Watching as the King quickly conferred with his advisor, and then said something to Morigan, the Kes'nal rose and moved forwards, dropping down into a squat. "I hope your Excellence can forgive me not kneeling as he would be accustomed to others doing before him, but our natural form does not permit kneeling, and due to the importance of these discussions, I would rather do them as you see me, instead of implying any sense of disinterest or disrespect by assuming another." he says, as politely as his muzzle-shaped mouth permitted. "The Great Alpha of the Kes'nal, Ash'ta'mae, has sent me, his emissary Calun'hai to seek peace on what we hope will be satisfactory terms. I am authorised to discuss and negotiate with his full power, so what we agree to here, is what he agrees to. There are only 2 terms, initially, though these are to be discussed and it may result in further terms, or conditions on the terms, being added." He pauses for a moment and looks to Leonidas, who returns his look, expecting the wolf-like creature to continue.<br/><br/>"Your Majesty," whispers the advisor, "The Kes'nal discussions... They wait for a sign of agreement when there are statements made before the progress. Otherwise, they work out the reason for disagreement." Trying to avoid from rolling his eyes at what seemed a pointless thing this early in the Emissary's message, the King nodded, "Continue." he says, although he didn't like where things would lead if he said there were only 2 terms to be proposed.<br/><br/>Rising slowly to his feet, Calun'hai took a slow breath. "Before I voice the terms, your Highness, I would like you to understand that we only waged war because of the needs of our people, and the distrust that humans have held of our kind for centuries. In some places, this distrust extends to outright hostilities and unprovoked attacks, though this latter situation is thankfully not of your kingdom. If we felt that initial conversations would have given us what was needed for our survival, I would have been here 6 months ago before any blood was shed." He gave Morigan as warm a smile as he could, though with his wolf muzzle, it would certainly have been far from a smile she saw. "Our kind cannot breed amongst each other. We do not know why, but it is impossible for a male and female Kes'nal to have offspring that survive birth. We do know that we are able to breed with humans, far more successfully with a male Kes'nal mating with a human female, though it is not unheard of for children to be born when the reverse is the case. As the war waged on, and our numbers began to fall, we became more desperate. Our act of survival, was also likely to render us extinct. That is when we began to take any female we found, not just those of child bearing age. We used to have a population of humans living in our land that were, for lack of any better phrase, breeders. They were mated by Kes'nal to ensure we had a generation to replace the one that was aging. The last of our breeders died ten years ago."<br/><br/>Looking appologetically around the room, he returned his attention to Leonidas and Morigan. "This brings us to the first term that I was asked to discuss. We have not harmed the females in any way. In fact, they are being looked after in quite comfortable accommodation, and looked after by only female Kes'nal, to ensure that nothing untoward can happen. The first term, your Highness, is that we be permitted to ask for a certain number of them to volunteer to be mated, to bear children for us so as to help bolster our populations again. While we do not want to force any to remain, we have conservatively estimated that of the ten thousand we have captured, around seven thousand of them are able to bear children. Of this, we would need only three thousand to ensure our people's survival for the next two centuries."<br/><br/>As soon as he finished speaking, a murmer went around the room, amongst which was clearly heard quite a few derogatory comments and insults directed at the Kes'nal. "SILENCE!" yelled Leonidas, "The next of you to speak out of place will find yourself stripped of land, title, and possessions." Looking back to the large figure before the thrones, the aging man took a steady breath. "While the final say is mine, I would have the representatives of the regions your people have attacked say their piece on this first, as it is the people of their lands." he says, and motions for the four sitting near him, as well as a few others, who had since been put into accommodation while the war went on. "Each of you rise in turn and speak your mind on the proposition."<br/><br/>Baron Theol rose first, and looked to him. "From a military position, Emissary, I admire the tactics your people used in the early stages of the war, when it was only a rush in, rush out, piece with the females you could find, and minimal deaths. While the war had escalated beyond that by the time it reached my lands, it was effective at reaching your goals, without causing unnecessary loss of life. I have two comments for you before I agree or disagree. The first is that only the women of my lands who have already had children be asked to... Mate... With your people. Those who have not, I feel, should have their first time with one of their own." Nodding his agreement, Calun'hai remained quiet and allowed him to continue with what he had to say. "I also ask of the welfare of my wife and daughter, who were taken the day before yesterday. My agreement will only come if they are, as you say, being looked after."<br/><br/>"They are in deed, and when I return home, I can pass a message to them if you wish, or ask them to send a message back through a messenger bird." he says, giving the man a polite nod. "My cousin was the one to lead the initial attack on your home, the estate itself, not just the villages under your purview. He is a good person and will not allow harm to come to them. Because of our... unique needs, human females are worth more to us than anything, even a stable food supply. Your request that only those with children be mated is acceptable, and quite fair. They have already been through enough, regrettably."<br/><br/>Baron Gregor rose next, "I am of the same mind as Baron Theol, that only the ones who have already borne children to a human be asked. I have no family in your lands, as the day the war started, I moved my wife and children here to the capital, I only ask th.." As he talks, Duke Aston rose, his face red. "How dare we even entertain these animals in the presence of the King! They attack us, kidnap our women, and then come here and say they plan to rape them with our consent!" he screams, The man picking up his mug and throwing it at the Emissary.<br/><br/>Calun'hai had idly watched as the Duke started to yell, but when the mug was thrown, he dropped to a crouch, ready to jump and fight if anything further happened. Leonidas intervened however, stepping between them and calling his guards over. "Take Aston to the dungeons. He is henceforth no longer a Duke, no longer entitled to any comforts afforded to the nobility of Volshad, and no longer the owner of any of the estates he held prior to the war."<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>