Chp.38: Leaders and allies

While Haku and his siblings thought about resolving their disputes, Zamor had found himself with another fish to fry. As head of the army and therefore the official leader of the rebellion, he had many duties, and unfortunately there were times when those duties increased in number; the arrival of thousands of new people to welcome, feed and help was one of them. After all, he couldn't just say to the refugees 'hello, now take care of yourself, I have other things to do'; they had become his responsibility and therefore he had to take steps to ensure that they at least satisfied their basic needs.

Fortunately Zamor possessed a great charisma, and thanks to it he had easily managed to make himself heard by everyone; order and discipline, after all, were the basis for avoiding chaos. After that he had gathered all the people who, despite the treatment offered to him on the ships, had remained ill or injured, and had provided them with all the medical supplies they needed. Darbi's fleet had limited potions and medicines that had to be replenished periodically, but in the army they were plentiful and therefore everyone could receive the amount they needed without having to ration them. Most people were healed thanks to potions of healing or regeneration, while those who instead had contracted a disease that needed more time to disappear were placed in a sort of quarantine to prevent the disease from spreading. Fortunately none seemed to have particularly dangerous conditions and in all likelihood now that they were receiving adequate care they would recover within just a few days.

After that Zamor had had to think about lodgings. Luckily during those months he had learned to be far-sighted (probably, he jokingly thought, he had been 'infected' by Haku's paranoia) and therefore had had a large number of tents set up ahead of time on the river bank. While he could have housed the refugees on the ships, since they were still there and fully functional, he was sure that they would much rather have slept on solid, stable ground than in the hold of a ship continually rendered wobbly from the current of the river. The tents he had prepared were very large, designed for many people; there was no reason, after all, to build proper family lodgings since they would soon be leaving the place. Each tent could accommodate at least a dozen families and although it was made up only of a cloth and wooden poles, it managed to retain the heat quite well, thanks to the fact that it was still midsummer.

As for the orphaned children or people who seemed to have lost their mental capacities due to their horrible experience, Zamor had decided to temporarily entrust them to ex-slaves. From the reports he received Misune and her companions had been quite good at handling them, so they could deal with them for a while longer. Obviously this wasn't a long-term solution, and sooner or later he would have to find another solution, but at least for a few days or even a few weeks it could be fine.

Being able to keep up with everyone's needs had been quite complicated. Managing thousands of refugees was certainly not like managing an army of men trained to obey orders and also accept traveling in harsh conditions. Not to mention that the refugees were many more than the soldiers he previously had. Zamor had to sweat a lot that day, but somehow he managed to bring some stability for everyone. He knew he would have to put in just as much effort in the next few days, but at least the bulk of the work was now done.

However, there was one more thing he needed to do.

"It is a pleasure to meet you in person. Thank you for coming here"

Inside his tent, which also served as the headquarters of the entire army, Zamor had gathered the various beastmen leaders to discuss with them. Now that the number of people he had to manage had risen to several thousand, it made sense to expand his command network, and the best course of action was to use the people the refugees already regarded as their leaders. Zamor could have simply put some of his officers in command, but it would not have had the same effect; indeed, it could even have been counterproductive, because the refugees might have started to think that he wanted to control them. By letting the people they chose command them instead, he would give them the impression of respecting their autonomy. He knew he already had the full support of the lizardmen, since he was one of them and Gord, their former leader, was a close ally; he just had to be able to gain the trust of the tigermen and lionmen.

Normally, the best choice would have been if the army chief met with the refugee leaders first, and then thought of the ordinary people afterwards; in this way they could help him in their management right away. However, Zamor had decided to implement a different strategy: instead of immediately speaking to the bosses, he had respectfully greeted them and then immediately started dealing with the people. This would show the cpai beastmen not only that he was someone who genuinely cared about his subordinates, but more importantly that he was a capable leader who knew what he was doing. Being kind counted for little when it came to managing a people on the run: what really was important, and that surely the beastmen leaders were looking for in him, were charisma, intelligence, ability to judge, strength and ingenuity. Seeing all of his work, the beastmen leaders had been able to ascertain that Zamor was a leader who knew what he was doing and who had all the qualities necessary to guide them through the difficult journey in the desert. So, now that he had finally decided to meet them and actually talk to them, they were much more open to the possibility of being led by him.

After hearing his greeting, Tzegorn was the first to speak: "I think I can speak for all my people when I say that I am immensely grateful to you for what you have done for us and are still doing. You helped not only your people but also ours. We can never thank you enough"

"We lionmen think so too" Leuce said standing up and pounding his chest as a sign of respect. The other three lionmen stood up and made the same gesture. "You have our greatest thanks. Without you, we'd still be prisoners"

Gord and the lizardmen's leaders also rose. "I've already given you my thanks, but it's never enough" he said, bowing slightly. It was more of a formality than anything else: both Zamor and Gord knew well that there was no need to thank each other, but not doing so would make the other two parts feel inferior and that wasn't a good thing, so it was better to recite a bit.

Zamor smiled: apparently, the situation was going for the best. The beastmen leaders seemed very sympathetic. However, to truly earn their trust, the next few minutes would be crucial. "Thank you for your appreciation. However, it's still too early to rest on our laurels. We still have a long way to go and a lot to build, and we won't be able to do it without everyone's help" he said. "I have summoned you here today because I would like you to work with me. Not for me, with me. I want you to be my allies in this difficult challenge, and to help each other to allow our peoples to be able to build a future again"

If there was one rule that held true in all races, it was that almost any person who managed to acquire some power would not easily relinquish it; therefore, Zamor did not want to antagonize the beastmen leaders by asking them to relinquish their authority and submit to him. No, he much preferred to give them a chance to be his equals. Not subordinates, but allies: a sort of equal relationship aimed at achieving a common goal, similar to the one he had with Haku. In this way, he would not only demonstrate that he respects people's decisions, but also that he doesn't want to step on anyone's head. "My proposal is that everyone continues to manage the portion of the population they already have under their control, but that they do it in a way that doesn't hinder others. As you well know, a tough journey awaits us and it is imperative that we all help each other each other: going alone we will never make it. Since you will be my allies I will inform you of all our plans for the future, how we plan to distribute food and water, what direction we want to go, how we want to behave once we arrive at the oasis, etc. If any of you have objections to any of this information, we will analyze the situation and evaluate it on a case-by-case basis, and finally choose the option that works best for everyone. And at the Thul Oasis we will do the same, and so we will build a new community from scratch.The only request I make of you is that any objections you have to the journey we are about to make, you raise them before we set out, since in the desert each of us will have to be extremely efficient from every point of view and there will be no time for doubts and discussions. Once we reach the Thul Oasis we will start talking again and decide each time, but as long as we are in the desert we will have to be like cogs, who already know what they have to do without the possibility of making a mistake. So, do you agree with this?"

His speech got exactly the reaction Zamor hoped for: the beastmen in fact showed extremely interested and at times flattered expressions in front of that proposal. For a few moments no one said anything, as everyone was busy reflecting on his words, then Tzegorn said: "If I understand correctly, you are asking us to give up our autonomy only while we are crossing the desert, while for the rest of the time we will be your equals?"

Zamor nodded. "The desert is a hostile environment, we all know this; there we won't be able to waste time arguing, discussing or even just proposing and evaluating new options. When we leave, each of us must have a detailed map of what we will have to do in our heads and he will not have to think of anything else. As long as we are here or when we are at the Thul Oasis we will have enough resources and we will be able to afford to discuss, but in the desert we won't be able to do so, not without endangering our peoples. So I humbly ask you to do the right thing and to support me in my decision"

The beastmen remained silent for a few more minutes, then Leuce nodded. "I agree. It seems to me a very reasonable proposal"

"So am I" Tzegorn confirmed. The other tigermen's leaders nodded.

"I'm okay with this. And all the lizardmen too" Gord added, with the other lizardmen's leaders nodding. Seeing themselves in the minority and still being quite supportive of the idea, even the lionmen's leaders agreed.

Zamor smiled satisfied. He had done it. That was a historic moment, because in front of him was forming not only a group of people who would coordinate that trip, but also the very first backbone of their future community. Now those people would only decide how to travel, but one day they would decide what laws to pass.

Suddenly Yuko spoke. "Since we're all in agreement, I'd say we start discussing right away. I'd like to talk about something we all care about: do those dragons really come with us?"

Zamor sighed. He had expected that question, but had hoped to address it later. However, given the situation, he could immediately erase any doubts. "I fully understand your concern, and I am the first to distrust Haku and his family. However, I can assure you that your fears are unfounded. I have countermeasures ready to act should those dragons turn hostile, and I will be happy to explain them to you if you wish" he answered. "More importantly, we can't afford to hunt Haku right now. Much of our future depends on those dragons, and as I'm sure you've noticed, many in the military now consider them friends. Let me illustrate you how much important Haku is to us…"

Zamor quickly illustrated how precious Haku was at the moment and especially how much he would be in the desert and at the Thul Oasis. The other beastmen listened to him with frowns, but Zamor could see in their eyes the knowledge that what the lizardman was saying actually made sense. When he was done, Zamor concluded: "If we want to get rid of them, we will at least have to wait until we become a self-sustaining community. Before that we will be no different from a bird that pierces its own wings. I know you don't trust them, but how I explained to you, those dragons are important to us and they have no reason to betray us, and even if they try they won't find us unprepared. Until then, try to not see them as dragons, but as allies like you and me"

The other beastmen were clearly annoyed at the thought of having to share their journey with dragons, but they weren't stupid and they got the hint, so they decided to bite the bullet and make things right, at least for now. Thus, throughout the following meeting, no one brought up the subject again. Zamor knew someone would complain again in the future, but he'd think about it after.