"If we don't send Fronning, no one else has the standing to call in a favor."
"True."
Fronning had the seniority to tell anyone, "I held you when you were little," or even, "I held your grandfather when he was little."
Annan settled onto the sofa and asked how the Blue Dragon Allies were doing.
The story of the Broken Mountains began when Annan returned from the Demon Camp.
The Ratfolk Elder was dead, killed by Annan. To avoid any complications, Annan had Illymoyas notify the clan as soon as he returned and take over the Ratfolk's share of the Broken Mountains.
His plan was to draw out the Power Behind the Ratfolk Elder, establish contact, corrupt them, and turn them into his own Ratfolk agents.
But now it looked as though he had miscalculated. So much time had passed, and not a single Ratfolk had come looking. That could only mean one thing: the Ratfolk Elder had kept his share of the Broken Mountains for himself. The Ratfolk behind him hadn't known about it at all.
In any case, after absorbing the Ratfolk Elder's share, Annan and the Blue Dragon Clan split the Broken Mountains evenly between them.
With more money coming in, the Blue Dragons grew ambitious—not toward Annan, but toward the Broken Mountains.
Seeing Annan's Gold Depository rake in money, the Blue Dragon Clan's chief wanted to open one in the Broken Mountains too.
"That's a good thing," Annan said, readily agreeing when he heard the news.
If they could accept Free City's knowledge, sooner or later they could accept its nobles too. Eventually, they might become part of Free City, or at least Blue Dragons who shared its spirit.
But something went wrong when officials were sent over to advise them.
The officials came prepared to