Ambrose walked over and handed the goblin his freshly whittled cup filled with water.

  "Ok, so tell me your name?" He asked.

  Ambrose had realised very quickly the intruder on his land wasn't a danger to him, mostly from the profuse apologising and begging for his life.

  The Goblin looked down at the cup, not able to meet Ambrose's gaze.

  "Gro-Lag, my name is Gro-Lag my lord." He stammered out.

  Ambrose scrunched up his face in confusion. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

  The goblin must have called him "my lord" a hundred times when he had been apologising.

  Gro-Lan looked up at him without raising his head. "Isn't that what you, I mean your people, call the person who's land you are on?"

  Ambrose paused at the question. Had hadn't really even considered if his ownership of his patch of land granted him any kind of title.

  "I mean, yes I guess you would." He replied after a moment. "Anyway, I am assuming it was you who took the pig carcass?"

  Gro-Lag returned to looking down at his cup, which Ambrose noticed was shaking a little.

  "I didn't think you wanted it my lord." He said, his voice shuddering as he did. "You hadn't tried to keep it from the beasts so I assumed it was discarded"

  He was correct in that Ambrose hadn't tied it up a tree as he had done with the organs. Though that was more to do with the weight of it and his limited number of good vines.

  "Ok, I can see how you would think that... but the bag-"

  Before Ambrose could finish his sentence, the goblin threw himself into a deep bow.

  "I'm sorry my lord, my, I mean I, was hungry, it's so hard to get food in these woods and my kind have been run out of the forest we used to call home." Gro-Lag said quickly.

  "Why were you run out?" Ambrose couldn't help but pick out this key detail from Gro-Lag's story. He had always heard that the goblins had been given a permanent home after the war.

  A mix of sadness and anger seem to creep onto Gro-Lag's face as he sat up. "The humans from the local town said they need to hunt for food and cut trees for building material. We tried to resist... but they had weapons."

  Ambrose felt his own touch of anger rising within him.

  "I'm very sorry to hear that." Ambrose stood and walked over to the bag the was hanging from the tree, he untied it and held it out to Gro-Lag.

  "Here you can have it"

  The goblin looked at him for a second, his face a statue, before he looked up at Ambrose clearly confused.

  "R-really?" was all he could seem to stutter out

  Ambrose smiled and held the bag a bit closer to him. "Yeah, I honestly have no idea what to do with them anyway, so you might as well take them"

  Gro-Lag's confusion shifted slightly at the comment "You can eat them?"

  It was a leading comment, as he was clearly asking if Ambrose realised, he could.

  Ambrose felt a little embarrassed. Of course, he knew you could eat an animal’s organs, he most defiantly had in pies and stews he was given at the orphanage or the alms house. But on their own they didn’t seem very… palatable.

  "I know, I'm just not really sure the best way how"

  Gro-Lag sat back a bit and thought "There are a few ways different ways you can cook them." He took the bag from Ambrose and looked at its contents "Like the kidneys, if you slice and soak it in salt water it takes away some of their more unpleasant flavors"

  "Really?" Ambrose said as he sat in front of the goblin.

  Gro-Lag nodded "The liver is really nice if you fry it on a hot stone with some pig belly fat, and the heart can be a bit tough but if you boil it, it's good."

  Ambrose was trying to make a mental note of all of this, when a sudden idea occurred to him.

  "Gro-Lag, you said you were struggling for food?" He asked

  Gro-Lag looked up; a bit sheepish again. "Yes, my lord."

  Ambrose rubbed the patchy beard on his chin. "If I agreed to share the animals I hunt with you, would you show me how to use more of them?"

  Gro-Lag looked at him, a bit apprehensive "I'm not sure what you mean my lord?"

  Ambrose paused for a moment to try to work out what he was trying to say.

  "You took the pig carcass, right?"

  Gro-Lag looked down again, but nodded in response.

  "What are you planning to do with it?"

  The goblin looked up and away for a second as he thought.

  "There is still good meat on the bone you can carve off, plus the bones can be used for tools and other crafts."

  Ambrose hadn't even thought that the bones of the animal could have use.

  So much for honoring the animal by using all of it. He thought.

  "And you know how to use the bones to make these tool and the like?"

  Gro-lag again nodded in response.

  "Would you make some for me, or teach me how?" Ambrose asked.

  "I suppose I could my lord." Gro-lag still looked very apprehensive at being asked, but seem be starting to understand what Ambrose wanted.

  Ambrose let out a sigh. "OK, well it's late now, you can sleep here if you want and we can start in the mor-."

  "I have a place to sleep, thank you my lord" Gro-lag quickly replied. "But I will be back at dawn if that pleases you?"

  "That will be great." Ambrose said with a smile.

  The two stood as the goblin prepared to leave. Once they had Ambrose offered Gro-lag his hand. When he did the goblin simply stared at it.

  "Sorry do your people not shake hands?" Ambrose asked.

  Gro-lag seemed to snap out of his trance and quickly shook Ambrose's offered hand.

  "No, my lord, it's just..." Gro-Lag seemed to pause for a moment considering what to say. "Thank you my lord, I will return at dawn"

  And with that the goblin left without another word.

  Ambrose sat back in his small shelter and drank some water. He didn’t know much about goblins; besides that, they got more rights after the war.

  Should I report what has happened to him, or maybe I can take him to the keepers to report it himself.

  Ambrose wasn’t sure what to do. The whole story made him uneasy and it sat with him until he dosed in to a restless sleep.

  "The goblin is a friend, he is a good soul, he can help you, put your trust in him"

  The whispering felt like it was coming from inside his own head, and while he found it strange, it filled him with a blissful sense of calm.

  "My lord?"

  Ambrose shot up in his shelter so hard that he knocked his head on one of the stakes, causing it to rock in the hole it was secured in.

  Gro-Lag jumped back in surprise at the sudden reaction.

  "Sorry my lord, I didn't mean to scare you" he said quickly.

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  Ambrose rubbed his eyes as he tried to get his brain back in reality. He looked around and could see it was clearly later then first light.

  "I've overslept?" Ambrose slurred. The comment was more a confirmation to himself then a question but Gro-Lag seemed to take it as the latter.

  "I arrived at first light as you asked but found you hadn't woken yet my lord" The goblin said. "I hope you don't mind but while I was waiting, I gathered some wood to start a fire, but I was unable to find your flint?"

  Ambrose looked over to the fire pit and could see that wood had been set into it, ready to light.

  "Oh, yeah I can see how that might be confusing." He said as he stood.

  He walked over and placed his hand near the fire, after a few moments of concentration a small flame appeared at his palm which quickly caught the wood.

  Gro-Lag stared in amazement at the meager magic. "I didn't realize you was a magus my lord."

  Ambrose sat back and gave a small laugh. "I would hardly call myself a mage, I couldn't even get past the first exam for the guild."

  "But you can do magic, how are you not a magus?" The goblin asked.

  Ambrose tried to think of a simple way to explain it, but in the end settled with a "It's complicated."

  "Anyway, have you eaten?" Ambrose asked "I have pork and venison I can cook."

  Gro-Lag gave a small smile at the offer but raised his hands in refusal. "That is very kind of you my lord, but let me cook for you, if you please?"

  Ambrose was a little surprised, but agreed to Gro-Lag's request. At his agreement Gro-Lag went to the bag that contained the organs and retrieved what Ambrose thought was the liver from it. He looked around for a moment and picked up two rocks, both of which were somewhat flat on one of their sides. The smaller of the rocks he placed closed to the fire, the second he laid on the ground in front of himself and the placed the liver on to it. He then took from a sheath on his belt a knife made on a material that Ambrose was fairly sure was bone.

  "Is that one of the tools you told me about?" He asked, pointing to the knife.

  Gro-Lag nodded and held out the knife for Ambrose to look at. As he took it his first impression was that it was much lighter than his hunting knife. The blade seemed to be a piece of bone that had been sharped to an edge, and while it was sharp, he could easily tell his steel knife was sharper. The handle made simply of some kind of rope wrapped around the lower length of the bone.

  "You made this?" Ambrose asked.

  Gro-Lag nodded "The blade is made from a bone of an elk and the handle is wrapped in twine made from tree bark"

  Ambrose was astounded. He thought his stone knives; despite their fragility, were a little impressive, but this knife seemed sharper than them and felt less fragile. But also-

  "You can make twine from trees?"

  Ambrose's solution of using vines had been working for the moment, but he knew eventually they would rot and snap, plus their strength was questionable.

  "I know how my lord; thought I didn’t make these." Gro-Lag responded.

  "Could you show me, I have nothing to offer but food to trade but it would really help" Ambrose asked.

  Gro-Lag seemed to considered for a second before answering "I think I could." He responded, somewhat halfhearted. "But we should continue with this at the moment" he said gesturing to the sliced meat.

  Gro-Lag untied a small pouch from his belt, he opened it an took a pinch of what was inside. "Salting the liver takes away some of the harshness" He explained. He sprinkled the salt over the liver slices and massaged it in. "while we wait for the rock to get hot, we can let the salt get into the meat."

  When he was done with the salt he looked around. "Do you have some water my lord so I can clean my hands?"

  "Oh yes." Ambrose said quickly. He grabbed his half full water skin and placed his hand on it, he concentrated and after a moment he removed the stopper and steam rose up from opening.

  "Here, careful I am not sure how warm it is." He said handing him the skin.

  "Thank you, my lord." Gro-Lag took it and poured the warm water over his hands.

  "I wish I could offer you some soap, but I didn’t have any coin when I was last in the city"

  Gro-Lag dried his hands on his loose leather tunic. "if you had a boiling pot, you could make you own with some animal fat and wood ash."

  Ambrose was starting to get a bit frustrated with the amount he clearly didn't know.

  "Honestly Gro-Lag with all the knowledge you have, you should try to join a guild."

  Gro-Lag seemed to freeze for a moment at the comment, before looking at him confused. "Are, are you making a joke my lord?" He asked.

  Ambrose also paused as he tried to understand what Gro-Lag was asking. "N-no?" was all he could stutter out at first. "You seem to be really skilled in survival techniques, I'm sure there is a guild you could train for."

  Gro-Lag continued to look at him confused. "My lord, I don't think I would be welcome."

  This caused some of the questions that Ambrose had wanted to ask when Gro-Lag had brought up being run out of the previous home to resurface in him. "Gro-Lag I am confused; I was told when I was young that goblins were granted full rights after the war?"

  Gro-Lag sighed and took a piece of pork stomach from the larger satchel Ambrose had stored the meat he had harvested from. He proceeded to slice of a few pieces of fat and place it on the; now rather hot rock, that he had placed on the fire.

  "When my father and his clan was asked to fight with rebels, they were promised we would be equals." The goblins said flatly. "And while we are no longer hunted like vermin, we are still not seen as the same as you humans, or some of the other races like the dwarves."

  While Ambrose was surprised, when he thought about it, he had never actually seen a goblin in Bramptonburg, having only run into them when he had been foraging.

  Gro-Lag put the liver slices on the now sizzling stone, it hissing as he placed it down. "Cook it on each side for about a count of a hundred and it should be ready."

  Ambrose sat down next to the goblin. "Thank you very much for showing me how to do this Gro-Lag, I have felt so in over my head since I got this land, and actually having someone who knows what they're doing to help, it really makes me feel a lot less…" Ambrose paused, not really sure how to finish.

  He gave a sigh and turned to the goblin "You are welcome here Gro-Lag."

  The goblin smiled in response to his statement. "Thank you, my lord,"

  Ambrose; using his knife; started to flip the pieces of liver on the rock. "Gro-Lag, just call me Ambrose."