The Goblin Matron looked out over the crowd of newborns as they awoke for the first time.
In spite of her having lived for a grand three generations of Goblins, this sight was not something she had experienced. After being birthed, this group of Goblins had remained asleep for three full days, a sleep the Matron could not rouse them from despite her best efforts, before all waking up abruptly within seconds of one another. Accordingly, they were waking up for the first time in bodies that were just a hair's breadth away from being fully grown. This is only natural. When compared to the civilization built by humans, who grew up without worry of being attacked by a foreign enemy, goblins, since the moment of their birth, must deal with the fierce struggle for survival. Humans could afford to grow more slowly than the Goblins living in the wilds, where the law of the jungle requires their offspring grow faster. Of course, the Matron had been sure to help feed them while they were in the depths of sleep so that they wouldn't starve, though it had been difficult to do so without causing them to choke to death. In truth, there had actually been a tenth Goblin present, but he had choked to death while she tried to feed him, so his corpse had been carried out two days prior. Necessary experience, and whatnot.
As the newborns gained some bearing of their surroundings, they would notice that they were in the middle of a cave, a natural cave with a few traces of sunlight from the midday world outside filtering in. Those poor, tragic figures who saw anything else must have been hallucinating. Poor souls.
While the Matron had some worry, this was wiped away after seeing some of the newborns successfully speak. It appeared that their genetic memories had been retained; they were still properly born with the knowledge of "how to be a Goblin".
-This worry, however, returned to her in full force when she observed one Goblin scream whilst rolling on the floor to exit the cave, and another scream while running into a wall.
...Well, every generation had one or two who weren't quite right in the head.
Still though, the Matron was concerned. After all, all mature Goblins save for her were sent out the day prior to hunt, as was par for the course due to food supplies having run low, but none of them had returned since then. Only the Matron, who had been attending to the newborns, had stayed behind. With the state of the tribe's food supply and the unknown location of the entire adult population, the situation was troubling, troubling indeed. The Matron herself had been in similar situations a handful of times given her depth of experience, but it was that very experience that allowed her to know that the situation at hand could be disastrous if mishandled.
A thin walking stick, poorly carved out of low-quality wood, was abruptly thrown at Gunka's head before he had reached the cave exit. Despite her enfeebled state caused by age, both the accuracy and force of the stick were commendable, certainly enough to stop a newborn who hadn't even tested the limits of his body yet. Now resting herself against a wall of the cave for support, the Matron at last spoke.
"...children, rise. I will be told each of your names, and following this, you will hunt."
Considering the fact that these children had just awoken for the first time, one would assume this to be a tall order for them to fill. However, as per the law of the World, this would seem to be a natural statement to the newborns. Born with the knowledge of their names, born with the knowledge of what they were, born with the knowledge of language, of survival, of what it meant to "hunt", everything the Matron had said would make perfect sense. The only situation under which it would not would be if the sudden influx of knowledge and stimuli was too much for a newborn to bear. There were occasionally some of those; the system of genetic memory was, after all, not a perfect one. Perhaps the screaming pair were of that make.
Well, one thing they would not know is what exactly there were expected to hunt, but they could figure that out for themselves.
In spite of her having lived for a grand three generations of Goblins, this sight was not something she had experienced. After being birthed, this group of Goblins had remained asleep for three full days, a sleep the Matron could not rouse them from despite her best efforts, before all waking up abruptly within seconds of one another. Accordingly, they were waking up for the first time in bodies that were just a hair's breadth away from being fully grown. This is only natural. When compared to the civilization built by humans, who grew up without worry of being attacked by a foreign enemy, goblins, since the moment of their birth, must deal with the fierce struggle for survival. Humans could afford to grow more slowly than the Goblins living in the wilds, where the law of the jungle requires their offspring grow faster. Of course, the Matron had been sure to help feed them while they were in the depths of sleep so that they wouldn't starve, though it had been difficult to do so without causing them to choke to death. In truth, there had actually been a tenth Goblin present, but he had choked to death while she tried to feed him, so his corpse had been carried out two days prior. Necessary experience, and whatnot.
As the newborns gained some bearing of their surroundings, they would notice that they were in the middle of a cave, a natural cave with a few traces of sunlight from the midday world outside filtering in. Those poor, tragic figures who saw anything else must have been hallucinating. Poor souls.
While the Matron had some worry, this was wiped away after seeing some of the newborns successfully speak. It appeared that their genetic memories had been retained; they were still properly born with the knowledge of "how to be a Goblin".
-This worry, however, returned to her in full force when she observed one Goblin scream whilst rolling on the floor to exit the cave, and another scream while running into a wall.
...Well, every generation had one or two who weren't quite right in the head.
Still though, the Matron was concerned. After all, all mature Goblins save for her were sent out the day prior to hunt, as was par for the course due to food supplies having run low, but none of them had returned since then. Only the Matron, who had been attending to the newborns, had stayed behind. With the state of the tribe's food supply and the unknown location of the entire adult population, the situation was troubling, troubling indeed. The Matron herself had been in similar situations a handful of times given her depth of experience, but it was that very experience that allowed her to know that the situation at hand could be disastrous if mishandled.
A thin walking stick, poorly carved out of low-quality wood, was abruptly thrown at Gunka's head before he had reached the cave exit. Despite her enfeebled state caused by age, both the accuracy and force of the stick were commendable, certainly enough to stop a newborn who hadn't even tested the limits of his body yet. Now resting herself against a wall of the cave for support, the Matron at last spoke.
"...children, rise. I will be told each of your names, and following this, you will hunt."
Considering the fact that these children had just awoken for the first time, one would assume this to be a tall order for them to fill. However, as per the law of the World, this would seem to be a natural statement to the newborns. Born with the knowledge of their names, born with the knowledge of what they were, born with the knowledge of language, of survival, of what it meant to "hunt", everything the Matron had said would make perfect sense. The only situation under which it would not would be if the sudden influx of knowledge and stimuli was too much for a newborn to bear. There were occasionally some of those; the system of genetic memory was, after all, not a perfect one. Perhaps the screaming pair were of that make.
Well, one thing they would not know is what exactly there were expected to hunt, but they could figure that out for themselves.