ThrowRug wrote:
I never said there was pacifism on the elves' part. All I'm saying is that "war" is not the term I would use for it.
When 5 soldiers show up and are refered to as "what's left of the elven army," I think it's safe to say that the elven army has been somewhat reduced (Obviously it was an overstatement, but I doubt they're up to taking out a full city of half elves). There is no way that the rangers could complete the absolute genocide of the half elves that was the original goal. What they're doing now is more akin to terrorism: instilling fear by the public murder of individuals.
I suppose, if you want to define the activity of the rangers as "war," then yes, they are at war. But it should be made clear that that is the sole available means the elves have of waging a war.
Furthermore, I'll add that occasionally rangers probably lose their fights, and die. If Misa is the youngest elf at 1,200 years old, then the half elves must be breeding faster than they can be eliminated, and are almost certainly killing elves faster than they're reproducing. Anyone with half a brain should be able to see that math, and the elves do have half a brain: therefore they should know that they cannot effectively eliminate the whole of the half elves. I'll state again that, since they know they cannot achieve that goal, I say they've given up on eliminating the half elves, and are merely playing damage control.
Actually, I'll disagree with that entire thesis and I have a real-world example; Palestine. Multiple rockets per day, fired into Israel, may not be very effective but it is still an act of war and is still a war-crime (indiscriminately targeting civilians) if carried out by the legitimate government (which it is, as Hamas has claimed at least one of those attacks). Now these rocket attacks are, relatively speaking, pin-pricks to Israel, they still must respond to them as they would to any other act of war. This is what Gaza is about.
Likewise, the Half-elves and the Elves have not stopped the war, the Elves simply stopped persuing them due to exhaustion. Yes, rogue Rangers, like Sarine, who were originally on the other side, are undermining and moderating the genocidal temperment of the extremeists. However, that doesn't alter the state of the continuing war and the relative status of the Half-elves. That's just like a ceasation of Hamas rockets doesn't mean that they've declared peace. It only means that they need time to reload.