Yeah all know the drill. I do not own Diablo (beyond the purchased game). I do not own That time I was reincarnated as a Slime (beyond the purchased manga). I do not need to be reminded that I do not own them and not rich because of it. Carry on! (... waits till you leave before breaking down and crying because of the lack of ownership.)
Out of Place: Forced out the door
Chapter Two
Jack's Cabin, Great Forest of Jura, a month later
Conventional wisdom would dictate that I should have left quite some time ago to return to the High Heavens, or that I at least rest till I at least closed that damnable gap in my chest. But for intents and purposes I was in an unknown territory and something, I'm not sure what however, was interfering my attempts to create a portal back. Perhaps it was a side effect from the one that brought me here when it was affected by the sentinel's destruction. Then again I suppose I was dumped off into a theurmatic dead zone, rare though that was. For all I know I was somewhere in Sanctuary, or perhaps some hidden green patch of Pandemonium that somehow escaped the oversight of the Eternal Conflict. Or, knowing my fucking luck that brought me to the Diablo-verse... was that right? Verse? What did it stand for again? Not a song, that much I know... damn it I forgotten another word—UNIVERSE! THAT WAS IT! HA! HAHAHA! IN YOUR FACE OLD AGE!
... anyway. Where was I?
Right. For principle's sake I'm adding "tossed into another universe" to the list here. While doubtful, if I got fucked over by a demon-thing god of madness once before that started this whole mess for me then I could very well have been fucked over again by sheer random crap. Which kind of begs the question of "how do I get back?", yet that was a problem for when I had both arms to make defending myself from experiments gone wrong easier. For now though, after building myself a little fortress cabin in the woods surrounded by traps for any potential demons that would come visiting, I was bored...
As tempted as I was to go outside to hopefully learn where I was at least, again, missing an arm... I'd rather not defend myself against demons or other beasts with one arm yet again if I can avoid it. Alas that brought a new problem... should I expend what energy I had been harvesting from the ambient energies within the forest for my survival to make both ink and paper from scratch or do I suck it up and just wait for my missing arm to be remade by said energy?
Ugh...
... I'm probably going to regret it later. But that was for later. Alright. Just gather the energy. Concentrate. Visualize. Yadda yadda yadda...
There we go. Now the ink... now the quill—no wait, I think I picked up a feather a while ago. Now where did I—ah. There it is!
'Grinning' in self satisfaction of saving myself some work I experimentally dipped the spinal end of the feather into the conjured substance and written a little gibberish for my own self amusement. Sadly it wasn't as effective as I had hoped. It'll do though. Now where was that sheet I brought—there it is. Honestly, with only one desk and chair for the room it shouldn't have been that hard to find.
... Okay maybe not hard but... Bah. I'm old. Now where was I before the Diamond Gates had been destroyed...
Right. "slipping away". Got it. Just got to fix that smudge mark though. Right. Good to go. New page then. I Flip it over and almost begin to scratch out a new paragraph before I pause. I then flip it back to write the number one on the top corner of the page before turning it over again.
Now...
"It all started like a normal day for me back then... even if it escapes me now. I would honestly like to say it would be comparable to the lives of humans in Sanctuary yet that feels... incorrect. The humanity I hailed from was, is even, significantly advanced in terms of technology from what I remember. Carriages that had no need for horses to move. Electricity—"
I couldn't help but shiver at that...
"—to power conveniences such as—"
Damn it. Forgot another word... I remember what it is, thankfully, I just can't remember its name... Ah well. Improvise.
"— ice boxes—
Close enough.
"— to keep things cold without the need for ice or even to light up a room without the need for either magic, hearths or sunlight reflected upon mirrors connected to the outside. Even more luxurious forms of food that couldn't be cooked with a simple kitchen's fireplace.—"
... I miss food. Hell, well over three thousand years and I still remember and miss pizza. It haunts me now and then, that cheesy taste. The grease. The smell... I think I understand that skeleton's plight when it came to... wine. Wait. Did I meet a talking skeleton at one point? I don't think so... Huh. Okay then. I'll just keep moving on then before that bugs the hell out of me.
"—Regardless of this however it was, for all intents and purposes a normal day for me back then... till I met Him. The bastard who ruined my life for the whimsy of it all. Sheger—"
... Shegerious? Sheggis? Sheogin? Sheggers? Sheg-sheg? Damn it! I know who he is! I know there was a "Sheg" in there! Ugh... Damn my crippled memory. Fuck it, I'm winging it!
"—Shegeroth, the demon prince—"
No wait. That was Warhammer. Similar sounding title though, I think. Had "dead" in it. Dead... Dead... I begin to tap the quill on the table away from the parchment in thought. Deadra? No wait, I think it was pronounced DAEdaaaaRIC! DAEDRIC! THAT WAS IT! Right, time to fix this!
"—Shegeroth, Daedric Prince of Madness. A god-like entity from another realm entirely that, as the title suggests, lacks reason for what he does. He could as soon embrace you like a long lost relative and promptly declare you're plotting treason against a small nation born on the underside of your nose before handing you a piece of mutton and walking off, or likewise repeatedly stab you with a spoon simply because he thought you were something tasty to eat before being embroiled in an argument with a rock over which mushroom was trying to ascend into godhood by virtue of being covered in paint that he himself spilled on it for a completely different reason. Never mind setting a random wanderer on fire simply because it amused him at the time before turning him into a fish, tossing said victim into a pond... and somehow setting both on fire at once simply because, again, it amused him. Or, in my particular case, abduct him and place him within another universe for that same reason."
Perhaps it's embellishment but given what he did to me I'm not putting it past him, the dick.
"I may not recall what was said that day, but I do remember that I regretfully didn't believe he was who I assumed he was initially mimicking before it was far too late. Nor could I forget the darkness that enveloped me moments after. Before I knew it I was engulfed in light and sound... It blinded me, it deafened me, it stripped me of everything but my life. But even as I felt it change me from the inside out, even as I screamed for the sake of my shock only to not be heard by my own ears... it was beautiful. Horrifying for having been placed there and becoming something else without my knowledge of what was becoming of me, but indescribably, incomprehensibly beautiful nevertheless."
"GAH!"
Hrm!?
I already twirled in my chair to face the door, Evos in the form of a sword in hand and at the ready—
"HELP ME! HEL—LOOK OUT!"
"GIANT BOULDER, RUN!"
"I WANNA GO HOME!"
...
Slowly I turned my head toward the actual source of the noise: a pipe. One of a series of small expenditures on my part long before the paper and ink. Wasn't the smartest move I admit but I like to think a network of 'listening' posts would at least give me some forewarning for demons... or something else... Panicky... travelers? Foragers perhaps? Bandits at worst? Not so much.
Ugh... they must've stumbled upon my traps. Now which pipe did this run though? Looks like it's the eastern one. May as well see what the damage is. Perhaps if no one died they'll be content with leaving me be after getting them out of my domain as it were. If they did die before I get there... not really much I can do about it. Bury the corpses maybe? Either way with any luck I would finally have an idea of where I am.
With Evos now returning to its default form of a staff I marched for the door...
And halted...
... I may want to put on a disguise. An armored, hooded and winged 'man' didn't exactly say "leave the possibly crazed hermit alone" after all...
If this keeps up it may take me a year to recover if I stay here... if I'm lucky that is.
XVX
Forest proper
I forgotten how annoying it is to be in a rush without wings. You'd think after all my disguised trips to Sanctuary would beat that into me but nooo... But I couldn't break cover if i wanted to achieved my desired goal. Made dodging my own ground based traps a lot harder though...
When I arrived I couldn't help but be amazed at how far they had gotten... it was a fair distance from here to my cabin alone. Perhaps a quarter of an hour if one can travel in a straight line from there to here. From the cabin to the edge where the outermost traps lay in wait? Closer to an hour... This... expedition, if you can call it that, didn't just brush along my defensive perimeter by accident, or were simply curious... in a demented extreme sort of way... this was nothing less than a brute force hunt for something.
... a poorly armed one but a hunt all the same. Poorly armed yet extremely lucky if this particular group was anything to go by. That or they lost a lot of their own comrades to my traps... Either or. I just can't help but wonder what these little green... humanoids? Is that a word? I want to say goblins but they don't really look like those diminutive hunchbacked thieving little bastards... humanoids until further notice then.
Right. Where was I?
Right. Motive. What reason would they have to muscle through my traps? For that matter, now that I'm noticing it, what's with the inordinate amount of sacks bulging with... something. Loot perhaps? Supplies? Oh! There's one open! Looks like... food? Raw meat and gathered fauna at least. Granted I'm not much for the study or nature but I'm fairly sure those in particular are used more for... incense...
Did I accidently plant my house in the way of some sort of tribute run? Did they think my traps were some sort of test from whatever it is they're trying to appease? Aaaaahhh... that... that makes me feel a bit like a bastard.
"Is... everyone alright?"
All heads that were originally bowed down due to exhaustion snapped up to me in surprise. While disconcerting enough, their eyes widened to the size of dinner plate at the sight of me as if I were some terrible beast about to be set upon them.
"Is-is-is that him?" one squeaked.
"M-maybe..."
"I personally thought he'd be bigger..."
"I-i-i-ttsss him! It's gotta be! The Invader!"
... I suppose that might be true from a certain point of view if things turn ugly.
I bit back a sigh and the urge to hang my head in exasperation as the humanoids darted about the scene, collecting their belongings and huddling together as a tightly packed mob for all that it was worth to defend themselves from me should I attack. Worse yet for them they seemingly forgotten all of their dilapidated weapons on the ground in favor of clutching their other possessions... I'll be honest, I couldn't help but pity them more and more. From looks alone I'd be amazed they didn't struggle in picking them up in the first place given their childish sizes. Then again they had to have some strength in order to make it so far with both weapons and what I can only assume to be tribute.
Before I could muse any further one of the humanoids, a fairly scrawny one wearing a slightly oversized breastplate and wearing a bandana headband, slowly edged forward with a sack desperately clutched within his arms. Next thing I know he's on his knees and placed the sack a fair distance from himself before bowing down and prostrating himself before me.
"Oh Great One! We've come bearing gifts to beseech ye for thy blessing and protection from our enemies!"
... huh? "Huh?"
"Oh please Great One! We beg of you to grant us thy immeasurable power!" By now the others joined in the groveling after presenting me with their own offerings...
... what the honest fucking hell is going on here...
Okay... Just let me try to compose myself here...
"Why is it that you seek me out to begin with?"
As one they all flinched and finally dared to carefully glance at each other, conveying a scared, soundless conversation before me... As weird as it sounds I couldn't help but be a little jealous of that; we certainly didn't have that sort of thing amongst the Host. The most we had toward silent communication was sign language!
... unfortunately that never really caught on amongst angels. It wasn't like we were deaf after all. The humans sure appreciated it though. Well the cultures that gave a damn about their disabled at least.
"I-if we may be so bold, Great One... Since your arrival the entire forest has been thrown into a state of anarchy!"
... ooooookaaaaaaayyy... while not out of the realm of possibilities, I can tell you all that you had to be specifically looking for a portal opening up to notice it or its users presence. That or the area of teleportation was particularly theurgically neutral field where it was as expected as a pot crashing in a silent room. That aside however, how is my presence alone causing any at all chaos?
"The local beasts grow restless from worry, and from they have began to lash out at everything that even enters their territory!"
... I think that happened when Tyreal fell as well. No wait... Dead people and Khazra. Yep.
"Villages now war with each other over whom to dedicate themselves to, our great Guardian God or you, oh Great One!"
... I didn't even do anything beyond build a cottage to hide in. Why would I have some crazed cult in the making forming in my name? I sure as hell am not keen on following in Inarius' footsteps thank you very much!
"Worse yet outside tribes, bands other creatures and beasts that don't call this place home have taken to the forest in search of new territory to claim as their own!"
Alright, I get where this is going... you want me to save your particular village, don't you?
"So we implore you! Pease grant us your protection to save our village, Great One!"
I knew it...
... whether I meant to or not I created a mess, haven't I? I just hope Imperius doesn't catch wind of this; assuming I am in Sanctuary and I simply encountered a previously unknown species, he is the most stringent toward the noninterference policy with humanity beyond special sanctions that didn't, in their eyes at least, violate the pact.
"Where is your village?"
The humanoids perked up at that. "Y-you'll come? You'll protect us?"
I honestly didn't want to say it... Granted I was screwing around a bit but I am in no shape to fight against a demon if it came down to it, much less a major battle. But... I can't in good conscience ignore their plight if my presence is indeed throwing this forest's sense of balance off.
"I will if it can be helped."
"YAY!" the humanoids instantly cheered as they shot up to their feet only to run over to me, drop back onto their knees and kiss my feet! Ugh! No! I might not feel it through the armor but no! Shivers in disgust.
"Stop that!"
They instantly stopped and once more shot up to their feet, their bodies hunched as if expecting...
... Calm 'breath.' Calm 'breath'.
"Now collect your... tribute. They'll be better served to feed your village than to appease me." Oh food, how I miss you...
"At once, Generous One!" they practically praised me as they shouted as one as they did what I had asked of them. It took a fair bit of self restraint not to shake my head at the scene. I did sigh however as I considered shedding what I had thought to be a good disguise, this robe which covered my form like a monk's would... who happened to wear gauntlets. Hid my wings well enough though as it had in ages past to at least work on the unsuspecting and the unknowing... For the sake of diplomacy however I opted against shedding my attempted disguised at the moment. While it seems my being here is enough to create this madness, would being revealed that I am an angel only add to it by inviting trouble for any demons that lurked nearby? Wait, did they even know I'm an angel to begin with? Now that I think about it didn't they just compare me to this "Guardian God"? What is going on here? At any rate however I guess this is all the more reason to try to be low key as possible till I receive more information.
Sigh... I guess I should at least be courteous to see what became of their comrades in facing my traps. Unless of course this group before me was all there is period, in which case good for them. The amount of sacks however begs a different answer however. Now let's see-...
You've got to be pulling on my leg.
XVX
Later...
Fun fact: in a categorical system of what I personally hate most, from least to greatest, imps are the second most hated thing on my personal list. Why? Because they are small, they are fast, and they are devious little bastards that would do the Burning Hells proud if most of their denizens weren't killing them for sustenance or for sport. In fact it was because of those two typical reasons that I seldom had to keep these cretins in mind. As such when they somehow have the twisted fortune to wander through the entire battlefield without being gutted, eaten or crushed underfoot they near always, NEAR ALWAYS, are too damn small enough to be properly mutilated by my automatic defense systems! Oh, a set of impaling spikes? Too damn short or too damn thin. Trap doors leading to an unstable crystalline pocket that would vaporize demonic bastards? Too damn light. Extra sturdy trip wires because I lacked the resources for something else? EYE LEVEL FOR THESE FUCKERS! By the time anyone, myself included, notices these damnable spawn they basically wrecked the entire defensive network in a mindless rampage of demented mischief! And when a demon commander somehow realizes this typical flaw I have because we as a whole typically expect demons either our size or half as large as a small mountain? Oh you can bet your wings and ass he'll make a damn good effort to gather as many imps as he can and set them loose on my bunkers and forts before sending in the main horde. We've lost a fair number of defensive positions like that... We're just lucky that thanks to their base natures this was a seldom used tactic due to the sheer lack of imps to employ...
Doubly so when discipline was an issue amongst the ranks of the force trying to use this tactic...
But still, why am I ranting this? It's simple really. It is the closest explanation I have as to why a grand total of thirty self proclaimed goblins had somehow, somehow, managed to survive my little death course with little more than a few broken bones at worst. Even then only two goblins suffered that. I do not mean then any ill will toward them but my pride as both the Grand Artificer of the High Heavens and a veteran of the Eternal Conflict is nothing less than bruised by that.
But enough of that...
After collecting the goblins that somehow miraculously escaped my traps (as opposed to tearing them apart), and making stretchers for their injured (again a pride stingingly low number despite the circumstances), we had trundled off to the village these goblins (who are already leagues better than the thieving little bastards I had to defend my supplies from) had gradually became accustomed to my presence had obliged me with my questions: evidently I was in the Great Forest of Jura, which I never heard of, much less knew the location of. Not entirely that surprisingly really: Sanctuary was a vast place and names changed over time. The "Guardian God" I am inadvertently challenging with my presence alone was a great dragon named Veldora whom is said to be resting within a cavern after a terrible battle some centuries ago. As to why he hadn't seem to take action was something of a mystery; perhaps he was still too injured to even make an attempt; maybe he just didn't care. Either way I had never heard nor seen a dragon in Sanctuary in many an age... which marginally brings me to a point that both worried and intrigued me: other than the definition of the word, Sanctuary was... unknown to them. As much as I was inclined to take that in itself as proof of my displacement, I have met humans who neither knew what the world's name was or even actually called it Sanctuary. As such the same could apply to this situation as well: innocent ignorance at best.
In the end however I would ultimately have to wait till later for find out. We had arrived...
... it looked closer to a refugee camp than a village. Even if it weren't the case the buildings themselves were rather ramshackle even by a destitute populace's standards. They can certainly keep the sun out at least. But still, with the multitude of goblins huddling around the fires, especially those bearing cauldrons that were dispensing what I can only assume to be soup or a similar substance, the vibe was certainly there. And as if I wasn't feeling guilty enough already, admittedly I probably wasn't, each one both near and afar was not only frozen in terror but outright gaping at me as if I had came to destroy them all. Aside from the group that accompanied me, only one other group had any sense of wit left to them: a group of elders no bigger than their much younger counterparts making their way toward us. Hm... I suppose that's their typical height then? And here I was suspecting that they sent children in to find me.
"Oh Mighty Traveler, we thank you for coming to our humble village!" one of the elders cried as he and they threw themselves at my feet. "Are we right to assume you have came to bless us with your divine protection?"
I didn't answer right away... not when I was staring at the whole village who had followed suite in the act like their lives depended on it. The only ones who haven't joined in were my escorts, but even they looked just like their fellow villagers just seconds before the elders came to grovel at my feet... In short it was as disturbing as it was disconcerting to me.
"As I had said before, I have came to help where I can."
"You have? Thank you! Thank you oh Kind One!" the elder from before said as he shot his head up with tears in his eyes. Likewise a number of the other goblins dared to peek up at me with hopeful trepidation...
Granted they are desperate, but... I just sincerely hope that this was not the start of how Inarius fell from all sense of grace... Shiver...
"May we speak in private?" I asked.
"Certainly Great One!" a different elder spoke up as she gestured to the largest of the huts within the village. The goblins that happened to be in that direction immediately parted in all haste even if it meant shoving others out of their way. While I honestly doubted it would provide much from the scrutiny of the masses here, it was better than nothing. As such we made our way to it as my escorts began to distribute the offerings to the denizens of the village...
XVX
... I'll be honest, lack of privacy aside, given the sheer amount of fear they displayed I would've figured a number of them, or rather almost all of them, wouldn't dare come near our current abode. But no. Try as I might I could barely find any visible gap that didn't have a curious eye poking through it. In fact I'm a little amazed as well. I certainly didn't give the goblins any credit; I honestly thought any of these huts would've crumpled under the weight of even one of the goblins upon the roof given its wood and straw nature. But enough of that...
What was once narrated had been spoken of again, though perhaps with added perspective and detail: since this... unrest began with my arrival the local beasts had became irritated, threatened even despite my lack of direct presence and began to lash out all the more viciously at the hunting parties that risked themselves against them, or worse yet they barged into villages and attacked the goblins directly. Worse yet groups previously unaffiliated with the Jura Forest such as Dire Wolves, orcs... thankfully a kind unrelated to the ones I thankfully still remembered. Even then War... something. Warcry—CRAFT! WARCRAFT! HA! HAHAHA! ... they're easily more preferably than the WAAAGH! happy bastards. Where was I? Right. Pig-orcs. Pig-orcs have began to invade the forest. Last but not least were the bird men... sadly that one was more of a rumor that the elders were unsure of. We would have to come to that later however when the pertinent issues have been dealt with.
Between the beasts, the orcs, and encroaching dire wolves, and possibly bird men as they called them, and those who already inhabited Jura resources became stretched as each faction began to intrude on each other's territory, and as such competition became violent soon after. The orcs it seems were a hodgepodge between wanting to be left alone while foraging/hunting and outright raiding others supplies, where or not there were individual factions or just one whole group playing out different tactics was to be determined later. The goblin villages in turn started to take more... proactive measures to defend themselves, namely by merging together separate villages into a single one like the one we are currently in. Yet with such a sudden influx of new mouths to feed and competition already having become fierce the more aggressive clans as it were have taken to destroying or subsuming other villages that were so much as marginal threat to their newfound superiority, especially if they had supplies worth taking. Worse yet some of these 'clans' seem to be under the impression they were pleasing me by doing this... How flattering, the psychotic bastards.
Whether my unwanted deity status would either force them to bend knee or encourage them into attacking this village should it be discovered that I'm assisting them would have to remain to be seen... Thankfully the most immediate issue was a rather straight forward case: dire wolves.
Like the orcs, and debatabley the goblins, they too began to aggressively expand their own claim in the forest. Unlike the others there was nothing remotely ambiguous about their approach: what they found they killed or drove off to kill for later. Conquest in its more simpler form... sadly their current route was putting this particular village in danger. In fact they had skirmishes with the dire wolves advanced scouts. Skirmishes that cost them heavily and put an estimate of how many it took to defeat even one wolf: ten goblins to one wolf. Bad odds that was almost reminiscent of our more dismal engagements in Pandemonium... Even so, by their math though their village of one-hundred-sixty-eight was no match for an estimated horde of a hundred wolves bearing down on their own when the remnants of their own warband came straggling back from a skirmish with the wolves to bear them the news. With no escape for them that didn't lead them into hostile territory they decided to risk everything by searching out the new 'god' dwelling in the forest and hope against hope I was a benevolent one.
... well, at least I have my work cut out for me.
Seeing as beasts, even ones seemingly acting with a surprising amount of aggression to be labeled as raiders in this particular scenario, don't adhere to a sense of schedule it would probably be best to start laying down a wall, maybe a thick fence with gaps in it so the goblins can spear their enemies through if push came to shove. Of the two I have more confidence in the wall however. Both perhaps as two layers of security? It might not work on the other factions but animals, even abnormally aggressive ones only have so much determination and cunning when faced with such an obstacle before moving onto easier targets.
Right then. Fence, wall, spears and arrows. That should do for the short term. Afterwards I guess I should pay a visit to Veldora... granted I might be able to kick his ass with a hole in my chest and a missing arm but maybe, just maybe I can coax him into restoring order... Failing that then I'll just have to improvise. If our presences are indeed being felt to such a degree to be the cause of either chaos and order by our proximity to each other then perhaps I can either shroud his aura behind a series of seals... I suppose I could also do the same for myself but that would definitely interfere with my regeneration. Alternatively I could just simply leave... that however did not sit well with me; I should at least make an effort to fix this mess I created before walking away. I may be a self imposed Archangel of Chaos but I do have a conscious thank you very much!
"Awooooooooooo!"
... I ran out of time, didn't I?
"A wolf howl? This close?! We're doomed!"
"Nooo! Noo!"
"Aeeeeeiii!"
... note to self: straw walls were not for sound proofing. Not that I would use them beyond necessity but it would be good for future reference.
Regardless however...
Though I had no real too I grunted nevertheless as I stood up.
"Oh Great One, are you off to defend our village?" an elder asked as I tried to scoot my way to the door without accidentally bumping into anyone or anything along the way.
"Yes, yes, I am," I answered while trying to keep an annoyed sigh out of my voice. Honestly, I thought that much would be obvious—wait, before I head out... I turned my head to the elders. "And I would very much prefer it if you called me Jack instead."
"As you wish, Great Jack!" one managed to say just as the others halfway turned to one another as if to deliberate. Needless to say they had been stopped short of just that.
"Just Jack, please!" I half grumble as I step out into the village proper.
Thankfully it looked like the goblins at least weren't crippled by fear. Already they herded what I can only assume to be noncombatants into the relative safety of the huts whereas everyone else took up arms with everything they could get their hands on, be it their poorly maintained weapons, sharpened sticks or, sadly, ladles complemented with cauldron lids for shields. Sadly their sense of tactics was as lacking as their quality of weaponry, though I couldn't blame them; ten, maybe fifteen goblins per group was spread out in the village around every possible entrance to the village. The chief problem however was that the village lacked any walls or even fences, meaning they had to ring around the village to mount a perimeter defense. While it would certainly keep any approaching enemies from being unchallenged, stall them even till the others came tearing through the village to help them. While this may work well and good against those similar to themselves, namely other goblins, who might try a surrounding tactic, but a focused charge would easily break through the perimeter. But against a foe with a ten-to-one ratio in their favor? They would need to be at least one huge mob in order to mount anything resembling an effective defense. But in order to do so they would have to sacrifice the outlying huts and the families inside them. Villages like these, even if forced into existence, were usually close knit communities that often lacked proper warriors of any sort. The loss of these huts would do nothing but annihilate the morale of the defenders...
I need to scout. Gauge how long it would take for this horde to reach the village. If I'm and they are lucky we can at least erect a fence to at least narrow the access points for the wolves to get in, and thus make the village easier to defend.
... alternatively I could also potentially snipe the furry little bastards long before they get here, thus eliminating the need for a hastily constructed fence. I may have to limit the power output, maybe even use scatter shots to help ensure my poor long range aiming skills were compensated for by an increased likelihood of hitting... Sniping it is then!
Wait...
Quick look, determine whether or not to build a fence, then snipe-bombardment. Maybe giggle about it a little later. Satisfied with my plan, I only hesitated for a second before deigning to discard my disguise once I was outside; as much as I had wished otherwise, in my haste to create this robe I failed to create slits for my wings to freely travel through lest they tear apart the robe. I didn't bother waiting for a minute to see if I was noticed or not.
It was seconds after I had cleared the canopy that I had a clear line of sight... well, as clear as one can get with a forest with the setting sun. Even so landmarks could easily be seen: mountains in the distance, bluffs, hills, the typical things you'd find in a semi-mountainous forest it appears. However a crude tower jutted out of the forest. Crude but effective. Regardless, from a distance it was hard if there was anyone on it. Even harder to see what they were once movement was spotted. But I can guage their size: taller than the goblins for sure. But they weren't a problem as of yet. Especially since in all likelihood they couldn't see me as well either. Now where is... there.
There they are. Moving as one colossal pack in the same direction. Easy to track, easier to target, easier to justify my preferred method of attack. Still though, if I'm even mildly correct then we have maybe... dusk before they get here? Enough time to bolster the defenses, however marginal. Probably better for it: should I not use enough power the 'pack' would eventually split off into groups. Whether or not they would have any interest in the village afterwards however would remain a mystery. Should I use too much and an inverse of sorts would likely happen: I wipe out the whole pack but in turn I draw unwanted attention on the village before I could enact my admittedly half baked plan to bring back a sense of balance to the forest... from there it may as well be a roll of the dice given the different factions at play here.
... and sadly the more I think about it bringing the wolves to the village may be the better option for the village. It would put them at risk, sure, but unfortunately a battle up close would be less likely to draw attention than the destruction wrought by spellcraft if I get carried away. It would certainly be less noticeable than unexplained brilliant lights and an entire section of forest chewed up or even demolished for no explicable reason.
As such, with another sigh, I promptly descended and landed back into the village... sadly in plain view of the outright gawking of the goblins just as they, if they weren't struck numb with my appearance, immediately dove to their hands and knees in worship... Shudder.
"Please do not worship me!" I ended up commanding without thinking. Though I felt a little guilty for the forceful tone it was enough to shock them back into at least standing on their knees... or in the numbed cases' startled into falling flat onto their asses. "Right now I have a task for you however."
"What is it, Oh Great—"
"I prefer Jack."
"Great Jack?"
... must... resist... urge... to... slap... hand.. to—wait, I only have one hand. Unless I'm willing to drop Evos, which I will never do if it can be helped, or smack myself in the face with Evos, that's an urge I can ignore all the more easily... still annoyed though.
"I know this isn't something you wish to hear but," I pointed Evos to the nearest hut, "I have need for you all to tear down your homes to their base materials."
XVX
With over a hundred goblins under my command the only surefire sign that there was a village here was the colossal dirt patch of grass having been stamped out of existence. The newly constructed fence might qualify too, made from the support beams of their homes plus a couple of trees I had personally cut down, but that was another matter.
... let me start over. Ahem.
After adorning my cloak again to cut down on the stupefied stars, with a hundred goblins at my command and a few cut trees to help make it when the huts weren't enough the fence had long since complete before night fell. With time to spare I might add. After the fence had been built to I had them create a shallow trench around the village baring the 'road' that lead to the fence's only plain view 'gateway' into the village, an intended charge breaker an chokepoint respectively. I also had every hand available, namely those who were not participating in the fighting, sharpen stakes to be planted on the ground, particularly within the area of the natural gapes in the fence were the posts were unable to block at a head from thrusting in and snapping at the defenders. I even had a line of such stakes ringing along the back of the fences, particularly around the back of the village, just in case. Hell, I even had a set of small watch towers erected, two to the sides and one in the back, again just in case. I would've had pitfall traps too to help complement the defenses but unfortunately between everything from reinforcing the fences, creating spears and clubs from the left over lumber for the noncombatants, again just in case, and letting them rest lest they were utterly vulnerable from exhaustion there was only so much time in the remainder of the day with or without my help. I'll admit though, we made ourselves quite the fort here though despite my misgivings. These goblins certainly have a lot more vigor than most farming communities pulling together under similar circumstances. Then again the threat of oncoming doom had always been a twistedly great motivator for everyone and everything when such situations occurred.
Still though... they were a little late by my prediction but the dire wolves arrived nevertheless. They didn't even try to deviate from their large pack which in itself was curious now that I think about it; short of some sort of wizard or a druid, or even a demon sometimes, commanding them wolves usually gathered in as small as six or seven wolves per pack, or as many of twenty-to-thirty in particularly dangerous or bountiful environments from my observations. A hundred or so horde was nothing less than ludicrous in comparison though. Even if I discounted that or explained it away with something like 'different land, different species, different circumstances' or something along those lines another oddity that struck me was their approach: by their nature wolves were hunters and ambushers. They would forgo open ground if they could or at least try to look as inconspicuous as possible. But no... there they are in what could be best described as a natural road within the forest, out in the open, fully aware everyone was awake, or at least I think they are aware, and charging straight for the village/fort after what seemed like a brief moment of hesitation. It was if they were utterly confident they would break through or even the fence if need be! It was a bit insulting really. But putting their mindset aside however their numbers were indeed worrying. There was more than enough to slip by me if I become too conceited.
Time to thin their numbers and break the pack apart.
"Archers!"
From the towers and from tree branches too high for even an empowered wolf to leap to every goblin with a bow let loose their arrows. A few wolves fell in the initial and the ensuing barrages but not enough; with their frames larger than the average wolf they were able to shrug off an arrow or two in their sides or back if they were hit amidst their last minute dodging if they were not struck in the head by an arrow. Even with a few of their number dying however they didn't deter from their charge toward the only 'gate' we had that would allow them to slip through. As such any hope I had for them to simply learn their lesson and scamper off simply died as I rested Evos on my shoulder and raised by hand and gathered the air around me, compressing it into a ball...
When they were close enough I only waited for a moment longer to ensure at least as third of their force was across my imaginary line in the sand. It was then they were met with a baleful gale of my own making which knocked them off their paws and slam into their own kin, decimating the primary charge and forcing those on the sides to chance their luck with the fences. In their rush and in the darkness untouched by the moonlight they noticed the trenches much too late. Even then the few that hadn't stumbled in and were dazed from the impact of slamming into the ground, making them vulnerable to the archers from the tower while those in the forest were focused on the primary pack, they tried to smash through the fence with what great leaps they could afford after jumping past their fallen comrades in an effort to avoid the spikes. They were surprisingly successful in that regard. Unfortunately for them though the fences were far more sturdier than they would've liked. Even so, jarred or not from the impact of the fence as they tried to worm their way through the fence after attempting to smash through it their heads which poked through the gaps were left at the mercy of the retinue guarding the fence line. They were far more triumphant in their own kills than the archers' initial attempts...
XVX
Goblins by far were the weakest of the races within the forest. Even with their huddling they were nothing less than cattle at best, existing simply to be preyed upon even if something showed them enough favor to evolve. Especially if that thing happened to be some mangled human with magic! A fence? HA! As if that had stopped them before! Archers in the trees? Let them have their pittance! Even dire wolves were not so cruel as to deny them the cold comfort of a kill before dying! Their benefactor? A human was a human no matter what tricks they knew or how strange they smelled! Since the Second Presence came to Jura everyone and everything was coming to Jura to stake their claim! This human was no different. Why else would he be with his goblin lackeys?
But now though the pack was losing its nerve now that they were losing brothers and sister, especially as they neared the human with the now undeniable unusual presence... So what though? How was this any different than when they were sacking human villages out by the woods and the grasslands? They knew the risks that eventually they would've run into something powerful in this forest when the pack came to Jura thanks to their dampened senses to detect threats! They would crush it though! They would crush them as they would crush everything else to prove their right to lord over Jura!
"So what if they got a magic human with them? They're weaker than us! We'll show them why dire wolves are to be feared!"
The human snapped his head in the pack leader's direction who in turn snarled at him. A second later the human cocked it's head to the side as if confused before whipping to a nearby goblin in a bandana. "Is it me or did that wolf talk?"
The goblin, who like many of its kind was content to cower behind their human overlord looked up to the crippled caster with a confused look of his own. "He did Lord Jack—"
"Please, just Jack."
The goblin cringed a little before resuming. Though whether it was because of him being interrupted or from the fact that a packmate managed to get close enough to lung at the human who foolishly looked away... only for him to whack said packmate away with his staff with neither a glance spared for the wolf or even some token acknowledgement of the bones that clearly cracked underneath the frustratingly casual blow, it was a little hard to say. "Any creature with enough intelligence can make use of the ambient magicules in the air to make their intentions known, L—sir... Jack?"
XVX
... sigh.
Alright. Fine. I can live with that much at least. No different from Castelyn or Grand Artificer. So long as they keep the worship to "hooray, we lived thanks to you!" then I'll he as happy an angel with issues can be under the circumstances. Seriously though, the damnable things others have done just to get a leg up over the demons over the centuries before the council cracked down on them...
Right, where was I—oh right. Magicules. "Magicules?"
The goblin who originally was sent out to find me nodded. "Yep!"
... "What are magicules?"
His face scrunched up in confusion. "Um... uh... Magicules are... magicules?"
... we're going to have to revisit this issue at another time. Then again I suppose it might be the local colloquial term for mana. If that was the case then that was truly extraordinary: animals using latent energies of their environment to communicate with others. Was it instinct? Was it learned? Or are they a case of an altered breed that subsequently gained more sentience than the average wolf, followed or perhaps following an increase of size, hardiness and so on that resulted in the anomalies I had personally witnessed?
"DON'T YOU DARE MOCK ME BY IGNORING ME, HUMAN!"
THWACK-CRUNCH!
If that were the case, had this subspecies been intentionally made or was it the result of their environment? Then again that can go hand in hand. That's how some breeds of dogs came about in some of the kingdoms and territories of Sanctuary after all.
It took me a moment before I realized the battle had died down. The wolves were no longer trying to advance. In fact it looked like they were on the prey end of the predator-prey relationship where the prey seized up in an effort not to be noticed. The goblins had stopped firing as well now that I'm looking... hrm. They looked... befuddled. Frightened even. Why? I looked to the village behind me to see similar reactions behind me... hmm... One problem at a time however. As such I turn to the wolves after sparing a glance to what I can either assume to be their leader or at least their champion amongst their pack; with an indent like that to his skull I'd say I may have rendered him brain dead if he's even still alive. Still, without him the pack should be easier to drive off or manipulate. As such I raised Evos and pointed to the wolves as they and their stragglers began to huddle together for what good it would do them.
"You have but three choices: You can surrender and submit, you can flee, or you can die. Which will it be?"
Come on submission. Come on submission! Papa needs some personal sentries so he doesn't invest in another pipe network once he moves out of the forest! That and I won't feel halfway guilty or annoyed if you fleabags run for it only to turn around for round two.
Wait, now that I'm thinking about it, I hadn't even resolved the Veldora/me crisis yet. For all I know I might be here longer yet. Damn. Flee, flee! The less beings I'm responsible for the less stressed I'll be if it falls through for me!
"We surrender!"
DAMN IT!
Bong!
"... ow..."
I forgot how hard you are, Evos. How I have forgotten...
Sigh. Alright. I'm in it now. Can't back out without becoming a jackass about it. Now the other problem...
I turned to the goblins as they fidgeted in place. Some were looking to the depths of the forest unrelated to the battle they just had, others to me as if the world itself had been swept out from under them. I looked in the direction as the others are doing yet for the life of me I couldn't see what it was that held their interest. "Did something happen that I'm not aware of?"
The bandana wearing one... I really should learn his name at this point, outright whipped his head toward me with impeccably wide eyes. "Uh-ah-ugh... can you not feel it, Lord Jack?"
... for the sake of the situation at hand I'll bite my tongue on my fear of becoming a god mongering psychopath for the time being. "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about I'm afraid."
The goblin gulped as he gawked at me. "Our Guardian God Veldora..."
"... he's gone."
... fuck.