Chance stomped down the hill, finding his limbs a bit stiffer than normal, not enough to really impede him, but enough to be noticeable. Shags prowled down along side him while Yrip followed behind, tucked away out of sight.
It took until they were at least halfway down before the goblins actually noticed them, such was their indifference to their surroundings. Even then it was only a mild curiosity, barely reacting but as they drew nearer yet the goblins began to show some activity, gathering up weapons under the orders of one of their number, pulling themselves out of their lazing about and shuffling into something resembling a ready group.
They looked a bit meaner than Chance had expected as they got closer, and already he was beginning to second guess his choice of plans. It could all go badly wrong in a moment.
Reaching the flat ground at the base of the hills, Chance took a deep breath and put all of his singing talent, projection and pitch, into one loud call.
“I have returned” he bellowed, the attempt aided by the deep voice of the dwarven body.
The goblin that he had taken to be the leader, slightly bulkier than his companions, wearing what looked like to be some leather jacket, came at him, wielding a short bladed sword, though to the goblin it was a full sized weapon.
“Die, kurzik!” the goblin shouted. He rushed forward, hacking down with his sword. Chance raised his arm, taking the blow upon it. The sword hit - and bounced. Apart from a minor sting, it caused no damage, much to the shock of the goblin. He looked at his sword, puzzled.
Chance took the moment to whisper “Zhuri,” again and once more his skin hardened. The goblin took another swing, this time hacking at Chance’s neck. The result was no different.
Once more he reactivated the Iron Skin power, hardening his flesh. It worked better than he had hoped for - he could keep it up indefinitely, preventing any damage. Just as long as he only faced one opponent at a time who couldn’t hit very hard. Even as he did so, he mindspoke to Shags.
Now Shags.
The wolf howled, loud and fierce, the noise of it echoing through the hills. Even expecting it as he was, Chance almost jumped due to the ferocity of the howl. Yrip yelped, while the goblins cringed away in fear.
“You would strike me? Do you not know who I am?” he roared. He had to admire the resonant, rumbling nature of the dwarven voice; it really carried and had a presence about it. It was a voice he could really work with, once he got used to it and learnt all about it. “Step forward, most favoured servant, and tell them who I am.”
“Me?” Yrip asked, somewhat spoiling the moment.
“Yes. you,” Chance said, trying not to roll his eyes or sigh too much.
Yrip strutted forward, puffed up with importance. “Ahem, sti…, I mean, ahem, goblins,” he began, strutting back and forward like a rooster on patrol, “Before you stands your master, most puissant in the arts of magic, Neregezur the Ravenous Maw returned!”
“In the form of kurzik?” the goblin boss asked, looking somewhat dubious about the claim. The other goblins behind appeared less certain, clasping at their weapons uneasily, eyes darting back and forwards.
Chance stomped forward and unleashed a stinging slap across the face of the goblin, one that sent it reeling backwards.
“You would incur my wrath?” he roared. “Pay homage to me, servant!”
Skill unlocked:
Intimidate, basic
Chance thought he caught the sound of what seemed like dice rattling around in his mind, and another message speaking.
Intimidate check;
Goblin Boss; Unnerving Howl debuff
Check successful.
The goblin boss dropped his sword and shuffled backwards. Chance felt a surge of elation rush through him; it had worked. Somehow it had worked, a wild toss of the dice. He had to stop himself from laughing at the absurdity of it all.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
“Forgive us, great one. We thought you dead. We thought you kurzik, one of those that attacked you.”
“If I were dead, how would I still be here?” As logic went, it was poor but the goblins seemed to accept it, much like Yrip had. “You stayed here, even after you thought the heroes had triumphed; that took courage.”
He heard a snort coming from Yrip at his words and the little kobold muttered something to himself that Chance couldn't quite pick up on but fully expected to be disparaging about the goblin’s courage.
“We heard but were not certain,” the goblin boss told him. “We stayed, in case.”
Chance nodded, finding himself stroking at his beard. Really, he had to do something about it. “Well, I am back, and it may be that the so-called heroes might return again if they were to learn the truth. If they do, I fear for you here. It would be best if you were to return to your homes.”
The goblin's face looked crestfallen. “You are dismissing us?”
“No, not at all. I simply wish for you to be safe. I shall call upon you when I need you again. In the meantime make yourself ready.”
The goblin nodded fiercely. “It shall be as you say, great one! We shall not let you down.”
Scurrying around, the goblins began collecting up items, loading them up into sacks before setting off, leaving behind a ragged camp, still half filled.
That was your plan?’
More or less, Chance admitted to Shags. It worked out in the end.
I am not sure how.
Chance grinned as he consulted the parchment, checking the status of the quest.
Camp Brokentooth Cleared: 1/1.
One down, two to go.
“Lets see what we can find around here,” Chance said. “There may be some items that we can use.”
With the aid of Yrip, Chance began going through the lean-tos, the barrels and boxes and chests, seeing what was around. There were a few tools and weapons, items of food, and materials that he felt they could use which were slowly brought together. The weapons were mostly of poor quality, which he discovered he could figure out.
Skill unlocked:
Appraise, basic
Affinity: Craft
Messages spoke in his mind along the lines of;
Item: Dagger (Goblin Make)
Quality: Poor
Damage: Very low
“Bunch of shavaq-cursed dross,” he grumbled, feeling Craghand rising up to speak again. He could feel the deep distaste for the goblin crafted items, and the disdain for them. Not all were of that quality though, for amongst it all he found a gnomish-wrought dagger and a dwarven made spear, both of decent quality.
The dagger he gave to Yrip; though for the little kobold it was more a sword. The kobold accepted it with a beaming grin. Then he sniffed at it. “Not smelly made,” he announced.
“It was made by gnomish,” Chance replied. “Whatever they are.”
“Gnome,” Yrip said. “Little better than smelly. No as good as Iyari.”
Gnome, gnomish. There were too many terms he just didn’t understand and it would take far too long to check out them all in the manual that was provided by the parchment. He was just going to have to muddle along.
The spear Chance took for himself; after all this time it felt good to have an actual weapon, even if he wasn’t too certain of how to use it properly besides jab in the direction of an enemy.
Skill unlocked:
Weapon [spear], basic.
Affinity: Combat
He was beginning to get a bit of a grasp on how things worked. Things like skills and knowledge you could just know, to various degrees of expertise that he hadn’t figured out how were improved. Some had affinities associated with them, though knowing them did not seem required. They probably boosted it in some way that he didn’t yet know of yet. Powers were things you did, linked to classes, and they required the appropriate affinities and levels of statistics to know.
A hammer, a saw, a couple of axes and a handful of nails made up the tools found, though why exactly the goblins had them he didn’t know as they didn't look like they had used them around the camp. Was that what loot was like in these kind of games? Random stuff? He was used to more logical loot; guns, ammo, grenades. The cooking pot at least made sense, as did a few eating utensils.
One box held something of real interest; a small stack of flat bread, a bag of salt, some dried meat and a bag of flour. That he could use as a change for his current mix of fish, fruit and berries. Apparently he had some basic skill with cooking, which would be fun to discover just how basic it was, but the flour could be put to use.
Way, way back, when he was young, his family had gone on a skiing trip, and one evening a guide had made damper for them in the coals of a log fire. From what he could recall it was just water, flour and salt mixed up and baked in the coals, with some golden syrup on it when it was cooked and still hot. He hadn’t really thought of it much previously, given how young he was, but looking back now it had been a fun trip, and the memory of the damper stuck out.
Poking around the lean-tos, there were some parts that they could use, some cloth and hides, with furs for bedding, though they would most likely need a wash to get the smell of goblin out of them. Luckily none of the furs were from wolves.
“Now the fun part,” he said, “Getting this all back.”
Good luck with that. Shags sounded rather smug, revelling in not having hands to carry with.
Oh, I’m sure we can find a way for you to help.