Early afternoon I am busy dismantling my latest game. I am a bit backlogged due to high success rate of my hunts in recent days. While working the alert point positioned down by the pit picks up two unknown entities wandering north towards my home. It does not look like it is targeted, just happens to be the general direction they are heading. I stop what I am doing and head out to see what is heading my way. Because of the altar I know that there are intelligent beings around, but I don't know if these are hostile or not, though something tells me that they might be intelligent.
Blending in with the forest I am somewhat disappointed by the creatures I have found. Mr Analyze calls them Goblins, and warns me that they are pretty much hostile to everyone. They are green skinned, short and skinny and slightly hunched forward. Not to mention they are really ugly. I would hate to meet their women. Since they are deemed hostile and will likely spot my home soon, I decide to take them out. By that I mean kill them. For some reason, I feel zero hesitation with killing a semi-intelligent being.
The goblins went down fast. Two quick shots, each finding a throat each. With my current skill it seems too easy. If I had met these guys early in my time here I might not have survived. Being small and bipedal, with hands as my own, they would have no problem climbing trees. Before I killed them, analyze told me that they were quite young, only a couple of years each. They hardly looked like two year olds to me. Guess they grow faster than humans.
Back at camp I start examining their bodies. They are naked, and only armed with a sharp stone and a club. I start an autopsy. The skin looks sturdy, but I am reluctant to use it. They look too human to me. I am certainly not going to eat them. My analyze skill leads me to a small rock near their heart. It is called a mana stone. Mana!? As in magic? Mr Analyze explain mana? "Mana is a creation force that exists in a sub dimension of the physical world. It's distribution is uneven as it is accessed and released creating mana winds in the sub dimension. It is the key ingredient for creating magic phenomena."
Magic! I have to learn it, but it looks like my analyze skill won't help me any more. I keep the stones and the heads of the goblins. The rest of the body is fed to the dryad tree. As soon as their bodies hit the root covered ground next to the tree their bodies are dragged and swallowed by the ground. First time I saw it, it really freaked me out. At the time it was just some leftovers from dismantling, but it still birthed a renewed reverence for the dryad tree. Really don't want to make her angry. It feels right to call it her, not sure why. Come to think of it, I found similar mana stones in the bears, just bigger. How odd that analyze didn't explain what they were back when I dismantled the bears. Better hang on to them. Might be useful for crafting one day.
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Next I need to know where these goblins came from, and if I am likely to get any further unwanted guests. Heading south I pick up their trail which leads me south east to one of several streams that take water from the lake to lower lying areas. Keeping a low profile I arrive near a cave at dusk. From the tracks I can tell that there are numerous goblins inside. My archery skills would be worthless in there. All I can rely on if I decide to head in is my spear skills, but not knowing how many I might face I reconsider.
For the next few days I scout the goblins. My stealth and camouflage skills are improving. Considering how weak they are individually, I am not afraid of being spotted by a small group of them in the open, but I would rather not be hunted by the whole group. Goblins that stray too far from the nest are a different matter. These I make disappear.
After watching them for a few days I still haven't seen any women. Because they are mostly naked it is easy to tell. There are a handful of older goblins with a few pieces of clothing on them. They look to be in charge, but the one in charge of them all is what appears to be a fully grown goblin. As big as any normal human healthier looking but no less ugly, Mr Analyze tells me he is 17 years old and called a hobgoblin. Hobgoblins appear to be a grown up version of a goblin.
The younger goblins have limited intelligence, and mostly act by instinct, but the hob is different. He is clearly intelligent. He carries himself with purpose and an arrogance born from the knowledge that he is the highest ranking member of the nest. I am glad I reconsidered attacking the nest. This guy could turn the rabble of goblins into a dangerous force. I consider taking him out with an arrow, but there are too many goblins around, and he never ventures far from the nest. I shouldn't underestimate his lieutenants either. They were the older looking goblins I spotted earlier.
Age is a deciding factor in they hierarchy, probably due to high death rates. But how are their numbers replenished. The women must be inside the cave, but to never come out seems a bit extreme. If I want to deal with this nest, I will need to increase their death rate further.