Chapter 39: The Mine, the Map & the Merchant (I)
The pine nut porridge was warm and filling. Chastity scooped every drop out of the halfling-sized bowl and restrained herself from asking for seconds. Others showed no such restraint, downing ladleful after ladleful of the creamy stuff until their little round bellies protruded from their garments. When the clinking of spoons and mugs at long last ceased, Chastity stood before the impromptu village council.
“Thank you all for assembling for a second time today,” Chastity began. “A situation has come to my attention that I do not want you to be unaware of. Yesterday, I was gathering pine cones and heard a call for help beyond the hot springs in the Pale Foothills which, by the way, your chamber of commerce should really highlight as a potential tourist attraction. Or whose existence, at the very least, you should inform any freezing travelers about! But I digress… I came across this injured gnome, whom you now know as Kobelt. He was bleeding, wounded, and on the run from a pack of goblins.”
Chastity beckoned for Kobelt to join her at the front of the room and he obliged, standing beside her tall frame. The mention of goblins roused the villagers from their food coma. Some had dismissed the suggestion the previous night; such dangers were just not part of the fabric of life in the Riverlands.
“Kobelt informed me that he had been abducted from his home and held prisoner for some months, worked like a slave in a mine less than a day’s journey from here.”
Chastity reached down and gently pulled back the collar of Kobelt’s filthy shirt, revealing the mark.
“They even cruelly branded him, marking him as the property of some ork slavedriver.”
The halflings stirred again in their seats; first talk of goblins, now a fearsome ork?
“They were forcing him, and not just him but others too, to mine for gold. He managed to escape and I rescued Kobelt from his pursuers. I vanquished one…” Chastity trailed off for a moment, reflecting on the euphemism, “... but the other two fled. They have likely reported back to the others by now, and they will know of my intervention.”
“Goblins and orks nearby?” one anxious villager turned to another and asked. “Can it be true?”
Chastity raised her hands in a calming gesture.
“Now, I have no reason to believe they know of Goldenberry or my staying in it. But this mine is said to be not far off. Across the river, yes, and through a good part of the Silfurfast. But if they expand their search and continue their efforts to retrieve their escaped captive, or to seek revenge on me, their search may eventually lead them here.”
“W-what are we to do? We are not fighters!” Mr. Pennybun asked, his brow creased with apprehension.
“We should not passively wait for that possibility to come to pass,” the Paladin answered. “Kobelt spoke of other captives, including some number of dwarves. I intend to travel to this mine and free them.”
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“Dwarves? Could that be why we ‘aven’t traded with the dwarves in years?” Pricklebush mused, striking up a side conversation at his table.
“Their settlement was called Granitefirth,” recalled Barkroot. “Not one of the old dwarfhomes. They were a prospecting clan.”
“O, Chastity. Going out to face the enemy? That sounds mighty dangerous! Even for a Paladin such as yourself,” Mrs. Underfoot fretted.
Chastity looked down to Kobelt, whose bald head reached her waist. His large pale eyes rose to meet her.
“Kobelt, how many captors would you estimate were in this mine?”
“It is more of a cave. Not a proper mine. Not a good mine. Kobelt would say seven, maybe nine goblins. Plus the ork.”
Chastity winced. She had smote one goblin, sure. But based on the gnome’s report, that left as many as nine remaining enemies. The strongest she had encountered from the goblin party was the Level 4 skirmisher, the same level she was now. What if there were yet stronger foes?
Nine against one. Can I really take on those odds? Even with all my abilities? she wondered.
“You’re right, Mrs. Underfoot. It is dangerous. But I can’t allow others to continue suffering in bondage like Kobelt has when I might have the power to do something about it. I will at least go and scope this cave out. I will learn all that I can. But if I see an opportunity to act to free these captives, I should take it.”
“O, you are a brave warrior indeed, your Ladyship!” a particularly rotund halfling with fluffy sideburns called out. Chastity vaguely recognized the speaker from around town–was his name Mr. Dingleberry? No, that couldn’t be right.
“But what do you want us to do?” Mayor Roundhedge asked.
“I want you to be on alert. Make sure your little ones aren’t out playing unsupervised beyond the village. There may be more goblin patrols about. It’s probably best to keep to this side of the river until I return.”
IF I return, she didn’t say.
“Please provide shelter for Kobelt as well,” she continued. “Basic rations and a clean change of clothes for him would be greatly appreciated. I will travel alone. That goes for you too Charlie–you can be of more use here. Oh, and I did meet that traveling merchant yesterday. Honeytongue. He said he was on his way here. I’m surprised we haven’t seen him.”
“O!” Mrs. Underfoot blurted. “That is a spot of sunshine among dark tidings! He’ll bring letters from our kin up north!”
Charlie’s eyes brightened at the thought of this. There could be a letter from his dear father.
“Aye, the merchant travels a winding route, he does,” Roundhedge explained. “Always takes his sweet time to get where he’s going. Sure enough he’ll be ‘ere before you know it. Sets up shop with that fancy cart of his by the dell cross the river.”
“Well, if that is the case, perhaps this Honeytongue can be enlisted for aid or advice. If he is as well traveled as you say, he must know something about goblins. In the meantime, if you have any defensive capabilities or contingency plans, I suggest you put them into practice.”
This particular piece of guidance was met with blank stares.
“Or if any of you have any weapons beyond Charlie’s vegetable knife…”
She meant it as a sort of joke, but again, Chastity’s audience showed little grasp of what was being asked. The Paladin got the sense that Goldenberry Village was a sitting duck. In slaying the goblin, she worried that she had thrown a rock at a proverbial hornet’s nest.
“Anyway… my only other request is for a bit of gear. A torch if you have it, some candles if you don’t. And some flint to go along with that. Any rope you have if I need to do some spelunking. Kobelt has agreed to draw me a map to this cavern, so I also ask for parchment and something to draw with.”
