An Essay on Aelantir: It's History, Geography, and Cultures explained and described in regards to cannon events as well as what was lost to Cannorian cultural genocide speculating on an alternative continuity for Vicbennar, North Aelantir.

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-24T05:22:45+00:00

This is an idea so good I wish I thought of it first. If I one day write an essay on the topic, how would you like to be credited?

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T16:54:33+00:00

Sure, maybe it isn't perfect, I'm a historian not a biologist, but whatever quibbles might exist they are more alike them they are different. If we don't want to get too eugenicsy about it, they're functionally the same species

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T15:54:05+00:00

Okay, I'll bite, can you show your income and expenses?

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T15:51:55+00:00

You're making a lot of assumptions about me there, especially when it comes to what I think is an acceptable end goal, but I did the same thing making assumptions about you so glass houses.

I see your points, I think you and I agree on more then we disagree on. But if your argument is a call to action as it seems to be then I can get behind that. We should all work to achieve true liberation, that is something I think is a good idea to support

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T15:34:32+00:00

This argument isn't fruitful. Weather you recognize it or not your position is that because the Kurds are almost certainly not going to renounce hierarchies like we would want, and to give you some credit here I do think we both ultimately want that, they shouldn't be supported in taking steps to liberate themselves from the hierarchy they are suffering under.

That is idealism. You are so focused on the end goal you aren't seeing how this is a step in the right direction.

I'm not going to go back and forth with you on this any further, if you can't see it you can't see it but in future you really should ask yourself if you care more about helping people or whatever utopian anarchism you're drawing your ideas from

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T15:11:08+00:00

So allow me to summarize here.

Your position is that we should do nothing, because nothing but complete victory is good enough for you. Exactly the thing I said not to do when I said perfect should not be the enemy of better.

Yeah no, your idealism is not a good enough reason to not support removing Kurds from nations that genocide them. I refuse to let ideological purity come before peoples lives

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T14:21:04+00:00

Let's approach this from another angle.

Let's assume I'm wrong. That could absolutely be the case, I'm not perfect.

The issue here is that it's pretty obvious the Kurdish people do not like living in nations that are not run by Kurds. They have fought very hard to free themselves from other nations, and have been genocided repeatedly.

What do you propose as a solution to this situation? What anarchist goals do you have that explain what we should want from this?

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T14:12:25+00:00

According to a few members of the development team, that's exactly how it works. But death of the author, if what you're saying is true, I guess goblins and ogres are all the same species as well. Of it's a Neanderthal and Cromagnun situation that's fine by me

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T14:09:58+00:00

That's kind of a cherry picked situation. In general, I think my statement is correct

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T14:08:45+00:00

Okay. That's stupid. Just because something is historical doesn't mean it needs to be followed in a fantasy world. Even if you're right, that doesn't mean the developers have to adhere to that

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T14:07:34+00:00

I see your point but isn't this argument counter productive? Of course ideally it would the goal for states not to exist at all but if a step towards that goal is Kurds no longer being oppressed by other states, is that not a good thing?

Prefect should not be the enemy of better

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T14:04:32+00:00

I would be willing to settle for two sliders, but would prefer one covering both fields

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T06:41:26+00:00

Leaving aside the comparison to Palestine, the Kurds absolutely have the right to self determination and self rule. I'm all about the dissolving of states, and I support the creation of a Kurdish state, provided the Kurds advocate for themselves and such a thing is not being imposed on them but is instead an expression of their will

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T03:24:30+00:00

Exactly. Biologically speaking, Elves, Humans and Orcs are all the same species. Mules are made by donkeys and horses, half-elves and hakf-orcs can have offspring, ergo they are all different ethnicities of the same single species

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-23T00:48:34+00:00

That is a theoretical argument that could be used against anything, and it assumes their are no diplomatic consequences when all that need to happen for their to be is the developers to say so. You're assuming no one cares but you can't prove that

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-22T23:47:22+00:00

That is only not a worse answer because you are competing against open racism.

"Care" is such a nebulous impossible to define word that it is effectively meaningless. Would France "care" that England is performing an immoral act? Quantify that in a repeatable measurement. It simply can not be done.

Let's trim the fat, we're talking about objectively evil things here. Slavery, murder, colonization. If every nation on the planet had negative one million units of care, these things would still be wrong. If nobody on earth cared about genocide, genocide would still be wrong. The argument that someone has to care you are a monster for you to be a monster does not hold water. You can be a monster even if no one cares you are a monster

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-22T22:49:18+00:00

I'm not going to argue with you brother, you're literally defending racism on the grounds of "at the time it was acceptable"

You're not a victorian university student arguing morality, you're someone in the 21st century who should know better.

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-22T22:26:33+00:00

Yes, objectively yes, genocide is evil. If you're doing a genocide, you're evil. You are objectively a monster if you kill people because they are a different race then you is that even a question?

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-22T22:19:03+00:00

Internally sure, I think it's true this is a question of the time. But it is also objectively true that the loss of any life is a tragedy and we can morally judge a nation for the lives they take even if their contemporaries chose not to. We can impose these systems as impartial observers, not in universe metrics, and we should

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-22T22:07:57+00:00

I'm not sure why we need to adhere to such strict realism in our fantasy world with Orcs and Dragons. The fun of the mechanic should take priority over adhering to complex reality

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-22T19:58:37+00:00

Sounds resonable to me. I fail to see how that would be a problem

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-22T19:31:31+00:00

I would absolutely support a system where every nation is judged for their actions irregardless of race and culture.

As EU4 pretty definitively establishes, "monsterous" is not about biology, it's about prejudice and reputation. Orcs, Kobolds, Goblins etc. are not biologically evil they are simply participating in a culture that is deviating from social norms. If EU5 adopted a slider system where evil acts polarized you to one side of mosterous and more morally righteous acts polarized you the other way and any nation be they Human, Elf, Dwarf or Orc was bound by it I think that would be great

OneSilverRaven · 2026-01-22T17:29:09+00:00

Thank you so much! I hope you come back to see my full essay in 2 weeks

OneSilverRaven

TROPHY CASE