Rebuilding Science in a Magic World

It's been another 10 days, I've learned more basic phrases in the demon language, and the sewer is at least partially complete now.  We cut a smaller channel to the eventual exit point so there would be an outflow point.  The reason being that the rains are starting up, and spring has arrived.  Work will still need to be done on the sewer, but it needs an outflow point so that it doesn't clog with water.

The wall is almost complete as well, which is good.  There have been quite a few incidents of ground birds running about within the village in the mornings since the wall was destroyed, so I think villagers will be happy to not be dealing with that anymore.  That said, it might be worth looking into domestication of those birds as a more steady source of food in the future, not that we need it right now.  In fact, part of the reason we had so many ground bird incidents was likely due to the fact very little hunting was happening, and most of our food was being harvested from the ocean.

It's been three days, and today we had a massive incident occur in the afternoon.  I was finishing up the last section of city wall when a lone goblin came running into the village.  His backpack torn, and an arrow embedded into his lower back.  I immediately began treating him as Zeb gathered information as to what happened.

After treating the goblin, I immediately started some forensic investigation of the arrow.  First, none of the goblins have bows or arrows.  At least, not in this village.  Second, the arrow was of a pretty decent quality, with a metal tip, and feather fletching.  Whoever made this was someone we've never met before.  Shortly after I finished my investigation, Zeb finished his conversation with the goblin.

According to the goblin, there were five creatures that attacked him.  Two were short, about the height of a goblin, one was covered in shiny material, and the other in a robe.  Then there were three taller ones, which stood a little shorter than Zaka.  One had the bow and long ears, and was the one that shot at him, one had a sword and was also covered in shiny material, and the last one had a shiny knife.

This goblin was walking back with fish along with two others when they suddenly got ambushed by the group.  The goblins were confused, and were suddenly attacked.  The other two were cut down mercilessly, while the goblin in front of us ran as fast as he could to get here.

This is a lot to take in.  First, I had an odd feeling about all of this.  It's been many years since I came to this world, and all I've seen are the demonkind around me, but I still do remember what fantasy races look like.  Dwarves.  Humans.  Elves.  I mean, it would be quite the coincidence to run into these races now, wouldn't it?  What would be the odds?  I can't shake the idea of it though.  If the tropes hold, then surely they see us as the bad guys right?  That's why they would attack on sight, despite the fact those goblins were unarmed.  Plus they have metal equipment by the sound of it, which will probably be a problem in and of itself.

Regardless, it will be a problem.  I had no idea how powerful these individuals were, or what they wanted.  Seemingly, they didn't mind killing us, so we'd need to be careful of that.  God forbid there are more of them as well.  Which left me with one choice.  We needed to capture them before anything worse happened.

Zeb and I raised the alarm in the village, and despite the plan to only have a few goblins on duty, we went door to door and gathered literally everyone.  The idea of bringing everyone is to present ourselves as such an overwhelming force that the other side agrees to surrender.  Whether or not this will work, we'd have to wait to find out.

After about an hour since the goblin returned, we set out.  Almost fifty of us in total.  After following the path, we found the dead goblins, with their ears cut off.  The frequent spring rains made tracking the group easy after that through the muddy underbrush.  We followed their tracks until we were suddenly attacked.

The attack itself seemed more like a reaction rather than an ambush.  A single arrow flew back in our direction, and I was able to intercept it with my stone buckler.  From where the arrow came from, I heard something resembling a language, and had the goblins get into position.  I had Zeb remind them that our goal is to take them alive.  Since we have no way of knowing if they'll understand us, I'm having Zeb stay close to me to act as a translator in demon language, since I myself don't speak it fluently enough.

The goblins spread out, and eventually surrounded the group, although I only counted four.  Two short, and two tall.  The one with the knife was missing.  They were talking amongst themselves as we slowly closed the circle in.  When the circle got small enough, the one with a bow shot an arrow, killing another goblin.  This is going to be a problem...

The goblins nearby started to charge in, but I'm thankful I know the word stop in the demon language, so I shouted it, and the goblins moved back into position.  I hastily turned to Zeb, "Ask them why they attacked us."

Zeb asked the question in the demon language, and although the group didn't react initially, they seemed to react when the short, robed figure in the group moved slightly, and then talked among themselves in hushed tones.

I turned to Zeb, "Tell Zaka to shoot a fireball into the ground between us and them, then ask them again.  Ask why they've killed three goblins now.  Ask what have we done to them."

Moments later, Zaka shoots a fireball and Zeb asks them questions once again.  Again, we have to wait for the robed figure to shift about before anything happens.  This time, the robed figure replies, seemingly in the Demon Language, although the language sounds somewhat broken.  I have to wait for Zeb to translate it to understand what they're saying.

Zeb says that the robed figure said, "Given chance, you would attack first, no?"

This is almost as annoying as when I was playing pictionary with Zaka years ago to communicate.  If the situation wasn't so tense, I might have laughed.

I ask Zeb to translate, "Our village is a peaceful one.  You've now killed two fishergoblins, and a laborer.  I'm already at my patience end.  I'll offer you two choices.  One, lay down your weapons and surrender, and your life will be spared.  Two, fight and likely die here.  Although I'd rather you don't fight."

Zeb translated, and apparently, they weren't in the surrendering mood, because shortly after, another arrow flew out, this time towards Zeb.  He ducked under the shot thankfully.  As discussed before hand, the plan is to attempt to take them without killing them, regardless of if they want to be captured.

The circle tightened with spears pointed inward, and I looked over each of the individuals.  Two individuals in metal armor, one with a spear, one with a hammer.  One individual with a bow and leather armor.  One individual wearing the robe.  Honestly, I'm not sure any of the goblins are going to be super helpful here, especially for taking them alive.  Our best bet is to break their will.  If we can injure the two wearing armor badly enough, then we might be able to offer surrender again.  In which case, I suppose I'll have to try to break some legs.

I move forward in the formation, with Zeb beside me and tell him the plan.  My plan is to earth spike one leg of each of the armed individuals at the same time.  Their formation is pretty tight, seemingly protecting the individual in the robe, so I might be able to earth spike three legs myself at once.  If I can get at least two legs, I want him to offer surrender again.

I move in more, and all the adventurers eyes are on me.  Once I get in range, I activate improved earth spike, puncturing one leg on each of the armored individuals.  The archer jumps back quickly landing just outside the spears of the goblins, and although I don't break their leg, its clear that it was hit by the spike in a glancing blow.

Zeb calls out again, offering surrender.  This time, after a brief discussion amongst themselves, the robed figure starts yelling at the others, and steps out from the group with their hands open and raised above their head.  The other three seem exasperated and upset, but after a moment, drop their weapons as well.

After the standoff, I carefully kick their weapons away, and make my way to the group.  I quickly dig a hole nearby to get to the stone layer, and fashion a few pairs of stone handcuffs.  I remove the full armor from the two individuals who's legs are broken, revealing a male human and a dwarf.  The archer is very clearly an elf, although I can't say which gender they are.  For that matter, I can't tell with the dwarf either, although they do have quite the beard.  The robed figure appears to be a dwarf as well, also with a beard.

With handcuffs made and attached, those who can walk are carefully escorted back to the village, while the two with broken legs are carried by multiple goblins, with myself close behind to keep an eye on them.

Once we finally made it back to the village, I regretted not making a jail sooner.  After doing what treatment we could for the broken legs, Zeb and I had to spend hours building a functional cell to keep the prisoners in.  Three solid stone walls and a set of stone bars.  For tonight that'll have to do.  We decided on a rotation of 5 goblins at a time all watching the cell ready to raise the alarm if the group attempts to do anything funny.  Ultimately, we have no idea what they're capable of, although hopefully, we can get some answers out of them tomorrow.