The whole point of the Haranir is that a tradition they’ve held on to for tradition’s sake is revealed to be bad.
- It is forbidden to bring outsiders to Harandar! Orweyna broke our laws by going to the surface and letting your world know about us. And now this?
- Ter'kova say: How many of our sacred traditions have you broken, child?
Ran'hune says: Inviting those outsiders here--
Ran'hune says: --profaning this sacred place with their presence
Ruia says: You have forgotten the value of tradition, Orweyna. Go to the Den of Echoes, and remind yourself of what it means to be haranir.
Orweyna has broken our laws and customs. The Den of Echoes will teach you about our ways, and challenge you to prove yourself.
If you return, it will mean Aln’hara has granted you leave to stay. I do not expect to see you again.
- There is one trial yet remaining.
If you survive, the goddess’ blessing will be upon you, and the council will not be able to deny your presence here.
Descend now into the earth and follow in our ancestors’ footsteps.
Hagar says: The goddess was gone when they arrived.
Hagar says: Without her, the land was falling apart.
Hagar says: After all the trials, and journeys, we hoped to find purpose.
Hagar says: Instead we found discord and death.
Hagar says: We blamed the missing goddess.
Hagar says: We blamed the land.
Hagar says: We blamed each other.
Hagar says: The goddess' absence was not a tragedy,
Hagar says: but a trial--
Hagar says: One we failed.
Hagar says: When at last we found our way,
Hagar says: the elders feared what would happen if we returned to the surface.
Hagar says: So...
Hagar says: They forbade it.
This shame was the whole reason the Haranir’s founders imposed cultural isolation onto their people for all time, masking it as valuing tradition to be something the Haranir to take pride to hide from them that truth that their founders believed them too dangerous to be allowed back up to the surface.
And this guy that everyone is annoyed by?
- You stand before Ruia, Rootwarden of Shaladrassil. For eighty-five years I have stood vigil over its cursed roots, just as my mentor stood before his return to the earth.
- Didn’t Shaladrassil fall to the Nightmare?
Do your people lament the fall of the sky when it rains?
Sometimes, there are more roots.
Sometimes, there are fewer. Sometimes they change in shape or in temperament. But always, they reach for the Cradle. Why would we care what occurs in the world above, so long as the roots of Harandar remain whole?
Do you have any other foolish questions? Or are you merely attempting to forestall your judgment?
He’s meant to be an annoying jerk you hate, because you’re going to kill him as a dungeon boss any way.
In the end it is meant for the Haranir to move on from this tradition:
- When Shaladrassil became corrupted we shared its story with our young, yet we did not come to the great tree’s aid.
My people became blind to the world, shrouded in our beliefs, locking everyone out, letting the world that surrounds us burn in countless perils.
Coming here has shown me that, in some ways, we have failed the goddess. But it is not too late. It is never too late.
- Being here, seeing the tree, I now understand. The tree is more than the sum of its roots. This is true for us as individuals, as well as for our people.
We are part of this world, and the goddess would have wanted us to see her glory.
The isolation of our people should be as yesterday’s breeze.
It seems some people take offense to others not liking the Haranir because of all the work that was put into the graphic design and art and music of Harandar and the Haranir. That’s well and good, but that’s an entirely different conversation and not having anything to do with people not liking the Haranir for parts of a culture that are not meant to be liked.
But that doesn’t give people a lot of reason to like the Haranir for their current lore, either.
