Wealth Mountain is an ancient structure in the far away, uninhabitable northeast. It's taller than any other peak, protected by an unfathomable monster, and apparently filled to the brim with precious goldatinum metal.
Four goblins, all of which ha...
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Colb awoke with a start, upset he'd fallen asleep before 27 came back. Colb glanced around the cabin. He could only see Stibs and Drek, snoring away. Hmmm, Stibs usually wakes up earlier, yes? He must need extra rest today, Colb thought. Hmmm, but where is 27, yes?
Colb stepped outside to see what time it was. The sun had fully secured the sky; it was at least two hours past sunrise. The rain had entirely ceased over the night, leaving behind a damp must in the forest. The ground quaked slightly as mighty autumn giraffeworms surfaced from their flooded burrows in the distance. Spiderbats chirped with joy overhead as they searched for toadroaches in the shade of the dense mapleoak trees.
Colb inhaled the cool, misty air of the unfamiliar region, and looked out towards the human city. As far as he could tell, there were no signs of 27 coming back to the cabin last night. Hmmm, Colb worried. I hope he didn't run into some humans that... hurt him, Colb thought. Someone needs to go into the city to figure out what happened, yes?
Colb stepped back into the cabin, shutting the door behind him. He surveyed his options. Stibs was still asleep on the dancefloor, a blanket thoroughly twisted around his waist and shoulders. Part of his leg was visible: still very red and swollen. A couple of the healing crystals seemed to have gotten loose from under his shirt during the night, and had landed on the floor around him. Drek was blanketlessly curled up in a perfect circle upon the beanbag chair in the sleeping area. Neither of them seemed ready to get up for the day.
Hmmm, Colb thought to himself as he gathered the fallen crystals around the eyepatched goblin. His leg is still swollen... I knew I must've done something wrong. Poor Stibs... I should let him keep sleeping, at least; maybe that will help his leg, yes? He looked over at Drek, who seemed knocked out as well. Perhaps I should let them both sleep, yes? I'll find 27, then come back in an hour to make a meal for everyone. Colb finished collecting the gemstones that had fallen off Stibs, and placed them in a pile on the floor, next to the Hewmish instruction sheet.
Colb then headed out of the Yiklar Folding Cabin, and to the city. With the rain gone, the dried-off wood of the mapleoak buildings looked to be a lighter brown than they were yesterday. The smooth bismuthslate roads looked the same: black from some angles, but a brilliant rainbow-color from others.
Cantia's city streets were bustling with morning activity. Loud clanks of metal against metal came from a blacksmith's studio. A pair of human seagullfisherman shouted about their latest catch in the streets. A group of short children marched into a school with stressed looks on their faces. Truly, the city was alive this morning.
Colb hid in the shadows, aiming to avoid another dangerous encounter with the humans. He sneakily searched the town for what felt like days, looking for a lick of green skin amongst the crowds of pale humans. Finally, after three hours of searching – which was much longer than he'd planned to be out – he heard 27's telltale "AaAaaaaahhhh" come from the window of a nearby tavern.
