Day 144
With a little more than a week passing, I was happy to say that the other half of the journey across the lowlands had us all unmolested, even if we did manage to draw a lot of attention from various greenskins settlents. But that was to be expected as tens of thousands of monsters wouldn't exactly be able to pass by unnoticed anywhere.
We even made a brief stop by Ruela's clan where we held good on my word to share a feast with Frenn, the other chieftain. I had sent word ahead of our procession so that she would be able to be there before we arrived. With how many we were traveling, even though most of them were monsters with durable bodies and all, still slowed our travel speed by quite a bit.
After enjoying the one evening of camaraderie, discussing various business-related topics so that we could include Frenn so more, we had once again set off towards our goal; ho.
And at last, after a calm but arduous journey, we had arrived. With the mountain range coming up on the horizon, I felt my itch to be ho grow by each passing second. I turned to the two figures riding alongside the mastercraftsn wearing the distinguished clothes of what I would say was the dieval equivalent of a supervisor's or an advisor.
One was a Grendor, short of stature, but round and plumb. The other was an exotic type of troll race that specialized in intelligence rather than brawn and reminded more of a furry hobgoblin if nothing else.
"Irick, Rykas - We will be riding ahead, I trust you two to take charge the rest of the way, alright?" I asked them.
Initially startled upon being addressed, they both nodded emphatically once they regained their practiced and professional deanor.
"Will honor, my lord!" They both intoned simultaneously.
They had both been recruited as both overseers and advisors, just in general to work as managers of the settlent that would hopefully help and teach Darkan how to properly administrate everything regarding the more intricate work that would be required of such a position. And although they were very new to being out in the real world and putting their learned skills to use, they were both incredibly gifted individuals from what I had seen after just briefly interacting with them during the journey.
Riding along with Mia and Bob in tow, I had instructed everybody to take it slow, including Maldrak and his daughter even though lane was positively jumping in her seat to follow us and see what laid just beyond those might mountains looming in the distance.
With the steady gallop of our feline mounts, we closed the distance in no ti, and when we passed the mountain range, I was t with the sight I had been longing for so long, and then so.
A lush ecosystem of wildlife that called this basin ho was ever sprawling with life, the massive jungle and the gargantuan lake cradled in by the mountain range made for a beautiful sight. But what I was truly taken aback by, was the splotch in the distance that had grown significantly from what I rembered.
Like the first ti I arrived, I couldn't really see anything from how far I was away from the coastline of the jungle to the lake, but the before nothing more than a dot settlent was now a visibly a place of buildings and inhabitants. It had grown at least ten, maybe even twenty-fold, and I couldn't wait to see what changes had occurred in my absence.
So I didn't.
My approach didn't go unnoticed either, as even though while I made my way down and through the outskirts of the jungle which blocked all view from the ground below, the beacon of power that was the source of my blood stirred within the hundreds of greenskins that had been soaking in its power ever since I ca into leadership.
And when we finally stood before the sprawling settlent, the close to a thousand original greenskins stood gathered at the entrance with a gathering of curious individuals who looked on at the scene with unaware intrigue. I supposed that were the many laborers that Ruela and Frenn had gifted us, many of which had yet to even receive the Sanguine Plague.
I marveled at the rustic, but well-made and huge wooden constructions creating what I would even say was the frawork of a small city. I had barely even made it off my mount when the swift embodint of wind that was a particularly lithe and tall woman, almost knocked off my feet as she threw herself at .
She had literally thrown her arms around my head and locked her legs around my hips, and before I managed to get more than a glance of Lily's devious grin, she kissed deeply. The fervor at which she did it had even finding myself flustered, and when she finally gave an opportunity to breathe, I chuckled awkwardly since I had not expected her to be so forward.
"Ahem - Missed you too?" I coughed to clear the air, looking into the face of charming danger that was Lily. "You seem... rather pent up..."
"You have no idea," She said a bit breathily. "I haven't gotten a proper release in years, and then you leave in a place filled with horny greenskins for almost two entire months. The nights filled with the sounds of moans - and I swear, whenever I walk down these damned roads, I can literally sll the sex on the air."
Realization at that, I felt rather guilty. Although the relationship between and Lily had practically been sealed in stoned, or blood rather, I decided to take it slow with her. Which ant essentially that I had to pursue her as a woman after I returned from my journey that took much longer than expected.
While Lily was a very salacious woman in her mannerisms, she was still a human woman. That was one thing I needed to remind myself; that she was not Mia.
Mia was a monster, and a greenskin to boot. That ant she was extrely forward, although presently shy at tis, with what she wanted. There wasn't the sa courting and relationship building that there were with what I was familiar with back in my human life. It simply just wasn't the sa. And I couldn't treat it as such.
Smiling back at the wily woman that had managed to entrance , I t her gaze which now conveyed a cute pout; obviously, a ploy to make feel guilty, in which she was very successful.
"How about you allow a humble fellow to take such a fine woman as yourself out on a tomorrow evening date?" I asked in my best mock impersonation of a gentleman. "I have quite a lot to take care of I'm guessing, especially with the... uhm, handful of monsters we've brought back."
Giving a surprised but pleasant glance over, Lily's grin turned into a genuine smile.
"My oh, my - what a refined man we've got here," She giggled. "I would love to."
Letting her down, I watched as she greeted Bob with a pat on his chest as that was about as high as she could reach. With Mia, it was quite different as she practically swept her off her feet with her having to bend down to hug her much shorter stature. It was pleasant to see those two gettings along so well as they were already talking excitedly to each other like friends getting back together.
Only a little more than an hour later, and essentially all the rest of the monsters had arrived at the base of the newly rebuilt settlent, and I could already see the unabashed faces of awe coming from both sides. Those who had already spent a considerable ti here in the basin and helped start the settlent stared with awe at the sea of new monsters, whereas the new monsters gawked with open amazent at the surroundings that was the paradise-like basin.
It also brought my attention to a certain figure that had do a double-take. About as tall as , lanky, and furry, like Rykas the advisor, this individual was a troll-subrace and one of the important workers I had recruited. Mar'v, an architect and city planner by my understanding, was soone appointed by Nosferas himself.
In fact, Mar'v was one of the few apprentices who had been mastered under the late master craftsman who had laid out the infrastructure for most of Ebongrave, so my expectations were quite high for this individual who had otherwise been very muted in the few interactions I had with him.
But the main thing about him that caught my attention was that... he was... crying?
"Ahem... uh - Mar'v?" I tried hesitantly, unsure how to handle the crying man. "Sothing wrong?"
He just looked at , peeling his gaze off the settlent and the sprawling surroundings.
"I-I..." He muttereed, his face almost seeming like it was twisted between euphoria and injustice.
A long silent mont passed, no additional words coming from the man. Restraining myself from letting out a groan of exasperation as these master craftsn and workers seed to get more eccentric by the second they were in my presence, I put on a placid but consoling smile.
"What is it?" I asked.
"This place is... beautiful! A lush untad paradise - a unique habitat breeding unique resources! Perfect locality to uncontested waters, and so much more!" B the end, he was practically preaching but his face suddenly turned dark and his tone somber. "B-but... this!"
He pointed an accusatory finger at the settlent behind .
"It's blasphemy! It's a waste of the gods' gifts, look at it, its as if a gods' blasted goblin built all of this!" He shouted, drawing awkward glances from nearby monsters.
I had expected him not to think much of the settlent beforehand as it was quite bareboned and we had made do with what we had, but this was this reaction was beyond anything I had imagined.
Drily listening to the troll's rambling, one thought went through my head.
"I have a sneaking suspicion these next few days won't be as relaxing as I had been hoping them to be..."
Reviews
All reviews (0)