Chapter 4: Chapter 4 - Lay of The Land
Kazimir and Obie walked towards the cave entrance at the bottom of the flat cliff face. Warm firelight was spilling out of the cave, lighting up the cool evening air. As Kazimir got closer, he noticed a slightly sweet and foul smell wafting over from the cave.
From the entrance to the cave, Obie rushed in first. At the back of the cave, Kazimir spied a figure laying on the ground, covered in dirty blankets. There were darkened patches of dirt around the figure, and as Obie ran up, the laying figure slowly propped itself into a sitting position with some difficulty.
Kazimir slightly scrunched his nose and walked in. The sweetly sour smell of an infection was stronger the closer he got to the figure inside. He observed the now sitting creature, it was visibly bigger than Obie and even the current Kazimir. The sitting creature could be described as an ugly, tall, green skinned man.
This was Obie's uncle, the village elder. He was a hobgoblin, a higher species of the common goblins. He looked a lot more like a human, he was tall at about 6'3 (190cm), with gaunt features, and possessing lean muscles that indicated his strength. The hobgoblin had a bumpy face, an inhumanly sharp and big nose, and pointed ears. The hobgoblin had long, greasy dark brown hair that was tied up in a messy pony tail. From the neck down, the goblin looked very human but for the raised bumps that were spread out along its skin. He was covered from the waist down with dirtied blankets.
At this point Obie had already gone into explaining to his uncle the story of what the small goblin experienced over the last few hours, and was getting close to the point of how he and Kazimir came to be here.
As he listened, the sitting figure was observing Kazimir, not saying anything. He noticed Kazimir's unusual clothes. He saw the shortsword and spear but didn't see any armor, and Kazimir did not seem like a bard or monk. Kazimir stared back, and they acknowledged each other with a nod.
"Zso zthas wai we caem togeer!" (So that's why we came together!)
*grunt* In goblin tongue, the hobgoblin commanded {Go tell the others to cut up the meat for a feast.} The hobgoblin watching his happy nephew leave and then turned to Kazimir, "It seems little my nephew has quickly grown fond of you, and you have even brought food to this dying village. For this I thank you, but..."
A suspicious light appears in the hobgoblin eyes, "Why are you in the Forest of Monsters, human?"
"Well, that's a bit of a story. Do you mind if I sit?" Getting the hobgoblins acknowledgement, Kazimir sits in seiza in front of him and brings his eyes to the hobgoblin's level. This sitting posture also lets him be in a position to react to any threat of violence.
"I was teleported here by magic." Kazimir blurted this out and watched the hobgoblin's eyes. He noticed that the hobgoblin's expression didn't change... 'So magic exists in this world.'
Kazimir had already thought about what to say on his way through the forest. His words were prepared to test the other party and gauge attitudes in this world.
"To be honest, my mind is a little scrambled. I know my name, and I know some general information about myself, but I don't remember much else. After speaking with..." Kazimir still couldn't pronounce Obie's real name. "-your nephew, I was hoping to get your help filling in some blanks. Oh, and sorry for the late introduction, my name is Kazimir Lin, you can just call me Kaz or Kazim."
The hobgoblin smiled wrily at Kazimir. "That's a pretty interesting story, I've heard of people being teleported, but never of someone forgetting their memories." Obviously not fully believing Kazimir's lie, the hobgoblin still reaches out with his hand, "My name is Josz. I am this village's elder."
Kazimir reached back for a handshake, but Josz extended his arm forward and grabbed his forearm instead. They shared a forearm shake.
"I'm an ex-mercenary, but as you can see I'm now just and old man that's no good to anyone, and I'm bound to my home." Josz explained that he lost both of his legs from just above the knees in battle. He was able to make his way back to this village, but was in no condition to fight with the Kobolds. Moreover, his wounds would claim his life sooner or later.
Kazimir's eyes widened in surprise, but he decided not to say anything and instead just listened.
"I've spent a lot of time outside the forest, and had some small achievements in human society. My abilities are limited now that I'm not as mobile, but luckily I have exactly what you need - information." Kazimir nodded in reply to Josz.
"I won't give you this info for free, but let me propose a trade - take care of a few problems for my village, and I'll answer as many of your questions as I can."
Kaz had a good feeling about this situation. He would never expect to get a free favor from a stranger, and was worried that this hobgoblin would ask for something unreasonable in exchange for information. This kind of upfront discussion shined a positive light on Josz in Kazimir's eyes. Not to mention, the two dead goblins weren't even brought up into this negotiation.
"Sounds fair, but tell me what you want help with. I won't accept unless it's something I know I can do."
"Of course, what I want from you is just two things. To improve the living conditions of my village's residents and to strengthen my nephew. These are things I wanted to do myself, but I am no longer in a condition to accomplish these things."
Kazimir looked at Josz, "I'll do my best, but without a clear goal I can't promise anything concrete."
Josz's eyes glinted. Smiling, he replied "No problem, I just want your word that you will put in your best effort. I'm a warrior in any case, I don't know that much about managing the village anyway. I would have trained my village members and killed some Kobolds. So think along those lines and I'll be satisfied."
Kazimir grinned and said "That's doable, we have an agreement. I'll rest tonight and start work tomorrow."
"Good, then what kinds of things would you like to know?"
"Let's start with the basics: tell me about the countries, major powers, and geography to start with."
"Well, we are on the northern continent.
Specifically, we are on the eastern edge of the central area, which known as the Forest of Monsters. This is the outer edge of the Forest, so you have the weaker races like goblins and kobolds. Further in you would find far more powerful creatures. Wyverns were confirmed by explorers long ago and there's a rumor that a dragon resides in one of the inner mountains as well.
Close to us are the Easter Plains. They are controlled by the Ozbat Union, a collection of tribes and small city states that are unified and led by a single ruler called a Khan.
To the north is an area known as the Wildlands. There is no single major power, but warlords rise and fall daily. This area is chaotic and I don't know too much about it.
To the west is the Titan's Mountain range which goes from north to south bisecting the continent. Beyond the mountain range are the Western Shores, vast lands that are dominated by the Albertian Empire, and their vassal states. The Albertian Empire practices human supremacy but don't outlaw demi-humans, so non humans are allowed to enter but any unaccompanied non-humans could find themselves enslaved or dead if they aren't careful.
In the south there are the swamps, marshlands, and further south up to the coast is Alfheim Federation. This is a land lead by Elves and their so called Sylvan Coalition. The coalition is a collection of the Elven clans, and they lead other races within the Federation.
There are other continents of course, but I've never traveled that far. In fact, aside from this general info, I really only know a little of the matters in the Union.
As a human, you could find a place in any civilized society except for the Southern lands."
Kazimir needed some time to process everything, but it seemed that if he wanted to achieve his goals, going east and making contact with other humans should be a priority.
"Thank you, this already helps. Aside from the governments, what other powers should I be aware of?"
They talked for a long period of time. Kazimir came to understand some more about society:
There are mainly three powers to be aware of in the Union. There are the churches, they all more or less work together, different races usually worship different gods. The Magic Guild, home to all practitioners of magic, and the Mercenary Guild, where odd people take on odd jobs are other factions. There wasn't anything like an Adventurer's guild in this world.
"You mentioned Magic, could you tell me more about that?"
"I could and I will, but lets leave any other questions you have for later. I'm getting tired, and I can smell that the meat is almost done."
Kazimir nodded at the hobgoblin. He went out and asked around for vegetables that he could eat from the goblins. The Kobold looked too horrible and the goblins were happy to trade nuts and berries for his share of the meat.
The goblins enjoyed their feast late into the night, and Kazimir decided to turn in for the evening atop a nearby tree. Although the night wasn't warm, it wasn't cold enough to endanger his health in only one night.
Kazimir swore that he will definitely build himself a shack tomorrow, and find some proper food too.
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