22. THE YIKLAR WAY

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As morning arrived, the goblin crew’s excitement to finish their quest came mixed with anxiety about facing the threatening howls outside. Colb went straight to the kitchen after he woke up, cooking a meal to calm his nerves. Stibs sat in the center of the dance floor, drawing out a combat plan with some ink and an old sheet of paper. 27 danced next to him – although the disco ball was turned off – getting out his last-minute jitters like Colb.

“Hurmph! What equipment do we all have?” Stibs asked the room. “It’ll be easier to make a plan if I can see everything available to us.” The old goblin started a pile on the dance floor next to himself with his blowgun, his Yiklar Blowgun Darts of Freezing, and his Yiklar Shield of Reflecting.

Colb paused his meal-making process in the kitchen, and walked over to toss his Yiklar Wand of Rainfall, the shield he’d gotten from Skaal, and the healing potion he’d made back at Vitra’s Lab into the mix. “Hmmm, I’m wearing this too, yes?” he added, gesturing to his leather armor.

“Hmmm, I also have this,” Colb said, placing a telescope into the pile. “Borin gave it to me, yes? It’s what we used to spot that camouflaged octopusduck in the sea, back on the pirate ship.”

He put his hands in his pockets, feeling around. “Hmmm, and one silvopper coin. I found it in a fountain, back in Cantia with 27. I’m not sure why, but I suppose I’ve been holding onto it all this time for good luck, yes?”

“Hurmph… this is some good stuff,” Stibs grumbled, looking over the supplies. He didn’t seem particularly interested in the silvopper coin, so Colb kept it in his pocket.

“AaAaaaaahhhh, and I have the Yiklar Spear of Irreversible Death,” 27 threw in. “I’ve got my Yiklar Bag of Traveling Inventory as well, yes I do, in case we want to buy something?”

“Rrghegh… bow and arrow…” Drek mumbled from his beanbag chair.

“I just have myself,” Kashmir muttered from the living room. She was sitting cross-legged on the couch, with the tip of her head touching the cabin’s goblin-height ceiling.

“Hurmph, alright,” Stibs muttered, looking over the team’s assets. “We should buy something from 27, perhaps an item to help protect whoever holds the spear. Another shield, maybe.”

“AaAaaaaahhhh, buying something sounds like most excellent idea!” 27 cheered.

“Hurmph, Drek? Don’t you have a treasure chest of money somewhere around here?” Stibs inquired.

The goblins looked over at Drek, who hadn’t moved from his spot on the beanbag chair. “…NO,” he grumbled. “Rrghegh… all funds were used up to make crown,” he clarified.

“Hurmph, I specifically recall helping you carry that treasure chest back to the pirate ship after your crown was already made,” Stibs countered. “There were definitely some coins left in it.”

“Rrghegh… fine, fine,” Drek admitted. The goblin flopped onto the ground, then pulled his treasure chest out from behind the beanbag chair. “You have to buy something for me,” he grumbled, pulling out a small handful of iridhodium coins. He slid them towards the dance floor, then closed his chest and hopped back into the beanbag chair.

Stibs picked up the dozen iridhodium coins and presented them to 27. “Hurmph… what can these buy?”

“AaAaaaaahhhh,” 27 said, lowering his voice a little. “Just one iridhodium piece is quite rare to come by, and highly valued since it’s an important material in some Yiklar-made goods… combine those coins with what I’ve got left in my Yiklar Bank Account, and we can afford some most excellent items, yes we can.” Stibs smiled, tossing the iridhodium coins next to the pile of equipment.

With that, the goblins got to work. While 27 rifled through a Yiklar Catalog, looking for products that might be useful, Stibs worked to organize the weapons they already had. Colb returned to his meal-making process nearby, throwing ideas around with Stibs as he cooked.

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“Hurmph, I don’t think we want to magically summon more ice if we’re in a blizzard,” Stibs mumbled, pushing his Yiklar Blowgun Darts of Freezing to the side.

“Hmmm, the Yiklar Wand of Rainfall might be a bad idea too, yes?” Colb noted. “We don’t want to worsen the weather if it’s already terrible, yes?”

“Hurmph, do we have anything that could help us see through a blizzard?” Stibs inquired.

“Hmmm! Perhaps the magic telescope that Borin gave me, yes?” Colb pitched.

“Hurmph, you’re right! I’ll bet that will work,” Stibs agreed. “I wish we had more than one!”

“AaAaaaaahhhh, I think I could help with that,” 27 said. The noble wagged his finger as he flipped to a specific page in the Yiklar Catalog. He opened the booklet to a picture of dark blue goggles with light purple swirls painted along the frames.

“These are Yiklar Goggles of Vision in Darkness and Harsh Conditions,” 27 cheered, presenting the page to Colb and Stibs.

“That’s an awful name,” Kashmir threw in from the other side of the cabin.

“MMmMmmmm, what did she say?” 27 asked, looking at Colb for a translation.

“Hmmm, nothing,” Colb lied. “Those goggles look perfect, yes?”

“AaAaaaaahhhh, yes, they are most perfect – and they happen to be on extra special good deal offer today, too! That means they’re less than half what they normally cost – we can easily afford more than one if we buy them soon!”

After some more deliberation, the three goblins came to an agreement on what to buy. As Colb called everyone into the dining room to enjoy a morning meal, Stibs began to make some purchases with 27.

Colb placed a plate of fried toadroaches onto the table for the goblin crew. For Kashmir, he instead presented a blanched tomatoroot, which he’d held onto from his brewing lesson in Vitra’s Lab. He’d carefully seasoned it to counteract the bitterness of the vegetable, and had carved a little smile into it to brighten Kashmir’s day.

“AaAaaaaahhhh, thank you for your purchase!” 27 cheered as he poured a pile of coins into his bag, then pulled out four pairs of Yiklar Goggles of Vision in Darkness and Harsh Conditions.

“Hurmph, these will keep your vision sharp if another blizzard starts up,” Stibs announced as 27 handed out the eyepieces. A line of frost encrusted the frames of the goggles as Kashmir placed a pair over her eyes.

“Hmmm, and I’ll just be using my telescope, yes?” Colb threw in, holding up the metal object that Borin had given him.

Next, 27 summoned a Yiklar Shield of Reflecting, and handed it to Colb.

Stibs grabbed a fried toadroach, tossed it into his mouth, gulped it down with some water, then made an announcement to the team. “Hurmph, our plan is simple: whatever’s out there is probably too strong to fight, so we’re just going to avoid it altogether and sneak into Wealth Mountain. If we get attacked, we’ll have two magic shields to defend ourselves, and 27’s spear if we’re forced to strike back.”

The team nodded in understanding of the plan, then resigned to finishing their meals in silent thought, mentally preparing for the events to come.

Colb sweat as he chewed on his toadroaches, thinking about the snow tornado he’d briefly seen the night before. Hmmm, I hope everyone’s going to be okay, yes? he thought to himself. At the same time, a little part of Colb couldn’t help but feel excited to finally see how much goldatinum was hidden inside the mysterious Wealth Mountain. This mixture of anxiety and excitement swirled around in his stomach, making it difficult to eat.

Once the meal was finished, the group carefully made their way outside. As 27 compressed his Yiklar Folding Cabin back into doorknob form, Colb gulped, looking out at the vast wasteland of snow before him. The blizzard had dissipated since the previous night, but the emptiness of the Frosted Wastes still wasn’t a welcoming sight. The crew exchanged a few nervous glances, then together trudged forth into the unknown danger.

As the team came within one mile of Wealth Mountain – around the same area they had retreated from some twelve hours ago – they were met with a low GGgggggrrrrgggrooooooo! in the distance. The noise continued, growing louder as they walked closer. Colb and Stibs stood in the front, holding up their matching magic shields anxiously.

Snow began pelting the team from above, coating everyone in cold white powder. As a blizzard started up, becoming rapidly too thick to see through, Colb held his magic telescope up to his eye with a free hand.

His vision immediately cleared, showing a detailed picture of Wealth Mountain in the distance. The base of the peak contained a tantalizing cave entrance, which was surrounded by a couple icy tornadoes that had just touched to the ground.

“Hmmm! I think I see a way into the mountain, yes?” Colb cheered.

“Rrghegh! What are we supposed to do about that?!” Drek exclaimed.

“Hmmm! You can see the tornadoes too, yes?” Colb shouted over the storm.

“Who cares about the tornadoes?!” Drek cried out. “Look up!”

Colb moved his telescope skywards, towards Wealth Mountain’s summit. As his eye approached the clouds, he soon noticed an enormous four-legged beast covered in white fur looking down upon him.

The monster, which had a triangle-shaped jaw and a set of intimidatingly dark eyes, was perhaps a mile taller than Wealth Mountain itself. The colossal beast, which had been cloaked by the blizzard around it, stood with a mighty paw over Wealth Mountain’s summit, and had locked eyes with the five adventures.

GGGggggggrrrrrrrgggggrrroooooooooooo! it howled at the team, as an entire blizzard erupted from its mouth. Colb and Stibs held strong, their magic shields reflecting the brute force of the air as waves of pressure shockwaved throughout the mountain pass.

“Hurmph! It already sees us!” Stibs exclaimed.