It was all going so very wrong.

He’d started the day as any proper Goblin should do by making sure to shovel a hearty breakfast down his gullet. It had felt like a good day for a treat so he’d even decided to partake in one of the finest Goblin delicacies, a large grub worm. Just thinking about its slightly acidic ichor tingling his throat on the way down put a smile on Meekknuckle’s face.

Sadly, following the delicious breakfast, his day had gone rapidly downhill after that.

It was often the case where Skrakch was involved, Meekknuckle mused as he watched the Ratling study the courtyard surrounding a large mausoleum. Meek should’ve known better. As soon as he saw the grin on Skrakch’s face he should’ve turned tail and run. Hiding in the Sewers was easy enough, even from someone as crafty as the Ratling. There were parts of the village that the Iskrin insisted on avoiding, mostly due to the stench that emanated from the buildings.

But then -praise be to Maglubiyet!- Skrakch had promised him a massive chunk of moldy cheese. With the thought of that, all of his good Goblin sense had gone straight out of the window. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for cheese.

Before he knew it, he was back up on The Surface and standing around watching Ghouls and Zombies shuffle around with a hunger in their eyes, their twisted hands reaching out to grab their prey. It didn’t take a genius to know that as soon as a Zombie got within grappling distance of him, things would not end well at all.

So he’d done what any good Goblin would do in this situation. He’d prayed.

“Please Maglubiyet,” He whispered. “Don’t let them see me. I’ll be extra quiet and offer you this small prayer. If those creatures are to see anyone, let it be Skrakch. He doesn’t believe in your wisdom and might, and I bet he tastes better than me anyway.” Meek finished, hoping his plea worked. Sadly, communicating with a Godly being was quite difficult, and he had to take a lot of things on faith. Which was the whole point, he reasoned to himself with a nod.

Trailing behind the group, the skinny Goblin absentmindedly wiped bits of flesh off the back of his friend, Ornn. The big lug was a bit scary, but he was always nice to Meek, so it was only polite to be nice back. Meek was rather proud of that logic and considering most goblins didn’t have a concept of politeness, it was indeed rather praiseworthy.

Ornn was a curious creature, always moving with more care than anyone noticed, but still willing to charge into combat whenever Meek needed him to. The Golem wasn’t exactly careful in combat either, hence how he always seemed to end up caked in gore. Meek wasn’t even sure how he managed to get some Ghoul blood on the back of his head, but since it was far beyond his reach, it would just have to stay there for a while. It wasn’t like Ornn was complaining.

The group of scary-living people he was reluctantly part of, as opposed to the scary-Undead people running around, picked their way carefully through a large ruined courtyard, little bits of overturned stone and half-collapsed graves littering their path. Meek wasn’t sure what made this location in particular more important than the rest of the Undead District, but the Goblin couldn’t help but gawk at the large mausoleums scattered throughout the courtyard.

One in particular stood out, twice the size of the surrounding crypts, and naturally Skrakch was heading directly towards it. Something about the marble tomb struck Meekknuckle as sinister, and he felt a rising sense of dread as they closed in.

Two massive marble columns shadowed the doorway that led inside, and Meek was startled to realize it was the first building he’d seen in the area that seemed completely whole, the marble floor unblemished and pristine. Idly clasping the medallion he used to focus his prayers, Meekknuckle thought he could sense a certain presence to the building, as if it were a place of power.

Worse yet, Meek noticed with a fresh dose of fear, the mausoleum was engraved with depictions of battles, humans fighting demons, and adorned with hanging skulls and rusted weapons. It took Meekknuckle all of three seconds to decide he wanted nothing to do with it, so of course, that’s where his companions were dead set on entering.

The stuck-up Halfling jumped onto the steps leading up to a set of heavyset ornate doors, turning to them with a grin that betrayed just how naive and foolhardy he was. Meek was certain that his downfall wasn’t too far away. He was extremely prideful and pride always comes before a fall. Or so he’d heard. He wasn’t particularly familiar with all the Human turns of phrase.

“Alright, that wasn’t so bad. All we need to do is head into this mausoleum, find the secret passage, and we’re rich!”, Zacharias whispered excitedly. “Winifred, Ornn, if you’ll do the honors.” He said, sweeping aside dramatically and motioning to the door.

Staring at the loud-mouth man for a moment, Meek realized he needed to tell Ornn what to do. Placing his hand on his friend’s back, he offered a bit of Mana into him, thinking of opening the door. While he could make suggestions to his friend from a distance, it took a lot more Mana. And Meekknuckle wasn’t fool enough to think they weren’t about to be in imminent danger.

With a rumble of grinding stone, Ornn strode forward and easily pushed his way into the mausoleum, his fleshier companions following hot on his heels.

Thankfully the Mausoleum opening quickly widened into a cobweb-filled corridor. Lined with cracked coffins, the tunnel was eerily quiet, with most of its previous “inhabitants” nowhere in sight.

A quick look into the dark-filled tunnel was enough for Zacharias to put Skrakch in the lead, not willing to light a torch and risk alerting any Ghouls, or worse. Thankfully Meekknuckle was blessed with superior darkvision himself and was happy to enter the gloom, instantly feeling much more at home as they moved underground.

As they continued forward, the non-Goblins amongst them seemed to think the area was safe, chatting amongst themselves about what they were going to do with their spoils. Meek of course knew exactly what he was going to do after this. Eat an entire cheese wheel in a single sitting, then see if he could steal a bit of whatever they found.

He wasn’t foolish enough to know that Skrakch wouldn’t be risking his life if the payout wasn’t worth it. His companions expected very little of him and it was that that would give him a carte blanche should he need it. Cheese was always a welcome prize but, if some of what they found went “missing”, who would blame the addle-minded Goblin?

They kept walking for ten minutes, the pathway before them slowly getting steeper as they entered into the bowels of the city. He was a bit surprised that they hadn’t entered the Sewers, and was about to mention that fact when the Goblin finally noticed something.

“Um, Meek not sure about this. But short man said was abandoned tunnel, yes? Then why cobwebs only on ceiling, and no dust on ground.” Meek mused to himself, squatting down and checking the ground for any dust.

The party stopped in its tracks, looking back at Meek for a moment, before looking at each other. Zach immediately began re-arranging the party, sending Winifred to guard the rear. It was a purely tactical move and Meek had to admire the Halfling’s quick thinking.

“Alright, this doesn’t change anything. We get down there, we get the loot and then we get the Hells out. Doesn’t matter what’s in our way, we just take them out,” Zacharias ordered, keeping his daggers in his hands.

“Yeah right, you told us this place was abandoned. Who did you hear talking about this place again?” Skrakch said while rolling his eyes. “Maybe next time figure out a way to tell if they're lying before we drag our sorry carcasses out here to get eaten by ghouls? The idiots were probably half-cut and this is just some damn fool crusade you’ve taken us on!”

“Whatever Squeakers, at least I’m trying to make some coin instead of risking all of our lives for nothing.” Zacharias fired back.

“Stop your bellyaching, ye bunch of idiots. But I swear to me Ma, if this is like the food tokens, I’ll tan your wee hides, the both of ya. Don’t even think I won’t.” Winifred said, keeping a wary gaze out as she squinted into the darkness behind them.

The group of them continued in silence, focusing their ears on even the slightest noises. Meek could barely hear anything above the sound of his own beating heart, he was so afraid. Cowardice was one of the unfortunate traits that he’d inherited as part of his goblin heritage.

Luckily it was only a bit longer before Skrakch called a halt to their slow, hesitant advance. Squinting into the darkness, the Ratling started chuckling.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me, there’s no way this is a smuggler’s route.” He said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“What is it? I still can’t see shite in front of me mate.” Zacharias said, finally pulling out a torch. When Skrakch didn’t reply, he muttered a curse to himself and pushed forward, flint striking steel as the torch burst into flames. “Screw this, I need to see what’s ahead.”

Flinching at the sudden brightness, Meekknuckle could only stare forward in confusion. As the marble path carried forwards, it came to a complete stop as a massive door blocked the way onwards. In the middle of the impressive steel-wrought door, there was an etching of the skull of a beast that Meek didn’t recognize. Not that he had access to much literature. His father had built himself quite the impressive collection, one that the Patriarch hid under his building, but Meek never had much opportunity to partake in any of it. He couldn’t be caught reading by his Father or any of that ilk.

Underneath the etching of the grim visage was some scrawled message. Meek knew enough to recognize it as Seotada. A dead language that hadn’t been spoken in Dray’Mel for centuries. He couldn’t translate what it said however and, even if he could, he was going to keep his mouth shut. It wouldn’t do to show his hand. He would continue to play the role he’d been thrust into and that meant staying quiet unless a quick escape was needed.

As Zach brought the torch closer to it, the Goblin rushed over to Ornn to hide behind his legs. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that this trip wasn’t worth any amount of cheese. Whatever lay beyond a large stone door in a district that few would venture to in the first place wasn’t going to be anything good.