"Why didn't you say this earlier!!? If the ruling government of the Mythril clan is corrupt, then we should have done something about this long ago." Stated Orian.
"I was a mere child at the time! These was nothing that I could do then and truthfully, I just wanted to forget that part of my life after everyone welcomed me into their home!
I didn't want to seem ungrateful by passing my problems over to you all.
But things are different now! I'm stronger and can actually do something about this! I owe her a debt for raising me. Least I can do is avenge her murder by bringing her killer to justice!" Stated Chrome.
"Is this why you agreed to go on this mission?" Asked Orian.
"I felt like we could achieve both goals at the same time. We need someone sympathetic to our cause in the Mythril clan government in order to secure their support. " stated Chrome.
"I don't mean to sound negative, but a lot of time has passed since her death. What makes you think you'll find anything?" Asked Orian.
"I doubt we'll find anything linking him to Gretchen's death, but this recent business with the Phoenixes I'm sure is connected to him.
His dislike for the more 'bestial' magical races is well known. He sees us all as beasts of burden to be exploited. " Explained Chrome.
"So he's a bastard... but selling people out to humans is something else entirely... this is a low bar, even for someone like him." Stated Orian.
"I know what you're thinking! You think my past experiences with him is influencing my judgement! Maybe it is, but I'm telling you he's involvement with something! You don't know him like I do." Stated Chrome.
Orian nodded his head.
"All right, where do we start?" Asked Orian.
"The rest of the council will be a dead end. It's filled with his sycophants. They're all new additions that were allies of him before.
So what happened to the Dwarves that held those positions during Gretchen's reign? We find them? Maybe we'll find the evidence we need.
We should also investigate the Phoenix Queen's court. The betrayal has to come from both sides. Someone has been revealing secrets right under the Queen's beak." Explained Chrome.
"Let's start with the Phoenixes! After our little 'quarrel' with the Council, I'm sure they'll be watching us. We should lay low for now." Stated Orian.
"They may be watching you two, but the Seneschal doesn't know about me. I can stay here and begin to look into it on this side while you two go 'bird watching '." Stated Augustus.
"It will be dangerous! The Seneschal is well connected and who knows how many supporters he has.
Proceed with caution!" Warned Chrome.
"You make it sound like I've never done this sort of thing before? I can assure you, I do these kind of things all the time with your father."
The two brothers left Augustus to begin investigating while they made their way to the elevator that led to the mountain surface.
From there it was a quick flight to the Aerie where the Phoenixes had constructed their settlement.
They found a small town built amongst the peaks of a mountain. Several fields of a wide variety of crops was grown along the foothills of the mountain, near a river that flowed through the area from some unknown source.
Phoenixes liked elevated positions to build their settlements on just like Griffins, which does cause the two species to occasionally compete for territory.
A large stone wall surrounded the settlement, and a series of stone staircases had been carved into the mountain itself that led up to the walls.
Two painted hieroglyphs of some notable Phoenix were painted on two towers beside the Gatehouse. Their wings were spread out and a sun was forrmed between it's outstretched wings. Several humanoid creatures were painted by the feet of the Phoenix and seemed to be praising or worshipping the giant bird.
Orian rolled his eyes at the grandiose display of arrogance before him.
Where Griffins usually preferred wood when constructing their settlements, Phoenixes built their settlements entirely from stone due to their fiery plumage.
Unlike Griffins however, Phoenixes never build their settlements themselves. Their pride would never allow them to debase themselves with hard labor nor were their true bodies suited to the task.
They lacked hands or even paws and only possessed their taloned feet and wings, and although Phoenixes could carry immense weight with their talons, they were ill suited for crafting and building.
Instead they used human captives to construct their settlements, which are used as manual laborers, while non Phoenix contractors oversaw the work and directed the laborers.
Dwarves often worked as overseers for phoenixes, their talent for working stone made them highly sought after by the vain birds, that would never accept anything but the very best for their dwellings.
Phoenixes reluctantly paid the contractors in gems or other precious stones. Phoenixes were somewhat like giant magpies that loved collecting shiny objects to decorate their homes with and hated parting with even a single precious stone.
Often choosing rejected stones to pay these contractors with. Stealing from a phoenix was the hight of folly and humans or dwarves foolish enough to do so were eaten as punishment by the owner.
As this particular group of Phoenixes had been spending a lot of time fighting humans, they had many such captives. All of them penned up like livestock.
When these humans were no longer useful as servants, they found a different use as a foodsource for the giant birds instead.
After asking directions from one of the Phoenixes, they made their way to the large audience chamber where the Phoenix Queen met visitors.
Phoenixes were highly skilled shape shifters that were almost as good at it as the Kitsune, and so they often walked around in human forms in their settlements.
Both the males and the females walked with brightly colored headdresses that not only was meant to be eye catching, but also displayed their ranks in Phoenix society.
As male phoenixes were more 'flashy' than their female counterparts, They walked around in bright red tunics with gold bracelets on their arms often embedded with rubies or other precious stones.
The females on the other hand wore more subdued colored dresses like blue or white. Both genders watched the 2 dragons who were walking through the town in their humanoid dragon forms.
As nothing like them had ever been seen by the birds, they attracted a significant amount of attention. The females were eyeing them with envy.
As they were a new commodity, every single one of them wanted to be the first to catch their eye and snatch a prize none of their rivals possessed.
The males on the other hand watched them jealously, considering them competitors in their bids to catch the eye of one of the notoriously picky phoenix females.