Chapter 31 - New Plans

For the following week, everyone was busy in HavenFall. Luke and Oscar finished making the pottery wheel and I helped old man Hus create some simple clay pots, cups, spoons, plates and large pots for storage. Afterward, Luke and Oscar went to help David complete make a larger kiln next to the small kiln I had made and once they had finished they helped David complete the wall. Lucina, Robin and Owen were able to finish tilling 4 fields as well as plant different crops in each field taking. Howard and the increasing goblins were able to finish digging the trench and a simple wooden bridge was placed in front of the gate served as the only passageway. Wooden spikes were placed randomly in the trench and through many trips, the trench was filled with water.

HavenFall had a lot of protection with a moat, spikes and a wall at the front. The steep mountainside enclosing the sides and the cliff with only one path at the back. Completing the wall at the back was the only task left to properly secure HavenFall from enemy attacks and now that that was finished I was confident that if there was an invasion or a horde of enemies the residents of HavenFall could stay safe and fight back.

During this time, old man Hus had created more weapons and armor in between the pottery-making sessions.

[ Improved Stone Spear

Attack: 5

A sharpers stone and a more solid shaft make a better spear

Made by Hus ]

[ Improved Stone Ax

Attack: 5

A bigger head and a sharper blade make killing easier.

Made by Hus ]

[ Stone Chest Plate

Defense: 5

Placing large flat stones and securing them with wood and vines protects the chest.

Made by Hus ]

[ Wooden Bow

Attack: 3

Having the right wood sometimes helps in making a better bow

Made by Hus ]

[ Improved Stone Arrow

Attack: 1

An arrow made from sharper stone and sturdier wood

Made by Hus ]

[ Stone Knife

Attack: 4

Improving the goblin knife with a sharper stone

Made by Hus]

[ Goblin Wood Chest Plate

Defense: 4

Making a smaller wooden chest plate but with better wood and craftsmanship

Made by Hus ]

[ Stone Shield

Defense: 10

A rectangular shield made from stone and wood tied together by vines.

Made by Hus ]

Old man Hus asked Gobi about the preferred weapons of goblins and found that most used knives or clubs due to the simplicity of the weapon and also disregarding armor and shields. I overheard the conversation and told old man Hus to make knives and wooden chest plates for the goblins. Since there will eventually be 30 goblins I asked old man Hus to slowly make the chest plates while prioritizing the weapons first.

At the moment, there were 8 goblins and after finishing digging the trench Gobi gathered them to do some training. I asked Gobi to do this to create a more organized troop. Since Gobi was the leader of the goblins they quickly followed his orders and started to some basic training. Running most of the time and simple swings with spears. I had looked at the stats and unsurprisingly there were weaker than me, even Gobi was about as strong as me. His stats must have downgraded from dying.

Name: Gobi

Race: Gobin

Health Points (HP): 10/10

Mana Points (MP): 0/0

Strength: 4

Vitality: 5

Intelligence: 5

Dexterity: 5

Agility: 6

Luck: 1

Race: Goblin

Health Points (HP): 8/8

Mana Points (MP): 0/0

Strength: 3

Vitality: 4

Intelligence: 5

Dexterity: 5

Agility: 4

Luck: 1

I have seen the effect of training as Luke, Oscar, Howard and David had participated every day with the goblins and their vitality had risen by one. Even the goblins had increased their vitality by one as well. However, no matter how much effort I put into training I did not get any increased stats. It must be a game mechanic and it was unfortunate since there was no way to make myself become stronger other than using items and equipment.

Since HavenFall is in a good spot now it was time to start a new project, scouting the forest. Luke and Oscar have been into the forest every day and have mapped out parts of the forest however, they never go too far in case there were hidden dangers. The furthest they went into the forest was the old goblin encampment. Unfortunately, we were unable to take the structures with us and the encampment disappeared soon after the event.

This time, I had a plan since more goblins were appearing from the Goblin Hut every day I wanted Gobi to stay back and take care of the new goblins while Luke, Oscar and 6 goblins were to scout out further into the forest. After telling the boys and the goblins my plan they took got 3 woven baskets and filled them with some food and water and set off in the morning. The plan was for them to go beyond the goblin encampment and search for anything, whether it be more food resources, animals, predators, encampments or landmarks. I needed to know more about the area surrounding HavenFall and the only way to find out was searching bit by bit.

It was only the next day when the scouting party had already come back. They had already met with some trouble and it was not too far away from the goblin encampment. Surprisingly enough it was an old enemy, golden wolves. There was a pack of golden wolves past the goblin encampment across a river. Luckily, the scouting party was downwind and on top of a small hill so the wolves were unable to sense them however not too far away from the pack was the alpha wolf. It had a large lightning-shaped horn, shining silver fur around the neck and sparkling golden fur for the rest of the body. It was twice the size of a normal golden wolf and its paws were as big as a goblin.

With another stroke of luck, the alpha wolf was sleeping in a cave with 5 golden wolves resting nearby and with a glance at each other the scouting party retreated. Instantly coming back to HavenFall and reporting the situation.

I requested the scouting party to rest up for the day and depart once again in a different direction.

"I want you guys to scout another location, follow the side of the mountain and avoid the wolf den as much as possible. Do NOT go near the place. We were able to kill one of them that last time but there is no need to take the risk and fight with them again. Do I make myself clear?"

With nods from everyone, I was able to feel calm about letting them go back out to scout the forest but deep down there was a slightly uncomfortable feeling in my chest. I can only hope that they run into no troubles and make it back in one piece.