Goblin Party

Rainheart rubbed the bruise on his face, grinning. "Yeah, the fact the game simulates pain is AWESOME! God, it's so immersive... Oh, I heard your steps just then."

Sneaking through the forest a few meters behind Rainheart, Raven scowled. 'Damn! I thought I had been silent. That guy's senses are pretty sharp! Well, it would be pretty unfair if he had no talents, the poor bastard. And hey, lucky me! I get to practice my stealth on a somewhat competent person.'

Raven had decided to train his ability to move stealthily, which fell under the Roguery Discipline, while they searched the forest. It just so happened to also provide an excuse to avoid talking. Rainheart, meanwhile, had been training his Utility Discipline. He was searching the forest floor for signs of the goblins, improving his ability to track down creatures.

Rainheart pointed to his left. "Some more Shadowbane over there."

Still sneaking, Raven walked over to a group of prickly shrubs. The shrubs were dark, with bulbous red berries sprinkled throughout. He took out his waterskin, and began squeezing the berries with a thick cloth. A thick, sticky black liquid squirted out, and was collected in the wineskin.

Rainheart grimaced. "Jesus, I can smell it from here! Still, nice idea to collect that. Thank God Fischer was with me when I tried to eat a few of those berries..."

Raven shrugged, twisting the cap closed on the wineskin. "Well, if the game gives you something, you're probably meant to use it."

Rainheart huffed, mumbling to himself. "Sure, go and break my immersion again. Whate-" Rainheart stopped moving. "Raven, I think we are close."

Raven raised his eyebrow. "Oh?"

Rainheart pointed to several spots nearby on the forest floor. "Multiple groups of goblins have been nearby, and all tracks are pointed towards one direction. If I had to guess where they were heading, I would say it's probably the mountain we saw from that hill a little while ago."

Raven nodded. "That would make sense, if goblins are anything like the goblins from other games. The developers were apparently too lazy to make their own monsters, so it's possible these goblins have nothing special going for them. I'd bet my share of the loot that they are hiding out in a cave."

Rainheart shrugged, and then began walking. "Well, let us go see!"

***

The rocky mountain was covered in thick, gnarled vines, and was surrounded by a dense forest. It was shrouded in a cloud of mist, giving it an ominous and eerie feel. The air was thick and stale, and the ground was littered with large rocks and fallen branches. Near the base of the mountain, a crack dug deep into the side of the mountain; the entrance to a cave. Surrounding the cave, shoddily constructed barricades were erected, which were covered in shit, blood and gore.

As Raven and Rainheart approached, they could hear the distant sound of laughter and shouting, but also...

... shrieks of agony, and desperate cries for help.

From the top of a nearby hill, which they had found to be the highest hill close enough to spy on the goblins, they surveyed the base, taking turns with Rainheart's spyglass.

As Rainheart was looking through the spyglass, Raven studied the goblin's base, a disgusted look on his face.

'Even without the spyglass, I can make out a lot of it. Enough to know that this game holds no goddamn punches.'

After a moment, Rainheart handed Raven the spyglass, a grim expression on his face. "Don't let what you see cause you to act rashly. If we rush in, we will probably die. We must act with a plan."

Raven scoffed. "Don't need to tell me that, buddy. Worry about yourself." Putting the spyglass to his eye, Raven surveyed the goblin's base.

The first thing he saw was woman, tied up against the rocks naked. Her clothes had been shredded off. She shrieked endlessly, sobbing and struggling against the ropes holding her back. Goblins poked at her with claws and sticks, giggling and hooting.

In front of her, a small group of children were being toyed with by another pack of goblins. The kids had patches of their skin sliced off, ears sliced away, and some were missing limbs, hands, and fingers. And, as Raven watched...

... the goblins were force feeding the kids the remains of the smallest child, as the children all bled out from their injuries.

That was not all, however. All throughout the goblin's base, people were being tortured and played with by the goblins in similar ways. The screams, shrieks, and sobs of the humans, and the laughs, cheers and hooting of the goblins all melded together, creating an ominous and disturbing cacophony of dark revelry that echoed throughout the nearby forest.

Raven put down the spyglass. "Well, this game took a dark fucking turn."

Rainheart laughed coldly. "That's putting it lightly..." Turning towards Raven, he spoke calmly. "Well, let's come up with a plan. Most of what we discussed earlier should still work. You got a good idea of the layout of their base?"

Raven nodded. "Yep! And I'd say we got good odds. The goblins are stupid as hell, and not organized in the slightest. All we have to do is not get swarmed."

Rainheart began walking towards the base. "We can discuss as we move..."

Raven followed.

***

Raven stood on a short hill at the edge of the woods, just before the several meters clearing between the Goblin's barricades and forest. His bow was in his hand, an arrow nocked. Slowly, he scouted the perimeter, looking for opportunities.

'I have 60 arrows in my quiver, and with the bit of practice I did in preparation, I should be able to hit them when they are not moving from this distance.'

The goblins were not the brightest, or at the very least not cautious. Often, they left through one of three entrances to go to the bathroom, or drink water from a stream running down the mountain. They usually left alone, or in small groups.

Raven stalked one goblin as it exited the base, limping on its' way to the stream. It was muttering to itself in a guttural language that sounded like angry gibberish, and it was missing three of its fingers, and had a large gash over its' eye.

Raven drew back his bow, and waited until another group of goblins went back to the base. Then, as the limping goblin bent down to drink from the stream, Raven released.

The arrow arced through the air, penetrating the goblin's skull. Its' brain matter splattered out, and the goblin's corpse jittered and spasmed as it fell into the stream.

Raven scratched the back of his head. 'Well, I was aiming for the torso... but that works as well.'

Raven's strategy was to target the goblin's as they leaned over the stream, or went to the bathroom in their shitting hole. If he shot correctly, the goblin's corpses would fall into either the stream or their crap ditch, hiding the bodies.

Raven knocked another arrow. 'Well, eventually the goblins will start to notice that their buddies are not coming back, so how long I can get away with this depends on how long that takes. Luckily, we have a bunch of folks inside serving as entertainment, which should distract them and their tiny little brains.'

And so, Raven continued to snipe off any goblin that left off on its' own. With each kill, he became more proficient with his aim, and drawing the bow greatly increased the strength in his arms and back.

By the time the goblins became suspicious, and started sending out groups to investigate, Raven had become good enough to eliminate a whole group of goblins before they could retreat back to their base.

Once Raven was down to four arrows, he unstrung his bow, and sealed it in its' bag. Then, he snuck off to reunite with Rainheart.