Monday, May 27, 2013

Legends of War: Goblin Corpse Fire, Prayer to Sesom

Every creature that has ever encountered a Goblin knows them to be repulsive. Goblins do not care for such things as personal hygiene or medicine, and many Goblins will die from infected wounds or diseases that spread through their camp. Yet, the numbers of Goblins is such that they could lose a thousand of their own to diseases every day, and still not feel the effects of the large scale deaths. In fact, the deaths of the Goblins may actually be a boon, as it frees up more food and room for the other Goblins. However, the weapons and arms of the dead Goblins will go onto a greater purpose: the Corpse Fire.

Every night, at every camp without fail, the Goblins will gather together all the bones of the day's meals and the bodies of the enemy dead, stripped  of anything of value, and place them into a giant pile. Then the Goblins will cover them in some sort of flammable material, be it Tar or Rum, and light them all on fire. The Goblins will gather around the fire and dance around it while singing, yelling, drinking and playing instruments, until the fire is at least twice as tall as the tallest Goblin. At this point, the group will reach a fever pitch and will bring together all the dead warriors, with their weapons and armor nailed and tied to their bodies, and toss them into the fire. It is unknown why the Goblins, traditional scavengers of the highest value, would waste perfectly good armaments in such a way, but it would seem to be that Goblins will only take the possessions of any non Goblin, and, while never explained, there have been tied up live Goblins thrown into the fire, which suggests the treatment of Goblin thieves.

When the last of the bodies enters the fire, the entire congregation turns silent. If the Group is lucky, then their Corpse Fire is the largest in the world, and the Smoke will take an a form resembling a face. When this happens, the assembled Goblins will erupt into a rousing cheer as the highest ranking Goblin, be it a Supa' Geneus or Boss, approaches Sesom. The Goblin will be able to ask Sesom one question of any nature, be it about the weather or the distance to the nearest enemy army. Comforted with this knowledge, the Goblins will march forward into the world, ready to face any threat that comes their way, while the Goblins who failed to summon Sesom will simply go for a larger fire that night; creating a never ending cycle of questions and answers connected by fire.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013