The first was that he had formed a business partnership with an inexperienced god who had rapidly matured when they had verbally made an agreement. There had been an impact he knew, he had already seen the ability of the power of the two beings who called themselves gods of the continent of food and drink when he had been inside the badly designed Coffee House. His attention was drawn by Linas who was trying to get his attention just as they walked through the darkened treeline to see the fire which he had seen earlier. There was a smell in the air and noise, voices but Jackie had been inside jungles and forests before.
After spending so long in the corporate world and the city he was looking forward to roughing it a little. He popped the collar of his heavy coat up and slipped off a few items of jewellery he was wearing into his pockets.
He’d rather not turn up uninvited and then be forced to give up the bare wealth he had. God of Coffee or not, the lifeblood of commerce remained tradable currency or other resources.
<...Jackie? I should really tell you something about this world. I mean, you have movies on Belphus and I watched a few to get a better understanding of your culture but most of it was concerning your life and achievements. Uh, I’m messing this up. To make it simple, this continent is populated with humans and no-humans. No judgement from me though. People are people in general. Some are jerks and….are you even listening to me?> said Linas as the young god of Coffee copied the actions of Jackie and popped up the collar on his own blue coat with fur trim.
The action wasn’t entirely unnoticed by Jackie who wondered if forming a contract between an avatar and a god didn’t work the other way when it came to boosts. He had confidence, age, wisdom and experience and from the look of things the young god had raw power and understanding of the rules of the world.
He’d even chosen to appear in front of Jackie with the same style of outfit, excepting the golden jewellery. A small ache in his stomach reminded Jackie that he hadn’t exactly kept track of how much time had passed since he’d left his office walk in wardrobe to a mock Coffee House and then a meeting with two gods who needed his expertise.
‘Yeah, so I’d like to make something clear Linas. I’m hungry. I mean, I could chew a few coffee cherries to try and stop my appetite a little but when you changed me back into a younger version of myself it came with all the extra calories needed. I appreciate the body toning though. I only worked on building up serious muscle when I grew older. I wanted to be a mild jacked old dad for my kids. They used to hate it when they hit their late teens and their friends wanted to meet me. I guess I aged pretty well. Sorry, not eating has another side effect. I get a little cranky. Tell you what, why don’t we play a game to pass the time. You ask me a question about something that’s my favourite and I’ll ask you. We can get to know each other a better before we reach the...goblin encampment? One of those words makes no sense.’ said Jackie as he paused and gazed up at the night sky and the bright moon.
He took in a deep breath as his lungs took in the night air without him worrying about catching a cold. Jackie was adaptable certainly, he never would have reached the height of the corporate world and established his own Strikker Coffee as the main provider and producer of coffee on Belphus but being young again would take him a little longer.
Raising a hand above his eyes he saw that there were dwellings in the near distance, none of them were more higher than any village house he had seen as a kid growing up in but there was an oddness about their appearance. For one thing they were smaller than they should have been for regular sized people.
‘Wait a second, just one question. Linas, you said that this place has humans and non-humans. In that makeshift Coffee House, which you did try your best with I assume, there was seating that was odd. Some of it was smaller than normal and some was overly large. These goblins, are they taller or shorter than me?’ said Jackie.
The wildlife in the forest around them died down as they continued casually walking forward towards the dwellings as Linas stopped and hovered above the ground a little held up one palm and it glowed brightly.
Jackie noticed that despite Linas was talking plenty he didn’t in fact give any direct answers to any questions. He didn’t bother to push any further but reminded himself that he was a young body again with an old mind. He needed to try and loosen up a little and adjust his mindset to be more open and accepting of situations. His brain was physically younger and he needed to accept that.
‘I love drinking fresh water. I mean coffee is nice but I developed the habit of drinking fresh water and avoiding alcohol after an unfortunate accident when I caused an accident back in my younger days. I sort of ruined an entire coffee crop by adding the wrong mix. So, yeah, I don’t drink alcohol. Your turn. Anything that your favourite.’ said Jackie.
The young god paused as Jackie observed his face and his appearance. He’d taken to copying him, either he was fairly young and impressionable or the connection between an avatar and a god was deeper.
‘Take some time to think about it, no fresh. Ah, we’ve arrived. I plan on walking in and getting something to eat, after introductions. These could be the first potential customers for coffee. I have a few ideas on how to start but it depends on the quality and quantity that you can produce.’ said Jackie as he approached the encampment.
He saw that the source of fire was a massive bonfire in the middle, and there was a decent number of shadowy figures running around. None of them were human sized and were either the shape of young teenagers at most with a few coming across as kids. There was a lot of conversation and laughter in the air but none of it made any sense to him.
His ears heard it, his brain processed it but the language was just so different that he couldn’t realistically make it out. As he drew closer he saw that he had been right and the buildings were also smaller than average but none taller than a standard village house all being one story dwellings.
With his bright blue coat and fur collar popped up, Jackie straightened out his posture and purposefully put a gentle smile on his face. He directly entered the goblin encampment as he noticed that there were no walls in place, no security guards or other forms of protection in place which appeared out of place to him given the closeness of the forest.
He had been told that there was magic, non-humans and gods. Aside from the forest and the strange coloured night sky and single moon he hadn’t seen a single other person. He had brought no technology or devices from him from his home world of Belphus and the only visibility of lighting was the moon and the fire encampment.
As far as Jackie knew in the stories that his Nana had frightened him with as a boy with tales of ancient desert Empires and statue gods and an Emperor who had ruled over them they all involved magic and supernatural elements. Not a trace of modern technology. Perhaps this new continent would be the same, not that it mattered. The opportunity to be young again and the challenge to make coffee popular from scratch in a place where it had never existed had been too good to pass up.
Shrugging his shoulders Jackie simply walked into the encampment and towards the main bonfire and ignored the strange stares as he pretended that he was an invited guest at a random party and smiled and waves at anyone who pointed in his direction.
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Green. Small and green. Oh, sharp teeth. Lovely. At least they’re dressed and not armed...oh some of them are. With knives. Smile Jackie. Remember you asked for this. Stick to the plan. Trust in Linas to have your back.
***
Linas smiled as he saw the lack of immediate hostility in his avatars personality and body language. He had been warned about the violent ones, the ones who were dangerous to themselves and others and either saw the tutorial as a game or an outlet without consequences.
He’d need to talk to Jackie about the basics and the consequences of the avatar blessing and the magical agreement they’d both formed. When the connection had been established he’d experienced a surge of confidence and experience flowing into him. Nothing that he could actually access but enough to draw him out of his usual timid self and finally step out of the shadow of both of his parents. If Jackie showed any signs of fear or uncertainty he simply hadn’t shown it except when he’d been concerned about the Tourism Board.
From what Linas knew, they were an existence far beyond his own continent and magical world who wanted two things.
The first was to turn worlds into attractive sites of interest and promote travel amongst their own kind. The second was that they’d wipe the slate clean and start again if they wanted. In short, they were monsters.
Linas had been taken to some of the worlds that they had developed, barren wastelands filled with radioactive flesh abominations or worlds where singular artificial minds had turned entire populations into slaves to dig into rock and mineral for profit.
That had been a simple education in how lucky he actually was to exist on his own world and a warning that despite his power and that of the other gods not a one of them were omnipotent.
They simply had more than others and needed to keep a fine balance to stop the world descending into a pit of carnage and chaos. Warfare was strictly limited and regulated, conflict was purely localised and diminished.
No. None of us work for the Tourism Board. Or this place would have become a living world. This isn’t one of their Seed Worlds nor one of their projects. We’ve managed to become an outlier world. Relatively peaceful and secure. You got lucky Jackie and so did I. Oh, he’s here. About time the old man turned up. This is going to be fun, but where’s his granddaughter?
***
Jackie remained relatively clueless. Goblins were a smaller than human green skinned race but there was a multitude of shades and hues of green to each of them in the same sense that humans had different levels of melanin in their skin. He didn’t see any of them with facial or hair on their heads though. A few of them wore flat caps as coverings with younger ones having a layer of fuzz on their heads.
He’d walked in all smiles and even got a few toothy ones in return, they’d been happy to see him and he knew that he’d made the right approach in being friendly. A few of the younger ones, children he saw, judging from the expressions on their faces and higher pitched voices and sizes, had run up to him and grabbed his clothing.
The whole sensation wasn’t that different from entering a market in one of the Nature Seeker Village Compounds desert regions on one of the edges of a Park of Gaia. The people living there were friendly, granted that they benefited from living so close to one of the miracles of Belphus but they were happy.
Living on the desert edge of a giant botanical garden where they were unable to enter the surroundings grasslands they had developed a peaceful life. Most of the tourists unable to enter a Park of Gaia itself would often go there for retreats.
This place is nice. Got an obvious language barrier but nice.
The glow from the main massive bonfire in the centre of the encampment wasn’t the only source of visibility that Jackie saw. On each wooden village building were glowing boxes which swayed gently. He didn’t see any wires, lightbulbs or any other forms of technology but the goblins around him were clothed if simply and were healthy and clean, at least to his eyes.
The fact that a large number of the adults held sheathed knives on their belts could simply have been a cultural possession. He didn’t know this place and he was likely the one who was strange here despite the god Linas and his mother having taken human form when they’d talked to him. None of them wore any shoes or other footwear though.
Clothing appeared to be the same standard style, a shirt along with dark leather trousers for men and some of the woman wore the same or skirts. The children wore smaller versions with decorations.
The rest of the encampment was a simple enough affair but Jackie identified various buildings, a larger hut with secure and barred doors was likely used for food storage judging from the large number of sacks and metal equipment stacked up outside.
There was a larger than normal hut nearer the centre with adornments and flags above it which Jackie assumed to be the dwelling of the leader of the area. All in all, it came across as a friendly place. There was a smell of cooked food and vegetables in the air but Jackie wasn’t quite clear on which building had produced it. The flooring was clean but basic, mostly packed down dirt sprinkled with small stones which had been compacted.
These goblins are organised and friendly. I wonder how they’d take to coffee. A tutorial though implies that I need to show or learn some basic skills and likely pass a test. And answers ideally.
Jackie turned around expecting to see Linas behind him but saw no sign of the young god. Then he saw that those goblins around him had taken their children and herded them away heading back into their own homes as a gruff voice called out.
Despite not being able to understand their language, Jackie had picked up on tone and intent. All the goblins, the children and adults he had encountered walking in to nearer the main bonfire had been friendly and curious. None of them had shouted at him or raised their voices.
The massive bonfire in the centre flared up as Jackie raised a hand to protect his vision as a deep trawling noise came into his ears. Something heavy was being dragged along the floor as he saw a larger than normal goblin dragging along a huge jagged metal sword that was longer than Jackie was tall.
As the light from the massive bonfire dimmed a little and Jackie blinked his eyes he was able to make out a heavily muscled goblin who was clearly older than the rest and wearing an armoured breastplate and boots with a bare head and a scowling mouth.
The goblin pointed at himself and then at Jackie before slamming a fist into his chest-plate a few times and then spitting on the floor before lifting up the jagged metal sword up and resting it on one shoulder.
Jackie knew a challenge when he saw one but the sight put a smile on his face. He’d once been a jacked up old man too, and building up all that muscle had been seriously hard work. He gave the old goblin a thumbs up and a bright smile.
‘From one previously old man to another, you’ve done a good job. Pretty jacked. Are we expected to fight? Linas? Joke’s over. I don’t have the patience for games. Make it so they understand me. Linas. Last warning.’ said Jackie as he fixed his own scowl on his face and crossed his arms as he stared down at the jacked old goblin.
Yeah. I’ve been old as well. When you get to that point...well...we’ll see won’t we.
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Nicholas A. Ostheimer [Original Founder of the Tourism Board and Creator of Fictional Realities.]