Conflict Within The Mountains

After the couple left, only Aisleen and Jay were left in the library of the stone mansion.

'I've heard that your a queen now. Should I kneel down or something?" Jay said, not even worrying about what might occur at any moment.

"No need. But there are some things I want to discuss with you." Aisleen said before she sat down on the nearby couch.

"First, tell me the reason why you are not going to join our conquest. Second, tell me how you know of the Shadow Puppet and why you need it. Third, tell me everything you know of the four great treasures of the dwarves. And lastly, what are you really planning? I know you and your friends have been out treasure hunting the past few days."

When Jay heard all of these questions of Aisleen, he just decided to speak out truthfully and thought, "If I manage to make Aisleen one of my allies against the planar invaders..."

"The reason why I am not going to join you in your conquest is because of something known as the Hundredfold Planar Invasion. While all of you in this continent are fighting a war, me and my friends are busy helping the Fatelord deal with the planar invaders."

When Aisleen heard Jay's answer to her first question, she was a bit surprised since she thought Jay simply does not want to take part of the bloodshed.

"The reason why I know about the Shadow Puppet is because of the traitor prince Alfred. As for why I need it, it is also related to the Hundredfold Planar Invasion I've mentioned."

Before Jay could continue speaking, Aisleen shushed him and asked something.

"Hold up. Just what exactly is this planar invasion you kept on talking about?"

When Jay heard Aisleen asking this, he decided to tell her all about the planar invasion and some things about the Shurym demons wandering around the continent.

"...and that's all I know about that. So about the dwarves' 'Four Great Treasures,' the only thing I know that is a golden sword, a jet-black gauntlet, a crystal gem, and an ancient tome. And if you are going to ask me where these treasures are, I am pretty sure King Floki is the only one who knows. And you were also asking what I am planning with my friends? We plan to fight against the planar invaders."

...

The room became very silent after that. Jay did not want to leave even though it looked like Aisleen was busy thinking about some stuff.

"Here, take this and leave the mountains. As for the conflict happening between the Grayrock family and the dwarves, you don't need to do anything about it." Aisleen said as she stood up and took out something from her storage ring.

The thing she took out was actually the Shadow Puppet. It was a small black ball which can transform into anything the user wants. Of course, it can also be controlled the same way if possessed by a soul.

Jay immediately stored it in his storage orb, but even though he can already leave, he still wanted to talk about some things with Aisleen.

"My lady, why do you have the Shadow Puppet? And what exactly is happening between the Grayrock family and the dwarves?" Jay asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Aisleen asked with a serious tone.

Jay nodded his head.

"Alright. I suppose I can tell you. The reason why I have the Shadow Puppet with me is because I stole it from the 'Ironblood Prison' of the dwarves. As for the conflict happening between the Grayrock family and the dwarves, I am the cause of it." Aisleen said and she suddenly snapped her hands.

The moment she did, Elton's parents, Harold and Cidney, returned to the library room.

"You two tell Jay why there is a conflict between you and the dwarves. I need to think about some things." Aisleen said as she suddenly transformed into hundreds of bats and left the room.

...

Jay was currently seated on the couch and in front of him was Cidney and Harold.

"The reason why the dwarves are having a conflict with us is because we decided to join Queen Aisleen in her conquest against the two kingdoms, Wildergreene and Holtheim." Cidney said as she drank some coffee she just made.

"Why would the dwarves..." Jay was about to ask something, but Harold suddenly spoke up.

"Queen Aisleen wants to take over the entire Grayrock Mountains. She wants to set up her main base of operations here. Of course, the dwarves are totally against this even though Queen Aisleen told them they can continue living normal lives after she takes over the mountains. The dwarves think it is bulls*it since they have something called ancestral rites over the mountains. And that's why there is conflict between us." Harold said with a pained expression on his face, as if he did not really want to fight the dwarves.

"Of course, only me and my wife knows of this for now. As for the dwarves, the only ones who knows of this are King Floki and his eight protectors. The rest of the common folks in the mountains are still in the dark about what the conflict is about. The thing they believed to be the cause of the conflict is because of a fight over the resources from the mines." Cidney said with a sad tone in her voice.

"Then what about the players that entered the mountains a few days ago?" Jay asked.

"They are currently locked up in the 'Ironblood Prison.' The reason is because they trespassed onto the mountains and started digging and mining like fools." Harold said, a bit disappointed with how these players acted within the mountains.

...

After that long talk, Jay left the stone mansion and summoned Nuggets.

Bawk!!! ("Oh come on! I was just having fun with Elton!")

Nuggets said angrily as she pecked Jay in his butt.

"Hey! Stop that!" Jay said as he grabbed Nuggets and let her sit on his right shoulder.

"We're going to one last stop before we leave this place." Jay said since he just needed to recruit the players locked up in Ironblood Prison. As for meeting the king of the dwarves, Floki, he did not need to do it anymore since he already has the Shadow Puppet.