Dragon God’s System

Realizing I had been quiet for too long, I hastily came up with something to talk about, “Assuming there will be more invaders, where do you think they will come from?” In the back of my mind, there was a vague intention to go there and wait for the invaders. As I had long since realized, I would need a lot of experience points to level-up.

Dróttinn thought about it for a few seconds and then said, “While normally, I would doubt invaders would come the same route as they previously took, I suspect they might in this instance. While they could come ashore by ship, I don’t think they will if the Groenneitr Tribe is involved. If it was just a local kingdom, maybe.”

He then continued after another short pause, “As it is, however, if the Groenneitr Tribe wants to take advantage of the situation, they will have a force of their own ready to ambush the injured adventurers should they manage to actually break through our traps to claim our gold. 

“Because of this, I think in another week or two, another group of adventurers will arrive. They will probably think the ambush you created was one of our traps. In fact, they might even show up earlier than expected, perhaps hoping to pass through before we have a chance to set up the trap again.”

I nodded. That made sense to me. In fact, I could easily have Alsvartr scout possible entry points near that area of the tribe’s border. She would have a natural advantage to scouting that the kobold scouts could not compare to. After all, she could fly. Actually, it might not be a bad idea for me to go down and scout the area with her. I could easily ambush one or two adventurers at a time and then fly away before they could react. 

While I was tempted to ask for some fighter or rogue minions, I quickly rejected that thought. They would only be in my way unless they could fly. Also, I already had one minion draining my experience points. If others tagged along, they might take some of my precious experience points for themselves. No, they shall not take my precious points I vowed to myself.

“I’m going to look around the tunnels myself,” I finally said. At the very least, even if I didn’t find any invaders, I might be able to complete Operation Bat Massacre. Hopefully, I would have enough time to advance to the next level and get some cool spells.

“As you wish,” Dróttinn said, giving me a small bow. “While we are preparing for more invaders, I will also seek out suitable volunteers to pledge their allegiance to you,” he continued. “Before you go, I do want to give you something, just in case something similar happens again.”

He stepped forward and handed me a ring which I slipped onto my finger. “This is a Beacon Ring,” he said. “You can send a short message to alert us of trouble. After that, it will act as a beacon so that we can send help to you.”

Automatically, I responded with, “Thank you.” I was actually surprised by this. While I was trying to sort through buried and jumbled memories, as well as the best way to use my new magic item, my visitors left. However, I was sure at least one of the maids would be waiting outside the door. I was too busy trying to figure out why I would need volunteers to pledge their allegiance to me.

After a few moments, a memory bubbled up. “Ahh,” I said, realizing what had happened. It was because I was considered gothi. Gothi was actually a step above the chieftain, but a step below the red dragon Einvaldskonungr. Usually, this status was reserved for the children of the dragon.

All red dragons, once they are close to becoming a young adult, are driven away from their homes by their mothers. They would search for their own territory. Sometimes they would fight for this territory. Other times they would establish a home far away from others. Either way, until they became an adult, they were considered gothi by the kobolds. 

Since kobolds reproduce much faster than dragons, by the time the red dragon was pushed out of the nest, the local kobold population would be bursting at the seams. Therefore, the kobolds would separate themselves. The younger kobolds would be sent to accompany the young red dragon wherever they went. Once settled down, the kobolds would establish a new tribe at that location and begin serving their new god.

Most kobold chieftains would also use this opportunity to get rid of any potential troublemakers. The parent dragons rarely cared as long as the offerings stayed the same. This was actually how Einvaldskonungr had gained his first kobold followers. Since he was a male red dragon, while he might fly off to mate with a female red dragon, he would never actually live with her. Instead, he would return to his home. 

Because of this, over the years, the population of kobolds had grown dramatically. In fact, the number of kobolds was starting to reach the point where they couldn’t sustain their own population. There were just too many kobolds for the resources in the area.

Einvaldskonungr had actually proven to be one of those “benevolent” rulers. He didn’t care about his subjects, but didn’t indiscriminately eat them just because he was feeling peckish. He didn’t demand exorbitant tributes but instead slept most of the time. Because of this, the tribe of kobolds were very satisfied with their lives. 

In other tribes, if the dragon was especially harsh, some kobolds would be restless and no longer want to follow their dragon god. Because of this, once the level of discontent was enough, a kobold would claim the title of gothi and leave with the malcontents.

“Hmm, is he trying to get rid of all his troublemakers and malcontents by making me a gothi? I bet he is going to use me as an excuse to pawn off all his problems. I’m sure that as soon as the threat of the invaders is gone, we’ll be expected to leave as well.”

I was a little offended by this at first. I really thought he had my best interest in mind. Was he really being that calculative? Was I too much a threat to his power? Was he worried how Einvaldskonungr would react to my presence? Could he actually be looking out for me? Was it actually in my best interest?

The more I thought about it, the more pleasant it actually sounded. I could establish my own area and become a local overlord. Female kobolds wearing nothing, but boots and chains could serve me grapes and bacon. Just the thought of this made me smile. Truly, that would be the good life.

Of course, first we needed to deal with the invaders, I would also need to be powerful enough to defend whatever territory I claimed. I was certain that I would have to fight the original owners for that territory as well. If that was the case, I would need to do a lot of research. 

Wait, why would I need to do a lot of research? I had an intelligent artifact that could probably help out a lot. While she might have been cooped up in the kobold city for decades, the lay of the land was probably the same. She could probably tell me which areas I was most likely to find a place that could support the growth of a kobold tribe.

Since kingdoms usually last for hundreds of years, the political landscape would probably be whatever she remembered as well. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more happy I was to have received her. I was so glad I hadn’t decided to do anything to her yet. Of course, that might change if she mentioned how smart gnomes were ever again.

“Hyggiandi,” I said, “please start thinking about the best place that I can start a kobold city.”

“Yes, my lord,” she replied, her voice still quivering. “Whatever you say your highness,” she rushed to appease me. “I will start brainstorming now.”

For some reason, I started to get the feeling that I might have gone a little too far in letting her know where she had gone wrong. Then again, maybe she was just being emotional. After all, it wasn’t as if I was some arrogant, self-obsessed, rage-fueled red dragon with a temper and a short fuse. 

Nope, that wasn’t me. Thoughts about how wonderful a ruler I would be started flashing through my mind. My subjects would live in peace and harmony with the land. Our neighbors would be fearful of me and wouldn’t imagine invading my land. Every one of my minions would be well fed and wear nice clothes. Thinking of this, I made a mental note that I needed to figure out who made the best necklaces and sexiest boots for my future subjects. My offspring would grow up and rule the world while I would be worshiped as a god.

“Ahh, such a nice dream,” I said, dragging myself out of the daydream. Imaging a wonderful future was fun, but unless I actually did something to achieve that dream, that dream would never come true. For sexy boots and necklace chains, I needed to work hard. With a smile, I opened my door and stepped through, already planning on using the bodies of countless innocent bats as a stepping stone to a glorious future.