In the two weeks after Braid and his party left the estate, I decided to buckle down and concentrate on getting back up to form. Training with Lagdon showed me just how vulnerable I actually was in my shrunken state, and it made me uncomfortable. Sure, I had unending body guards, but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if one of them died just because I was not willing to put in the effort to look after myself.
Besides, it was winter and there fore it was as good as time as any to store up power. The land was in its winter sleep, so the mana I would normally have sent out to boost the earth's fertilization, or bump up the breeding rates of animals and monsters was currently being funneled into my monster friends. And thought it was true that I felt that was a very worth while thing to invest it, it wasn't completely necessary.
They were always telling me I was strange for being so generous with the mana, rather than hoarding it for myself. So, I figured they would have no complaints if I got myself back up to fighting form. Well, maybe not 'fighting form', but at least out of a dang training bra.
So, I was now back to being 'me' again. It felt good to not look like a child anymore.
Currently escorted by Lagdon and Kishi, I decided to have a look at the temporary kobold town. Though, it was more like a temporary 'everything' town now, given that just about every race wanted to live here. I really didn't mind. it was nice, having everyone near.
As we walked past the simple wooden cabins the goblins had constructed, I smiled. They were all fairly small and uniform in design, all built on crisscrossing wooden foundations. Come spring I am told that they will start work on more permanent buildings. There were even plans in the works for shops, I had been told.
I was really looking forward to there being a bustling town less than a half an hour from my home!
And, if the talks with Pern went well, and their king believed the report Braid was taking to him, we may even find a branch of the adventurers guild here. It would bring humans, and humans brought trade, and trade meant that we were becoming a true nation! We wouldn't just be a vast, unmanageable forest of scattered villages.
If I could have a guild here, then it would mean that, at least one human nation, recognized my monsters as 'people', not just savage nuisances in need of eradication. It was a small, but necessary step to me and mine living a long and comfortable life.
"What's Nord doing here?" I heard Lagdon asked, curiously, breaking me from my musings.
I blinked in the light glaring off the small snow banks along side the dirt roads. Sure enough, there was Nord. But he wasn't alone, either. Both the older hobgoblin and the even older (?) foxie, Brax, were seated on a porch outside the cottage, looking thick as thieves.
I had, honestly, never once suspected the two would be friends. But they were currently seated, dressed in fur-lined cloths, and smoking pipes, chatting with amused looks on their faces.
"Lady Enna! A pleasure to see you!" Smiled the older hobgoblin, pipe clenched in his teeth and four fingered hand stroking his short, white, beard. "Surveying your subjects today?"
I sighed, rolling my eyes with an affectionate smile. "You all are not my subjects... I'm not a monarch you know?"
"Ah, well, your devotees then?"
"We are taking a look around the town, yes." I sighed. "Since when have you two been so chummy?"
"Neh!" Brax huffed around his own pipe, the smoke and the white curls of his breath in the frozen air mixing together. "When you get old enough, you tend to not worry about the small details."
What kind of question dodging was that?
Not bothering to push the issue I stated something else. "Why are you smoking?" I asked Nord, hands on my hips like some aggressive hall monitor. "And you, why are you getting others int your nasty habits?" I said, rounding on the foxie who had the decency to at least look frightened, even if his eyes were actually smiling. "Smoking is bad for you!"
Nord choked out a laugh. "We are so old, that this will hardly matter in the end, Lady Enna."
I pouted, crossing my arms and glaring. Probably acting like the child I had looked like a fortnight ago. "I would rather none of you sent yourselves to the grave earlier than you need to! Have a heart for your poor, immortal, god why don't you."
"We aren't ready to go off to the next life just yet." Chuckled Brax.
"though, given most recent events, you seem more in danger of loosing your life." Rumbled Nord. He had spoken to me, but was glaring at Lagdon, who I felt tense behind me.
So I glared back at Nord. "Don't you go blaming Lagdon for that." I huffed. "He did everything he was supposed to. It was just a string of bad luck that got us messed up in that forest."
"I take it you wouldn't dream of putting the blame on yourself then?" Laughed Brax, basically slapping his knee in amusement.
So I glared at him too. "No, I do not! I did nothing wrong either. It is hardly my fault that a bunch of stumps snatched me from the edge of a forest while I was doing my job of checking on things. I was being very care-"
"Lady Enna!" Some one called, interrupting the steam I was building. We all turned to see a younger Foxie boy dashing our way, hand raised high to get out attention. Hmmm, this was probably bad. Every time I am interrupted it seems to be for something bad...
The boy, about ten or twelve and a hobgoblin, reached our small group around the porch, and Stopped. He was bent over, one hand on a knee for support and the other raped around his ribs as he panted, clouds of breath billowing about.
"What's got you in such a hurry, Lad?" Grumped Brax.
It was still a little strange seeing children here. Not that there were none before the Specter incident, but since more people had decided to move to this town, they had also brought their families. Before it had been just guards and servants. Still, It was a pleasant thing to see, as my home felt less like a dang military base now, and more like how I had envisioned it the first time I set eyes on the monstrosity of a mansion the goblins and foxes had built me, when I had thought I was getting a cottage. At most, a little temple.
Trust a bunch of goblin craftsmen to go overboard I guess.
"Sorry," The boy panted before sucking in a deep breath of frigid air and straightening up. His bright red hair marked him as a magically inclined goblane. "But I have message for you Lady Enna."
"What would that be?" I asked. It was a big relief to me that the people here had gotten a little more used to not bowing or looking awe-inspired every-time they saw me these days. It felt a lot more comfortable around here these days. The younger ones were doing it better than the older ones so far, but I appreciated the change to less formal behavior all the same.
"Terra sent me. She says that there has been an urgent message come in and that it would be best to come. Err-" He added, eyes moving to the two elderly people on the porch, smoking pipes. "She sent people to find you two as well. But she said that if I were to find you- well, she said that I should tell you: 'to get there decrepit backsides back here and do their damn jobs!'- Er, sirs..."
I felt for the boys awkwardness, but couldn't suppress a chuckle. That sounded like something the kobold would say. "Did it seem like it was bad news?" I asked.
"No Miss." He said, turning back to me and shaking his head. "She didn't seem upset of anything. She said something about a 'meeting' as she hurried off, I think."
A meeting? Had the Pernians gotten back to us already, maybe? It seemed awfully soon. Well, only way to know was to go and find out.
As a group we hurried back to the estate. I thanked the boy, and told him to go get something to drink at the cafeteria. Goblane were not prone to having as much stamina as their hobgoblin brothers, so it must have been hard for him to have run all the way to the village to deliver his message.
We found Tera in the conference room, once again. She wasn't alone either. Reihekiu was there as well as another being I had never expected to see, though I had been told that they lived on my lands: A harpy!
She was tall and beautiful, with long chocolate brown hair wrapped in a braid that hung below her waist. she had feathers on her head, but I could not tell if they were natural or just a head- piece she wore. She had stunning, bird like eyes and a small nose, her skin almost milky white. And though she was nearly seven feet tall and lanky, she did have fairly large breasts. From her back sprouted two of the most gorgeous wings of brown, white, and black feathers, and her feet were not feet at all. Instead her slender legs, wrapped in leather straps, ended in two taloned raptor claws, the skin a yellowish brown color.
"Ah, you all made it!" Sighed Tera, where she stood between the very tall harpy and the caramel skinned Reihekiu. "Everyone, This is whisper." Tera then introduces us all to Whisper, starting with me and ending with Nord. "Whisper is here to deliver a message, Lady Enna."
"Nice to meet you, Whisper." I said, with a smile. I was more than glad to meet another resident of this nation, especially from a race I had yet to interact with, but I was a little worried as to why she was here.
"I am honored to meet you as well, Lady Enna." She said in a sort of hollow, echo-y voice that reminded me of the sounds you could make when blowing into empty glass soda bottles. She gave me a slight bow, with a small smile.
The three woman didn't seem agitated nor in any kind of hurry, so maybe this was not bad news after all? That would make for a pleasant change of pace.
"I am here to deliver you a message, Lady Enna." Whisper stated, once everyone had finished their greetings. Straight to the point. I could appreciate that. "We have been informed that you showed interest in acquainting yourself with the other clans."
"Yes! I very much am interested." I said, truthfully, getting excited.
"Well, there has been a summit called, for the major clans to meet and discuss important topics. Though, I do not think a god has ever attended before, I was informed that you may like to participate."
"There hasn't been one of these since I was a young Lad..." Said Nord, thoughtfully. "Though, given all the recent changes to the land, I am not surprised to here it."
"Margund will be in attendance as well." Lagdon informed me.
"Yes." Said Whisper, nodding. "I went to the goblin kingdom first, and he has confirmed that he will also take part, personally."
"Would he not normally?" I asked. It seemed like a pretty important meeting to just skip out on.
"Some leaders just send a representative." Said Brax.
"My father would not have gone himself." Added Lagdon. "He would have seen such a thing beneath him."
Not to mention, getting his bulbus back side there, on that chair of his, would have been a chore and a half.
"Well, I would very much like to attend." I said happily. "Is there anything of import I need to be made aware of?"
"None would dare call you rude or the like, Lady Enna." The harpy said, brows furrowed.
But, Lagdon, knowing me best, just sighed. "Normally an attendee is permitted two guards during the actual meeting, though most tend to bring several for the actual journey. The summit meets for five hours each day, and last until everyone has addressed everything they wished to discuss. If I remember correctly, the longest meeting lasted a week and a half. Though, the summit is not called often, so sometimes the material tends to pile up."
Nord had said that the last one was when he had been young, so this one may very well take as long to.
"I take it, this meeting will be held at Talon's Pass again?" Brax asked, fingering his pipe that I knew he had stashed in her robe.
Whisper nodded. "Yes, it is still the best place."
"Talon's Pass?" I asked.
"It is the only, easy, route to the other side of the mountains." Explained Lagdon. "Any other path would mean going over them rather that through."
"It has long since been the home of we harpies." Said Whisper. "Even before Aeros came to these lands. It is a steep, rocky valley, where we have carved out our homes. It is both the best place to get though the mountain, as well as fairly central to the country too."
I nodded. It sounded like a pretty important place then.
"When will this summit take place?" I asked, already making plans in my head.
"In three weeks time, Lady Enna." Replied Whisper.
"It is not common to have it in the dead of winter, for obvious reasons..." Observed Nord slowly.
That did seem problematic. Sure, the winter here didn't seem too bad, but it was still much harder to travel in than the other seasons, what with the cold and the lack of resources along the way.
Whisper nodded. "Yes, but due to many recent events, it has been conveyed as an emergency."
Confused, I asked, "What events?"
This time everyone looked at me like I was the ridiculous one. What did I say?
"Well, your existence for one." Laughed Reihekiu. "Not to mention, I am willing to bet that that little stunt you pulled, allowing the old gods to return to their old haunts, will come up too."
"Lets not forget all the changes the nation has been going though." Tera added with a chuckle.
Alright, alright! I got it already, this was all my doing. Gosh! Well, all the more reason to attend myself then. If anyone had issues, I would like to hear them up front, and I could get a clearer idea about what the races who lived farther away needed, and how best to use my influence over the land to aid them.
I do believe that this is going to be a very fruitful adventure!