Wiltok walked into the Black Forest alone with a bow and twenty arrows. The dark night covered his figure, and the campfire raised by the orcs pointed him in the direction of the investigation.
If the night owls living in the woods had not flown away from their homes, they would have been eaten as snacks by the hungry orcs. This is good news. At least when Vertok sneaked into the forest, there was no one overhead.
Noisy silly birds cooed at him.
An oppressive silence enveloped the dark forest, and the rustling footsteps of Wiltok seemed particularly abrupt.
The perception of dire gnolls far exceeds that of half-elf professionals. They have a keen sense of smell, vision and hearing. The noises in the forest are difficult to hide from the ears of gnolls.
Vertok is not worried that he will alert the gnolls. The title of "Gnoll Killer" provides him with the ability to become mentally invisible, only targeting gnolls.
Vertok needs to beware of goblins and goatheads. The perception of these two types of orcs is mediocre, and they do not have the talent for night vision. The grass-eating goatheads even have the defect of amblyopia at night and must use firelight for illumination. However, they
Once the sneaking Vertok is discovered, he can completely awaken the ferocious gnoll and automatically remove the negative impact of the title of "Gnoll Killer".
Through the light of the campfire and the noise of the goblins, Wiltok had pinpointed the specific location of the Bone Collector's camp. He deliberately walked around a few times outside, but unexpectedly did not find the sentries posted by the Bone Collector gang.
Hobgoblins are very smart. They can remember the surrounding terrain and environment, and they have a three-dimensional map in their minds. When camping, hobgoblins usually set up open sentries and hidden sentries outside the camp to alternately monitor the surrounding movements. The open sentries and hidden sentries
The hidden sentries are all decoys. They are not far apart and monitor each other. As long as the sentry goblin is killed by the enemy, the other sentries will issue a warning.
Goblins with ordinary perception rely on this method to deal with sneak attacks from predators.
However, Vertok did not encounter the ferocious gnoll sentries, nor the goblins' overt or covert sentries.
The Dire Gnolls in the Bone Collector's gang should gather together, because not long ago, Vertok hunted a Dire Gnoll, and the rest of the Gnolls did not dare to disperse alone. Because of this, the leader of the hobgoblin should be there.
Warning sentries were posted around the camp.
The leader of the hobgoblin did not arrange any sentries tonight. This is very unusual.
He directly used his talent for wind movement and silently jumped onto a big tree. He stepped on the branches and pressed his back against the tree trunk. He used the shadows to hide his figure and looked down at the orc camp.
The campfire provided him with good light, and he had a clear view of the camp even though it was more than 400 meters away.
Two green-skinned hobgoblins were dancing in front of the fire, shouting wildly. A group of clawed goblins, bugbears, jackals and goatheads were all watching the lame "performance" of the hobgoblin leader. They were very fascinated.
As the hobgoblins moved, the shouts became more intense. The clawed goblins and bugbears began to respond first, then the unresponsive goatheads, and finally even the cunning and selfish gnolls started to move.
"Ho, ho, ho ho... ho, ho, ho ho..."
A large group of grotesque orcs were all imitating the appearance of the hobgoblin leader, twisting their limbs and making sounds. Gradually, their movements and sounds became orderly, and the black shadows drawn out by the bonfire were connected together, as if there was a strand.
The invisible force pulls the creatures in the camp into a whole.
The forest shrouded in darkness looks absurd and terrifying because of the confusing behavior of these Bone Collector orcs.
Few people know how the hobgoblins enslaved other intelligent races. Veltok has a relatively deep understanding of this.
The memory of the great goblin Wowo shows that food distribution rights, the bugbear's deterrence, and the balancing game of power are all indispensable means for it to control its slaves.
In addition, Wowo will also hold gatherings from time to time.
Hobgoblin party activities include beautiful singing? Wonderful dancing? Or, passionate speeches?
I'm afraid Disa half-elf will not admit that ugly goblins also know how to appreciate these things, but the principles are the same, just like the connection of souls.
The mind of living things is not limited by time and space. If it remains open, it will affect others and be affected by others. The entanglement of minds constitutes an ocean of pan-consciousness. The power of a single mind is weak, but if the mind gathers together to form a group consciousness
, its appeal and influence will be unimaginably improved.
Whether it is singing, dancing, or giving a speech, outsiders will inevitably have the impression that "the performers on the stage are lunatics, and the audience below the stage are fools." Those who are immersed in the scene will often be affected by the atmosphere of the scene.
Soul resonance, excited shouting, applause and cheers, boos and curses, pious tears and so on.
The truth is very simple. The amazing thing is that the hobgoblins' "performance" objects are cross-race. They first guide the spiritual power of ordinary goblins, and then distort the mental bodies of beasts or intelligent species.
The Disa half-elf would never admit that the hobgoblins stomping their feet and wiggling their buttocks deserved to be called a "performance". The goblin king Wovo called this a "goblin gathering". Vertok believed that the word "ritual" should be used to describe the earth.
The confusing behavior of Jing would be more accurate.
The ritual of the hobgoblin...the "secret ritual" unique to the goblin kingdom.
The night wind brought the smoke from the burning campfire, and Wiltok could distinguish the smell of nectarine from it. It was a herb with hallucinogenic effects.
There is no doubt that the hobgoblin leader of the Bone Collector gang is holding a secret ceremony!
So why do they hold secret rituals in the wild and ignore vital warnings?
Even the ferocious gnolls seemed to be in a trance during this secret ceremony. Wiltok was confident that he could sneak another 150 meters and, with his talent for wind movement, kill the two hobgoblin leaders with distorted faces and red eyes with bows and arrows.
The Bone Collector Orcs were defenseless at this time, and Wiltok's success rate in hunting down the Bone Collector leader greatly increased. However, he did not take action in a hurry, but continued to observe in the canopy.
As time goes by, the skin color of some claw goblins becomes darker. Before that, at least 67 claw goblins' earthy red skin color became lighter and tended to turn green. Compared with other similar ones, they looked like two
Different groups of goblins. It is the secret ritual performed by the hobgoblins that allows these clawed goblins to return to earthy red skin color.
Vertok probably understood how the clawed goblins came to be.
The goblin nobles of the orc kingdom have a special set of secret rituals that can transform ordinary green-skinned goblins into crazy and extremely aggressive claw goblins. However, the claw goblins can return to normal. The leader of the hobgoblin needs to perform a secret ritual
maintain their shape.
Considering that there were too many orcs in this group, there were actually more than 200 claw goblins. Wiltok guessed that they actually came from two bone collector gangs, and the hobgoblin leader of one of the gangs might have died. So, the other
A gang of hobgoblins has recruited some claw goblins. The physical and mental state of these claw goblins is unstable and has a tendency to return to normal.
Therefore, the two hobgoblin leaders had to hold a secret ceremony tonight to prevent the clawed goblins from escaping their enslavement.
This may have something to do with Vertok. His title of "Goblin Slayer" frightened the Claw Goblin twice, and the ability of psychic touch directly acted on the Claw Goblin's mental body, causing it to lose control.
Whether it is enslavement or charm, the impact of the hobgoblin's channeling the spiritual power of ordinary goblins is mutual. How can the hobgoblin want to appease the clawed goblin without paying a price?
The expressions of the two hobgoblins were ferocious, and their gnashing teeth were full of hatred and pain.
Vertok felt like they were going crazy.
The title of "Goblin Slayer" first frightens the clawed goblins, and then arouses hatred. The leader of the hobgoblin performs a secret ritual on the clawed goblins, which is equivalent to an indirect fight with the master of the mind. It is strange that they don't go crazy.
However, what shocked Vertok even more was that in addition to the orcs, there were also two half-elf women.
They were in ragged clothes, with dull eyes, and their bodies and faces were covered in mud. They were crawling at the feet of the hobgoblin, doing the same movements as other orcs. Wiltok still recognized these two from their facial features and body proportions.
The half-elves are the archer Annie and the animal trainer Katie of the Whistle Adventure Group.
He didn't expect to see Annie and Katie again under such circumstances. They had obviously suffered a lot and were now enslaved by the leader of the Bone Collector.
It is common for hobgoblins to enslave beasts and orcs, but it is unprecedented to enslave half-elf professionals in civilized countries. At least Wiltok has not heard of it.
The primitive orc Bone Collector is a natural rivalry with the Disa half-elf. Why don't they just eat Annie and Katie?
What happened to the other male members of the Whistle Adventure Group?
What is the purpose of this gang of bone collectors in enslaving female adventurers?
In any case, it is very rare for hobgoblins to enslave half-elf female professionals. Wiltok himself cannot explain why. He just wants to collect more and more comprehensive information.
With strong curiosity, Vertok decided to give up his plan to kill the hobgoblin leader and secretly observed the development of the situation.