Chp.2: Dangerous rumors

Haku wasn't an expert on architecture, since it wasn't very important to dragons or at least in the context of survival, but he knew a job well done when he saw it. That was exactly the case with the village of Iluvanar: even though the beastmen had built it very quickly, they had paid great attention to detail, placing all the buildings in the right places so that they harmonized with the aesthetics of the forest and creating roads or even squares. Such attention to architecture was probably due to the fact that they didn't have to worry about more important things like producing and transporting bricks, since Inpu had taken care of that under Haku's orders. The end result was a very nice little town; it was clearly not on the level of large cities or the capitals of kingdoms and empires, but it was still better than any village.

Wanting to treasure the unity with which they had managed to overcome the desert, the beastmen had not built the village so that the various races were divided, but had created a sort of mixture; of course, in some neighborhoods there were more tigermen and in others more lizardmen, but in general there was enough mixing between the various peoples. Therefore, walking along the main road, tigermen, lionmen and lizardmen were continually seen walking together; sometimes there were also humans (mostly freed slaves) and other beastmen or members of other races (usually ex-gladiators). Having been through so many difficult times together, no one was surprised to see a member of another race there with them...yet when Haku walked down the street people still turned to him anyway and just thought he couldn't hear them anymore (how deluded they were!) they started whispering behind his back. While no one was saying it outright, most people would have preferred dragons to stay far away from their homes. However, as long as they didn't make trouble for Haku he didn't care about their opinion, and continued on towards the Council Hall.

After they arrived at the oasis, Zamor had gathered all the various beastmen leaders to decide how to make decisions in the future; since the 'standoff' period they had established for crossing the desert was technically over, a new political organization had to be created. The beastmen leaders, as Zamor hoped, had by now become quite used to working together and were in favor of making decisions together; thus the Council was born. It was an organization made up of four members for each of the three most numerous races present in the oasis (meaning lizardmen, tigermen and lionmen), plus one member for each other race (meaning humans, minotaurs, dragons, etc.). Any disputes were discussed among them and the final decision would be made by vote, which would be secret from everyone. This system actually worked and guaranteed all the major beastmen leaders not to lose their power, while the minor ones were content to become assistants to the more important ones. However, there were also innumerable defects, first of all the slowness in making a decision and the absolute absence of scheduled meetings at precise times. In the event of any emergency, Haku doubted that the Council would be able to act promptly. However, at the moment that was the way things were, and he had to make do with it until he had an idea to get everyone to improve this political organization. His primary choice would have been a coup, but he doubted the people of Iluvanar would take that event well. The newcomers weren't very inclined to accept violent seizures of power even if they themselves often participated in much more violent acts. Therefore, Haku had to use diplomacy and find a logical system that suited everyone... unless one of his opponents died tragically by falling into a hole, or run over by a runaway animal... the possibility of killing them all it seemed like an idea that got better and better the more he thought about it.

The place where the Council met was the Council Hall, a building that stood in the exact center of Iluvanar and was slightly higher than all the others so as to be visible even from a distance. It was built to be big enough for Haku and his siblings to easily fit in too, though probably when they got older they'd have to find another solution. Haku entered being careful not to hit anything, knowing he could destroy a wall if he swung his tail too hard, and headed towards the meeting room. When he entered, all the other members were already there.

Among the members of the Council there were many faces that he had already known for some time. Among the lizardmen there was obviously Zamor, who still exercised some influence over decisions, and with him there was also his wife Thora, and also Gord; the last member is called Fabulus, a rather elderly lizardman and respected for his wisdom, who had often shown himself rather condescending. Among the lionmen were the four leaders who from the beginning had managed their people, namely Leuce, Shamar, Failemon and Yuro. Among the tigermen there was obviously Tzegorn, and with him there were three others whose names were Simus, Tullio and Mathius. These twelve members were the ones who had the most influence on the Council, as they outnumbered the others. Then there was the representative of the humans, Efren; he was the spokesman both for the ex-slaves and for his adventurer friends and even for Isaac. Then there was also Brenno, who represented the few minotaurs present in the oasis, almost all ex-gladiators, and who, incredible to say, had chosen him as their spokesman (if he was considered a reliable representative, Haku didn't want to know which ones were the intellectual capacities of others…). Then there was the elf representative Darius, the catmen representative Gianus, the orc representative Wuthan and the bearmen representative Ugho; all of them were ex-gladiators and their population numbered no more than a few dozen, but it was only right that their interests should be equally represented in the Council. Finally there was Haku himself, representative of the dragons. Total, nineteen members.

"You are late" Tzegorn reminded him. "We had to wait for you"

"I learned about the meeting a few minutes ago. I rushed over here as soon as I heard" Haku replied. "If you don't want to wait for me every time, maybe we should start scheduling these meetings instead of making random decisions, don't you think?"

"He's not entirely wrong" Thora said smoothly, and several others nodded in approval. Clearly, they too didn't appreciate being called out of the blue.

"We can discuss this later" Zamor calmed down. "Rather, we leave the floor to the one who requested this meeting"

Everyone fell silent. That was the practice: the one who had requested the meeting had to speak first, so that the main problem was discussed immediately, therefore any other topic would have been secondary. After a moment of silence, Simus rose from his seat. "It was me" the tigerman declared. "And I called this meeting because I learned of worrying facts. A few days ago, some of my subordinates told me that they had heard rumors going around, of people complaining that the Council was not acting. I immediately put on an investigation and found that some of the biggest hotheads in our community are spreading fears that we may not soon find a way to get food to survive before our supplies run out.I have personally heard them complain and say they should have the right to fish in the lake and hunt game in the forest, and start farming where they please. They accuse us of being afraid to act and claim we have no idea what we are doing. They are just rumors, and hardly anyone listens to these problematic subjects… but we all know that once a seed is planted, if it finds fertile ground, then it grows rapidly. If we are not careful the grievances will turn into protests and then we will no longer be able to calm the people down using a decent speech and a good argument"

The other members of the Council looked worried. Everyone knew that dissatisfied voices were the basis for any insurrection. The situation was becoming unstable. Haku snorted: "It's begun"

The other members looked at him. "What is begun?" Gord asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer though.

"Exactly what I warned you about from the beginning. People are losing faith in this Council. The people out there don't see what you're doing behind the scenes, they only see that you're slow" Haku answered. "The people need three things to keep quiet: water, food and entertainment. Once these three things are guaranteed, the people can distract themselves and ignore it even if their rulers are not very efficient and things go badly. But if just one of these ingredients is missing, or there is a good chance it will be missing in the future, then fear sets in and people look for someone to blame.We have plenty of water and can guarantee fun at any time... but we don't have a stable supply of food. And what's more, in the eyes of the people you are doing nothing to solve this problem. And this is the result"

"I hate to admit it, but the dragon is right" Tzegorn said. "People have to see us doing something. If they see it, then they'll be convinced that the situation isn't that critical. But since we're not actually doing anything concrete, people are convinced that they won't have any more food in the near future"

"We have to act now, before these rumors become something more serious" Zamor said. "Let's play in advance: we remind people that we can still count on the help of that organization... what was it called? 'The spider', that's it, and that only one of the dragons can go and get supplies in a few days using the avatar of a flying creature. This way they will understand that there is no reason to be in a hurry"

Since Sisna still hadn't awakened from hibernation and hadn't contacted Haku in any way, it was logical to assume that she still had control of 'The spider' and was ready to supply him with several tons of supplies at the first opportunity. Using an amphitrite Haku or any of his siblings could quickly reach the edge of the desert in a matter of days and return laden with dimensional pouches filled with food. "The idea is good" Fabulus said. "But I don't think it will be enough, at least not in the long run. People need to see that the food is there, the promise that it will arrive is not enough. Maybe we will temporarily curb the problem, but it will come back sooner or later. People will say that we lied"

"I propose to solve the root problem" Haku said. "Find those who are spreading these rumors and arrest them, so they can't cause trouble"

"We can't arrest people just because they have expressed their opinion" Leuce opined. "And then that would only serve to draw attention to their allegations"

"Not if you arrest them by accusing them of some crime. Fabricate false evidence and throw them in prison" Haku replied.

The other members of the Council gave an irritated snort; some even growled. "You know we don't act like this, Haku" Zamor said. "If we want to build a civil society, we cannot behave like tyrants..."

"You can build a civil society AFTER you secure this place!" Haku exclaimed. "This is not the time to focus on ideologies! I know it's not as easy for you to put morality aside as it is for me, but there are times when you have to do what needs to be done! Our job, your job, is keeping the peace! Those hotheads who are spreading their silly rumors at the moment are nothing but rowdy idiots, but if they could find a lord to follow they'd be an army!"

"And who is this lord to follow? Do we know him?" Tzegorn asked suddenly, looking at Haku with an intense and hostile gaze. "Perhaps we should fear him?"

Silence fell in the room.