Drogo Film Studio Construction Plan

"Is this island really only selling for ten gold coins?"

Aisha eyed the merchant before her suspiciously. He was plump, with a curly beard and narrowed eyes, smiling as if "I have a bad idea" were practically written across his face.

Ever since returning from Holy Mountain, Drogo had begun planning the construction of a film studio, to shoot Journey to Holy Mountain and many possible future films.

Land in the city was worth its weight in gold, while Dragon Island was too far away. After looking around, they found this small island five nautical miles from the harbor, southwest of Twin Towers City.

When they spoke with the island's current owner, they were given this absurd price: ten gold coins.

It was not that she had become rich and inflated, treating ten gold coins as nothing.

It was that for an island larger than fifteen square kilometers, the price was outrageously cheap.

It was not even enough for Craig to order two sets of yo-yos!

Judging by the merchant's desperate expression, there even seemed to be room for a lower price.

"Of course it's only ten gold coins. I've been in business for so many years; when have I ever deceived anyone? Feel free to ask around the city. I can't claim my business is huge, but my reputation is absolutely guaranteed."

The merchant wiped away sweat as he spoke, nervously glancing toward the sun. The evening clouds were like brocade, staining the horizon.

Aisha looked over the island. Its terrain was very flat, and its highest point was probably less than a hundred meters above sea level. Other than having fewer trees than a typical island and looking somewhat barren, it seemed to have no flaws.

"Have you made up your mind? To be honest, I urgently need money. I had no choice but to sell this island at such a low price. It was a last resort."

The more the merchant spoke, the more anxious he became, repeatedly looking at the sun as its light was about to sink below the horizon.

Noticing the merchant's strange behavior, Aisha figured out how to discover what he was hiding.

"How about you show me around the island properly?"

"That won't be necessary. There's nothing worth seeing on this island."

"But what if I look around, find it satisfactory, and decide to buy it?"

"Then I'll show you the island properly tomorrow. How about we head back today? It's almost dark, and you won't be able to see anything clearly."

"I know the illumination spell."

"It's not..." The merchant's expression was about to collapse. Out of the corner of his eye, he kept glancing at the ship, his body inching in that direction.

Just as he was about to take a step, he ran into Drogo's dragon horn.

Before the merchant could explain himself—

"Screee—"

A piercing shriek came from the distant shadows, made by some unknown creature.

Aisha looked at the merchant and tilted her head, as if saying, "Now it's time for you to explain."

Seeing there was no point hiding it any longer, the merchant spilled everything at once.

"This island does belong to me, but there's a kuo-toa tribe living on it. Every night, they come out of their burrows. I can't build anything on this island, and I can't grow crops either."

The merchant looked so aggrieved he was nearly in tears.

"You never organized an adventuring party to drive out the kuo-toa tribe?" Aisha asked.

Logically, that should have been the first thing the merchant did. They did not care about species protection.

"It isn't allowed. Those kuo-toa were here before Twin Towers City was founded. They're the natives; we're the newcomers. The government requires the protection of native populations, so... can I go now?"

"You can."

With Aisha's permission, the merchant bolted toward the ship.

"Wait."

Hearing the voice behind him, the merchant dropped to his knees with a thud. "I've told you everything I can! If I don't leave now, it'll be too late!"

Aisha tossed him a pouch. "Ten gold coins. You can ask around the city too. I can't claim my business is huge, but my reputation is absolutely guaranteed."

The merchant picked up the money pouch and scrambled into the ship.

"So, how are we taking over this island?" Aisha asked Drogo.

"Obviously, we kill most of the kuo-toa, leave a few alive, lock the survivors in a zoo for people to look at, then once everyone gets tired of them, mark out a conservation area for them to make do in. After that, we establish Thanksgiving to thank them for giving up the island."

"Huh?" Aisha could not follow Drogo's train of thought.

"Hehe, I'm kidding. How could I do something so beastly?" Drogo had not expected the Sutton Kingdom to actually be so civilized.

"You scared me. So what are we doing?"

"You'll do it."

"Huh? I'm fighting the kuo-toa?"

"You'll win."

Aisha stared into Drogo's big, bright red eyes. He did not look like he was joking.

"How am I supposed to win?"

Drogo drew a magic circle on the ground: a teleportation circle. He had just learned it, and it made it convenient to summon people whenever needed.

A flash of light passed, and a drow squad appeared.

"Help Miss Aisha change. Dress her according to the image of Sea Mother."

As everyone knew, creatures from the Underdark were more or less mentally unstable, and kuo-toa were among the especially unstable kind.

They were fanatically devoted to religion, yet they could not quite figure out whether gods truly existed in this world. So, they had pioneered a very new path: creating their own gods.

The highest-ranking among them was a deity called Sea Mother.

Though it was difficult to understand why, Sea Mother, a god created by the fishmen, had the form of a human woman, with shells draped over her shoulders and the head and claws of a crayfish.

Anyone unaware of the truth might have thought she was some otherworldly evil god.

Before long, Aisha reappeared with a lobster shell placed over her head. Even her voice carried an echo. "Can you explain what we're doing?"

The plan was this: Drogo intended to stage a play called The Fishmen of Nameless Island in Peril, Sea Mother Descends into the World.

A little Underdark creature trivia: pair any two intelligent species from there together, and there was a nine-in-ten chance they held a grudge against each other.

As it happened, he had a squad of elite drow warriors under his command.

The drow would launch a feigned attack on the kuo-toa tribe. At the moment of crisis, Aisha, playing Sea Mother, would appear and summon the legendary evil dragon Drogo, crushing the invading drow in one stroke.

As night deepened, the kuo-toa became active, emerging in groups of two or three to forage.

"Look at this shell. I picked it up yesterday. Isn't it beautiful?" One fishman was showing off its collection.

Its companion's envious gaze filled it with satisfaction, and it continued boasting, "This must be a shell once worn by the great Sea Mother. Look how radiant it is."

The fishman held the shell high. Beneath the moonlight, it shone with brilliant colors.

"Whoosh—thunk—"

The shell in its hand suddenly disappeared, pinned to the ground by a crossbow bolt.

When it turned around, several tall figures emerged from the shadows.

Drow!

Protect the tribe!

The fishman gripped its spear and was about to charge forward when the distant drow suddenly vanished. In the blink of an eye, they appeared before it. Before it could thrust its spear, a chill passed through its chest as a blade flashed toward it.

A tremendous force sent it flying backward, slamming heavily onto the beach.

Eh? It was not dead?

Seeing its companion kicked to the ground, the fishman had no time to figure out why it was still alive. It got up and sprinted toward the tribe.

"High Priest! Drow! There are drow!"

The fishman priest noticed the commotion on the beach. As the tribe's intellectual pillar, he quickly realized they could not possibly defeat those drow.

But he was not afraid, because he had the protection of the great Sea Mother.

Muttering a chant, he waved his ceremonial staff and began a priestly ritual of his own creation.

Yet the drow were even faster than he expected. Before the ritual was complete, they had already flashed before him, their daggers thrusting straight for his heart.

Ah, great Sea Mother, were you going to abandon your most devout follower?

The priest closed his eyes in despair.

Yet the dagger did not arrive.

What happened?

It opened its eyes nervously, only to see the drow from before hastily hide in the shadows and flee into the distance.

"Roar—"

A terrifying roar rang out. A massive red dragon appeared in the sky, its spread wings blocking the moonlight. Crimson flames poured from its mouth, driving the drow into a scattered retreat.

As the dragon landed, a figure so thrilling that it could barely breathe stepped down from its back.

The body of a human, the head and claws of a crayfish, and dreamlike shells draped across her shoulders.

It was Her. It was the great Sea Mother.

All the fishmen fell to their knees together, prostrating themselves and not daring to look directly at the deity.

"This Red Dragon is my messenger. It will build this island alongside you."

Ah, even Sea Mother's voice was so beautiful.

Only after She vanished into the meeting place of sea and sky atop the dragon did the priest climb up from the ground. Every fishman stared blankly in the direction Sea Mother had departed.

The priest felt that its soul had been elevated. To carry out the divine decree, it could offer its life without hesitation.

Yet a faint doubt lingered in its heart. Why was Sea Mother's messenger a fire-breathing dragon?

But it quickly convinced itself that it must not carelessly doubt the great Sea Mother. She was meant to be omnipotent.