Ace

I'm still absorbing chapter 5 because damn

It was that good

it's also interesting in the difference between the elves of the Old Path and the practitioners of other races. if the ability to have children was decided to only be granted to the most faithful then elves like Hannan and his wife were foregoing the possibility of ever passing on their traditions to their biological children as the other races of the Old Path could. of course, biological family isn't the only type of family, but it does mean the elven druids had to put themselves in more danger in order to find others who shared their beliefs. there were no generations of secret worship. they had to intentionally seek each other out just to learn about the Path, let alone find community with each other, and if they were discovered, if they confided in the wrong person, they were persecuted the most harshly by their goddess of life and nature.

They've both lost the central person they arranged their life around yes? And not only did this death leave them unmoored with an uncertain purpose, they discovered that they had to deal with the consequences of the actions they weren't even aware their Leader/Goddess had taken. Now not only do they have this never-ending grief that they can't let go off and pops out at the worst moments but also anger because they were true believers, and it was not rewarded. Thimble must have similar feelings as well, but I think her relationship with Thjazi being more intimate didn't feel so much like a God dying on you.

In a way Azune is in a better position simply due to being young enough to accept this change as a brand-new world and adventure like Thimble said. He is around the same age as Demodus which is what I think is making him react so strongly but could also be why he is able to take so many actions in the aftermath, no watter how much of a moral injury they are causing him.

Meanwhile, Vaelus age and distance from her grief is leading her to stagnation. I don't care that she is 800 years old, spending 70 years in mourning without doing anything to affect the world is not healthy, and I think she knows it. Why else would she still be here? She could just go back to her abbey with the Stone of Nightsong nothing is stopping her, but I think she also must be feeling that call to adventure. Deep down she must not want to keep being the person she was for the last 800 years. I think it's not just her desire to revive Sylandri that is keeping her close to Occtis, she must also long for the act of changing and experiencing the world; for the act of being an active participant in this brand-new world and deepest of all to understand why exactly she is starting to feel like everything she has done up to this point is wrong.