The goats seem to think my undead cannot eat them, an assumption I do not want to challenge, so I should probably keep some of the zombies away. It might be that their bodies are stronger than normal flesh though.

Soon enough they meet up with Merlin. I tell Asterion to stay around and he does so, but behind Merlin. It seems he’s still embarrassed about his attempt at communication.

When the goats arrive Merlin sees something interesting. Their mana, the goats have bodies they are suffused with stone and metal mana. This should make them pretty hard to eat, is this why they were so confident?

The goats are all still huddled together, some of them are also clearly still tracking the thing pursuing them. I can see them looking at Merlin though, their goat expressions are a bit difficult to parse, but they seem more amenable to him than the other undead.

“Greetings. I am Merlin, here representing my dungeon. Might I know who you are?” Merlin says, instead of a voice however it comes off as vibrations. The goats seem a bit surprised at this, though from the ‘hushed’ comments among them, it seems they are more surprised at how well Merlin speaks.

The one who led them steps forwards, head tilted upwards. He looks a bit smug like this, but this may be some sign of non-aggression? If the goat had approached normally, his horn would be pointing directly towards Merlin’s face.

“Greetings, Merlin. I am Gordon of the Fort tribe, or what is left of it…” The goat, who’s named Gordon of all things, stays quiet for a few seconds. “It seems you wish to offer us some type of aid? I should warn you; the humanoid that is hunting us is very powerful, he somehow breached our walls without anyone seeing how. He is also relentless in his chase.”

“Could you tell me more about this being?” Merlin asks.

Gordon briefly looks back and rapidly gets confirmation that the chaser is still far away. I can see that the goats are starting to get jittery.

“Sure. He’s a tall humanoid, though he seems to have mutated to have weird fur over its body. He carries a sword and has powerful fire and heat magic, though if those come from the sword or from him, we do not know. He has eight magical rings on his fingers, we have only seen him use one, some kind of dimensional storage which he uses to steal the bodies of our dead.”

The spiral goats behind start to speak, their body language making it clear just remembering that is agitating them. Gordon briefly looks back and they stop speaking.

“There were…almost 300 of us, before he came. He appeared in our midst, he did not break through any door or wall, we suspect some type of teleportation but we can’t be certain.” Gordon looks a bit unsure. “So, why have you guided us? Do you wish to help? We—”

Another goat speaks, cutting Gordon off.

“The sword! It’s clearly magical, it can cut through stone and our bodies even without fire…if you kill it you can keep it.“ Gordon turns to stare at the speaker, but before he can do anything another one pipes up.

“The rings are also all magical, even if we haven’t seen them being used. They can be yours too!”

“The body is yours too! It should become a strong undead if you turn it.”

Suddenly most of the goats start to speak, the vibrations get muddled and Merlin can’t understand any of it. This is even worse than a bunch of people speaking over each other.

Gordon’s right hoof strikes the ground, creating a loud thump sound, the goats stop speaking and for a second look a bit ashamed.

“We will help, of course. But what they say is true, you may have all the spoils, we simply wish to live.”

Hmm. I do have a plan to deal with the guy, even if he’s a bit too strong for my undead to deal with him. I begin some quick preparations and tell Merlin my decision.

“We will help.” The goats all visible perk up, and some deflate, their tension melting away from them. “But we wish to also gain information.”

“Very well, we are no keeper of secrets, but anything you ask, we shall answer to the best of our abilities.”