The Clans of Arra (4/4)
After Haalfrin leaves, the Rehkin clans – especially the Hawks, Wolves, Foxes, and Boars – explore the castle and talk with Haalfrin's soldiers.
Well, there are a few squabbles where some of the Dead Hawk Ancestors try to gore the visiting Coyotes out of instinct. A full scale brawl nearly breaks out, but luckily, Captain Kaalhyme was nearby, and he puts the fight down just before it started.
Other than that, the Clan scouts' visits go quite smoothly. The Arkin are hospitable to the Rehkin – especially considering how well they're treated by the Rehkin in the Death Realm.
So, for the promised 30 days, the visiting Rehkin stay in the castle and join in the Dead soldiers' celebrations.
…Most of these mortal Rehkin don't quite understand what they're celebrating… but hey! It's a party!
---------------------
After 30 days, Haalfrin tells all the scouting parties to leave, as promised. After being treated more than hospitably, they all leave without issue – even the headstrong boars.
With those youngsters out of the way, the only thing left for Haalfrin to do is tap his foot, pace his room, and wait for the Clans to start replying to his request.
He knows very well that unless you can fly as fast as a dragon, then you can forget about traveling to the far-out clans in less than a year.
…However, considering how distrustful the Rehkin are of other clans, it's incredibly hard for them to send scouting parties past more than a border or two.
Hence, the dozen or so Clans who showed up at his doorstep… those clans have to be VERY close by. That means that he should be expecting a reply within a few weeks at most – not a few years.
'In the meantime,' he thinks, 'I'll send my Arkin out in pairs of three to each of the farther clans. I want everyone to know about this alliance.'
Haalfrin knows very well that the more unsure the Clans are of what their neighbors are going to do, then the more likely they'll give in and agree to his alliance.
So, Haalfrin calls Kaalhyme to his room and gives him his orders…
---------------------
Within 3 weeks, Haalfrin has received word from each of his Arkin emissaries that they've delivered their treaties to their assigned Matriarchs.
Oddly enough, when Haalfrin listens to their reports, they all assure him that the Clans they've gone to have treated them like honored guests.
… Isn't that surprising? Aren't the Rehkin wary of strangers?
Perhaps it's because the Rehkin can all tell that these pointy-eared people are, in fact, dead just by looking at them? Every member of this race has access to Spirit Sight, so they'd be able to see the Arkins' silver Spirit Threads in a heartbeat.
The Rehkin DO honor the dead, so it stands to reason that they'd at least be respectful to the Arkin and not run them out of their territories immediately.
'That's a good sign, right?' Haalfrin thinks. 'If they're willing to treat my ambassadors well, then they might actually agree to our treaty…?'
---------------------
Oddly enough, all of Haalfrin's Clan Ambassadors tell him the same thing.
"The ________ Matriarch says that she wants to think about it. She'll tell us whether she accepts our proposal later."
'Why? WHY!?' Haalfrin can't help but get puzzled. 'There's got to be at least 1 Clan who agrees!?'
'Well, our allies from the Ant War don't count. Their agreement was a given. I'm talking about the others…'
Sadly, there are a few things Haalfrin failed to consider about the Rehkin…
---------------------
First off, Haalfrin is well aware that his motives in making this treaty are very obvious. Out of uncertainty, some of the Clans would accept the alliance, just in case too many other Clans joined up and took the opportunity to annihilate them.
Then, once the alliance's size reaches a critical mass, the rest of the Clans would feel pressured, then hop on the bandwagon as well.
When all of the Clans (or, at least, ENOUGH clans) are on his side, the Clan wars will stop. Even then, Haalfrin and his soldiers will have a stable job in this life – keeping the peace. He won't have to lounge around and wait to die…
A-anyway, given the nature and implications of the contract, his intentions should be glaringly obvious to the Matriarchs.
So… why aren't they joining?
The answer?
Of course, the answer is quite obvious. The correct thing is to do as the Ak'Veri Princess has done – promise to wait and see, and only joining up if they see everyone else hopping aboard, or if their hated enemies refuse to join or not.
If these Rehkin had been thinking logically, then they'd have realized that the best course of action is to enter the alliance and secure peace for their people.
However…, a Rehkin Clan always has bitter enemies that they want to slaughter at all costs. Entering peace would mean giving up their feuds.
Who would want that? Isn't it better to only enter the alliance as a last resort?
Plus, most importantly…, each clan knows that the moment they join the alliance, then their enemies will fear an invasion and hop on the bandwagon.
Since everyone knows this, all the clans have come to a silent agreement. "You don't join the alliance, and neither will I. That way, we can keep killing each other."
---------------------
Months start to tick by, and Haalfrin is fully convinced that none of the Rehkin Clans are planning on joining his alliance. Rather, he knows by now that these people are planning on keeping up friendly relations with him, then putting him on the back burner.
'I should've seen this coming. These people aren't stupid…,' Haalfrin thinks bitterly. 'Foolish and emotional, but not stupid.'
'Oh well. That just means I'll need to get a little creative…'
---------------------
In the end, the only thing that Haalfrin has to work with are the 4 clans who joined his alliance already.
Haalfrin then sends messages to their Matriarchs, and he gets them to try convincing their own neighbors to join the alliance.
Isn't it a given that the Clans will have SOMEONE that they're fast friends with?
In the end, the Wolves go to the Crow Clan and get them to join the alliance as well. Not only are the Wolves and Crows on good terms, but the Crows also have a good relationship with Haalfrin. Getting them to join doesn't take much convincing.
However, when Haalfrin asks the Hawks, Foxes, and Boars to talk their friends into joining… their answer is quite depressing.
"But Master Haalfrin… The only friends we have are right here…," they all said.
Indeed, the Hawks', Foxes', and Boars' only allies were each other.
Well, that sucks.
---------------------
It's only 1 short year after the black barrier went down, and the Arkin became known to the world…
…only one short year of peace until some fool tries invading one of Haalfrin's allied clans. Right now, it's a horde of Bear Rehkin. The Bear race tends to have smaller, more tight-knit clans, but each of their members are imposingly powerful.
This Bear Clan in question is called the "Osmiri Clan", and they're invading the Wolf Clan.
Luckily, Haalfrin had gifted each of his allies with vials full of his Death Aura. All they had to do was release the Aura, and he could summon his Arkin through it.
With that out of the way, the Arkin could keep doused with a healthy amount of Death Aura as they slaughtered their foes on the battlefield and released more Death Aura.
In only 1 short day, Haalfrin's armies make short work of the Osmiri invaders.
'Hopefully,' Haalfrin thinks, 'the other clans will see the Arkin's power through this invasion, and they'll join?'
Unfortunately, nothing comes of his hopes. The only thing that came of his interference is that nobody is willing to attack his allies anymore.
---------------------
In fact, as time goes on, those Rehkin mortals seem to be getting more and more stubborn over this issue.
After 3 years, Haalfin has really tried everything he could to change the Rehkin's mind, but outside of his 5 allied clans, none of them are willing to budge on their positions.
Haalfrin tries spreading messages of peace to the younger Rehkin – extolling them the beautiful image of everyone living in harmony.
If fewer Rehkin are interested in slaughter, then won't more of them want to join the alliance?
Unfortunately, everything Haalfrin does fails miserably. The Rehkin are too stubborn, and their hatred for each other is too strong.