[@Rabidporcupine]
[center][h1]Four years ago...[/h1][/center]
Horses whinnied in alarm as the cart almost ran over a young goblin carrying a large sack on his back. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" the driver screamed. Crowds of people twice the creature's height jostled him back and forth, many unaware he was even there until they were almost on top of him. Most could not even hear his cries, let alone understand the words he was crying out to them.

["Help! Help me! Please! Please help- please help my baby brother!"]

Another person shoved him aside. He fell back on the stone pavement, and twisted himself so he wouldn't land on the precious cargo he carried. The goblin scrambled to his feet and pressed through the crowd.

["Can- can anyone- can anyone tell me where- where the goddess is?"] He grabbed onto a random passerby's sleeve. ["Please help me?"]

The woman snatched her arm away in disgust. "Ugh, go away."

As he watched the woman march off, he spotted a tower looming overhead. [i]Maybe she's in there![/i] He hefted the bag and plodded toward the tower, pushing and weaving his way through the crowd until he arrived at the gates. A pair of tall, imposing guards stood in the way.

"Go away," barked one of the guards.

The goblin got down on his knees and groveled before them. ["Please let me see the goddess! My baby brother is dying!"]

Neither guard understood the goblin language, but even they could gather he was making a request of them. "She's not taking any visitors right now."

The goblin crawled up to the guard's foot and clutched at the hem of his tunic, babbling something the guard still couldn't understand. Disgusted, the guard kicked him away. "I said go, you little shit!"

At that moment, the gates creaked open.

The guards immediately dropped to one knee in solemn reverence.

The goblin looked up to behold a human woman, robed in blackest ebony, whose silver eyes stared down at him from behind a featureless bone-white mask.

["My goddess!"] the goblin cried, and crawled up to her feet to grovel.
The woman knelt down and lifted his chin. ["You're a long way from home, little one. What brings you all this way?"]
The goblin suddenly looked up at her. ["You...you understand me?"]
["Well, I didn't live 500 years to not learn the language of my neighbors. You wish to make a request of me?"]
He withdrew the sack and laid it at her feet. ["Please save my baby brother. He's dying and I don't know who else to turn to."]

The woman gingerly opened the sack to find a baby goblin. It seemed to be only a few months old, but it was unusually small and frail for its age. Wheezing gasps came from its little mouth, and its skin was pallid and sickly. She checked for a pulse, and found it weakening by the minute.

["You did the right thing. Come."] She picked up the goblin child in one arm and gave the guards each a backhanded slap. "Do better next time," she chided. The guards bowed their heads in shame as she strode inside.

Once inside, she set the goblin child down and pulled out a piece of chalk, with which she began to draw a magic circle. Then she took a knife, cut her arm at the elbow, and dripped a few drops of blood in the circle. ["This is a magic circle designed to amplify the natural healing processes,"] she explained. ["Keep an eye on him for me while I prepare another spell, would you?"]

The goblin nodded and watched the embers of magic seep into his brother's body while the woman brought over her spear. "Analyze," she whispered, and the spear began to glow with a pale white light. She hovered the tip over the goblin child's body, and when the spell was complete, she touched her palm to the gem and closed her eyes.

["Intriguing."]

["Will he be okay?"]

She sat down across from him and folded her legs. ["Your brother is evolving."]

["E- evo- what?"]

["Evolving. He is changing inside into something greater than he was."]

["What is he changing into?"]

The twinkle of a smile sparkled in her eyes. ["A new person."]