"Can we at least talk with them?" Chronos asked.
"No, after they chased all of the tribes away, they have refused to speak with us." The blue one answered.
Hold on, that sounded wrong somehow. Chased away? Not killed?
"Did they kill any of the lizardfolk or nagas?" He asked for clarification.
She was about to reply, but paused, thinking for a moment before speaking hesitantly.
"No, they injured some of our warriors, but they didn't kill anyone. They didn't even cripple or cause serious injury to anyone."
They didn't kill or cripple them, didn't station many troops in the places they claimed, and now they were focused on building something near the battlefield. Were they just trying to cause problems or was there a deeper meaning to their actions?
The more he thought about it the less their actions made sense.
"Are we certain that they are even a part of the merfolk military and not just some random group causing problems?" The three-armed naga asked.
"I am certain that they are the merfolks military. I've seen the markings on their armor, and it matches the soldiers from when the merfolk came to trade in the past." The blue scaled one said.
Nothing about them made sense right now; they would have to find out more before a decision could be made.
"For now, we will continue observing them. Once we know more about what they are doing we will move against them. What plans do we have for the trolls?" Eldest said.
"We are setting traps to kill or separate the troops. This includes bog pits, poisoned reed beds, drop logs and other traps, all of them are proven to work but the enemy has been travelling in large groups recently making it more difficult to pick them off.
Some of the hunters are driving vicious boars in their direction as well, the crocodiles will follow them and become a natural deterrent for the smaller monsters.
In addition to that the shamans are working to control a large swarm of mosquitoes, they intend to drive them towards the enemy army after feeding them disease potions. Other than the trolls none of the other monsters have strong resistance to the diseases they carry." Responded the three-armed naga.
A swamp was practically perfect for guerilla warfare; the number of traps and ambushes you could set was nearly limitless. With the lizardfolk and nagas able to swim through the deeper parts of the swamp it would be almost impossible to catch them before they escaped.
Unfortunately, the troll army outnumbered them nearly ten to one and since they ate anything they came across you couldn't starve them out. Even worse news was that there were still more monsters joining the troll army from the wasteland.
"If I may suggest something." Chronos said.
Eldest nodded for him to continue.
"I think we should start rebuilding the fallen watchtowers and make small fortifications on the larger islands. On this island we should build fortifications out to its edges but only if the matriarchs and shamans can prevent the island from eroding. If they have to fight from open water, then we can just overturn their boats and drown them."
The naga matriarchs immediately voiced opposition to this. Their tribes specialized in ambush and harassment tactics not holding a military fortification.
Chronos gestured for them to calm down.
"Hear me out before you get too upset. Soon the dragon paladins will receive your request for help. They'll start marching to assist you, but they aren't suited for guerilla warfare; they specialize in facing large numbers of enemies in open combat.
If you give the paladins a place to defend then the trolls will be sure to attack that place. With the dragon paladins defending a tower and your tribes' warriors harassing the enemy from the outside it will be easier to deal with the main force of the troll army.
You can still set the traps and ambushes but now you'll know what paths they will take and exactly how to break them while they move." Chronos finished.
The matriarchs considered this option but, in the end, they decided to wait for a time before they started rebuilding fortifications that the trolls might steal from them.
As for the fort, they decided to use Chronos' suggestion and expand the walls right to the edge of the water. It would greatly increase the defensive capabilities of the fortress.
At this time Vessin nervously stood up.
"I've been learning about curses from Sariah and believe I can create a curse potion that will cause strong hallucinations and break their lines. However, I need a special ingredient before I can finish it. I know that I'm the youngest and have yet to prove myself, but I ask that the council Matriarchs trust me."
Before she could continue the three-armed naga interrupted her.
"You do not need to prove anything; you have worked just as hard as any of us. Healing the injured and organizing our tribes from here cannot have been easy. I just want to know how this new potion differs from the ones we already use."
"Thank you." Gaining more confidence she explained her plan.
"Our current potions cause all sorts of maladies and problems for the troll army, but their shamans have proven that they can treat these and have even started creating preventative measures. This new potion isn't just a malady but a curse that will take hold on the enemy's mind.
As long as they do not dispel the curse, they will be unable to treat the hallucinations and madness that it causes. It will also take hold much faster than most of our current potions allowing us to strike them mere seconds after it has spread through their forces. Which does not give them enough time to cure it."
"Oh, that sounds wonderful."
"Indeed, when will this curse potion be complete."
While the matriarchs were getting excited over the new weapon, the Eldest Matriarch brought up a concern.
"Is it safe? Curses can be very vicious if they escape your control."
Her concern was valid. In fact, there were plenty of examples of people who had lost control of a curse and been destroyed by it. Once a curse was free from its casters control it could mutate into something much more powerful and dangerous.
Three hundred years ago there had been a curse kingdom whose court mages had used curses to threaten all of their neighbors. A number of kingdoms had even suffered from curses as the curse kingdom tried to force them to obey.
Eventually they lost control of a strong curse and once it was free it absorbed the resentment and life energy from those killed by the curse kingdom before turning on its casters in revenge. It had only taken one month to kill every mage, noble, and royal in the kingdom. Then it started affecting the commoners, but the Tri-Goddess church purified it before it could spread too far.
Every intelligent being was wary of curses after that event, but after three hundred years it was normal for people to forget such tragedies.
Remembering the danger of curses the matriarchs calmed down.
"This curse is not strong and is designed to die within a half hour of being exposed to air. It will not have time to grow or change, and it is not strong enough to do so from the beginning. At most it will make it more difficult to cure the effects of the potion." Vessin responded.
Eldest considered this carefully. Even if it was deemed safe it was hard to change one's thinking after living such a long time.
To address their concerns Sariah stood up to speak.
"Your knowledge of curses is slightly flawed. While it's true that some curses have the ability to mutate and grow, these are limited to curses cast through life sacrifice or pure hatred. Curses cast through spirit, the power of magic, will not mutate unless some external force changes the spell on a fundamental level."
"Then this curse potion won't go out of control?" Eldest asked.
"That's right. This curse will only last as long as the potion does and even then, it will gradually vanish as the monster's bodies force it out. At most it will buy you an hour to kill them before they start to rally their troops and fight back."
"I see, what ingredient do you need, Vessin?" Eldest said.
"I need black salt but the only place to acquire black salt in the swamp is from the central ocean. We'll need to send a team past the merfolks battle line to steal some."
The blue scaled naga thought of several possible gaps they could take advantage of.
"Yesterday it wouldn't have been possible to get past their sentries but now that the guards are just a token force we can slip through at several points. How long until you need the black salt?"
"I can wait for a week if we want the best results. After that the potions potency will drop but still be usable."