"So, here's how it's going to go," said Kylie, "First, we need to get you out of this hole. You do realise you fell down a hole right?"
Gob nodded.
"So everything you need, is that way” she pointed up.
"Except you can't fly, and I can’t carry you. So that's your first quest." she pointed to a row of magical shapes that were floating in the air again, "This one says Quest: FITE. EET. AFFIX ARCHETYPE. GIT OT HOL… So let’s focus on working out how to get you out of here.
You've got two things going for you right now: you've got great skin, and amazing nails!" She laughed. Gob didn’t.
“OooooooK. What I mean is, your best attributes right now are your trollhide skin toughness and your trollclaws… that’s what I meant by ‘amazing nails’... it was a joke."
Gob gave her nothing.
"You know what, don’t worry about it. All we need to do is make sure we maximise opportunities for you to use your claw attacks on some low level dungeon trash to level up your body stats. Your claws and hide will make you a real contender in a close quarters fight even with critters bigger than you. Apart from trolls, there are a lot of pretty nasty critters down in these caves. They're going to want to eat you, and I don't know, I'm starting to like you. So let's make sure we put a few things in place so that when we get out of this hole, you don't get eaten. I’m thinking we get you into some decent rat fights before we go anywhere with anything too much… bigger."
"ratz iz liddl. an dey iz yuk." Gob said disapprovingly.
She looked at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Slow down tough guy, you're hardly one to be calling anyone out for size. Anyway, rats down here is not so 'liddl', and if you want to get big down here, you're going to have to get used to 'yuk'. Before that though, you are going to have to figure out how to use those claws to climb, and I’m going to go on ahead to see if I can find a way back out of here. She pointed her finger and with a
Zap!
a glowing blue orb materialised in the air above Gobs head.
"That's to help you see until I get back. Oh and looking at your stats - you're little, and your initiative… is shockingly low, so you're going to have to take hit's before you can make hit's."
Gob nodded. He was used to that.
"wen yoo awayz git da last tern yoo mak da most of it" he told her, his finger wiggling in the air.
"Hmm, well, sure. Good attitude." She said, "But, we will be able to work on priority because you're intelligent. For a troll. So keep this in mind: Don't underestimate how powerful being clever is." She flew off up the tunnel "Now how can we get out of here…”
Gob watched her fly off. He was alone again. That filled him with relief. He’d never met a fairy before, and he’d never met anything that talked so much. It was tiring.
But then he felt lonely. He didn't know much of anything about anything. He hoped Kylz would come back.
He started thinking about whether she could really help him get big. He imagined himself thundering through the caves like Big Troll, every creature running away, he imagined bashing over a human castle with one giant fist.
Something far above him made a scrabbling sound and some small rocks and dust dropped down the hole from above him, making him jump with fright, his daydream disappearing in a puff.
git ot hol he reminded himself. It was time to get out of here.
He knocked his clawed fingers against the stone experimentally. He had already tried scrabbling at it before with no result, but Kylz had told him he'd have to climb out.
*scrabl up wal (skill:scale(0/25))
wel dat iz no gon werk..
*wate fo kylz (patience(0/25))
nope
*bash da wal (trolclors(4/2))
mibby i bash it
Taking a deep breath he smashed his hand into the wall, clawed fingers first.
stchack!
A sharp pain shot up his arm, and he instinctively went to pull it back before realising that his claws were embedded in the stone.
ha! he thought i iz strong!
He jerked back his claws, and they broke out again, showering him with little bits of stone. He drew back to do it again, but this time crouched to jump first so they would stick in up above his reach. He jumped and,
stchack!
He hung from one arm, claws embedded in the wall. He flung his other arm over and into the wall higher than the first.
stchack!
He hung there, extracting the first hand. He checked his claws and gave them an experimental wiggle, strong!
stchack!
stchack!stchack!
He had an idea, and kicked his foot claws into the wall too.
stchick!stchick!
It was a little more awkward for his feet, as he couldn’t quite get the same drawback, but his toe claws still embedded enough to hold his weight.
stchack! stchack! stchick!stchick!
stchack! stchack! stchick!stchick!
i iz climin! up da rok! He thought. He never would have even considered it if not for Kylz.
POP!
################
Some magical blue shapes materialised in the air around him. He couldn't read them, and swatted them out of his way.
He climbed and climbed. It felt like he was climbing forever.
stchack! stchack! stchick!stchick!
Until…
stchack! swish!
One of his claws swiped air. He fumbled around, finding purchase on a small uneven ledge of some sort. He pulled himself up and looked around in the dim blue light from the glowing orb that conveniently followed him around wherever he looked.
He seemed to be in a small, rounded tunnel of some kind. Like the hole he had just climbed out of, it wasn't a natural cave, but one made of blocks of stone put together. The tunnel ran in a straight line away from the deep hole, as far as he could see, which wasn't very far even with the help of the blue orb.
He heard the scrabbling noise again. It was the same noise he had heard earlier, but this time much louder, seemingly only just outside of the light of the orb.
Warily he bent his knees and put up his claws in an instinctive fighting stance he'd learnt early as a young trollspawn. The scrabbling stopped, and there was silence. He knew something was coming. Even though there had been silence before, now the silence seemed threatening, like something was about to-
A thick grey body lunged straight at him out of the darkness with enough force and mass to knock him into his back and pin him there, easily twice his own size. It bit him hard on his neck with sharp pointed teeth that protruded from a long furry snout, while also grappling and clawing at his body with the long sharp claws on its four muscular legs.
RAAAAAAAAAAA!
He bellowed, one part surprise, one part pain and two parts anger as the beast viciously bit at him again. He could see his own black blood spurting out over the creatures grey furred face, its beady red eyes savage and hungry. It was a massive, bulky, overgrown cave rat.
Gob's world narrowed down to the snarling, biting monstrosity on top of him. He couldn't see or think of anything beyond those savage eyes and sharp, black-blood-stained fangs, and the feel of it's flicking tongue and hot putrid rat breath on his face. The pain in his neck was intense, but a growing fury coursed through his veins swelling inside him until the pain in his neck faded away, and all that was left was a potent troll-rage.
GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRROOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!
He roared again, this time a proper bellow, and he thrashed his body wildly, trying to free his arms and hit the monstrous rodent. He grappled with all his power, his claws digging into its side, but that only seemed to enrage the beast further as it sank its teeth deeper into his neck again.
No matter how much he struggled Gob just couldn't seem to budge the creature. His vision started to blur and his struggles began to weaken as blood loss and the sheer brute weight of the thing taxed his strength. Kylz had been right, this rat was not liddl.
He knew he probably only had one more effort left in him, or it would be the end, and there was no way it was going to end under a rat! Summoning every point of strength, will and all the ferocity he had left, Gob bellowed and heaved his body up, twisted sideways and slipped his left arm back and up under himself, successfully yanking it out from under the fat rat. But that was all the opportunity he needed, and with a surge of determination and a powerful drive he flexed his hand and aimed a hard jab at the rat's snout, the same clawed finger-punch he had been using to climb solid stone walls.
stchack!
The rat, with impressive speed, twitched sideways at the last instant, and the forceful blow missed it's face, but the impact connected with the top of it's shoulder, eliciting a sickening
Crunch!
with a corresponding surprised
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
from the rat as it released it's grip on his neck and jumping backwards away from him, now suddenly wary of this little foe packing such an unexpectedly powerful punch. It's front limb was obviously injured, and it held it up off the ground protectively, limping back on its other three as it spat and gnashed at him angrily, stumbling and missing, but Gob could see it wasn't damaged enough to stop it making another attempt at turning him into dinner.
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Taking advantage of the brief respite, Gob jumped to his feet just as the vicious thing pounced again, but it was Gob's turn, and this time he was ready for it. Using his well honed bodifrow, he grabbed the incoming rat's shoulders, dropped down onto his backside, caught the weight of the rat with his hind legs, and used the momentum of its bigger mass to fling it over backwards. As soon as he released it, he spun around and threw himself at it so that this time he ended up on top of the stunned rodent.
It snapped at him with long incisors, but didn't get a good grip, being unused to being pinned, and so giving as good as he had got, Gob jerked his head forward and bit down hard on the rats snout while at the same time stabbing into its neck with his claws. The beast let out an ear piercing
Shrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiii!
as it spasmed with rage and pain, literally flinging Gob off it and backwards where he collided with solid tunnel wall. Quicker than Gob could regain his footing, the rat was back upright and on to him, biting back again, deep into his arm now as he tried to fend it off, but it was just too big, too quick, too…
“…don't underestimate how powerful being clever is…”
Kylie's words came back to him.
She was right, and he was determined. He would kill this rat, and although it was bigger than him, he was something it wasn’t. He drew back his arm, the one that wasn't currently in the big rat's jaws and with a bellow yelled,
"I IZ"
Stchack!
"A CLEVA"
STCHACK!
"TROL!!!"
STCHACK! STCHACK! STCHACK!
With each word he bashed at the rat's face, shoulders, neck whatever he could get at, and took each of it's counterattack's. Then when he saw it draw back for just an instant, he ran - the rat was quick, and Gob only just had enough time to get around it. He stopped himself just as he got to the shaft, and teetered right on the edge.
As the frenzied rat launched itself towards him, its claws outstretched and it’s fangs gnashing wildly, Gob simply sidestepped, flattening himself against the tunnel wall, allowing the big rodent to skid past him, out into space looking shocked, and then dropping like a big overgrown stone.
SSSSQQQQUUUUEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-
SPLAT!
The massive brute landed heavily, wetly and terminally at the bottom of the hole.
Gob breathed in and out in short gasps, standing there looking down into pitch black. He couldn't see the rat, but he heard no further noise, and figured it to be splattered and broken at the bottom.
POP!
#########, ##########, #########, #########
More of the annoying magical shapes floated around him. He weakly waved them away.
He looked down at himself shakily. His arms and body were covered in rat blood and gore, mixed in with his own. Although he had fought his trollspawn for as long as he'd been alive, and fought back just as hard as anything they could ever give him, he had never actually fought anything that was trying to kill him; and he'd never killed anything he was trying to fight. It felt very different. It felt…
He stumbled, the high of victory and adrenaline fueled strength giving way to exhaustion and light-headedness. He'd lost a lot of blood in the fight, and was still losing it now.
Grrrrrlllllllllllllllleeerrrrrrrp!
His tummy made a noise, sending him a signal. He put his hand to his neck where the rat had bitten him, it was painful and wet with black blood. A lot of it. He looked down into the deep hole.
ratz yuk, he thought, then remembered Kylie's words:
"You're going to have to get used to yuk"
He growled and screwed up his face, and then, weak as he was, carefully lowered himself over the edge of the hole and started downwards again,
stchack! stchack! stchick!stchick!
stchack! stchack! stchick!stchick!
It was a slippery and painful climb all the way back to the bottom again. He could hardly move when he finally made it down, and barely managed to crawl over to the rat carcass. The beast was twice his size, towering above him, a big pile of still warm, stinking rat meat. He bit into it desperately and chewed.
Bleh!
It tasted foul and it was very tough, but he made himself finish the mouthful and swallow. He could feel the pang and tingle of regeneration in his neck and arms, plus numerous places on his body the rat had clawed and bit at him during their scuffle. The throb of another headache came on. He took another few bites. He passed out.
He felt better when he woke up, renewed and revitalised… excited even!
He had won a real fight! To the death! He'd won it even though he was liddl! He felt… stronger. Faster. More confident. He felt good… he felt lik a reel trol!
And the best part was, he could keep getting stronger, faster and more confident. After spending so long feeling like he might die in the troll den as a weak little runt, now all of a sudden his life had a shape to it… a real chance. i iz gon git bigga!
Though he still had the taste of rat in his mouth… and all over him for that matter, he was proud of himself. He’d survived against a much bigger creature, by using his… cleva… wot kylz cal it? in-teli-genz? Using his thoughts could be as powerful as using his claws. That was exciting too, because even if his claws weren’t big, he knew his thoughts were.
Feeling motivated now, he grabbed one of the rat’s legs, and hacked at the joint until the muscular limb came free, gory, red and dripping. He dragged it over to the wall, sat down and started chewing on the haunch. Happily.
juz lik big trol he thought to himself.
But Big Troll was gone. They were all gone. He thought of Poz's head on the end of a sword being waved around by the powerful human warrior. He scowled. He had been scared in that moment.
i iz no scard of anywun EVA AGIN! he promised.
POP!
#########
There was faint fluttering above him, and then,
"Ha! Rat! I knew you'd come round to it… eww you look gross, you're covered in blood. Like literally covered."
Gob had to admit he was glad to see her. He forced a wide toothy grin at her. His sharp teeth zig zagged across the width of his mouth and were covered with bright red rat blood.
"i won do mor fitez!" he announced
"Uhh, first put those teeth away. You look like a crazy maniac. Let's have a look at your stats again. We'll see what changed and that will give us some good insights into how to help you progress."
The magical shapes floated back and she examined them.
"OH WOW, GOB, THESE GAINS ARE AWESOME!" she exclaimed.
TROLL(spawn)
Quest: FITE. EET. AFFIX ARCHETYPE. GIT OT HOL.
ARCHETYPE SELECTIONS AVAILABLE
XP 260
SPIRIT 63 will 14 stability>instability 3 connection 4 fear>courage 12 determination 3 drive 3 tenacity 3 neuroticism 9 ferocity 12
MAGIC
brightblessing(unaligned):Fairy Familiar
MIND 56 perception 10 memory 7 awareness 9 intelligence 13 literacy 2 introspection 9 initiative 3 strategy 3
BODY 129 heart 3 form 4 gut 5 brain 15 size 3 hunger 6 coordination 5 constitution 5 toughness 5 strength 3 dexterity 3 agility 3 endurance 3 skill:bodifrow 6 skill:miteybitey 4 skill:tooclors 3 skill:clorlima 3 trait:trollhide 10 trait:regeneration 14 trait:trolclors 8 trait:teef 4 trait:neurogenesis 14
feeling 1 fate 3 purpose 4 luck 4