A Varda Elentári!

by Dr Zer0

Maedhros eldest of the sons of Feanor plunged into a chasm, the Silmaril clutched to his breast. It should have been the end. Whether the Halls of Mandos or the Void were his fate should not have mattered. Instead he was dragged through the space between worlds and landed in Thedas. What will he do? How will he find his feet? Has he learned anything at all? Edited Quest

9. Chapter 9: Stepping Away

The Elven language, Elvish as it was most commonly referred to. It was fascinating to you, partly because of the name. Quenya was derived from Quendi and suffixes of ownership. Sindarin was much the same for the Sindar. Much like those two examples the name Elvish was formed from the genitive of Elf, just not in Elvish. 'Elf' was the name for the species of the Dalish in the tongue of Thedas, Thedalta as you have named it. This was emblematic of the problems that faced those who sought to learn Elvish, the language was incomplete. There was no word for the people who spoke it and thus no name for the language itself. This had made learning it surprisingly easy for you so far. Though its strange sounds had tripped you up you had still managed the basics much faster than Thedalta. Rather than a living breathing language it almost felt like a basic substitution, without its own grammar. Naturally this meant you were thoroughly unconvinced that you had learnt enough to really consider yourself a master. This firmly in mind you politely requested when the keeper would be free to teach you further. Marethari seemed very amused by the formality of your request and told you to come around after lunch.

Marethari's lesson largely went over grammar. Your struggles with pronunciation have given you a wide vocabulary for your skill level, so grammar was your only weakness. Though some of it gives you trouble you are managing simple sentences with plenty of time left in the lesson. As the hour you had for the lesson draws to an end you ask when you can expect your follow up lesson to be. You have not even touched on verb conjugations or complex sentence structure yet, but you are excited to continue your long journey to mastery.
Marethari looks at you sadly, "There is nothing more I can teach you. This is all that is known of the Elven tongue. Congratulations Nelyafinwë, you are the first outsider to speak our language as well as we do ourselves."
You stare in disbelief at her retreating back. You spend the rest of the day listening to conversations or trying to use your command of Elvish to have people correct your grammar or supply a new word. You hear nothing you do not understand, receive no corrections that reveal new information to you. There are no words to describe your shock. You had known the language was incomplete, but you had not realised the extent of the fragmentation. That Elvish is incapable of supporting speech without the aid of another language is a genuine shock to you. You had assumed it was missing some unusual tenses or that its history was gone and it had no great works to its name. Not this. This is worse than Thingol banning Quenya in his courts. This is worse than that hideous amalgamation of Sindarin and Quenya, mangled almost beyond recognition, that orcs speak. This is unacceptable and you are going to fix it. This project of linguistic reconstruction could take many forms, but you only have time to pursue one.

The siren call of ancient knowledge tugs at your heart. The more time you spend trying to understand the Dalish the more you begin to suspect that they have succumbed to stagnancy. Their language has not grown to repair the gaps left by history and not a few days ago you were confronted by fears that warriors you trained would try to fight a war for their lost homeland. There is a great deal of looking at the past and very little learning from it. You have no intention of falling into this trap. You will seek out any extant examples of the Elvish language and try to reverse engineer its lost elements. The biggest problem is going to be finding those extant examples. If there were any that could aid your efforts in Dalish hands then they would have undoubtedly used them. Your first stop is, as has become your habit on matters of language, Paivel.

Paivel looks at you as Moryo looks at atani, like you were an irritation that only continues to exist because he has not yet figured out how to dispose of you. It is a marked change from the exasperated tolerance that characterised him in your previous interactions. Maybe he took you siding against him on the question of the mage boy worse than you thought. Undaunted, you ask for a list of great Elvish works.
"You expect me to simply hand over the secrets of our people? Do you want me to tell you where all the other Dalish clans are as well? Go away." Paivel's words sound more irritated than truly angry.
Hoping that you can still reason with him you try saying, "I do not seek secrets. I merely wish to know if the Dalish recall any Elvish works of significance. I seek to aid in the reconstruction of your tongue and knowing what could help will be of immense benefit to my search."
Paivel looks at you and says, "We do not need your help outsider. Our history and culture are ours, it would be best if you stopped asking questions about them."
You have a feeling that any further attempts at persuasion will cause this to devolve into an argument, so you depart.

With Elvish literature not an option for the time being you head to the warrior's barrack wagon to ask after elven inscriptions. A short conversation quickly reveals that your best chance of finding such things is in elven ruins. You attempt once again to convince them to tell you of the ruins they know. Though there is an air of hesitancy at first, the more you talk and they respond, the more comfortable with answering your questions they become. You quickly find out that the vast majority of elven ruins are beyond easy reach. Elven ruins tend to follow elven history, so the majority are in 'Antiva' in the Arlathan forest or in the Dales which are just beyond the borders of Ferelden. There are a few in the Frostback mountains and a few of the warriors mention that they've heard of another set deep in the Brecilian forest. One pipes up and mentions that there could be some nearby as the forest is largely unexplored in recent history. You spend nearly a full hour in conversation discussing what exactly you should look for. You discover that one of the problems reconstructing elvish tends to face is that very few people know how to read and write elvish. Generally, the knowledge is kept to the keepers. They do acknowledge that Merrill might know as well. As you leave it becomes very clear to you that this project is going to be significantly harder than your Thedalta project, it will most likely require you to leave the clan and go on a journey of weeks or months. Without a list of elvish works to seek out finding what books are elvish and what is another language entirely would be more hassle than you are willing to put up with. You also hope than any inscriptions will have accompanying images or murals to help with decoding the writing system. You could confront the keeper about it but that feels like it's asking for trouble. With your decision made you spend the rest of the day talking with the warriors about elven ruins.

You make a few useful discoveries, the Dales have a number of extant places which, being still inhabited, will have little of use to you. There are also a number of famous sites that are already well explored. In a revelation that fails to surprise you even slightly, those that were explored already were those that were the safest. You come away with a short list of ruins worth exploring in Ferelden. The first is something they call the heart of the forest. It's deep into the Brecilian woods approximately two or three days walk from camp through the dangerous parts. One mentions that there's rumours of some kind of elven fortress deep in the Frostback mountains. They also mention that no one has ever seen it due to the difficulty of traversing the terrain without a guide. The final rumour you hear is of another ruined fortress somewhere on the borders of the Dales. You'd need to leave Ferelden and travel to Orlais, either through the pass or over the mountains, to reach them though. Truth be told the Heart of the forest sounds like it will be the best chance of finding something you can actually use; due both to its relative proximity and the fact it isn't a fortress. Few fortresses have long inscriptions in your experience.

With the all the warriors, or hunters, of the clan looking to you for leadership it is time to sit down and start organising them in a sensible manner. Every ruler knows that getting your force to the field is a much greater undertaking than any given battle. You have only some fifty odd warriors to organise, equip, schedule and train but more are currently being taught and equipping everyone, if your own struggles with equipment are anything to go by, is going to be a monumental challenge all on its own. Fortunately, you have more than five hundred years of experience in the matter to draw upon. Even if Tamlen was better than you think he was you can only be an improvement on the situation.

The first challenge you overcome is that of keeping records. You could try to keep everything in your memory and take problems as they come but that sounds like a recipe for disaster to you. You don't have time to make enough paper to fill a library, nor have you had time to set up the paper creating process you envisioned last week. You do however have a surplus of sharp rocks and soft wood. It is not the best solution you have; you need to rub charcoal into the cuts you make to see them better for instance. But you can manage to make small markings that represent things without spending all week making ink and paper so it will do.

With a method to keep records you begin your actual tasks for the week. The first thing you have to address is the program for training new hunters. Currently the youths are being trained by whichever hunter has time. The system is akin to a series of impromptu temporary apprenticeships. You think you should be able to expand this to also allow for those not hunting to train. Since before you can do so you will need to address the schedules it is not your first task after all.

The schedules are a mess. There are hunting parties that hunt together regularly but they are entirely self-organised. The reason you've gotten so many requests for you tell others when they should hunt is that they are trying to get you in their group and need you to not be with another group. What this means in practice is that there is no schedule. Parties go out wherever they like, whenever they like. Any co-ordination of hunting grounds takes place on the level of individuals sharing advice. You need to schedule this properly so that areas do not become over hunted and so that there are always a few warriors back home to defend and instruct. This lack of organisation also makes it impossible to tell what is being used by everyone. Talking to Ilen you find out that people replace their equipment on an individual basis. Fortunately, he has records of what everyone is asking for, so you do have data about what equipment needs frequent replacement. The problem is that the ad-hoc nature of groups mean you have no idea if someone is going through arrows in training, by being careless or because they are single handedly feeding the entire tribe.

These issues all come back to the same fundamental problem, there is no system by which a group of hunters can be identified, tracked and moved about. You need to create some kind of organisational backbone if you want to get anything done. Fortunately, you have several ways to go about it. As you consider how best to organise the clan's warriors you are struck by a thought. What is your role in this? You are deciding how the clan will structure its fighting force, but you do not have a clear idea of what you will be doing.

You decide that the best option you have is a hybrid of the more regimented system used by the Noldor on the small scale and the personalised retinues that make up the larger hosts of your people. You will create a certain number of warbands which will then elect a leader from among their number. That leader will then be responsible for administering their 'warband' while still answering to the keeper. You toyed with the idea of building the system around yourself but ultimately that would tie you to the clan more firmly than you are comfortable with. You are usure if anyone else will rise to a position of authority over all the clan's warriors or if you will remain a de-facto leader while you remain among the Sabrae but you will construct this organisation to function without one, and more importantly without you.

With the underlying structure out of the way you spend much of the week setting up the underlying infrastructure to support these warbands. You speak to the keeper and get her approval for the plan. You also talk to Ilen and the other craftsmen about the feasibility of having the warband leaders in charge of securing equipment. They raise some concerns over the increased size of orders that could result in. You spend no small amount of time helping them streamline their construction processes and establishing what needs replacement most often so they can start building up a stockpile before people need them. Your insistence on a shift to gambeson over leather armour is met with some disbelief and few mutters about tradition but a demonstration proves that yes, it is easier to make and just as if not more effective. You take a moment to marvel how tradition fails to be as impactful as the prospect of saving several hours a day on leatherworking.

With the underlying support structure finished and equipment under construction, you turn your attention to scheduling. You spend a great deal of time talking to the hunters. You ask where the best game is, how is the local area shifting and other such questions. You then ask Paivel for a map. After he insists that you cannot mark it you waste several hours copying it out by hand. You are not entirely sure why so many people stare at your work open mouthed; it is only a rough outline with noted terrain markers. Once that is done you mark out designated hunting grounds and give each a memorable name. Whoever ends up doing the scheduling, you for now, will assign a warband to a hunting ground depending on what is needed and how often it has been hunted previously. As far as projections on who will become a leader, a short poll reveals that Auriel and Tamlen will most likely become leaders if they don't end up in the same warband. You will also have to make it clear that you are not an option to be a leader since you got more votes than both of them combined. The question you now face is how many warbands to make.

You are honestly not sure why you even considered anything other than having three warbands. Fifty one warriors give each warband exactly seventeen members. Having three will allow for two to hunt with one in reserve to rest and teach. As long as the reporting system regarding hunting grounds remains in use the clan should be able to stay here for much longer and with far less attrition than it would have otherwise. Of course, the question of who will do the administration is one that you consider briefly. Then you realised that you should leave that up to the keeper, she is the nominal leader of the warriors in this new system after all. After a few minutes further thought you decide to make a recommendation that it be the official responsibility of the Keeper's first. It will give Merrill some desperately needed organisational experience and force the shy girl to interact with the rest of the clan. She still spends every meal by your side and frankly it just makes you despair for her role as future leader.

The very next day, you gather the warriors and inform them of the new organisational structure. You allow them to largely sort themselves into three groups initially and then begin telling people to join other groups to make the numbers even. You do not end up making Tamlen and Auriel join the same group and, when you ask the warbands to decide on a leader, you are not surprised that they are both chosen. The third band ends up picking someone named Junar. You have seen him teaching some of the young hunters, and he seems a decent choice. You spend an hour walking the leaders through their new responsibilities, ignoring Tamlen's growing irritation, and giving advice on some best practices. Tamlen aside the leaders seem appreciative, Auriel is looking fiercely competitive and Junar is seems as though he is wondering how he got here. You hand out notes from the keeper informing each group what they will be doing and where. You very carefully did not look at them so you have no input on the decision at all. Once they have received their orders Junar's band heads to the training area while the other two depart for the forest.

This day is the third worst of your life, assuming you count your time in Thrangodrim as a single day, otherwise it's somewhere in the high hundreds. You find yourself constantly glancing at the forest expecting a runner to come pelting in with news of disaster. Other times you stare at the young warriors, worrying about their training. To your immense surprise nothing goes wrong. The hunters come back with middling success, not a significant improvement on their end but an improvement nonetheless. The training of the students has benefited somewhat more, and everyone involved seems satisfied with the new system. There is no great celebration but your reputation as a solid choice for leader of the warriors is set quite firmly. The various traditionalists about camp, while still suspicious of your contributions, are mollified when you seem to have no input beyond the idea itself.

You are pleased that keeper Marethari has gotten over her existential crisis. However, you would like it if she'd stop looking at you like she knows something you do not. It is this thought, and others like it, that eventually decide you on speaking to her about your role in the clan going forward. You meet her outside her wagon in the centre of camp.
Marethari greets you as you approach, "Thank you for coming to see me Nelyafinwë. It seems like you're always doing something, so I appreciate you taking the time for a quick chat. Would you care to come inside? Merrill's made some tea."
Somewhat taken off guard by her relative formality, until now your conversations have been closer to those of friendly neighbours, you respond automatically, "It was of no concern. My humblest apologies for not coming earlier, I had a prior engagement. Tea would be lovely thank you."
You bend nearly double to follow the keeper into her wagon and are surprised to see a small table and two chairs in the middle of the main room. There is a rather plain looking tea set on the table and as you squash yourself into the chair Marethari pours herself some tea.
"Do help yourself, it's all for us so there's no need to be shy." She says, gesturing with her teacup.
Somewhat offput by familiar rhythms that are just different enough to notice, no servant to pour tea for example, you pour yourself some and take a long sip. The tea is perfectly serviceable, hardly the best you've had but at least it is not that boiled root abomination Turko drinks.
"The tea is lovely. My compliments to the host and to Merrill." You say, raising your cup and drinking again.
The Keeper smiles at you and dips her head graciously. "You're too kind."
Several moments pass in silence as you drink tea. You are once more thrown slightly off by the small differences, in this case the lack of snacks which would normally be presented at this point in a formal tea. This meeting is quickly starting to feel like an uncanny valley where it is too casual to be the formal tea it seemed at first but too formal to be a simple conversation between two individuals.
After the Keeper has finished her tea, she places her cup down and speaks. "I hope you realise the awkward position you've put me in."
Does she realise the awkward situation she is putting you in right now? Literally, with your head is scraping on the ceiling and your knees in your chest, and figuratively?
Keeping your thoughts to yourself, you place your half-finished cup down and ask, "I may, but I may also be misunderstanding you. What is your position and how have I placed you in it?"
Her face remains a still mask of neutrality as she speaks, "Your actions in the past month have caused no small number of difficulties among the clan. The events of the week just passed especially. Not two days ago I had Tamlen in here calling you a reckless fool on a crusade to destroy the clan."
You do your best to maintain a level tone as you reply. "I have a personal disagreement with Tamlen. His judgement on the matter is compromised."
Your response yields a sceptical look, but the Keeper continues. "Further I have a number of Hahren complaining that I am letting an outsider have free run of the camp. I am sympathetic to your plight, arriving in a world you don't understand but you can see how the current state of affairs cannot continue."
"You wish me to leave then?" you say.
"If it is your desire to leave than I certainly won't stop you. However, I have not asked you here simply to cast you out. I merely wish to know what it is you wish to do going forward and come to an understanding that I can present to my clan."
You raise your hand to your chin in thought. She is quite correct. You may have been earning your keep but a guest who simply stays forever with no sign of leaving would strain even the most hospitable of groups.
After a few moments thought you say, "I would like to keep our relationship relatively informal if that is not unduly difficult. A formal arrangement, though desirable in its clarity, would rest on factors that are largely illusory."
The keeper nods in understanding, then replies, "That is most agreeable. Many feared you would seek to join the clan, and such a thing would have caused a great deal of uproar."
You smile ruefully. "Such fears were unfounded. I have no desire to join your clan."
The keeper nods seriously. Fearing that this may be seen as an insult you allow your smile to become more genuine and say in a light-hearted tone, "It is the face tattoos. My mother would kill me if I were to return home with them. Oh, and they would clash with my hair something awful."
The keeper chokes back a sudden burst of laughter. Coughing she says, "Well if it's a matter of hair I suppose nothing can be done."

Pleased by her reaction you speak once more. "Now going forward, we will unofficially clarify our existing relationship. Say what we're both looking for and rely primarily on our reputations and personal connections for enforcement. Is this also your understanding?"
The keeper, once more composed, nods. "Yes. As far as my clan is concerned your help, while appreciated, is unnecessary and many feel that you are overstepping our boundaries in doing so. There is no debt to speak of between us so I must ask what you want and why we should give it to you."
You spend a few moments thinking before you speak. "I have, until this point, been operating under the assumption that in exchange for my aid in the day to day tasks of the clan I would be granted shelter and food. I have taken it upon myself to share the knowledge I possess in payment for the knowledge that has been granted to me. Would such a relationship not be possible in future?"
The keeper shakes her head. "I'm afraid that we Dalish do not take kindly to outsiders. It was one thing when you were a possible demon or aberration who did not speak our language. Now that you are cleared of that suspicion and capable of speech many feel that it is time to make you leave. While I do see benefits in what you have given the clan, many are wary of outsiders corrupting or destroying our culture. Hence, we will now need to negotiate for further mutual assistance."
You nod, you can read between the lines here. The keeper is under pressure to banish the outsider, but she sees you as a useful ally. You need to present something that will placate those who are pressuring her.

"It seems to me." You begin, "That it would be best to consider me as something akin to a merchant. I will come and go trading aid for aid."
The keeper nods to herself, "That sounds like it could work. You would trade your services and knowledge for ours then?"
You nod, "Yes, or for certain goods or anything that I need. By the same token you could offer services or goods in exchange for things I know or something only I can do."
Marethari smiles and relaxes back in her chair. "It is fortunate then that you have been such a help around camp. I would hate to begin this relationship with you in our debt."
You conceal your exasperation with a polite smile, "I am certain that you would have found some use for me if I were in your debt at this point."
She chuckles before replying. "True enough. I must say that it's something of a relief that we've arrived at this particular agreement. Many in the clan have been upset by my supposed favouring of an outsider."
You shrug. "It is a rare day when you can make all your subordinates happy with your decision."
Marethari leans in, an air of mischief in her body language and tone. "Oh? Is that the sound of a fellow leader I hear? Was Nelyafinwë an important person where he came from? And he didn't tell me? I'm hurt."
You laugh politely, though you don't care for her 'humour'. "I fear that you have found me out. I have not in fact successfully become the unofficial leader of your warriors and radically restructured their organisation by accident. I confess I am in fact someone who has led others in the past."
The keeper seems pleased by your response and says, "Do tell. Have I perhaps rescued a foreign prince?"
She must have caught your slight flinch at her accurate guess because she continues. "I have! Prince Nelyafinwë the true crown prince of the Noldor just needs a few silvers in order to reclaim his crown. I knew those letters were real."
"It would be best if you did not make such claims, even in jest." You say curtly, restraining your temper by reminding yourself that she does not have the context for why that would anger you.
"Oh? Forgive me I didn't know this was a sensitive topic." Marethari says, before changing the subject, "I suppose you'll be leaving soon?"
You spend a moment in thought before you reply. "I have not yet decided, there are many things that could be of use that I do not yet have. Despite that, I have everything I need, save perhaps some money for emergencies. Do not fear, I will inform you when I have made my decision."
Marethari refills her cup and raises it in toast. "Well, I for one will be sorry to see you go, though I will be grateful that you take many of my problems with you."
You raise your cup in response. "To friendly partings and fleeting problems."
You depart Marethari's wagon filled with good cheer and confident that you have an ally in the keeper. Over the next few days you notice that the elders of the clan seem much more relaxed around you and that Tamlen looks unbearably smug. Fortunately, you are the bigger man and do not respond to his blatant provocation. Any rumours that you placed a beehive in his wagon are scurrilous attacks on your person.

You said that you would acquire wood for bows and if you want to ever train any more warriors that is what you need to do. You set off into the forest armed and armoured as usual. You bring a knife along to help trim the bow staves but other than that you need very little that you do not carry with you at all times.

You are fortunate that there are a number of hardwood trees, elm and ash mostly but some searching reveals a few good yew trees that you intend to use. You spend a few hours finding relatively straight branches of an appropriate length. These are then stripped of their bark and any protrusions with the knife you brought along. It is a peaceful, meditative chore. During the time you spend on this task you find your thoughts turning towards equipping your warriors in the future. The largest problem you face is that the clan does not produce metal. Hardly surprising as mines tend to be on or near mountains and you're in a forest. It does mean that you will need to trade in order to equip your warriors to your exacting standards. The question is what to trade. Wood and fur seem to be the main two goods used currently but neither is as valuable as you would like. Wood can be sold but has to compete with the fact that most people the Dalish trade with can either cut it themselves or buy it from the villages that do. Fur is its own problem as, while it can get quite cold in the winter, this area does not see the extreme lows and heavy snow that makes fur popular. If you are going to be able to afford metal arrows for fifty people, let alone metal armour, you are going to need a finished good to trade. Fur clothes are something of a dead end for now, but wooden products are used everywhere.

You decide to talk to the carpenters of the clan about making furniture. It is a simple finished good that many people will happily buy to save having to make it themselves. The real secret is going to be making them well so that people prefer Dalish goods to whatever their local carpenter will do for a handful of silver. Fortunately, the clan has many carpenters as many of their goods are made of wood. You gather as many as are willing to listen and pitch your idea to them. They are receptive, the idea has been passed around once or twice before but has always run into the problem that it takes time away from other projects.

You know a few things about how to make something well and fast. You are not an expert on the subject but you can pass on many of the practices of your people, in theory at least. After extended consulting with the craftsmen you come up with an idea for a series of standardised shapes that can be made in large numbers and assembled into a variety of different furniture pieces. Some bright spark name Ikean then proposes that instead of selling the furniture assembled you could instead sell the parts and instructions on how to assemble them. While you were sceptical, the lack of metal means that everything you make will use either wood pins or a pressure fit neither of which are easy for a layman, the others were all for the idea and it was the project they decided to undertake. It takes most of the week to get a batch ready for sale, and frankly you never want to see another adze in your life. Once your work is finished a party of warriors and some of the clans more silver tongued members gather to head into the nearest village and get trading. You accompany them as you are the only one who wants to acquire some good quality metal.

Once you arrive in the village there is a small commotion as people are surprised to see a group of Dalish. As you had previously thought these 'humans' were atani. It is almost comforting to see the second comers, an island of familiarity in a world where everything is just slightly askew. Your wares attract some attention, but things pretty quickly start going wrong. There are several problems that all require your attention. The only one you have time to deal with is the idiot who has decided to take the task of buying your metal upon himself.

You have not spent an entire week gathering wood and preparing for this moment to let someone with more confidence than sense ruin it for you. When you arrive at the local blacksmith you find him browsing tools that are for sale. When you inform the blacksmith that the clan is interested in a supply of metal and is more than capable of making its own tools your 'companion' is less than pleased. His posturing is quickly cut through by you pointing out that he is getting marked up prices and that finished tools already cost about four times as much as the metal they are made of. After this is revealed you send him back to the rest of the caravan while the blacksmith looks at you with caution.

You are not a trader of Moryo's calibre, you are decent but that's it. You don't get much in the way of weapons and armour grade iron but then again you were not really expecting to. You do end up having to charge money from those who were buying your furniture as the blacksmith was not interested. You eventually arrange for approximately the same weight of iron as the furniture you brought. That is not a lot of iron, but it is all of reasonably high quality and a good third of it will make decent armour or arrowheads. Nobody is going to be wearing chainmail or plate, but it should not be too hard to have small leather backed breastplates and maybe a steel ridge on the helmets. Far more importantly to the rest of the clan you have enough iron to replace all lost tools and repair damaged equipment. You hear a few of your companions sounding excited about fixing their wagons. All in all, the expedition is a success. Since the affair was your idea and you did the majority of the work its agreed that you should keep what money you didn't end up spending, mostly because you were not willing to pay for the low quality iron it could have bought. The carpenters and the traders are pleased with the results and are making plans to continue the practice without your input. You don't think that you'll be able to personally benefit from this particular undertaking again but you're glad that your warriors will be better equipped. Though they would not need the equipment if they were better trained it is always better to have it than not. All in all you secured a supply of metal arrows and gained 10 silver coins and 81 bronze coins. Not bad for a relative novice at trading

Another week has ended. You make no real progress in the languages as you have now hit a wall in both Elvish and Thedalta. You do gain some small amounts of fluency but nothing significant at your current level. Now that you have a broad idea of where you are and who can help you in this world you have possible destinations. The trip to the human village has given you experience with them and gotten you some money. Your friendship with the keeper and history of aiding the hunters should enable you to gather enough supplies for a few weeks. The time has come to make a decision. Will this be your last week among the Dalish?