Snorri held back vomit as he took in the sights of what once had been the colony’s town hall. The vast chamber, well lit by a vast network of lighting chandeliers, had once been a place of community. a thriving market hub for the colony's inhabitants. What Snorri was confronted with now was the exact opposite. Thousands of gnomish corpses were piled high in a mountain of rotting flesh and flies. Around the mountain of body, Snorri could pick out a few blood-stain blue academy uniforms. Rage pulsed through him at the site of his long-dead colleagues. His knuckles clenched around the sword's hilt as he brought himself back to his senses. a sound of drumming emerged from somewhere beyond his eyeline. Seeing no sign of any goblins in his immediate vicinity, Snorri made his way towards the sound.
As he moved further into the vast chamber of the town hall, the source of the noise came into view. Several Goblin sat on small piles of corpses, playing what looked to be drums with heavy bones bashing out a beat in a rhyming manner. fifty more goblins dance in a messy crowd next to them around another goblin dressed in an elaborate costume of bones standing atop one of the market's wooden tables. As Norri came into sight of the crow, the goblin on the table raised a skull-topped staff into the air. “Gentlemen!” He screamed, the drums instantly stopped, and the dancers froze. “The Snorri approaches." He waved his skull-topped staff wildly in Snorri’s direction. The drumming ceased. The outer circle of dancers broke ranks, rushing towards Snorri.
Dozens of goblins came at him, and the bones that made up the crude garments and armour rattled as they raised huge clubs and let out wild war cries. Snorri charged forward, spitting his sword around his hand. He lept high into the air. plunging down into the goblins. His sword smashed bone armour and sliced through green flesh as he cut a trio of the goblins down. Four well-aimed clubs sailed towards his head as he landed. Snorri rolled backwards. One of the blows meant for him collided with one of the goblins. It let out a scream of rage and threw itself at the goblin, who had just smashed it. The two creatures rolled away with a flurry of punches. Snorri took advantage of the momentary distraction to slash out at two more of the goblins. opening one's belly with a deep gash and separating another left leg from its body Snorri let out a roar of Gnomish fury.
As the goblin corpse hit the floor, another wave of the bone-amored goblins waved upon him. stepping on the bodies of their fallen comrades to swing at him with huge, powerful club blows. As Snorri yet again rolled away from the goblin warriors, he was vaguely aware of the shaman shouting orders to his men. He stabbed the closest goblin warrior's chest as it swung its club up high, attempting to smash him on the downward swing. He pulled his sword free and dived towards the charging goblins still coming at him in the fanatical wave. His sword flickered and flashed in the vast cavern network of lighting crystals. slicing through bones and flesh in dead sweeps.
as the last of the dancers fell to the ground and groaned with a scream. Snorri rushed the goblins, who remained standing between himself and the goblins, still dancing around their elevated shamans. The seven goblins fanned out, surrounding Snorri in a wide circle. Snorri clenched his blade and waited for them to charge. “Its in the circle, boss,” one of the goblins surronding Snorri yelled. The seven goblins eyed Snorri tentatively as if waiting for orders, their bone armour rattling as they weezed. “Good job, gentlemen!” the shayman yelled from within his circle of dancers. Snorri only now noticed that he was standing in the centre of a circle drawn with some kind of white chalk. He glanced at the circle of goblins around him. None of them had even a toe crossing the boundary of the circle.
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"Demon!" screamed the shayman from his table. “I BIND THEM TO MY SERVICE” magical power crackle fourth from the goblin shayman. “I SPEAK THY NAME THE SNORRI, I SPEAK THY NAMED AND BIND THEE,” the eyes of the skull atop the shayman's staff glowed green as he finished speaking. The dancer let out a chorus of high-pitched wales, waving their hands through the air towards Snorri. The gnome raised an eyebrow. “How do we know if it worked, boss?” One of the goblins surrounding the circle yelled as soon as the crowds screaming had died away. "Demon, I ORDER THEM TO REMAIN STILL,” the shayman screamed towards Snorri. The gnome waited, pretending to be frozen to the spot.
The seven goblins advanced on him tentatively; one raised a hand, daring to get close enough to wave it in front of Snorri’s face. Snorri roared as he sprung to life. Slicing both the goblin's hand and nose free of its body The goblin attempted to scream; a low-pitched gugarle sound rumbled from its mouth, and neon green blood was sparse over Snorri. The shayman let out a yell of frustration somewhere beyond his vision as Snorri span slicing at the half dozen goblins that had dared creep close to him. Snorri slashed at the first opening, a large cut from the goblin's shoulder to its thigh, sending bone armour shattering. He spanked and stabbed into the second chest, wrenching his sword free to strike the third.
Snorri dived forward instinctively as he heard a heavy wooden club swing towards his head from behind. Snorri threw his sword towards the goblin with all his might and momentum, and he sprang back to his feet. It caught the goblin in between its ribs, sending the creature body exploding as his sword punctured both through and then back through the goblin's body, pulled back into Snorri's hand by its magical chain. As he finished dispatching the second-to-last goblin, he sprang to see his final opponent sprinting back towards the dancing circle of goblins and the shayman. Snorri tore him down with a sword.
As he pulled his blade back towards him, he finally noticed the shayman had jumped down from the table. Apparently, some time during the earlier fighting, the dancing goblins had changed their jerky dance routine. No longer did twenty-five goblins dance around their exalted shaman on his table. Now, thirteen pairs of goblins span the table in pairs. “Stop them.” Arracop’s voice came into his head. “You must do it fast. Do it now!” the spider almost screamed at him. Snorri broke into a sprint towards the bicycle. As he reached the halfway point, he was vaguely aware of the shaman yelling "NOW.”
Twelve of the goblin warriors joined the shayman in a well-practiced routine. Each of them slipped a sharp knife from the sheaths on the goblish belts. Quickly slicing each of their partner’s throats. “Now get it!” screamed the shayman. The twelve of his remaining warriors charged towards Snorri as the blood of their sacrificed comrade began to pool in a neon green puddle at the shayman's feet. Snorri flew into the oncoming goblins. Their slow, heavy clubs made them too cumbersome to be effective against him. as he thought he was vaguely aware of the green fire ball beginning to grow around the shayman as it chanted something inaudibly in goblish. As he cut through the last of the remaining bone-armoured goblins, Snorri saw several green fireballs sail away from the shayman. He raised his sword in a vague guard, unsure whether he would be able to block such an attack, but the fireballs sailed high over his head. “You missed,” Snorri spat on the floor, unsure whether he had spoken in gnomish or goblish.
The shayman smiled a predatory smile and shook its head, pointed behind Snorri. Snorri looked behind him. High in the pile of dead gnomes, the shayman had spent days gathering something. A tiny gnomish form began to pull itself from the mountain of corpses. Snorri’s eyes widened with horror. and the corpses of his community began to stir.