A Communication Failure

POV Vesuvius:

A small ring fell upon the burned, muddy ground. It rolled for a while before stopping before the white-haired old-looking man in heavily damaged armour.

The man grabbed it and put it on his finger. His body changed, his long horns vanishing, with his irises returning to their human shape. Even his skin wrinkled as if he had aged years just in a second.

"You know what to do, my minion. Go and fulfil your official duties. As for your dead guards? They were all killed by a monster. Only you have managed to escape."

The dragon above him flapped his wings, the dark clouds covering the whole swamp and sky above it, hiding his body from all prying eyes as he slowly rose higher and higher.

'This will not work. I can't just convert everyone by myself. Someone will notice sooner or later. I need some better, more covert way.'