Bang bang bang
"Gaziz, get up."
Bang bang bang
"Gaziz!"
I groggily opened my eyes. "I'm up, I'm up." I said while sighing. "Ughhhh,” I groaned as I sat up in my cot. "What time is it? It feels way too early." I murmured to myself. I stood up, put my hands on my back and stretched. I'm so tired, I thought to myself. I slunk over to the nearest window and took a peek outside while yawning. Definitely too early. I could still see the orange and red from the sunrise.
"Why am I awake?" I exclaimed towards the door as I buttoned my shirt.
"You have to run the merchandise to the city before the ceremony today! You're already cutting it close, you need to hurry!" Phillip yelled back at me through the window.
"Holy!" I jumped, definitely not expecting him to be there. He was just at the door, quick little goblin. "Well, I'll be out in a second. Don't worry your pretty little nose." I leaned over and grabbed my spatial bag that I created. You could say I'm a bit of an inventor. I love to create new tools and toys. This spatial bag can hold up to 50 kilograms in a vacuum. It feels good being an enchanter.
"Jeez, Phillip, you'd think the town was on fire with how you tried to beat my door down." I said as I was exiting my little hut and closed the door behind me. "The ceremony doesn't start until mid-day, we have plenty of time. You really should relax more. Gilmer is getting to you."
"Well, Gaziz" he started in a mocking manner, "not all of us can slack off all day and not do any work. You'd think that after the first few times of getting in trouble you would have learned. If you're late today, Gilmer could banish you from the clan. You have to be careful. He's getting really tired of your antics. You probably shouldn't have made an exploding cooking pot for your village chief. Not the smartest move."
"I've told you a thousand times, it wasn't supposed to explode. It was supposed to self heat with the bit of magic encased in the bottom. It's not my fault he doesn't follow instructions. I clearly told him to NOT put it on a fire." I shook my head. "Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one with a brain here." I sighed
"Well, Mr. Small Brain, you need to hurry to the ceremony with the cart. You're the only one that enjoys going to the city with the tall ones." He gestured his arms outwards.
"Phillip, that's long, not tall. Anyway, they aren't bad people and they have a ton of knowledge on magic. With our technology and their magic we could make beautiful things. One day, I'm going to open an amazing shop in Blazikeer and sell all kinds of magical and enchanted wares." I exclaimed as we walked towards the shop. I really did need to get going. I didn't want to miss the ceremony today. They were going to announce the four members of the party to travel to Ashwood, the port town on the west coast of the land. It’s a huge town that sits at the edge of the forest and an ocean. It’s a good month to travel with a horse and carriage to get there, and that’s if you’re lucky and nothing comes up.
"Blazikeer is so far away and you're so not ever going to get there. You can barely get up on time, WITH HELP, and you think you can run a shop." Phillip chuckled dismissively. "Listen, Gaziz, you need to quit with all the silly dreams. We're just goblins, we do the same thing as everyone else. We mine, gather, create helpful tools, and occasionally someone gets blown up. Nothing exciting. We live great the way things are, man!"
"You're goblin! I'm half gnome and don't you forget it. I can feel it calling me. It's in my bones. I'm destined for greatness. You'll see."
"Yeah, I'll see your great gnome bones get crushed by a beast from the woods when you get banished because you don't take this seriously. Now come on, let's load this cart and get you out of here."
We spent the next few minutes loading the cart with all kinds of goods. Our village, Minaur, is home to us goblins, and a few farm animals we use for food and labor. I'm the only one that isn't a full goblin, and boy, do I hear about it from everyone. You'd think I was a criminal the way they treated me sometimes. My mother, Lyn, a gnome, fell in love with a goblin. I never knew my dad. Mom always told me he was a amazing. He died shortly after I was born. A huge pack of wolves assaulted the village where we lived. My father and a few of the other capable elders distracted them long enough for my mother and a few others to get away. We never saw them again. Well… we don't talk about that. We eventually made it to the village where dad was originally from but they didn't take kindly to outsiders, especially non-goblins. Goblins have a very narrow mindset when it comes to social ranks.
Shortly after we arrived my mother left saying she was going to go back to our village to look for my father, in hopes that maybe someone had heard or seen something. That was 19 years ago. I'm kind of used to it at this point. No use crying over spilt bug bear milk, am I right? I've done just fine on my own! I started working with our alchemist and learned all kinds of crazy formulas and my best bud, Phillip, works at the smithy. We've combined all kinds of cool stuff for awesome inventions. Most of my little hut is littered with useless inventions that aren't finished or prototypes that don't quite work that great. One day, though, I'll be known throughout the land as the best inventor in the world.
I slowly rode the cart as the mule pulled it towards the city. Ahhh. Silitha is an amazing place, well, at least to me it is. No other goblin will come here. They're very… sizest. Understandably so, most of the people here don't like dealing with goblins. We don't have the best reputation when it comes to being friendly people. Our chief, Gilmer, is very greedy and conniving so no one deals with him. I love it here though. I've met some awesome people and learned some even more amazing stuff. I've just recently learned how to enchant fire or heat into everyday items to make life easier. I tried to do our loving chief a favor and make him a pot to cook his food in but he put it on a fire, after I strictly told him not to. It got way too hot, way too fast, upon heating the metal just couldn't handle the enchantment and exploded. Magic is scary. I paled as I thought about what would have happened if he was near it when it did that.
I've done what I can to learn from my village. I love creating things so I want to combine all my skills to make amazing tools. I hate relying on people to finish something for me, they have no idea how to make my vision a reality. It's up to me to do everything for myself. "Nothing new there…" I mumbled as I approached the gate to Silitha. I must have gotten consumed by thoughts because the trip didn't take me as long as it normally does.
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"Hail, goblin. What's your business?" One of the two guards asked as he lowered his spear to block the door.
"You know, I'm going to be late to the ceremony if you keep this up. You need to get out of my way before you regret it!" I exclaimed at the big ogre. Silitha is a haven for all races. That's why it's such a good trading hub.
"Hmph. I'd like to see you try. What do you think a little cabbage man can do to someone like me?"
"Well, I can tell Eleane that your ugly boulder-brained self kept me from my destiny." I smirked.
"You would never! Gaziz, that's just cold."
"Well, I got to get in there and make some money, Frank. Today is a big day, especially for trade." I said with a big grin. "I'm going to make a lot of silver today. Might even trade some for nifty knick knacks. I need to craft something, I'm going stir crazy." I gestured towards the door. "Now, if you'll be so kind."
"Go on in. The ceremony is starting soon. I wonder who they'll pick. Let me know on your
way out, since I'm stuck here all day. Good luck, Gaziz!" Frank exclaimed as I rode into
the city.
"Ahhh, this is where I belong" I sighed as my cart rolled on the brick road.
Silitha is a massive city. It's got 4 quadrants, all run by a different noble house, a main governing king, and did I say it's massive? There are shops on every corner. People sell anything you could ever need. Every type of crafting guild can be found here. This is where I need to be. I could learn so much here. I've been watching some alchemists and enchanters in the city, trying to copy what they do, it's a slow arduous process but I'm getting the hang of it. All the hard work will pay off in the end when my enchanted creations are sold all over the world. I couldn't help but smile to myself.
I made my way towards the center of the city to a big courtyard. A gigantic wooden stage was built into the middle so everyone could stand on all sides. A small tunnel went to the middle of the stage. Surrounding the courtyard were marble statues that symbolized all four noble houses, one being placed towards each corner of the courtyard. To my left we had the Watcher statue which was a giant tree with branches that reached towards the sky. My right held the Traster statue which was a magnificently detailed horse with its front legs in the air. Beside that one, to the north of it, was the Tesharion statue. This one was a massive blade jutting from a rock with a crown hanging from the cross-guard. In the last corner, was the Filham one which held a beautiful human woman with her left hand outstretched and a bird with its wings spread, as if it were about to take flight.
There was already a huge number of people gathered for the ceremony. Most people agreed that they were likely to pick someone from each noble house for the expedition. What I would give for the chance to be able to go out there and gather new resources that no one has ever discovered. "Ahhh, the dream" I mumbled to myself.
"Hello? Are you open or are you just an idiot?" An orc said to me, clearly annoyed, tapping their foot.
I jumped. "Oh, my bad, I got caught up in my own little world. This ceremony has me excited, what can I do for you?"
"Pfft, please," the orc laughed, "it's not like we don't already know who they are going to take. Not a single reason to be excited. Do you have any copper ore today? I've used all mine on making new pans for the royal mess hall. I really don't know why they can't just use iron like everyone else…" he said. "I've been so busy making kitchenware I haven't even been able to go home in two days. It's ridiculous" the orc stated.
"Oh, I hear you. I have some copper, tin, and iron ore today. Copper is five silver an ingot, tin is eight. And iron is ten. I can give you a discount if you buy bulk." I grinned.
"Bah, I only need the copper. How many do you have? Also, do you have any weevil
weed? I need some for the handles."
"Well then! I have about 47 copper ingots, and I do have the weed, but I only have twelve bushels. It's been raining too much lately. Weevil weed doesn't grow in the wet, likes it dry. I can do the weevil at seventy copper a bushel."
Money here, and well, pretty much anywhere, works like this:
You have your copper, silver, gold, and platinum.
100 copper will get you 1 silver, while 100 silver will get you 1 gold and so on and so forth.
"Give me all the copper and weevil, and don't forget my discount." He said while smiling.
"All copper and weevil… hmmm…" I did some math in my head, "that comes out to 196 silver and 40 copper. That's at a discounted rate of 4 silver per copper ingot, instead of 5. I'd be willing to accept 195 silver as payment."
"Deal!" The orc said happily, digging into his bag and fishing out the silver coins. "This helps me out tremendously with this order, thank you". He nodded, loaded his sack and started to walk away.
Ahhh, another satisfied customer, I thought to myself. Marveling at the strength it must take to carry all that metal without a spatial bag to help. I started to rearrange the wares on my cart after such a large amount being sold. “Already a good start to the day!” Things are definitely looking good.
After a few more minutes and one more sale, more and more people started to gather in the courtyard. The ceremony was very close to starting. The anticipation was palpable in the air with everyone being excited to see who the chosen four would be.
“Hey, look!” I overheard someone saying as they pointed to the side of a tall building. Just then a huge white house banner unfurled displaying a fire red horse rearing up on its hind legs. That would be the Traster house. They’re the newest noble house in the city, being founded about 300 years ago and with a full blooded Orc lineage, they are integral in the military and safeguarding of the city.
Just then a second banner fell beside that one revealing the green tattered banner with a big black tree on it. The Watchers are the oldest noble house. Well, they are less noble and more of just a house, to be honest. Full of magicians, alchemists, and druids of all races. They do their absolute best to keep growth and life abundant in the forest and farms surrounding the city. They are firm believers in study and the use of mind over matter. I’ve always wanted to be able to visit their house in an attempt to learn some of their secrets. It is not really known how to become a part of their house, though. I need to find a way to befriend some of them to gain access to their materials, I thought to myself while dry washing my hands.
After the second banner the third and fourth banners fell together in unison revealing a blue banner heralding a golden crown and a purple banner which held a white bird in flight. The Tesharion and Filham families are the most notable families, being both heavily invested in trade and commerce. Both being humans, they are always in some sort of conflict due to being competitors when it comes to commerce.
This city is definitely a melting pot for all races. We have all sorts of stragglers that aren’t part of a noble house as well. I love it here. It’s a playground of history and knowledge waiting to be tapped into and used. “Oh, pardon me!” I exclaimed as an ogre carrying some scrolls nudged past me. This place is getting too packed I thought as I started to close my cart up and push it out towards the edge of the courtyard so as to not be caught in the gathering group. I don’t feel like getting stepped on today, I thought to myself and I pulled it to a corner and put a block under the wheels to keep it from rolling. This gives me the perfect view and I’m out of the hustle and bustle, perfect for me. I can lean against my cart, relax, and enjoy the show, just the way I like it.
Just as I finished that thought a loud explosion echoed through the courtyard, knocking everyone close to the stage back and catching everyone off guard. A handful of unlucky citizens unmoving while their bodies smoldered on the ground. It was chaos, everyone ran in all directions while pushing anything and everyone out of their way. A few unfortunate travelers were smashed into the ground and trampled by the fleeing crowd.
“This is nuts!” I said as I huddled behind my cart, luckily it was positioned against a wall and the mass shielded me from the fleeing crowd. I chanced a peak through some of the stacks of materials on the cart and looked at the stage, or at least what was left of it. As the people scattered all around the courtyard slowly emptied as a tall orc covered in burn scars stepped onto the remnants of what was the stage.