators, like sovereigns of confederates states, like…”
You can see the befuddlement on the face of the subterranean mammal-man as the Translator conveys this, and so you sigh and give up the effort to explain it. It seems these elves struggle with the concept of an alliance, or a faith, without a supreme leader. You lack the political or theological understanding to explain it as you would like, let alone with the language barrier.
“They want a patron god—something akin to Oberon, or their queen Titania,” the Elf-Specialist says.
“Who are they?” you ask, even more puzzled now than before.
“A mother and father goddess of the elven people,” Paeris explains. “The elven pantheon is a subset of the Gods of Light, and those two are… Like mother and father, king and queen. Their example of monarchs, who rule in turn, forms the basis for elven feudal politics.”
“Rule in turn?” you ask. “The female rules? Like among…”
‘Among insects,’ you almost say.
“…Like a matriarchy?”
“Not quite, Dragonborn,” the Elf-Specialist says. “The elves are neither matriarchal nor patriarchal, on the surface. They are egalitarian, androgene. Males rule for a season of politics, then females; king, then queen.”
“This is how it is on the surface, traditionally,” Paeris confirms. “though in recent eras, the male-dominated magocracy is preeminent. Who can say how these dark elves do things, though?”
Absolute madness! How can you explain a sensible faith to such barbarians? Perhaps you should just put forth Death, as the only God you have personal knowledge of? Maybe you can even thus pay off your debt…
But then, inspiration strikes.
