Unlike most of Kobolds who settled near rivers, on plains, or next to the homes of insects, the Crusher Tribe wasn't all that special in terms of the location of their settlement.

  They lived in a clearing they had made themselves and had a warrior culture centered around strength. From what Sylka knew, these guys lived exactly the same as the primitive Kobolds two thousand or so years back.

  They were naturally muscular because of this however, and they are also durable due to their constant exposure to wounds whenever they sparred inside the many arenas built across their tribe.

  The best of them were absolute monsters in a fight and with how they are basically just adrenaline junkies who will punch anyone you put in front of them, they are invaluable during a large scale war as an ally.

  To get them to become one, Sylka feared that her words alone wouldn't be enough to convince them to help. At least not naturally, or when facing one of the common tribesmen.

  Much to her fortune, their leader is so much more level headed than the common members and he could actually think rationally rather than always acting like a brute.

  Garrok was still one, that is a matter of fact, actually he's the biggest brute in the tribe. But even when he's the strongest in a group of muscle headed idiots, he at least had a functioning brain.

  It wasn't much, Sylka wasn't going to lie. But it was at least something.

  Talking to Gorrak shouldn't be an issue, she has done so in the past and the hulking Kobold was slightly reasonable... Or maybe that was just her memories being muddied by the sands of time. She wasn't sure. Actually she wasn't sure about any of this and that scared her.

  A lack of information can be controlled but sheer randomness was simply too much for her to figure out and chain down.

  She's well aware that she wouldn't be in control here.

  Sylka didn't feel comfortable as she stepped foot into the grounds of the Crusher Tribe, the houses- haphazard in make and constructed with all kinds of materials, - were strewn all over the place, some are even on top of roads, forming an obstacle she had to move around to pass.

  The local Kobolds are worse; they were all either glaring at her with barely hidden hostility or trying to look at the underside of her robes.

  It was... Disconcerting.

  The feeling thankfully didn't last long as Sylka reached the chieftain's house. The structure was just as haphazard as everything else around here but it did at least have a sense of coherency and Sylka could see that it was designed rather than hastily constructed.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Unlike the first two chiefs she visited, Sylka decided to wait outside the house as a show of respect to Gorrak.

  She didn't want to risk angering the warrior for fear of retribution, especially during a time when the groups living in the forest are on the verge of collapsing onto each other.

  Sylka didn't have to wait long thankfully, and a Kobold came to tell them that the chief is ready to receive their audience.

  The wording was a bit too fancy for the supposed warrior-like mindset of the group but Sylka saw that as a good sign. Sophisticated decorum often was in her opinion.

  The inside of the house was just as messy as that of the outside, with materials used for construction shifting from one to the next as they passed by different rooms. Bones and twigs or some other trinket are sometimes seen attached to the walls for no discernible reason.

  Sylka didn't have to spend too much brain power wondering what they were for as it was clear that they were placed there randomly.

  After the rather disorienting trip across the messily designed house, her group found themselves inside a large room whose sole inhabitant is the chief. The guards left them to be alone with him.

  Where the others were is a good question, but an ultimately pointless one.

  Meetings between important figures had others attending it for the virtue of having extra minds on negotiations as well as another perspective on the matters at hand, the added protection is just a bonus most of the time.

  Gorrak, being as strong as he is along with his often simple, direct, and blunt headed approach to talking does not need to fulfill any of the previous marks. Negotiations? He doesn't need to do it. He either wants something or doesn't.

  Protection?..

  ... Is not needed. At all.

  Him being alone is also a show of appeasement and respect to his guests because adding more Kobolds to the meeting would just be a sign of intimidation.

  "You're here to talk about the goblins." In a not so shocking manner, he went straight to the point.

  "Yes," Sylka sat down as a show of respect, there was no chair or pillow offered for her so she had to do it on the hard floor. This was fine.

  "They're dangerous?" Another simple question. With a simple answer. Sylka can choose to answer with an elaborate explanation which explains the greenskins's strength, weaknesses, as well as their potential to easily conquer the forest but-

  "They have demonic hybrids, can forge steel, evolved greenskins such as hobs, and a demon heralding them." - Sylka went for the summary, giving Gorrak a list of all the possible threats they would face.

  The chief became contemplative and turned silent. After a while, he nodded. "I see,"

  He sees, huh?

  Sylka smiled, "we are planning an alliance with the other tribes so we can fight them together, hopefully you'll join the meeting between chiefs in the future."

  "I will be there," nodded Gorrak, making Sylka feel relieved, "before you go, can I ask you something?"

  Sylka halted, she nodded, "of course,"

  "I am not stupid, you can explain to me what is going on in detail- let me ask you, how dangerous are the goblins?" Gorrak looked at her seriously.

  "Extremely dangerous." Sylka met Gorrak's gaze with equal intensity, "we have confirmed that they have at least half a dozen hybrids with high amounts of demonic blood running through their veins."

  "In other words?"

  "We have pseudo imps." Sylka warned, "from what we know- and I'm saying this because our scouts have been murdered-" Sylka admitted, "- there are at least 3 of them, there's a 4 armed Goblin the others call Vrog, an infernal mage named Mogrin, and a general named Krutch. All of them are specialists."

  "Demons." Garrok growled.

  "Yes," nodded Sylka, calling them demons outright worked too. She never thought she'd see the day that she would be able to confirm that Satyrs can sire any type of demon, not just a direct copy of themselves like most infernals.

  "And you say they also know how to make use of iron?" Garrok asked, tone hesitant.

  "Yes." Sylka confirmed, "we have seen them carry iron tools, they seem to be mining out the cave that they're living in, why? We do not know."

  Sylka chose to believe it was probably for resources however, because any other possibility just sounded dire in her mind.

  "I understand," Garrok stood up, "thank you for telling me this, my family will be there when the meeting between chiefs start."

  Sylka could trust the muscle head to stay true to his words so when Garrok says he'll join the fight, then he'll join it. Good, two of her allies are now secured. Now time for the remaining tribe. It's gonna be a long walk...