By the time the sun crested the horizon the next day the goblin exodus was well underway and they’d made maybe as many as six miles of travel. In truth, that was more speed than Sigrid had expected or hoped for, but she also knew that it wouldn’t be a sustainable pace. As the day wore on, people would become footsore and weary; blistered feet, hunger, thirst, possibly even heat stroke would slow the group down. She would be surprised if they made more than another five miles today, and any more than five tomorrow or the day after. All together it was likely to take at least twenty days to reach their destination, perhaps as much as a whole month.

As she walked beside Anx and Skree, she worried at her lower lip, considering the problem. She couldn’t just magic up a portal; that wasn’t a grandmother thing. Oh visits to grandma, or from grandma, were a thing, but they were almost always by strictly ordinary means. Perhaps if they were coming to her she could use some power to speed up or smooth out their trip, but they weren’t. So what could she do?

“Skree, do you know any plants that can be made into poultices for wounds or blisters? Or maybe know an herbalist or alchemist among the clans?” she asked.

Skree shrugged. “Most everyone knows a little [Herb Lore]. Think we’re going to need some?” he asked.

“I think we’re going to need a lot. We’re also going to need any food that can be scavenged along the way. It looks like we’ll be leaving the fields soon and heading into the more forested areas. Would you be a dear and get some of the faster and stronger of your friends then go ahead and collect food and healing herbs?” she inquired.

Skree nodded. “Don’t know as I have many friends, but I know some people, and they probably know more. We’ll get it done.” He then looked down at Anx. “Ya gonna be okay if I’m gone fer a bit?”

“Ya, grammy is here, an ‘s just walkin,” the young girl replied.

Skree nodded, then shared a look with Sigrid before he pushed further into the mass of goblinity.

With that taken care of, the grandmother glanced behind her, toward the city they’d just left behind. While it was growing distant, it’d be wrong to say that it was far away yet, and she was sure the people thereof wouldn’t let them go this easily.

For the rest of the day Sigrid and Anx walked among the people of the column, giving words of [Encourage]ment and advice. Thanks in part to the powerful skill the goblins were able to push that little bit further, go that tad bit longer. And by the time they set up camp for the evening they’d made a good ten miles from the city and two miles from the nearest outlying village, however everyone was exhausted from the long night and day of walking.

As they set about putting out what few blankets, tarps, and bedrolls were among them Skree returned with a large group of younger goblins, carrying bags filled with wild mushrooms, berries, nuts, and even some small game, which they began to distribute to the weary travelers; though it was clear it wouldn’t be near enough and would barely impact their already meager food stores.

As the food was distributed, the group of gatherers approached Sigrid and put down several bags of herby greens.

“Hope you know what to do with this stuff,” Skree said. “Know you can chew it up and then put the paste on small cuts and bruises, not much else though.”

Sigrid nodded and looked to the gathered youngsters. “We’ll deal with this after you eat; remember that [Family Meals are a Sacred Affair], and go be with yours,” she intoned. As she’d hoped, declaring it made it so.

[Ritual of the Grandmother Goddess created: [Family Meal].]

[You have one [Ritual] slot remaining.]

The youngsters dispersed, and in a few moments she could feel a trickle of divinity flowing in from the groups of goblins huddled together sharing their meager meals. It wasn’t much divinity per group, but as she’d noticed the night before, there were almost a thousand goblins all told, and she was a very minor deity yet; it would add up quickly.

Perhaps an hour later the youths returned, gathering about her in a semi-circle and looking expectantly.

“Alright, here goes,” she muttered under her breath, then spoke more loudly and clearly. “[Wisdom of our Grandmothers],” she intoned, thinking of all the stories of wise old females who knew the lore of plants, animals, and the alchemy thereof. Divinity flowed out of her once more, taking the full hundred and a half that she’d regenerated from the evening meal. The result however, was immediate as cries of shock and jubilation could be heard from among the gathered goblins.

Skree looked at her wide eyed. “You can grant skills?!” he asked incredulously.

Sigrid smiled tiredly. “It seems so. Though I doubt everyone got the same skills, I’d guess you all gained some variation of an alchemy based skill?”

Her tentative grandson nodded slowly. “Advanced Herbalism,” he admitted. “It lets me make poultices, pastes, and tinctures with various effects.” He looked down at the plants they’d gathered with new eyes, then around at the other goblins. “Well? These aren’t going to deal with themselves.”

That comment opened the floodgates as everyone gathered around, grabbing up fistfuls of herbs and running off to prepare what they could.

“It’s not going to be a lot,” Skree commented, even as he picked up his own batch. “This part of the woods is so close to the city all we could find were immature plants and a few stragglers.”

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“It’ll have to be enough,” Sigrid said. “Once they’re made, dispense the healing ones to those with the worst blisters, then to those with the worst chronic pains. Minor aches and pains can come after that. Keep any stamina enhancing tinctures in reserve, we’ll add them to tomorrow’s midday meals.”

“If we have a midday meal,” Skree muttered.

“We will,” Sigrid said more confidently than she felt.

[Divine Skill [Wisdom of our Grandmothers] detected, would you like to make this a [Skill]?]

[Divine Skill [Wisdom of our Grandmothers] added as a [Skill].]

—

Night fell swiftly and the goblins fell into fitful sleep, though they didn’t neglect to set watches. Sigrid, not needing any sleep of her own, stayed vigilant through the wee hours even as she contemplated what else she could do. There were stories she could draw on, archetypes she could use, but some of them were quite the stretch, and divinity was proving dear.

Dawn broke with the whinnying of horses, as a small platoon of soldiers came down the road. They stopped their horses some twenty yards from where the goblins had camped, and the lead rider dismounted and walked forward. Sigrid stood from the log she’d been sitting on and watched as El, En, and Oict all moved to greet the man.

“Guard Commander Taylor, it’s odd to see you so far from the city,” El began.

“Well, it’s odd to have a civil disturbance this far from the city,” the guard commander replied.

The three goblins looked uneasy at that reply. “Civil disturbance?” En asked. “Is there something on the road we should be wary of?”

“Well,” the commander said, not bothering to hide his contempt. “It seems an upstanding citizen tried to adopt a goblin girl yesterday and was beaten and run off. Then, all you lot got up and just walked away from your sorely needed jobs and duties. The city is in an uproar and things have ground to a halt. All over some gizzblit that could’ve been given a much better life.”

Sigrid didn’t know what the word ‘gizzblit’ meant, but by the looks on the trio’s faces, it was bad, the fact that she was certain it referred to her newest granddaughter made it worse, but she didn’t interfere; not yet.

“It seems there’s been a misunderstanding Commander, we’ve decided that Brightwater is no longer suitable to our needs as clans, and have decided to move on. It has nothing to do with the supposed incident which you have mentioned,” Oict lied smoothly.

“Whether it has anything to do with the incident I am assured happened, there’s some debate as to whether you have the right to leave like this,” the man stated. “You know goblin clans aren’t allowed to act independently inside the borders of the city states of Thrak, so unless you intend to move your clans over a hundred and fifty miles you’ll be in breach of the law.”

“As a matter of fact, we intend to move around three hundred miles away,” Oict lied again. Sigrid approved; there was no reason to give this detestable excuse for a human the location to which they were headed.

“Be that as it may, I’m afraid there’s still the matter of a fleeing workforce. As upstanding citizens of Brightwater, your duty is to work hard for the good of all. So why don’t we put this whole thing behind us; you can turn this little convoy around, and we can all head back to the city?”

“I’m afraid that won’t be happening Commander,” En spoke this time. “Our best wishes to the city, but we are no longer citizens of Brightwater, and we seek to be on our way.”

“I suggest you think very carefully on that,” Taylor said. “Iffn you’re not citizens, you might just be mistaken for an invading force. In which case things might get… ugly.”

Sigrid frowned. The commander and his troopers clearly weren’t going to take no for an answer, and while the goblins could maybe fight off these men, they’d surely take losses, and it’d only provoke a stronger response. No, the end result would be genocide or enslavement. She had to do something, but what?

Think Sigrid, she admonished herself. What could she do that would change this situation? There had to be something. She tugged at the cords of love between the guards and their grandmothers, but she found those women would likely have as little compassion as their grandchildren for the goblin’s plight. There was nothing there to work with.

The silence between the commander and the goblin trio had grown long and tense, neither side willing to give. She had to do something now! What good was being a goddess if she couldn’t-

“[Divine Intervention],” she heard herself mutter, even as the idea came to her. The last fifty points of her divinity poured out of her as she performed an act that was technically godly, though also technically outside her domain.

Suddenly Sigrid was in two places at once. Standing in the background of the goblin camp, an unnoticed or ignored watcher, even as a much more resplendent version of herself descended from the heavens in a beam of light that divided the two parties.

Both the guard captain and the goblins took a step back, leaving ample room for what she now realized was an oversized avatar to take up residence. Though correctly proportioned, the figure stood easily eight feet tall, clad in a modest forest-green dress and a lighter, paler green shawl wrapped around her shoulders and head, covering her spun-silver hair. The apparition gazed down at the commander like a woman who’d found a bug in her flour.

“Commander Taylor, son of Ellana, Daughter of Terry, Daughter of Lisbet, Daughter of Rachel. Why do you disturb these supplicants in their [Holy Pilgrimage]?” the avatar asked, voice strong and booming.

“I-I…” he stumbled and stammered. “Th-the council of Brightwater, they-they said bring the-the goblins back. I’m just doing m-my job!”

“Just doing your job,” the voice dripped vitriol. “A phrase cowardly men hide behind. Your grandmothers would be ashamed. KNOW THIS TAYLOR GRANDSON OF TERRY AND HARRIET. I AM SIGRID OF CLAN HALL, THE GRANDMOTHER GODDESS, AND I HAVE SEEN YOU. Return from whence you came. Tell your council to interfere not with the [Holy Pilgrimage] of these people, lest I curse that grandmothers of Brightwater unto the tenth generation,” the avatar proclaimed.

Taylor nodded rapidly, scrambling back from the irate, shining avatar until he bumped into his horse. With shaking hands he mounted, turned, and urged his column of frightened men and women back the way they came.

As the group galloped away, the avatar turned on the three goblins. “En, El, and Oict. I bless you and your mission. This is no mere convoy, but my [Holy Pilgrimage] to the place of your grandmothers. Let it be known to any that might bar your path, and my light shall shine forth with the truth of your words.”

The three goblins knelt and nodded, then the avatar slowly faded from view, its light dimming, returning the forest to only the burgeoning light of day.

Sigrid slumped to the log from which she’d stood. She’d never fully run herself out of divinity before and hadn’t realized it’d be so draining. Today was going to be a long day.

[Divine Rank increased from 2 to 3.]

[New [Skill] slot unlocked.]

[New [Celebration] slot unlocked]

[New [Ritual] slot unlocked]