Once they returned to the command tent Vuthe quickly called in the council. They all gathered and looked at their Queen with curiosity.
„Well, I have good news and bad news. Let‘s start with the bad, to get it over with“, Vuthe said, looking at each of them in turn, „The first thing: I’m sure all of you already know, but it‘s been just shy of fifty years since we vanished. Of course, that can also be good, since family and friends are most likely still around. However, the bad news is that I have reason to believe that our vanishing has had quite the impact on the geopolitical situation.“
She paused for a moment, giving the others time to sort out their own thoughts. „In 2025 governments worldwide have enacted the Overwatch Agreement. Its task is monitoring everything going on worldwide. From what I could gather they have two jobs: Keep the magic society hidden and trying to find out more about the spell that stole us away.“
Again she paused, knowing full well that most of the Council already understood the implications. „This puts us in a precarious situation: We can easily avoid their attempt at monitoring with our defensive spellwork and runescript. Considering the weak magic on earth, it‘s almost trivial. However, don’t forget that blocking such attempts is in itself like a beacon that will garner their interest. So I expect us to get involved with them sooner or later. Be prepared for that eventuality. Despite the risk, I think its safer if we block them out, rather than letting them get a read on us.“
Most of the Council nodded, only Archangel and Apocalyptica remaining still. Those two weren’t really interested in ruling and usually didn’t give much input, even if they were mostly present for a council meeting. Vuthe was glad about that, considering that they were quite eccentric and not really fit to rule, nor did they have a good understanding of the circumstances.
„Okay, next we have another piece of news I am unsure about whether it‘s good or bad. While I was in town I dropped by a bar to get a bit of information. The bartender was a demi-human, and I decided to let them know we are present“, she held up a hand to forestall the argument she knew would come. Calagrophy already looked like she was ready to explode, but she did stop herself. This was way too important a situation to throw a temper tantrum.
„I told him that we are here and that we do not want trouble. I also asked how things worked so we can avoid accidentally pissing someone off. I was informed that there is a Council of sorts that handles these kinds of situations and that organizes the magical society. He will inform them and we might get a call from them in turn. Rules are pretty simple and once they know about us we will get a list of territories and limitations, but as of right now we do not enter the city with more than the five of us and we will not get in the way of any of their business until we better understand the situation.“
Finally, she nodded to Calagrophy and she spoke. „You are a fucking moron! You should have talked to us before! Yes, we have a good defensive position, but what if they decide we are too much trouble and try to get us to piss off with god knows what connections they have. We might win a straight war, but as you already told our people before we arrived, brute strength means jack shit here! All they need to do is go to the government, convince them we are bad or dangerous, and you know exactly how humans will try and deal with us.“
Vuthe started to respond, but Castaphiel beat her to it, „Cal, calm down. I agree that this was a risk, but I think it was a worthwhile one. See it from the other side of the coin. Imagine how they would have reacted if we didn’t tell them we are here and suddenly just pop up in the thousands. Even if we don’t do anything hostile, they will be suspicious. With this they know about us, know that we presented ourselves to them, and I would bet a few of the more selfish people feel their ego stroked by our seeming obedience to their system. With this, we earned ourselves a few browny points, which can help us later on. Especially if we manage to start friendly relations with them. You are correct that a Council like that who is intrinsic in keeping magic hidden will have powerful connections they can use against us. However, in the same vein, if we can keep them on our side, they can use them for us as well.“
As per usual Castaphiel took this calmly and avoided a heated argument. In times like these Vuthe was glad to have him around.
Calagrophy deflated and sighed, „Yeah yeah, sorry. I may have jumped straight to worst-case scenarios. However, I still don’t like that she just told people about us without consulting us. Queen or no, we are in this together“, she said, giving Vuthe the stinkeye.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Vuthe in turn nodded, „You are correct, and I apologize. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. And it also had direct consequences. The bartender I talked to, Devin, knew of me before we vanished and was tasked to find me. Well, long story short he knows who I am. I didn’t tell him where we were and why, nor did I give him anything about you. But he knows about me and that I have four others of those that vanished with me.“
Now it was Castaphiels turn to look angry, „Vuth, while I agree that telling them we are present was a good move, that one is just plain idiotic. They WILL ask questions and I am sure we won’t be able to avoid them forever. All this does is complicate things unnecessarily.“
Again, Vuthe nodded. „I agree with that. He figured it out for himself after I asked a few pointed questions. While I did change my body time with illusions to not be suspicious, I retained my original features, and together with the questions he managed to put two and two together“, she shrugged, „His mom was a friend of my sister it seems, so he was quite involved in the matter.“
There were a few moments of silence as everyone digested this. Then Vuthe spoke again, looking at Tizanta, „Which brings us to the good news. Considering our earlier conversation, and Castaphiel‘s already quite reasonable deduction of possible consequences of my actions, we do have a possible starting point to build some political clout. This will mostly be your job, you are way better at it than I am, and maybe it will enable us to figure out what to do in the future.“
Tizanta nodded with a small smile, „I will make sure to use this opportunity to the best of my abilities. As for our future plans, I have something I would like to suggest. I will summarize a few things for the benefit of everyone. While Vuthe was away playing secret agent I managed to figure out a lot more about the geopolitical system and it doesn’t bode well. Most democratic countries are only democratic in name alone these days, and tensions are high. The upper echelons of almost all countries around the globe are controlled by Magicians of some variety or another who are obviously following their own goals. Considering this situation, I would like to propose a goal of our own, which would be to unravel the situation and reinstate democratic governments saround the globe. Of course, I understand that before we can tackle any of that we need to make sure our people are well off, and I am also aware that we are not going to go to war for this. But it doesn’t sit well with me to let these things slide.“
The tent was silent again for a few moments, each person digesting the information, and it was obvious that the opinions were split. Surprisingly Archangel spoke up. „I dunno about how you lot remember your government, but this sounds a lot like what Amnellium does. Suffice it to say I agree with the Realmbreaker here. While I don’t understand all the different aspects, this sounds like a totalitarian government in the making and I don’t think I need to reiterate my opinions on those again, do I?“
Vuthe shook her head, „It isn’t so simple. Amnellium is one entity, one big bad evil that needs to be dealt with. Here we have a myriad of countries all plotting their own little things while also joining forces with others, or declaring political war on their enemies. This is a whole lot more complicated and dangerous. I’m not saying we shouldn’t try, but I am saying this needs a whole lot more planning and research to even begin to attempt it.“
„Vuthe is right, but I also think Tiz has a good point here, if, IF, those in charge plan to do untoward things“, Corellanium joined in, „We shouldn’t jump to conclusions. We are all still tense and tend to jump at shadows. But this requires a whole lot more investigating and research. If they have a valid reason for their actions, as unlikely as it seems from our perspective, we should hear them out. I am willing to support them if what they are doing is necessary for the greater good.“
His brother nodded, „Corel is right. We shouldn’t start meddling in these things without even understanding how and why they came about. We aren’t some storybook heroes tasked with saving the world or some such, and we shouldn’t forget that we too are fallible. Our opinion might not be the one the majority of people agree with and I rather not start the next world war or endanger or piss off the people. We have our own priorities and goals, and we shouldn’t jump straight into the fray simply because we are used to it.“
Vuthe and Tizanta shared a look before Vuthe continued. „I hear you. We might have done just that… Let’s take a few months to look at the overall situation before we get back to it. We can still decide to act later on. For now, let‘s give our people a break, calm down, and see how things go. We are, for all intents and purposes, in a new world, despite how much it looks like the old one we are used to. There is a myriad of things we need to learn before we can form informed opinions on any of this. So for now we need to cool our heads and try to get out of this war-focused frame of mind.“
With that the meeting was adjourned, the council breaking into the usual groups and going about their business. Vuthe sighed and followed Tizanta out. She could use some relaxation, and she would bet Tizanta could too. Maybe they really should just try and find some far-away place to settle and let a few decades go by.