Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Leaving Lunate and Poitirus to take care of the main island and the surrounding sea- The trio set foot upon a different salt beach, from the looks of it, the flora and environment of this island was a perfect match with that of the previous one, the only difference laid in the most intelligent inhabitants…

"Oh… Those things really find their way everywhere somehow, huh?" Maliah commented as group of salt-white goblins came rushing at them from the vegetation that was the exact same colour at them, seems like they had for habit of waiting by the beach, which did not make much sense since travelling was not an option, so they probably never got the occasion to ambush anyone, but it might have to be assumed that they were perhaps waiting for some sort of semi-aquatic beast that was likely to emerge out of the water eventually.

The goblin were shouting like madmen, at least for couple seconds until the one at the forefront seemed to have his neurons clash for brief moment, and he raised his arms to stop his compatriots, and then, right in front of the undeads, the group of goblins stopped in their track and huddled together, discussing something in their goblin speech, which was all understood by the undeads, the blessing of comprehension was applying here too.

They were speaking rather eloquently, remindful of the goblins Loimos had encountered early on in his journey, since then, he had actually met a whole bunch more species of goblins, really, the only group of species that could claim to have members of their bunch everywhere like this were humans, when it came to being where they had no business being, the two could shake their hands.

"Guys, I have a bad feeling about this, those things look weird, what if they are venomous? I don't want to eat that!"

"You stupid little man! It's poisonous, not venomous! Why do I have to work with you guys?"

"No, but really, they look super weird, and I think my mind is being attacked by one of them! I mean, this one looks odd, but why do I have the indescribable feeling that it is actually average looking?"

"Are you sure you didn't eat one of those mushrooms again- Oh no, my bad, I am getting the feeling too…"

"They are pretty tall as well, I am scared of tall people since the chief beat me up, and they are taller than the chief!"

"We are supposed to be hunting Salz Lizards, not whatever those things are! Why did we rush out like this?"

"Because we are idiots, that's why!"

"Don't bring me down with you all, unlike you, I wasn't cradled next to a wall!"

"Why don't you say that again?"

"With pleasure! Unlike you-"

"Come on guys, we have bigger fishes to fry than this"

After a few more rounds of back and forth, the white goblins stopped huddling up and took up combat stances, as they slowly back off into the foliages again, employing a trusted manoeuvre when dealing with wild animals, to not show your back and appear like a threat, they had failed at both in the beginning as their backs were exposed for the entirety of their conversation, but they seemed to treat that as a free action that did not count.

This could make some wonder if that was something they had pulled off with actual wild animals, because here, the only reason that did not get slaughtered instantly, was because the undeads were observing them.

A motto of the Empire was to never underestimate the enemy and always seek to know everything about your opponent, no matter how unthreatening and powerless they may be before you.

Knowledge is power, and it is always good to know more about the livings, one should strive to have a better understanding of their future allies, just because they were alive right now, did not mean that they could not be dead one minute later.

"Loimos… I think the blood in these guys is even more potent than that of those salt humans…" one whispered whilst licking her fangs and pulling on Loimos's sleeve.

"I don't know what's so good about all that blood, I bit a guy's throat off earlier and tested, but it just feels like eating spoonfuls of salt" naturally, Maliah was not a vampire, neither was she any sort of undead that had the natural ability to devour and consume, in essence, she was a zombie that simply existed.

"So huh… Can I…?" the vampiress asked

"You may"

As soon as he replied, One rose a hand, and swiftly enough, the goblins were dragged forward, their bodies going stiff, it seemed like they were weak enough for the vampire to assume full control of their blood whilst it was still inside of them, or perhaps the meal she had earlier granted a tremendous boost to that aspect of her in particular.

"Keep that one alive" he instructed, speaking about the goblin who had realised that charging head-on at unknown beings might not be the wisest of ideas.

One nodded and grabbed the closest salt goblin, the short being had his feet off the ground, his body paralysed as the vampire's fang seemed to grow longer just before they were sunk into his neck, within just a few seconds, the other watched as they fellow was turned into a dry husk.

And in the end, only the lucky one was left, the vampiress didn't even keep any for a later snack, consuming them all on the spot and looking quite satisfied about it, immediately, the surviving goblin marked her as the most terrifying thing he had ever encountered in his entire life.

"Where are the rest of your kind?" Loimos asked a simple question, and for a split second, the salt goblin felt like playing it tough, but the skeleton merely pointed to One and that toughness crumbled, he definitely did not want to end up as food.

"This way, good sir… The chief has unified many tribes, so most of us are in the same place…" he admitted sheepishly, leading the way to the rest of his people whilst receiving a few more questions.

"The blood of those goblins is very strong, it would be deadly to consume for most livings, I believe, I wonder why that is? Any idea, little fellow?" the goblin felt like the nonexistent hair on the back of his neck was standing so straight that it was actually trying to uproot itself and take off running.

"W-Well… It's probably because we bathe in the Brine Pools, all of us have to do it when we reach adulthood, if we survive we become stronger, if we don't… Then we feed the pool… Being allowed to use a Brine Pool beyond that is considered an honour… Well, the Brine Pool, I should say… The one kept by the chief is especially large and potent, the other natural ones can't compare, at first, we only get to bathe in a regular one, if we used the chief's pool, no goblin would ever survive the ordeal" he replied in earnest, doing his best to speak for as long as was possible, afraid that if they had nothing else to ask of him, that his blood was going to be claimed.

"A-And here is the tribe…"