The kobolds' burrows had collapsed in the trembler. They were lucky the entire warren had survived without a single one, nor any egg lost. The nearby adventurers with shovels and magic, helped rebuild the tunnels, and proof them against ever collapsing again no matter how hard the earth shook. -- Anon Guest
Propshore was a mining town, and Kobolds were treasured there. They had a sense for three-dimensional space that few could equal. They could tell the vulnerabilities in stone with a skill that was only rivaled by the D'varuv. The semi-reckless little Dragonkindred were favourites amongst all the miners and their families.
The mines survived the earthquake with little damage. The Kobold tunnels... could not be reached. Not by the means they all knew.
The reaction was instant. All of Propshore set out. Mothers had their newborns strapped to their chests. The infirm and the under-capable did sit-down work like winding bandages and mixing medicines, or looking after the ones too small to help but just big enough to get underfoot.
There were lines of people stretching from tunnels to the quarry dumps, passing fallen stones from one to the next in a metronomic rhythm. They worked day and night for hours. Not tirelessly, they worked even when tired because lives were at stake.
Lives that greeted them as soon as the blockages were breached. "Oh hey," said the chief. "Were you bigguns worried about us?"
A very sweaty mayor stared, uncomprehending, at the obviously intact Kobold burrow. It took a few gasping breaths for the spectacle to sink in. "The tunnels collapsed," she panted. "Of course we were worried about you."
It was the of course that sealed it for the Kobolds. They were a people used to being experience fodder for murder-hobo Adventurers. Used to being treated like pests at best or pets at worst. Kobolds weren't often people to the rest of the civilisations of Alfarell.
Not entirely Unwelcome, but resignedly tolerated. Kobolds, like the Gobelliin, wound up everywhere. Kobolds, like Gobelliin, were often compared with rats and cockroaches. An unpleasant inevitability.
But not here.
They weren't pets. They weren't pests. They weren't unpleasant at all.
They were fellow citizens of Propshore.
Of course the rest of the town was going to drop everything to help out.
Up to and including making certain the tunnels would never collapse again. Even though they knew that the Kobolds were well capable of digging their own way out if they wanted to.
Well?
Now they wanted to.
[Photo by Strange Happenings on Unsplash]
If you like my stories, please Check out my blog and Follow me. Or share them with your friends! Or visit my hub site to see what else I'm up to.
Send me a prompt [46 remaining prompts!]