I slowly regained consciousness, surprised that I hadn't died, and equally surprised to find myself trussed up to a tree. My eyes were blurry and the ringing in my head made me nauseous whenever I looked around.
"Ow..." My groan attracted the attention of a nearby creature and my grimace of pain seemed to excite it. The creature, once my vision steadied a bit, turned out to be a goblin. A weirdly purple goblin at that.
"Lookie here, it's awake. Such a pretty looking human you are... Such tender flesh. Maybe I should eat you now and save everyone the trouble of figuring you out, huh? That sounds good to me." The goblin giggles merrily, rubbing it's hands and creeping closer.
Another goblin, almost twice the size, and a darker shade of purple, steps up behind the first and smacks the smaller one in the head, growling deep in their chest. "Stop trying to scare it. You should know the slime was lying and this... thing doesn't know what we're saying." The bigger goblin growls again, starting to walk away and muttering, "Males are such idiots."
I clear my throat, heart pounding in my chest since something is clearly off here. "Um... Excuse me? May I have some water please?" I try for a polite approach since, with my level, if I were rude I'd be snapped in half by the female goblin within three seconds. "My mouth feels like cotton and I've got an abominable headache."
The female goblin stops in her tracks and whips around to face me, a thoughtful look on her leathery face. She walks over, crouches down, and places a gnarled finger under my chin, forcing me to look up into her rhuemy eyes.
"What's your name, human? And are you Male or female?" A slight purple mist hovers above her hand and creeps into my line of vision. I may not be a mage, but I've felt truth spells often enough to recognize one. Sighing, I suppress the urge to roll my eyes, and answer.
"My name is Malachai. I'm a male. And you can release the truth spell, lady. I'm not going to lie to you. Not when you can crush me like a bug. And I'd prefer not to call you lady, so if you have a name, by all means."
She grunts and her face screws up into what I think is a smile, the movement showing slightly elongated canine teeth. "You couldn't possibly pronounce my actual name, even if you do understand the language. However, you can call me Krisht. Now. Tell me how you came to speak our language."
I do roll my eyes this time, and groan like a rebellious teen. "I was given a random spell book by a thief and told to read it. I followed the books directions, the book turned to ash, and I inhaled some of it. Then I continued on my way into the forest, came across a blue slime that attacked me, probably out of fear, found out it could talk, passed out and woke up here. That's all. Now can I have some water?"
Krisht chuckles for a moment, the sound like two boulders grating against each other, and stands. She motions to the smaller male and orders him to fetch the flask from my pack and an apple from their stores. Then she turns back to me and draws a knife, waiting for the male to leave before slicing through the ropes holding me captive.
"Tell me one more thing while that truth spell is on you. Now that you can communicate with us freely, are you going to try and harm us without previous provocation?" She looks at me thoughtfully again, reaching into her pack and producing a minor health potion.
"I swear on my life, even though I don't have to, that I will do my best not to harm anyone, monster or human, without prior provocation or incentive." She looks at me for a moment then nods decisively, helping me to my feet and handing me the health potion.
"Alright then. Drink that, then when Grisht gets back you can eat. When you're done with that, I'm taking you to the elder. She'll know what to do with you."
Taking the potion from her, I realize that Krisht is about a head taller than me. Then I realize the connection between her and the little male goblin.
"Are you two siblings? The similarity in names would suggest it, but I've also known other who married who had similar names." Shivering at the taste of the health potion as I upend it, I lean against the tree, trying to work feeling back into my limbs and rear.
"I'm surprised you caught onto that. Seems the slime's name for you is incorrect after all." She pauses as if she's going to stop there, then continues. "He's my brother, the worthless whelp, and he's also my subordinate. It's a good thing you didn't get cheeky, or I'd have had full authority to execute you."
I rub my neck at the thought of a beheading and grimace, partly at the thought, and partly at the pins and needles feeling in my body.
"Do you mind if I check something right quick?" I ask politely, intending to check my inventory and stats.
At this time, the smaller goblin, Grisht, comes back holding my flask and a bright and shiny red apple. He freaks out when he sees me untied and starts forward, knife drawn, before getting backhanded by his sister and knocked flat on his rear. Holding his cheek and whimpering, he scrabbles backward, the Apple and water flask forgotten. Krisht picks them up and hands them to me, then towers over Grisht.
"You dare to attack a guest of the elders?! I'M in charge here, so back off and fall in line, or it'll be you that's beheaded! And I'll see to it myself!" She bellows at him, spittle flying from her fanged mouth and landing on his face. He covers at her feet, forehead pressed into the ground, hands out at his sides in a submissive posture.
She snarls at him again and snorts in disgust as he flinches, then turns back to me, polite once more.
"I apologize for that. Now, if you'll follow me, you can get ready and I'll take you to the elders." She motions for me to walk in front of her on a rough beaten trail and I proceed.
We arrive at a roughly made, full size cabin, the doorways large enough for even a six foot man to pass through without ducking and inch. The walls are made of whole logs and the roof is made of thatched pine strips, the windows covered with flaps of animal hide. One of the hides twitches and shows a bright red face in the opening and I realize the windows are just square holes in the walls. The face pulls back after making eye contact with me, and a low murmur fills the inside of the cabin as we step up to the door flap.
"Come in Krisht, and make sure our guest is chaperoned. Shaikh, pull out some refreshments as well." A very old female goblins voice rumbles out, nearly unintelligible with my new understanding of their language. It takes me a moment to understand, and by that time we're standing inside the doorway, a wizened blue goblin hunched over and poking at the central fire with a stick. A different goblin, I'm assuming Shaikh, is pulling out low tables and bowls of different fruits and vegetables. She hands a softened apple to the blue goblin and takes a seat on one of the three empty cushions placed around the fire pit.
"I hear you understand our language, unlike others of your kind. Sit down so I don't have to look up." She points to a seat between Shaikh, a white, middle-aged goblin, and a younger looking yellow goblin. I sit down and look around the circle, realizing the goblins are patterned, blue, green, red, white, yellow, and then purple.
"I am high elder Laika, what is your name? How come you to speak our language?" The blue goblin says. It takes a moment for the her to actually say it, though, as she gets out of breath rather easily and has to stop every now and then to catch it back. I carefully repeat my story for the goblins in the hut, adding in that it doesn't feel like I'm actually speaking any other language, then I fall silent, waiting for whatever judgement they decide to pass.
"Very interesting, Malachai. Very interesting indeed. I must talk this over with the other elders. For now, you will be given reasonable accommodations. You will be given free roaming privilages, as long as you don't go outside the village without an escort, and you are free to participate in the villages activities. I must warn you, though, that our females like an occasional brawl to liven up the atmosphere, and you are not above it. Brawl if challenged, challenge if you wish to brawl, and remember to set limitations before the Brawl if you wish to live. Krisht will be your guide through town and your 'mentor'. Learn our ways, if you can." She pokes her fire stick in Krisht's direction and looks away from the fire for the first time since I entered the hut. "Get him some sensible clothes, but not the kind our men wear. His colors blend with the forest, but they stick out like a phoenix in a blizzard."
Krisht nods and bows slightly at the waist, motioning that I should do the same. I oblige and she says, "Yes, high elder. It will be done as you have said." We back toward the door and halt as Laika calls back to us.
"And get him some proper weapons. He can keep the bow and quiver of arrows, but he needs something more befitting to our village while he's here."
Krisht bows again and nods in understanding, the same phrase passing her lips once more before we back out through the cabin door flap.
"Krisht? What was all that talk back there of different clothes and weapons? I thought I was basically a prisoner. Albeit a better taken care of prisoner, but a prisoner nonetheless." My confusion shows in my face and she chuckles, leading me toward another cabin, smaller but still larger than others.
"We will talk when we get inside. For now, just keep quiet. It's best if not too many hear of the high elders decision just yet." She pushes me in front of her and makes a disapproving noise. "We'll need to get some muscle on you before anything. You're too skinny. Your bones are like twigs. But don't worry, we won't eat you. Human flesh is fatty and acidic and makes the mind rot."
I chuckle nervously as she leads me into the hut and steers me to a closed off area. She pushes me through the door flap but stays outside of it, then pushes through a set of clothes. "They're a bit big now, but they shrink and grow with you. Put them on, then come out and let me see you." Her voice carries more than a note of excitement in it as she hands me the clothes.
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