"The beastmen are the third most powerful force in the world, we are the union of various races, a nation of different clans and tribes" explains my mother "there are two things all beastmen have in common, each of our species has their own unique magic and we all follow the same goddess".
"As I said before, we are quite similar to the demons, not only because we are a nation of different clans and tribes like them, but because we are lead by the Beast King, the strongest warrior amongst all beastmen" she pauses "the greatest difference is that demons don't choose their king, the strongest demon just kill all of their challengers, even before they are powerful enough fight against him, meaning he chooses his successor and guarantees there will be no competition left to challenge him".
"Meanwhile, we choose our king in a tournament every ten years" Then she looks proudly towards us "the last time a Beast King was chosen, your father ended up in third place, and he was the youngest competitor at the time, so it's possible for him to become Beast King in the next tournament".
Looks like my father is quite impressive, more than I expected. I hope our clan members aren't expecting me or my siblings to be at the same level, that seems like a really hard path to follow.
Meanwhile my brother seems impressed, looking completely awed after hearing my mother. As for my sister, it doesn't look like she understands much, she even looks a little drowsy.
"We, the bearfolk, have suffered a lot in the last century" says my mother with a sad tone in her voice "three decades ago, the Beast King, Oberon, was one of our people. You must know, our clan has always been renowned for giving birth to peerless warriors and countless kings, that's a reason to be proud about our ancestry but also has made us a primary target for the demons".
"At some point, one clan and two tribes betrayed the beastmen" with anger in her voice she continues "The tribes of the Laughing Hyenas and the Wild Jackals were led by the clan of the Undying Roar to betray our clan in a battle against the demons".
"The Undying Roar are bearfolk, their leader was the brother of Oberon, the Beast King at the time" the tone in my mother's voice saddens "He attacked his brother and the members of the Raging Howl from behind while they were fighting against the demon army, killing thousands of our people and concluding with the death of the Beast King".
"Worst of all, the leader of the traitors is now the right hand of the current Demon King" my mother sighs "and it wouldn't be strange for a warrior of the Undying Roar to become Demon King".
"Why did they betray us?" I ask, it's hard for me to understand how bearfolk would betray our clan.
"Some bearfolk struggle controlling their instinct when fighting" answers my mom "they lose themselves in the thrill of the battle, they enjoy the bloodshed and the chaos of war".
"Even amongst our clan, there is a warrior's mindset, the honor of going into battle and defeating your enemies" she says sounding passionate "I too enjoy slaying those who fight against us, we bearfolk are born warriors, and that's the reason that following Samira, the goddess of everlasting peace, is harder for some of our people".
"That's why they betrayed our clan, the Undying Roar means to battle forever" my mother keeps quiet for a couple of seconds "while we, the followers of Samira, go into battle to reach peace, we aspire to fight the battle that will end the war".
I kind of understand, our clan are warriors in search of peace, while the traitors don't want peace, they want some sort of eternal war.
"Last but not least important, the fourth power of the world, the undead" the tone in my mother's voice turns serious "they appeared a couple of centuries ago, a human wizard became the first necromancer, living until today as the Undead King".
"He doesn't care who his enemies are, as long as they are living his undead army will go against them. The Undead King is one of the most powerful individuals in the world, last I heard it took all eleven members of the human high council to defeat him, but they weren't capable of finishing the job. Since then the Undead King hasn't appeared in battle, and yet his armies keep growing as time goes by".
At some point my sister fell asleep and my brother is yawning, struggling to remain awake. My mother notices this and concludes her explanation "that's all for now, it's late and you should go to sleep".
I too feel sleepy, but my mind tries to go over what mother just told us about. There are many things I'm curious about, such as magic and goddess Samira.