Harland had been smuggling things for practically his whole life. His father had been a smuggler as well, and he had used Harland many a time as part of his cover. Harland could say with quite a bit of certainty that he was one of the best of the best, and he knew how to avoid trouble.
When he had heard through one of his trusted sources that the expedition that the Lord had been planning had changed its destination from the Silent Necropolis to the Wildwoods, he hadn't panicked. Yes, he did have a multitude of hidden caches in the Wildwoods that he didn't want to be found, but he was confident that he had hidden them well enough. There were only a few that he needed to pick up before the expedition set off. They contained some things that were rather valuable to him, and he didn't want to have to try to sneak around the expedition to get them.
While he doubted that the expedition was there to look for his stashes in particular, he couldn't be too sure. And knowing that an Inquisitor had swept into town before this change occurred, he couldn't take any chances.
He had set off from Nurnburg as soon as his informant had told him of the change in plans and began heading into the Wildwoods. The informant wasn't able to find out when they would be setting off, so he decided to play it safe and leave immediately.
The wooden caravan he was driving was somewhat inconspicuous. It had a rounded cloth tarp covering the ceiling, tied with rope to keep it down, and it was not the nicest, but for what he was doing, it was perfect. It worked for his normal disguise as a not-so-well-off merchant, but it would also be easily configured to look like it belonged to someone who came from money. Of course, Harland had the money to drive around in an extravagant vehicle, but he had custom-ordered this one.
It was sturdy, didn't stand out, and best of all, had multiple enchantments to keep thieves at bay and to hide his less savory wares from inspections. As for the horses that drove it, they were decent yet expendable. He wasn't foolish enough to take his prized horses into the Wildwoods, and risk getting them eaten. The Wildwoods were a dangerous place, and he only dared to hide his stashes here because he knew few would venture into them, and fewer still knew how to navigate them as well as he could.
Harland had been traveling for a few days now and had only had a few minor encounters with the wildlife. The monsters that frequented the areas close to Nurnburg were far weaker than those that lived deep in the Wildwoods, but he was lucky enough to know of a path created by the Gilmir. While it was always a bit unsettling to be in such close proximity to something made by one of the ancient races, especially a species bound to an Outer God like the Gilmir were, there hadn't been Gilmir sighted in decades. The ancient predecessors of the dwarves were now believed by some academics to be extinct, but Harland highly doubted that.
Putting such troublesome thoughts to the side, he thanked the fact that he shouldn't have to deal with any serious trouble. The only encounters he had had were with lesser goblins, and those little shits didn't have to worry about Gods due to their innate protection against divinity. Harland wondered if that was the reason why the High Church demonized them so much, because as far as he had seen, the greater goblins were quite civilized, and didn't at all do any of the nasty things that the church had accused them of doing.
One of his good mates was a goblin, and he helped Harland out often during his smuggling runs to the New Ring. Hopefully, he would forgive Harland for how he had slaughtered those lesser goblins who thought they could rob him, but Harland doubted he would care. There wasn't a whole lot of kinship between the lesser and greater goblins.
-Ratkin, he corrected himself. His buddy had been trying to have him change his habit of calling them greater goblins. They found it quite offensive, being grouped in with their more savage and less evolved brothers. He would have to buy them a beer the next time he saw them.
Hopefully, that will be soon. He had only to collect this last package that he had buried far into the Wildwoods as he had already collected the rest. He had hidden this one somewhat further than the rest, to be extra cautious. It was quite a valuable artifact stolen from a member of the High Church, and he had hidden it away until he could find a buyer. If he had kept it close to him, chances were that he would have been found out due to the aura that the artifact emitted being detectable by priests and inquisitors.
It was wrapped in multiple enchanted layers of protection to stop that from happening, but to be safe, he had hidden it in his furthest stash. His decision was proved right when an Inquisitor arrived the day before the expedition changed destinations. Harland didn't know if the inquisitor was there to look for the artifact he had stolen, but he didn't care. He had made it to the ripe old age of 35 while being a smuggler his whole life by not skimping out or getting cocky. That was why his family had been able to stay around for so long. They had a reputation for being reliable, and they rarely got caught. He had seen too many a confident young smuggler get hung due to their hubris doing things he had been taught by his father not to do since he was in the crib.
Harland was interrupted from his musings by a strange sight on the road ahead of him. He slowed his caravan to a crawl as he took stock of the view ahead. Down the road, made somewhat harder to see by the setting sun but still clearly visible, Harland saw a strange creature, unlike any he had ever seen before. It sat on top of two goblins and was eating a third. From the looks of it, it had been ambushed by the goblins, but there were no wounds on it.
The creature wasn't looking at him, but that didn't reassure him at all. He couldn't see any eye at all in fact, but he knew from personal experience that some creatures could use their sense of smell of hearing far better than their eyesight.
Now that he was inching closer, he was even more confused. It had no ears or nose, nor any sensory means in sight. The only thing that adorned its blank white face was a massive demonic maw that was busy ripping into a goblin.
It didn't have any features actually. Harland couldn't tell if it was male or female, and the only distinguishing factors on it were some darker areas between its joints and some slight somewhat spiky ridges on its spine and elbows. Maybe it was some sort of a golem, but golems weren't known for their eating habits.
Harland pulled his horses to a halt, considering his options. The cache that lay further down the trail had something quite valuable to him, and he wasn't exactly inclined to stop his journey here because of an unknown creature, and there was no way for him to take his caravan through the woods.
As he sat there contemplating his next move, the creature turned its head to face him.
"Are you not going to come any closer?"
Harland jumped in his seat. The voice was deep and raspy, and while it was somewhat ominous, that wasn't what concerned him. He was more put off by how nonchalant the creature had sounded. He had heard many a story about monsters that hunted humans using their guile, making themselves appear somewhat human to draw in victims.
Sighing, Harland made his decision and flicked the reigns, urging himself onwards, deciding to proceed with caution.
"Sorry sir, you must understand my caution at the sight of an unknown figure in such a dangerous place though."
"Hmm, I guess I do look somewhat ominous now that I think about it."
The figure paused, before taking another bite out of the goblin it had been eating. Harland continues to approach, warily keeping his eye on the strange white creature the whole time. As he got closer, he noticed that six total goblin armaments were lying on the ground around him.
"You must have quite the appetite, eh? I don't believe goblins are known for being a delicacy." He said, feeling around for more information about the creature. It seemed quite intelligent, and he wanted to know just how civilized it might be, even though its lack of clothes and consumption of goblins didn't bode well for that prospect.
"They are rather slimy, but beggars can't be choosers. Say, would you happen to know the way to the nearest settlement? And maybe a spare set of clothes?"
Harland paused, somewhat surprised by that statement. Maybe he had been wrong about the figure. While not common, it was not unheard of for people to have their bodies changed by a deal with a demon gone bad, or for an experiment to have gone wrong. Maybe this creature was a golem with a human soul, perhaps the result of an overzealous wizarding experiment.
"Aye, to the both. You'd need to take a detour a little down this path, and I do indeed have a few clothes, I am a merchant after all. I don't suppose you would have any coin on you though?"
"Nope, sadly not. Is there anything else I could do to get those clothes?"
Harland hesitated, holding back his instinct to deny the request immediately. He didn't want to make any enemies, and if this creature was strong enough it would just take the clothes off of his dead body. Before he could open his mouth, the creature spoke again.
"Also, is that caravan you're riding there enchanted? It seems quite magical to me."
He stiffened, before subtly relaxing as much as he could to hide his discomfort. Although the fact that the creature could see through the disguise enchantments he had placed made him quite confident that it was indeed a wizard in a golem's body, the fact that it could see through it proved that it was quite powerful, and it meant that his secret as a smuggler was revealed.
"You are quite forwards aren't you sir. Are you lost in the Wildwoods? I can help take you to the nearest city as payment for those clothes if need be."
Harland offered his help as a peace treaty. Wizards weren't usually known for working with the authorities, but he might as well be careful.
"It's complicated, but I would gladly take that guidance. About that caravan of yours?"
"It's complicated," Harland said dryly, before stiffening and cursing his big mouth. Luckily, the creature only seemed to chuckle at that, or at least make a deep rumbling noise that he interpreted as chuckling.
At this point, the caravan had pulled up beside the creature who had tossed away the rest of the goblin instead of finishing it. The creature stood, reaching out his hand to the still-seated Harland, causing him to stiffen before he realized it was just an offer for a handshake.
Harland reached out to grasp the hand and found it to be cold but somewhat fleshy. He had expected it to be stone, with his guess that it was a golem and the fact that it looked like marble, but there was probably a spell involved to make it like that. He attributed it to the fact that the golem seemed like quite a proficient wizard, or at least he was guessing.
"Nice to meet you Mr...."
"Harland Geary, at your service. And who might you be?"
The golem paused for a long moment, which Harland found odd, but perhaps it was coming up with a fake name. Wizards were known to have rivals.
"You can call me..."