On and on it went. Grinless ran thru a house fire, causing it to collapse and spend the flames, preventing its spread to the town. Krigga grabbed some fried rodents for dinner. Goobdwib continued crying out the town's savior's name, “Grinless the hero goblin!”

Grinless climbed a huge tree and slingshot himself over a deep gorge. Just after, the tree fell, creating a sturdy, wide bridge for travelers to use instead of a long, winding treacherous path. Krigga grabbed bird's eggs for flavoring and rubbing in his eyes. Goobdwib posted a sign, proclaimed the bridge be named after its hero creator: the Grinless Bridge.

Grinless trekked thru a fierce battle between stalwart humans and slavering ogres. He tripped the ogre chieftain Chur'guh, who fell and choked on his spiked club. Krigga stopped to enjoy the fount of fresh ogre blood, commenting, "Hmm, tastes like brutality!" Goobdwib hacked at a few confused ogres in passing, rallying the humans under the war cry, "For Grinless, our Hero! Savior of the free lands!"

Run as he did, Grinless couldn't escape the hateful title of hero.

The disparate trio eventually came to a point of tired compliance; Grinless couldn't shake his two companions so accepted their presence like a persistent toe fungus and just tried to keep a certain distance from them. Krigga and Goobdwib saw this as their brave leader scouting ahead for danger or acceptable quests. Grinless would still try to sneak away, but they'd taken to keeping watch of their elusive leader.

It was Krigga's turn; perched up in a tree he was having trouble telling which little blob in the distance was Grinless as his eyes were still clouded with crud. Goobdwib shifted uneasily, "Mayhaps I should be on the lookout? On account I can actually see? Perhaps?"

But Krigga interrupted, "Wait, wind shifting... Ah, got scent. That way!" pointed the half-blind goblin.

They followed, Krigga wrestling with a squirrel. Goobdwib asked, "Ye didn't happen to get any of his store of nuts, eh?"

Krigga shrugged, "Why want that?" as he snapped its neck and drained it of blood. Goobdwib shuddered, almost said something, then hurried after Grinless.

Grinless had spied another derelict castle set in a dusty, weed-overgrown field with a dried moat—a forlorn place and therefore appealing to the antisocial goblin. He found his way in thru a cracked side door. Inside was a mess of decaying furniture and clothes, leftovers from bandit raids. Grinless was feeling good (or less crabby) about the place until his two sidekicks entered noisily.

"Ahoy Grinless!” called Goobdwib “What quest seek ye? What princess to save or royal mystery to solve?"

Grinless shushed him, but Krigga sniffed and commented, "Sounds big and empty. Smells dusty and dirty. Me likes! Good for adventuring base, boss?"

Grinless shushed him as well. Not just for the awful idea of him doing good intentionally, but because he'd discovered something. Bedrolls, food stores, and a makeshift campfire. Krigga finally sniffed it out too, "This smells newer, boss-buddy. Mebbe not abandoned."

As Grinless went to leave (ditching his foolishly curious comrades) he heard a group returning thru the same side door. He quickly hid behind piles of refuse and broken furniture. He was unfortunately joined by Krigga and a scuffling Goobdwib, who being a dwarf couldn't sneak well—they rarely saw the point, never practiced the skill. Grinless looked for a way out while dark-clad armored warriors filed past. He was all too aware that Krigga was hunting for rodents again to drink blood. Goobdwib kept catching his eye, pointing excitedly at the obvious bad guys and giving a thumbs-up.

Grinless rolled his eyes.

A leader stepped forward, nicer, fur-lined cloak, larger broadsword with decorated scabbard. He held forth an intricate amulet with sparkly amethyst, a magical aura lighting his eyes. "Finally, I've found it. After long search, the Amulet of Demonogen is mine. And with it, our dark knights, backed by a demon-slave army, will rule over this land!" The knight circle cheered.

Krigga stopped blood-feasting long enough to whisper, "Smell great evil—not fun kind."

Goobdwib turned to ask Grinless what to do, but found only empty space.