Zalrodal returned to Lord’s Rest with his goblins and their new Troll allies in tow. They had marched through the Dusrian marshes avoiding the roads of Dusria and their armies. Zalrodal met some of the stenjin that were positioned in the mountain ranges and they led him to one of the many tunnels they had made in the stone. Lord’s Rest was nested in between a number of mountains and being able to traverse them through the stenjin tunnels was much preferred to actually climbing their peaks and trudging through the snow. The trolls were a rowdy lot not in the same way that goblins were, that is to say, they did not start stabbing each other when celebrating, they were however rather loud, at least compared to a rowdy human but then again trolls were slightly larger as well. The trolls carried around the head of the warmog on their shoulders presenting it to those who hadn’t seen it yet and promised Zalrodal to make his weapons and armour he could use instead of whatever flimsy equipment he was using currently. Those comments especially did not make Migaal happy in the slightest but for now, he remained composed which was as much as could be asked of the proud ferret.

The dark lord and his trolls emerged out of the tunnels and into a clearing that was now forming a small but growing village in front of the walls of Lord’s Rest. Zalrodal commanded some of the goblins and humans to guide the troll smiths to the already existing smithies in the village, while the rest of the trolls followed Zalrodal. He led Drok’Ir to a clearing in the small woods to the north of Lord’s Rest, it was away from the human village at least for now, far enough for the trolls not to be bothered while they do their troll things but yet close enough to easily have them participate in the workings of Zalrodal’s territory. The trolls were not too happy to be placed in what was essentially an uninhabited forest but most of them seemed to agree that it was better than the marshes, and with that Drok’Ir couldn’t disagree and so the trolls joined Zalrodal for good.

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He looked outside the walls of Lord’s Rest to see the small village outside sprawling towards the edge of the forests at which goblins, humans, and stenjin were felling trees and carrying them towards the sawmill that had recently been set up, in all fairness the stenjin were doing most of the felling and carrying but it was impossible to fault anyone for doing being as work-oriented as the stone golems or as strong for that matter. In the past months the goblins and humans seemed to hate each other a lot less, it was good to see that they had found some common ground and likings for one another. The goblins were great at foraging and hunting food for the village while the first farms were set up additional their small frames allowed them to enter much smaller spaces than the average human. The humans had provided the goblins with a simple but quite effective pleasure, better alcohol and food that wasn’t burnt or essentially raw. It made for a truly marvellous partnership.

The reason Zalrodal was waiting atop the walls looking out onto his lands instead of yelling at more goblins to get working was slowly emerging out of the forest. A caravan of trolls made its way into the village, their carriages were drawn by both horse and stenjin. They had come to deliver the very first set of weapons and armour for Zalrodal’s goblin army. Axes, swords, spears, arrows, and mail to protect them. To say that the trolls worked quickly was an understatement, especially considering they had started with nothing but some grass under their feet four months ago. The only ones that could presumably work faster than the trolls were dwarfs, Migaal had told him although the demon doubted dwarfs would have been happy with working in the same conditions as the trolls.

The goblins were clamouring around the waggons trying to be the first to grab one of the weapons, presumably to try them out on the goblin behind them but the trolls were prepared for this goblin onslaught, they drove them back and made them form into lines. The threat of not receiving anything at all seemed to have made the goblins compliant with Zalrodal’s new smiths. It took some time for the goblins to don their equipment and brandish their new weapons. The goblins paraded in front of the walls of Lord’s End in their new shiny garments and wielding sharp steel. Zalrodal’s army now fielded around three hundred goblins, and forty trolls ready for combat in the newest of equipment. It was certainly not enough to conquer all the lands of the world but it was a start. With this many fighters, Zalrodal could go on the offensive against Arberon and his other neighbours.

While the humans under his command were useful as craftsmen and farmers they fulfilled a second purpose which was equally as important, subterfuge. He did not have a vast spy network and creature perfect for such tasks under his command yet like other Dark Lords but he had humans under him, and an additional farmer showing up at an Arberonian city was not going to alert anyone. The spies had reported that Arberon was at war with Aakles to their east and Zalrodal’s south. The Arberonians were planning an offensive soon, and what better time could there be for a goblin army to invade their lands when they are busy fighting the woodland creatures of Aakles. They would not have an army large enough to defeat Arberon in totality but enough to do some damage and acquire resources and other monsters currently residing in Arberon might be willing to join their cause. Migaal as always was the one planning things on a larger scale, the first step for a new Dark Lord should be to build up a reputation, once that was done more and more minions would swarm to him and as it stood while not powerless Zalrodal wasn’t a big player that was acknowledged by other rulers yet.