Thariel's new friend's name was Zogg, and he was a Kobold hunter.

Zogg had been in the middle of a hunt when he suddenly encountered Thariel and since he had to lead her back to his tribe, he had to home empty handed.

He also told Thariel that the chief wouldn't mind it because she's going to be there?

Anyway, he's bringing her back to his tribe under her request so it was only natural that he didn't get any blame for this.

The Kobold had also reluctantly agreed to escorting her and even now he was being avoidant. It gave Thariel the impression that he'd leave to continue hunting after he takes her to where he lived.

The two of them talked in the meantime and from Zogg's stories, Thariel learned a lot about the woods, its monsters, as well as its denizens.

Based on what was she was told, Thariel now knew that she needed to be wary of four monsters in total: Giant Snakes, Broom-bottom Spiders, Goblins, and most importantly, Timber Drakes.

There were also other notable monsters such as Clockerback Beetles and even a Satyr but they didn't pose that much of a threat to her. And this is even when the latter was "leading" a tribe of Goblins it had taken over.

Since she had time to spare and also that her conversation with Zogg had winded down, Thariel decided to assess the problem each monster theoretically posed.

Broom-Bottom Spiders were an inevitable encounter so Thariel didn't feel the need to worry about them. Not as much as she normally would anyways.

Giant Snakes sitting still for an ambush can be sensed by her- she assumes, they were never a monster in the game. - so they're also not that much of a problem.

Timber Drakes can be as smart as a 10 year old kid but they can also be quite arrogant and naive so right as long as she says the right words she can escape.

Goblins... Might strangely pose a threat to her with their numbers. Strange as it may sound.

Greenskins are brutal hunters who will kill at the slightest provocation, they're also numerous and are quite good in adapting group hunting tactics.

Since the local tribe is also being led by a Satyr, it was safe to say that there will be demon-goblin hybrids in their group, that's basically inevitable with Satyrs around.

Oh and according to Zogg, the Satyr-led greenskins are constantly doing raids to various other Kobold tribes around the area, including his own. That can only mean that the greenskins have a lot of resources to support their growing numbers.

Which is not a good thing. Hm.

Thariel asked if that will be a problem and the Kobold only replied with a serious look followed by a huff. He didn't even answer her!

"Keep yourself sharp, we're almost there," Zogg called out as they broke past the treeline and stepped into a grove cleared from trees.

In the distance, Thariel was able to spot over two dozen tents built on the side of a running river. There were two uniquely built structures among them; a wooden building built on stilts above the river and a dome-shaped dirt mound a few meters away from the stream.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Farm lands were all over the river bank and the Kobolds utilized some method of river irrigation to water their crops via water canals lining the earth.

Some of the farms had wooden structures with a semi-circle shape near them.

Thariel noticed that weird looking animals grazed around these buildings, she rightly assumed that these served as barns and cattles for the tribe.

Thariel soon got close enough to see the smallest details from the tents that the Kobolds called their homes.

The tents were made of leather and are almost as tall as her. Little bone knickknacks were hanging from their walls, some of them were tools carved from broken jaws or other equally grotesque animal parts.

Among these was a tent taller than her by several feet. It sat on the center of the settlement and had a horned skull mounted onto the top of its highest pole. She was made aware of this beforehand, this was the Chieftain's home.

Zogg looked back at her with barely disguised suspicion.

The Kobold gestured forward with his paws. A constrained smile tugged at his lips, parting them just enough to reveal the row of jagged canines Zogg called his teeth.

"Well, we're here," Zogg sounded constipated, which Thariel didn't get.

"Great!" Thariel happily replied. She had been genuine when she told him earlier that she meant no harm to his people and she intends on keeping her word.

A bunch of Kobolds came to wearily gawk when they got close to the tents, and a whole lot more gathered around them when they stepped into the settlement proper.

A lot of the Kobolds greeted Zogg. Huh, guess the guy was quite popular among his people.

People... that were really just anthropomorphic dogs.

A.K.A talking balls of fur.

Thariel used up all of her will power to hold herself back.

She was surrounded by so many fluffy things and they're just there! Waiting for her to take them!

The puppy dog eyes the younger Kobolds were giving her while hiding behind tents and peeking out from the flaps with half their face out was just-

Ughhhhh- her heart couldn't take this!

Like, they were all looking at her with the cutest expressions ever and it's just so tempting to reach for their cheeks and start squeezing and molding them like dough!

"Are you listening?" Zogg turned to her, his expression perplexed. What was he so confused about?

"I am yep," the Damphir nodded, "and don't worry, I doubt your shaman is as weird as you think he is," Thariel reassured, "I'm sure we'll get along,"

Zogg made a noise torn between a cute huff and a pant and Thariel wondered if it was the right choice to hold herself back like this. Surely the Kobolds would actually like that she plays with them like stuffed animals right?

"You think I was lying to you?" Zogg looked away.

Thariel tilted her head, how cute, "no? I just don't feel like you were telling the whole truth,"

"That's called lying." The Kobold rebuked.

Thariel chuckled in response. It's too bad he'll stab her when she goes and tries to squish his cheeks.

"You also need to meet the chief before going to Trivok's," Zogg informed.

"I get it," Thariel responded.

Before the going to the shaman, Thariel first had to meet the chief. It was a sign of trust or some such.

Thus Thariel found herself standing in front of a sitting Kobold minutes after Zogg led her to the chieftain's tent.

Vrix was a Kobold who was more serious compared to the others. He had an intimidating air to him, a fact which was further amplified by the furless scar running down the edges of his mouth and up his cheek.

The chief had dark-grey fur, blue and yellow eyes, and a burnt right hand. There was a story to his wounds, Thariel could tell.

Vrix looked at Thariel and didn't bother to hide his displeasure at her presence.

"Hello," despite her usual lack of nerve when it comes to meeting people with status, Thariel didn't let the nervousness she was feeling show.

"What brings one of you here?" Vrix got straight to the point, his gruff voice echoed around the tent.

"I want to know where the Silken Crown is," Thariel answered honestly.

"Why? Don't your kin already go there to tame broom legs?" A tone of confusion crossed Vrix's gruff voice, "and yet you claim you don't know where it is?"

"I've never lived with the brood, I've never even met a member before honestly," Thariel admitted, "and this is also my first time going into the forest,"

"And the first thing you do is come to us?" Asked the chief, he was understandably skeptical of the entire thing, "why? There are so many other denizens here you can visit for aid. Like the goblins for example,"

"I don't like Satyrs," Thariel said in distaste. She schooled her expression and ceased frowning.

Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if those hedonists were specifically designed to be as unappealing to the female demographic as humanely possible.

"You don't, do you?" Vrix asked, tone even more suspicious than before.

Wait. Did he think she liked...

Ew!

"Nope," Thariel raised her hands, "they're a bit too much for my taste and even if I did like the rapey satanic goats, I don't know where the goblins are so it's a moot point."

"I see, and you somehow can't divine the location of your prey? You're unable to track them?" Vrix's continued interrogation was starting to piss her off. He doesn't even look that fluffy, who was he to suspect her like this?

"No," Thariel snapped, causing the scarred Kobold to tense up, "I've just recently awakened my bloodline so I have no idea how to use my improved senses." Thariel met Vrix's glare with her own, "so if you can just let me talk to the shaman, I'll get on with my business and then leave this place,"

"Are you demanding things from me?" The Kobold's question had an undertone of a threat mixed into it.

"Yes," Thariel didn't back down, this wasn't a job interview where she had everything to lose. "I think it's best if we go ahead and get this thing over with, I'll pay you for your troubles if that's what you want as well,"

"No, you don't need to," Vrix stood up, he glared at her, "stay here, I'll talk to my family first to see how we would go about this,"

Thariel watched the Kobold go, silently, she couldn't help but be surprised at the fact that he was almost at her height when standing up. No wonder he wasn't intimidated by her.