Section 485: Knowledge Comes with a Price (Part 3)

The elders of the Gnome tribe welcomed Queen Malin and her party at the town center. Truth be told, their houses were somewhat too small for Malin, so nobody minded that the queen of the kingdom stood in the wind and snow.

Winter had come again, and snow began to fall in the Farol region. Malin did not know how cold the northern regions would become, but she thought... it would always be a struggle.

The situation of the Gnomes was indeed somewhat dire, with summer drought causing widespread crop failure and reduced yields. This year, winter had come particularly early, and the state of these short-statured beings was not looking good; hunger was visible throughout the city.

As previously discussed, Queen Malin had exempted the Gnome tribe from this year's taxes—of course, in return, the tribe would send adults to Malin's semi-plane for reproduction—the sacred reproduction.