A Half-Goblin Kid

Part 1 of Doy of the Marshes

Doy was a hwblin, meaning human dad and goblin mom. But before you turn the page thinking you know that old story, think again, for this hwblin grew up in goblin lands. Olddy, his dad, in fact, was a human captive, a servant of the tribe and his mom, Princess Ileta, was a goblin. If you know something about the goblins of the Western Marshes, you've guessed that their union didn't sit well with King Rrundal. Our great lord, after a long night of fury and ritual shouting, went down from his throne and summoned the Great Goblin Council.

In attendance were: the wise elders, the greatest of wolf riders, the swiftest of the swift scouts and the twelve princes; not to mention as many goblins and servants as the Great Hall could host. At the center of it all was poor Olddy, all tied up and waiting to know the manner in which he as to depart from this shoddy world.

But then it was this minor prince, Tedus, who intervened.

The boy hadn't yet reached adulthood and was not a highborn but had gained some fame among our goblins for his bravery and wisdom. Indeed, princehood has been bestowed upon him by virtue of great loot. When a younger boy, humans made him a slave, for two years he was forced to guard sheep and most would have resigned to that fate. But not Tedus, the boy, caught two humans as loot, a host of ferocious dogs and a considerable flock of sheep and let them out of human lands through the Lordship of Wrongkfangks, King of Orcs and brought them all to our lands and to a hero's welcome.

King Rrundal, fair and just, honored the young hero and crowned him a prince so that, in the event of the death of all his children, Tedus could be raised to the throne. Since then, the boy's wisdom has shown to be greater than his year. He helped all in need, might they be a high-born goblin, a lowly human servant or a puny halfling girl. He comforted the sick and weary, he made a quest to deliver food to solitary goblin witches. And, boy!, was he a great raider. In the inner walls of the human city of Caddair, many more times than you can count, he wrote his challenges. Great loot he has brought from them: gold, meat, copper, sheep and slaves. Generous, he also freed some of those slaves, including the first two that he brought in. So great he was that these human slaves counted him as a friend, shocking as this might be to you.

Well, so this prince Tedus said that while the crime was grave, the life of the servant should be spared. Firstly, because that Olddy was expensive, not a boy but quite an adult human and dwarves, orcs or even humans themselves would pay some good loot. Secondly because of the orc curse, the belief that doing as an orc does does make you an orc. Thirdly because of all the pain that would rest on Princess Ileta and even the newborn.

Tedus arguments were found to be reasonable, and King Rrundal sent Olddy to be auctioned off. As for Doy, the newborn, he'll live as one of the king's slaves. And so the poor kid lived among the human cubs and those other slaves who lacked a mother until he reached the age of twelve.

At that time, King Rrundal had died on the field, fighting orc raiders. Prince Tedus was chasing them to avenge his death. Meanwhile, Princess Ileta had been crowned Queen of the goblins.

So were things the night, Doy was taken at dawn from his bed. “Doy!, the overseer said. Come, you aren't digging tatties today”.

Doy shook himself. That meant they wanted him to do something worse. “Take that”, the overseer said, “do you know what is it?"

“A human scroll”.

“A message, it has letters, you see.”

Doy shrugged. He couldn't read goblin, much less human. “What must I do?”

“Deliver it to old King Wrongkfangks!”

“Yes…”

White of fear and all, he turned and was about to go when the overseer laughed.

“No, not to Wrongkfangks, dumb wit! He'd kill you.”

“I know.”

“Er… your bohboh human side…”

“No, you must go to Caddair, sneak inside, you look human enough, no trouble.”

“But I can't speak human.”

“So? Just make gestures, pretend to be mute or something. But you must deliver that letter to a human priest, it's like a shaman, but they are clean. Well that priest is called Erek, not Erik, Erek, got that?”

“Yes.”

“And then Erek would tell you what to do next. Understood?”

The boy nodded.

“Nice, you eat double right now, next get to Kruhutz. She'll get you trailbread, a cape and sandals.”

“Sandals? Is that far?”

“Seven days, maybe more.”

“Seven days? But I'm a cub.”

“A slave, do as told, shut up.”

Doy nodded, but all this smelled of something very wrong.

End of Part 1