The Good Goblin

Speaking of Chloe… she struggled to deal with all the deaths… she had known Phoenix for such a long time and she always got on well with my mum. But it was Flynn and Lucas that hit her the hardest. It is the first time that she has lost anybody in her unit. Her squad is like her family. Even though she was clearly never a fan of Flynn, what happened to him left her… hollow.

She was very protective of her remaining knights for a long time. She wouldn’t let anybody do solo duties. Kept them together as a group at all times. And she really objected to the probationary knights. She has since come around to them… but that took a while. Steven took a lot of shit from her initially. And he is a very self-deprecating person, so he just agreed with everything that she said.

She personally paid for Flynn’s funeral and has been making sure that his family are well looked after. I never told Chloe that Henry was the one who broke Flynn’s ribs. I don’t think she would ever forgive him. The only ones that know other than me, Kin’Ayesha, and Jessica; are Olly, Dolly, & Nomius. They are raising the child, so its best they know everything.

Lucas’ family are rich, so they paid for his funeral… and my mother’s. Which was very nice of them. I didn’t really expect them to acknowledge their relationship, what with my mother being a common farmer, but I think Tristan insisted.

I missed Chloe’s initial grief when Tilda died… seeing how she handled the loss of Flynn and Lucas… it made me think how awful those first few weeks must have been for her after Tilda was killed. By the time we returned after the teleportation accident… she just seemed like Chloe always did. But this time I was there for all of it… once the battle was over… she was so full of… rage… towards the cultists and the kobolds… but mostly towards herself.

Chloe is just about back to her old self now. Which I think has a lot to do with the support that she has received from Robert. He has stood by her side the whole time. Making sure that she knows that none of it was her fault. Reminding her that her actions saved the city. I think that is the hazard of her being such a heroic soul. Every person that she fails to save hits her like a ballista bolt to the chest.

I do wonder if Chloe and Robert will get married. Chloe has always said that she isn’t the type for such things. But the two of them have grown notably much closer over the last two years. They are basically inseparable. I know that she has no intention of starting a family… but it may be worth getting married simply for practical purposes. Marriage makes sure that your partner inherits when you die. As it stands, neither of them have children, so their assets will go back to their parents… and Robert’s parents are dead, so his stuff will just be inherited by the state. And nobody wants that… except the state, obviously.

Sorry… I’m getting a bit off track. I just think it is important to think about the practicalities of life sometimes. Anyway… who else do I need to mention? Oh yeah, Alexander.

Alexander is still up at Fort Bracken. His unit ended up in charge of the aid that they provided during the repair efforts. So, we did see a fair bit of him during all of the supply runs. He seems happy enough. Says he likes it up there. He thinks that the Bracken and the humans have gelled really well.

He says he has trained his own version of a city watch. They are composed entirely of Bracken. Although there are a couple of the farmer children that wish to join when they are a bit older. Says they have fended off a good few monsters on their own without the assistance of the knights. He said the main battle with them was getting them past the mindset that they are too weak to stand up for themselves and that running is their only option. They are starting to realise that if they work together as a team, they can be very effective in battle. He’s really proud of how they are progressing and how well they have taken to the training.

Moving back to Kataravonia, Smutisha survived the assault unscathed. She was visiting lady Katheryn when the alarm sounded and thus was already in a safe zone. From what I have been told, she tried to leave to go retrieve her family, but the duke had her stopped by the guards. I admire her determination to find her family, but it is probably for the best that she was stopped. She isn’t exactly handy in a fight and she would have just been another person that somebody needed to protect. Luckily, her family made it to the temple safe zone, so they are all living happily in her mansion once more.

Jacob is growing into a fine and boisterous young man. Always causing mischief. Tarquin is following by his example, which is driving Thomas up the wall. Because Tarquin is aging faster, he is effectively three now. Which, from what I have been led to believe, is a tricky age. They seem to be a perfectly happy, healthy, and normal family. If you exclude the whole Kobold concubine thing that seems to be going on.

Smutisha’s plan to create a race of civilised Grim seems to be moving ahead. Two women have successfully given birth to baby Grim and a third is currently pregnant. The children are growing well, as would be expected. And their mothers are being well looked after. The stipend that Smutisha pays them to raise the Grim certainly seems to be substantial. Then again… there isn’t enough coin in the world that you could pay me to let that abhorred creature fuck me. So, the pay is justified.

Speaking of Darling. He continues to be vile and foul mouthed. Spewing threats and insults constantly whenever anybody goes near him. That being said, the actual physical aggression from him has diminished. His room has furniture in it. Access to facilities. He is being given food in bowls and on plates without them being smashed or damaged. When people enter his room to clean it or deliver his food he stands to the side and allows them to do so… admittedly whilst shouting obscenities at them.

He has clearly learned that attacking people and smashing his stuff just leads to him having nothing. But he can’t quite seem to let go of his Grim beliefs and continues to be verbally aggressive. It must be noted that his speech has got much more clear over the last couple of years and his sentences have much better structure. He hasn’t been being formally taught. So, he has just picked it up from listening to his guards, Smutisha, and the mothers of his children. It is a shame that he simply uses these new found language skills to hurl abuse at people.

Smutisha did a lot during the rebuilding of the city. She spent a lot of time on political errands to ensure supplies and aid were coming in from other cities. She was also an advocate for the Kobolds and the cultists. If it wasn’t for her, the probationary knights wouldn’t be a thing. And Damecus would have had to kill the Kobolds.

Smutisha has also kept her word about Jonty and has been paying for him to continue his life at Madame Laurent’s ever since Agaroth’s death. Jonty is just continuing with his life. He has his routine, he sticks to it, and it keeps him happy. Which I am pleased about. If we had had to move him elsewhere it would have been so disruptive to him. Smutisha may be utterly insane in many ways… but when it comes to financial, political, and legal matters, she is a brilliant ally to have.

You know what I find odd? The fact I have hardly ever seen lady Katheryn over the last six years. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve seen her around. But she made such a massive thing of me all those years ago. Demanded a ball in my honour, etc. But I have seen more of Smutisha and Chlamydia… even Gentle since then. I have seen her at public engagements, you know, balls and galas, that kind of thing. But never outside of those things.

Unlawfully taken from NovelFire, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Then again, she doesn’t really do things on her own now. Not since… well… that cave. I mean, the events in that cave traumatised Tadwick, only the gods know how much it must have damaged her. Apart from the aforementioned social engagements, she never leaves the manor. And when she does, she has a significant security detail. She certainly doesn’t travel off to orphanages in the middle of nowhere with just a couple of guards anymore. That awful event has limited her life significantly. I do wonder if she’ll ever be able to open her world out again. I guess only time will tell.

I briefly mentioned Damecus before. He continues to do very well for himself… both in business and family matters. With Svampe’s aid, the damage to the gardens was fixed very quickly. During the assault two years ago, a lot of people were left with injuries that persist even now, but can’t be healed simply by magic. So Damecus’ remedies and creams, etc, have become very popular for their ability to alleviate various symptoms. In fact, he sells the willow bark that I chew on when the pain in my foot flares up. It is actually surprisingly effectively at relieving the pain.

Cathy gave birth to a healthy boy. Turns out that Damecus was indeed the father. The boy was blue, which I don’t think anybody other than Damecus saw coming. Apparently lizardman children can be any colour from their bloodline. Damecus’s mother was green and his father was blue. So, any of Damecus’ children can be green or blue… or white. Any lizardman child has a small chance of being white, apparently.

The boy certainly has an odd look to him. His features are much more mixed between human and lizardman than I was expecting. Jacob just looks like a tall Bracken. The only human things that he seemed to inherit are his aging and his size. Phoenix’s girls just look like humans with rainbow hair… well, one of them has a horn, but that’s about it.

Damecus’ son however, his body is very human shaped… but he has a tail… but it is much thinner than Damecus’ tail. He also has large clawed feet and two penises. He doesn’t have the snout of a lizardman, but his mouth is abnormally wide and he was born with a full set of razor-sharp teeth. Fortunately, like all lizardmen children, he was born without the need to breastfeed. Those teeth would not have been good for breastfeeding. His body is covered in scales like a lizardman and he has no hair… again, like a lizardman. He is human sized and seems to age at the human rate.

According to Damecus’ book, which I have now read, lizardmen children do not manifest their powers until they are passed the toddler age bracket. By my calculations, based on the rate at which he is aging, their son shouldn’t start to display any abilities until the age of four or five. Which is fortunate. He is blue which should make him an elementalist. And you wouldn’t want a baby or even a toddler being capable of creating fire or lightning… or freezing your arm off when you hold him. I mean… I wouldn’t want a five-year-old having those abilities either, but the lizardmen seem to be able to cope with their children having these powers, so I anticipate Damecus and Cathy will be fine.

They have named him Marcus. Marcus Westenra when he is in human society. Damecus intends to take him to visit sawtooth village when he is older to meet his ancestors. In that situation he shall be Marcus, Son of Damecus of the Sawtooth Clan. I think it is quite sweet the way they gave him a human name, but kept the ‘us’ tradition of naming from the lizardmen culture. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. They have worked incredibly well together as a family since their arrangement started and it is exactly the kind of thing that they would have discussed at length. But still, I find it sweet.

As for Verity. She continues to be herself. She still loves being in the gardens. She had a bit of a meltdown at the initial damage to the gardens. But after a couple of weeks, she adjusted to it.

She did have a bit of a wobble when Marcus was born. A baby obviously changed the dynamics of things a bit. Having Claw about the place to help with the daily tasks really helped Cathy and Damecus to focus on the kids during all of that. But, to be fair to Verity, she adjusted to change way quicker than we thought she would. She doesn’t really acknowledge Marcus much. She will occasionally sit next to him, but she doesn’t initiate interaction with him. That isn’t surprising though, she has never been the biggest fan of peer interaction… even adult interaction has to be entirely on her terms… and she mainly only seeks that when she seeks comfort due to being distressed.

She is comfortable enough with Marcus now that she allows him to touch her without instantly running away. She even allows him to hold her hand. Its adorable seeing him toddle up to her when she is lying on the grass, lie next to her and hold her hand. These moments don’t often last long, but they are sweet to see. I know it may not seem like much to some people. But her simply tolerating his attempts to interact is a big step for her. Damecus nearly cried when he saw her letting him hold her hand for the first time.

Now that things have settled since the birth, Damecus has even been on the occasional adventure with Dietrich, Farrow, and Svampe. They are now an official party. But they only do aid missions. Transporting medical supplies, travelling to villages to heal their poisoned crops, or to heal a disease that is spreading. That kind of thing. These missions are rare, which suits them all fine.

Dietrich has taken on a bigger role in the running of the gardens, so when they aren’t adventuring, Damecus can spend more time doing research and spending time with the kids. And when they are away, they have set things up so that things basically run themselves for a while and if any major decisions need making during that time Cathy or Chlamydia can make them.

Dietrich seems to have taken Not Josh under her wing. I found out his real by the way. He is called Jeremiah. He prefers to be called Jez. But if his mother ever hears you call him that then you better be prepared for a tedious rant about how you must always use his full name. Dietrich just calls him Kid, much to his mother’s annoyance.

His mother is not pleased about him following Dietrich around. But she never seems to be pleased about anything. She’s just an awkward an unpleasant woman. Not quite to the level of Gentle, but still, somebody that many endeavour to avoid. Fortunately, Jez doesn’t seem to let her awful attitude faze him and he seems to be a pleasant young man.

Although, he does seem very nervous around Chlamydia. He goes very quiet in her presence… as if he is trying to fade into the background. I think he feels bad that she got hurt trying to save him. She always makes a point of speaking to him and saying how pleased she is that he is doing well. She’s trying to be nice, but I think it makes him feel even worse.

Dietrich herself seems to be loving life. She had a deep sleep and recovered all of her injuries after the assault… as she always does. Honestly… it is an incredibly helpful ability to have. She continues to randomly tackle Damecus and attempt to wrestle him into submission. And to be fair to her… she does win on occasion. After her favourite dress was destroyed by acid, she decided it was time to expand her wardrobe a bit and went on a big shopping spree with Farrow in Vardan. She always looks incredibly fashionable and stylish and I rarely see her in the same outfit now… apart from obviously her adventuring armour… which she still looks incredibly badass in.

Oh… I finally asked Farrow about the weird weapons that she wields. She explained that if a weapon is used by a specific type of individual for a prolonged period of time, and that person dies whilst wielding the weapon, they can leave behind some of their life energy within those weapons. Her unique magical ability, which has been passed through her bloodline for generations, allows her to tap into that life energy.

She is skilled with all of these weapons, not because she has practised with them herself, but because she taps into the energy of the weapon’s previous user and inherits their skills. Which explains a lot… because some of those weapons are really weird and would take such a long time to master. I mean… I had to practise so much to get even remotely reasonable with a bow. It would have been so much easier if I could just inherit somebody else’s skills and not have to practise myself.

As for Farrow herself… well… she still just seems like a really nice and down-to-earth person. She doesn’t have any wild schemes or outrageous plans. She just kind of gets on with life and helps people out where she can. I wish that more people were like her. It would certainly make life a lot easier.