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    Garrick The Hobgoblin And The Goblins Of The Blooded Belly Gang
    Garrick The Hobgoblin And The Goblins Of The Blooded Belly Gang
    Garrick The Hobgoblin And The Goblins Of The Blooded Belly Gang
    Ebook206 pages3 hours

    Garrick The Hobgoblin And The Goblins Of The Blooded Belly Gang

    By Jonathan Antony Strickland

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    About this ebook

    This story will follow a hobgoblin called Garrick and the Blooded Belly Gang on an adventure as they strive to stay alive within the Su'Varock mines that they call home. Through this they will face fearsome creatures, undertake bloody trials, and have to overcome threats and dangers if they want their story to unfold and be passed on to future generations of their tribe. For though they are only goblins, and the history of the mines is much more classic and bloodthirsty in its telling, the goblins story (though much less significant) will hopefully show that not all fantasy stories need to be big butch legendary epics, with stories featuring such things as powerful armies lead by mighty noble kings, deadly fire breathing dragons intent on burning down cities, or potent wizards capable of the greatest of sorceries to hold the interest of a wandering readers mind!

    This is the hobgoblin Garrick, and this (for now) is his story!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJonathan Antony Strickland
    Release dateOct 5, 2018
    ISBN9780463664254
    Garrick The Hobgoblin And The Goblins Of The Blooded Belly Gang
    Author

    Jonathan Antony Strickland

    You really want me to reveal personal information here?O.K then... here's some stuff you might (or might not) like to know about me!Well for starters you can contact me on milthyswinebuckle@gmail.comMy Hobbies:1_Are you bored. Then do what I do. Take off all your clothes and paint your face and arse bright blue. Then run outside and shout abuse at passers-by... passes the time if nothing else!2_Managed 18 keepy ups with ye old pigs bladder once....What's that you say? Not that impressive! Well... what I failed to tell you was that the pigs bladder that I did the 18 keepy ups with, was still inside the pig!3_Not pissing on the evil that is Milthy Swinebuckle, if he were ever to catch fire4_Scratching my arse!5_Watching Milthy get his arse kicked by a three legged tortoise...HA !!!6_Scratching my arse and..oh wait I've already said that! Ah, what the hell. It's a good one so I'll say it again.7_???? **** ???? with **** then ?*?*!8_Wondering what I'm doing during hobby seven?MY most prized possession: Hitler's missing left testicle (NOT FOR SALE).My most famous quotes:1_A step in the right direction can still mean the death of an ant!2_I look down on almost everybody...although come to think about it, it's probably because I do climb a lot of trees!3_You know that poem "if", what a load of crap. Kipling got it all wrong. What he should have said was "If you can portray the ideas you get to a sober man (no matter how shite though's ideas may be), and keep a straight face. Then you'll be a man MA SON!4_HMMMMMM........I think I'll eat my socks!5_MMMMM.......cheese and onion flavour .........NNNNIIIICCCCEEE!!!!6_Ignore the above quote's and instead just read and live your life by number 7.7 As far as I'm concerned you should not judge a fellow person on their looks, sex, race or beliefs. There are only two types of people: 1_Everyday ordinary people who just want to get on with their lives and not bother anybody else...2_The preachers, the arseholes and the gobshites, who want to tell you what to do, what you should be doing and how you should be doing it.My favourite words:...knickers, bra's, boobs, bums, knockers, shit, shite, bollicks, twat, boobs (such a good word it needed to be said twice), gussets, stains, ugabalooga, randy, stodgeflaps, fgkgkujhghrewh, and TURD!!! That's TURD... Got it? No? Then I'll say it again, just in case you missed it...T.U.R.DMy Arch Enemies:1_Milthy Swinebuckle....Beware he who sneaks, creeps, squawks and chortles. He who goes by many names. Names such as... Archibald Stott, Feagus the mostly squidgy, Terrance the quite nasty tormentor etc... but to me he will always be Milthy Swinebuckle (or if I meet him face to face... ARSEWIPE!)2_Mr.Hairy Monkfish... Swinebuckle's main henchman (and suspected bumchum)3_Randy Stodgeflaps... not much to say about this guy except he is one of Swinebuckle's best mates and a bit of a ballbag!Charity work.....Milthy Swinebuckle has been infected with writers tourettes. Only I can help him. I really hope I don't catch it though, as every few words he writes he can't stop himself writing words like..."KNICKERS" or "ARSE" or some other filth! It takes him a good twenty minutes to write and edit a single sentence. I really "NADS" feel sorry "BOOBS" for the "GUSSETS" poor guy......"B...BB...BBB BOTOMSSS, ARSEHOLES, PANTS,......Oh bugger!"PS: Does anyone actually read any of this personal information shit?

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      Book preview

      Garrick The Hobgoblin And The Goblins Of The Blooded Belly Gang - Jonathan Antony Strickland

      Smashwords Edition License Notes: This is a free story, you may reproduce it as you wish, so long as you do not charge for it. Please leave any comments on the authors smashwords page.

      Garrick The Hobgoblin And The Goblins Of The Blooded Belly Gang

      by: Jonathan Antony Strickland

      Part 1:

      THE SHADOW QUEEN

      It was some forty years since the mines had been in operation and the air within had been filled with the rock dust from a hundred blazing picks. Now they lay quiet, only occasionally bursting into violence when some of the denizens within would haphazardly meet. The mines had been originally started by the gnomes of Quellmarick in the same bloody year that had seen three huge tribes, one of humans, one of elves, and one of dwarves, all join together and declare war on the demon Lord UnGaTeP and his evil hordes of orcs, ogres, dark-elves and dead things. The demon Lord UnGaTeP had been awoken twenty three years earlier, created from the suffering caused by the Red Plague, a disease so terrible that it took twelve years before the greatest wizards and alchemists of the lands discovered a mass cure to thwart the grotesque sickness. In those twelve years the number of dead reached terrific levels and as the suffering and death grew, so too was a terrible demon born out of the misery as the dying gave prayer in hope to ease their pain. At first the demon hid himself from the creatures he most hated and sought to destroy, the ones that walked in sunlight and slept in night. In this time his power grew, and not wanting yet to reveal himself to those he hated, he instead hunted out his allies, amassing a terrible army whilst simultaneously using his powerful arcane magic to raise the twisted and rotten. Once satisfied he had enough power, he set forth on the land, causing havoc and bringing death on all things good that got in his way. That war, now known as The War Of The Red Spawn, had started one hundred and eighty years ago, while the gnomes mined away heartedly, collecting precious metals and jewels from the bowls of the Su'Varock mountains. When The War Of The Red Spawn ended twenty two years later however, with the demon Lords armies finally defeated and the dark winged nightmare, who called himself Lord UnGaTeP, said to have fled in fear (never to be seen or heard of since), the mines were now no longer under the control of the gnomes.

      For even though the gnomes had been hidden safe away, below and within the many mountains as a bloody war above raged, concealed from the many outside greedy eyes seeking great riches or even the hate filled eyes wanting to slate some form of bloodlust as they tunnelled and collected their booty, they had not counted on the dark magic of the Shadow Queen of the South. After only seven years her magic scrying eye had sought out the gnomes, discovering and revealing to her the many treasures that they had uncovered and horded. It took her just five months to reach the mountains, accompanied by her own personal army of goblins that for two hundred years she'd protected in the Stink Marshes of the South. Her attack was terrible, and even though the gnomes fought back hard, they could not stop the seemingly endless torrent of goblins that spewed into the tunnels they had dug, nor too could they stop the great Queen herself as she bit, clawed and breathed death down upon them. The Shadow Queen and her Stink Goblins took the riches and the mines quite easily, were she then ruled within the deepest depths as her goblins served her and continued the gnomes work, burrowing more and more, eating away at the rich mineral veins and collecting the many sparkling treasures that the prosperous mountains of Su'Varock brought.

      And so it remained for over a hundred years, though within that time the Shadow Queen faced much adversity. First came the remaining army of men, elves and dwarves who had fought against the demon Lord UnGaTeP. They had been told of the mines and the great riches unearthed by the few gnome survivors that had managed to escape the wrath of the Shadow Queen. Legend can only guess at why these soldiers still sought out adventure and war after the terrible bloody battles they had previously fought in against the Demon Lord. It was not that they were particularly wanting for wealth, for after defeating UnGaTeP, they found the great horde of riches he'd stolen as he had dealt out death on any village or town in his path. A common belief that was first put forward by the philosophers of Chogarantua, say it is perhaps Lord UnGaTeP's last piece of revenge against the ones who had caused his downfall. They claim that on his defeat, the demon Lord possibly cast a curse over those who had brought an end to his fearsome reign, filling their hearts forever with an unquenchable battle rage. It certainly does seem strange to an outsider, for once the demon Lord had been defeated, the riches and spoils he'd amassed were now theirs and theirs alone, shared between every human, dwarf and elf that had raised edged steel against the unholy tyrant.

      And so they came, clashing with the goblins, possibly trying to slake the burning bloodlust within their themselves. However, they were not the force they once were. Their numbers reduced to but a fifth of the amount from when they'd first took up arms against the Demon Lord. And even though their weaponry and armour was of much greater quality that that of the goblins, the sheer numbers of the small green ones was just too much for the men, elves and dwarves to overthrow. Even age played a part as the older warriors fought bravely but found that the stamina they once possessed years before was now lacking within their ageing limbs.

      As the goblins tore up their ranks, leaving less than fifty alive, then did the Shadow Queen make her entrance from the depths that the warriors fought to conquer. Even these stalwart old warriors, who had faced Lord UnGaTeP and his fearsome army, quaked in horror as she revealed herself, towering darkly above them, mockingly grinning, as her jet black serpent eyes narrowed just before she spewed out the green filth from her gut to cover and dissolve the last remaining soldiers of The Demon War.

      Part 2:

      DIRTY OLD ONE EYED GREEN SKIN

      Next to attack the mines came thirty powerful wizards of Plogaron, and accompanying them the small Plogaron army who had joined forces with a neighbouring band of battle tough troglodytes who lived within the harsh and vast Kelp forest. The people of Plogaron were ruled over by thirty seven evil hearted wizards, and though the wizards offered protection from outside invaders, in return they asked for a random blood sacrifice every full moon. No citizen was spared, be they old, young, wealthy or poor. The only reason for this sacrifice was to keep the local populace in fear, for the wizards took their power from enslaving minor demons that had been created through some small yet horrible occurrence, making the monthly sacrifices ideal for their purpose. They would then charge their magic with the hatred, fear and suffering that made up the demons very essence. Only seven of the oldest wizards were left behind to defend and govern Plogaron as the army marched towards Su'Varock.

      These Plogaron's came strictly for the riches, whereas the troglodytes sought not only the riches, but an escape and a new home from the forest that for over a thousand years they'd lived in. The forest itself was not dreaded by the troglodytes. Indeed, the group who had joined with the wizards actually loved the green lush woods, tricking and slaughtering any meat they found within, be it animal or intelligent. In fact, there was no meat a troglodyte would not eat. They had planned on slaughtering the wizards once the goblins had been driven out and looked forward to tasting the magically charged flesh.

      The reason they fled the woods was because of Dirty Old One Eyed Green Skin. He had made his home six years ago within the centre of the forest, digging out a great cave in the ground to sleep in after a particularly powerful group of hardened adventures had driven him from the castle ruins of Dankmood that he'd lived in for nearly two hundred years. Dankmood had once been a thriving populace of humans, elves, dwarves and halflings, until the day came when Dirty Old One Eyed Green Skin (who back then had been known as just Dirty Green Skin. It had been the troglodytes that had added the Old One Eyed part to his name) came down from the sky breathing his choking breadth that asphyxiated all who breathed it in. The Dankmood people who survived fled, leaving their homes and castle behind, to set up new lives far away from Dirty Old One Eyed Green Skin.

      Over the next two hundred years, Dirty Old One Eyed Green Skin lived in the castle, taking great pleasure in watching it decay around him. He only left his home when he needed food, though in these parts food was easy to come by as great mammoths roamed the vast grass lands around the city. Only occasionally would trouble come, and always in the form of adventurers, keen to displace him from Dankmood and gain the small cities wealth that Dirty Old One Eyed Green Skin had horded into his nest.

      Most of the time these adventurers proved little problem, and even could be quite tasty and a welcome change from stolid mammoth meat. Sometimes though there would come a party who could challenge even him, though for two hundred years the only serious injury he'd suffered was for one of his eyes to have been put out by a particularly accurate elven archer. Later, he'd skewed the elf alive and ate him slowly over the next few days.

      Over the many years more adventurers came, but all fell before him, later ending up as his food. But then a party of seven adventurers came like no other before them. These were truly powerful, riding on the backs of strange and fantastic beasts, brandishing glowing enchanted weapons, able to incant grand magic to protect them from Dirty Old One Eyed Green Skin's terrible breath. He did manage to kill two of the seven humanoids that day, but it took out all his fight as his green hide was sliced and magically scorched by an onslaught that was so terrible, he quickly came to realise that his only chance of survival was to flee, taking to the skies and leaving the adventurers and Dankmood forever behind him.

      He flew for days, seeking out somewhere safe he could rest and regenerate the damaged flesh that served as his armour. Eventually the great Kelp forest loomed before him and he knew that this place, for one such as he, being as big as he was, could keep him well hidden and with a bit of luck free from those nasty adventuring types. It also provided a reasonable place to hunt food, mainly from a large nest of troglodytes who made their homes in the spidery underground caves made by long dead roots from great giant fir trees, thousands of years old. Being so big he could not fit into their caves, so he had to dig the troglodytes out, using he's keen hearing to locate their underground shufflings. They weren't very tasty and could also be quite vicious, but at least their simple weapons could hardly break through his skin.

      The wizards had learned of the Shadow Queens ability to scry the lands and watch over her own, which meant a surprise attack on her and the Stink Goblins was impossible for a large army, such as the one they now commanded. But with the wizard's number being so great, meant that their magic was extremely powerful and they blocked her all seeing eye as they marched towards her realm. So as they finally reached the Su'Varock mountains, leaving the soft earth of the hills and stepping into the vast fields of shale, no doubt dug out from the mountains very guts from the gnome miners of the past and the goblin miners of the present, they saw for the first time one of the many openings which led into the mines. They were pleased to find that their arrival had indeed gone unnoticed, with no defences set to hinder their forthcoming assault. They knew though that they would have little time before their position was reported to the Shadow Queen, and even though a bit weary from the march, they did not rest. Instead they made ready for war, the men forming military ranks with line upon line wielding pikes or swords, and behind them archers trained in the longbow. The mass of troglodytes who were behind the men, armed themselves with spears and clubs. They danced about insanely, croaking as they worked themselves up at the thought of fresh meat being in their bellies once the battle was won. And although they knew nothing of large scale warfare, they still were ready to spill some blood and would prove a terrible force for most armies of similar a number. They swarmed together in a gigantic and chaotic group, waiting for any form of attack to issue forth from the mines.

      It was however the wizards of Plogaron who were first to attack as a group of soldiers guarded them and the toad like troglodytes made ready for the follow-up. They weaved their magic as a huge conch shell that measured the size of a large man was brought forward. The shell had been carried all the way from Plogaron and was now placed at the entrance of the mine. Then pointing the massive opening of the shell into the mine they cast a specific spell that had been specially created by the thirty seven wizards as they planned their attacks within the village of Plogaron. The troglodytes and the Plogaron soldiers watched and listened as the huge shell began to vibrate and a quiet screeching noise poured out from the shell and down into the dark depths of the mines. The noise was barely audible to most ears but had been designed specifically to effect that of goblins. And as the noise reverberated around the vast shafts and corridors within, the goblins howled and whined as their ears throbbed and faces grimaced in pain.

      Out they flowed, a green wave of hatred and curses directed at this new enemy. But though a lot of goblins issued forth to be met by the fierce troglodytes and the men of Plogaron, it was not the great number that the wizards had prepared for, nor did the Shadow Queen enter into the fray as the wizards prepared yet another spell to combat against her, if she was to make an entrance.

      As these hapless goblins fought a losing battle with the soldiers and troglodytes, the wizards waited behind a wall of their best warriors. As battle raged in front of them, the wizards gave the command for a large metal rod the length of three men to be brought forth. This monstrous rod, made from an alien metal, had strange mystical symbols painted upon it. It was so heavy that it had to be carried by four strong slaves. The wizards then directed the slaves to point the tree sized metal rod at the mountain.

      As this went on and the goblins numbers dwindled, cheering men and galumphing Troglodytes began to celebrate the soon to be victory, shaking their weapons skyward, but then stopping suddenly as they beheld the forthcoming horror. For too late was the danger spotted as from behind the wizards a huge black shadow began to loom. Turning to see what their men and the troglodytes gaped at did the wizard's look up at the Shadow Queen as she gave a mighty roar, with her huge flying form closing in on them fast, she swooped downwards from behind the hill they'd marched down but moments before. To add to this dreadfulness, the grounds all around them began to explode upwards in small pockets of rocks as thousands of goblins who had buried themselves beneath the shattered stone burst forth, using small tubes made from marsh reeds to breath out of while buried. These reeds had been minutely poked up out of the ground, just enough so as the tip tasted the air and thus

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