Derium Plains, Daggerfall.
00:23 a.m. 15th Banem 1092.
Crackle! Boom!
While the monster army in Kirkcour Woods trembled under the lightning tribulation wrought by the vengeful daeben, disaster encroached upon a small goblin tribe across the continent beneath the cover of a rare thunderstorm.
Crackle! Boom!
Within one of the run-down buildings in the dilapidated village, Bok comforted a litter of scared goblin newborns who wept in fear as the heavens rumbled and roared. The young goblin looked at the pouring rain with unease and trepidation.
He had intended on fleeing the village immediately after Rudega left, but the thunderstorm had forced him to halt that plan. The little goblins could not travel in such a heavy storm. Besides, the pursuers would most likely have taken a break to hide from the thunderstorm.
"Don't cry, little ones. It's just a little lightning," Bok comfortingly said as he squatted over the children and patted their heads. "It'll pass after a short while." The goblin could understand why the babies were so scared as this was probably the first thunderstorm they had ever experienced.
'It'll also be the last for most of them.' Bok's gaze lowered as he thought of the most likely outcome for these scared babies. Goblins were not recognized as humes and, as such, did not receive any protection from the civilized nations. Adventurers often hunted their kind either for sport or for 'righteous causes.'
This all started who knows how long ago...
Apparently, some desperate goblins somewhere had taken it upon themselves to rob and kill humes for food and resources. These crimes, coupled with the goblins' high birth rate and short maturity period, led to a common fear among humes that one day, the savage creatures would proliferate across the continent like locusts and destroy everything they touch.
The humes, in response, labeled the entire goblin race as savage monsters that should be cut down on sight to preserve the natural order. This order led to the near extinction of the goblin race as they were hunted down to the continent's fringes. These savage executions eventually caused the desperate goblins to resort to cruel and sinister methods to ensure survival.
The entire race devolved into madness over several generations of constant persecution and retaliation, which ultimately resulted in the current reality where goblins either hid at the edge of the world or committed the worst atrocities on hume settlements, both as retaliation and to gain resources and strength to survive.
Bok snorted, rage burning in his eyes as he thought of the entire situation's stupidity and futility. The humes persecuted the goblins out of fear, and the goblins retaliated out of desperation to survive. The humes, angered by the goblins' atrocities, oppressed them even harder.
Unfortunately, the human's persecutions pushed the goblins to the end of their ropes, resulting in even worse atrocities. Be it the humes or the goblins; both sides had created a tail-eating serpent that would never end.
Although born with intelligence that was light years beyond the average goblin, Bok knew he could not do anything to change the current state of affairs. Once he became the chief, he took his tribe to Daggerfall, where those abandoned by the continent went to hide. While there, he planned to start a small community and see if it was possible to teach regular goblins to be self-sufficient, if only through hunting.
Bok looked up at the goblin mothers who sat by the litters with reluctant pouts. He sighed as he realized this was something the goblins needed to work on. The utter lack of empathy between these mothers and their children directly affected their survival rate.
However, this kind of thing could not be forced. Bok decided he would do some further research into how to fix this particular trait. For now, though, the tribe needed to keep working on becoming self-sufficient.
Crrackle! Boom!
"Aaaah!" "Aaah!" "Aaah!"
Bok's eyebrows shot up as the babies resumed their crying after another peal of lightning. However, what shocked the goblin was the fear and terror in the mothers' eyes as they looked at something behind him.
Bok's spine ran cold as he slowly turned around.
Crackle!
'No, it can't be!' Bok trembled as the lightning briefly illuminated a massive, dark silhouette at the doorway. The silhouette towered over the door, revealing a bulky, muscular frame that brought a terrifying existence to the goblin's mind.
The silhouette ducked, then stepped past the door into the building. Sure enough, Bok's heart plummeted as he looked into a pair of dark grey eyes belonging to a member of the strongest race in all of Daggerfall, an orc.
Bok instantly regretted his decision to stay. He should have fled the village with the tribe immediately after the dwarf left with his orc friends.
"Skraaa!" One of the female goblins let out a sharp war cry as she took out a shiv hidden under her garment and rushed at the orc.
Bok's heart leaped to his throat as he saw the look of contempt and disdain flash in the orc's eyes. "Stop!" The goblin cried as he turned and tackled the goblette to the ground. "Urgh!" Bok grunted as he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He, however, ignored the pain and screamed at the desperately flailing goblette, "Stop! Orc Strong! Can't beat! You anger, All die!"
Reason seemed to replace fear as the goblette stopped flailing and let out a series of guttural sounds as she looked into Bok's eyes. Bok responded in the goblin's native tongue and then reassured the other goblettes.
After making sure the goblette would no longer take any drastic actions, Bok released her and stood up. He winced as he looked at the shiv buried in his abdomen and stifled a groan as he yanked it out. The bloodied knife clattered to the floor as he looked up at the orc with a powerful gaze. "Bok, thank orc for mercy."
The orc did not seem to take Bok's words to heart as he only grunted and said, "Everyone, outside. Now."
Bok's heart shook, and he attempted to bargain. "Me, tribe chief. I answer questions. Leave rest alone?"
Unfortunately, the stone-faced orc was having none of it. "Everyone outside. Don't make me repeat myself."
Bok kept a hand over his injury and spoke in the goblin tongue to the goblettes. Heeding his words, the goblettes obediently placed the goblin babies into baskets and followed the orc into the streets.
Bok's eyes twitched. Dozens of orcs patrolled the streets, pulling goblins out of houses. Bok obediently gathered with the rest of his tribe and faced the orcs with trembling in his heart.
Eventually, an orc larger than the rest walked in front of the goblins and coldly beckoned, "Who's the chief?"
If Durst were there, he would have recognized the orc to be Renark Ragelock.
"I am," Bok fearfully said as he stepped forward.
Renark looked at the goblin. "You speak the common tongue?"
"Little," Bok replied with a shaky nod. It was not wise for a goblin to reveal themselves as intelligent. It often led to them being murdered to 'prevent a goblin uprising.'
"Good." Renark snorted. "I won't harm you as long as you answer my questions truthfully."
"Y-Yes. Thank you!" Bok gratefully said as he fell to his knees and bowed to the orc. "Answer all questions. Only the truth. No lie!" Bok promised.
"Did a dwarf and two orcs pass by here?" Renark asked and closely monitored the goblin for any signs of deceit.
"Yes!" Bok instantly answered. He did not dare lie for fear of the consequences if he were caught. "They go to house. Enter tunnel," he said as he pointed at the 'mayor's duplex.'
"Smart choice," Renark gruffly praised. "Lead the way."
Bok led Renark and a few of his subordinates into the building's basement and pointed at the broken hammer image on the wall. "Dwarf do something. Wall open."
Renark frowned as he studied the image for a few moments, then said, "Dwarven enchanted lock. It'll take too long to force this open." He looked at one of his subordinates and ordered, "Bring the dwarf."
The subordinate nodded and ran up the stairs. Moments later, he returned with a disheveled, scared dwarf in hand.
Renark regarded the scared Uthman with a sneer. "Little dwarf, if you wish to continue living, I suggest you tell me something useful about this tunnel."
Uthman's eyes twitched as he stared at the hammer imprint in disbelief. Things must have gone to shit if whoever the orcs were pursuing had chosen to use this passage.
The poor dwarf had been kept captive by Renark ever since they left Oerbora, and as a result, had no idea what had transpired during the meeting. But judging from their current location, it could not have been anything good. Uthman looked at Renark with equal parts rage and fear and shouted, "What did you do!? Where's Farvulia-sama!?"
Renark snorted, and his eyes burned with rage as he tightly gripped his ax. He glared at the dwarf, voice trembling as he struggled to control the rising anger, and said, "Your clansman, the Thonurs betrayed us. They set a trap for Durst and slaughtered several orcs. Luckily, they did not account for us, and we were able to surround and rout them before they could deal even more damage. But they severely injured and took Farvulia hostage as they escaped. We've tracked them to this location. Talk dwarf. We must get revenge for our people, or else we'll take it out on every dwarf in Daggerfall."
Uthman trembled under Renark's intense gaze. He could feel the orc's righteous anger and knew he would get burned if he did not give the orc what he wanted. Although he had been skeptical at first, Uthman did believe that the Thonurs could betray the orcs and Farvulia. If Renark had suggested that Farvulia did something underhanded during the meeting, Uthman would not have believed him, but the orc's current story was plausible.
There was also the matter of the final threat. Indeed, if Renark did not get his hand on the Thonurs and proved that the Thonur household solely perpetrated the attacks, this could lead to a nation-wide war.
Uthman did not want that kind of responsibility on his head. The dwarf looked at Renark and honestly said, "The Farvulia household built this tunnel for the worst-case scenario where the dwarfs had to flee the country. This one travels underneath the Wazir river to Serisis."
Renark's eyes narrowed. "I'm guessing this is not the only one of its kind. Where are the others?"
Uthman remained tight-lipped.
Renark snorted. This was a matter of life-and-death for the dwarven race. There was no way Uthman would so readily give up that information. Renark shifted his focus to more critical issues. "Do you know how to open the door?"
Uthman approached the door and, just like Rudega before him, began to run his fingers along the diagram, injecting mana into several node points. Unfortunately, he stopped after roughly ten seconds with a grim expression. "The last person to access this changed the code after he entered. It'll take forever to crack if I'm working blind. But if someone saw them alter the code, I can use that as reference."
Bok shivered as Renark looked at him and rapidly shook his head. "Goblin memory not good. No remember." This was a known trait among goblins, and why they were doomed to limited civilization growth despite their sentience. They had short-term memories and barely remembered anything past a few moments ago. The only memories they retained over long periods were their instinctual memories, those required to survive, their language, and finally, lessons that were repeatedly hammered into their heads over a long period.
Even Bok, with all his intelligence, needed to write down most of his ideas on the ground or stone to remind himself after his short-term memory kicked in. Only after repeatedly enforcing the idea in his head would it then permanently stick. He had only seen Rudega use the inscription once, following which he did not practice it or anything. It had long since been wiped out from his memory.
Renark's gaze flashed. "But you saw what he did, didn't you?"
Bok tentatively nodded.
Renark nodded, then took out a rink from a waist pouch. He inserted his mana into the device and connected to the only rink linked to it.
"Well, well, Renark, I did not expect to receive your call so soon," a sultry voice called out from the sphere.
"We have a problem," Renark flatly stated, ignoring the woman's tone. "I know you're close. Come, we need your help to catch Durst."
"Alright, We'll be there in five minutes," the voice sweetly replied in a sing-song voice, then cut the call.
"Five minutes, huh," Renark muttered with a dark expression as he pocketed the rink. "Yet I never noticed them..." The orc's eyes narrowed. This was the consequence of making a deal with the devil. He now had to look over his shoulder at every turn.
True to their words, three silhouettes appeared on the horizon five minutes later. Honne Onna, Grizzlydiamond, and Rustyreaper rode up to the village on massive elks as large as stallions. These creatures were indigenous to Ederwood and were the preferred mounts for the wealthy and influential Ederwood residents.
Renark stood at the village's entrance with Bok and Uthmar, eyes narrowed as the trio stopped in front of him and dismounted. The orc's muscles tensed as he glared at the heavily armored Grizzlydiamond. It was rare to meet a hume who rivaled an orc in size, but at 7 ft tall, Grizzlydiamond stood head to head with Renark. "Grizzly."
"Ragelock," Grizzlydiamond greeted with a curt nod and a snort. Both warriors' hands instinctively reached for their weapons as they sensed the others' power. It was an almost primal instinct to defend themselves from the considerable threat.
Luckily, Rustyreaper stepped between the men and defused the tension with a sweet smile before the situation escalated further. "Calm down, boys. There'll be time for this later."
Renark and Grizzlydiamond snorted, subconsciously imposing dominance over the other, then softly relaxed their stances.
"Thank you for listening to listening to little old me," Rustyreaper gratefully said with a short curtsey. A warm smile played on her lips as she looked at Uthman and Bok with curiosity, then back at Renark. "So, what is this problem you need our help with?"
Renark looked at Honne Onna with slight trepidation in his eyes. "I need your ability Honne-san. We need to get some information from the goblin's mind."
Honne Onna looked at the frightened Bok with slight curiosity. "What could a goblin possibly know?"
Renark explained the issue with the door. When he was finished, he looked at Bok and said, "He saw Farvulia open the door. We need that memory."
"Never heard of a goblin being tied to an important quest before," Grizzlydiamond muttered with an intrigued gaze. "I wonder if there's something special about this one."
Renark's eyes twitched. These damned Summoned and their 'quests.' They measured everything in this world in respect to how relevant they were to their 'quest completion.' He could not stand the way the Summoned looked down on Residents, but in this case, their prejudice worked to his advantage, so he buried his unease.
Honne Onna walked over to Bok and squatted so he was at eye-level. Her playful yet unfeeling eyes chilled him to the bone, a condition that only worsened when she smiled. Bok instantly felt like he had dropped into the seventh level of hell and was faced with a high-ranking demon. Seemingly oblivious to the effect she had on Bok, Honne Onna asked, "What's your name, little goblin?"
"B-bok," he answered as thick sweat poured down his forehead.
"Nice to meet you, Bok," Honne Onna said. "We do not want to hurt you, I promise. Just look into my eyes."
Bok, realizing he had no choice in the matter, looked into the commander's eyes. His heart skipped a beat as her pupils suddenly turned into an intricate mandala. The mandala whirled in place and created an illusion of a whirlpool that sucked everything into her eyes. He glimpsed all sorts of horrors within the vortex and, frightened out of his mind, attempted to shut his eyes and wrest away his sight.
Unfortunately, Bok immediately found he had lost control of his body. Try as he might, Bok could not look away from the whirlpool. Within moments, the goblin's panic intensified as he began to feel himself get sucked into the vortex. He screamed and attempted to pull himself out, but it proved futile as, before long, he was utterly sucked into the vortex.
Bok's heart trembled as he was thrown back to early memories he had long forgotten. From his birth in some dump to the death of his first clan by some righteous adventures. He recalled how he had run to another tribe and made his home there for many years. However, in the past year alone, he had been forced to seek out four new tribes as each tribe he ran to was destroyed by Summoned, who saw them as something called 'XP.'
The goblins' short-term memory had saved Bok from the anger and fear he should have felt from these traumatic events. Unfortunately, being subjected to these traumatic events in one go nearly drove the poor goblin to madness as he was overwhelmed by the negative emotions.
Outside Bok's head, Renark heart lightly accelerated as he looked at the slack-jawed, empty-eyed goblin. He knew what the goblin was going through. That girl's eyes could draw out and amplify a person's worst memories, which made their minds much easier to manipulate and read.
Unlike Bok, Renark had broken out of the illusion shortly after being subjected, but he would never forget the short horror of those few minutes. He had never experienced anything as sick or disturbing and would not wish it upon his worst enemy. But, right now, they needed information to chase down Durst. He could not allow Durst to live, or everything he had worked for could be jeopardized.
Meanwhile, Bok, who was forced to relive the worst moments of his life, repeatedly let out a soundless cry for anyone or anything to save him, to help him. But there were no replies to his pleas. The goblin desperately prayed, calling out to any gods who might be listening to please save him, but the continued torture proved no one was listening to his pleas for help.
Eventually, the torture proved far too much for the goblin, whose mental fortitude had never been too strong, to begin with. Bok felt his sanity shatter, which finally allowed Honne Onna free access to his brain. The young woman quickly sifted through the goblin's shattered psyche for the part relevant to their mission.
Honne Onna found the memory related to Rudega and pulled it out of the goblin's mind. Her eyes returned to normal, and she rose to her feet as Bok dropped to the ground in a near comatose state.
Honne Onne ignored the goblin and chanted a spell. A few seconds later, she raised her hands, and a mandala appeared on the ground. A three-dimension playback of Rudega's motions as he opened the door appeared above the mandala, causing Uthman's eyes to bulge in shock.
Renark, who had seen this once before, gripped his arms. The Winterleaf Clan's strange abilities once again floored him. He had met three of the five generals, and each one possessed uncanny skills he could not wrap his head around. If one were not aware of these skills, they would die before the fight even started.
Honne Onna did not care what effects her skill had on the onlookers. She looked at Uthman and asked. "Is that enough? Can you open the door?"
Uthman's eyes narrowed as he looked at the image. Although Rudega looked injured and ragged, he could see that the dwarf was in full control of his actions. His motions did not seem rushed or panicked. But he could not be sure if this was because Rudega was truly fine, or if it was the dwarf's unwavering attitude in the face of danger. The image did not have anyone else in frame, so it was difficult to tell if Rudega was alone, came with allies, or was forced here by enemies.
Uthman glanced at Bok with regret. He should have confirmed the state Rudega arrived in, but that information was impossible to get in its current state. The dwarf hated the current circumstances. He could force himself to give up his life if he could confirm Rudega's well-being. But what if Rudega was indeed in danger? Wouldn't he have given up his life for nothing?
As someone who cherished his little life as much as Uthman did, this was an unacceptable trade-off.
Uthman took a deep breath as his internal debate came to an end. He looked at Honne Onna and confirmed, "Yes, I can open it. But I'll have to follow if you don't want to get lost in the underground mazes."
Honna Onna's lips curled up in a knowing smile. "Smart way to preserve your life a little longer. Let's go then. We do not want those fools to escape."
Uthman shivered and nodded. He glanced at Bok, then shook his head and walked toward the house with the tunnel.
Renark looked and Bok and moved to lift the unconscious goblin. Grab! The orc's eyes narrowed as he glared at the owner of the armored hand that had grabbed his. "Grizzly. What do you think you're doing?"
"I need this goblin." Grizzlydiamond flashed a toothy grin. "I'm only a few points away from a level up. He should do just fine."
Renark's eyes narrowed. "He's too weak to have any bearing on your strength. Besides, we gave our word we wouldn't harm him as long as he cooperated."
"You gave your word," Grizzlydiamond said as he tightened his grip. "That's meaningless to me. Also, if one goblin is useless, one-hundred should be enough, right?"
"I will not have you make a mockery of the orc's honor," Renark stated as he wrenched his arm from Grizzlydiamond's grip. "You will leave the village alone."
"And if I don't?" Grizzlydiamond threatened as he squared up against Renark. The warrior's eyes suddenly turned into slits as a low guttural growl escaped his throat.
Renark's eyes flashed, and he instinctively reached for his ax, but just as his fingers brushed his ax, his entire body grew shuddered as he felt pressure like anything he had ever faced. It felt like the eyes of an ancient demon had locked onto him and would judge the merit of his existence based on his next action.
Renark trembled as he looked at two silhouettes on the horizon. The pressure he felt originated from the one on the left. After a few seconds, the duo came into view and revealed themselves to be the beautiful wisben Guildmaster of the Winterleaf Clan, Brilith Loneheart, and her bodyguard, Roro.
Brilith coldly looked down at Renark from her elk. Her gaze carried the impunity and disdain common in noble families who knew they were born superior to the common folk. "Do you want to risk the lives of your men over a mere goblin? If that's the case, feel free to pull your ax."
Brilith's beautiful voice sounded like the alluring songs of a siren to the orc chieftain's ears. He did not doubt that everyone in the town would end up dead if he did as she said.
"There is no reason to shed blood needlessly," Renark said as he brought his clenched fists to his side.
"Wise choice." Brilith praised as she dismounted. She looked at Renark and said, "Honne-chan's briefed me on the situation. Let's go see if the dwarf was successful, shall we?"
Renark stiffly nodded, then led the way to the house. He looked over his shoulder and grimaced as he watched Grizzlydiamond unceremoniously pick up Bok like a piece of luggage. The orc shook his head, then pushed the goblin's fate out of his mind.
Grizzlydiamond, meanwhile, carried the unconscious Bok to the street where the remaining goblins were corralled. He tossed Bok into the group of goblins and ignored the resulting panicked cries and shouts. He ordered the orcs to push the goblins as close together as possible.
The goblins only numbered about 100 in total, babies and children included, so they did not occupy too much space when they were tightly squished next to each other.
Grizzlydiamond nodded in satisfaction and took out a greatsword from his inventory. He channeled his ki into the sword and then flung it into the sky. Like a judgmet from the gods, the sword hovered over the goblins.
Grizzlydiamond grinned as he inspected the goblins' fear. "Die." He flicked his finger, and the blade crashed into the ground. The resulting ki explosion instantly blasted every goblin to pieces.
The orcs who were in charge of corralling the goblins also suffered slight injuries, but it was the kind that would heal after a few minutes. Grizzlydiamond had expertly contained the explosion, so it only erupted within a small zone.
A level-up prompt brought a smile to the warrior's face. He did not spare a glance at the few corpses that were not sent directly to the circle as he retrieved his sword and walked to the house with the basement.
When Grizzlydiamond walked into the basement, he found the rest waiting for him as Uthman had successfully opened the door. The tank grinned as he and Renark walked into the tunnel with Uthman behind them for directions. The rest followed behind the dwarf into the dark unknown.
Meanwhile, back on the surface, a finger twitched amongst the pile of corpses.