Tect stares at the scroll Nagt had given him, at the center of the scroll is an ornate silver circle with a stylized needle drawn upon it. As Tect rotates the scroll the compass rotates, always pointing slightly north of true East. "Everyone, I know this will sound crazy but before Elder Nagt died she gave me this scroll. She said it led to the ancient goblin homeland, but she had no idea how to use it. I think when my blood got on it it activated some magic and it now shows a compass to lead us there. I know it sounds crazy but since our plan was to head deep into the mountains to find a cave to live in I think we should follow the compass. Even if it's a dead end it is still pointing the way we were headed anyway, and if it does lead to some ancient goblin homeland then it probably has caves we can use." The others all nod their heads in agreement, without Tect they would surely be dead now and they had no clue where they were so why not follow the potentially imaginary compass. Moidra stands up, "We will follow your lead Chieftain, we have 6 hours left today if you're fit to move we can put more distance between us and the humans." The goblins all readily nod to this idea, they have no desire to interact with humans.
Tect stood and flexed his back, he felt no pain so they decided to move, if Moidra had checked his bandages before setting out she would be shocked to know that Tect's wounds had already begun to heal at a noticeable rate. But she didn't and Tect just assumed it was an effect of the herbs she had used. It took 20 minutes to break camp, and about 5 minutes for Tect to arrange the party. Three of the fastest goblins were to scout ahead by about 600 meters, the three best fighters would hold the rear guard, and Tect would walk at the front of the group. Tect took one of the now too small flint daggers and bound it to a fairly straight tree limb to create a makeshift spear which thanks to his new height gave him a fair amount of reach. After everyone was ready and clear on their job they began to walk following the compass. For nearly two hours they walked with nothing eventful happening until the scouts all returned to the group.
"Chieftain, we have found a herd of deer ahead. One of the deer has hurt it's leg and may be unable to move very quickly. Do you think we should try to surround it and kill it?" The meat from an adult deer would certainly provide enough meat for the goblins to eat well for a few days, it was certainly worth the delay to try and hunt it. "Take me to the herd and let me see for myself, everyone else stay here, and be on guard for whatever might have injured it. Hungry wolves are not something we can fight right now. Shota lets go." Tect has Shota lead him to the deer, Shota is the fastest scout and spent most of his time in slavery tending goat herds, his knowledge of animals was very good, much better than Tect's who barely ever dealt with anything more than the mules that hauled ore from the mine. The two goblins moved quickly but quietly through the forest and in only a few minutes they reached their target. "What do you think, Shota? Can we catch it?" "I don't know, it's back leg looks pretty bloody but it's laying down so I can't tell how much damage there is. If it's just a really bloody flesh wound then it'll run no slower than normal, but if the muscle or tendon is damaged it may not move very fast at all." Tect thought for a moment. "Ok, how about this, you and the other scouts circle to the west and place some snares along any trails you find, after you're all set I will charge in at the injured deer with my spear, if we are lucky I'll get it right then and there or maybe we can catch it with a snare. Worst case scenario we lose an hour of travel, best case we get fresh meat." Shota nods, "I agree Chieftain, I'll begin immediately." Thirty minutes later Shota returns, "We have set over a dozen snares, we got lucky in a few spots and were able to set tripwire traps that could get us an extra deer if we are lucky." The scouts have done better than Tect initially expected, it seems like all the survival skills they learned as kids are coming back quickly. "Ok it's about time I'll circle more to the east and we can get started." Tect slowly moves around the clearing to the east side. He braces right at the edge and crouches down into a sprinting stance. He steadies himself, takes a few deep breaths, then bolts forward. He should have practiced this, his longer legs and frame make running awkward for him. He somehow manages to maintain his balance long enough to break into the clearing spooking the herd of deer, the injured deer immediately jumps up and sprints off, apparently not as badly injured as they hoped. Tect immediately stops trying to run and steadies himself to keep from falling, suddenly from the South end of the clearing three people appear.
A red faced human rushes forward, "You ruined our hunt you piece of shit." Tect is startled and doesn't immediately register what is happening. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize.`` Behind the red faced male a slender female makes a face, "What the hell. Bertrund, it's talking to us like it's a person. Get on your knees and beg our forgiveness filthy goblin." Tect has now had time to compose himself properly, "l'm sorry young lady, but I don't kneel to anyone anymore. Especially not rude children." The last member of the group of humans, a slender boy holding a bow, gasps. "How dare you, Bertrund kill this disgusting thing." Bertrund smiles, "You don't know who you've messed with today goblin, we have just become members of the Adventurer's guild and your ears will earn us each a few points towards our promotions." The party of human's laughs at Bertrund's comment. Tect scowls at the humans, "So you get paid for turning in goblin's ears?" "Of course we do, goblins are vermin that need to be exterminated, so the guilds always pay for ears as proof of kill." Bertrand laughs at Tect's confusion, "And what is the price on human ears or elf ears?" The girls face turns red now as well, "Noone would kill humans or elves unless they were bandits and we'd never cut off body parts even from those criminal scum." Tect begins to seethe with rage, a thin layer of red vapor forms on his skin, it's too faint for the humans to notice but Tect's muscles are beginning to feel tight and he can hear his heart beating. "What if the goblin's are innocent?" The humans laugh "Goblins are beasts who kill innocents, it's our duty to kill all of them." Tect has lost himself to anger, he charges towards the red faced human named Bertrund, his spear rises under Bertrund's chin but Bertrund dodges. Taking two quick steps back Bertrund pulls a short sword from his hip, as Tect continues to press forward on him. As this occurs the smaller male reaches for an arrow in his quiver, and the young woman draws out a slender wand. Bertrund deflects Tect's next attack, clearly he has more combat experience than Tect. As Tect's spear is thrown aside Bertrund slashes at Tect's chest causing Tect to jump back to avoid the slash, as he does an arrow suddenly pierces his shoulder. Bertrund laughs, "Good shot Stewart." Steward grunts in response and grabs for a second arrow. Tect grabs the arrow and rips it from his shoulder, then snaps it in half with one hand. The look on Bertrund's face turns stern, he didn't expect a goblin to be this strong, clearly it's larger than normal but that's not enough to account for its resistance to Stewart's arrow. Bertrund lunges forward towards Tect's stomach but Tect twist to the side and uses the position to deliver a strong backhand to Bertrund, breaking his nose and causing his eyes to water uncontrollably. As Bertrund retreats another arrow hits Tect in the waist, and then surprisingly a ball of fire flies at him. Thankfully the reaction to being shot by the arrow turned Tect's body just enough that dodging the fireball was easy. Tect rips out the arrow and faces the three humans. The archer is reaching for another arrow, Bertrund is attempting to clear the tears from his eyes, and the girl chants another spell. The girl is the biggest threat right now. As long as the arrows don't hit his eyes they aren't able to penetrate his organs, and Bertrund is barely able to concentrate with his impaired vision and broken nose. Tect makes a rash decision, he lifts the spear to his shoulder, throws it at the girl, then runs at Bertrund. Tect only intended to startle the girl to stop her incantation but surprisingly he manages to hit her in the thigh causing her to fall to the ground, As he reaches Bertrund the archer levels his bow at him, but there is a flash of green and the archer stops. Tect has no time to waste, he tackles Bertrund. When they hit the ground the sword flies from Bertrund's hands Tect's hand strikes a stone as they land breaking his finger, but he manages to grab the stone and pull it free of the frozen soil. He straddles Bertrund and uses the stone to smash his head in, blood splatters across the snow turning it crimson. Tect jumps up and spins on the archer only to find him already dead with blood pooling around him from a slash across his throat. He turns to the mage girl who is crying loudly, Shota has her hair pulled back, his flint knife across her throat.
"You ok boss?" Tect falls on his ass and sighs, "I am now, thanks for the help." Shota nods, "Sorry I wasn't here sooner, we were dealing with the deer. What do you want done with this one?" Tect looks at the female mage, unbelievable levels of fear show in her eyes. She has heard plenty of stories about what happens to girls who get captured by the evil goblins and she wishes she had bought a ring with a suicide enchantment. "Tie her up for now, we should take anything useful we can find from her companions then bury the bodies." Tect helps Shota remove the spear, bandage the girl's wounds, and tie her up. "Are there more humans around here or were you all alone?" "There are like a hundred more adventurers in these woods, and when they find you they will kill you all… Unless you release me, then I can convince them to show you mercy. Maybe sell you all to a slaver instead of kill you." Shota immediately punched her in the mouth, drawing blood and making her cry again, "I will never be a slave again! She's clearly lying anyway. That fight and her screams carried a long way, the other humans would be here by now." Tect nods, "I agree, you said you were dealing with a deer, did we get one with a trap?" Shota smiles ear to ear, "No sir, we did not get one." "Why are you so happy then." Shota holds up two fingers, "Cause we got two." Tect swats at the little goblin but he's too slow and Shota hops away laughing