As we're about to move out the voices go crazy and plans a detailed ransacking of the mutialted goblins, can't say I'm looking forward to going down the hole again...
The little trinkets and coins I was asked to retrieve felt like a reasonable bounty for a few minutes of casual looting but the voices had bigger plans, much bigger. After hours of notorious labor I managed to aquire 2 goblin heads, 3 shrunken heads of uknown origin, some dirty clothes, an entire goblin stomach and an additional coin. I even tried to have the elf join me in my work which he found utterly distasteful, bringing back a memory of him saying that canibalism amongst elves is only a habit common to their most ruthless warriors and that it's a poor representation of the elves as a whole. I manage to stop myself before handing him the knife as he also mentioned something about elves not being able to wield metal tools. In the end we decide we got to head for the human village nearby even though the elf believes it to be a bad idea...
As we set out the night had gotten darker and the clouds covering the moon had grown thicker, soon a strong westward wind was upon us...
-Hey...-*cough*
-How did you kill the goblins? You know there was three of them...-Oh, I have a...
Don't tell him about the gauntlet idiot!
What we're freinds!
Yea, then let's keep it that way!
But...
No butts!
Heh...butts.I...
It's an evil artifact or something, you can't just walk around telling people about it!
But then what do I say!?
This is the time for some sweet, sweet dwarven propaganda!Uhmm
-Have what?-An axe!
-Eh?-A mighty axe and an even mightier beard! Don't underestimate the dwarven battle prowess, we were born for war! Mohahhahaha...
That was a bit insensitive on the other hand...you know the whole dwarves killing elves n shit?
Opps.
-...hahhahaha...uhmm just kidding...
*A sudden bolt of lightning followed by a shower of heavy rain breaks the akward silence*
Maybe we should drop the elf...
What?
You know finding a dwarf wondering the woods alone is wierd enough...but a dwarf and an elf is bound to raise some questions...
He'll die if we leave him!
No, I mean we keep him out here out of harms way and bring him some food of some sort...
But...
Butt.Don't worry Nerin we'll even leave Wilfred to guard him.
Wilfred's a goat!
And he's an elf, I don't see your point.
...
After discussing it over with Amathspar I leave him a few urists outside of the town and force my way through the falling rain.
The town was smaller then I expected and the houses were poorly constructed and dirty, in the end I approach one of the less shitty looking houses.
A towering human opens up the door and had I not been beaten up I might've been a bit frightened however this time he's the one with a scared expression upon his face. I try to explain my story to him but he doesn't really buy it, he says goblins never travel this far east. Showing him a few goblin heads shut him up though.
He hesitates for a bit but in the end he invites me in.
At the door he quickly introduces me to his wife and son as well as their maid.
The warm house help me regain a bit of sense and I ask them for a doctor but they explain that there is none nearby, you'd be forced to call for one from a few towns over which would take days. They do however offer me som porridge, not really a kittenstake but you can't complain. As they look away I pour the porridge into my pocket and quickly go for seconds. Once I was able to satisfy some of my hunger I realised that something was off about the people in there, they seemed kind of sad and rarely spoke. At first I wrote it off as some human thing but int the end I gave in to my curiousity and asked them about it. Once again they seemed a bit hesitant at first but decided to tell me a lenghty tale about how their village got taken over by a group of bandits. Apparantly it all came down to a single man whom had resently joined forces with the bandits, for in the past the villagers had always been able to fend off any such threats. The guy was a convicted felon from Capitol, renowned for his swordplay and lust for women. Ever since he arrived in the area noone has been able to get close to the packleader Gerug, so the bandits are free to wreck havoc upon the town as they see fit. Those that try have been swiftly dealt with by the swordsman whom only rarely leaves Greug's side to indulge in his own lustful activities.
I suddently get a feeling that perhaps I shouldn't stay in this town for too long, doesn't seem like something one would want to get involved in...
I excuse myself and go out for a quick smoke, on my way over to the elf I ponder on how everywhere I go there's nothing but misery and hardship...I kind of miss Rocklod again, something that I hadn't thought of in a long time. Seems so distant somehow...
The elf breaks up into a big smile as I hand him a fistful of oatmeal, whatever proud stature he mightv'e been trying to keep up until now got blown away. There we sit in the flushing rain and stare out into the dark abyss above the treetops, me smoking some filthy rags and the elf stuffing his face with cold porridge...I've had worse evenings I guess....
As I return the humans show me to a small room, perhaps a cubbyhole or a wardrobe, they refer to it as a guestroom but it's clearly too small for a human. But I'm not complaining and thank them wholeheartedly for giving me a warm place to sleep.
I wash off most of the blood before I head off to sleep, the little bed that they'd manage to cram into a corner was soft like a sheep, not at all like a dwarven bed. Must be stuffed with fur or something, maybe hay? Never know with these humans.
I'm more tired than what I've ever been before but the tender flesh around my broken ribs keeps me awake, guess I should be happy I'm still up and walking though...
Question is what the coming day will have in store for us. Perhaps we try to convince them to let me stay here for a while and regain my strength, or maybe it's time to leave before we get too involved with this stuff...
Can someone find the last inventory check? I'm pretty sure Nerin's overencumbered at this point.