Three months after his visit to Baaj, Yevon was back on the road again, journeying towards where the fiftieth Congregation of Spira would be held: the Thunder Plains. Joining him were his advisor, Zaon and his minister of trade and diplomacy, Sonam, together with an entourage of ten scribes and five attendants. The security of his city was trusted to those who were left behind, namely Uma and Yunalesca, with the support of his other ministers and armed forces.
Traces of the mild spring weather from the last few months were gone as the autumn monsoon began. Rain was cascading down onto the northern continent, turning the air chilly and the sea misty. Yevon and his entourage left Zanarkand to first scale down the Mountain of Gagazet where they were welcomed by the brave and prideful Ronsos who called it home. The slippery weather made crossing the steep terrains with their Chocobo-drawn four-wheeled carriages difficult but their patience was rewarded with the rare autumn landscape of the mountain: hints of barely orange and red trees, and wild grasses at areas where the snow had melted. It took Yevon and his entourage half a day before they finally entered the Boundless Lands, a wide stretch of plain that was unconquered by any and which separated Zanarkand and the Mountain of Gagazet from other nations further south. The uninhabited plain had become a dwelling for many harmful creatures.
"Unsent need our prayers. We go to temple," advised Jawara, the Ronso Elder who came to accompany them with his own Ronso cortege. He led them east towards a mammoth and ornate temple constructed several thousand years ago under the command of Remiem, an affluent Zanarkand woman of faith, for lost souls who met their deaths while seeking to traverse the monster-infested plain.
They performed a short sacred dancing rite, hoping to appease some, if not all of the lost souls, then left to ride west until they reached the mystical woods of Macalania. Here, the trees were untouched by autumn; they glittered in blue and some housed spherical orange crystals in their hollows. Flying around Yevon, Jawara and their entourages were blue and red butterflies that they recognized as Guardians of the woods in disguise. Both leaders spoke of the purpose of their brief visit and offered words of assurances that the woods would be left undisturbed. When the butterflies faded away, they heard the hum of a harp, the beat of a drum and the blow of a saxophone – all indications that the Guardians had approved the opening of three passages for them. They took the southerly passage, down a huge tree branch and into a ground pathway leading to the Thunder Plains.
As alluded to by its name, the Thunder Plains was an expansive bare wasteland where no plant could survive the deadly onslaught of thunderstorms. Brave travellers too needed protection from unpredictable sparks of thunder by taking refuge under a number of flimsy tents made of materials resistant to lightning, and built at calculated locations. Yevon squinted through the foggy landscape and spotted a distinctively-looking Al-Bhed man standing near a stone carved with the image of a Cactuar.
"Welcome, my lords," the man saluted with the common tongue as Yevon and Jahara's entourages came to him. "The congregation will be conducted underneath the ground," he said, gesturing to a nearby open crater.
"We hop? Or we climb down?" Jahara questioned.
"My apologies but we have prepared no equipment for you to properly climb down. You'll need to make a hop, my lords. I assure you that it's safe."
Jahara gave a nod and without second thoughts, took a leap into the opening of the crater while others, including Yevon, watched with widened eyes. They heard the thud of his feet as he landed before they could see him gaze up and motion for the rest of them to follow. Yevon went in next but had a less stable landing with his wobbly legs. Ahead of them was a maze of chambers, divided by solid stonewalls that moved only by inputting a combination of codes into small Machina-powered devices fitted into these walls. Helping them navigate through the underground cave was an Al-Bhed pair of siblings wearing blue bandanas around their heads and green arm socks.
Peeking into chambers every so often as they walked by gave Yevon some insights on this Al-Bhed tribe he just met. Unlike the tribe in Baaj, normal household items used by the resident tribe here hinted to a modest day-to-day lifestyle, for the mishmash of tools and equipment utilized to build, assemble and fix collections of Machinas seemed to take up the bulk of their expenses. There were no artistic decorations on their walls, their tables, their cabinets and elsewhere; they seemed content with the Machina paraphernalia being the only centre of interest.
Zaon, Sonam and every other accompanying ministers and attendants were ushered to a chamber where they could witness the congregation proceedings through digital screens installed on one side of the walls. The chamber where the congregation would be conducted was broader and lengthier than others, and was furnished with a simple trestle table at its midsection, in addition to lines of bookshelves along its walls. At the table, leaders from different parts of Spira had already gathered with looks of displeasure contorting their faces. They appeared unaccustomed to the compactness of the venue. Yevon sat at his assigned place, next to Yalda, the governor of Besaid and noticed almost immediately the absence of a representative whose attendance was expected for the congregation – Zako, the leader of Bevelle.
"As always… he has to be the last one to come," scorned Yalda, a feeling that Yevon and a handful of others shared.
Zako arrived about half an hour later, with an air of self-importance and without offering any word of apology. He too was not on his own; arriving alongside him was an Al-Bhed man who had an intricate dark brown tattoo on his forehead and would not remove the goggles around his eyes. Questioning looks were exchanged between all the other non Al-Bhed Spiran leaders as they wondered about the identity of the unknown Al-Bhed man. The confusion did not extend to Gul and Arkaim, the chieftain of the main Al-Bhed tribe from Bikanel as they remained unperturbed, though not entirely at ease with each other's presence as well as the man's.
"Welcome… leaders of Spira. I am Seth, chieftain of the Al-Bhed tribe at the Thunder Plains," the man began, addressing them all with open hands. "I apologize that the fiftieth Congregation of Spira has to be conducted in this… alien chamber that most of you must find difficult to be comfortable in. It was me who had reached out to Lord Zako and requested for participation in the congregation. I also thought conducting the congregation here would be a good opportunity to introduce most of you to my tribe… if not to reunite us with those of our kind. It is my greatest desire to form relations between my tribe and the rest of you from today onwards. I hope the feeling will be mutual."
There was a particular kind of sarcasm in the man named Seth's cadence, making him somewhat challenging to read.
"What do you and your tribe have to offer, Lord Seth?" Chayim, the governor of Kilika quizzed, curious with the specifics of the offer on the table, while also partly testing Seth's sincerity in his intention.
Seth looked up to what Yevon suspected to be a small surveillance camera hidden in the ceiling and dipped his head, summoning the Al-Bhed siblings with blue bandanas into the chamber, carrying stacks of papers that they presented to each leader at the table. "We specialize in producing transmission equipment that can be sold to you. The natural environment of the Thunder Plains makes it easy to create enough stocks for global production," Seth explained, watching them peruse through pages of information that added to his words.
"Lord Seth, I would like to dispute some of the fees and rules of exchange… but we'll need to discuss our own offers too to plead our case," Yevon remarked, expressing his reservations about some particulars presented on the paper. Seth acknowledged him with a brief nod.
"Very well then, Lord Yevon. We'll move on to the next agenda of the congregation: each of us will present and discuss our offers to one another, and also to Lord Seth and his people," Zako agreed, appearing less quarrelsome than he would usually be.
A seed of suspicion was planted within Yevon… one that he quickly waved away to retain his focus on the events of the congregation.
A group of scribes entered the chamber to submit more stacks of paper marked at the front pages with emblems of each attending Spiran city to the leaders congregating around the table. Prepared in a similar fashion as the ones provided by Seth, these papers listed out comprehensive information about items that the other Spiran cities would normally offer for trade: Besaid with its woven fabrics; Kilika with its high quality wood; Moonflow with its highly effective herbal medicines; Bikanel with its arms and petroleum oil; Baaj with its high quality Machinas for practical use; Luca with its gold and silver; Gagazet with its crystal ores; and Zanarkand with its pearls.
As the papers were being read through by the leaders, they argued with one another about changing prices for sale and sourcing of items, tariff rates and rules of exchange for the benefit of their cities. Some were polite in their approach, while others were aggressive and obstinate, bringing heated discussions that ended only with forced compromises between parties involved. Jars of peculiar greenish juice with white gels made from crushed Cactuars were never forgotten to be served, keeping the leaders rejuvenated. Yevon had been mostly successful in his negotiations, finding typical resistance from Bevelle and understandably Seth as the representative of the Thunder Plains tribe that was still testing the waters of Spira's worldwide trade and diplomacy.
Twelve hours went by with hardly any resting period in between until each and every page was scrutinized and contested. By the time the last page was flipped close, the leaders congregating around the table had noticeable frowns on their faces and eyes red from exhaustion. Zaon, Sonam and their counterparts from other Spiran cities were soon permitted to enter the chamber to hand papers of the same contents as those previously presented by the scribes, though with amendments according to new agreements between the respective leaders.
"Ah, Lord Yevon. I heard that you're developing some kind of new weapons in your city," Zako's words drifted from across the table unprovoked, like the buzzing of a bug in one's ears, seizing Yevon, his advisor and attending minister by surprise.
All eyes at the table were now set onto Yevon and there was a deafening silence…
"New weapons combining both magic and… Machina, I believe," Zako said again, taking a drink out of his glass. His eyes trailed to Gul who was making every effort to remain impassive, "Don't you think proper consultations between us about the matter would have been ideal… hmm?"
"There's no such thing happening under my orders, Lord Zako," Yevon asserted, aligning his papers on the table collectedly. "And even if there's such a thing… it's within our rights to do so, as Bevelle and every other city present today would know."
Zako sneered, "Fair enough. Though I believe proper consultations are still necessary for the safety and security of Spira."
Yevon could feel rage slowly seeping into his veins. "What are you implying, Lord Zako?"
"Perhaps we can have the discussions in a much cordial manner?" Zako proposed airily, snubbing the rising discord between them. "We can do it in Luca, during the Feast of Nectar. We'll let the Blitzball tournament entertain us while we talk."
"There's nothing to discuss, Lord Zako."
"Can it not be just a simple gathering between friends? Surely there's no harm in that," a new voice chimed, belonging to Ofer, the leader of Luca. As Yevon glanced at him, he added rather fretfully, "The whole of Spira would be delighted…"
Yevon read through the faces that were staring back at him around the table. He knew the threads of support for him as a leader and Zanarkand as a member of Spiran society hung at each of his words. Wedged between refusing to submit to Zako and Ofer's will and keeping his city in the residual ounce of favourable light, he offered them none. His silence pleased Zako who took it as his concurrent.
"Excellent! I'll send invitations to the Guados of Guadosalam and the Guardians of Macalania to join us so we'll have the opportunity that we didn't have today to speak with them," Zako said in high spirit. Then he turned to Seth with a smile, "Of course… Lord Seth and the Al-Bhed tribe of Thunder Plains are invited too."
Seth nodded briefly without saying as little as a word.