Yes I got that, thank you. I thought back to him in annoyance.
That bastard. Well, I had to hand it to him, he got me back this time. It was apparent he was still holding a grudge from being drafted as my logistics assistant.
“Well,” I looked at Guba, trying to sound friendly. “Anything at all you can disclose about your abilities? As the leader I should be aware of my people’s capabilities.” I cringed inwardly. Once again, I referred to goblins as people.
“Hmph” She snorted. “Well, you know I can be making goo grenades. I also be knowing basic permanent health potion, like the one I gave you back in the cave. Knowledge in Chemistry also helps with cooking.”
“Wait, could you make more permanent health potions?” I asked greedily.
She shrugged, “Probably, if I had more o’ the ingredients.”
I knew where it was leading to. “What do you require?”
“I have some of what I need. What I’m missing is a gallbladder of cavedwellers. Bring me some and I be making you more of that potion.”
You received a new quest [Gallbladder for Guba]
Guba can make you more minor permanent health potions, she needs the rare gallbladder of cave dwelling creatures.
Quest Type: simple, repeatable.
Reward: potion per gallbladder. Reputation with Guba: +50 per gallbladder. XP
Sweet, A new quest, and a repeating one at that. I could complete it as many times I’d like, the only limitation was how many gallbladders I could obtain. As an extra bonus, I would improve my reputation with Guba every time I handed her a gallbladder. Twenty of those would upgrade my reputation with Guba to friendly, not to mention give me a +40 boost to my hit point pool. It was a good deal in my book.
“Alright, I will find you some gallbladders” I replied.
“Just make sure they are well protected from daylight” she cautioned, “Even a quick exposure to the sun would be ruining them fer good. Show me you have the patience and discipline to harvest them properly, and I might be thinking of you as something other than a silly youngling.”
“Deal.” I replied with a smile.
Leaving Guba, I quickened my pace to move up beside Zuban. The hobgoblin acknowledged my presence with a nod.
“Esteemed Totem.”
“Think you can make some longer spears for my warriors while we are traveling?” I asked. “I would like them to be able to attack from a safe distance. That fight we had was too dangerous for them to engage in melee.”
He nodded in approval. “A good leader should take good care of his people. But you realize, of course, that your warriors won’t be as effective with such spears, right? They don’t have any skill for using such long weapons.”
“That’s ok, I can accept the reduced attack effectiveness, as long as they’re safe”.
“Very well, I will see what I can do.”
He stepped away from me, and cut down some branches. He started shaping them with a dagger as we continued walking. An hour later he was finished. He had made long, straight shafts, then attached to it the spearheads he removed from the warrior’s shorter spears. I was quite impressed with his work, the new spears looked quite professional.
We handed them to Vrick and his two warriors. They carried them awkwardly at first, but soon found the right balance to hold them comfortably.
We continued walking until it started becoming dark again, then made our camp. I checked my map and saw we had nearly reached our destination. We should have made it there already, but the over encumbered workers had slowed us all down.
At first light of dawn we resumed walking. I got sick and tired of seeing trees around me all the time. I longed for open space.
Around noon, Tika cried from the head of the group. “There, there!”
She was pointing at a mountain top that had just become visible over a gap in the treetops.
“We almost there.”
“Finally.” I said, relieved.
We continued following Tika through the woods. The trees became denser and denser until we lost sight of the mountains. Then, moving between two adjacent trees we almost ran directly into a mountain cliffside. Tika turned right, we followed.
If I wasn’t following Tika, I would have missed what happened next. The cliffs to our left vanished and we were standing again between dense trees. Tika walked sharply around to the left and led on. The trees around us become less dense and I was able to see cliff walls again, on either side of us. It was some distance before I realized we were inside a circular valley, surrounded by high cliffs on all sides. The only way in was the well-hidden gorge we had used.
Tika hadn't exaggerated. This was an excellent hiding spot.
We had made it.
The site of our new home.
10 - Train Hard
The forest continued to thin until we could see the mountainous cliff walls above and all around us. We were inside a valley, protected and concealed by the steep and impassable cliffs encircling it. The canyon we had walked through into this retreat was hidden on both sides by dense growths of trees and underbrush spilling across from the forest into the valley; and making the smaller forest that covered nearly half of the area inside it. In front of us, the other half of the valley was open grasslands dotted with rock formations, bushes and the occasional tree. A stream flowed from one of the peaks, feeding a small pond in the middle of the unforested part of the valley.
Directly across from where the valley’s entrance was, at the foot of the tallest of the surrounding mountains, I could see the dark mouth of a large cave.
Hmmm, we’ll have to scout that thoroughly, make sure nothing dangerous lives inside. But the place looked just about perfect; hidden, defensible, with all the necessities and lots of room to expand.
“Alright, everyone” I turned to my goblins, “This is our new home. We have much to do.”
I scanned the area around me, looking for a good spot.
“There,” I pointed at a large flat boulder near the pond. “Let’s put all the equipment we brought there, then start setting up a camp to use while we build our new settlement”.
My mind was racing ahead, planning the next steps; production chains, building placements, fortifications, and so forth.
Everyone dumped their burden of equipment and stores around the designated boulder. Guba assumed the role of camp manager, directing everything efficiently, only occasionally punctuating her instructions with a sharp prod of her ladle. In no time at all, she had the warriors erecting tents, and the workers clearing a space for a fire. She even had Zuban running errands around camp after she found him sitting idly, drawing out building schematics on the ground.
Soon a cauldron was boiling, and Guba was making her stew for dinner.
While my goblins were busy, I made sure our position was secure. I backtracked through the trees toward the valley entrance, passing through a clearing I remembered passing on our way in.
I searched futilely for the passage leading from the valley, and after almost giving up I found it by dumb luck. I knew it was actually due to luck, because when I found it Lucky Bastard reached level 4.
I located the cliff on one side of the entrance, then walked across, through the dense forest, looking for the other side of the entrance. I found it about 20 meters away. Due to the density of the forest, the two cliffs bordering the passage were completely hidden from each other. That was an advantage, it meant we had a choke point we could fortify and defend, effectively barricading the entire new settlement.
That’s if an enemy would even be able to locate it, I thought. The entrance to the valley was
well hidden in every way. It was difficult to see on the map even at the highest magnification. So unless someone knew exactly where we were, there was almost zero chance we’d be found by enemies.
I gotta find a way to reward Tika for leading us here. I thought.
Satisfied with my survey, I returned to our camp, passing through the forest clearing again on the way.
Stepping out of the forest, I surveyed the open area in front of me. It was vast, enough space for a large city. And it was only half of the valley floor, the dense forest behind me covered the other half.
I surveyed the open space again, and contemplated my options. When planning a new settlement, building placement was important. A tailor needed access to fabric, made by a weaver, so building their workshops close together would increase clothing production. However, when the settlement got bigger, other considerations would take precedence, and the earlier considerations could hinder overall efficiency. A well-organized settlement could triple the efficiency of a badly organized one that had exactly the same buildings and resources.
The first thing I had to do, was decide on a proper place for my command building. For players, that meant a Town Hall, for goblins, it was apparently a Chieftain’s Hut. Placement was everything, it could affect the entire settlement development strategy.
I was leaning toward building a Chieftain’s Hut in the most secure location I could find, right near to the cliff walls, at the furthest point from the valley’s entrance. Then I will fortify it, walls, traps, maybe a tower… I suddenly realized I was going at it the wrong way.
I was thinking like a player again, even though it was clear to me, that player's tactics wouldn’t work for monsters. I shook my head. I have to readjust the way I think.
Our most dangerous foes were the players, not monsters. Monsters could be killed and scared off, but players would respawn and come at us again and again and in greater force. I knew how players think, I used to plan boss raids and attack strategies. I had to put that knowledge to use, and devise a defense plan to protect monsters from players.
I had to come up with the proper countermeasures. Now what would that be?
I looked around, taking in the view with a fresh perspective. Closing my eyes, I cleared my mind of all assumptions and preconceptions, and tried to envision it as a goblin.
What would players do, if they encountered a large, well organized, heavily fortified monster town? I frowned as I realized the answer. They would call for reinforcements. They’d form a raid party, bring in some high-level players and raze the shit out of the place.
Shit! It meant that no matter how much effort I’d invest on defenses, I wouldn’t be able to fortify the place against players. Doing that, would only draw more attention. It was like painting a bullseye on the side of the mountain, we’d be targeted by every challenge-seeking player.
We could never match their strength. NEO was all about adventures and challenges. We would just be the latest wonderful new challenge to defeat, and that was the last thing I wanted. Subterfuge and misdirection were the way to go.
I need to mask our presence and to give them something else to sink their teeth into. Something that will not taste good to them, something that will make them lose interest.
I smiled, I knew what to do.
“Hey Zuban” I called to the hobgoblin, “Come with me”.
We walked together back into the forested part of the valley, until we reached the small clearing. The path from the valley’s entrance led straight through here. The clearing was hard to miss, there was no other routes, only impassable, dense forest growth. I pointed at the center of the clearing.
“There. Build my Chieftain’s Hut right there.”
Zuban looked at me like I had lost my mind. “Esteemed Totem, this is the worst possible location. The only road through the forest pass here, the building will present a clear target to our enemies” I smiled at hearing his protests. “I also want some secondary buildings here and here”, I pointed to the sides, “and maybe a nice large fire pit right in the middle”.
Zuban looked dumbfounded. “Esteemed Totem, that is a bad idea,” he protested. “This place is poorly defended, placing your hut here will make it a prime target. It will be easily destroyed by any attacker. The accepted standard, is to place other buildings in front as the first line of defense, forcing the enemy to divide its units, and fight through increasingly stronger defenses. The leader’s dwelling should be placed at the very end, only reachable after all else fails to stop the enemies.”
He was basically describing a normal mob settlement’s formation. It was always the same: weak at the front, soldiers in the middle, boss at the end.
My smile grew. “That’s the idea.”
Zuban stared at me as I continued the explanation.
“What you say is true, everyone will expect this formation. That is the reason why this clearing will serve as our decoy camp. If enemy travelers find us, I want to give them an easy target to destroy. Hopefully, after they do, they will leave thinking they defeated us. All the while, our real settlement will be over there, in the open field.” I pointed back the way we came from.
He narrowed his eyes. “It might work against Travelers, but it wouldn’t prevent them from exploring the valley and finding our camp. Also, other creatures would not be fooled so easily. Rival clans would hunt for our cemetery. They would search the entire valley. How would you prevent them from doing so?”
“Using this.” I grinned and held up my hand, showing him the Thornthistle seeds. “We’ll plant these in the forest, between the clearing and our real camp. With time the bushes will grow large enough to deter any curious traveler from wandering too far in.”
Zuban scratched his head, he didn’t look convinced.
“As for rival clans,” I narrowed my eyes “I do not intend to give them the chance to get this far. We will fortify the entrance and fill the woods with traps. If any of your old clan get here, we will make them sorry they found this place.”
Zuban still looked unconvinced, but nodded nevertheless. “Yes, Esteemed Totem”.
“So, what do you need in order to build the most basic Chieftain Hut?” I asked.
He thought for a moment. “If you give me the three workers, we can bring some equipment over here and build a crude wood frame covered with furs in a day. Building a rudimentary chest would take me about another day.”
“What’s the deal with the chest? Why is it so important to have one?”
Zuban raised a brow. “Every chieftain has at least one chest in his chambers. It’s a custom, to show how rich and powerful he is. Without a chest, it's just a fur tent.”
I shook my head. So that how’s the game rationalizes chest loot rewards for defeating bosses. It was funny that I had to follow this tradition now, especially since at one point finding and looting boss chests had been one of my favorite pastimes.
“Alright Zuban, the workers are yours. I expect the hut to be completed in two days as promised.”
He lowered his head “yes, Esteemed Totem.”
I left him to his work and went back to the camp, sending the workers to him.
There was a nice flat boulder in the middle of our camp area. I laid some furs across the top and sat down.
First, I checked the goblin workers Haul skill progress. I saw that each of them had reached the maximum level 13. The Apprentice rank bonus at skill level 11 had given them an additional 10% carry capacity, so each of them could now carry around 36kg. This didn’t sound like much for an average player, but for goblins that weighed around 20 Kg, that meant they could carry almost double their own body weight, for prolonged lengths of time.
Time to start handing out assignments.
“Tika,” I called the huntress to me.
“Yes, Totem?” She replied with a shy smile as she approached.
I handed her the bag of Thornthistle seeds. “Could you plant these for me?” I gave her precise instructions.
She got my meaning and nodded. “Of course, Totem”.
“Vrick” I called my lieutenant next. He approached, standing at attention.
“I want you to train the warriors.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Train?”
I was taken aback. “You’ve never trained before?”
Most combat skills could be improved by training, especially at lower levels. It was a standard practice to train before trying them out an actual fight.
He shrugged.
“Then how did you improve your skill with a spear?”
“I killed enemies!” He stood taller. “I killed many warriors of a rival clan, and became stronger. Bogan made me a lieutenant afterward.”
“Ah, I see.” It meant goblins only learned through actual combat. Those who survived, increased in skills and levels, and climbed the goblin hierarchy. But I couldn’t afford to waste goblins in the hope that some of them would level up. They would have to train outside of combat.
“Ok, Vrick, this is what I want you to do,” I looked around, and pointed to an area of hardened and packed dirt. “Go over there and fight with your warriors using the new long spears, but remove the spearheads first. I don’t want anyone getting killed.” I was struck by an inspiration. “Take Bek with you, and practice working together, have him heal while you are fighting.”
This approach would train the warrior’s weapon skills, and Bek’s Heal skill. Efficient and simple.
Vrick left to follow my orders and Guba approached. “So, Totem youngling,” She addressed me in her screechy voice. “You’ve been giving everyone chores, eh? Going to send old Guba next to wrestle a bear for yer amusement?”
I laughed, “I would never force the clan’s revered cook and Chemist to do such a thing.”
“Hmph!” She snorted back, though she looked relieved.
“Actually,” I continued, “I wanted your advice on something”.
She looked at me expectantly
“Can you make traps? I asked. “I want to fortify the entrance to the valley.”
“Hmmm” her eyes wandered upward. “I could be making Fire Grenades from rendered fat and some components. But I ain’t got no sulfur... And I don't be thinking fire in a forest be a good idea.”
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