Everyone in the council chambers was staring at Valyra. It wasn't simply because of what she said, but the words ca out of her mouth with absolute confidence. Even Kadk seed a bit shaken by the way she phrased her remark.
"What do you an we will lose more than just our culture?" Rutigan asked.
"This is… a complicated story, but I'll do my best to explain it. When we first noticed this type of behavior was about 50 years ago. At the ti, I was working as a…."
"Valyra, crap or get off the can. We don't have ti for the ramblings of an old crone," Kadk interrupted.
"Why is that?" Hera asked.
"Because Kevin is taking a bath right now. It's better if the Guild is not aware of this discussion," Kadk explained.
"How can you be sure he still is in the bath?" Ogryn asked.
"I have a spell," Kadk shrugged.
"You have a spell that tells you when soone is taking a bath?" Hera frowned.
"What? No, he told he was going in. The spell is there to tell when he cos out."
"That's even creepier…." Hera took a step back, unconsciously.
"NO! For fuck's sake. It's not that I have a spell that tells when soone is coming out of the bath. I just set up an alarm. When he cos out of the bathroom, I will know," Kadk explained, "Anyway, we don't have ti for this. Look, don't join the Guild. I know it seems all fancy and full of benefits, but they are sneaky and will change you little by little. In a few decades, you won't even recognize who you are anymore. Besides, they hide most things about the other races, don't consider our point of view when talking about progress, and part of their laws is to allow people from Earth to buy land even in your rooms. I know you have a human here, and she probably only sings the guild praises, but they don't care about keeping our culture. All they want to do is assimilate it."
"Ok, first. Breathe, or you will end up passing out. Second, I don't constantly praise the Guild. In fact, it only took so long for to beco an explorer because of their stupid rules. Third, that law thing seems bull. Kevin should've said sothing about it if that is what actually happens. And how do you know all that, or why do you care? And why all the secrecy? It seems really unfair to say all this when Kevin is not here to defend the Guild," Hera scoffed. Just because she was part of the Guild, it didn't an that she liked everything it did. At the sa ti, she always hated people who accused soone without giving them a chance to defend themselves.
"We care because we don't want more people to lose their history. And we know because we saw it happen again and again. My own people ended up casting aside so of our beliefs because of the Guild. I understand that most humans here are not the religious kind, but in my hotown, the only church we had dedicated to the system was bought off and transford into a branch of the Guild, essentially killing our religion. That's not all. Our paintings, fables, songs, legends all died off and were replaced with stories made by humans. If Kevin was here, he would have excuses for each argunt we give. Excuses that ultimately don't change the fate of the people who join the Guild," Valyra sat in a chair to speak.
"They even like to pretend that the only Heroes we have are human. They build shrines for those three and ignore all other six," Kadk said.
"What do you an, other six? There are only Three Heroes," Hera had a confused expression.
"See, they don't even teach you about it. There are 9 Heroes, nine people who changed the MAZE forever. Among them, we have dwarves, elves, beastn, and other races. Yet, the Guild only talks about the three. They always used the excuse that they didn't want to cause a panic on Earth and talk about other races, but even now after lifting those restrictions, they still keep them a secret," Kadk huffed.
"Wait, who are they? What did they do, and why are there no shrines, statues, paintings or even books talking about them?" Hera didn't know what to believe. The Heroes were supposed to be a beacon of hope and unity. How could soone lie about them, and if what Kadk said wasn't a lie, why would the Guild hide the information about the rest?
"I'm afraid I don't have ti to tell you about all of them, but the UMN was founded by one of the heroes. She was an elf called Euruwan, the North Star. Because she is the one that guides us even after her death. I can send you a book about her and the other five later if you want." Valyra smiled at Hera.
"Yes, please," Hera replied, still feeling shell-shocked.
"So, you want to say that the guild won't be looking out for our best interest?" Rutigan asked.
"They won't, but then again, neither will the UMN. However, we won't actively try to change you and will support you with what we can with fewer constraints. Each ti you ask the Guild for sothing, you will have to give sothing back in return. Let also add that you won't be asked to sell your land right from the get-go. That will co later when the Guild feels that you owe them enough to start charging. They already asked for so land and then they will expand little by little until only a handful of buildings belong to your people," Valyra explained.
"But for what they talked about during the eting, having a guild here might be very beneficial. If we join the UMN, we won't have access to that," Naka was still worried about the prospect of soone trying to invade them. She had never seen a war or a dispute between nations herself. No one in Boothudurn knew what that was actually like. But the previous captains had so journals recounting large-scale conflicts that Weston shared with them. Just the thought of sothing like that becoming a reality made her shiver in fear.
"You can have one either way. Most rooms that are a part of the UMN have a guild brach that works as both an actual Explorers' Guild and an embassy. They might not offer the sa type of benefits such as high-speed internet connection or advanced training rooms. But, protection against Rampages and patrol missions are things where they use the best resources available for everyone," Kadk added.
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"Sorry, but I'm confused. Didn't you say they were bad? Why are you defending them now?" Fethy asked.
"They are not bad. Not intentionally at least," Valyra shook her head, "They won't push everything away with bad intentions. It's not like they want to hide the other races' involvent or wish to get rid of their culture. However, despite their intentions, this is the result of their actions. And that's why I'm giving you this warning."
"I see… This is sothing we will have to consider," Rutigan replied.
Kadk stopped moving for a mont, "Kevin is out of his bath. We should go."
Valyra nodded, "Very well. I apologize for the interruption, and even if you do decide to join the Guild, the UMN will still want to deal with your kingdom. This is not a threat of animosity, just an advice coming from an individual, not a request for our alliance."
"One last question," Hera stopped the elf before she reached the door, "If we ask Kevin about the UMN without you around, will he have a similar issue with how your organization deal with things?"
"I'm certain he will. There are two sides to every story but know this. My warning doesn't co from greed or self-interest. It cos from grief for what was lost," Valyra said before she left the room.
"Well… that makes things more complicated," Ogryn sighed.
"It does. Anyone already ford an idea about all of this?" Rutigan asked, but no one replied. They were leaning towards becoming part of the Guild, but everyone's thoughts were scrambled after this new information. Not wanting to waste to much ti, the King turned to the only human in the room, "How about you, Hera?"
"I… I don't know. I told you guys about the Three Heroes, and the fact that the Guild hid those who are not human is… disturbing. The Three Heroes are supposed to be sothing sacred. Then again, we don't know for sure if Valyra was being honest or not. The way she ca to talk to us felt too sneaky, like she was doing sothing wrong. I think staying with the Guild could be the best option."
"Weren't you worried about how the humans would treat us?" Naka asked.
"I still am. Humans can be greedy and only care about money, but at least we will know what to expect. But the UMN, today was the first ti I ever even heard about them. Who's to say they won't do even worse? Did any of them tell you what they would need from Boothudurn?" Hera turned to Rutigan.
"Yes, the Guild asked only for a space to build a branch and so hotels. And the information for the dungeons. With that, they can make sothing called a compendium and share it with other people. Aside from that, they also asked to set up so shops to sell the things we make here. Kevin also said that we will need to pay taxes at so point for all the infrastructure and everything else, but that would co later and it could be deducted from other deals. Oh, and to open all the dungeons for anyone who wants to go in," Rutigan double-checked his notes. Unlike the ambassadors, all the dwarves had small notebooks to write down what they considered important.
"Right… how about the UMN? Did they ask for anything?"
"They did. They asked for the sa space but also to open trade for minerals and food. But they wouldn't be able to help to build the... towers? I believe those are what we will use to access the internet. We still would have to open a branch of the Guild or at least a version of it though. It seems like that is a prerequisite if we want to join any part of the world. If we wish to have a better infrastructure, we would have to pay for that ourselves," Rutigan continued.
"Most of what we do is around the guild, so that makes so sense," Hera replied.
"Can I ask you all a question?" Telanz rose his hand.
"Sure, it is ti for discussion, my friend," Rutigan smiled at the healer.
"Do we have any reason not to go with the Guild? They have more benefits and will be able to help us more since they are close by. We are having all these argunts based on the word of soone who may or may not be telling the truth."
"Well, we should try to protect our culture, shouldn't we?" Lural scratched his head.
"Why is that an issue? Our culture changes so much and so quickly. Can anyone here tell how things were 50 years ago?" Fethy raised her hand, "Aside from Fethy. She doesn't count," there was a small pause, "See, and besides, we are really good at keeping track of what we have done," Telanz continued.
"You do have a point there. Our culture is about change. As long as we rember that, our culture will remain. Even if it ends up being completely different, we can always look at our old works," Fethy nodded.
"Besides, with all due respect to your work Fethy, the most important thing is that our people are doing well. Even if we change, as long as we are safe and happy, everything is ok," Rutigan said.
"I agree," Ogryn smiled.
" too. Without the people we can't do anything, and happy people make for better artists," Fethy nodded.
"Very well. I believe we have co to a decision," Rutigan clapped his hands.
"There is still much to do, but we at least can start working with who is going to help us now," Fethy got up and walked towards Hera, extending one hand, "And thank you for all the help."
"Don't ntion. I barely did anything," Hera shook Fethy's hand.
"You did more than you can imagine, and even if we change, I promise that no one will ever forget what you and Blue did for us," Fethy pulled Hera in for a hug.
After that, everyone went around thanking Hera for everything, even Naka. A few minutes later, the eting was over, and Rutigan invited them all for dinner, but Hera refused. She wanted to be with her friends and ask about what Valyra said.
Hera quickly went back to her house and talked with the girls. She avoided saying too much about the eting and focused only on the other heroes. Bonnie and Alex had no idea about them, but Helena had a bit more information.
"Yeah, if I rember correctly, the Order of the Lost Court has sothing to do with the heroes. I honestly never looked into that, but our leader loves those stories," Helena said.
"Really? Why did you never say anything? You know how Blue and I love the stories about the heroes,' Hera was surprised by the lack of information coming from the mage.
"It just slipped my mind. I joined the order because of the freedom and resources that I could get from them for my research. Honestly, all those fables are nice and all but I never focused too much on them. If you want I can see if the leader can recomnd any books or sothing for you, sweetie. We also have to complete your official admission."
"Really? I'm still not a full mber?"
"Not just yet. I'm guessing that finding a new room will be enough to add you and Bonnie's modular spells too. We might be able to get you both as full mbers at once," Helena said.
"Does that an you have to go away?" Silah turned to Hera.
"Not yet. I'm staying around until you have internet, then we can talk even when I'm away. But I would love to know more about who those other heroes are, and to actually join the Order of the Lost Court."
"Right… and what is that order you are talking about?" Silah asked.
Hera explained how the order worked and the types of organizations around the MAZE while eating a al prepared by Silah. There was still a lot to do, but not only things seed to be going in the right direction, but Hera already had sothing new to look forward to.
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