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Goblin Odor Blocker Max

Eric hummed a tune as he drove another slanted stake into the soil, the long piece of wood sharpened to pierce any gobs dumb enough to charge through blindly. He had started the morning after Scout left his home, finding himself oddly giddy as he rose to start today's work. She was going to come back to talk to him! Even after his mad tirade when he showed the extent of his wrath, she still said she'd come back!

It was so nice to finally talk to someone again. When would she come back he wondered? Scout had said that she didn't know exactly when she'd be back… so probably not today then. He just had a feeling. That thought put a small frown on his face, but hey, she was still going to be back when she could.

It was noon now, and he had his fortress almost completely ringed with stakes. You'd have to be a prime moron to try a cavalry charge now. It was then that another idea struck him. He should clutter the clearing with logs and other debris. That way it would slow the goblin's approach, and he could lay out traps throughout it randomly. The result would look like a veritable junkyard. With standing logs for deadfalls and rock swing traps placed here and there, indistinguishable from the other detritus. He'd leave the goblin bodies that got mulched by the traps for that extra layer of psychological warfare. That would be easier to make than a trench surely. The clutter would have to be outside the stake barricade of course.

Yeah, that would be his next project. Scout will have surely come back by time he was done with it. The next time he saw her, he'd tell her where he was gonna place his traps. He'd hate to have her spring them and get killed. His traps were usually fatal. Eric looked to the tree line. He hoped she was okay. He furrowed his brow.

What if she got caught by the goblins? That thought made his right hand begin quaking. Perhaps he should be more… proactive when it came to his little green neighbor's existences. There were probably more caves around here right? He gulped at the thought. Eric had been putting off searching out the caves, because put simply, he didn't want to go back.

When he first came here he thought that he'd be gradually cleaning out the caves… but he had been so happy with building up his fortress that he'd pushed that to the very back of his to-do list. A feeling of intense guilt suddenly washed over him as he remembered something.

The women.

Good God he'd completely forgotten about them… The building and goblin slaughter had completely engulfed his mind. How many could he have saved by now? Eric clenched his teeth. He'd not be finishing defenses today, not until he finished cleaning out at least one cave. Nodding to himself, he marched for the tree line, axe in hand. He then slowed, looking back to his fortress. Would they attack while he was gone? It was possible… but hopefully his effigies would keep them away for a while yet.

He took a deep breath, looking back to the forest. It was time again to delve into the dark caverns beneath his feet. His hand began shaking further, and he dropped his axe to still his quivering fist. He breathed deeply, keeping his intake of air even as he exhaled. Soon his hand's shaking reduced to but a light jitter. They were just goblins. They were nothing compared to the cannibals.

But that didn't mean that he should run in there blind. He looked to a nearby effigy, a body that had been hung up with all of it's limbs snapped in the wrong directions. Eric paid particular attention to the long curved nose on it's face.

Their noses were sharp, that much was certain… if he walked in, would they be able to sniff him out immediately? He thought for a moment. He didn't want them knowing he was in their caves unless he wanted them to… how would he cover up his scent? He picked up his axe and paced back and forth for a few minutes. It would have to be something they wouldn't think twice about sniffing. If any alien scent wafted in they would know something was wrong, so he couldn't smother his smell with smoke or urine…

Then it hit him.

What would be a better scent to use as a mask other than goblin innards? Should he wrap them around him like a scarf or just drench himself in blood? He approached a nearby effigy, ready to split the stomach open and pull out the mushy rope inside. He paused again. These corpses have all begun to rot… perhaps they would be able to tell the difference between fresh and rotting goblin.

Easy fix, he just needed to find a fresh one. Eric only needed to wander for a bit and he'd come across them in time. He finally entered the forest, and began wandering in a random direction, quickly losing himself in the foliage. He pulled out his compass, seeing that he was heading southward. He used his axe to mar the trees he passed with a deep gouge. That way he'd be able to find his way back to camp after today's goblin cleansing.

It didn't take much wandering until he heard a rustling behind some bushes ahead of him.

He grinned as he readied his axe. Here came his fresh meat.

A man then pushed his way through the bush, looking frustrated. He was a short man, likely only a few inches taller than Scout and with an angry low browed face. Long dark hair fell down to his shoulders, the sunlight reflecting off the greasy mop. He wore what looked to be a black tailored uniform with silver buttons and a shiny breastplate that parted the folds of his overcoat. His clean-shaven face was marred with a long vertical scar that ran from his left temple to his jaw. He must have been cut by a blade to receive such a clean scar, a sharp blade.

He then sighted Eric, and pulled out a long sword from a leather sheath. Eric readied his axe and they stared at one another for a long while. The man maintained his glare, and began circling around Eric, who matched the movement, circling in the opposite direction. Soon they were standing opposite one another again, with Eric's back to the bushes this time. The man then began backing away into the forest, keeping his eye on Eric as he went, blade still drawn.

Eric stared, ready to charge him the instant the stranger showed a lick of aggression. When the swordsman was far enough away, Eric slowly pushed his way back through the bushes, maintaining sight on the stranger as he went. After he was through the bushes, he peered over them, seeing that the stranger was still keeping sight on Eric.

He returned the wary stare, continuing to back away as they went. It continued that way until the man was out of sight. Eric stood there for a few minutes, waiting to see if the stranger would return.

He did not. Eric took a deep breath. That was not what he had been expecting, and giving the man's reaction to seeing Eric, he felt the same. Who was that guy? Was he going to be a problem later?

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Should he have killed him and wore his bones?

He shook his head at the thought, he had plenty of goblin bones still, and that guy had left him alone… But what if he came back with more goons? Was he one of the 'bad people' Scout had warned him about? Best to keep his head on a swivel, just in case. Should he have tried to talk to the guy? No, he didn't look like he wanted any conversation. If he wanted to talk, he would have spoken to Eric.

He then found the stranger's tracks, and rose an eyebrow. Where exactly had he come from? Eric then began following the man's tracks backward. Eric moved between trees and climbed over bushes for an hour before finally coming to the track's origin. It was a small break in the trees, the only thing breaking the flat earth being a gaping mouth of a cave.

It was a narrow entrance, underneath a small dead grass-covered hillside. Eric stared at the ground around that gaping maw, finding several small prints in the dirt. This was a goblin cave all right. There were also larger boot prints in the soil that led into the cave, with the strangers stopping just before the entrance and circling back. He cocked his head at this.

Had the stranger left his companions behind to deal with the caves by themselves? The short spacing between the swordsman's boot prints indicated that he hadn't ran away… What was the story here? There were four sets of boot prints, including the stranger's... Maybe he snuck off while the three others descended? He looked to the sun. It was hanging closer to the horizon now, maybe it was three in the afternoon. He still had time. Eric would explore for an hour, clean out the goblins, and save whoever was down there.

He nodded to himself as he took a long step toward the mouth of the cave. Then he stopped. He still didn't have his odor blocker on. Some gory deodorant would ensure that the gobs wouldn't sniff him out. He still had some time, there had to be a goblin hunting around here somewhere right? Like that one that killed the rabbit…

Why hadn't that one sniffed him out? It clicked then. He had been covered in fresh goblin blood from head to foot after he had cleaned out that first cave. There was no way it could have known Eric had been behind it. Then that other one sniffed him out after he was clean of gore… That confirmed it. Eric now knew that he needed some fresh goblin gore to cover his own odor.

He then passed the cave mouth into the forest beyond, keeping his eyes peeled and ears open, he hunted. It seemed like this part of these woods were mostly pine trees, good to know. The green needles were a welcome sight, and he'd definitely be collecting some later to make tea. Pine tree resin would be useful to collect as well, for it was a natural adhesive and antiseptic.

He just needed to discern which ones were red and white pines. Red pines were great for construction and flame-making purposes, while white pines were the best for medicinal needs. He approached what he believed to be a white pine, placing the flat of his hand against the bark. It was reddish-brown in color, perhaps a darker gray. The bark was layered like irregular scales, broken up in uneven blocks.

This had to be a white pine Eric decided after pulling the bark off easily. It was a living tree, but the white pine's outer bark was flaky. He felt his gut begin to rumble, and frowned. There was another use for pine sap. He found a low hanging branch, and held it still, chopping the limb off near the tip. He looked to the tree and apologized for his crime.

He waited for a bit until some fresh sticky sap poured from the wound. He dabbed it with his finger, and put the dab in his mouth, chewing the sap-like bubble gum. He put a couple more dabs in his mouth to chew, and continued his hunt. Chewing sap like gum helped curb hunger pains, and indeed, after some rigorous chewing, his growling stomach no longer inconvenienced him. Eric didn't want to eat anything in case he had a reason to puke in the cave, so pine resin would do for his growling gut for now.

Yeah, he'd definitely be coming back here later for some more sap. He could make pitch from this sap too, all he needed was a binder, like ground or powdered rabbit dropping or cattail head fibers. He could think of quite a few uses for pitch, such as-

A wolf lunged for him from behind a tree, a snarling goblin atop it's back. The gray wolf was huge, coming up to Eric's waist with a slavering maw of sharp teeth. He lifted his axe, the wolf's powerful teeth clamping down onto the haft of the weapon. The goblin stabbed at his head with it's spear at the same time, and he barely moved his head to the side of the spear point. The stone head sliced open his cheek, and Eric snarled at the ugly little bastard.

The wolf landed, and pulled, trying to take Eric's weapon from him. The goblin thrust again, the blade stabbing his armored chest. Air was expelled from Eric as the crude point jammed into the chain mail. The point thankfully didn't penetrate the links, but it felt like he'd just been punched in the diaphragm. Eric then began spinning, screaming in rage as the wolf left the earth, still biting into his axe.

The goblin thrusted again, but missed Eric's face by a few inches. The wolf wined as Eric accelerated, the teeth of the beast bending outward. Soon the wolf was forced to let go, and it and the goblin went flying. The wolf impacted against a tree and struggled to rise to its feet, stumbling as it went. The goblin had landed on its back, spear lost somewhere on the forest floor.

It struggled to stand as well, and Eric himself felt a little wobbly. All three of them had just spun a great deal, and to Eric's eyes, the world was tilted. He took a step toward the wolf and almost fell over, catching himself on a tree. He blinked his eyes quickly and stood tall again, sighting the wolf, who also stood straight. The goblin was on all fours now, hurling its lunch into the dirt.

The wolf ran for Eric, but tripped on its front leg, landing on its side right in front of him. Eric delivered a swift chop to the beast's throat, not wanting it's death to be prolonged. It kicked as blood fountained from the gaping wound, its yellow eyes slowly closing after it finished it's struggling. Eric felt an odd sense of guilt at seeing the poor thing die, but it was him or the wolf. He then looked to the kneeling goblin, who was shaking it's head as it tried to rise.

Eric grinned as he stepped toward it, his steps only slightly wobbly now. The goblin then looked up, seeing the macabre sight of Eric looming over it, grinning madly with all teeth on display. The goblin's screams echoed throughout the forest as Eric prepared his unorthodox odor blocker.