The Forest Groove was a place of plenty.

  Its Mana enriched soil produced all manner of food, small critters were allowed to live on its lands and procreate.

  It was a bountiful Forest where one would never go hungry.

  And that's the point.

  The Forest produced food, the critters ate it, beasts ate the critters, bigger beasts ate the beasts, so on and so forth until at the end of it all, the Forest ate.

  Mana makes more Mana, and the Forest evolved to make use of this fact, it was powerful, it was old, and it was a battleground of enormous proportions.

  Close to its center, only the most powerful beasts compete with each other, in hopes of securing one of the Forest Groove greater bounties.

  Fruits capable of Healing all injuries, even age, mushrooms containing a fraction of the Grooves Experience, Berries so full of Mana that they were almost crystals.

  The competition was fierce and even on its outskirts, where only food was available, many fought to get a foothold on the Forest Groove's soil.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Two of those were a Kobold Tribe and a Goblin Tribe.

  *** *** ***

  The Followers of The Golden Claw were a Kobold Tribe that gathered around a big golden Kobold in generations past that was said to have the blood of a golden dragon.

  His golden scales, claws and formidable strength made the legend appear real enough.

  To this day, generations of Chiefs were said to trace back their Lineage to that figure, that's why they were bigger, stronger and lived longer.

  This led the Golden Claw family to amass wealth and power over generations, until they were the undisputed rulers of the Tribe, inspiring a strong sense of devotion.

  The recent generation has spit on everything the Golden Claw family did to amass such respect, they now rule by culture and a healthy dose of fear.

  Some odd kobolds try to fight against this trend, but against generations of amassed power and resources, it’s an uphill battle that many times sees them at odds with the rest of the tribe.

  *** *** ***

  The Goblin Tribe had varied names, its leadership always in flux.

  Servants of Gorg the Strong, Followers of Morg the Cunning … even the Family of Amox at one point, those were rare.

  Leadership was a right to those that could grab it, be it through might, cunning or allies.

  Goblins were innately selfish, more often than not, they would backstab each other to further themselves and [sometimes] their family.

  A Goblin doesn't truly care for its Tribe, but the benefits it brings to himself.

  For those reasons, goblin societies were unstable by nature, and on the rare occasion a leader rose through strong alliances and actual trust, a Goblin Tribe experiences explosive growth, a golden age for Goblin kind [That soon leads to destabilization as one individual can no longer keep up with the numbers].

  *** *** ***

  The borders of the Forest Groove were a stage for constant battle, as Beast, Tribes and even Animal Pack’s struggled for a spot on that land.

  While the hot seasons offered plenty to eat, the cold seasons killed with hunger.

  And those that were secure in the Forest Groove, would have what to eat for as long as they could keep it.

  Hunger makes people behave like Beasts and nothing makes a beast leap to action more than starvation.

  I’m still trying to figure out how I'll do this, keep the perspective solely on the dragon and the kobolds, and introduce small bits of information as POV shifts ?

  Dump the information I want right there in chapters like this one ?

  I’m leaning into the second one, sometimes the creativity hits and it’s nice to put stuff out there … I should probably do those notes right about now hum ? … O well. PEACE o7