The not-immortal Blacksmith

46th of Keilat

Someone's been killing goblins. This is not a good thing. We found dead Goblins on the side of the road, not a full family group of them, but enough to be concerning.

I think it's common knowledge that Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Orcs live in a family group of sorts, with the Hobs acting as caretakers for the Goblins and the orcs acting as protecters and hunters for the group. If the Goblins of the family die off, the Hobs and Orcs start a cycle of acedia that ends with either self-removal or violence.

This is a spiritual and religious thing for the Hobs and Orcs as they take the words of Gobb more seriously than any religious group I have ever met. They believe that their role in life was dictated by Gobb and because of that it IS their culture, not just a part of it.

So, to restate, the problem in all of this is that when all of the Goblins die, the remaining Hobgoblins and Orcs make the loss of the Goblins Everyone's problem. That's where the rumors of Orcs and Hobs being vicious raiders and killers come from. They aren't rumors; they are fact. I've seen the aftermath of such attacks. Complete butchery. It's like they want to die, but want someone else to do it. I have talked to exactly one Orc who was the last survivor of his band. He was despondent, not eating or drinking, just endlessly wandering and waiting to die.

Whoever killed these Goblins is playing with fire.

47th of Kielat,

Several dozen more Goblins have been found on the roadside, including the young. Someone has brought the hells upon themselves.

48th of Keilat,

We saw the smoke before we smelled it. It was bad.

-

Maxwell dismounted from the wagon, and strode towards the ash covered remains of the farm hold. Buildings were charred. Bodies were charred. Animal remains were charred. What remained of the main house was filled with piles of the dead; dead that included women, children, and the last few of the Goblin clan. He could smell oil on the slight breeze as he slowly crept forward. When he had almost made it to the building, a ball of fire landed on the remains of the roof, setting the whole structure ablaze again.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Max jumped back, surveyed the surroundings, and in the distance saw a few riders disappearing over a hill. "What have they done?" He spoke softly, then louder to the others that had followed him, "Search the rest of the buildings for cellars. Some might still be alive down there." Not that there's much chance of that. The bad air from fires sinks down once it loses its heat. Anyone under the burned buildings is going to be dead too. He sighed. But there is a chance.

He had been correct; there were no survivors in the cellars.

-

49th of Keilat,

The riders from yesterday weren't found. We have continued our journey, just more slowly so as to be able to catch wind of an attack before it happens. I have no idea why anyone would antagonize the clans like that. I hope it was a one-off sort of thing.

We are traveling slowly now, some 10-12 miles a day, to keep an eye out for danger.

51st of Keilat,

Today we came across a small village, some 200 people. It had been razed to the ground. There were corpses of a few Hobbs and Orcs surrounded by villagers, but no one was alive. We have a problem. And the price to solve it is going to be high.

53rd of Keilat,

Smoke covered the horizon today, as we passed acre upon acre of burned crops. Wildfires will start from this and there will be a famine this year and probably into next. I suppose the price has started to be paid, but the interest will high.

55th of Keilat,

We met up with a caravan heading the other way. Thousands of acres of crops have been burned to the ground, and as I had feared, there is already food rationing starting. Our caravan may become the target of desperate looters just looking for a meal.

On the good(?) side of things, the local lord's Knights have been sent out to "quell" the problem; and to evict ALL of the clans from the province. There usually isn't more than one clan in an area of several hundred square miles, and those areas may cover the border of two or three provinces, as the clans are nomadic, and don't really care about political boundaries.

…if this turns out to be a political move on behalf of some noble, I will not be pleased…

1st of Amsiel, the Second month of summer,

Our progress has remained at a crawl. We have guards acting as distant outriders, and Bri is now wearing my second boom-stick. Grendel has a light crossbow and is openly wearing his brace of knives. It has taken all I've got to not out myself as the heretic and get this caravan moving again. I'm very certain that some have figured it out, but no one has confronted me about it.

2nd of Amsiel, Morning,

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Goblins.