[h3]Ash’s Party[/h3]
[@Duthguy][@Rune_Alchemist][@CollectorOfMyst][@ghastlyinc][@Kangutso]
As Ash melted away what was left of the lizard--Colchain’s--collar, and then signalled what she wanted him to do, the other Lizard slowly began to follow after her, though his eyes darted from side to side occasionally. And so it was that Colchain was the first to actually notice Reoth--the domesticated lizard did an odd pushup-gesture, before looking back at Ash. And in that time Reoth had put his jaws near Colchain’s neck. The other lizard hissed in alarm--then, with a soft snap of the rawhide, the collar fell away. Colchain merely looked at Reoth for a few moments, before doing another pushup in what might have been a gesture of thanks.

Now that Naji had filled his belly--after all, one small pixie couldn’t possibly hold the remains of two matured goblins--he wasn’t quite “healed” of the HP drain he had suffered, but he was certainly full and felt much better. With some rest he would probably make a full recovery. As Danny spoke to Naji, while Ash and Scott would probably notice Reoth sooner or later since he was messing with Colchain, it seemed that for now this particular adventure had come to an end. What would this motley crew do next?
[hr]
[h3]Orchid’s Party[/h3]
[@Lucius Cypher]
[quote=System:Orchid]
Skill Gain: Smash I!
A Physical Skill that consumes Stamina instead of MP. One blunt type attack deals increased damage!
[/quote]

The female applied a Healing Herb directly to Crispy’s wound like a bandage, and when he felt it on his face Crispy put his own hand over it and began to squeeze it around the edges until the leaves began turning into a kind of paste. Some of the swelling around the wound seemed to go down and the plant fibers stopped the bleeding at least through pressure, if not through magic. Crispy’s nose and ears twitched occasionally, and with Orchid’s help he seemed to be able to glean most of what was in his surroundings. 

As Orchid and Crispy approached the three lookouts, the flame-touched goblin called out to them without fear.

“Oi! You lots, where’s Rattleskull!? We gots trouble!”

“Crispy? What happen!?” One of the goblins moved to help Orchid get Crispy to a flat rock where he could sit, and a second peered out towards what remained of the bonfire. The other cupped his hands around his mouth and turned towards the outside of the cave before letting out a loud, braying cry.

From here, Orchid could actually see the outside world. Sunlight had caused stone and dirt to fade a lighter color than the usual soils inside the cave, and a small dusty path had been walked outside the entrance just enough to give some leeway between the archway and the grass. But there was grass, and it was greener than Orchid’s skin. It rustled in a soft breeze, which carried a fluttering leaf in a fairy-like dance. Leaves. Trees. There were trees--maybe it was just because she was smaller than she had been in her previous life, but to Orchid these trees appeared more majestic than any she had seen! They were sturdy hardwoods, possibly some type of oak, and while they were thinner nearer to the cave--a few stumps evidenced that some of them had even been chopped down recently--they grew much thicker further out. The cave seemed to be on a slope, which was gentle here but seemed to get steeper off to the east. Orchid might be able to tell by the position of the sun overhead that she was facing the south, and that it was just about high noon.

The cave was at the base of...cliffs? Possibly a mountain? And there was a forest out there. But...what else? Where [i]was[/i] this?

By this time Crispy had explained what had happened to the other goblins. He even gestured to Orchid with praise.

“Dis youngling fought ‘em all off and helped me get away, after dumb pixie played stupid trick on me! If you gobs don’t get ‘em back double times as good, I’m gonna give her half your foods!” The other goblins seemed dismayed at this, but rather than take it out on Orchid they seemed to immediately begin bragging to Crispy of all the things they “was gonna do” to the attackers. The one closest to the outside, however, gave a cry and pointed all of a sudden.

“It’s da boss, dey comin’ back!”

Sure enough, Rattleskull came jogging out of the trees, several roughly hewn sections of branch under each arm. Behind him came the roughly thirteen or so goblins that remained of the entire cave’s tribe, not counting Orchid, Crispy, Rattleskull himself, and the three lookouts. All totaled, the goblins were 18 in number--except for that one that had betrayed them, the one that dug lots of holes.

“Which of youse sounded da alarm? What happen!?” Rattleskull demanded as he threw the wood down in a pile outside the cave. The others following him all repeated the gesture with their own wood, though they each carried considerably less.

Once again, Crispy--and possibly Orchid too--relayed their tale. Rattleskull rubbed his chin with one filthy hand as he listened.

“I been noticin’ dat things was kinda off lately…” he said, walking into the cave proper and looking towards the now-completely-dimmed bonfire. Without adjusting from the outside light, he couldn’t see well enough yet to pick out the group of monsters, but he had a vague idea of where they would be. “You guys been seein’ any monsters actin’...weird? Like...not monstery?” Some of the other goblins, though not all of them by any means, nodded their assent.

“What we gonna do, boss? If different ones is workin’ together, it ain’t right. Is it...some kinda magic?”

“Is it a demon!? A demon dat can make slaves?!” This fearful murmur set the gobs to chattering, but Rattleskull silenced them with rough kicks to their backsides.

“Ain’t no Demons dat strong gonna be way out heres! Just cause it ain’t right dun mean we can’t handles it!”

“Rattle, I thinks it might be time to takes action!” Crispy said. Using a sharp stick he had grabbed from one of the lookouts as a cane, he wobbily made his way over to the boss. “We spent all dis time makin’ da stash, and gatherin’ up stuff, but it ain’t gonna do us no good if other mobs is stealin’ it! Gotta make da cave safe for gobs!”

“Hm...Yeah.” Rattleskull seemed to be thinking very, very hard, but at least he seemed to be getting somewhere. “Me an’ you, Crispy, we da strongest ones here, but we been around a while. Might be a few other monsters in da cave like you--close to gettin’ bigger--or like me, already got bigger. Maybe dey been around long time like us, but dey cowards. Hidin’ out. And now dey decided to strike!” He punched a big furry fist into his palm.”

“And if we waits, they just get stronger!” Crispy nodded, seeing where his boss was going with this. “So now’s da time!”

“Oiright, all youse gobs!” Rattleskull turned around the gathered crowd, puffing out his chest. “Grab dat wood! It ain’t goin’ into da fire--or at least not all of it! Any of youse dat’s any good makin’ stuff, we needs smashers and cutters and stickers! And if ya can makes it, some woody shells like what I gots! Think about da kinda stuff ya see da Ventures with! Makes dat!”

Crispy turned to Orchid. 

“You good at makin’ stuff, I knows cause o’ dat sword! You helps us!” He gestured to the wood pile, and to a few sharp and blunt rocks scattered around.

“And when we gots all da stuff we needs, maybe by tonight…” Rattleskull continued, “We’s gonna go from one end of da cave to da other! And if’n it ain’t a gob...it’s gonna be DEAD!” He smashed his Stone Axe against a piece of wood, making a loud clacking sound and splitting the limb into two pieces. 

All the other goblins threw their hands up and cheered.