Vin paused in the doorway to the council room, his mind going blank for a mont as he tried to process what he was seeing. Phil and Witherson were having a quiet conversation at their seats, discussing sothing regarding the town’s defenses based on the occasional word he was picking up. Alice was working on so sort of blueprint, sketching out what looked like designs for the bastard child of a trebuchet and a snare trap. And Spur was nodding politely as he listened to the optimal way to till soil with who could only be the newest leader of the infernals.
“Agne?!” Vin asked, finally drawing the infernal’s attention toward himself. “You’re the new leader of your people?”
“Why, Vin, I’m not sure if I appreciate that tone, mister,” Agne said, planting her hands on her hips and pursing her lips. But the smile in her eyes betrayed her mock anger, and she quickly dropped the act, walking over and wrapping him up in a big hug. Through the hug, he felt a hard brooch on the front of her shirt press painfully against his own chest. Based on the sense of magic he was getting off the new accessory, he could only assu it was her own translation charm, similar to the one Malzar had made for Scule. “I didn’t know you were part of Terra’s council!”
“I guess it never ca up,” he admitted sheepishly, grunting as Agne tried to snap his spine in half as usual.
“Agne was just telling us about how she knew you,” Spur said, looking thankful Vin had shown up to save him from the conversation. “...along with quite a number of gardening tips. I daresay I never knew moving flowers from one location to another was quite so complicated.”
“You lot need those tips! I’ve barely seen claw nor horn of any real gardens around town, let alone fields of crops!” Agne said, frowning at Spur as if that was his fault specifically. Which, in a way, it kind of was. “How are you expecting to feed all your people once the other waves arrive?”
“Yes, large-scale farming is sothing we admittedly need to get a jump on,” Spur admitted. “We have a small handful of Farrs who have been experinting with the soil, but now that our population is in the multiples of thousands, we really should put those plans into action.”
“It’s probably not what you had in mind, but I can swing by Sakis and see if they can lend so of their own Farrs to help get things started,” Vin suggested. “Their farms are actually underground, so I’m not sure how much overlap there will be, but it might not be a bad idea.”
“Honestly, if we could set up a similar underground farm to act as a backup in order to supplent our food stores in the event of crops failing or if we’re ever under siege, that would be for the best,” Witherson chid in. “I can’t really begin working on blueprints until I have a better grasp of what they look like, so if you could get those Farrs over here sooner than later, it would be appreciated.”
“That’s up to them, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“With that out of the way, why don’t we jump into the main reason for our council eting today?” Spur asked, clearing his throat and motioning for them to take their seats. A sixth seat had been added at the round table for Agne next to Vin, and the infernal graciously accepted.
“As we all know, the infernals faced an unprecedented crisis only a few days ago,” Spur began, getting nods from around the table at the recap. “Upon hitting her second prestige, their admittedly overworked and solitary leader, Madam Trebella, attempted to use a ritual to reach back into the old universe in search for soone who had been left behind when their fragnt was stolen. Based on the timing, we can assu that this was only possible by sohow piggybacking off the Gods' own large-scale magic ritual they used to bring the new wave of Earthers over to Edregon. There's also a chance that the unnerving, multi-dinsional epic monster that was spawned was partly due to Madam Trebella's ritual as well, but we have no way to prove that at this ti. According to the eyewitness account of young Malzar, another infernal who is coincidentally Agne’s nephew, it sounds as if Madam Trebella actually succeeded in her attempt of reaching their old world. Right up until she triggered a failsafe seemingly built into Edregon itself that none of us knew anything about.”
Spur motioned for Vin to take over, and he nodded. “The Underside is an extradinsional space connected to Edregon. Each fragnt has an attached area that’s little more than a massive room with tunnels stretching out of it. These tunnels allow for traversing through the Underside and can be used to pop out of the dungeons scattered across fragnts. We hadn’t known the purpose of any of this until Madam Trebella’s ritual. In connecting with the old universe, before any of the corrupted divine magic could leak in, Edregon ejected the entire fragnt, instantly depositing the inhabitants down in the Underside before doing so. We have no idea if the fragnt was returned to its original world or what happened to Madam Trebella, but both it and her aren’t here any more.”
“We can sit around all day talking about the details of what happened or what it ans that Edregon simply has an empty void where the infernals’ fragnt once stood, but the fact of the matter is that their ho is gone and they need a place to go,” Spur said, looking around the table. “Until now, we’ve been treating this like so sort of natural disaster similar to people having been evacuated from their hos due to a tsunami or terrible hurricane. They have nowhere to go back to, which brings us to the matter at hand. Now that they’ve had a few days to co to terms with what happened and have finally decided on a new leader, it’s ti to decide future steps.”
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“I thought Vin ntioned that the infernals’ only had golden-eyed Witches or Warlocks as their leaders?” Alice asked, looking curiously at Agne. “Not that I don’t think you’re not capable or anything, I just can't help but notice your eyes are silver instead of gold.”
“That was how things have been done for as long as we can rember, but the simple truth is that our remaining Witches and Warlocks don’t want the role of leader,” Agne explained. “Living in the manor and studying under her, they witnessed firsthand just how much of a struggle Madam Trebella had trying to keep everything together, and she was far stronger and wiser than any of them. The goal is that one day in the future, once they have built up a bit more skill and confidence, we can return to the old ways. Until then, I have been chosen to act as an interim leader, with Malzar providing input as a speaker for the Witches and Warlocks.”
“I an no disrespect, but for our knowledge, can you tell us why they chose you?” Phil asked, carefully analyzing the woman. Vin had no doubt his Challenger’s Intuition passive was telling him that Agne would be a pathetically easy opponent to take down in a fight, and he knew the man valued combat skill incredibly highly.
“I happen to know everyone in the village, and I have the best relations with the Witches and Warlocks as well,” Agne said, not sounding upset at the question in the slightest. “I understood just how busy Madam Trebella was and brought both her and her students als more often than not to try and help out where I could.”
“Sounds like it was an obvious choice then,” Alice said, sharing a smile with the infernal. “Well, now that you’re here, what do you think is best for your people?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Agne sighed, clicking her claws on the table as she thought. “It doesn’t really seem like we have many options other than deciding whether to try joining your town fully or starting our own little offshoot out here. Unfortunately, the consequences of our reliance on Madam Trebella and her rituals after losing our levels and elite Gatherers is finally showing. Our people aren’t helpless, but we have few prestiged warriors. Defending a dug-in location is sothing we’d be capable of, but protecting a thousand people as we wandered Edregon is another matter entirely. I’m not confident in our ability to find a new ho without suffering a large loss of life.”
“You’re welco to stay here if that’s your choice,” Spur said softly, earning a small smile from Agne.
“We appreciate everything you’ve done for us, but let’s not act like there aren’t tensions on both sides of the fence. We’ve already had a few unpleasant run-ins with your people.”
“They are being dealt with as we speak,” Spur hurried to reassure her.
“‘Run-ins?’ What kind of run-ins?” Vin asked, looking between the two of them. “Actually, Vanessa ntioned sothing about that as well. What happened?”
“Discrimination that I will not stand for,” Spur said, his face taking on a dark look that seed to surprise everyone at the table other than Phil. The colonel-turned-Commander was usually such an upbeat, positive person, that seeing the dark expression on his face was jarring. “We’ve had two or three Earthers try to pick fights with the infernals, screaming at them to go away and going so far as to brandish weapons and threaten to harm them.”
“What?!” Vin gasped, moving to get to his feet only to be stopped by a firm but loving hand from Agne on his arm. “Why would they do sothing like that? The infernals just lost everything!”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Witherson asked, nodding an apology to Agne as she gestured at the horned woman. “Of course I think their actions are ridiculous, but I understand why they did what they did. Agne and her people look like literal demons. Red skin with jagged dark lines of black running across their bodies. Horns, claws, black eyes with shining irises… It’s not surprising that we have so Earthers who would react in such a way. Just from observing the town, it’s obvious to that there are more than just two or three with similar feelings, though the majority are smart enough not to start anything.”
“It’s alright, Vin, it’s nothing my people haven’t faced before,” Agne reassured him, patting his arm lovingly and coaxing him back into this seat. “It’s why my people ran away to live in the wilderness in the first place. And to be honest, their anger isn’t entirely misplaced. We don’t just look like demons, we are half-demon. We’ll always bear so of the sins of our ancestors, regardless of our own actions.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Alice scoffed. “You’re your own people. None of you personally wronged anyone!”
“That’s life, sweetie.” Agne shrugged. “Anyway, like Spur said, tensions have been high these past few days. It’s because of that I think attempting to rge our people into Terra wouldn’t be the best idea. I’d like it for our people to beco allies of course, and we have a lot to repay you for after helping in the aftermath of our fragnt disappearing, but I just don’t see joining Terra as being in our best interest.”
“Naturally, we’d be more than happy to help you set up a small offshoot in our fragnt, similar to what so of the Bands have done,” Spur said. “Please understand it is a very small minority of Earthers that have problems with your people, and they are being dealt with harshly. We are building the future of the human race, at least from our own world, and I refuse to let the foundation rot before we even get started.”
“That’s very sweet of you,” Agne said, giving him a warm smile. “I suppose we’ll try and pick out a spot that’s not too close or too far from your town and get settled. I know you’ve already done so much for us, but we could definitely use help getting so structures up. It will save us weeks of labor.”
“Actually… There might be another solution,” Vin said slowly, his mind awhirl with a sudden idea that just popped into his head. “Agne, it sounds like your people would like to remain close, but not too close, right?”
“Ideally, that would be for the best,” she agreed.
“And it would take a good bit of manpower and materials on our end to help construct buildings for them, seeing as they have just over a thousand people, correct?” he asked, looking at Witherson.
“It would certainly cut into our own plans for construction, but we’d make it work regardless,” Witherson said simply.
“I may have a solution to solve both of those problems,” Vin said, his heart racing as he realized his idea was perfect for the current situation.
“Agne… How do your people feel about snakes?”
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