“Some of our oldest stories speak of a version of ourselves that lives our life in reverse. They say for every decision we make in the light, a branch grows from its shadow. When you are as old as I am, da’len, your choices, and the choices left unmade, form a tree as wide and eternal as Mythal’s embrace.
I do not expect you to understand. Not yet. You are too young, and the world has yet to show you both sides of its face. But one day, you will find yourself presented with a painful choice. And you will choose. The path may be difficult. It may hurt terribly with each and every step. But your other self, the Hanin who walks the shadowed branch, knows a different story. Perhaps this time, his path is lighter. Perhaps next time, it will not be so.
In the end, we are the choices we make. My tree has not always grown tall. Some of its branches are beautiful in bloom, but others are knotted and frail. It will never be its perfect self. Do not frown, da’len. This is not a story of regret. You see, for each branch of my tree that is perfect, its shadow’s is not.
Whatever choice you make, Hanin, know only that it is yours. Do not waste your life longing for the other path. It, too, holds its own joys, and its own sorrows.”
- Ashawen, hahren of Clan Lavellan
A HUGE thank you to the talented @vilemie for this stunning tarot of Hanin. I am utterly in awe of your skill. You captured perfectly the duality of his experiences, and the shadow of the path untaken <3