Sir JK wrote...
LobselvVith8, XxDeonxX: Like you both say, it is impossible for us to know exactly what transpired. Did the orlesian attempt conversion by the sword or where the templars sent as body guards for the missionaries as a response to increasingly violent emerald knights? Was Red Crossing a provoked, if excessive, attack or was it a completely unjustified act of aggression? Were the Dalish lenient occupants than never harmed innocents as they conquered the populated half of Orlais or did they come like a scourge killing anyone that did not flee and hunting down every last andrastian they cam across?
All this we don't and cannot know. Both the written history of the Chantry and the tales of the Dalish are heavily biased against one another. If not outright lies then by subjective truth.
There's two very important things to consider though:
1. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Just because we have no evidence of Dalish/Arlathan transgressions does not mean they did not happen. Remember, the affected region is in Tevinter/Rivvain and Orlais, so if there is any evidence to be found it will be in places we have yet to be shown.
2. The only sources we have of the fall of Arlathan and the March on the Dales are Dalish legends and Fereldan historywriting/Dalish legends respectively. Both have a massive anti-orlesian bias. They have a reason and an interest to make the Orlesians look bad. Just like we can expect Chantry and Orlesian records to be mired with half-truths, subversions, vague meanings, rewriting, propaganda and even outright lies, so should we expect everything we've read and heard about the Orlesians at the time to be filled with those.
Let's face it, all history in the game is told out of a fereldan perspective... and the fereldan have a political interest in making orlesians look like unjustified, bloodthirsty warmongerers.
Similarly, the dalish have an interest in teaching their young that humanity is not to be trusted and will take whatever the elves build out of jealousy.
To get the true picture, we need to go to the orlesian heartlands and to the orlesian dales. There will we get a better picture of what happened. Grave monuments, fade rifts, ghosts, victory monuments, ruins... those will tell us more of what happened than the living ever will.
So to end I suggest that if we are to discuss the merit of the Chantry. Let's discuss who they are now, rather than what they did then. After all... all the people back then, who made the decisions they did are all long dead. It's the people who live now that matters and they should be judged on what they do, not what their ancestors did.
Yeah I agree, We cannot confirm nor deny between which of the sides was right or wrong until we gain a further knowledge of said things. I do think that we should not judge organisations on their history - The History we have a lack of. I do feel that with the way the situation is now, As a Human (And a mage for all but the Libertarian Fraternity, and Apostates... And maleficarum to a lesser extent however i personally feel they deserve to be punished for their practices.. Well Blood Magic users, maybe not shapeshifters) Anyway as I was saying, With the situation as a human or non-libertarion mage; The Chantry at the moment, Not basing off their history. Is a decent organisation that manages to maintain a decent degree of order and peace across the lands. And so I don't really have anything against them.
I feel we probably cannot blame the current treatment of the city elves on them, because although they caused them to end up in poverty due to the Exalted March (Which may or may not be justified) It is up to the Citys Governors, Teryns, Arls, Banns and Most Importantly Monarchs to Improve Traditions for the elves.
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