Jun-09-2011, 09:57 AM (UTC)
A massive volcanic eruption may have been a big part of it, but I doubt it was anything but a symptom. For one thing, while the Elderling cities in the Rain Wilds have been buried, others have not. Dragons could also have flown away from the disaster-struck areas and lived somewhere else. Yet humans remained but dragons and Elderlings did not.
AR put up a very good question as to why there was never a return of the Elderlings. I don't know if the humans ever missed Elderling civilization because it doesn't seem like there were any attempts to "revive" it. Western countries revisited classical teachings for centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire and many leaders launched campaigns to revive the glory and grandeur of the Romans. So why haven't the humans in the RotE? It's almost as if Elderling history were intentionally being smothered to become the stuff of myths and legends rather than an ancient civilization that actually existed at one point.
AR put up a very good question as to why there was never a return of the Elderlings. I don't know if the humans ever missed Elderling civilization because it doesn't seem like there were any attempts to "revive" it. Western countries revisited classical teachings for centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire and many leaders launched campaigns to revive the glory and grandeur of the Romans. So why haven't the humans in the RotE? It's almost as if Elderling history were intentionally being smothered to become the stuff of myths and legends rather than an ancient civilization that actually existed at one point.