After standing in the room for not quite half a minute, you hear soft sounds coming from behind the furthest door on the right.
Clud. Clud. Cludcludclud. Bang.
It sounded as if something ran against, or fell into the door. Then it opens, with the consul coming out from the door. He closes it behind him as he scurries into the room. He looks at each of you with a wide smile, and continues forth toward the table, though he begins talking before he even reaches it, not even caring that he is looking your direction as he talks, though he walks a different direction.
"Yes, well, first, I thank you for your offer of aid. I am Consul Adenic of the Ahnwae'nan Accountancy Governance. But to the matter at hand, as I'm sure you'd like to be done with this and off with your pay." He seems to be speaking in a rushed tone, by his manners, more likely due to nervousness than actual rush.
"First, on the matter of the mine. There was digging, then there was blasting and digging, and we were managing to gather a lot of good resources for trade. It was all going well enough, until some strange, large ants showed up. As I understand, these ants being the size of a person isn't all that odd, though I've never met ants I wanted to share my lunch with, much less my flesh." His smile tweaks a bit at that, as he wonders if his attempt at wan humour worked to break the tension. It did nothing to break his. "But as I've heard, these ants are oddities even beyond their size. Slightly smarter, differently coloured, and seem to be able to grind through any rock. They seem to be taking over the entire mine and cave system in the area, turning it into their own little anthill. We, of course, need the materials in there to trade, and we would rather these beasts not defile our dead into food, to say nothing of giving the miners they attacked proper burials."
The consul reaches under a portion of the table, and seems to pull back a piece of wood. It comes back then falls down, and another piece falls from it to be parallel with the ground. The chairs for this table apparently being a part of the table itself, built in with rails and hinges.
"So we are asking people of strong natures, such as yourselves, to go in and clear out the ants, and if possible, let us know the general areas in which they took the bodies of our lost friends and family. The mine is in the hills, the entrance being not more than one-and-a-half-miles to north. You can't miss the path that leads there. We have some guards near it, but they are mostly just there to let us know if the ants try coming out now still, they might know more about the ants."
He breaths in and out, giving deliberate pause to the subject change. And finally, his nervousness seems to fade, but more because he becomes somber.
"Secondly, and a bit more direly, we cannot farm our crops right now. When some of the farm-hands went into the fields to the west of town, they did not return. The most elite guard in our town, Fevn Isand, who was our Warden of the Peace {Sheriff} went out to investigate, along with some of the stronger men and guards. He feared some form of attack, but instead they were butchered, only one survived, a Mr. Arel. He lives in the southern parts of town, not far from the Badger Inn, if you wish to speak with him. He told people of a large brown beetle, more than 20 hands tall, with might enough to crush the men. He said that he got away, because when it seemed to command swarms of tiny beetles like it, all he could do was run from them."
"I have kept in contact with my Governance superiors about this, but they seem to be... disinclined to send the aid of the Blessed Bloods who have been chartered to assist this country. I suspect they are otherwise occupied, else there'd be no reason to deny us salvation. Nonetheless, that leaves me imploring you for the help we need."
"If you have any questions, I may try to answer them. Otherwise, if you'll help us, the mine is to the north, and the fields are to the west." The way he's looking at each of you, regardless of your appearance, is like a little boy asking his parents for the toy he wants.
