Thing-a-Day Jan 23 #25 - Writer's Wednesday

Generated Prompt:

He will be screaming.

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PART 2.

At the mouth of the Rose Hill Grotto, home of the Goblins of the Rose Hill, stands Mnok, Rez, and Hulfgrath the Human messenger. Rain is falling heavily from the dark, grey sky. Hulfgrath is adorned in simple leather armor but holds no weapons and looks exhausted from the long trek from the Human city of Hintergrimm.

Mnok: Greetings, Human messenger! I am Mnok Stonearse the Enlightened, Chief of the Goblins of the Rose Hill, and this is my advisor and mage, Rez Madbasher the Scholar. What is your name and what business do you have with our clan?

Hulfgrath: My name is Hulfgrath, and I come seeking answers for my home of Hintergrimm. Word has spread that you have laid a curse [thunder roars from a lightning strike overhead] upon our land whereby all of our silverware is disappearing slowly. Many families are now reduced to eating with twigs foraged from the local gardens and woodlands, and many more are reduced to eating with their hands like uncivilized barbarians. What say you to these rumors? Have they any basis in the truth?

[Rez mumbles something under his breath in their native language. Mnok places a hand on his shoulder.]

Mnok: Sir Hulfgrath, I assure you that these claims are untrue. We are simple Goblinfolk trying to make a meager living by helping lost travelers find their destinations. We are guides, you see, and we have no need for silverware.

Rez: I assure you, Human. Mnok tells no falsehood this day.

[Thunder and lightning rumble and strike overhead, and the rain falls more heavily, quickly pooling at the feet of the three.]

Hulfgrath: I see. The two of you sound wise. Much wiser than your kin, I'd think. [Rez smiles with a wide, toothy grin and nods. Mnok remains unfazed by this snide remark.] Maybe even wise enough to tell me, then, by what method the silverware of Hintergrimm could vanish, and if you would be capable of bestowing such a curse.

Rez: Such a curse would indeed be quite difficult to cast, and the casting of such over such a wide area would require many more than a single Goblin mage. This is not to say that we couldn't cast a vile curse like what you've mentioned, but we simply don't have the Goblinpower.

Mnok: We are merely thirteen hungry Goblins who feast upon the giant rats that we capture. Have you a giant rat infestation in Hintergrimm?

[Hulfgrath's brow furrows in the rain as lightning and thunder rumble once more. In the flash of light, a glint from within the cave can be seen. Hulfgrath raises his left hand and points to the glint that caught his eye.]

Hulfgrath: What is that?

Nat Dreadbasher the Drunk sprints out of the Grotto. A sparkling blue cloud follows closely behind as if a spear had been thrown in his direction and was magnetized to him. He runs past the three, clearly panicked by the pursuing mass.

Mnok and Rez turn toward the cavern before realizing the most powerful cloud of divine fartgas had begun to engulf them. They begin yelling and cursing in sheer agony and frustration. Hulfgrath backs away from the cloud and trips over a small, half-buried chest that he had not seen upon arrival. As he tumbles backward, the chest opens to reveal a clutter of silvery objects! He crosses his legs swiftly and leans over the chest and, before he can focus his eyes on the contents of the chest, he begins to retch and cough. The blue cloud fully engulfs his senses. Hulfgrath screams loudly but is intermittently interrupted by hiccups which are punctuated by the thunder clashing above.

Fifty yards away and still running, Nat lets out a sky-rending belch.

The end... ?