Gurk Firestone.
Aged 5 by the imperial calendar, he was already a goblin adult. Unlike humans, goblins had limited life expectancy. 60 years for the few that survived to that age. For most, the average life expectancy was 2 or 3 years in most goblin tribes.
After he was born, Gurk was quickly identified as a highly intelligent goblin. He created his own hunting unit at 2 months to sustain his growth, stating that his body needed nutrients. After 4 months, the village was undergoing a change, with Gurk exchanging weapons for medicinal herbs. Then, at one-year-old, he was granted the title of "Goblin Shaman" after successfully summoning the tribe's guardian spirit, something that had not happened for a decade and thought to be lies spilled by elder goblins to scare younglings.
Four years later, the White Lion Tribe had undergone great changes. The number of goblins had increased in a controlled manner, from a puny number of 200 to 1000. The small tribe that was getting eaten by wolves in the night was now living in a Wooden fortress on a coast after relocating, with access to potable water from the river deserving the sea, fish to sustain their numbers, and even underground farming of mushrooms.
Goblin warriors who were too skinny to hold wooden sticks could now wield sharpened spears with proficiency and strength.
Goblin archers who could barely hunt rabbits now often returned to the Wooden Fortress with wolves and sometimes even stronger game, like bears.
Goblin Wolf Riders were scouting the coast and forest, scouting the island and allowing Gurk to keep track of the Island of Bones dynamics.
Gurk had effectively elevated the nomadic White Lion Goblin Tribe to one of the four strongest civilisation on the island. They had, after all, defeated the murlocs from the northern coast.
Down in the central square, where the totem of the White Lion guardian spirit resided, Gurk was meditating and channeling his spiritual force.
[Beep! You have completed a cycle of the Arcane Meditation Technique...Your spiritual force has increased by 0.002 point]
[Beep! Gurk Firestone, Intermediate Rank 0 Shaman | Status: Healthy
Strength: 0.8, Agility: 1.4, Vitality: 0.7, Spiritual force: 6.2
Contracted Spirit: White Lion Serenus (Intermediate Rank 0 Spirit)
Rank 0 Spells: Armor of Agathys, Spectral Frost Hand, Acidic Arrow, Ice Knife, Fog Cloud, Summon Spirit]
The White Lion Tribe's rise was not normal. The technological progress and overall civilisation uprise seen in the past five years would normally take many generations, if not centuries. Even if it somehow managed to survive that long, large goblin tribes would generally cap at a population of 400, after which internal conflicts almost always appeared.
And that irregularity came from one single individual: Gurk Firestone.
And he had a secret. He was not always a goblin. He used to be a Swadian mage, a puny beginner rank 0 acolyte who died of old age in some rural territory after 60 years of loyal service to a pig-like baron.
"Shaman Gurk", a loud voice reverberated
He ignored it.
He reminisced the past.
His biochip, a gnome relic he had found in ruins and somehow followed him through reincarnation, had stayed with him. The knowledge accumulated, the history, the spells he had learned...everything he accumulated in the past stayed. The biochip was a testament to the past, and his greatest accelerator for the changes he was creating.
And it showed.
In five years, he had already reached the intermediate rank, a realm he had always eyed but never reached. His new vessel was talented, certainly so. But ultimately, it was knowledge and hard work that pushed him to that extent.
"Shaman Gurk", the voice repeated, this time louder.
Gurk opened his eyes. It was none other than Varg.
Chieftain of the White Lion Tribe, a very strong goblin warrior with a face that showed three scars from wars he had not witnessed due to him not being born yet.
Varg Stone. Chieftain of the White Lion Tribe, 22 years old, wise and strong.
[Beep! Varg Stone, Intermediate Rank 0 Goblin Warrior | Status: Healthy
Strength: 3.8, Agility: 3.4, Vitality: 3.7, Spiritual force: 0.3]
"The White Lion Totem is sacred...", Gurk spoke, "Are you disrespecting the commandment I set in place?"
Varg looked at the White Lion Totem and gulped.
[White Lion Totem - Advanced Rank 0 Magical Artefact
Carved from the heartwood of an ancient petrified Ironwood tree, this 12-foot totem depicts a roaring lion with intricate frost-runes etched into its mane and pale blue gemstone eyes that pulse with silver-blue light.
Properties:
Guardian's Anchor: Serves as the physical tether for the Intermediate Rank 0 Spirit Serenus. While within 60 feet of the totem, the cost to summon or maintain Serenus is halved, and the spirit renegeneration and growth is increased by 23%.
Sanctuary Aura (Passive): Emits a continuous 300-foot aura of spiritual intimidation. Beast-type creatures cannot approach it without feeling tremendous fear. Goblins of the White Lion Tribe feel faith instead of fear
Arcane Resonance: Any spellcaster meditating within 30 feet of the totem gains a 23% bonus in meditation effectiveness to recover and grow spiritual force.
Faith Growth: Faith score increases with the strength of the faith of its followers. Current faith score is23]
Magical artefacts were very rare. Only the wealthiest advanced rank acolytes in the royal mage tower would only have one or two at most. And most of the time, they would be lower rank 0 magical artefact.
Gurk inherited an intermediate rank 0 magical artefact, and after four years of shamanism, grew it to be of advanced rank by raising the faith score past 20. Although it may not look significant, a 23% increase in growth and recovery would be enough to attract magus greed.
This was another reason behind Gurk's insane growth. At this rate, becoming an advanced rank 0 shaman was within reach. It was only a matter of years. In a plane where rank 1 magus-level creatures could be counted on fingers in every empire and kingdoms, advanced rank 0 was very near the peak of this world.
If you disregarded the rank 2 elder dragons, that is...
Varg knelt. The pressure was too much.
Although he was the chieftain, the true leader of the White Lion Tribe was Gurk. And he was the one who accepted the change wholeheartedly. Because of faith.
"My apologies, Shaman Gurk. This was not my intention. However...There is a report that you need to hear", he muttered
Speech in the tribe had improved. Rather than syllabus, the goblins spoke with groans and guttural sounds, frequencies determining meaning. This was very interesting, and something that humans never quite grasped. They always thought goblins to be incapable of speech and the reason why they were not able to form proper civilisations despite their numbers and genuine intellect.
It was just that they lacked a system to communicate. Like primitive humans in the past.
"Tell me", Gurk nodded, seeing the scout next to Varg trembling.
Varg tapped the shoulder of the scout.
Gurk recognized him. A senior called Borg
[Beep! Borg, Beginner Rank 0 Goblin Warrior | Status: Healthy
Strength: 2.3, Agility: 1.8, Vitality: 2.2, Spiritual force: 0.1]
A genuine talent, one that qualified as a "goblin warrior". This title was not given easily. Just like human knights, goblin warriors needed to have at least 2 points on average in physical stats. For humans, this required a few years of intense training.
For goblins, this required potions, training, talent, and immense organic meat ingested.
Of course, Varg was an irregularity, being the only intermediate rank 0 goblin warrior of the tribe.
Borg spoke hesitantly: "Two wolf riders got injured in the Black Forest"
Gurk frowned. Injuries were not unfrequent, but all wolf riders were goblin warriors. Also, they were trained not to attack the true monstrosities that lived in the Black Forest.
He continued: "We were hunting a brown bear for days, and when we finally killed it, the prey was snatched. We were ambushed by the grey-skinned"
Gurk smirked.
"So they finally made their move, huh?"