Chapter 16: Building improvements.

Chavu slithered around aimlessly. He was tired of carrying all the boulders and stones to the dumping site. He was certain that there could be something else he could do now that his arms were ready to fall off.

He made it to the middle of the village, where the goblin throne had once stood. It was useless now, seeing as Alaric could barely fit on it.

Besides, the goblin town was governed by a council, and it was under contract with Chavu thanks to Alaric accepting to sign one with the Naga.

Still, Chavu knew that the throne had been a part of the goblins' history. Goblin towns sprung overnight and remained den-like for centuries. That throne could have been the very first thing that had been built.

Chavu wanted a new symbol for the middle of the settlement. Something that told the goblins that their days of blind servitude were over.

That days of plenty were coming.

What did goblins like? Meat, most certainly. He was certain that, if he placed a slab of meat on a spike, the goblins would eat it and burn the spike.

Besides, the meat will rot, and it just didn't have the sophistication he wanted. Chavu rubbed his chin. The town had to become a site where toothpaste was sold.

So, he shouldn't just think about the goblins. He needed to have the humans that would come in here in mind. The Naga heard footsteps, and turned to see the bard, Gregory, make his way over to him.

He looked sweaty and dirt covered. Chavu blinked. He didn't remember telling the human to help out in the construction.

"Hello, Chavu. I heard you were helping. Did you get tired, too?" Gregory asked. "Perhaps I can play us a tune?"

Chavu considered the offer. It was obvious that the redhead wanted to do something, right now. Still, he did look ready to drop. Chavu decided that overworking someone, when he was not willing to overwork his mobs, was in poor taste.

"Come over here and tell me what you would place in here," Chavu pointed at the spot where the throne had once stood. Gregory did come and stared at the space.

"A fountain, maybe? The goblins could use it for drinking," Gregory suggested.

"They will have indoor plumping," Chavu told him.

"Still, it would be nice for them to be able to grab a drink outside their homes," Gregory insisted. Chavu imagined goblins and travelers sitting by a big fountain, side by side, and just talking.

"I suppose that it would," Chavu agreed.

"Now, you need to figure out with what you can adorn the fountain. It has to be something that goblins would like. It is their town, right?" Gregory was not very certain if it still was. What with their chieftain being under the beck and call of a dungeon core.

"It still is. Bones would be something they will like. But the tourists might be put off," Chavu told the bard. Gregory snorted.

"This is a goblin town, where goblins will live all year round. Not a coastal tourist trap that fills up only in the summer. If the travelers don't like the goblin culture, they are welcomed to go somewhere else, are they not?"

Chavu blinked. He had never thought of it that way.

"But, if they do, how are the goblins going to sell any toothpaste? They don't produce anything. Toothpaste is their only means for an honest living," Chavu protested.

"The people who will come to buy from the goblins would want to do it for the experience and thrill. Not because of the toothpaste itself. Give them a unique experience. A peaceful goblin tribe with a human prince chieftain. They will come back time and again. I suggest you build a couple of camping sites too," Gregory pointed at the butchering site where many stolen animals and humans had lost their lives.

"Why there?" Chavu didn't want to even go to that place. Why should anyone want to spend the night in there?

"It has a history," Gregory told him with a grin. "Think: You can tell the travelers that the forest is haunted. They will egg each other on to spend the night in there. In hopes of seeing ghosts."

"All the people who died over there are not a joke," Chavu said sternly. He was all for having a successful business model, but this was pushing his limits.

"You can't change the goblins," the bard told him. Chavu opened his mouth to protest, but Gregory continued. "You can only rein them in. It is in their nature to kill. If you can't accept that, then you can't redirect their urges."

"Redirect, how?" Chavu had taken to exiling the goblins, who looked and acted around the gnomes like the little green-haired humanoids were a piece of meat.

 Could such savagery be contained?

"Have you ever seen a goblin butcher an animal? It is an art form. They do it so quickly, the animal doesn't even cry out in pain. Let the goblins hone their craft on livestock. Let them take pride in it. Slowly, as if you are not even trying at all, get it in their heads that stealing from and the murder of humans is bad," Chavu looked at the spot where they are going to build the fountain.

Tell the monster that it is not a monster, and it might believe you. It was a risky tactic. One some people had employed with different mobs. That was how battle companions came to be.

A brainwashing technique.

"Bones and skulls for the fountain," Chavu agreed, Gregory grinned at him. "But I will leave the butchering site as it is. The goblins will keep on butchering their animals there. I will not be the one who disrespects those who perished there."

Gregory sighed. Honestly, Chavu was being too hard on the goblins. Still, he was not mistreating them, which he could have done, easily, if he was of the mind.

The Naga slithered in the direction of the edge of the town, and Gregory followed.

Ready to give his inputs.