A threat to prosperity

"That's enough. I won't have any more lives lost from this. I'm going myself. If I'm not back in a week, I leave it to you, Sinakai, to carry out my hopes for Solvune, and Orlon." Matsuko's fists were bundled tightly, with his voice almost being a growl as he spoke. "I...understand. Take care, Matsu." The lizard's tail curled nervously as he sensed the rising anger from him, and with him potentially invoking his will now...he couldn't afford to not take it seriously.
Fed up with the pretense of the Kingdom, he bypassed normal procedure due to the knowledge that anything that could interfere with normal defence, would mean a significant threat was on the horizon. He let out an exasperated exhale and attempted his best smile. "As best I can… I'm not exactly happy with whom or whatever this is."
Without another word, he disappeared with a slight hiss of air, filling the space no longer occupied.
He reappeared to find an utterly decimated village. To see the heavily damaged hard-stone civilian castles that made up the town drew much concern. 'If this much damage can be done… I'll need to be on my guard.'
Matsuko quickly went to the nearest villager and tried to console them before asking questions, assuring them that the situation would be dealt with, though he also told them honestly that he did not know how.
The next rung on the organisational ladder was to speak to the local Doloth, who managed the town's twenty-seven hundred population.
"...How many are no longer with us or missing? Has a working tally been cast?" The administrator gave a sigh, it was small for a town of this size...but scaled up to the Capital would be like losing eight thousand which was just shy of a tripling of every citizen currently in the village.
"Fifty-two have been immediately reported, with one hundred and four unaccounted for, Milord." They'd just potentially lost six percent of their population, and if the attacks continued it could only become worse.
"Then we've got a lot of work to do. You're authorised to have all the resources you need. I'll be assisting as best I can. Carry on."
Matsuko began to walk, closing his eyes as he did so. Filtering out the healthy life signs, he focused on life signs that were just barely noticeable. Not wanting to waste any more time before confronting the looming threat, he once again disappeared from view.
After five hours, with a lot of witness questioning, he managed to piece together some picture of what the creature was. According to the composite, it had wings like a dragon, was more similar to an Earth toad than any other creature on the planet, it stood just over two Mauks tall, almost able to tower over two floor buildings. Well that certainly meant that it would be harder to hide, but something of that size should have an equally strong life force.
"I counted one hundred and nine… but that's all I was able to immediately detect… I won't assume the worst. Missing means missing until proven otherwise. I am deeply troubled by this loss… I wish that you have a smooth recovery from this disaster."
Matsuko quickly jumped a few mauks and did another sweep, activating the scanner. The first scan revealed a ridiculous number by this planet's standard. Thirty four thousand! With two button presses to the side arm, the scanner switched from mass grouping mode to individual grouping mode.
In comparison, the average Solvuneian only ran about thirty to eighty, with the strongest contenders pushing closely to one hundred twenty. But this… they were on another level. Even if they were his only followers, they'd be able to easily withstand even a small army of Solvune's.
Sixteen thousand, one hundred one, and the lowest reading being of one thousand seven hundred ninety, Eleven individuals, with one being of the most interest due to the overwhelming difference. Something like that needed to be dealt with immediately.
Matsuko closed his eyes, and visualed bringing himself closer to the lowest signature, and within a second, he opened his eyes and the soldier appears beside the guard. With a quick and lightning fast, grip, Matsuko gripped the armour of the solider, and quickly shunted them away from the mountain entrance.
“I don’t know where any of your vital areas are, but I do know that it’s generally difficult to exist while beheaded. We’re far away from the cave. There’s no way to reach reinforcements. I also won’t harm you in anyway. Even if you don’t tell me anything, I’ll simply return you where I found you.” His tone was calm and quiet, with no air of hostility or demanding, waiting for his response.
“First you threaten me. Then you say you’re not going to harm me, which is it? You’re not very good at this, are you, who even are you?” He tried to turn around to face the voice but could see no one,only confusing him further.
“Where are you? How do I know you’re not a figment of my imagination?” With no clear regard for what intent might be behind those words, he appeared in front of the guard, whom, unsurprisingly, aimed a stab right at Matuko’s neck.
The guard recoiled back when, instead of digging into flesh, the moment the dagger made contact with its target, it crack and shattered in the guard’s hand, causing the shock to reverberate back through his hand, all the way up his arm. “I...apologise. I seriously didn’t think you were going to stab me.. I seem to have made a bit of a mistake.”
The guard went wide eyed as he was unable to process what just happened. “What… who.. I can’t…”
He turned away from Matsuko, and bolted as fast as he could, not even caring that he had no idea where he was,or where he was going, so long as it was away from what he’d just encountered. His progress was stopped, however, when, due to him simply running in a straight light, he found himself stumbling, with no explanation, kicking up dirt, and debris as he slide sideways, crashing on his feet.
“Right, well, there’s still nine more of you, again, I do apologise. Let’s get you back now.” Matsuko places a hand on the guard’s shoulder, who only had time to exclaim, ‘Wait!’ before he found himself residing in the same place he’d been, with no trace of the strange visitor.
“Alright, take two, save us both some time, I need information, and even if you don’t tell me I’ll just put you back where you came from. I just need information. There’s still eight of you left.”
“What? Who are you?” The second guard, unlike the first, drew his sword immediately and pointed it at him.
“Fuck, why are you all so stubborn? I can’t read a single thought from you. Give me that, you’re not going to be able to use it anyway.” Despite demanding it, it was already in his hand, much to the confusion of the second guard, whom backed away in shock at his primary weapon being removed from his possession without his eyes ever breaking focus.
“No matter what you do to us, it won’t stop you adventurers from being destroyed by our Master!" A confession without even realising it. The next one could be easier or more difficult, but he did not know.
"Back you go."
The third through the ninth were just as fanatical. Finally, after nine attempts, cooperation was found.
"Thank you. I am Matsuko Solvune. Your master is someone whom I desperately seek peaceful audience with." For a minute, the ninth paused, considering what he was being forced to process. Every detail reported by their spies seemed to be in order. But here he was, and yet no details mentioned such abilities that were demonstrated.
"How did you find us? Have you killed any of us? You said I was the ninth."
"I told you already, they're right where they started, unharmed. As for how I found you, I tracked your life force. But my main thing is… I don't want to hurt anyone during this. Not even your master, and I can. If it's power you're concerned about...then I'll reveal to you that the information your spies gathered is false. You don't want to live in constant fear from your master, do you? Come back with me, and you can live a far better life." Matsuko extended a hand to the ninth guard, for a contractual handshake, giving him the option to refuse.
"All right, I'll go with you, so when will that happen exactly and how?" He took Matsuko's hand and shook, in acknowledgement, before readying himself for what was likely to transpire.
"Well, like I said earlier, I'll still be returning you back to your original place. But I know your signature now. If the final guard doesn't join you, I plan on one way or another making direct contact with your former Master, with all of you gathered together, and incapacitating them, sparing you, of course. At that point, I'll say that now would be a good time to run away. Any hold ups so far?" Matsuko paused, allowing the frog-dragon to process what he'd given so far.
"Yes, first, are you claiming to be able to handle all of us at once? Second, are you also claiming to be able to also stand against the Master?" A shifting of facial features gave the indication that he was confused, as well as concerned, in a way that none of the others were about their 'targets'.
"I am not claiming that, no. I however, believe I can plan for a one hundred fold increase in strength and still be safe. The readings show that your former Master might have the capability to destroy this planet, let alone my Kingdom."
Finally, the realisation from earlier came to light. "Wait, I just… you're the actual King in the flesh? Why would you risk your life for this?"
"Two reasons. Duty. Fun. My time is up now so one last thing. Have you heard of the Shadow of Peace or the Night Scale? If not...look to your former companions for how to react, if they know. After you've run away, give a female elf by the name of Seredhien this crest, specifically say that Matsu sent you and if I don't reunite with you, tell them your story and you'll be protected in the main castle. What's...your name by the way? Last thing. I want to remember the Nergirsu, that's what we call you by the way, feel free to give me the proper name of your race later if you have one." He gave a strong, friendly smile as he awaited and answer.
"Ammetsu. That is what I call myself. I don't know what to really say about all this other than thank you." The frog-dragon looked deeply into Matsuko's eyes, seeing the utter pure excitement, not a care about the danger, and not a single trace of fear in his eyes. Just what type of person is he?
"Thank you. Now let's get you back in place. If I've timed this correctly, my reappearance should cause quite a different reaction. Warning them of my arrival might actually help but that's up to you." Matsuko quickly and quietly replaced the guard to his original post, before heading back to the front entrance and venturing forward. The guard didn't have time to react, by the time he was about to speak he was already back inside the cave.
----cut
Detailed encounter
Matsuko entered the cave, approaching what was now a quickly shuffling bundle of signatures. No light of any kind appeared at the entrance, not even bioluminescent fungi, other flora, fauna, or a torch.
Neither of the two guards noticed him, but the third, hidden guard, announced both of their presences with a drop down with weapons drawn. "It's three on one, if you don't surrender now, we won't hesitate."
It was easy enough, to the point that the third guard was left incredulously speechless at Matsuko's response. "I surrender. I offer myself as tribute to beg for the attacks to stop. It was foolish of us to think that anyone could ever hope to stand up to your master."
"There will be no negotiations. I am sure that either way your sacrifice will be appreciated instead of a long, annoying fight." With the tone set, Matsuko prepared to put his plan into motion. He was escorted to the innermost parts of the cavern, where he encountered two more guards along the way. Their overall confidence increased amongst them, with their numbers, leading to them being absolutely disarmed about the situation.
Three more guards joined the group, leaving Ammetsu and ten next in order of appearance.
"That's him, he's the one! I thought you all were dead!" It was actually true, and it was only because of Matsuko that Ammetsu did know that they were not deceased.
"Oh come on, that's ridiculous. Are you implying that I managed to separate and return you all without you seeing me entering or leaving? If I could do that, I wouldn't be surrendering to you now would I?" He let out an exasperated sigh and blinked twice to signal that it was all right to play along.
"He does have a bit of a point... None of the other adventurers could match us. He's unarmed with no armour. We've been patrolling so long perhaps we're imagining…let's hurry up and get him to our Master before he gets upset." Ammetsu was quite curious as to how the situation would play out. His guard partner however, and one other were more enclined towards suspension and caution.
"Who has the blindfold? And someone should bind him." Ten was giving out orders as if the expected them to be followed without question. A tiny glimpse of the command structure perchance.
"I can see without using my eyes, but if that's procedure, go right ahead." Matsuko let out an exasperated sigh and held out his arms, waiting with a neutral expression attached to his features.
After a decent walk, the finally arrived in what seemed to be the innermost chamber, with how large it was compared to the entrance. Certainly a small town could fit in this place.
"Behold! Let the last thing you see before your demise be the form of our Master! The Great Tuubtana!" The blindfold was ripped off revealing the form of the gigantic Nergirsu. Its wings appeared to be parchment thin, relatively speaking, but with a creature over two Mauks high, it was very unlikely that they were. It had a very grey hide with scales the size of small boulders. The most peculiar trait he noticed was two forelegs and four back legs. Immediately, his thoughts shifted to biological similarities to Mauka.
"You seem to be… quite powerful. I suppose I won't feel as bad about what I'm going to do. So you've sent spies to gather information...are you aware of The Shadow of Peace...or the Nightscale? I am intimately familiar." It was a long shot, considering he didn't have time to ask the other frog-dragon about it. Matsuko's eyes widened, as he was clearly shocked by the reply that came back.
A deep, repeated rumbling lead up to the first words he ever heard from the creature. "I've been made aware of the local superstition! Your 'Shadow' was not able to do what I did to that village, nor have they been seen for generations now, so why would that be of any concern of mine?"
"It concerns you, because you seem to have the information but do not realise your own words betray a lack of care about when and why such… superstitions, faded. Your spies did not gather enough. Oh...right. So, I don't have to pretend any more. Those of you who do not want to risk your lives for this, now would be a good time to run away.” The key wording was not lost on Ammertsu, and he promptly spoke up.
“Everyone, I-” Before he could finish, Matsuko’s wrists started to glow, and, without much more than a tiny flame, the ropes that were binding his wrists promptly disappeared, and he moved to take off the blindfold.
“If you all are concerned with serving your master due to his strength alone, then you’re in for quite the surprise. So, now we stand here, I have no blindfold, and my wrists are no longer bound. What are you going to do next?” The grin on Matsuko’s face quickly faded, when not a single one of them decided to respond to him. He could not make the determination as to whether or not they were paralysed by fear, or loyalty, and it didn’t matter either.
“Oh….that’s why you said that. Well, in that case, I shall stand by---”
“What part of run do I need to make clearer, Ammetsu? The danger is not from me, is was from them. Anyway, I can heal you either way, should they decide to attack you.”
“Enough! You are the most annoying adventurer I’ve come across yet! I don’t care if you can do a few silly magic tricks. You’re going to meet the same fate as the rest of the fools who were sent to me!” Raising a mighty paw, at a ridiculously fast speed, the beast brought it down onto Matsuko’s head, in an attempt to crush him where he stood.
Sure, it was true that Matsuko disappeared, but that was what he counted on. The gloating would happen, and after, he would reveal himself. That, came with a wait however, as he knew that being of such immense size, with this one being similar to a dragon, would also have an overinflated sense of ego.
“There! You see?! All that talk and he perishes just as easily as the others. All talk and no action.” He stomped on the ground triumphantly, kicking up dust and debris as he reveled in his hubris, Ammetsu, was the first to notice after he lifted his paw away, that there was not a single trace of blood, clothing or otherwise, which, with his knowledge as to how Matusko was able to transport him far away from his location, that not having a body or traces of a body... meant for certain that he was still alive. He quickly looked up with his eyes, without moving his head, and saw exactly what confirmed his earlier beliefs.
“Do you always gloat before making sure you opponent is dead? Again I'll give one final warning, to those of you that aren't Ammetsu." Matsuko waited for them to look up before he landed.
"Oh So you've got some tricks still! Perhaps you might be able pose a worthy challenge after all!"
"Come on! Really? Very well. So some of you know of the Shadow of Peace...And the Night scale. You believe them to be...superstition. Well...they're not. I am The Shadow of Peace, and the Nightscale. Would you like me to become the Shadow of War?" The fifth guard, and the eighth guard, were rather confused, when they noted that even their leader, the tenth guard, along with the rest of the group, seemed to utterly freeze in place, with their eyes directed towards Matusko. As he began to walk towards them, two of the guards fled, and the remaining guard that clearly intended to flee remained frozen in place.
“M-Master...if.. If what he’s saying is true…” “Fine! You have my attention. I’ll admit, adventurer, you’ve demonstrated a capacity… beyond those that came before you. So, I’ll ask you, so that I might remember you later. What is your name?” The frog-dragon shifted position, to bring himself slightly more eye level with Matsuko, letting lose a heavy snort.
“My name... is Matsuko Solvune. I am the ruler, of the Kingdom of Solvune.”
Once again the sound of that deep rumbling sound emerged, from the frog-dragon, along with the first hint of what could be considered a smirk. "The first two are laughable enough, but now you claim to be the King? Dresses like that, with no armour or weapons?"
"Believe what you will. But perhaps we should get underway. I'll be starting with your wings." Without another word, Matsuko's hand began to glow, before it was completely enveloped in a purple light that started to illuminate the cave in the same shade.
At the point that Matsuko's hand started to glow he aimed his hand at one of the frog-dragon's wings, Ammetsu took the time to slip away quietly.
The subsequent expulsion of energy moved at a rather slow rate, enough for the creature to dodge quite effectively, to the end that a hole was bored into the cave in its path, and the force being enough to shake a few rocks lose.
"Is that the worst you've got?" The taunt was very welcome as it gave him the opportunity to demonstrate the Shadow of War.
"As it just so happens, it isn't. That was a nice dodge by the way. I do apologise for underestimating you. I won't do the same like you did with me. First and foremost those of you that remain, I'm not going to walk back my statement. Here's a demonstration of how wrong you were about my Kingdom...and me." A subtle change occurred with Matsuko's form, with his hair lightening in colour and becoming slightly more upwards, as if gravity's downward force had weakened. His eyes also lightened in colour, but beyond that, nothing spectacular happened, which was his intention.
The first direct movement was behind the creature's legs, where he distributed an energy sphere that quickly and unceremoniously sent pieces of the creature flying in every direction. Where once was a leg, stood...nothing. The Nergirsu now had five legs, with the center left leg, moving to the back to compensate for the loss.
He roared out in pain, before he angrily looked to his stunned followers. "What are you waiting for, an invitation?! Attack!"
"Okay, look, you're a cocky...whatever you are, they call you a Negirsu, but what I can tell you is that I've tried for peaceful resolution, I'm still not aiming to kill."
After he spoke, Matsuko closed his eyes, and began to focus all of his energy on increasing his reaction speed. The world around him began to slow. Auras flared, as the outline of multiple swords appeared before him, each with a different strength, as if their very emotions were on display.
Many of them didn't fully commit to the follow through of the slash, or thrust, which made the subtle hesitation noticeably on display. His movements were utterly silent, with the lack of a noticeable approach on his end, they had no immediate counter for what they were experiencing.
"So your minions have said so much without saying a word. Ammetsu left, you all now reap what your master has seen." Without further discussion, Matsuko drew a sword from beside him.
With a staggered voice, the fifth servant was the first to speak to him a second time. "Where...where you hiding that? Weren't you unarmed?"






"I'm never unarmed. I can fight without this, can you?" His blade began to glow with the same purple as with the energy sphere, and with three slashes, he knocked the first guard's blade into an exposed forward position, but the reflexive reaction, blocked the chain from could be fully completed. That did not stop the attack. The third strike connected yet again, and as it did, Matsuko reached forward, to grip it at the base, before crushing it in his hands to leave nothing but the hilt.
"All right...you have my attention. I didn't believe you at first but now I see differently. I wasn't imagining you earlier either was I?" One looked down solemnly at his now broken blade and waited for whatever fate my befall him.
"You weren't...and now it's time for a few of the others to see that as well."
"Wait! You...you caused Master to lose an entire leg, why didn't you just kill me and us outright?" As One stood in place, Tuubtana finally roared back into being.
His desire for immediate retribution was easily detectable in the way his aura flared up. "Hold that question, your Master just increased in strength apparently. He's reading at 20788."
"You're going to deeply regret that!" Ignoring his own, he charged forward with tail drawn back for a strike, as well as a swipe with his claws. Matsuko grabbed onto one, moving him away from the path of the assault, followed by moving three, and seven out of the way. In the process of transporting three and seven, he unceremoniously removed their weapons from them as well.
"You're expendable to him, as you just saw. You aren't however, to me. One, Five, I take my words seriously. I never lied to you all but I did deceive you, I freely admit that. I told you I'm not aiming to kill. Now if you four don't mind… I'd recommend you watch from a distance. Your choice though." Matsuko disappeared from their view, leaving them to discuss what just happened amongst themselves.
"All right, so are you still going to attack me, or should I carry on whitling you down? Again I'm not aiming to kill you."
"What does THAT have to do with anything. You may not but I do want to kill YOU. Now do me a favour and DIE?!"
"No. I will however defend myself. Next up is going to be a shot aimed at your head by the way." Matsuko held out two fingers, and after about five seconds, he let the energy loose.
Tuubtana did pay attention to the pattern that he was giving, and, although he was able to partially dodge, but not enough to avoid the explosive damage.
A gigantic tongue of flame engulfed the area where Matsuko stood, without warning, but when the flames and smoke cleared, there was no ash pile.
Two, six and eight found themselves reunited with one, three, five and seven, with nine and four being out of harm's way, they were now the only two remaining in the room.
"Fine! If force is the only language to understand then we'll do things your way!" With glowing sword raised, Matsuko slashed at the Nergirsu's head. No flesh connected, instead, the purple, glowing blade sliced clean through his right horn with no resistance, as if it were wet parchment.
"N...no...NO! MY HORN!" His emotions rapidly shifted, and in addition to murderous rage, Matsuko also began to detect a tinge of sadness buried deep inside. Tuubtana thrashed his tail and failed his limbs in a futile attempt to lash out.
Utilising the chaos and confusion, Matsuko brushed up against the middle of the Nergirsu's figure, with a glowing fist. A beam of purple light exited through him, leaving a rather gaping hole. Shortly after the attack caught up with him, Tuubtana coughed up a rather sizeable stream of blood.
He slumped to the floor and, for the first time that night, surprised Matsuko. "Stop! Please… I can't take anymore! I'll do anything, just make it stop or go away!"
The creature was crying. What Matsuko sensed clearly now, was unfiltered depression, to the point that he couldn't identify the immediate cause. There were a few obvious causes otherwise.
"You're in fatal pain so I'll understand your memory loss. I am not out to kill you. First things first. I'm going to heal you. I won't return your wing, leg, or your horn, consider that a reminder. Tuubtana...close your eyes, think happy thoughts and open your mouth. The happy thoughts don't do anything though." Without waiting for him to open his mouth, he produced a small green pastry, about the size of both of his hands, waiting for him to do as instructed. It didn't take too long for him to realise that his best option would be to cooperate. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth and waited. When he felt the pastry on his tongue, he immediately froze in shock.?
"It..it's delicious," he whimpered out, before he felt the effects take place, after which he let out a fully audible gasp as he felt his wound close and the warm flow of blood to cease, "I don't understand...you're not like any of the other kings in your history. How did you heal me from that? You disappear and reappear, you use strange purple magic that can destroy, and you also can heal that destruction. What are you?"
"Ahhh but the things you've not yet seen. I can assure you, I am not any deity if that's what you're thinking. It is against my beliefs to impersonate such beings. I am a visitor. A traveller. In truth, I have been here for at least seven hundred years. I am a hybrid being with two species' blood. Are you willing to have a conversation now?" "What have you done with the others? Where are they, and are they safe?" Matsuko raised an eyebrow before replying.va "They're just in the back of this lair. One second." Matsuko reappeared with the remaining group, surprising all of them. "I am deeply apologetic, Eshkil, Aryeatu, Sarneth… are you hurt?" The shift in tone also quite surprised Matsuko, as one of the earlier feelings was further able to discriminate. Uncertainty. Regret. Despair. "We're...fine actually...he moved us out of the way of…you." Embarrassment came front and center, but now, much of the depression was fading, replaced by relief and gratitude. "You're welcome, no I can't read your mind. As it is so, I apologise then as well Tuubtana. We're going to have to work on that temperment of yours however. I see that you do care about them and retract my earlier statements. I have a proposal for you all. Join my Kingdom. We'll work out a negotiation for territory, in addition, you can commission your own castle as well. A castle built into and from a mountain is rather awesome. Anyway, we can officially establish the Tuubtana tribe. There is one major task I must ask of you, though. You and your companions must apologise to the people of Nargila town, and help them rebuild what you destroyed." The frog-dragon paused, before Matsuko and the rest of them caught sight of his quivering lip, with his second eyelid set starting to lower and quiver as well. "After all I've done, and the people I've killed, you're just going to let it go like that?" With his resolve no longer able to hold, tears began to stream down Tuubtana's scales. "Yes. I'll tell you a secret that must never leave here. We have something in common. Before it was Solvune, the Kingdom here had one final name, the Dominion of Sironde. I'm still trying to atone for what I did. Your rampage killed over one hundred fifty. Mine killed over fifteen thousand and left one hundred fifty thousand homeless. I am still working towards my redemption. I buried bodies for thirty-eight years. Your redemption will take a lot less time.”
The final straw surrounding the Ningirsu's weakening wall was the admission. The frog-dragon's eyes began to glisten, before the glistening was enough to visibly see tears in his eyes. His scales glistened underneath his eyes where his tears fell. "I don't even know what to say…"
"You don't have to say anything. So now we can begin from the start. Greetings! My name is Matsuko Solvune. I have the impression that Sironde may have caused a territorial dispute that just now, five hundred years later is manifesting. I'm going to remedy this. From this day forth, these mountains shall be known as the Tuubtana Mountains. As King of Solvune, I with grace, invite you and anyone you associate with, to join my Kingdom." His tone was calm and collected, as he began doing calculations for how best to incorporate the mountain range and surrounding area.
Having somewhat regained his composure, he answered quickly and straight to the point. "I accept."
"Excellent...l'll set things up with Seredhien, and you should start working on what you want your followers to say to the people of your new 'border' city. They can't understand you buy the way, so you'll have to use a translation device, or learn to write their language."
"What do you mean? They can not understand us?"
"I can't even understand you. Ah, I see... Well, first and foremost, I'm not sure how clear I was. I am a visitor to Orlon. I know about and have technologies that won't exist here for hundreds of years. But enough on that, there's a place for more questions. Let's reunite with Ammetsu."
-----
"“He’s gotten out of worse, though I will admit, he was with an army at the time. It’s not even been a day yet I’ve gotten of of some scrapes myself y’know. I just don’t go around bragging about what might as well be surviving failure, the same as him I imagine. It’s about how we carry ourselves after.” The elf was confident, but there was still an underlying hint of doubt. There was only so much one could be expected to be able to endure before one’s luck ran out. Exaggeration happened with all stories, to capture the audience, but as an adventurer herself, it made it easier for her to spot truth from fiction.
“I’m just asking you to consider the possibility. Look at what it did to the village! Our cannons and rifles couldn’t damage it at all!” Standing next to her, nostrils flared in a huff, with a small cloud of dust kicked up, accompanied a rather forceful thump at the end of the sentence.
“Have you not considered the possibility that he might make it out alive, or, through some way of words, that he might reemerge? Have you prepared for that possibility?” Her eyebrows narrowed, as she turned her head to him, wearing a heavy frown. Even if they were faced with the worst case scenario, it was still the worst case scenario.
The motions of his tail ceased being a straightforward up and down pattern, becoming steadily more chaotic, with tiny flicks at the tip with curls inwards toward him. Accompanying him, his feet were also steadily dancing without his will. "I did not."
"You may want to. There is such a state as overcaution, that is a very murky threshold." Her frown slowly morphed into a hint of a smile, for those that knew her well enough to have seen inside her shell.
Through the forest exit, a creature matching the appearance of the ones that had attacked the village earlier emerged from the distance. Seredhie quickly scanned the surrounding trees for any other signs of movement but found none.
It was when their focus shifted to its stride that they discovered the easily recognisable crest of Solvune, displaying prominent yellow, green, and purple, that were also found on the flag.
"Looks like it's alone. It does have the crest, so that's a minimum positive sign. Mayhaps we are already in the negotiation phase. Or mayhaps it is now the only survivor. Either way we won't know until we ask."
Ammetsu made his way to the village, crest in claw, prominently displaying, with his weapons sheathed. His mind raced to process the heaps information that had been dumped upon him.
With the description given, it was very easy to spot the elf that he was supposed to meet. Ignoring the scaled one beside her, he walked cautiously and non-threateningly towards, to the best of his ability.
"First item, how did you come to possess that crest?"
He paused for a few seconds, before speaking slowly and carefully, with a claw first pointed at himself, followed by pointing to the elf. "Mat...su sent to Say-ray-Hi-ayn..."
"Ah, please excuse me," she paused and pushed a finger to her ear, "one more time please?"
"Matsu sent me to find Seredhien," he tried again, realising that whatever she did to her ear must have been related to her understanding him, but that was all he knew, "are you she?"
"Yes, I am. Do you know what happened to him?"
"I do not, but my former Master was damaged before I left and I went directly here. He did not tell me what to do after I found you…"
"Then it is unknown what his fate is. For now, we'll focus on protecting you should it come to this village being completely annihilated. You'll be given information on how we're going to be going about that, and if you agree to it."
"I have no reason to disagree. I have no home besides the mountains where I came from."

With his massive size, it was nearly impossible to miss him emerging from the forest behind Matsuko. Those that weren't fleeing for their lives, noticed a change in...everything with the frog-dragon. Having to compensate for the loss of a leg, lowered his posture. A wing was missing along with the Nergirsu's left horn.
"Ah, Redhi, you've met Ammetsu, this is our former opponent, Tuubtana. They all are also fine with the species name we've given them, so we can officially call them @Nergirsu. They are all going to help rebuild the town, and the northern mountains are going to be dedicated to them.”
“This is an odd time, but I am going to strike while the coil still holds a charge. Why is he missing a horn?” He was also missing a leg, and a wing, but her focus on the horn caught both of their attention.
Tuubtana’s eyes refused to meet hers, as his head slightly shifted away, as he remained silent.
"I sliced it off. He's going to have two, just not his original." Tuubtana interrupted the elf before she could reply.
"Now I am further confused. How will you restore my horn?"
"The same means which your leg and wing will be. This civilisation will develop artificial limbs, rudimentary at first, then with more advance, it will be as if they never lost one at all."
"You say 'this civilisation', not 'my or 'our', as if you are not a part of it. You claimed you were the King of this region."
Finally Seredhien reclaimed her time and now interrupted the Nergirsu. "He is the King, and I will admit, he acts nothing like a King except when he absolutely has to. I still can't quite figure him out, but he has never done anything to harm this Kingdom."
"I feel as if much of what I thought I knew of this Kingdom is false."
"No, it's accurate, just out of date. I intentionally set things up this way. Information is going to get out. Part of the art of war is deception, but I never lie. It's much more...enjoyable to tell people the truth and how they react. But enough about that, we can talk later over the feast celebrating the birth of a new Kingdom."
"



Seredhien (Redhi)(Say-ray-d-hye-ayn)






1895+1467+1605+4451+956+2179+2216+2909=17678 10947+17568+11334+7288+9092+12897+8773+16952=94851+17678=112529 Tuubtana residents in 16 years 70426+27844+83718+40792+7931+92953+14870+50468=389002+112529=501531 Residents in 32 years 490630+494186+344927+227531+310354+299978+134746+113498=2415850 in 40 years Baby Boom 33-39 years
The Nergirsu Tuubtana has slain a host of adventurers in Nargila Town
Seredhien: Female Elf Alchemist, Neutral. Seredhien is stout, with uneven gray hair and dark green eyes. She wears tailored clothing and several pouches hang from her belt. It's hard to picture Seredhien as an adventurer, but she knows a great deal about every dungeon within twenty leagues of town.