Lanek leapt away from the horde, not sure if his [Stealth] skill would work around that many creatures. He had seen larger hordes than this in his visions from Sanguineus, but there must have been at least a hundred creatures in this group. Sure, Lanek was feeling much more capable lately, but he wasn’t foolish enough to think that he could do anything against this many. Turning to face the northeast, Lanek began traveling as quickly as he could with [Traversal].
He wasn’t sure what he would find, but he was fairly confident that there had to be something interesting in that direction to convince that many gaunts to travel together. From his experiences in Caelis, gaunts seemed to be solitary and chaotic creatures. Lanek felt that if there was something that could convince them to travel together and with this much purpose, it was well worth investigating. Maybe there is a village or town?
After a few hours of traveling, he finally spotted several plumes of smoke in the distance. He approached cautiously, not knowing if he would hostile or friendly beings near the fire. Slowing his pace considerably and focusing on quiet movement, Lanek approached the smoke until he could get a view of the source.
Ahead of him, there were several large fires surrounded by forest goblins, many of whom were injured. He gritted his teeth at the sight, wondering if he had found himself caught between two groups of hostile monsters. As he watched, he noticed more details. Those gathered around the fire appeared to be smaller or frail. Shit, children and the elderly. I think I found the survivors of that village.
Interspersed around the perimeter of the camp were groups of armed and armored goblins keeping watch. Marching through the camp and clearly giving orders were several taller and more muscular figures. Orcs? Some type of evolved goblin? Unfortunately, [Identify] appeared to have a range limit as it would not activate when he targeted the larger figures.
Lanek turned to leave, not wanting to get involved and having two sets of monsters weaken each other would only benefit him. Before he could take a step, however, he stopped himself. These goblins didn’t act like the goblins from the stories and games on Earth. They were clearly intelligent and they are protecting the weaker among them. There were no signs of abuse from the larger creatures either, so these goblins were far too human in their behavior for him to let them be ambushed by gaunts.
Cursing his conscience for putting him at risk, he crept around the camp, trying to come up with a way to warn him that didn’t result in him being punctured by spears and arrows. There! He thought as he spotted a leather armored goblin on their own, either a scout or hunter judging from the bow it carried.
Time to see how good this stealth actually is. He approached the lone figure, trailing it until he judged it to be far enough from the camp. He dropped from the trees and landed softly behind the goblin, shocked at just how quiet his movements had become. With a swift motion, he clamped his hand over the goblins mouth while bringing Sanguineus’ blade to its throat, touching but not drawing blood.
The goblin froze, not daring to move aside from dropping the bow. Now that Lanek was in close proximity to the goblin he realized that it was a woman. Huh, I guess there are no restrictions in goblin society when it comes to who fights.
“Can you understand me?” he whispered into her ear. She nodded frantically. “Good, that makes this easier. I’m here to warn you, not hurt you. Do you know what gaunts are?” Another frantic nod answered his question along with a growl.
“You need to get your people out of here. There are over a hundred of the things heading straight this way, maybe a half hour away at this point. I’m going to let you go, please don’t attack me or call for help.” Lanek said as he eased the blade from her throat. He wasn’t too worried as he was very confident that he could escape if she did raise an alarm.
As soon as she was released, the goblin spun to face him, eyes widening. Lanek raised his hands to appear nonthreatening when he realized that she wasn’t looking at him. He sidestepped quickly, bringing Sanguineus up into a guard position at the sight before him. One of the large figures had come up behind him while he spoke with the goblin.
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“Human, huh? Haven’t seen your kind around here in a long time. Thank you for the warning and for not harming her.” the figure rumbled while nodding at the goblin. “Go, tell the chief about the gaunts.”
Lanek remained on guard while he identified the creature before him.
Hobgoblin Scout (Night Arrows)
lvl 12
Goblins evolve into a Hobgoblin at level 10, at which point they may choose to evolve into numerous variants based on the goblin’s attributes, actions, and interests. A Hobgoblin Scout is a variant specialized in ranged combat and has heightened senses compared to their brethren. Hobgoblins often appear in larger tribes or clans due to the odds of a goblin reaching the level required to evolve increasing with numbers. Due to their size and strength, Hobgoblins will often find themselves in positions of importance within the tribe.
The hobgoblin cut an intimidating sight, where the goblins only reached to Lanek’s chest, these creatures were closer to the average human in height, standing at just under two meters in height. Thanks to the metal armor the creature wore, it was hard to tell just how much it weighed or how muscular it was, but its frame was both wider and thicker than a goblin. Its skin was a reddish brown with eyes dark gray eyes.
“Now, why don’t you tell me who you are and why you helped us. There is no love lost between humans and goblins.” the hobgoblin said.
“My name is Lanek. As for why I helped you, I saw the remains of the village and didn’t want to see that happen to the children and old ones in your camp.” he replied, shaking his head at the surreal nature of this whole conversation. “Forgive me if this is rude, but where I’m from goblins are portrayed as mindless monsters bent on murder and destruction. Are all goblins as well-spoken and organized as you?”
“Once again, you have my thanks Lanek, this time on behalf of my people. I am Ograch.” the hobgoblin replied before shaking his head. “Your description of my kind is common but it depends on the type of goblin. There are feral, dungeon, and corrupted goblins that act much as you describe. They are far more numerous than the rest of us, which is probably why most of the world views us as monsters.”
“Is there an easy way to tell the difference?” Lanek asked, hoping for some way to differentiate them.
“Yes, if you use [Identify] and don’t see a clan or tribe name, then you are looking at a feral or corrupted. Dungeon goblins will typically have the name of the dungeon or a variant in their description. If you used [Identify] on me you should have seen the name of my clan, the Night Arrows. Enough, I need to return to my camp and get moving. We do not have the numbers to stand and fight. However, take this marker as thanks for your aid. If you ever again run into a member of my clan, show them this to be allowed entry to our village or simply allowed passage through our territory.” Ograch said while handing Lanek a copper disk with the image of a full moon with two arrows crossed through it carved on the disk.
“Good luck, Ograch.” Lanek called after the hobgoblin, receiving a grunt and wave in return. He felt much better about the situation with the forest goblin. Based on the information provided by Ograch, the goblin he had murdered would have been feral or corrupted, not to mention hostile.
Lanek jumped back into the trees and sped off. However, instead of heading back toward his camp, he moved around the Night Arrows as they packed up their camp and moved in the direction of the approaching gaunts. Twenty minutes later, he saw the approaching pack.
He wanted to help the Night Arrows if he could and it wouldn’t hurt to have potential allies around. Also, it would give him a chance to play with his new skills. He swung wide of the marching creatures, angling to their north. Once they had passed his position in the trees, he activated [Ethereal Salvo] three times in rapid succession, dropping his MP to 10 and launching six projectiles into the midst of the gaunts.
Without waiting to see the projectiles land, he leapt away, traversing through due west through the trees. Judging from the explosions and shrieks behind him, it seemed his distraction had been effective, the creatures were now moving due north hunting for their hidden attackers. Their rage at the attacks had also spurred them into a charge, rapidly increasing the distance between the gaunts and the Night Arrows.
He hoped that this would buy the Night Arrows some time or at least thin the gaunt horde enough to give them a fighting chance. Lanek honestly wished he could do more, but he didn’t like his chances of dropping in for a melee fight now that he had exhausted his only ranged ability. While he fled the scene, a wave of notifications made their presence known and showed him the power he now wielded.