Skree had been right: the entire enterprise spiraled quickly out of control. It had started simply enough: speaking to the families of Anx’s friends, explaining that they were leaving, had a destination in mind, and a way to make that place livable. From there word had spread among the goblins like wildfire, and soon there was a whole gathering in what one might charitably call a ‘town square’ .
Now Sigrid found herself looking out at hundreds of goblins, possibly as many as a thousand, all talking in low and hushed voices as a group of older, but by no means elderly, goblins moved to the front of the crowd. One of them, in a drab but well cared for dress, raised her hands and the crowd began to quiet out of respect for the trio.
“Goblins of Brightwater, we have convened the Council of Clans to speak on the rumor of an Exodus to the ruins of Gritmere, where a new city might be erected for our people. I can firmly say, at this time, that no such plans are in the works, and even if they were, they would not be put into practice this night. We understand that this idea was sparked by Skree Clanless and a human woman he’s been seen with recently, and they will be sternly dealt with,” she explained, shooting a look at Sigrid and Skree. “For now we should all return to our homes, and get some sleep, as tomorrow dawns bright and early, bringing another day of work.”
The murmuring began to start up again, and people moved as if to leave. Sigrid knew that if she didn’t say something now the opportunity would be lost. But what to say, and how?
With a thought she reached out to the goblin woman, finding the links that led from her to now dead ancestors, and a single link leading downstream to a still as of yet unborn child. With a stretch of her powers, the names were hers.
“En, daughter of Esh, daughter of Atrash, daughter of Mul, Daughter of Jahi; you are wrong on at least two accounts,” she began, startling the goblin speaker as she called out not only her name, but the names of her ancestors. “The first is that Skree is not clanless, he and his sister Anx are now of Clan Hall, and shall be treated as scions there of. The second is that there will be no stern dealings, for we will not be here for them.” As she’d hoped, those who’d been about to disperse had stopped, eager to watch what might become an unfolding drama.
En scowled, but Sigrid didn’t give her a moment to respond. “Today I arrived to find Skree beset by three men, a ‘businessman’ and his two goons. Their aims and motives were clear, to steal away his sister and keep her in confinement and servitude, slavery by any other name. While I was able to drive them off, do you think for a moment they will not be back?”
The goblin opened her mouth to reply but the grandmother rolled right on. “No, they will return, and in greater numbers, if not tonight, then tomorrow or the next day. They will bring enough men or women that they cannot be driven off, they will kill or maim those who oppose them, and they will take what they want.” She paused then, locking eyes with the previous speaker, who opened her mouth, but couldn’t seem to find the right words to say in that moment.
“How many have already been lost?” Sigrid asked, voice ringing in the silence as she outlined the situation. “How many more lives will be torn apart by men like Linus Earlminster before you decide: enough is enough? How many more times will you let this happen? How long will you let questions like ‘where will we go’ and ‘what will we do’ paralyze you while your friends, cousins, daughters, sons, brothers, and sisters are kidnapped and enslaved? As I said to Skree earlier. If you stay here you will lose everything eventually. But if you leave, you only may lose everything.”
Seeing that their companion was at a loss for words, one of the other three council members spoke up. “And who are you?” he asked. “You come in here with pretty words and hard questions, truths perhaps, even if they are ones we don’t want to hear. Who are you to make the promise of a safe haven at journey’s end? Of a home and hearth? Of food to feed us and places to lay our heads? And why should the name Hall mean anything to us?”
The grandmother’s eyes slid to the speaker, taking in his stocky frame, brown canvas clothes and calloused hands. Once more she reached out with her new found senses, plucking names from the aether. “Oict, son of Bhult, daughter of Isxee, daughter of Oitma, daughter of Beal. I am Sigrid of Clan Hall, the Grandmother Goddess. And I can offer only that which a grandmother can give. Home, hearth, food, warmth, and a place to sleep are things we may find, though I cannot give absolutes. I can promise you this: at the end of the road you will find the [Inheritance of Goblin Grandmothers], though I cannot say what form that will take.”
The third member of the council scoffed. “Grandmother Goddess indeed. All you humans are alike, think we’re ignorant savages who cannot tell the difference between a mage and a god. So you can pull our names and heritages out of thin air—that’s a parlor trick, a party amusement. If you are a goddess, prove it, and then maybe, maybe, we’d consider some of what you say,” he proclaimed.
Sigrid sighed. She had been hoping he wouldn’t ask for that, though she knew it’d be a forlorn hope. Still, while people had been gathering she hadn’t been idle. Planning for this event, she’d already figured out how to spend her [Divinity] if it should come to it.
Stepping forward, she approached the three and held forth her hand, intoning three simple words that she’d chosen well before hand. “[Counsel of Grandmothers].”
Instantly she felt [Divinity] pouring out of her like water, nearly emptying her reserves in a single go as the number of people standing in the shanty-town center suddenly tripled, with two or more ghostly female spectors appearing for almost every living goblin that stood in attendance.
Shouts of surprise, alarm, and consternation could be heard, but they were quickly shushed and silenced by the elderly relatives that had, for this moment, been called back from beyond the veil. As the surprise and brief bouts of terror calmed, many began to take on a look of wonder as they gazed at relatives long past, and for many tears flowed freely as they encountered either once more, or for the first time, people lost to them.
The last speaker, El, grandson of both Gihn and Coh stared at his two ghostly relatives for a few moments before looking to Sigrid. “How long?” he asked hoarsely.
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“I don’t know, best make it count,” she replied tiredly, the loss of so much [Divinity], around eighty points, all at once having taken a physical toll.
Turning back to his grandparents, the goblin swallowed thickly and fell into murmured conversation, as had almost all those present.
Sigrid turned back toward Skree and Anx, to see both staring at a pair of elderly goblins who were gazing back with fondness. Neither group was speaking, and Sigrid made her way over to them. As she approached the two elders raised their gaze to meet hers, and they nodded.
“We greet you, Sigrid of Clan Hall. And we thank you for making our grandchildren no longer Clanless,” said the first of the duo.
“We see you, Sigrid of Clan Hall. And we allow you to join our ranks; our grandchildren are your grandchildren,” said the second, and then both bowed low before turning back to the two grandchildren. “Please,” the second continued. “Let us have some time with them. You will have more than a little in the days to come.”
Sigrid nodded and backed away, isolating herself from the conversations and peoples around her.
The power of [Divinity], it seemed, should not be underestimated, for the apparitions lasted an entire hour before, one by one, they faded and winked out, leaving teary eyes and aching hearts in their wake; after that it was almost another hour and finally well into the night before people had calmed enough for order to be reinstated.
“Sigrid of clan hall, Grandmother Goddess,” said El. “I do not know if you have cursed us or blessed us this night. You are either the most powerful sorceress to walk the face of our world, or truely the goddess you claim to be; in either case I think none can gainsay your power. But what you ask of us… two hundred miles, even though it’s over paved roads and flat terrain most of the way. I fear not all of us would make it. More, we have not the supplies for such a journey, nor the money to obtain them.”
“What would you suggest then?” Sigrid asked. “When will the time be right? When will you have the money? The supplies? The fitness and health?”
The three council members looked at her and then each other.
“Never,” said En, finally. “We all know they keep us poor so that we’ll do anything they ask; they give us the lowest jobs, for lower pay and we’re happy to have them because it means living one more day. They don’t want us here, but even less do they want us leaving.” There was anger in her voice, and indignation.
“Then we leave anyway,” said Oict decisively. “I don’t know what your grandmother’s said to you, but I can tell you that mine told me to leave. Yeah, some of us are going to die; hells, we might all die, but is life worth living like this?” he spread his arms at the town around them. “We’re the lowest of the low. We work their farms, clean their sewers, load their wagons and ships. And what do we get? A few coppers a week, barely enough to survive as is. And when they want one of us, they take us.”
El closed his eyes but nodded his head. “One of my grandmothers said something to the point of ‘life is to be more than just lived’, I think in striving to just live we’ve forgotten that. We must reach for more or we will never attain it. I vote we leave. What say you En?”
The only female member of the council gave a heavy sigh but nodded. “As my own grandmothers just reminded me, nothing comes without sacrifice. I merely hope the sacrifice isn’t our people. I too agree.”
The three looked at each other for a moment longer, and then turned to look at the waiting audience. En stepped forward. “I, En of Clan Svis will take my clan and follow the Grandmother Goddess to Gritmere; while I cannot force compliance, those who do not come with will be cast out and become clanless.”
El moved to stand beside En. “I, El of Clan Wig will take my clan and follow the Grandmother Goddess to Gritmere; while I cannot force compliance, those who do not come with will be cast out and become clanless.”
Finally Oict stepped forward. “I, Oict of Clan Struz will take my clan and follow the Grandmother Goddess to Gritmere; while I cannot force compliance, those who do not come with will be cast out and become clanless.”
Silence reigned in the square for several moments, and then En spoke once more. “I know the hour is late, but the members of Clan Hall are endangered. We will leave in two hours. Return to your home and pack. Take only what you need, bring what food and water skins you have.”
With those words the murmurs and talk started up, even as people rushed to disperse, headed for the small shacks and shanties they called home, children in tow.
Sigrid watched as they flowed out of the square and down the streets like water, then turned to her new charges. “I suppose we wait then.”
The two nodded at her, and then she paused eye the slowly blinking dot in the corner of her vision.
[Divine Rank increased from 1 to 2.]
[New [Skill] slot unlocked.]
[New [Celebration] slot unlocked]
[New [Ritual] slot unlocked]
[Divine Skill [Counsel of Grandmothers] detected, would you like to make this a [Skill]?]
She shook her head, declining. As useful as [Counsel of Grandmothers] had been in this instance, she didn’t see it being used frequently, and if her skill slots were limited, she couldn’t just be taking whatever was offered willy-nilly.
“Anx, honey, can you tell me how many skill slots people get?” she asked the younger of her two new charges.
“Oh! That’s easy! Everyone has ten skill slots, and then you get one per level in your class!” the little goblin bounced, excited to be happy to help.
“What she’s not telling ya is that those skill slots start empty and someone has to teach ya the skills, or ya have to figure them out yaself, and if ya get a class ya can learn class skills but the same goes for them,” Skree said.
“If you get a class?” Sigrid echoed.
“Not everyone gets a class, they’re hard to unlock. Most people go their whole lives classless,” he explained.
“Do you have a class?” she asked.
“Nah, just a little charm knowledge, lets me make a few magic knickknacks. Nothin like a class. I was born with ten slots, ‘ll probably die with ten slots,” he replied, sounding mostly unperturbed.
Sigrid frowned, wondering if there was something she could do to help, but decided to let the matter be for the moment.