Episode IV – Monsters are people too
Ever battled against other’s preconceptions?
Ever been written off because you were stereotyped?
Have you ever done this to others?
It is easily done
When Meetal the kobold came to the Realm of Mortals, he fell victim to this as he was accused of working for the Lady High Troll who has conquered the Realm of Mortals and the Mystical Realms, only because he had worked for the Lord Low Troll.
But Meetal despises the Lady High Troll, but even so he seems to have fallen foul of a bad preconception, this time by a human
“I ought to drop you right here and now” the gruff male voice went on as the metal tube that spits death was prodded against the back of Meetal’s neck, “Except those no good troll friends of your might hear this.
Then Meetal heard the unsheathing of his dagger as the human behind him pulled it out from his belt.
“Nice blade” the male human said, “I might keep it after I run you through with it”
“I never harmed this Mrs Peters you speak of” Meetal whimpered
“Only because you didn’t get the chance to” retorted the male human, “I know all about you kobolds, because you work for evil and I’ve fought and killed a lot of your kind albeit while playing
Dungeons and Dragons.”
“But I’m the first kobold to visit your world” Meetal whined
“Mr Travers” Meetal heard the female human call out. For a moment Meetal closed his eyes in relief, she had not been executed as his dream had depicted, but for some reason this male human was convinced that Meetal was the enemy. Even more confusing he was even claiming to have fought kobolds and to know all about them,
how could this be?
“You go inside Mrs Peters” the male human called out, “Kobolds are evil and would kill you as soon as look at you, and I should know because of what it says about them in
Monster Manual”
“But he didn’t touch us” the female human insisted
“Only because he never had the chance to” the male human growled, “I wish I could have come last night, I would have sorted him out”
“Mr Travers” the female human insisted, “he offered to leave because he was worried him staying here would mean reprisals against Susan and I”
“Look, everyone who has played Dungeons and Dragons know that kobolds are lawful evil” The male human insisted, “You don’t reason with them you kill them”
“Mr Travers” the woman replied, “This is not that role playing game and I looked into his eyes, he’s not evil, He wants to help us”
“Help us?” The male human said with incredulity, “how can a measly kobold help us, at best they’re cannon fodder”
“Please Mr Travers” Meetal begged, “I never harmed anyone here. I’m meant to be searching for someone called Mr Vee because my master has a plan to free your world and mine from the Lady High Troll”
The male human took the metal tube that spits death away from Meetal’s neck, “I’m watching you” he growled
Slowly Meetal trudged to the house where the female human was standing at the back door of her dwelling, carrying her youngling daughter.
The female human stepped back to allow Meetal to enter the dwelling as the male human followed with the tube that spit’s death.
“Please Mr Travers” the female human asked, “He’s not dangerous”
“How long before the trolls arrive” the male human asked.
“About forty minutes” the female human answered.
“Are you going to complain about that orc?” The male human asked with a hint of anger in his voice
“I daren’t Mr Travers” the female human replied.
The male human shook his head and then pointed at Meetal, “So what do you want me to do with this kobold”
“He says he needs to get to New York to find this person who may be able to free Earth”
“Why ask me?” the male human asked
“You might know of some truckers going up highway ninety five” the female human responded
Meetal watched as the man’s eyes narrowed.
Meetal dropped to his knees and held his hands together and begged, “Please Mr Travers, I do not know what lies this monster manual you speak of has said about us kobolds, but I need to find this person by the name of Mr Vee. My master has sent me on a mission. Master wants me to pass on a message that he will help you humans against the Lady High Troll and that drow consort Vabalavich”
“And who pray tell” the human male asked, “Is your master?”
“He was once the former ruler of our world until he was deposed by traitors and orcs” Meetal replied.
“Oh really” the human male said with scepticism in his voice, “What is his name?”
Meetal for a moment was perplexed, but then remembered that this was not the Mystical Realms, the humans here might not know who his master was. Slowly Meetal answered, “He went by the title of The Lord Low Troll”
At this the human made a clicking sound on his tube that spits death and pointed it at Meetal’s head, “That’s the Lady High Troll’s father” the male human snapped, “You’re working for her aren’t you?”
Meetal violently shook his head, “lies, lies” he squealed, “Master had a son not a daughter, she’s lying”
“Please Mr Travers not in the house” the female human interjected.
“But if this kobold succeeds” the male human objected, “who’s to say this Lord Low Troll won’t just take over from the Lady High Troll”
“Master does not want to do that” Meetal pleaded, “Master and I hold to the Sacred Law, Master would leave you to be free and not interfere in how you govern your affairs”
“Sacred Law?” the human male queried
“It means it is against their law to interfere with us” the human female explained.
“Sort of like the
Prime Directive off of that old
Star Trek TV show”
The human male took away the tube that spits death again, “I thought he was dead” the human male said to Meetal, “that Lady High Troll said he was murdered at the outbreak of some civil war you had”
“That was Master’s twin brother Midah who died” Meetal sighed as he looked down at the floor, then he looked up at the humans with tears in his eyes Master and his brother were so devoted to each other. We were not able to save him in time and those treacherous orcs killed him”
“Mr Travers” the female human spoke out, “I for one believe him, and if he can help take our planet back, we should help, after all things can’t get any worse. All you have to do is put him on a truck to New York”
“Ok” the human male replied, “But I’m warning you kobold, and funny stuff and you’re ash, got that?”
Meetal violently nodded
“Who would have thought a kobold being quested” the human male muttered.
Meetal had no idea what this talk of Star Trek, Prime directive and TV shows was about, but it did seem that what ever this Prime Directive was, it was similar to the Sacred Law and held in equal reverence by the humans. As for this Dungeons and Dragons, what game was that? Humans only came to the Mystical Realms in regular trips when those treacherous trolls had made a pact with a bunch of humans belonging to something called Eye-Dee-Ee-See, and they never played such games. As for that tome, “Monster Manual” who could have written so many lies about kobolds.
Meetal put on his cloak of invisibility and followed the male human outside to his strange looking horseless carriage. The human male held the door open and ordered him to get in and make himself seen” With great effort, Meetal obliged.
Meetal was then ordered to get down off of the seat and hide in the inside front part where the humans would put their feet. This male human did not want Meetal seen by others, but did not trust him enough to ride while he was invisible, however given that some, like the drow could see invisible races, that was probably just as well. Also if they had magic detection amulets, an operating cloak of invisibility would show up as if it were a cloak of bright light.
The human male started the strange horseless-carriage and it moved off.
During the drive, there was an uneasy silence. Meetal was understandably frightened by this human male, so decided that the best course of action was to keep still and shut up. For all he knew he could be going to hand Meetal over to the troll authorities.
But would that not endanger this human male’s faithful but dead servants mate and her youngling?
After driving for a while, Meetal heard the male human say certain words that seemed out of context. The next thing he knew was that the male human had grabbed from somewhere a blanket and flung it over Meetal and the strange carriage he was riding in was coming to a stop.
Meetal’s keen hearing could detect from outside the footsteps of a troll. Most likely from that accursed Ghetto clan. Meetal tried to slow his breathing as much as possible. This human was probably right to put the blanket over him, for if he was using the cloak of invisibility, they might have had an amulet of magic detection and he would have been found out.
“Where are you going Human” Meetal heard the troll demand.
“I have a crew near interstate ninety five sir; we are due to start bridge maintenance there this morning. Consort Vabalavich himself sir ordered that we carry on with this work” the human male replied, adding “I have my permit to be outside and to drive here”
“And what is that under the blanket beside you” The troll then asked
“One of the guard dogs at the depot died last nigh sir” the human male went on, “I said I would take the body away and dispose of it”
“I’m sure there are plenty of orcs who would be glad of the carrion. Why did you not call them?” the troll snapped back
“I would have sir, but we believe the dog got at the rat poison and I didn’t want to risk the life of one of your colleagues”
“Your concern human” the troll sneered, “is well noted, but knowing what orcs eat I would not have thought they would have come to harm”
“Do you need to see the dead dog sir?” the male human asked
What was this human playing at? Meetal wondered. There is no way Meetal looked like a dead dog, (whatever creature that was)
There was an uncomfortable pause before the troll replied, “I do not have time to inspect dead carrion. Dispose of the beast and then make sure your workers make a good job of those bridges” the troll ordered.
“Yes sir” was all the human male replied.
There was some shouting of trolls outside of the horseless carriage and the male human started it up again and they started to move.
After a moment the male human broke the silence between him and Meetal. “That was a troll check point.” He said as he pulled off the blanket from Meetal.
“Oh” was all Meetal dared to squeak out
The silence then returned between them as the male human continued to pilot the horseless carriage, at what seemed to Meetal speeds only to be imagined.
All the while Meetal thought back to his nightmare,
What if they did find out that the female human had given him sustenance? would they execute her and her youngling like he had dreamed. Meetal did not dare ask this, not with this male human anyway.
This male human was still convinced that Meetal was his enemy. This human male had admitting to slaughtering many of his kind in a game called Dungeons and Dragons, but why had he not heard of his fellow kobolds being rounded up for such sick games.
Meetal knew that before his master’s time there had been so called games where spectators watched hapless slaves and petty criminals fight each other to the death, whilst others betted on the outcome.
His master had, like him, found them distasteful and a waste of good slaves. One of the first things his master did in office was to see to their abolition. With acts like that, why did they keep insisting that his master was a blood thirsty tyrant? Meetal hated them referring to his master so, even though his master claim not to mind.
What had his master told Meetal?
“I heard those same claims as well. They were in fact quite useful. I saw a job that needed to be done, and if that perception was there it was of some use as it frightened most of the population into behaving themselves.”
No!
As far as Meetal was concerned this was a slur against his master, because he had had to make hard choices when he served the residents of The Mystical Realms.
Meetal glanced back up at the male human and then he averted his eyes. Even if this human had the blood of unknown kobolds on his hands as he claimed, now was not the time to avenge their deaths. Besides, even though amongst other kobolds Meetal was seen as a bit of an outsider, surely he would have heard of kobolds going missing.
From what he could remember, all other kobolds he knew of were accounted for. What is more, to his shame, they were one of the first races to surrender without a fight to the accursed Lady High Troll.
That day was a black day for kobolds, as indeed it was for the other races.
Maybe that was unfair – she had been given enormous firepower with stolen weapons from the humans that could wipe out whole cities at the blink of an eye.
Now who was the race deserving the term monster?
“We’re here” the human male announced, “This is a truck stop just before the interstate”
Meetal climbed onto the seat and peaked out through the window
To his astonishment Meetal saw huge metal boxes being pulled by other horseless carriages.
“Put this blanket over you and get out” the human male ordered.
Meetal took the blanket and wrapped it around himself as best he could and then struggled to open the door.
“You’re useless” the male human snapped and got out of his horseless carriage, went around the front and opened Meetal’s door.
Meetal noticed that the male human was still carrying his dagger. Meetal said nothing, after all what use is a dagger anyway against tubes that spit death, especially from a human who claimed to have slaughtered countless kobolds in some game called Dungeons and Dragons.
Meetal got out of the horseless carriage and did his best to follow the male human as he walked across to a number of other male humans.
Meetal stopped short of them as he noticed in the distance what could be a bugbear.
The first male human stood there talking to what looked like a human to Meetal, but unlike the first male human, his skin was black.
Meetal had seen such humans back on his world in the Central City on the Low Plain. They had come from a place on the human’s world called Africa. Meetal had watched in horror as these humans, along with their younglings all were hanged on massive gallows after being declared enemies of Brameana, the Lady High Troll.
This male human was obviously talking to an African human, but what were they saying?
Meetal then saw the first male human give the African Human his dagger, and then the first Human came over to where Meetal was standing.
“I’ve spoken to my friend Howard” the male human told Meetal, “He’s hauling construction equipment to New Jersey which is on the way to New York. We used to play dungeons and dragons together, so he knows all about you kobolds as well, and I’ve warned him about your kind”
Meetal looked up at the male human with tears in his eyes, “Whatever you have heard about us kobolds sir” Meetal wept, “They are lies. We are not evil. I beg of you sir, if you ever play this Dungeons and Dragons not to slaughter our kind. We will pay what ever tribute you want, please don’t kill us”
The human just grunted and got back into his horseless carriage and in minutes he was gone.
Meetal then trudged over to the African Human male known by the strange human name of Howard.
“So you’re the Kobold that thinks he’s going to save the world” Howard opened with.
“No sir” Meetal replied, “My master has promised to do that as soon as I have managed to find this human called Mr Vee. Master said he wants to do a deal with him to make your world free”
“Aren’t kobolds meant to be cannon fodder rather than going on quests?” the human called Howard then asked
Meetal looked at him with a puzzled expression, whatever the expression cannon fodder meant, it did not sound good. “Cannon fodder?” Meetal asked
The human called Howard sighed, “That means in Dee and Dee you guys usually get creamed early on”
“Does that mean you slaughter us?” Meetal asked with trepidation. If this human before their fall went around slaughtering kobolds for mere sport, Meetal had to be careful, less they decide to kill him too, like they admitted to killing his compatriots.
The human called Howard frowned, “Yeah I suppose you could put it that way”
Meetal looked at the ground again, and then up at this large African Human called Howard. “Please spare my life sir” Meetal pleaded, “At least until I have passed my master’s message on to this Mr Vee?”
The human called Howard then grinned and laughed. To Meetal this was not a good sign.
“You think we went killing kobolds for real?” Howard asked
Meetal looked up at him, “Your friend said how he had slaughtered many of us when you went to play something called Dungeons and Dragons. I just wondered if he had killed any I knew. Did you kill male kobolds only or were not even our younglings spared”
The African human shook his head briefly, “Dungeons and Dragons is what we call a fantasy role play game. We just used paper and pencils, several books and dice and sat round a table drinking a few beers. We never actually killed anyone for real in that game.”
“But he said he had slaughtered many kobolds” Meetal replied, now confused.
“Only on paper my little friend, they weren’t real kobolds we killed” the human called Howard reassured Meetal, “Now we better get you into my truck before the bugbear notice you.”
The human called Howard motioned for Meetal to go to a specific giant horseless carriage.
The door was quite high up so the human called Howard opened it and picked Meetal up in his big strong black arms and placed him inside and then closed the door. Meetal did exactly what he had done in the other horseless carriage and slipped down in front of the seat, out of sight.
The Human named Howard then entered by the other door and climbed in with great ease. “Where are you?” he asked
“Down here Mr Howard sir” Meetal replied.
“You ain’t gonna be comfortable down there” the human called Howard responded
“Mr Travers had me ride like this so the trolls did not see me” Meetal answered.
“As soon as we hit the interstate, I don’t think they will be a problem, so you might as will sit up on the seat properly”
“What about check points” Meetal whined
“We all know where they are my little kobold friend. This is a big planet and they can’t be everywhere. The only way they keep us in check is by the use of those nukes they have”
“Are they what caused the firestorms?” Meetal asked with apprehension.
“Yup” the human called Howard responded as he started up the Horseless carriage.
This horseless carriage sounded a lot louder than the other one he had ridden in, no doubt because of it’s colossal size. On his world, even a stone giant or a dragon might have trouble moving a load of this size, but this strange contraption seemed to do so with little effort.
Meetal could sense his question about the firestorms had upset this human, so decided to keep quiet.
It was a while before the human announced that they had got onto the place called interstate ninety five. At his behest, Meetal climbed up onto the seat.
“You better buckle yourself in my little kobold friend” the human called Howard instructed Meetal.
All Meetal could utter was “Huh?”
With his eyes on the long road in front, the human reached over the top of Meetal and grabbed at a small piece of metal attached to some belt made of material Meetal could not recognise and pulled it across him and then down to some other contraption, where the metal bit locked in, constraining Meetal to the seat.
“I promise I will not do any Funny stuff” Meetal spoke up, “Why did you wish me tied up”
“Are you talking about the seatbelt?” the human called Howard asked, “It’s not to tie you up, its to protect you should we have to stop suddenly” the human explained. Then the human thumbed his own belt so that Meetal saw he was wearing one too.
“I’m sorry” Meetal apologised
“Don’t sweat it” the human replied, “This must all be so confusing to you” he then asked
Meetal could just nod. Then Meetal thought for as moment, “I’m so sorry for those you lost in the firestorms” Meetal said quietly
“How did you know about that?” the Human called Howard demanded to know
“When you mentioned that the firestorms were caused by these things you called nukes. I could tell it caused you pain” Meetal explained
“I suppose even a kobold could pick that up” the human called Howard replied, “My wife and children were visiting Detroit when the Lady High Troll nuked that city”
Meetal looked down, “I’m so sorry” he whispered as tears trickled down from his eyes to his snout.
“You didn’t kill them” the human called Howard replied, “That b***h the Lady High Troll did”
Meetal kept silent about his involvement, or to be more accurate lack of action that day in Faldon, where he could have prevented this if he had just used his dagger on that abomination of a Ghetto troll”
After a while Meetal asked, “The death of your family, is that why you kill us kobolds on this game you and Mr Travers spoke of”
The human called Howard sighed, “Nah, Dungeons and Dragons was around long before all this happened. The way the game is supposed to work is that we each take on some kind of adventurer class and we start as low level characters. As you find treasure in the game or fight monsters you gain something called experience points which means you increase in level. As you increase in level you get more what we call hit points, meaning the character you play is harder to kill. Kobolds just happen to be monsters that are thrown at first level players because in the game they are quite weak in comparison to other monsters”
“So you think I’m a monster then?” Meetal asked.
“I’m sorry my kobold friend” the human called Howard apologised, “You’re just like one of us, only different looking”
“Mr Travers said I was evil because it said so in some tome called Monster Manual” Meetal ventured, “Is that why we are called monsters?”
The human called Howard shook his head, “No. That book was just a list of creatures and how they were used in the game mechanics. Even we humans appear in it, although with some humans, monster is the only way you could describe them”
“And you or Mr Travers never killed any of us kobolds for real?” Meetal then asked
“Not a single one” the Human called Howard said. After a brief pause he then added, “I always thought that game was hard on your kind. It billed you as some kind of low level critter to be thrown at first level characters, yet according to folklore kobolds were described as being quite helpful to humans”
Meetal went quiet and reflected, his Master had been right to keep the Sacred Law. Their world had been shaped by the collective unconsciousness of the humans. There was always a danger according to his master that interfering with humans could have repercussions on their world. His master had always said he had a soft spot for kobolds as it proved the wisdom according to him of the Sacred Law.
According to Meetal’s master, kobolds were once as respected as some of the other minor races, but something happened in the Realm of Mortals, and they became pariahs and outcasts. Maybe it was because this Dungeons and Dragons game. Maybe it had altered the perception of humans about kobolds and this must have fed into the collective unconsciousness making kobolds the outcasts they had became.
It was so unfair; kobolds were no worse or better than some of the other smaller races inhabiting the Mystical Realms.
Meetal then settled down to looking out as they drove along this long road. Meetal had never seen such a road of this length as it seemed to go on and on. The longest one he had ever seen was the one running the entire length of the Central City and out into the desert for about a couple of leagues or so. Elsewhere for longer journeys, the roads became mere tracks, of variable width, depending on how many people travelled the route.
“We’re hunter gatherers” Meetal said to try and make conversation. This male human was friendlier than the one called Mr Travers, but Meetal was still wary. Being friendly was a tactic he had used himself in the service of his master when it was his job to find out information about coup attempts during the glory days.
“I knew few people who were like that” the Human called Howard replied, “By the way do you have a name?”
“Meetal” Meetal replied
“Is that your first name or your surname?” the human called Howard then asked.
“I do not understand?” Meetal replied
“My first name is Howard and my surname or family name is Brown” the male human called Howard explained.
“Oh” Meetal responded, “My kobold tribe is the Jarran tribe, so my full title is Meetal of the Jarran, but I have not seen them in several cycles, and when I heard that Mr Travers”
Just then Meetal found himself being overcome with emotion and breaking down like a youngling, which was not normal for a kobold of his age. It seemed he was becoming like those humans who had stuck pictures on those memorial boards he had seen in that city called Washington DC.
“You thought he had killed your family” Howard ventured
Meetal found himself nodding, “I miss them Mr Howard” Meetal sobbed, “When I joined the service of my master some of them said I was betraying them to work for a troll and they had me ostracised from my tribe”
“So your master’s a troll?” the human called Howard inquired
“Yes” Meetal answered, “He was once a leader of our realm and I helped him keep law and order among the many races”
“I suspect that would have been tough” the human empathised
Meetal nodded, “Master had to be tough so people said slanderous things about him”
“I knew a commander at boot camp who had the same attitude” the human replied
“So you understand?” Meetal asked
“Yeah” the human replied, “In the end we all respected him for it”
“They did not, they over threw my master” Meetal sighed, “The believe he is dead”
“But he’s not?” the human asked
“He still lives Mr Howard, it was Master who sent me to find this Mr Vee”
“In New York?”
“So I was told”
Meetal then pulled out the talisman of location and held it up. The Green glow indicated they were travelling in about the right direction.
“That like a GPS?” The human asked
“A what?” Meetal asked
“Sorry Meetal, is that what you are using to find this Mr Vee”
Meetal put the Talisman away and nodded. If this human wanted, he could easily overpower Meetal and steal it, but instead he continued to keep his hands on some wheel device, which seemed to be used to steer this behemoth of a horseless carriage.
After a pause the human then asked, “Do you like music Meetal”
“Master used to have musicians at court, but I did not have many favourites” Meetal answered
“Did you have any hunting songs?” the human asked
“No sir, we just kept silent so as not to alert our prey”
“I used to go hunting with my old man” the human revealed, “We kept pretty quiet too when we were stalking deer”
Meetal thought it best not to enquire what a deer was, but it was clearly an animal the humans hunted for food.
“We’re not so different you and I Meetal” the human called Howard said. Then he reached up and from somewhere pulled a shiny metal looking disc and then placed it in some device to his right.
Within second some strange melodious sound erupted from all around him.
“This is the late Johnny Cash” the male human explained.
Meetal sat through the strange music, it was nothing like anything he had ever heard at court, and he was not sure if he liked it or not, however the human called Howard seemed to like it because he tried to sing along to it.
Very odd behaviour
+
Meetal observed that it was approaching the middle of the day, according to this strange world’s single sun when the human called Howard pulled over off of the very long road and drove into some kind of parking area for other similar horseless carriages like the one where Meetal met this more friendly male human. The earlier human male had called that place a truck stop, so maybe this was another one.
“Stay in the truck and I’ll get something to eat” the human called Howard told him, adding “If you need the bathroom I’ve got a small chemical toilet in the back” pointing towards a section behind the seat, obscured by a black curtain he had not noticed before.
“Why would I want to bathe in a toilet or a latrine?” Meetal asked, confused by this expression and slightly disgusted at the thought of it..
“Sorry Meetal” the human apologised, “If you need to use the toilet I have a small one back there. We sometimes refer to rooms that have them as bathrooms even when there is no bath there”
“It’s all so confusing this language of yours” Meetal complained
“Yep it is that” the human called Howard admitted, and then he got out of the horseless carriage and headed off to some building.
Meetal went into the section of the horseless carriage and found this chemical toilet, and attended to personal business. In this section Meetal observed there was also a small bed. So this human lived in this horseless carriage.
So some humans like this African human lived a nomadic existence, how very interesting
Meetal waited in this bedchamber area of the horseless carriage peeking through the curtain until he saw the human called Howard coming back, then quickly he slipped onto the passenger seat and kept his head down to minimise the risk of being spotted.
The human called Howard climbed back into the horseless carriage and handed Meetal some strange cup of liquid with a tube sticking out the top. He then handed Meetal two items wrapped in paper. They felt warm.
“I got you a burger and fries and a diet coke” the human said.
“Thank you” Meetal said and then eyed the meal he had been given. Most races on his world did not eat during the day, only at the beginning and end. Humans were peculiar in that they ate during the day as well.
Meetal got the human to show him how to unwrap the food so he could eat it.
The burger seemed to be some kind of meat, sandwiched between two bread like things, along with strange vegetables. There was also some kind of source which seemed to drip onto Meetal’s fur which the human called
catsup
The burger tasted strange but not unpalatable; however the meat did seem overcooked for Meetal’s liking. As for the vegetables, they were nothing like he had ever tasted, but out of politeness he endured every mouthful.
As for the fries, they seemed to only have slight flavour. They were long thin and yellow with a lot of salt on.
The drink was ice cold and seemed to have bubbles in it and made Meetal’s teeth hurt due to the cold.
After they had finished, the human called Howard started up the horseless carriage again, and soon they had returned to the big long road.
During the afternoon, the two of them chatted about their respective worlds, before the Realm of Mortals and the Mystical Realms fell to the forces of The Lady high Troll.
The human said how the highway were on used to be a lot busier, but since the fall a lot of people were prohibited from travelling unless they were critical to maintaining the infrastructure.
Meetal told how the female human was not even allowed to go outside her dwelling on to her own plot of land to tend it.
The human called Howard sad that this was because she lived near one of the cities that had been hit by the firestorms, but in other places humans had more privileges, and maybe in time once they had shown loyalty to the new overlords the harsh curfew laws could be relaxed so it was like other parts of this world.
Then towards the evening they were finally starting to get near the fabled New York City
In the distance both of them spotted a load of other horseless carriages stopped on the big long road.
The human called Howard suggested Meetal climb into the back where the bedchamber was.
They were coming up to a random check point!
Meetal hid as far back as he could, and for a moment he was tempted to use his cloak of invisibility, but no, that could be fatal if drow were around.
The horseless carriage slowed to a stop.
Carefully Meetal listened as the human called Howard asked someone outside what was up. The other voices seemed to be humans. It seemed that some humans had chosen or were coerced into working for the new regime of the Lady High Troll, or to be more accurate, her consort, as he was more interested in running this world on her behalf than she was.
Then he heard a sound he had been dreading, the voice of a drow.
The drow was asking if the human called Howard as he had driven through Washington DC, had seen a kobold in his travels. Apparently according to the drow, a gnome loyal to her imperial excellence had recognised this kobold as a criminal at large, wanted for various crimes back on the Mystical Realms.
“Oh no!” Meetal thought for if the human tried to lie, then the drow would detect it. The only way for this human to survive and possibly escape execution, was to turn Meetal in.
To be continued