After finis.h.i.+ng their portions of wine, the three of them cleaned up and made their way to the newly constructed council building. Outside of the council building they met up with Vloz and Rathe, who both were waiting with the various representatives of the tribes and clans. Vloz quietly nodded as Oli, Ania, and Yeter approached and began to lead everyone up the stairs and through the building"s double doors.Inside, there were four small meeting rooms placed in the gaps between the three exits and the stage. The center was clear and open for use with cus.h.i.+oned mats for the representatives. All the mats were the same green color and each group had five mats available, with the centermost of each grouping being the largest and reserved for the clan or tribe leader. The six groupings formed a circle and the only thing that stuck out were the gorillas" mats that had been dyed yellow to show their dominance of the territory.
All representatives took their seats. The chiefs sat in the middle and had their advisor or young master slightly behind them on either side. But when the beasts all looked up and saw the gorillas" seating arrangement, they were baffled. In the middle, sat Oli with Rathe directly behind him. Vloz and Ania were to the sides of Rathe, there to fully support Oli when he needed them.
All the chiefs came with the same two goals in mind: to form a strong relations.h.i.+p with the gorilla clan and to solidify their tribes" roles in the future town. They had all discussed their plans of action and offers to beguile Rathe since he seemed simple-minded and easy to figure out. With the sudden development, most of their plans would need to be altered after coming to understand how Oli worked.
"What is this? This isn"t a game, boy. Go back to your own seat and let the real beasts handle this," a voice called out, immediately disregarding Oli.
"This is the seat that was a.s.signed to me, Chief Ratten. As you all have figured out, my Uncle Rathe is simple and hates anything to do with politics. He has called me as his advisor and given me the role to relay our clan"s intentions and goodwill to you all. Does anyone have a problem with that, or shall we get down to business?" said Oli.
The two tribes didn"t mind, knowing that they had the least influence and wouldn"t be considered highly among the clans. Two clans thought for a moment before agreeing and nodding in approval. However, Chief Ratten of the Tri-horned Wildebeest clan stomped his hooves in disgust and said, "I refuse to be spoken down to! Master Rathe is a divine beast and chief of your clan, while you have yet to mature and surely lack the ability to shoulder such a responsibility. I ask for Master Rathe and the others to rethink their decision."
"Oli will continue to act in my stead. He knows what needs to be said and if he fails to report everything or fails to handle anything you bring up, I can always step in. Until then, I want to test him and allow him to learn from this so that he can one day lead the clan. Are you against me on this?" Rathe made his standing very clear, causing the others to nod and accept what may come.
"Very well, we shall test him then," Ratten agreed reluctantly. Originally, he was going to kiss up to Rathe as the second most powerful clan in the territory, but now he had to change his tactics. Since they were set on letting the young Oli handle things, he thought he might as well take advantage of him and talk him into giving the wildebeests as many benefits as possible.
"Good, then let"s begin," Oli picked up where he left off, unfazed by the objection. "First off, let me tell you all that today"s meeting will be short. We will decide where your tribes and clans will settle permanently based on our clan"s plans to develop Iron Town. Taking your species into consideration, we have already made some a.s.sumptions on where it might be best for each of you to stay. Chief Defar, what is it that your Small-mouth Frog tribe needs to grow?"
Chief Defar was surprised to hear his name called first, before that of any clan chiefs. He quickly gathered his thoughts and replied, "The most important thing for us is to have access to water. We can survive well on land, but to help our youth train with water essence, it would be best to be on a waterfront. There we"ll also be able to fish and provide for ourselves and potentially for the Iron Town as well."
Oli stroked his chin in thought, making all of the chiefs begin to wonder how he would handle the situation. They had all experienced the ruthless leaders of the past that only sought benefits and never shared anything of value. Most of them hoped that the gorillas wouldn"t be the same way. Chief Defar glanced at Chief Hollen and noticed the big smile that the stallion had, showing his trust in Oli.
"Chief Defar, I think your needs make sense. By putting you on the waterfront of the nearby lake, I feel that the territory will reap the most benefits and will help you possibly grow to become a clan with time. This would be the ideal situation for the Iron Town, wouldn"t it?" stated Oli, letting the chiefs sigh in relief.
"There"s only one problem with that, Oli," Vloz chimed in, causing the chiefs to hesitate.
"Really? Why would there be?" asked Oli.
"There is only so much waterfront we can offer because we need to make sure that there is also public access. And based on the current situation, allowing the Small-mouth Frogs to be the second settlement on the lake would be impossible," answered Vloz in a calm, casual tone.
"Huh, second settlement? That"s impossible, no one else has been a.s.signed their property. To set up camp is one thing, but who was it that settled down without our consent?"
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Vloz answered, "The Tri-horned Wildebeests were the first. They didn"t report anything but settled down nonetheless and were the only clan to reject our invitation to help expand the clearing as well."