“A siege weapon forged for our leader,” Aiden whispered. “The goblins claimed it was operational, but when our negotiators went down to finalize the payment something went amiss. My battle brothers and I went down to rescue them, but you could see how that went.”

I wouldn’t exactly call the lumpy mound of cogs, gears and pipes operational. It was lopsided, half its armour plates were still on the ground and it just barely resembled a mech. It looked like a bronze and steel orb with a cut out for someone to sit in at the top with a massive set of levers to pull. It had two main arms, one with a large lance attached to it, and a second arm that had a fist. Two massive feet with spikes for toes gave the stocky legs some semblance of stability. The whole contraption was just over ten feet tall, and it looked sized for a goblin pilot of course.

“Wow, what a hunk of junk. A magic blade could cleave off those legs, and Bent Plate could probably push it over,” Yara scoffed.

Speaking of the ogre, I waved at our friends and the initial shock and worry died down as we saw we were alone down here. Our two groups converged to speak, only for me to slam face first into an invisible barrier.

A razor thin line in the floor showed there was something there, and as I reached forward to push out with my hand I felt a solid pane of almost invisible glass. I had to squint and tilt my head to see it. It went down the length of the room, separating just in front of the mech to cut off access to it. There were several doors within reach on either side, maybe we could meet up elsewhere if we couldn’t get past this barrier.

“Force wall, a simple spell, but one that is powered by the arcane generators,” Burn said, his voice muffled despite standing two feet from me. “Either we can wail on this thing until our hands bleed or we go find an access tunnel to deactivate it.”

Sten pushed the goblin aside and hefted his weapon. “Oh please, like this can stop mighty warriors like us-”

A loud ping rang out in the room and the dwarf was sent flying back, crashing into a pile of musty old crates. A plume of sawdust and sludge shot into the air and came back down onto the dwarf staining his gear. Mike had his pickaxe aloft, but seeing the reaction to the dwarf’s attempt he lowered it.

Knowledge Arcane : Success!

There are many versions and variants of the simple wall spells, and this one is no different. Powered by an external source this magical wall can be interrupted by deactivating the mana crystals attached to it, or severing the connection. A ‘Dispel Magic’ of tier 3 or higher would also nullify it for a short time.

Otherwise, overpowering the barrier with a similar elemental would result in an arcane overload, destroying the barrier, and the device controlling it.

+3 XP gained.

Aiden was chatting with his people, in a language I didn’t know. They all crossed a fist over their hearts and bowed in unison before splitting up, with Aiden looking worried. He crossed his arms, and breathed deeply. As he breathed out he spread his arms out with his eyes closed. Aiden then raised his knee up in line with his hip and held the pose.

Yara raised an eyebrow and leaned on her halberd, with her free hand tapping me on the shoulder. “While he does…that, why don’t you tell me about this prompt I got this morning.”

A Divine Quest has been issued!

Ishaka’s Divine Massage!

Build a ‘Massage Room’ in the glorious name of Queen Ishaka, the goddess of pleasures. A specialist will arrive to train the owner of the temple in the ways of skilled hands. The final test will be for the owner of the temple to please their priestess with their new skill. Failure may result in execution.

The greater the room quality, the greater the reward.

Please note, the necessary items will appear if it is not used during the creation of the room, and an equivalent amount of gold will be needed.

Massage Room - moderate quality (minimum requirement)

A ‘large sized room’ able to accommodate three massage tables.

Three massage tables from the provided recipe specifications. Alternates might be required for varying sized races.

Incense candles, massage oils, mana alignment runes stones.

Total cost…

100 stone

50 wood

50 metal

100 Gold in valued items or coins that can be exchanged for miscellaneous items.

Warning!

This is a timed quest. Failure to complete it in the allotted time will result in a divine punishment for the owner! The priestess of the shrine and a divine authority will choose the punishment.

Time to complete quest : 13 days

“Whoa that’s a bit more expensive than I bargained for…hang on a second. Execution? So if I don’t build it I get a divine punishment, and if I do build it, but I’m not up to it, I can get killed?” I paled. Which was going to be worse? Yara looked intrigued at the quest and regarded me critically. “What?”

“I’m just saying, I’ve worked on your body several times. It’s good manners to give back in kind to your partners. There’s several key verses in the sacred books that go over it. Just think, your life will be in my hands.” Yara flashed her fangs and inspected her nails.

“I thought you said the book was stupid,” I teased.

Yara’s magenta eyes danced with mirthful light and the demoness broke out into a grin. “Yeah, but now I get to threaten you if you fail. You really need to take care of this ache I have.” Yara craned her spine back with a surprising amount of flexibility, and I heard an audible crack. “I could do with a massage.”

“Alright, let’s survive, enjoy the Winter Festival party and I’ll get right on that,” I said, setting my shoulders with determination. “Also I’m sorry. Your right, that’s kind of rude of me not to give-”

“Oh hush,” Yara said, blushing and shoving me. She seemed in a much better mood now. “Don’t get sappy on me when we are in a dungeon. You know, you humans really are something. You have an opportunity to touch my body and now that’s all you can think about.”

Before I could protest Aiden finished whatever meditation he was doing, and he was now holding his scimitar at the ready. The two teams met up along the barrier and Aiden pointed towards the mech. There we could see a reddish outline behind it, and I got a notification.

Hidden Exit.

Bent was the first to speak up. “Oh, that’s amazing. Your hobgoblin buddies said you could contact spirits.”

“Actually I remembered I had seen the design documents of the engineer tower before. That’s just my memory pose,” Aiden said matter of fact. While us non-hobgoblins were confused he launched into his plan. “This is the lower levels, one of the more controlled areas with extra measures in place in case the acid spewing slugs ever got loose. There should be a few training and experiment rooms between us and the access tunnels. The control room is a floor up, so let’s split up and try to power down this barrier. The hidden exit leads to the underground river, which should have an escape boat.”

Aiden took a moment to sketch out a rough map that was in his head. The warrior was excellent with a pen and his handwriting was exceptionally neat. He put the map up against the barrier to let the others copy it down, although they were far less skilled. His memory wasn’t perfect either, there were a lot of grey areas with question marks.

It turned out these lower levels were the ‘combat zones’ of the goblin tower. It was a place they could throw badly behaving workers down into as a punishment. If they passed the tests they set up, then they could leave. I almost wish Dandy Warehouse had such a policy, I would have thrown Jared into there if I could right now.

The two hobgoblin archers hopped to it, and my friends followed them after wishing us good luck. We went to our door that should be the closest to a maintenance shaft for us to climb. It was a solid door of copper built over a layer of stone, like a blast door. Unfortunately it was locked, but Aiden did have a lockpick set, one that wasn’t very good.

I had half a mind to offer him one of the new ones I had, but I quashed that idea. That was Lin’s gift, and I highly suspect if I let someone else use it she would press me for more fudge as compensation. Which would only lead to more stomach aches.

“Where does the underground river lead?” I asked.

“Wyrmbreath,” Aiden said. “We have a goblin wizard ally there that can help us contact our families and get us home. He’s quite the talented individual despite his peculiar appearance.”

I narrowed my gaze, and huff escaped my lips. “Let me guess, Rodney.”

…

It seemed the goblin merchant had quite the reach before I met him, and Aiden filled me in on the details. It turns out his uncle was a merchant, a strange occupation for a hobgoblin. He had set up a deal for Aiden and his clan warriors to come here as mercenaries on account of the lands being in turmoil. It turned out that he had been set up to work with a keeper.

“What was he like?” I asked.

Aiden pushed on the door in frustration. “Damn thing. Hmm, the keeper? He was in dark robes, wore a veil to cover his face and had some ancient grudge with Lord Gastov and several other leaders that died a while ago. Left the lands in a succession crisis, with most fleeing to the city state of Dastow. He wanted to whip up an army, uproot the dark cults that took over the small villages around here, and crown himself king. Classic keeper stuff.”

“Classic keeper stuff,” Yara chuckled.

“But don’t worry Lord Josh, I’ll deliver you to Wyrmbreath and you can be ransomed to your house for a small sum,” Aiden said, trying to pick the door again.

“I beg your pardon?” I shot back.

Aiden waved me off. “Standard stuff, don’t worry it will only be enough for us to charter a ship back home.”

Scholar Livy

He’s right. Most noble houses do that stuff all the time, and many cities house them as they are intermediaries in these deals. Technically you're his political prisoner as he is a more powerful warrior than you and you were helpless while he defended you. We did mention you should kill him, but no one listens to the scholars. The ancient scholars with centuries of knowledge…

Side note by Scholar Terrive

Hobgoblins are honourable warriors. All you need to do is save his life at least once and you will be fine. That or let him tire himself during the fights ahead and stab him in the back at the end.

Side-side note by Scholar Livy

I’m with Scholar Terrive on this, Battlemasters are powerful melee combatants, and you are awfully close to level four. Get a level up, pick up a talent or two to boost your spell damage and ambush him, killing him in one hit. Since you won’t have the coffers to cover the ransom things could get messy.

Current Experience : 2608 / 2700

I looked at Yara and I saw her tighten her grip on her weapon. She dipped her head towards Aiden, and I shook my head no. I had no idea what kind of abilities Aiden had, and Yara was in her sleepwear. We could deal with that issue when we got there. I wasn’t going to be anyone’s prisoner if I could help it.

“For the love of our ancestors! Are any of you talented in this?” Aiden asked.

Yara kicked the door and sent half of it flying off into the room inside, catching a goblin robot in the head. The corroded copper head of the robot was torn off completely, spraying out a slew of sludge as it toppled to the ground. There was a small army of defenders inside what looked like a sand covered training yard full of lights, and they were as surprised as Aiden and I.

A robotic, almost cartoonish representation of a dog with a crossbow mounted on its back barked at us. It had an oversized head bigger than its torso, with beady little eyes, and stubby legs that ended in little dog boots. Less amusing was that it pointed its back towards Yara’s form to take aim. My hand shot into my bandolier and I threw the string at it while calling out my spell. “Rope of Binding!”

The crossbow was wrapped up into the ropes and twisted down, going off and piercing the robot dog’s neck, destroying it in an instant. Yara charged straight in, using her halberd to vault over several of the goblins holding spears to land straight on top of a larger enemy with a spray of sand hiding her from view.

Aiden rushed in, and I came in behind him, slashing with my sword to hack off the head of a spear going for my leg. The robotic goblin opened its mouth, revealing a maw of gnashing teeth, and it rushed in while chomping down. My foot lashed out, kicking it in the chest and when the robot stumbled back I brought the sword down with a two handed grip, cutting its head and torso in two.

Aiden launched himself into the spear line, keeping one hand behind his back as he danced between the spear points, using his scimitar to slash in wide arcs, using the momentum to turn it into a swing from the other side. He ducked and twisted between two spear thrusts and shouted. “Disarming blade!”

His sword moved impossibly fast, and the spears were knocked into the air with the goblin’s arms. The robotic defenders didn’t care about the disarmament, and they used their stubs to jab at Aiden’s sides, which did nothing on account of his armour. My attention was turned to two flanking spear goblins, and I leapt across the training field to land beside them. They were caught unaware and I easily hacked them down.

Two dog kennels half buried in the sand sprung open, and four of the robotic mutts charged in with their comically large heads bearing fangs of flaking copper. I swung wide, cleaving one in half as it charged past me, and I had to jump away as one turned on a dime to fire a foot long jagged bolt at me.

The others didn’t stop and I called out. “Aiden, behind you!”

The hobgoblin seamlessly pivoted on a foot to dodge a spear attack, and swiped one of the robotic dogs out of the air before turning back to thrust the tip of his blade into the core of the robot goblin. The goblin flopped over in a pool of oil, which caused the other sprinting dog to slide into the back of a larger foe Yara faced.

I ducked under a leaping dog I was facing, and I brought my elbow up to hit it in the side. The robot dog hit the ground unbalanced and was sent ass over end, crashing into an archery target. I flexed my hand to cast my fire spell, and caught myself again.

Perception check : Success!

+1 XP gained.

The dog I already dispatched was beside me, and I tore the crossbow off its back to take aim. I pulled the lever down hard, cracking it and held on for dear life as the weapon rattled in my hands and three bolts were sent off. One found its mark and pierced the core of the robot dog, pinning him to the bullseye.

Critical Hit!

You have gained Ranged I!

+1 XP gained.

A tall armoured foe was sent tumbling past me, and it hit the sand hard, scattering grit over my legs. A spear was embedded into its back, its black messy hair splayed out. I gulped and turned slowly to find Aiden and Yara beside me, both in perfectly fine condition.

The party has defeated the encounter!

+75 XP to Josh.

+50 XP to Yara.

+25 XP to Aiden.

+5 bonus XP to Yara for a creative entry.

“Nice shot,” Yara said, clapping me on the back. “But you see that? Don’t need magic to do fancy things to get some extra points in there.”

“You impress me young lord. May I see your sword?” Aiden asked.

Yara bumped me and I handed it over before backing up to Yara’s side. I inspected the battlefield and saw the third kind of opponent was a copy of the hobgoblin’s in machine form. I tapped each with my foot and I ended up rolling the hobgoblin one over. They were made of redwood and iron, with rubberized joints giving them far greater flexibility than the other machines. They were also made with more care, looked almost lifelike, and had iron swords and wood shields reinforced with metal studs.

“Weird,” I said.

Aiden was doing a dance with my sword, twisting and striking the air with the blade’s tip to feel out the balance. He held it up and I noticed his hand didn’t quite fit the grip right, with his pinky having to wrap around the pommel and his other hand having to be pushed up tightly against the crossguard.

“Ah, a hand-and-a-half sword, also known as the bastard sword. I knew the knights and nobles of this area had trouble recalling their own bloodlines, but don’t you think it’s funny they are renowned for wielding these blades?” Aiden laughed.

“I thought it was a longsword, what’s the difference?” I asked.

“Longswords need two hands unless you have crazy strength, while an arming blade is one handed. Those are between the two, and can be used one handed. They can be a bit weird handling wise, and tend to be uncommon elsewhere,” Yara said.

“It’s wonderfully made, shame the enchantments are dry, but I’m sure you can restore its magic with some work,” Aiden said, bowing and holding the blade out to return it to me. “I can see it was built for another one called Sir Harrsal. I assume he was a larger man, but in your case it would qualify as a longsword. You use it well, I’m glad to see the arts of martial combat are not lost on the more magically inclined.”

“Did the ancestor spirits tell you that?” Yara asked.

“It’s along the bottom of the crossguard,” Aiden said, pointing it out.

In very fine writing I could make out a phrase, and it faded from view soon after. I checked my notifications and found the text.

Let my blade be swift, and my nerves unbreaking. Let my ice consume my foes and my fury be unending. - Sir Harrsal

“Enchantments for vanity. I never understood them, but that’s only going to show after you defeat a foe, and only for about five minutes,” Aiden said.

I gave the blade a few test swipes with one hand and found I still preferred using it two handed, it was just a tad too unwieldy for one for now. Maybe if my strength was one higher I could use it without too much issue. “Neat.”

Yara stretched and pointed out the next door we needed to go out. “Why don’t you try lockpicking that one Aiden, and we will find anything valuable laying around.”

Aiden glared at the door as if it had insulted him, he pulled up his slightly bent lockpick with defiance. “I shall not lose twice!”