Tyranomaster

  My turn for a question, "What's your name?"

  They speak their name, "Shastasha Korsask."

  The pronunciation was quite difficult for me to grasp, given it's quite different from both Demon and English.

  The dwarf follows up with, "And your name?"

  "Gokura Zakarus is my full name. I go by Zack," I say. Shortly after I stated it, I realized I hadn't had the ce to talk with the prisoners before about all I'd learned from Zaka about the history of the Gokura he surprise shows on Shastasha Korsask's face after I give my name, but thankfully they don't seem as disturbed as they did with the situation with the Eagle.

  "Should I call you by your full name when we speak?" I ask.

  "You call me Shasta," she replies, "What do you know about the Demon Lokura?"

  I was going to tell them most of what I'd learned from Zaka at some point anyway, and sis uo the crystal, I figure I might as well be open. I spent a few minutes reting the information Zaka told Zeb and I, with Zeb's help for some of the more plicated parts.

  is my turn, so I ask, "How did you learn the demon nguage?"

  Shasta shies away slightly but says, "From prisoners. For information gathering."

  Well, that does expin some of their difficulty with the nguage. Not that mine is particurly great.

  Shasta asks me, "What is demon homend like?"

  "I don't know, I'm from this isnd." I reply. "How do your four know each other?"

  "I'm researcher from dwarf capitol, 'Korsask'. They're group tasked with prote," Shasta says. Rather than ask another question after this, Shasta says, "I'm tired of questions."

  Which holy, I'm relieved. It's good for building trust and uanding, but it's actually getting kind of stale. I still have lots of questions, but I'm tired of the bad forth through the jail bars.

  As a reward for the versation, I offer to take the prisoners each, o a time, to the bathhouse today. After Shasta expins to the others, the only oher than herself who takes up the offer is the other dwarf. Each seems to thhly enjoy the time rexing ih as well, which I hope will help us move forward.

  I've had a few more versations with Shasta in the past three days, and gained a bit more information into her background. Dwarves, it seems, are named based on which mountain city they were born in. As Shasta was born in the capitol of Korsask, that is her st name. She isn't a particurly high level researcher in her try either. This entire expedition, in fact, was expected to end in failure.

  The open o is sidered incredibly dangerous, so it was half expected that they wouldn't eveurn to begin with. However, the eagles aren't sidered guardias for nothing. Historically, they've been known to single handedly thwart demon invasions attempting to move from the human tio the dwarven ti. As such, they're sidered something of a strategic asset to the dwarves.

  They arely peaceful with the dwarves, however. The dwarves offer them up livestock year round to keep them sated. If livestock aren't readily avaible, then the eagles seem to be pretty indiscrimih who they attack. Siny invading demoo scare off the livestock caretakers a any remaining livestock, the eagles begin preying on the demons that move into that territory.

  The other dwarf's name is Katarko Lesigort and he apparently hails from one of the vilges he eagle territory iion. He vinced his adventuring party to take this task because he is worried about his hometown if the eagles disappear. Since he's the one who vihem to e here, that's why the human got into a fight with him before. This human hasn't actually been with his party for that long, only a few months before ing here, which is likely why tensions fred to the degree they did.

  There is a sed pce with eagles in the dwarven kingdom, and its the only other pce that they knew of until now that houses a popution. That pce is in the nearby mountains around Korsask. This leads me to why Shasta is so ied in the crystal ihhouse. The dwarven capitol houses a uifact that was supposedly uncovered 800 years ago. A giant mana crystal that was found deep beh Korsask. The dwarves called this crystal 'ParTor', which roughly trao GodStone.

  The city of Korsask itself is built he base of the mountain, and partially i. Flowing down Mt. Korsask is a rge waterfall and river, which the dwarves have carved multiple els throughout the city to utilize the river. That river flows inte bathhouse he royal pace. There, in that bathhouse, is where ParTor is stored. It heats the water and imbues the river with mana. It's said in dwarven culture that once ParTor ced in the royal bathhouse, the eagles blessed the capitol with their prote.

  Shasta thinks, and I agree, that I've probably made an artificial version of ParTiven the ret information, I've decided that tomorrow, with extra escorts, I'm willing to show Shasta the rge mana crystal I grew.

  "Small." That is what Shasta said when she saw the crystal. I mean, I stopped growing it pretty much as soon as it could survive on the surface, but it's a little bit insulting to my pride to hear it called small. "ParTor is more than twice as wide," she says fidently while looking at the submerged crystal from above. "It looks simir though."

  Personally, I hope that's a good thing. If my crystal was bigger, I'd probably have to worry about military invasion to recover this crystal as an artifact. Although I'm still worried that might see it as some kind of insult that a demon has something simir to their artifact. It'd be even worse if they think that because I made an artificial one I'm some kind of affront to god. Judging from Shasta's reas though, I think that the worst case sario is unlikely here.

  After letting Shasta see the crystal, I close the se of the bathhouse up again. Now es a much harder part. I say, "Look, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I just eace here. For that I'll need your help, and the adventuring party's help. Eventually, maybe soon, maybe in the distant future, people will probably show up again. When they do, I just eace between our peoples. Are you willing to work with me to help achieve that?"

  Shasta looked about for a little bit before saying, "What's in it for me?"

  "Yetting pretty cocky for someone who's still my prisoner," I retort.

  "This pce would be run over in a matter of weeks if any of the alliance tries showed up. So, what's in it for me?" she says once again.

  I mean, we're increasing our defenses, but yeah, if a few hundred soldiers and high level individuals showed up, I'd probably need years and years of prep time to actually mount a defehat wouldn't result in our total annihition. I also 't just threaten them into it because ohey're free, that threat is gone. So I'll have to e up with something to offer.

  "What would you want?" I ask.

  "Its a big ask trying to vince people that demons be friendly..." Shasta trails off and sits silently for a bit.

  "The way you made the crystals. Tell me it," Shasta says.

  "No do. Then you'll just have us killed after you know it," I say.

  "The me set up a pce for research here."

  "How big of a pce?" I ask worriedly.

  "Well, it'll need helping hands, and likely an embassy, and..." she trails off again. "100 dwarves. That, and we'll need your crystal."

  "Now, I 't just give you the crystal."

  "Look. That crystal is bringing you nothing but grief. If someone shows up, and I vihem to not kill you all, that's when I he crystal," she says.

  "Even so, the goblins won't accept it."

  "We'll go set the crystal up in the existing eagle habitat somewhere. Then they'll stop ing to this isnd," she says, but I catch that she quietly says, "probably..." afterwards. "At that point, you make another crystal if you want it so bad."

  Ugh. I mean, I did want to possibly get rid of the crystal. If I also get peace out of it, then all the better. That said, I'm not too keen on being outnumbered on the isnd here. I suppose that means I'll o get back to work on the housing projects in the vilge. Finally I reply, "Fine, but I'll o actually get Zaka's approval for it."