<i>Yes and no</i>.<br/><br/>Ah.  Tamlin was quiet, letting Ranuk's answer sit in the soft night air.  Yes and no...  There was too much that had changed, too much history: blood and iron and claw and tooth, fighting all the time over anything and everything.  The mountains had been the home of demons, once, but that had been eons ago.  Now the mountains belonged to elves, stolen and remade in their image, repurposed for themselves and their future.<br/><br/>He wondered vaguely if there was still anything Ranuk could recognize, anything he saw that was still ancient and untouched.  Would that be better than having it all erased?  Or would it be more merciful, not having a reminder of the past when there was no way to bring such a world back?<br/><br/>The treaty was a step, but it was just one step down a thousand mile path.  Tamlin couldn't see the end, could only nod his head again and make a small hum in the back of his throat, a little note that lilted in the dark.  "I understand... Not everything, of course, but... I think I understand, at least a little."<br/><br/>"I am sorry," he began after a pause, running a hand over the back of his neck, heavy jewelry clinking and shimmering as his ears lowered.  "I don't mean to... to make things worse."