The next few days, the gremlins put their newfound growth to the test. Each of them outperformed their peers… slightly. Klaw found it easier to get at the really caked on grease. Zuss practically danced her way through the rushing gremlins. Even Glut seemed more confident.
At night, they gathered as much food as possible. This was where Zuss really shone. She lurked above, snatching anything left untended. Even after feasting, they amassed a hoard of morsels. But, it wasn’t enough. Not yet. Any food that could last, he kept. Dried meats, sturdy crackers, hunks of cheeses, and the like.
For a whole week, Daggat hoarded the food. When he had enough to feed a small village, to his estimation, he enacted his plan.
He found Hudd first.
“Hudd, my friend.” His sharp teeth glinted in the firelight.
“Da- Daggat! I ain’t heard nothing lately. Sorry, please don’t be mad.”
“Relax, relax. Don’t worry about that. Say, you look hungry.”
“It’s harder to find good snacks.” He agreed, carefully. Daggat held out a cut of dried meat the size of his hand. Hudd looked at it with greed in his eyes and saliva in his jaws.
“Take it.” Hudd hesitated.
“What’s the catch?” Nothing is free. Gremlins only survive from what they can take.
“No catch. Just remember who gave it to you. I’ve got plenty.” Daggat’s grin nearly reached his ears. Hudd snatched the morsel. Two other gremlins, part of Hudd’s group, shuffled closer. “Don’t worry, I have plenty to share.” He held a hand behind him, where Glut placed two more morsels. Daggat gave them to the other gremlins. He laughed to himself while they scarfed down the meals.
Daggat did the same to several other gremlin groups. Usually in secret, he didn’t want the goblins to catch on. While goblins WERE foolish creatures, the chance that one would notice an upcoming boss was not worth the risk. Daggat and Glut handed out the food, which Klaw and Zuss did their tasks. They were to take what they could and, more importantly, keep food from the other gremlins. Zuss was better at this than Klaw, who simply tried to take it. She lured goblins towards Gremlins who had bottles of ale or fresh meat, so they would take it for themselves, or she would rummage around the hidden places, finding stashes of goods that other gremlins or goblins had made.
On the third day of these tactics, the second opportunity had finally presented itself.
He had just given a fresh fruit to a hungry customer, when a rather large gremlin crept towards him. He stood a full three inches taller than Daggat, which, to the scale of gremlins, was substantial. He had noticed this stalker before and purposefully handed out food in it’s line of sight.
He gave him a large, toothy smile. “Hello… friend.” Daggat said, a slight air of menace to the voice.
“Give me food too.” It demanded.
“No.” Daggat’s smile didn’t fade. He whispered it so it could only be heard by the two of them. The gremlin shoved his nose into Daggat’s face. Glut shifted his weight nervously.
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me, but maybe I used too big of a word.” The gremlins eye twitched. He turned away. Good, now all Daggat had to do was activate hypnotic gaze and-
BAM!
The gremlin quickly punched him full force in the face. Daggat staggered back, ears ringing from the blow. His constitution was greater than the enemies strength, so he didn’t suffer any real damage. But it hurt, a lot.
Daggat snarled and turned to fight. It wasn’t the plan, but he wouldn’t back down. Before he could act, however, there was a gremlin shriek of rage. Glut grabbed the gremlin and lifted him over his head. Glut’s face was twisted with furry. Daggat even stepped back from the display. He didn’t mistake Glut for Klaw, did he?
With a grunt, Glut slammed the gremlin to the ground. Air left the victims lungs and it wretched in pain while trying to breath in a gasp. Glut looked up with an embarrassed look on his face. Not even Glut had known he could do that.
The show had drawn the gaze of several nearby gremlins. Generally, gremlin milled about away from goblins, so for now their audience was only gremlins. Daggat acted fast, taking advantage of the situation.
He cleared his throat, and spoke aloud to the crowd. “You see, this is what happens when you take advantage of my generosity. This wretch,” Daggat stepped on him to use as a soap box, “tried to steal more food, even after some was offered.” He activated hypnotic gaze, gathering the focus and attention of the gremlins.
“Glut is ruthless, but he is the kindest of our crew. Klaw has strength that no gremlin can posses. Zuss can be anywhere, any time. You’ve all seen it for yourselves.” They watched him in silence, utterly drawn in by his power. ”And I am their boss. But, not to worry. I can protect and strengthen you all, as I have my siblings.”
“What we gotta do?” One of the gremlins asked, almost passively. Daggat grinned.
“It is simple. Do as I say. Keep it a secret. And pay your dues.” Daggat stepped off the gremlin, and peered down at him. “You have potential, as long as you know your place.” Then he spoke to all of the group before him. “Meet with me tomorrow. Together, we can become as strong as the goblins!” Snickers and maniacal laughter filled the night.
The next few days, only a few gremlins approached Daggat. He had found himself a chair and placed it in an empty lot. Dissatisfied with the turn out, he began to prowl. He, Glut, Klaw, and Zuss simply strolled through the camp. Their newfound abilities made it easy to secure whatever food or morsel they wanted, so the nightly revelries had been easier than ever.
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Klaw and Glut clobbered anyone who was rude, in their way, or who Daggat thought looked at them funny. Those who showed deference were showered with rewards. Not only food, but trinkets and shiny things. Useless baubles that seemed to interest the gremlins, but had no real use.
Over time, gremlins came to him. They begged for food when they couldn’t find any. Offering their own trinkets, asked for protection against bullies, or came to him to ask how to become stronger. He obliged them all, though held back the secret of the system.
In months, he and his siblings lived like gremlin royalty. They always took more than they gave, so they sat upon hoards of gremlin style wealth. Countless shiny buttons, bits of polished glass, the odd coin, polished bone, and caskets of food and drink.
Klaw gained a reputation of brutality and unstoppable power. More than a few gremlins had claw scars across their faces.
Zuss grew into a mystery. A ghost who could be anywhere at any time. She had heard a few gremlins bad mouthing their crew, so she sent Klaw to deal with them. Few people risked speaking ill of Daggat any longer, for fear she was hiding in the shadows above them.
Glut’s role developed into Daggat’s personal body guard. Not so impressive as Klaw, but still always there. Always watching. He was tougher and stronger than any other gremlin, save for Klaw, so the few attacks against Daggat were smashed by Glut’s protective fury.
As for Daggat, he was the king. He adorned himself with necklaces of the prettiest treasurers and the wore the finest clothes. Life was good. It was as it should be.
However, eventually, slowly, Gobma noticed.
—
Gobma hated Daggat. It wasn’t just the slow, smoldering hatred he held for most other people, it was they way he… was always looking at things. Like he could find a treasure hidden just out of view. The gremlin noticed things like the colors of the sky, strange trees, the way goblins spoke, and more. Absorbing information like an endless sponge. He remembered things even Gobma wasn’t bothered to. Names and contradictory statements Gobma himself made. And the way he spoke… it was strange. He used big, complicated words. Spoke too quickly. Every word seemed to be an insult, but Gobma couldn’t figure out HOW it was. So he would kick him anyway, just to be safe.
Lately, Gobma started noticing other things about him. The gremlins stopped bullying him, which couldn’t have been a good sign. Not only that, they gave him the easy work, the best seats, and the most respect. He even heard them mutter “boss” around him. That prickled… Gobma was the boss. Not some gremlin. His shadows were equally strange. One had metal claws, somehow. A biotrait was impossible, they couldn’t use the system. The other scampered about like a squirrel. At least the fat one was normal. He had decided to deal with them, before things got out of hand. Unfortunately, it was against the rules to simply kill any annoying gremlins.
Gobma was waiting outside of his party leaders tent. The leader of the Brittle Blade clan, Hogo Brittleblade. Hogo had summoned his bosses, so here he was. Of the four clans, the Gobma was proud to be a member of the strongest.
After some time, another boss left then tent and threw a thumb behind him. It was Gobma’s turn.
The interior of the tent was filled with Hogo’s pipe smoke. Some rank smelling weed that gave Gobma a headache. There was a desk in the room, but it’s purpose was to store the knife collection. Dozens of knives of various shape and make were stabbed into the surface of the desk. Some couldn’t fit on top and had been shoved into the sides or at strange angles. Hogo was admiring his collection.
“Gobma… how’s things?”
“Well, I have some tro-”
“I don’t actually care, idiot.” He turned to face him, his large pipe was whittled into the shade of a skull. “Food’s getting scarce. So, I need you to hunt. Take the squad out, and make sure you bag something good.”
“Hu- HUNT?!” Gobma stammered. “That’s ogre work.”
“Ogres not an option. One went missing, Rika at the other, and the last one was killed by the human.”
“But, surely we have enough-” Hogo interrupted him by blowing smoke into his face.
“Gobma, let me tell you a bit of wisdom.” He took a drag at his pipe. “I’ve got, how many bosses?”
“There’s twelve of us. Right?” He was briefly worried one of the other bosses had been killed.
“Good job! And how many gremlins do you each got?”
“Twelve…” He mentally counted his fingers and toes.
“So if twelve bosses have twelve gremlins, how many gremlins is that?”
“A lot, sir.”
“Correct! And there are FOUR clans. Plus, for every boss, you got three or four non-boss goblins. Can you guess how many THAT is?”
“A… whole… lot?”
“Around five hundred or so gremlins. Half as many goblins... or some such.” He spoke with the confidence of one who only learned the facts recently from someone smarter.
“Really? Can’t be that many around…”
“We are a day clan. Half the tribe sleeps when we are up.” He pulled a knife from the table and judged it’s edge. “That’s a lot of food. We eat 10 deer worth per DAY and still go hungry.”
“We can take the humans food, like we always do.” Hogo waved the knife in the air. Gobma watched it with intense focus, ready to move out of it’s way.
“Nah… they are getting smart. Keeping away from us. So, the squads have to do some heavy lifting. Ogres stopped working, so Rika ate them.” Gobma blinked away from the knife. He said it so casually… but that did sound like Rika. He shivered. “Chief says each clan has to provide three deer worth of food per week. YOU gotta get me at least half a deer worth. A hog, couple chickens. Sack of squirrels, what ever. Be creative. Or not. Just get it done.”
“That’s… well, the gremlins don’t have any biotraits or nothin’. How are they going to take down a hog?”
“YOU have to get the food. Don’t care what you do with the gremlins. Hell, I’m releasing the restrictions on gremlin death. So, you are free to use them to fight. Less mouths to feed afterwards, anyway.” He chuckled. Gobma’s eyes widened. A grin creped along his face. Suddenly, he had an idea.
“One last thing, Boss. Have there been any monster sightings I should… avoid?”
Daggat
True Name: Daggat
Soul: Monster
Genseed: gremlin
Monster Level: 3
Attributes [0]:
Strength: 5
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 6
Intelligence: 15
Will: 5
Charm: 5
Feats:
Encounter: True Angel
Act: Fledgling Alchemist
Knowledge: System Knowledge
Ability: Mighty Intellect
Skills[1]:
Alchemy: 1
System Aptitude: 1
Biotraits [1]:
Base size: Tiny
Regenerative Teeth
Enhanced Night Vision
Rot Resistance
Hypnotic 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*
Glut
True Name: Glut
Soul: Monster
Genseed: gremlin
Monster Level: 3
Attributes [0]:
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 6
Constitution: 6
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
Pain Tolerance
Poisonous
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