Explorer of Edregon

The goblin-on-goblin battle lasted for almost an hour. In the beginning, Garni reminded them that they weren’t allowed to participate in the decision making of the conclave, before turning and throwing herself off of Vin’s shoulders into the throng of warring goblins as well. It was clear that she desperately wanted to be the one to get a look at his arm, and she fought like a goblin possessed as she made her way through people with opposing viewpoints.

While everyone fought, Vin turned and scratched his head, glancing at his friends. “So… goblins, huh?”

“Definitely a… unique people,” Lumel said, offering a strained smile. “I hadn’t realized there could be such an advanced people who still resolved things through such barbaric ways.”

“The universe is a big place,” Shia shrugged, humming to herself as she silently cast Renewal at a goblin who had landed on his back beside them. Vin recognized the goblin as the older man who had argued for them, and as he was patched up, he shouted a few choice curses at the one who had commanded his golem to throw him overhead before launching himself back into the fray. Overall, the goblins were doing an excellent job staying clear of their group standing in the dead center of the conclave, but when a few thousand people began brawling with one another and magical golems were involved, things got a tad dicey.

“I’m just happy they never decided to try rushing us and ripping Vin’s arm off themselves,” Scule said. “They certainly have the numbers.”

“I’d like to say they wouldn’t do that, but I actually heard a few of them whispering about how we teleported past their wall,” Lumel admitted. “I think Crocket spread the word about us appearing right in front of him, so they probably knew if they tried anything like that we’d just vanish again.”

“Maybe, but they’re honestly not that savage of a people,” Vin said, carefully watching the fighting. Even now, despite the fact that the majority of goblins each had toolbelts filled with things like metal wrenches and other tools he could only begin to guess the purpose of, the goblins were being quite careful to ensure they were only attacking with their bare hands. Even those controlling the golems were being rather cautious, limiting the golems to little more than picking up opposing goblins and hurling them across the conclave. Each one was strong enough that Vin was pretty certain they could probably kill the smaller goblins with a simple punch, but he had yet to see a single goblin get anything worse than a bump on the head or a scratch on their face until now.

He’d been a tad worried they’d have front row seats to witnessing pointed ears being bitten off and eyes being gouged out, so realizing the goblins were humanely brawling with one another was a massive relief.

Their method of ‘discussion’ was a rather interesting one. Because everyone was being so careful not to permanently injure one another, the goblins almost had something akin to an honor system, which was a strange realization watching the massive brawl going on around them. When a goblin got too tired to keep fighting, or was effectively knocked down and pinned by another, they immediately tapped out, raising their hands over their heads and finding a new seat among the chaos. In this way, rather than a sea of unconscious or dead bodies, the longer the fight went on, the more and more goblins returned to their seats, and the fewer goblins there were still fighting. Finally, when all was said and done, there were roughly four hundred goblins and about a third of that in golems still standing, cheering as they searched amongst themselves and realized they all agreed on the same side of the discussion.

And standing smack dab in the middle of them, on the head of an entirely new golem, was Garni.

“The decision has been made!” she shouted, her words being echoed around the conclave by a few other goblins just like before, albeit with far more tired voices. “We will temporarily open the wall and allow others to wander through our lands. In exchange, we will study the new golem arm!”

About two-thirds of the crowd let out weary cheers, and Vin could only shake his head as the people began dispersing and going back to wherever they’d come from, just like that. Some goblins he was sure he’d just witnessed throttling one another only a few minutes ago went off hand in hand, chatting loudly or laughing with one another as they pointed at various cuts and bruises.

“That’s it?” he asked Garni as she hopped off the borrowed golem and walked over to them. She had a bit of a limp and a fat lip, but her eyes were still shining. “Everyone just accepts that decision, just like that? You all just fought for an hour and you’re telling me they’ll just go along with it?”

“The decision has been made,” she said, nodding excitedly. “Nobody will question the conclave. Everyone who wanted to make their thoughts heard did so during the discussion.”

“I kinda think you guys should encourage Spur to adopt something similar,” Scule muttered from his shoulder. “Sure would be interesting. You do have that colosseum now that Witherson and her crafters built.”

“That is the last thing we need to bring back to Terra,” Vin drawled.

“When would you like us to open the wall?” Garni asked, pulling out another one of those odd sticks with a glass ball on the end. “Now?”

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“No, not yet!” Vin hurriedly said. “We need to coordinate this with the people on the other side, and it’s important that the wall only remains open for a short time. Like we said, we’re helping people flee from those who would unfairly rule over them. We need to have you close the wall the moment they’re all through.”

“Okay, just say when,” Garni shrugged, before thrusting the strange tool at him. “But don’t take too long! I want to look at your arm!”

“We also still need to find them an appropriate new fragment to live in,” Shia pointed out. “We got so caught up ensuring they had a way out from the alliance territory we never actually bothered to check what fragments border this one.”

“Good point… Let’s pray that one of the three unknown fragments bordering this one is not only livable, but has people that don’t mind some new neighbors,” Vin muttered. “We might as well do that before meeting back up with Alka and our guides. It hasn’t been very long, so they’re probably still busy checking out those other two.”

“Garni, would your people mind if we went and looked at the fragments beyond your walls over there?” Lumel asked, pointing away from where they’d entered. “We don’t need help with your wall, but we’ll have to run through your land for a bit.

“That’s fine,” Garni said as she tucked her tool into her belt again. “I should come with you though. At least to the wall. Otherwise a goblin who didn’t join the conclave might attack.”

“Wait, that wasn’t everyone?” Vin asked. “That had to be thousands of people!”

“Not everyone cares enough to be a part of the discussion,” Garni shrugged. “Some are too old, while others are busy. Though even older goblins have golems that can punch. Let’s stop by my house really quick so I can grab my backup golem.”

Following Garni’s directions, the group arrived at a small hut built out of the side of one of the quarries. It was little more than a hovel dug into the side of the rock, but from what Vin could see through the open door, it was actually rather nice on the inside, if a bit cluttered with bits of metal here and there. Garni had her new golem crawl out after a few minutes, before hopping onto its shoulders and beaming at them.

“Okay, ride secured. Let’s go!”

As they ran, Vin watched the golem more closely. He’d originally assumed the countless golems contained within this fragment were all a bunch of artifacts like the ones from the library, but when he’d punched Garni’s first golem in the chest, he had clearly seen gears and other mechanical bits and bobs go flying everywhere. There was definitely still magic involved, he could sense that much, but it looked like it was a curious blend between magic and technology.

“Garni, how do you all make your golems?” he asked as they ran.

“Goblin secret,” she grinned, holding a finger up over her mouth and winking at him. “Sorry, can’t tell. There’s a long-standing decision that was made by the conclave back before I was even born.”

“Can you at least tell us about the walls?” Shia asked. “Even with your golems, how did you manage to construct such massive structures so quickly? Each one is six miles wide!”

“It will be easier to show you when it is time to make an opening,” Garni said, nodding to herself. “I can’t tell, but seeing should give you something of an idea.”

“Based on the number of mines and quarries we keep running past, at least we don’t need to wonder where they got all the metal from,” Scule muttered, peering down into another deep quarry as they ran along the edge.

“Goblins are always in need of fresh materials,” Garni nodded. “New golems, new inventions, new ideas. They all require new materials!”

In fact, they got to experience one of these ideas firsthand to save themselves some time. Garni instructed them all to hop into a large minecart, before doing something with one of her tools and causing it to accelerate all on its own like a rollercoaster. Vin and his friends screamed while Garni whooped with laughter as they shot in and out of a few different quarries, covering ground far quicker than they would just from running. They even went underground for a few seconds, before popping out on the surface once more.

“Always fun!” she laughed, directing her golem out of the cart as it rolled to a stop. “Alright, we are here!”

Getting out of the cart on shaky feet, Vin helped Lumel do the same as he glanced up at the new wall. Sure enough, his Mental Map confirmed they were on the opposite side of the fragment now, having made fantastic time thanks to the goblins’ minecart system.

“Part of my job is maintaining the walls, so I will check these while you go over and look at the other lands,” Garni explained. “Once you are ready, meet me back here, I’ll find you. If you’re not back before dark, camp here, I’ll return tomorrow.”

“Thanks for your help, Garni, we’ll try not to be too long,” Vin promised. “We just need to figure out if any of these three fragments are suitable for the people we’re trying to help.”

“Happy to help if it means I get to see that arm up close,” Garni said, her eyes twinkling as she stared at his arm. “Anyway, time for work!”

Vin and his friends watched as the goblin began walking the edge of the wall, occasionally tapping against the metal with one of her many tools and listening intently to the sound it gave off. Occasionally, she’d hop onto her golem’s hands and have it lift her up, allowing her to tap somewhere far higher on the wall that would normally have been out of her reach. He didn’t have the faintest idea as to if she was checking for impurities or structural weaknesses, but he imagined it was probably important work based on the handful of other goblins he could see following the wall and doing the same with their own tools.

“Bunch-a weirdos,” Scule muttered, shaking his head and turning to look up at him. “Well, what are we waiting for? Time to play real-estate agent for a bunch of people we’ve barely met, right?”

“Yep,” Vin chuckled, staring up at the vast wall standing between them and hopefully the future home of a few thousand orcs and beastkin. “We've got three chances to find a good one. Let’s hope we get lucky.”