2. GATHERING OF THE GOBLINS
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It had been one week since 27 first spoke with Colb about the adventure of a lifetime. Since then, Colb had been diligently putting his affairs in order. He taught his sister, Vrel, how to make a few simple recipes, such that she could run the tavern while he was gone. He also spoke with Orta, the town elder, who encouraged him and reaffirmed her decision that he was the best goblin to journey with 27. Finally, to keep himself safe, Colb invested 30 of his goldatinum nuggets into some fresh leather armor and two bright wooden shields. He gave the remaining money and one of the shields (to become a plate in the tavern) to his sister, Vrel, to aid in her upkeep of the business.
As the sun reached the highest point in the sky, Tix, one of the Skaal tribe’s scouts, entered the tavern to inform Colb of 27’s arrival. “Hummm, I sssssee that Yiklar goblin in the distansssssce, myesssss?” Tix announced in his usual, slithery tone. “He ridesssss in by pigeonhorssssse, along with two other goblinsssss, hummm.”
“Hmmm, sounds like I should start putting on my armor then, yes?” Colb said. “Thank you for informing me.”
“Hummm, do not worry of it, myesssss?” replied Tix, as he trod out of the tavern.
After putting on his armor, Colb bid farewell to his sister, and walked outside to meet with 27. Over the past week, he’d grown more confident with his decision to set out on this adventure, and even felt a little excited about what was to come. As he sauntered to the edge of Skaal territory, Colb noticed the wealthy goblin riding in on a quick, feathery steed with four stick-like legs.
As 27 rode in, a pair of goblins trailed behind him, sharing the seat on a second lanky creature. The goblin controlling the second steed was wearing a black hooded cloak, and looked to be a few years younger than Colb. Behind that young goblin sat quite the opposite – a wrinkly old goblin in a dusty, black leather jacket. He had an eyepatch over his left eye and metal rings in his very wide, long, pointed green ears.
“AaAaaaaahhhh, you look ready to travel on adventure!” 27 exclaimed as he rode up to Colb. The yellow-eyed goblin jumped off his steed, which sported a long, beak-like face. The creature stared off blanky into the distance, not seeming to notice 27 had jumped off it. “I’ve purchased two pigeonhorses from Kreet to speed up our travels!” 27 cheerfully announced.
Colb soon felt a mild tug on his chest as 27 pulled him in close to whisper into his ear. “And just a warning for you, I told the others that you are medic for team, yes I did. Having medic on team was best way to get them to come, and also as a chef you probably know something about herbs or whatever so I’m sure you’ll be fine as team medic, yes you will be.”
“Hmmm, that’s not very true,” Colb worried.
“MMmMmmmm, you are goblin to care, yes you are, remember?” 27 comforted. “That is all we need. You will be good as medic, yes you will be. Just relax. Go with flow, like river.”
Soon, the second pigeonhorse came to a stop next to 27 and Colb, and the two other goblins dismounted. “Hmmm, okay…” Colb whispered.
“I am… medic for group, I guess, yes?” Colb announced, introducing himself. “I go by the name of Colb.”
“Rrghegh…” replied the younger goblin, whose gruff dialect reminded Colb of the Ratter tribe. “Introductions are waste of time,” he continued, as he pulled up the hood of his black cloak and spat on the ground.
“AaAaaaaahhhh, but I think it is good to know who we all are before we travel for long time together, yes I do. This is Drek,” 27 said as he gestured to the young goblin, “of the Ratter tribe. Why don’t you tell Colb what you bring to the team, Drek?”
“Rrghegh… I have knife” replied Drek, as he briefly flashed a metal dagger from under his cloak.
“AaAaaaaahhhh yes, he is holder of knife,” 27 explained, “meaning, he is strong fighter. He can protect us if there is danger, yes he can.” 27 then moved his gesture to the elderly goblin. “And from the Kreet tribe, this is Stibs. He is our team expert in the skills of survival and craftsmanship!”
“Hurmph. I may be 63 years old, but I’m a fighter, too!” the old goblin yelled, as he drew a sharp sword made from teeth and bones. “I carved this myself,” he continued proudly, “at the Kreet cowmammoth farm, when I was just 12 years old.”
“Rrghegh… you would die in seconds if fight began,” Drek said in a rough voice. “You are too old to fight anymore.”
“Hurmph!” Stibs replied, lifting his sleeve to reveal a muscular arm. “You think years of heavy lifting and healthy living left me frail?”
“Yes,” Drek replied, narrowing his eyes. “Old is old.”
“Hurmph! Say that to my face, why don’t you?” the muscular old goblin shouted, raising his sword to the challenge.
“I just did!” Drek cried back, placing a hand on his dagger, and taking a menacing step towards Stibs.
“AaAaaaaahhhh, okay there is no need to begin a brawl, gentlegoblins, no there is not,” 27 interjected, jumping to stand between the two. “We are here to welcome Colb – our good medic – to the team, and then continue our journey to the hidden goldatinum!”
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Drek paused, now taking a moment to look Colb over with a sharp glare. “Rrghegh… whatever,” Drek said, as he turned away. Then, with a nimble jump, the hooded goblin expertly re-mounted one of the pigeonhorses.
As Colb watched Drek’s acrobatic display, 27 leaned in, whispering, “MMmMmmmm, maybe you should ride with Drek this round, and I will take Stibs, yes I will. Might be good idea to keep them separate for now, to give them time to cool off.”
“Hmmm, this team seems a little… disorganized, yes?” Colb whispered back.
“You know the saying,” 27 retorted calmly, as a moist bead of spit flew off his tongue and landed in Colb’s ear canal. “Water under bridge, and… um, under bridge is where monsters live, yes it is. So, er… when team sees those monsters, then team will figure itself out, yes it will.”
27 then took a step forward, raising his voice to address the whole goblin crew. “AaAaaaaahhhh, our team is together!” he cheered. “Next – before we truly start our journey – we must go to briefing with 1 in Yiklar. He wishes to meet all of you in-person before we set off!”
With that, the noble jumped back onto a pigeonhorse, and offered a seat to Stibs, who begrudgingly took the back seat. “Rrghegh… I guess medic is with me,” Drek mumbled, offering a seat to Colb. “Try not to fall off during ride.”
Colb carefully climbed onto the steed. The feathers felt warm under him, and the back of the beast was surprisingly stable. As Colb adjusted himself for a more comfortable position, 27 and Drek both suddenly let out a loud “coo, COO!” and the pigeonhorses burst into a full-on sprint. Colb instinctively grabbed on tight to the feathers below him, as the wind blew into his face and the majestic pigeonhorses sprinted through the sand. The team was off, and the adventure had begun.
After a few minutes of riding, Colb started to get used to the speed they were moving. He looked out at the blank, flat wasteland of the goblin territories. Drek silently controlled the pigeonhorse, following 27 and Stibs from a steady distance. Hmmm, this team isn’t what I expected, yes? Colb thought to himself. It seems fractured. I worried about being too incompetent for this adventure… now I worry that all of us might be.
Colb looked ahead at 27, who was controlling his pigeonhorse with finesse and confidence. I suppose everything can seem like that at first, though, yes? Hmmm… I should at least try getting to know other teammates before I judge them, yes?
“Hmmm…” Colb muttered, deciding to start up a conversation. “…I’ve never been to the Ratter tribe before, yes? What’s it like?”
Drek remained silent, still looking in their direction of travel. Colb snuck a peek backwards, and watched as his hometribe Skaal shrunk and faded from view. “...Skaal is good home. It is place of humble goblins, yes? Small craftsmen. Everyone contributes based on their passions. It is nice place to live.”
“Rrghegh…” the young goblin replied, still keeping his eyes forward as he controlled the pigeonhorse. “Talking is waste of breath. Medic wouldn’t want me to waste breath, right?”
“…Hmmm, actually, I think you should talk, yes?” Colb hesitantly replied. “It would… hmmm… make your… voice stronger. To practice using voice while riding.”
Drek appeared to ponder this for a moment. “Rrghegh… I’ve never met medic before. If that is command for good health, I guess I will tell you of Ratter.” Colb leaned in, surprised his lie was successful, and eager to get a better understanding of who this teammate was. “Ratter looks like desolate place. Paths are empty and houses deserted. But this is false appearance.”
Drek jolted the pigeonhorse to the left a little bit, forcing Colb to again grip the creature tightly. “...for beneath the darkness, goblins hide in every corner. We steal. We hurt. We do what is needed to survive, every goblin for themself.”
“If tribe appears empty, how did 27 find you, hmmm?” Colb asked, listening on the edge of his seat.
“Rrghegh… he didn’t find me. I found him. I watched as rich goblin rode into Ratter lands, wearing valuable clothes and probably holding bags of goldatinum. I ambushed him in dark alley, with knife, to rob him, yes I did. I was ready for any violent way he might respond, but to my surprise, he wrapped around me with big hug. Was extremely disturbing. I could hear snickers from other Ratter goblins in the darkness around us.”
Drek visibly shivered as he recalled the embarrassment of the whole ordeal. “Then rich goblin muttered most interesting proposition into my ear, yes he did. Probably similar thing he told you and other guy. Said he had secret mission, and needed goblin that can fight if there’s danger – a goblin like me. He claimed we can find big mountain of goldatinum, just for the four of us.”
Colb furrowed his brow, concerned by the mismatching story. “Hmmm, just the four of us? You mean to say, to split amongst the four tribes, yes?”
“Rrghegh… that is closer to what Yiklar goblin said, yes,” Drek gruffly replied, “…but certainly you do not plan to actually share mountain of goldatinum with other goblins in your tribe?”
“Hmmm, but I do? My tribe works best when we all work together, yes it does,” Colb retorted, with a hint of concern.
“Rrghegh… that is waste of good goldatinum,” the hooded goblin muttered back. “With my supply, I will become king of Ratter. The closest I will come to sharing of wealth is by paying other goblins to enforce my authority, and to protect my treasure from thieves.”
“Hmmm… that doesn’t sound like 27’s vision at all, yes?” Colb questioned. “Why do you think he invited you?”
“Rrghegh… a tribe of thieves can always find creative uses for those Yiklar trinkets. A lot of us were once big buyers of that junk. I’m sure he’ll gain a little of that business back once I’m rich, since I’ll be hiring some servants and guards that’ll need to be well-equipped,” Drek chuckled.
“Hmmm… well, I suppose I wish you luck with your plan, yes?” Colb replied, deciding that he might as well avoid Drek’s bad side.
“Yes. Good luck to me,” Drek agreed.
The team continued to travel until dark. As the last lick of daylight dropped below the horizon, a sudden chill washed through the wastelands. With a single “coo,” Drek and 27 pulled the pigeonhorses to a stop. A moment later, two flickers of light appeared as Stibs and Drek ignited torches with a tinderbox.
As the four goblins dismounted their steeds, 27 made an announcement to the group. “AaAaaaaahhhh, our progress today was most excellent!” he cheered. “We are but three hours from Yiklar, yes we are. Tomorrow we shall see the beautiful morning sunlight reflect across the most magnificent Yiklar city walls when we arrive for debriefing with 1.”
“Hurmph. Worry about that city in the morning, will ya?” Stibs grumbled. “For now, we have to set up camp.”
“Rrghegh… I hate to agree with old fart, but it is time to collect food and rest,” Drek rudely agreed.
“Hmmm, I can help prepare food, yes?” Colb said with a hint of excitement, feeling well in his element as a chef.
“AaAaaaaahhhh, alright then, it seems we have clearly defined roles here, yes we do!” 27 exclaimed. “Stibs and I will prepare our resting place, yes we will, while you two go hunting for food.”
Drek shrugged and started to walk away from the others. “Hmmm, wait up, yes?” Colb yelped, speed-walking to stay near Drek. “Hmmm, I don’t have torch, after all. Without your light source, I cannot see, yes?”