Arcane magic has long baffled me. When I was a calf, I was taught that one so inclined to could wield the elements by speaking to them and being unselfish in doing so. However, there are many who force the elements' shapes to their will... this is called arcane magic. I have heard many stories of those who practice arcane magic becoming tainted by the unnatural forces they wield, and I am able to detect this. The arcane leaves a scent on one's soul, a very pungent stench, and the longer one exposes themselves to it, the stronger this scent becomes. Many others, shu'halo and non-shu'halo alike, have noted that my sensitivity to the scent is unique... it can overpower my senses, and oftentimes I must sneeze to cleanse them of it, even if it is temporary.
I understand that elven culture is based on the arcane. This is especially evident in the elves of the Eastern Kingdoms, though I had been unaware of just how much. Yesterday, I had been riding around the Ravine on a raptor I had trained with the help of Zon'Krul earlier in the evening, listening in to a conversation over the talisman between Aevelina and Gren'mazi, about tattoos. I encountered Aevelina not much later, and she, with Caelyssa, invited me to accompany them to Silvermoon City. I had been long curious about what the elven homeland was like, and accepted their invitation.
The two of them had found their way to the city before I could, and Caelyssa used the summoning power of the talisman to bring me there. The city was very beautiful... but a different kind of beautiful than one would feel while wandering the plains. Caelyssa understood how I felt, telling me that she was also overwhelmed at how Thunder Bluff looked when she had first found it. However, my ability to admire my surroundings was cut short, as the stench of the arcane began to make itself known to me. It came from all around; I saw many objects floating above the ground as we wandered the roads of the city, looking for a tattoo artist. The whole time I had sneezed repeatedly... once on Caelyssa.
I felt foolish, and a burden, for letting my curiosity of the world get the better of me. Caelyssa assured me I was not burdening them, and the decision to leave was only because there was nobody in the city that could draw a tattoo. She suggested that I should perhaps visit Silvermoon periodically, to build a resistance to the scent. I think that it may be a good idea, should I need to go there in the future for another reason.