The emperor grins, at his bravado. "Is this going to involve you summoning another army of demons?" he asks, having teased out quite a bit of the story, if not the full truths behind it, from survivors and Draiss himself. "Or will you simply bring the mountain down aroudn them, this time?" This earns a few nervous laughs, especially since some of them are honestly afraid he very well might do the latter. Or worse.<br/><br/>"What's frustrating is, you're correct, there haven't been any demands. Not for the princess, and not for any of the other captives. There are a number of families here who don't even know the victim has gone missing, yet; we only found out due to the scrying." "Yes, we're willing to pay the ransoms they demand; it's part of the insurance most traders purchase, as part of their guild membership."