The throne room was illuminated by the warm lights of the burning oil. Shadows of spiders projected by the flickering light danced on the walls and columns. On the obsidian-like throne sat no one else but the King of Spiders, the ruler of this Dreadful Place. He wore a beautifully crafted robe, it was blue and encrusted with emeralds. In his hand was the symbol of his power: the Devouring Spear. The tip of the spear occasionally would shimmer in the red glow as if to show that it was full of power.
By the right side of the King stood a spider on its six legs. It was no mere spider, this one was special. It wasn’t either tall or burly like the spider warriors, and it didn’t need to be because this was the Spider Advisor – a unique creature with special privileges and power. The advisor wore similar robes to the King but without the extra flourish. On the front of the robe, there was an embroidered symbol – a black hexagon with four yellow dots in the middle. In its left hand, the advisor held a thick stack of vellum sheets, no, it was a book of sorts but it was very rough and tired from all of the use it had seen.
In front of the throne, there was a kobold kneeling. He didn’t seem to be perturbed by the overwhelming aura coming from the two.
“King, I’m here to seek your help.” The Kobold Leader yapped.
“And how can I help?”
The Kobold Leader launched the epic story. He was telling all about the great achievements the Kobolds had made: about the Great Kobold Camp he had built, about many kobolds who joined his tribe, about the ever-expanding tunnels they carved and about a formidable foe they still had to defeat. In other words he was just boasting.
“So, I guess you want my help in defeating this foe of yours?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Tell me more about them.”
Deep in the mountain, there was another Kobold tribe, they were big and successful. The hostilities weren’t too bad, the two would only launch small skirmishes and there were no casualties yet.
“I see, shouldn’t we just ally with them? Well, maybe start with a ceasefire and negotiation?” He offered.
The kobold’s face scrunched into an unpleasant expression. “No, no!” He protested.
“Why is that?”
“I need to defeat them! The female chief will become my wife and the two tribes will merge.”
“Oh…” Suddenly it made more sense now. But then, wasn’t this like a third or fourth wife already, he remember sending some gifts to the kobold to congratulate his second marriage.
“King, will you help me?” The Kobold Leader looked at him with big puppy eyes. “With more kobolds we will be able to mine more ores, yes-yes.”
“I don’t think your intentions are noble but…” He paused to tease the cheeky Kobold. “I will help you.”
After all, this was a part of Kobold tradition, the way they lived, fought and prospered, and he didn’t want to push his ideals on these creatures. As long as the two tribes could merge and he will have more kobolds it was fine.
“Thank you King!” The kobold jumped to cheer the certain victory. “When will you send your spiders?”
“Spiders? No, that would be unfair. You still have to win on your own, but I will give you help.”
The kobold seemed thoughtful, the certain victory was no longer guaranteed.
“I’m sure you’ll win no problem. After all, I’ll give you an unfair advantage anyway.”
“What sort?” He asked curious.
“Weapons, armour and most importantly advice.”
“Hmm…” The kobold didn’t look assured.
“It will work you’ll see.” He assured.
…
At first, many kobolds wanted to protest the weapons, because why would they need them if they had their claws and scales, but seeing was believing.
Five hundred kobolds had gathered in one of the larger caves. Each was armed with IronOak Spear, it was light and easy to carry, also having Reinforce +3 made it so sturdy that not even the Kobold stone-rendering claw could break the shaft. The kobolds didn’t stand naked either, they wore Segmented Armour, also Reinforced +3. It was made out of spider eggshells, reminding them of their spider friends. It even gave them reputation +5 with other Kobolds and most importantly Minor Regeneration temporary perk.
The Kobold Leader was very happy to see that the Stone Spider and especially the Glowing Spider were allowed to join their ranks; the latter had precious healing abilities. Also, he knew that a Darkness Spider was lurking somewhere in the dark corners of the cave and watching their backs. The three spiders weren’t allowed to attack the hostile kobold tribe but they were here for support and that was good enough. But also, the King himself desired to come and oversee the kobolds.
The Kobold Leader ordered his troops to form an orderly formation. He did so to imitate the sight of spiders he once saw, and to please the King. It took some time and a lot of head-slapping, his kobolds weren’t quite used to this, but somehow they managed.
“Yes-yes!” He nodded happily at the stretched but tight formation. “We march now.” He directed the kobolds to a wide-sloping tunnel and they began their long and arduous march.
“Wait, we’re going up?” The King seemed confused.
“Yes, the other kobolds live higher up. It was always safer there, no Lamia to compete with.”
“Oh, I see.” The King scratched his chin in thought.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“We are much stronger now, yes-yes, we can challenge that tribe.”
“Yes!”, “Yes-yes.” The two walking beside the Kobold Leader were quick to agree.
After a while the Darkness Spider manifested out of the shadow right next to the King, it was whispering something to him.
“It seems they were expecting you, better be ready Kobold Leader. I will watch your performance and root for you, do your best.” The King tapped the top of the kobolds head and stepped back to the rear of the force.
The Kobold Leader was advised to fight defensively so that he wouldn’t kill an excessive amount of the hostile Kobolds; that advice was needless because the Kobold Leader would not intentionally hurt his future people too badly.
The kobold warriors kept advancing through the tunnel. They were at a specific point, of which the Kobold leader was wary, it was the area where the tunnels began to branch. And, yes, this was it – the hostile kobolds sprung an ambush flowing from the narrow side tunnels and attacking the Kobold Leader’s warriors from the sides. The ambushers seemed confused for a moment but they continued their attack regardless.
A glowing claw hit the spear shaft, but it held and the attacker was left dumbfounded. “He, he.” The armed kobold laughed and whacked the ambusher with the butt of his spear knocking him out.
Another Kobold was overwhelmed by two merciless attackers, they were clawing at his arms and body trying to shred him to pieces. He was wounded but the Segmented Armour did its job protecting the most important parts. The Kobold gathered the strength and thrust his short spear towards one of the attackers, skewering the bully. The other ambusher lost the advantage and decided to retreat and bully someone else. He was bleeding from his arms but Minor Regeneration was already closing the shallow wounds. He didn’t waste any time and ran to assist one of his comrades struggling like he just did moments ago.
Similar scenes repeated all over and at no surprise the ambush was thwarted and the ambushers ran away. The Kobolds cheered all over, but the Kobold Leader knew that this was only the start of the battle.
The kobolds emerged into a larger cavern, there in the middle of it there was already a sizable force gathered. They were hostile kobolds both of red and blue kind. They wore nothing and wielded nothing but their natural weapons. The Kobold Leader had fewer warriors but he knew that he still possessed an advantage.
“Blue Kobolds?” The King asked surprised.
“Yes, from the top of the mountain.” The Kobold trembled remembering the feeling. “Brrr. Too cold out there.”
The King didn’t say anything more so he gave a command. “Attack! Capture their leader.”
The kobolds ran breaking the neat formation. The King shook his head to display disappointment, but the Kobold Leader wasn’t sure what did he do wrong. That’s just how Kobolds fought. The two forces clashed and the fight devolved into a massive brawl. It was claws against the spears, where one had an overwhelming advantage against the other, or it should have been the case but… The kobolds had forgotten how to use their spears properly and were just swinging them like sticks.
The claws failed to break past the IronOak shafts or even pierce the armour. The hostile kobolds found their heads repeatedly bonked, their bodies scratched and somehow they even got bitten. The losing kobolds ran away with their tails between their legs, that, or they were knocked unconscious. However, the battle was not without serious injuries or even fatalities.
The winning side raised their hands high and began to cheer, “Yes-Yes, we won!”, again and again. They have even captured the enemy leader, who was one of the rare blue Kobolds.
The blue kobold grovelled by the Kobold Leader’s feet. “You have won, I submit.” She said without fear or shame. “Please spare my children.” She asked instead of begging.
“Your children can stay, yes-yes, but your mate…” The Kobold thought for a moment. “Is banished! Never to be seen.”
‘So, even the Kobolds have cruelties of their own’ the King observed from the sidelines not daring to interfere in ancient but admittedly barbaric customs.
“Yes-Yes, you are the Leader now.” The blue Kobold submitted. “My tribe is yours.”
“And you are my wife.”
“Eh?” The female seemed surprised.
“Why else would I banish your husband.”
“…” She didn’t have a reply for a good moment but then, “Yes-yes, that will work for me.” She stood up and grabbed the Kobold Leader’s arm.
‘I wonder if she will be as happy once she finds that she is like a fifth wife or something.’ The King wondered but decided to leave the Kobold Leader to deal with the ramifications of it.
The warriors from both sides were healed, courtesy of Glowing Spider, and everyone headed to the conquered kobold camp at a leisurely pace.
..
The camp was primitive, just like the Kobold Leader’s camp used to be, but it was big, very big. It had hundreds of burrows, nooks and crannies, all filled to the brim with kobolds. It was surprising to see so many kobolds, but also worrying.
“How do you feed so many Kobolds.” The King asked the blue kobold.
“The blues go outside into the cold, yes-yes, we hunt birds for meat, steal their eggs.”
That meant that they must be close to the mountain peak, he didn’t even realise that they ascended so high up; the tunnels can be confusing like that.
She wasn’t just yet finished. “The reds go lower, they hunt for mushrooms and centipedes. We work together, like that.”
By the looks of it there were fewer blue kobolds than red, but it didn’t look like anyone was discriminated against, it was nice to see they got along so well.
“And who are you, creature?” She asked curious.
The Kobold leader grabbed her by the muzzle. “Don’t say that!” He scolded. “That’s our King, the King of Spiders.”
She looked at two large spiders who tagged along at the back. “I see, a King…” Se spoke sceptically.
“He’s our King too, a King of Kobolds.” The Kobold Leader judged that she was slow to understand. “He’s like the leader of the leaders. Big boss to everyone.”
The realisation dawned upon her face. “Then you're not The Leader. I should marry him then.”
“No, no!” The Kobold leader protested in panic.
The King came to his aid. “No, he did defeat you fair and square and I was only a bystander. And anyway, I have a wife.”
The Kobold looked at the King with big eyes conveying the unspoken ‘Thanks, bro’.
“You can have another.” The blue kobold stood with her arms crossed.
The kobold leader waved his hands in frustration and the King had nothing to say.
“…”
Will saying no lead to a diplomatic incident? It probably would, but he didn’t need another wife and especially a kobold. So he made a good excuse, “I think my wife would eat you if she finds out, she’s a lamia.”
“A lamia!” She shouted in disbelief.
“Yeah, I know. So please join your tribes with the Kobold Leader here.”
“I guess… I will.” She grabbed the Kobold Leader’s arm pressing herself closer as if nothing had happened.
The Kobold Leader smiled finally victorious.
“We must celebrate now.” The blue kobold urged.
“Yes-yes, we must feast.”
“Then, it’s good I brought a lot of fruit as supplies.” The king began emptying his Magical Inventory.
Needless to say, the kobolds here were also mighty impressed about the taste of his fruits; and so the feast began. However, he was still interested in the blue kobolds and the mountain peak.
“Say, how are blue kobolds different from the red?” He asked her.
“Simple, we are resistant to the cold and can shape ice easily. Stone, however…” She didn’t finish.
“Reds are better diggers, yes.” The Kobold Leader added.
“And the outside, the mountain peak, how is it?”
“…?” The kobold looked questioningly. “There is a fortress there? Why ask?”
He just heard something juicy, “A fortress?”
“Yes, yes. Dark fortress, we don’t go too close. It’s dangerous.”
“Monsters?” He asked even more curious.
“Undead.”
So, those existed here. “How interesting.”
“The King is interested in undead?” The Kobold Leader asked in bewilderment.
“I am… you see I’m a Dark mage so…” So maybe there was something to learn there.
“A Dark Mage!” It was blue kobolds turn to be bewildered. “King, what type of race are you?”
“Monster King.” He admitted proudly.
“Not a Demon Lord?” She asked puzzled.
“No, those are different. Our king is stronger!” The Kobold Leader answered for him.
He wasn’t sure about that. “We are getting sidetracked, would you be able to show me that fortress?”
“If you won’t turn to the icicle, yes.” She said with conviction. “But only after the feast.”
He sat impatiently waiting for the kobolds to finish engorging themselves on TomGrape fruits.