Rebuilding Science in a Magic World

After another day of close monitoring on Zaka, it seems like he's slowly recovering, which is good.  He's starting to stay awake for longer periods of time, although he's still very exhausted.  Since he's awake for longer, I asked Zeb to help me ask Zaka some questions about what happened in the goblin village over winter.  After thinking for a little bit, I decided to start the conversation off by discussing the night we came down after we spotted the eagle.

I asked, "So, Zaka, when the snow first melted, Zeb and I saw the eagle carrying a goblin up the mountain, so we hurried down to the village in the middle of the night.  We were surprised when we got there, because we were threatened, and the goblin on the wall claimed we were cursed, and that we caused all this.  What happened over winter to bring about an even more bitter response in the village than before?"

Zaka listened as Zeb translated, then pondered for a moment before responding, "As you were aware from before, there are two factions in the village.  Over the last year, before winter, the pro-you faction had been gaining more steam, with the completion of the path up the mountain, and the plant fields and salt that you've enabled us to get, more and more of the goblins were coming around to agreeing to let you back into the village.  The leader of the opposition, one of the new hobgoblins, Kurg, seemed to be quite frustrated, and was convinced that letting you back in would cause us harm again."

Zaka paused to drink some water, and let Zeb translate for himself before he continued, "A few weeks after the snowfall on the mountain, we noticed the eagle.  It wouldn't be a day later that we got a report of one of the goblins in a hunting party being carried away by it.  Not long after that, another goblin was carried away, this time it was one that was working the salt pond.  It became clear that this was going to be a major problem.  I focused my efforts on keeping the village alive.  I had Gakus make an underground area where I could safely summon imps in the village, as it became clear that we were going to need more goblins as the eagle continued to carry off goblins every few days.  While I focused on maintaining the village, Kurg decided now was the time to convince the village of the danger you brought.  As more and more existing villagers were carried off, many of the new goblins were convinced of the danger that you and Zeb posed to the village."

Zaka pauses for another moment, seemingly in thought as Zeb begins translating for him again.  After Zeb finishes, Zaka starts talking again, "Attempts were made to kill the eagle, but each attempt was futile.  Neither my fireballs, nor any spears could harm it enough to stop it from taking goblins.  Before I knew it, sentiment in the village had turned quite harsh, and many of the goblins were talking about putting Kurg in charge.  Eventually, a compromise was made that he would be in charge of the villages defensive planning.  Which lead to the situation you saw in the village.  He attempted to implement harsher measures, but more of the goblins resisted that idea."

Seemingly finished with his regaling of the events of this winter, Zaka nods to Zeb to translate for him.  After listening, this actually leads to quite a few concerns.  First, with Zaka likely being considered dead by the village, this other hobgoblin, Kurg, is probably the defacto leader.  Second, with the goblins having had an event of high turnover again, I'm a little concerned for the infrastructure of the village.  Another question pops into my head as well, so I ask it.

I look over Zaka's body before asking, "What exactly lead to the situation of you being caught by the eagle?"

"Kurg had the idea of attempting to bait the eagle to attack the village, where all of us who could attempt to hurt it would fight it at once.  I was the unlucky one that the eagle decided to take away that day."  Zaka replies.

I hesitate, but eventually ask, "Did the eagle hurt you as it picked you up?"

Zaka calmly replies, "Other than a lot of pressure, surprisingly no.  That is until I heard that loud blast right as the eagle let me go and my leg was filled with pain.  Of course, if it wasn't for that, I'd have died a minute later at the hands of the eagle anyway."  Zaka looks somewhat knowingly at me as he says the final portion of his sentence, and after Zeb translates for him, the sinking feeling I had before is all but confirmed.  The cannon is likely what blew off Zaka's leg.

I avert my gaze and say, "Sorry about that... The cannon we made is almost certainly what destroyed your leg."  

Zaka lets out a laugh, which helps ease the tension before speaking again, "Well, I'm alive now, which is better than what I thought was going to happen.  What happened to the eagle after that?"

I respond, "After we gave you emergency treatment, I went out and killed it.  The cannon had broken one of its wings, and it was bleeding in a lot of places.  It wasn't an easy fight, but I finished it off."

Zaka let out another laugh after hearing that and said, "Go figure, we spent all winter trying to kill that eagle, and you brought it down on your first attempt.  This is exactly the sort of reason that we need to keep you around, not shun you."

I let out a little chuckle of my own after hearing that.  I still think that I might, indirectly, be the cause of a lot of these problems, but I feel a little better knowing that Zaka, and at least some of the goblins, think that highly of me.

After that discussion, Zaka started to feel tired, and took another nap.  As I pondered everything that was discussed, I talked with Zeb for a bit.

"What do you think about Kurg, and what's likely happening in the village now?"  I ask.

"Well, Kurg was always a little hard headed, and he liked to be the one leading his hunting groups.  I can't imagine him purposefully putting Zaka in danger, if that is what you're asking."  Zeb replies.

"I'll take your word that he didn't put him directly in danger, but I'm more concerned about his position on things, and now that Zaka is currently considered dead by the village, what might be happening."  I reply.

Zeb thinks for a minute before responding, "I think there are two options, they're opposites, and one is more likely than the other.  The more likely option is that Kurg is going to strong arm the village into whatever the harsher measures were that he wanted to implement related to us, and he'll use Zaka's death as a rallying cry for it.  The less likely option is that now that he's likely fully in charge of the village, he'll tone his rhetoric back because he feels like he needs to be more moderate for the sake of the village."

I ask, "Do you think one is more likely because of his personality?"

Zeb replies, "Yeah, like I said, he's hot headed, so if he thinks we're cursed, he's likely blaming Zaka's death on us as well, so he'll probably be wanting revenge."

"What would you recommend doing then?"  I ask.

"Well, probably just keep our eyes peeled, and be careful.  Ultimately, Zaka's alive and we killed the eagle, so as long as we can show the other goblins that, it shouldn't be an issue."  He says.

While it's true that Zaka is alive, so we can always show the other goblins that.  I'm not so sure that Kurg will let it go at that point.  I don't know him very well, and Zeb seems to have at least had some interactions with him, but I'm concerned about a power struggle.  I'm worried that even if the other goblins would stand down if Zaka turned out to be alive, that Kurg will still be an issue.  That said, I'm not exactly planning on pre-emptively doing anything.  Until Zaka is healed enough to return him to the village, the most we can hope for is that the goblins will leave us alone.

I decide I should at least tell Zeb what I'm concerned about, "Zeb, I don't know Kurg at all, so I can't say for certain, but power messes with people's personalities, so I wouldn't be so certain that he'll just stand down if Zaka is alive.  Just keep that in mind as we act."