Listening, a story came to Diane's mind, and she cleared her throat. The two males turned toward her and Niko gestured her to join them. She approached, sitting down on the ground beside them, and asked if she might add her two cents on the topic at hand. Niko assured her that he wanted to hear what she had to say, and Shad seemed to assent to listening as well.
"In the land of Tangar, there was a king who was fighting a very costly war with his neighbor to the south, the king of Gerhain. Gerhain was the largest and richest country of the area, and Tangar was a northern cold land, with its best farmland right along the Gerhain border. The war raged across this farmland, destroying it. The nation of Tangar was growing weaker, but they were fighting bravely; but given enough time, Gerhain could only win. A whole generation of young men died on those fields. Finally, with an eye to setting his enemies upon each other, the king of Tangar offered a deal: the treasury of his kingdom, gold from untold centuries collection, for the land. He would buy peace.
"The king of Gerhain accepted. He turned his eye to his own southern neighbor, a land of lush hills and olive groves, called Arduin. With the money, he could buy mercenaries, and with the peace assured on the border, he could send his own troops south. This sounded like a perfect plan... but there were problems with it. His own people hated it - especially the farmers who felt they owned the land he sold to Tangar. His son, the younger prince of Gerhain, who had been a warleader in the northern war, felt so betrayed, that he turned his own troops and went mercenary, joining one of the lords of Arduin's army incognito.
"Gerhain fell on Arduin like a plague of locusts on a field of ripe grain... but their weakness was their willingness to believe a supposed traitor to Arduin. He misled them, while their own traitor was giving good intelligence to the queen of Arduin. In the end, the king of Gerhain and his elder son were both slain; the queen of Arduin married the younger son, now the heir, and the kingdoms were joined.
"So Tangar found themselves with, instead of an enemy to the south who had two long borders to defend, and who would inevitably win after a long horrible struggle... one who had no need of defense and would grow fat, and within a generation would be able to crush the tiny northern country at its leisure, without breaking a sweat. So the twist in the tale of turning one's enemies against each other."
Diane smiled enigmatically, realizing her tale was not of much help to the immediate goal of finding a way to turn Weaver against Wyrm, but hoping it would make them think harder on their ultimate goal, not just the immediate one.