AXEM: "Okay then... enough hinting around! What does that note say, and what-- if anything-- does it have to do with any of us?"
TRITHAL: "Well first of all, everything we're about to discuss will leave David here confused and lost, so..." (to David) "... It might be a good idea if you were to excuse yourself for now so as not to cause an unnecessary mental overload."
David: "That's probably a good idea. I'll go to the next room and watch the news or something."
After David exits the room, TRITHAL goes into what the letter says.
TRITHAL: "Okay... The first part of this letter is written in a rare Draconian language, and it reads as follows:"
To my long-time friends and allies:
Your attention should be directed towards Mount Sabretooth and what is happening there now. The humans whom we allowed to gain control of the land are becoming too powerful and arrogant. King Midus is on a personal mission to conquer the Land of Fantasy, one prefecture at a time. He has already taken five prefectures and is about to take a sixth.
You should also be aware of the fact that a part-human descendant of Xanatos is maturing and developing his Myrmadon powers at this time as well. This descendant also happens to be a citizen of Midus's 'United Prefectures'. As I'm sure most of you are aware, Xanatos disappeared to the human prefectures 400 years ago and hasn't been heard from since. It may very well be possible that Xanatos intends to rise up against the rest of us in the name of King Midus. I find the possibility that Midus may desire to conquer the remaining Draconians of this Land of Fantasy using one of our own very disturbing. This concerns me a great deal, as I hope it does you as well.
Since the signing of the Nengo treaty 327 years ago, the races of the world have kept a general peace, with the exception of a few minor uprisings here and there. We, the Draconians, originally agreed to this in hopes that everyone will leave each other alone to their own lives. For more than 3 centuries, this has been true... but with the expansion of King Midus's 'United Prefectures' empire, I fear that the peace we've agreed to may be threatened. I call upon all of you to prepare yourselves and to be ready to put Midus back in his place, should the need arise. The humans have proven to be vain and conceited in their domination of the Land of Fantasy. The time is at hand for we Draconians to return to the position of power and control that we once held.
I send this with regards to all my Draconian peers and allies. Sincerely yours, Vankar the Black
Danika: "It looks like this guy Vankar must be wanting to start an epic war! That sounds scary!"
TRITHAL: "Wait, there's more. The second part is written in an ancient form of the Macha language... one known only by the few remaining True Macha in the Land of Fantasy. Here's what it says:"
To my surviving brethren:
For the past 1000 years, we have lived here in this Land of Fantasy... but for what purpose? Of the original 100 of us who came here, only a handful remain. Those of us who have managed to survive these past centuries must not have done so by accident. Since we managed to survive the perils of living in this land as the beings we are, it could be assumed that we are still here for a purpose.
As I'm sure most of you are aware of by now, I have been dwelling in the land of the Draconians for the past 600 years, and have remained here even during the great Nengo revolution that our people helped to execute. While here, I have learned the ways of the Myrmadons and have become as one of them. I have also kept a close eye on what has been happening in the human world within the prefectures. As I said in the portion above, King Midus has become too powerful and must be neutralized. If he is allowed to continue, the harmony between the races that we Macha have labored for a thousand years to establish and nurture will disappear... and the land will return to chaos, as it was before our arrival.
I call upon all of you, who may still desire to preserve order in the Land of Fantasy, to unite with me... so that together we can ensure that the rogue human King Midus will not succeed in his plan for world domination. I request that you meet me at Okremafort, in the lands to the Northeast, on the eve of the 328th Year of Nengo so that we can work together to maintain the order of this Land of Fastasy.
TRITHAL: "... And it's signed with the seal of Macha-Xianu."
AXEM: "And, just who the hell is this 'Vankar the Black', or 'mah-hah chah-new' anyway?"
THRAX: "... Only the darkest, most-evil Macha to have ever existed! Liiche was just a school yard bully compared to him!"
TRITHAL: "Remember Macha-Kai, or Shirotama the White Angel, who possessed Dorinda the Elf? Well this guy would be Kurotama the Dark Angel. He is the exact opposite of Shirotama... or the yang to the yin."
AXEM: "I don't have a fucking clue what any of this means, but I'm assuming that since this 'Koo-row-tah-mah' guy has possessed a Draconian while the 'Shi-row-tah-mah' chick possessed an elf, this must be something totally fubar!"
TRITHAL: "... Well that pretty much sums it up right there. It would appear that we might have a catastrophic battle on the verge of happening. One thing I don't get is what would he want with all of the surviving Macha? They've scattered all over the Land of Fantasy, and most of them haven't been in contact with any other Macha in centuries. While I understand why he would need more Draconians or Myrmadons, most of the remaining Macha possess humans... and compared to Draconians, humans are tiny insects who wouldn't have the power to cause any more harm than stepping on a thorn would to a massive dragon. It just doesn't add up!"
Danika: "So, what are we gonna do about this?"
TRITHAL: "Well, what can we do about this? And for that matter, why should we do anything at all?"
Deciding to break her resentful silence, Anri stands up and says, "Don't you even care about this place, Trithal-san? This is our home, and if it's in danger we should do something about it!"
TRITHAL: "What, pray tell, do you suggest we do, Anri-chin? There's gonna be a whole army of Draconians coming here bent on mowing this place down. What could our small group possibly do to stop it? It's like Shirotama said back in Fafara, 'If it's meant to happen, it will. If you try to stop it, it would be like trying to stop a freight train by standing in the middle of the track... you're just gonna get run over.'"
THRAX: "Don't forget that our 'small group' did manage to defeat the Redusa and the Periande. I'd say if anyone had a chance at taking them on, it would be us."
The rest of the group voice their agreement with THRAX.
TRITHAL: "Alright already! So, what's our plan? How are we gonna pull this off?"
AXEM: "I guess we're gonna have to take some time and think about that. We'll need to come up with a pretty damn good strategy for this one."
Danika (to TRITHAL): "Oh! Hey Tsutaru... don't forget that we promised the others back home that we would help with the harvest. We'll need to leave tomorrow."
TRITHAL (to Danika): "Oh yeah! That's right!" (to party): "How about we all go to Laurenstown and strategize from there? You all can stay at our place."
THRAX: "That would be cool! I wanna see your new place!"
Anri, deciding to be as polite as possible with her former adversary, says "Your hospitality would be gracious. Thank you."
AXEM: "Yee! I wanna see what your new place is like, too! I haven't been there since before you moved out of that apartment."
TRITHAL: "Okay, then it's settled. Tomorrow morning we'll leave here and head to Morgura."
As the party wrapped up their conversation, the news was coming on the TV in the next room where David was.
Reporter (on TV): "...Today at the Mountain Castle, King Midus and Premier Jansod of Ghon-Ki Prefecture announced that, effective the first of Ichigatsu, in the 328th Year of Nengo, Ghon-Ki will officially become the sixth of the United Prefectures.. extending the boundaries of the commonwealth to along the south side of the Incisor Sea. The new territory along the shoreline will strengthen the commonwealth's hold on the trading industry in this region of the Land of Fantasy by the addition of the ports along the shores of Ghon-Ki..."
Danika: "Hey! That must be what Vankar is trying to stop! Didn't he call for the Macha to meet him in Okremafort the day before the first of the year?"
THRAX: "Yeah, he did! Now things are starting to make more sense."
The group of them spent the rest of the day in Dale Gorge making sure they had all their business taken care of before they set out to Morgura the next day. David was kind enough to allow the group of them to crash at his house that night.
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