The thing with Novv was that he placed his children's future above his own feelings. He certainly has his own darkness in his past. The Sahagin and Limsan war is a tragedy because it is born out of necessity of survival but fuelled by hatred born from the conflict of that necessity that has just spiralled out of control. The Sahagin did what they needed to to survive but it came at the cost of Limsan lives and that wasn't something the Limsans could ignore. And so you have this escalating conflict where one side retaliates for what the other side has done only to invite further retaliation.

Honestly I think the Dragons could learn a thing or two to from Novv about letting go of the past for the sake of your children's future.