Openings

by Thomas Davidsmeier

  Chris and Nathaniel emerged from the tall grass. There, standing alone in the middle of the road was Ku, their goblin prisoner. Chris glared and asked, “What are you doing here?”

  Innocently, the goblin shrugged. “I followed you here, telling you the answer to your question as we walked.”

  Looking back at the bridge in consternation, Chris called out, “What about you, Scout? What are you doing? Good job watching the prisoner! I thought you were WELL TRAINED? What good is an ability...”

  Shaking his head, disappointed in his follower's dog, the paladin set off back up the cart path to the bridge. The goblin and the paladin’s squire followed him.

  Thoughtful for a while, Nathaniel finally spoke. “Could you ask Ku if he ever learned what repenting is?”

  “I don’t even know if Goblin has a word for repenting.” Even as he had said it, Chris had known the words to use for the concept. Stupid Gift of Tongues. Why were they wasting their time talking to this evil monster of a person about God? At best, he was just a living map to get them to the enemy village.

  Patiently and hopefully, Nathaniel looked at the back of Chris’s head as they walked up onto the bridge. “Could you just try to ask?”

  Chris paused as they got to the next goblin body and looked over at their prisoner. “Do you know what it means to repent? Did the missionaries explain that to you?”

  “Oh yes! They explained all about how to follow the White God. That was why I had such trouble. I knew that I would have to turn away from my family and friends. I wish I had repented then, it was no use to try to stay loyal to people who were all headed to the Darkness That Burns Where the Worms Never Die. If I had stood up to them, maybe some of us would have gone to the other place.”

  As he and Nathaniel hoisted another body and started back down the bridge, Chris pessimistically suggested an alternative outcome. “Or, you could have just died with the missionaries and been eaten too.”

  Talking across the slain goblin between them, Chris asked Nathaniel, “Why isn’t this guy getting hit with an OOC penalty or booted from the Game?”

  “Maybe he is a monster and not a character by the rules? I’m not really sure to be honest. This is exactly the kind of stuff we’re not supposed to talk about as characters. Well, better not waste anymore time. Ask him if wants to repent of his evil ways and serve the one true God and his Son, Jesus?”

  Chris just rolled his eyes a little and translated the question.

  Voice quavering as he trailed them to the path, Ku whispered, “Yes, of course.”

  Then, he asked, “How can I do that here?” The goblin held up his hands and looked around at the sky, the reeds, the water.

  Chris’s head snapped around and stared at the goblin’s loosed hands. In English, he exclaimed, “How did you... Never mind. Scout! I could really use your guarding 'skills' about now.”

  Suspiciously watching Ku, Chris stepped off the path. He translated the goblin’s response about repenting to Nathaniel.

  The squire took a moment to respond as he was dodging an extra soggy spot. “After we toss this one, you need to ask him if he will change sides and accept Jesus as his leader from now on.”

  Flabbergasted, Chris blinked repeatedly.

  Nathaniel asked, “Ummm... Are we going to toss this one?”

  “I’m not going to ask him that.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “You expect me to trust a soul from Hell who ate missionaries while he was on Earth? You’ve got to be kidding... No, you said you weren’t.” Chris fell silent as they swung the goblin body back and forth and tossed it into the thick foliage.

  He was silent the entire time that they walked back through the tall sedges.

  Uncertainty drowning his mind, Chris looked at Nathaniel. “I don’t know where this can possibly go. We can’t trust that he isn’t a traitor, or won’t become a traitor later when he remembers how good one of us might taste.”

  “Could you just let that cannibal thing go for a second. He didn’t fight you on the bridge. I saw it. He was standing back the whole time. Never took a stab or anything. If he was wanting a little nibble of people, he would have been helping his fellow goblins, wouldn’t he?”

  Chris looked to the foot of the bridge where the goblin was now scratching Scout under the chin and shaking the giant dog’s fur back and forth. The paladin looked at the dog with disappointment. “Fraternizing with the enemy, Scout. That’s like a court marshal or something.”

  With a growing hope, Nathaniel answered for his dog, “I don’t think Ku’s an enemy at all anymore. Could you ask him about Jesus becoming his leader and switching sides?”

  Resigning his objections for the moment, the paladin answered his squire, “Only because you are so set on it.”

  Chris called out to Ku to get his attention. “Ku the Goblin, do you want to have Jesus for your leader? Will you follow his commands and orders to you? Especially the ones about not eating me or Nathaniel here? Or anybody else really. And, will you formally switch sides to ours?”

  The goblin looked up from the dog belly he was now scratching. His huge eyes lit up with what could only be described as joy. “Will you have me? Yes, yes! I will join you! I will fight for the White God! I will die here even though I would not die back there. I failed Him there on Earth. I won’t do it again!”

  Nathaniel began to smile, and tears appeared at the corners of his eyes. “I take all that gibberish as a yes, right? Tell him to come over to the water. I’m going to baptize him.”

  “What? You’ve got to be kidding me. No, I’ve got to stop saying that about you.” Chris’s hand was up on his forehead like he had a splitting headache. “Even given the disagreement over baby baptism, I’m pretty sure that there are zero denominations of Christians that recognize goblin baptisms...”

  “The only one that needs to recognize it is God. Explain to Ku what I’m going to do to him.”

  Chris did. Ku responded. “He wants to know why you’d do that.”

  “What, did you just tell him that I was going to dunk him under the water?”

  A sheepish look crept over Chris’s face. “What was I supposed to say?”

  “Ugh. Say that it’s a ceremony to show your evil has been washed away and you are clean and ready to serve the Good and Jesus and your Maker. It doesn’t mean you’ll be perfect, just that now you’re going to start changing your ways.”

  Chris exploded in self-defense. “Come on. You’ve been in Heaven. Of course you’re going to know a good answer like that. My Sunday School wasn’t necessarily one of the best. I’ve learned a really mean glue sticking skill from it though...”

  Stepping down off the bridge into some shallow water, Nathaniel implored, “This is serious, Sir Christopher the Paladin. Tell Ku what I said about baptism.”

  Ku’s response was again full of joy. “Ah! This I want!”

  As Chris watched the goblin climb down into the water, he told his squire, “We’re going to go back to Brother Aleksandr and get the theology of all this straightened out. If he says this isn’t kosher then...”

  “Kosher is for Jews following the Talmud.”

  “Fine. But, if Brother Aleksandr doesn’t approve, Ku’s going to go back to being a prisoner.”

  “Fine yourself. Could you translate for me?”

  Chris just sighed as he looked down into the water from the bridge.

  Nathaniel moved up beside the goblin and began. “Do you, Ku turn away from your ways of evil and turn to the ways that Jesus calls you to?”

  Chris translated.

  Ku nodded solemnly, “Yes, I do.”

  “Then, Ku, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

  Chris translated again. When he was done, Nathaniel gently pushed the goblin down into the water and began to bring him back up.

  As the goblin’s face broke the surface of the water the was a brilliant flash of white light.

  Chris was left blinking, momen
tarily blinded.

  “I... I... There are words in my eyes! I see and know! I read?” The high goblin voice was jubilant. “Oh, voice funny...”

  Rubbing his eyes, Chris explained, “That’s because you’re sort of speaking English now instead of Goblin.”

  “I is?”

  “You are,” replied Chris, still blinking. “And, it seems you’ve become a Follower of mine. Hang on a moment while I read what the Game is telling me.”

  Your party has received 300 XP. Your share is 100 XP.

  Your party’s heroic actions in the service of others have been noticed. People will hear about this!

  You have gained +1 Influence. You now have 2/2 Influence.

  Ku has been greatly influenced by your actions. He wants to join your quest and help you.

  Accept Ku as a Follower? Your currently have 1/3 Followers. YES or NO.

  Chris did not make a selection yet. He looked at the goblin in front of him. He looked a little bigger and definitely in better shape than he had been a moment ago.

  Nathaniel was breathless, though also rubbing his eyes. “What are the words telling you, fearless leader?”

  “The words are telling me that Ku wants to join us in our quests. Is that true?”

  “Yes, I should do this thing. You not have to take me. Was horrible man on Earth. Here, be good, serve Maker. You special man. I want help. But, words confusing me. I see words I never know. But now, making some sense to me. I tell you words slowly.”

  “Because of the actions of a Player, you have become a Hero Character. You must select a class. Your class determines what you are good at, what skills you have, and what you can do. You qualify for the following Hero Classes: Man-At-Arms, Archer, Ranger, and Rogue. You will have the following base stats: Strength +1, Dexterity +3, Constitution +3, Intelligence 0, Wisdom 0, Charism -2. Once you have made your selection, you will receive a basic set of equipment appropriate to your new class.

  What do words all mean together?”

  Nathaniel laughed and answered, “It means you will not be our new ambassador to the goblins. Not with that Charisma.”

  With a puzzled expression, the wet goblin looked up at the young man who had just baptized him. “Ambassador? Not on list of jobs I do.”

  Chris was tapping his chin and looked like he was staring off into space. “He’s saying that you won’t be doing the talking for us, negotiating, or peacemaking. But, I can see your character sheet under one of my leader menus, and you’ve got a special ability called ‘Man of His Own People’ that helps you with goblins and humanoids. You should still be able to influence other goblins reasonably well. You won’t be any Cicero, but you shouldn’t be at a disadvantage.”

  “Good. I was warrior on Earth, not chief or shaman.”

  Chris helped Nathaniel back up onto the bridge as he scrambled up out of the water. Pausing for a moment, he grunted as he held his hand out to Ku as well. Then, he sat back and started thinking hard about the situation.

  “Could you guys keep working on the bodies? I’m going to try to figure out whether or not I should have Ku be a follower, and if I do, what class he should take.”

  Nathaniel bit back the initial response he wanted to give. “Why not have him as a follower?” would not have done any good convincing Chris. Instead, he simply tried to make a snappy salute and said, “Yes, Sir!”

  Going through his HELP! interface, Chris began to do a little research. Man-At-Arms was a flexible combat class. It used a little mana for personal buffs and was focused on hand-to-hand and ranged fighting. They were one of the few other classes besides Chris’s Paladin that got Martial Prowess. A bit unrealistic since training one weapon trained them all, but very useful.

  Archer did not have Martial Prowess. That class sacrificed melee and defense for ranged fighting with bows. It used a little more mana and could eventual add hefty magical damage of different elemental types to arrows.

  Ranger was a combination of Man-At-Arms and Archer. They had Martial Prowess, but gained specific advantages with bows and swords, and suffered penalties fighting with shields and in heavy armor.

  Whatever special stuff Leo was doing aside, Rogue seemed to Chris to be the same classic skill-based class it was in so many other games. Very flexible, able to deal out critical hits and damage, but not able to stand up to a straight fight. Chris delved into the class skills to make sure of his assessment.

  Meanwhile, Nathaniel and Ku were almost done with the bodies. They fetched the last one off to the burial weeds and returned.

  Ku looked at the bloody bridge deck. “We clean off bridge and hide boats and nets. Others know hunted if leave. Better they guessing.”

  “Good point,” smiled Nathaniel. “Yeah, let’s make sure we don’t leave a trace. How many other goblins are there in here?”

  “At my village, more than twenty others. At another village, the same, and then big village where Witch King rules. Do not know about there. Never been.”

  Chris came up to them with a bit of a surprise. “I want to go and take a look at Ku’s village before we go back and check with Brother Aleksandr about this whole goblin conversion thing. I’m just having trouble wrapping my head around it.”

  Nathaniel wondered to himself why Chris was saying it that way. Then, he realized that Ku could understand Chris now. Maybe it was a good sign that the paladin was trying to be polite to the goblin. Then again, was the trip to the village going to be some sort of loyalty test? Nathaniel tried to reassure his leader. “Ku was already giving me the lowdown on his hometown. There are about twenty other goblins left there. There is another small village and then a town where something called a Witch King lives.”

  Almost suspiciously, Chris looked at Ku. He managed to only sound curious as he asked, “What’s a Witch King?”

  Ku shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, I do not know. Never been to town. Never saw leader.”

  “I guess that is even more reason for us to go and see Brother Aleksandr. Maybe he’ll know what we’re up against there.”

  Chapter 15

  Chris took Ku in his boat, and Nathaniel took Scout in his. There was one oar per boat, but Ku explained the goblins almost always used the long poles instead. Only in the middle of the larger channels was the water deeper the eight foot poles could reach. So, they set off toward Ku’s village, pushing themselves along through the shallow water.

  Confident but cautious, Chris informed the others, “We’re only going to take a little peek and see what we can see. I have no desire to get out over our skis here and try to attack. No matter how tempting, we’re not going to attack.”

  Nathaniel smiled back at him and asked, “Are you trying to convince us or yourself?”

  Trying to do so sagely, Chris nodded. “Both.”

  Nathaniel laughed and just kept poling the goblin boat along. The boats were each about fifteen feet long. They were shaped like a canoe on the ends, but they were wide and flat bottomed in the middle. Definitely, they had been designed for hauling large loads and not for speed.

  From the bridge, they followed the large main channel for a winding mile. Then, Ku took them into a narrower opening between two thicker stands of sedges. The ten foot tall plants towered even more over the adventurers because they were kneeling in their boats. Back and forth between impassable growths of plants and the occasional low island, they weaved their way for the better part of an hour.

  As they neared what looked like a spot of open water, Ku held up his hand. “This is the southern side of village.” In a typical bit of Divided Lands temporal weirdness, Ku seemed to be mastering English in an hour. “We are on good chunk of solid ground between two spots of open water, one on south, other on north.”

  Chris maneuvered his boat up to the edge of the open water and peered through the last few feet of thinner sedge and reeds. He had turned the boat so that Ku was faced away from the open water and more concealed than he was. No reason to allow the prisoner to signal his fellows about
what was up.

  What Chris could see confirmed what Ku had said about the village. There were ten or twelve thatch huts on stilts on the drier ground. On this southern shore of the village, there were rough wooden racks with cleaned fish drying in the sun. Some female goblins were taking fish from large baskets and cleaning them by the shore. Other goblins were sitting in smaller boats near the middle of the open water. They had cane poles and appeared to be fishing hook and line.

  Chris watched for awhile and was rewarded. One of the warriors came out from somewhere among the huts and barked orders at the other goblins. Some of them left for a few moments and came back with a smaller basket and started taking down some of the drying fish.

  The warrior looked larger and in better shape than the goblins doing the work. He had been wearing what looked like leather armor and had a spear with a willow leaf shaped blade over his shoulder. Somehow, Chris’s Weapons skill seemed to give him knowledge of the fighting style that might be employed with such a spear. Though he would have never known it before, he could now explain the difference between that spear and a pike or lance. It was a strange feeling to know things he did not remember ever learning. Probably like Ku felt about English, he admitted to himself.

  Amazed, Chris muttered, “Man, if only Chemistry class had worked like that.”

  Ku perked up, thinking that his maybe-leader had a question. Hoping to make a good impression, he asked, “Do you have question about goblins?”

  Chris had not had one in mind, but put on the spot, he asked, “Do all the warriors use those spears?”

  “Yes, all six have spear, shield, and short bow. Also, one militia troop of archers in village. But, just recruits. They never fight before.”

  Still staring at the village through the reeds, Chris asked over his shoulder, “What’s a militia troop?”