One year ago, the middle son of the True Flame of the Basic Merchants was kidnapped by goblins. No one could get close enough to the dungeons to reach him. So they sent me. Gis Moltenkeys, beast hunter.
The True Flame gave me free choice of all the weapons and equipment in the keep, so I swapped my old copper impish crossbow for a fancy steel one. I also grabbed a good steel dagger for emergencies. After that it was almost noon so I set out to the nearby forest retreat to sleep. The elves gave me some funny looks as I climbed up into the top of a tree to sleep, but none of them said anything.
In the morning I set out west. I will go north around the mountains and then northeast to the goblin fortress. But first, my supplies are running low, so I need to locate some game. For a while I see nothing but weasels and ravens, but eventually I find something worthy - some roosting giant magpies. From my vantage point in a tall ginkgo, I shoot one of the magpies. Three shots is all it takes and the huge bird gives in to pain. I approach, scaring off the rest, and slash the bird's throat with my new knife. Once it bleeds out I collect my intact bolts and butcher the beast, taking the heart and liver. The rest is too big to carry. I start out again, spending the night in a tall tree. I have never seen these "bogeymen" that everyone talks about, despite all my nights alone in the wilderness. I believe it adds to my reputation.
I set out west again, hopping a small ravine. My claws dig into the frozen clay easily and I pull myself up. A little later a pack of giant dingoes attacks me, hoping to make a quick meal of a small creature. Evidently they have never seen a fire imp before, because as soon as they got close, I engulfed them in a cloud of flames. I escaped as they burned to death. After a few hours of walking, I see the towers of the goblin settlements in the distance. I sneak around some goblin patrols and enter the goblins' trenches. Night is falling, so I sleep in the bottom of a tower. They won't think anything of a small pile of snow-covered rags sitting in the corner.
I woke up as soon as dawn touched the horizon, the sun shining through the tower's ice walls. I climbed to the top of the tower, slitting the throat of a sleeping goblin and taking some of his flesh. I walked a short distance east to the main building, shooting the guard at the entrance and sneaking past the rest. The dungeons' entrance is nearby, so I sneak down the stairs into the murky depths. I checked cell after cell, but they were all empty. Guards were killed from the shadows with bolts and fire. Eventually, I came to a dead end and had to turn around and go down another passage. Finally, I found him. He was in a cell by himself. I turned back, went up through the many levels of winding passages and reached the surface.
We left the building, passing the corpses of goblins I had killed. He did not shy away from the bodies. The way back was uneventful. With a second man to watch my back, no beast could ambush us. I returned to Swordshower and presented the child to his joyful mother. You know, I never thought to ask the kid his name...
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Topic: Gis Moltenkey's Hunt (Read 843 times)