>>18128288
Find out what, exactly, in explicit, non-vague terms what she wants us to do.

>>18128318

How exactly will you phrase this question?

>>18128424
"What exactly do you want me to do while I'm here working for you? The previous Grekl and my slavers before her would only tell me on a situational basis."

>>18128440

"By the end of the covey, the grekls who are neither meek nor foolish will work together to fortify this position, or perhaps one of the nearby islands. Once our walls are raised, we will begin breeding. The more life-magic available, the faster and stronger our army will grow. And there is no biomancy like that of an elf."

She looks at you intently.

"You will be important, powerful. I will see to it that the ilgoblins answer to you. Shtath has hinted that you are also a clever tactician; prove this to me, and you might even become a commander in our horde. When our army is ready, you will be able to make your vengeance on the orcs as personally as you wish."

>>18128503
>she wants us to help them breed
Ewww...

But actually that's a lot better than I was expecting.

>>18128503
"I don't want vengeance so much as I want to go home someday. So long as you'll have me as a guest, I'll do my share of the work and more. I don't want to make the orcs suffer, though, so much as I want nothing to to with them. You've also shown me tonight that I'll never have a true home among your people. I'll help you as you need, make your army for you. When that's done, though, I want to be able to go home."

>>18128543
That's risky. If she agrees it would save us a lot of trouble but if she doesn't want to give up our power then we could become a proper slave again and it would be harder to escape and get home.

>>18128571
The only way we're not a slave is if we KNOW we have the freedom to leave. If we don't, we're still a slave. We're still a captive. We are confirming now, for real, that we aren't a slave. That we're a guest and a partner.

>>18128543

She grunts, nodding her bruise-blue head.

"I'm not going to water things down. The orcs have claimed a vast territory between us and where I suspect your home to be. If they raided your forest once and captured you, its likely that they've done it again since then. For all we know, you might not have a home left to go to."

She turned to her table of strange artifacts, looking at them as if deciding which to use.

"In either case, I don't think you'll be able to go back to your old life until the orc problem is solved. Were I in your place, I'd put all my energy in getting rid of them before trying to go anywhere."

>>18128585
What I was saying is that if she wants us no matter what and won't let us leave, then telling her we want to leave will just make her guard us more carefully. If we hadn't asked in that case and she kept trying to keep up the illusion of freedom it would have been easier to escape. It seems to have worked out though.

After a moment's silence, she picks out a fossilized, humanoid skull and turns it upside-down in her hand.

"Well," she says, "if you're going to be any help, you'll need your sleep. There's a stand of trees along the coast, behind the first hill point, where no one is likely to go. My most trusted and stealthiest ilgoblin can meet you there in the nights, and return you there before dawn. That is, until the Shtath problem has solved itself one way or another."

She pours something into the skull from a small pouch. It looks like water, but smells pungent.

"I can ward your chosen tree, to further decrease the chances of unwanted visitors. We should go now, though, before everyone wakes up."

>>18128783
"Yes, ma'am."

>>18128795

You pick the sturdiest tree in the little coastal grove, and Mogla drops one of its leaves into her skull-cup. Dawn approaches, and you take a much needed sleep. All the next day, you are part of the tree's trunk. When you awaken the following dusk, you feel better than you have in a very long time.

A hunch-backed ilgoblin is waiting by your tree. He speaks in a laudable attempt at the trade language.

"Me Nowen. Son of Grekl Mogla. You named Web?"

>>18128944
"Yes, it is. Are you here to take me to Grekl Mogla?"

>>18128965

He doesn't understand until you repeat yourself in Gobledigook.

"Yes. Follow me."


And I'm really tired. Short thread, but important decisions were made. We'll resume this tomorrow night at 9.

>>18129115
Okay.