38 Dramatic Introductions (1/2)

I closed my eyes and allowed my vision to be overwhelmed by the powerful and living map that I kept locked away in my brain. It responded to me by springing into view, boldly showing me a pristine view of the encampment just a few meters out of ear-shot.

The goblin encampment was a circular area in the middle of a group of trees. It consisted of a number of tiny tents, centered around a thin hole in the ground with a large number of goblins living in the cave that hole allowed entry into and out of. I wasn't focused on holistic statistics about the encampment though, I was looking for something more specific.

Mentally, I dashed into the encampment on the not-so-mini-map and began to look for specific individuals. I was determined to find and assemble the goblins I had already connected and interacted with. It was important that I do this right, and frankly, I had time. The goblins weren't prepared to attack the deer and even if they did I'd just reanimate the things.

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The composition of the encampment was fascinating. Only some of it was centered in this area, either around or just outside of a hole that my earlier, unupgraded tremorsense wasn't able to truly and meaningfully flesh out. Now that I could see the hole and was focused on encampment I allowed my mind to explore it.

I could have instantly tracked down my goblin companions, but I wanted to practice my powers. This moment was a low-risk moment for me to manually use my abilities and learn to navigate them expertly without relying on automated assistance. I wanted to be as self-sufficient when it came to divinity as I could be. And doing it this way would allow me to learn more, something I valued.

The entrance into the earth was thin. It was barely a sliver in the crust of the island I was on, only partially visible from where I was. Looking at it from the outside, if I had been limited to my physical eyes, I would have struggled to understand what I was looking at as it was in the ground and wasn't a cave. Thankfully, mortal limitations didn't apply to me.

Using my enhanced tremorsense, looking into the hole was a breeze. There was a thin ladder that clung to the side of the hole's lip, allowing goblins to safely descent what would otherwise be a sheer drop a few meters high. The ladder's loose, rope-tied connection to the earth at the top of the hole, and at the bottom of the hole was what gave it away physically.

Inside the hole itself, at the bottom of the thing, laired a number of goblins. Some of them were visible to me as sleeping outlines, their bodies laying on the floor motionlessly. They weren't the goblins I was looking for.

The interior of the hole was divided. It extended deep into the planet's eerie underground and so had room for many different areas. Some of those areas were chambers where goblins slept. Others were where goblins practiced for battle. Some were for waste-excrement. And others were for storing and preparing food. The latter two were often uncomfortably close.

And so I begun my manhunt. The tunnel I was mentally exploring was connected to the rest of the strange world beneath the world that existed underneath the island's surface, but goblins didn't inhabit this place that thoroughly and only a few chambers were inhabited by goblins.

It took me a few moments of searching to track down Mawby, Hagitha, Mianthus, and Troik. Those were the goblins who I had interacted with, even vaguely, in the past. Each of them happened to be located in different parts of the hole.

Troik was in another of the mass sleeping chambers. Mianthus and Hagitha were in separate training chambers. Mawby was in a chamber that served food to the goblins and also, at least according to what she was doing at the moment, served as a nursing area to heal injured or sick goblins.

When I found them I got to practice creating mind links, which as it turned out was easy to do. I just needed to envision forming a bridge that tied my mind and the mind of another creature. Once that was done I'd send them mental messages. Each of them got to hear a variation of the same message.

”Come outside.” I whispered into in their minds. In each of their cases, I used Cosecha's voice to disguise that ”Althos” was here. I wanted the goblins to see me as a powerful spirit who used its powers to bring them a gift. I put urgency and power in my voice, to ensure they came out quick.

All of them, but especially Mawby and Troik began a mad dash from the chambers they were in to the ladder that led out of the hole. With this I smiled and refocused on my physical surroundings.

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At the moment a decent number of goblins were located in the encampment and with each passing second, more of them looked to the trio of stags who boldly approached them. The goblins weren't brave though and so they did nothing to stop or repel the deer.