The Innkeeper

After a much needed rest, Lex woke up to the sound of shuffling and moving. At first, he didn't pay much attention to it as he yawned and tried to summon the energy to get up. But then, all of a sudden, it occurred to him that the sound was way too close.

He jolted up to find a small clump of humanoid shape of leaves munching through some of the dry rations from Lex's backpack.

"Hey bro, you finally exited from your hibernation. I was getting bored."

"Karom?" Lex asked as he looked at his ransacked backpack. The small leaf man came up to Lex's was it, and the facial features looked oddly similar to his own.

"Of course, bro, who else could so easily enter your tent? Do you have any idea the kind of wards that Ptolemy guy has around this camp? If you don't, well, neither do I. But damn, were they a pain to bypass. I doubt anyone else could do it so easily. Anyway, I have like a serious proposition for you," Karom said as he shoved another protein bar in his leafy mouth.

"Those are my emergency rations you're snacking on," Lex said as he looked through his backpack and checked to see if anything was missing.

"Come on bro, don't be like that. I'll drop you some fruit before you leave, it's not a problem at all. Let's focus on the important stuff. My proposition. If you accept, I'll pay you half up front, and half on completion. What do you say?"

Lex did not reply immediately, and took a moment to deliberate. While Lex was still in the dark about various customs and basic common knowledge of this realm, his classes had enlightened him somewhat about how humans perceived and interacted with the other races.

Understanding that, while all 7 races had a similar level of intelligence, because of their inherent physiology, each race perceived the world around them and their relationships differently, was the absolute foundation of the human race's foreign policy.

In a situation where Lex was in the dark about many things, following the broad stance human leadership took towards the various races should somewhat keep him protected.

Trelops were the only plant-based race of the 7 major ones, and like the rest, they had their own territory. But, unlike the rest, they were also widely spread across the regions for the rest of the races, as they usually had good relations with all races, for they had strong influence over plants which could aid any race, not just the main 7. But this did not mean that their population was huge. Quite the contrary, they were probably the race with the smallest population.

Anyway, all of that was unnecessary information for Lex. What his focus was on were the major trade deals of the Hum nation with the Trelops, which usually had to deal with food, mostly. After going through all the information he had received in his political relations class, he suddenly realized how important that class would come to be if he stayed here long term.

"First, tell me what your proposal is."

"Yessssssssss bro! I knew I could count on you!" Karom fist pumped, as if the deal was already done. "It's quite simple, really. My roots have been getting a little stiff lately, and I need to expand my territory a bit, or I won't really be able to reach adulthood. I was just musing about where to spread my forest, you know I have neighbors on all sides. It's the humans on one, my cousin Goli on another, some really, really hot dudes in the radiation wasteland, and then my aunty Jeena.

"Now bro, trust me when I say, ain't no one got the acorns to mess with aunty Jeena bro. And bro, I really wanna hang in the wasteland, but since I haven't reached adulthood yet, it's bad for my complexion. I have a really good thing going with the humans, so that just leaves my cousin Goli."

The Trelop paused, and threw another protein bar in his mouth, then continued. "Now, I remember you asking me about some spirit mines, and I told you about some in my cousin's territory. But how will you ever get to them? Bro, not to look down on you, but they're at least a dozen miles below ground."

Lex did not answer, for technically even he didn't have an answer. He had hoped that maybe he'd be able to buy something from the system gift shop the way he kept on buying Botlam Dew, but with 0% energy, currently he couldn't even buy that.

Karom continued, "which is where my proposal comes in. I'll help you find a way to get to those mines, and you..."

Out from the ground a root came out, holding a bag full of acorns, and handed them to Lex and Karom explained the deal he wanted. Just as Lex had suspected, Karom wanted Lex's help to take over parts of his cousin's forest.

"Won't that hurt your cousin though?" Lex asked, out of curiosity.

"Bro it's no hard feelings, bro. Bro, it's a strategic acquisition of property of declining value, bro. Yeah man, I know big words too. I once attended human business school as a potted plant for the class, I know all about assets and stuff. If anything, Goli will appreciate my help. After all, I doubt you'd just leave those spirit stone mines alone after finding them. Once they disappear, the fertility of the land will quickly decline. In human terminology, that healthy part of Goli's body will quickly turn into cancer."

"In that case, why do you want it?" Lex asked, curious. He did not comment on Karom's suspicions about what Lex would do to the spirit stones. Strictly speaking, by taking those mines for himself instead of declaring them, Lex was committing a crime. But, by helping Karom expand his territory of control without letting anyone know about it was also not something easily shrugged off. Both of them had a vested interest in keeping their deal secret, and such a mutual threat would force them to be good allies.

"Don't do me like that bro! Have some faith, I have my own plans."

Karom shared more of his proposition, and in the end, considering Lex's dire need for energy, Lex said yes. This first half of Karom's payment was the method to reach the crystal mines in Goli's territory. Lex stuffed his acorns, as well as his payment and the fruit he delivered, into his backpack and finally exited the tent.

Now that he had a plan to get some energy, Lex felt much better, and he could finally focus on other stuff. One major part of making a positive impression on a group of new people is to constantly reaffirm it. He had to go socialize with the rest of the expedition while they were still at camp, because it would be too difficult once they started moving.

After a hearty breakfast that he shared with the group of meteorologists, and gaining some basic understanding of the kind of weather he could expect coming up, he started going around camp and spending some time with various groups. It was easy to spot Lex, he was the only one amongst heavily clothed people to wear a half sleeve shirt.

The character of Ice on his hand was giving off a gentle sheen, but it only continued to absorb all the cold energy. Some of the members of the expedition thought it was a unique tattoo, and he didn't bother to correct them.

Finally, after lunch, Ptolemy called for a group meeting and explained the next part of the expedition. They would leave shortly, and their next camp would be at Deadfall cliffs, the border for human exploration. He explained their goals for the expedition once again, though everyone was quite familiar with them, the safety measures that would be needed and what kind of cooperation he expected from everyone.

Lex couldn't help but notice that he never mentioned Karom, or his cousin Goli. He had understood enough of Ptolemy by now to know that the man must have made some preparations to face the upcoming hostile Trelop, and Lex was curious.

It did not hurt Lex's ego to admit that he found it quite insightful to study how Ptolemy operated. But, since the other person had clearly drawn a metaphorical line in the sand between them, if Lex were to go up and ask him now, he would stir up the possibility of trouble.

After a moment's consideration, he decided to go ask, anyway. Of course, he wouldn't directly ask him the question. If there was anything Lex learnt from being the Innkeeper, it was to hold the power and authority in a conversation. If Lex asked him the question, he would directly be putting himself in the weaker position from the start of the conversation, and there was the chance Ptolemy wouldn't answer.

He had a much better strategy to get his answer.

After the meeting, he went and waited by Ptolemy's tent until the latter arrived. Lex gave him an amused look, as if he was watching a performance, before saying, "I noticed you didn't tell anyone about the upcoming dangers of a hostile Trelop. Not a bad plan, no need to cause unnecessary panic. After all, since you don't need my help, I'm sure you have your own plan for how to deal with an entire forest that hates humans."