"Perhaps the most renowned out of all alchemical inventions of goblin origin was the aptly-named Dragonfire Brew. The viscous concoction was renowned for its extreme volatility and the sizeable explosion it caused when it came into contact with anything other than air or tempered glass.

Many in history had attempted to harness this volatility as a weapon, but the vast majority gave up. The brew proved far too volatile to be used safely, and was considered far too risky for actual use by soldiers.

Out of the current forces in the world, only two are known to use the brew for military purposes: the Unliving of Paradise, and the Lichdom of Ptolodecca. The inherent risks of the unsteady brew become a non-factor when your forces either cannot die or are already dead to begin with." - Werner von Aubreweg, Herzog von Loescher, circa FP 519.

"So, as you see, Young Lady, there's a vial of the finished brew," said Colin as he showed a small vial, probably only as wide around as the base of Aideen's thumb, to her. A thick, viscous reddish-gold fluid filled the vial to the brim, and she noticed how it was corked with a glass stopper rather than the usual cork. "In this state, it is very stable. You can shake it around all you want and nothing would happen to it."

As if to punctuate his point, the scrawny goblins shook the vial roughly, which elicited a reactive wince from his sister and Illyana as they drew back. Aideen had not missed the venomous looks Molin threw at her brother at the time, and chuckled a bit at the sibling dynamics going on.

"If you let it get it contact with anything else however…" said the goblin as he looked around a bit, before he threw the vial he held towards empty ground where nobody was around. Despite the goblin's scrawny arms, his throwing form was good and the small vial flew a good twenty meters away before it landed.

The explosion it caused when it struck the ground, shattering the small vial and allowing the brew within to escape, was larger than Aideen expected for such a small vial of the stuff. It even caused a small crater to form where it landed.

"That's what happens," said Colin with a satisfied smirk on his face. "I've tried to improve the stability for nearly a decade to no avail whatsoever, so instead I've tried to improve the yield from the explosion. That's what caused the accident earlier."

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"Why would you even do that?" Aideen asked with some stupefaction on her features. "You do realize that you'd have died many times over had you been alive when you did this, did you not?"

"But that's exactly why I'm doing it! Who else could do this research if not me?" said the goblin with a wide, manic grin. "I had thought maybe the military might see value in it, since we got a lot of skellies around and all, you know?"

"Quite an interesting line of thought, young man," said a voice from behind Colin.

"I know right. I figured, what if we like strap a bunch of these to some small, fast skeletal beasts, then have them sneak in and blow up amongst the enemy? Wouldn't that be a sight to see?" said Colin without realizing that the voice had not come from the other three in front of him. In his excitement he also missed how his sister's eyes seemed to widen, looking at something or someone behind him. "I know these ain't war times, but like, if we're gonna be living forever, wouldn't hurt to be prepared, you know?"

"A fair assessment, rare to see a goblin who thinks for the long term," mentioned the voice from behind him.

"Why, thanks, man, glad to see you agree," said Colin before he caught on the discrepancy. The voice came from behind him, while the ones he was talking with were all in front of him.

Then he noticed his sister's flabbergasted expression and how she slapped her face with one hand before she hung her head, and how the other two were giggling uncontrollably.

He felt some dread deposit itself in his stomach as he slowly turned around. His eyes first caught sight of a black robe edged in purple, one commonly worn by necromancers.

His breath - a habit he had not broken off despite turning unliving - halted when he saw the skeletal appendages that stuck out from the robe, however, doubly so when he noticed the skeletal figure to be one shorter than even him.

There was only one figure in Ptolodecca with those exact features.

"C-Colin of the Hornswaggle tribe greets His Holiness the Bone Lord!" he stammered as he prostrated himself on the dirt. Behind him he could hear his sister's exasperated sigh and how Aideen and Illyana broke out into laughter.

"Rise, little goblin," said the Bone Lord kindly. At that point Aideen walked over and stooped to embrace him, which he accepted warmly - or as warm as his skeletal frame allowed - before he looked back to Colin.

"You have an interesting viewpoint, one I cannot help but appreciate," he said as Colin got up to his feet. "It is true that we are at peace nowadays, but to prepare for future threats is always wise."

"I-I'm honored by your praise, Your Holiness," said Colin, still stammering in both surprise, dread, disbelief, and shock at the sudden change of situation.

"Why don't you come along with us? We'll talk some more at my place. It looks like it's about to rain soon, and standing out here in the open while it rains isn't conducive to a proper discussion, I've found," said the Bone Lord, as he brought out three of his bone beasts from his storage. He nimbly climbed atop one, while Aideen rode another.

With both hope and trepidation in his heart, Colin of the Hornswaggle tribe climbed atop the third beast, and followed them towards the Palace of Bones.