This team is composed of a Scout, a Spy, a Soldier, an Assassin, and a Hunter.
The territory of the Altare Cremisi is experiencing great turmoil because of the interference of the people from other kingdoms, especially the priests of the other religion. To the cult's eyes, these priest are the heretics. They advocate the word "peace" and "prosperity" yet it is in nature of everyone having the seven deadly sins. Absolute order that makes everyone happy do not tend to last long if no one is willing to eliminate all the source of the evil.
Because the cult serves the Crimson Demon, who is once a great general serving for the second demon king 300 years ago, the cult advocates the word "result". The high priest of the Altare Cremisi had to use any means that may benefit for their people and to serve for their god.
This particular mission is strange enough because it is a diplomatic mission. The Spy will be the perfect fit for the job but having a Soldier, a Assassin, and a Hunter join this expedition is strange enough. Why have combat based roles have to join this mission?
For the most part, the territory is not stabilized because the cult keeps interfering the empire's advancement of conquering the land. The land are own by natives which composed of elf tribes, kobold tribes, human tribes, and dwarf tribes. It will not be easy to convince everyone to be bound to their rule.
Because they serve the Crimson Demon, everyone will not agree because of the history. It will be a great trouble for the cult if everyone became their enemies. They needed allies to ensure their survival. Humans are the hardest to persuade due to the current conflict with demons. They have to choose between the elf tribes, the kobold tribes and the dwarf tribes. Team 8 decides to go to the dwarf tribes.
Dwarves are known to be the Miner Race. They have high technology of tools and weapons. And also they are very proud race who have created the most strongest weapons for centuries with their high class of smithing and crafts. If they can persuade the dwarves to help them, they will have access to weapons they normally cannot obtain.
There are 3 dwarf tribes near the Altare Cremesi's territory. The Guanto Di Ferro tribe, the Barba Rossa tribe and the Fiamma Potrebbe tribe. The Guanto Di Ferro tribe are the dwarf tribe who are very strong and they are militarist. They prefer to fight to prove that their tribe is the strongest. The Barba Rossa tribe are the tribe of dwarven miners who prefer to live in the mines, mining minerals to create weapons. The Fiamma Potrebbe tribe are the noble tribe who believes in their goddess, Dea Nana. They respect everyone they meet but that doesn't mean they will easily be persuaded.
The cultists discuss themselves of which they should negotiate with. They will either will use force or use their heads. The Guanto Di Ferro tribe are simple minded and craves for fame and glory. The Barba Rossa craves for knowledge and wealth. The Fiamma Potrebbe tribe prefers to be the noble race pf the dwarves. Out of all tribes, the cultists think that they should negotiate with the Guanto Di Ferro tribe first.
They think of what approach they should take. The Spy thinks they should establish a diplomacy between them. The Soldier thinks they should force them to obey to their rules. The Scout thinks they should gain the tribe's favor for them. The Hunter thinks they will simply just kidnap the tribe's leader hostage. The Assassin is in deep thought of which of these ideas seems to be better.
The Hunter's idea is a big mistake since they will anger the entire tribe and cause them to invade them without mercy, which will lead to the cult's annihilation. The Scout's plan is not really bad but it doesn't guarantee that the dwarves will be indebt enough to help them. The Soldier's idea is plausible but there will be consequences that may not favor for the cult once the tribe decides to be independent. The Spy has the great idea that may benefit for the both of the cult and the tribe, if the Spy could form a mutual bond. The Soldier's plan and the Spy's plan are both great in their own.
The Assassin, minding that there will be consequences, suggests that they should pick the Soldier's idea. The Soldier is happy while the others are disappointed. But they need to think of a plan of how they can force the tribe to follow their rules without resorting to killing. As the one who created the idea, the Soldier proposed another idea. They said they should show how powerful they are to the tribe. They are the blessed ones by the Crimson Demon after all.
The plan is too simple and the Spy is baffled by the fact that a muscle head Soldier proposed a plan that will injure everyone in a diplomatic mission. The other cultists didn't mind so the Spy will just play along with the Soldier's idea.
Two days later, the cultists found the Guanto Di Ferro tribe in the mountain range northwest from the Altare Cremisi church. The dwarves are short but stronger than normal adventurers. These tribe are training hard to hone their battle skills. Their main arsenal are hammers and crossbows. They could break heavy equipment with their tribe's signature technique, "Frantoio Gigante".
The tribe's first impression at the cultists are normal like when they spot adventurers. They welcomed them to their little settlement and asked for their stories. Going on with the plan, the Spy invented a story of them being a strong mercenary group. The leader of the tribe is impressed by the fact that these band of mercenaries have reached their settlement unscathed. The way to the Guanto Di Ferro tribe's settlement is very dangerous because of the wild wind currents that will push them off the cliff, if they do not have great stability on their body.
That is one of the reason why these dwarves are very strong. With their body that is trained hard, they can endure exploring around the mountain without getting blown off by the wind. However, for the cultists, they just picked one route that doesn't have strong winds but supposed to be unaccessible to normal humans. They jumped from one rock spike to another across from the snakes breeding grounds. The snakes are very dangerous as their venom are potent that could kill.
The Spy used flattery at the leader of the tribe. The leader is thankful for the praise. The Scout mentions that they want to spar because they needed to warm up. The other dwarves grin and looks at the cultists intensely. The leader accepted and arranged a sparring grounds. It is the Soldier's turn to shine.
The Soldier shows up with nothing but their shorts. Their strong toned body is as pale as milk. Their red eyes are filled with passion of a warrior. They show that they are confident with their bare-handed battles. One dwarf laughs out loud and presents himself. He wears a bear helmet, a heavy plate, and holds a hammer as his weapon. He says that the Soldier's muscles is well defined like it was sculpted by the gods. He is itching for the fight.
The Soldier is very excited but their fellow cultists is nowhere to be seen. They left them alone. The Soldier is angry at their fellows but that doesn't change why they have to fight. Right now, the Spy is talking with the leader and his officials. The Scout shows off their technique to the dwarves. The Assassin remained in standby from afar from the dwarf settlement. The Hunter taught the dwarves some improvised method of hunting with traps.
The fight begins when the a dwarf blows the hunting horn. The dwarf warrior approaches the Soldier first to strike with his hammer. The Soldier didn't step to move and blocked the hammer with his palms. The dwarf is shocked. He felt like he hit something harder than iron. The dwarf strikes again and this time the Soldier dodge it.
The dwarf admits that the Soldier is very tough. He won't back down. He use his hammer to attempt to cripple their movement. But they already moved closer and they swat that weapon of his out of his hands. Then they grab his shoulder and throws him to the ground carefully. They lastly locked his one arm and pins him to the ground until he falls into submission, giving them the win.
The Guanto Di Ferro tribe are impressed with the Soldier's strength and ability. The Soldier being a sportsman, help the fallen dwarf warrior and thanked him for the match. The Soldier is familiar of how the dwarves attack but they never seen that kind of fighting style before. They are interested on learning the Guanto Di Ferro style. That makes them excite like they once felt when they became a cultist.
Three days later, the cultists and the tribe are friendly to each other. The Soldier participate to many games of the Guanto Di Ferro. The two fights that they lost are the drinking game and the eating game. Surprisingly enough, these dwarves are glutton and have great alcohol tolerance. The eating game is a tradition of the tribe in order to become strong. Their special alcohol eliminates toxin inside their body and heats them up. The taste of it is like a beer but a little bit sour.
The Spy did a great job negotiating with the leader of the tribe. They promised that the tribe will be famous when they show the Guanto Di Ferro their power. The Hunter came back with the other dwarves. They hunted wyvern that is flying around the mountain range. It's scales can be crafted to something special and the meat is in great quality since it is fresh.
The Scout decides to report back to the church. The Assassin is willing not to come out of their hiding place. They do not like how they interact with the dwarves but just don't care about it since it was the high priest who ordered it. They can see why they needed allies even if they are stronger than the rest.
At night time, the cult assembled together at one tent of the Guanto Di Ferro tribe. The Hunter holds a totem from their pocket and placed them on top of the table. All cultists kneel down and hold their hands together. They started to pray for their god.
"We shall serve our benefactor for giving us the chance to live on. We are grateful to our benefactor. We will give thou our faith and service for thy only. Great Demon, we give thou our thanks and we will show the world that thou are worthy of respect. Beyond a doubt."
A few weeks later, the Guanto Di Ferro tribe agreed to help with the Altare Cremisi for the promise that they will make their tribe famous and stronger. The tribe received lands solely belonging to them only. They got many resources prepared by the cult. For a minute, the Assassin questions himself. Why does a cult like them choose this approach?
They could just get the Guanto Di Ferro submit to their rule and force them to change their religion. The high priest explains why they should do this. It is not for "peace" but for "mutual benefit". The dwarves are the master race of technology. They can craft powerful tools that the Altare Cremisi can buy. In exchange, the Guanto Di Ferro will be recognized by many.
They learned what is the difference between the Guanto Di Ferro tribe to other dwarf tribes. They are simple minded but their determination is in different level, which the Soldier testified during their stay. The Soldier had been going easy with them but was forced to use their power by 30%. That proves that Guanto Di Ferro are very fierce in battles and they have something common with the cult. They have loyalty to each other.
Because of what the cult is doing for the tribe, the tribe is indebt for their help and are willing to pay it back as gratitude. They have stabilized the northwest part of the territory. The mission still continues but its the other team that's doing the job.
Team 8 have successfully allied with the Guanto Di Ferro without needing to force them. The tribe is much noble and pure than the Fiamma Potrebbe tribe, whose ideals are based on strict order where hierarchy is too strict that suppresses the lower status peasants.
The cult once had that kind of hierarchy in the past but now that only 60 members are left alive, they are working together in order to reclaim the past glory of the Altare Cremisi, as one of the subjects of the Crimson Demon that made them stronger.