A surprisingly peaceful scene.

You enter the clearing and find yourself looking at the Beast-kin camp, a collection of tents, campfires and animal-people all existing in the shade of the trees above. A number of beast-kin, those that look less suited for hunting and combat than those in the band that had been with Balthor, sit about the camp, going about chores such as cooking, mending weapons and clothing and the like. A few also watch after young Beast-kin who run and gambol about the camp, laughing playfully as they play together. You can hear laughter and comfortable conversation all around as the Beast-kin go about their daily life together.

It is a surprisingly idyllic sort of scene you see, in other words. You would have expected something more savage or bestial, given your impression of Balthor and those with him. Instead, you find a community of individuals coming together to live with and protect one another. It is surprising...but not unpleasant, you find.

You wouldn't mind if, eventually, you got your own goblin kin to be able to live in this fashion, though you would expect more combat oriented practices as you know your species is often going to see battle under your master's rule. That is how it should be, but letting them have some peace when there is no combat to be had is not a bad thing. It is something you will think on, you decide, as you watch the Beast-kin of Balthor's band disperse into the camp.

"Come, Minion. You follow me to my tent. Your goblin kin can rest comfortably while the leaders talk, eh?", Balthor tells you and then looks towards a nearby female and gives a sharp whistle, "Oi! These here goblins are guests! Treat 'em right! And prepare for a feast! We're having a celebration to commemorate our new alliance, aye?"

The female Beast-kin, a mixture of fox and human that makes for a comely combination, looks surprised at this, but does not question Balthor as she nods and then gestures for your followers to come with her. After looking to you for confirmation, which you give with a curt nod, your band of goblins goes off with the female beast-kin. You see other beast-kin giving your followers curious looks, but you trust that Balthor's word and the tale of your strength undoubtedly being passed around the camp by the members of Balthor's band will keep them safe.

With that, you nod to Balthor and he leads the way through the camp to the largest tent in the clearing. You are not surprised he would have the largest tent. Not because he is the leader, but because he simply is one of the largest Beast-kin here and would need the extra room. Still, you don't doubt it's also a symbol of status and, as you enter the tent, you can see that the status is well-earned.

Within the tent, you see a number of trophies, skins and horns and the like, from various enemies and prey that Balthor had defeated. Considering some of the remains you see, including a chimera pelt and a minotaur's horns, you decide that you were perhaps very fortunate indeed to come out on top in the fight against the Beast-kin leader. Not that you'll ever say so, not wanting to compromise your place as the victor of your duel and, therefore, the stronger of you two.

Balthor moves to a table carved from the same black wood that his spear was made from and then rummages through some parchment that looked thick and leathery. You suspect it is made from the skin of some beast (or man, perhaps), but you don't worry much about that as Balthor spreads out a sheet and then retrieves what appears to be a charred finger bone from a bowl nearby. He moves to stick the end of that bone into a small fire he has going in a iron stove you expect he looted from a band from the north unfortunate enough to venture this far past the barrier.

"All right, look here.", he says as he begins to use the charred bone to draw lines and curves onto the parchment, the strokes he makes upon the surface of it coming together to form a map before you know it, "This is where we are, see? Now, you said you're headin' for the mountains, aye? Mount Karagoth, I'd assume, as the rest of that range isn't big enough to be of any import. Well, look here, this path here is probably the best for you to take."

You and he then spend an hour or so discussing the best paths to take, the dangers you may face and the tactics you could take to avoid or overcome those dangers. You find the Beast-kin much more affable now that you and he reached an understanding through combat. You think he may make for a good ally, when all is said and done, and you think that it was a good idea not to finish him when you had the chance. You only hope that he doesn't do anything to make you rethink this.

After awhile, Balthor nods and pushes the map aside. "All right then. This should be of help to you on your travel, Minion. We'll let the etching set so that nothing gets smeared or erased, aye?", he says and then smiles as he can hear the sound of hooting and loud drums start from outside, the smell of food and something else, something pungent and heated, reaches your nose, "Ah, good! It seems they've started the celebration already! Let's go, Minion! We can't have the celebration without the guest of honor, eh?"

You had thought to maybe leave before the celebration, not wanting to waste more time than needed, but mapping out routes took longer than you thought and you think you could do with some food and relaxation. In any case, if there's been a revelry started, you have no doubt that your followers (the males, in any case) have probably already become enthralled by it and it would be completely impossible to pull them away now. Better to just go along with it, you decide.

"As Balthor says. We go.", you say and then follow Balthor to the exit of the tent, pushing aside the flap of the tent to exit out into the camp proper.