Willow ushered the gremlins towards the old man. Klaw sneered at him.
“A human? Really? You can’t trust us with a human!” Daggat practically screamed. The old man frowned. Willow moved to a knee in front of him.
“He’s the good sort, alright. Humans are not your problem right now, it’s the head takers. Got it?”
“But…”
“It will only be for a few weeks. Look, Daggat, I know you don’t trust us. But I said I’d take care of you, and that’s what I will do.” Daggat muled that over. Then he tossed a glare at the old man.
“So, who are you?” Daggat demanded. The old man laughed heartily.
“Oh, you ARE a gremlin, aren’t you. I will add manors learning to the list of chores then.”
“Just tell us your name, old man.” Klaw had regained his spirit, and was using it to full effect.
“Very well, I suppose it would be rude to not introduce myself properly,” he cleared his throat, then puffed out his chest. “I am Calion, Sage of the Four Sage Court and master of this domain. The cat’s name is Birdy.” Daggat eyed him suspiciously. Anyone could have a fancy tittle. Daggat might as well start calling himself Daggat the wise, or Daggat, Lord of the Gullible. He liked the sounds of those, actually. Willow patted him on the back. He was only a hair taller than the humans waist.
“Thank you, again, Calion. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Be careful, they can be a handful. Don’t let them run off, either. There’s some wargs out for them.”
“No problem at all, my friend. Just, next time you swing by, bring a basket or two of fist. Birdy get’s hungry.” His eyes crinkled into a smile as he laughed. “This time of year I could use a few pairs of hands.” Willow took a knee in front of the gremlins again.
“Ok, kids-”
“Stop calling us kids! We are almost six years old.”
“Just… listen. I don’t know what it was like at your old camp, but here, you listen to your elders. Do whatever he says. I will be back.”
“Why would we do what YOU say? You attacked us!” Klaw flexed his claws.
“I know you are scared.” Klaw looked offended. “But, this is what is best for you. There are more than just wargs out there, if you try to leave, something will get you. They won’t be as friendly as us.”
“Relax, Willow.” Daggat said, a tad too friendly. “We will behave. Now, shoo.” Willow sighed, thanked Calion again, then headed back towards his companions. Ivory was waving good buy enthusiastically.
“Well, now that good buys are out of the way, shall we go in?”
The interior of the cabin was warm and smelled of baked bread. A small hearth sat, coals still smoldering slightly, at one end of the room. Dried vegetables hung from the walls, as well as other trinkets scattered about. Carvings, colorful stones, glassware, and books. A small hall led into other rooms. A sizable kitchen was visible, stocked full of food.
Daggat met Klaw’s eyes. Each shared a glint of greed and grinned at one another.
“Now, what are your names?”
“Klaw.”
“Take a guess.”
“Daggat, Klaw, I understand you’ve had a rough couple of days. So…” He looked them up and down, then wrinkled his nose. “Let’s start with a bath and some clean clothes. Luckily, I have something that might fit you both… somewhere.” The gremlins dashed away.
“What are these thingies for?” Daggat asked as he picked up object after object.
“Hold on, don’t just pick up-” There was the sound of shattering porcelain from the kitchen. Calion worriedly looked in. Klaw had knocked over a bowl of sweets and was eating them.
“What are these. They are AMAZING!” He said, mouth full of sugary delights.
“Oh dear, just hold on-”
“Hey! Old man, you said there was someone else here, where they at?”
“She’s resting let’s try not to make too much noise please…” He went to separate Klaw from the sweets, but Klaw was gone. He found him standing on the table, eying Birdy who was now perched on the open window. Drool dripped off his chin. “Wait! Don’t try to eat BIRDY! Crazy gremlin!”
Klaw leapt, claws extended. The flying cat effortless hopped off his head and flew to the top of a cupboard.
“What’s in these books, do you know?” Daggat was flipping through book after book, but the old man ran outside. A moment latter, he brought in a struggling Klaw. He held him from the back of the neck far from his body, as one would a feral cat.
Then he walked over and picked up Daggat the same way.
“Now, listen here, children. I can appreciate you come from a barbaric goblin camp, but here, we use manners and follow RULES.” Daggat stopped struggling after a moment. Klaw kept swinging his one good hand wildly.
“Rule one. NO EATING BIRDY! Ok?” Klaw growled, but eventually relented. “Rule two. You do as I say. Rule three. You ask for permission before taking anything. Rule four. Don’t make a mess. Very simple rules.”
“Ok… but what if we break them?”
“Then you won’t get any supper.” Klaw’s face contorted as he thought.
“But we can just… take supper whenever. That room is full of it.”
“You need permission to eat that food.” Daggat and Klaw shared a look.
“We don’t follow. I think you are misunderstanding a basic fundamental issue. We. Can. Just. Take. it.”
“What stopped you from taking other peoples food at your old home then?”
“They were bigger than us, right Maggat?” Daggat nodded.
“I am bigger than you!”
“Yeah… but you’re OLD. Shouldn’t you be napping or something?” A door slowly opened.
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“Zuss…” Klaw whispered in disbelief. Daggat glanced to the door in time to see a gremlin, face covered in yellowed bandages, run back the way she came.
A short time latter, the gremlins calmed down. Klaw had even let Calion splint his wrist. Daggat was dazed. His relief battled an overwhelming guilt. They had left her behind. It wasn’t Daggat’s fault. Klaw was the one carrying her! But, still…
“I found her on a walk. I take very long walks, you see. Poor thing, she hasn’t been able to tell me what happened.”
“It was a drake… we killed it though.” Calion’s eyebrows rose.
“Impressive. Is she from your tribe?”
“Our sister.”
“Oh dear. Dear, dear. Well. I won’t pry into why she was alone. It is serendipitous that you came here.”
“Were there wargs around when you found her?”
“No. There were tracks, though. Wargs tend to chase fear. A meal that can’t experience the terror of being eaten alive is a poor one, to monsters such as those.” Daggat and Klaw sat in silence for a moment. Calion laughed awkwardly. “Well, how about that bath, then?”
“Don’t put your hands on me again you-” His claws rose in defense.
“Klaw! He saved Zuss. Let’s… humor him, at least.” Klaw relented.
The bath was a large metal tub filled with water heated by Calion. The two gremlins fought their instincts to run or lash out as Calion bathed them. Daggat found the experience rather soothing. The warm water, the feeling of years of grime and mud melting away, and the sweet scents of soap. Luxury.
In the end, Calion had to change the water twice.
“This is just… wonderful, Klaw. Don’t you agree?” He smelled his new shirt, savoring the smell of scented soap. He brushed a hand through his tufts of hair. They were soft and smooth. Klaw shook like a wet cat. Dozens of small sores through Daggat’s body were now open to the air and stung, but it was as though he could feel his body recovering from goblin life.
“It’s not natural. Not right. I smell like prey! We need to take Zuss and get out of here.” His eyes darted around the room as if to spot a lurking warg.
“You smell like a scented candle.”
“EVEN WORSE!”
“We will leave, soon.”
That night Calion served them roast potatoes and stewed mutton gravy. It was warm and flavorful. Each gremlin ate two servings.
“How about we wait until your wrist heals up first? That seems the smartest move.” Klaw nodded his agreement, mouth full of delicious food. Zuss did not join their meal. She was fed by Calion, spooning her thin soup between her bandages. Daggat could almost feel her presence in the guest room. A palpable dread. Would she even want to see them?
After the meal, Calion invited them to sit by the fire. As fall continued towards winter, it was getting colder and colder. The fire was a comfort. The sage sat on a rocking chair and lit a pipe. The smoke smelled of cherries and woodsmoke.
“So, you’ve got a whole lot of stuff.” Daggat sat on the floor next to Klaw, who had his feet propped next to the fire. “Where did you get it?”
“Oh… I grow most of the food myself. Quite good at that, if I don’t say so myself. I also am paid four times a year to publish my findings. I’ve also lived a long life… things tend to just pile up.” He shrugged.
“Publish? That sounds… fascinating. What are your findings?”
“Curiosity suits you, Daggat. Wear it proud.” He puffed his pipe. “I am a sage. That is a tittle given to certain system researchers.” Daggat jumped to his feet.
“You know about the system?!”
“Of course! Though, my focus is more… niche. You see, Sages are paid to do the things others are not willing to. We take risks, and publish the results.”
“What kind of risks?” Birdy hopped down from Calion’s lap and sauntered over to Klaw. Klaw tried to shoo it away.
“Most people tend to follow a path or-”
“What’s a path?” Calion sighed.
“Child, you must learn patients. Not all answers come immediately. Do not interrupt. ” Daggat sneered, but listened silently. “A path is a guidebook, of a sort. It lays out the decisions one should make for a certain profession or creed. Which classes to take, skills to select, which combine, what feats to accomplish, and so on. These paths are usually secretive, only passed through a family or to members of an organization.”
“I don’t think goblins have those.” Birdy hopped onto Klaw’s lap. He looked around for help, but finding none, gently patted the cat. It began to purr. Klaw looked as though a bear had curled up at his feet, rather than a cat.
“Indeed, likely not. It takes generations of experimentation to blaze out an efficient path. That is partially the job of a sage. I experiment with skills and classes others wouldn’t even think of taking. It takes a certain person. One willing to sacrifice their career and risk being useless.”
“So, what do you try, then?” He smiled fondly at Daggat.
“The mundane. I live as a hermit and freely spend my skills on gardening, sewing, cooking, and the like.”
“Why? There are monsters out there, shouldn’t you try something more… useful.” Calion chuckled.
“In my fathers time, there was war. It, like all things, ended. Thousands of young men spent their skills on combat oriented abilities exclusively. Do you know what happened when they didn’t have anything to fight?” Daggat gave this some serious thought. What would HE do in that situation.
“They formed groups of bandits and used their abilities to rob and pillage to get by.” Calion coughed as he dragged too quickly on his pipe.
“That… that’s right. To an extent. Others who were not willing to put their honor aside became beggars. Vocaunt had jobless men begging in the streets, their only skills tied to combat. Now, those who stayed home from the war, the bakers, carpenters, and such, thrived. Their skills could be used to make a living.”
“Vocaunt?”
“Oh, a city. It’s not important.” He waved his hand in dismissal. Birdy rolled over on its back. Klaw was battling with himself as to pet the cat or to flee. “The important thing is, I decided to dedicate my life to LIFE.”
“You mean you focus in… chores?” Calion laughed heartily.
“I suppose so, yes.” Daggat wretched. That sounded awful. “Speaking of which, we should be getting some rest. We have chores to do tomorrow.”
Daggat had not yet decided if he was going to do Calion chores or not. What was the point of faking your death and running away from your dick of a boss if you had to do CHORES? But, the old man seemed to know a lot about the system. Maybe he would be able to tell him about alchemy, or teach him how to read his book?
The cottage had a guest room, which Zuss was holed up in. There was a second bed that Daggat and Klaw could use, however.
The three of them stood outside the door. Apprehension was visible on Daggat and Klaw’s face.
“I don’t know what’s going on between you three. But, you will have to face her sometime.”
“Yeah… but. She might hate us. FUCK! Why is this difficult? It’s just Zuss.” Calion frowned at Klaw’s language, but said nothing.
Wordlessly, Daggat opened the door. It was dark. There was a strong scent of fat, oil and medicinal herbs. Zuss was curled on a bed, blanket wrapped around her.
“Uh… hello Zuss.” There was a sharp intake of breath from the bed. “I’m glad you made it through!” She curled up tighter, retreating deeper into her nest of blankets. Calion gave them a sympathetic look.
The gremlins creped into the room. It was clear Zuss did not want to talk, so they scampered into the second bed.
It was soft and inviting. But, there was something off about it. Daggat had grown used to curling up with his siblings every night. He was lulled to sleep by Glut’s snores. Even the occasional jab of Klaw’s foot was a comforting reminder he wasn’t alone. Now, it was just Daggat and Klaw. Zuss’s presence was distraction, not a comfort. She felt farther away than just on the other side of the room.
“I miss Glut.” Klaw whispered. The bed was warm. Too warm. Too soft. It should have been a comfort. It wasn’t.
“Me too, Klaw.” Daggat snuggled into the blankets. “Me too.”
Daggat
True Name: Daggat
Soul: Monster
Genseed: gremlin
Monster Level: 4
Attributes [0]:
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 7
Constitution: 7
Intelligence: 16
Will: 6
Charm: 7
Feats:
Encounter: True Angel
Act: Fledgling Alchemist
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Ability: Mighty Intellect
Skills[1]:
Alchemy: 1
System Aptitude: 1
Biotraits [0]:
Base size: Tiny
Regenerative Teeth
Enhanced Night Vision
Rot Resistance
Dominating Gaze*
Other:
Variant: +10 Intelligence
Klaw
True Name: Klaw
Soul: Monster
Genseed: gremlin
Monster Level: 3
Attributes [0]:
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 5
Intelligence: 4
Will: 5
Charm: 5
Feats:
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Skills[0]:
System Aptitude: 1
Biotraits [0]:
Base size: Tiny
Regenerative Teeth
Enhanced Night Vision
Rot Resistance
Forged Claws*
Zuss
True Name: Zuss
Soul: Monster
Genseed: gremlin
Monster Level: 3
Attributes [0]:
Strength: 5
Dexterity: 8
Constitution: 5
Intelligence: 4
Will: 5
Charm: 5
Feats:
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Skills[0]:
System Aptitude: 1
Biotraits [0]:
Base size: Tiny
Regenerative Teeth
Enhanced Night Vision
Rot Resistance
Improved nerve conduction
Improved Balance