Ooh...  That wasn't good.  Poor girl was going to be horribly disappointed when she got the answers to her questions.  Sitting there right next to her, almost close enough that it might be uncomfortable, Shaera spent a few seconds thinking about how she would answer, then sighed.  Best to tell it to her straight...<br/><br/>"...Sorry, but I'm afraid you've been misinformed."  She stated, not turning away from direct eye contact with the girl.  She wasn't the type to run, not from a fight, or a conversation.  "We haven't turned away at all from the traditions our ancestors have handed down for thousands of years, our ancestors have simply passed on a different set of traditions from those of the other elves of Aerenal.  The Aereni have the Undying Court, preserving their greatest heroes and scholars even after death through reverence and worship, while the Tairnadal, whose greatest warriors founded the nation of Valenar, chose to keep their ancestors alive in a different way.  When I completed my training back on Aerenal, I went before the Keepers of the Past and was chosen by the spirit of a patron ancestor, Tysaer Jholadi, and now, by emulating his deeds and living as he did, I can channel his spirit, allow him to live on in this modern age through me."<br/><br/>Ordinarily, this might be the point where she would ask if the girl would like to meet him, or some other, similar phrase.  She might recite his deeds, or give a display of her talents, and then she would draw the zaelta over her face and attempt to woo this girl.  But in this particular case, she still had some explaining to do.  She would have to wait a little longer before moving in.<br/><br/>"In many ways, Valenar is more of a temporary state than anything else.  Our homeland is still back on Aerenal, our wives, children, the breeding grounds for our horses...  New recruits come in from Aerenal all the time.  But those such as yourself have been making a space for themselves.  House Lyrandar's Raincallers are pretty much essential to the farmers living in the region, and I've heard that they've been getting on good terms with Valenar's leadership.  There have even been rumors of some of their young scions riding with a war-band...  Though, I doubt any of them have been chosen by a patron ancestor."