We arrived in Bryn Shander in the morning.
The town is the largest I have seen since arriving in this world. Walled, lantern-lit, perched on a hill with the wind cutting across it from every direction. I found myself reminded of home, of Highwatch. However, while Highwatch feels like a museum, its libraries full of scholars preserving the knowledge of ages, Bryn Shander is something more practical, a trading centre built to survive. I have no doubt Ignis would have loved it here.
We met with Speaker Duvessa Shane. She informed us that they had recently captured a goblin messenger with a curious letter. It was apparently a declaration of peace from a chief called Yarb-Gnock, who had requested delegates be sent to Karkolohk for treaty negotiations. She seemed cautiously hopeful about it, but Sheriff Markham Southwell was less charitable. He made it plain he did not believe a word of it and instead offered three hundred gold for the chief’s head.
We accepted the quest.
. . .Karkolohk is a fortress built into the mountain. The first thing we noticed upon entering was the shield guardian, strung up in the middle of the village.
We were brought to the dining hall and seated. The chief entered shortly after. At first glance, it was rather obvious that Chief Yarb-Gnock was wearing a disguise. Mechanical armour, a helmet with a grinding jaw, boots, gloves. It was not a subtle disguise, but it seemed to have worked well enough on goblins.
Citing private and sensitive matters we wished to discuss regarding the treaty negotiations, we requested that the guards be excused, something the chief was glad to oblige. The moment the room was clear, he dropped the disguise entirely.
He introduced himself as Spellix Romwod, a gnome who had infiltrated the goblins years ago in a mechanical disguise. His name, it turned out, came from a malfunction. When offered a bone to gnaw on, his mechanical jaw would not stop grinding. The goblins called him Yarb-Gnock. Ever-Gnawing, in their tongue.
He was the one who drew the plans for Karkolohk. But the everlasting winter had worn the goblins down, and he sensed his time as their leader growing short. Manafek, the goblin healer, had already seen through his disguise. He wanted out before anything else could happen. He also mentioned, in passing, that while the goblins of Karkolohk detested non-goblins, they reserved a particular hatred for gnomes specifically.
Hearing all of this, we agreed to help. We devised a plan.
- Spellix would gather all the goblins beneath the shield guardian, present himself as the holy conduit of Maglubiyet (the known god of goblins), and call upon their god to move the shield guardian as proof of his divine favour.
- Hearing that, Corren would use the amulet to reactivate the shield guardian, to sell the illusion of divinity descending on Spellix.
- While the goblins were occupied with the spectacle, the Tortle wizard would eliminate all of them with a fireball spell.
I believe the team executed the plan rather decently. The only dissent came from Manafek, who was screaming and struggling as she was brought into the crowd below the shield guardian, but even she fell silent the moment Corren succeeded in reactivating it.
. . .With the goblins out of the way and the shield guardian in our control, we sent Spellix to Bryn Shander to explain himself to Shane and Markham. We explored what remained of the village after. In the fortress we found a metallic egg, with a panel of buttons built into its side. As of this point, we have no idea what it is or where it came from. The shield guardian carries it for now.
P.S. I heard that Spellix did not fare well in Bryn Shander. He was beaten up for all the goblin raids over the years, and was found dead shortly after. I do not know the full circumstances. However, I suspected Markham’s hand in it, or at least his indifference. Either way, we helped a man escape one fate only for him to meet another. Pointless brutality rarely warrants more than that.