데일스의 승임의 행군

데일스의 승임의 행군에 대한 성가회의 이야기는, 이교도 야만인들에 맞서는 정의롭고 신실한 자들의 모습을 떠올리게 한다. 하지만 데일스 지방에 관해 오랫동안 연구해온 나에게, 이 이야기에서 "용인되는" 해석은 노골적인 친 성가회 및 친 인간적인 편견으로 가득 차 있는 부실한 이야기에 불과하다. 그런고로 이를 대신할 해석을 제안하는 것은 나의 도덕적 의무라고 할 수 있다. 데일스의 승임의 행군은 믿음의 가면 뒤에 숨은 팽창주의적 책략에 지나지 않는다.

데일스 지방이 얼마나 큰지는 어느 지도를 봐도 쉽게 알 수 있다. 더 중요한 것은, 데일스가 올레이와 나머지 남부 지방의 사이에 자리 잡고 있으며, 제국의 영토를 페렐던으로 확장하는 데 중대한 걸림돌이 되었을 가능성이 컸다는 것이다. 당연히, 우리는 무고한 선교사들을 공격하고 선량한 안드라스테의 자녀들의 피를 희생하는 적대적이고 비합리적인 민족에 대한 이야기를 전파함으로써 이익을 취했다. 실제로는 인간들이 엘프들의 자치권을 훼손하려는 분명한 의도를 보이는 동안, 그들은 그저 축복받은 안드라스테로부터 직접 약속받은 자신들의 땅에 대한 주권을 지키려 했을 뿐이었다.

당연하게도 엘프들은 점점 더 고립주의적 태도를 보였고, 이는 제국의 입맛에 완벽하게 맞아떨어졌다. 제국에게 데일스는 외교적인 서약을 모두 퇴짜놓고 두 번째 대재앙 당시 어둠의 피조물이 몽시마르를 공격했을 때 원조를 거절한 왕국이자, 깨어나기 전에 파괴해야 할 잠재적 위협일 수밖에 없었다.

학자들은 붉은 교차로에서의 학살이 데일스 엘프 왕국에 대한 성가회의 승임의 행군에 불을 붙였다고 지적한다. 그들은 붉은 교차로에서 무슨 일이 일어났는지, 왜 엘프들이 공격했는지 제대로 밝혀진 것이 아무것도 없다는 사실은 쉬이 묵살해버린다. 수백 명을 학살한 엘프들의 공격에 대한 성가회의 반응은 뻔했다. 하지만 내 논지에 비추어 볼 때, 우리는 붉은 교차로의 사건들을 재검토해 그 공격이 정말로 이유가 없는 것이었는지, 혹은 마을 하나를 제물로 삼아 한 종족의 예속을 정당화한 것이 누군가의 이득을 위한 것임은 아니었는지 자문해봐야 할지 모른다.

—용의 시대 9:12년, 올레이 대학에서 발표된 익명의 저자가 쓴 소논문 승임의 행군에 대한 새로운 관점에서 발췌

 

The Exalted March of the Dales

The Chantry's story of the Exalted March of the Dales paints the picture of the righteous faithful arrayed against heathen savages. But I have long studied the Dales, and I find the "acceptable" version of the tale to be a poor one, laden with overt pro-Chantry and pro-human biases. Thus it is my moral imperative to propose an alternate interpretation: that the Exalted March of the Dales was nothing more than an expansionist ploy hiding behind the mask of faith.

It is easy to see on any map how large the Dales are. More importantly, they stand between Orlais and the rest of the south and would likely have represented a significant obstacle to the empire's expansion into Ferelden. Naturally, we stood to benefit from propagating the narrative of a hostile, unreasoning people attacking innocent missionaries and making blood sacrifices of good Andrastian babies. The likely truth is that the elves merely wished to maintain sovereignty over lands promised to them by Blessed Andraste herself, when the humans showed clear intent to undermine their autonomy.

Of course, the elves reacted by becoming increasingly isolationist, which suited the empire perfectly. Here was a kingdom that spurned diplomatic overtures and that refused to lend aid during the Second Blight when the darkspawn attacked Montsimmard. The Dalish kingdom could not be anything but a dormant threat, one that needed to be crushed before it awoke.

Scholars point to the massacre at Red Crossing as the impetus for the Chantry's declaration of an Exalted March on the elven kingdom in the Dales. They conveniently ignore the fact that no one alive truly knows what happened at Red Crossing or why the elves attacked. The Chantry's response to the elven aggression that resulted in the slaughter of hundreds was predictable. But in light of my thesis, perhaps we should reexamine the events of Red Crossing and wonder if the attack was truly unprovoked. Or whether it is possible that someone saw benefit in sacrificing an entire village to justify the subjugation of an entire people.

—From A New Perspective on the Exalted March, a pamphlet by an anonymous author, published by the University of Orlais in 9:12 Dragon