Quote Originally Posted by LineageRazor View Post
What horrors would those be? The extent of our knowledge of what happened to the Garleans back then is limited. We know they were driven into an inhospitable area, and that violence was probably used. It likely wasn't at all pleasant, but there's no reason to believe it was any worse than any other international conflict. For all we know, there might have been very little bloodshed at all - their oppressors flashed some magic, said "Get out," and the Garleans up and ran, since they had no way to respond in kind. While they certainly had more than enough reason to be resentful, and eventually desire to retake their homeland, what we see in the Garleans now is a far cry from just that. They have a full-blown racial and cultural superiority complex going on, now.
What little information we do have on them suggests that they were driven from their lands primarily over resources. Their inability to manipulate aether resulted in them being easy prey. Where this takes a darker turn is just how brutally the other races came at them. It wasn't just that they were driven from their lands - they were almost driven to the point of ceasing to be. It also appears that some Garleans were used a slave labor at some point, likely owing to their excessively strong bodies making them good workers and their inability to use aether all but eliminating any chance of them suddenly turning on their masters. I wouldn't be surprised if the Garlean propaganda machine doesn't go out of its way to make sure the people of Garlemald never forget where they came from. It is, after all, much easier to justify war and expansionism to the masses when they're under the delusion that outsiders, be they a race or a country, somehow owe them something.

Oh yes, Garleans today are definitely a far cry from what they were. They went from being oppressed and near-helpless to being a tyrannical military superpower. One can only speculate as to how they developed such a superiority complex, but I wouldn't be surprised if Emet-Selch's machinations somehow involved shaping modern Garlean society to function that way. He, as Emperor Solus, both praised Garlean pride and supported treating the conquered territories with a measure of kindness and respect to keep trouble down. Having these two conflicting mindsets running parallel to one another in a single society no doubt gave him numerous exploitable opportunities.