John watched Vral herd the goblins down the rocky slope from the cave with a mix of amusement and horror. How exactly he was managing it, John wasn't sure, all the goblins bar Gitgak seemed to take it as a personal challenge to be the most energetic and reckless at any given moment. He did notice that none of their antics came within a ten-foot radius of the shaman, however. There was an apparent radius around him where all goblins acted with respect due to his station.
'The clan stands ready Lord,' Vral said with a nod to him, ignoring the two goblins that were fighting over a spear behind him.
'Good, then my orders are as follows,' John turned to point at Fuzz, making all the pelt wearing goblins freeze in their place. 'Wolfrider Fuzz, take your pack and scout the surrounding area, I want a report on the local animals, both prey and predator, before nightfall. If you have the chance to hunt, do so, but the scouting job comes first. I'm trusting your skill to keep your pack in line and make your clan proud, understood?'
'Yes Lord,' Fuzz barked and slammed the butt of his spear into the ground in what John was sure was an impression of a hobgoblin, his pack of followers doing the same a few moments later. John waited a moment before obviously moving his eyes from Fuzz to the slowly rising sun and back again, repeating the whole process twice before Fuzz got the idea and his group scattered off into the undergrowth. The sun was still relatively low in the sky, so they had most of the day to work with, but the more urgency he instilled in the goblins now, the better.
'Glorg,' John turned on his heel to gesture towards the hulking hobgoblin, who immediately straightened and silently saluted by bringing his fist over his heart. 'I want you and two of your men to come with me on our scouting mission. The other two will be staying here to watch over the camp. Understood?'
'By your will Lord,' Glorg intoned crisply before quietly passing on his orders to the two hobgoblins behind him.
'Vral, I want you to take charge of the remaining goblins and clear space here for the settlement. Your priority is to start work on housing, somewhere to store resources and somewhere to store food. Do you have the equipment you need for this?' John had deliberately chosen a flat area that wasn't too far from the river but also wasn't too close to restrict the growth of their camp. That was pretty much where his expertise in this ended, which was why he was delegating to the most capable underling he had and taking on a task more suited to his talents.
'Yes Lord, the workers can retrieve an initial amount of tools and resources from the altar to help us set up.' Vral nodded to acknowledge the order before barking sharply, grabbing the attention of all the nearby goblins, and pointing out ten of them to head back to the altar to gather the resources.
'Shaman Gitgak,' John turned to the last of his allies that he knew by name. 'I don't know enough of your capability to assign you a role, where do you think you will help the most?' Honestly, and the humility to not assume you knew best, was often the best option and from the approving bob of his head, Gitgak agreed with him.
'I will be most effective in assisting Chief Vral at the moment. I will keep the more rowdy of our workers in line, and I have a lifetime of knowledge to impart to them. We shall discuss my future role in the clan this evening,' Gitgak said, clearly ending the conversation as far as he was concerned.
'Okay then, let's get moving then, are you ready Glorg? John turned to see that Glorg was waiting for him a few feet away, flanked by the two hobgoblins that had been guarding John earlier. Each hobgoblin had leather armour, a sword and what he guessed was a pouch for food and some necessary supplies. Sufficient for now, but if they ran into any significant threats, they would need better equipment.
'Yes Lord, where will we be scouting?'
'Up there,' John pointed up past the cave where the altar sat. The valley was quite long and shielded by steep slopes that stretched up into the mountain itself on the left and right, leaving just the front and rear as possible issues. The front would be the biggest issue in the long run, but the back of the valley led further into the mountains, and that was where they were likely to find any local threats.
'Your will be done Lord, we are with you,' Glorg's voice hadn't changed, yet there was a hint of anticipation in his body language, and in the two other hobgoblins for that matter. Perhaps John would have more preconceptions about hobgoblins if he could remember his past life clearly, but right now, he saw three men who were keen to get into action and prove their worth.
'Let's be about it then.' John took a moment to make sure that Vral had everything in hand, which from the way he had the goblins running around without fighting, he did indeed. Satisfied that he wasn't needed, John turned back to the slope that led to the altar. The rocky terrain was a little easier to climb up then to clamber down, and in short order, they were level with the cave and pushing on past it, further up the slope and deeper into the mountains.