Without stone or bricks (well, at least I hadn’t seen any so far), I decided the best way to contain a small fire would be to dig a hole in the dirt. Without even simple tools, this proved to be an arduous and dirty task, but I accomplished it nonetheless by digging with my hands. My fingernails would never forgive me though. When all was said and done, I’d created my very own campsite and I was so proud of myself that I couldn’t help but smile.
‘Why…is…this…so…difficult?’ I thought to myself as I blew on the smoking twigs that I was frantically rubbing together to get them to set alight. I’d done it before but it was such a long time ago and I certainly didn’t remember it being this hard to start a fire.
I closed my eyes to think for a moment and ticked off the mental checklist that I’d made. ‘Wood, check, air, check, kindling…ah, no kindling’ of course, it had all come down to my memory or lack thereof. I sifted some of the finer dry leaves and twigs off the ground and packed them beneath my fire-starting sticks. With those in place, the fire took in a matter of seconds. Finally, I was warm again. It was actually kind of romantic in an ‘I’m alone in the woods with god knows what danger nearby’ kind of way.
I’d been moving for a long time and deserved a rest, so I lay on the log that constituted my bench and looked up at the stars. I was comfortable, I mean really comfortable. I couldn’t even feel the notches and the uneven surface that I knew were underneath my back. It only took a few moments but before I knew it I’d fallen asleep.
Something roused me from my sleep. I didn’t know how long it’d been, but I felt somewhat refreshed. I opened my eyes and was greeted by the sharp tip of a spear pressed against my nose.
“Ouch,” I exclaimed and raised a hand to remove the offending weapon from my person.
“You stay now. Not move.” The voice was gruff and when my eyes focussed past the tip of the spear I could see that it was being wielded by a small green goblin.
“Uh, what?” I asked groggily.
“Not move.” It repeated and not one to want to lose an eye I dutifully obeyed. I took the opportunity to analyse the creature whilst I was ‘not moving’.
Name: Bok’Tak [Sawblades Clan]
Level: 1
Race: Goblin/Male
Attributes:HP: 8/8MP: 0/0
Strength:-Unavailable-
Wisdom:-Unavailable-
Social:-Unavailable-
Skills: -Unavailable-
Equipment:-Unavailable-
“Hi Bok’Tak. Am I saying that right? Bok’Tak?” I asked politely.
“Quiet. Bok’Tak not want talk. You not move,” Bok’Tak replied with a slightly bemused look on his face.
I shut my mouth animatedly in acceptance of his demands, it didn’t look as though the goblin was a particularly stable individual, especially if his single syllable word preference anything to go by.
After a few moments of tense silence, five more goblins appeared in my field of vision and started staring over me with malice in their eyes.
‘Why does everything want to kill me?’ I inwardly whinged.
After a somewhat stunted conversation, a little yelling and some light brawling, the goblins came to a decision. They tied a rope around my legs and another around my chest with my arms forced by my sides. It was nice of them not to kill me but I had the distinct feeling that maybe they had something equally as terrible in store for me. I just hoped that these guys were a little less ‘monster’ than Theodore and Sano.
I was carried for a good twenty minutes before the smell of something delicious hit my nostrils, something good was cooking and I hadn’t yet realised how hungry I had become. At least if they already had food then perhaps I wouldn’t need to be dinner after all.
I was unceremoniously dropped to the ground with a loud cracking sound. Either I’d broken a rib, or I’d landed on a small pile of brittle sticks. A little wiggle within my restraints confirmed to my delight that it was the latter. To my side was a large black cauldron, easily four feet tall with a small fire burning beneath it, that was where the smell had been coming from.
I was almost instantly surrounded by goblins, each with a hungry look in their eyes. One was a little taller than the rest, much wider and wore a necklace made of what I recognised were goblin fingers, he must have been the leader of the clan.
I analysed the big goblin before I made any effort to do anything else.
Name: Grish [Sawblades Clan] [Chieftain]
Level: 8
Race: Goblin/Male
Attributes:HP: 104/104MP: 0/0
Strength:-Unavailable-
Wisdom:-Unavailable-
Social:-Unavailable-
Skills: -Unavailable-
Equipment:-Unavailable-
At level eight he was the highest level goblin I’d seen yet by some stretch, but that still paled in comparison to Theodore and his band of merry assholes, no wonder they’d been able to seize the city so easily, I’d probably have got in the way more than anything else when I’d tried to help them.
“Grish, I know you don’t know me and I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but...” I searched for a suitable reason for him to not kill me, or worse, torture me. “…I’m not with those others in the city, I just got here and...”
Grish raised a green hand to stop me mid-sentence.
“Grish not care who you are. Grish hungry. Clan hungry. You feed clan.” He said in the broken English that constituted goblin-speak.
It took a moment for what he said to sink in and at first, I’d wondered why he wanted me to feed his clan, like some kind of dinner lady but then I realised what he actually meant. I was supposed to be the main course. My assumptions hadn’t exactly been accurate.
Before I could protest any further, five goblins raised me above their heads so that they could drop me into the cooking pot, from my new elevation I could now see its contents. A brown watery goo with some leaves and sticks floating in it. It really wasn’t going to be much of a stew without me, but I’d grown partial to not being eaten by small green monsters.
“WAIIIT. STOOOP.” A high-pitched squeal emerged from the trees and I could see that the sound had come from a tiny goblin who was running, well more like bounding towards me.
Everything stopped as though the little one had total authority.
“What is this?” Grish growled at him as he stopped beside me, panting.
“This is one I tell you. This one let me go.” It said in its little voice. I recognised him now, it was the little bastard who had stabbed me in the shoulder and then ran off. I scowled as I remembered the pain he’d caused me.
Grish thought for a moment before he spoke again. “He fight with us. He kill us. Doesn’t matter if he let you go.” It was obvious that Grish was very slightly more eloquent than the other goblins that I’d heard speaking, which might have played some part on him gaining the rank of chieftain.
“NO. Him let me go. I let him go,” the little one continued to protest. I had to admit I was definitely warming to the little guy.
“Little one. This not time for you. Go away,” Grish ordered unceremoniously as he turned to face me again. “Maybe you die quick?” He asked as though that was some kind of concession.
‘Definitely not’ I thought before realising that dying quickly might have been better than being boiled to death.
“How about not at all?” I asked hopefully, to which Grish let out a deep belly laugh.
“Still hungry though,” he concluded.
“What if I cook for you?” I offered.
“Not need cook. Need meat. You.” Grish summarised.
‘Shit.’
The goblins raised me up again and dropped me into the pot. The liquid wasn’t very hot and only came up to my chest, perhaps they hadn’t had the fire going for very long.
A long time passed as my body was submerged in the stew that was taking painfully long to heat up, my head and shoulders above the rim of the pot so that I could watch the goblin
s as they went about their business, seemingly uninterested in my predicament. I estimated that after about four hours it was about as warm as I took my bath water. It was kind of awkwardly embarrassing for everyone really.
I watched as a female goblin walked up to the pot to throw in some kind of leaves, presumably for flavour when our eyes met and she stopped dead in her tracks. Her black dialated eyes widened to the size of golf balls and she turned on her heels and ran out of my sight.
A few minutes later she returned with Grish by her side.
“Mate say you save her.” Grish said slowly and quietly. I could tell he was trying to be careful with his words now.
I couldn’t tell if this was indeed the same goblin female whom I’d saved from Sano, but I couldn’t think of anyone else it could have been. They kind of all looked really, really similar.
“...yes,” I answered. I thought it best to keep my reply short and sweet just in case there was any kind of confusion..
“She say you take beating to save her.” His voice was lower than before, it seemed as though he didn’t want to make a big show of this conversation.
“Thank...you,” He took the time to form the words properly. I could tell he meant them.
“You’re welcome,” I said honestly. I liked where we were headed with this, it felt like I was about to gain my freedom, and maybe a reward.
“Can’t let you go.” Grish had read my mind. “Clan need food. Clan hungry.” He repeated his earlier words.
“What if I hunt for you, will that do? I’ll hunt and bring you a replacement for me?” I scratched around in my mind for something that might get me off the hook. This seemed to trigger something in Grish as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“You bring food same weight as you. You go free. If food not enough, you food.”
You have been offered a quest
You must bring back food of any kind to Grish, the chieftain of the Sawblades clan that is equal to or in excess of your own weight.
Reward: Your freedom. Reputation with the Sawblades clan. Experience.
Do you wish to accept this quest? Yes/No
‘Right, I understand’ I thought as I mashed the ‘yes’ button as hard and as fast as I could and Grish reached into the pot and cut the rope around my chest with a short, curved blade. I untied my legs myself and easily stepped out of the cooking pot. The stew was so watery that barely any had stuck to me.
The female tentatively stretched her hand out for me to grab onto and although I didn’t need to use it, I felt it was rude not allow her to help me. Honestly it was more difficult to keep myself on balance as I stooped to accept her help than it would’ve been otherwise. I analysed her as I took up a standing position between her and Grish, at least two foot taller than her and a clear head taller than him.
Name: Snafu [Sawblades Clan]
Level: 3
Race: Goblin/Female
Attributes:HP: 12/12MP: 0/0
Strength:-Unavailable-
Wisdom:-Unavailable-
Social:-Unavailable-
Skills: -Unavailable-
Equipment:-Unavailable-
“Thank you Snafu,” I said genuinely, after all, she had just saved my life.
“It nothing. You save Snafu. Snafu save you.” She said. I didn’t care for life debts or the like, I was just happy to not be slowly boiled alive then eaten.
“Do you know where it’s good to hunt around here?” I asked with new purpose on my mind. I didn’t like to owe people anything so wanted to pay off my debt as quickly as possible. Of course not to mention completing my very first quest.
“I not hunt, talk other goblin.” She said as she looked away from me quite obviously embarrassed.
“I take!” A small voice squealed in excitement. The little goblin who’d tried to save me earlier had evidently been eavesdropping on our conversation just out of sight.
“I take! I take!” He repeated as he hopped on the spot from foot to foot.
“Oookay” I drew out my word as I watched for Snafu’s reaction, but she didn’t give anything away. “Let’s get going then.”
“Follow me,” He said happily as he bounded away from the camp. My legs having not been used for a while complained as I willed them to move, but even with stunted movements, it wasn’t difficult for me to keep up with the little creature with his tiny stride.
Of course, I thought about running away and never looking back, but part of me felt as though I should at least complete the quest, after all I had been part of an enemy army which I now knew wasn’t strictly speaking ‘the good guys’. Not that goblins were any better of course, but anyone who killed women and children for fun were the lowest of the low in my books.
My longer stride seemed to baffle the little goblin as he led me through the woods, he was shocked that I didn’t have to put any effort into keeping up with his bounding, which seemed to exhaust him after some time as he moved faster and faster which I guessed was some strange feat of agility. I found it hilarious when he’d stopped, put both hands on his waist and bent over panting.
When I took the time to analyse Ushuk, I discovered that he was a level one ‘goblin adolescent’ of the sawblades clan. With only five health I was kind of glad I hadn’t properly fought him, actually I was amazed that he hadn’t managed to fall over and kill himself on a particularly sharp blade of grass yet.
Ushuk had led me to a small stream that rushed from left to right. He gestured for me to kneel down behind a bush that faced the water. I waited for a moment in confusion before I realised what he was doing. A few feet away from us, a huge beetle emerged from the treeline and approached the river. It was the size of an Alsatian and its pincers were half its length again, I had absolutely no desire to go toe-to-toe with that thing but before I could voice my concerns to Ushuk, he leapt from our hiding place and onto the beetle’s back. They were almost the same size but if I had to give it to one of them, the beetle just about clinched it with its huge antlers.
I analysed it as I watched the scene unfold before me.
Race: Beetle
Level:2
Attributes:HP: 15/15
It seemed as though non-sentient beings didn’t have the full information page that the other things I’d analysed had, but I was pleased to see that the beetle now had a red health bar above its head.
“Not…attack…on…back!” Ushuk panted and shouted to me as the beetle trampled back and forth trying to shake the little goblin off its back. I could tell he was trying to tell me that the beetle couldn’t reach its own back, no wonder he was able to live so long when battling creatures with three times his own health.
I watched for at least five minutes as each of the tiny stabs that Ushuk inflicted on the beetle caused its health bar to drop by a minute amount, he couldn’t have been doing any more than one or two damage to the creature but with no chance of retaliation it was a battle of attrition that Ushuk couldn’t lose. The beetle eventually succumbed to the barrage of attacks and when it fell to the ground, its body was almost immediately replaced by a small leather pouch. It made me wonder why the goblin bodies hadn’t disappeared before good old Theo had managed to sink his teeth into them but I had better things to think about than game mechanics right now.
When Ushuk picked up the leather pouch, I watched as it disappeared in his hand. He smiled at me and said: “You next.”
We took our previous position hidden in the bushes and waited a few minutes before another beetle emerged. It was just the same as the last one and followed the exact same path. Mimicking Ushuk’s previous movements, I leapt out from the bush and attached myself to the beetle’s back and clung on as it started to run in fear and surprise. I could tell that with my weight on its back, it was much slower than it had been with the lighter Ushuk attached to it.
I didn’t have any small knives like Ushuk, so I joined my hands together in a ball and struck down onto the beetle’s head as hard as I could over and over again while clamping my k
nees as tightly as I could around the savage beast.
You hit beetle for 3 damage (Armour ignores 1 damage)
You hit beetle for 3 damage (Armour ignores 1 damage)
You hit beetle for 3 damage (Armour ignores 1 damage)
You hit beetle for 3 damage (Armour ignores 1 damage)
You hit beetle for 3 damage (Armour ignores 1 damage)
You hit beetle for 3 damage (Armour ignores 1 damage)
You hit beetle for 3 damage (Armour ignores 1 damage)
You hit beetle for 3 damage (Armour ignores 1 damage)
You have killed Beetle
You have gained 2xp
‘Nice.’
It wasn’t the easiest of kills, but it was definitely easier than having to come face to face with an armed opponent.
Once the beetle’s body disappeared, I was happy to see that it too had left behind a small leather pouch and copying what I’d seen Ushuk do, I picked it up.
You have found Beetle Meat
Beetle meat can be cooked on its own or used as an ingredient in other recipes.
Do you wish to add this item to your inventory? Yes/No
This was the first I’d heard about an inventory. The last time I’d been given an item it was the sword I’d used in the battle, I postulated that it must have been immediately equipped, which meant I hadn’t been prompted to add it to my stash.
I clicked ‘yes’ and the meat vanished from my hand and in much the same way I’d been instructed to use my ‘analyse’ ability, I thought ‘inventory’.
Before my eyes, a translucent appeared in my vision.
Tandy’s Inventory (1/10)
Beetle Meat: Qty 1
‘A-ha!’ This was amazing, ‘I have an inventory!’ I thought as I dismissed the information screen. That meant that I didn’t have to haul around countless leather pouches of beetle meat to complete my quest, something I’d worried about when the quest had mentioned my own bodyweight.
The Copper Rose Page 4
