First Date With Hobgoblins

"So I have to admit, I had sort of assumed you were a boy."

Hilde scoffs through her mouthful of rice and pork, thankfully managing to avoid spraying everyone in her general vicinity with partially chewed food. And that was no sure thing; the moment your undoubtedly hungry guests had been presented with their bowls of food, they plowed past the offered utensils to dig straight in with their hands. The other kobolds, drawn to the meeting hall by the news of strange visitors, watch on with equal parts fascination and mild horror as the hobgoblins ravenously wolf down massive open-mouthed gulps, often neglecting to chew all together. Something tells you that this tribe didn't pick "Cultured". Gero in particular seems almost affronted as she watches one of the smaller hobs stick his full face into his bowl in an attempt to lick up all of the bits and juices. She always was a rather polite eater.

Hilde wipes her mouth off on her tattered sleeve before replying, still partway through her current bite. "Wsn't boy 'r girl." She finishes swallowing and continues her point a bit more intelligibly. "Goblins don't have sexes. Or gender, really. Most basic monsters don't. So yeah, sprouting tits was a bit of a surprise to me, too."

"Well they are nice tits."

"Right?"

Momo speaks up from her position seated to your right. "What happened to your tribe, Hilde?"

The hobgoblin gives a flat sigh at that, pushing aside her empty bowl. "Who knows. Everything? Nothing? When I finally gained enough levels to evolve, I set out towards where the others had always said the hobgoblin tribe was. But by the time I got there....well, see for yourself." She indicated the two hobgoblin villagers, suddenly sheepish at being the center of attention, and the old hobgoblin, who slowly works through the food Hana patiently helps him with. "The camp was in ruins, and they were the only ones left."

Huh. "What happened?"

Hilde gives a rather frustrated looking shrug. "Don't know. The villagers said they popped into an empty village. And the old man is only partially there, so he's not so helpful on that score."

You nod, mulling over this information. It stands to reason that a small, new tribe would usually be a very fragile thing, especially if they are in a more exposed part of the world. And yet here you all are, living comfortable lives and a single day away from being a Level Two Tribe. You'd like to credit this seemingly outrageous success on your exemplary planning and tactics (you'd really, really like that), but you have to admit that luck has been on your side as much as anything else. You've got to be grateful.

Gero breaks her silence, her club laid out across her lap and the faint steel unmistakable in her voice. "Why did you come here?"

Hilde doesn't flinch, meeting Gero's gaze with a look of mild challenge. The two villagers hunch over so much that they look like they're trying to vanish into themselves. "I remembered that there was an outpost here. I thought that if we the outpost looked ****, I could find more goblins and we could start over here."

Gero leans forward. "So you were coming to conquer us."

The hobgoblin makes a face at that. "Conquer you? No. I assumed you were all still a bunch of hamsters. How were we supposed to know you'd already conquered the zone?"

You put a hand on Gero's shoulder to settle down the beginnings of a growl. Woof, everyone's getting on edge. The other kobolds seem tense, the two hobgoblin villagers are trying their best to not look at anyone or anything...even Momo's eyes are a bit wide, her hands clasped protectively before her. The only ones who don't seem effected are the old hobgoblin, who's apparently fallen asleep, and Hana, who....is staring off in to space. Okay, whatever. "Look, it doesn't matter what you were going to do. The last time you came through our home, it was as a friend, right?"

Hilde shoots Gero another furtive glare, then hesitantly nods.

"I don't think there's any reason we can't keep it that way, right? Tomorrow is our festival day. Stay, as honored guests, and then we can help you figure out your next step. Deal?"

The hobgoblin nods again, finally relaxing. Thank Goddess, the room is starting to warm up again. You're just glad that Higen wasn't here for any of this; you have little doubt that the discussion would have ended with a knife in someone's chest, and you're not entirely certain that you wouldn't have been that someone.

Still though, you do wonder what precisely happened to the hobgoblin tribe. They couldn't have been situated that far from where you are now, so any threat to them has to potentially be a threat to you, too. If only the old man wasn't so--

"Ah~ha, there it is! Revitalize!"

You cock an eyebrow as you glance over at Hana, the overripe priestess's sudden exclamation having drawn the attention of the entire room. Wait, was she picking her Level One spells this entire time? If Hana minds suddenly being the center of attention she gives no sign of it, giggling in self satisfaction as she waggles her fingers, then carefully spreads them out on the old, napping hobgoblin's chest.

The whole room stares at the still giggling priestess for a moment, only to recoil backwards in shock as the old hob lets out a strangled gasp, his eyes wide open. Before your very eyes the burdens of the years seem to fade away from his struggling frame, the man's back suddenly straight and his shoulders squaring off. A trickle of black even starts to seep into his snow-white hair and beard as he looks around with a new light in his eyes. Hilde and the other two hobgoblins are stunned into speechlessness as their elderly charge gives himself a full body shake, picks up his empty bowl, and extends it.

"Could I have some more, please?"