So, I wrote a story about a group of goblins attacking a fortress. I took a lot of artistic liberties, especially with the goblins. For some reason I like to think goblins are about as tall as humans, and don't live too long. I decided it should go here as it was inspired by Dwarf Fortress in pretty much every way. I got the idea from a picture in the fan art thread of a few goblins around a campfire that I can't seem to find anymore. So, here's a story about goblins.
“Ogo, I said wake up!” came a voice from the dark, rousing the goblin from his sleep. Then he felt a strong kick to his head, motivating him to sit up. “Get your weapons together, we’re moving out!” shouted Mugo, Ogo’s captain.
“Yes sir…” replied Ogo sluggishly as he stood inside the small tent. When he looked around he saw that he was the only one not yet up, for fear of another lashing, he hurried through getting his armor and weapons ready.
“Are you ready for this Ogo?” came one of the goblins friends, Stosp. “It might not go too well, last two raids on this fort got slaughtered!”
“I heard, but I’m sure we’ll be fine. The last group was only ten of us.” Replied Ogo as he slid his sword out of its scabbard to make sure it was sharp.
“Well, I sure as hell hope so! I’d rather not die to the dwarves,” Said the other goblin as he bit a piece off a biscuit. “Anyway, I’ll be outside. You should hurry Ogo, wouldn’t want to be lashed again, now would we?” said Stosp, grinning as he stepped out of the tent. Ogo sighed lightly as he slid his copper helm over his head, then headed outside, almost completely sure that his first raid would be his last. As he stepped into the sun, he saw the general standing on a rock, with the three captains standing behind him, and the other 16 goblin soldiers crowded around the rock.
“Today, we will march on the dwarven fortress of Skullwatered, I expect you all to show no mercy to the little bastards. Kill everyone you see, and once we’re finished with the slaughter, the glory, and the loot, of the fortress will be ours!” yelled the general, grinning down at the troops, “We cannot give up until the dwarves pay for what they did to the last raiding party! I want their canals red with blood, and the walls decorated with their heads!” he continued. The speech was met with cheers of “Blood for the Blood God!” and “For Armok!”
The troop had marched until noon when the general gave the order to camp on the hill, and pointed out the fortress, just across the river. It had a massive stone drawbridge over a moat that seemed to actually run under it and into the fort. From where Ogo was standing, it didn’t look too deep, and he reckoned they could wade through it. Upon telling this to Stosp, the goblin replied “You seriously think they’d leave it undefended? Come on kid, it’s probably filled with traps!”
“Well it’s a better plan than swinging our swords at a solid stone wall until they pick us off with their crossbows!” said Ogo in his defense, “And I’m not a kid!”
The last part of Ogo’s defense caused Stosp to raise an eyebrow, “Not a kid? You’re only, what, 19? 20? I’m atleast six years older than you!”
“Six years, so impressive! I can still kick your ass!” replied Ogo as he began setting up the squads’ tent, slightly offended.
“Hey, I’ve been on six raids in those six years, and what have you done? Shaved trolls?” said Stosp, grinning as he helped set the tent up, “What a war hero! Ogo the troll shearer!” he mocked, “Great and mighty lord of the shears!” Ogo had no response to this, so he simply stayed quiet as he finished setting up the tent.
A few hours later, the captain entered the tent and called everyone to him, “Right, the general’s got a plan. Our squad is going in through the canals, right up front. I highly suggest you pay attention, and if something looks funny, don’t touch it! Those canals are likely trapped, and I’d rather not be the one that has to drag your sorry asses back to the tower because you thought the gem in the wall looked like good loot! We’re going in the night, so get some sleep.” The squad responded with a few nods and a “Yes sir,” then they all lay down on their sleeping mats and tried to get some sleep.
Ogo woke up in the night to a light tapping on his shoulder, “Wake up Ogo!” said Stosp, “It’s time to attack, get your things together, and hurry it up.” Ogo sat up, seeing the sun out the flap of the tent, barely on the horizon. He quickly stood up off of the mat and started getting his armor on. Finally he slid his copper chain helmet over the leather already on his head, his long ears sticking out of the holes in the top, tied his scabbard around his waist, and headed outside. He could see the entire camp standing at the edge of the hill, and hurried toward his squad, who were obviously in front.
The general stood in the front of the force, with his personal squad of expert marks-goblins surrounding him. “Today, we will bring this fortress to its knees. I want them to see the smoke from the next county over! Is that understood?!” shouted the general. The army responded with a series of grunts and nods, and the general pointed to the canal and shouted, “Good, now get moving!”
Ogo’s squad headed down the hill right up in front, behind them a squad of axe-goblins, then the spear squad, and finally, the general’s crossbow troops. As he headed down the hill he looked up at the walls of the fort. On either side of the massive stone bridge there were towers, and at the top of these towers he plenty of dwarves. As they approached one ran to inform the rest of the fort that the attack had started. The towers were massive, made purely of stone, with windows on all sides. Ogo figured they’d be in range soon, so he slowly raised his wood and leather shield. Stosp nudged him and said “Save your strength, they won’t shoot till we get closer; it’d be a waste of bolts, as they probably aren’t trained very well…” Ogo nodded slightly, and lowered his shield. He then turned his attention to the groups behind him, wondering why his squad was in front. It didn’t make sense to him that the squad with the most recruits would be in the front. He shrugged the thought off, deciding he would leave tactics to the tacticians.
Stosp nudged him again a few minutes later, only seconds before a bolt went whizzing past Ogo’s ear. “I’d put your shield up now, if I were you!” he said, grinning as they continued toward the moat. It was only a short way away now, just a few meters of grass. Once in the water they’d be out of sight from the bows, but pressure plates and tripwires could easily be hidden in the water. He figured that as long as he kept his wits about him he could avoid the traps. His thoughts were interrupted as a bolt hit hard on his shield, surprising him and causing him to stumble back a few paces. “Alright boys, let’s kill us some dwarves!” shouted the captain as the squad started running toward the water, dwarves already visible wading toward them, armed with axes, falchions, swords, and even mining picks.
As soon as the captain entered the water 6 spears came up front under him, making a loud clanging and crunching as the sharp dwarven craftsmanship dug through his bronze chainmail and straight through his back, practically killing him instantly. His body stayed on the spears for a second, and then the spears dropped down with a sickening splash. The squad paused at the water for a few seconds, until Stosp shouted “I suppose we can just stand here and have them pick us off with their crossbows! Come on now, charge!” then he ran forward, and after the first few steps of not being killed by a trap, the rest of the squad followed, the others shouting war-cries and insults at the dwarves. Ogo kept his eyes aimed at the water, carefully avoiding any breaks in the patterns of the marble below him as he waded to the dwarves. One of the goblins next to him let out a gasp and a squeak as a bolt flew through his throat, spilling his blood in the water below. Ogo became aware that he could, and probably would, actually die here, and became ever more careful. He also became aware of the corpses that he was treading over. It took him a few seconds to realize these were the corpses of the previous siege. Filled with a sense of fear he had never had before, he continued through the water.
Stosp was there first, an unarmored dwarf swung at him with a pick, and he deftly jumped to the side, at the same time stabbing his longsword at the dwarf’s shoulder, he then twisted and tore the blade out sideways, slashing it at a axedwarf that was standing next to the unlucky miner. The blade cut straight through his iron chainmail and made a long cut over his chest, causing him to drop almost at the same time as the miner. By this point Ogo had caught up, and the other dwarves, after some hesitation, charged the goblins. One such dwarf, armed with a two-handed falchion, swung at Ogo, who raised his shield just in time to knock the blow to the side. Ogo took the moment and bashed his shield forward in the dwarf’s face, stunning him further as Ogo brought his shining bronze longsword to the side, then with a twist of his shoulders and spine, he decapitated the dwarf.
Ogo had never fought before, outside of the occasional fist fight, and sparring. Something about the fact that this dwarf had meant to kill him enraged him, and he relished in the fact that he had ended the creature’s life mercilessly and quickly. He charged at the next dwarf, who was armed with a spear and clad in steel chainmail. Ogo had heard of steel, of course; the advanced dwarven metal that could cut through bronze and iron like butter, and deflect even the strongest of blades, but he was not afraid. As he ran forward the dwarf stabbed at him, but he blocked the blow with his shield and pushed the spear aside, leaving the dwarf open for a quick stab to the chest. The dwarf, however, was quick, and jumped out of the way of the blade, and then he took a few paces back, and pointed his spear at the goblin. Ogo charged forward again, and was met with a jab toward his stomach. He jumped to the side, but just a moment too late, and the strong steel spear tip bit through his side. Pain ran through his stomach, but quickly subsided. He had only been scratched in the side, which had reminded him once again of his mortality. He charged forward again, but before the dwarf could strike back there was a bolt in his skull. As Ogo looked back he could already see the crossbow goblin reloading his weapon.
Ogo took the moment of peace to see what was going on around him. Stosp was pulling his blade out of the skull of a hammerdwarf, and the rest of the force was deeper into the canals, towards the fortress proper. Ogo followed them, leaving behind the dark tunnel under the stone bridge. As he entered the dimly lit mountainhome, he could see small carvings on the walls of the canal, and holes dug out in the walls on either side. A bit ahead of him he could see a small ramp that lead out of the canal. He ran toward it, noticing that there were no dwarves left in the canal. A few seconds after he realized this, a bolt flew past his face, hitting an axegoblin in the chest. Ogo quickly turned and raised his shield, barely blocking the next dwarf’s bolt. There were marksdwarves on either side of the canal, spewing bolts into the mass of goblins. There was quickly a sort of shield wall facing either side as the goblins plodded deeper into the water.
Ogo realized that unless something took the marksdwarves out quickly, they would be unable to climb up the ladders on the side, and would be trapped in the canal till the dwarves ran out of bolts, or they were all dead. Two more bolts struck his shield, knocking him back a few steps in the water, when he heard Stosps voice “We need to go deeper into the canals!” he called out, “Better learn to swim quick!” Ogo turned his head toward the deeper end of the canal, the water was certainly deeper there, and it led into the dark, but it was better than staying here to turn into a pincushion, so he started sidestepping toward the deep end of the canal. Ogo looked behind him and saw only a dozen goblins where left, including himself, Stosp, the general and his guard, and the squad of axegoblins. He and Stosp were the only left from his their squad.
Ogo kept sidestepping, until his foot slipped and he fell into the deeper water. Having expected it to be a gradual incline, this took him by surprise, and he panicked for a few seconds, since he’d never swum before. He did his best to stay afloat in his heavy chain armor as he floundered away from the dwarves. The water wasn’t all too deep, he could almost touch the bottom with his feet, but it was just too deep to walk in. Ogo saw a ladder through the dark and headed toward it. When he arrived at it he noticed Stosp was already up on top, fighting two unarmored marksdwarves. As Ogo grabbed one of the ladders rungs a dwarven body fell past him, and by the time he crawled out of the canal the other dwarf was dead. Stosp was already charging at the remaining marksdwarves, shield raised. Ogo could tell the dwarves were untrained by the way they stood as they aimed at Stosp; still, it was a dangerous move of Stosp to charge them alone.
Ogo rushed to help his friend, watching as Stosp put his blade clean through the head of the first dwarf, who was busy reloading his weapon. The next unfortunate dwarf tried to fire a bolt at Stosp, but in his panic he missed and shot the bolt much too far to the right. Stosp quickly cut at the dwarf’s arm, cutting clean through. As the limb fell to the floor Stosp pulled his blade back and thrust it through the dwarf’s heart. By this time Ogo had arrived, and they both charged the last dwarf on their side of the canal. There was a loud clanging of steel hitting copper, and Stosp fell down with a gasp, a bolt embedded in his chest. Ogo, enraged and afraid, charged at the dwarf, slashing wildly at his face. Unfortunately for the dwarf, the bronze blade bit straight through the leather cap he was wearing, and embedded itself into his brain, killing him instantly.
As the rest of the goblins ran deeper into the fort to raid what treasures the dwarves hid, Ogo turned to his friend, who was bleeding slightly onto the grey stone and gasping for breath. He crouched down next to his fellow goblin and looked at the bolt. As far as he could tell, it had hit Stosps lung, and was likely to kill him. He quickly took the goblins chainmail helmet off, and then carefully pulled the coat up over his head, trying not to touch the bolt with it, as not to cause more pain. He then picked the goblin up over his shoulder and made for the exit. The stone drawbridge was still closed, but he could see a lever on the floor near it. The lever had clearly not been used for some time, because when he tried to pull it, it was a bit stuck and took some working to get it to move back. When the lever came backwards he could hear the clattering of gears in the ground below and in the roof, then the drawbridge clattered down, and he hurried outside.
Out in the grassy field he set Stosp down near the canal. Ogo sighed and grabbed the arrow by the shaft, then, as quickly as possible, he ripped it out of the goblins stomach. Stosp cried out in pain, then lay quiet, unconscious. The arrow had dug deep, and took a large part of the goblins skin and muscle with it. Ogo quickly grabbed a dwarven helm laying in the canal, and filled it with water. He had heard from the goblin healers that you should always wash a wound before rapping it, so he carefully poured some water on the wound. He then tore off Stosps sleeve, and wrapped it around the goblins chest multiple times. He filled the helmet again, and poured more water onto the wound. Noticing the blood was still leaking through, he ripped of Stosps other sleeve and wrapped it around much tighter. Finally, he picked the goblin up over his shoulder again and headed back up toward the tents where they had camped, hoping to find supplies there.
By the time he reached the top of the hill, Ogo could see smoke pouring out of the entrance to the fort, and he could see goblins coming out with jewels, gold, and weapons, plundered from the fort. Ogo quickly headed to the generals tent, and lay Stosp down on one of the mats that lay inside. He then hurried to the small chest near the bed and opened it, searching through frantically for anything that could be used to wrap the wound. He found a bottle of rum, and recalled that alcohol could be used to clean wounds, so he poured a bit of it on the wound, inciting a moan from Stosp. He then found some spare clothes in the chest and started tearing bits off of them and wrapping them around the goblins wound. Finally, he picked Stosp up again, and turned to leave.
Standing at the exit of the tent, however, was the general and his men. The general was clearly not happy that his tent had been raided, and one of his men’s personal rum supply used to heal a lowly soldier. “Get my whip…” he hissed. One of the guards went to a chest and took a leather whip, its end split into six biting tails. Ogo turned around, preparing for the whipping. One of the guards took Ogo’s chain coat up off his head, and soon after the general cracked the whip at his back, biting through his troll fur shirt and leaving bleeding marks on his back. The tips of the whip were made of copper, so each of the tails struck clean through the skin on his back. After a dozen cracks of the dreaded whip, the general had it put away. “You had best get out of my tent, before I end your friends life.” He growled, “and if I ever find you in my tent again, you can bet your sorry ass that you won’t live to tell about it. Ogo nodded, picked up Stosp, and left as quickly as he could.
Once inside his tent, he realized how empty it was. It was just him and Stosp now, so he took advantage of the situation and started searching the other swordgoblins bags. In the captains bag he found a few bottles of dwarven ale and a few coins, and the other bags merely contained extra clothes.
For the next few hours Ogo sat next to Stosp, waiting for him to wake up. He had half fallen asleep when he heard a low groan. Opening his eyes, he saw Stosp sitting up on the mat. “What happened?” Stosp asked.
“You got a bolt stuck in your lung.” Replied Ogo, “and you’d better be grateful I decided to patch you up! I didn’t get to loot, AND I got whipped for taking some things from the general’s tent to fix you up!”
Stosp tried to chuckle, but instead started coughing. “Ugh… I feel awful, but, thanks for helping me out. I guess you aren’t so bad after all.”
The next day, the camp packed up and headed back to the tower. Ogo aided Stosp in walking, and when they arrived, they celebrated with a bit of dwarven ale to ease the pain.
Also, it was much longer than I meant it to be, very sorry about that.
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Topic: A Story of Goblins (Read 987 times)