Finale
Having prevented a demonic presence from twisting the essence of a dying god into a vile abomination, the four remaining Stonetear goblins and their Kobold friend resurfaced.
Yells-at-Dragons, the kobold, decided to steal the wyvern egg from the nest at the end of the stone bridge. He was nearly clawed to death, but
Acts-Hard-Boiled, a goblin soul living now in yet another golem body, arrived in time to shield him with his metal body, giving the rest of the goblin clan the opportunity to strike the beast down.
Appreciating the removal of the wyvern threat, the sphinx allow safe passage for all that she could carry to the floating island paradise. Unfortunately, she could not carry
Acts's new body.
They arrived at their new home, an isolated haven large enough to sustain what was left of their small clan.
Newly arrived, the goblins honored their fallen heroes before they started to rebuild their clan.
Wields-Two-Shields was known for her ferocious bravery, and her statue reminded all who looked upon it of her selfless acts of service to her clan. For many seasons after her death, new generations of the Stonetear Clan would always be taught to follow her example. Every young warrior was first instructed in the use of the shield before they were given any other weapon.
Thinks-Too-Much fell in the final battle to end the demonic threat, upon which may have hung the fate of the entire realm. In life, he had used his arcane abilities to strengthen the morale of his clan mates, which was essential to their survival against much more powerful enemies. For generations, Stonetear warriors chanted "TOO MUCH THOUGHT! TOO MUCH THOUGHT!" to rile themselves up before charging into battle. It worked pretty well.
Crimson-Fire and
Tends-To-Get-Lost, who had fallen in love with one another during their search for this new home, settled into building a home and a life together. Each also sought out help from
Yells-At-Dragons to bring new members of their clan up to the island (more on the "how" of that later). Within a few seasons, quite a few younglings were running wild all over the island, thanks to these two.
Fond of Amulettes became a builder, learning to hew and sculpt rock as well as build wooden structures. It was he who carved the statues for his honored friends, and it was he who built many of the ladders and shelters that the goblins required in their new home.
Saves-The-Realm was finally free to pursue a peaceful life. She primarily hunted game to feed her clan, and was quite good at using her throwing weapons to take down fast or flying prey. She also (accidentally) discovered the joys of cooked meat, when her flamethrower bracer went off while she was carrying home a wild bird for dinner. The Stonetear goblins, who had been accustomed to eating their meat raw since time immemorial, promptly decided that this was her greatest accomplishment ever.
Over time, the island was filled with Stonetear goblins rescued from the world below - often snatched from the hungering blades of their human or orcish pursuers. A time of peace and plenty lasted for many, many seasons as the clan made its home in the sky.
Yells-At-Dragons, never satisfied to stay in one place for too long, helped the Stonetears to build their new home while he waited for his stolen wyvern egg to hatch. And when it did hatch, he suddenly found himself to be the creature's de facto mother! He became the first kobold in the history of the realm to take to the skies atop a trained wyvern, and absolutely loved every second of it. He used his newfound mobility to help transport the Stonetears and from their new home, bringing back new recruits and fresh supplies. In return, he always had a safe place to land when he was in the area.
One place that Yells never ventured to, however, was the neighboring island. He tried, on multiple occasions, to get his wyvern to land there, but the beast always bucked and violently dived away from it, sensing something supernatural and evil about that place.
Acts-Hard-Boiled never made it to his clanmates new home - his body was simply too heavy for either the sphinx or the wyvern to fly him there, and the teleporter only functioned from the opposite end. He remained a lasting guardian of his clan, however, standing watch over the teleport pad in the event that his clan ever needed to evacuate en masse. While he was visited somewhat frequently by his clanmates as they aged, he outlived every last one of them, and was never able to visit their statues when they passed away. Instead, he was able to see their children and grandchildren when they flew over (on the children and grandchildren of Yells' wyvern), and always passed on the story of how a small group of goblins (and one annoying kobold), saved their clan and their realm by striking down a god.
Very few of them ever believed him.
~fin